Is this the worst year for new music you can remember?

Doctor J

It is for me. We're approaching the end of the year and, bar a few exceptions, the new music I've heard this year has been ****e, just ****e. From the continuing indie retro bull****, to the uninspired 80's electronic re-fad to rehashed Metal by numbers, this years releases have been shockingly poor for the music lover.

At one point I asked myself "Is it me getting old or is it the music that really is ****e?" and the answer, unquestionably, has to be it is the music.

Is this the first signs of the damge digital thievery is doing? Is there no more money being invested in getting good recordings with good producers, apart from established money in the bank acts vainly trying to recapture former glories? Is next year going to be worse?

el_tiddlero

did you get Adebisi Shank's album?? If not then you've been listening to the wrong thing for the past 4 months.

Mr. Presentable

OP, you are getting old. The kids think this is a great year!

I've thought the "music this year is the worst ever" every year since 1978 :eek:

Malice

I was about to post saying that no, there were loads of great releases this year but then the first half a dozen albums that I thought of were all released in 2007 .

Off the top of my head though, I recall In Flames, Meshuggah and Walls of Jericho releasing excellent albums this year.

I'll have to flick through my music when I get home to see what else I've forgotten.

S.I.R

Chinese democracy came out this year, that alone over powers alll the usual rubbish Trendy B.S bands


:cool:

Doctor J

Yeah, I can think of one or two nuggets alright (Cynic, anyone? ) but just overall... hard to describe... I've always found new bands who sound good, who are doing something interesting. This year has been different. I can't recall of any new bands who've held my interest at all, seems to be the same old ****e rehashed. Even a lot of the old guard have put out muck. For the first time in my life I find myself looking continually back for old albums rather than keeping abreast of new releases, because the new releases I've heard have just been pure crap.

redenemyjoe

Yeah not much use on the metal front this year.

Death Magnetic, well I'm not getting into that.

Architects - Hollow Crown (January)

Lamb Of God - Wrath (January - February)

Two albums I'm looking forward to in 2009.

Karl Hungus

You know, for once I can't say with any honesty. I simply haven't been buying anywhere near as many CDs as I used to.

kevin_de_big

Neuraxis, Arsis, the Facless, Cynic and Misery Signals all brought transcendental material out. I can see where you're coming from about the overall lack of output though.

GhostInTheRuins

It hasn't been the best year to be honest, out of all the cds I've bought this year I'd say less than ten were released in '08. That's a hell of a lot less than last year.

Take from that what you will.

Pyr0

Cynis was the only album that had me excited before its release - I find myself sticking to the older bands a lot lately, I just can't find anything that tickles my fancy at all these days ! Am I just old fashioned in my tastes (at 18:pac:) ? Or is everything else just sh1t ?

Pugsley

There's been a few crackers this year:
Mouth of the Architect - Quietly
Evergrey - Torn
Mourning Beloveth - A Disease for the Ages
Sabaton - The Art of War
Epicurean - The Consequence of Design
Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God

Fail to see the musical drought you speak of

BuddhaJoe

I thought there were quite a few stormers out tis year, such as:

Extreme - Saudades De Rock
Opeth - Watershed
Cynic - Traced In Air
Metallica - Death Magnetic
GNR - Chinese Democracy
Testament - Formation of Damnation
John 5 - Requiem
Joe Satriani - Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock
Ayreon - 01011001
Firewind - The Premonition
AC/DC - Black Ice
The Black Mages - Darkness and Starlight
Meshuggah - ObZen
Ministry - Cover Up (maybe a coveralbum, but absolutely great!)
Melvins - Nude With Boots

Not to mention a lot of great new albums by relatively unknown bands I picked up off sites like e-music.

redenemyjoe

Totally forgot about Meshugah and Testament!

Also, Emmure, The Acacia Strain, Bury Your Dead, Walls Of Jericho.

nyarlothothep

Watershed was a very good album imo...I like all the songs off it except track 1.

