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Jam's Top 10 Discs of 2004
By JOHN WILLIAMS
Senior Editor, JAM! Showbiz
It's impossible to listen to every album that comes by our desk in the span of a year, but we did manage to come up with 10 musical efforts in 2004 that put the CD player in overdrive.
(Of course, lists like this are not a science, so please don't send us hate emails -- and please -- no wagering.)
10. U2
How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
(Island)
With U2 taking a step back with their last album, it’s refreshing to see Bono & company getting back to concentrating on the individual songs, rather than the larger concept of "getting back to the basics.” The first single “Vertigo” is not a fair representation of the rest of the disc, leaving many listeners taken aback as to how sullen and somber the rest of the record actually is.
“Bomb” contains some of the best tracks they have done in years – “City of Blinding Lights,” “Crumbs From Your Table” and “Miracle Drug” can be filed with any classic songs in the U2 catalogue. Still, like the last few U2 albums, it has it’s handful of unmemorable songs -- and the reason why it’s not higher up on this list.
9. THE VINES
Winning Days
(Capitol/EMI)
Unlike many of the scribes who lynched this album before it even came out, we think that this worthy follow-up to 2002’s breakthrough “Highly Evolved” stood on its own.
Unfortunately, the album didn’t make the impact it should have, due to the cancellation of their North American tour due to “mental and physical exhaustion.”
8. BY DIVINE RIGHT
Sweet Confusion
(Linus)
BDR leader Jose Contreras wields some more magic on this album, their best to date. A beautiful mix of soul, rock and psychedelia.
7. MODEST MOUSE
Good News For People Who Like Bad News
(Epic/Sony)
The Washington State-based band, who formed in 1993, went from indie clubbers to an overnight success with their latest disc of odd and refreshing tunes.
6. RAISING THE FAWN
The North Sea
(Sonic Unyon)
One of the most eclectic bands around just happens to be in our neck of the woods. Contains one of the catchiest tunes of the year in "Gwendolyn."
5. THE HIVES
Tyrannosaurus Hives
(Polydor/Interscope)
The band's third album and first in four years is more of the same -- which is actually a good thing. More catchy, three-minute guitar-crunching tunes that leave you feeling like you've been hit over the head with a blunt object.
4. PJ HARVEY
Uh Huh Her
(Island)
It's one thing that you can count on with PJ Harvey -- she's consistently good. After releasing the critically-acclaimed "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea," PJ returns to her sound of old. This album sees her at her scornful best -- listen intently, and be glad that you're not her better half.
3. FRANZ FERDINAND
Franz Ferdinand
(Sony/Domino)
These Scottish lads deserved every bit of the acclaim reaped on them in 2004. From the opening chords of the powerful lead-off track “Jacqueline,” the disc never wavers from its glorious new wave sound – but don’t be put off -- Franz manages to pull it off without sounding dated.
2. WILCO
A Ghost Is Born
(Nonesuch/Warner)
This brutally honest seventh effort sees Jeff Tweedy at his best, even when he was at his worst. (The album was delayed due to a rehab stint for his addiction to painkillers).
"A Ghost is Born" is a beautiful and adventurous mix of pop and rock, highlighted by the hypnotic "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" and the infectious "I'm a Wheel."
Wilco keeps showing that with every passing album, they seems to raise the bar every time they enter the studio.
1. GREEN DAY
American Idiot
(Warner)
If there is one thing that will remind us of the year 2004, it will be George Bush's hotly contested re-election and Billie Joe shouting:
"Welcome to a new kind of tension,
All across the alien nation,
Everything isn't meant to be OK."
That politically-charged opening line from the "American Idiot" sets off a furious one-hour assault from the veteran punkers, and easily takes our top spot on JAM!'s best-of 2004 list.
The album, a glorious punk opera which follows a young man's struggles in smalltown suburbia in the midst of George Bush's reign, illustrates what can happen when a band takes a chance in the studio.
No doubt, "American Idiot" is their most ambitious record ever, and their best since their breakthrough debut "Dookie."
And hey, if ol' Dubya can inspire this much venom from a band thought to be well past their prime, then we hope he sticks around for four more years -- or at least until Green Day's next album.
