End of a Decade (Part II)

In my last post I went over my top 5 films of the decade and, as promised, this time I am going to cover music.  This has been a strange decade for music as a whole with the progress of compressed music, the decline (even more) of radio and Mtv domination, and the increase of garbage Disney music.

What do we want out of  music?  Most people are happy with a simple melody a "nice, clean-cut image" it seems.  Image, for the most part means dick.  I am always reminded of the late, great Bill Hicks who stated "I want my rock stars dead, damnit!"  Who cares if they choked on their own vomit?!  At least they jammed and played from the heart.

There were still a ton of great albums, just most of them were outside of the mainstream section.  Well, here we go:

5. The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas.

This fan favorite was the last real lo-fi album created by one of the Gods of lo-fi, but not only did it cement his fan base but showed that with nothing more than brilliant songwriting you can still make a name for yourself in this generation.









4. Tom Waits - Orphans.

Tom has been recognized as one of the most amazing musicians for the past thirty years, but in 2006 he topped himself by releasing a folio of new and unheard music separated into three disks, one of rockin' blues stuff, one of slower jazz stuff, and one of stuff that really does not fit into any category.   I linked the vinyl version which was just released this year.  It is a must-own.







3. Tool - Lateralus.

One the heavier side of things, post-alt, art-rock band Tool made two albums in the 90's and showed that you can play hard rock and still know a thing or two about music theory and songwriting.  In 2001 they came out with this effort, Lateralus, which just showed that after a five year hiatus they could still make one of the most rockin' albums of all time.  With the album art by Alex Grey, Tool demanded that the format of the album is still alive and well in some form today.






2. Bright Eyes - Lifted, of The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground.

I was a reluctant Bright Eyes fan for a long time due to his earlier stuff that consisted more of whining than anything else, but when Conor, Mike, and the rest of the Saddle Creek guys got together to build, what in my mind is one of the last great concept albums, they hit the nail on the head.  I found myself compelled to listen in awe thinking that he was able to write every song that I had been wanting to write for years while backing it with some arrangements that are sometimes simple, sometimes complex, but always wonderful.





1. Radiohead - Kid A

What can we say about this?  Was it the last hurrah of a great 90's band or the start of something new and beautiful at the same time?  Radiohead were not afraid to find out, risk everything, and change the face of pop music.  Not only, from the very first note did you realize that this was something new, it was strange, smart, and sometimes scary as well.  Because of this masterpiece Radiohead became one of the largest bands in the world, fought for free music for everyone, and have since made more great music that is still just as weird and scary.  Long Live Radiohead and may they continue to write for many years to come.  I am hoping that their next album will make my decade list again.



If you feel that I missed something or are way off base on any of these, contact me or comment.  I am always ready to go with a musical argument.  Listen well!

Next Posting: Part III, Comics/Graphic Novels.