I've been thinking about this recently. And I'm sure all of you will be able to answer this question with a 'yes', but have any of you listened to an album that you felt was just rock-solid the whole way through? Like, could you listen to the album the whole way through without skipping tracks, and look back on it and think, "Wow, that was a pretty good record" and not really feel that there were any weak points? If you have, name that album, or which albums and talk about one in particular. I'm going to talk about one, and perhaps give you an idea of how you could type up your analysis. I'm interested in what you all have to say. An album that I feel is solid, and is definitely one of my favorite albums: 'Chuck' by Sum 41 I've listened to this record many times over the past few years, and I have to say that is one of the best that I've ever listened to. It's a fairly consistent record. It doesn't really have any low points and it just seems to flow through without slowing down quality-wise. It starts off with an intro which leads directly into 'No Reason', a strong, driving song and the album eventually leads into slow-paced and emotional songs such as 'Slipping Away', and 'Pieces'. It eventually ends with the song, '88', a song that switches from loud, to quiet, and then goes loud again and stays that way until near the end, where it reaches somewhat of an outro, which feels haunting in a sense. It's a deep way to end the album, but I really like it. I personally feel that this was Sum 41's most consistent effort, and will probably be one of their last consistent efforts. After listening to Underclass Hero, Sum 41 has obviously taken a turn since their lead guitarist left and have turned to a sound comparable to that of Blink-182, and is a record with a few high points, but it lacks the consistency that Chuck does. After listening to Sum 41's other album, it just makes Chuck that much better. It's an album that showed maturity, and it was not only the end of an era for Sum 41, but seemingly the only example of Sum 41 at their best. In comparison to other albums, I feel that this record is a great example of a solid album. It has consistency that most other albums lack. If you're looking for a good record, I would suggest this one. - - - Any records you guys would classify as solid?
My favourite album: 'Ignition' by The Offspring I can play it a million times and it will always be great. All songs are fantastic, music is awesome, lyrics are awesome, it's a perfect album for me. Favourite songs: Dirty Magic, Nothing From Something. If you haven't heard it yet, now's the time Btw Louis, I think "Does This Look Infected" is much more better than "Chuck", but yeah, to each his own
Falling Up - Captiva I think that this is one of the best albums to be released in the 21st century so far. There's not a single bad track on it and each song seems so powerful and uplifting. There are certain songs on this album which I would consider masterpiece songs and there are a few ballad style songs on this album which can get to you emotionally. I can't actually point out anything bad about this album whatsoever. If this album had been done by a mainstream artist I can guaruntee you it would be played everywhere. Song Highlights: A Guide To Marine Life, Captiva, How They Made Cameras, Murexa, The Dark Side Of Indoor Track Meets, Helicopters. Trivium - Ascendancy Apart from End Of Heartache by Killswitch Engage and Volume 3 by Slipknot, there wasn't too many solid metalcore albums out around 04-05. Ascendancy took care of that and how. This is probably the best metalcore album in existance. Every song has a certain energy to it and the band gets across what it's trying to say extremelly well. The only flaw about the album is that in a few songs the formula and verse is just repeated over and over but overall this is an amazing album. It's such a shame that the band dropped the standard significantly with The Crusade. Song highlights: Like Light To The Flies, Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr, A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation, The Decieved, Departure. Fightstar - Grand Unification When Charlie Simpson left Busted to play with this band there were several people saying that he wouldn't be taken seriously in the real rock world. He's silenced most of these people with this album. This album has shown both Simpson's lighter and darker sides and has shown that he is more than just good looks but a pretty damn good musician. I have the utmost respect for him because he told the band's label to fuck off when they tried to turn it into a pop band like Busted. Song highlights: Paint Your Target, Build An Army, Sleep Well Tonight, Grand Unification pt.2 Funeral For A Friend - Hours Funeral For A Friend are a really unique band in my opinion in that they take elements of rock, metal, alternative and punk and throw it in a blender and come out with a really defining sound. Hours represents this best. Most FFAF fans consider Casually Dressed as their best album but I beg to differ. The album was in my top 3 best albums of 2005. Song highlights: All The Rage, Roses For The Dead, History, Hospitality, Alvarez, Streetcar.
Not much info offered here but a few solid albums: Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes Thrice - The Artist In The Ambulance and sorry but Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
words to that. and i gotta say saosin's self-titled LP was insanely consistent, and i really liked it.
