91. SAVES THE DAY – STAY WHAT YOU ARE
(2001 – T11 G9 B5 UB1)

Next up are Saves The Day with their album that broke them (relatively), the melodic emo pop punk, whatever you want to call it stylings of “Stay What You Are”. This was their 3rd album of 9 so far and only one more makes my list, not that the rest are shite but there just aren’t enough great songs. This album though was one of the early albums I got into of the genre and so is always special. The singer who is the only remaining member of the band from the start, Chris Conley, is a strange fellow based on the interview with him on a podcast I listen to occasionally called “100 Words or Less”. He’s also changed his vocal style about 4 times over those albums; on this one he’s in a more gentler tone. The album kicks off with the biggest song off it and a song I still love nearly 20 years after hearing it first “At Your Funeral” as summery power pop tune about what he’d do at his lovers funeral…. nice. That type of lyric is what Saves The Day is all about, see “As Your Ghost Takes Flight” “The last time that I saw you, August of ’99, I should’ve had my hammer and a few rusty spikes to nail you on a wall and use bottles to catch your blood”. That in general is the style of the album, catchy songs with darker lyrics. It’s the kinda album that you may have expected may not last the test of time, but to me at least it still sounds as great, especially songs like “Nightingale” and the initially pacy closer “Firefly” which turns into a big slow finish. Chris Conley isn’t the coolest looking of chaps and so the video for “At Your Funeral” is a bit awkward but there you go, still a great song.

 

92. ALEXISONFIRE – CRISIS

(2006 – T11 G9 B5 UB1)

This is the first of 2 appearances in my list by Alexisonfire, from just over on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. They’ve done 4 albums total and a 5th I am assuming this year after reforming. This was their 3rd album and is basically a cleaned up version of the incredible “Watch Out!”. Their forte is high paced melodic post hardcore / screamo and have essentially 3 singers, the clean vocals from the legend that is Dallas Green (City & Colour), a screamer and a sorta half way house gruff sounding fellow who is used less. “Crisis” is a more accessible version of their earlier work and initially it was a big disappointment for me after “Watch Out!” but over time its started to stand on its own as a quality album. Its starts off strong with 3 of the 5 bangers in the first 4 songs and ends strongly with the last 2 being bangers also. The middle is still good, but there’s a couple that let it down a bit “You Burn First” just doesn’t fit and does nothing for me. As for the great “Boiled Frogs” is up there is AOF’s best and “To A Friend” is probably the closest in sound to “Watch Out!”. “Rough Hands” is a slow building glory of a song to finish the album off. For the albums that didnt make it, their debut is a bit too rough vocally for me, can’t understand barely any vocals, but it also has maybe 3 of the best Alexisonfire tracks on. “Old Crows / Young Cardinals” is ok, but not enough on there I really love.

93. MALLORY KNOX – WIRED
(2017 – T11 G11 B4 UB2)

Mallory Knox’s 3rd album on the chart and is at 93. They’ve also gone in order too which is a rare thing for each album the band has done to get better, in my eyes at least. There will be a big test with the 4th album due in August without their previous lead vocalist on board. This album though did see an increase in the prominence of the 2nd vocalist and main song writer on this album. The overall feel of this album compared to their first 2 seems to be a move away from the more emo style sound to a straight rock sound. There’s a section on “Lucky Me” which is almost like an 80s cock rock song. The start of the album is fine enough but nothing great yet, but the added use of falsetto vocals on some tracks, makes for a change. The upbeat “Midnight” then kicks of a run of 4 great songs including the very steady building “Falling In Love” (one of Charlie’s favourites from when he was smaller and we bounced him along to the guitar strums and drum strikes, pre the first main chorus). “Better Off Without You” is a great single with its layered vocals and defiant chorus. The album ends with “Mother” which has a different sounding chorus which is almost like there are no lead vocals on it, just a chorus of voices, but its a pleasant end to a great if not bold album.

94. THE WANNADIES – BE A GIRL
(1994 – T11 G10 B4 UB2)

Next we find the 2nd of the 3 Wannadies albums in my list. This one popped out during the peak of brit-pop and the Wannadies added a bit of Swedish summer guitar pop into the mix. This is the album with their biggest hit on in the form of “You & Me Song” which is the backbone of many a wedding and was played towards the end of the night of my own. It’s quiet verses followed by big chorus including “ba ba ba’s” can be heard in multiple films, adverts and everywhere but somehow never really gets tired. A similarly bright indie-pop classic follows in “Might Be Stars”, this time with “oh oh oh’s” at its core. For me this is the better song but they are def both ultimate bangers. The rest of the album doesn’t reach these peaks but they are all good songs, “Love In June” is appropriately summery, “New World Record” has close to what you might call a riff, and “Dying For More” has yet another big chorus. The album finishes with the slowest 2 on the album, with “Dreamy Wednesdays” being full of strings (not quite as good as “String Song” off “Yeah!” though).

Best Album Moment: Got to be that long intro to “You And Me Song” with its delicate guitar and mouth keyboard before blasting into the chorus

95. MOOSE BLOOD – I DON’T THINK I CAN DO THIS ANYMORE
(2018 – T11 G10 B4 UB2)

Moose Blood do not sound like their name suggests, the Kent based outfit are basically an english emo-rock band which are all about simple melodies, with a kinda head bobbing summery feel. This was their 3rd album and last one before going on “hiatus”, which is a great shame as I love all their albums. This one being still relatively new has definitely got the potential to climb this chart. Their best songs on this album tend to be the slower ones where the vocalists generally more mono-tone style opens up a bit. Songs like “All The Time” and the great “Can We Stay Like This” are the best examples of this. Then there are the more upbeat “Talk In Your Sleep” and “Such A Shame” which is closer to their other records. The best track is the depressing and atmospheric “It’s Too Much” with the line “It’s just too much and I…I think I’ve had enough” its a slow builder with a constant little guitar melody running in the background the whole way through. Though it’s clearly about a relationship ending, it could easily be seen as a way of saying the end of the band. Hopefully not.

Best moment: the simplistic and dark empty sounding finish to the final song.

96. ARMOR FOR SLEEP – DREAM TO MAKE BELIEVE
(2003 – T10 G8 B4 UB2)

At number 96 its Armor For Sleep’s debut “Dream To Make Believe” which is their 2nd of 3 on the list. As I said before each of their albums has a theme and this one is related to dream worlds and sleeping and such. Compared to their other albums this one generally has a single steady pace and possibly they hadn’t quite perfected their style yet, so it sometimes feels like its lacking a bit of urgency.The title track is considered an emo classic, and whereas I possibly don’t love it as much as I used to, it definitely is a ‘choon’ as the yuffs say, and comes with a very emo looking low budget vid. My favourite track is “All Warm” which is a bit more up pace, as are parts of “My Town” and “Wanderers Guild”, but generally they slow for the chorus. The rest of the album is mid to slow paced with some nice moments but the album does tend to trail off towards the end. It’s all good stuff still just lacks something to make it a classic in my list. The something missing I think is more variance in the vocal style, which is definitely better on their later albums.

Best moment: about 2/3rds into “All Warm”, the middle 8 you might say and the ending choruses and dual vocals.

97. NADA SURF – THE PROXIMITY EFFECT
(1998 – T12 G9 B6 UB0)

We last saw New York’s Nada Surf back in Feb with their 3rd album “Let Go”, now comes their 2nd effort “The Proximity Effect”. The majority of their work has been semi-acoustic based since their 3rd album, but as we go further back the grunginess gets increased. This album did preview some of their slower music to come. After their debut and the massive hit “Popular” they were asked to right another chart hit, this time much less successfully. The track that was created and sounds different to the rest of the album this time is “Mother’s Day” which is about date rape; perhaps explains why it wasn’t an MTV hit (more crucially because it never had a video made, but I guess the record company wasn’t satisfied with the song). It’s still a great song though, as is the first track “Hyperspace” which optimistically flows along like a summer drive on a country lane. A lot of the songs though have a more darker atmospheric edge, in the likes of “80 Windows”, “Troublemaker” and “The Voices” and these are some of the highlights of the album. The album still has a few duds with a particular lull in the middle. Overall its a great album and moved them away from being classed as the Weezer-lite band some had accused them of being after their debut. (though thats no bad thing for me).

Moment of the album: “blue balls and all that bullshit” in “mothers day”

98. THE SLEEPING – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
(2006 – T12 G9 B5 UB1)

The Sleeping are effectively the remnants of metalcore band Skycamefalling, but with a different singer and a more post-hardcore sound. While I like the singers voice I found him a bit of a dick live but we won’t let that take away from the album. He did the cliche, ‘don’t be a slave to the system’ and “do what you want” kinda speech followed by “everyone do this” (put fist in the air or something equally lame) and moaning when some didn’t, not realising the irony in what he was doing. Anyway, the album is a grand thing and doesn’t sound like much else in my list though it is obviously in similar territory. This was The Sleeping’s 2nd album and they have done 4 overall but this ones the only one consistently good for me, though there are some sporadic great songs on the others. The bass is high in the mix and at times some of it is bluesy sounding but still metal/hardcore influenced with the vocals on the verge of scream most of the time. “Loud & Clear” was the lead single off the album and probably the most conventional song, but still manages to have enough riffs and breakdowns to keep it interesting, “The Climb” and “Who Stays Behind” are full of spiky little riffs and interesting fill sections. Then there are the slow builders in “Dearest Mistake” and album highlight “King Of Hearts” which ends the gang vocal screams of “My heart isn’t broken cos I’m not dead” very emo, but also sounds awesome. It’s a part throwback to a track off their debut “If Your Heart Was Broken… You’d Be Dead” which was sorta chanted by what sounds like a cheerleader group over some “full”-core riffs. the album finishes on a couple of off tracks but it’s still a cracker of an album for me.

Moment of the album: the change in the middle of “King of Hearts” from acoustic lead track to a stabbing riff.

99. ‘A’ – HOW ACE ARE BUILDINGS
(1997 – T11 G7 B5 UB2)

“How Ace Are Buildings” ‘A’ ask, or rather state as there is no “?”. Well if buildings were songs on an album then in this case they would mostly be ace, with some mega ace, but with a few duds along the frontage. The album starts with “Turn It Up” which is deliberately mixed low to get you to turn it up, so that when “Foghorn” kicks in it’s insanely loud. The first song I ever heard by ‘A’ was “Foghorn” and it blew my 16 year old teenage socks off (not from anywhere rude either), full of energy and vocal melodies on the chorus as it just races along. Its definitely one of my all time favourite songs and has never lost its edge for me. The vid also has parodies of the iconic vids of the 90’s, Bittersweet Symphony, Firestarter, Karma Police etc in it. “No.1” is a glory in similar ways with its arm swinging, finger clicking and index finger pointing sections (you’d have to have seen it live to get that). I never realised it had a video until doing this. “Bad Idea” is basically a list of bad ideas including “Wake up calls, smack and that, fashion cafe, friendly fire, GMTV, darker mornings and pay per view, litter dropping”, still applies 20 years later.  (there is also a “Good Idea” track which I believe was done for the Evening Session). As I say not every song is great, there is a lull in the middle which includes “Singalong” which just goes on too long with nothing happening other than some awkward key changes and similar with the bit forgettable “Winter of 96”. After the blast that is “Five In The Morning”, the song “Ender” is a bit meh too, but the highs on this album are so great its forgivable. This album is part of the reason I have listened to most of the other bands on the list, so it will always be close to my heart.

Moment of the Album: long slow “ooooooooooooh” section in Foghorn and following breakdown/buildup.

