Best Album of 2008

[jebus]

Arcade Fire have taken a slight lead over LCD Soundsystem in 2007, and there's every chance that Radiohead will nick it as well, 2 days left in that poll if you wnat to get voting.

Anyway here's the albums chosen for best album of 2008. This list is made up of ones that have been talked about on here, ones I like and ones off Rate My Music. No critics list yet (for obvious reasons) and there's every chance an album could come out between now and the end of the year that would blow the winner of this poll away. Still we need to get into the knockout groups so here goes with the final Best Of a specific year poll :)

VOTING OPENS ONCE VIDEOS ARE UP

Neon Neon - Raquel - Stainless Style

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Metallica - The Day That Never Comes - Death Magnetic

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Oasis - Bag It Up - Dig Out Your Soul

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[jebus]

Sigur Ros - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

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Coldplay - Viva La Vida - Viva La Vida

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Bonnie Prince Billy - I'll Be Glad - Lie Down In The Light

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[jebus]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig - Dig Lazarus Dig

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Elbow - Mirrorball - The Seldom Seen Kid

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Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire - In Ghost Colours

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[jebus]

Couple of really good ones in contention for me this year. Both Coldplay and Oasis released good records this year, Sigur Ros's new one was superb, as was Cut Copy. Damon Albarn's newest creation Monkey was breathtaking, Fleet Foxes, Laura Marling, Noah and the Whale, She & Him and Dublin's own One Day International all contributed with sterling efforts as well.

That said Neon Neon takes my vote. Gruff Rhys is pretty much a God on Earth at this stage :)

Kings of Leon were excluded because I've been told their new offering is mediocre at best by the people I know that bought it before anyone asks where they are

[gustavo]

Hold Steady Stay Positive
Coldplay
Oasis
Nick Cave
Vampire Weekend

I'll decide between those 5 over the following few days :)

[Bluebeard]

Neon Neon, by a long chalk on the others listed - I'd heard cuts from it last November, and had been gagging for it for ages by the time it finally got released. It does not disappoint - great bit of work, my most regular playing album this Summer.

EDIT: Good call on Vampire Weekend Gustavo - great debut, though not quite in the same league as Stainless Style

[jebus]

3 votes cast and 3 votes for Neon Neon :eek:

I'm always so optimistic that my choice will win at the early stages of these polls :D

[Pauro 76]

Went for Neon Neon, superb stuff. A friend got me into it and hooked straight away. What a superb album. 2nd to Metallica, 3rd to Coldplay. although havent heard Oasis' new one yet.

[noby]

Seen as the poll is over already:

Other: We Show Up On Radar - Growing A Girl (Instructions On How To Grow A Girl Without Your Wife Finding Out)

[The Good Son]

A good year for music in my opinion. Outside of stuff included in the poll and mentioned already, The Fall, Tindersticks, HMHB, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Emmylou Harris and Calexico all released good albums.
The best of the year for me would be Songs In A+E- Spiritualized.

[superfrank]

I've only bought two albums from 2008, Republic Of Loose and Nas. Neither of them are classics but I'll go with Republic Of Loose anyway.

If only this poll ran til the end of the year, Dre's supposed to release Detox in December...

[Dodge]

Boooo to premature polls. Hope a classic is released in the next couple of months. if it is I'll be calling jebus to be sacked

[jebus]

Boooo to premature polls. Hope a classic is released in the next couple of months. if it is I'll be calling jebus to be sacked

If a better album is released in the next few months I'll be banning any discussion of it on these forums to cover myself :)

[Dodge]

typicals fascist moderator...

[holidaysong]

Went for Sigur Rós - their best work in my opinion.

Honourable mention to The Breeders with Mountain Battles.

I haven't heard the new Metallica one yet..

[jebus]

typicals fascist moderator...

Typo on typical, two week ban :)

[The Optimist]

Best of 2008
Goin with Glasvegas - Glasvegas

Other honourable mentions:
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
The Courteeners - St Jude
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Feeder - Silent Cry
Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song
Jape - Ritual
REM - Accelerate
Levellers - Songs From The Underground
Weezer - Red Album
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Kings Of Leon - Only By the Night

[stann]

I'm calling for jebus to be sacked for not listing Hot Chip. Dropped a large bollock there IMO.

Some great albums out this year again. Neon Neon a (pretty distant) third for me, second to Cut Copy and the winner being Other: Hot Chip - Made In The Dark

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One Pure Thought

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Hold On (not a great version - song only here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnJqxdu44zk).)

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Wrestlers

[BohsPartisan]

Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation

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[Green_Hoop]

Sigur rós for me,Just about tops Takk in my opinion.

