This is a list of my top 250 albums as I posted them on Facebook during 2019.
Descriptions inside the links
Related Spotify playlist here:
Ultimate Bangers list filled with non Top 250 album tracks and new ones added as we go up the chart:
(T=Tracks, G=Good, B=Banger, UB=Ultimate Banger)
1. WEEZER – WEEZER (BLUE ALBUM)
(1994 – T10 G10 B10 UB10)Well we’ve finally got to the number 1 spot and as many may have predicted it is Weezer’s self titled debut, more commonly referred to as “The Blue Album”. I missed Weezer when they first appeared as I would have just been listening to chart pop when I was 13. My only exposure to Weezer was the “Buddy Holly” video which was given away on Windows 95 as an example of a video on a PC (oh the wonders of the modern world). But as i was a mid teen and didn’t buy CD’s or tapes at that point, didn’t think much more too it despite liking the song. So when, in August 1998, my Grandma sadly died which was the first death close to me, a week later my Grandad gave me a tenner to treat myself and the Blue Album was what I purchased. And what a purchase! 21 years later it is still my favourite and as you can see I rate every song as an ultimate banger. I mentioned yesterday that I had my chart lists from years yonder. This has always been hovering around the top 3 and generally number 1.
The album just has a cool but nerdy vibe to it. The production is perfect for it also, its not too crisp and sounds like they could have just jammed it out in the studio. The solos are perfect and are part of the songs development (compared to Green where they just simply follow the melody, or Maladroit where its jarringly different at times, 2 albums I can’t fully get on board with). The opener “My Name Is Jonas” opens with that folksy little acoustic riff before the grungy guitar blasts over it. The end section of “the workers are going home…” is magnificent, especially live when it feels like your singing a football song at full voice. “No One Else” is perhaps the closes to dropping out of UB territory but is still class, Rivers vocal change toward the end restores it to such a rating. “The World Has Turned…” is maybe in my top 3 on here. Perhaps not an obvious contender at first, but its just such a chilled ride, but gradually builds and the flowing from Rivers’ herrreeee into the solo at the end is just majestic. “Buddy Holly” everyone knows and is just a perfect piece of rock pop all to the iconic Happy Days video… (did you try the fish? yeah, thats not so good Al). “Undone – The Sweater Song” is a 5 minute song about pulling sweaters apart, starting with several chunks of a conversation about a party, why? who knows but its pure awesome. This is nerd cool at its best, the sing along chorus and drum change at a key moment is spot on. “Surf Wax America” is just full of Californianess with a nice half barbershop bit in the middle. “Say It Ain’t So” is an all time classic with its jazzy nice style intro and boisterously simple chorus and passionate vocals. “In the Garage” or gararrrge as they say in the US, is a joy of a song, the key change at the end and that solo… mmmmmmmm. “Holiday” has more awesome harmony vocals and just sounds like you are going on a holiday somehow, a proper belt it out song. The final track on the album, my list and perhaps my life (not now!!! at my funeral) is my going out song “Only In Dreams” The 8 minutes of this are just incredible and the slow developing guitar is incredible and the stuff falling from the ceiling at their Brum gig back in 2002, incredible. Just incredible.
So there we go, thank you for reading, commenting or just seeing the titles. I’ve fully loved doing this and its a once in a lifetime thing really. I’m getting totes emosh! Why would I ever do it again? Whatever will i do with my early evenings? How do I go on?! I have an idea for next year which is music related again but won’t do the daily barrage. Don’t forget the blog if you ever want to return to any of it, and the spotify playlists. So again thank you for enjoying, enduring or ignoring. =w=.
2. THE GET UP KIDS – SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT
(1999 – T12 G12 B12 UB11)
So close to number 1, this missed out by just one ultimate banger. This is what I would describe as emo (a word that is scorned by many and covers a large range nowadays with many definitions, and yes most music is emotional on some level, but what the hell does “rock” mean anyway?). For me this is pure emo. The vocals of Matt Pryor on this are never sung without feeling and the melodies that flow and build behind them just carry it perfectly. Now I used to do the old music spreadsheet way back in the day and looking back at them I have confirmed that this album was a slow grower for me. In 2000 it was #74, 2001 it was up to #54 but still beneath King Adora!! (christ, how tastes change). Sometime before 2003 it must have finally hit home and was up to #5 and by 2007 it was up to number 1 vying with tomorrows album. So basically it took me 8 years to fully appreciate its glories. (PS I stopped doing the music ratings then for another 10 years, distracted by girlfriends and enjoying life away from the computer, but now, as I approach my 39th birthday tomorrow, as a married dad, I’m back at it! full nerd life circle). Anyway the album, its got the passionate vocals as mentioned, the upbeat punk pop melodies without resorting to the cliche sound of palm mutes etc, and the choruses and verses flow into each other beautifully. There are also the slow numbers which are some of the highlights. “Holiday” blasts things off in perfect style before “Action & Action” brings the keyboards/moog further to the fore. Everytime I hear even a section of any these songs I’m fully engaged, it just hits all the right spots for me. “Valentine” is one of the slower songs, with its rolling drums and more piano led song. The 3 or 4 way vocal layering at the end is just perfect. “Ten Minutes” is the most famous song off the album I think and uses the other vocalist in the main and it was the first song I ever heard by them and at that time, before I’d even heard the word emo, they were just another pop punk band in my head with a nice little song. I would never have expected these songs to have grown on me so much. “The Company Dime” is the one song that didn’t quite reach ultimate banger level but its still a banger, but just not quite the level the other songs are. (listening to it now again though it could easily be one, even so it would still be 2nd and would have tied with 1st, so I’d just have to pick my favourite…. destroying the entire spreadsheet matrix world!!). “The Long Goodnight” is a proper glorious emotional song, the build up from halfway to 3/4s and then into the quiet finish is just a joy. “Close To Home” is in the upper echelons of ultimate bangers and then comes the final song “I’ll Catch You” which you can’t help but get the feels for. On the edition I have in a cardboard sleeve it came with 2 bonus tracks and these both are UB’s. Its just class all round.
Rock Sound placed this one at a way too low #102 but said this record paved the way for so many others, and I think for me it wasn’t until i heard those others that I fully appreciated this one.
3. HELL IS FOR HEROES – THE NEON HANDSHAKE
(2003 – T12 G12 B12 UB9)
The lowest step on the podium goes to Hell Is For Heroes and their debut album from 2003 (the year in which Rock Sound named it album of the year). The album came off the back of 4 singles released over 2 years, all full of blinding B-sides on top. The first single was for “Sick/Happy” and “Cut Down” released in 2001 and I got some limited edition numbered version of it, as I was all over this as it followed 2 years after the demise of Symposium who made up 2/5th of the band. By the time I saw them at Reading 2002 this was all they had released and after seeing them live I quickly knew they would be a contender for my favourite band. The album finally arrived in February 2003 and was chock full of bangers and at this stage more importantly nearly all ultimate bangers! It’s an album filled with giant guitars and huge choruses. None of it is complicated and the little melodic guitar parts are perfect in their simplicity. About 3 songs off this album have been ringtones on my phones as a result. The first 2 tracks “Five Kids Go” and “Out Of Reach” get us going but then a run of 9 UB’s starts on track 3. “Night Vision” was one of those prior released singles and has a classic little guitar melody which hooks you in. “Cut Down” has a norty (sic) little riff, which just needs blasting out at volume 12 (piss your turn it up to 11 crap, go 12!!). “Few Against Many” and “Three of Clubs” are possibly less obvious UBs but they just both have a big sound and massive endings. “Few Against Many” in particular has a fully beefed up stomping riff to finish with. “I Can Climb Mountains” is my current ring tone as the intro is perfect for it, probably my favourite track on the album the middle section with the “I can…” etc section is just awesome, then the “arms around it..” bit… ooomph!. “Disconnector” sounds more like what their later albums would go on to be. “You Drove Me To It” has lots of lyrics relating to jumping from buildings and originally was called “World Trade Centre” but clearly required a name change after the event of 9/11. I can’t find any evidence of this on t’internet but I’m sure that was the case. “Slow Song” is a simple genius of a song, the song title does it all with the song starting quietly and the simple melody repeats basically throughout, gradually building and building towards the massive crescendo ending. “Sick/Happy” adds some clicks and whistles to the sound with an electronic beat intro to launch its massive riffs off. “Retreat” finishes us off in echoey atmospheric style. I managed to see the entire album played in full a couple years ago on one of their teasing reunion tours, and they were top class as ever. We are still yet to hear anything new since 2007ish though, but there is hope.
Rock Sound as well as the 2003 award placed this at number 63 in their top 250 of the last 20 years calling it a cult classic.
4. WEEZER – PINKERTON
(1996 – T10 G10 B10 UB8)Now this will end or start some debates for sure. This is one of the 2 Weezer albums left on the chart, its a very predictable 2 also as it would be for any Weezer fan. I got both Weezer albums in 1998 after my musical awakening to alternative stuff in 1996/7, more details on how and why the first one when that arrives on the chart. I got this one a couple of months after it and on first listen it was pretty different. This album is a lot rawer in sound with feedback, lots of cymbal smashing drums, fuzzy guitars and solos and more strained vocals. It didn’t take long to pick up on the glories of this album though and soon it had overtaken Blue, but overtime Blue has re-clinched that Weezer number 1 spot for me. It wasn’t well appreciated by the press at the time though its now seen as a classic and one of the pioneers of the wide range that emo covers. The difference to Blue is obvious from the first song “Tired Of Sex”, not least from the edgier title, the moog, the rough bass line and feedback This song has one of the best Weezer solos and a great big ending. “Getchoo” I can be up and down on, right now its a UB, but sometimes it can dwindle on me when not feeling it. “No Other One” is similar in that way and poss one of the weaker tracks (relatively), it would still be a top track on any other Weezer album. “Why Bother?” gets things into a more accessible mode with it being a bit more upbeat, though not lyrically as he pouts about not bothering to try get a lady as it only goes wrong. This doesn’t stop Rivers from dreaming about a potentially controversially young Japanese girl in “Across The Sea” though. “The Good Life” and Rivers is back to partying, this is a classic Weezer track and probably in their top 3 for me (not that I have that list…. yet… hmmm). watch out for “Dammit Chloe” from the TV series ’24’ in the video. “El Scorcho” is a very odd track at first but instantly a classic with its massive sing along chorus and “Bohemian Rhapsody” style fast section thrown in the middle. The squeaky and off beat backing vocals being a particular highlight in this one. “Pink Triangle” is when he finds out the girl he likes is actually a lesbian, it’s quirky lyrics being the highlight, for me its not quite on the UB level, still awesome but missing something. The album closes with “Falling For You” and for me the dark “Butterfly”. My initial interpretation of “Butterfly” is somewhat different from what it’s apparently about which is related to an opera called Madame Butterfly and a character called Pinkerton. Either way mine was that by this time in the album Rivers (or some character) appears to be pretty desperate for love and with the lyrics being “sorry for what I did, I did what my body told me to, I didn’t mean to do you harm” it sounds like, dare I say, rape :-o, or perhaps just using someone for sex. The song talks about pinning the goal down, smelling her on his hand for days and then again finishing with the nearly tearful “I’m sorry”. It’s a great song and perhaps a surprise UB, but slightly on the worrying side perhaps (maybe its just about butterflies, yes its about butterflies).
5. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK – I AM THE MOVIE
(2003 – T14 G14 B13 UB8)Well well well, the top 5, and it wouldn’t be complete without a Motion City Soundtrack album. Having crammed 5 of their 6 albums into the top 75 I’m running out of things to say about them. Geek rock this, moog that, top notch melodies here, fast punk drums there, quirkiness just round the corner. This album has it all and this was their debut album and their introduction to me also, thanks to a mate who put this band no one had heard of on round at a house party (small gathering, lets not make it sound too raucous). I think I basically fell in love with it almost instantly. Opener “Cambridge” is a slightly chaotic affair but still manages to whack in a classic middle 8. “Shiver” is full of “oo oo ooo’s”. “The Future Freaks Me Out” was one of the first songs to grab me as it sounds pretty unique and is full of A-class drug catchy hooks. “Indoor Living” is one of my favourite all time songs, its just a sweet moog filled cruise of a song. “My Favourite Accident” was the “big” single with it’s handstand on the keyboard moment at 1:50 in. a true classic. “Boombox Generation” is the only non-banger here but I’m possibly being harsh on it. It just stands out a bit due to the quality of the rest on the album. “Don’t Call It A Comeback” kicks things quickly back into UB territory with its high paced action and is also the name of their comeback tour next year (can they cram a 6th album into the Top 75 then?). “Capital H” has one of the catchiest choruses you’ll ever here and has some of the geekiest and fastest lyrics you’ll hear thrown in there. “Mary Without Sound” is another top top favourite of mine which begins the end section of the album. This is a band I am so glad never changed. They stuck to what they did best and if the masses didn’t get it despite it being what perfect pop should be, then thats their loss and my gain.
6. COMEBACK KID – WAKE THE DEAD
(2005 – T11 G11 B10 UB7)Now this is an album to fight to. Not that I’ve ever been in one or want to be, but this would have to be playing if I’m to stand a chance. The pure pace on it and hardcore breakdowns are just bliss. The first 7 songs on this are all ultimate bangers!! perhaps the last 4 don’t make it just cos of stamina, I just can’t windmill and air drum that long! (despite the entire album fitting inside of 25 mins). I pure love this album (take that as a given for all of these now, obv). Intentions are set with the opener “False Idols Fall” with the ultra fast classic hardcore drumming and then spiky aggressive vocals and gang chants. It’s all there, then the breakdown and melodic guitar ending. “My Other Side” is a song of many parts which is impressive in just over 2 minutes. “Wake The Dead” is def my going out song (not as is in funeral song, thats to come later in the album list), but as is going out out song. This just wakes me up (am I dead?) its just pure energy from start to finish. The section around 2 mins in “don’t lose hope” chugga chugga chugga, is aceness. “The Trouble I Love” just seems to go up in epicness and pitch as it goes along, then “Talk Is Cheap” brings it right down with much lower chord riffs and a classic breakdown section. (get those fists pumping toward the ground!). I can’t talk about every song, but I love them all, esp as said the first 7, beyond this there are still UB moments. “Falling Apart” has some proper dirty slower riffs. “Final Goodbye” appropriately ends the album, who knew a hardcore punk album could have songs about girls. the mid section palm mute guitar part of this song is a real head nodder. They changed lead vocalist after this album and also maybe went heavier, as you’ve seen already 2 of those later albums made my list but none were anywhere near as good as this for me. O Canada, thank you for your hardcore bands ey.
7. BIFFY CLYRO – BLACKENED SKY
(2002 – T12 G12 B11 UB7)
Back in early 2002 this was an album I was desperate to hear after some awesome singles and B-sides. When it was finally released in March I was not disappointed. This album is Biffy in their purest form, the vocals are the best they have been and their guitars and backing vocals have never sounded bigger on any album of theirs since, no matter how much production you throw at it. It maintained the feel of their intimate gigs back then and basically Biffy Clyro (Cliffy Biro) were probably my favourite band at the time. Opener “Joy.Discovery.Invention” has its delicate harmony vocal intro before blasting into its big chorus and finale. “27” is a legendary song, again with the quiet drum rolling start, then the “i still feel the pain in my HEAAAAAAAAARTTTT” happens and the song goes next level. “Justboy” was another single and has some of the best 3-way vocals going as sections of lines are swapped between the 2 brothers and and Simon, amazing live. “Kill The Old Torture Their Young” is kinda mental, and goes all over the shop but I love it. Some classic Biffy style riffs at the end. “Christopher’s River” is a beauty of a song with its rolling guitar melody fitting perfectly with the vocals early on. “57” is probably the biggest song off the album and is a live favourite with its “do do do do” guitar bit before the chorus, again this has some great interweaved vocals. “Stress On The Sky” I didn’t like for a long while but now love, its basically a lot of screaming and varying noisy guitar sections. “Scary Mary” is the mellow finisher and is a darn pretty little song. Nearly 20 years on I still love this album despite long falling out of love with the Biff after a lot of average albums since.
