I'm Calling it Now! The Two Best Albums of 2008 (Review)

I listen to a lot of music. A lot of music (4 months worth if played 24/7). A lot of it sucks. A bunch of it is listenable. Some of it is good. Some of it is REALLY good. Then there are some albums that just stand out above the rest. This year, the two that have stood out the most have been Russian Circles - Station and Who Killed Amanda Palmer by the fine woman herself. Both are very different albums, one being a complex, guitar driven post metal album, the other being a musically simple, lyrically complex and piano lead.

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To start off, lets go into Russian Circles "Station". The album is entirely instrumental. To me this is an absolutely excellent thing. "Why?" you ask. It is because 9 times out of 10, someone will dislike a piece of music because of the way the lyrics are delivered. Strip away a layer, and it leaves much more room for expression, as well as individual interpretation of the music itself.

The album starts off with "Campaign" a slow song full of crescendos and decrescendos that build the atmosphere for the album, and it continues, to where it begins to fade off, and then just as the last sounds of the chord are dying off, "Harper Lewis" kicks off with a pounding drum beat, and then the album explodes into action, layered guitars (one guitarist plays two parts, even live), intense drumming, and even some awesome bass. While each song is distinct, they all blend together across tracks and work together very well.

This album boasts soft melodic passages, and, sometimes through a progressive building up, and sometimes out of nowhere bursts into intense sections that you cannot help but bob (or bang) your head to.

It is a superb piece of musical genius and should not be missed by fans of any genre.

10/10

Now for Who Killed Amanda Palmer.

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I'm Calling it Now! The Two Best Albums of 2008 (Review)

I've been putting this off for a very long time. This is such a deep work of art that I've been worried i won't be able to do it justice. In all honesty I probably can't. But lets give it a go anyway, shall we?

This album is the first solo full length of Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls fame). It is a deeply emotional and gripping album, with many different flavors of Amanda's personality being shown.

Songs such as "Ampersand" and "Have To Drive" are slow and melancholic, while "Runs In The Family" and "Leeds United" are upbeat and lyrically biting. While there is still a fair bit of the tongue in cheek feel of the Dresden Dolls at times, the album is overall much more serious and dark than her previous work.

The music on this album (without the lyrical genius) is nothing short of fantastic. Though the primary instrument is of course, a piano, a full orchestra as well as several guest musicians (Ben Folds, The Born Again Horny Men Of Edinburgh) are also used. The melodies fit with the feeling perfectly on every song and give an intelligent album exactly what it needs to go from being a great album to a fantastic one.

On a final note; there is a series of music videos being put on youtube for this album, which work very well with the story. If you search for "Who Killed Amanda Palmer" and make a quicklist of all of them (8 so far I believe), they make for an interesting watch.

This album is amazing. Listen to it.

10/10