The Album of 2009

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

What was the album of 2009?

I have no willpower whatsoever and generally do what people tell me to do and like what reviewers tell me what to like. Thus, I quickly scanned the internet and looked at the list of various music sites, and their picks for Album of the Year for 2009.

If you have a suggestion, post it here and we can determine what was the true album of the year for 2009. Because the Grammys sure as shit don't determine that.

The Horrors - Primary Colours

NME's brit rock golden child.

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Metalstorm listed this on their album of the year list.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Pitchfork's indie darling that's being treated as the second coming of good music.

Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. II

Pitchfork also posted this hip hop sequel of 14 years in it's top album list.

Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3

Rap-Up.com listed this as it's top album. I thought he'd retired too.

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Shut up. Me, Luther and Dave like em.

Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster

Do hermaphrodites and music go hand in hand? Culture Club did pretty well I suppose.

Of Course, I’ve only just brushed the surface of what 2009 in music held, so if you have any suggestions, it’d be a pleasure the add them in. Unless I can't edit the poll. In which case....damn. Discuss away.

 

[Leafy]

I'll choose Humbug by The Arctic Monkeys. There was not a lot of new music I liked this year but The Monkeys were the band I got into this year. My friend recommended them so I got Brianstorm and Dancefloor and I fell in love. They became one of my favorite bands and nothing else this year stood out.

 

[Dave]

I have two favourite albums of 2009 and a couple of notable mentions.

The first album that could be called "Album of the year" is:

"Humbug" - Arctic Monkeys

Like you said, MRC, I love the Arctic Monkeys and this album was a fantastic addition to what is already an mazing discography from the Arctic Monkeys. Truth be told, I was very indifferent towards it when it came out. I blame that entirely on "Favourite Worst Nightmare" because I had listened to it for about two weeks consecutively until "Humbug" arrived. That being said, I now adore it and I think it is one of the best albums they have done. Is it better than Favourite Worst Nightmare? Probably not. However, it is a damn fine album and with it's rich dark texture it is a change to their style that they pulled off very well. It is not easy to change your style and still remain true to the fans that got you there in the first place but the Arctic Monkey managed it.

The other album is:

"Only Revolutions" - Biffy Clyro

I am completely in love with this album. I love Biffy Clyro and although I love the Arctic Monkeys more, this album just brings it onto an even par. Seriously, this album is full of amazing songs and whilst I am talking about changing styles successfully, there is no better illustration of that than Biffy Clyro. Ask Blade how good this album is. It is one of the best rated albums of the year by many different publications and I have never heard someone openly criticize the album. Some of the songs on here are just so dark and grungy that it is hard not to fall in love with it. A great album from Scotland's finest rock band.

Notable mentions

"The Fame Monster" - Lady Gaga
"It's Not Me, It's You" - Lily Allen... Hey! I like it
"21st Century Breakdown" - Green Day
"Black Ice" - AC/DC (I am sure it was this year, around WM time)
"Ready For The Weekend" - Calvin Harris
"One Love" - David Guetta.
"The Resistance" - Muse

There was a load of great albums this year and from a lot of wide-ranging music genres that I usually wouldn't listen to.

 

[Loveless]

The best albums of last year were, in reverse order

4. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Astral Weeks is the greatest album of all time, the live version doesn't match up but it's still great.

3. Florence & The Machine - Lungs
I despise that Candi Staton cover and that put me off for a long time but the rest of the album is fantastic. Like Kate Bush gone feral

2. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More

About 18 months ago I went to see Laura Marling in concert and these guys were the support act. Awesome doesn't cover it

1. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

This one is a future classic. It's like an opera with a story and concept behind it, examining duality, opposing forces, cause and effect. Took me a while to really appreciate it.

 

[TLC]

I actually really liked Lady Gaga's album but for me its got to be Muse's album. Every song on the album I loved and I liked how they wrote the orchestra parts themselves. A very good album.

 

[Aversion]

No matter how much I dislike...her... I have to go with Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster. This is her 2nd CD, I prefer The Fame (first), but the single, Bad Romance, has been going strong for the past 2 months.

The Arctic Monkeys aren't terrible. I like Crying Lightning, by that's just about it.

One album I really liked from 2009 is 21st Century Breakdown, by Green Day. It's in the year's top 5 probably.

 

[Shadowmancer]

There is only two options for best Album of the year last year. The first you have up there in Mastodon with Crack the Skye, which blew my mind with how awesome it was when I heard it. The Day it came out I bought it. Freaking amazing to listen to, the tones the depth of the melody, the layers, the entire story of the album of a quadriplegic person that astral travels and flys to close to the sun losing his connection to his body and getting sucked down a wormhole that leads to czarist Russia at the time of Rasputin, through to the final journey home through world war war 1 and the Red Baron.