[Dublin12]

I voted other, as I have yet to hear anything better than the new David Holmes cd.

[Wolfie]

Viva La Vida just shaded it for me.

[B]Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha is a very enjoyable (if not particularly original) album.

It's a more immediate, upbeat album to Road to Rouen and has an infectious glam stomp to some of the tunes. Gaz Coombes vocals have a new maturity and confidence in delivery that was perhaps missing previously.

The influences are blatantly obvious nods to Bowie, Dylan etc but they are always tastefully and cleverly woven into the fabric of the tunes.

If you're looking for an album to simply entertain - check it out.

[Macy]

Other: The Aftermath - Friendlier Up Here

[centre mid]

Damn, I meant to vote for MGMT Oracular Spectacutlar but i forgot it was 2007, no outstanding others as of yet.

[Bluebeard]

Damn, I meant to vote for MGMT Oracular Spectacutlar but i forgot it was 2007, no outstanding others as of yet.

Thought it was this year. WIki suggests that it was released online last year and in real terms this year. I'd have called it a 2008 release, and that is what was on the back of the CD cover.

[kingdom hoop]

Pretty sure Oracular Spectacular was doing the rounds at the tail end of last year Bluey baby. Maybe if the popular charts account for internet sales then we should too. Though it appears to be of little consequence beyond giving Centre Mid someone to vote for this year. :)

On the topic of Centre Mid, for me Midfield General's General Disarray hounds this year's opposition into submission, brutishly claiming possession of the best-album award with an electro masterpiece. Though I do him a disservice with the aggressive terminology as General Disarray blends power with panache, feistiness with finesse - in other words, just what you want from your Midfield General. :ball:
Fans of The Mighty Boosh may be interested to note that Noel Fielding guest stars on one song, while Brighton and Hove Albion fans should know Midfield General himself owns your sponsors - Skint Records. No excuse for ye not to check out THE electronic album of the year, forget that Neon Neon and Hot Chip rubbish.

Overall this year seemed to serve me a glut of fantastic records in the first quarter (amongst many others Lykke Li, We Show Up On Radar, Vampire Weekend, Foals, Hot Chip, Neon Neon, Cut Copy, The LK immediately spring to mind) but less so over the past few months (Jape and Lindstrom maybe). Still, I was well fed before the (probably self-created) famine. But decent year in general I think.

Surprised no one's mentioned The Ting Tings though, I suppose we'll have to wait until Single of the Year for them. Anything else happen this year? My memory is best described as merely encompassing the od half of good.

[superfrank]

Surprised no one's mentioned The Ting Tings though, I suppose we'll have to wait until Single of the Year for them.
Which one? :confused: They all sound the same.

[stann]

Anything else happen this year? My memory is best described as merely encompassing the od half of good.

Mine is going that way it seems, as I forgot Midfield General, and to mention the brilliant Nick Cave and even more brilliant Elbow albums which in all fairness are in the list above. :D
That's a decent top six then, those three there, Neon Neon, Cut Copy and Hot Chip slightly over all. Pretty good year!

[kingdom hoop]

Which one? :confused: They all sound the same.

Just like Stacey, Mary-Jo Lisa and Jane sound the same is it? Please try not to hurt someone's feelings and listen properly next time won't you, unless you want a fairly tiresome "That's Not The Song's Name" tune to come out. ;)


Mine is going that way it seems, as I forgot Midfield General, and to mention the brilliant Nick Cave and even more brilliant Elbow albums which in all fairness are in the list above.
That's a decent top six then, those three there, Neon Neon, Cut Copy and Hot Chip slightly over all. Pretty good year!

Whoo, first person I've 'met' who has the Midfield General album. 137 Piano and (particularly so) Bass Mechanic definitely two of my favourite tracks of the year, and prefer it overall to Hot Chip too, maybe cos of the football references! And now I know you said your memory is fuzzy but how did you leave Hoop Hoop Hurray out of the top 6? And don't give me the "no compilations" excuse! :p

[Bluebeard]

Utterly forgot the wonderful Youth Novels by Lykke Li, and for that, much atonement is due.

However, seeing as I don't believe in music that is not printed on vinyl, I stand firmly behind my stance on it being a 2008 release. Many things are releases online or on MTV before real people who like their music to have ALL the frequencies can get hold of it. Otherwise we'd have to include Crazy Frog and interminable other crap, and that could seriously affect the Oasis votes...

[gustavo]

Otherwise we'd have to include Crazy Frog and interminable other crap, and that could seriously affect the Oasis votes...

