My Top 250 Albums (161-170)

161. WEEZER – PACIFIC DAYDREAM
(2017 – T10 G9 B3 UB0)

Today it’s another band with a lot of albums in the list, in fact its the band with the most on there with 8 and this is the 3rd so far. “Pacific Daydream” was for the most part a big disappointment after the return to form “White Album” but its a lot lot better than this years “Black Album”. It kicks off pretty much with a song that could easily have been on the “White Album” in “Mexican Fender”, then what follows is new territory for Weezer and a vision of what would happen but a lot worse on the “Black Album”. The songs are full of samples and effects and guitar takes a back step, “Beach Boys” and “Happy Hour” are catchy as ebola though, with less tragic effects. “Feels Like Summer” was the main single and took me a while to get into, but it’s good enough, the acoustic version is infinitely better. “Weekend Woman” is like a kinda christmasy sounding 60s song and “Any Friend of Diane’s” is def one of the better tracks. “QB Blitz” on the other hand has a terrible chorus and is the only song not to make my Good playlist.

 

162. EMERY – WE DO WHAT WE WANT
(2011 – T10 G9 B3 UB0)

The 3rd Emery album on the list so far. This one follows very much in the same vein as “..In Shallow Seas We Sail” which we saw in the chart 2 weeks ago. As in the songs tend to compromise of a full range of noise from near metalcore to pure pop cleanliness. Its not as good as their early albums by a long shot but once used to it I enjoy all the album. “The Cheveral Glass” kicks things off in mentaloid fashion, before sounding briefly like a nursery rhyme before switching to the traditional Emery chorus. “The Curse of Perfect Days” chills things out a bit and is a bit more traditional in construction, but album favourite “I Never Got To See The West Coast” is basically an acoustic song which stands out against the ups and downs of the rest of the album. 3 Emery albums down, 3 still to come.

 

163. WE ARE THE OCEAN – CUTTING OUR TEETH
(2010 – T10 G9 B3 UB0)

We saw We Are The Ocean’s final album way back in early January and now we find them cutting their teeth with their debut album at 163. With this album they picked up the brit-post-hardcore baton dropped by Hundred Reasons when they split a couple of years earlier. The album has screaming vocals more prominently than their others (as was the thing at the time), but their best bits are always when the clean vocalist stretches his vocal chords. My 3 bangers off the album all happen to be the singles, but I didn’t realise that till recently as you never saw their videos anywhere at the time. It was a great debut that led onto better dare I say “more mature” things once their teeth were cut and the tooth fairy had been.

 

164. RISE AGAINST – ENDGAME
(2011 – T12 G10 B3 UB0)

Rise Against are a melodic hardcore band who consistently make great tunes. Their formula has not change much over their 8 albums but its all done so well and Tim McIlrath’s vocals are always so strong and distinctive. 6 of their 8 albums make my list so I’m clearly a fan. By the name you can tell they are pretty political, and while I have a great interest in politics I wouldn’t say I was remotely revolutionary. Rise Against don’t do dumb anti music though, such as Anti-Flag etc, where its all complaint and no solutions, they generally focus on causes or incidents such as in “Help Is On The Way” about the lack of response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “Make It Stop” is a bout bullying of kids at school focused on LGBT issues. Other favourites include “Satellite” and “Wait For Me”. This album isn’t as good as the best of their stuff but still gets a solid position on the chart.

 

165. CITY & COLOUR – BRING ME YOUR LOVE
(2008 – T12 G10 B3 UB0)

City and indeed Colour are just one man, that man is Dallas Green off of Alexisonfire. C&C are his side project/main project depending on the status of Alexisonfire, who appear to be making a return. He has now amassed 5 solo albums which are all acoustic based. Only the first 2 make my list but they all have their moments. This is his 2nd and it begins with the sorrowful and beautiful “Forgive Me”, from then on a fair chunk of the album circles around the topic of death, with the harmonica filled “Body In A Box” being about funerals and another favourite “Waiting…” saying that we are all just waiting to die. All joyous uplifting stuff. “This Girl” is a bit more happy celebrating about a girl (presumably his missus) who doesn’t ask for much so he wrote a song about her, while he tours round the world. The 2nd half of its 5 minutes turns into a right thigh slapping ho-down! It’s a great album to chill to and Dallas seems a proper nice humble dude too after hearing him on a podcast (100 Words Or Less) and seeing him live in the small Glee Club in Brum. Go listen and like!

