best of Unoriginal's Best of 2017

[Mark Rih]

CTRL/TMYLM being only HMs better than nothing I guess lol

Fraud-Z didn't pay you enough to make the actual list?

[Unoriginal]

friendly announcement that this was one of the best things about christmas

 

[Unoriginal]

UNORIGINAL'S BEST OF 2017

2017's 20 Best Albums

20 - 16

 

#20

Paramore - After Laughter

 

Lots of my friends complained about Paramore's style change and how they liked the 'old Paramore' but the shake-up grabbed my attention and rightfully so as Hayley Williams of Paramore and her bandmates really kinda pulled off something fantastic here. It's fun, poppy but still loaded with guitars, coherent, deep and lyrically dark. There's a lot to love here.

Highlights - Rose-Colored Boy, Fake Happy, Pool, No Friend, Tell Me How

Unhighlights - Grudges

listen here

 

#19

Tove Lo - Blue Lips

 

Lady Wood was one of 2016's pop highlights and was very very very good. BLUE LIPS (lady wood phase ii) isn't quite Lady Wood but it's almost as fun, almost as coherent, almost as lyrically not cringey and almost as good. Tove still likes drugs. Some interesting production that's still slick, polished and mainstream in an explore-y way and there's no dud here quite as dud-y as Imaginary Friend but overall not quite as good but nonetheless still pretty great.

Highlights - shedontknowbutsheknows, stranger, bitches, bad days, hey you got drugs?

Unhighlights  - dont ask dont tell, romantics

listen here

 

#18

Dua Lipa - Dua Lipa

 

Be the One, New Love and Blow Your Mind had me excited for Dua Lipa's self titled whereas Hotter than Hell and Lost in Your Light had me slightly more hmm. Luckily, Dua Lipa turned out to be fun, catchy, lyrically decent and full of great upbeat pop tracks. The slower, more mellow tracks like Homesick worked equally as well and I think it's more than definite that Dua won quality-wise by a landslide out of the new pop girls of 2017. Genesis is also one of my favourite openers of 2017.

Highlights - Genesis, Be the One, Thinking 'Bout You, New Love, Bad Together

Unhighlights - Garden, No Goodbyes

listen here

 

#17

Halsey - hopeless fountain kingdom

Tumblr princess Halsey came through with a surprisingly solid sophomore album that improved on its predecessor in essentially every way, confidently avoiding the notorious sophomore slump. Halsey's moved away from the synthpop of Badlands to a... darker synthpop (maybe with some urban undertones. maybe) on hopeless fountain kingdom that suits her very well. On hfk, Halsey's found her success zone by less successfully rehashing Needed Me but ultimately it worked out. If you ignore some of the weird lyrics that pop up every now and again (Halsey claims she wrote every lyric on this) it's pretty good.

Highlights - 100 Letters, Alone, Lie, Walls Could Talk, Hopeless

Unhighlights - Angel on Fire, Devil in Me

listen here

 

 

#16

Goldfrapp - Silver Eye

 

Goldfrapp seem to like doing this thing where they change their style every album. Tales of Us was like an electronic folk album whereas Silver Eye is synthpoppy and synthrocky. Surprisingly, the style changes generally work. Silver Eye is less with the lyrics and more with the production (that's not a functioning sentence but it gets my point across) and it all works very successfully on an album that's relatively mellow for the most part and sticks mainly in the midtempo section of things. The middle section has a psychedelic feel too which I love. Ocean is a grand, epic and emotional closer that could make a case for being one of my favourite of 2017 too.

Highlights - Systemagic, Tigerman, Faux Suede Drifter, Zodiac Black, Ocean

Unhighlights - Moon in Your Mouth

listen here

[Unoriginal]

Spoiler

On 24/12/2017 at 10:59 PM, Pink Matter said:

If you say so  

And Jay and Demi are on my to do list for later!

listened to IEOIYW again today and it's still pretty good 

 

On 25/12/2017 at 0:05 AM, grandewhispers said:

Omg, I think I prefer Confident too! It's sooooo good  

i have no idea why so many of the ATRL fans hate it  i was shocked when i first listened to it at how good it was

 

On 25/12/2017 at 1:00 AM, ultraviolence.xx said:

i meant like on an individual song basis  but not even that often 

debatable

 

On 25/12/2017 at 1:30 AM, theblackestday said:

ok Fleet Trashes stan

honestly tho Vulnicura next to Utopia is like Born to Die next to Ultraviolence 

 

On 25/12/2017 at 11:53 AM, TayRianaPH said:

This!