8. REUBEN – RACECAR IS RACECAR BACKWARDS
(2004 – T16 G16 B13 UB7)
I never realised how fun typing RACECAR in capitals in one hand holding shift is RACECAR. hmmm satisfying. Did I type that out loud? anyway as stated its also racecar backwards and this was short lived and much missed Reuben’s debut album from out of 2004. The brit-post hardcore gang of 3 are safely inside my top 5 bands and with 2 albums inside the top 13 is evidence of that. This album has 16 tracks which also works against it, thats def 3 or 4 too many, but for me there is no real bad filler and 13 of those 16 are bangers. Having said that if the 3 which aren’t banger were cut from the album it only rises a single place such is the ramp up at the end of the list where bangers and UB’s dominate the scoring. Opener gets added points for dropping other favourite band Hell Is For Heroes into the opening verse in what sounds like a dig at them but am assured its not. “Stuck In My Throat” is a ripper of a track at number 3 with it frankly violent opening and massive chorus. The vocal layers at the end are a thing of beauty. “Freddy Kreuger” was another single off the album and is def one of my favourites, its def a foot taper and head nodder and who can resist the long held belt out of “giiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllll”. Jamie Lenman’s range of gutteral scream to footy style song singing to delicate singing is immense as ever on the whole album. “Our Song” arrives mid way through and is probably the most aggressive song on the album. The pause for “I’m so fucking bored” is glorious before the dirty riff kicks back in. “Let’s Stop Hanging Out” is the catchiest number on the album and prob the song that fully got me into them after the intruiging non album track “Stux” and its on personal naughty riff. “Missing Fingers” is an unexpected ultimate banger, considering its a right mess of sections, great air guitar song though. Towards the end there are more anthem style songs with big choruses and strings at the end like “Song for Saturday” and “Moving to Blackwater” before “Dusk” smoothly sweeps the album to a close with a bit of haunting piano. I heart Reuben. Shame its a name for posh kids. (Charlie was nearly a Reuben though, but didn’t want him getting ideas above his station)
9. THURSDAY – FULL COLLAPSE
(2001 – T10 G10 B10 UB5)
This is probably the first album I ever heard of this genre back around 2001/2 time. And I probably enjoyed it a bit but on the whole it sounded like a noisy mess. Over time and especially after seeing them at Reading 2002 I began to get it and it didn’t take long to reach the love it stage. It’s place in my Top 10 is definitely warranted. Now admittedly, some of the lyrics and such I either can’t tell what the singer is saying or what the screamer dude is, but I’ve never cared too much about that. The vocals are just another instrument conveying the feeling / sound of the song. The scream vocals on this album in particular sound at times like a guy going through an amputation with no pain killers, after a heavy night on the booze and his stomache is empty of all the sick it can be…. and thats a good thing! They are recorded at just the right level to not drown out the main vocals and guitars etc. The album also has the bass high in the mix which sounds awesome on some songs. The album is bookended by 2 instrumental tracks which to be honest I’ve prob listened to about 3 times, so ignoring them “Understanding In A Car Crash” is an all time genre classic. The pace and flicky little riff are awesome and the quiet bits where the distotion is off and the bass leads are great. the simple high pitched di-doo-doo guitar bit, should sound naff (as thats the sort of shit I would play) but somehow works. The next big highlight for me is “A Hole In The World” with its quiet piano section leading into screaming chaos at the end. The 2nd half of the album is the stronger half for me with “Paris In Flames” being the highlight. the “think its gonna rain rain down” section and then classic spoken word section (as was popular at the time), before the big finish. Glorious song. “Standing On The Edge Of Summer” has a more simple melodic riff to it and the vocals are probably strongest on this one. “Wind Up” is another UB with its high action and is full of changes. “How Long Is The Night?” closes the album the album in traditional longer song epicness.
Rock Sound placed this album at #128 on their list of the top 250 albums of the last 20 years saying 20 years on “it feels as raw, powerful and unique as it did back then”. Its a shame Thursday never got near these heights again and kinda drifted off into meh territory after “War All The Time”
10. THRICE – THE ILLUSION OF SAFETY
(2002 – T13 G13 B12 UB5)
This band appears not once, not twice but… you get the picture, in my chart. This is the oldest of those 3 and was their 2nd career album. Released in 2002 this would have been one of my gateway albums back then into more screamy, heavier stuff, and I still love it to this day. Some prefer “The Artist In The Ambulance” over this one, but for me this is def the winner and has more of a hardcore punk vibe rather than the slightly more metally influenced “Artist..” though that is still a super awesome album. This was a development of their rawer debut “Identity Crisis” and his all the right notes for me, from fast drums to time changes and big screamy endings. “Kill Me Quickly” sets the tone with all of those elements in there. “A Subtle Dagger” takes it up a notch and has an awesome last 40 second breakdown… windmill in!!!!!! (not that I would ever indulge in that at a gig, just stand and nod). “See You In The Shallows” seemingly implausibly wasn’t released as a single or a video, as its the most single like song on the album, it even has a key change, it was the song that hooked me in anyway. “Deadbolt” however does have a video and is probably my favourite on there, tjhe guitar is incredible with its noodly bits over the and numerous time changes, the last minute is just ooooof, pointed-elbow-and-arm-behind-the-back-lean-forward-and-scream-into-the mic-ilicious. Without me mentioning every track take it for granted that nearly every song has an awesome ending. “Where Idols Once Stood” is my next highlight and is all about that rolling scale type riff and then the palm mutes. “To Awake And Avenge The Dead” is equally riffolicious, with some added high pitch noodling, and then an epic ending. Absolutely love this album and am amazed its not made the top 10, but then I could have prob said that for the last 10 also. The album cover for this was also on a t-shirt I had which eventually lead to the beginnings of my uni band, as it enticed the then lost looking fresher Ben Shires over to ask if I was going the upcoming Thursday gig, a lift was offered and that was the start of that!
11. SAY ANYTHING – … IS A REAL BOY
(2004 – T13 G13 B11 UB6)
I can’t believe this album isn’t solidly in the top 10 but then the maths and looking at the 10 to come I can’t. 11 is as close as it can anyway. This was Say Anything’s 2nd album, dare I say first proper album, the other being a rough recording of demo standard. I was 18 months late in discovering it but found it at the perfect time. Max Bemis’ fully committed vocals and lyrics and emphatic anthems was just the right pick me up after a split. The album initially was supposed to be a rock opera apparently with narrative and characters talking between songs but the size of the project apparently made Max have a breakdown. I’m glad it wasn’t that as it sounds a bit shite or minimum annoying. The album as it is a glorious thing. “The record begins with a song of rebellion” being the spoken word intro to “Belt”, that sorta show thing can be understood in the lyrics at the end this with is kinda West Side Story “What say you, And all your friends, Step up to my friends, In the alley tonight” which sounds like the Jets and Sharks fight (not that I know anything about musicals as I hate them, but having read about the rock opera thing it makes this make more sense). “Woe” has the most passionate moog and “la da daa” section in a song you’ll ever hear. “Alive With The Glory Of Love” is the most euphoric song you’ll hear about the holocaust, this is an amazing song and I def remember having goose bumps the first times I was hearing it back when I first discovered them. The remaining UBs are reserved for the last 3 tracks but the mid section is still full of banger level material, “The Futile” which I advice you don’t let your granny hear and “An Orgy Of Critics” which is a mess of a song that somehow works. “Chia-Like, I Shall Grow” was my ringtone for a long time and is a fantastic song, with its big final chorus and various sections. “I Want To Know Your Plans” is an acoustic song sung with the passion of a man who isn’t just singing it for the sake of it or musical perfection. “Admit It!!!” is an anthem. It is a near spoken word rant at hipsters, jocks and all kinds of people clans. the climax being his defiant “My car and my guitar……. When I’m dead I’ll rest”. The “You Are A Faker” section and “Proud of my life and the things that I have done, Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become” just hit home every time. This album probably has some of my very top level UBs but the score system cannot show this and so here it is, just outside the top 10.
None of this also takes into account he great bonus disc which includes the glorious “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” and on Spotify “A Walk Through Hell” which was our first dance song at our wedding. It’s a shame that later Say Anything stuff was a very pale shadow of this.
12. ALEXISONFIRE – WATCH OUT!
(2004 – T11 G11 B10 UB6)
Oh we are going next level now, every song but one on this is classed as a banger. This was Alexisonfire’s 2nd release and it a work of glory. The sound and production are just perfect on this. “Crisis” which followed though still great, had a kinda cleaner sound, whereas this has a kinda echoey more atmospheric sound to it. The first half of the album is packed with 5 UB’s starting off with the high action “Accidents” a glorious song which even manages to make “woaah”‘s sound cool. “Control” is all about Dallas Green’s vocals, but the scream vocal does perfectly contrasts it mixes with the rest of the music seamlessly. “It Was Fear Of Myself That Made Me Odd” has an awesome little noodly guitar middle section before the drum lead breakdown. Similarly the guitar on “Hey, It’s Your Funeral Mama” is cock on, the sort of scale riff during the chorus is super nice. “No Transitory” was my introduction song to this album and combines all the best features of the album. The 2nd half has less UBs in but is still top notch stuff, the Godzilla stomping building style riff on “That Girl Possessed” being one of the highlights. “White Devil” doesn’t quite hit banger level for me but “Get Fighted” gets there based on the last 30 seconds along with the “My greatest gift to you, Is a dance floor, Free from insecurity” section. “Happiness By The Killowatt” is a great closing track and def in UB territory. The way the unique drum rythm continues through most of the song with the rest gradually building up to the climax. Top Trumps all round! (That last song also featured on a split with Moneen on which Alexisonfire did an awesome version of Moneen’s “Tonight I Am Going To Wash The Hippy” in case anyones missed that)
13. REUBEN – VERY FAST VERY DANGEROUS
(2005 – T13 G13 B11 UB5)
Reuben, its been a while, since #83 in fact and we have 2 Reuben albums coming up! The first of which is their 2nd album “Very Fast Very Dangerous” which was released just over a year after their debut. heady times indeed! though admittedly though I liked them I didn’t love Reuben as much as I do now. Live they were incredible and def enjoyed that back then. This album is more varied compared to the first and in places a lot more aggressive. There are lots of dirty riffs and full throated screaming and big vocals to be enjoyed. “A Kick In the Mouth” kicks things off with a thick bass line, but “Some Mothers Do Ave Em” takes things up a notch. The second half of that song is glorious stuff, going from slightly unhinged vocals about how much his mum loves him, the big “oooohhhh” vocals at the end. fantastisch. The next highlight comes in the form of “Every Time a Teenager listens to Drum & Bass a Rockstar Dies” This song goes to epic places again in the 2nd half, string sections and big sing along lyrics. “You and me can both go home and rest out bones….” fuckin’ awesome section. “Nobody Loves You” is basically a chilled out near acoustic song and done brilliantly, again more strings! “Blamethrower” is the opposite and could probably commit a crime if handed a knife. The super fast spoken word section is great stuff, then the mentalist gutteral scream vocals and riffs… oooo, its a good album (Partridge style). “Lights Out” is a bit more melodic compared to the rest and a def UB. So far all the UBs have been completely different in feel. The highlight of the album comes in the form of the 7 minute “Return Of The Jedi” about how much money it takes to make records and he still works in a shop, despite being vaguely successful. This song is absolutely incredible and again has a truely epic 2nd half and climax. I miss Reuben. So far lead man Jamie Lenman’s solo stuff has been an odd mix, but the fact he is still going gives hope of a return over 10 years since their last album.
14. JIMMY EAT WORLD – CLARITY
(1999 – T13 G11 B11 UB5)
Jimmy Eat World’s 5th appearance in the list and their highest is at #14. It’s also one of 3 in the past 2 weeks! Of the recent 3 this one is perhaps best listened to as a full album rather than individual tracks. On their own the songs do not stand out as much as say “A Praise Chorus” or “Work” but all together, without wanting to sound poncy, its like a work of delicate art. Released 20 years ago in February this year, its considered a classic of whatever genre you decide to class it as. The album is full of tracks that fit together perfectly yet are a wide range of stuff, from the quiet opening track “Table For Glasses” which has some great vocal layering towards the end, to the palm muted heavier “Your New Asthetic” and the faster punk pop of “Crush”. “Lucky Denver Mint” has a kind of metronomic flow to it and gradually builds as it goes along, ending with some drum programming effects to add to that robotic metronomic feel. “A Sunday” is a great song filled with strings and xylophones tinging. “Crush” is the most immediately impactful song, esp for someone who got into them off the back of “Bleed American” and is probably the closest to that album, yet still sounds quite different. After the ok “12.23.95”, there are 3 magical songs in “Ten”, the 7 minute beauty of “Just Watch The Fireworks” and “For Me This Is Heaven”. These are songs that perhaps took a while to appreciate, but its def my favourite section of the album. “Blister” allows the usually backing vocalist Tom, to have a go on lead vocals, which is something he did more before this album and not since. The title track has a great little riff in it and for me should be the closer. The final track is 16 mins long and while arty, repeating its melody over and over, I rarely ever bother listening to it. The bonus track on the later re-released version is a different version of “Sweetness” which is much better than the “Bleed American” one for me. Just wish this album had included the incredible “The Most Beautiful Things” which would have fit in perfectly.
15. BEN FOLDS FIVE – BEN FOLDS FIVE
(1995 – T12 G11 B9 UB6)
Way back 24 years now to 1995 and Ben Folds Five’s debut self titled album. This is the 5th Ben Folds related album and highest placed. The first Ben Folds Five song I heard was off this album on a Shine compilation in “Underground” but I didn’t hear/get this album until after I’d got 1997’s “Whatever And Ever Amen”. This album compared to that is more on the fun side of things with most songs being more upbeat and nerdy. The piano rock gods begin the album with “Jackson Cannery” which sets the tone with its fuzzy bass sound and slightly off key “aahhhh” backing vocals and sections where the 3 talk mid song as if the whole thing is jammed out on the spot. “Philosophy” is a live favourite complete with backing vocal “My Phil..” which I enjoy. It also has a great piano solo ending which is often extended when done live. “Julianne” is full of trash can smashing sound effects and falsetto vocals and is primarily a bass lead song rather than piano. “Where’s Summer B?” is probably my favourite and definitely the coolest track on the album, inspiring jazz style “ahh niiiiice” voices in my head. The big nerdy single “Underground” is midway with its extended intro and at the time I’d never heard anything like it with the high vocals and backing vocals and little quirks like the “click my heels” *click click click* part. To be honest I probably still haven’t heard anything like it. Its definitely a unique style and a classic. “Sports & Wine” is full of great and funny lyrics and similarly with “Uncle Walter” about the armchair guy who sets the world straight but has never done anything himself. After the also great “Best Imitation Of Myself” the last 3 tracks tail off a bit but this is a classic album and unique sounding in my collection and always a right romp.
16. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK – COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY
(2004 – T12 G12 B9 UB5)
Produced by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus this was MCS’s 2nd album and is their 2nd highest placed on the list. It’s an album primarily about frontman Justin Courtney Pierre’s insecurities and mental medical issues… all delivered in a cheery melodic moog filled way…. the best way. Opener “Attractive Today” sets the tone and a particular highlight is the stop to say “I like you” midway through, sure to work on any lady ;-). Then comes the main single the pop-tastic “Everything Is Alright”, the final third of this is a true UB elevator (surely a term to be adopted by the English language more commonly soon). “When You’re Around” is a bouncy sweary classic. “Make Out Kids” is a pure joy, full of nerdy lines. “Time Turned Fragile” is proper uber good and has the most sweet melodies in the final act over some nice drum rolling action, which always stands out live. Another single in “L.G. FUAD” follows, standing for “Let’s get fucked up and die”, as slower number, but another that is a great sing along live. “Better Open The Door” has a ridiculously catchy chorus, which is probably a danger to public health and the “I’ll swim backwards” bit toward the end is lovely stuff. The final track “Hold Me Down” is a much sader song in tone and was the final single.
Rock Sound had this album at 105 in their best albums of the last 20 years saying it’s “brimming with uplifting Moog keys, ridiculously catch hooks and significantly, Justin Pierre’s brilliantly relatable and self depreciating lyrics”. Incidentally Nathan Kane of Whale Bones (a new band that featured earlier in the list) has done an entire cover version of this album with his awesome vocals and its brilliant.
17. JIMMY EAT WORLD – FUTURES
(2004 – T11 G11 B8 UB5)
Jimmy Eat World’s follow up to the exquisite “Bleed American” and “Clarity” albums and somehow they held up on the quality. 3 bangers of albums in a row! This one continues the more radio friendly sound and production from “Bleed American” but perhaps sprinkles a little touch more of “Clarity” magic on top. The vocals from Jim Adkins are probably the big step up on this one, some moments are just perfect. The title track and opener “Futures” is good but there is much better to come. 3 UB’s and a borderline UB follow in a spectacular run of form. “Just Tonight” has a kind of darker guitar sound to it and whispery-ish vocals to add to that darker sound. “Work” was one of the singles off the album and has a very cheesy emo video including overlayed teenager talking about going to college ‘bluergh!’. Thankfully that is not on the album as this is a blinder of a song, the vocals are immense in parts. “Kill” follows with its smooth acoustic guitar intro and bass line and again Jim hits all the right spots especially in the section before the climax of the song. I’m not a fan other other single “Pain” which begins a slight mid album lull. “Drugs Or Me” has a good message etc, but its just not that interesting. “Polaris” is probably my favourite song on the album and a 5 minute builder of a song, the chorus is just glorious. “Nothing Wrong” then blasts in full of riffs before a sort of modern day “Hey Jude” comes along in the form of “Night Drive” finishing with its ‘na na naa’s as it does, if anything that holds it back from being another UB. The final tack “23” is def a ultimate banger and had a similar effect on me as “A Praise Chorus” in reminding me “If you wait for the right time, What are you hoping for?”, its a 7 minute epic thats the perfect ending to the album. While its highs are not on “Bleed American”s level it has more of them for me. Still “Clarity” tops it.
18. HOT ROD CIRCUIT – SORRY ABOUT TOMORROW
(2002 – T11 G11 B10 UB4)
This is HRC’s 2nd and highest appearance on the chart. This is a very solid album from start to finish. On first listen, all them years ago, it all felt a bit samey (poss a bit like an album near the very peak of this chart), but as the lyrics and intricacies started to sink in this album grew and grew on me. Compared to their other album in the chart “If It’s Cool With You…” this is generally a slower album and the guitar hooks are lower in the mix, but they are still there and overall its a lot tidier. “The Pharmacist” is the opener and kicks it off in a fine way, then come 3 UB’s, “At Nature’s Mercy” flows along and gradually increases in pace before chilling back down. “Radiation Suit” is one of the faster songs on the album and full of those unique sounding guitar hooks which are so like it’s predecessor. “Safely” is just a nice cruise of a song and though it doesn’t really do a lot or change much, I just love it. “Cool For One Night” and “Knees” are great songs and I’m struggling to explain why, but I just love this album. There’s nothing particularly special or different going on, I just love the sound of the album, the slightly dulled drum sound and everything merges a bit, its just really well done and a cool kinda vibe to it. The final UB is “Let’s Go Home” which has some great lyrics sung in a fantastic way. “I can honestly say for the first time, That I’m not alone and you’re all mine”. The final song feels like its an epic 5 minute plus song but somehow they cram it into just over half that time. The last minute of this is glorious stuff. It’s a shame that the material HRC did after this album was never anywhere near this standard before splitting in 2007.
19. UNDEROATH – THEY’RE ONLY CHASING SAFETY
(2004 – T9 G9 B8 UB5)
This is so of the time, everytime I am about to listen to any of this I assume I will probably not like it anymore. Fortunately everytime I hear a song off it I love it. Its very 2004 and very screamo and pretty different to what Underoath did either before or after. We last saw Underoath back in the 200’s with “Define The Great Line”, most fans come down on one side of the fence on whether they like the more metalcore style on that album or the more screamy emo punk style on this album. I obviously prefer the latter and this hits the sweet spot of this type of stuff for me. Its very pop for an album that has a lot of screaming in it. There aren’t many riffs, it’s mainly strummed guitar and the clean vocals are very much a generic emo-punk pop vocal. The unclean vocal is the right side of understandable but still with an edge to them. There’s also a fair bit of production going on there with the occasional sample beat and effects. It’s a mix as I say I would have thought I may have gone off by now, or perhaps not liked in the first place. But, what can I say, I love it. 8 of the 9 tracks (ignoring the 50 second instrumental) get my Banger rating and over half of them are Ultimate Bangers starting with the opener “Young and Aspiring”; the end of this is awesome with the screamed “This is my panic… This is my call to arms”. “A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White” has a nice little breakdown bit where some of those clicks and whistles are used, but to good effect. The big track off this album is “Reinventing Your Exit” its emo-pop-core (or whatever) to perfection, even with that very american sounding “yoouuu” being used. “It’s A Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” is a great track (with a really shite and now cheesy video), this one has a massive chorus and then the 2nd half is filled with a choir section under the screaming vocals. awesome stuff. “Down, Set, Go” has a nice pace and flow to it and a great big ending. “I Don’t Feel Very Receptive Today” is probably the heaviest track on the album and doesn’t have a single clean vocal section and is a def UBer, with some of the simple but effective guitar sections. The final track is a bit of a God-botherer track which lets it down a bit, its the quietest track on the album, still has its moments to at least get the good rating. I’ll continue to enjoy this album till the day finally comes where I suddenly hate it.
20. BIFFY CLYRO – THE VERTIGO OF BLISS
(2003 – T13 G12 B8 UB5)
Now this is the Biffy Clyro I loved. 90 places higher than their next best effort and still their debut to come. This was their second album and at the time I was a full ‘Mon Tha Biffy-er. Since then… less so. Still this is a super sweet album. It was quirkier and more obscure than their debut, with more range, sometimes a little messy but when it hit the spot it smashed it. “The Vertigo Of Bliss” has a naughty little front cover too, a lady presumably pleasuring thine-self, that or removing one of those cotton mouse things. Moving swiftly on… opener “Bodies In Flight” is an odd affair and one of the weaker tracks, good live but not on disc. “Ideal Height” was the first release for the album and was classic Biffy, with odd little guitar squeaks and slides thrown in. “With Aplomb” showed what was a different side to them with a string filled haunting mini epic of a song. Things speed up with the next couple of tracks and includes the gloriously titled “Liberate The Illiterate… A Mong Among Mingers”. Then the album chills for the frankly beautiful “Diary Of Always” with its looped “I just wish we all could betray” sample in the background. “Questions And Answers” was their first top 40 charting song with its catchy chorus and its awesome “Still I feel them passing me by” backing vocal. The 2nd half of the album is great guns with true riffer UBer “Eradicate The Doubt” which goes all kinds of places in its 4.5 mins. “Toys Toys Toys Choke, Toys Toys Toys” is my favourite Biffy song and definitely in my top 10 songs by anyone. The glory of this song was highlighted when I saw them at Godiva Festival in June 2002 a year before this album came out and this song life is incredible, esp the drum clicking on the drum rim and the endless riff changes. Love it. At that same gig I also got the drummer stick when he launched it into the “crowd” (prob 3 lines of people and then open space, then me) and it fell at my feet as if to emphasie how unknown they were back then. (elitist early fan remark… check). “All The Way Down Chapter One” is another beauty of a song, when this album goes UB it goes FULL UB!
21. SAVES THE DAY – THROUGH BEING COOL
(1999 – T12 G11 B8 UB5)
33 minutes of raw pop-punk, emo before it became emo, greatness is next with Saves The Day’s 2nd entry and 2nd album, the cooly titled “Through Being Cool”. This is Saves The Day at their best, its a shame they basically have tweaked their style on nearly every album, and none are close to this. The punk pop riffs on here are glorious. Hard to believe this was released 20 years ago. I didn’t know it at the time it was only retrospectively after getting “Stay What You Are” (#91). The album kicks off sounding closer to their frankly rough debut album, but soon gets into stride, with tracks 3 to 8 being a great run of songs. “Shoulder To The Wheel” is a classic and obvious road trip fodder. love the chorus and its line “Dave steps on the gas, The world that’s flying by is slick and smooth”. The bitter emo classic “Rocks Tonic Juice Magic” is up next with it chuggy verse and some pretty dark lines “And if not, I’ll take my spoons, Dig out your blue eyes, Swallow them down to my colon, They’re gonna burn like hell tonight” . Dude… get over it! “Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots” is full of rolling little riffs and a jaunty little middle 8. “Third Engine” and “The Vast Spoils Of America” are travelling songs again, the first of which has more creepy possessive lyrics “Did you know, my sweet, That I once took the liberty of watching you in your sleep? I rolled over and over, Trying to touch our knees underneath the sheets”. The final track “Banned From The Back Porch” has a proper dirty little punk riff to kick it off and is a great way to finish the album, which only started half hour ago. Top 20 begins tomorrow… large scenes!
22. MILLENCOLIN – PENNYBRIDGE PIONEERS
(2000 – T14 G14 B11 UB3)
This album is probably a lot higher than a lot of people would expect. Its just such a solid album and over time I’ve gradually liked it more and more. Its melodic punk at it’s best with vocals that lift the music up by adding plenty of feels. It was a bit of a change in direction for the Swedish crew after some primarily ska based albums as there are only hints of that past on this album; primarily in single “Fox” which happens to be one of my least favourite songs on the album. Opener “No Cigar” featured on Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 which probably brought the band to a wider audience, but its track 3 “Material Boy” where things really get going for me. It’s a high paced pop-punk piece of glory. It’s not doing anything clever but its just perfect, esp the sort of breakdown bit later on. “Duckpond” chills things slightly but amps up the emotional vocal style, this was not expected from Millencolin. “Penguins & Polarbears” was the initial single off the album and while it doesn’t have much range, once it’s started it kinda stays the same, its still a belter. “Highway Donkey” is another UBer along the same lines as “Material Boy” but with a darker sound to it, but it totally rips through its 2.5 mins, may lead to speeding if listened to when driving. The closer is an acoustic song and possibly the best song on it. Appropriately called “The Ballad” its a song about a kid being bullied at school, and its just spot on.I’ve realised that my scoring system is biasing towards greater numbers of Bangers, rather than as a percentage of the overall tracks. This worked for lower down the chart but not so much here. Either way, cracking album and would def still be in the 30-21 range.
23. IDLEWILD – HOPE IS IMPORTANT
(1998 – T12 G12 B9 UB4)
Right back to 1998 now and the debut album of then Scottish noise-niks Idlewild. This followed their awesome and mental in parts EP “Captain”. Its fair to say they have calmed a lot since and still do good stuff, but the energy in this is awesome. It’s like your on the verge of a breakdown or something listening to it. The opener “You’ve Lost Your Way” is a song I would want playing in headphones in the (unlikely) event of me being about to beat the living shit out of someone! It’s frantic and full on chaos punk screaming gloriousness. “A Film For The Future” has a great twitching sorta riff to it and some proper slam your guitar breakdowns in. The audio tape spoken word bit with the rewind squeels adds to that near psychological collapse feel I was talking about. “Paint Nothing” gives some relief with a bit more melody but still has it’s edge and pace. “When I Argue I See Shapes” was the last single off the album and the biggest hit, getting to number 19, which at the time is incredible. It’s looping lyrics just sink into your brain, even if you have no idea what you’re singing about. A particular highlight is the high pitched “do” in the bridge. “4 People Do Good” is back to full paced fury. The screamed “I’ve got no motive” at the start of the chorus was a favourite to do in 6th form when listening to it. “I’m Happy To Be Here Tonight” was a sign of things to come, an acoustic song full of harmonies. Somehow it fits and is a fully needed respite and still a banger. BANG!! “Everyone Says You’re So Fragile” back up to speed. I prefer the single version (I think), which had a slightly different guitar line after the chorus (I know this as I used to be able to play this song once upon a time, humble brag) but this is still in full UB territory. “I Am A Message” was another single and is a lot like “When I Argue..” in style. The last few tracks lower the standard a tincy bit but still good. “Low Light” is a dark sounding scream-a-thon, if you weren’t jerking violently in a disturbed manner before this you sure are now as you ask for the lights to be turned down.
24. NAME TAKEN – HOLD ON
(2004 – T11 G11 B9 UB4)
Probably a band not many know. I heard of them off a Vans Warped Tour CD I think. This was the only album they managed to do before splitting a year later. They basically do emo-pop punk, not all that originality in it, but it is done to perfection on this album; and who needs originality when you can do songs like these. The things that elevate this above their rivals (bands like Taking Back Sunday, Hidden In Plain View, Armor For Sleep etc), is the vocal style and the drums. The vocals kinda have a lethargic style to them, not the totally clean cut wine you may expect from an California emo band. It might not be obvious what I mean by that, but either way I like it. The drumming is next level, theres a probably a fill every few seconds and this is a great album to air drum to, even if you have no idea what your doing like I don’t. The album has some proper nice little rolling guitar lines to it too. The opener “Control” kicks off at high pace and cruises through its near 3 mins full of urgency, before the quiet floaty guitar near the end and the bouncy climax. Love this song. “Hold On For Your Dearest Life” has probably the most cliche emo vocals on the album but its def a ultimate banger, primarily due to its climactic final third. “Panic” has the line “Panic at the Disco” in early on and is apparently or possibly the inspiration behind the now uber big Panic! At The Disco. Shame they turned out shite in the end. “Cover Up” has the line “Do you remember when you and I were less than us and we?” which i’m sure I’ve used on a Valentines card at some stage as a result. “It Sounds Prettier In Spanish” is a belter of a song with a fast verse slow chorus combo before a nice breakdown finish. Overall a great album with just the right level of production, else this could have come out sounding a lot like the rest of the pack.