TMV released Bedlam in Goliath, another strong album...

NIN-ghosts + the slip

then there was Chinese Demo and DM, not great imo but decent.

But as for actual new bands in the past 5 years, I can't name any that would appeal to me.

I have this hypothesis that given that this decade is a lame/forced rehash of the 80s, 90% of the music will suck, just like it did in the 80s. Hence the dominance of sh1tty indie music with mock cockney accents and the ubiquity of chicks who dress like grannies singing about mundane crap.

I'd set my watch on warrant on it that there are some great bands out there that just aren't given the chance and aren't getting signed because they happen to write innovative music which doesn't fit into the current climate.

Aside from Charlotte Hatherley's The Deep Blue, NINs Year Zero and Radioheads In Rainbows, 2007 was for me the ultimate musical drought year.

lord lucan

DEATH MAGNETIC & BLACK ICE!!

i'm happy.:D

John

I think it's been a good year. In terms of metal I've been really digging:
Moss Sub Templum
5ive* Hesperus
Cynic Traced in Air
Lair of the Minotaur War Metal Battle Master
Sunn O))) Domkirke
Ocean Pantheon of the Lesser
Ascend Ample Fire Within


And outside of metal, this year has seen such magnificent releases such as:
Emeralds Solar Bridge (probably album of the year for me)
Grails Take Refuge in Clean Living
Grails Doomsdayer's Holiday
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy with Harem Scarem & Alex Neilson Is it the Sea?
Earth The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Nurse With Wound Huffin' Rag Blues

So I say it's your age.













*no, not the boyband.

Shryke

Twilight of the Thunder God made my freakin' year. Can't wait to see these guys live at some stage.

ShawnRaven

New GNR, New Marillion, New AC/DC and the delayed Jesus and Mary Chain boxset of unreleased stuff (yeah i know the latter falls into alternative but majority rules as far as list goes).

Definitely not the worst year by a long shot.

galwayrush

lord lucan wrote: »

DEATH MAGNETIC & BLACK ICE!!

i'm happy.:D

Those with Opeth- Watershed,and King's X -XV i'm happy.:cool:

Karl Hungus

BuddhaJoe wrote: »

The Black Mages - Darkness and Starlight

There was a new Black Mages album? ****... Gotta get me that.

Fad

Thrice,
Say Anything (well it came out in Europe this year)
Metallica
Bring Me The Horizon
NIN
Heathers (Not rock or metal though)

all released absolutely brilliant albums this year, but i havent really bought much in terms or new music (or bought very much at all really, need to start paying for music :S)

HashSlinging

found the white album again this year so its been good.

Passenger

Sounds like OP is aging alright... though new releases from new/up and coming bands has indeed been relatively uninspired, as mentioned by previous posters there has been plenty of decent releases this year...

Pugsley

Sandor wrote: »

Twilight of the Thunder God made my freakin' year. Can't wait to see these guys live at some stage.

Their playing Cork Winterfest in December, not much of a jaunt from Galway.

chin_grin

Misery Index - Traitors is a great album. Check it out.

Also +1 for obZen.

Vim Fuego

Karl Hungus wrote: »

You know, for once I can't say with any honesty. I simply haven't been buying anywhere near as many CDs as I used to.

Ditto :-(

New Cynic is immense though. Apart from that, I've mostly been listening to the last Black Keys and Type O's 'Dead Again' (from 2007 but re-released this year ). No harm going back to the old collection - been listening to a ton of Carcass (for their damnation fest appearance) and Death recently. Can't beat it.

I suppose I also listened to a fair bit of death magnetic when it came out but it didn't really grab me (still think it's decent tho). Didn't get on with the last Melvins sadly, after loving 'a senile animal' :-(

Het-Field

Metallica, AC/DC, and Guns N Roses all released records. Who the hell cares if the other stuff was a litttle poor !!!

