Jump to content

Segue Myle's Descent Into Self-Indulgence: My Top Ten Favourite Albums Of All Time (As Of 2014)


Segue Myles
 Share

Recommended Posts

So, is this still happening?

And

What's wrong with Chris rea?

 

When I am in the mood to write I will do so.

 

Chris Rea has his fans. I am not one of them.

 

But I do love his song Auberge. May dig out my albums of his again some time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let me finalise my top four and i will resume

 

 

Its hard coz there are six albums i missed, and Tales is top five BUT I ALREADY REVIEWED IT!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also wondering if you could post some reviews in the Rating Thread over in GD... I know you like writing reviews, and you'll eventually get used to the rating system :)

 

I am liking the rating system more! So i plan to pick an artist and go through their catalogue!

 

Reviews could be fun...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also wondering if you could post some reviews in the Rating Thread over in GD... I know you like writing reviews, and you'll eventually get used to the rating system :)

 

I am liking the rating system more! So i plan to pick an artist and go through their catalogue!

 

Reviews could be fun...

Hmmm... so you pulled a Segue on it? :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also wondering if you could post some reviews in the Rating Thread over in GD... I know you like writing reviews, and you'll eventually get used to the rating system :)

 

I am liking the rating system more! So i plan to pick an artist and go through their catalogue!

 

Reviews could be fun...

Hmmm... so you pulled a Segue on it? :P

 

I will test run it before posting and see if i have the hang of it first haha!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm confused what this thread is about but my album choice would start here....

 

Stay%2BHuman.jpg

 

Stay Human is the third studio release by Michael Franti & Spearhead. Many of the tracks on this album are fictional radio segments focusing on the case of "Sister Fatima" who is executed by album's end. In the Radio Segments, Governor Franklin Shane is played by Woody Harrelson.

 

.......
......

Listener Supported. Stay Human (All The Freaky People)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm confused what this thread is about but my album choice would start here....

 

Stay%2BHuman.jpg

 

Stay Human is the third studio release by Michael Franti & Spearhead. Many of the tracks on this album are fictional radio segments focusing on the case of "Sister Fatima" who is executed by album's end. In the Radio Segments, Governor Franklin Shane is played by Woody Harrelson.

 

http://youtu.be/ixJOR63Ra18 ....... http://youtu.be/1CoC3HEcRQk ......

Listener Supported. Stay Human (All The Freaky People)

 

This thread started, and will continue, to be a review for my top ten albums. got stuck on the top four as i have so many i overlooked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4. Nightwish- Dark Passion Play (Nuclear Blast, 2007)

 

http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/5/7/5/157525.jpg

 

US Chart Position: No. 84

UK Chart Position: No. 25

 

So a lot has changed since I last reviewed an album in this thread. More musical discoveries have seen new albums deserving of a place on this list, whilst one of the previously reviewed albums would now, if I could restart this, be all the way up the chart at No.2. I will leave you all to have a guess as to which one of those is the one. (Hint: The band has three letters in their name).

 

But one thing will never change: my love for Nightwish. And especially for this beautiful symphonic metal masterpiece: Dark Passion Play, an album so exquisite, so varied, and full of emotionally charged moments that truly warm the heart one minute, only to pummel the senses with a blind, fierce rage the next. Yes, Dark Passion Play is definitley not an album for the faint of heart.

 

Born from a period of darkness for the band, and especially for the true heart of Nightwish, band leader and principal songwriter Tuomas Holopainen, Dark Passion Play is the record that should have failed. Nightwish, Finland's finest metal export since, well, ever, had by this point made themselves a household name all over Europe with increasingly large record sales, and a lot of this is due to the fact that the band had one asset that helped them stand out: the classically trained, icily beautiful Tarja Turunen. Whilst it cannot be claimed that Nightwish were the first band to mix metal and classical music to great acclaim (Metallica had already been there, done that), Nightwish were the first band of any real note to have a permanent operatic vocalist perform predominantly metal songs.

 

Tarja was also very much a deer in the headlights. She was thrown into the world of metal reluctantly, having been asked to perform with the band due to the fact she had earned a sterling reputation as a fine singer. So she said yes, probably expecting little to come of it. And before she new had time to adjust her voice to the new music style she was embracing, the band became massive. Angels Fall First (Spinefarm, 1997) made waves in the bands home country. Oceanborn (Spinefarm, 1998) became a big success in other parts of Europe. Wishmaster (Spinefarm, 2000) saw the band edging closer and closer to the mainstream, with Century Child (Spinefarm, 2002) furthering their success before Once (Nuclear Blast, 2004) came along and turned the band into a supremely popular symphonic metal phenomenon.

