:: Sunday, November 30, 2003 ::

James' Top 10 Albums Of 2003, 5-1

#5 ~ Penalty Life ~ The Pillows
I wasn’t expecting these guys to pop up in 2003, but then again I don’t really keep up with the latest happenings in the Japanese music industry. After hearing their awesome AWESOME work on the FLCL anime soundtracks, I snatched up this album without questioning it’s quality; a very wise move indeed. From the very first explosive guitar riff to the last harmonic fade out, these guys have taken pop rock to a peak consisting of an irrisistable blend of American and Japanese music and language. This stuff can easily be enjoyed by mainstream USA, I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before I hear The Pillows on my local radio…



4 ~ Poodle Hat ~ Weird Al
I actually skipped over writing this review, and now I feel like I am rushing an not giving it the attention it deserves. It’s fucking hilarious… it’s nothing revolutionary from Al, but it shows that once you become a dude in your 40s your career as an artist certainly doesn’t have to be waning. I’d have to say I love “Party at the leper colony” most, the title caught my attention before I ever even heard it. “A complicated song” was one of those songs I just loved sharing with people and watching them crack up as they listened and thought of how stupid Avril Lavigneneensfasee is. The greatest thing of all though was the MTV special accompanying this album, where he totally rips up Eminem. Bravo.



3 ~ Everything to Everybody ~ Barenaked Ladies
I was sold after stunt. I went back and listened to Rock Spectacle and some of their earlier stuff and only craved more. When Maroon came out in late 2000, I bought it the week it came out without hearing a single song from the album beforehand; I knew that I could trust BNL to put out music of high calibur. Fastforward to early 2003, where I was reading www.bnlblog.com and tracking their studio progress of their new album. They wrapped up in June and there wasn’t an update on their site for about three months, and after that frustrating time I heard the first single from the album, ‘Another Postcard’. It sounded exactally like the Barenaked Ladies, except that was the problem; this song could have easily been from the Stunt sessions and didn’t offer anything new! Sure it was catchy, and I do like the song, but I was afraid if I was just going to get a cookie-cutter album from the amazing minds of the guys in BNL. Luckily October came around and I wasn’t disappointed- Everything to Everybody is one of the most authentic albums of the year. The melodies are genuine, and much more piano-driven than in previous albums- I love it. I hope I get to see these guys on tour soon.



2 ~ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot ~ The Flaming Lips
There are several items on these lists that aren’t literally from within the last year, but are things I’ve discovered in the past year and they are simply too great to not mention here. Enter The Flaming Lips. This album came out in July of 2002 so it is still fairly recent. What could make an album so great as to rival the spectacular Hail to the Thief? Vision and growth. These guys have a long history from what I’ve read, and as I begin to dig into their music of the past (the only song I had heard of theirs before was ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’) I’m amazed at how they’ve matured from gigs where their encore was the batman theme to the simple yet profound chords and lyrics in “Do You Realize” off of this album. Everything flows nicely, tied loosely together with the concept of “Yoshimi” battling the “Pink Robot” and puts a light spin on the age old man versus machine concept. Also I can play a few of the songs on this album on guitar \m/



1 ~Hail to the Thief ~ Radiohead
It’s perfect. They are my favorite band that is still together (only Pink Floyd stands above them on my list). I wish I had listened to people earlier when they were telling me about radiohead, and had downloaded a few more songs than just Idioteque and The National Anthem. Dear Asa-the-pothead-who-sat-behind-me-in-french-last-year: I’m sorry for not taking your advice. That being said, this is one of those albums which I will be playing for my kids when I grow up and telling them about how all was not lost when I was a kid, and that we still had some really innovative, talented bands from my generation. Actually these guys have been at it for over a decade, but within the past 6 (and especially 3) they have really taken off and there’s no stopping them. God, what can I say to describe this album? Every single fucking song is so catchy and deep and means so much on so many levels. I’m doing it injustice by attempting to explain it in words… for God’s sake just go buy this piece of history.

:: Floydthebarber 11/30/2003 10:17:00 AM [+] ::
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