Album of the Year- Contenders

Well 2010 is starting to come to a close. Most of the biggest albums of the year have dropped and we are going into the dry season. At this point there hasn't been a whole lot that has piqued my interest. This is typical of any year, it's really hard to find strong passionate music now. There is a couple things to blame. One is anyone can make music. This is a good thing however at the same time it leaves a fair amount of nonsensical material to filter through. My mom could make an album if she wanted, I can guarantee it wouldn't be pretty. I'll recap some of the albums this year that get some acclaim or thumbs up from me. This isn't a comprehensive list, just intending to get the juices flowing on the inevitable year-end top10.


Stone Temple Pilots - Stone Temple Pilots



STP has a built in following and with their first album in 9 years they don't deviate from their build in formula. STP started as a sort of discounted grunge band. 'Core' dropped a bit too late to be part of the movement started by Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. STP wasn't afraid to be sensitive at points which grunge bands had avoided. It was seen as a marketing ploy and STP was quickly dropped into the pop category. Fast-forward and the band has turned itself into a modern incarnation of 'The Doors'. Distorted psychedelia, hard rock riffs and sensitive ballads fill this album and even though it doesn't deviate from the formula, it doesn't prevent it's greatness.

Standout tracks: 'Hickory Dichotomy', 'Between the Lines', 'Huckleberry Crumble'.

Filter - The Trouble with Angels



Filter is another band with a staple sound. Frontman Richard Patrick runs his ship with a tight fist. Himself being the only constant band member, Filter is much like Nine Inch Nails in that it's a one man band. Everyone else is treated as disposable. It's difficult to say if Patrick wanted Trouble with Angels to sound like everything else he's recorded or if it's just his trademark. Either way we have been here before. This album is a return to his classic sound as on 2008's 'Soldiers of Misfortune' he went for a much softer tone. He wrote the record as a tribute to the soldiers serving in Iraq. Now Patrick tackles his own inner religious daemons. On the track 'Trouble with Angels', he whispers 'When you look into a microscope things get real/Take another look, miracles fade'. In 'Absentee Father' Patrick takes Jesus to task for his silence through out centuries. In typical Filter fashion the album starts off fast and mean and mellows out towards the middle and gets mean towards the end.

Standout Tracks: 'Drug Boy', 'Trouble with Angels', 'Absentee Father'


Slash - Slash



Everyone knows Slash. Top hat, low slung Les Paul. The image has never changed. He still sports his classic style and his music is really no different. Slash knows how to write rock riffs and does it with his usual style and swagger. He invited a different lead singer for every song on the album, however Myles Kennedy appears on two tracks. As an album, it's not exactly a cohesive unit. The flavor changes from singer to singer so it does lack the brilliance that is present when a band puts out an album that paints a sonic picture. However if you can listen to each song as if it was a single on the radio, the album is greatly enjoyable as a straight forward rock album. The only real deviance from the formula being the track 'Saint is a Sinner Too' which features Rocco DeLuca. It's probably the oddest track Slash has ever done. Gone are the sludgy riffs and replaced with an airy sense of mystery. It's a brilliant track and the standout on the album.

Standout Tracks: 'Back from Cali'. 'Saint is a Sinner Too, 'I Hold On', 'Nothing to Say'