I love your taste, but especially Sigur Ros and Come On Eileen

Arabella, The Golden Age, Peek-A-Boo and of course Come On Eileen, one of the many reasons why I love the film The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

nice old songs definitely a classics

Come On Eileen's eternal impact When will Relax


This was the year I got into Deafheaven, so hopefully them hitting you on this list is foreshadowing for this year's album to show up.

Arabella was one of my favorites off AM and any list that has Montell Jordan is an A+ list.

Come On Eileen. What a catchy oldie.

Why You Always Lying?

Come On Eileen

Can't wait to see more There's some great albums + artists + songs I see in the OP.

Arabella, Come On Eileen

As always, thanks for replying, everyone! The amount of love for "Come On Elieen" warms my heart, it really does...especially from you, Rem! I don't know why it surprised me that you liked that song, but it did. I might be confusing you for someone else, though...


I'm trying to picture how people would dance to "Come On Elieen". I'm not sure if I want to know.

As an aside, thank you, those of you who have praised my graphics for this year's YECA. I'm way too hard on myself, so I think they don't look that great, but I always appreciate when people are less critical than I am.

I don't know if you're going to run out of Lauren gifs or not, but for my sake, I really hope you don't.

As someone who has only really barely scratched the surface with Siouxsie, where would you recommend that I start, albums-wise? Or if not with albums, songs?

Deafheaven might show up somewhere...


Okay, here's the deal: I was going to use the albums layout from last year, but I don't have access to the layout as of right now. If I can find a way to get that layout without having to do TOO much work, I should be able to post the first update for the Albums list shortly. Otherwise, it may take a while. Regardless, I will have the first update up today! Huzzah.

EDIT: Okay, Razzle has helped me out *tremendously* by being able to go back into last year's thread and pull the code for last year's layout for me. Rem, I appreciate you, technically, giving me the tools to go forward with a different layout, and I LIKED that layout choice, but god, I adore last year's "Red's brief period taking part in atrlcritic"-esque layout too much not to use it again...



















This was a pretty good year for female vocal performances in rock, but no one was more vibrant and more forceful than Brittany Howard. Sound & Color is her masterwork, the moment where she evolves from a good singer to a singer that no one can possibly ignore. Her performance can be nuanced, it can be emotional, it can be powerful, and it can be absolutely in your face. "Don't Wanna Fight" is a perfect example of how powerful Howard's vocal performance is throughout Sound & Color. The first time you hear Howard on the track, she's shrieking into the microphone. She's practically DARING you not to notice her, and, as you'll notice when listening to this album, it's pretty hard not to. But as great as Brittany Howard is, her bandmates are also up to the challenge, helping her out with some really fine grooves and instrumentals throughout. I really hope that the Shakes keep at it, because they have the potential to release something even better than this.


















I desperately wanted to lavish love on The Wonder Years in this particular blurb. I wanted to talk about how hard "Cardinals" hit me, and how hard "Cigarettes & Saints" hit me, and how hard their latest album No Closer To Heaven hit me. The problem, though, is that only two of those three statements would be true. "Cardinals" is, indeed, one of my favorite songs of 2015, and "Cigarettes & Saints" is shaping up to be a solid contender for 2016. The rest of the album that those tracks are on just doesn't quite hit as hard. Are there some good tracks outside of the two big tracks? Yeah, sure. "A Song For Ernest Hemingway", "Stained Glass Ceilings" and "Palm Reader" are all enjoyable. But none of those songs have the same power to them as "Cardinals" or "Cigarettes & Saints". I guess that just means I'll lavish my love on those tracks and not the album itself. C'est la vie.


















Well, I can't say that FKA twigs hasn't scared me and aroused me all over again with her third EP, M3LL155X, though it's definitely a...different kind of scare and arousal. The focus is now more on the gorgeous, wondrous vocals of Tahliah Barnett, who relishes the chance to take center stage and shine. "Glass & Patron" is perhaps the only song on the album where the instrumental seems to overwhelm Tahliah, but even then, Tahliah definitely gets her chance to shine. Elsewhere, you have "I'm Your Doll", where the sexiness of twigs' voice is at an all-time high, and "In Time" features my favorite vocal performance on the album. The only issue I have is that...well, it's an EP, so it only has a few songs, instead of an album's worth, which prevents M3LL155X from being higher on the list. Make no mistake, though: This EP has me eagerly anticipating twigs' second LP. Yes, it seems as if I like being scared and aroused at the same time. Blame Tahliah.


















