Best album of the year so far

So it's almost December and almost the end of the year. Only six weeks left til we bid adieu to the year that was. And so I deem it time to declare what you believe the best album of the year so far is. I have three, and they are as follows:

William Shatner--Has Been

OK, I know that The Transformed Man (featuring covers of Mr TAmbourine Man and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds) was a travesty, but this album is the exact opposite. With Ben Folds (of Ben Folds Five) on the helm, this album flows well and is explosive from the opening of "Common People" then mellows down with the sobering, depressing, sad tale of "What Have You Done." The energy comes back in a big way with Shatner's scream-fest with punk-icon and bad stand up comic Henry Rollins on "I Can't Get Behind That". The album is brilliant in a way you thought that Shatner could never be. Check your reservations at the door as you listen to this album.

Modest Mouse--Good News For People Who Love Bad News

As a disclaimer, I'll tell you that I never got into Modest Mouse before hearing Float On on the radio (back before I had a CD player in my car). I had heard the Moon and Antarctica, but I could never get into it. So maybe I'm a consumer whore buying what they tell me, but this album is just brilliant. The Horn Intro is a brief, ten second spasm of horns...then the album begins. All the songs are beautifully sculpted pop masterpieces from the catchy-as-all-hell "Float On" to the almost haunting, almost evil-clownish "The Devils Workday" which features the same horn intro as...Horn Intro. Great album from the dysfunctional little band that could.

Elliott Smith--From A Basement On The Hill

Some songs and some albums mean more than merely all the parts put together. The music alone is enough to make this album a very good album. It has Smith's trademark ability to make his sadness and tragedy seem like a singalong even though inside it makes you want to weep. The album has acoustic Either/Or-style songs alongside almost orchestral Figure 8-style songs. But what makes the album more than just the sum of its parts is the fact that this is Smith's last album he recorded before his mysterious death a year and change ago (it still hasn't been declared a suicide yet). The album will make you cry and sing at the same time, a rare feat.

Those are mine--and my reasons. I hope that you will add your reasons and not just list the albums.

I'm pretty sure this is already a thread but anyways...

Prince-Musicology
Why? It's Prince back on form he hasnt made such a good album since Sign O' the Times. It's pure class and is a perfect blend of funk and soul. I've never heard guitar quite like it especially on 'Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance'- its crystal.
Anyone who wants to knock him ought to listen to the album and there's no way that Prince can be dismissed as a contender for one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Kate xx

36 Crazyfists - A Snow Capped Romance
IMO best album of the year. Better than their debut in everyway, and gets the mix of nu metal and screamo just right.

Soulfly - Prophecy
Fear Factory - Archetype
Static X - Beneath Between Beyond

Machine Head - Through The Ashes Of The Empire
Machine Head going back to their old-school. Not their strongest but still a good effort.

God Forbid - Gone Forever
Shadows Fall - War Within
The Dillenger Escape Plan - Miss Machine

Head Automatica - Decadence
Daryl Palumbo + Dan The Automator = suprisingly good. Very good in fact, emo-ish vocals set over disco style electro beats. Almost mesmerizing in places.

Otep - House Of Secrets
Lamb Of God - Ashes Of The Wake

Alexisonfire - Watch Out!
Obviously, it would never compare with s/t, but it certainly stood out from the crowd of crappy screamo released this year.

Viktor Vaughn - Venomous Villain
Very weird, very experimental, and very short, but Doom's skills shine through, and the production is ridiculously good.

"A Crow Left Of The Murder"-Incubus

After producing an album chocked full of intense, potential-filled music with "Make Yourself" then defining it for their 2001, somewhat coming of age album "Morning View". Incubus in my opinion have this year put out their most intriguing, mature and advanced album to date. With the impactful and full of life title track to drawn-out, melodic and intriguing songs such as "Sick Sad Little World", Incubus combined the best of all their albums to become a band who have gone through childhood, puberty and now finally reach manhood.

"Pearl Necklace"-Colour Of Fire.