 

And regardless of the fact that the songs she sang were not her own, and despite the fact that she was not the sole member of the band, the media went wild for her, and naturally, she became the face of Nightwish. With this sort of media attention, her ego, at least according to her bandmates, grew stratospherically.

 

And this did not bode well for her. At. All.

 

Friction brewed within the band, leading to such enmity between Tarja and the rest of the members that Nightwish almost imploded. So what happened next?

 

She was kicked out the band. Publicly. Humiliated, she was sent packing, her reputation in jeopardy and Nightwish left facing an uncertain future.

 

Meanwhile, a little Swedish singer fronting a little known, frankly quite average AOR band called Alyson Avenue sent in her demo tape (one amongst thousands). Prior to sending in her demo, she had been completely oblivious of Nightwish. Naturally, she was then plucked from oblivion and introduced to the world as the new Tarja! Only, she wasn't the new Tarja, she couldn't be. She was by all accounts and purposes, not a classically trained vocalist, but a pop singer. The sort that could easily front an above average girl band.

 

So, with the dismissal of the bands trademark element- the classically trained singer- Anette Olzon was selected to be the bands face, and voice, for a new era. And early feedback was mixed. The gentle, harmless little ballad Eva surfaced in early 2007, and in all honesty, for many of the fans, all the months of anticipation waiting for something breathtaking to emerge were wasted on...well...many found Eva underwhelming. We shall leave it at that.

 

But Nightwish play by nobody's rules. Sure, they took a major risk, but so what? How could the band possibly replace one opera singer for another, especially with all the copycat bands emerging at the time (Epica, Xandria, Sirenia to name a few)? So they moved on, and whilst not exactly aiming for a new sound (Dark Passion Play musically follows on rather seamlessly from the previous album Once), they at least aimed for a new start. And Anette, on paper, was an atrociously bad choice.

 

On record, however, she proved to be the best risk the band ever took.

 

One listen to album opener The Poet And The Pendulum is enough to shut even the dirtiest mouthed critic up. It is everything symphonic metal should be, and at nearly fifteen minutes long, it soars, it dips, it screams, it caresses, sometimes all at once! One moment the lyrics bite back at the critics, the next moment Tuomas name drops himself and shows himself to one sour puss. But it amazingly works, and Anette, whilst not operatic, sure does go on to prove that she not only has a voice, but an amazingly adept pair of lungs! She must have left the studio coughing up blood, she really, really pushed her voice to the maximum on this masterpiece. And to compare her work here to her previous work with Alyson Avenue, it really is amazing just how much she had grown as a vocalist. On top of that, the song itself almost crashes in on itself, so weighty is its ambition. Metal, classical, and finally, folk pop, are all thrown into the mix. Boy choirs, violent metal rage, pop hooks aplenty, and finally, a pretty, happy folk pop ending combine to create what can best be described as an arthouse blockbuster condensed into fifteen minutes of splendid music. Bravo. As an album opener, it cannot get any more epic than this.

 

After this, the quality never, ever lets up. Thrash metal, celtic folk, Disney-esque balladry and even a gospel choir rear their heads on an album that is as eclectic as they come. If you listen very, very carefully, one can hear the gentle thud of a kitchen sink being thrown into the mix...

 

This is really a truly beautiful album, an album that has proven diverse enough to please those into progressive rock, heavy metal, and the mainstream pop charts. Lead single proper Amaranth is a spellbinding delight: a huge, sugary ABBA style chorus coats the hard rock formula of the song to sweet perfection. It was accompanied by a pricey music video, and the mainstream went mad for it. It also rocked hard enough to please many of the bands old-school fans. But then there is also the other, heavier side of the album: Master Passion Greed, a blindingly vicious attack on all the drama caused by the previously mentioned inner band toil, and for the first half, Marco Hietela, the bands bassist and often overlooked male vocalist, screams his heart out in a manner reminiscent of Black Album-era James Hetfield, all the while backed up perfectly by a huge choir. The song ends on an instrumental note, as the orchestra goes ballistic, as if somebody wrote a Bond-theme over a Gustav Holst template whilst playing thrash metal in the background. A breathtakingly heavy moment, and it has since become a major fan favourite.