But TMYLM islike her niche, so happy for her to find her own sound  

agreed  and Demi seems really happy with her sound and it's mostly good so as long as more good music comes out of it I can't really complain

 

17 hours ago, Tom Vercetti said:

I think 4:44 is good and would've been liked more had it been available on other services.

agreed it's v good. hopefully TIDAL dies sooner rather than later so that more people can hear it. Lemonade too (though acclaim-wise there's no issue).

 

9 hours ago, Mark Rih said:

CTRL/TMYLM being only HMs better than nothing I guess lol

Fraud-Z didn't pay you enough to make the actual list?

I only started listening to 4:44 last week  no TIDAL exclusive except Lemonade could ever have a justified place on any of my Best Ofs

 

[grandewhispers]

hopeless fountain kingdom  Your highlights are really good too 

[Lazuli]

After Laughter  Wish it was higher tho  

Not sure if I like blue lips or Lady Wood more

Excuse me I expected more from you than to put #17 there  

[Legend E]

Dua Lipa  

[Eeveelution]

Silver Eye is definitely my fave from this set.  

[Navyofbadgals]

Dua and Tove  

[Topmaster 2]

Dua Lipa YAS An album!

[theblackestday]

15 hours ago, Unoriginal said:

  Hide contents

honestly tho Vulnicura next to Utopia is like Born to Die next to Ultraviolence 

 

Not commenting on this after seeing the set of this update xo

Yay for After Godfter tho

[bestfiction]

Paramore Also Rose-Colored GOD as a highlight 

I like Blue Lips even more than Lady Wood tbh, but it's amazing how her music keeps on the same high level of excellence 

Surprised to see Goldfrapp, didn't think that anyone pays attention to them on ATRL... Not like I'm diggin int o them but that album was cute... as I recall. Listened to it two or three times

[Pink Matter]

I only ever gave After Laughter one listen () but I remember it being a very enjoyable listen. Dua's album was also nice for a listen or two but it wasn't really something I went back to (or at least not in full). Same for Goldfrapp. I never bothered to listen to Halsey's album but Now or Never is a cute Needed Me rehash  No comment on Tove  

[Uncatena]

Blue Lips and Silver Eye

 

Halsey remains trash tho

[Dom]

Dua Lipa and Tove Lo what a legends. truly an underrated queens. shame gp is not buying tove's album.. cause it's fab.

[World Eater]

23 hours ago, Unoriginal said:

Spoiler

 

friendly announcement that this was one of the best things about christmas

 

 

Came here for taste, not to shed tears

 

Anyway, I need to revisit Paramore's and Duo Lingo's alberms but from what I remember they were enjoyable and had great highlights

[Tom Vercetti]

Both Blue & Dua were singles carried for me. Agrih on the Goldfrapp and even Halsey highlights. 

[Unoriginal]

UNORIGINAL'S BEST OF 2017

2017's 20 Best Albums

15 - 11

 

#15

alt-J - RELAXER

Whilst most people swear by An Awesome Wave as alt-J's best album, I'd argue it's RELAXER. It's a concise 39-minute affair that spans across eight songs, five of which cross the five-minute mark; the longer songs are the highlights here for the most part, giving the British trio room to develop the songs and explore folk and alt-rock effectively and cleverly. The album doesn't overstay its welcome and guest appearances from Ellie Roswell of Wolf Alice and Marika Hackman (and Gus Unger-Hamilton, kind of, on 3WW) help give the album a sense of vocal variety which I appreciate.

