Best and worst albums of 2010?

[Robert]

Well, the year is not quite over yet, but what's your top albums of the year?

I haven't really bought many albums this year. I wasn't impressed by my favourite song writer John Hiatt's latest. The tune "Open Road" is great, but the rest of the material made me want to go to sleep.

Best album I have heard this year would be Renegade Creation (Michael Landau,robben Ford,jimmy Haslip,gary Novak) -
http://www.amazon.com/Renegade-Creation-Dig-Michael-Landau/dp/B003DC886K/ref=pd_sim_m_1_img

Jeff Beck's "Emotion & Commotion" should be up there too.

 

[Eric]

They released music in 2010?

Yeah, I've been out of it.

 

[R_of_G]

2010 has been a very good year for music, at least the kind I listen to.

My favorites of 2010 to date, not necessarily in order.

• John Zorn/The Dreamers - Ipos: Book of Angels Vol. 14
• Marc Ribot & Lucien Dubuis Trio - Ultime Cosmos
• The Budos Band - III
• Black Keys - Brothers
• Bambi Molesters - As the Dark Wave Swells
• Sleigh Bells- Treats
• Mike Patton - Mondo Cane
• Bill Frisell - Beautiful Dreamers
• Nick Curran & the Lowlifes - Reform School Girl
• Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
• Masada String Trio - Harborym: Book of Angels Vol. 16

I've not yet heard the new Marc Ribot album, it having only been released yesterday, but I suspect from the one track I was able to preview that it will have a secure spot on this list as well.

 

[MAXIFUNK]

The best album i bought this year that was new was
http://www.amazon.com/Verbal-Penetration-Jesse-Johnson/dp/B002OPZ2ZC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1285883601&sr=1-1

oh and
http://www.amazon.com/Intimacy-Kem/dp/B003L7JV7C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1285883785&sr=1-1

Best Neo-soul album in years

 

[Tig]

Hmmm, not an easy question.

Best Blues Album is hard because none really stood out. Joe B's Black Rock didn't do much for me. Perhaps Derek Trucks Band - Roadsongs, or Michael Landau & Robben Ford - Renegade Creation.

Best Metal Album: High On Fire - Snakes for the Divine

Best "Alternative" (for lack of a better genre) Album: Deftones - Diamond Eyes

Best Album: Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust

Worst Album: The Steve Miller Band - Bingo! (embarrassingly bad)
If the Doobie Brothers World Gone Crazy (released last week) didn't have those 3 or 4 good songs, it would have made it as worst album due to the rest being so bad.

 

[Jx2]

I can only judge the handfull of albums Ive bought. Luckly for me I havent bought one I didnt like yet.

Hellyea-Stampede-might be the most underated metal album of the year. This 2nd effort is very good. Most notably the band has fine tuned their sound much like Pantera did from Cowboys....to Vulgar.

Slash-This solo album was excellent. Ive heard some say the diversity of the album sucks. I disagree, I dont think this album will go down as a all time great rock record. I do think its more enjoyable than Santana's similar album a few years back. Plus as many people that Slash has worked with its nice to see him get a support doing this.

Rob Zombie-Hillbilly Deluxe 2-The modern day Alice Cooper, just keeps doing it. To me he sounds a little refreshed after making a few movies I think the breaks show.

Godsmack-Oracle-Typical Godsmack

Best album of 2010.....Pantera-Cowboys from Hell 20th anniversary-How can you beat a classic with bonus unreleased material and live material? RIP DIME! Getcha Pull.....O yea, if you havent tried a Black Tooth Grin you need to.

Yonder Mountain String Band-Complicated-Not your typical YMSB album this sounds very commercial. And I dont see a jamgrass band making radio's top 40. Very good melodic album but a little disappointed with my take on the direction of the album.

 

[marnold]

Fozzy "Chasing the Grail" is awesome album chock full of heavy riffing goodness. Even the weakest track is pretty good. Love it.

The Black Country Communion album may be added to this list, but it needs a few more listens to ensure staying power and not just the "new album smell."

I liked Joe B.'s "Black Rock" well enough, but I still like "You and Me" better.

If I don't like an album, I don't buy it so it's hard for me to judge "worst."

 

[marnold]

Just a follow-up. I bought/downloaded "Warp Riders" by The Sword which I'm really enjoying, although it will take a few more listens to really form a decent opinion. I'm listening to Joe B's "Black Rock" again today and am enjoying it. Still have to go with "Chasing the Grail" for #1 though.

 

[ibanezjunkie]

Best: BFMV - Fever

worst: Justin Beiber

 

[Spudman]

Top albums on 2010 for me are (and there are plenty):

Eric Gales - Relentless
Black Country Communion - BCC
Spock's Beard - X
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
John Mayer - Battle Studies
Paul Gilbert - Fuzz Universe
Hasse Froberg And The Musical Companion - FuturePast
Helmet of Gnats - High Street
Lalle Larsson - Weaveworld
Vanden Plas - Seraphic Clockwork
The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing
An Endless Sporadic - An Endless Sporadic



The only album I got on faith that didn't do anything positive for me is Robert Plant - Band of Joy

 

[R_of_G]

Two amendments to my list...

- First, as I suspected, Ribot's "Silent Movies" earns a spot right up towards the top. It was well worth the wait.

- Second, I should technically strike the Lucien Dubuis Trio/Marc Ribot album from my list as it actually came out Dec. 12, 2009, though I didn't get my copy until January and thus keep associating it with 2010. Still, it's far and away the best album I've gotten in many many years. I hope Ribot works with these guys again. They make a great band.

