THE TOP 52 ALBUMS OF 2013: Or, How To Cop Out Like A Sonofabitch
I'm sorry.
I just can't do it this year. I just can't make myself give a fuck. About any of these albums; even the ones I like.
I hastily whipped together a list at the end of November with the intent of writing entries for it and publishing it on this blog on Monday (Dec. 16), but as I looked down the list, a few things started to happen. One, I must have been high when I came up with the order, which meant two: I'd have to put a lot of thought and effort into ranking albums one over the other that Three: I HAVEN'T LISTENTED TO IN OVER SIX MONTHS. Half the shit on here I got because of a name brand: Flotsam And Jetsam. Mindless Self Indulgence. Sepultura. Jay-Z. Fates Warning. I've reached critical mass, and I can't take it anymore.
It also doesn't help a lot of these albums aren't memorable in the slightest. Some of them might actually even suck. There are at least fifteen that are worth picking up if you're looking for good music. But everything in the middle is so boring I just can't take it anymore.
Thing is though, it's also not like I can't think of anything to write about them. I've written four pages on the bottom fourteen alone. But none of it matters. It's not exactly dishonest writing I did; I agree with the observations, but it's all so...clinical. If I don't care, why should you?
I'm starting to think being a critic ain't such a hot gig after all.
And that's another thing. This year end music blog has become much more of an obligation than a fun thing. It's NEVER been like that before. And I don't blame anyone reading this (all 10 or 12 of you; I love you dearly), I put that pressure on myself. And that pressure won't go away until I post...SOMETHING. (Believe me, I've tried.)
So I figured I'd say what I really feel. I feel like I couldn't give a fuck about this list even if you PAID me to. There are some good albums on here, but right now, I'm just gonna put the list up. In alphabetical order. I'm sorry if you were looking forward to this, but to do it any other way would be dishonest to myself, and probably drive me even further up a wall then I've already pushed myself. So here it is, The Top 52 Albums Of 2013:
A Pale Horse Named Death "Lay My Soul To Waste" | Alice In Chains "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" | Alter Bridge "Fortress" | And So I Watch You From Afar "All Hail Bright Futures" | Anup Sastry "Ghost" | Bad Religion "True North" | Chris Duarte Group "My Soul Alone" | Clutch "Earth Rocker" | Coheed & Cambria "The Afterman: Descension" | Conniption "Kamikaze" | Daft Punk "Random Access Memories" | Deb Oh & The Cavaliers "Hieroglyphs" (EP) | Eisley "Currents" | Eminem "The Marshal Mathers LP 2" | Fates Warning "Darkness In A Different Light" | Flotsam And Jetsam "Ugly Noise" | Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge "Twelve Reasons To Die" | Got Your Back Foundation Vol. 1 | Halestorm "ReAnimation 2.0: The Covers EP" | Injustice - Gods Among Us OST | Intronaut "Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)" | Janelle Monae "The Electric Lady" | Jay-Z "Magna Carta Holy Grail" | Jolly "The Audio Guide To Happiness Part Two" | Junip | Kanye West "Yeezus" | Lady Gaga "Artpop" | Mega Ran "T.R.A.P." | Megadeth "Super Collider" | Meshuggah "Pitch Black" (EP) | Mindless Self Indulgence "How I Learned To Stop Giving A Shit And Love Mindless Self Indulgence" | Misery Signals "Absent Light" | Neko Case "The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You" | Oh Land "Wish Bone" | Philip H Anselmo & The Illegals "Walk Through Exits Only" | Red Fang "Whales And Leeches" | Rob Zombie "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" | Scale The Summit "The Migration" | Sepultura "The Mediator Between The Head And The Hands Must Be The Heart" | Sevendust "Black Out The Sun" | She & Him "Volume 3" | Skrillex "Leaving" (EP) | Soilwork "The Living Infinite" | Soulfly "Savages" | Spiral Trance "All In Due Time - Acoustic" (EP) | Spock's Beard "Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep" | Stone Sour "House Of Gold & Bones Part 2" | Suicidal Tendencies "13" | The Civil Wars | The Lonely Island "The Wack Album" | The Winery Dogs | Tomahawk "Oddfellows"
I just can't do it this year. I just can't make myself give a fuck. About any of these albums; even the ones I like.