Highlights - 3WW, Deadcrush, Adeline, Last Year, Pleader

Uhhighlights - Hit Me Like That Snare

listen here

 

#14

HAIM - Something to Tell You

 

Where Days Are Gone felt rooted in 80s nostalgia and throwbacks, Something to Tell You feels more 70s-y to me. It's definitely a step down from the quality of Days Are Gone, which was more or less flawless from start to finish, and feels more repetitive but that's not to detract from the quality of the record which is of course still there. You Never Knew is an incredible song that sounds like Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac reincarnated; Walking Away is almost R&B and completely unlike any HAIM song before it but it's a more than successful experiment; Right Now is angry, brash and loud and closer Night So Long is simple yet heartbreaking. Although the Haim sisters might have lost a little bit of what made them truly special, Something to Tell You is far from bad and it's safe to say this is one of my favourite albums of 2017.

Highlights - Something to Tell You, You Never Knew, Kept Me Crying, Walking Away, Night So Long

Unhighlights - Found  t in Silence

listen here

 

#13

Kelela - Take Me Apart

I wasn't expecting much going into Take Me Apart (that's not to say I had negative expectations, I just wasn't familiar enough with Kelela to have a proper opinion) so I was amazed at how great this was. The album begins with highlight Frontline, which starts the album off slowly and subtly before the confident, hurt chorus which is the true early blossoming of the album. Right from the start we know what we're in for and what follows is consistently solid and continuously surprises in the best ways. There's short, smooth interlude-like tracks (though they're not labelled as such so I hesitate to call them actual interludes) which are a fresh break from the dense songs that surround them; there's Better, a mostly bare (in a good way) song which is the closest to a ballad on Take Me Apart; the charged Blue Light and the simple yet effective closer Altadena, all working together fantastically to create one of 2017's highlights and my favourite debut of the year.

Highlights - Frontline, Take Me Apart, Enough, Better, Altadena

Uhhighlights - S.O.S.

listen here 

 

#12

Jessie Ware - Glasshouse

 

Jessie came out with her most accessible album yet this year. Thankfully, accessibility wasn't traded for quality here. There's beautiful songs dedicated to Ware's daughter (Thinking About You), fun, danceable, upbeat synthpop (Your Domino), Tough Love rejects that feature backing murmurs from Paul Buchanan (Last of the True Believers), cinematic, grand love songs (Alone) smooth, laid-back fallen-out-of-love songs (First Time). It's great for the most part and, despite being a step down from Tough Love, it's fun and enjoyable and definitely far from boring, as some people claim. Hearts, however, is a massive misfire that doesn't work for Jessie at all; it doesn't suit her voice and the production doesn't feel like it's all there. It sounds like a Julia Michaels reject (she cowrote on the song). It's crap.

Highlights - Thinking About You, Stay Awake, Wait for Me, First Time, Last of the True Believers, Til the End

Unhighlights - Hearts

listen here

 

#11

The xx - I See You

 

I'm one of the strange people who prefers Coexist to The xx's self-titled debut. I also think I See You is the band's best album. From start to finish it's atmospheric, confident, engaging and all round excellent. There's highlight after highlight here from the in-your-face opener Dangerous to the stunning Replica to the gorgeously, breathtakingly atmospheric closer Test Me. Jamie's solo debut In Colour influenced the sound of this album immensely and it's definitely for the better. The expanded dream pop sound that goes in dancier directions is easily for the better and resulted in what was my favourite album for the first quarter of the year.

Highlights - Dangerous, Lips, Replica, Test Me, Seasons Run

Unhighlights - Brave for You

listen here

[Unoriginal]

Spoiler

On 26/12/2017 at 10:45 PM, grandewhispers said:

hopeless fountain kingdom  Your highlights are really good too 

whew taste  

 

18 hours ago, Lazuli said:

After Laughter  Wish it was higher tho  

Not sure if I like blue lips or Lady Wood more

Excuse me I expected more from you than to put #17 there  

ugh it's an album  if I'd listened to it more it could've probably been a bit higher but I don't think it could've cracked the top ten

LW >>>>>>>>>>>> BL >>>>>>>> QotC

If you look past the person singing the songs hfk isn't bad at all

 