 

166. DINOSAUR PILE-UP – 11:11
(2015 – T11 G9 B3 UB0)

When I first heard Leeds’ Dinosaur Pile-Up I did not expect to like them that much. They were supporting Weezer are a gig in Manchester and I quickly dismissed them as Nirvana wannabe’s with a tinge of Weezer in there (and I’m not much of a fan of Nirvana either). The singer even wanted to look like Kurt Cobain. A few songs in though and I was digging this stuff hard, especially when it came to a song about clothing that is on their 2nd album which is much higher in the chart. This is their 3rd album and kicks off with the odd but riffy “11:11”, not one of my favourite tracks but it grows on ya. “Red and Purple” races along at pace with the odd stop for a nice riff, “Grim Valentine” follows it sounding more like the Nirvana side of the band. “Might As Well” is much more melodic as is bonus track “Cross My Heart”. Having seen them live again a few , this time as support for Motion City Soundtrack, I was fully on board. They have a new album out later this year and a new song “Thrash Metal Cassette” was revealed on spotify yesterday which is already a banger.

 

167. ARMOR FOR SLEEP – SMILE FOR THEM
(2007 – T12 G10 B3 UB0)

Armor (Armour in English) For Sleep smashed out 2 albums between 2003 and 2007.  They were always a band carried on the wave of post-hardcore/emo bands of around that period but never quite reaching the crest of said wave to reach popular consciousness (shore?). Awkward metaphors aside they released each album as a kinda concept album covering a different topic on each; in this case it stardom. This is best demonstrated in “Smile For The Camera” which questions if the subject of the song is existing in Truman Show type reality. “Williamsburg i carried along by a catchy chorus and guitar melody (terrible video though, having just seen it for the first time). “Stars In Your Eyes” is not an ode to Matthew Kelly but is a boppy little number which follows “End Of The World” which apparently was in one of the Transformers soundtracks (take that as you will). Though this album was not as good as their other 2 it was still a solid effort despite a few misses.

 

168. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK – GO
(2012 – T11 G9 B3 UB0)

MCS are one of my top favourite bands and all of their 6 albums feature in the list, this one being their worst offering but it’s still a good album. This album tended to drop their iconic melodic moog sound a bit and focus on mid paced songs. Highlights include single “True Romance” has the classic MCS sound to it and an odd backwards recorded video. “Son of a Gun” is a primarily acoustic jaunt and “Happy Anniversary” is not as happy as it sounds and is a song full of atmosphere and is about the singers Grandma dying. Motion City went on to do 1 more album after this before doing a final tour and splitting. Singer Justin Courtney Pierre has recently released a solo album which goes along in the same vibe as MCS but without the moog.

 

169. DEAF HAVANA – MEET ME HALFWAY, AT LEAST
(2009 – T11 G9 B3 UB0)

This makes it Deaf Havana’s 3rd album in the chart and take the lead in that respect, but really they’ve shot proverbial loads too early, by clogging up the lower third of the list. This was their debut and only album with the scream vocalist involved and it a pretty strong contrast from their latest album which is far too commercial for me. This one kicks off with “This Town is Ours” and “Friends Like These” (the video of which includes synchronized pogo-ing which is a terrible thing for a band of grown men to do, still a great song though). “Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life” is a much slower affair, but the albums highlight. Later in the album “You Are Beautiful” is a song with a great chorus but a bit of a mess otherwise, similar with the final song on the album. When this first came out I always got them and Young Guns mixed up (though they have taken different paths since). The comparison wasn’t helped by the Young Guns vocalist appearing on “3 Cheers For The Easy Life”.

 

170. FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND – HOURS
(2005 – T11 G9 B3 UB0)  

FFAF were at the forefront of the forehead emo haircut style when they came to prominence in 2003 when they released their debut album. That though doesn’t make the list, this is their 2nd album of an eventual 7 they did. Their best work was on the first 2 EPs they released prior to the debut; but they can’t be included.  This album has what people describe as a more “mature” sound, I understand what is meant by that but its a tad snooty, either way that is what it has, especially in songs like “History” which is a favorite on here. “Streetcar” was another single that I enjoy, though it does contain a slightly cliche “I can’t feel the same about you anymore” multiple phone conversations going on in the middle. “Roses For The Dead” has a belter of a last quarter. The other albums FFAF did were never quite as good, they only had the odd good track as they quietly drifted off into the realms of emo/post-hardcore history.