--Canoe
By JOHN WILLIAMS
Senior Editor, JAM! Showbiz
It's impossible to listen to every album that comes by our desk in the span of a year, but we did manage to come up with 10 musical efforts in 2004 that put the CD player in overdrive.
(Of course, lists like this are not a science, so please don't send us hate emails -- and please -- no wagering.)
10. U2
How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
(Island)
With U2 taking a step back with their last album, it’s refreshing to see Bono & company getting back to concentrating on the individual songs, rather than the larger concept of "getting back to the basics.” The first single “Vertigo” is not a fair representation of the rest of the disc, leaving many listeners taken aback as to how sullen and somber the rest of the record actually is.
“Bomb” contains some of the best tracks they have done in years – “City of Blinding Lights,” “Crumbs From Your Table” and “Miracle Drug” can be filed with any classic songs in the U2 catalogue. Still, like the last few U2 albums, it has it’s handful of unmemorable songs -- and the reason why it’s not higher up on this list.
9. THE VINES
Winning Days
(Capitol/EMI)
Unlike many of the scribes who lynched this album before it even came out, we think that this worthy follow-up to 2002’s breakthrough “Highly Evolved” stood on its own.
Unfortunately, the album didn’t make the impact it should have, due to the cancellation of their North American tour due to “mental and physical exhaustion.”
8. BY DIVINE RIGHT
Sweet Confusion
(Linus)
BDR leader Jose Contreras wields some more magic on this album, their best to date. A beautiful mix of soul, rock and psychedelia.
7. MODEST MOUSE
Good News For People Who Like Bad News
(Epic/Sony)
The Washington State-based band, who formed in 1993, went from indie clubbers to an overnight success with their latest disc of odd and refreshing tunes.
6. RAISING THE FAWN
The North Sea
(Sonic Unyon)
One of the most eclectic bands around just happens to be in our neck of the woods. Contains one of the catchiest tunes of the year in "Gwendolyn."
5. THE HIVES
Tyrannosaurus Hives
(Polydor/Interscope)
The band's third album and first in four years is more of the same -- which is actually a good thing. More catchy, three-minute guitar-crunching tunes that leave you feeling like you've been hit over the head with a blunt object.
4. PJ HARVEY
Uh Huh Her
(Island)
It's one thing that you can count on with PJ Harvey -- she's consistently good. After releasing the critically-acclaimed "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea," PJ returns to her sound of old. This album sees her at her scornful best -- listen intently, and be glad that you're not her better half.
3. FRANZ FERDINAND
Franz Ferdinand
(Sony/Domino)
These Scottish lads deserved every bit of the acclaim reaped on them in 2004. From the opening chords of the powerful lead-off track “Jacqueline,” the disc never wavers from its glorious new wave sound – but don’t be put off -- Franz manages to pull it off without sounding dated.
2. WILCO
A Ghost Is Born
(Nonesuch/Warner)
This brutally honest seventh effort sees Jeff Tweedy at his best, even when he was at his worst. (The album was delayed due to a rehab stint for his addiction to painkillers).
"A Ghost is Born" is a beautiful and adventurous mix of pop and rock, highlighted by the hypnotic "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" and the infectious "I'm a Wheel."
Wilco keeps showing that with every passing album, they seems to raise the bar every time they enter the studio.
1. GREEN DAY
American Idiot
(Warner)
If there is one thing that will remind us of the year 2004, it will be George Bush's hotly contested re-election and Billie Joe shouting:
"Welcome to a new kind of tension,
All across the alien nation,
Everything isn't meant to be OK."
That politically-charged opening line from the "American Idiot" sets off a furious one-hour assault from the veteran punkers, and easily takes our top spot on JAM!'s best-of 2004 list.
The album, a glorious punk opera which follows a young man's struggles in smalltown suburbia in the midst of George Bush's reign, illustrates what can happen when a band takes a chance in the studio.
No doubt, "American Idiot" is their most ambitious record ever, and their best since their breakthrough debut "Dookie."
And hey, if ol' Dubya can inspire this much venom from a band thought to be well past their prime, then we hope he sticks around for four more years -- or at least until Green Day's next album.
--Canoe