11 hours ago, Legend E said:

Dua Lipa  

a debut

 

11 hours ago, Eeveelution said:

Silver Eye is definitely my fave from this set.  

it was my second favourite of the year at one point but  

 

9 hours ago, Navyofbadgals said:

Dua and Tove  

they kinda did that huh. hope Dua serves another Genesis on DL2 but I guess she'll go in the New Rules direction now

 

9 hours ago, Topmaster 2 said:

Dua Lipa YAS An album!

an album and a ****ing good debut

 

8 hours ago, theblackestday said:

Not commenting on this after seeing the set of this update xo

Yay for After Godfter tho

i know you know it's true xo

i also know you don't like hfk but what's wrong with the rest of the albums here

 

7 hours ago, bestfiction said:

Paramore Also Rose-Colored GOD as a highlight 

I like Blue Lips even more than Lady Wood tbh, but it's amazing how her music keeps on the same high level of excellence 

Surprised to see Goldfrapp, didn't think that anyone pays attention to them on ATRL... Not like I'm diggin int o them but that album was cute... as I recall. Listened to it two or three times

RCB is easily the best thing on AL

agreed that's it's all excellent but I personally far prefer LW  it just feels more polished and slick and overall better

you should listen to SE more tbh

 

6 hours ago, Pink Matter said:

I only ever gave After Laughter one listen () but I remember it being a very enjoyable listen. Dua's album was also nice for a listen or two but it wasn't really something I went back to (or at least not in full). Same for Goldfrapp. I never bothered to listen to Halsey's album but Now or Never is a cute Needed Me rehash  No comment on Tove  

 @ AL

there were some clear highlights on DL that definitely made the duds more apparent  but SE is consistent the whole way through imo

there's much better than NoN on hfk and Tove lost

 

5 hours ago, ChapelHooker said:

Blue Lips and Silver Eye

 

Halsey remains trash tho

regardless of the person i enjoyed the music  Halsey hasn't done anything illegal or immoral bad so I can support the music

 

4 hours ago, Dom said:

Dua Lipa and Tove Lo what a legends. truly an underrated queens. shame gp is not buying tove's album.. cause it's fab.

i have no idea what happened between LW and BL  i know LW came off the back of QotC's hits but still...

 

1 hour ago, AlexisNeiers said:

Came here for taste, not to shed tears

 

Anyway, I need to revisit Paramore's and Duo Lingo's alberms but from what I remember they were enjoyable and had great highlights

i've cried four times at that video  one was in the living room with my whole family there so yeah  

v true for both. the highlights are obvious.

 

56 minutes ago, Tom Vercetti said:

Both Blue & Dua were singles carried for me. Agrih on the Goldfrapp and even Halsey highlights. 

I'd disagree with both of those personally seeing as Genesis and Bad Together weren't singles and shedontknowbutsheknows was't officially a single or anything but a fair point.

I adore the middle section of SE unlike most people  and surprised you agree with the Halsey highlights so that's cool

replies so we can discuss or w/e

Edited December 27, 2017 by Unoriginal

[Bubble Tea]

I don't like any of those albums.

 

Hence I remain perchedT for the update.  

[Unoriginal]

2 minutes ago, Reinvention said:

I don't like any of those albums.

 

Hence I remain perchedT for the update.  

do you mean the 20 - 16 update or the 15 - 11 update that was just posted  

[Unoriginal]

15 minutes ago, Unoriginal said:

UNORIGINAL'S BEST OF 2017

2017's 20 Best Albums

15 - 11

 

#15

alt-J - RELAXER

Whilst most people swear by An Awesome Wave as alt-J's best album, I'd argue it's RELAXER. It's a concise 39-minute affair that spans across eight songs, five of which cross the five-minute mark; the longer songs are the highlights here for the most part, giving the British trio room to develop the songs and explore folk and alt-rock effectively and cleverly. The album doesn't overstay its welcome and guest appearances from Ellie Roswell of Wolf Alice and Marika Hackman (and Gus Unger-Hamilton, kind of, on 3WW) help give the album a sense of vocal variety which I appreciate.

