My Top 250 Albums (81-90)

81. CITY & COLOUR – SOMETIMES
(2005 – T10 G9 B4 UB3)

Dallas Green of Alexisonfire’s debut solo album is to be found at number 81. This was released between the wonders of “Watch Out” and “Crisis” and offered a completely different side to the Alexisonfire co-frontman and lead guitarist. the album is almost purely acoustic with no instruments other than an acoustic guitar and some strings and piano at times. no drums in sight…. and at the risk of sounding proper soppy……its beautiful. The range and pureness of his voice is shown off in all songs but particularly in the opening track singing one too many keys high for me to join in at least. The thing he manages to do best is have powerful sounding ends, just as in “Like Knives” with the full pure emo sounding “caaaaan I haaave you” belted out and in “Day Old Hate” with the line “the things we do just to stay alive” sung in various ways. Two of my favourites off the album come toward the end with “Comin’ Home” and “Casey’s Song” which was used by me on an early mix CD for Jess. He’s still pumping out the solo albums, being up to 5 now, but none has reached the quality of the first. To be honest despite being 14 years old now this one is still growing on me. “Hello I’m In Delaware” for example could easily be an Ultimate Banger, but 81 felt the right place for now. When this list started it was due to be in the 160’s before edging its way up when reviewing for upcoming albums.

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82. CRASHLAND – GLUED
(2000 – T12 G9 B6 UB1)

Another South Wales band in Crashland next. They only released this one album and an EP which is a great shame. To liken them to some bands they are kinda a cross between Wannadies and maybe Symposium. They do power pop with a hint of punk. The album has a mix of songs from the string filled surprise majesty of “Collide Again” to the spiky punk pop of “Submission”. Most of the best stuff happens early on with the Supergrass-esque “Modern Animal” through to the summery ” Lemonade”. The title track also does the quiet verse, loud chorus thing to perfection, even including an delicate little xylophone section (specific instrument is possibly different, before complaints). The album lags a bit toward the end but it is still an enjoyable romp and a shame they didn’t get to do more. PS. Their Spotify page is full of loads of stuff that isn’t theirs.

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83. REUBEN – IN NOTHING WE TRUST
(2007 – T11 G9 B4 UB3)

Reuben finally appear. They are one of my favourite top awesome bands. They popped out 3 albums during the mid-00’s before splitting. Singer Jamie Lenman is now having a so far very eclectic solo career. Reuben have been described as anything from Brit-rock, to alternative Metal and in one song they can cover all territories. They are like a more adventurous Hundred Reasons (who came from the same vicinity of southern England) and at times way heavier. This was their 3rd and last album, their other 2 are way higher up the chart. If you’ve never heard of Reuben this album is in no way a gateway album into them, this is bar far the weirdest of the 3 in terms of song structure. The album is still full of big ballsy vocal-ed choruses and throaty screams and all the riffs you would want, just put together in a much more non-conventional manner. Single “Deadly Lethal Ninja Assassin” is definitely one of the “poppier” tracks, with is awesome sing along chorus and vocal melodies of the 2nd half which feature Frank Turner (of Million Dead and well Frank Turner) and Paul Townsend (of the already mentioned Hundred Reasons). “Good Luck” is an acoustic duet track with a female singer and is great stuff. My favourite track though is the ridiculous “We’re All Going Home In An Ambulance” where the famous version with the f-word thrown in is randomly added in at one point. The song also has massive riffs and general mentalist stuff going on throughout before the traditional big ending. The albums not higher in the chart as some songs are just too odd “Crushed Under the Weight of Enormous Bullshit” has a great name but is basically the Psycho stabbing noise on repeat somehow made into a song. But that’s Reuben!! last night we watch the Reuben Live DVD to relive their glories, all of which is available on youtube.

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84. RISE AGAINST – SIREN SONG OF THE COUNTER-CULTURE
(2004 – T12 G12 B6 UB0)

Rise Against appear for the 4th time on my list with their 3rd release. This time its their first release under a major label which almost inevitable comes with a slightly more accessible sound, even so this is still more hardcore than the ones heard so far in my list (which all came later chronologically in their career). This one when it first came out was a disappointment to me but has grown on me since and has also crept up this chart as I’ve gone through it, almost appearing a couple of times before, but avoiding it after re-assessment. Released at the height of the Iraq War and George W Bush times (though most would take him now over Trump in a blink of an eye) and with their obvious political name they kick off the album in the style you’d expect with “State of The Union”. PS I actually wrote this before hearing the comment on the live version of the track below. This is is definitely the heaviest, fastest and most hardcore the album gets; a true banger.

