101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life But I Really Like and You Might Too

LoathsomePete · 09-09-2010, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dac

Downloading this asap, the youtube vid attached was fantastic.

Make sure you get both the metal version and the ambient version. Then open one in like Windows Media Player and the other in iTunes and play them simultaneously, or if you can find a synced version grab that.

Spike*Spiegel · 09-10-2010, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loathsomepete

87. Tool - Ænima (1996)
genre: Alternative/ progressive metal

01. Stinkfist
02. Eulogy
03. H.
04. Useful idiot
05. Forty six & 3
06. Message to harry manback
07. Hooker with a penis
08. Intermission
09. Jimmy
10. Die eier von satan
11. Pushit
12. Cesaro summability
13. Ænima
14. (-) ions
15. Third eye

Ænima is quite the album for the mainstream audience. It's not quite offensive enough to be off putting to the “average” listener, but it has enough bite in the lyrics to appease the “harder” crowd. Not that i ever pay much attention to the lyrics from tool to begin with, they always seem to fall secondary to the soothing background music that the album itself creates. Ok perhaps that is a little harsh, the lyrics are deep and open to interpretation if you wish to view them that way, however the band has always been about creating an atmosphere, the only time the lyrics becoming a core contribution when i don headphones. Irregardless of whether the melody or lyrics take precedent, the album is a soothing, poetic, well produced, and meaningful with some killer guitar hooks and bass lines that showcase the talents of each member of the band.

Tool have been with me since nearly the beginning of my journey into the wild world of heavy metal. In fact... After maiden, metallica, megadeth, and type o negative they were either part of the second or third batch of bands i got into, all the way back in 2002. I bought Ænima along with undertow as part of a 2 for $25 deal at hmv and Ænima was probably my first real exposure to the more progressive elements of metal. Everything else that i had known was either beginner's thrash, gothic metal, or the pinnacle of nwobhm, so when i first heard undertow it was quite the different experience aurally. Undertow was kind of the wrong album to start off with, and in fact actually turned me off of progressive metal for a little while. It wasn't until a few months later that i even threw on Ænima and my entire idea what music could be.

The entire album from start to finish is just this amazing and unique sound that countless bands have attempted to replicate, but none in a faithful fashion. From adam jones' ear catching melodic hooks to justin chancellor's hypnotic bass lines to danny carey's pounding drum beats the album has everything one would want and more from an alternative or progressive metal album. While some of the track lengths are longer than one would expect from a more mainstream band, none of the songs feels artificially lengthened with useless additions, extended verses, or guitar solo wankery that plagues so many prog songs.

Overall the album is a dense, deeply layered, and amazing journey into the world of progressive metal. It's easy enough to listen to for the average music fan without alienating some of the more dedicated listeners. That is quite the tightrope to walk and for a band to not only succeed but get near universal acclaim for it, it is quite the achievement. Seeing as how just about everyone on this site has this album it seems kind of pointless to further praise an album we all know and love so i'm just going to end it here. The music is quite addictive, the lyrics after reading them, have a great deal of depth to them and can be interpreted many different ways, and it's that perfect balance between mainstream and underground acclaim.

<3 <3

and not in a creepy Tool fan sort of way

squonk · 09-13-2010, 07:48 PM

Excellent idea/post.. I'm gonna search for this to try it out also!
Ummm, the Autolux one... I haven't read the entire post yet!

gunnels · 09-13-2010, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

[CENTER][SIZE="5"]

Digging this hard. Wow. When I first read about this I was pretty skeptical, I thought it would sound like one big jumbled mess of keyboard wankery thrown on top of some metal tracks.
This video did a great job of proving me wrong. Dang.

squonk · 09-14-2010, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

93. My Blood Valentine - Loveless (1991)
Genre: Shoegazing

Track Listing

01. Only Shallow
02. Loomer
03. Touched
04. To Here Knows When
05. When You Sleep
06. I Only Said
07. Come In Alone
08. Sometimes
09. Blown A Wish
10. What You Want
11. Soon

Exceptional album, now you're really doing the bizz.

alltherowboats · 09-14-2010, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

[CENTER]88. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)

i know you are long since past this one, but just felt the need to say how much fun this album is!

downloaded it last night and fully loved it :-)

Landon · 10-25-2010, 04:51 PM

What happened to this? As far as lists go it was pretty informative and useful.

Paedantic Basterd · 10-25-2010, 05:10 PM

Just seeing this thread now. Definitely went through all of the previous pages and nicked loads of stuff.

bugsy2301 · 10-26-2010, 11:24 PM

Nice read. I like the Tool, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip and Morcheeba albums you've featured. Shame how bad DLS/SP got - I don't know if you've heard any of this year's stuff. I dared to criticise them randomly on Twitter, only for Scroobius to retweet me. I got 3 fans' insults.

edit: as for stuff I'm unfamiliar with - I've seen clips of Rodrigo y Gabriela live and whilst I understand the appeal, it doesn't appeal to me. And I haven't really given My Bloody Valentine a proper chance before. Everyone else so far has been pretty alien to me - I'll look at this again properly when it's not a stupid hour.

[5:25 here]

LoathsomePete · 10-26-2010, 11:33 PM

I wasn't very happy with The Logic of Chance, in fact I think it's pretty safe to say that that is the most I've been disappointed by a sophomore album in my entire life. Such a great debut that caught some unnecessarily harsh critique let down by that thing...

I've been rediscovering some untouched genres so I've been shifting around choices, weighing out albums, and just generally being a lazy fuckwit, that's why there hasn't been an update in awhile. I will try and get something up by the end of the week though.

10-26-2010, 11:24 PM	#109 (permalink)
bugsy2301 Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Torquay, UK Posts: 54	Nice read. I like the Tool, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip and Morcheeba albums you've featured. Shame how bad DLS/SP got - I don't know if you've heard any of this year's stuff. I dared to criticise them randomly on Twitter, only for Scroobius to retweet me. I got 3 fans' insults. edit: as for stuff I'm unfamiliar with - I've seen clips of Rodrigo y Gabriela live and whilst I understand the appeal, it doesn't appeal to me. And I haven't really given My Bloody Valentine a proper chance before. Everyone else so far has been pretty alien to me - I'll look at this again properly when it's not a stupid hour. [5:25 here] __________________ She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl... Le Last.FM

09-13-2010, 07:48 PM	#103 (permalink)
squonk Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 124	Excellent idea/post.. I'm gonna search for this to try it out also! Ummm, the Autolux one... I haven't read the entire post yet!

10-25-2010, 04:51 PM	#107 (permalink)
Landon Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: The Emerald Isle Posts: 145	What happened to this? As far as lists go it was pretty informative and useful.

10-25-2010, 05:10 PM	#108 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	Just seeing this thread now. Definitely went through all of the previous pages and nicked loads of stuff.

10-26-2010, 11:33 PM	#110 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	I wasn't very happy with The Logic of Chance, in fact I think it's pretty safe to say that that is the most I've been disappointed by a sophomore album in my entire life. Such a great debut that caught some unnecessarily harsh critique let down by that thing... I've been rediscovering some untouched genres so I've been shifting around choices, weighing out albums, and just generally being a lazy fuckwit, that's why there hasn't been an update in awhile. I will try and get something up by the end of the week though.