The other one that I think qualifies is Porcupine Tree with "The Incident". This album is just sheer mind blowing-ness within the time frame for it. The first song is called the Incident and is broken down into fourteen movements which are songs within their own right, they flow into each other and just tell such an amazing story of little small incidents that change peoples lives. The album was inspired by Steven Wilson driving past an accident with the police tape up saying "Warning - Incident" and him thinking that it was a bit strange that such a life changing event for the people involved is described as something as inane a word as incident. The lyrical content within parts is amazing, Steven Wilson is an absolute genius at playing real love within the lyrics, the last section of The Incident is called "I drive the Hearse" and has one of the most poignant statements about mundane love for another in the statement

Given Time I fix the roof​

The sheer mundane nature of that lyric is what is beautiful about it. other songs on the album are sheer genius and just provide statements that just make you feel amazing once you have listened to it. Can't recommend it enough.

 

[INDYjon22]

I have to go with Only Built for Cuban Linx.....Part 2. The album was 14 years in the making and exceeded my expectations. I got it at the exact same time as when I got The Blue Print 3 and I was blown away by how much better it was. Obviously, Raekwon is not going to get nearly as much recognition as Jay-z but his album was much better, in my opinion.

The beats were tight and easily reminded me more of any Wu Tang album in the last 8 or so years, including Eight Diagrams. Raekwon was so tight on all of the songs, his lines were amazing and stole most of the songs which is hard to do when Ghostface Killah is rapping on the same song. His guest appearances were fantastic, it is always great to see the We reunite, even if it is in small doses.

Only Built for Cuban Linx....Part 2, was the best album of 2009 in my mind, which takes nothing away from any of the other albums listed. Jay-z was good and as much as I hate to admit it Lady Gaga was not that bad either. But for me Raekwon should win this.

 

[X]

Hmm, this is a tough one. See, first let me just say I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV so I really have no fucking idea what is and isn't popular right now on the charts. There are a few albums this year that were released that I did pay enough attention to for me to check them out, and probably the best was Phoenix - Amadeus Wolfgang Phoenix. That album was top notch from start to finish, and the single 1901 was probably one of my favorite songs that I know was released in 2009. Raekwon would get a nod from me, same with Kid Cudi, both of whom released a great hip hop album to show all of the naysayers that rap is still alive and well.

Yeah, think I'm going to have to go with Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. To be fair I haven't listened to too many albums released in 2009 though, but that was simply brilliant. I've gone and downloaded a bunch of other albums that Rolling Stone named in their Top 25 of the year, so I may return to this thread later if I one of the albums blows me away or something.

 

[Nitafrong]

There are three or four albums which I would definatly nominate for album of the year. My problem though with music is that I tend to discover music one or two years after the band have released their album. If it was 2007/08 again I could talk on this subject for ages. A lot of the bands I discovered this year released amazing music that year.

But yes back to the actual question. My first nomination is to follow the path already trod by Loveless- Fur and Gold- by Bat for Lashes. Following up on the sucess that was The horse and I- Bat for Lashes responded with an album that managed the twin tasks of producing the same dark haunting music but this time they managed to work the album into a more complete sound, a steady narrative which continued through the entire album and made Fur and Gold sound like a complete album rather than a loose connection of singles. The tracks of note here were Daniel which actually managed to get quite a bit of radio play (something which the last album didn't really get much of) and Siren Song which was possibly the best song they have ever made.

I would also like to nominate Metric with Fantasies- an album which was released towards the latter half of the year. Along with the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Metric this year adapted their sound and produced an album with a broader appeal than they had previously managed. From fast paced dancing songs like Gimme Sympathy, to the slightly slower paced Collect Call with its anthemic corus and its dreamy relaxed music to their rambuctious opener, Help I'm Alive- Metric created a mixed album of ups and downs that rewards the listner as they give it repeat listens.

Finally I would also nominate the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Its Blitz. Along with Fantasies above, the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs matured their sound with this album and created one of the best albums of the entire year. From the dancefloor fun with Zero and Heads will Roll, to the Maps-esque Skeletons and the amazing Hysteric (both of which I think are better than Maps anyway) they also created an album with many different progressions and shifts which lead the listener on an enjoyable journey throughout.

Respectable mentions have to be made to- Florence and the Machine with Lungs which I listened a lot to over the early summer, Animal Collective with Merryweather Post Pavilion which I really enjoyed what I heard of it, The Sounds with Crossing the Rubicon- which was lots of fast paced Sweedish fun, La Roux with her self titled album which I also loved a lot but was too similar in the end to both Ladyhawke and Little Boots (La Roux was still the best of the three though )

I would also like to make special mention of The Resistance by Muse. Personally I thought it was a pretty good album- definatly worth buying and only a slight step down from their greatest works. It unfortunatly though wasn't really album of the year material as much as I would like it to be.