100. COMEBACK KID – BROADCASTING…

(2007 – T11 G11 B5 UB0)

Canadian hardcore punk crew Comeback Kid kick off the top 100 with their 2nd of 3 albums to make my top 250. This was their first album after their previous lead singer left the band. As a result they took a more straight up more aggressive hardcore sound, rather than the more mildly emo-tinged style of before. It’s not quite as good for me but it still a banger. “Defeated” kicks the album off as it means to go on, so if you don’t like the first min of that, move along. I have no idea what the guy is so angry about during the album, I assume “evil corporations this or broken society that”, but this album musically is all about the breakdowns as any album like this should be, such as the last 30 seconds or so of “One Left Satisfied” and the various sections in “Hailing On Me”; the 2nd half of which is a bit of gloriousness. It took a while to grow on me this one, but now I love it, every song is full of energy, leading to many a fist punch hardcore manouvre (when no ones looking obviously). The title track has some great guitar melodies going on in amongst all the breakdowns. Crank it. For the top 100 I’m going to try to do a moment of the album, so …

Best Album Moment : 1:20 “In Case Of Fire” simple but effective riffing.

101. TINY MOVING PARTS – SWELL

(2018 – T10 G10 B5 UB0)

Emo-math noodlers Tiny Moving Parts are back with their latest album and highest placed. On this one the formula is the same, more noddle, more shouty, more sporadic riffs and quiet loud sections. Added into the mix is more female vocals which I understand are done by the lead singers other half. This is probably their most accessible work so far and so was my entry level into them, perhaps also to do with timing when I was on the hunt for new bands to like. The lyrics are fairly basic stuff but just act as another instrument to support the guitar melodies which are the main feature. “Applause” kicks off the album with its stop start nature before settling into a more meaningful rhythm. “Feel Alive” and “Caution” are the other 2 main feature songs (ie. they have a video on youtube for them). There are a couple of times on the album when you just wish it would break into a big ending but then they just end apbruplty, in particular “Malfunction” which sounds like it’s going awesome places, just to … stop. The album then finishes with the chilled horn section of “Warm Hand Splash” after the jittering chaos before.

102. RISE AGAINST – APPEAL TO REASON
(2008 – T13 G12 B5 UB0)

So it’s the 3rd of 6 Rise Against albums in the list and this time its their 5th release from 2008 “Appeal To Reason”. This album started to show more of a shift from punk stylings to a more straight rock influence and also more radio friendly. There’s not too much more to add to this than that really as Rise Against albums are never experimental affairs and they usually stay in the territory they know and execute well. Opener “Collapse (Post-Amerika)”, begins in their traditional heavier punk manner before the more mid paced “Long Forgotten Sons”, both of which are great in their own way. “Hero Of War” is an acoustic song that takes the viewpoint from a soldier who has done some things he may regret but got carried along with, so he doesn’t feel like the hero he is seen as. “Saviour” is a great 2 parter song, with its uptempo beginnings before the big slow down in the middle. The album finishes with a big chunky riff filled “Whereabouts Unknown”, which seems to have 5 or so parts to it. It may have a weaker middle to the album but its still a great album for me and worthy of its place just outside the top 100.

103. SHED SEVEN – INSTANT PLEASURES
(2017 – T12 G11 B5 UB0)

Well, well, well, this album was an unexpected surprise (one of those words not needed there), from York’s 90’s brit pop B-listers Shed Seven. I say B-listers not in terms of quality but in stature, I love “A Maximum High” as will be seen higher up the chart. Usually though when a band has a 16 year break and their peak was 20 odd years prior its unusual for the next release to be any good. This though is great! its just like being transported back to secondary school in the 90s but with it still sounding fresh (although these are 38 year old ears so perhaps not the best radar for that). The opener “Room In My House” is probably the weakest on the album though is still ok, so don’t judge the album by that. “Nothing To Live Down” is a summery little number, “It’s Not Easy” is the new “The Heroes”, “Said I’m Sorry” is the new “Disco Down” and “Better Days” is the new “Chasing Rainbows” (though clearly not quite as good, thats not possible) and “Invincible” is a great last track. So if you liked Shed Seven at their peak, you should love this also. This album has nearly been on the list several times before this, but each time when listening to it again its got bumped up, it could go further but I’ll leave it just out side the top 100 for now.

104. HAVE MERCY – MAKE THE MOST OF IT
(2017 – T11 G10 B5 UB0)

This is the 2nd album and highest placed of Have Mercy’s on the list. It’s there 3rd and most recent until the new album comes out in a couple of months. Its another mid-paced american emo-rock band along the lines of Jimmy Eat World or The Dangerous Summer but unique sounding due to the singers rough voice. They also have an ability to make cracking choruses, that find a way to open up a song with seemingly no effort., a criticism could be that its all a bit samey which holds it back, but these songs are definitely growing on me over time. On this album they have a few songs like opener “Smoke And Lace” and the glorious “Good Christian Man” (about the singers rejection of his strict Catholic upbringing), which have a dark kinda haunting atmosphere to them. “Reaper” is a song fantasising about killing someone. Things are a bit more upbeat on album highlights “Begging For Bones” and “Coexist” with its emote dial turned up to 11 chorus.

105. I THE MIGHTY – CONNECTOR

(2015 – T11 G11 B4 UB1)

San Francisco’s I The Mighty have been likened to Coheed & Cambria and even Muse, but they are musically far less up their own arse than that. To be honest I don’t really see the link, but their ya go. They are a post-hardcore band with progressive tendancies, but in general keep it below the 3 to 4 minute limit. This is their 3rd album of 4 released and the only in my list, not that the others are bad, they just don’t have the highs (or just aren’t the one I got into them on, as that in general is always your favourite or close to as thats why you liked them). The song that suckered me in was “The Lying Eyes of Miss Erray” and its awesome little section after the chorus, (see around the 1:40 mark), can’t get me enough of that. The other highlights are the faster and gang chorus filled “Adrift” which has a bit more of the screaming vocal in. “Playing Catch With .22” is a jaunty little number which just about stays the right side of being over produced. One song with a lot of production is “Slow Dancing Forever” but its a nice little quiet song without an instrument in sight. The song “Friends” though not one of my favourites gets a little boost by the presence of Say Anything’s Max Bemis on a vocal section.

106. PUNCHLINE – 37 EVERYWHERE
(2006 – T11 G11 B4 UB1)

Punchline from just outside Pittsburgh, PA are predominantly a punk-pop band, but on this album at least with a more old school kinda sound to them with the types of riffs and lots of solos added in, but also a bit more feels (as the kids say) in the vocals. Overtime this album has gradually grown and grown on me, to the point where it’s hanging just off the tails of my Top 100. They’ve done 7 albums overall 3 of which I really like but this is the only one to make the list, they have drifted to a more alternative style on more recent albums. The album burts in with a cracker in “Flashlight”, its an awesome punk song with a glorious final minute with time changes and little noodle guitar parts. love it. The songs have a nice variation to them from song to song and during songs, with the little random piano bit in the middle of “Don’t try This At Home” which also takes it away from your standard punk-pop fare. “For The Second Time” is a nice enough ballad followed by the spiky “The Fake, The Snake and The Birthday Cake”. As can be seen in the score I love every song on the album and listening to it again now, it can probably feel hard done by at #106.

107. TWIN ATLANTIC – FREE
(2011 – T12 G11 B4 UB1)

Uber Scottish sounding alternative rock now with Twin Atlantic’s debut album and only one to make the list. They are so Scottish sounding vocally you almost expect “I would walk 500 miles…” to come in one of their songs. They have done 3 full albums overall and neither of the other 2 makes it close to the list, though they are still decent but without the stand out songs. This one is full of big choruses, big enough to have you shooten frrreee in as scittish an oocent as yee cud dey, such as in the title track “Free”. You almost feel like pulling up yer kilt and bareing your arse at the English. “Edit Me” kicks off the album and has a glorious loud quiet thing going on at the end. the highlight for me is “Yes, I Was Drunk” about drink driving. “Crash Land” is also a belter of an acoustic ballad. The album was rated at #120 on Rock Sounds Top 250 since the first edition of the mag saying it had “wall to wall belters and choruses for days”, so pretty much what I said. Their following albums had more of an indie vibe about them compared to the more ballsy sound on this album and for me weren’t as good.

108. MALLORY KNOX – ASYMMETRY
(2014 – T11 G10 B4 UB1)

This is Mallory Knox’s 2nd album on the list and their 2nd in their career. It’s more of the same from them really at this stage, this album just carried on the goodness begun on their debut, which was at 136 on my list. It kicks off with 2 bangers and singles in “Ghost In the Mirror” and “Getaway” with it’s loved up carefree living (no concern for health & safety) video. The best bits of Mallory Knox songs are always the way they build the big endings with the layering of vocals and such. Sometimes the album does drift off into samey-ness but they are still good songs. In the middle of the album comes the 7 minute long “She Took Him To The Lake” which starts off quietly and slowly before it gradually builds to the traditional big ending. The albums highlight though is “Heart & Desire” and its NASA sponsored video, lyrically its pretty repetative but theres something about the sweeping feeling of the song that I love. The vocals of lead singer Mikey Chapman will be hard to replace on their upcoming album but the first single off it “White Lies” sounds promising.

109. HARVEY DANGER – WHERE HAVE ALL THE MERRYMAKERS GONE?
(1997 – T10 G7 B5 UB1)

Harvey Danger were a foursome out of Seattle, who did alternative, perhaps quirky, rock. They are most famous for the song “Flagpole Sitta” which is the theme tune to the TV show “Peep Show”, but was made even more famous for being in “American Pie” which is where I first heard it. Took me a while to find what it was though as the main bit everyone remembers is “Paranoia, paranoia, everybody’s coming to get me…”. My search was hampered by the internet not being as good back then (or at home), millenials don’t know how lucky they are, it definitely wasn’t mentioned in my copy of Encarta!. Anyway music, “Flagpole Sitta” is obviously awesome, the album though kicks off with “Carlotta Valdez” which is a banger along the lines of a more aggressive Wannadies song, “Woolly Muffler” and “Problems and Bigger Ones” are longer gradually building songs, the singer’s vocals gradually go from nerdy sounding to aggressive near screaming on some tracks … which is nice. All the good tracks are 1 to 7 and the remainder are a bit meh, but when its good its good. Their 2nd album a couple of years later had some great tracks on too including “Meetings With Remarkable Men” but overall it wasn’t anywhere near as good. Then they split, returned a few years later with an ok album but nothing great and then split again.

110. BIFFY CLYRO – PUZZLE
(2007 – T13 G11 B4 UB1)

Biffy’s 4th album and the one that marked the transition to major label and the beginning of the change toward arena band rather than sweaty little sideshow band. Unfortunately this also had an effect on the feel and sound of their songs. They are much more conventional and cleaner sounding, for me this was a negative as I loved old Biffy so much. Perhaps if I’ds never heard the first 3 albums I’d be more into them now but I have to compare everything to what they did before and it doesn’t come close. Still this one was the best of their newer albums and with opener “Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies” which is pretty epic sounding with it’s orchestra strikes and deep voiced “ahhh” choir. “Who’s Got A Match?” is more along the lines of their quirky earlier stuff but missing something (maybe a match? lolz). The middle section of the album from “A Whole Child Ago” to “Get Fucked Stud” is where all the stronger stuff is. The album ends with 2 ballad songs which are fine but not as good as songs like “Breatheher” and “All The Way Down (Chapter 1)” off earlier releases. It’s still a very good album, just in my head tinged with disappointment at the Biffy we lost.