 

[R_of_G]

Ok, provided I don't hear anything that blows me away in the next 11 days, here is my final list for Best of 2010.

I have actually attempted to put them in order, though that was not an easy thing to do. It should come as little surprise to anyone that three of the top 10 feature Marc Ribot.

1. The Dreamers – Ipos: Book of Angels Vol. 14, The Dreamers Play Masada Book II
2. Marc Ribot – Silent Movies
3. Sleigh Bells – Treats
4. The Budos Band – III
5. The Black Keys – Brothers
6. Mike Patton – Mondo Cane
7. Elvis Costello – National Ransom
8. Delta Spirit - History From Below
9. Nick Curran & The Lowlifes – Reform School Girl
10. Bill Frisell – Beautiful Dreamers

Honorable Mention:

• Bambi Molesters – As the Dark Wave Swells
• The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
• Masada String Trio – Haborym: Book of Angels Vol. 16, Masada String Trio Plays Masada Book II
• Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
• Major Stars – Return to Form

 

[tunghaichuan]

The only two albums that I bought that came out this year are Halcyon Days by Jason & the Scorchers and Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino by Jackson Browne and David Lindley.

Halcyon Days is great, it ranks up there among the best that Jason & the Scorchers has done.

Love Is Strange is only okay. Mr. Dave's playing is always increadible but overall, the album is lacking something. I never was a huge Jackson Browne fan, but I like him more now.

 

[pedalbuilder]

Mike Patton – Mondo Cane

Thanks for mentioning this - I didn't realize he had a new one last year!


If I had to pick a few of the best of 2010 they'd be:

Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
Neil Young - Le Noise (real suprised not to see that listed here . . .)
Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot
Munly & The Lupercalians - Petr & The Wulf
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Black Keys - Brother

 

[R_of_G]

Thanks for mentioning this - I didn't realize he had a new one last year!

If you like Mike, pick this one up. It's awesome.

Neil Young - Le Noise (real suprised not to see that listed here . . .)

Still haven't fully warmed to this one. Sometimes I can get into it, other times not so much. I like Neil's playing on it, but the context is just off to me. Much of it sounds like a Crazy Horse album minus Crazy Horse.

 

[pedalbuilder]

If you like Mike, pick this one up. It's awesome..

Yep - I'm listening now. Great stuff, but then again I'm a Patton fan and he could make an album of random vocal noises and I'd buy it. Or - more to the point - I did buy it!

 

[R_of_G]

Yep - I'm listening now. Great stuff, but then again I'm a Patton fan and he could make an album of random vocal noises and I'd buy it. Or - more to the point - I did buy it!

I was going to say, I have several albums that match that description.

I too am a fan of most things Patton does, but it was nice to get a treat like Mondo Cane where he just out and out sings with that phenomenal voice of his. I actually enjoy that the bulk of the lyrics are in Italian and I don't understand them. It allows me to focus on his voice as another instrument.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Still haven't fully warmed to this one. Sometimes I can get into it, other times not so much. I like Neil's playing on it, but the context is just off to me. Much of it sounds like a Crazy Horse album minus Crazy Horse.

R, I kinda felt the same way. I like the sound of Ol' Black, and Neil's eclectic playing, but it sort of needs the rest of Crazy Horse to back it IMHO. And most guys here know I am a Neil fan. Maybe I will warm up to it later.

So far, other than the Decemberists album that I like pretty well, the best album released in 2010 for me was recorded over 30 years ago, by Springsteen and the guys. I really have enjoyed "Promise" and the rest of the "Darkness" box set I received for Christmas. The previously unreleased recordings of different versions of some of the "Darkness" songs, and the songs that did not make the album sound wonderfully recorded and are like listening to old jazz recordings from Miles, etc. The same song as the studio recording you are used to, but not.

 

[R_of_G]

So far, other than the Decemberists album that I like pretty well, the best album released in 2010 for me was recorded over 30 years ago, by Springsteen and the guys. I really have enjoyed "Promise" and the rest of the "Darkness" box set I received for Christmas. The previously unreleased recordings of different versions of some of the "Darkness" songs, and the songs that did not make the album sound wonderfully recorded and are like listening to old jazz recordings from Miles, etc. The same song as the studio recording you are used to, but not.

Talking about mixed feelings on Neil's album, I have some major mixed feelings on Bruce's. As you know, I am a big fan of much of Springsteen's work. I am just having a hard time with The Promise because it's not exactly what it was marketed as being.

The numerous vocal and guitar overdubs on this make me cringe. I would have been more than happy with the unheard 30 year old recordings as they were, but I find the vocal overdubs particularly noticeable as clearly Bruce does not sound in his 60's as he did 30 years prior.

None of this is to say it's not a good album. I just wish that (a) it was just the old recordings, or (b) it was more honestly marketed not as some kind of lost treasure from the vault than a modern finishing of 30 year old unfinished business. Eventually I will come to enjoy it for what it is.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Good points. But it still beats most of what else I have listened to this year.

 

[Jimi75]

Best Albums:
1. James LaBrie "Static Impulse":
A real good, hard and partly progressive album. Especially the production that took place in Stockholm set a new standard to Metal productions.
2. Bruce Springsteen "The Promise":
Just wow. It really makes sense that he recorded these songs. Springsteen never disappointed me, but I was a little doubtful this time. Then I had goosebumps the whole time I listened to it. Great album!

Actually, I did not buy so many cds - as always - I really take my time in chosing and then buy. Therefore I can not give my vote for a "worst album 2010".