2009

Yes. You knew I was going to fall back on the self-important cliché of writing a top 10 year end list. The whole concept of a blog is unavoidably self-important to begin with, so it was inevitable.

I'm going with top 10 albums of the year, because this is did start out as a blog about music, and albums are far more important to me than individual songs. So, for anyone who cares enough to read, here it comes. Disclaimer: The order of the list, while I did put some thought into it, does have a degree of the arbitrary behind it. The fact that these 10 albums made the list says something about them regardless of their rank.

10) "The Incident" by Porcupine Tree. I really don't know if there's much to say about this album, because if you don't know PT's music, it's kind of tough to describe. My advice, if you're at all curious (about any album on the list) would be to go fire up iTunes and listen to some of the 30 second song previews they offer to get a feel for what the album is like. This one is kind of haunted in the same way a band like Radiohead is, but with bigger guitars and more of a mainstream sound, even if the band is hardly considered mainstream. Hard to imagine that with a name like Porcupine Tree, I know. The CD I bought was a special edition with a 2nd CD that had four bonus tracks. The first CD consisted of one 51-minute song broken into smaller tracks, but when you listen they flow together like one long song. Pretty cool.

9) "The Whirlwind" by Transatlantic. Same 2-CD deal as mentioned above, but this time the first CD was one continuous 77-minute song broken up that flows together. Musically it was a great album, but I have some issues with the context of it. One member of the band appears to have had more influence on the creation of the album, both musically and in lyrical content, than I thought any member should have had if they really are an evenly-divided 4-person band. That took away some of the thrill for me.

8) "No Line on the Horizon" by U2. Not a really successful album as far as sales or singles, but musically challenging, and coming from a band that really hasn't put out an album that I haven't liked. Ever.

7) "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" by Dave Matthews Band. An album with obvious passion behind it since it's a tribute to a lost band member, and passion like that usually produces something impressive, at the least. A little more of a rock album for DMB, and maybe a bit more accessible than some of their other studio albums.

6) "Levitate" by Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers. This album perfectly demonstrates why Bruce H. isn't higher up on my favorite artists list. When he's at his best, he is jaw-droppingly great. He's capable of moments of true musical perfection. But he also has a few songs that come along and leave you thinking, "Wha....?" Couple of those clunkers on here. But also a couple of classics. At least as far as my iPod goes.

5) "Waking Up" by OneRepublic. The closest thing to a vapid pop album on my list. But it's got some darn catchy songs on it, several of which found their way into my head for days at a time. That has to count for something.

Now we're getting into the big guns of the year.

4) "21st Century Breakdown" by Green Day. I love the way Green Day has evolved over the past five years from being a 90s punk leftover that was almost out of gas into a fiercely political and creative rock band. This was a great album, with some of the catchiest rock songs and easily the angriest song I heard all year (East Jesus Nowhere), but I felt as powerful and complete as it was, it suffered in comparison to "American Idiot." Not because of the music or the songwriting, because I'd say both albums are pretty evenly matched in those departments -- I simply have stronger emotional ties to "American Idiot," and an abstract tie-breaker like that cannot be underestimated.

3) "Save Me, San Francisco" by Train. LOVE this album. Love the songs, love the playing, love the production, love the humor, love the tone. Much catchier than OneRepublic was, and if you want to talk about how much time the songs on an album spent playing in my head, this one wins the year no contest. It had been so many years since Train had been heard from. I was happy to get anything new at all from them this year, but to see them come back so strong was great.

2) "Chickenfoot." The roll down the windows album of the summer. I hope so much this winds up being an actual band that has some staying power instead of something a bunch of superstar buddies got together and did for kicks.

1) "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" by Dream Theater. Since I know there are a few people out there who read this blog (and it always surprises me when people mention that they do), I can't help feeling they must be a little perplexed by the devotion I have for this band that so few people have ever heard of before. Here we have an album that is only 6 songs long, but 5 of the songs are truly great and one of them is only really good. If you want more on this, go back to the post I wrote in June when it first came out.

HONORABLE MENTION:
- "Full Circle" by Creed
- "Snowfall on Judgment Day" by Redemption
- "The Resistance" by Muse
- "Paper Empire" by Better Than Ezra
- "A Positive Rage" by The Hold Steady
- "Working on a Dream" by Bruce Springsteen
- "So Many Roads" by Neal Morse
- "This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars

And there you have my opinions on 2009's music, for what they are worth.