Thursday, October 6, 2011

Rock isn't dead: The two best albums of 2011

I really don't like writing reviews, how do you judge art? What I love you may hate and so on. However, I read every week or so that rock is dead yet two of the best albums of the year or rock records and since one was never reviewed (I was surprised Russ, lol) and the other will probably be ignored after the first week sales because the band is not mainstream made me want to write something. So if you have these records, congrats! If not I hope you check them out soon.




Foo Fighters- Wasting Light

Back in April we got the latest Foo Fighters album. They may be the most consistent band out there right now. I have been a fan since the first song I heard from the first album "For The Cows", their sense of humor mixed with their rock knowledge is hard to beat.

The album kicks off with "Bridges Burning" a hard, melodic song that gets everything off to a great start then we get to the first single "Rope" a great song with a super catchy Foo type chorus. The only "mistake" of a song may be "White Limo". It's a scream fest which was the first thing most people heard off the record because the Foos released a promo video (featuring a limo driving Lemmy) for it just before the album release.

The record is kind of a typical Foo record in the way that if you took out the heavy drums and loud guitars every song would be pop gems accept they seem way more focused this time. I would love to tell you the stand out tracks, but the whole album is stand out, even White Limo is worth the listen just for the change of pace. If I had to pick a favorite it would probably have to be the closing track "Walk"




This was by far the best record of the year in my opinion, until....




Anthrax-Worship Music

This album is a heavier album and what I think Metallica would had liked to have sounded like with "St. Anger". This band has never got it's due because they never seemed to get a label push over the years. The reunion with the singer from their best known line up, Joey Belladonna sounds fresh. Their older records with him suffered from bad production... Not this time though, the album comes right at you. The album starts off with a intro piece called "Worship" then "Earth On Hell", both good tracks but then really picks up with "The Devil You Know" and doesn't stop til the end of the album, each song after "Devil" is strong.

Once again... There are so many strong tracks that it is hard to pick one, but if I had to it would be "In The End" a tribute to Ronnie James Dio and Dimebag Darrell



This is the metal album of the year easily and with the only other major release coming being Metallica and Lou Reed's "Lulu" I don't see this losing it's ranking (Have you heard anything off "Lulu"? Yikes!)

Both albums are truly great. If I had to choose one it may be "Wasting Light" but it'd be a very tough choice. Like I said earlier... If you haven't heard one or both records, do yourself a favor and get them soon. Both are worth the money and time


3 comments:

  1. Wasting Light is Album of the Year, across all genres. I said it in April and that statement has help up.

    It's easily the best album of their career, it contains the best song they've even written (Walk) and it's far and away the best rock album this year.

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  2. They are different approaches and 2 great albums

    Foos are more melodic and poppy without being too poppy Where as Anthrax is melodic and heavy without being too heavy.

    By far the 2 best albums I have heard this year

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  3. I can't comment on the foo fighters, only because I haven't heard the album yet. I like walk, but I just have a hard time getting excited about the foo fighters, and I'm not sure why. I know it's me, not them. I've always liked their singles. Maybe I'll force myself to grab this one though.

    I love the Anthrax album. Obviously I'm a huge fan of theirs, but even in the past, I've never enjoyed one of their albums as much as I have with this one. There isn't a single track that I skip when listening to 'Worship'. I've listen to the album dozens of times now, and every time I try to stop (so I don't burn myself out), I end up missing it and start playing it again. My only complaint is the giant gap between the last track and the hidden track. The only reason I don't recommend it for everyone, is I know not everyone is a metal fan.

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