Best Albums you got 2008

[Elliot Kane]

What were the best albums you got in 2008?

***

Well, my list needs some major changing! I just realised some albums I thought I got last year were this year and vice versa... Horrifically, I can't have gotten more than about 20-25 albums this year! I'm WAY down on normal! At least 2009 is looking promising...

1. Surprising no-one who's noticed my signature pic, I'm sure, my #1 album this year by a very clear margin is Fearless by Taylor Swift (Yes, Kon, a country album! ;D). Not only is every song written or co-written by Taylor herself, but almost every track would be the highlight of most other albums. This thing is superb on every level and i can't recommend it enough.

2. Taylor Swift by Taylor Swift. Could have sworn I got this in 2007, but clearly not! So Taylor takes the two top spots due to being totally awesome. Pretty much everything I said about Fearless is also true of this, her debut.

3. Breakout by Miley Cyrus. Most years this would have been #1, with Miley putting in some superb vocal performances, including a great cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Excellent album.

4. Black Ice by AC/DC. Nothing here will convince anyone who is not already an AC/DC fan, but if you are then this is a great album. AC/DC rock!

5. Hayley Sings Japanese Songs by Hayley Westenra. Hayley has an utterly gorgeous floaty voice that is almost incomparable. I usually consider that 'best female voice on the planet right now' is a toss up between her and Joss Stone. Awesome album.

6. Rockferry: Deluxe by Duffy. The outstanding new Brit talent this year, Duffy came out of nowhere to own the Brit charts. For good reason - she's an incredible singer.

7. One Chance by Paul Potts. Normally, Opera has about as much chance of making my list as, well, Country... But Potts has what may just be the best voice since Mario Lanzo. Just astounding.

8. You & Me by Joe Longthorne. The long battle with throat cancer has clearly taken its toll, but Longthorne can still out-sing nearly anyone. Just a great album.

9. the Lost Gershwin by Victoria Hart. Not normally a Jazz fan,either (It's the list for unusual, this ;D}, but Victoria has that extra something... I just like her voice. Good album.

10. Pictures: 40 Years Of Hits by Status Quo. Coz a 40 song retrospective of the Quo is definitely worth a place on the list!

[SPS]

only two albums bought this year and both Weezer related but both awesome:

Weezer the Red Album- Not Weezer's best but has several really good songs.

Rivers Cuomo: Alone 2- worth purchasing just for an awesome cover of the Beach Boys Don't Worry Baby. Just wow! I cannot express how much I love it.

[Max]

Well I got a lot of albums that weren't actually released this year but I don't know if they count...

Well here's my top albums that were actually released this year:

1. Oasis- Dig Out Your Soul- For many people it's pretty 'cool' not to like Oasis post-Morning Glory period but this albums IMO is absolutely fantastic and quite an interesting new direction while still retaining the classic Oasis elements. 8/11 tracks are classics on this album and for me it blows away any other album released this year.

2. Kings of Leon- Only By The Night- I'd never listened to the KOL before this album so I can't really see why people are criticising them for 'selling out' on it. To me this album is packed with beatiful tracks from start to finish...even if I can't understand most of the lyrics being sung.

3. Paul Weller- 22 Dreams- This album is fairly hard to get into at first, it's not as instantly accesable as Wild Wood or Stanley Road, but once you do I found a great musical journey that covers a broad range of genres and as a complete package is fantastic.

[Elliot Kane]

Max - if you got it this year, it counts Seems like the best way, considering how complicated release dates can get in music

[Max]

Well in that case it would be:

1. Paul Weller- Wild Wood
2. Paul Weller- Stanley Road
3. Oasis- Dig Out Your Soul
4. Coldplay- A Rush Of Blood To The Head
5. KOL- Only By The Night
6. Paul Weller- 22 Dreams

[Ubereil]

Best of Supertramp (kind of cheating to take their whole greatest hits album, I know.): Very melodic and catchy sound spiced with exelent lyrics. Manage to create an unconventional sound using conventional methods. Ruby played a big part in me trying to activly starting to deal with my shyness this summer. Really powerful song.

