I Stink Too

I’m a hypocrite and I apologize. The truth is, I like lists. I mean, come on… the name of this blog is based on listing things. Sorry lists, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.

So, as a token of my apology, I’ve created the list. So here are my ten albums of 2005 that stank up the room (in no particular order other than the order in which I thought of them):

1. Avenged Sevenfold – City Of Evil
   They were headed on on the path to success with Waking The Fallen, but some heavy changes to their attitude and vocal talents sent them on a road to disaster. The guitars are as good as ever, but everything else has gone downhill.
2. M.I.A. – Arular
   Nasal, whiny and incomprehensible. An album full of catchy beats have gone to waste.
3. System Of A Down – Mezmerize/Hypnotize
   Yet another big letdown this year. There’s a fine line between “raw” and “lacking talent,” and System Of A Down is now straddling this line and leaning heavily in the direction of the latter.
4. Matisyahu – Shake Off The Dust… Arise
   I can’t quite figure out why anyone ever thought Jewish dub/hip hop would be a good idea.
5. Black Eyed Peas – Monkey Business
   Letdown number three. After the terribly catchy Elephunk, this one lacked the phunk (you hate me for that, don’t you?), the one exception being the girlie anthem “My Humps,” which goes so far into the realm of rediculous that it swings back around into cool.
6. GODS – I See You Through Glass
   I don’t quite know what these former Zao members were thinking with this. Probably something along the lines of, Well, we can’t just copy Zao because that’s too expected. So since Zao is so groundbreaking and new, we’d better go with what they’re not: monotonous and atonal.
7. Scott Stapp – The Great Divide
   Hmm… let’s think about this. The featured frontman of a band that collapsed under his weight (proof that it was only his weight: Alter Bridge) and then put out a best-of album for a band that only recorded three albums over the course of four years. I don’t even have to listen to it to tell you how much it stinks.
8. Antony And The Johnsons – I’m A Bird Now
   Yet another example where vocals have the power to make a good sound go bad.
9. Thrice – Vheissu
   One word: overrated. I’m almost convinced that the anticipation for this album was so strong that people are afraid to admit that it’s mediocre at best. Yet another letdown based on my opinion of previous releases.
10. I Am Ghost – We Are Always Searching
    The vocals… ohhh the vocals. They hurt and need to go away. The band had such potential and then… the vocals.

It was actually rather difficult picking ten. It was actually comparable to picking one’s top ten albums of all time. Fun, though, nonetheless. A little pessimism never hurt anyone… much.