best of Red's Best of 2017 (Top 40 Albums 40-36, Page 4)

[Red]

Well, I can't say that I was expecting to create this thread yesterday, let alone earlier this year, but here we are. The first thing that I have to do is issue an apology for not even starting my Singles list last year. Honestly, I'm not even really sure what happened. I just seemingly stopped caring about doing anything year-end related at one point. Then again, it is kind of fitting that I finished the 2015 Singles list...and then, almost as if to compensate, didn't even start the Singles list in 2016 at all.  My theory, as of right now, is that the other lists that I put together burned me out quicker than normal...so how did I (potentially) solve this? By doing away with most of the "unnecessary" lists this year, so that we may have a chance to actually complete this thread. No YouTube list, no Games list...I'm probably not even going to do my regular "Songs from the Past" list, because, even though I do have a list for that, I don't want to waste any time on any lists other than the big ones. And boy, are they big this year.

 

For starters, the albums list this year is the single largest albums list I've ever put together. Simply put, I listened to more quality albums this year than I normally do, and there was no way that I could limit my albums list to even 20...so we doubled the amount of albums that will be covered here. That's right, for the first time ever, I'm doing a Top 40 Albums of the Year list. And, of course, that's not all. I'm also going to be posting my Top 100 Singles (the MAIN EVENT™) of 2017, and this year's list was particularly hard-fought. I can say that this year's list, overall, is better than last year's. And SPEAKING OF last year's Singles list, I'm not just going to ignore that I didn't post it, either. That's where the "Unfinished Business" comes into play. I don't know how much work I'm going to put into the list as a whole, especially when I really want to focus my efforts on this year's lists, but I will be posting my Singles list from last year in full. I have blurbs left over from last year's list, and you will see those when I post that list...and I'm thinking about writing blurbs for the songs that I didn't get around to. It's a long list, but I want to finish 2016 and get it over with. Just...don't expect a lot of graphics and what-have-you for that list. 

 

Oh, you may also be wondering where the "YECA" part of this thread is. Well, I said that last year's thread was the "Final YECA", and I meant it, even if I didn't finish it properly. The YECA is done. Dead. Finito. But, as I said last year, that did not mean that I was done posting these altogether. So, even though I have turned into the kind of poster I dreaded becoming (the "Once a Year" poster), it didn't feel right to not post in the 2017 Best Of forum. I have posted a thread in every Best Of forum since its inception here on ATRL, and that's not going to change now. Ladies and gentlemen, I'M BACK, BABY! I'M BACK!

 

 

40-36

 

100-76

75-51

50-26

25-1

 

I'm not sure when, exactly, I'm going to get started (and it likely won't be tonight), but I can tell you what we're going to start this year's festivities with, as we're closing the door on 2016 once and for all with my Top 100 Singles of 2016. See you...when I start. 

[Tom Vercetti]

Good luck~

[Sunderland 4ever]

The YECAAAAAAAA is in the house.

[ManDown]

Red! I'm so looking forward to your countdown. We can get through ours together!

[prézli]

BOOKMARKED.  

[Lee!!]

[TRF.]

MY GOOD FRIEND RED

 

 

SO happy to see you're here... not that I didn't remind you to come here or anything.  I know this is going to be fantastic so I'm definitely ready for it. Also since CHVRCHES didn't release anything this year, are Hayley Williams gifs alright?

 

[V3$$3L.]

Only a legend.  

 

Here to peruse your list of songs by bands I actively stopped listening to but will give a spin at your recommendation.  

[Achilles.]

I’m sorry, the Year End Crazy Ambition can’t come to the phone right now.

 

 

Why?

 

 

 

Oh. 

 

 

Cause it’s RED. 

 

You’re here! This is unexpected and exciting!

 

[Topmaster 2]

Your taste  

Can't wait for this! 

[Lazuli]

YES so glad you're doing this again! I can't wait  

[madonnas]

Hello   

[GokuRed]

So excited for this one. Always have enjoyed your YEs!!!

 

Was a once a year poster as well for my first three on this site haha

[JGibson]

Good luck, and I hope you complete your list. Can't wait to see what's on your list, and remember, #WeDey!