111. 28 DAYS – UPSTYLEDOWN

(2000 – T12 G10 B4 UB1)

Ahh this is so 2000, though with a twist. At the height of nu-metal with its rap metal stylings, 28 Days came along from Australia with rap-punk and oh how I loved it at the time. The appeal has lessened to some extent but when I give this album a listen its still great in many ways (if a little cheesy now). 28 Days (not related to Sandra Bullock movies or the period before waking to a zombie apocalypse) started out on their debut album, 2 years before, as more of a straight punk band with some hardcore influences on songs like “He Could Be”. Importantly on that debut album they had a song called “28 Days” which was a rap song with turntable scratching, so for their 2nd album “Upstyledown” they ramped that up a bit, not in every song, thankfully, but most successfully in “Sucker” (which included a nice bit of self censorship in the line ” if I had a pound every time I saw a sucker, I’d be a rich man mother *turntable scratch*)”. “Rip It Up” is also a pure rap-rock song, but it wasn’t rap on everything. “Goodbye” is not far away from sounding like a Get Up Kids emo song and “Rollin’ Gang” brings back the hardcore sound. I remember one time on a train having this song on in my headphones and an old lady facing me when the breakdown kicked in with the line “Because you’re going to fuckin’ die, Fuckin’ die because you’re going to fuckin’ die, Yeah you’re gonna die gonna die”. If only she knew what the voices in my head were saying. 28 Days went on to do 2 more albums but both were wack as they themselves may have said in 2000.

112. WEEZER – WEEZER (THE RED ALBUM)
(2008 – T10 G6 B4 UB3)

This is the 5th Weezer album so far on the list (the clear best 3 are left and will be a couple months away from appearing yet). As with all the Weezer albums of the mid-to-late 00’s it wasn’t a very cohesive album and more a collection of separate tracks. This one especially. The first half of the album is a strong start and on first listen excitement was high for a return to form (ish), but then came “Everybody Get Dangerous”, which has its moments but a very bad chorus, then the ok “Dreamin'” but the main problem with the album is the 3 songs written by the other 3 members of the band and sung by them. Yes they have their own side projects but please keep them off a Weezer album. They don’t sound Weezer and are shite songs. Then the album closes with one of the best Weezer songs from any period in “The Angel And The One” its just a shame it gets lost after the dodginess before it. Returning to the better start of the album, “Troublemaker” is pleasant enough apart from some dodgy lyrics, then comes 2 Ultimate Bangers in a row in “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” which is 6 minutes done in about 11 different styles of rock and is Weezer’s attempt at Bohemian Rhapsody. “Pork And Beans” was the big single fromt he album with its YouTube star inspired video and then comes “Heart Songs” which I personally love but it splits Weezer fans opinions strongly. So a game of 2 halves with an awesome ending, plus some decent extra time in bonus tracks “Miss Sweeney” and “Pig” the latter describing the life of a pig before slaughter, not enough to convert me to vegetarianism but its a class story song.

113. JIMMY EAT WORLD – CHASE THIS LIGHT
(2007 – T11 G9 B4 UB1)

Jimmy are back in the list with their 2nd one to appear of 5. This was the beginning of their drop off before returning to form on their latest release. It’s still a damn good album though, just nowhere near as good as the prior 3 albums. It kicks off with “Big Casino” which was the main single from it and is def up with Jimmy Eat World standards, infact the first 5 are all great. “Let it Happen” flows along with its chorus involving “ha ha ha ha I can laugh it off”, Jim Adkins vocals makes “As Always” a great song when sung by many others it may just be average. After “Electable (Give It Up)” comes a bit of a lull and the 2nd half of the album being fine enough but perhaps a sign of the more average quality of songs released on albums after this one. The album comes with a great bonus track in “Distraction” but bonuses don’t count towards the rankings, not sure how it didn’t make the album though.

114. LLAMA FARMERS – DEAD LETTER CHORUS

(1999 – T13 G9 B4 UB2)

 

 

Llama Farmers! we are going deep Evening Session with Steve Lemacq here! These were one of the up and coming UK alternative bands with bands like Idlewild, Biffy Clyro around the turn of the millenium. In fact I saw them 3 times 1999 and 2001, initially supporting Idlewild at Warwick Uni (first time i met Paulos and the seeds of My Cousin Walter, my first band, were sown), then in 2000 supporting the mental The Crocketts at the colly and finally headlining with Biffy Clyro and Cov’s own Thoria supporting. How careers changed after that point, with the Farmers only managed to do 2 albums before splitting and Biffy now big enough they can decide to release a soundtrack album (today) to their own film (or something like that), with no publicity for it before. Llama Farmers were almost what you could call slacker rock, as in their songs just sounded lazy and chilled but then could blast into a noise like “Lull” and “Big Wheels”. The album kicks off with one of the more livelier tracks in “Get The Keys And Go”, this and (obviously) “Jessica” are my favourites on the album, the latter being a fuzzy guitar 2 minute blast-a-thon. another highlight though is “Forgot To Breathe” which is predominantly acoustic and effortlessly (lazily) builds without you realising it towards the end. Not every song is great, hence the 4 tracks that aren’t even “good” but overall its a fondly remembered romp.

115. FAVEZ – FROM LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
(2002 – T12 G8 B4 UB2)

Favez are from Lausanne, Switzerland (oh you knew that already, wonder how?), they are a straight up rock band, but a very inconsistent one. They’ve done 11 albums, 7 of which I’ve heard and only 3 of which are decent and 1 makes the list. The album kinda has a rough sounding mix but it definitly helps it and gives it a heavier bassier edge. It kicks off with the driving “The Ages of Wonders”. Each song has its own uniqueness and it can’t be classed as samey at all. From the dancey riff laden “Show Me How To Groove” and awesome bass lead-ish “Son of Steve McQueen”. at times they sound a bit like 3 Colours Red if I had to liken them to a band people are more likely to know. The 2 ultimate bangers are complete opposites; “Chasing Honesty” starts loud and gets bigger as it goes a long, where as “Memories of the Ones We Hate the Most” is based around a chuggy riff, that lasts basically its full length and is like some kind of impending doom storm, if that was a sound. It’s glorious. The other album of theirs which may make the list as a late entry as I have only just got listening to it is “Old And Strong In Modern Times” which is the one most like this one. I have no idea how I heard of this band by the way, they have very few videos and none for this album and I’ve never seen them do a gig or be on a festival line up and definitely not on the radio.

116. MICROWAVE – STOVALL
(2014 – T10 G10 B4 UB0)

We first met Microwave back in late January with their 2nd album “Much Love”, this time its their debut “Stovall” (no idea what that means). This one is a lot more “emo” sound influenced without sounding generic mainly as a result of the singers kinda folksy southern half scream vocals. Most of their songs build as they go along or have a catchy guitar riff throughout the song. Today I learnt that the singer was actually brought up in a strict Mormon background, and Microwave was his escape after it with songs about all kinds of debauchery. “Trash Stains” is one of the highlights of the album with its more alternative US rock sound and “Work It Out” has a big ending. the scream vocals are used sparingly and seem appropriate when used. This may be one of the first albums we’ve come across in the list where all songs have made the good playlist for me car. A landmark moment indeed.

117. HOME GROWN – KINGS OF POP
(2002 – T12 G11 B4 UB0)

Home Grown are a classic sounding pop-punk band from Orange County, California which sounds like a place that 90% of pop-punk bands come from. This was their 3rd album and last. I can’t say I really like their other 2 albums based on what I’ve heard and they sound like a lot of pop-punk bands early albums with rough production and “fun” lyrics, but “Kings of Pop” is a perfect hit of chuggy bouncy pop punk with great break downs and those flowy bits towards the end. As time goes by the appeal of this album has never waned on me. It kicks off with “Tomorrow” with its cymbal crashing bouncy riff and continues in that vein. Yes the lyrics on most of the album are mostly only valid when your under 25 (at max) but balls to that the tunes are cracking. “You’re Not Alone” is a perfect pop song filled with “woah”‘s in the chorus and cheesy jokey video. Whats not to like?!

118. THURSDAY – WAR ALL THE TIME
(2003 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

Thursday the band named after a day of the week (Thursday also known as Gentlemans Friday to some). They are a post hardcore band from New Jersey and released 6 albums over their time, but only 2 of them make my list. This is their 3rd and the follow up to “Full Collapse” which is Full Awesome. Initially I loved this album too, I remember just going on a long drive one night after it came out to listen to it properly. I’m not sure why that memory is so strong but it is, I even remember for some songs which bits of road I was on!. Over time the appeal has dropped off a bit compared to its predecesor but its still a damn good album. It is full of references to 9/11 which obviously was still clear in the memory, in 2002 when it was written, but apparently the “War” mentioned in the songs is more a relationship war (so emo), but in songs like “For The Workforce, Drowning” with lyrics like the opening ones on the album “Falling from the top floor your lungs, Fill like parachutes, The windows go rushing by, The people inside they’re, Dressed for the funeral in black and white” the inspiration is quite obvious and in the title track “The pieces fall its like a last day parade, And the fires in our streets start to rage”. To be honest listening to the album as I write, I may need to re-assess this and it perhaps should climb a bit. Too far in now, so here it is at 118. Personal favourite part of the album is 3 mins into “Steps Ascending”, glorious build up to the ending.

119. THE DANGEROUS SUMMER – REACH FOR THE SUN
(2009 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

This is the 3rd Dangerous Summer album (of their 4) to make the list and they are all pretty much on the same level. This one however is also on Rock Sound’s Top 250 albums since the start of the mag at number 172. As described before they do mid-paced emo-rock with a gentle flow through the songs as in the choruses are there but you blend into them without noticing. This album was their first and is the highest up on the list (for now, the others are growing on me also so they could all end up much higher in a few years). The best parts of their work are the way the vocal melodies and lead layer of guitar are done, best demonstrated in “The Permanent Rain” and “This Is War”. Check out the very 00’s emo looking neck scarf on show in the “Where I Want To Be” vid (PS I never had one, never been fashionable). If you like what you hear or like bands like Jimmy Eat World or Hot Rod Circuit then keep an eye out for their new album out next month “Mother Nature”

120. PRESS TO MECO – GOOD INTENT

(2014 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

 

Press To Meco are a new british band who kinda sound a bit like early Biffy Clyro but at the same time nothing like them. They have the quick changes in riffs and timing, and multi-person vocals, but very clean vocals but sometimes with heavier riffs. It can all be a bit jarring at first and sometimes I’m not sure if I fully like it or love it. There’s definitly an upward trend though and their 2nd album released last year is def a step up on the debut we find here. Their distiguishing feature is definitly the style of the vocals, its just so different from what you would expect. It almost sounds like some of those late 90s bands I’ve mentioned before (Midget, Snug etc) but with a different sound behind it. They are definitely not afraid to be different anyway and go full in on those style vocals. Some of their acoustic versions of their songs are incredible. As for this album in particular, it kicks of with a NASA message saying “Press To Meco” as apparently the name comes from a NASA code.Then your into probably one of the more conventional songs on the album in “Family Ties”. 2nd track “Diffusion of Responsibility” takes you to the crazed mix their songs can be like, with a heavy riff then some light harmonised vocals. Anyway they are one of my favourite new bands and I have only just discovered an awesome song they did on a debut EP I missed and which other than youtube doesn’t appear to be available to buy or listen to anywhere. I’m desperate to hear what the other 3 songs sound like.