Olafur Arnalds also released an EP this year which I am sure will be increadibly amazing. I unfortunatly don't have it yet so I can't judge it either

 

[Kayoh]

I voted for Raekwon. It seems like Rakim, Strange Music, and Raekwon are the only things keeping rap alive and preventing it from getting wiped off of the face of the earth. I would have preferred to see K.O.D., Sickology 101, or The Seventh Seal to be available to vote for, but I guess none of them got enough exposure to be considered to be the Album of the Year. *sigh*

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Hmm, this is a tough one. See, first let me just say I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV so I really have no fucking idea what is and isn't popular right now on the charts. There are a few albums this year that were released that I did pay enough attention to for me to check them out, and probably the best was Phoenix - Amadeus Wolfgang Phoenix. That album was top notch from start to finish, and the single 1901 was probably one of my favorite songs that I know was released in 2009.

Yeah, this is very true.. I did this poll and then got Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix after and started listening to it. I can't edit polls or else I would definitely have put this up there. This is an absolutely great album, and the album is really well varied and paced. 1901 is great, as is Lizstomania, and the album is definitely in my top played list for the past week.

 

[Via Armbar]

Hmm, this is a tough one. See, first let me just say I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV so I really have no fucking idea what is and isn't popular right now on the charts. There are a few albums this year that were released that I did pay enough attention to for me to check them out, and probably the best was Phoenix - Amadeus Wolfgang Phoenix. That album was top notch from start to finish, and the single 1901 was probably one of my favorite songs that I know was released in 2009. Raekwon would get a nod from me, same with Kid Cudi, both of whom released a great hip hop album to show all of the naysayers that rap is still alive and well.

Yeah, think I'm going to have to go with Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. To be fair I haven't listened to too many albums released in 2009 though, but that was simply brilliant. I've gone and downloaded a bunch of other albums that Rolling Stone named in their Top 25 of the year, so I may return to this thread later if I one of the albums blows me away or something.

Both awesome choices. Im going to have to choose The Great Misdirect by Between The Buried and me.

I could go on for hours about the band but i wont. Check em out of you have an open mind and are fans of any of the following bands: Metallica, Pantera, Queen, Tool

They have a WIDE range of influences and it shows. They are very heavy at times but their musicianship is second to none. If you play any sort of instrument you'll understand what i mean.

No other band ive ever heard has blended such different types of music without sounding either ridiculous or uncommited and messy.

 

[LSN80]

None of the albums on the list. I dug the Mastadon album, as well as the Arctic Monkeys one, but neither was the top album to me. I also really liked Jay-Z's Bluebrint 3(and Im not a rap or hip-hop guy). I thought it was friggin genuis. But it's not my favorite album of 2009.

To me, the top album of 09 was the album that placed 11th on Rollling Stone's top rock albums of 2009. That would be Innocence and Instinct by Red. The second release from the band saw them expand their horizons immensely, even covering "Ordinary World" by Duran Duran.

From the kickass opener of Fight Inside" to the aforementioned cover song, this album delivers from top to bottom. They show depth, versatility, and there isn't a bad track on the album. "Never be the same" shows the softer side, while "Confessions" hits hard. Whether the song is soft or hard, screaming or singing a soft ballad, this band has amazing versatility in their ability to pull all of them off. Their ability to draw fans(well myself anyway) into wanting more is evident with the closer of "Take it all away."

Maybe it's because I Identify with their self-deprecation, introspection, and versatility, but this is a near flawless album to me. They're not huge in the mainstream, or that well known.(I saw the this summer with about 200 people) That doesn't mean Red's not phenomenal. Innocence and Instinct proves that they are.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

Both awesome choices. Im going to have to choose The Great Misdirect by Between The Buried and me.

Such a good album, and highly underrated. Even within the metal community this album seems to be overlooked a lot, in my mind it was second this year only to Mastodon's Crack the Skye. Every freaking song stands out on it, and Swim to the Moon is just a fantastic finish to an album that is building towards it for about 45 minutes. I'd also say that anyone who is a fan of Cynic should listen to this, it reminds me quite a bit of their style.

 

[Cracka Jack]

First off, it's both surprising and wonderful to see mention of Biffy Clyro in a previous post. I've just started listening to them, and I can say I'm pretty much hooked. I'm gonna have fun going through entire their catalogue(which I intend to do soon).

Now on to my pick.

I'll admit, I haven't heard most of these nominees, so my choice may not be the most educated one, but what the hell, I'll give it anyway. Of every album I heard last year, my pick for Album of the Year would have to be, hands down, Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear. I hate to be the guy who brings up albums by random indie bands, but this one definately deserves the nod. I'm not quite sure how to explain the brilliance of this album. Just listen. You'll understand.

Honorable Mentions:
Man On The Moon by Kid Cudi
Swoon by Silversun Pickups
The Resistance by Muse