Music: Best Albums of the Year series: 1999

[Fixed to Ruin]

All-around it's just a front-to-back homerun. Aside from the brilliant non-radio tunes the band has on this album, they catch the ear of recreational listeners to the band. If the garbage record labels wanted a 'pop' song, he smashed it out of the park with 'Hello Time Bomb', 'Load Me Up', 'The Future is X-Rated', and 'Jenni's Song'.

The signature of this album is that many of the songs about 2 or 3 mins in descend from the heavy hitter style to an ambient, somber tone and capture your ears - then it jumps back into the heavier parts. Brilliant album.

The intro was pretty kick ass as well.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

All-around it's just a front-to-back homerun. If the garbage record labels wanted a 'pop' song, he smashed it out of the park with 'Hello Time Bomb', 'Load Me Up', 'The Future is X-Rated', and 'Jenni's Song'.

As I've been posting throughout the "Best Album of the Year" series, I generally prefer heavier and/or more complex music. But something about Matthew Good really appeals to me. His first six albums (the four as part of MGB and then his first two solo albums) are great. He's a good storyteller and he puts enough detail in the lyrics to paint a picture, but there's enough ambiguity that it makes you think about them.

I'm sure you've heard of this if you're a Matt Good fan, but "Anti-Pop" is a satirical (and entirely catchy) take on a ready-for-radio anthem. Apparently he wrote it after the record label asked him to write another hit. It was released as a single, but it never had mainstream success in the same way that "Apparitions" or "Load Me Up" did.

 

[Saturated Fats]

I freaking love Matthew Good and the MGB and I'm disappointed in myself for leaving it off the polling options. I'll also be giving it a write-in on my list.

 

[Cas]

Seconding Immortal - At the Heart of Winter.

Other good choices from 1999:

Pentagram's Review Your Choices is good doomy metal by a classic band (pity Liebling turned out to be a real bastard). At least two songs have lengthy histories ("Living in a Ram's Head" and "Forever My Queen") but the rest are quite good overall. The production really fits, too, even if its not "good" per se (drums and bass are awfully loud and muddy).

Gamma Ray's Power Plant is a fun power metal album - fast, heavy, technical, and just fun.

I actually like Emperor's IX Equilibrium. Black metal that's both experimental and straightforward.

I have to plus Iced Earth's Alive in Athens live album - over three hours, clear production, with a good setlist (even given two somewhat lackluster albums released immediately before this and making up a large chunk of the running time).

But my favorite album of 1999 - Demoncy's Joined in Darkness. This might be the most "evil"-sounding album I've yet heard (plenty of other albums are heavier, angrier, or better, but this just feels like distilled evil), with disturbingly whispered vocals and cavernous guitars fitting the atmosphere perfectly.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

Blink 182 - Enema of the State

While its fun, high school pop/skate punk, its also more complex musically than you'd think.

Rick Beato does a great breakdown as part of his What Makes This Song Great series



side note, he should be every music lovers favorite channel. He does great stuff breaking down songs, awesome music theory videos and interviews artists from a music composition side.

I agree with all that.

I like watching Beatos's videos. I don't usually agree with him but while watching this one I thought : "All the small things" is a rock masterpiece" and at the end he says exactly that .

 

[Our Lady Peace]

As I've been posting throughout the "Best Album of the Year" series, I generally prefer heavier and/or more complex music. But something about Matthew Good really appeals to me. His first six albums (the four as part of MGB and then his first two solo albums) are great. He's a good storyteller and he puts enough detail in the lyrics to paint a picture, but there's enough ambiguity that it makes you think about them.

I'm sure you've heard of this if you're a Matt Good fan, but "Anti-Pop" is a satirical (and entirely catchy) take on a ready-for-radio anthem. Apparently he wrote it after the record label asked him to write another hit. It was released as a single, but it never had mainstream success in the same way that "Apparitions" or "Load Me Up" did.

Yep, and the fact the label ate that up and put it out there as his 'hit', is hilarious but also sad. Not to mention the band had already had tension by the finalization of that album too, an album in which it also had a ton of high points in itself too.

 

[Roo Returns]

Nice mention of Bicycle Thief and Dillinger @Violenza Domestica

1999 was a weak year but....I kid, I kid. Since everyone does it to years I love.

I'm not going to talk about Californication because everyone knows how I feel about RHCP so it's a given it will be on my list but lets explore other places.

Dismembement Plan-Great call. Pitchfork called it the perfect indie record. It is a tremendous album. Probably a little overlooked.

