1.) ARCADE FIRE – The Suburbs: My admiration for The Arcade Fire has been no secret. Long before this album, I was a huge fan, but then about a week before hearing this masterpiece, I got to see them perform live in Toronto. Seeing a band with so much musical depth is rare these days, and they truly were a joy to watch. The album has instant classics, such as the title track, Ready to Start, Modern Man, Rococo, and City with No Children. But the best song is easily We Used to Wait. I like to wake up in the morning to this song. And if you haven’t seen the game-changing video for that song, please stop reading this and click here right now. Simply type in your address and watch the video take place in your hood. (Note: Works best with Google Chrome)
2.) THE BLACK KEYS – Brothers: Coming in at a very close second is The Black Keys, whose album is just utterly amazing. I saw these guys unknowingly when I went to see Jack Johnson and Broken Social Scene at the Osheaga Festival in 2008, and they were one of the bands that opened for them. I remember being pretty impressed, but not to the point that I ever thought they could put together a thing of beauty. That is what Brothers is – beautiful. A pure throwback to the Led Zeppelin style of jazzy, classic rock which seems to have died in the early 80s, but is revived here with a splice of modern rock twisted in. The album opens with such an amazing song (Everlasting Light), and then you just keep expecting to get let down with every song to follow, but it never happens.
3.) MGMT – Congratulations: MGMT is a band I have only just got into in 2009. So I am not completely familiar with their old work, thus I don’t know how they compare to their old glory days. But this album rocked. Congratulations and Brian Eno were two songs that stayed in my playlist all summer long. The album plays really well as a whole, and it is definitely worth checking out.
4.) GORILLAZ – Plastic Beach: Pretty amazing stuff from one of the most anticipated albums of the year. This is again another album that plays beautifully from start to finish, and in other years, this would probably be number one. Gorillaz, and more specifically Blur frontman – Damon Albarn – has found out to balance the delicate balance between rock, pop and hip hop. Gorillaz has become more of a phenomenon now, rather than four animated characters, and any artist is welcome to join and explore the depths of their artistry here.
5.) HOLE – Nobody’s Daughter: Because of the drama that is Courtney Love, I don’t think anyone gave this album a proper chance. I did, and I thought it was a successful comeback for the remnants of what once was Hole. Love sings with such passion in her voice, and I can truly feel her agony in such songs as Nobody’s Daughter, Skinny Little Bitch and the epic Letter to God. Not their best work for sure, but a return to form. Where they go from here remains to be seen.
Honorable Mentions:
BEACH HOUSE – Teen Dream, CARIBOU – Swim, VAMPIRE WEEKEND – Contra, BROKEN BELLS – Broken Bells, KINGS OF LEON – Come Around Sounddown – read a wegotthiscovered.com review of Kings of Leon that I don’t agree with here.
Albums I still haven’t hear fully:
BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH – Light the Horizon, THE NATIONAL – High Violet, SPOON – Transference, THE DEAD WEATHER – Sea of Cowards, PAVEMENT – Quarantine the Past
Disappointments:
EMINEM – Recovery, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE – Forgiveness Rock Record – Two of my favorite artists/bands come forth with huge disappointments. Not to say there weren’t good songs on these albums, but overall they were lacking and not what I expect from such top-notch talent.
I am sure plenty will disagree, so feel free to tell me what an idiot I am on our brand new forum.
And coming soon, the most anticipated albums left in 2010. Noticeably absent from this list are any hip-hop albums. That is because the best ones are coming out at the end of the year. The updated list including the latest stuff will be out at the end of the year. Will Kanye sneak into the top spot? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Also, at the end of the summer I listed my top songs of the summer. Read that list here.