Nea

Didnt think it was a great year myself.

Listening to a lot of older stuff like Immortal and Sigh.

Jesus, Gallows Gallery is one mental album

Opeth, Cynic and Donita Sparks' albums were this years saviours for me!

kevin_de_big

I thought ObZen was weak by Meshuggah's standards. Came across as being contrived, slightly.

finbarr

John wrote: »

I think it's been a good year. In terms of metal I've been really digging:
Moss Sub Templum
5ive* Hesperus
Cynic Traced in Air
Lair of the Minotaur War Metal Battle Master
Sunn O))) Domkirke
Ocean Pantheon of the Lesser
Ascend Ample Fire Within


And outside of metal, this year has seen such magnificent releases such as:
Emeralds Solar Bridge (probably album of the year for me)
Grails Take Refuge in Clean Living
Grails Doomsdayer's Holiday
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy with Harem Scarem & Alex Neilson Is it the Sea?
Earth The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Nurse With Wound Huffin' Rag Blues

So I say it's your age.















*no, not the boyband.

I liked that last Lair Of The Minotaur album when it came out but it's not super to my ears a few months down the line. The Ultimate Destroyer is still their best effort.... What a crushing album.

Best metal for me is the last Mourning Beloveth and Death Magnetic. Not too gone on the production on DM or Hetfields vocal performance but the songs are suprisingly good.

On a non-metal front I really liked the last Bruce Springsteen album.

Overall a really bad year for albums and gigs though

John

finbarr wrote: »

I liked that last Lair Of The Minotaur album when it came out but it's not super to my ears a few months down the line. The Ultimate Destroyer is still their best effort.... What a crushing album.

I still really like the new album but I agree that The Ultimate Destroyer is more fantastic.

Mr. Presentable

finbarr wrote: »

On a non-metal front I really liked the last Bruce Springsteen album.

Me too, but that was 2007! :eek:

Furious-Red

My favourite albums (and i think the only One's i actually bought) of this year

Hinder- Take It To The Limit
Shinedown - Sound Of Madness
Staind - The Illusion Of Progress
Buckcherry - Black Butterfly
The Subways - All Or Nothing
AC/DC - Black Ice
Black Stone Cherry - Folklore And Superstition
Rev Theory - Light It Up
Stone Gods - Silver Spoons And Broken Bones

DenMan

Bought the following albums this year so far:

Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
Battlelore -The Last Alliance
Disturbed - Indestructible
Testament - Formation of Damnation
Firewind - The Premonition
Artsas - The Healing
Operatika - The Calling
Enslaved - Vertebrae
Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh
Moonspell - Night Eternal
Hollenthon - Opus Magnum
Crematory - Pray
Soulfly - Conquer
Tiamat - Amanethes
Communic - Payment of Existance
Draconian - Turning Season Within

All in all 2008 has been a great year for metal.

nyarlothothep

Furious-Red wrote: »

My favourite albums (and i think the only One's i actually bought) of this year

Hinder- Take It To The Limit
Shinedown - Sound Of Madness
Staind - The Illusion Of Progress
Buckcherry - Black Butterfly
The Subways - All Or Nothing
AC/DC - Black Ice
Black Stone Cherry - Folklore And Superstition
Rev Theory - Light It Up
Stone Gods - Silver Spoons And Broken Bones

What do you think of Stone Gods? I have that album too, but I thought it was a bit too Bryan Adams in places.


Forgot to mention Dragonforce, Ultra Beatdown.

Pugsley

DenMan wrote: »

Bought the following albums this year so far:

Moonspell - Night Eternal
Hollenthon - Opus Magnum

All in all 2008 has been a great year for metal.

Wasn't too fond of Moonspell's latest effort, was fairly underwhelmed by it, not a bad album, just didn't reach my expectations considering their solid back catalogue.

