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Top 15 Albums of 2005
by Fake Train
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1. The Decemberists - Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
"The Engine Driver" was the song that reeled me in, but it was the closer "Of Angels and Angles" that stole my heart. An album of substance, Picaresque is a beautifully crafted record that deserves your time.
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2. Minus the Bear - Menos el Oso (Suicide Squeeze)
The fluttering guitar picks, the electronic chirping and buzzing, the magnetic vocals are still present, yet Minus the Bear are more complacent, more relaxed on Menos el Oso than their past release Highly Refined Pirates. Call it maturity or call it progress, Minus the Bear have successfully created a diverse and richly layered aural experience that's as dynamic as their first album without the past urge to continuously rock ears with a nonstop energetic drive. I just can't get enough of that finger-tapping though.
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3. A Life Once Lost - Hunter (Ferret)
Hunter will strengthen those neck muscles. Technical, repetitive (believe it or not, this can be a good thing), and sadistic, A Life Once Lost's metal will leave aural bruising welts on your ears. These guys are simply sick live (so if you haven't, go see them already). Hunter is definitely not for the most timid of listeners, so only true appreciators of intense metal step forward and receive your aural lashing.
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4. Armor For Sleep - What To Do When You Are Dead (Equal Vision)
If only every band can progress like Armor For Sleep. The evolution from their debut Dream To Make Believe to What To Do When You Are Dead is simply remarkable. Diverse. Rich. Powerful. Armor For Sleep's new album, a concept dealing with life after death, entices and invigorates the ears with burning melodic-rock. Great concept record. Great rock, period.
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5. Circa Survive - Juturna (Equal Vision)
Considering there are two ex-members of This Day Forward in Circa Survive, the group surprisingly shares similar melodic rock qualities to that of Engine Down and even later Elliott, as opposed to their metal-meets-hardcore output of past. It's rare that I really get excited by newer bands nowadays, but Circa Survive is definitely one that impressed me greatly.
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6. Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin (Victory)
Hands down Undoing Ruin is Darkest Hour's finest release to date. By chiseling down the song lengths, shaking off tiresome repetitiveness, and throwing in a little extra melody, Darkest Hour created a highly intense and enjoyable release with Undoing Ruin. Live to trash! Trash to live!
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7. As I Lay Dying - Shadows Are Security (Metal Blade)
Shadows Are Security slashes and hacks with enough ferocity to give any of As I Lay Dying's metal contemporaries a run for their battleaxe. Sure it's melodic, but it's still intense-as-fuck.
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8. Chin Up Chin Up - Self-titled (Flameshovel)
They have a song called "Fuck You, Elton John." Enough said.
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9. Bear Vs Shark - Terrorhawk (Equal Vision)
Like getting caught in a thorny jagger bush, Terrorhawk scrapes and entangles the listener around upbeat angular punk-rock that surpasses the typical garden-variety your tired ears are used to. Sadly, it's a shame that Bear Vs Shark decided to call it quits. Why do all the good bands breakup? Another band to add to my "I'll never get to see live" list. Bear Vs Shark's drive embraced the one key element that makes for a splendid and memorable album, and that simply is diversity.
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10. Buried Inside - Chronoclast: Selected Essays on Times Reckoning and Auto-Cannibalism (Relapse)
A paroxysm of rage and hostility, Ottawa's Buried Inside presents one forty minute composition (broken down into ten separate tracks) that's by far one of the most fiercely passionate expressions of slow-moving epic grandeur I've heard in a long time. As much as Chronoclast makes you tremble, grind your teeth, and clench your fists, it's hard to hit stop. A definite must. These guys hate time, and I do to. Argh!
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11. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (Sony)
Imaginative, innovative, and more importantly, Coheed and Cambria rock! If only every band can be this inventive album after album. I'm still waiting for a death-match between Claudio and Kind Buzzo in determining who has the coolest mop of hair. Oh, and the lyrics to "Once Upon Your Dead Body" made me as giddy as a.: "No, I hope you die right now / Will you drink my chemical?"
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12. Veda - The Weight of an Empty Room (Second-Nature)
Now under the new moniker Vedera (which I like better than Veda), The Weight of an Empty Room's mesmerizing, slow-paced gems are contagious and soothing. Kristen May has one of the most riveting voices around. Lilting, sweet, and strong, Kristen's delivery is one of the main driving factors behind Veda's, I mean Vedera's delightful rock sound.
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13. Norma Jean - O God, the Aftermath (Solid State)
Damn did these guys get good (not like their debut Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child wasn't powerful), but with a new singer that doesn't need a heavy coat of electronic fuzz over his vocals, along with a more intense sound that borrows the architectural intensity from Botch and Coalesce, Norma Jean's frenetic pace and uncompromising push it hard. All of you that cry that O God isn't a rehashed repeat of Bless the Martyr, wah, wah, wah!
