Top 10 Songs of 2013

Doing some end of the year/ best-of posts over the next few days. Though most major publications did their year end lists closer to the beginning of December, this is the one that everyone has really been waiting for.

10. "Reflektor," Arcade Fire
Though it shares many of the same problems as the album with which it also shares a name, such as being overly long, "Reflektor" gets into the best groove of any of Arcade Fire's new disco-tinged tracks. And a David Bowie cameo can only help things.

9. "Suit & Tie," Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z
Speaking of grooves, the one this song gets into is phenomenal. Even Jay-Z's verse, which for whatever reason is slowed down, can't ruin this, one of the year's biggest hits and best songs.

8. "Do I Wanna Know?" Arctic Monkeys
Many expected Arctic Monkeys, who came to prominence in 2006 as teenagers, to go the way of many bands of their ilk and fizzle out after their first album. No one counted on them making a song this good at this point in their careers. "Do I Wanna Know?" slinks along to a riff that would make Tony Iommi proud, and the lyrics contain some of the best examples of Alex Turner's biting wit.

7. "Sea of Love," The National
It's telling that this is the most up-tempo song on Trouble Will Find Me, The National's newest album. The album is a slow burn, but this song is a drum-heavy rocker, sure to be a live staple.

6. "I Sat by the Ocean," Queens of the Stone Age
Count on Queens of the Stone Age to come up with a unique, riff-driven single that even their worst albums can boast. This stands up with their very best work.

5. "Lose Yourself to Dance," Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
Spoiler alert: this is not the only Daft Punk song on here featuring Pharrell. I tried to keep this list to one song per artist, but I couldn't have a top ten songs of 2013 list without including both of these songs. At times I thought this one was better than "Get Lucky," the ubiquitous radio hit, and though I no longer think so, it's still a phenomenal song.

4. "The Wire," Haim
The Fleetwood Mac-iest song to come out since the mid-'70s. Haim takes the best parts of '70s classic rock and '80s pop and makes songs that would have been hits in any era. This is their best work thus far, a classic rock hit transported to the modern day.

3. "Unbelievers," Vampire Weekend
There are several songs from Vampire Weekend's latest album that could have made their way onto this list, but eventually I settled on "Unbelievers." Lie most of the album it lyrically deals with questioning of faith. And questioning faith has rarely been so fun to hear.

2. "Get Lucky," Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
I may regret not putting this at number one; it's the "Hey Ya!" of this decade, a gigantic hit that attains that status purely on merit. No matter how many times I heard this song this year, I never got sick of it. Daft Punk takes to best aspects of disco and implements everything we have learned about dance music since the end of disco, and uses that knowledge to produce the greatest disco song ever made.

1. "The Mother We Share," Chvrches
If there's one song on this list that really sounds like "2013," it's this one. That may be viewed as a good thing or a bad thing in the future, but it's the reason this tops the list. Much like Daft Punk did with disco and "Get Lucky," Chvrches took '80s synth-pop and put a modern twist on it to craft this incredible song. And though it didn't become a smash hit like "Get Lucky," it certainly would have been worth of it. This is my song of 2013.

Justin Timberlake: The 20/20 Experience (Part 1)

Seven years is an eternity in the world of pop music, even when you're a star of Justin Timberlake's stature. Many were expecting big things from the follow-up to 2006's excellent FutureSex/LoveSounds, and more than a few were disappointed with The 20/20 Experience this year. I wasn't disappointed by the music itself, but I think this is the good album with the worst decisions on it this year.

There are some minor bad decisions here, like slowing down for Jay-Z's verse on "Suit & Tie" (a mistake for a song that gets into such a good groove) and whatever that weird voice thing is in "Let the Groove Get In." But there's one mistake that really stands out and affects nearly every song on this album, and that's the length of the songs.

The shortest song on The 2020 Experience is 4:45, and most are between 7 and 8 minutes. The thing is, most of those long songs aren't actually that long. For whatever reason, Timberlake and producer Timbaland decided to drag out the songs with long, pointless codas instead of ending them naturally, and this really drags things down.

Timberlake's at a level where he can pretty much do whatever he wants without label interference. Normally this is a good thing for creativity, but this album could really use someone to tell him no. Or to inform him that people really don't want to listen to 8-minute pop songs.

FutureSex/LoveSounds included a few 7- or 8-minute songs that really worked in "What Goes Around Comes Around" and "LoveStoned," and that's probably where the idea behind these came from. Clearly Timberlake decided to make long songs his "thing," and that's OK, but only if the songs are actually that long. What you don't want to do is artificially drag the songs out to that length; that does nothing but hurt the album. It's a shame, because this album includes some very good songs. If only they ended where they should.

 

Haim: Days are Gone

The sisters of Haim have been playing music together for a long time, and it shows on this, their debut album. They have a level of polish and professionalism most bands simply cannot reach on their first album, as well as an excellent understanding of what works about '70s and '80s pop music, and it works out to equal one of the best records of the year.