 

The album also has softer surprises: The Last Of The Wilds would not sound out of place soundtracking one of the merrier moments in The Lord Of The Rings, whilst the simply beautiful ballad The Islander sounds perfect for singing tales of old around the campfire.

 

Yes, this album is varied, and wonderfully it all works.

 

I have barely scratched the surface of my feelings towards this album. In many ways, this deserves to be higher on this list (my top four are pretty much interchangeable), but it will have to settle nicely here, in fourth position. It has proven to be a consistent favourite of mine since the first time I heard it in 2007, and it has only improved with age. Nightwish have always been one of my favourite bands, and this album is the perfect example of why I feel that way. I cannot see this album ever dropping out of my top five, and I am happy to note that the bands next two albums maintained this level of brilliance.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Segue go... :cheers:

 

Thanks dude!

 

Wasn't sure if anyone was reading this haha

I have been. I even quoted you in the spam thread, page 170-something :P

This Isn't the spam thread?
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Segue go... :cheers:

 

Thanks dude!

 

Wasn't sure if anyone was reading this haha

I have been. I even quoted you in the spam thread, page 170-something :P

This Isn't the spam thread?

 

No.

 

Eat my poo.

 

Jus' kiddn...many guys round here abhor my taste in music. If it makes you feel better, treat this as a joke!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Segue go... :cheers:

 

Thanks dude!

 

Wasn't sure if anyone was reading this haha

I have been. I even quoted you in the spam thread, page 170-something :P

This Isn't the spam thread?

 

No.

 

Eat my poo.

 

Jus' kiddn...many guys round here abhor my taste in music. If it makes you feel better, treat this as a joke!

You actually write a mean review! I love seeing ABBA on the list!
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Segue go... :cheers:

 

Thanks dude!

 

Wasn't sure if anyone was reading this haha

I have been. I even quoted you in the spam thread, page 170-something :P

This Isn't the spam thread?

 

No.

 

Eat my poo.

 

Jus' kiddn...many guys round here abhor my taste in music. If it makes you feel better, treat this as a joke!

You actually write a mean review! I love seeing ABBA on the list!

 

Aww thanks! I ddon't spend much time editing or proofreading as this is just a casual thing...

 

And ABBA deserve way more love around here...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Segue go... :cheers:

 

Thanks dude!

 

Wasn't sure if anyone was reading this haha

I have been. I even quoted you in the spam thread, page 170-something :P

This Isn't the spam thread?

 

No.

 

Eat my poo.

 

Jus' kiddn...many guys round here abhor my taste in music. If it makes you feel better, treat this as a joke!

You actually write a mean review! I love seeing ABBA on the list!

 

Aww thanks! I ddon't spend much time editing or proofreading as this is just a casual thing...

 

And ABBA deserve way more love around here...

For sure!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3. Bruce Springsteen-
Magic
(Columbia, 2007)

 

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/list/360e0ba4d1627658fca7299d7826810a028c3042.jpg

 

US Chart Position: No. 1

UK Chart Position: No. 1

 

This is a bit of a wildcard entry for this review thread. There exist six Springsteen albums that I love enough to rank in my top fifty, and to be honest, this is actually my third favourite Springsteen album. But I think
Born To Run
, or
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
are to easy to review, as they are already well-established classics, and quite frankly, I get a bit bored of reading about them. So I refuse to write about them! Yet, this list would be a sham if I chose to ignore him altogether.

 

So here I present
Magic
! This is an album that I already think deserves top five status on any given list for best albums of this century so far, so I do not feel guilty at all for placing it in my top three.

 

Now, Bruce Springsteen gets a lot of flack around here from Rush fans who treat him like he is some sort of rock n roll antichrist. "His music is boring!", "Overrated!" and most hilarious of all: "He cannot sing!". Wow, Rush fans of all people, the fans of a band consistently put down by the press, largely ignored by the media, and fronted by a gentleman of great worth, but blessed with a voice that divides people into to groups: love/hate, actually have the gall to equally slate a mighty fine musician, songwriter and gentleman as if it is perfectly acceptable. On top of that, many seem to be trying hard to bring down his fans with him. Countless times over the years, prog fans dismiss his worth more vocally than any other artist I know, which surprises me as Springsteen is about as close to prog as Tom Petty or Paul McCartney, who seem to get a tonne of respect around here.

