Listed below are the best albums of 2009 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"Fantastic album that rewards multiple listens. Be Calm is brilliant, I Wanna Be the One has an infectious hop in its step, Light a Roman Candle With Me is perfected love pop and The Gambler is an excellent use of gospel choirs"Reply
"This album seems to rest somewhere between Octavarium and Systematic Chaos. It's more mature than SC but not quite as soft and atmospheric as 8V; it still packs a punch. One thing that stands out on this album are the melodies, especially in songs like A Nightmare to Remember and The Best of Time...""This album seems to rest somewhere between Octavarium and Systematic Chaos. It's more mature than SC but not quite as soft and atmospheric as 8V; it still packs a punch. One thing that stands out on this album are the melodies, especially in songs like A Nightmare to Remember and The Best of Times. Wither is a nice song in the Forsaken and Another Day vein; solid second-song material. The album is book-ended by two of DT's best epics (even though Tuscany is kinda cheesy)."[+]Reply
"Sadly it and "Avocado" fall into the "generic version of themselves" category that most artists end up doing during their career. Riot Act and Binaural are leagues better."Reply
"I like how accessible this album is too! The songs are small and easy to listen too. Definitely worth the days I counted down for the release date!"Reply
"It's a poor man's Oracular Spectacular, which isn't as much of an insult as it sounds but the parallels are out there. Sleepyhead and The Reeling are catchy little pop tunes that will probably remind you of MGMT's Time to Pretend and Kids. Hopefully they'll get to stretch their legs a little more...""It's a poor man's Oracular Spectacular, which isn't as much of an insult as it sounds but the parallels are out there. Sleepyhead and The Reeling are catchy little pop tunes that will probably remind you of MGMT's Time to Pretend and Kids. Hopefully they'll get to stretch their legs a little more in the next album because the lack of variety gets grating after a few songs. No matter what it's still miles ahead of that Foster the People album from last year."[+]Reply
"This time around they come with crisper production and a few heightened gimmicks. Fortunately for them, all the gimmicks work, starting with the title track, "I and love and you", the love-song-by-addition which reflects the popular i-heart-NY t-shirt directed specifically at brooklyn. It's the b...""This time around they come with crisper production and a few heightened gimmicks. Fortunately for them, all the gimmicks work, starting with the title track, "I and love and you", the love-song-by-addition which reflects the popular i-heart-NY t-shirt directed specifically at brooklyn. It's the ballad brother to ryan adams's "new york, new york". The other gimmicky songs are just as good. "kick drum heart" simulates the singer's love through a kick drum at the chorus. "slight figure of speech" has a stop-start quality and energy that recalls ben folds's playfulness abruptly jumping into a white-boy-"rap" at the bridge. This is probably the avett brothers at their peak -- enjoy."[+]Reply
"Still need to think about this a little longer but yeah, I feel like this might be a 10. It's literally perfect from beginning to end. The production was spotless, not a single song was too long, and Mos's rhymes were just on another level. Music is supposed to move you right? Well this shit sent...""Still need to think about this a little longer but yeah, I feel like this might be a 10. It's literally perfect from beginning to end. The production was spotless, not a single song was too long, and Mos's rhymes were just on another level. Music is supposed to move you right? Well this shit sent me to another planet.
Oh, and the Slick Rick feature was great too.
Best song(s): the entire album"[+]Reply
"Great follow up to, limbo panto. Two dancers, is a slightly more reserved, if that's the right word, but in a good way. I'm probably trying to say that this album is a lot less bonkers than the first one. Still, two dancers, is great with strong cuts in, hooting and howling, and, this is our lot....""Great follow up to, limbo panto. Two dancers, is a slightly more reserved, if that's the right word, but in a good way. I'm probably trying to say that this album is a lot less bonkers than the first one. Still, two dancers, is great with strong cuts in, hooting and howling, and, this is our lot. Wild beasts are one of the most original band's to come out of England in a while, and this is one of their best LP's. "[+]Reply
"I think this is Franz Ferdinand's best. I may be alone in that opinion, but that's okay: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think people who've fallen in love with the band's unpolished debut have every right to recoil from their change in sound; in fact, this and their debut are two very di...""I think this is Franz Ferdinand's best. I may be alone in that opinion, but that's okay: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think people who've fallen in love with the band's unpolished debut have every right to recoil from their change in sound; in fact, this and their debut are two very different albums, and I am about to judge this one on it's own terms.
On this album, catchy songs are abundant, but not the point. Alex Kapranos' knack for expressive vocals really shines on the first track, Ulysses. He sings as if his voice is an instrument - the dynamics just as important as the tune. It's what elevates it from a mere pop song into an expressive wonder, and it's production and polish add to the flavour, rather than detract from it. Turn It On and No You Girls are similarly bolstered from the production - this time benefitting from the atmosphere the songs set - an atmosphere that will carry the album. Send Him Away's time signature keeps this part of the album fresh, but ultimately is only good, and not great.
But then we run into Twilight Omens, a fantastic combination of dirty organ, powerful drums, and a vocal line that never commits itself to a single melody: it flows up and down, and always settles on a satisfying final note that completes the charm of the song. The cleanliness of the vocals makes a wonderful counterpoint to the main organ line.
Bite Hard starts gorgeous and ends awesome. What She Came For starts awesome and ends AMAZING with the heaviest Franz Ferdinand's ever been. What She Came For is especially unique in its melody of half-steps, and it's pulled off really, really well.
Live Alone and Can't Stop Feeling are the only truly forgettable songs off the album, and even Live Alone has a chorus that's good enough for one not to notice when listening to the album in one go (which is how any album should be played anyway). So what happens when the band realizes that they're losing their audience? A stroke of genius - write a curveball song that ends in an electronic symphony of bassy programmable cacophony that slowly takes over the drums - not only utterly fantastic, but very symbolic of today's world. And it's the first of three songs that make this album truly unique.
Dream Again is unlike any Franz song you've ever heard, for better or worse. Who knew a band like Franz Ferdinand could be so experimental? A tinkling of chimes, scattered handclaps, midi keyboards, and even a theremin solo all drenched in reverb make the song a treat to listen to with headphones. It slows the ending of the album to a pace which can be absorbed properly and leads nicely into it's total stylistic opposite - Katherine Kiss Me. The final song is nothing but a heartfelt acoustic guitar line with a piano solo at the end - not unlike the interludes present in You Could Have It So Much Better. It's moody, but somehow optimistic at the same time. As an ending, in my opinion at least, it's a wise choice: there's nothing more satisfying than reaching the end of an album and feeling a need to experience it all over again. The pacing is perfect - begin with a tune that starts as quiet as the ending of the album, but quickly becomes as loud and catchy as the middle. Then reach the end of the album and realize that the beginning follows perfectly afterwards. It's part of the reason Octavarium was so appealing to me.
So all in all, you have an album that's as appealing to an insightful listener as to a casual one. An album that has polish for good reason, but isn't afraid to get it's hands dirty if need be. An album that has a singer who's dynamics are astounding, and a creative masterpiece that should certainly be given a second look.
In case you wanted to know, my first Franz album was the debut, and I loved that album very much when this one came out. But I kept my mind open, and am very thankful for doing so."[+]Reply