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14. Funeral Diner - The Underdark (Alone)
Somber. Introspective. The Underdark pricks and agitates, haloing around the listener like a fluttering moth with moody sonic rock and anguished emotions.With screams of desperation, constant pit pats of the snare, and a gradual upsurge of grating, yet melodious guitars, Funeral Diner's sound reminds me of the spine tingling sounds Portraits of Past and Closure bled back in the mid 90s—and I love every sorrowful note of The Underdark.
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15. Neil Young - Prairie Wind (Reprise)
Yes! After two uninspiring releases (Are You Passionate? and Greendale) Mr. Young is back with a great album that combines that passionate spark found on such amazing spins like Silver & Gold and Harvest Moon. Though there are some stinkers found on Prairie Wind, like the Elvis tribute "He Was the King" (now, I think we all know who the true King of Rock is.King Buzzo), Neil has masterfully created a beautifully moody and mesmerizing release: "It's a long road ahead / If you follow every dream, you might get lost." Not this time.
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Other releases of 2005 to check out:
Funeral for a Friend - Hours (Atlantic)
Compelling melodic-rock, Hours sponges the best elements from Sense Field (Building) and Elliott (U.S. Songs), and in the process, Funeral for a Friend creates a stirring guitar-driven sound that's all their own. My good friend Tim thinks Hours is boring, but, sometimes he's wrong.
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Dropkick Murphy's - The Warrior's Code (Hellcat)
The Warrior's Code is worth the price of admission just for the track "I'm Shipping Up to Boston": "I'm a sailor peg / And I've lost my leg / I've climbed up the top sails / I've lost my leg / I'm shipping off...to find my wooden leg." Oh and they have a picture of Micky Ward on the cover of The Warrior's Code. Yeah, you're right, it doesn't get any better than this, and bagpipes never sounded so cool.
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Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (Sub Pop)
Sleater-Kinney turns up the rock, and the guitars, on The Woods. The switch from the outfit's longtime label Kill Rock Stars to Sub Pop most have refueled their desire to create all-out raw fuzzy sonic rock, and the end result is a pretty damn exciting affair.
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The Red Chord - Clients (Metal Blade)
The Red Chord is one of few bands that can smoothly transit between metal, hardcore, and grind. Perhaps not as ravenous and convulsive as their debut, but Clients is just as heavy. And for all of you out there that are sore that The Red Chord didn't make a Fused Together In Revolving Doors Part Deux, "why don't you go eat a decroded piece of crap!" Clients hits hard, fast, and without mercy.
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Daniel Striped Tiger - Condition (Alone)
Their name is taken from my hometown childhood mentor Mister Rogers' tiger puppet. Though the real Daniel Striped Tiger seen on TV was shy and hesitant, this rock outfit is anything but. Raw and emotional, Daniel Striped Tiger isn't afraid to experiment and wander off. Condition is complex and busy, and it also inches ahead cautiously, flirting with sound. Very cool stuff.
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Asthma Atttaq - Breathe Heavy (Forever Escaping Boredom)
I love this stuff. Ever since I got into furious screaming outfits like Saetia, I, Robot, The Spirit of Versailles, Neil Perry, Closure, etc., it's been a form of emotional hardcore-punk that grabs my attention every time. The two-man Asthma Atttaq exorcises disgusting sentiments through a sonic-scream output that may be a little more experimental and adventurous than you're use to, but it's an amazing shock to the system that needs to be felt.
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The Fall of Troy - Doppelgänger (Equal Vision)
On Doppelgänger, The Fall of Troy plays with great urgency and technical proficiency that will boggle the mind and excite the senses. Endless guitar stings and bass thumps stretch out, entangle, and swallow up the listener like an octopus tightly hugging its prey. The impulsive direction of each track is unpredictable. I don't know about you, but I hate bland music, and Doppelgänger is anything but.
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The Juliana Theory - Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat (Abacus)
This may very well be my favorite Juliana Theory album to date. Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat isn't super clean and waxed like Love, nicely capturing that raw live rock output that I gravitate towards more than anything (the songs were recorded with the entire band playing live in the studio). If you can look past the goofy title, the lame artwork, and the phrase from "Shotgun Serenade," "Bang, Bang, Shoot, Shoot," Deadbeat is one sweetbeat of an album.
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Renee Heartfelt - Death of the Ghost (Textbook Music)
I really enjoyed Renee Heartfelt's EP Magdalene, but the outfit's debut full-length Death of the Ghost definitely surpassed my expectations. Like they've been living on a steady diet of Elliott, Death of the Ghost's drifting and swirling melodies is not to be missed. Elliott is no more, but Renee is willing to keep the torch lit. Rock!
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