Days are Gone is probably the Fleetwood Mac-iest thing I've ever heard. Each track bounces with staccato vocals, and the sisters' voices provide a nice variety. The album is simply stacked with one great song after another: "Forever" and "The Wire" recall '70s rock music, while "If I Could Change Your Mind" and "Falling" show the band's '80s pop side, with guitars lifted straight out of Thriller. "Honey & I" is worth mentioning too, as it slowly builds to something very impressive. Truth be told, the first seven tracks are all standouts.

Unfortunately, the album tails off a bit after that. "My Song 5's" EDM tendencies are jarring, and take you out of the retro '70s/'80s experience that the first half of the record replicated so well. It's really the only bad song on the album. The last three are fine, nothing more.

Though it tails off at the end, this album is packed with great songs, including some of the best singles of the year ("The Wire"). Days Are Gone is a tremendous throwback, sort of a Fleetwood Mac/Michael Jackson hybrid that understands the aspects that made those artists great, and works them in to deliver a great album of their own.

Grade: A-

Video: "The Wire"

The Strokes: Room on Fire

Unlike The Strokes' fantastic debut Is This It, Room on Fire, its follow-up, has been somewhat lost to time. Most people remember it as sounding exactly like Is This It, or as the one with "Reptilia." It's a shame, because this is a terrific album, one that's just about on par with Is This It.

For those who complain this album is too similar to Is This It, think about this: If this album had come out at any time other than when it did (that is, if it had been their third or fifth album instead of their second), how would it have been received? It probably would have gotten higher scores and been hailed as a "return to form." But since it came right after their fantastic debut, it's labeled as a too-similar disappointment.

Me, I'm fine with similarity from certain bands, especially now that we know what the alternative is for The Strokes. Here, they're still in their Is This It groove, with the distorted vocals and machine-like drums. The guitars are improved here as well (ask any band that has tried to cover "Reptilia," they'll tell you it's practically impossible). What makes this album great is that it returns that sound from Is This It, and they still sound like the coolest band on the face of the earth here.

What really sells me on this album, though, is that when I try to think of a weak spot, I can't think of one. The album is full of highlights-- "12:51" is basically the greatest Cars song The Cars never wrote, and "Under Control" is a standout as well-- but no songs that drag down the album. In fact, its only crime, really, is not being Is This It. And that's OK- that album was a one-time thing, and we can clearly see that now. But far from simply being not bad for a follow-up, this one can go toe-to-toe with its predecessor. The shame of their career isn't how they followed up Is This It; it's how they followed up this album. Julian Casablancas ends the album by saying, "I'll be right back." But that wasn't really true; they made more albums after Room on Fire, but they would never reach its heights again.

Grade: A-

Killswitch Engage: As Daylight Dies

Metal is one of the most polarizing genres of music out there (possibly the most, outside of maybe country), and among the various forms of metal, metalcore is hardly the most inviting. Either you're ok with the fast drums, heavy guitars, and screaming (and I mean screaming) vocals, or you're not. It's really as simple as that. So if you're not into metalcore, an album like this, good as it is, won't change your mind.

However, for those predisposed to enjoy this sort of thing, you're in luck: As Daylight Dies is quite possibly the most impressive metalcore album I've ever heard, and one of the best metal albums I've come across.

Now I'm not really a big metal guy, but I was a few years ago, and I still appreciate and enjoy good metal. And this is most definitely good metal. Every instrument is masterfully played (and they need to be for this to be any good at all), but the strongest aspect is Howard Jones' vocals. He screams well, then when it comes to the chorus, sings powerfully and forcefully. When he sings "there is loooooooove" on "My Curse," there's no doubt in your mind that there is, in fact, love.

Album highlights include "My Curse," "This Is Absolution," and "The Arms of Sorrow," which is the closest these guys get to a ballad. The album is marred a bit by some weaker tracks-- "For You" comes to mind-- but overall, an impressive metal album. They won't win any converts, but they will impress fans.

Grade: A-

P.S. Below is the video for "My Curse" as well as two of the members of the band doing an a capella rendition. They do those for all the songs, and they're absolutely hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyjTVHC0SZ0
( the a capella version)

The Decemberists: The King is Dead

The Decemberists had been around for eight years by the release of The King Is Dead in 2011. They were mostly known for old-timey sounding songs with complicated and smart lyrics, and in fact were coming off 2009's The Hazards of Love, a concept album that was basically one very long song.

But for their next album, they went in the opposite direction. Their music up to that point could be termed as very British, but the Portland band followed this up by releasing a quintessential Americana album, featuring as much harmonica as their previous albums had accordion. The result is arguably their most impressive work yet.

Colin Meloy's voice works just as well for this style of music as it did for their previous albums, and the songwriting is at its best here. The change of styles allows their music to be fresher than anything they'd done in years.

