Skip to main content

2004: Re-Vision Of Love

Here are two more albums that I enjoyed in 2004:

U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

I have an up and down relationship with U2. While I admire them greatly as a band, I think they are not served by the ubiquitiousness of their hit songs, which have become so familiar as to be as much admired as the wallpaper. So when I heard Vertigo approximately 679 times as part of the iPod advertisement, things didn't look good for thier new CD. But, strangely, I still haven't tired of Vertigo or any other song on the CD. For me, it's their most complete album ever. Yeah, I said it.

Green Day - American Idiot

For whatever reason I initially resisted putting this in the top 10, but now I've corrected that mistake. There's no lack of appreciation in me for the accomplishment that this album is, both commercially and (more importantly) artistically.

And you might remember the rest...

Brian Wilson - Smile
Olympic Hopefuls - The Fuses Refuse To Burn
Danger Mouse - The Grey Album
Prince - Musicology
The Roots - The Tipping Point
Sloan - Action Pact
Jimmy Eat World - Futures
Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs

Comments

Anonymous said…
Paul-

Wow, you have a lot of willpower to hold off until February to make your list. I could barely wait and end up working on a one-month lag every year because of all the releases I skipped by making it early.

Hey, where did you get your copy of Danger Mouse? I've always been curious about it. Anywhere online I can download it with out having my computer hijacked?

Betty Rocker
12:41 PM
Paul V. Allen said…
Betty,

Believe me, I'm usually thinking about my year-end list as early as July, so I don't have that much willpower.

I found the Danger Mouse album for sale at a local record store (I won't name it...I don't want to get them in trouble) but it was a very pleasant surprise...the price wasn't even inflated. I got the last copy they had and haven't seen it since.
6:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12 More by Collective Soul

  Sometimes an artist just needs 12  more  songs to summarize their career. Case in point... Collective Soul released a pretty decent best of compilation - 7even Year Itch: 1994-2001 - nearly a quarter of a century ago, but there's been nothing to summarize their output since then. Considering that output consists of seven albums and a couple of EPs, we've got our work cut out for us. (Since the band stopped having "hits" in 2009, most of these are just my personal preference, though I did give the singles first consideration). 1. "Better Now" (from Youth , 2004) "Better Now" is buzzy burst of optimism that has stood the test of time/\. 2. "There's a Way" (from Youth , 2004) Great riff, great chorus, great bridge, great song. 3. "What Can I Give You" (from Afterwords , 2007) Fascinating structure on this one: It starts out somewhat pedestrian, then goes into a soaring chorus followed by an even more melodic post-chorus, the...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Unlikely Musical Life of Tom Kelly

You may not know the name Tom Kelly, but I guarantee that you've sung along to songs he wrote.  Born in West Lafayette, Indiana in 1952, Tom moved to Effingham, Illinois when he was 11 years old, just in time to witness the Beatles' debut on Ed Sullivan. Bit by the rock music bug, he joined a local band called the Trifaris, singing and playing bass. His family moved back to Indiana in '66. When Tom finished high school, he decided to go to college in Illinois, but his choice was made based on extracurricular factors, not academic ones. "I started at Eastern [Illinois University] because there was a band,” he told the Effingham Daily News in 2011, “Then I transferred to Southern [Illinois University] because there was another band.”  Champaign, Illinois  Continuing his college hopping, Tom headed closer to home to attend Purdue, and there he had a group called The Gaping Huggers, comprised of former fellow Trifari JC Marshall on drums, and University of Illino...
Post a Comment
Read more

86. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers (2005)

Very few things in life can sustain the same level of excitement from beginning to end, and The Magic Numbers' debut album is no exception. Like a party that's loud, full and hoppin' from the get-go and then eventually dwindles down to a quiet few, the CD makes its statement early and then fades away. Mornings Eleven is a helluva opener. It consists of two separate sections; the first makes you want to shake your ass, the second makes you want to swoon. Going from country-rock boogie to '50s doo-wop harmony, the two movements spend the song alternating back and forth, and it's effective enough to make the 5-and-a-half minute running time seem too short. As the album continues that becomes a recurring theme. The songs are long, but rarely overstay their welcome. That's a tribute to Romeo Stodart's compositions, but another factor may be that the group consists of two sets of brothers and sisters (the Allman Brothers would be proud). I believe that familial s...
12 comments
Read more