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The 2009 Year-End Crazy Ambition
Member Since: 11/4/2006
Posts: 37,808
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Yeahs Yeahs Yeahs, AFI and Paramore! good list!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/24/2004
Posts: 12,563
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YYY ![worship](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/korn0818/971600d3.gif) I actually havn't listen to new Paramore as much as I wanted to. Your top five should set this place on fire. Bring it.
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Member Since: 2/22/2008
Posts: 46,108
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Brand New Eyes is sick. Why haven't i heard Crash Love? Shoot me ![laugh](images/smilies/images/smilies/laugh.gif)
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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Well, you need to hear it now. ![:-!](images/smilies/images/smilies/aol_foot-in-mouth.gif)
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 3/19/2008
Posts: 37,076
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I haven't heard Julian Casablancas', AFI's or YYY's albums yet, but hello? Why wouldn't they be good? ![Randy](images/smilies/images/smilies/bestsmileyever.gif) Paramore's, on the other hand, is all great.
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Member Since: 9/3/2006
Posts: 27,884
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Brand New Eyes ![clap](http://home.arcor.de/smiliez/smz/1074.gif)
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/26/2001
Posts: 22,475
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The 2009 YECA: Top Ten Albums of 2009 (5-3)
Time to go with the next three albums of the top ten. You should know #5. After that, however...good luck.
Way back in May, this was, by far, my favorite album of 2009. Every song just hit me in a different, yet satisfying way. Even the "lesser" songs, like the first single "Know Your Enemy", had a charm to them that couldn't be ignored. However, time has really not been kind to this album. Well, and the whole "four albums came out that were better" thing. That is NOT to say that this album became bad for me, though. Far from it; this is still easily one of my favorite albums of 2009. It's just that it could have been so much more than it is. Many people have pointed out that this album has songs that either sound a bit too much like American Idiot-era Green Day, or they sound like rip-offs of other bands' songs. I wouldn't go as far to call some songs "rip-offs", but there's a definite feeling that this album was an excuse for Green Day to relive American Idiot in 2009, even after the target of American Idiot is no longer in a position of power.
It's just a relief that some songs on the album rise past the accusations and chatter about how Green Day played it safe. "Christian's Inferno" blazes so quickly that it almost doesn't sound like a Green Day song until the chorus. "Before the Lobotomy" is one of the very few songs that harkened back to American Idiot that changed JUST enough for it to stand on its own, and the last portion of the song is one of my favorites of 2009. "East Jesus Nowhere" is so catchy that it might as well have a place ready in the Catchy Hall of Fame now. And that's without mentioning "Murder City", which is such a blast to listen to, as if it is a combination of every sound of Green Day's past in the form of a three minute song. Which, to me, is what this album is all about: It's a way for Green Day to relive their past, and it definitely does work on quite a large portion of the album. I just wish that it distanced itself ENOUGH from its past to truly make it something special.
Favorite Songs: Murder City, Christian's Inferno, Before the Lobotomy, Restless Heart Syndrome
![](http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/TobiasIsGod/YECA%202009/4.png)
![](http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/TobiasIsGod/YECA%202009/misdirect.jpg)
I could write an essay about just how amazing and mind-blowing this album truly is. I will spare you the essay, at least, but I have to talk about one of the most eye-opening experiences of 2009 for yours truly. This is my first large taste of Between the Buried and Me. I have had prior experiences with them, though: "Prequel to the Sequel" is one of the most epic songs of the decade. While that song was epic, though, this entire album is nothing short of epic song after epic song. Only ONE song (and I'm not counting "Mirrors", since it mainly serves as an introduction to the album) goes less than nine minutes long, and none of the super long songs feel as long as their length suggest. I have to point out one thing, however: this band is NOT for everyone. Their vocals, to put it mildly, are of the screaming variety. While their vocals will definitely put quite a few people off, once you get past the lyrics, you have a musical masterpiece awaiting you.
"Obfuscation" harkens back to "Prequel to the Sequel", and provides, most likely, the most accessible song on the album. "Disease, Injury, Madness" follows, and this song provides the true mastery of Between the Buried and Me. Very few bands can, honestly, say they can create such intricate master works that change as often as Between the Buried and Me, and "Disease, Injury, Madness" is tempo change after tempo change after tempo change. You never once have a chance to breathe. "Swim to the Moon" is BtBaM's answer to Dream Theater's long pieces, done in a distinctly Between the Buried and Me manner. This song, above all others, is the one that will be hardest for the average Joe to get into, but it is also the song that may be the most rewarding. After listening to the EIGHTEEN MINUTES LONG song, you feel as if you have experienced something beyond just music, and this whole album is about those experiences. You feel them in the constant tempo changes in "Disease, Injury, Madness", the technical intracacies of "Swim to the Moon" and the truly brutal sounds of "Fossil Genera". Welcome to the world of Between the Buried and Me. We hope you enjoy your bumpy ride.