121. FENIX-TX – LECHUZA
(2001 – T11 G10 B4 UB0)

Fenix-TX were a pop punk band who were originally called Riverfenix but were forced to change their name by the family of, the film, Stand By Me’s very own River Pheonix. They did one album under that name and 2 under Fenix TX. This is the 2nd one of those and is pop-punk but with an occasionally harder edge and riff such as in “Pasture of Muppets”. The stand out tracks are all in the first half of the album with opener “Phoebe Cates” named after the famous in the 80s actress, “Katie W” plodding riff, “threesome” with its time change and “Tearjerker” which is a ballad which is surprisingly effective for what on the outside is your standard pop punk band. Checking back on my gig list (yes i have a list for them too, just the dates though not ranked, not that nerdy) I’ve apparently seen then 4 times, but never as the headliner. Once was at the colly supporting “A” and at Reading 2002. I saw them supporting 2 of their peers Blink-182 and New Found Glory, neither of whom come anywhere near the list. sorry fans of them. In fact there are only maybe 3 or 4 albums left that you’d class as straight up pop punk, so this is one is very highly ranked for me in that genre.

122. TINY MOVING PARTS – CELEBRATE
(2016 – T10 G9 B4 UB0)

Next up are a band I have got into over the past 18 months or so and can see that their albums are probably likely to advance up the list as I get used to the twists and turns in each song. Tiny Moving Parts are an emo math rock trio made up of 2 brothers and a cousin. They have 6 albums apparently, but I’ve only heard the 4 on Spotify so far and the latter 2 (being the most accessible in sound I assume) are the ones that make my list (for now). There’s barely a chord used in most of their songs but the 2 albums that make my list are definitly more conventionally structured and for a band of 3 with the only guitar doing a lot of noodling they make a great noise. The vocals sound a bit like a gaggle of bands I’ve got into recently in The Front Bottoms and McCafferty with that slightly nasally, unhinged sound and it works great with the jagged music they make. My favourites on the album are all generally toward the start of the album, with “Headache” probably being my favourite. To show off the guitar skills they do the now more and more common thing of guitar playthroughs of which i will share one. How they come up with the melodies and remember them in this kind of stuff I have no idea.

123. OZMA – THE DOUBBLE DONKEY DISC
(2001 – T9 G8 B4 UB0)

Weezer-lite band, Ozma are back with their 2nd album on the list and also the 2nd of their career. As mentioned before these were the band that filled the gap after Weezer’s Pinkerton album before their eventual and somewhat initially disappointing return. The album is split into 2 halves the first being “Russian Coldfusion” and mainly being songs with a russian/soviet sorta feel to them, especially “Korobeiniki (Traditional Russian Folk Song)” which was originally made famous by the Tetris computer game and is expertly turned into a moog / guitar solo filled song. The 2nd half is from their Bootytraps EP and is the better half of the album. “Maybe In An Alternate Dimension” is a geek love song where perhaps in Legoland the geek gets the girl. “Immigration Song” and “Continental Drift” are slow builders and the latter includes a flute solo before ending in Weezer sounding guitars and solos. Its a shame this band gradually drifted away from this sound as they were experts at it. Their debut album is still to come and features a long way up the list.

124. BEN FOLDS – SONGS FOR SILVERMAN
(2005 – T11 G8 B4 UB1)

This was Ben Folds’ 5th album but 2nd as a solo artist. This album was a much more chilled affair compared to his first solo effort (which is much higher on the list). The Rock-Piano outing begins in not great fashion with 3 of the weakest songs on the album in my opinion, so we’ll move swiftly onto “Landed” which was the main single from the album and is my Ultimate Banger (probably a bad term for the style of song). “Landed” is classic Ben Folds and includes a nice crescendo of “Ba ba”‘s. A lot of this album took me a while to fully appreciate but one night when stacking shelves on a Sunday night shift listening too it, its beauties started to grow on me. “Gracie” is a delicate little song about his daughter. “Late” is a tribute to fellow singer songwriter Elliot Smith, who was stabbed to death at 34 a couple years before this album was released. (I don’t know any songs by him though). “Time” has some of the best vocal harmonies on the album and its feature which lifts many of the songs, but on the 2nd half of “Time” its glorious. Even the country-tinged “Give Judy My Notice” has gradually grown into a favourite. 3 more Ben Folds (Five) albums to come.

125. THE VANDALS – LOOK WHAT I ALMOST STEPPED IN…
(2000 – T14 G10 B5 UB0)

So to kick off the top half of my list we find comedy punk gang the Vandals. The Vandals have knocked around since 1980 in various forms but the bulk of their work was in the 90s, with albums such as “Live Fast, Diarrhea!” with the glorious anti-authoritarian “Change My Pants (I Don’t Wanna)” on and “Hitler Bad, Vandals Good” with gang vocal sing along “I’ve Got an Ape Drape” about mullets. They also did a Christmas themed album where in one song the letters making the word Christmas were turned into a tale about rotting cocks. But their most consistent album for me is 2000s “Look What i Almost Stepped In..”. It kicks off with “Behind the Music” which convinces them this is the one to help them into the big time, followed by the apologetic punk anthem “Sorry, Mon And Dad”. “GO” is a call for an uprising….. at some stage, but not quite now. “Jackass” and “The New You” are pop-punk glories and “I’m The Boss Of Me” rips through it rebellious 2 mins at dangerous speeds. It all winds up with a song about being “Crippled and Blind” and about wanting to bang a girl but she’s 14 so obv can’t in “Fourteen”. It’s all handled with the classy delicacy you’d expect from the Vandals… a band which sang a song in which screaming “Allah!!!” was the main chorus. At least this list is going to be on a government watch-list now wit the last 2 topics mentioned…. give it a like Theresa!

126. GHOULS – RUN
(2017 – T12 G10 B4 UB0)

So the final band in the lower half of the 250 is Ghouls. (Not Ghoul or The Ghouls, which the internet seems to prefer finding). They were originally a ska punk band but by the time they reached my awareness a year or so ago they had become a kinda ska-ish indie band, ie there arent many who sound like them. The vocal style may be a blocker to some as it’s that kinda lad cockney thing and usually that’s not something I enjoy but theres something about this album that hooks me in. The ska influence has diminished thankfully but the saxophone is still there but toned back except notably on the insanely catchy “Facebook Friend”. The whole album is full of catchy hooks that get stuck in your brain and the kind if confident simplicity of it all is possibly its strength “Hard Days” being a good example of that. The album starts a lot better than it finishes with tracks 2-4 being favourites. The last 2 of the 12 didn’t make the good list cut but overall… I really, somewhat surprisingly, like this.

127. BASEMENT – BESIDE MYSELF
(2018 – T12 G10 B4 UB0)

I’m new to the world of brit rockers Basement and only heard of them when this album came out last year but apparently they have done 3 prior to this. Though they are from Ipswich they have a very American sound, their previous records had a more grunge sound but I’m yet to check these out properly. This one however is much more along the lines of Jimmy Eat World or Mae than Nirvana but without going full emo. For the most part it’s all mid paced songs best demonstrated by the single and opener “Disconnect”, “Be Here Now” which is not an Oasis cover, follows it in similar flowing melodic rock style. Some songs have an almost shoegazing vibe to them along the lines of Hundreth’s latest album. I like this but I’m not sure whether it’s going to grow on me much further or may go the other way. Anyway this is Basement, a band named in such a way as they didnt want the name to have much meaning and to be one word. Doesnt exactly inspire though does it.

128. SAY ANYTHING – IN DEFENSE OF THE GENRE
(2007 – T27 G19 B5 UB0)

The 2nd Say Anything album to make the list is their 3rd career one and is a double album (though I wish it wasn’t as it leads to a lot of filler). Their are 27 songs all pretty varied so its hard to say which genre they are in defence (defense) of. This for me was a proper disappointment after their “.. Is A Real Boy” album, but it has enough on there to make near half way up my list. The album features a guest vocalist on most of the songs on the album (see list below) but the better tracks tend to be the ones without outside influence. The 1st CD has more peaks and troughs, and has 4 of the 5 bangers but only 7 of the 19 tracks to at least make the good list. The album contains songs that could almost be classed as dance tracks in “Baby Girl, I’m A Blur” to pure punk tracks with “People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist”. Theres the traditional Say Anything songs about Judaism with “Died A Jew” and plenty of the usual bile spitting lyrics. Its a mixed bag but thats the type of music a bi-polar person in Max Bemis is going to make. Contributing artists are from the following bands: Taking Back Sunday, Bayside, Paramore, Madison, Dashboard Confessional, Face To Face, Saves The Day, My Chemical Romance, Alkaline Trio, New Found Glory, Underoath, Hot Rod Circuit, Pete Yorn, That Dog, The Starting Line and Saosin.

129. RISE AGAINST – WOLVES
(2017 – T11 G9 B4 UB0)

Rise Against have returned with their 2nd album of 6 that make the list. This is their most recent one released in 2017 after the mild disappointment that was “Black Market”. While this is still nowhere near their best stuff, they crank out great songs with clockwork reliability. Yes they haven’t varied the style up much over their time but it works for me. This album is probably the most accessible and pop-melody laden that they have done and there isn’t much in terms of a breakdown or scream until nearly at the end of the album. As I say though Rise Against can’t half generate great choruses such as in “Far From Perfect” and “Mourning In Amerika” (see what they did there?). Obviously the whole album is tinged with political messages, but as I’m not so much of a lyric person I tend not to take them in too much. “Bullshit” though is perhaps a bit too Green Day simple politics in style, I also don’t appreciate wanton graffiti-ing, no matter how much effort they went through to do it (see video) “Careful now, down with this sort of thing!”. Another minor problem is the artwork for the album, all I see is Godzilla rather than a Wolf’s head, or is that more a problem with my psyche.

130. JIMMY EAT WORLD – INTEGRITY BLUES
(2016 – T11 G9 B4 UB0)

Blimey nearly half way through and this is the first Jimmy Eat World album we come across. They’ve done 8 albums (ignoring the debut, which is out of print and the band consider it not much more than a demo) and 5 make the list, those missing are Static Prevails, Invented and Damage (just at 264). 3 of them feature dangerously high on the chart. JEW are the kings of emo-pop-rock and with their latest album they re-captured the feel of their core albums from the early-mid 00s after a slight drop off on the 2 before this. It has a strong start with “You With Me” and “Sure And Certain” with their constant pace gliding you through the melodies. The middle of the album has 3 darker sounding songs, in particular “Pass The Baby” which ends in an awesome big riff from nowhere. “The End Is Beautiful” sounds like its straight off Clarity or Bleed American. The last 2 songs I can do without but it was a pleasing return to form for the Arizona crew.

131. DOWN TO EARTH APPROACH – ANOTHER INTERVENTION
(2004 – T11 G9 B4 UB0)

I can’t remember how I heard of Down To Earth Approach, cos at first they could be listened to and easily ignored, but the more I heard their debut album the more I liked it. They have a 2nd which has some good tracks on too but its not as good as this. The first 4 tracks are all bangers for me which have overtime grown on me despite not doing anything fancy or clever, or noteworthy.... its just good. The album does drift off into a bit of sameness but individually they are all good but can get lost when listened to in one listen. If I had to describe them they sound like an american My Awesome Compilation, but they are also a rare band to hear of, but they do sound like them minus the keyboards. It’s not a bold new frontier in music but I like it.

 

132. EVER WE FALL – WE ARE BUT HUMAN

(2006 – T11 G9 B4 UB0)

Ever We Fall are a 3some out of Portland, Oregan, a place where its citizens proudly want to “Keep Portland Weird”. Now Ever We Fall are not weird but they do have a kinda unique sound, but its difficult to put a finger on why it’s unique. Its a very-emo pop sound with cleaner sounding guitars for the most part with strong melodic lead guitar and sometimes but all with kind of a dancy kinda feel to it. They only ever did this album and an EP which was a bit more the usual emo/post hardore sound before they developed their own feel. “No Sleep For Dreaming” is the most standard emo style song on the album with some of those great guitar melodies played over the top. “No Words to Describe” is another highlight which last 9 minutes as it gradually builds in volume and merges into “Great Day For An Airstrike” which is another 6 mins leading into an instrumental which gradually adds drum n bass beats into it. Yet all the while sounding something close to Saves The Day’s lighter moments. It’s a great shame they didn’t get to develop beyond this album but thems the breaks. There aren’t any videos of songs for this available in the UK for some reason, so below is the best I could find (the vocals sound a lot better on record). There’s the spotify playlist you can check them out on too of course.

