2000 Band |
Votes |
Album |
Connors' Comments |
Queens of the Stone Age |
8 |
Rated R |
PJ Harvey |
8 |
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea |
At the Drive-In |
6 |
Relationship of Command |
Apr20. This album blew me away when I first heard it. So different and immediate. It sounded crazy, yet somehow cohesive. It was easily the best album in 2000 and I can't believe it sits 3rd on our #2000Albums list. Seven songs already are in my H100 for this year and I have a feeling more will be after this play. Starts with the crazy Arcarsenal, with it's screams of, 'Beware!' and , 'Who's in charge in here?' The the more melodic Pattern Against User which is a brilliant song. 1,2, 3 punches to open albums don't get much better when One-Armed Scissor follows. The latter two of these songs occupy the top 2 spots on my #2000Hotterest100. Sleepwalk Capsules brings back the phrenetic energy and I love the dueling vocals on this one. I had no idea what Invalid Litter Dept. was about for years and then I watched the video; absolutely haunting. Mannequin Republic rocks then Enfilade mixes things up with a couple of electronic moments and cool chorus of, 'Freight train comin''. Rolodex Propaganda is an odd number with moments of accessible Strokes-like guitars to off-kilter sounds and of course the wild backing vocals of Iggy Pop. A really strange song to get your head around. I love, Quarantined. It's slow but brings a moody heaviness to the album. Cosmonaut has a bit of everything on show in this album in the one song. Then they finish with the keys-driven Non-Zero Possibility. When it ends you are waiting for the next hit, but you are just left stunned and drained and going, 'What the Hell was that?' then you want to start the album all over again. So unique and influential. 5+/5 |
Pantera |
5 |
Reinventing the Steel |
The Hives |
5 |
Veni Vedi Vicious |
Jul20. I know this album for the three ball-tearers: Main Offender, Hate to Say I Told You So and Supply & Demand. I love these songs, but have not really spent enough time with the rest of the album. The Hives' blend of upbeat, garage-infused, punk rock is a great mix. The album opens with the 60's jangly, but frenetic, garage sounds in full swing on The Hives Declare Guerre Nucleaire. Die, Alright! is another song I should have mentioned first up as one of the brilliant songs on here. (I forgot about that one ;)). A Get Together to Tear It Apart is full of infectious sounds too. Not sure why I had not included this song in previous favourites, but it is up there now. Outsmarted has a real party vibe with some cool guitar tones and rumbling drums. They only slow down for Find Another Girl, which to me is one of the weaker tracks on here, but I understand them wanting a change of pace. Everything else here is very good. 4.5/5 |
Millencolin |
4 |
Pennybridge Pioneers |
Jul20. I love this album. Almost every song is already in my #2000Hotterest100. My Cigar kicks off with a cool riff. This seemed to be the favourite of a lot of people - I think it was released on a lot of compilations. But for me it was one of the weaker tracks on here, but it has grown on me. It is still a good song. Fox is a catchy song with a sense of humour, where the band get their Blink-182 on. The next three all rock, with Right About Now probably the pick of them. Then we hit Penguins & Pollarbears with its cool, high-ringing opening riff. This is close to the perfect punk song. Hellman continues the quality on here. Devil Me is very easy to relate to and is a cracking song with a cool riff. Everytime I hear this album, I switch the order of songs in my H100. I just like them all. The bounce of The Mayfly grabs me every time and then that amazing chorus ensures this one remains near the top. They even get a cool slow song in here and straight up call it The Ballad. I did not think it would suit, but Nikola pulls it off with aplomb. No wonder he did slow and acoustic solo stuff. A brilliant album. 5+/5 |
Iron Maiden |
4 |
Brave New World |
Jul19. Yeah, this seems to be trying to capture their classic sound and maybe it succeeded, as it did not grab me at all. The Wicker Man is a rumbling opener with a boring chorus. Ghost of the Navigator & title track are okay. Strange changes in long songs like Dream Mirrors and more repetitiveness, such as in The Mercenary and Nomad (all 9 minutes of it) don't gel with me. I am not sure why the songs need to go for so long, or why they leave the best parts for late in songs. Seriously, cut the first 4-5 minutes and get to the good stuff. Bruce is back to the soaring vocals in choruses which annoy me. I really liked some of the subject matter for songs, but not the songs themselves. Nothing terrible here, just nothing to get me going either. 2.5/5 |
The Offspring |
4 |
Conspiracy of One |
