best of Vxspertine's 2017 In Review |#1 Album Revealed: Björk LOST

[World Eater]

I hated Guppy at first, the singer's voice was irking me so much  Glad I've revisited it though, it's really grown on me even though it's one of those quite instant albums. No Plan was solid, but obviously not on the same level as the Blackstar tracks. Kirin's album was a kii  I was close to putting it on my HMs list as well. A Crow Looked at Me and No Shape are my favs from here

[Vespertine]

flop thread 

[Tom Vercetti]

Definitely agree on Mount Eerie. That's an album u soak in once and not return to yet still appreciate the content. 

[artangels]

that bravado album is truly awful

 

glad to see rainbow here, i was dissapointed with no shape at first however it grew on me hard

too bright was 1000 times better tho

 

Edited December 15, 2017 by artangels

[Vxspertine]

27 minutes ago, AlexisNeiers said:

I hated Guppy at first, the singer's voice was irking me so much  Glad I've revisited it though, it's really grown on me even though it's one of those quite instant albums. No Plan was solid, but obviously not on the same level as the Blackstar tracks. Kirin's album was a kii  I was close to putting it on my HMs list as well. A Crow Looked at Me and No Shape are my favs from here

Guppy is super cute  Surprised it actually had to grow on you it really is kind of an instant album  Kirin's whole shtick is a kii 

26 minutes ago, Vespertine said:

flop thread 

22 minutes ago, Tom Vercetti said:

Definitely agree on Mount Eerie. That's an album u soak in once and not return to yet still appreciate the content. 

7 minutes ago, artangels said:

that bravado album is truly awful

 

glad to see rainbow here, i was dissapointed with no shape at first however it grew on me hard

too bright was 1000 times better tho

 

I thought it was awful when I first heard it too be it grew on me  I didn't like Too Bright at all tbh 

[artangels]

Just now, Vxspertine said:

I didn't like Too Bright at all tbh 

how dare you  

[Eeveelution]

I agree with your sentiments re: Guppy, it's alright but nothing to write home about. Laura and Perfume Genius delivered though, I hope No Shape grows on you some more.  

[Vxspertine]

So now we're getting into the actual list of the 40 albums that I felt were the best of the year. When I was doing my list I noticed that I was feeling indifferent towards a lot of the albums I was including, so I decided to divide my list into 2 parts, the 20 best albums of the year (which we will get to later) and 20 other albums that I did enjoy, but had a lot of mixed feelings towards.

 

Let's start with…

 

 

40. Paramore - After Laughter

 

Spoiler

Score: 6/10 (6.1/10)

Trinity: Forgiveness, 26, Pool.

Worst track: Grudges

 

Paramore's comeback. After their last self titled album, the future of their band was very questionable. While the album itself was good, what followed made me and a lot of other people believe that they're pretty much over. With merch prices that could buy you food for weeks, and their twitter account becoming an advertisement, this really peaked when they did those cruises… I mean, doing a "fan cruise", and doing it TWICE? Like come on, it's just the definition of sellout. This album is them going complete 80's pop with 70's disco influence. Haley hasn't changed her vocal performances at all. This album barely made my list because while it's not terrible, and it's not really disappointing, it's kind of exactly what I expected to get from them. Obviously I didn't dig it too much and to be honest I probably should have included it in my biggest disappointments.

 

 

39. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods

 

Spoiler

Score: 8/10 (8/10)

Trinity: The Starting Line, Floor Corn, ****

Worst track: Wow Wow

 

Incredibly fun mashup album!

Neil is super talented and I love his music, this album is kind of way too long but I still enjoyed it.

He never disappoints.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Vxspertine

[Unoriginal]

After Laughter won  

[Vxspertine]

 

38. SZA - Ctrl

 

Spoiler

Score: 6/10 (6.2/10)

Trinity: Drew Barrymore, Supermodel, 20 Something

Worst track: Broken Clocks

 

This is the debut album from her, it's exciting to see her do so well since she's been collabing with a lot of huge names lately and I loved her on other people's tracks. The album is good, so I'm glad it was as big as it was, but it didn't really blow me away or anything. It was really just ok overall. Drew Barrymore is amazing though and I think she has a lot of potential to become a huge artist. Can't wait to see what she'll be doing in the future.