 

 

 

133. ‘A’ – ‘A’ VS MONKEY KONG

(1999 – T13 G8 B4 UB2)

This is A’s 2nd album to appear on the list and their 2nd album of their career, their debut is still to come. This album is very much like the grand old Duke of Yorks army as in when they are up they are up (good they are great) and when they are down they are down (as in not make my good list).It almost goes great song to meh song to great song to meh song as you work through the album. Tracks 2 4 6 8 11 and 13 are all great where as the ones between them are either very skippable or just alright. The song simply titled “A” for example is just a bit of a waste. “Old Folks” was the main single and took on new meaning when I recently saw them and it was dedicated to anyone who knew someone old. Deep stuff. The best songs are the flowing “Miles Away” and “Monkey Kong” which adds to the 80s theme with clips from a legendary kids toy the speak and spell or speak and maths, or something along those lines (I never knew there was a vid for it until today either). “Summer on the Underground” still brings memories of a school trip to London on which I believe I bought the single. Cant help but get that underground hot air smell in my head when I hear it. ‘A”s fun but unique pop-punk might not be for everyone but if you like them and when at their best you love them

 

134. COMEBACK KID – SYMPTOMS + CURES
(2010 – T11 G11 B3 UB1)

Canadian hardcore crew Comeback Kid have released 6 albums over the years, the first 2 with a different singer and being slightly more melodic. Their later releases are more riff based and stick to the screamy vocal without any clean vocals pretty much. This album is their 4th and the prior 2 can be found higher up the list. This one does have the best opening track through. “Do Yourself A Favour” is a frantic rant with nice chuggy breakdowns, which is more like the album “Broadcasting” released prior to this. The rest of the album is all solid stuff and possibly this is the first album we’ve seen so far where all the songs have made the good list cut. “Crooked Floors” has that classic hardcore drum and guitar sound with some awesome riffage 2/3rds the way in. “Balance” is about as melodic as the guitars get. Its a album that makes its 40 mins seem to fly by despite the high tempo. Can’t help but think Comeback Kid is a name that doesn’t really suit the music.

 

135. THE WANNADIES – YEAH
(1999 – T13 G12 B3 UB1)

Probably the most northerly band on my list, the Wannadies from northern Sweden appear 3 times in the top 250. The 3 albums are their main 3 which made up the core of their career. This being the last of those 3 released in 1999. It conjures very specific memories for me as it was a regular on my minidisc (yes minidisc) player for train rides to and from Birmingham Uni everyday. In particular the song “String Song” which if the start happened to time with the train leaving a station, Lea Hall, for example (one for train fans there) it timmed perfectly with the train speeding up. The best run for this would be if it happened on the long run between Berkswell and Hampton-In-Arden (what the biscuits am I on about now?! is anyone still reading?, does anyone care?!). erm. wannadies. yeah. “String Song” is amazing and contains a lot of strings as does “Low Enough”. “Big Fan”, “No Holiday” and “Idiot Boy” are classic fun wannadies songs. Its a great album but they had dropped off the mainstream radar by this point as the Shine/Brit-pop (despite being swedish) scene had disappeared behind a load of Ibiza chart pop crap.

 

136. MALLORY KNOX – SIGNALS
(2013 – T11 G10 B3 UB1)

Mallory Knox are a modern brit-post-hardcore band, one of a group of similar bands with Deaf Havana (when they were good), We Are The Ocean and Lower Than Atlantis who all hit the semi-limelight at the same time. They have done 3 albums so far and are due a 4th this year though it will be without the strong vocals of their lead singer as he left the band last year. Each album has got progressively better for me so it will be interesting to see how they survive this transition. This is their debut album and kicks off very strongly with 3 singles; “Lighthouse” being the strongest especially with its layered vocals at the crescendo and sweeping guitars throughout. “1949” is one of the softer songs on the album and stands out from a series of tracks that do sorta merge together a bit but are still enjoyable. “Hello” has another big ending which again gives that sweeping sorta feeling. (ie sounds great on a summer country drive!). Overall Mallory Knox are one of my favourite bands to emerge in the last 10 years. 2 more albums to come on the list.

 

137. THE EARLY NOVEMBER – THE MOTHER, THE MECHANIC AND THE PATH
(2006 – T11 G10 B3 UB1)

Named perfectly for their genre, the Early November, are pure emo-rock-pop, They’ve made 4 albums so far with a 5th expected this year. This is the only one of those 4 to make the list, the other 3 hover around outside it. Their debut EP “For All Of This” was probably their best work, but cannot be included. “The M, The M and the P” is their 2nd full length and is actually a triple disc record with the album split into the Mechanic (disc 1, the primary release which is the only part I have taken into account), The Mother (disc 2, the mainly acoustic part) and The Path (disc 3, which is plain odd and mainly just a conversation between a psychiatrist and his patient with some acoustic music backing it and short songs filling in the gaps). Anyway the main record is not breaking any moulds but with its lazy flowing vocals of Ace Enders (awesome name) and nod along niceness of the tunes make it their best album for me. The album kicks off with the slightly out of key sounding “Money In His Hand” before 2 of the best songs “The Rest Of My Life” which shows off the lazy vocal sound I mention, before “Decoration”‘s simple chorus mind melds into your subconscious. My other fave is the possibly cheesy sounding but nice “Long Talks” before closing with the repetative builder of “Figure it Out”. On the 2nd disc “1000 Times A Day” is gloriously simple and tells a near 6 minute close to spoken word story of romance.

 

138. FOUR YEAR STRONG – ENEMY OF THE WORLD
(2010 – T11 G10 B3 UB1)

Four Year Strong do a sorta pop-hardcore, like a heavier New Found Glory. They’ve done 4 proper albums (ignoring a covers one (which is actually pretty good and way better than Weezers one) and re-imagining of old tracks one) and this is the only one to make it to the top 250. I can see having listened to it again during this process that its more likely to fall out of it than it is to stick around. It’s the kinda stuff I’m finding less appealing, but for now it’s there. The opener “It Really Must Suck To Be Four Year Strong Now” was the song that grabbed my attention onto them, I just love the “riff” and head nodding vibe of the chorus and the breakdown 2/3rds the way through. It’s not complicated stuff, but it just works for me and scratches my pop-punk itch. All the songs whip along at pace with plenty of stabby palm muted riffs and feel like they have about 4 singers. When in the right mood I can love this, then other days, its meh. As I say enjoy, ignore or endure, it wont be the serious connoisseur’s cup of tea but its fun. It also ranked on Rock Sounds Top 250 list of albums since it started in 1999 at number 58, with pretty much the same description I just gave.

 

139. THE DANGEROUS SUMMER – WAR PAINT
(2011 – T11 G10 B3 UB1)

We first saw The Dangerous Summer at number 227 and at the time I admitted I was failry new to their music and it had the potential to grow on me a lot and so it has. That album which was their most recent is now at #152 but for the purposes of this it stays at #227. “War Paint” is their 2nd album and again I can tell it’s gonna be a grower, rather than a shower. The thing I most like about The Dangerous Summer is the guitar melody parts and the 2 songs with the strongest of these “No One’s Gonna Need You More” and “Parachute” are my favourite. Their style always reminds me of Hot Rod Circuit at their best and the singers slightly gravelly voice is different enough to give them a more unique sound. One thing that may stop their albums climbing to the true heights on the list is the lack of big finale’s to songs, but its still great stuff.

 

140. MIDGET – ALCO-POP!
(1997 – T9 G8 B3 UB1)

All the way back to when I was 16/17 and just discovering alternative music. Midget were a small band “pun intended” who actually made it massive in Japan. they did 4 albums over their 7 years, one of which was the last and only released in Japan, though I’ve managed to get a copy. Most of their stuff overall was a bit disappointing bar a few quality tracks but their first effort was gloriously pop-punk-indie-pop alco-pop infused ace-ness. They were in a group of bands emerging at that time along with Snug, Symposium, A and Silver Sun, who did kind of innocent, not trying to be cool britrock. The album kicks off with the spiky “Kylie And Jason” and shortly after comes the evening session favourite “Camoflage” which was the song that got me into them and was a prominent feature on “Now Thats What I Call A Good Quality Tape #7”. “Silly Little Rich Girl” introduces a big ending full of a brass section and noodly guitars, before “Welcome Home Jellybean” gets what you could class a bit of a riff for such a poppy band. The song also has an immense solo in it2/3rds of the way through. Classic sugary glory.

141. ANBERLIN – NEW SURRENDER

(2008 – T12 G10 B3 UB1)

 

 

This is Anberlins 3rd of 4 albums to appear on my list and this one was seen as a bit of a return to form after their 3rd album “Cities” (which is not in my list…. just). It has the usual mix of “heavier” songs and acoustic and sometimes string filled songs to set the perfect balance, the downfall of Anberlin is sometimes a bit of over production and unnatural sounds but that is a bit more dialled back on this album. The album kicks off as most Anberlin albums do with one of the faster, heavier songs in “The Resistance” which has a big chorus with a great little riff behind it. In the middle of the album Anberlin do a bit of cheating and have a slightly different mix of a song from their 2nd album, in the form of “Feel Good Drag” included, so they gain from its glories twice. “Retrace” and “Breathe” are soft rock ballads which they just about get away with, but are 2 of the weaker songs on the album. The 2nd half of the album is the better half with “Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)” being a highlight and “Younglife” being a catchy if slightly cheesy little acoustic lead number.

 

142. CAN’T SWIM – FAIL YOU AGAIN

(2017 – T12 G10 B3 UB1)

 

 

Can’t Swim are kinda like a darker sounding Hot Rod Circuit (when they were good) or Get Up Kids. They smash out songs that in the main appear to have downtuned guitars or higher bass in the mix which gives them a unique sound. They now have 2 albums, the latter of which I haven’t had much chance to check out yet due to doing this list mainly, but this is their debut after a great EP released a year before. It kicks off with the rumbling high pace and aggression of “What’s Your Big Idea?” before the primary single and poppiest tune on the album “We Won’t Sleep” comes on which is great stuff with its choir backed choruses at the end. Some songs seem to leave a bit on the table which prevents this album from going higher in my chart, but its a good debut. Eventually I’ll find out how the sophomore effort compares.

 

143. GRATITUDE – GRATITUDE

(2005 – T12 G10 B3 UB1)

 

 

Gratitude are yet another Jonah Matranga band, though they weren’t originally, he was the replacement for another singer from Crumb (?). There is also another ex-member of Get Up Kids in the band and they converged for a short time and made this one self-titled album. Now in terms of song “quality” or “importance” this should probably not be above Far’s “Water & Solutions” but this is a list of my personal liking for albums, also in this area of the chart, there appears to be a clog of similarly ranked bands, probably the most in flux area. One extra or less banger and you could move up or down up to 40 places. So position is much of a muchness at this point. Gratitude basically do emo-rock almost to a too perfect formula, so its all a bit safe but its good stuff. There’s a couple of songs early on that are very skippable but things properly kick off with “This Is The Part” which is the most aggressive song on the album. “Sadie” and several of the songs make great summer driving songs, or thats what they always remind me of.