The remainder of the album dips into hardcore occasionally but is generally more melodic, especially in choruses like those on “Anywhere But Here” and “Paper Wings”. For me though they hadn’t quite perfected that style yet and so these are some of the weaker songs on the album. The strong point for me is the middle section from the slower “Blood to Bleed” to the catchy riff filled “Tip The Scales”. “Swing Life Away” is towards the end as is maybe their biggest career song and is probably their purest acoustic one too. 2 more left to come from the old Rise Against.

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85. SAOSIN – SAOSIN
(2006 – T12 G12 B5 UB1)

Saosin, pronounced “Say-o-sen” apparently, means ‘careful’ in Chinese… also apparently. They are a emo/post-hardcore (whichever you will) band from California, who perhaps don’t do anything too original, the screaming vocal is less of a feature and on the face of it the band could easily pass you by. They have done 3 albums and this was their debut after a decent EP. The part that helps make this album great for me is in the drumming. It really stands out with all the extra fills and helps makes what may be forgettable into much more urgent sounding and generally more interesting. They also have a knack for a big sounding echoey chorus. Most of the best songs for me are in the first half with “Sleepers” in particular standing out, as I say there are some ridiculous drum fills in there. “Follow And Feel is in a similar vein and the better ones for me are the faster songs. There are some great slower ones on there too like “Voices” and “You’re Not Alone”. Their later 2 albums had a good percentage of good tracks on there but not too many bangers.

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86. THE LIVING END – ROLL ON
(2000 – T14 G13 B5 UB1)

The Living End return with their 2nd album in the list and their 2nd album of their career. For a while not long after I bought it this was one of my favourite albums, the appeal has dropped a bit but its still a cracking set of rock n rolling, stand up double bass filled, punk anthems. This album compared to their first amps up the solos and has more varied song structures and is generally bigger and better. The start isn’t the greatest though with the title track “Roll On”, it’s alright, and there are some solid songs after but the fun begins when “Carry Me Home” kicks in full of fast paced riffs and raucousness. A true ultimate banger, to only ever be played loud. “Don’t Shut the Gate” is basically a riff song and even has bit that sounds like it belongs in a Tarantino film. As the album moves into the 2nd half the songs continue to have some great noodly solos and big choruses and endings. The biggest of choruses is saved for the last track “Uncle Harry” who apparently is a bit of a drunk and pisses in the barth (sic) a lot. Its a great chant along song with various time changes and a great live track. If the world was better this would be a great replacement for “Come On Eileen” at weddings. “Carry Me Home” has to be the track to put the vid for as the singles weren’t the greatest, so here’s a live version.

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87. STRAIGHT LINES – PERSISTENCE IN THIS GAME
(2010 – T12 G11 B5 UB1)

Not to be confused with an 80’s crooning cheesy rock band as Spotify has, this South Wales have been described as a cross between Green Day and The Wombats, which is probably fairly close to their sound. The vocals are more cross between Coheed & Cambria and Billy Talent though being on the higher end of the spectrum. They also remind me of circa 2000 band Crashland if anyones heard of them… if not you soon will be. I first heard of Straight Lines when I saw them support the Get Up Kids in 2010 and enjoyed their support slot so much that I bought the album then and there. With experience the CD’s you end up picking up off support bands at gigs tend to be disappointing affairs, but in this case def not as it resides at 87 in my chart which is solidly in the 9/10 rating range. The album gets off to a cracking start with 4 bangers in a row, from the high pace pop punk of “Verses The Allegiance” complete with gang chants towards the end to the uber melodic flowing “Loose Change” to the slower “All My Friends Have Joined The Army”. The strength of this band is in the structure of the songs, as they are able to mix in a few changes without being jarring and all pleasant on thine ears. There’s a relative lull in the middle of the album, including the single below, before the UB’er “Oh Blue Eyes” comes on. A slow song at first that builds to a point by the middle that has one of my favourite bits of any song in starting from about 3:30 in culminating in the big bridge middle section. Simple but effective. They did a second album which had its moments but nowhere near as good and since have done the odd song but I believe they have now split, though I can’t find any confirmation of this. Seemingly they lacked ‘persistance for this game’ (see what I did there?)

