UK Times Online just listed the 100 best pop albums of this century (but remember, we’ve still got one year with hopefully loads of good tunes coming up).
Here’s the top 10:
1. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
2. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (2006)
3. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
4. Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
5. Britney Spears – Blackout (2007)
6. The Strokes – Is This It? (2001)
7. Richard Hawley – Coles Corner (2005)
8. The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)
9. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (2007)
10. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (2008)
Around the turn of the century, MTV would air segments during commercial breaks called You Hear It First. Bands like Tegan & Sara, The Strokes, and Kings of Leon were covered as they were all about to breakthrough. Another profiled was a band with a female lead singer, competently masking their Swedish upbringing through a new wave revival. They were (and are) The Sounds. They have stuck to their formula, and this proves to be detrimental for their latest album, «Crossing the Rubicon».
We’ve all heard it before. With «My Lover», the situation comes dangerously close to entering «You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)» territory, this after its Doogie Howser opening. «4 Songs & A Fight» could have come from Bloc Party’s debut. Then there are cringe worthy play on words and expressions, such as «My Lover»’s «I know you wanna beat my lover», and «Come on bring that beatbox back» in «Beatbox».
«Home is Where the Heart Is» sounds more akin to The Bravery than New Order. Featuring lines such as «Find where you belong, start to take control, show a little soul/Then you feel who you are», the syrupy lyrics pour off the plate, off the table, and onto the floor. Another interchangeable song, «Dorchester Hotel», actually spins an interesting enough tale of a woman going to a meet a man for a hopeful romantic rendezvous. This all gets bogged down by the tired chords and keyboards washing over it.
Rubicon isn’t a horrible album through and through. There are some glimmers of hope here. Final track «Goodnight Freddy» may be the album’s best. The instrumental features subtle keys before a satisfying finish that brings back the full band in tow. «Midnight Sun» features a Church-inspired acoustic section with an unforced anthem of a chorus. But these moments are far and few between.
It’s one thing to play off of inspiration. All musicians, all artists for that matter, are inspired by something out there. But they should take that inspiration and create something new and fresh. Pay tribute to your heroes, but don’t emulate them. On Rubicon, The Sounds have a tendency to come across as an ’80s cover band. Lead singer Maja Ivarsson’s vocals sound like Debbie Harry at one moment, then Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio the next. Latter-day pop divas like Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne chime in, too. At this rate, no one will ever accuse anyone of sounding like Ivarsson in the near future.
Ultimately, a few good songs and good production (the balance of music and vocals is well-done) make up for uninspired songwriting that is the downfall of the album. The Sounds have amassed a cult following over the past few years, and their loyal fans will probably find more to like than most. For the previously unimpressed, look elsewhere.
Metric is a four piece band formed in NYC that has been based at various times in Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and London. Their fourth full length studio album «Fantasies» is a much anticipated follow up to 2005′s highly acclaimed «Live it out». «Fantasies» was written by the band in a farmhouse outside Seattle, and by frontwoman Emily Haines in exile in Argentina. The album was recorded at guitarist Jimmy Shaw’s own Giant Studio in Toronto and mixed at Electric Lady in NYC by Grammy winner John O’Mahony (Coldplay, The Strokes). A densely textured modern mix of psychedelia, electro and rock, this album s dream like quality stays true to the band’s aesthetic while venturing into more accessible musical territory.
One of Rolling Stone’s top 100 albums of the decade, Rated R from Queens Of The Stone Age marks its 10th anniversary with the expanded, two-CD Rated R – Deluxe Edition, released August 3, 2010. Added to the original album is a second disc with six B-sides and the band’s memorable summer 2000 Reading Festival […]
