Introduction
So, rather than write an intro to this week’s issue of Loomings, our retrospective of this decade in music (which would mean not acknowledging the digital music revolution, nor the loss of legends like Johnny Cash, Luciano Pavarotti, George Harrison, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Michael Jackson), I figured I’d be better off providing a who’s who for our cover, which is a recreation of the album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Personal note: if you didn’t know that already, I don’t think I’ll care for you much as a person).
1. ) Tre Cool (Green Day)2.) Beck3.) Alison Kraus4.) Anthony Keidis (Red Hot Chili Peppers)5.) "Tunde" Adebimpe (TV On The Radio)6.) Taylor Swift7.) Dr. Dre8.) Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon)9.) Chris Martin (Coldplay)10.) Serj Tankian (System of a Down)11.) Alicia Keys12.) Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)13.) Fiona Apple14.) Bob Dylan15.) The Edge (U2)16.) Avey Tare (Animal Collective)17.) Mike Dirnt (Green Day)18.) Andrew VanWyngarden (MGMT)19.) Win Butler (Arcade Fire)20.) Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley)21.) Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley)22.) Thom Yorke (Radiohead)23.) Missy Elliott24.) Beyonce25.) Damien Rice26.) Robert Plant27.) Panda Bear (Animal Collective)28.) James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem)29.) Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)30.) Matt Berninger (The National)31.) Karen O (The Yeah Yeah Yeahs)32.) Marketa Irglova (The Swell Season, Once Soundtrack)33.) Brandon Flowers (The Killers)34.) One of the Followills, either Jared or Matthew, we can’t tell them apart, really (Kings of Leon)35.) The other Followill, the on that’s not Ivan, Caleb, or #34 (Kings of Leon)36.) Glen Hansard (The Frames, The Swell Season, Once Soundtrack)37.) Benjamin Goldwasser (MGMT)38.) Andre 3000 (Outkast)39.) Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes)40.) Dave Matthews41.) Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips)42.) Bono (U2)43.) Bruce Springsteen44.) Régine Chassagne45.) Justin Timberlake46.) Lil Wayne47.) Antoine Dodson48.) Britney Spears49.) Norah Jones50.) Ivan Followill (Kings of Leon)51.) Robert LaRosa (Bob Vanderlay and the Mystery Box)52.) Julian Casablancas (The Strokes)53.) 50 Cent54.) Daft Punk55.) Lady Gaga56.) Jack White (The White Stripes)57.) Johnny Cash58.) 2-D (Gorillaz)59.) Murdock (Gorillaz)60.) Kanye’s “Drop Out” Bear (Same as bear on opposite)61.) Kanye West62.) Jay-Z63.) Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather)64.) Eminem
We have a great issue this week. We’ll give you our picks for the top 50 albums of the decade, a look back at the bottom of the barrel, another installment of the Subversive Pop Songs series, and the long awaited return of Bobby the Pink. As I always say, any comments, questions, or requests for an evening of dinner and a movie (We’d go Dutch, though. I’m sorta outta work now), drop a line to loomingscwp@gmail.com.
The Biggest Disappointment of the Decade (Music)
(article by Tom Lorenzo, with an editor's note by myself)
What can someone say about the state of modern music? It is in turmoil, for sure. The internet has destroyed music. Like they said in The Social Network, the record companies may have won in courts but they lost in the big picture. Music has just become a tiresome act of everyone trying to be pop-y and same old same old. No big risks or nothing different. Rap has taken over rock as the dominant new genre, but even then it isn’t what everyone thought it would be after Eminem showed up, and the bottom fell out of the rock and roll barrel. With a few exceptions, rock is dead. There were barely any rock songs on the top 100 this year. It’s a shame, but while one can say that it’s sad to see the younger generation fail hard, it’s a little harder to see the older more established acts fail.
In rock’s corner, the biggest fail is Metallica’s St. Anger*. After 5 years, Metallica was making a new record and they promised it would be a return to the hard rock they mastered in the 80’s and early 90’s. They had taken a detour in the mid to late 90s with some blues hard rock, but St Anger was assured be the return of the kings of heavy metal. 2003 came and the album dropped…and it dropped like a sack of coins. It was an unmitigated disaster. I don’t know how this album didn’t break them up, but it would have killed any other band’s career. From {front man James} Hetfield’s horrible sounding screaming; to Lars’ drums sounding like pots and pans; to Kirk not being given a guitar solo; the sound is insulting. I wanna flip out when I hear this album. They somehow managed to push past it and return with the pretty much redeeming Death Magnetic, but even so, it’s awful. A documentary crew followed Metallica during the making of the album, proving the album is the product of their lives. Suffice it to say, they weren’t breezing by.