[Remmy]

Very happy to see you here  Especially happy to know last year wasn't the end of the road

Hope to see some stuff on your list that I recognize

[Dom]

oh hi. get to see you best of again, for fourth of fifth year, cool.

[Red]

21 hours ago, Tom Vercetti said:

Good luck~

I'm going to need it.

 

21 hours ago, Sunderland 4ever said:

The YECAAAAAAAA is in the house.

Well...was.

 

20 hours ago, ManDown said:

Red! I'm so looking forward to your countdown. We can get through ours together!

Well, I'm confident that you will. I'm less confident that I will do the same...here's to hoping. 

 

20 hours ago, TRF. said:

MY GOOD FRIEND RED

 

 

SO happy to see you're here... not that I didn't remind you to come here or anything.  I know this is going to be fantastic so I'm definitely ready for it. Also since CHVRCHES didn't release anything this year, are Hayley Williams gifs alright?

 

Hayley gifs will work juuuust fine. Also, you didn't remind me...you just convinced me.

 

20 hours ago, V3$$3L. said:

Only a legend.  

 

Here to peruse your list of songs by bands I actively stopped listening to but will give a spin at your recommendation.  

There will be a few songs that fit that criteria. There will be many more that, honestly, I'm wondering if there will be more than just one person that has listened to them. It was that kind of a year.

 

20 hours ago, Achilles. said:

I’m sorry, the Year End Crazy Ambition can’t come to the phone right now.

 

 

Why?

 

 

 

Oh. 

 

 

Cause it’s RED. 

 

You’re here! This is unexpected and exciting!

 

You had me at Kermit.

 

13 hours ago, Ari. said:

So excited for this one. Always have enjoyed your YEs!!!

 

Was a once a year poster as well for my first three on this site haha

I read this as "Always have enjoyed your YES!!!" And I thought to myself, "Oh, hey, a Marv Albert fan!" I'm so local. 

 

12 hours ago, JGibson said:

Good luck, and I hope you complete your list. Can't wait to see what's on your list, and remember, #WeDey!

...how dare you.

 

1 hour ago, Remmy said:

Very happy to see you here  Especially happy to know last year wasn't the end of the road

Hope to see some stuff on your list that I recognize

You might recognize a few songs...

 

Okay, I think that I have enough to do the first update for the 2016 list, which I'm going to get started on posting now. Again, don't expect anything too spectacular, I just want to get this list out of the way so we can focus on the big guns of this year.

[Mark Rih]

We love a comeback. Excited for this!

[Red]

100-76

 

100

Adele - When We Were Young

Let's kick off the top 100 with a bit of a surprise, shall we? And I know, Adele is Adele, I should have had her higher on the top 100...but I don't know, it felt like a lot of 25 wore off of me, and "When We Were Young" was the biggest victim of this. A song that would have had a good shot at the top 50 (or higher) earlier in the year just fell by the wayside by the end of the year. "When We Were Young" is still a good song, and come 2017, maybe I'll get back around to it...but right here, right now, it's only at the start of the 2016 top 100.

 

(2017 NOTE: I didn't really get back around to it in 2017. If anything, it kind of wore off on me even more.)

 

99

Band of Horses - Casual Party

I got into "Casual Party" super late this year. SUPER LATE. As in, "I literally just added this to the top 100 yesterday" late. It's a shame, because it's not like I don't have a history with Band of Horses. "Laredo" was one of my favorite songs of 2010. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I screwed up yet again with another year of music, and "Casual Party" could come back to haunt me as one of my big misses of 2016. I'm lucky that I got around to shining a light on how awesome of a song it is before it was too late to even do that.

 

(2017 NOTE: Honestly, "Casual Party" didn't stick around with me as much as I thought it would, but I still really like the song and wish I had put it higher on this list.)