 

144. THE LUCKY NINE – TRUE CROWN FOUNDATION
(2005 – T12 G10 B3 UB1)

The Lucky Nine were a were kind of a Brit-rock super group made of members of Hundred Reasons (singer- Colin Doran) and A, Cable, Earthtone9/Sunna. They popped out one album in 2005 and that was is. Colin went back to Hundred Reasons for 2 more albums with them. As a result of his iconic vocals it does make it sound like a Hundred Reasons album, just a lot heavier in places. “The Program” being the best, fastest and heaviest song and my fave. “A Lucky Hit” is the closest to Hundred Reasons fair and throughout the album there are some proper nice riffy moments. Maybe on the whole some of the songs could be more coherent but its still an enjoyable riff ride.

 

145. THE LIVING END – THE LIVING END
(1998 – T13 G10 B4 UB0)

At 145 its Aussie-lands own punk trio The Living End straight out of Melbourne an all 3 of the band are called Bruce (some statements may not be true). This was their debut and 1 of 2 that make the list, that being their first 2. They have 8 albums over all but after the first 2 they haven’t been quite so strong. Their debut is full of stereotypical punk material, rebellion, hating work, Dunblane massacres (see “Monday”) and is delivered via a rock n roll style of punk which involves a stand up double bass, which some how makes a great racket when seen live. They make shout along gang vocal choruses with mental Back To The Future “Johnny B Goode” style solos. “Prisoner of Society” was the big hit from the album and a particular highlight from Reading ’99. “Bloody Mary” takes you on a Film Noire style journey and there are several ska based songs such as “I Want A Day”.

 

146. WEEZER – EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT IN THE END
(2014 – T11 G9 B3 UB1)

At 146 we find Weezer’s 4th album of the chart (3 more to come). This appeared after a 4 year break and was their 9th of their career and represented a shift back towards the original Weezer sound, but not quite there yet, that would wait till the next album. The main single for the album is by far the naffest on the album unfortunately in “Back To The Shack” which is like a poor “Beverly Hills” which doesn’t say much but the sound contradicts everything its saying. That song aside the start is ok, with “Ain’t Got Nobody” sounding like Maldroit should have sounded and “Lonely Girl” sounding how the Green Album should have sounded. Then comes “I’ve Had It Up To Here” which is one of my bangers which was written with Justin Hawkins of The Darkness and you can tell some of this influence in the falsetto singing style in parts of the song. Then comes a run of 4 great songs starting with “Da Vinci”, “Go Away” which is awesome and sounds just like a Blue Album B-side (almost literally) with the female co-lead vocals and “Cleopatra” which is let down by a bit of counting in the song but doesn’t spoil it. “Foolish Father” I’ve possibly ignored a bit and could develop into one of my faves. Then the album finishes on a 3 song, near instrumental, collection which some Weezer fans say is the best stuff on there. I can understand why as its very Pinkerton guitar wise in many parts, but the vocals when they do happen aren’t great and I would quite happily cut this threesome from the album.

 

147. SAY ANYTHING – ANARCHY, MY DEAR
(2012 – T11 G9 B3 UB1)

This is the first Say Anything album to hit the list, they are an odd creation and don’t really sound like anyone else, partly due to the bands creator and singer Max Bemis’ bile spitting style of vocals. They have released 8 albums with mixed results. 4 make my list and the other 4 are way off it. They’ve done albums from the very rough sounding debut to an album were guitars were exchanged for fuzzy sounding keyboards or other instruments, to an unnecessary double album. Their style can probably be just best described as alternative rock, with punk/emo elements but its a mixed bag, often with themes about breaking from his Jewish heritage and rants about hipsters. This album was their 5th one and started to lead to the shift in style to more weirdness. The big favourite of mine on the album is simply called “Say Anything” and is the most standard of songs but it’s just great, the video must have took forever to do with it being made of a series of still images put together to create the illusion of movement (at which point I feel the need to say “hello to Jason Isaacs”). The album kicks of with “Burn A Miracle” which ends with the title morphing to “Burn America”. “Admit It Again” is a continuation of the rant filled angst of “Admit it” off their best album “…. Is A Real Boy”, with its chorus of “And your crap rains down”. Another fave of mine on the album is “overbitter” which is a funky ass thing with boppy piano hooks and co-vocals with Max’s wife.

 

148. EMERY – I’M ONLY A MAN
(2007 – T11 G9 B3 UB1)

So we get our 3rd Emery album in the space of a month (30 positions) and 4th so far on the list overall. This one is very much the bridge between the more cohesive, conventional structure songs of the first 2 albums (and better ones in this case) and the more bi-polar ones of Emery’s latter career. “Rock-N-Rule” kicks is all off with a wierd sounding riff before the emoting screaming and melodic sections all mixed up ensues. “The Party Song” is an awesome song and even has “Party-on” as a central lyric, which is maybe cool… maybe. The album has a couple of dark slow building songs also the best of which is “Can’t Stop The Killer” which i think is written from the point of a husband (a bad one, presumably) whose lost it and about to shoot his wife, it’s a great song with no chorus. In fact I think the whole theme of the album is about someone trying to escape an abusive relationship. Things go a bit werid with “Don’t Bore Us, Get To The Chorus” in the middle of the album, which has dance beat sections and kinda “Bohemian Rhapsody” bits-ish. it don’t work though. Overall though its the 3rd best Emery album which is good enough for me.

 

149. CRACKOUT – THIS IS REALLY NEAT
(2001 – T12 G9 B4 UB0)

Crackout were a pop-punk-brit-rock-indie band from that hotbed of UK talent Bicester (?!). They first hit my radar in 2001 with 2 EP’s called EP 1 and 2 which you would recieve a numbered copy of with cardboard sleeve and a wax seal on, which you had to break to open, which was pretty awesome. Their best songs were alway fast stuff with quiet sections and then big chunky but very simple riffs usually to finish off the songs. Their debut album “This Is Really Neat” came out later that year and although it has some misses on it has some great songs, primarily “Joey Lost His Mind” and the delicately titled “You Dumb Fuck” which it appears MTV2 played the video for once (see below). They were kind of a new Symposium / Idlewild (when they were mental). they did a 2nd album which was a bit more of a quirky indie album but still had some catchy tunes. They then split which was a shame as the only song that came out after was called “Believe Me Now” and is a Ultimate Banger, but they probably weren’t ever going to match the quality of those first EPs.

 

150. FAR – WATER & SOLUTIONS
(1998 – T12 G7 B4 UB2)

Far are back with their seminal album “Water & Solutions” which influenced a generation of bands with is post hardcore stylings. The album very much has a dark, kinda ominous, atmosphere to it which kicks in straight away on “Bury White” with its godzilla marching riff which builds and builds throughout the song. The title track in part sounds like Pixies “Where’s My Mind?” before picking up the pace on and off. “Mother Mary” and “The System” are a pair of rip along songs, with The System being particularly awesome with its aggression going up to 12 in the final stages. The 7 tracks that made my good list are all the first 7 tracks so in a similar way to the New End Original album (also Jonah Matranga) its very much an album of 2 halves. The 2nd half of the album is more atmosphere than song in my opinion. If I could somehow combine the first 7 of this with the 5 belters off New End Original the album would have been number 33 but we don’t live in that world. Either way, some awesome tracks on this.

151. TAKING BACK SUNDAY – LOUDER NOW
(2006 – T11 G8 B4 UB0)

Well we are 100 albums in now and hopefully someone still cares. I ploughing on regardless! this position was nearly 3 other albums, but on closer inspection they have been promoted. So just missing out on a top 150 spot is Taking Back Sundays 3rd album and their 3rd of 4 on the list. “Louder Now” also appeared as 1 of 2 TBS albums on Rock Sounds list at number 55. I don’t quite rate it that highly as it does miss on a couple of songs, but it also has 4 crackers on there. This album is basically a better “Where You Want To Be”, the choruses are better and the songs are just well, better. “Miami” is a catchy flowing song and songs at the start of the album “Liar (It Takes One To Know One)” and “Spin” are classic TBS songs in structure and style; “Spin” has a particularly awesome stabbing guitar breakdown in the middle. The last quarter of “Makedamnsure” with its big chorus and change in drums and guitar melody over the top are glorious. Yes its moany wingey girly nonsense but its done so well.

 

152. BILLY TALENT – BILLY TALENT II
(2006 – T13 G12 B3 UB0)

The collective known as Billy Talent are a Canadian band who make what I would describe as spiky punk music. Spiky from the squarky tones of the lead singer to the gruffer but still spiky second vocalist, all joined together on short, yes spiky, riffs, but sometimes the odd big slow song. This, as you may be able to tell, is their 2nd album after their debut which is way higher up the list. They have done 5 overall and the latter 3 don’t quite make the cut, but all have their great moments. For II though, all but the final song make my good list and it is therefore a solid album, and 3 have elevated to banger status. Those 3 being “This Suffering”, a mid tempo song, with a classic Billy Talent dual vocal swapping snappy chorus, “Surrender” being the slow builder on the album and “Sympathy” being a faster one. This album appeared in Rock Sounds top 250 since 2000ish at number 167 btw. I’ve only managed to see Billy Talent once at the Little Civic in Wolves in 2003, but they were awesome, esp in such a small room

 

My Top 250 Albums: #153
MOVEMENTS – FEEL SOMETHING
(2017 – T11 G10 B3 UB0)

Movements are a new band who dropped (as the kids say) their debut album in 2017. They are a post-hardcore band who are asking you to “Feel Something” and try to do this with a close to clean guitar sound and bass lines which are higher in the mix. Song topics include alzheimers disease on “Deadly Dull” and the video for “Full Circle” depicts a gay couples ups and downs rather than the boy/girl imagery typically used. This isn’t because the song is about that, its just been used in a way any other relationship song video would… any why not. Favourite songs on the album include “Full Circle”, “Third Degree” and “Suffer Through”. The first couple mins of “Deep Red” are great also with its driving bass line. I can tell this album is going to gradually climb this list as it ages.

 

154. THE GET UP KIDS – GUILT SHOW
(2004 – T13 G8 B4 UB1)

This is the follow up to #175’s “On A Wire” and kinda combined the sound of that and the classic “Something To Write Home About”. Their new album coming in a month is looking like its along similar lines which is nice. Guilt Show blasts off with “Man of Conviction” which is over and done in 90 seconds before the laid back, seemingly effortless, single “The One You Want”. This is an album that has grown a lot on me and if the last 3 tracks had been cut off it would have been a lot higher. The album kinda wilts off into a bit of a mess of atmospheric stuff, which is a shame after the first 10 tracks which are mostly great. This was their last album before a 7 year gap before “There Are Rules” which I didn’t like at all (and appears to have been taken off Spotify) and then another 8 year gap before the new one coming up. My Ultimate Banger off the album is “How Long Is Too Long” a classic Get Up Kids middle 8 bit but the whole song has an awesome flow to it, before a sweet little ending.

 

155. THE STEREO – THREE HUNDRED
(1999 – T13 G8 B4 UB1)

The Stereo are a band that existed for around 5 years at the turn of the millenium. This was their debut album, the 2 albums that followed weren’t anywhere near as good. This album in 2009 was apparently rated as one of the ’10 most influential albums from 1999 that shaped Punk today’, which is a very specific title. Most of it though you wouldn’t describe as punk. The best song on it though “You’ve Got Some Nerve” is definitely along those lines though, ripping along through its 2.5 mins. Some songs like “You Can’t Go Home Again” and “Ramona” are very Weezer-y, while other songs are more Ben Folds and piano led. Their best stuff is the faster songs “Count Me Out” being another banger. Unfortunately they are now so off the radar this album does not appear on Spotify and only bits are on Youtube. It’s good stuff though if a little up and down.