 

 

37. Julien Baker — Turn Out the Lights

 

Spoiler

Score: 6/10 (6.2/10)

Trinity: Turn Out The Lights, Claws In The Back, Shadowboxing (Fiona did that)

Worst track: Happy To Be Here

 

This is a really good album. Her vocal performances are STUNNING and it's definitely the main reason why this albums is good, but as a whole this album doesn't really go anywhere, most of the lyrics are pretty much the same (although some lyrical moments are great), most of the song structures are the same, and the instrumentation is pretty basic, all of which makes the album boring and tiring to listen to at some points. It's still a solid record and I love the emotion that she puts into her singing, and I'm looking forward to see what she'll do next, with a lot of hope that her next record will be more musically diverse.

[Vxspertine]

 

36. Brockhampton – Saturation

 

Spoiler

Score: 6/10 (6.25/10)

Trinity: Gold, Fake, Bump

Worst track:  (Spoiled) Milk

 

They are a brand new group and this album was a big surprise for a lot of people, including me. This was a very good debut for them, the highlights are great and for an album that they made pretty much themselves with almost no budget the production is impressive, but the autotune in some tracks really ruined some parts for me. The Kanye influences are very clear on this album, and while Kanye influences are not a bad thing, they used them the wrong way on some tracks. Still the album flows very nicely and it's a highlight for me this year. Saturation II is way better though…

 

 

35. Jay Som — Everybody Works

 

Spoiler

Score: 6.5/10 (6.65/10)

Trinity:  For Light, Baybee, (Bedhead)

Worst track: 1 Billion Dogs

 

This is her 2nd album and I think it is an improvement from her first album. The songs are more dynamic, and the lyrics are more interesting. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but my biggest criticism is that it kind of just fits into the "good & cute indie album" formula. It has one long, grand song (that is grand, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it) and a bunch of short and cute tracks, and it's also a really short album, and as a big indie fan I just feel like I've heard this before and I'm really not that excited about hearing it again on another album. I know this is a problem on a lot of indie records, but the good ones who manage to shine through always have something about them which makes them more than just another indie record, and sadly I don't think it happens on this one too much. I still like this album but I feel like it's nothing new or exciting, and I would love if she tried to go in a more unique direction with her next album.

[Unoriginal]

CTRL  

[theblackestday]

I was ready to write a 10 row paragraph dragging you for that ignorant After Laughter write-up but I changed my mind so lemme not 

 

CTRL's position is deserving and how all publications should be placing it in their year-end lists cause they ain't fooling anyone when they claim it's in this year's top 5

Turn Out the Lights is pretty and I agree with your points hence why it only made my HMs

I felt exactly the same way about Everybody Works like you did in my first listen but it tremendously grew on me.

[Vxspertine]

 

34. Teen Daze - Themes For Dying Earth

 

Spoiler

Score: 7/10 (7.25/10)

Trinity:  Cycle, Water In Heaven, Becoming

Worst track: Anew

 

Not much to say about this album, it's basically just a very relaxing compilation of pretty good songs, and I enjoyed listening to it early in the morning on my way to work, but it just gets boring pretty quickly. It's a background music album. Not very special or interesting, but still enjoyable. Gorgeous cover.

 

 

33. Thundercat – Drunk

 

Spoiler

Score: 6/10 (6.05/10)

Trinity: Captain Stupido, Lava Lamp, Friendzone

Worst track: Bus In These Streets

 

He's still relatively new but this definitely isn't his best project. This album is all over the place, but it's still good. It's fun and silly, and has all these random interludes that sometimes don't really make much sense, but it's still cute and enjoyable. Too many tracks though and some tracks are waaaay too sweet for me. Some tracks are also obvious filler.

[Vxspertine]

 

32. Moses Sumney – Aromanticism

 

Spoiler

Score: 7.5/10 (7.55/10)

Trinity: Don't Bother Calling, Plastic, Quarrel

Worst track: Make Out in My Car

 

I haven't heard this album until literally a few days ago, but it's so gorgeous and magical that I just had to include it. There's a ton of Radiohead influences all over this album, which only adds to a wondrous vibe that's going on on this record. Even with the very few listens that I gave to it before making this list, I'm pretty confident with where I'm placing it, and maybe it'll even grow on me more by the end of the year. It's such a stunning record, stunningly performed, and stunningly sang, with stunning lyrics and stunning production. He did THAT. He probably would have been higher on my list if I would have heard it like, at least a month ago. The only bad thing I can say about it is that it does get pretty random at times, like I feel like on some tracks he's just flexing his vocal abilities and his voice.