Didn't know Opus Magnum was out yet, is it more like Domus Mundi (which was absolutely unreal) or With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell (a fairly poor follow up)? Really hope they return to the much more folk and keyboard based sound, they had a really unique sound with Domus Mundi, and some of the songs are simply phenomenal. Vita Nova especially, the best outro to an album I've heard until Chthonic's Quasi Putrefaction (off Seediq Bale), which has to be one of the best songs ever written..

DenMan

Pugsley wrote: »

Wasn't too fond of Moonspell's latest effort, was fairly underwhelmed by it, not a bad album, just didn't reach my expectations considering their solid back catalogue.

Didn't know Opus Magnum was out yet, is it more like Domus Mundi (which was absolutely unreal) or With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell (a fairly poor follow up)? Really hope they return to the much more folk and keyboard based sound, they had a really unique sound with Domus Mundi, and some of the songs are simply phenomenal. Vita Nova especially, the best outro to an album I've heard until Chthonic's Quasi Putrefaction (off Seediq Bale), which has to be one of the best songs ever written..

Sorry about that, you're dead right. Just re-checked the albums. Got Domus Mundi back in July and will get Opus Magnum in the next few weeks. Been hearing great things about them over the summer so got Domus Mundi. Love the single Homage - Magni Nominis Umbra, very epic.

Rockee

Het-Field wrote: »

Metallica, AC/DC, and Guns N Roses all released records. Who the hell cares if the other stuff was a litttle poor !!!

I think what Doctor J means is that the safe money is being spent by record companies to promote the above bands who are more than established at this stage and that theres nobody willing to take the risk of pumping some money into something new and fresh.

No doubt theres fantastic unheard gems out there but feck all revenue is being pumped into these bands by companies.

qwertplaywert

Ain't bought near as many cds as usual this year. The albums have been poor, save a few
Chinese Democracy was this ****ty modern rock bull****. Simple as.
Death Magnetic was a good album, but certainly not a great one, just overhyped due to the **** Metalica have been delivering since the Black album.
NIN's The Slip was a good album, a pleasent surprise considering it was free, but nowhere near as good as last years Ghosts.
Weezer yet again delivered their worst album.
Oasis did a rehash of their first two albums, and managed to get worse.

*disgruntled*

nyarlothothep

qwertplaywert wrote: »

Ain't bought near as many cds as usual this year. The albums have been poor, save a few
Chinese Democracy was this ****ty modern rock bull****. Simple as.
Death Magnetic was a good album, but certainly not a great one, just overhyped due to the **** Metalica have been delivering since the Black album.
NIN's The Slip was a good album, a pleasent surprise considering it was free, but nowhere near as good as last years Ghosts.
Weezer yet again delivered their worst album.
Oasis did a rehash of their first two albums, and managed to get worse.

*disgruntled*

Wasn't ghosts released this year?

qwertplaywert

So it was. My mistake, think I mixed it up with Radioheads In Rainbows for some reason.

Baggio

Doc.J.
...WAS just about to agree with ya about what a louzy year for music...when just then!!...the new RUSH DVD landed on me head......ahh the boys have done it again...

RUSH have saved us yet again from the drivel and waffle that is the modern music world and now all is well again in happy music land

happy "Snakes and Arrows DVD" viewing amigo ...Baggio....

Doctor J

Rockee wrote: »

I think what Doctor J means is that the safe money is being spent by record companies to promote the above bands who are more than established at this stage and that theres nobody willing to take the risk of pumping some money into something new and fresh.

No doubt theres fantastic unheard gems out there but feck all revenue is being pumped into these bands by companies.

I'm glad at least one person was paying attention, and a drummer at that

Are you Joe King?!


New Metallica album....new Guns N' Roses album......it's like it's 1987 all over again!! :pac:

Doctor J

It is only if you were still a sperm when 1987 came around the first time

...and you're deaf this time around

Rockee

Doctor J wrote: »

I'm glad at least one person was paying attention, and a drummer at that

Well, shucks J..:D