Don't apologise, it's true. Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral, The Fragile Powderfinger - Dream Days At The Hotel Existance Savage Garden - Affirmation (Yea fuck you, I said it.) Velvet Revolver - Contraband AND Libertad
Honestly can't be bothered doing huge album reviews, maybe a little later. I will however, do song highlights. Trivium - Ascendancy Song Highlights: Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr, A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation, Like Light to the Flies, Suffocating Sight My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge Song Highlights: To The End, Thank You for the Venom, Cemetery Drive, most of them to be honest. Killswitch Engage - Alive Or Just Breathing Song Highlights: Pretty much everything. Protest the Hero -Kezia Song Highlights: Heretics and Killers, Blindfolds Aside, She Who Mars the Skin of Gods, Turn Soonest to the Sea
Abandoned Pools // Humanistics Incubus // Morning View Lupe Fiasco // The Cool MuteMath // MuteMath Dizzee Rascal // Maths and English Fightstar // One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours
A few: Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory Probably the best LP album overall. It and Meteora are in constant rotation on my library shuffle list. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero Almost all of NIN's albums are excellent, but YZ struck a huge chord with me. It was brilliantly marketed, brilliantly made the world we live in into a modern day "year 0000". And the music itself is amazing when taken into context with this alternate world of sorts. Between the Buried and Me - Colors All I could say after listening to this album is "Where the fuck did that come from?!" This brilliant band came out of nowhere and hit me square between the eyes with a beautiful 64-something minute epic of an album. And the final track is definitely the best hardcore/metal track ever. EVER. Beats the hell out of anything I'll probably ever listen to. If you only listen to one song, make it White Walls. (That'd be that "best track ever". :B) And others that I agree with: Chuck, The Downward Spiral, The Fragile.
I just remembered another one: Billy Talent - Billy Talent II. Every song on the album is just great.
Good Mourning by Alkaline Trio is an album I would consider solid. It isn't usually cited as one of their best but for me it's their most balanced musically and the lyrics are up there with their best. The only thing it has going against it is that none of the songs are quite as anthemic as Private Eye or Radio. Also the UK version has two of the best b-sides ever as bonus tracks (Old School Reasons and Dead End Road).
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vol. I-IV Song highlights: The Arsonist, Digital Sea, Silver Wings, Moving Mountains, Digging My Own Grave, Firebreather Story of the Year - The Black Swan Song highlights: Choose Your Fate, Tell Me, Message to the World, Welcome to Our New War Lupe Fiasco - The Cool Song highlights: Go Go Gadget Flow, Superstar, Hi-Definition, Hip Hop Saved My Life, Little Weapon, Hello/Goodbye Lostprophets - Start Something Song highlights: We Still Kill the Old Way, Hello Again, I Don't Know, To Hell We Ride, Start Something, A Million Miles Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals Song highlights: The Last Day on Earth, Coma White, The Dope Show, Rock is Dead, I Dont Like The Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me) Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile Song highlights: The Day The World Went Away, The Wretched, The Fragile, The Mark Has Been Made, Starfuckers, INC, Into the Void Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV: Volume 1 From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness Song highlights: Welcome Home, Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial), Once Upon Your Dead Body, Mother May I, The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut
Adema - Adema Song Highlights: Everyone, Giving In, The Way You Like It Atreyu - A Death-grip on Yesterday Song Highlights: Creature, Our Sick Story [Thus Far], The Theft, Ex's and Oh's Breaking Benjamin - Saturate Song Highlights: Everything Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists Song Highlights: Guarded, Stricken, Sons of Plunder, Land of Confusion Fort Minor - The Rising Tied Song Highlights: Everything Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies Song Highlights: Everything Korn - Issues Song Highlights: Falling Away From Me, Somebody Someone, Counting, Dirty Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory Song Highlights: Everything Skillet - Collide Song Highlights: Forsaken, My Obsession, Collide, Fingernails, Energy
Thought of a couple more. All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals Song Highlights: The Weak Willed, Whispers (I Hear You), Become the Catalyst, Empty Inside. Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree Song Highlights: Sugar, We're Goin' Down, Dance, Dance, I've Got a Back Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth, Sophomore Slump Or Comeback of the Year, I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me, A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More Touch Me. Basically all of them to be honest. There, I said it.
I have a lot of them I could list, but currently, I'm in the middle of doing about ten things at once, so I'm going to list two. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight I'm probably going to catch hell for this, but MTM was a really great album. I dunno, maybe it's because I was getting tired of the Hybrid Theory type album, but I actually couldn't find anything wrong with it at all. Paramore - Riot! Yeah, I totally couldn't find anything wrong with it. Still can't. Really solid album right there.