 

 

31. The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Always Foreign

 

Spoiler

Score: 6/10 (6.25/10)

Trinity: Marine Tigers, Gram, I'll Make Everything

Worst track: Fuzz Minor

 

This is a solid record but it just comes off as a little boring. Good lyrics and good vocal performances but nothing really more than that (except for on the best tracks). Pretty average, but still an interesting record.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Vxspertine

[theblackestday]

[Eeveelution]

Quote

There's a ton of Radiohead influences all over this album

Moses, sweetie...

 

All the albums I've heard here are good and deserving of a place. Except Julien, I lowkey hated that album nn

 

Also, DRAG Broken Clocks.

[Vilppu]

Quote

it's not really disappointing (...) I probably should have included it in my biggest disappointments

I love dichotomy!

 

SZA's album was a 6/10 for me at first too but it kept steadily growing on me over the year and now I love it, glad you stanned for Drew Barrymore over the slightly overrated Love Galore. Only listened to Moses once and it was good but didn't blow me away.

[Vxspertine]

Spoiler

42 minutes ago, Unoriginal said:

After Laughter won  

 

31 minutes ago, Unoriginal said:

CTRL  

Did it really though?

 

31 minutes ago, theblackestday said:

I was ready to write a 10 row paragraph dragging you for that ignorant After Laughter write-up but I changed my mind so lemme not 

 

CTRL's position is deserving and how all publications should be placing it in their year-end lists cause they ain't fooling anyone when they claim it's in this year's top 5

Turn Out the Lights is pretty and I agree with your points hence why it only made my HMs

I felt exactly the same way about Everybody Works like you did in my first listen but it tremendously grew on me.

 

18 minutes ago, theblackestday said:

I'd love to see you TRY

 

 

CTRL was extremely overhyped it's true. I'm really happy for her though 

I actually listened to Everybody Works multiple times already and I still feel the same way so 

And the ones you don't know are underrated and you should check them out 

1 hour ago, Eeveelution said:

I agree with your sentiments re: Guppy, it's alright but nothing to write home about. Laura and Perfume Genius delivered though, I hope No Shape grows on you some more.  

 

11 minutes ago, Eeveelution said:

Moses, sweetie...

 

All the albums I've heard here are good and deserving of a place. Except Julien, I lowkey hated that album nn

 

Also, DRAG Broken Clocks.

I really want No Shape to grow on me aswell. Maybe next year 

And the radiohead influences are SO obvious he's not even trying to hide them 

 

#30 - #21 coming tomorrow 

Edited December 15, 2017 by Vxspertine

[Vxspertine]

4 minutes ago, Vilppu said:

I love dichotomy!

 

SZA's album was a 6/10 for me at first too but it kept steadily growing on me over the year and now I love it, glad you stanned for Drew Barrymore over the slightly overrated Love Galore. Only listened to Moses once and it was good but didn't blow me away.

 I didn't think it was terrible but it was a little disappointing to me that my suspicions about them going full on pop after their self titled came true  

Edited December 15, 2017 by Vxspertine

[feelslikeadream]

OK I was wondering how Science Fiction was a disappointment since I think it's far better than Daisy  but your description makes sense. I still put it on my list because musically it's really good, but I have basically stopped listening since the allegations

 

Oh and wait, 26 and Pool as key tracks  When After Laughter appears on my list, those are my key tracks too

Edited December 15, 2017 by feelslikeadream

[Vxspertine]

2 hours ago, feelslikeadream said:

OK I was wondering how Science Fiction was a disappointment since I think it's far better than Daisy  but your description makes sense. I still put it on my list because musically it's really good, but I have basically stopped listening since the allegations

 

Oh and wait, 26 and Pool as key tracks  When After Laughter appears on my list, those are my key tracks too

I didn't really know of them before this album so Idk about that but yeah, it's a decent album musically. I have stopped listening to it aswell. Such a shame tbh, but I just feel like I got lied to 

 

26 and Pool really are some of the better tracks on the album 

[feelslikeadream]

1 minute ago, Vxspertine said:

I didn't really know of them before this album so Idk about that but yeah, it's a decent album musically. I have stopped listening to it aswell. Such a shame tbh, but I just feel like I got lied to 

 

26 and Pool really are some of the better tracks on the album 

Oh sis, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is one of the best rock albums of all time  Even if Jesse sucks, check out Jesus Christ at least. Seriously in my top 10 songs lyrically.

[Vxspertine]

Just now, feelslikeadream said:

Oh sis, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is one of the best rock albums of all time  Even if Jesse sucks, check out Jesus Christ at least. Seriously in my top 10 songs lyrically.

ohwow.gif that's a STATEMENT I guess I'll give it a listen sometime 

[worldwide angel]

Demi and SZA