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88. HUNDRED REASONS – KILL YOUR OWN
(2006 – T11 G10 B5 UB1)

Hundred Reasons and the vocals of Colin Doran have had a few mentions on the list so far, but this is their first of 2 albums to appear. This was their 3rd release after the slightly disappointing “Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge” which was just outside my list at #286. I am actually relatively new to this album as I missed their latter 2 albums of the 4 they did before splitting, so I only got them about 3 years ago and this one I’m definitely glad I did. While not as good as their debut it is still an album full of Hundred Reasons trademark big choruses and riffs. The opening 2 tracks are just this way with godzilla sized stomping riffs and “Kill Your Own” with its guitar squealing melody layered on top. The middle of the album has 2 classic slower songs in “The Chance” and “The Perfect Gift” which are very much in the vein of “Falter” off their debut. “The Pretending” at the end of the album returns us to the big riffs before the echoey fade away of “Beathe Again” closes it off. This is very much an album that has grown on me, similarly to all their albums. I don’t often reach for a Hundred Reasons album to put on, but when a songs comes on a mix in the car or whatever, I’m always reminded of their glories.

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89. THE LONELY ISLAND – INCREDIBAD
(2009 – T16 G13 B6 UB0)

Well here’s a change up! Lonely Island (if you haven’t heard of them) are a comedy trio who met in school and then went onto be on Saturday Night Live in the US, have now made several albums and films (one of which i didnt realise was related to them, one of the three directed the awesome MacGruber!). Andy Samberg is the most famous of the three and generally leads the songs. The music is generally a take on modern music particularly Rap and the Hip Hops as I believe the kids call it, and they get the sound spot on (as far as I can tell anyway)

They’ve done 3 albums and a couple of albums which are basically them but as soundtracks to films. This was their first though and is by far the best. The opening track sets the vibe with the work “wack” being said far too often in “Who said we’re wack?”, other favourites are about premature fulfillment in “Jizz In My Pants”, being on a boat, punching people in their jeans, average work days “Like A Boss” and “We Like Sportz” (which has some other versions based on the same style of nerdy awkward rap). There are short interludes my favourite being “Normal Guy”. There are many guest stars such as Justin Timberlake in “Dick In A Box” and Natalie Portman’s curse filled “Natalie’s Rap”. There are very few tracks that aren’t either funny and or genuinely musically good. My favourite track I think is “Lazy Sunday” which was an SNL sketch originally, and is about a gang of nerds going to the cinema, which is something I think most of us can identify with.

Their other albums also have some classics such as “Throw It On the Ground” and “Turtleneck and Chain”, I’ll include some in the comments as it’s all genius.

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90. WARS – WE ARE ISLANDS, AFTER ALL
(2016 – T10 G7 B5 UB2)

Metalcore band Wars, or thats how most reviews seem to define them, are probably the closest location wise to Coventry, hailing from Rugby, on my list (sorry there’s no Enemy, Specials or Thoria… or The Standoff (me old band, for those not in the know)). They have so far released and EP and this their debut album. I also agree with most reviews that the album does not offer much in originality but what they do they are very good at. The main criticism would be they need to mix up the clean chorus, scream verse a little, which they do successfully on “Still Waters Run Deep” but others although are kinda following the formula, though successfully. Opener “The Art of Knowing” was the first thing I heard by them and is a cracker of a song with a solid riff throughout. Colin Doran of Hundred Reasons vocals guest on the other ultimate banger “That By Discord Things Increase” (he’s been mentioned a few times on the list, but no sign of his band on the list…. yet!). His presence lifts the song from an average banger to ultimate status when he joins about halfway through. It all starts to merge a little bit towards the end and there’s a couple of songs I’m not so keen on, but its a good debut. Their new songs I’ve heard sound good but not great so far so we will see how much this is a one off.

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