A band little known from a York in England, Colour Of Fire aren't what they appear to be at first glance. Yet if Rock has taught us anything it's that bands full of skinny pale white guys is no bad thing as lots of them can Rock with the best. Colour of Fire are no exception, believe me. In a UK Music scene where the equivelent to the Emo rush is a sudden uprising of Indie sound-alikes, Colour of Fire breath life into a music scene too often revered for it's global exports such as The Cure, The Beatles, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin and more recently Muse. Looking beneath the surface rewards you if you hit gold and with this band you are guaranteed. Two vocalists that are also the guitarist, a bassist and a drummer, simple set up. Owen Richards' recessed drone echoes throughout the songs on this album like ghost, getting to the very depths of your ear while Matthew Lunn brings in his trademark part-croon part-lung busting chorus machine voice in to either back up or lay the base for Owen to do his thing. Make no mistake, these are both lead singers. "A Pearl Necklace for her Majesty" is a mid tempo heavy hitter that dangles you over the edge like a worm on a hook before quickly pulling you out of the mouth of the very fish itself. On slower, quieter songs such as "The Company Won't Colour Me", the song reaches fever pitch at the very choruses and sometimes when you least expect as a slow, brooding, slightly paranoid backdrop sets the stage for a ripping out pouring. In my opinion the best British album of this year and candidate for best of the year overall. This is a band to watch.

"Leviathan"-Mastodon.

Well, the band are called Mastodon and the album is entitled "Leviathan", they live up to the implications. This album is a beast. Do you expect anything less than a full-on, heavy metal assault to your senses? Well expect that, expect more and expect heavy metal to be brought back like the beast never even left. From the opening quick variated riff of the opening Rock hurricane "Blood and Thunder" with it's intense drum signatures and guitar riffs, to the spooky and mysterious intro to "Megalodon" which shifts quite surprisingly mid song.....a few times. This album is a heavy hitting, strong, heavy metal punch to the face. References to HG.Wells novel "Moby Dick" are prolific in songs and song titles but make no mistake about it, the sheer magnitude of the sea can't face this album. Toward the end the hyperactive and insane "Aqua Dementia" featuring guest lyrics from Neurosis frontman Scott Kelly, boils your blood only to be soothed and cooled by the following 13+ minute opus "Hearts Alive", followed by the quite heartachingly gorgeous acoustic instrumental closer, "Joseph Merrick". Album of the year candidate from Mastodon, the future of Heavy Metal.

-AC

Nas-Illmatic (10th anniversary edition)

i actually had never listened to this cd until i downloaded the 10th anniversry edition, after all it came out when i was 6, so out of all the songs and albums i've heard this year i'd say this is top even though it's 10 years old it's still great.

The 80's Matchbox B-Line Disaster ~ The Royal Society
Only album i've really enjoyed from this year.

The Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster - Royal Society
quality album, a perfect compliment to Horse of the Dog and i think another decent step forward for the band, who seem unable to do wrong atm.

Alexisonfire - Watch Out!
obvious really 😛 amazing album, and i have to say i prefer this to s/t

Panic DHH - s/t
really good, especially for a first album....Robbie Furze's (guitarist for Alec Empire's intelligence and sacrifice tour) band.... quality mix of Industrial and Punk.

I pesonally think the best album of the year is The Libertines- The Libertines.

I'm gonna make a prediction and say that Nirvana's With the Lights out and the Adolescents' OC Confidential will be the best.

Originally posted by 113
Nas-Illmatic (10th anniversary edition)

i actually had never listened to this cd until i downloaded the 10th anniversry edition, after all it came out when i was 6, so out of all the songs and albums i've heard this year i'd say this is top even though it's 10 years old it's still great.

Hey, hey, rereleases are cheating.