 

98

Glass Animals - Life Itself

Oh hey, speaking of songs I got into way, WAY too late, "Life Itself"! I admit that the reason I didn't get into "Life Itself" earlier than I did is because...well...I wasn't a fan of the music I had heard from Glass Animals prior to this song. "Gooey", in particular, pisses me off in a way that few rock songs have this decade. Imagine my surprise when I listen to "Life Itself" and I find myself swaying along to the jungle beat. Maybe I just had the worst first impression possible with this band? Maybe 2017 will tell a different tale...

 

(2017 NOTE: In this song's case, 2017 DID tell a different tale, though I still wouldn't have moved "Life Itself" up much higher than this. Still, yeah, "Gooey" was not the correct first impression with these guys at all...)

 

97

CHVRCHES ft. Hayley Williams - Bury It

What do you get when you get an OG Red Crush and a recent Red Crush together for a duet? You get the revised version of "Bury It", with Lauren Mayberry and Hayley Williams sharing the mic and finally bringing to life a duet that I've always wanted to hear. The sad thing is that I just didn't like it all that much. I mean, sure, Lauren and Hayley alone are enough for the song to make the top 100, but I just wanted a little bit more than what I actually got. Of course, there's always hope for another collaboration down the road...

 

(2017 NOTE: This is still good, but it probably would have gotten knocked out of the top 100, if I re-did this list today.)

 

96

The Kills - Siberian Nights

The first of many, MANY songs that will likely be on the top 100 next year, "Siberian Nights" was a favorite of mine off of an album that disappointed me somewhat, The Kills' Ash & Ice. It was hindered by one big problem for me this year with albums: Two songs clearly stood out above the rest on that particular album. We'll get to those songs later, but "Siberian Nights" definitely has potential for 2017 success.

 

(2017 NOTE: This is not on this year's top 100. It just got lost in the shuffle.)

 

95

Foals - What Went Down

 I desperately, DESPERATELY, DESPERATELY wanted to get into Foals beyond "Mountain At My Gates" this year...and I just couldn't. I recognize that they're a good band, but their music just wasn't clicking with me, and nowhere was that more apparent than "What Went Down". Again, it's a good song from a good band, but I just could not connect to it in the same way that "Mountain At My Gates" ensnared me. I will say this, though: "Inhaler", off of their previous album Holy Fire...that's an early contender for 2017 Songs From The Past.

 

(2017 NOTE: Since I feel pretty confident that I will not be posting that list this year, yes, "Inhaler" made the Songs from the Past list for this year.)

 

94

Korn - Take Me

My love of Korn has fallen a long, LONG way in three years. I still like them, I still appreciate what they did for my music taste, but 2016 was definitely the year where I really felt myself growing out of the band that most helped to shape my taste in music in my developing years. "Take Me" is a good example of how much I grew out of Korn. "Take Me" would have been, say, top 30 four or five years ago, and possibly top ten nearly ten years ago. Now? It's barely able to scrape the top 100, and, even though it has a shot at 2017 success, I don't know if I'll really like the song enough for it to make a repeat appearance. C'est la vie.

 

(2017 NOTE: This song is also not on this year's top 100. A Korn song DID make it, though!)

 

93

CRX - Ways to Fake It

Hey, our first new blurb of the Top 100! Now, I only have to do another...75 or so of these blurbs? Joy. Okay, "Ways to Fake It", the debut single from Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi's band CRX. Valensi himself has often compared the style of CRX to power pop, especially Cheap Trick and The Cars, and that influence is felt big time in "Ways to Fake It". Listening to it today, I'm reminded why it made the list in the first place, as it's a nice piece of power pop...but I'm also reminded why it didn't go higher than #92, as it's nice, but nothing truly special.

 

92

Broods - Heartlines

Oh, Broods, what the hell happened in twelve months? Your latest album Conscious just had no staying power with me whatsoever, outside of one song that will show up much later on this list. Georgia and Caleb Nott are absolutely capable of great things, but it felt like Conscious continued them down a path of good, but not great things, and "Heartlines" was a prime example. It's just more of what I expected from Broods. That was good enough to make the top 100, but beyond that was pushing it.

