My Favorite Albums

I know there are some really great bands out there like the Beatles and what not; but as much as I enjoy their music I'll never know what it was like to get excited and listen to a brand new album by them.  As I got older, I started listening to more stuff and heard some bands that made me want to buy their music.  So almost everything on this list will be from the 2000s (when I had money to spend on music!)

WARNING: THESES VIDEOS MAKE NOISE! AVOID BEING EMBARRASSED AND TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN A WAYS!



Business Up Front, Party In The Back (2006)
Family Force 5

I'd say I grew out of Family Force 5 a while back.  I overplayed it and people at my college were really into them.  In fact, they've played at my university twice in the three years I've been there and my university only has like 4000 students or something.  Too avoid being another FF5 fan, I pretty much stopped listening to their stuff.  Nevertheless, this album was pretty much the best and maybe only dance-hiphop-techno-rapcore-alternative-deepsouth-punk-rock music of it's time.  It's one of the few albums I've ever shot the volume up for (which is huge for me since I really really hate loud stuff).  It also prompted me to see them in concert for a second time (something I've never done for another band.)

Don't let this scare you off, the rest aren't this awkward!

Hopefully... =/

The Last 4 Albums by Blue October

Blue October

Blue October is the older band on my list, having formed in the mid 1990s.  They've put out five albums in a little over ten years, they originate from Houston (whadayaknow), and tend to create songs focusing on various emotions, mostly depressed and regretful, but sometimes they can be upbeat and even creepy.  Their two most recent albums Foiled (2006) and Approaching Normal (2009) are more recognizable due to Foiled making the band pretty famous.  Their second and third albums, Consent to Treatment (2000) and History for Sale (2003) were also really good.  Some of my favorite Blue October songs come from these two albums.  The first album, The Answers (1998), was good but just a little bit bland.

Also well known for their expert use of CGI and knowledge of aerospace

Black Stone Cherry (2006)
and
Folklore and Superstition (2008)
Black Stone Cherry

The self-titled debut album for this relatively unknown southern rock band is an album that I stumbled across on iTunes a few days after it was released.  I would have never considered southern rock to be my thing but I loved the energy and authenticity these guys had.  It was a great album for car trips and for outdoor summer activities.
The sophomore album was intended to tell some of the local folklores from around their hometown (Edmonton, KY) through song while also including some other new songs.  It doesn't have as many energized songs as the first album but the lyric quality has increased a lot.

Watch out for those life like concert posters, they'll suck

you right into their world of pale-colored swirly-shapes

Plastic Beach (2010)

The Gorillaz

This album didn't generate as much praise as the Gorillaz's first two albums but I still like this one better.  During my internship this summer I had to commute 45 minutes to work and 45 minutes back home five days a week.  During that drive I would listen to Plastic Beach.  I tended to repeat the song "Rhinestone Eyes" because it was my favorite from the album which caused it to rise to an iTunes play count of over 100 in just two months.

This was the storyboard for the video that unfortunately got cancelled ='[

Black and White (2010)
The Maine

I actually saw The Maine at a Family Force 5 concert I went to a few years back.  At the time, The Maine only had an EP out with about six songs on it.  It wasn't bad, but it was pretty generic pop-punk kind of stuff.  Then they released their first album which seemed like almost the same stuff as their EP and really only had a few songs on it that I thought were really good.  So when they released the awesome sounding single "Inside of You" from their upcoming sophomore album, I got pretty excited for this new album.  It turned out to be a collection of extremely good songs; songs with maturity that didn't make you feel like you were listening to a band aimed at high school freshman.

I kind of regret using the official music videos for

these songs but I have to stick to my pattern

Hot Fuss (2004)
The Killers

This was the first album I can remember buying.  Although I don't listen to it so much anymore, I can still remember how much I loved the songs.  My play counts on itunes for these songs were up into the hundreds and that didn't even include the plays on just the cd.  Even when their second album Sam's Town (2006) came out, I was still listening to Hot Fuss just as much.

Oh man, I forgot Brandon Flowers had an eyeliner phase. Yikes.

As a finishing note: I like a ton of other bands.  A lot of them I only own bits and pieces of though and not full albums.  Some of my favorite bands don't even make this list because I only have parts of their material.  Maybe one day I'll have a list for my favorite bands but that may take a while.

ONE MORE THING: I got the Tron Legacy Soundtrack.  It's pretty awesome.