1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Roc-A-Fella
2. Foals - Total Life Forever - Sub Pop
If you know me really well, the first thing you are probably asking yourself is “Really?” And the answer fair friend and reader is yes, I really did pick this as my Album of the Year. Sure, everyone else has picked it, so I can too, right? I agree though, it is this .. phenomenal piece of work. It’s a masterpiece. It’s an album that cannot be stopped. It’s one we will discuss for ages. There is not a bad song on this. But what are the highlights to me? In order of appearance there are the singles - “Power” with its fiery command and shock and awe, and “Monster”, aka, the one part of our lives where we all agree Nicki Minaj is doing something tolerable. And then there’s “So Appalled”, the first song I heard some months ago and actually find myself enjoying, even Jay-Z’s verse that redeems his lousy one on the track before. And then, there’s what I recently declared as my favorite, “Devil In A New Dress”. There’s Rick Ross, there’s Yeezy just doing his thing, and just this fat fucking beat and groove and that opera thing going on. “Runaway” is alright. I used to hate Chris Rock’s bantering on “Blame Game”, but now I find it to be one of the many highlights on the album. Yeezy, you done well, kudos to you for making a record that has transcended so much this year, redeeming not only yourself, but music in general. This damn album is so catchy, so easy to fall for, and not easy to just disavow.
For his runner up, there is the sophomore effort from this British act. This album is built on one simple premise: tension. Every song on this album starts at a point, and ends at this breaking point, but not before hitting this moment of tension that just bursts at the seams. Opener “Blue Blood” is basically the calm before the storm; “Miami” is this funky out of nowhere number. From there, it’s just a bombast of long, brooding, building numbers. “Spanish Sahara” sits in the middle with it’s stark beginnings, only to collide like molten rock and lava before its six minute duration is out. “After Glow” just explodes when you least expect it, you think it’s going to go one way, but it doesn’t, it has the most explosive moment of the entire record. And when it’s all over, what remains is a song at the end called “What Remains”. What does remain is a band that is , like Gianni said in his review, the most technically proficient band at the moment. Easily some of the most talented guys with instruments around.