Feb20. Of The Offspring's big four albums, I always thought this album was underrated. I have always loved this one. I have trouble separating it from Americana. Come Out Swinging and One Fine Day are among my favourites of the lesser-known Offspring tracks. Original Prankster is their quirky fun song. Want You Bad is the alternative-rock song that you have to sing along to. Million Miles Away is just cool; part punk, part rock. Dammit, I Changed Again is the real gem on here. It sounds like the punk numbers from Ixnay…. Living in Chaos I had completely forgotten about. It is one of the few from the album not in my H100, but I enjoyed it this listen through. Special Delivery opens with a simple but fun bass and drum beat, then kicks into an electronic moment, which I would normally dislike, but the chorus is catchy and still has a cool riff over it. The weaker tracks are at the end, but only the last 2 have not made my 2000 H100. 4.5/5 |
The Dandy Warhols |
4 |
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia |
Disturbed |
3 |
The Sickness |
The Cure |
3 |
Bloodflowers |
Jun21. A nice slow build, dreamy intro on the first song, 'Out of this World'. The vocals seem a little jarring when they first come in, but soon settle into the dreamscape. A nice little start but about when I think they should be wrapping it up, there is another 2 minutes to go. And to follow this almost 7 minute opener, we jump straight into the 11 minute 'Watch Me Falling'. Well, it certainly has its moments over those 11 minutes. Some very big, bombastic playing on this one. I quite liked it - it certainly has its high moments. Not sure why, but for me, it conjured a cross of The Jesus & Mary Chain and Midnight Oil doing a slow song. 3rd song, 'Where the Birds Always Sing', is a rather boring drone that also goes for too long. 'Maybe Someday' has some good sounds on there and is probably the most commercially sounding song here. I am sure this is one The Cure fans love. At this point, I just started skipping through songs. It does not get better. In fact, by the end, some of it is close to painful: 'There is No If' and the added elctronic elements of 'The Loudest Sound' - this song is actually akin to water dripping torture. '39' starts well, and has cool, spacey guitars. This song should have ended the album instead of the boring title track, though there is a moment of similar cool guitars in this one too. Maybe combine the last two tracks and reduce them down to their best 3 and half minutes. That would have been a good end. There's just too many of the same slow-to-mid-pace, same drony sounds and all dragging things out for far too long. Still, some nice sounds here and it is not often I like the longest song the most. The album is just not something I'd want to hear in full too often… or again. Not sure how it beat so many rock albums on a rock list either. :/ 2.5/5 |
Powderfinger |
3 |
Odyssey Number Five |
Green Day |
3 |
Warning |
Apr17. This album is a lot of fun. More Beatles sounds and of course some Living End type stuff. The humour and fun comes through. Not flat out punk, but a very solid LP. Jul19. So this was where they embrace the experimental and release a 'mature' album. I miss the snottiness, & it would be easy for me to not like this b/c of the lack of punk songs, but pretty much every song on here is very good. The approach is not all new; Kerplunk had some of this acoustic, upbeat strumming too. 4/5 |
28 Days |
3 |
Upstyledown |
Sleater Kinney |
3 |
All Hands on the Bad One |
Slash's Snakepit |
2 |
Ain't Life Grand? |
The Vandals |
2 |
Look What I Almost Stepped In |
AFI |
2 |
The Art of Drowning |
Soulfly |
2 |
Primitive |
Deftones |
2 |
White Pony |
A Perfect Circle |
2 |
Mer de Noms |
Godsmack |
2 |
Awake |
Pearl Jam |
2 |
Binaural |
May19. Not sure how this did not make the list. Did not make mine, but it would now. Listening to this again and almost every song into my H100. A good mix of slow and rockers too. An underestimated album, including by me. Not as good as other PJ albums but still worthy of a 4.5/5 |
Limp Bizkit |
2 |
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water |
In Flames |
2 |
Clayman |
Spiritual Beggars |
2 |
Ad Astra |
Deicide |
2 |
Insineratehymn |
Radiohead |
2 |
Kid A |
Go Betweens |
2 |
Friends of Rachel Worth |
Cypress Hill |
1 |
Skull & Bones |
The Smashing Pumpkins |
1 |
Machina |
Nightwish |
1 |
Wishmaster |
Melvins |
1 |
The Crybaby |
Sum 41 |
1 |
Half Hour of Power |
Placebo |
1 |
Black Market Music |
Flogging Molly |
1 |
Swagger |
NOFX |
1 |
Pump Up the Valuum |
MxPx |
1 |
The Ever Passing Moment |
Rancid |
1 |
ST |
Motley Crue |
1 |
New Tattoo |
Motorhead |
1 |
We Are Motorhead |
Poison |
1 |
Crack a Smile and More |
Alice Cooper |
1 |
Brutal Planet |
Geddy Lee |
1 |
My Favourite Headache |
Dio |
1 |
Magica |
Everclear |
1 |
Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile |
Porcupine Tree |
1 |
Light Bulb |
Pain of Salvation |
1 |
The Perfect Element Pt. 1 |
Spock's Beard |
1 |
V |
The The |
1 |
Naked Self |
Morbid Angel |
1 |