25. WEEZER – WEEZER (THE WHITE ALBUM)
(2016 – T10 G10 B9 UB4)
It’s been quite a while since we had a Weezer album in the chart. This is one of 3 in the top 25 and those 3 so outweigh the other mixed bag they have released, so much so that they are still my favourite band. This was a totally unexpected surprise in it awesomeness and throwback to the Weezer of the 90s, 20 years on. There are songs on here which could sit just nicely in on either Blue or Pinkerton, obv they would be slightly different due to modern production quality but in pure sound they could. This is an album about California and appropriately stars with “California Kids” filled with surf rock harmonies and seagulls that you can almost taste the waves. “Thank God For Girls” is def one of my favourites on the album but I know it splits opinions in the Weezer community. I just love the way Rivers sings and also half raps on this song and also the jokey epicness of it all. The build up at the end where he uses parts of the Adam and Eve story to explain how he is smited by girls is genius. “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” has a chorus straight out of the 60s and is a proper head nodder. “Do You Wanna Get High?” is basically a modern Pinkerton track or what to me “Slob” off Maladroit should have sounded like. Its solo is so Pinkerton. “King Of The World” appeared to be a favourite of a colicy 3 month old Charlie as he always seemed to calm when this among others was played loudly… and for that, if nothing else, it is an Ultimate Banger. “LA Girlz” is a classic and is such a Blue Album song, this time with the solo and harmonies matching perfectly that albums feel. The album finishes with 2 songs that almost don’t fit, yet so do. “Jacked Up” I love with its bouncy piano and falsetto vocals. Sticks right in the old noodle. “Endless Bummer” is what “Island In the Sun” was trying to be except this time they nail the Hawaiian summer vibe. This album was and is a joy. I just thought we’d never hear anything this good by Weezer again… perhaps we’ll have to wait another 20 years again, hopefully not.
26. SAY ANYTHING – SAY ANYTHING
(2009 – T13 G12 B9 UB4)Say Anything’s 3rd of 4 albums in the list now. This was their follow up to the slightly disappointing double album which was at #147. This was far more like their “debut”. I say “debut” as their original album was basically a demo in sound quality. Anyway, this album…. is an album. My love of Say Anything was in full rod mode at this point in their career, their output after this has wilted that somewhat but I love this album. There are 4 UBs on this all filled with the odd lyrics and varied vocals of Max Bemis. The album starts of with a sort of intro song “Fed To Death” which again is a song with lyrics spouting from his Jewish upbringing, more an ironic commentary on religion. “Hate Everyone” follows and was the lead single, this is almost a clear attempt at a hit single with it catchy, near irritating at first chorus, but due to the delivery it more than passes the banger test. Next come 2 funky less guitar based songs, “Do Better” driven by a synthy string rhythm and “Less Cute” a norty little brass section. Then come 4 solid songs, 3 of them UBs. “Eloise” is a straight up rock song about a split. “Mara and Me” is the highlight of the album for me with is multiple sections and very odd lyrics, the opening lines being “There are babies with guns beheading their friends, In shopping malls around the world, Yet somehow the Kings of Leon, Still find time to write songs about girls, I don’t suck much less” before the song stops and “Wait a second – I can’t write the same damn song over and over again” and the song changes. There are some awesome full on blast guitar section in this song. You just need to hang on round the twists and turns. “Crush’d” is a keyboard based song which, as Say Anything often do, ironically use the cliche “did it hurt when you fell from heaven girl” lyric to close it out. “She Won’t Follow You” is a belter of a song and prob my 2nd fave. The album fades a bit in the latter section but is still good. The finale more than makes up for it with “Ahhh… Men” which is a builder that ends with epic finale and is the ranty song which Say Anything often do. Say Anything prob aren’t for everyone, especially with their later stuff, its not even for me, but at this point they were awesome, in the range of places they would take their songs.
27. JIMMY EAT WORLD – BLEED AMERICAN
(2001 – T11 G11 B10 UB3)Now you know were into serious stuff when “Bleed American”, as it was called when I bought it, appears in the chart. It had is name changed after 9/11 to just “Jimmy Eat World” but pah to that “Bleed American” it is. This is known as a critical album in the history of emo, sort of like a gateway drug, it opened the door to a whole other type of music and bands for those who loved it. That includes me, prior to this many of the bands in this list (not just due to pure timing) would have been way off my radar. Though this album is at 27, there are still 2 more JEW albums to come. The opening track was the first single off the album and again was called “Bleed American” at the time but changed to “Salt Sweat Sugar” post 9/11. Its a classic. Filled with a killer riff and sweaty sounding emotion all over it with Jim Adkins wobbly (not as in dodgy) vocal giving the words umph. My favourite song and partly life changing song, is “A Praise Chorus”. I say life changing as I think when listening to it aged 25 suddenly a couple of lines in the song impacted me:
“Things are never gonna be the way you want
Where’s it going to get you acting serious?
Things are never going to be quite what you want
Even at twenty five you got to start sometime”It was almost directly talking to me. I was a sheepish young man, kinda full of inner confidence but externally transparent. I was as it goes on to say “living my life standing at the back, looking around”. From then on I gradually started saying stuff in my head (jokes and shit, not like arsonistic thoughts or anything), and generally be more like the person I wanted to be and internally felt I was. Anyway enough emo bullshit, the album means a lot to me. “the Middle” is classic emo pop, with similar messages to the previous one. “Your House” is nearly like songs of “Clarity” an album at this stage I hadn’t heard. The 3rd UB is “Hear You Me” which is totes emosh and clearly about someone whose died. The album is full of bangers, the only non-banger being “Authority Song” which is good, but just below the mark. “Sweetness” I’ve poss heard a bit too much with its wo”s but is still a classic. “My Sundown” is a perfect ending song for this album. First Class (as Alan Partridge may say post coitus)
28. EMERY – THE WEAK’S END
(2004 – T10 G10 B8 UB4)
“ARE YOU LISTENING??!!” *cough* sorry, thats the first screamed line of the album. An album that for a while in the mid-00s was my bestest favouritest. It’s obv drifted a bit since but not by far really. This is the 6th and final Emery album on the list but was their debut. It’s obviously very much a screamo album, but their USP has always been the way the dual vocals are used and overlap each other, especially in the melodic sections. The way they flip between the 2 styles is also pretty different to most stuff in this genre. The pace changes a frequent but on this album they fit better than later efforts. The songs can go from screaming angst to arching epic orchestral sounding sections in seconds. “Walls” which is the opener referred to is very much one of my favourite songs, maybe top 10. It best demonstrates the differing sections they often have in their songs, from it scrreamy beginning to its dual screamed breakdown ending, through the awesome bridge with line swapped and split between the two singers. “Ponytail Parades” is a slower affair but builds towards the end into pure epicness (again dual vocals doing the trick). “Disguising Mistakes With Goodbyes” doesn’t repeat any section of a song but all sounds like it belongs. There is a slight lull in the middle section of the album but its still good, before the last 3 generally slower sadder feeling sounds come along. “As Your Voice Fades” is about someone dying and had a big impact on me as this album was released the year my dad died. The finale is an masterpiece “The Secret” is just immense, and about a break up (standard) but its done in such a great way. The build up to the ending is awesome.
29. OASIS – (WHAT’S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY
(1995 – T10 G10 B8 UB4)So bring on the complaints about position again…. Being #29 is no shame its solidly in my 10/10 range and def an album I love. Part of that affection is because it also brings back all the memories of being a teen in the 90s and Britpop, a time when mainstream music inspired people to pick up instruments rather than talk aggressively about knifing people, brap brap etc over a load of clicks and whistles, yes that shows my age but it was great time, Euro 96, Jumpers for Goal Posts, Chris Evans on the radio, Johnny Vaughn on the Big Breakfast, TFI Friday…. glories. It also invokes memories of the Blur/Oasis rivalry and the big fuss over who would get that number one in the “Country House” v “Roll With It” back in August 1995. Controversially at the time I was more a fan of Blur’s “Country House” and maybe still am-ish, but Blur have never done enough good songs on a single album to get anywhere near this list. And yes this for me is the better album compared to “Definitly Maybe” (again spelling), not by a lot it just has an extra banger and 2 more ultimate bangers and doesn’t have “Shakermaker” and that was enough for a 19 place difference. “The Masterplan” which is the glorious collection of B-sides would have made it to No.43 as we saw the other day if it was eligible.. “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” and its oddly placed brackets and “?” was massive and probably by far the biggest album in the UK on my list. 6 of the 10 songs on the album got released as singles in one way or another. “Wonderwall” is probably the song that most represents this whole period for me and an orchestral version of this was played while the soon to be Mrs was walking up the aisle at our wedding. “Don’t Look Back In Anger” was the Noel sung song on the album and has only got bigger over time, esp after it’s use in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing. Once middle filler to me “Cast No Shadow” is now one of my favourites also, I guess at 15 I just wanted more fun in my songs. “Morning Glory” is just a ripper of a song from the helicopter noise to the gradual build up and then the blast in of the iconic guitar solo. “Champagne Supernova” is a perfect chilled way to end the album and even that has its massive moments. The album is a classic of its time.
Why’s it not higher? well as seen in the rest of my list most of my stuff is not of this type so it would be odd for this to be a massive outlier, but believe me 29 is very high. All of the remaining albums are solid favourites and any could accompany me to the proverbial desert island dependent on mood.
30. MONEEN – THE RED TREE
(2006 – T11 G10 B8 UB4)
The top 30, which is now full serious business, kicks off with the 2nd helping from Moneen in the chart. This one is ranked not much above their other entry and gets there primarily based on consistency. The highs may not be as high but its chock full of bangers. On this album Moneen kinda tidied up their sound, which loses a little something but also gains as the sometimes too high level of musical atmospheric indulgence is lost. The first 6 are all bangers and the opener also has the quirk of being based on a line from Lost “Don’t Ever Tell Locke What He Can’t Do”. “If Tragedy’s Appealing, Then Disaster Is An Addiction” is an awesome emo-esque title and is the lead single off the album and it flows along like a good-e with its kinda unusual drum beat through out it. “Bleed And Blister – Version 3” has a great little guitar melody, which was my ringtone for a while. The first big epic song on the album comes in the form of “The Day No One Needed To Know”. The “Sing for…..” moment in the lyrics later on is almost like some kind of arms to the sky gospel appeal (though not in a religious way, it just has that feel). The long titles continue throughout the album so I won’t mention all. The final highlight comes in the frankly depressing last song “The Song I Swore I Would Never Sing” but is possibly my favourite on there. Mainly just piano based its full of atmosphere and about someone needing space or what not but when the music stops and it comes back in with “Kill yourself, surprise your friends. Raise a toast to everything we once had” to finish the song, its an awesome way to finish the album.
31. OZMA – ROCK AND ROLL PART 3
(2000 – T11 G10 B8 UB4)Ozma hang just outside the top 30 with their debut album and peak of their career. In 2000 I was desperate for some Weezer having only released Blue Album and Pinkerton with no disappointments, before going on an extended hiatus. At this point Weezer could do no wrong, that would change. With no Weezer in sight I heard of Ozma and this album basically sounded like Weezer’s 3rd album potentially could (it didn’t, Green was a bit meh for me). This however is full of nerdy passion, Weezer-esque solos, and songs that build. The initial song that pulled me in was the song “Natalie Portman” an ode to the then 19 year old godess (turns out she has a filthy mouth, see Lonely Island). The singer, i’m sure ironically, is nearly in tears by the sounds of it during this song… but its just moog filled, waltzy, power pop full of epic guitars. “Domino Effect”, “Apple Trees” are more uptempo songs, the peaks of which are again at the ends and during the solos. “If I Only Had A Heart” could easily be a “Pinkerton” B-side. The peak of the album comes in the form of the 5 and a half minute epic of “Baseball”, from it’s chilled beginning, it gradually builds and goes full emote. “Battlescars” is along similar lines though cranks it to 8 and a half minutes. The album fades a bit with the last 2 songs, but this album totally owned me at the time, then like Weezer they gradually started to ruin their legacy (ruin being a bit strong in both cases, but neither would ever be as good after the year 2000)
32. RISE AGAINST – THE SUFFERER & THE WITNESS
(2006 – T13 G12 B11 UB2)
The highest place Rise Against album arrives in the list only a few days after “Revolutions Per Minute” which was at #35. This was their 4th album chronologically and although its close in position we have actually made a big jump in score today. There is a bit of a cavernous gap between 33 and 32, so these albums now are def breakaway 10 out of 10s. This album is the perfect combination of melody, pace and aggression. The songs are radio friendly whilst holding up to the bands more hardcore origins. As you can see by its score it is 90% bangers (84.6% to be exact to 1 decimal place, but I’ll go for the exaggerated ‘fact’ as is popular nowadays), but it only reaches true heights only twice. One of these times is in the single “Ready To Fall” with its big chorus and awesome little screamy middle section. The other stand out song and def one of my favourite songs by any band is the final track, “Survive”, as it twists and turns through a few time changes and sections, before the awesome “all smiles and sunshine… I’ve never felt so fucking great!” section and ending repeating “life isn’t like this”. Proper bo stuff. Other standouts include the haunting sounding “Roadside” with its co-female vocals. “Drones” has some awesome sections to. One song I have never got on with though is the spoken word verse song of “The Approaching Curve”, but overall this is a consistently awesome album.
Rock Sound placed it at #123 in their top 250 of the last 20 years calling it “an instant classic”
33. DINOSAUR PILE-UP – NATURE NURTURE
(2013 – T11 11 B8 UB3)
Leeds’ Dinosaur Pile-Up return for a 2nd bite at the chart with their 2nd career album of now 4. I only got into these in the last few years after seeing them support both Weezer and Motion City Soundtrack. If supporting 2 of my favourite bands wasn’t a good indicator that I would like this band, certainly hearing them live and on record was. As probably mentioned before they cross a few areas of the rock genre, mainly Weezer-y stuff and harmonies crossed with Nirvana, combined with some ballsy riffs in places. On their latest album they even bust out some rap. As for this one though, from start to finish it is full of guitar goodness, of the style you don’t hear a lot of nowadays. “Arizona Waiting” kicks off in style that throws you back to 90s grunge/punk straight away. “Derail” is next up with a nice chilled vibe to it, proper toe-tapper.”Penninsula” has the most addictive chorus this side of 2 Unlimited’s “No Limit” and some great vocal layering and guitar solos. “Heather” is another UB’er and racing along throughout. Their are too many highlights to mention each of but track 6 is reserved for the song that hooked me in. “White T-Shirt & Jeans” is a silly sounding song that sounds along the lines of “Undone: The Sweater Song” by Weezer, not only because it mentions of clothing garments but also in style. It has a very Pixies sorta sound to it too. The end when the “Always Forever” bit comes in is simply epic (for a song about clothes). “The Way We Came” sounds like Nirvana Unplugged and “Start Again” has a tasty little guitar riff throughout. This album is a shower and a grower. Probably when I started this list it was in the plus 100 range but over the year it just keeps growing on me. Now its a fully engorged throbbing stonker of an album! (too far?)
34. HELL IS FOR HEROES – HELL IS FOR HEROES
(2007 – T10 10 B8 UB3)
The Heroes make their 2nd appearance on the list with one more to go. This time its their last album which was released 12 years ago now, they’ve teased with various short returns since but no new material as yet. Their 2nd album “Transmit Disrupt” though still a very good album being at #78 was a bit of a disappointment after their incredible debut, this however was very much a return to full engorged form, though in many ways is very different in sound to the debut. The debut is all about riffs, this is more about little guitar melodies and atmosphere as songs build. The opener is 90% an instrumental and is the start of all of my car dongle playlists and is also a Charlie favourite. If I’m not quick to get random on and skip it we have to go through the full 5 minutes, but its a 5 minutes that I don’t mind at all. Its a rare instrumental that is classed as an Ultimate Banger, it just builds and builds before the couple of lyrics appear at the end. Then we hit the guitar melodies which drive the songs from then on with “Stranger In You” with near enough the same little melody playing throughout. “Acades” is a more floaty sounding song with a guitar melody that almost sounds like you could play it on a triangle (obv not really, as its all one note then). The only single off the album “You’ve Got Hopes” sounds like a song Radiohead would love to have made in the Bends days, creeping up to its arms open looking of a cliff big ending (no not Creed-esque). “My Protector” is a more up tempo riffer of a song and a def UBer as is “Into The Blood” with its flicky guitar melody. The album ends with the massive “Once And For All”. I could easily rate some of these songs higher and perhaps have been harsh on it. #34 is very highly rated and def in the 10/10 range now, but perhaps this could have reached higher.