The Hurting - Tears for Fears: It's heavily influenced Arthur Janov's writing, and with pulsing synthlines that grabs you and never lets go Tears for Fears sing about heavy, heavy topics. Strong.

New Traditionalists - Devo: Extremely catchy synthpop with dark undertones amongst the hooks and witty lyrics. Their verision of Working in a Coalmine is one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard, and it's definently in my top five best song ever list.

Communique - Dire Straits: Crisp, funky guitarrs and blusey lyrics. One of the most minimalistic Dire Straits albums, and I like it for that.

Broder Daniel Forever: Swedish indie band. Not the most advanced band, not the most varied band. The songs rely on heavily disted guitarrs and heavy use of cymbal heavy drumming building a wall of sound. The lyrics are all pretty simplistic, and rely heavily on repetition. They pretty much do one thing, and that's teenage anxiety. They're really good at it though. They're everything today's Emo bands wish they were, and most of all they're genuine. The album suffers from a song or two that doesn't quite fit the standard though.

Silent Shout - The Knife: Another Swedish band, relying heavily on synthezisers. Working on the darker spectrum of things they've got some pretty good songs, and a couple of good, original arrangements. Lacks a level in order to be great though.

The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge: An old 80's Darkwave band from Manchester, with a dark and dramatic sound. Most of the songs are built around the colaboration of the band's two guitarists.

Best of Fleetwood Mac: Lots of pretty good pop songs, with Gypsy and The Chain being my personal favorites. Nothing really touching though. Fleetwood Mac might be worth checking out in more detail.

The Best of Yazoo: Catchy synthpop. They've got good hooks but the songs fails to go on the deep and therefore doesn't make that much of an impression.

Mark Knopfler - Sailing to Philadelphia (Started listening to it this year, though I've heard it earlier.): A couple of good songs. But no great songs.

Übereil

[Flix]

Agalloch - The White: Taking a break from their usual doomy, grey metal to release a fragile folk music journey.

Opeth - Watershed: Dense and difficult to get into right away, and might be a break in their momentum, but still an excellent release from my favorite band.

Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thundergod: Triumphant, conquering viking metal.

Jex Thoth - Jex Thoth: Stoner music meets doom metal. Slow, pulsing, and smoky, with an excellent female singer.

Ayreon - 01011001: A bit ambitious and over the top progressive metal concept album with a myriad of guest singers from other metal acts. It's hit and miss, but the hits are mind-blowing.

Meshuggah - Obzen: Pounding, inorganic, brutal, and machine-like in its precision. I have to be in the right mood.

Primordial - To the Nameless Dead: Passionate celtic-themed folk metal.

Metallica - Death Magnetic: Not bad at all, old boys. Metallica regains some focus and redeems their St. Anger days somewhat.

Funeral - As the Light Does the Shadow: Crushing, majestic, monolithic. Again, takes the right mood to get this doomy.

Kaki King - Dreaming of Revenge: My only non-metal entry. Kaki started as a solo acoustic guitar act and now has a layered sound with percussion, keyboards, bass, and all kinds of guitars. Dreamy and flowing at times, percussive and upbeat at others. Good stuff.

[Lews]

Bought?

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Downloaded?

Tiesto Discography
Rammstein Discography
Girl Talk Discography

Most listened to Artist:
Rammstein

Most Listened to Song: Still Alive - Portal. Thanks to SPS for pointing that one out to me.

Most listened to Album: Tranceport - Paul Oakenfold

[kitty]

Metallica - Death Magnetic only album I actually got, any other new music I listen to on youtube.

Love the tallica album btw.

[Alrik]

... and winter came ...

... by Enya ...

- We know what we like - orchestral versions of Genesis music. Sought for more than 10 years for it, found it recently at ebay.

- Live over europe by the same group

Since I don't buy many music records in a year, that's all of my personal "best ones".

The music industry would classify me as a "sleeper".

[Elliot Kane]

Updated my list, though it is not yet necessarily complete...