[dihansse]

And two albums of 1998 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Without You I'm Nothing (1998) by Placebo
One of those band I used to like more than I do now and this album is the typical example. Of course Pure Morning or Burger Queen are good songs but I wouldn't describe them as essential any more and as a whole their albums get a bit repititive not in the least because of Brian Molko's voice. That is why this album still deserves its place in my year chart but it remains at the 48th rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Slain By Urusei Yatsura (1998) by Urusei Yatsura
Unfortunately I could only listen to this album via Youtube because not available on Apple Music. I'm gradually discovering this band and I know many people regard this album as their best but I don't. It has a lot of energy but in many cases the songs sound a bit cartoonish, a feeling I don't have with We Are Urusei Yatsura which I like better. But still a good one and it enters at the 28th rank in my year chart.

[dihansse]

These are two albums of 1999 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Leisure Noise (1999) by Gay Dad
One of those artists/albums I quite liked at the time they were released but didn't really feel the urge to listen back to it also because not much was heard of them after this one. And maybe rightly so: there is really nothing special about this album although it contains some listenable songs. Not great but ok and it goes from the 57th to the 52nd rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

In New Zealand (1999) by Barbara Manning
Where Barbara Manning went of to New Zealand with her "backing band" Calexico to meet and absorb her favorite kiwi artists and came up with this album which I quite like. Maybe Aramoana is a bit too long being based on a fairly basic motive but in general I quite like the songs here. Not great but a good album from this artist who likes doing her own thing and I respect her for that. The album lands at the 55th rank of the year.

[dihansse]

For the year 2000 there's only an album I already own/know I listened to (there are no more albums on my wishlist):

The Hour Of Bewilderbeast (2000) by Badly Drawn Boy
If only this album could be a bit shorter. There are very good tracks to be found here in which the songwriters craft of Damon Gough is really obvious with as best examples Everybody's Stalking, Once Around The Block and Pissing In the Wind but there are many tracks I really don't like at all. So all in all this remains a bit of a mixed bag which moves up from the 62nd to the 45th rank.

[dihansse]

Just as an aside, yesterday I went to see a Bob Mould concert where he performed with a three man band which was great but there was a bit of a sound problem where I was standing (in the front of course), a bit muddled. The main reason of the gig was to promote his new album and in general the biggest part of the concert was taken up by songs from his latest albums which he played hard and loud but somehow didn't completely connect. This means he played nothing from his older albums and nothing from Sugar. But near the end of course the Hüsker Dü classics came with a great version of Celebrated Summer and also of Flip You Wig. So all in all a good concert but somehow I felt it could have been better as a concert of one of my musical heroes. I saw him also live in 2012 and at that concert I remember he played lots of Sugar songs.

This was the set list (the ones with an asterisk are from Here We Go Crazy)
Star Machine
The Descent
Neanderthal *
Here We Go Crazy *
You Need To Shine *
Fur Mink Augurs *
The Ocean
Daddy’s Favorite
Black Confetti
Next Generation
American Crisis
Fireball
Forecast Of Rain
I Don’t Know You Anymore
You Say Yout
Hardly Getting Over It
Celebrated Summer
Hard To Get *
When Your Heart Is Broken *
The War
Flip Your Wig
Hate Paper Doll
Chartered Trips
Something I Learned Today
Makes No Sense At All

[dihansse]

Also for 2001 I only listened to one album (I already own/know):

Southern Rock Opera (2001) by Drive-By Truckers
The one thing you can say about this album that it has great story telling especially about the southern thing with all the duality that comes with it and the bands that were involved in it like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet with also a big comment on George Wallace. And also musically it has it great moments like Ronnie and Neil, Life In The Factory, Greenville to Baton Rouge or Angels an Fuselage although the album is maybe a bit too long to remain interesting the whole time. But still an album you simply have to check out if you haven't done that yet although it descends from the 14th to the 26th rank on my 2001 year chart.

[dihansse]

And two albums of 2002 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Are You Passionate? (2002) by Neil Young
Again a fairly average album of Neil Young in my opinion were it not for that excellent outlier Goin' Home which rocks on like his best tracks. The album as a whole is just ok and maybe a bit the opposite of its title because Neil is a bit too much on automatic pilot here and this album goes from the 39th to 34th rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Riot Act (2002) by Pearl Jam
One of those PJ albums I haven't listened to but their sound is so familiar it immediately connects and I must admit I quite like the guitar driven sound of songs like Save You, Love Boat Captain, All Or None, Ghost and especially I Am Mine. The album immediately enters at the 31st rank of the year.

[dihansse]

These are two albums of 2003 I listened to:
First an album I already own/know:

Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (2003) by Shout Out Louds
And another one of those albums I liked when I bought it but never really returned to it. It's clear that this will never by an absolute favorite album of mine because a bit too poppy but Very Loud, There's Nothing, End Up Behind and Never Ever still sound absolutely fine. The album goes from the 45th to the 27th rank of the year.

And an album from my wishlist:

Whenever You're Ready (2003) by Swell
In fact this is an album I already own but dropped from my year charts so hereby it gets another chance. The band is clearly less inspired here than on some of their previous albums and it's also much too long to keep anyone's interest. Not that all tracks are just ok: their very laidback sound sometimes results in something good like on Word Gifts or In The Morning. But there's simply too little to make this a great album. So we'll stick with an average album which enters my year chart at the 60th rank.

[dihansse]

Two albums of 2004 I listened to:

First an album I already own/know:

Shadows Collide With People (2004) by John Frusciante
Where he sounds the most like RHCP, there are good songs to be found but that happens only a few times. A lot of the tracks are filler in my opinion and that why it doesn't end very high although it goes from the 68th to the 49th rank.

And an album from my wishlist:

Mississauga Goddam (2004) by The Hidden Cameras
Notwithstanding their crass gay lyrics this music sounds incredibly infectious and in the end that is what counts so it enters my year chart at the 39th rank.

[dihansse]

Only an album I already own/know from 2005:

Leaders Of The Free World (2005) by Elbow
Still a surprisingly good album from a band which is in my opinion not as good anymore than they used to be, for example on this album. The title tracks is great and there are many other goodies here so the album goes from the 73rd to the 53rd rank of the year.