Highlights - 3WW, Deadcrush, Adeline, Last Year, Pleader

Uhhighlights - Hit Me Like That Snare

listen here

 

#14

HAIM - Something to Tell You

 

Where Days Are Gone felt rooted in 80s nostalgia and throwbacks, Something to Tell You feels more 70s-y to me. It's definitely a step down from the quality of Days Are Gone, which was more or less flawless from start to finish, and feels more repetitive but that's not to detract from the quality of the record which is of course still there. You Never Knew is an incredible song that sounds like Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac reincarnated; Walking Away is almost R&B and completely unlike any HAIM song before it but it's a more than successful experiment; Right Now is angry, brash and loud and closer Night So Long is simple yet heartbreaking. Although the Haim sisters might have lost a little bit of what made them truly special, Something to Tell You is far from bad and it's safe to say this is one of my favourite albums of 2017.

Highlights - Something to Tell You, You Never Knew, Kept Me Crying, Walking Away, Night So Long

Unhighlights - Found  t in Silence

listen here

 

#13

Kelela - Take Me Apart

I wasn't expecting much going into Take Me Apart (that's not to say I had negative expectations, I just wasn't familiar enough with Kelela to have a proper opinion) so I was amazed at how great this was. The album begins with highlight Frontline, which starts the album off slowly and subtly before the confident, hurt chorus which is the true early blossoming of the album. Right from the start we know what we're in for and what follows is consistently solid and continuously surprises in the best ways. There's short, smooth interlude-like tracks (though they're not labelled as such so I hesitate to call them actual interludes) which are a fresh break from the dense songs that surround them; there's Better, a mostly bare (in a good way) song which is the closest to a ballad on Take Me Apart; the charged Blue Light and the simple yet effective closer Altadena, all working together fantastically to create one of 2017's highlights and my favourite debut of the year.

Highlights - Frontline, Take Me Apart, Enough, Better, Altadena

Uhhighlights - S.O.S.

listen here 

 

#12

Jessie Ware - Glasshouse

 

Jessie came out with her most accessible album yet this year. Thankfully, accessibility wasn't traded for quality here. There's beautiful songs dedicated to Ware's daughter (Thinking About You), fun, danceable, upbeat synthpop (Your Domino), Tough Love rejects that feature backing murmurs from Paul Buchanan (Last of the True Believers), cinematic, grand love songs (Alone) smooth, laid-back fallen-out-of-love songs (First Time). It's great for the most part and, despite being a step down from Tough Love, it's fun and enjoyable and definitely far from boring, as some people claim. Hearts, however, is a massive misfire that doesn't work for Jessie at all; it doesn't suit her voice and the production doesn't feel like it's all there. It sounds like a Julia Michaels reject (she cowrote on the song). It's crap.

Highlights - Thinking About You, Stay Awake, Wait for Me, First Time, Last of the True Believers, Til the End

Unhighlights - Hearts

listen here

 

#11

The xx - I See You

 

I'm one of the strange people who prefers Coexist to The xx's self-titled debut. I also think I See You is the band's best album. From start to finish it's atmospheric, confident, engaging and all round excellent. There's highlight after highlight here from the in-your-face opener Dangerous to the stunning Replica to the gorgeously, breathtakingly atmospheric closer Test Me. Jamie's solo debut In Colour influenced the sound of this album immensely and it's definitely for the better. The expanded dream pop sound that goes in dancier directions is easily for the better and resulted in what was my favourite album for the first quarter of the year.

Highlights - Dangerous, Lips, Replica, Test Me, Seasons Run

Unhighlights - Brave for You

listen here

the end-of-the-page curse. bumped.

[ultraviolence.xx]

AN UPDATE  

[Lazuli]

Alt-J in the top 15 is a choice  An Awesome Wave is still their best album  

Something To Tell You was disappointing but passable I guess. Take Me Apart

Glasshouse  3/5 of your highlights are spot on, and tbh Hearts isn't THAT bad  

I See You  Glad to see Test Me in your highlights! So underrated

[theblackestday]

Take God Apart deserved better