Two of the highlights of the album are its twin acoustic ballads, "January Hymn" and "June Hymn." Each evokes the month of its title perfectly, and both are beautiful, well-written ballads that make excellent use of the backing vocals of Gillian Welch. Other album highlights include the Americana stomp "Don't Carry It All" and the R.E.M.-indebted first single "Down by the Water."

This album is actually a major stylistic shift for The Decemberists, but in many ways it doesn't feel that way, and it was not seen that way at the time of its release. This is probably because the style of The King Is Dead seems to come so effortlessly to them that it comes off as nothing more than a natural progression. More than that, it's very possibly their best album.

Grade: A

Pearl Jam: Ten

In a blog named after Pearl Jam's bassist, it only makes sense to get to that band as soon as possible.
Ten is the debut from these Seattle "grunge" rockers, and it is well known for, along with Nirvana's Nevermind, catapulting alternative music into the mainstream in 1991.
Like Nevermind, Ten still holds up very well. The track listing reads like a greatest hits album: the epic "Alive," the beautiful "Black," and even "Jeremy," which is overdramatic but still worthwhile. Unlike Nirvana, which took its cues from punk bands, Pearl Jam clearly aspired to be a '70s-style  rock band. The guitar solos on Ten are proof enough of that; Mike McCready's solo on "Alive," in particular, is a classic. All the songs are extremely guitar-driven, and the fact that Pearl Jam's musical heroes are The Who (see "Alive") and Bruce Springsteen (see the coda of "Jeremy") comes across very clearly here.

Though it's their best known record, Ten really doesn't sound that much like the other Pearl Jam albums. This is in large part because while Eddie Vedder has written the majority of the band's music after this album, the music on Ten is mostly credited to Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard. Ten serves as proof, though, that the band's bassist and guitarist are just as adept at songwriting as the singer.
The album's production is significantly improved thanks to a 2009 re-release that featured re-mixes by Brendan O'Brien, the producer of most of Pearl Jam's other albums. The original production, by Rick Parashar, is muddy, sludgy and generally terrible in a very 1991 kind of way; the newer mix is much more in line with their other work.
There are some downsides to Ten: it's Pearl Jam at their most dramatic, and is mostly missing the sense of fun present on their other records. Eddie Vedder's voice is also at its most Eddie Vedder-y here, (you know, the kind that inspired the likes of Scott Weiland and Scott Stapp) which makes it nearly impossible not to sing along in the deepest voice you can muster, especially in songs like "Release," when he's singing "whiiiiiiiiiiiich way to go." But if you can get past this, you'll hear an album brimming with classic tracks. Ten sounds like 1991, but it's not dated; it's dramatic and serious, but never at the expense of the great music; and most of all, it's extremely well-written and well-executed.

Grade: A+

AC/DC: Back in Black

I wanted my first album review on this blog to be of the first album I ever bought. I first got into music in 8th grade, and what got me into music was AC/DC (which seems to be the universal favorite band of eighth graders).

Now I soon passed my AC/DC phase and it's been quite a while since I heard Back in Black in its entirety. Two thing surprised me: first, I remembered everything about it. And second, it's pretty solid.

More than any other band, AC/DC has the reputation for all of its songs sounding the same. This is pretty true, especially the deeper you get into their catalog. However, for one album, it's not so bad, and Back in Black is pretty diverse by AC/DC album standards, although by most standards, that's another story.

The album gets off to a great start, with "Hell's Bells," "Shoot to Thrill," and "What Do You Do For Money Honey." These are all good, heavy rockers, carried by Brian Johnson's voice (before his voice devolved into a horrendous caricature of itself). "Back in Black" is a great track too, especially if you forget the amount these songs have been overplayed over the years and concentrate on the songs themselves.

"Given the Dog a Bone" (apparently the misspelling was intentional) and "Let Me Put My Love into You" are the album's weakest tracks, especially the latter, with its horribly obvious double entendres and undeniable misogyny. And one can definitely debate the tact of including a song like "Have a Drink on Me" as a tribute to a bandmate who died of alcohol poisoning.

Not every album has to be some kind of grand statement. Some of them are great when you just want a few good rock songs. Back in Black isn't amazing-- nothing this band does can distinguish itself that much. But it's the best this style of music can be, and there's a lot to be said for that.

Grade: B

Wait. No. Actually, this is what this blog is all about.

I almost forgot the actual purpose of this blog: Jeff Ament wearing hats.
Exhibit A:

What This Blog Is All About

This post is just covering, basically, what this blog is, for the benefit of the legions of readers bound to discover it later.

This blog covers rock music. By that I mean anything that falls under that general umbrella. That means punk, metal, classic rock, indie music, alternative, even some pop-- all of that's covered here.

And who am I? My name is Stanford Crissey, I am a journalism student living in Chicago. Music is a passion of mine, something that's very important to me, and something I'm very excited to write about.

Most of the posts on here will be reviews, but there will be a variety of other content as well. It will be split between reviews of new albums and older or classic albums.

Oh, and there will be plenty of pictures of Jeff Ament wearing creative hats.

So, future legions of readers, enjoy!