The Make-Up -I Want Some-A compilation of their singles. I love this album. What RHCP is to funk and rock, The Make-Up are like the gospel meets psychedelic to punk equivalent from DC.

Puya-Fundamental-At the height of nu metal these guys put out a monster album combining salsa with meta and funk.

I don't get how Incubus ended up here. Incubus to me became a boring pop band once Dirk Lance was kicked out. Fungus Amungous and S.C.I.E.N.C.E. are fun and have energy. The rest not so much.

Monster year for Hip Hop with The Roots, Mos Def, and MF Doom, especially the first two are monster albums. Dre and Eminem also. I personally don't like Eminem at all but he was a cultural phenomenon for a few years.

 

[Saturated Fats]

Mos Def's Black on Both Sides is an absolute masterclass from an artist who was at the top of his game for an unfortunately-brief period of time. The way he integrates fantastic, whip-tight beats with spoken word mantras, alongside funk, reggae, and rock influences, is special. Mos Def never released anything even remotely-close to this titanic work (The Ecstatic was fine), and it is my favourite album of 1999 for being the type of Conscious Hip Hop that I've always found captivating. But 1999 isn't a year where there is an album or two that truly stands above the rest - my top tier is a bit of a jumble

My Top 10

Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
The Montgolfier Brothers - Seventeen Stars
Our Lady Peace - Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch
Sigur Rós - Ágætis byrjun
Mogwai - Come On, Die Young
Matthew Good Band - Beautiful Midnight

Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage d'Hiver
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (I really should've had it as a poll option)
David Sylvian - Dead Bees on a Cake
The Roots - Things Fall Apart

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I never really expect my picks to be popular ones, but I thought Fantômas would gather a lot more attention and respect. If you're not familiar with them, it's a must - seen them play this album live twice and it was the tightest shows I've seen too. And I don't even think it's their best one, so expect another #1 seed for them when we get to 2001!



(the live recording sounds like crap, but you get the idea)

 

[Aladyyn]

Botch - We Are the Romans

HMs:
Poison the Well - The Opposite of December
Coalesce - 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening
Zao - Liberate Te Ex Inferis
Behemoth - Satanica (the 2 best Behemoth albums in back to back polls, amusing coincidence)
MF DOOM - Operation: Doomsday

what a strong year for metalcore

 

[Eisen]

I never really expect my picks to be popular ones, but I thought Fantômas would gather a lot more attention and respect. If you're not familiar with them, it's a must - seen them play this album live twice and it was the tightest shows I've seen too. And I don't even think it's their best one, so expect another #1 seed for them when we get to 2001!



(the live recording sounds like crap, but you get the idea)

It's something about Patton's quality of voice that I don't really like. Not ability but the timbre.

 

[belair]

Put me down for Beautiful Midnight as well. Loved that album in high school.

 

[BruinDust]

Came down for me one of Dre 2001, Slim Shady LP, and Californication by RHCP.

I'm going with Californication.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Dr. Dre is not a real doctor.

 

[WeThreeKings]

This was a fantastic year..

little sad that Make Yourself by Incubus isn't getting more love.

Incredible album, followed up by a good not great album, then they've been mediocre since.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Dr. Dre is not a real doctor.

This post belongs in the controversial thread.

 

[Langdon Alger]

This post belongs in the controversial thread.

Damn, you’re right.

 

[Ouroboros]

Disciples Of Mockery - Prelude To Apocalypse [Death Metal]
Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage d'Hiver [Black Metal/Ambient]
Francisco Guerrero - Zayin [Arditti String Quartet] [Modern Classical]
Morton Feldman - Crippled Symmetry [California EAR Unit] [Modern Classical]
Autechre - EP7 [Experimental/Electronic/Glitch/"IDM"]
Gridlock - Further [Post-Industrial/Electronic/"IDM"]
Neurosis - Times Of Grace [Sludge]
Demoncy - Joined In Darkess [Black Metal]
Worship - Last Tape Before Doomsday [Doom Metal]
Iancu Dumitrescu/Ana-Maria Avram - ED.MN.1014 [Hyperion Orchestra][Modern Classical/Spectralism]
Converter - Shock Front [Post-Industrial/Noise]
Immolation - Failures For Gods [Death Metal]
Skepticism - AES [Doom Metal]

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Added The Monsoon Bassoon to my HMs

 

[Langdon Alger]

I'm frantic so load me up.

Heard “Strange Days” on the radio recently. Good song.