35. RISE AGAINST – REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE
(2003 – T12 12 B8 UB3)
We stay in 2003 for a 2nd day and along comes yet another Rise Against album and the first one I owned. This is their 5th of 6 on the list and the least commercial, not that its not melodic and with hooks, its just their most pure punk, other than their debut, which is just outside my list, not helped by a ridiculous 16 tracks on it and still only 36 mins long. Anyway as for this album, which was their 2nd, this was my introduction to Rise Against and I loved it and still do; also see what did with the title there. *gif with black dude pointing to his brain*. Once the revolution has begun with the high paced “Black Masks & Gasoline”, the lead single “Heaven Knows” comes along and that is a true ultimate banger, especially with its epic slowed down build up to the ending. first class *partridge style*. “Like The Angel” is the poppiest song on the album but a damn good one. The remaining UB is “Last Chance Blueprint” which opens with a section from the film “American Beauty” before blasting into hardcore punk niceness, full with gang chants of “Lets go” to back up the chorus. The other harder screamier songs are reserved for the two 1min 30sec length songs. Its a great album combining pure hardcore punk stylings and catchy choruses.
36. MONEEN – ARE WE REALLY HAPPY WITH WHO WE ARE RIGHT NOW?
(2003 – T10 G9 B8 UB3)
It a bit of a mystery that we’ve gone this long and Moneen have not appeared yet. I love Moneen, though for only 2 of their 4 albums. Those being the middle 2 of their career, plus an awesome little split album with fellow Canadian buddies eh, Alexisonfire, they did. Moneen do songs with massive song titles and that in their early career went off in all kinds of directions. This album is halfway on the transition to more structured songs, but what they do is always epic sounding. One of my favourite gigs was seeing them in Brum with around only 50 other people… I know it was 50 as I counted them, it didn’t take long. So funny as well. Anyway as for the album. the title track kicks it off and has an awesome stabby guitar bit midway through, one of my favoruite songs for sure. “Start Angry… End Mad” is glorious too and ends with the repetition of “2 years is a long time to pretend” as the guitar layers gradually fade away. “With This Song I Will Destroy Myself” has one of the most euphoric moments in any song I love after the quiet mid section around 3:20, one of my favourite bits of any song… as you can tell, when Moneen are good I really love them. Due to some of the over convolutedness of some of the songs there are those I can pass, which includes most of their first album, but on this one as you can see by the score 80% are bangers and above. I miss Moneen. Fucking brilliant at times.
37. BRAND NEW – THE DEVIL AND GOD ARE RAGING INSIDE ME
(2006 – T10 G10 B7 UB4)
This was Brand New’s 3rd album and also their 3rd and highest on my chart. It was quite a departure from their previous outings. A lot darker, slow burning and important sounding (if thats a valid way of describing something). The vocals are more vunerable and desperate wheras before they usually had a confident cocky tone to them. On initial listen i wasn’t sure at all about this, but it didn’t take long before this was a repeat listen with more taken from it each time. This album could easily keep climbing. the opener “Sowing Season” does the traditional Brand New quiet loud thing, so thats familiar territory, except the loud is an awesome little winding bendy riff. “Millstone” sounds like something REM might do (though not in a “Shiney Happy People” way). Then come 4 ultimate bangers back to back. “Jesus Christ” is a kinda ambiguous song, where its not clear if its religious or about a girl. Whichever it is it’s a brilliant delicate builder of a song. It really is one of my favourite songs. “Degausser” follows the quiet loud formula but awesomely with another tasty riff to lead it. “Limousine” and “You Don’t Know” are 2 epic songs totaling nearly 13 minutes together. The first of which repeats for about 3 minutes the same lines over and over, gradually building to a Radiohead style guitar breakdown. The 2nd half of the album isn’t as perfect as the first but still great stuff, especially “Archers” which musically is a lot more upbeat.
38. HUNDRED REASONS – IDEAS ABOVE OUR STATION
(2002 – T12 G11 B7 UB4)
Hundred Reasons get their highest placed album in my chart with their debut. At the time of release I felt disappointed by this album and to some extent still do. Its lofty position is still mainly due to its glorious singles, of which there were 4 and another track which was a secondary track on an earlier EP. So are large chunk of the album had already been heard prior to release. Over time though I have grown to appreciate it more. The album works best when its either faster/riffier, or the more delicate songs. The middle paced ones tend to be the lesser interesting tracks. “I’ll Find You” opens with Colin Doyles strong and unique vocals driving it along with its stomping riff. Then there’s a few of those mid paced tracks, before ” What thought Did” and “If I Could” liven things up. The delicate tracks of “Falter” and “Avalanche” are awesome and show off the vocals of the guitarist Paul Townsend too. They work perfectly together and are great songs live. “Silver” was the highlight single which also saw them appear on Top Of The Pops back in the day. It has the classic big slow Hundred Reasons chorus and faster verse. “Gone Too Far” has some of the heaviest moments of the album in it, before the aforementioned “Avalanche” gently closes the album. I just wanted more “Remmus” though. Still its a great album and one that inspired a lot of other British bands to come and that are probably in my list somewhere.
39. BEN FOLDS – ROCKIN’ THE SUBURBS
(2001 – T12 G10 B7 UB4)
This album was released on a sunny Tuesday in September 2001… which happened to be 9/11. I’m guessing it wasn’t much of a release party. Regardless this was Ben Folds’ solo debut. After 3 albums as Ben Folds Five (with his 2 band mates, not 4, don’t do the math), all of which are in my chart, with one left to go. This is his best as a solo artist and on which he played all the instruments bar a few secondary ones like the cello. It is full of the traditional Ben Folds harmonies, quirks, comedy, sadness and joy.”Annie Waits” is a fine start but “Zak and Sara” is a funky little finger clicking number which ups the ante, then comes the song for his son “Still Fighting It”, which sounds kinda sad but is just proper nice. Theres a line about 20 years from now, his son will do something and by shit we are nearly 20 years on now!!! . That toddler he is singing to is now a grown man. scary stuff. he did a song for his daughter on the album after this which was in the chart about 3 months ago. “Fred Jones Pt.2” is the saddest song on the album with guest vocals from the singer of Cake. Its a song about a guy whose retiring, and no one really notices even after 25 years. A great song though. There’s a little bit of middle filler next but for Ben Folds that means they are still quality songs. “Not The Same” which is a live interaction favourite is a song about a friend of his who went up a tree on drugs and then came down a born again Christian… true story. The title track introduces rare electric guitars into Ben’s work and is a dig at the middle class white guys rapping, which was popular at the time. The highlight is the final track “The Luckiest”, as song designed for weddings. Something Ben knows a lot about as he has been married 4 times. The lyrics are full of imagery and kinda simple ideas, my favourite being: “Next door there’s an old man who lived to his nineties and one day passed away in his sleep, And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days, and passed away. I’m sorry I know that’s a strange way to tell you that I know we belong”. The lyrics adorn a canvas thing in the downstairs toilet…. come to think of it thats an odd place for them, but that’s my wife for ya!
40. SNUG – SNUG
(1999 – T12 G10 B7 UB4)
Snug! These are one of those slightly nerdy English indie-punk-pop type bands that were seemingly right and deep up my alley in the late 90s. Bands like Symposium, Midget, Silver Sun, A. Gel, Bennet, who tended to end up being bigger in Japan than over here. Snug did a kind of Weezer, meets Green Day, meets Beach Boys, with a dash of moog keyboard, geek rock. They did 2 albums and then split. The 2nd of which was not all that great, but before that their was this awesome debut along with several non-album singles and awesome b-sides. One of these singles was what first alerted me to their presence in “Ode To The Day” which was added on the bonus CD for this album, an ultimate banger if ever i heard one… sadly doesn’t count towards this albums score. As for the album itself, it starts with the moogy “I Wonder” before the nearly pure Weezer track “4 Blue Squares” follows with its waltzy flow. “My Girl (Keith)” is classic geek pop punk fun. “Palm Trees” is packed with harmonies and a surf guitar section in the middle that is just awesome. “Beatnik Girl” was their most successful single (success being that it peaked at #55 in the UK chart… massive), helped by a video that included randomly Melinda Messenger, who was at the height of her “rear of the year” powers at the time! “Under The Sea” is almost like a classic 50s ballad or something. There’s even a barbershop quartet section at the start of the ultra fast “God Sure Don’t Like Ugly”. It’s a shame they disappeared and the album is barely on youtube and not at all on Spotify. Snug, your time was brief and odd, but fun and thank you for the random fan pack i got once, filled with signed stuff, an advert for milk and a tesco bag if I recall correctly. Ed Harcourt from the band has gone on to have a solo career which I am yet to check out, but will do.
41. EMERY – THE QUESTION
(2005 – T11 G11 B9 UB2)
The 5th of 6 Emery albums is next up an was their sophomore effort, their debut being still to land in the chart. Compared to their other albums this is definitely their most conventional in terms of song structure and dare I say, their most poppy one. The vocals are still the standout feature with the 2 lead singers swapping lines and such and alternating between clean and gut wrenching screaming. The riffs are all there, cleaner but sometimes work better. The biggest difference between this and their debut is the addition of more keyboards in songs. At the time of its release Emery were probably my favourite band, being full into screamo as I was at the time. The first 5 songs are all bangers on my list and the last 2 of them are ultimate bangers in “Studying Politics” which was the lead single and “Left With Alibis and Lying Eyes” which appears to be another track 5 about getting away with a murder, similar to 3rd album “I’m Only A Man”. Are they trying to confess something? anyway, no evidence so they won’t be scratched from he list. “Returning The Smile You Have Had From The Start” wins best riff on the album with the stabby noodly little affair it has at the start, before the typical Emery softer melody moments. The last 2 songs on the album are 2 slower builders and a great epic sounding way to finish it off.
42. HOT ROD CIRCUIT – IF IT’S COOL WITH YOU, IT’S COOL WITH ME
(2000 – T11 G9 B7 UB4)
They’ve been mentioned a few times in the list so far but not had an album in it yet. Well at 42 its Alabama’s Hot Rod Circuit and the first of 2 albums to appear…. and those 2 are a lot better than the rest of their work which reached 5 before doing one of those extended hiatus things, bands like to do. The 2 that make the list are quite different in sound. This one is much more up beat along the lines of early Get Up Kids but with a bit more bite to it. The thing that stands out and drives the album for me is the lead guitar which for a lot of it sounds ever so slightly out of tune, but is continuously doing odd guitar melodies which are almost too high in the mix… but it works. A prime example of this is on 2nd track “Supersad” with its string bending little guitar melody. “Radio Song” kicks off the album before this with its 2 minutes punk pop niceness. The more you get those guitar hooks into your head the more the songs grow on you. “Cool With Me” is a 2 minute blast as well which sets off at a pace before gradually slowing as the songs goes along. “Versatility” is my favourite on the album and the urgency of it all is the dogs bollocks and I love the “straight through the heart” bit towards the end is crackin. “Smithsonian Liver” runs this song close with the melodic mid section poss being the best moment on the album. “Why can’t we just laugh, forget, and move on”. There are a couple of more acoustic tracks which are ok but don’t really work, not helped by the slightly raw production on it all, but still overall I love this albums 28 mins. Please ignore its proper dodgy album cover. Whose idea was that?!
43. SHED SEVEN – A MAXIMUM HIGH
(1996 – T12 G9 B8 UB3)
Back in the world of the mid-90s and its Brit-pop indie heroes Shed Seven with their 2nd album in the chart. This was also their 2nd album overall and has many a classic of the times on it. The Shine compilation CDs appeared to be nearly 40% Shed Seven tracks. The York based group were always just under the heights of Oasis, Blur and Pulp but for me this is one of the best of that era. Kicking off with a track that sounds like the sort of thing New Labour would have used to celebrate an election campaign “Getting Better”. This is quickly followed by massive tracks such as “Magic Streets”, “Going For Gold” and “On Standby”. All have their massive sing a long choruses, with that slightly laddy style, so you can belt them out no matter how shit your singing is. The album is chock full of potential singles and it’s hard to remember which ones were and weren’t (apparently 5 were and all charted in and around the top 20). “Lies” and “Bully Boy” are 2 faves later in the album. All round it still holds up and possibly I love it more now than ever. Esp after their glorious return with their album released the other year which was their other entry on the list. PS. it seems nearly all of the original official shed seven vids have disappeared, so the comments are full of what I could find.
44. TAKING BACK SUNDAY – TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS
(2002 – T10 G10 B8 UB2)
“Tell All Your Friends”, well someone did as thats how I heard about this album. Right when this type of stuff was taking off from under the feet of Nu-metal at the time. This was Taking Back Sunday’s debut and is considered one of the classics of the emo-punk-pop genre and ranks at #35 on Rock Sounds list of best albums of the last 20 years, describing it as a “genre-shaping release”. This is the 4th TBS album on my list and is clearly the best. The emotional half breaking vocal style seemed so different at the time, but has probably become a bit of cliche by now, but the album still holds up for me. At one stage I probably had 80% of this album as UB’s, now they are just B’s but its still class, and def worthy of its #44 position. The 2 main singles off the album are still the 2 ultimate bangers off the album in “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From The Team) and “Great Romances of the 20th Century”. The first of which was butchered by my uni band The Standoff in many a practice session. Another iconic song off the album is “There’s No ‘I’ In Team” which as mentioned in the review of Brand New’s debut (#67) was part of a battle between members of the 2 bands. and has slightly modified lyrics in the “Is this what you call tact? I swear you’re as subtle as a brick in the small of my back” section as a reply to Brand New. wath out for a random appearance by Flava Flav from Public Enemy in the “You’re So Last Summer” vid.
45. ACCEPTANCE – PHANTOMS
(2005 – T11 G11 B8 UB2)
Up next is Acceptance, a band who should be a lot bigger than they are. A cross between Jimmy Eat World and Anberlin, their melodic emo pop punk is done to perfection. Possibly too perfect as its a little too clean in sound in some parts, and less natural but as its at 45, its still an absolute banger of an album, as shown but 8 of the 11 tracks reaching banger status. Hailing from Seattle they released an awesome EP “Black Lines To Battlefields” in 2003, which was headlined by the single “Permanent” which also made it onto this their debut album and is a near perfect song of its genre, with its nice little riff effortlessly flowing into its verses and choruses. The album itself kicks off with the other UBer in “Take Cover” which starts with the painfully emo line “She’s a liar….” which is even more amped up in the emo stakes on the acoustic version that there is. Most songs don’t wander far from the verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus end pattern but thats fine as they hit the pattern perfectly. The album is broken up by a slower tempo middle section including single “Different” which is a reet soppy ballad along the lines of Hoobastank’s “the Reason”. Its slightly cheesy but I love it. The best songs are reserved for the more up beat ones, which along with those already mentioned include “In Too Far” and “In The Cold”. “Glory/Us” is a nice closer that includes a nice sweeping bit as it goes from the intial chorus to the second verse. melodic heaven. AbsolutePunk describes the album best with “It’s not often that bands can create pop-oriented music that has lasting value, but Acceptance has managed to do it with Phantoms. Outstanding vocals and truly talented songwriting sets this band apart from everybody else.”
After this album….. nothing…. for 12 years. Then came the 2nd album, which is nowhere near as good, still good and with an added 80s tinge but it doesn’t have the songs this has. It hovers around the #300 mark on my list.
46. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK – EVEN IF IT KILLS ME
(2007 – T13 G13 B7 UB3)
Another Motion City Soundtrack album you say? yes i emphatically reply!. This is their 4th on the list so far and 3rd in the top 100, and yes there are 2 more still to go. Its fair to say I love me some Motion City. This was their 3rd album and their last one with Epitaph, it was also their most “successful” in the UK charting at 113!! dizzying heights. The choice of singles didn’t help it though as the best songs are not them, though “This Is For Real” nice enough. MCS have never strayed far from their formula and so as with tradition the opener “Fell In Love Without You” is a high paced full of of that tasty nerdy moog sound. The ultimate bangers on this one come in the form of the Cure “Close to Me”-ish sounding “Last Night”. It’s just a nice gentle journey of a song with it plinky plonk piano sounds and gradual build up during it. “Hello Helicopter” is another down sounding song, but with a beautiful flow, MCS really do nail melodies with the different layers of instruments. It’s a definite foot taper.”Point Of Extraction” is a bit more upbeat and probably my favourite on the album with its triumphant chorus and pop riffs. Other highlights include the Ben Folds Five name drop in “Antonia”. “The Conversation” is a piano only song and is definitely Ben Folds esque and an attempt to jerk some tears (not that type you dirty shit). Anyway, sorry for another Motion City Soundtrack album, but it works for me.
47. SYSTEM OF A DOWN – SYSTEM OF A DOWN
(1998 – T13 G12 B8 UB2)
Quite a contrast from yesterday, at 47 is System Of A Down and their self titled debut album. System arrived on the scene around the same time Nu-Metal was taking off, but this was different, no rapping, no turntables and no caps. This was metal with a nod and a wink and some Armenian politics. This is the only one of their 5 albums to make the list. The rest have some good stuff on but for me this was as good as it gets. The production isn’t too crisp, the riffs are dirtier and its just rawer, and more natural sounding, before they maybe started parodying themselves on some future albums. “Suite-Pee” kicks us off with a classic SOAD sounding guitar, high pitched noodle, before some raucous downtuned power chords. This is followed by 2 ultimate bangers in “Know” with its death screamed “whyyyyyyy” and norty (sic) riffs, and then “Sugar”, a staple of the nights at the Dog & Trumpet and the Campbell, back in the day. “Sugar” just has that awesome drum roll into the chorus and then the ever speeding up riff at the end. Blinding stuff. There are some real oddities on the album too “Suggestions” has what sounds like a mouse singing in it at one point, “Mind” is 6 minutes of mentality, and has one of the dirtiest riffs this side of Armenia about 4:40 in. This album could easily be higher, either way its def a top 50-er for me. “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrr!”
48. OASIS – DEFINITELY MAYBE
(1994 – T11 G10 B7 UB3)
Ok time for me to get some grief, either for putting this too low, or for putting it in at all. Oasis are a band that if you like them you love them, but if you don’t you hate them. I’m evidently on the love side and I do love this album, but I also love a lot of other albums. No.48 is by no means negative. This album celebrates 25 years since release next month and Oasis were the icon of 90’s Britain, Brit-pop and Cool Britannia. The Gallagher brothers swagger was either intoxicating or revolting depending on your perspective. Liam for example doesn’t “think” he’s amazing, he “knows” it and he wants you to know it too and isn’t that exactly what you want in a lead singer of, in their words, “the biggest band on the planet”. Only 2 of the Oasis catalog make the list and this would probably be common for most as after their first 2 the quality did definitely drop off, maybe they should have saved some of the incredible B-sides for later albums. They announced themselves to the world with “Supersonic” with its iconic, confident drum beat and plectrum slide down the guitar, as if to say… “you can wait for this”. Then the riff and then the slightly off tune, manc snarl of Liam kicks in, full of beans. It was different to the shoegazing mumbling of indie before and the hair-metal wankery or too American grunge that was big before. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” also brazenly announces themselves with the first track on the album. “Live Forever” is a classic and a song for a generation, “Cigarettes & Alcohol” brings yet more lad confidence in line with lad mags like FHM, popular at the time. The greatest song on the album for me is the floating “Slide Away” which includes some of Liams best vocals. It seems odd now that Noel lead a single song on this album, that would be saved for later “…Glory”. The final track, the acoustic “Married With Children” is also a favourite and a great sing-a-long song. Oasis to this day are also the traditional music for a car journey back from a Cov City away day. Legendary.
49. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE – FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
(1996 – T12 G10 B8 UB2)
Ahh, Fountains of Wayne, a band most, if they’ve heard of them, will only associate them with the song about fancying your mates or girlfriend’s “mom” in “Stacy’s Mom”. As catchy and sugary nice that it is, they can do much better. FOW were a band with were part of my musical awakening during 1996/7. Not too daring I know, but off the radar a bit. The first thing I heard by them was “Radiation Vibe”, a chilled cruise of an alternative rock song and i listened to it basically on repeat at the time. So much so that I can still hear the song it faded into on my cassette recording in my head each time the song finishes. That song was their debut single and actually charted over here at No.32. It is also the opening track to their debut album. Their 2nd single “Sink To The Bottom” is the 2nd track on the album, original thinking. They aren’t doing anything clever but its just nice nerdy-cool alt rock with a 60’s influenced sound to the album, with a touch of Weezer and they say themselves a bit of Oasis (the latter you can hear more on other albums and not all that successfully). They definitely are fans of the 60’s as co-write and bass player Adam Schlesinger, wrote several songs including the title track for the Tom Hanks film “That Thing You Do” and also produced an album for The Monkees. Back to the album and songs like “Joe Ray” and “Survival Car” pick up the pace, while “Sick Day” is an awesome chilled song about a lady fed up with work. “Barbara H” is another fave and more a mid-paced affair, but its just that cool vibe thats throughout this album that I love.
After this album they did a Christmas song “I Want An Alien For Chirstmas” and also “2 Cool 4 School”, which appeared at the end of Scary Movie. their 2nd album had its moments, and since then there are some ok songs but nowhere near the quality of their debut.
50. AT THE DRIVE-IN – RELATIONSHIP OF COMMAND
(2000 – T12 G10 B7 UB3)
As we breach the top 50 we are solidly into the upper end of the 9/10 rated albums (also only 50 days left of my incessant posting). The 50 begin with At The Drive-In and their 3rd album, and their best by far, “Relationship of Command”. This is an arty post hardcore noise-a-thon. The dual vocals shout and scream over each other desperate for attention on top of the sometimes manic and messy guitars, but somehow it works. The urgency of it all is what makes it. “Arcarsenal” blasts things into action and the first 6 tracks on this are all at least bangers. “One Armed Scissor” was the major single of the album and stop start chorus is a swing the microphone about glory.”Invalid Litter Dept.” has large spoken word sections with pianos but with its big chorus and even bigger ending, which makes the song. “Mannequin Republic” is my favourite and is just pure screaming energy. “Enfilade” has like a drum n bass beat to it in the verse and then an catchy chorus. From this point on the album drops off a bit esp with the last 2 songs, which prevents it from being higher in the list, but its a great blast for the majority of it. No idea what they are on about and on live tv shows they look a hot mess with barely recognisable songs. This album also continuously reminds me of certain levels of the computer game Deus Ex which was what I was big on playing in 2000 and remains my favourite game.
This album featured at Number 39 in Rock Sounds best albums of the last 20 years.
51. BILLY TALENT – BILLY TALENT
(2003 – T12 G10 B7 UB3)
We last saw Canadian spikey punk noise merchants Billy Talent back in the mid 100’s with their 2nd album. Just outside the top 50 we find their highest placed album, which is their self monikered debut album from 2003. This was a great debut and from the moment I heard probably their still biggest song “Try Honesty”, I was hooked and the little “I’m insane! It’s your fault!” breakdown is awesome. The album just has a different sound to a lot of stuff, its just got a kind of twitchy craziness to it, from the bass line in the chorus of the first song to the stabbing guitars of the finale. As mentioned on the last review if you don’t like the sharp semi scream high pitched vocals then you will struggle with this band, but if you do it fits perfectly with the vibe. The album has a strong start and a strong finish with the 7 bangers being the first 3 songs and last 4. The middle is still good and has the song sung from a prostitutes point of view “Standing In The Rain”. Riff of the album comes on “Cut The Curtains”, and runs in one way or another through the entire song. “Nothing to Lose” is a big ballad song about a depressed loner and suicide, the album then closes with the spikey fast punk of “Voices of Violence”. Saw them around the time of this albums release in the Little Civic in Wolves and it was belting stuff.
52. ARMOR FOR SLEEP – WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE DEAD
(2005 – T11 G8 B7 UB3)
This is the 3rd of the 3 Armor For Sleep albums on the list and was their sophomore release. As with the others this has a theme and this time is dying, what its like to be dead, regretting dying and being a ghost. Its also their best musically in my opinion. The songs have more urgency, more variation in the vocals and passion when needed. The first half is first class and everytime I listen to it I feel this album should be higher but the 2nd half lets it down. Up until the track 6 slow dreamy filler song its banger after banger. “Car Underwater” introduces the death in a car crash and calling for the search to be called off, seemingly after a split with the missus. Then the album moves on to say its actually a bit shit in heaven, terrible precipitation apparently. “Remember To Feel Real” has some awesome guitar parts on the chorus, perfect for air guitar. “Awkward Last Words” is my favourite of the album, classic emo. By the time we reach the synth and drum machine filled “Basement Ghost Singing”, he is haunting the girl he liked and trying to contact her. “Walking At Night, Alone” perks up the 2nd half. The final track is basically a reprise of “The Truth About Heaven”, but ain’t very good and by the time the big soul singing church wailing sounding female vocal kicks in, its lost me (its a strange combo). It’s like one of that large mid 40s women X factor contestants has shown up and wants to show off her range…. horror scenes. Otherwise its a grand album that just misses a bit and so hovers outside the top 50.
53. BELOVED – FAILURE ON
(2003 – T10 G10 B8 UB1)
Now if you want to sample Beloved you have to make sure you find the album, the Beloved spotify page is full of other Beloveds, from a female solo artist to, christian music, to indian music, to a female country band. This Beloved are far from that and ride in the post hardcore / metal-core area. They only released one album properly, there is a debut album they released independently but it sounds more like a demo, and then an EP which is somewhere closer to what this masterpiece is. One of the strong points of the album is definitely the vocals, from the strained cleaned vocals to a very aggressive scream vocal. The music also flows from uber melodic to arm throwdown riffs, which are at the heavier end of my musical taste radar, but definitely inside it as it is used perfectly and appropriately. One of my highlights of the album comes in this form in my favourite song “Death to Traitors”, where about 2/3rds in “we were born for battle” is screamed over an awesome little breakdown, before it opens up into its big sweeping sounding melodic parts. The first 8 tracks on this album are all bangers, and only the last 2 don’t make that grade, but thats not that they are bad, they could very easily slip up a grade. “Aimless Endeavour” was the main single off this album and managed to get its video on Scuzz, P-Rock or whatever music channel it was at the time, but other than that they drifted under the wider scene radar and then seemingly split before any more material was recorded…. which is a great shame.
54. PRESS TO MECO – HERE’S TO THE FATIGUE
(2018 – T10 G9 B7 UB2)
Possibly the most recent release on the list. This is Press To Meco’s 2nd album and their 2nd on the list. The very british vocally sounding Press To Meco, have a unique sound combining very clean singing and harmonies with sometimes proper heavy riffs. Its a strange combo at first but once you get it, you can’t get enough. This album improved on their debut with just more solid songs, perhaps less randomness but also some bigger riffs… when needed. The naughtiest of them all being that in “A Quick Fix”, its almost like Symposium never died, but consumed a bit of early Biffy Clyro instead. This song I just can’t resist air guitaring too or bashing some 78% nitrogen drums. love it. Their singles fill the front half of the album with the album title song being my favourite of them, and probably the most conventional. The chilled out “A Place In It All” is a steady builder and has grown on me a lot since I bought this album. “Howl” has one of my favourite little melodic near mathy guitar parts in, it also goes near death metal for a few seconds around 2:40 in, before a Queen-esque “we will rock you style” chorus. I’m yet to see them live but I imagine it would be awesome as all 3 of the band sing with the drummer taking lead on some songs and the riffs would prob sound even better. Their singing and harmonies are shown off in some of the acousitc re-workings of the songs they have done on youtube. All in all Press To Meco are one of my favourite new bands.
55. THRICE – THE ARTIST IN THE AMBULANCE
(2003 – T12 G11 B8 UB1)
Thrice with their 2nd appearance of 3 in the chart so far. “The Artist In the Ambulance” was their 3rd release and took the sound to a heavier riffier metalier place, compared to the more punk hardcore style of their previous outings. The album has a great first half and an awesome last 2 tracks with a little bit of filler in the middle. Its a nice filler but the weaker section for me. Having said that the opening track isn’t one of the best on the album, that is reserved for the 2nd for me, with the riffilicious “Under A Killing Moon”. The riffs at the end are definitly recorded at volume setting 11. In fact ending riffs is a common theme of the album, many a song is taken up a notch with some awesome breakdowns and finishes. “Paper Tigers” is probably one of the heaviest songs they’ve recorded, if it wasn’t for the slightly dull chorus this would be a def UBer (i’m probably being too harsh there). The singles “All Thats Left”, “Stare At The Sun” and the title track are the poppiest songs on the album, but are all solid bangers. the final 2 tracks have epicness all over them. From the final minute of “The Abolition Of Man” is brutal and “Don’t Tell And We Won’t Ask” is full of atmosphere in its closing half.
This album is still growing on me as at first I wanted another “The Illusion Of Safety” and this was different, having re-visited it for this list I can see if may eventually make it higher up. I can’t wait to see them with Refused later in the year.
56. BEN KWELLER – SHA SHA
(2002 – T11 G11 B6 UB3)
In the 90s there was a young grunge band called Radish, who had a ridiculously young singer called Ben Kweller. They had a couple of minor hit songs and were the first band I ever saw live with them being on about midday at V97 (when it was an indie / rock festival). Ben Kweller was barely 16 then! (younger than I was?!? …. just
). Anyway after a couple of albums Radish split and Ben went solo. “Sha Sha” was his first release and he has now done 5 total. This is the only one that makes the list, most of the others have all gone a bit country sounding. There is a tinge of that on this album, but for the main part its kinda a cross betwee Weezer and Ben Folds (who he has done an EP with as The Bens). The main single of it “Wasted & Ready” is an alt-rock classic and is very early Weezer sounding. The Ben Folds sound is shown off on “In Other Words”, which is a slow piano song that builds into a summery big ending. “Lizzy” is a pure acoustic song that def has the country tinge and gives you the image of belting it out on s swing chair on some porch at sunset. The close “Falling” is another piano led track and probably my favourite song on there and finishes in classic Ben Folds style with harmonies and “ba-ba-baaaah”‘s going on. As I say though the rest of his work isn’t really my thing. The self titled album is ok and has some decent stuff on it, but this album I love.