 

91

Death Valley Dreams - Words Like Fire

Wow, I COMPLETELY forgot about this song before I decided to sit down and post this list in full. I knew that the song had kind of worn out its welcome with me even in 2016, but I just forgot that this song existed once 2016 ended. "Words Like Fire" is a nice song, but, as you'd expect from how I started this blurb, it's not the kind of song that left a big impression on me. I feel like even the first ten songs in this year's Singles list will have left a much bigger imprint on me than 2016's first ten songs have, and "Words Like Fire" is a great example of that.

 

90

Childish Gambino - Redbone

I won't be talking about this song here, because...this is actually one of the songs from last year that I WILL be talking about later, if you catch my drift.

 

89

The Wonder Years - Cigarettes & Saints

Meanwhile, you have "Cigarettes & Saints", which is the first of many songs that carried over from 2015. I thought that this song would be much higher in 2016, but it just didn't really have that much staying power for me. Is "Cigarettes & Saints" a good song? Absolutely...but it's no "Cardinals", and that's why it didn't have a lot of staying power in comparison. Sometimes, I just fall into a trap where one song overwhelms me to the point that it overshadows the rest of their discography, and that's the case with The Wonder Years.

 

88

Prophets of Rage - Prophets of Rage

Speaking of songs that did not have a lot of staying power, what the hell happened, Prophets of Rage? I thought that this supergroup would have quite a few awesome songs, and that "Prophets of Rage" would be the stepping stone to much better things...nope. Their debut album is a mess, and not in a good way, and "Prophets of Rage" actually wound up being the highlight. That's a shame, because this song really isn't all that good, and it's probably one of the songs that would have been left on the cutting room floor today.

 

87

Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane - Black Beatles

Proof that even the lamest musicians can produce a diamond every once in a while. Here's a song that I actually would have put higher on this list today. Not lower. Higher. "Black Beatles" proved to have a surprising amount of shelf life for me in 2017, and, unlike seemingly every other Rae Sremmurd song, I'm still able to listen to it and enjoy it right now. That beat is untouchable, and it's likely going to be one of the best beats that Mike Will Made It ever makes...though not quite the best.

 

86

Young the Giant - Silvertongue

I want to say that "Silvertongue" would have been left on the cutting room floor with a re-do of this list, but I'm willing to bet that, after re-listening to it for the purposes of re-doing the ranking, I'd put "Silvertongue" around where I placed it originally. This isn't close to being one of my favorite Young the Giant songs, but it's catchy and leaves an impression on people, even if, for me, it was a minor impression.

 

85

Coheed and Cambria - Island

I actually thought that I had placed "Island" higher on this list, but, instead, it landed where I probably would put it today. Sometimes, I do get this stuff right. Not all the time, but sometimes. "Island" was probably the best song from Coheed's latest album, and, though it wasn't really a patch on Coheed's best music, it was a nice song to listen to and enjoy. Like many songs on this list, it didn't really have a lot of staying power, but I do enjoy revisiting it every so often.

 

84

The Weeknd - False Alarm

"False Alarm" is a song that I wish I had revisited more often, because it was the song that immediately stood out to me on Starboy and seemed to be my favorite, but I just got into the song too late into the year for this list to reflect that. Now, I'd say that it's very likely my second-favorite song off of that album, and my favorite is going to be on this year's list, so we'll talk about it then...but I'd still probably rank this song a little higher today. It's one of my favorite Weeknd songs.

 

83

Volbeat - The Devil's Bleeding Crown

Boy, did Volbeat fall off for me this year. I still enjoy listening to Volbeat, don't get me wrong, and I especially love their older material still, but their latest album did NOT stick with me. I don't even think that there's a song on the album that I would say was my "favorite", they all seemingly run together, at this point. Actually, now that I think about it, "The Devil's Bleeding Crown" might actually be the best song on the album, because at least I REMEMBER it!

 

82

Bastille - Good Grief

"Good Grief" was a good first single choice for the latest Bastille album, Wild World. It's a fun, inoffensive pop song that did well enough, chart-wise. Unlike most Bastille singles, though, it didn't really stick around with me all that much. I can say that this has happened with me on two Bastille singles: This song and "Flaws". I like the songs, don't get me wrong, but they're just capable of much better than either song...which will be reflected in the Bastille song that made this year's top 100.