Like St Anger, the next two albums are a product of personal crisis’. These are both by Eminem. Encore and Relapse were the two biggest disappointments in rap. He lit the world on fire for three straight albums and then lost it on Encore. But at least Encore had two great songs (“Mockingbird” and “Like Toy Soldiers”). Relapse was a mess. Em didn’t know what he was doing and just gave in to the Slim Shady persona for a whole album. These albums are what they are because of Em’s severe decline into drug addiction and then his recovery. Put the two albums together and you can see the decline and rise, even though its too late on Relapse to make a difference. Luckily he returned to form with Recovery, but he disappointed for a few years. I think it’s a sign of the times when the best in their fields started to fail this decade.
In rock’s corner, the biggest fail is Metallica’s St. Anger*. After 5 years, Metallica was making a new record and they promised it would be a return to the hard rock they mastered in the 80’s and early 90’s. They had taken a detour in the mid to late 90s with some blues hard rock, but St Anger was assured be the return of the kings of heavy metal. 2003 came and the album dropped…and it dropped like a sack of coins. It was an unmitigated disaster. I don’t know how this album didn’t break them up, but it would have killed any other band’s career. From {front man James} Hetfield’s horrible sounding screaming; to Lars’ drums sounding like pots and pans; to Kirk not being given a guitar solo; the sound is insulting. I wanna flip out when I hear this album. They somehow managed to push past it and return with the pretty much redeeming Death Magnetic, but even so, it’s awful. A documentary crew followed Metallica during the making of the album, proving the album is the product of their lives. Suffice it to say, they weren’t breezing by.
Like St Anger, the next two albums are a product of personal crisis’. These are both by Eminem. Encore and Relapse were the two biggest disappointments in rap. He lit the world on fire for three straight albums and then lost it on Encore. But at least Encore had two great songs (“Mockingbird” and “Like Toy Soldiers”). Relapse was a mess. Em didn’t know what he was doing and just gave in to the Slim Shady persona for a whole album. These albums are what they are because of Em’s severe decline into drug addiction and then his recovery. Put the two albums together and you can see the decline and rise, even though its too late on Relapse to make a difference. Luckily he returned to form with Recovery, but he disappointed for a few years. I think it’s a sign of the times when the best in their fields started to fail this decade.
*Editor's Note
It is very rare I actually voice disagreement with our staff writers. At least not in print. In person I do it all the time. Seriously, don’t get Tom and I started on James Bond. But I felt I should take this opportunity to voice my own opinion on the biggest musical let down of the decade.
Sure, the 6 year gap between Reload and St. Anger built up some anticipation. Same for the 5 years between Encore and Relapse. But imagine the band with the greatest debut album of all time, one of the greatest guitarists to ever finger a fret, a truly badass front man, and the last great hope for rock and roll in a pre-grunge era, imagine that band waiting 15 years to release what is expected to be their magnum opus. Try and think of that. Well, ever since the stellar Appetite For Destruction, Guns N’ Roses were the greatest band in rock and roll. Before Kurt Cobain ever howled out “Lithium”, GNR had put out G N’ R Lies, and both Use Your Illusions. Then they broke down, The Spaghetti Incident being an indication. Still, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We were promised a masterpiece, in the form of Chinese Democracy. Some doubted the album would ever come, but we faithful clung to the drum, and at 11:55pm, November 22nd, 2008, we the few, the faithful lined up outside Best Buy humming “Mr. Brownstone”, and waiting to buy not just the CD, but the LP of what was sure to be the epic album of the decade.
What we got was an example of how everything could go wrong. The lyrics were dreadful, the music itself atrocious, the line-up containing only front man Axl from the original (I.e. good) line up, and lord knows you appreciate Slash more on this record than any he ever played on. “Shackler’s Revenge”, the lead single from the album, pained all who had to play through it on Rock Band, and Axl’s empty howl made us all wish it was ‘97 again, sitting with our uncles as they talked about how soon GNR would put out a new album, and rock would be back. Damn you, Axl Rose, for killing a dream most of my lifetime in the making.