57. GLITTERBOX – TIED & TANGLED
(1997 – T11 G11 B6 UB3)
Back in 1997 again and a band that very few people ever heard of. I assume I only heard of them on the evening session and they have been described as a mix of Radiohead and Manic Street Preachers, neither bands that I overly like oddly. This was their only album and . This album used to be my favourite for a while back in 97/98. I loved the passion in the vocals (which I guess lead me in to emo stuff a few years later), but it was at a time I hadn’t heard stuff sung that way. Their main singles “Houdini”, “Scared Of All The World” and “Can’t Live On Mars” are solid favourites on the album. I think one of the main things I love, other than the vocal style, is the drumming, it just seems an unusual style, theres a lot of extended or short drum rolls. In the song “Woody Allen” during the climax, the song basically becomes one long drum roll, its awesome and sounds unique. The closer “Tonight To Hell” is a slow builder and is still one of my top 20 or 10 favourite songs. They even had some great B-sides. I never managed to see them live and I was proper gutted when I found out they split about a year after this release. I only found out about it by using a “comp-uter” with “inter-net” at a local college one day, when i searched for their “web-site”. Sad scenes. I stil truely love this album though and it is one of the main reasons I search out new stuff instead of it being handed on a plate, you miss gems like this. The album’s not on Spotify sadly but is on Youtube, though the playlist misses the last song.
58. BRAND NEW – DEJU ENTENDU
(2003 – T10 G9 B6 UB3)
Theres been a collection of albums by the same bands recently. This will open up again soon as we head towards the top 50. This is the 2nd Brand New album in the chart, one more to go. This was also their 2nd album released and was a definite development in sound on their debut. This for the most part was the emo pop punk of their debut. A large chunk of the songs are well over 4 minutes, rather than the circa 3 minutes of the debut and in general have a darker tone, especially in the verses. The initial single “Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades”, is the classic quiet load formula but done brilliantly and is about a kinda reverse date rape where the man is the victim. The descriptive lyrics are a theme of the album and also obvious in the song “Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don’t” with is arrogant sounding verses. “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” is the big pop single off the album but has a great little riff over the chorus, and I love the delayed drum strike in the sorta breakdown about 3:10 in. “The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot” is another song I love and is a near acoustic about how his partner constantly forgives his sins and I love the line “You are the smell before rain.” The atmospheric sound that started to appear on this album would be further developed on their 3rd which we’ll stumble across at some point.
59. IDLEWILD – 100 BROKEN WINDOWS
(2000 – T12 G12 B7 UB1)
Scottish noiseniks (as I’m sure they would have been referred to as at one time) Idlewild return with their 2nd album in a week. So basically I rate them about the same. This was also their 2nd release and at the time I was massively into them. As mentioned previously they have a very definite career ark from chaos to calm. This one is part way between the sound of their debut ep and album and the cleaner “Remote Part”. The album starts with the first single “Little Discourage” which probably best demonstrates this slightly more controlled sound with is quiet verse loud chorus dynamic but with that near iconic sounding Idlewild verse guitar riff. “Roseability” is a highlight of the album and also a single and had the kids shouting about someone called Gertrude Stein (any ideas who he is without googling?). “Idea Track” is an odd thing but also one of my favourites with is loud bridge and then sorta big echoey chorus. “Let Me Sleep (Next To the Mirror)” is very much more along the “Remote Part” album style of things, and is a great flowing song with an at the time unexpectedly delicate ending. My favourite song is definitely more of their original style in “Listen To What You’ve Got”. the rest of the album still has its good to great moments but the majority of the best songs for me are in the first half. I used to love the last two tracks more than I do now, but they are still great songs.
60. THE OFFSPRING – IXNAY ON THE HOMBRE
(1997 – T12 G12 B8 UB0)
Yes it’s 1997 again. I didn’t fake this! And its another massive punk band to follow Green Day. This is the only Offspring album to make my list of the 9 they have done. (though “Smash” should have been 239 after some recent re-evaluation). “Smash” for a lot of people is the superior album but for me I only like just over half of it, its a damn good just over half, but not enough. “Ixnay” on the other hand I like every track and a lot of them a lot more than just like. The album kicks off with a comedy disclaimer before the high paced “The Meaning Of Life”, a definite banger which could have done with a time change at some point to reach UB level but a great song nonetheless. “Mota” follows which until yesterday I didn’t realise was another word for weed. Obviously the songs about someone smoking away their life, but never knew thats what that word meant (so niefff). Anyway its funny that Charlie likes saying the “mota”, in a mexican accent, part. “Cool To Hate” is an anti-school, anti-jocks, anti-geeks etc anthem, which must be half done ironically as singer and songwriter Dexter Holland is clearly a bit of a geek with his Biology PhD. Most of the album is high paced skate punk but in the 2nd half of the album there are 2 more grunge based songs in the form of “Gone Away” and “Amazed”, the first of which was a massive single in the US, and both great. The most iconic start of a song on this is the “ya ya ya ya ya” at the beginning of “All I Want” which rips through its 2 minutes in double time (not possible I know, it would be 1 minute long then). A quick mention to “Me and My Old Lady” which is possibly an overlooked song on the album and kind of a not quite so good “Come Out And Play”, but still got a great little riff.
After this album they hit it big time with some dodgy tracks off “Americana” though it does have some great moments too and was just outside the 250 at 278. Beyond that the quality gradually drifts away and they become a mock version of themselves. As for prior to “Smash” there a a couple of decent songs but the issue is they sound like they’ve been recorded via 2 cans on the end of a piece of string.
61. MOOSE BLOOD – BLUSH
(2016 – T10 G10 B8 UB0)
This completes the Moose Blood discography and they were all pretty much of the same standard and appeared in around the space of a month. This was their 2nd release and is a summery looking and sounding proposition, from its name and pink cover. Not all the songs lyrics are happy, in particular “Spring” towards the end of the album which is another about a death father of a member of the band. The first song I heard by Moose Blood “Honey” is a proper guitar pop tune and just reminds me of the hit songs of bands like Dodgy, as something that just creates sunny vibe by just hearing it. There’s no ultimate bangers on this album but it hits the spot in terms of a style I like and as there isn’t much variance, which is a negative, if its in the zone I like then i’m gonna like it all. Everyone song fits into the 3 to 4 minute length other than the closer which just peeks over that, but only due to a fade out sound effect. It’s going to be too poppy for some, but I love the Moose Blood sound, despite the miss-representative name and some of the alleged controversies surrounding band members. At least they ain’t Ian Watkins.
62. GREEN DAY – NIMROD
(1997 – T17 G16 B7 UB1)
Meanwhile back in 1997…. The 3rd from that year in a week…. we find Green Day’s highest placed album and the 4th on the list, “Nimrod”. This album is chock full of punk pop glory. For a 17 track album (ignoring the rather pointless instrumental), there is very little filler here. What there is is in the first half of the album. The opening half is all about “Hitchin’ A Ride” and another iconic Green Day simple but effective riff. The rest is good but we have to wait till the bile filled “Platypus (I Hate You)” at track 8 before the real action begins. That ridiculously paced track has a long stream of insults at the end, before the somewhat jauntier “Uptight” comes on. The “Jinx / Haushinka” double combo is a great way back into the action after the dull instrumental, then the greats come thick and fast with “Reject”, “Take Back”, the cross-dressing anthem of “King For A Day”. Then comes the uber hit and at the time surprising Green Day song in the acoustic masterpiece of “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)”. Despite hearing this song a million times on radio/TV or of my own choosing it still holds up for me. You know it instantly from its false start and I imagine it would be a prom night favourite in the states (not that we do that sort of thing here…. oh we do now?! well not when I were a lad, life was ‘ard then, no time for limos and suits… or girls). Anyway, I have never considered myself a massive Green Day fan, but this album is a glorious ride which only improves as it goes along.
63. DEAF HAVANA – ALL THESE COUNTLESS NIGHTS
(2017 – T12 G11 B7 UB1)
This is the 4th and final Deaf Havana album to make the list. Their only one to miss out is their shit show of a pop album in “Rituals”. This album has probably been tarnished somewhat by that, as unfair as that may be. Once up a time this was much higher, but since the release of their latest album, the appeal has dropped slightly. The signs of the change were there but not obvious and this is probably the perfection of the style Deaf Havana worked towards. The vocal style on this album is close to a modern pop vocal a bit but not quite and the album is high on the production side, but the songs are so solid it definitely deserves its place of 63.
The first few songs don’t hint at that as they aren’t as great but from then on its a great album. “Happiness” is a song about the singers drinking issues and the whole album is apparently related around those and similar issues and how its affected his life. The title “All These Countless Nights” is apparently about all the nights he barely remembers as a result. It’s that honest sounding vocal added with the easy flowing lead guitar melodies that hooked me in, and it very much works as an album rather than individual songs. “Fever” is close to a UBer but has a disappointing end, it just kinda finishes almost mid flow, but is a fantastic simple song up to that point. “Seattle” sounds almost country in places but you get that feeling of the landscapes of touring america in the music somehow. “Sing” is my favourite song on the album due to its lead guitar melodies over a great chorus. It rounds things off nicely before the atmospheric closer of “Pensacola, 2013”. Whether the album remains this high over the years is to be seen but when I put it on I’ve always enjoyed it. Its just a great shame that the band took their new direction.
64. IDLEWILD – REMOTE PART
(2002 – T11 G10 B7 UB1)
Idlewild have arrived in the chart. They’ve done 8 albums now, but only the first 3 make my list, this is primarily as their style has changed considerably over the years. They started out as a band barely able to play instruments but were absolutely bat shit crazy live and the songs had such energy and mentalness about them. It was awesome. I saw them twice before their first album and loved them. I remember some girl (probably flirting but I was oblivious) trying to buy my Idlewild t-shirt off me outside the colly once. Clearly I told her to do one (though probably by mumbling, i’d rather not sell it, and shuffling away). Idlewild now sound closer to a country band, or at least did on the last album, before the current one which I must confess having not listened to properly yet, though it sounded like an improvement.
This album was their 3rd album and first on a major label, so it was a lot cleaner in sound and safer, but it still had that old energy but with added slower songs. “You Held The World In Your Arms” was the first song released off it and is a string laden song which is their highest charting song and reached number 9. the best track follows that with “A Modern Way Of Letting Go” this is closest to their old style and while cleaner is definitely a fave of theirs for me and the only UBer on this album. It does have 6 other songs of banger status, including the chilled “American English” which i understand was in part about how he was going to sing in his Scottish accent rather than a “faked” american one. “Live In a Hiding Place” is a great near acoustic song and “Tell Me Ten Words” flows along like a tree lined country road on a summers day (when not stuck behind a caravan or tractor). The album ends with an epic finish which includes a poem read by and written specially for the album by Edwin Morgan (?)
65. 3 COLOURS RED – PURE
(1997 – T14 G10 B6 UB3)
Staying in 1997 for the 2nd day in a row we find a new band on the list with their only appearance. 3 Colours Red were a Brit rock band who did 3 albums over the space of 7 years. The latter 2 of these were not good at all though. “Revolt” had its moments and probably their biggest hit with “Beautiful Day” but it sounded like an album where they were being pushed to do too much. “Pure” their debut on the other hand is a great album. Full of palm muted verses, riffs and big rock choruses. They were the British equivalent of “The Colour And The Shape” era Foo Fighters. “Pure” opens with its title track and blasts through its 3 mins in glorious fashion, kicking off the album in style along with the 4 other bangers that follow it. These include singles “This Is My Hollywood”, “Nuclear Holiday” (which was my introduction song to 3 Colours Red), and “Copper Girl” which sorta rumbles along like a heavy truck, before its “woah-oh” filled chorus. The 2nd half of the album has less highs but “Mental Blocks” and “Halfway Up The Downs” are 2 of the faster/heavier tracks which surround a great building song “Fit Boy + Faint Girl” which is the big ballad and precursor to “Beautiful Day” on the next album. This album probably could have done with a couple shaved off it but its still one fondly remembered and enjoyed whenever a random track appears in a mix.
66. BEN FOLDS FIVE – WHATEVER AND EVER AMEN
(1997 – T12 G11 B5 UB3)
Back to 1997 now and its by my calculations/memorations the 5th album I ever bought/owned. (see embarrassing list in comments on Facebook). And yes it was on cassette tape!. This was my first introduction to the glories of Ben Folds other than “Underground” which is off their debut (which i got later) and on a Shine compilation. It’s an album which on the whole feels more like a collection of songs rather than a cohesive album, but that doesn’t stop its rise to #66 on my chart. So this was his//their sophomore album and there are 2 more Ben Folds (Five) albums to come. It opens with the lively “One Angry Dwarfs And 200 Solemn Faces” with its classic piano bashing piano solo in the middle. I didn’t realise this song had a video till yesterday but its a great way to kick off the album.
“Brick” is the most famous song off the album and is about the time when he was young he and his girlfriend had to sneak away in order for her to have an abortion. He says the song is neither pro or anti-abortion (which is more of an issue in his native North Carolina) but just tells the story of the emotions. Its a glorious song and definitly an ultimate banger, despite the fact I’ve never been a massive fan of the chorus. The verse lyrics are brilliantly done, and all full of imigery. The section “As weeks went by It showed that she was not fine They told me, “Son it’s time to tell the truth, ” and She broke down and I broke down Cause I was tired of lying” impacts everytime. “Song For The Dumped” is about trying to claim back his black T-shirt after a split. “Kate” is a summery jaunt full of harmonies (check out the TFI Friday live version), “Steven’s Last Night In Town” is a big 20’s sounding show tune (which is something I would normally despise, but this is done by a musical genius). “The Battle Of Who Could Care Less” is my favourite track and is just pure chilled coolness as it flows along with it fuzzy bass dominating the chorus filled with falsetto harmonies. “Evaporated” is the perfect sad closer to a near masterpiece. Near as there is the odd song that lets it down or is more forgettable, but never bad.
67. BRAND NEW – YOUR FAVORITE WEAPON(2001 – T12 G10 B5 UB3)The first of 3 Brand New albums on the list appears at #67. The 3 that make it are their first 3 of 5 and that is because Brand New have had a reverse career in many way. Most bands start off more alternative or extreme before gradually becoming more mainstream, Brand New however have got more alternative with each album. This one is their debut and is a pretty much straight up emo-pop-punk album which came out right at the start of emo’s rise to popularity. They and Taking Back Sunday were linked by this and also linked by the fact that Brand New’s singer Jesse Lacey used to be in TBS, before John Nolan of TBS, got frisky with Jesse’s girlfriend of the time. This lead to songs on each of their debut albums being aimed at each other. On Brand New’s that is in the form of “Seventy Times 7”, with its near spoken word section:“So, is that what you call a getaway? Tell me what you got away with. Cause I’ve seen more spine in jellyfish. I’ve seen more guts in eleven-year-old kids. Have another drink and drive yourself home. I hope there’s ice on all the roads.And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt, and again when your head goes through the windshield.”The section after that is nearly word for word copied in TBS’ “There’s No “I” in Team”. That beef aside they made up sometime after and toured together and such. As for the rest of the album “The Shower Scene” gets things off in distorted vocal ultimate banging ways, before lead single and emo classic “Jude Law And A Semester Abroad” appears. Poss a bit cheesy on the lyrics side its still a classic which I cannot deny still loving 18 years on. The album loses a bit of momentum towards the end but is still full of pop punky goodness.
68. DON BROCO – TECHNOLOGY
(2018 – T16 G9 B6 UB4)
Less than a week after seeing their debut in my chart comes their current album released last year. This album is divided by great and bad in nearly equal measure and I can understand how people may be put off by them, but on this album when good they sound like no one else at the moment. On this album the style of Don Broco is changed again this, time its all big riffs, choruses and added gadgetry, in the form of dance beats and lots of production. For me though it mostly works. The 2nd half of the album is full of too much filler though, if this album was 12 songs long instead of 16 it would have placed in the top 50, but as it is there are 7 of the 16 that don’t even make my good list. The first 5 tracks though have 3 UB’ers in and the others are at least bangers. “Technology” the song is a rant about people staring at their phones too much, and has a monstrous riff at the end. “Stay Ignorant” starts with laddy vocals and a thumping beat, before a big chorus, again with another massive riff at the end. If you can ride with the clicks and whisltes and the tongue in cheek of it all its glorious stuff. “Come Out To LA” has a vid which looks as if they have seen the uber low budget “Manborg” and at the start sounds nothing like a band who would touch a guitar, but I love it. “Pretty” is my favourite of the songs, with is norty riff and “8 days a week” chorus, its a rant about a girl he liked who then turned out to be a tad racist. Its all modern rock music you can funk along to, once you get used to it. “Everybody” is another track I love but had been out nearly 18 months before the album, so almost feels like it isn’t part of the album. Rock Sound rate it as #93 on their list of best albums of the last 20 years.