 

What is the big deal guys? Am I missing something?

 

But if you ask me, he is the very opposite of overrated: I think he is a musical genius, and the greatest songwriter of all time, bar none. He may not have the smoothest voice, he may have become a little to politically opinionated in his lyrics for my tastes in recent years, and he perhaps goes a little overboard with timing at his concerts, but the man can write a hit in his sleep, and a truly bad album he has yet to release.

 

And this brings me to Magic. It lives up to its title, as every single song is perfectly composed, and perhaps more so than any other Springsteen album, the melodies are addictive, with inspiring lyrics to back them up!
Radio Nowhere
, the lead-off single, instantly reminds me of the sort of sophisticated punkish pop Green Day have been trying to write since the release of
American Idiot
back in 2004. Well, if you ask me, they may as well give it up:
Radio Nowhere
is a solid gold rock classic, and a grossly underrated single. I think of all his anthemic tracks, this one is the best, with lyrics directly attacking the blandness and banality of corporate radio rock, which is clever, as this is something the uninitiated accuse him of. And he does so with a truly addictive chorus, and he performs with his E Street Band with the same sort of wild abandon that fuelled such songs as
Ramrod
or
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
, back when he was a much younger man!

 

But there is more:
Girls In Their Summer Clothes
is a twinkly, summery pop song that would have made Roy Orbison proud, with a melancholy undercurrent that owes more to Brian Wilson. It is a glorious tune, and won him a well-earned Grammy! Not that he has any room left to show ff his awards...

 

However, the real treasure lies towards the end of the album, with
Long Walk Home
and especially
Devil's Arcade
.
Arcade
boasts some truly beautiful, and deeply affecting lyrics:

 

You said "Heroes are needed, so heroes get made"

Somebody made a bet, somebody paid

The cool desert morning and nothing to save

Just metal and plastic where your body caved

The slow games of poker with Lieutenant Ray

In the ward with the blue walls, a sea with no name

Where you lie adrift with the heroes of the devil's arcade

 

You sleep and you dream, your buddies Charlie and James

And wake with a thick desert dust on your skin.

 

I would take these over lyrics about lost spaceships or mystical fountains any day of the week. The songs starts with a lover recalling her days with her man, the passion, the depth, the joy, only to then proceed with an account of the man enlisting for war, to be brutally injured, and return home fragile, broken and scarred, both inside and out. Forget about the music, sit and read the lyrics. This is storytelling from the pen of a master, a touching outpouring of grief for the mistakes of the past (Vietnam) being relived once more in these fragile days of the present (Iraq). Springsteen bleeds these words, you can tell that this subject means the world to him. The result is a masterful track that manages to be touching without manipulating the senses, or preaching directly to the masses.

 

This whole album though is just beautiful: it is anthemic, varied, and most enticingly of all, rockin'! But whilst I have only merely scratched the surface with the praise I have given for this review, I have to say there is a reason many have overlooked this album: the production is as as equally abysmal as that of
Vapor Trails
.
Magic
deserved to sound like a heavenly return to form that it was, to be experienced as an album as fully expressive and musically joyous as the likes of
The River
or
Born In The USA
. Instead, the instrumentation is heavily compressed, and muddier than a weekend in Glastonbury, sounding akin to listening to a great band playing the gig of their lives, only to be left standing outside the venue.

 

But an album ultimately lives or dies by the strength of the material. I love everything about this album, its songs, music and lyrics, to place it comfortably in my top tier list of albums, with all the strengths easily overcoming the albums one seriously damaging flaw.

 

So never mind the negatives. I love
Magic
, and this album is just beyond magnificent, a real classic of the 21st Century and one of The Boss' finest moments in a career full of endless highlights. Whilst I accept and support arguments against it, including those related to the lack of originality on offer, it still easily wins my vote by merely being an absolute joy to listen too.

 

Ultimately, that is all that really matters!
Edited by Segue Myles
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bump.

 

Wanted to find this thread, because I was thinking of writing some reviews of my own in here...

 

...which I'll have to get to later today (at the earliest). :P

Edited by Blue J
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bump.

 

Wanted to find this thread, because I was thinking of writing some reviews of my own in here...

 

...which I'll have to egg to later today (at the earliest). :P

 

Ooh have fun! And remember the title...go into as much detail as you want and don't worry about anyone not enjoying it.

 

Writing is fun!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...