Sigh. I want to like Deafheaven more than I actually do. I really appreciate what the band is doing with their sound, overwhelming the listener by being as loud and as forceful as possible, while also mixing in some much-needed harmony and melody. And, to be sure, there's a lot to like about New Bermuda. It keeps up the momentum for the band coming off of their critically acclaimed album Sunbather, and, in many ways, it's a natural progression from the showgaze of the previous album into a darker, bleaker follow-up. My issue with Deafheaven is a little iffy, I guess, but it's an issue nonetheless: I can't see the band ever topping "Dream House" off of Sunbather. They certainly didn't top it on New Bermuda, and, even though it's kind of lame to do so, I held that against New Bermuda's quality. I wanted to see the band strive for even bigger and broader metal, instead of focusing on going bleaker and deeper into the pit. It's still a really good album...that is also clearly not for everyone. And if you are wondering why I would say that...just listen to "Brought to the Water".


















"Marilyn Manson is back!" Well, except for the fact that Manson never really left. He just wasn't quite as good or as impactful as he once was. There's probably a multitude of reasons for that, but I believe the problem for Manson was simple: He let his heart get a little less black. In other words, Manson just got a little TOO soft for his own good. He was still releasing good material, but nothing mind-blowing. Love can do that to anyone, really. Cue "Deep Six". That groove, Manson screaming and sounding angry...holy ****. The album, The Pale Emperor, would follow, and it's exactly what I was hoping for in the wake of "Deep Six". While it's not the Manson I grew up with, exactly, quite a few hallmarks of the old Manson are here, particularly how brooding and groovy the album is as a whole. It almost reminds me of a more laid back Mechanical Animals. It's not nearly as quick or as forceful, but it ups the groove to infinity, just as Mechanical Animals did.


First set for the albums list is done and dusted. Up next is albums 15-11, and you're damn right that I'm going to preview it, despite pretty much giving away the albums that will appear on this list with the banner. I am nothing if not predictable. The next set features not one, not two, but THREE pop albums (one by a Red Crush, one by an artist who has made this list in the past, and one who, quite frankly, surprised the hell out of me), a rock album featuring a female singer that shares the first name of one of the pop artists in this upcoming set, and, not connected in any way to the other four albums, an album by a prog-metal band. Because naturally. See you all then.

FKA

M3LL155X is dope tbh

FKA twigs

I want to give the Alabama Shakes album a listen

I really wanted to check out the MM album but never did

I didn't like Melissa though, it seems like everyone loved it though I just thought the songs themselves were leftovers which she just stuffed with useless production tricks/studio magic.

FKA

I need to listen to Alabama Shakes and I didn't know Marilyn Manson released this year

Honestly...that argument makes complete and total sense. I definitely feel like M3LL155X could be a case of an artist just brainwashing us into liking something that's inferior to what she just released a year prior. (For the record, I do think it's inferior, but it's also much shorter than LP1, so that's not all that difficult, either...but yeah. )

As an aside, yes, you (and everyone else) need to check out new Manson. It's just so god damn groovy.

The top 15 of the past has some great tracks... loving Arctic Monkeys and Silversun Pickups! Dots and Dashes is actually in my Top 3 of the album, it has an amazing melody and is super catchy. And of course, Come On Eileen. Absolute classic

I still need to check out FKA's EP but it's on my list. I just have to be in a certain mood and feel very patient when I listen to her and I haven't had the time to do that yet.

Gosh your personality is just superb

Loving the list a lot (oop this was about the throwbacks)

About the current one, I don't know many (#toogenericofataste #lookforwhoistan), but I'll probably check em out at the songs lists if you'll include them I kind of need to get into Alabama Shakes, right?