 

156. SILVERSTEIN – DISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT
(2005 – T11 G8 B3 UB1)

Silverstein are one of a chunk of Canadian bands who make the list. They have 8 albums and this is the only one represented here, the others have varying degrees of goodness but this was their peak for me. They are a classic standard screamo band of that time in the early to mid-00s. “Discovering the Waterfront” though was always a favourite of mine from that era. “Smile In Your Sleep” being the primary single off the album and is the UB’er, that breakdown just after half way, classic scr-emo! Other faves include the high paced opener with twiddly riff “Your Sword Versus My Dagger” and “Always and Never” with is poppy chorus but its nice palm mutey twiddle twiddle (technical term) verses. The title track introduces a string section and is the classic we can do a slow song, song. Another single “My Heroine” is more like the Silverstein when it doesn’t quite his the mark and is a bit of a lifeless song. The band are still together and are releasing a first ten years album which is a reworking of some songs from their first 4 albums, which would include this one.

 

157. LOWER THAN ATLANTIS – WORLD RECORD
(2011 – T12 G11 B3 UB0)

This is LTA’s 3rd album on the chart and its their highest placed. “World Record” was the 2nd album they did and was before the more produced sound of later albums had started to kick in. So it relies on dirtier riffs and the lazy accent filled vocals to do its post-hardcore rawking. It kinda sounds like a second rate Reuben. The highlight of the album is unlike the rest of it in the super slow “Another Sad Song” where his unfortunately mistake was being himself, poor fella. The album kicks off with “(Motor) Way Of Life” complete with synchronised pogoing int he video. (something I can’t stand, music has never made me want to jump vertically up and down repetitively and usually off beat), either way its a nice song with a riff that again reminds me of Reuben’s “Stux”, just not as good. The album gets a little less memerable as it goes on but its still all good stuff and it made #117 on Rock Sound’s top 250 albums since 2000ish.

 

158. REAL FRIENDS – THE HOME INSIDE MY HEAD
(2016 – T12 G11 B3 UB0)

Real Friends (which is a real bad name for a band) are again an emo-pop-punk band out of Chicago. This is their 2nd album and best one. The thing I like about Real Friends (still terrible name) is the way the songs have a flow to them, they can drift in and out of the chorus without you really knowing you’ve been there. Also the singers voice sounds a bit like the dude from Moneen, which is no bad thing. Most of the songs are uptempo and can sound a bit samey but on this album I don’t half enjoy them. To be honest this could get a lot higher as time goes on and good’s become bangers. The standout tracks for me are the 2 openers “Stay In One Place” and “Empty Picture Frames”, which has a great chorus. The other banger is “Mess” which is the first song I heard by them. Their recent 3rd album is a lot cleaner produced and has thus lost a bit of the edge but is still decent, but just has a tad too much sheen on it. To Real Friends!…

 

159. SPITALFIELD – STOP DOING BAD THINGS
(2005 – T11 G10 B3 UB0) 

I’m not sure what the name of the band is all about but a Spitalfield doesn’t sound like a nice place to be. They were a primarily pop-punk band with emo tendancies for their first 2 albums. Their 3rd “Stop Doing Bad Things” is the only one of theirs to make this list and that is primarily due to its slightly different feel to the majority of that style of music. The songs seem to have a kinda confidence about them to strip it back and have sections where its mainly bass and a bit of melodic echoey guitar over the top and even some slight riffage. To be honest I wouldn’t have expected to like this album for that long but its still a good listen and each song has its own feel so they don’t all merge into one. My favourites are “Gold Dust vs State of Illinois” with its odd little riff chorus, “From The Desk of B Larsen” with its wandering bass line and chilled out verses and the choppy “Building A Better City By Design”. They went on to do a 4th album with went along the same lines with the new style but not quite as good.

 

160. MY AWESOME COMPILATION – ACTIONS
(2005 – T11 G10 B3 UB0)

This is MAC’s 2nd album on the list and is their cheeky debut. It’s full of poppy little keyboard backed rock nuggets. Their staple is the dual vocal repetitive chorus which sticks in your noggin. As mentioned previously they would fit great into the late 90s brit rock pop genre along with bands like Midget, Snug, Silver Sun etc, but came along a bit later. “Put Up A Fight” has a pleasant tingly keyboard and guitar start before kicking into their trademark chorus style, “Set To Go” is even more infectious and its not advised to listen to this anywhere near bedtime. “What You Do” slows down the pace significantly and despite its distorted vocals is better than the filler you may expect it to be and towards the end “As Always” is re-worked from the version on their EP, not quite as well but its a cracker

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

171. REGGIE AND THE FULL EFFECT – GREATEST HITS ’84-’87
(1999 – T10 G8 B3 UB0)  

Reggie is the odd brain-baby of Get Up Kids keyboardist James Dewees. He pretty much plays all the instruments on the albums and combines kinda nery punk rock with keyboards and moogs, but also does various alter ego’s such as Klaus from Common Denominator, a fictional Finnish metal band which appear with the odd track on each of his albums. They/he have/has 7 albums released now, all with the odd great song on but overall kinda messy, but thats probably due to its non-serious vibe. 84-87 was his 1st album and its not a load of songs from the mid-80’s as the title suggests. It was released a few months before Get Up Kids glorious “Something To Write Home About” and contains 18 tracks, of which 10 would be classed as songs. The album contains little interludes/comments between most tracks 2 of which are recordings of drunk guys talking, recorded at Get Up Kids shows. As for the music “Girl, Why’d You Run Away”, “Your Girlfriends Hate Me” and “Your Boyfriend Hates Me” are my favourites and “Megan Is My Friend To The Max” sounds like a Pinkerton-era Weezer B-side. It’s not an album your gonna listen to in full that often but the tracks are always a pleasant find when they pop up in a random playlist. There were no vids made for this album, but I will add some from later albums as further examples, most of which have very odd videos, which include dinosaurs getting wasted, condiments falling in love and Frankenstein’s monster

 

172. THE ROCKET SUMMER – CALENDAR DAYS
(2003 – T10 G7 B3 UB1)

oh yes, its The Rocket Summer again and their/his/Bryce Avery’s debut album, the uber happy guy who appears like he’s straight out of the disney club but plays all the instruments and produces his own albums. Now this comes with a warning again, listening to this on a sunny day may invoke the sudden onset of diabetes, and even on a miserable day it comes with it’s health risks. This is unashamedly poppy and the video to “Skies So Blue” could be vomit inducing… but I can’t help but like it. Blame Ben Shires for this being introduced into my life. From the Ba-ba-ba’s at the end of “Cross My Heart” to the “ba ba ba” in the awesome “TV Family” its an enjoyable romp (if you can handle its sugary-ness. “That’s So You” is painfully emo, “Movie Stars and Super Models” introduces “Ba ba ba ba”‘s as a chorus and “What We Hate We Make” comes with a childrens choir… lets hope he’s not quite the white Michael Jackson I described him as back when his 2nd album was in my chart at #202. Anyway, most will prob hate this but whatever ba ba ba ba.

 

173. MAE – THE EVERGLOW
(2005 – T13 G9 B3 UB1)

Mae stands for “Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience” (apparently, only just discovered that), its also the name of their latest album… of which I’m not a fan. This one however is their 2nd album and their only one in my chart, the debut “Destination: Beautiful” had some good tunes on it though. They are in the main a gentle indie-rock/emo band who did a big sounding album in “The Everglow”. It opens a prologue that encourages you to open the booklet that came with the compact disc to enjoy the full experience (can’t say I’ve done that though I do have the physical copy), then goes into the dramatic sounding piano based “We’re So Far Away” before the big intro to “Someone Else’s Arms” which is a banger, the singer does some odd movements in the video which are slightly perterbing. The rest of the album is solid stuff, before it hits a lull 2/3rds in, before finishing strong with the title track and “Anything” with is giant Big Ben style bell hits in the chorus. Mae have since gone off in other directions and introduced more synth and vocal effects, but still do the odd good song, though they have never been as good as they are at times on this album

 

174. LIGHT YEARS – I’ll See You When I See You
(2015 – T13 G9 B3 UB1)

Light Years are a pretty straight forward pop-punk band, they aren’t trying to change a genre or do anything new, but what they do is solid. This is their 2nd album, and they released a 3rd late last year which I haven’t had much chance to check out (probably due to this stupid list). The opener “Are You Sure?”, I love. I can’t pinpoint what exactly, but it just hums along at a nice pace, with plenty of cymbal bashing and little drum fills. Single “Living In Hell” is more of the same, (probably most of the album could be described as that, but it hit a sweet spot for me), “Cracks on the Ceiling” and “So Sorry” are slower songs but have some nice melodic hooks. “Let You Down” has a nice fast guitar riff over slower vocals in the bridge and its little things like that which make it stand out for be. Having said that by the time you over halfway it does all start to get a bit samey, but its nice work. As mentioned before there isn’t much more straight up pop punk left in my list, so this is highly rated for me in that field.

 

175. THE GET UP KIDS – ON A WIRE
(2002 – T12 G8 B4 UB0)

This is the first of 3 GUK albums to appear on the chart, and this is the follow up to the incrediawesome “Something To Write Home About”. As a result this was always destined to be a disappointment…. and it was. Given time though its a bit more appreciated and has its moments. It’s a much slower paced and quieter album than its predecesor, and has a lot of meh tracks in the middle. The end 5 tracks are all goodens though and includes the Bangers (though in this case, the word bangers probably gives the wrong impression). Title-ish track “Walking On A Wire” is a slow burner, that relies on Matt Pryors ever increasing emotive vocals, similar with closer “Hannah Holds On”. Probably my favourite track is “Campfire Kansas” which is a pretty simple acoustic song with plinky plonky piano in the background and inexplicable (but works) distorted vocals… it’s a nice tap along drive in the sun with windows down kinda song though. Here’s hoping the new album released in a couple of months is closer to classic Get Up Kids though

 

176. EMBRACE – THE GOOD WILL OUT

(1998 – T13 G10 B3 UB0)

Staying in 1998 for a 2nd day and this time it Oasis-lite, Embrace. I was never a massive fan of this album when it first appeared and the singles all seemed a bit dreery but as I’ve got older I’ve appreciated it more and more. It’s not an album I would go out of my way to listen to it but when a song appears on a playlist or something I inevitably enjoy it. Generally a slow plodding paced album it relies on big sounding songs with orchestras full of strings to fill them out. The vocals do come off a bit flat in the quieter moments but in someways that adds to the appeals. The dodgy intro to “Come Back to What You Know” being a prime example of that. Then they have the songs which sound like Norther Uproar in “One Big Family” and “Last Gas”. My favourites are generally the non-singles though in “Retread” with is massive “Will you fight?” repeated ending and “You’ve Got to Say Yes” which would have fitted in well on Oasis’ B-side album “The Masterplan”

 

177. SYMPOSIUM – ON THE OUTSIDE

(1998 – T12 G7 B4 UB1)

Yes! Symposium! Those oiks who were absolutely mental live, usually trashing all the equipment after each gig. They only managed to get to 1 ep and 1 album before splitting sadly. (2 of the group going on to form the mighty Hell Is For Heroes, who have 3 albums featuring much higher in my chart). Symposium where all about being loud and shouty but in a uncomplicated punk pop rock metal kinda way. They are one of a few bands that saved me from listening to chart music after hearing “Farewell To Twilight” on the evening session back in the day. This was included on an 8 track EP and had some glorious b-sides. when it came to the album it was a bit of a disappointment in comparison but still has its glories. “The Answer To Why I Hate You” being a shout along blinder and “The End” with it’s big thunderous riff. “Blue” and “On The Outside” demonstrated a softer side but they were always more comfortable just making loud things. Their final song released a year later “Killing Position”, hinted more bangers to come but then came the split. Their gig with ‘A’ supporting was one of the best I’ve ever been to. It was all over in 3 years, but thank you Symposium. Thank you.