And I don't think that the Nirvana album will be the best because usually post-mortem albums aren't that great if they weren't being worked on at the time of death.

lets see, from the albums i´ve heard i have to say:

Mão Morta - Nus:

mixture between music and poetry, after 20 years Mão Morta is still one of the best bands alive, and if you think they´re music sounds tired, forget it, they are still here to give us the best of them. based on the poem "Uivo" (i think its "howl" in english) from Allen Ginsberg, Nus is a very rich album in terms of lyrics, a very poetic piece of art.
we can count with the participation of MartaRen (from Sloppy Joe) and the actor Pedro Laginha in the first song (Gumes), and also Miguel Guedes (from Blind Zero) in the second one (Gnoma).

Ennio Morricone & Dulce Pontes - Focus:

Ennio is a genius that we all know, now join to his great classics, the beautiful voice of Dulce pontes and you will get this fantastic piece of art, simply beautiful.

Plaza - Meeting point:

finally the Praça Brothers are back, after working together in Turbojunkie, and working separately in other bands, they´re back together with (don´remember the name of the third member) they are Plaza, a rectrofuturistic band, that provides us with a great album full of the best electro pop of the moment.

PS: i didn´t put albums like eMOTIVe (A Perfect Circle)because it is a cover album and BA BA TI KI DI DO (Sigur Rós) because it is a ep.

hey electro, i didn´t knew William Shatner had a cover from common people, its great thanks.

i bought today "damage" the album from Blues Explosion, AWESOME album, i´m loving the album, one of the best of the year, featuring collaborations with: martina topley-bird, chuck D, dan the automator, david holmes, and dj shadow.

i also bough "ódio" from Bizarra Locomotiva", i haven´t finish of listening the album (i´m doing it right now) but its also amazing, great album.

Being these are the only discs I've bought for myself in the past 2-3 years I'd reccomend:

Ill Nino - Revolution Revolution
For just being the best disc available in the world!
If you don't know them then think of them as a MUCH better version of Slipknot, They put on a good show and play exelent music. They're first disc is like a greatest hits album, all the songs are equaly good and I can just listen to it over and over.

Ill Nino - Confession
Not as good as the first disc but by no means is it a bad disc, it's just nearly impossable to make a disc as good as the first one. If you liked the first disc then you'll defenetly like the second one as well, probably just not as much.

You should seriosly at least download some of their songs to see if they'r to your liking. I don't know why but I got the impression that not many people know them.

Originally posted by norrin radd
PS: i didn´t put albums like eMOTIVe (A Perfect Circle)because it is a cover album and BA BA TI KI DI DO (Sigur Rós) because it is a ep.

Ba Ba - Ti Ki - Di Do is a work of genius tho'

Two sheet-fed music boxes, a glockenspiel, percussion from ballet shoes on a rack & recordings of Merce Cunningham's voice and tap-dancing. Now THATS music.

hey electro, i didn´t knew William Shatner had a cover from common people, its great thanks.

no prob. I'm here to serve.

Green Day - American Idiot

not chosen simple because of my hate for bush, but because this cd truely kicks arse. after releasing the much critisized cd Warnihg, this is Greenday stepping away from music that sounds like it was made to be played in elevators and step towards their older more impresive Dookie and Nimrod music. Great guitar work, amazing vocals, brilliant drumming and awsome switches in tempo come together to make one of the years best punk rock albums!

Incubus- A Crow Left of the Murder
AC put it nicely when he said this band have matured a lot. I like almost all of their music, but "Make Yourself" and "Morning View" were just fun to listen to, whereas ACLOTM is a lot more serious and introspective.

I also liked Green Day's newest album, but I'm not sure I would put it up there as one of the best albums of the year. Same with eMOTIVe.

eMOTIVe had some very good tracks. But they were mostly offset by some very bad tracks. I don't think that an 'album of the year' can afford to have a bad track, let alone two or three.

I didn't think it had any truly bad tracks. There were a number that were just average, but they could've done much worse.

Arcade Fire- Funeral
Great cd, truely should have more attention on them.

The Killers- Hot Fuss
Awesome cd, I don't think there's actually one bad song on the album.

Interpol- Antics
Perfect Album, but it's hard to beat "Turn On The Bright Lights".