 

81

Twin Atlantic - No Sleep

This is a song that I actually haven't really thought about all that much since last year, but, when I went back to re-listen to it for the purpose of doing a blurb for it in 2017, I remembered why this song made this particular list in the first place. It's a really nice little rock song that feels a lot like...well...Foals' "Inhaler". That's an unfair comparison for "No Sleep", though, because it's definitely no "Inhaler". It's still nice, though, and I could see myself sneaking this into the top 100 again.

 

80

PVRIS - You & I

Now, HERE'S a song that I did not forget about in 2017, mostly because PVRIS released a new album this year, so I was always going to revisit their older material as a means of preparing myself for said new album. Even still, "You & I" remains a song that I want to like more than I actually do. Is it good? Sure, absolutely. But I've seen some claim it's their best song, and I just can't agree with that. Still, really good song, and I'm glad that I did place it in my top 100, because it deserves a spot.

 

79

Andrew Watt - Ghost In My Head

Well, this song didn't stick with me like I thought it would. "Ghost In My Head" has a nice, tight groove, and that's the main reason why it made my top 100 last year, but, as per usual, it got lost in the shuffle this year, as my focus shifted to songs from this year, not last year. There's actually not a lot to say about this one. Would it make the top 100, if I did this list over today? ...probably, but there's no guarantees.

 

78

Rubikon - Live That Lie

On the other hand, you have "Live That Lie", a song that remains badass and likely would have been a little higher with a re-do. Would it go much higher than this? Probably not, but I think it would have slotted somewhere in between where it landed in 2016 and its landing spot in 2015, #40. One thing that I'm not sure if I mentioned in 2015: This song is surprisingly groovy, with a fun little bridge instrumental that is tight in all the right ways.

 

77

Adele - Water Under the Bridge

Oh, Adele, I still do like you, I swear! It's not like I grew off of Adele's music altogether in 2017. I still listen to songs from 19 and 21 often, and I still listen to "Hello" and to this song, "Water Under the Bridge". 25 definitely did not have quite the staying power that 21 had, however, and I tend not to listen to 25 all that much. Again, though, the songs that I do still listen to remain great, including this one.

 

76

Korn - Rotting in Vain

No, the song that made it to the 2017 Top 100 was not this one. "Rotting in Vain" was a pretty clear 2016 single, and I kept it where it belonged. It's also not even one of my favorite songs from The Serenity of Suffering, but you probably already knew that if you remember when I talked about it in the Albums list last year. One of my favorites from the album was released as a single this year, so we will be talking about that one later, but "Rotting in Vain" is still nice. It's better than "Take Me", anyway.

 

 

And the first of the four 2016 sets is done and dusted! I told you that I wouldn't be putting a lot of work into this list, and I meant it...though I didn't even have to do the blurbs for the songs that didn't have blurbs before, and I did those, so I did put in a LITTLE work, I guess.  Next time, we'll look at songs 75-51, which features five songs that will be on the 2017 Top 100, a couple of popular songs, and at least one instance of a band having two songs appear in the same set. See you...whenever that will be.

[prézli]

Black Beatles? Dude. I'm waiting for GEMS since it was under top 75. 

[Remmy]

Black Beatles Definitely a surprise. False Alarm and Water Under the Bridge are both good.
When We Were Young  This one actually needed to grow on me a little, and it was successful.
Heartlines Just got into Broods this year! Conscious is amazing, but this isn't near my top 5 from it.

[Dom]

Water Under The Slay, Weeknd, Bastille whew wig.

[Topmaster 2]

Black Beatles  

Volbear, Rubikon, Twin Atlantic, Pvris, The Wonder Years, Korn, Glass Animals, Foals  

[potent]

WWWY and WUTB are some of my favorite Adele songs

I also got into Glass Animals this year, good to see them here

 

 

[Tom Vercetti]

Just gonna pick my favorite three from this selection which would be Life Itself, Black Beatles, & false alarm. Quality choices.