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul 0

[Pauro 76]

Oh noooo, please not the Ting Tings. They just severely irritate me. Reckon MGMT 'Oracular Spectacular' is a class album. Slow burner for me, only got the album a month ago, but it's excellent, and will be surely in the album of the year lists.

[jebus]

Judgement Call On MGMT (not that it matters)

I'm putting them down as a 2008 release as the album was only released on CD/vinyl/mini disk (remember them? probably not) in Jan 2008. It was available to download before hand but that's why we call it a judgement call

[Bluebeard]

Yes, I would have to say that the quality of modding and judgement in the Music forum is second to none!

[Pauro 76]

Reckon Portishead - Third deserves a mention. After 11 years away, it could have been a disaster. The fact that it was a different feel from the two previous albums, and that it was a damn fine comeback puts it up there with the best. The Rip, one of the songs of the year for me. Speaking of comebacks, the Verve one was majorly disappointing iMO.

[kingdom hoop]

Better than the main forum anyway. Jebus for Promotion!

Other good albums from this year that have come to mind:
Benga - Diary Of An Afro Warrior
Brazilian Girls - New York City
Booka Shade - The Sun And The Neon Light
Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules & Love Affair
Supabeatz - Sexy Hi-Fi


By the way, did anyone get the new Peter Bjorn & John album?

[jebus]

Agree on Portishead and Benga from the last two posts, haven't actually gotten around to buying the new Booka Shade yet (more fool me) and this has just reminded me that I need to pick it up

[BohsPartisan]

Yeah Portishead was quality. I was expecting it to be awful or just a re-hash of the old sound but I was pleasantly surprised.

[superfrank]

Just like Stacey, Mary-Jo Lisa and Jane sound the same is it? Please try not to hurt someone's feelings and listen properly next time won't you, unless you want a fairly tiresome "That's Not The Song's Name" tune to come out. ;)
There's only so many times the Ting Tings can make a song that sounds original. I think that was once. All their singles I've heard sound like slowed down or faster versions of their previous versions.

I mean, there must be only so many combinations of guitar and drum (there's only two of them, yeah?) that can make a song.

[Dodge]

Only two of them but pretty varied amount of instruments. Asa rapfan I thought you'd have appreciated the merits of excellent production

Most bands have a similar sound

[superfrank]

Most bands have a similar sound
Yeah but, IMO, they sound too similar.

[kingdom hoop]

Wouldn't have said they were too guilty of that at all. Usually if you don't like a particular thing or group of things they can be seen as 'all the same', you know, like the way Americans are all stupid and boring, all rap sounds the same, or blacks all look the same (according to my gran at least :D).

Anyway I only mentioned them out of divilment rather than as a genuine expression of love. I've listened to the album a few times alright and didn't think it was too bad, obviously not an album of the year but probably better than you'd give them credit for.

[Pauro 76]

i'd like to nominate Scouting For Girls as an outside contender. OK joking, they're a pox on the musical landscape.

[razor]

My favourites so far are

We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery
The Wedding Present - El Rey
The Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
Spiritualized - Songs in A + E
The Pigeon Detectives - Emergency
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
Santogold - Santogold

But i'm going for Other

The Young Knives - Superabundance

[Pauro 76]

im now of the opinion that Oasis' new one is a contender. Surprisingly decent effort. Keane's new one has surprised me too, it's nowhere near as bad as i was expecting.

[SwanVsDalton]

This year's been a bit sparse for truly quality releases. But the best for me so far;

The Stand In's - Okkervil River
You and Me - The Walkmen
Carried To Dust - Calexico
The Devil, You and Me - The Notwist
At Mount Zoomer - Wolf Parade
Red, Yellow, Blue - Born Ruffians
Dear Science - TV On The Radio
For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
Ragged Wood - Fleet Foxes

Some high profile disappointments this year, including Sigur Ros and My Morning Jacket, IMO. It's been a strange year but some promising artists emerging.

[Bluebeard]

I notice that since the third vote has been cast, there has not been a single mention of Neon Neon - disappointing people, how can everyone ignore the concept of the concept album so completely. Time to write a concept album, I think...

[Pauro 76]

Was Neon Neon not mentioned earlier in this thread? Great album though, but still hating that rap interlude 'Sweat Shop' though.

[jebus]

Was Neon Neon not mentioned earlier in this thread? Great album though, but still hating that rap interlude 'Sweat Shop' though.

It's included in the poll

[Bluebeard]

Was Neon Neon not mentioned earlier in this thread? Great album though, but still hating that rap interlude 'Sweat Shop' though.

Sorry, I meant it in the sense that there has not a single vote for them since the third vote was cast.