 

 

178. EMERY – …IN SHALLOW SEAS WE SAIL
(2009 – T13 G12 B2 UB1)

I’d say we are now into the 8/10 rating range. This is Emery’s 2nd appearance in the list and its their 4th album. Every song has its moments, but its a very bitty album, every song seems to take off in various directions with no real cohesion. The string filled “Churches and Serial Killers” being one of the exceptions but still feeling awkward at the same time. I do tend to like all of the pieces of each song, which allows it to climb to an 8/10, but as you can see from the score only 2 songs make it to banger status. These also both were previously released on an EP a year before. They are both the 2 songs where the pieces fit together best “The Smile, The Face” and “Edge Of The World”. The only video for the album comes in the form of the palm mute driven “Butcher’s Mouth” and that vid is just a crappy live outtakes type vid, so I’ll post the UB’er “Edge Of The World”

 

179. MILLENCOLIN – KINGWOOD
(2005 – T12 G9 B3 UB0)

Those melodic punks from Sweden are back for their 2nd helping in my chart. The dessert from them is still someway off. This album followed 3 years after “Home From Home” and is pretty standard Millencolin fare, as in damn good catchy chorus’ and lots of palm muted verses. Favorites include “Farewell My Hell” which kicks the album off in upbeat style, and “Shut You Out” has a gentle constant pace to it that cruises along and a softer edge to it. “Mooseman’s Jukebox” ends the album in big bouncy style, giving a slight nod back to their more ska based origins.

 

180. THE HUNNA – 100
(2016 – T16 G12 B3 UB0)

This is an album when it first came out I loved and would have been much higher, but gradually the initial appeal has waned. They are a UK indie-rock band and “100” is their debut album, they released a 2nd late last year. One of my issues with them is the huge amount of marketing support they seem to have, especially to promote the debut album, it was a massive facebook bombardment (similar to what I’m doing now!), which seemed odd for a new band, not their fault I guess but just gives a bit of a plastic feel to them. Apparently they are now suing their record label for taking decisions they didn’t approve of so maybe isn’t all them. They also appear to dress and act like they are “2 cool 4 skool” in the vids. If I knew nothing more of them than the album, maybe they would be higher, as the songs as solid and “You & Me” is a Saves The Day-feel belter. Other songs like “Piece By Piece” and “Never Enough” are 2 songs that I could be rated higher but suffer from that feeling I mentioned earlier. The song has a few too many songs on and the singer tends to use the same vocal melody in one or 2 songs which is really noticeable. I’ve probably been harsh and maybe I’ll grow to love the album again. For now it’s hovering around the high 7/10 mark. Looking at the list I’d say we are days away from being in the 8/10 range.

181. HE IS LEGEND – I AM HOLLYWOOD
(2004 – T10 G6 B3 UB2)

I’m not sure what to describe this album as other than great noise. He Is Legend are described as post hardcore, metalcore, alternative metal etc, but this album tends to have a kinda rock’n’roll-core feel about it if that is such a thing. This was their debut album (they’ve changed quite a lot since and not in a way I enjoy), and it kicks off with the immense “Seduction” and finishes with the even more immense “I Am Hollywood” which ends in ever increasing insanity and is, probably surprisingly for some, one of my all time favourite songs. As you can see from the 6 good out of 10 tracks I only like half of it, but what a half!. Most of the tracks I like are in the first half and all tend to build and have great last 3rds, with nice guitar noodling going on.

 

182. HAVE MERCY – A PLACE OF OUR OWN 
(2014 – T11 G9 B2 UB1)

Have Mercy are a band I got into on the basis of their 2017 release which is still to come in the list. This was their 2nd album, the debut is not quite as good. They are probably the perfect definition of what emo-rock would be as opposed to post-hardcore / screamo. The singer has a great voice and then when he turns the emote up to 11 he suddenly sounds like he’s smoked 50 a day since he was 4 years old, greatly demonstrated on the break-up song “Two Years”. Given more listens this album is likely to climb the list, at first it was a bit samey but each listen it gets better. 

 

183. BEN FOLDS FIVE – THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF REINHOLD MESSNER 
(1999 – T10 G8 B2 UB1)

This is the first encounter with Ben Folds (as a solo artist or as a band of 5 #reallyonly3). Ben Folds does piano lead rock, like a cool Elton John, with a cheeky glint in his eye and fingers (erm!). This was his 3rd album and was a bit of a change up from the more high paced first 2 albums, which was a tough change up for the 18 year old me at the time also. The album did include the classic “Army”, but has many other beautiful orchestral songs full of strings and physically large sounding drums, such as “Mess” and “Magic”, which took a while to grow on me.   “Your Redneck Past” is an odd one I’ve never quite got into with its awkward beating tempo and synthy piano. and also never got into “Regrets” jazzy stylings, but this is Ben Folds, so when its good it’s really good. He’s done 7 proper albums (excluding some of the collaboration ones, including one with William Shatner!) and the first 5 make the list

 

184. CANADIAN SOFTBALL – AWKWARD & DEPRESSED
(2017 – T12 G7 B3 UB2)

Canadian Softball are a parody band (along the lines of Lonely Island and Reggie And The Full Effect) invented by a thing called a “youtube comedian” Jarrod Alonge. In this guise he takes on all things emo/hardcore and also creates some cracking tunes in the process. The album due to its comedy nature has some off moments as they all do, but when it focuses on the song its pretty sweet. “Great Again” is a song aimed at Trump and his “Make America Great Again” slogan and pointing out how great (or otherwise) life was in 1953. “Your Validation” takes a swipe at people who change image and attitude every year or so to be the next cool thing. The album wraps up with a song made from taking elements of 20 emo songs and joining them together in one ironic emo classic, called “Ohio is for Emo Kids”. The album also goes at math-rock complications and spoken word emo songs and Skramz! He also has an album out under the name Sunrise Skater Kids as well as one under his own name which has 7 fictional bands of various styles contributing.

 

185. YOUNG GUNS – ALL OUR KINGS ARE DEAD
(2010 – T12 G9 B2 UB1) 

Young Guns are a British rock band who sound very American and a little over produced. They suffer very much from “30 Seconds To Mars”-itis, where image appears to be very much at the forefront of their minds (guy-liner, dramatic “powerful” videos, poses etc). Difference being their first album is actually pretty good to listen to. For the most part the album is mid tempo with palm muted echoey guitar riff verses and big choruses with group vocals. It doesn’t always work but when it does for example on “Crystal Clear” which has a bit more pace to it, it’s proper good. “Weight of the World” goes along in a similar vein. Some of the album and those which follow this gets a bit samey and there isn’t much memorable, enjoyable at the time but you don’t often go intentionally back to it. At times they do some heavier metal riffs, which if explored a bit more may have made it all a bit more varied. Overall good and still very much in the 7/10 range. We are starting to get closer to the 8/10’s in the next few weeks

 

186. ZEBRAHEAD – MFZB
(2003 – T15 G11 B3 UB0) 

More rap infused rock only 2 days after Bloodhound Gang. Zebrahead are more punk/rap though and generally the poppier end of the scale of punk, though the stuff I prefer is when it has a bit more pace and edging towards the hardcore end of the stuff they do. They do have a knack for shoving a bit into a song that elevates the enjoyment of it beyond what could be mundane pop-punk. MFZB (which stands for “Motherfucking Zebrahead, Bitch”) has a few too many songs on at 15, which leads to a bit of filler. They have amassed 8 albums overall but this is the only one that breaches or comes close to the top 250. They have some decent songs on most of their albums but this ones the only one with some bangers on. “Type A” is the more hardcore pacey end of things, as are “Falling Apart” and “The Set-up”. I have the feeling this album will eventually drift lower down the list though. This type of stuff doesn’t have much staying power. For now though it’s survived and was worth the mention.

 

187. TAKING BACK SUNDAY – WHERE YOU WANT TO BE
(2004 – T11 G8 B3 UB0)

This is TBS’s 2nd album and was a bit of a disappointment after their debut “Tell All Your Friends” and having given it a quick re-listen, it still is. I’m at the point in the list now were I can’t make negative corrections as they are not enough to remove the album from the chart and there is not anything that could pop in in place. A couple of the songs should have been removed from good, eg “The Union”. This would put it about 274. The album does have a solid start though including “Bonus Mosh Pt.2″ and single”A Decade Under The Influence”, before a middle slump including a poorly done acoustic song “New American Classic”. It’s a decent album, it just was a disappointment, probably not helped by nearly splitting not long before it and adding 2 new members after lead guitarist John Nolan (who went off to do Straylight Run) left the band and the bass player, who also rejoined in 2010.

 

188. BLOODHOUND GANG – ONE FIERCE BEER COASTER
(1996 – T11 G8 B2 UB1)

Yes its the Bloodhound Gang and 1996’s One Fierce Beer Coaster. This is their 2nd album after their “Use Your Fingers” debut which was a more straight up rap album. this one added more guitars into the mix on just over half the songs, jumping on the rock/rap bandwagon before the wagon even had wheels. They cover key political talking points of the 90s, such as smelly fannies and going gay in order to get chicks. They also do a nice cover of Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky” and a variation on what I believed was Coal Chambers “Sway” with “Fire Water Burn” but turns out the BHG version was out earlier and the chorus is a version of “The Roof Is on Fire” by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three from the 80s. This is the best BHG album in my opinion but “Use Your Fingers” is not far behind and “Hooray For Boobies” also has a number of classics on it. The euro party favourite “The Bad Touch” shot them into the mainstream reaching number 4 in the UK and number 1 across much of Europe… shame it was that song though. Since “…boobies” they have lost their edge a bit and have been thumbing in a softy ever since on the 2 following albums released 10 years apart.

 

189. ACROSS FIVE APRILS – A TRAGEDY IN PROGRESS
(2003 – T11 G8 B3 UB0)

Classic screamo name right there. A month, a number… perfect. The screamy vocals are a bit more metalcore on this album rather than the traditional screech, the music can be described as heavy as fudge in places also. They have about a million breakdown sections in each song, so if you can hang with it and get used to what’s coming you can make it through a song. Their speciality tends to be the big endings which is were the payoff happens. “Around the World In A Radio Flyer” has about 10 different sections in its 4 mins and ends with the awesome repetition of “all I ever wanted was your love” as the music builds to its climax. Similar occurs on “Je Mennuie De Vous” but ending with “your beautiful in every way to me” growled at you several times. It’s a bit of a mess of an album in parts but has enough great moments for me to still love large sections of it even now, no matter how cliche some of it is, it was all fresh back in 2003. They went on to do 2 more albums gradually with different members but never reached the heights of their debut except for the odd song; “Tallahassee’s for hookers” being one.

 

190. GREEN DAY – INSOMNIAC
(1995 – T14 G10 B2 UB1)

It’s Green Day’s follow up to the previously seen Dookie. This one for me is more consistent as an album with less filler. The highs might not be so high but theres still and ultimate banger in there with “Geek Stink Breath”. “Brain Stew” is a classic with its slowly building plodding chug chug palm mute riff, which also brings images of the dodgy Godzilla movie that came out a few years later for which it was on the decent soundtrack. “Brain Stew” then somehow seamlessly flows into “Jaded” which is at least twice the pace and was released as a joint single and video. The album finishes with “Walking Contradiction” which gave a hint at what was to come on “Warning” only much better. Only one more Green Day album left (not Warning), but it appears much much later in the list