Sure, the 6 year gap between Reload and St. Anger built up some anticipation. Same for the 5 years between Encore and Relapse. But imagine the band with the greatest debut album of all time, one of the greatest guitarists to ever finger a fret, a truly badass front man, and the last great hope for rock and roll in a pre-grunge era, imagine that band waiting 15 years to release what is expected to be their magnum opus. Try and think of that. Well, ever since the stellar Appetite For Destruction, Guns N’ Roses were the greatest band in rock and roll. Before Kurt Cobain ever howled out “Lithium”, GNR had put out G N’ R Lies, and both Use Your Illusions. Then they broke down, The Spaghetti Incident being an indication. Still, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We were promised a masterpiece, in the form of Chinese Democracy. Some doubted the album would ever come, but we faithful clung to the drum, and at 11:55pm, November 22nd, 2008, we the few, the faithful lined up outside Best Buy humming “Mr. Brownstone”, and waiting to buy not just the CD, but the LP of what was sure to be the epic album of the decade.
What we got was an example of how everything could go wrong. The lyrics were dreadful, the music itself atrocious, the line-up containing only front man Axl from the original (I.e. good) line up, and lord knows you appreciate Slash more on this record than any he ever played on. “Shackler’s Revenge”, the lead single from the album, pained all who had to play through it on Rock Band, and Axl’s empty howl made us all wish it was ‘97 again, sitting with our uncles as they talked about how soon GNR would put out a new album, and rock would be back. Damn you, Axl Rose, for killing a dream most of my lifetime in the making.
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade
1) Is This It- The Strokes (2001)
2) The Blueprint- Jay-Z (2001)
3) Elephant- The White Stripes (2003)
4) Garden State- Soundtrack (2004)
I know to some it may seem odd to put a compilation on this list, but I make no hyperbole when I declare this the Soundtrack of the Decade. Not only did it set a new standard for film soundtracks (earning a Grammy), it also serves as a sampler for those not in the “indie” scene. It’s like Sam says in the film “You gotta hear this….it’ll change your life”. I promise you, it will.
5) Late Registration- Kanye West (2005)
6) American Idiot- Green Day (2004)
Sure, it’s cool to diss this album now, but 75% of the people that deride it now knew the words by heart back in 2004. I urge you to give it a re-listen. Opening on a guitar riff so powerful and recognizable it may well be our generation’s “Satisfaction”, Green Day’s punk opera spoke to a generation too angst-ridden to be calm but too lazy to protest. Want a perfect time capsule of Bush-era suburbia? Look no further.
7) The Eminem Show- Eminem (2002)
8) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- Wilco (2002)
9) Sea Change- Beck (2002)
Am I gonna be the 100th critic to compare this to Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks? Yes, I am, because it’s right in so many ways. Both are deeply personal albums charting a voice of a generation’s path toward recovery from the collapse of a major relationship. Songs like “Guess I’m Doing Fine” and “Already Dead” speak to the heart of a post-break-up soul, seething and sobbing, floating in the tortured soundscape Beck spun.
10) Funeral- Arcade Fire (2004)
11) Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots- The Flaming Lips (2002)
Dark Side of the Moon, Born to Run, Ziggy Stardust, these are all albums that take the listener on a journey, each song moving into the next, and providing some magical climactic catharsis at the end, and in 2002, Wayne Coyne and co.’s opus joined those ranks. From the childishly catchy tile track to the gorgeously mind-blowing “Do You Realize??”, The Flaming Lips finally took their Pink Floyd style and brought it to the radio. We’ve all been grateful since.
12) In Rainbows- Radiohead (2007)
We all know (if you were even the least bit aware this decade) that In Rainbows turned the music industry on it’s head by being made available for “pay what you want”. Avid Radiohead fans and conspiracy theorists know The Binary Theory (google it), suggesting this to be an intricate companion piece to 1997’s OK Computer. What we here at Loomings know is it’s Radiohead’s most polished and sophisticated album to date.
13) The College Dropout- Kanye West (2004)
14) Hot Fuss- The Killers (2004)
15) Discovery- Daft Punk (2001)
16) The Black Album- Jay-Z (2003)
17) Fever To Tell- The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003)
The earth shattering debut of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the music world by storm, even if the rest of the world wasn’t listening. Karen O’s sharp vocals, Brian Chase’s pulse-pounding drum beats, and Nick Zinner’s…well, every other thing on the album, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s crafted not just a classic “alternative” album, but just a classic in general, with tracks like “Maps” still as strong as the day they burned up the airwaves.