Gateways to Annihilation |
Napalm Death |
1 |
Enemy of the Music Business |
Alkaline Trio |
1 |
Maybe I'll Catch Fire |
Spineshank |
1 |
Height of Callousness |
Mudvayne |
1 |
L.D 50 |
Amen |
1 |
We Have Come for Your Parents |
Apr17. Could not listen to whole album, but the songs I checked on YouTube are nothing like I expected and, well, I really liked them. Now on my radar! I got back to listening to whole album. Wow. I really liked it. Some parts heavy Therapy?, some parts heavy Warrior Soul and a lot of Everytime I Die. I want to give it a 5, but not knowing it enough is only thing holding me back. 4.5/5 |
U2 |
1 |
All that You Can't Leave Behind |
The Living End |
1 |
Roll On |
Primal Scream |
1 |
XTRMNTR |
Super Furry Animals |
1 |
Mwng |
Samiam |
1 |
Astray |
Lowrider |
1 |
Ode to Oi |
Enslave |
1 |
Mardraum |
Melt Banana |
1 |
Teeny Shiny |
The Tragically Hip |
1 |
Music at Work |
Warren Zevon |
1 |
Life'll Kill Ya |
Eels |
1 |
Daisies of the Galaxy |
Doves |
1 |
Lost Souls |
Barenaked Ladies |
1 |
Maroon |
Union |
1 |
The Blue Room |
The White Stripes |
1 |
De Stijl |
Rollins Band |
1 |
Get Some Go Again |
The Hellacopters |
1 |
High Visibility |
Jul20. This album hooks you in from the opening chords of Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial - a song I have always loved. Straight up rock 'n' roll. Other than this opener and Toys & Flavours, I don't really know individual songs from this album. Baby Borderline sure keeps the party going with a cool riff and even some decent backing organ sounds in parts. Sometimes I Don't Know is a crazy onslaught that is a world of fun with dueling guitars and even some boogie piano trying to keep up with the pace. A new favourite for sure. Then that bass to kick off Toys & Flavours! Then the guitars kick in with a wail before settling into a groove for the vocals. This song gets everything right. The best songs are early, but everything here is a great slab of rock and garage rock. I Wanna Touch and the boogie-infused closer, Envious, were the standout tracks in the second half. I should also make mention of the other song I was familiar with, No Song Unheard which is a nice, slower, but still mid-paced, number. And the rollicking Truck Load of Nuthin'. This is a world of fun and these guys should be more widely known for sure. Members have played in so many influential bands. After a second listen, I upped the score as second half really gelled. 4.5/5 |
Our Lady Peace |
1 |
In Repair |
D-A-D |
1 |
Everything Glows |
ALL |
1 |
Problematic |
Oct19. So glad to see Allroy back on the covers of last 2 albums. The ones without him were terrible (other than Pummel). Going into this listen, I already have 4 songs thumbed: Better Than That, www.sara, What are You For? and Teresa. ROIR is a cool angry song, 'I got class, resentment!' Chad Price actually gives ALL a harder edge and his vocals suit these songs. Stupid Kind of Love has some of the worst and then best lyrics; they made me laugh, especially the 'beef jerky' line. Teresa is the highlight of a second side that drags a little (even though only 1 song tops out over 3 minutes). 3.5/5 |
Bad Religion |
1 |
The New America |
Nov22. I have had this album playing all day whilst at work and a few more tracks are starting to stand out. I had 6 tracks thumbed previously, but only one of those, the brilliant title track, made my Top70 Bad Religion songs. Listening now, 'A World Without Melody' was very stiff to miss. I really like this one, and ironically, it has a great melody. I love the ringing guitars of the opening two tracks. 'It's a Long Way to the Promised Land' also has great vocals and lyrics. 'A Street Kid Named Desire' is a satisfying mid-album track, as is the slower 'Whisper In Time', but it is no standout. The more I heard 'I Love My Computer', the less I liked it. This rarely happens, especially with Bad Religion, but parts of this song just started irritating me after many listens. The metaphors wore thin in the end. The next couple of tracks were average, but things picked up with the faster 'Let It Burn'. 'Don't Sell Me Short' was wearing thin too after repeated listens, though I am sure is a good song on its own. Things build at the end. I loved the overall sound of '21st Century Queen' and 'Believe It' is a very good end to the album. Probably my 3rd favourite song here. My order of songs after the title track has changed since I did my Top70 prelim' lists. I have enough songs thumbed to give this a 3.5, but it is still the lesser of Bad Religion albums I have with that score. A handful of really good songs saving this overall. 3.5/5 |
High on Fire |
1 |
The Art of Self-Defense |
Vanishing Point |
1 |
Tangled in a Dream |
Therion |
1 |
Deggial |
Apocalyptica |
1 |
Cult |
Johnny Cash |
1 |
III |
The Avalanches |
1 |
Since I Left You |
The Fauves |
0 |
Thousand Yard Stare |