Favorite Songs: Disease, Injury, Madness, Fossil Genera, Obfuscation, Swim to the Moon
![](http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/TobiasIsGod/YECA%202009/3.png)
![](http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/TobiasIsGod/YECA%202009/desperate.jpg)
From one band that generally screams, we come to another, but they could not be any more different. Whereas Between the Buried and Me relies on technical prowess and music mastery to provide the spark, HORSE the band relies on just being that much DIFFERENT than everyone else. There are very few bands as unique as HORSE the band, with their insistence on using 8-bit Nintendo sounds to help accentuate the blazing music that drives HORSE the band. Desperate Living sounds like it's going to be just another Nintendocore album from the band, a genre that, admittedly, they have perfected, but it becomes so much more than that as you listen to the album repeatedly and notice that this album is attempting to do something more than any album of its kind: surrounded by its 8-bit sounds and semi-ridiculous lyrics, Desperate Living is trying to mean something.
"Desperate Living" is the first true sign that this album is not meant to be taken as their other albums were. The tension is palpable, and the fury is truly fiery. From this moment, you realize that the days of "Birdo" are long gone. HORSE the band has gotten *serious*. "The Failure of All Things" follows, and it is, quite simply, one of the most brutal and polarizing songs of the year. It doesn't just blaze, it goes out of its way to play harder and meaner with your brain. Two songs, though, define the album for me, and they, also, follow back to back. "Between the Trees" just sounds more ominous than anything HORSE the band has created prior. There's tension to be had, whereas with songs like "Birdo", there was more of a focus of fun and joviality. "Shapeshift" is, I would argue, the most serious song in the entire HORSE the band discography, even when you take into account the silly lyrics at certain points. It's HORSE the band's take at actually trying to sound *gasp* MAINSTREAM...or, at the very least, HORSE the band's idea of mainstream. It is, at the same time, brutally gorgeous and gorgeously brutal, and it inspires a wave of emotions that cannot be accurately described.
With Desperate Living, HORSE the band has created an album that finally, once and for all, separates them from their fellow Nintendocore brethren. It pulls punches left and right, keeps you on your toes, and ALWAYS keeps you guessing. The silly lyrics and the Nintendo sounds are still there, but this isn't the same band that provided a look at a certain "Birdo" four years ago. This band is trying to go for something more, something substantial, and this album is a much-welcomed start down that road.
Favorite Songs: Shapeshift, Desperate Living, Between the Trees, The Failure of All Things
And we're down to two. If you know me at all, you know who the top two are. But who pulled out the #1 spot? Is there REALLY any suspense to be had? I will be posting the top two later tonight, so be on the lookout!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 9/24/2001
Posts: 7,772
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UltimateRedSky (8:00:24 PM): I have a feeling that, with my latest post
UltimateRedSky (8:00:34 PM): people are going to be saying a lot of "Green Day!"
Yes, because I don't care about the rest,.
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Member Since: 10/28/2008
Posts: 22,771
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Member Since: 10/3/2009
Posts: 35,844
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21st century breakdown ![:)](http://www.atrl.net/forums/images/smilies/images/smilies/smile.gif)
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Member Since: 3/2/2008
Posts: 17,012
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Green Day ![clap](http://home.arcor.de/smiliez/smz/1074.gif)
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Member Since: 4/30/2002
Posts: 3,522
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obviously i need to start buying cd's man, cause I am definitely slacking. but sadly i wasn't too into some of the stuff I heard off the new green day CD. and how about davey from AFI's makeover? wasn't feeling that at all. BUT another one of your top 10 CDs did produce a top 20 hit on my year end countdown...which one!?!?!
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Member Since: 2/26/2006
Posts: 62,897
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I like your review of 21st Century Breakdown.
Murder City is one of the best songs of the album.
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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I'm finally downloading HORSE the band.
If any of you haven't heard the new AFI CD, or you don't like it, you're obviously ****ing chickens. It's pretty obvious where it landed on my list.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 6/9/2002
Posts: 6,789
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I really am not a fan of 21st Century Breakdown (imo, it's the bad, contractually obligated sequel to American Idiot. The Caddyshack 2 to American Idiot's Caddyshack), and I have yet to hear the other two albums. I remember digging some of HORSE the band's stuff like "Birdo", and their TMNT cover. I should really give the new album a listen.
Your writeups are stellar, btw. KEEP KILLING IT, RED!
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 11/6/2002
Posts: 10,641
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I've only heard the Green Day album. I'm really behind on a lot of albums and those other 2 are ones I need to hear.
Keep up the great job Ryan.
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Member Since: 6/24/2008
Posts: 21,950
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Green Day <333
"Murder City" is definitely one of the best songs of the new album ![worship](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/korn0818/971600d3.gif)
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Member Since: 1/20/2009
Posts: 17,143
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OMG Im not the only one in love with HORSE the band ![love](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/korn0818/ATRLSmilies/2f546ae2.gif) Thats awesome ![clap3](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/korn0818/67d90ee8.gif)
Green Day ![worship](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/korn0818/971600d3.gif)
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Member Since: 6/2/2009
Posts: 7,105
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GD ![party](images/smilies/images/smilies/party.gif)
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 7/24/2004
Posts: 12,563
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I have to agree with Ben here. Green Day's new album is really not their best comparing to their past albums. I'm anxious to see your top two sir!
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