Some of the later tracks I really don’t like and whether this album stands the test of time like those around it we will see. For right now though, when this is good I love it and its very much a modern sounding album. By the sounds of their latest single “Half Man Half God” the change in styles is yet to cease.
69. THE WANNADIES – BAGSY ME
(1997 – T12 G9 B7 UB1)
The Wannadies have their 3rd and highest placed album in the chart with “Bagsy Me”. This 1997 album kicks off a spree of 1997 albums with 5 including this one coming up in the next 11 days (theres also a 1998 one). 1997 was the year where “alternative” music entered my life, before then it was all chart music and mercia sound! Not that chart music was all that bad in the mid 90s as it was the height of Brit-pop and so it was primarily guitar based anyway. The Wannadies were one of those bands and it felt that half of this album was on those Shine albums from the 90s. (In fact it was only 2 songs). The album is full of bangers (the highest so far with 7), but also a few tracks a bit too quirky and don’t hit the good playlist. The start is the high paced “Because” with it recorder solo about 2/3rds in, then the chirpy “Friends” followed by one of my 3 year old Charlie’s favourites “Someone Somewhere”. Other singles were “Shorty” about being a short guy on dates, and the simple but great “Combat Honey” and “Hit”, (which was a hit).Quieter songs include “Oh Yes (it’s a Mess)” and “Silent People” both of which bring some brass into the mix. This albums a perfect summery mix of not too serious indie-pop.
70. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK – PANIC STATIONS
(2015 – T11 G11 B6 UB1)
Less than a week after their last album in their chart comes another Motion City Soundtrack album. This time its their “final” album of the 6. I say final in speech marks as they have recently announced a 2020 tour and reunion, so maybe more albums to come. This one completes the set of 3 albums in the 2nd half of their career, leaving their first 3 to come way up the chart. Somehow when this first came out i missed this album, no idea how, either way it was a nice surprise when I finally got round to having it. Its a very good album, perhaps some of the quirkiness was gone, but MCS rarely write a song I don’t like. The album blasts off after a determined spoken statement of “Lets Do This”, “Anything At All” kicks in full of the classic energy and moogs MCS have perfected. “I Can Feel You” is a great track and glorious to see live with the title being repeated in the 2nd half and for some reason is a vivid memory of when I saw them on their goodbye tour. The primary single of the album “Lose Control” adds in some of the quirkiness but not as successfully, but is still a fine track. “Heavy Boots” and “You Are Not Alone” are 2 faves from he middle of the album. The final track “Days Will Run Away” sounds like a track that a band does knowing its goodbye and is a great way to tend their discography…. for now.
71. MOOSE BLOOD – I’LL KEEP YOU IN MIND FROM TIME TO TIME
(2014 – T11 G10 B6 UB1)
All 3 Moose Blood albums are squeezed into a tight area on my chart, so I rate them all pretty much the same. This was their debut and is the 2nd highest of theirs. The style is pretty much the same as the others, maybe a bit rougher recorded. That style is a combination of maybe Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World and early Brand New, but they are English. A few of the songs allude to a high intake of fags and booze and reasons for splits etc, all classic emo stuff, but maybe a bit less dramatic. The songs can merge and are all a tad samey, which possibly holds it back from being higher up. The album starts with the slow acoustic and introspective “Cherry” which sounds more like it should be fitted in at track 8 or a closer before the optimistic sounding guitar of “Anyway” kicks in. The album is another of those which is kinda a summer windows down cruise along job, that I like, (except on a high pollen day). Favouite tracks include “Gun” and “Pups” which is about the death of one of the bands fathers. Another fave is the track “Kelly Kapowski” which appears to be a song dedicated to the, every teenage 90s boy dream girl, from Saved By The Bell.
72. THE MENZINGERS – AFTER THE PARTY
(2017 – T13 G11 B6 UB1)
This is The Menzingers 2nd and highest appearance on the chart. This is their most recent and is the album I first heard of them on before inspecting their back catalog which is pretty decent, but as this was my entry album, they are not on the same level as this… for me anyway. The album is a love letter to their 20s as they move into their 30s (a decade I am desperately clinging onto still). This is most evident on the opening track “Tellin’ Lies” which is my favourite on the album. To be honest I thought they would be much older, they certainly sound it, as a kinda throwback almost Irish Boston punk type thing. They are in fact from Scranton, Pennsylvania, a place we went through on our honeymoon, so feel some loose connection to that. They also sing a lot about Philadelphia which was my favourite place on the honeymoon. Compared to their earlier albums this is definitely a more mellow, dare i say, mature effort and it cruises along throughout its 13 tracks in a comfy 4th gear. Another favourite is “Your Wild Years” with is chorus of “A little Irish in your blood, A little Polish in your name, A little Boston in your attitude, Just the way you were raised” which obv adds to the Irish Boston feel is a great little song, as is the title track which was the first song I heard by them.
73. DON BROCO – PRIORITIES
(2012 – T11 G11 B5 UB2)
This is the 2nd appearance from Don Broco on my list and is their debut album. As mentioned on their sophomore album review back at 213, each of their 3 albums has a pretty different sound and feel. This one is probably what can be best described as “lad-core”, mainly due to its lyrics and occasional singing style. plus their videos are possibly sometimes not favourable with the feminist community. These are songs about bros before hos and your mate cheating and being back in school and “chasing skirt”. There are elements of the more hardcore origin of the band (see “Thug Workout”) with some occasional riffage, in particular on my favourite track “Fancy Dress”, which also has more prominent vocals from the drummer. They are primarily a live band who appear to write songs that have more impact live with big choruses etc and having seen them twice now they are definitely a great live watch. Other favourites include “Whole Truth” which a slice of pop done right and “You Got It Girl” which is one of the slower tracks and is more like their 80s inspired 2nd album. The appeal of the album has waned a little over time so I’m not sure it will be this high in a few years but its still a great debut, though probably not to everyones taste.
74. WE ARE THE OCEAN – GO NOW AND LIVE
(2011 – T10 G10 B5 UB2)
3 days after their last appearance comes their last appearance…. on the chart with their 4th album on it. This was their 2nd album and the last one with the gruff voice / screamer co-vocalist. And for most of the album you can see why it lead to him leaving. He doesn’t play an instrument and his vocals appeared much less, though he still had more impact than the dancing monkey Bez in Happy Mondays. The album pips “Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow” on the basis of all of the 10 tracks qualifying for the good playlist rather than 9. The opening track is unlike the rest on the album and is more rock n roll ish rather than the emo post hardcore-ish stylings of the rest. Then follows 4 of the 5 bangers, the first 2 being UBer’s. “What It Feels Like” its slowed down chorus and then vocal only section towards the end push it up the quality rankings. “The Waiting Room” is the highlight of the album with its swapping vocals through the song. the bridge where every sentence is swapped between the pair like a conversation is proper bo. “Runaway” and “Trials and Tribulations” are nice driving flowing songs and finish off a strong first half. The 2nd is less great but still solid stuff, the quieter “Now & Then” being the best song of it, esp with its ultra deep voice singing bit, showing off the clean singers range. In someways some of the songs on this album remind me of a more rockier Embrace, especially with the last song “Before I Die”. In all their albums they seemed on the edge of true greatness but never quite hit it consistently enough. Still they are one of my favourite British bands of the 2010’s.
75. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK – MY DINOSAUR LIFE
(2010 – T12 G11 B5 UB2)
Now if you don’t like Motion City Soundtrack, tough tits to ya as there are 5 of their 6 albums inside the top 75!. Their nearest challenger(s) by album number in the top 100 only has 3. It is clear I love me a bit of MCS and their quirky nerdy moogy-ish melodies. This was their 4th release and has reached its position mainly due to the opening 4 banging tracks, 2 of with are ultimate bangers. The album tales off in the 2nd half but only to the level of a below average MCS song which for me is still a great song. “Killer Bee” gets us off to the traditional first MCS track quiet intro into pacey remainder. This is followed by the boppy “A Life Less Ordinary” (not an Ash cover). The 2 UBers come in the form of the “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” with is strange sorta scream thing behind its bridge section, and “Disappear” which rips along with lyrics that stumble over each other. Latter highlights include “Stand Too Close” which is a nice bob your head along mainly acoustic song. (as acoustic as MCS get anyway). “Pulp Fiction” sounds oddly like copyright infringement of an Eve 6 song and the song “@!#?@!” tells some MFers to go away. It’s not their best work with some filler in there but still good enough for 75.
76. ANBERLIN – NEVER TAKE FRIENDSHIP PERSONAL
(2005 – T11 G10 B5 UB2)
Anberlin’s 4th, and highest ranked, album on my list and their sophomore effort is at number 76. This for me is their most complete album and does not use too much of the old production clicks and whistles. They are there but used appropriately. The melodic emo-rock band kick the album off with 2 big songs in the title track and “Paperthin Hymn” both of which have big choruses. “A Day Late” is pure guitar pop niceness and is what the charts should be full of but it’ll half thankfully have to stay as our little secret. “The Feel Good Drag” has its first version recording on this album and is perhaps the better version though there isn’t much between them. (it also appears on “New Surrender” which was at #141). The album is full of catchy poppy songs but also the odd riff thrown in. The close out song “Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen” is a 7 minute builder and a perfect finish. As ever for me Anberlin are held back by too much slickness and the singers slighty cher like cheesy singing, but that is also their uniqueness and the singers ability cannot be denied. Enjoy the vid and just make sure those min 00’s emo fringes don’t flick you in the eye.
77. WE ARE THE OCEAN – MAYBE TODAY, MAYBE TOMORROW
(2012 – T10 G9 B5 UB2)
We Are The Ocean’s 3rd album to appear on the chart and their 3rd released at 77. This was their first release after the more screamy vocalist left, leaving the vocals to the much cleaner and generally impressive vocals of Liam Cromby. The album has a generally positive and defiant vibe to it and some great moments. My highlights being “Young Heart” and “Machine” with its belt it out “I don’t want to be owned by you” group vocal chorus esp at the end. Also it starts in a unique way with basically a drum roll going on in the intro and verse. nice. In the middle of the album “The Road” and “Golden Gate” are great driving along windows down type songs. Towards the end the song “Pass Me By” adds a different primary vocalist and has a generally different sound, but I love the sorta round the campfire sing-a-long chorus. Not that I’m a massive fan of campfires, not least due to the severe danger of a naked flame around alcohol, but also as my main experience of them is a Reading when you’re knackered, sun burnt and desperate for somewhere comfy to sleep rather than a tent on what usually ends up being a freezing night… then theres the fire wood smell which you smell of for weeks… anyway. the songs a gooden. We Are The Ocean lost their way after this album and although the follow up appeared on my list at #241 it was mainly there due to incredible 2 songs rather than the entire collection. They then split up after.
78. HELL IS FOR HEROES – TRANSMIT DISRUPT
(2005 – T10 G8 B5 UB2)
This is the first of all three Hell Is For Heroes albums to appear in the chart and was their 2nd of their career (so far, if it continues, they haven’t done anything new since 2007). HIFH are probably in my top 3 bands (I say probably its all calculated init, so I know) and I began following them from the very start as they were formed from 2 members of Symposium who had a big impact on me as a late teen. Their debut was and is truely awesome and this came as a bit of a disappointment initially, as can often happen after an album you love. It has grown significantly on me over time though. The style was less riffy on this album and more about developing a single beat or riff as the song went along. The stand out song initially was “Folded Paper Figures”, but that was previously a b-side on a single for their debut album, so it wasn’t new. The singles “Models For The Programme” and “One of Us” are also great and use nice guitar melodies during the chorus to make the impact. HIFH stuff has always been the primary influence on my guitaring style (what there is of one), mainly cos it simple but the single string strumming on top layered guitar is what I used to like to do when in a band. Their riffs can sometimes just be playing one or two single chords but somehow is effective. All their songs usually build to soaring endings, my only complaint being sometimes the lyrics are clear through the vocals, but I’ve never been a lyric man so this hasn’t really bothered me (except when singling along obv), plus I don’t want to offend singer Justin Schlosberg, who accepted my accidental friend request on facebook! (not that he’ll be reading this, i assume, if he does, I’m a massive fan regardless of my last comment! as the style fits the music perfectly). Always a glorious band to see live, where often it sounds better and bigger; I miss the Heroes.
79. SILVER SUN – SILVER SUN
(1997 – T14 G11 B5 UB2)
Right at the start of my musical awakenings Silver Sun were one of the more underground bands I got into, though I believe they got pretty big in Japan. Briefly they got on the general publics radar here with appearances on TGI Fridays and CD:UK (Cat Deeley et al). They’ve done 5 albums now with their last being in 2013 and generally not of the standard of their debut from 1997. They do power pop full of vocal harmonies in the kinda Beach Boys sound. The first song I heard by them was on a Shine CD and was “Lava” which on first listen seemed very odd, with its falsetto vocals and odd lyrics “In lava, so hard to pull out, Bull’s blood for baby Jesus for lava, for lava, I don’t think it’s what I meant, A friendly, face and I am upset yeah”, what does any of that mean?! but its such a blast of joyous guitar pop it can’t be denied. Odd lyrics definitely being a thing of theirs eg from “Bad Haircut””All the little children, can you see them? Yes, they are all sleeping, Professor Yaffle spoils your fun, Sunday’s always boring, boring, Sitting on the toilet, waiting to come”. Other singles “Golden Skin” and “Julia” followed and my favourite “Last Day”. There are a few fillers maybe in the 14 tracks but it generally a great album, fondly remembered (also some great B-sides from this era of Silver Sun) and it always reminds me of playing Tomb Raider as I must have been playing that at the time this was on my stereo a lot. Extra note: I bought this album on cassette tape, I still didn’t have a CD player by this point. feeling old?
80. NADA SURF – HIGH / LOW
(1996 – T10 G9 B4 UB3)
Nada Surf are up again this time with their debut album “High/Low”. As mentioned only 2 weeks ago on the review for their 2nd album, the further back in Nada’s career you go, the more grungy / rocky the music gets. This album blasts off with some urgency in “Deeper Well” and I imagine it would be a great song to see live, but sadly I haven’t had the chance and it would be unlikely they would still play it 6 albums later. “The Plan” blasts along similarly until its slowed down chorus, which seems to slow down more and more as it goes along. Then comes the reason I got into Nada Surf, “Popular”, the near spoken word verse filled with bad teenage advice and massive chorus, is one of my favourite songs, well inside the top 10 (speaking of which I have an idea for an ultimate banger bracket to do after this list or maybe next year, but not sure how interesting that would be to anyone but me). I heard “Popular” on MTV back in the day but missed who it was. Obviously pre internet at home it was near impossible to find out who it was, until one day a mate turned up with this album and put it on…. i was so happy! I’d found it!! anyway, the rest of the album is all good stuff, some songs chirpy sounding like the other single off this album “Treehouse” and others a bit more brooding with “Sleep” and “Icebox”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?)
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.
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.
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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Phil's Top 250 Albums 