Apr17. Man, I just stopped listening to The Fauves. I should not have. This is very good & I have found another fav in Celebrate the Failure So close to a 4, but giving myself room to go up with further listens. 3.5/5 |
ACDC |
0 |
Stiff Upper Lip |
Jun19. I enjoyed this. The more restrained and bluesy approach seemed to suit Johnson's vocals. Hold Me Back was the surprise track for me here, as I had heard nothing about it. The singles, Stiff Upper Lip, I Feel Safe in NYC and Satellite Blues were naturally among the best too. I enjoyed this a lot more than I was anticipating. All but two into H100 for now. 3.5/5 |
Osker |
0 |
Treatment 5 |
Oct19. This starts with three very decent songs reminiscent of the brashness and snotiness of early Green Day albums. And it improves from there, peaking with the triple hit of Ballad of a Traitor, Alright (with it's brilliant drawn out cry of, 'And I, am not alright!') and Panic. Every song has a moment to love, despite the similarity of sound throughout. The bass in 13 for example. I love Devon's vocals - they so suit this style of music. The buzzsaw guitars are brilliant throughout. Overall, a very enjoyable album. 18 songs in 38 minutes. 4/5 |
No Fun At All |
0 |
State of Flow |
Feb20. I always think of this as their more commercial album. I remember it having less breakneck speed than their last album. Celestial Q&A and Second Best are songs that reflect this toned down, accessible sound. Cool songs all the same. One thing I have noticed about NFAA, listening to all all their albums through this time, is that they finish tracks well. I am often loving the last minute of the song. How cool is the chugging Not In the Mood? I love how they almost quote the name of fellow punks 59 Times the Pain; that is cool. If this was a fair world, songs like My Extraordinary Mind and Joe DeLord would have had these guys up there with Blink-182 and Green Day. The second half is definitely weaker. 3.5/5 |
The Queers |
0 |
Beyond the Valley… |
Feb20. The angst really returns for this album. Normally, I would welcome this, but I just don't think it suits these guys as much. I like their fun and humourous tunes. I guess that comes with writing with Chris Barrows (of the Pink Lincolns) and the return of Wimpy Rutherford for a couple of tracks. They are back to starting with a weaker track that I think might put people off. Little Rich Working Class Oi Boy is one of the better tracks on here. Each song seems to be having a go at someone here. Some songs here have decent sounds, but I simply avoid them due to the lyrics. I am sure you can guess which ones. I used to love Stupid Fucking Vegan but right now, I don't (and I removed it from my H100). In with the Out Crowd and I Wanna Know are decent mid-paced numbers, but still not up to similar songs on other albums. Journey to the Centre of Your Empty Fucking Skull is a lot of fun, especially if you are pissed off with someone, as is I Hate Your Fucking Guts. Even Babyface is not up to standard for their poppy songs and the final few tracks are forgettable. 2/5 |
Orange Goblin |
0 |
The Big Black |
Mar20. Scorpionica has a great guitar lead, but second song, Quincy the Pigboy, is a better overall song with a fast driving rhythm. The lead breaks sure sound like Fu Manchi here. 298 KG is quite slow and sludgey, but Turbo Efflunt picks the pace up. Some of the slower dirges also remind me of Melvins a little. A lot of their best guitar moments come late in tracks. I am going to say this for several of their albums I am sure; some fantastic riffing throughout, but going to take time to get to distinguish songs. With few songs standing above the rest, this is hard. But I like all that I hear. 3.5/5 |
Suicidal Tendencies |
0 |
Free Your Soul and Save My Mind |
Nov20. Once again going into a ST album with one song already thumbed. People probably hate it, but I love Pop Songs. Also stoked to see the legendary Brooks Wackerman played on this album. First play through and this album did not appeal to me as much as previous couple. They went full funk mode here, but some of it just doesn't seem to suit the harsh vocals. Also a bit ranty. I do not like the spoken word stuff. The whole track in the middle really jarred me out of the listening. Self Destruct has some good sounds, but most of the vocals are ordinary. The chorus on No More, No Less is okay. The bass on the title track is awesome, but parts of the songs are jarring. Start Your Brain is okay, with its punk intensity and Bouncing Souls-like vocals. The heavy funk works on Public Dissension. Charlie Munroe was starting to grow on me. Home is a long and rather boring end to the album. Obviously, I would need more listens to become familiar with other songs, but there just is not enough on here to entice me to do that, despite having one of my favourite ST tracks. 2.5/5 |
Pollyanna |
0 |
Didn't Feel a Thing |
|
Magic Dirt |
0 |
What are Rock Stars Doing Today? |
|
Cave In |
0 |
Jupiter |
The Explosion |
0 |
Flash Flash Flash |