I hastily whipped together a list at the end of November with the intent of writing entries for it and publishing it on this blog on Monday (Dec. 16), but as I looked down the list, a few things started to happen. One, I must have been high when I came up with the order, which meant two: I'd have to put a lot of thought and effort into ranking albums one over the other that Three: I HAVEN'T LISTENTED TO IN OVER SIX MONTHS. Half the shit on here I got because of a name brand: Flotsam And Jetsam. Mindless Self Indulgence. Sepultura. Jay-Z. Fates Warning. I've reached critical mass, and I can't take it anymore.
It also doesn't help a lot of these albums aren't memorable in the slightest. Some of them might actually even suck. There are at least fifteen that are worth picking up if you're looking for good music. But everything in the middle is so boring I just can't take it anymore.
Thing is though, it's also not like I can't think of anything to write about them. I've written four pages on the bottom fourteen alone. But none of it matters. It's not exactly dishonest writing I did; I agree with the observations, but it's all so...clinical. If I don't care, why should you?
I'm starting to think being a critic ain't such a hot gig after all.
And that's another thing. This year end music blog has become much more of an obligation than a fun thing. It's NEVER been like that before. And I don't blame anyone reading this (all 10 or 12 of you; I love you dearly), I put that pressure on myself. And that pressure won't go away until I post...SOMETHING. (Believe me, I've tried.)
So I figured I'd say what I really feel. I feel like I couldn't give a fuck about this list even if you PAID me to. There are some good albums on here, but right now, I'm just gonna put the list up. In alphabetical order. I'm sorry if you were looking forward to this, but to do it any other way would be dishonest to myself, and probably drive me even further up a wall then I've already pushed myself. So here it is, The Top 52 Albums Of 2013:
A Pale Horse Named Death "Lay My Soul To Waste" | Alice In Chains "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" | Alter Bridge "Fortress" | And So I Watch You From Afar "All Hail Bright Futures" | Anup Sastry "Ghost" | Bad Religion "True North" | Chris Duarte Group "My Soul Alone" | Clutch "Earth Rocker" | Coheed & Cambria "The Afterman: Descension" | Conniption "Kamikaze" | Daft Punk "Random Access Memories" | Deb Oh & The Cavaliers "Hieroglyphs" (EP) | Eisley "Currents" | Eminem "The Marshal Mathers LP 2" | Fates Warning "Darkness In A Different Light" | Flotsam And Jetsam "Ugly Noise" | Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge "Twelve Reasons To Die" | Got Your Back Foundation Vol. 1 | Halestorm "ReAnimation 2.0: The Covers EP" | Injustice - Gods Among Us OST | Intronaut "Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)" | Janelle Monae "The Electric Lady" | Jay-Z "Magna Carta Holy Grail" | Jolly "The Audio Guide To Happiness Part Two" | Junip | Kanye West "Yeezus" | Lady Gaga "Artpop" | Mega Ran "T.R.A.P." | Megadeth "Super Collider" | Meshuggah "Pitch Black" (EP) | Mindless Self Indulgence "How I Learned To Stop Giving A Shit And Love Mindless Self Indulgence" | Misery Signals "Absent Light" | Neko Case "The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You" | Oh Land "Wish Bone" | Philip H Anselmo & The Illegals "Walk Through Exits Only" | Red Fang "Whales And Leeches" | Rob Zombie "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" | Scale The Summit "The Migration" | Sepultura "The Mediator Between The Head And The Hands Must Be The Heart" | Sevendust "Black Out The Sun" | She & Him "Volume 3" | Skrillex "Leaving" (EP) | Soilwork "The Living Infinite" | Soulfly "Savages" | Spiral Trance "All In Due Time - Acoustic" (EP) | Spock's Beard "Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep" | Stone Sour "House Of Gold & Bones Part 2" | Suicidal Tendencies "13" | The Civil Wars | The Lonely Island "The Wack Album" | The Winery Dogs | Tomahawk "Oddfellows"
Comments
Post a Comment