18) Lifted; Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ears To The Ground- Bright Eyes (2002)
This decade’s greatest lyricist is in full force on this record, laying down should-be hits like “Lover I Don’t Have to Love”, “You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.” and “The Big Picture”. “We need a record of our failures. Yes, we must document our love.” bemoans Conor Oberst in a bittersweet grumble, making all those who listen wonder why the world isn’t listening a little closer to the young singer from Saddle Creek.
19) Toxicity- System of a Down (2001)
20) A Rush of Blood to the Head- Coldplay (2002)
Though these days shunned by the indie scene, Coldplay is simply the best at what they do: making Radiohead accessible pop. Ok, perhaps that’s simplifying. They do produce consistently great albums (X&Y? Never heard of it), have incredibly catchy and sometimes moving singles, and speak with a sincerity and grandeur that fills the un-jaded listener with hope. Everything came together on this record, with “Clocks”, “The Scientist”, and “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face” becoming instant classics.
And the rest...
21.) How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb- U2 (2004)
22.) American IV: The Man Comes Around- Johnny Cash (2002)
23.) White Blood Cells- The White Stripes (2001)
24.) Futuresex/lovesounds- Justin Timberlake (2006)
25.) Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not- The Arctic Monkeys (2006)
26.) Under Construction- Missy Elliott (2002)
27.) Come Away With Me- Norah Jones (2002)
28.) Time (The Revelator)- Gillian Welsh (2001)
29.) The Rising- Bruce Springsteen (2002)
30.) I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning- Bright Eyes (2005)
31.) Alligator- The National (2005)
32.) Once- Soundtrack (2006)
33.) Oracular Spectacular- MGMT (2007)
34.) Sound of Silver- LCD Soundsystem (2007)
35.) Aha Shake Heartbreak- Kings of Leon (2004)
36.) Merriweather Post Pavilion- Animal Collective (2009)
37.) Good News For People Who Love Bad News- Modest Mouse (2004)
38.) Spring Awakening- Original Cast Recording (2006)
39.) The Diary of Alicia Keys- Alicia Keys (2003)
40.) Rock Steady- No Doubt (2002)
41.) Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2004)
42.) Get Rich Or Die Tryin’- 50 Cent (2003)
43.) Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King- Dave Matthews Band (2009)
44.) O- Damien Rice (2002)
45.) ( )- Sigur Ros (2002)
46.) Fearless- Taylor Swift (2008)
47.) The Fame Monster- Lady Gaga (2009)
48.) Dear Science- TV On The Radio (2008)
49.) Raising Sand- Robert Plant & Allison Krauss (2007)
50.) Extraordinary Machine- Fiona Apple (2005)
22.) American IV: The Man Comes Around- Johnny Cash (2002)
23.) White Blood Cells- The White Stripes (2001)
24.) Futuresex/lovesounds- Justin Timberlake (2006)
25.) Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not- The Arctic Monkeys (2006)
26.) Under Construction- Missy Elliott (2002)
27.) Come Away With Me- Norah Jones (2002)
28.) Time (The Revelator)- Gillian Welsh (2001)
29.) The Rising- Bruce Springsteen (2002)
30.) I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning- Bright Eyes (2005)
31.) Alligator- The National (2005)
32.) Once- Soundtrack (2006)
33.) Oracular Spectacular- MGMT (2007)
34.) Sound of Silver- LCD Soundsystem (2007)
35.) Aha Shake Heartbreak- Kings of Leon (2004)
36.) Merriweather Post Pavilion- Animal Collective (2009)
37.) Good News For People Who Love Bad News- Modest Mouse (2004)
38.) Spring Awakening- Original Cast Recording (2006)
39.) The Diary of Alicia Keys- Alicia Keys (2003)
40.) Rock Steady- No Doubt (2002)
41.) Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2004)
42.) Get Rich Or Die Tryin’- 50 Cent (2003)
43.) Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King- Dave Matthews Band (2009)
44.) O- Damien Rice (2002)
45.) ( )- Sigur Ros (2002)
46.) Fearless- Taylor Swift (2008)
47.) The Fame Monster- Lady Gaga (2009)
48.) Dear Science- TV On The Radio (2008)
49.) Raising Sand- Robert Plant & Allison Krauss (2007)
50.) Extraordinary Machine- Fiona Apple (2005)
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