This year has been a pretty big year in music for me, there have been a lot of new albums coming out throughout the year and I also got to a lot of older stuff that I came across. One of the most significant bands I was listening to was Porcupine Tree, whom I had heard before many years back, but only got really into them in the past couple of years. They quickly became one of my favourite bands, and I have been very anxiously waiting for their upcoming album. Other favourite bands like Lostprophets and Hoobastank released albums this year, so I was looking forward to them as well. Some bands who I knew but didn't particularly love them like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Breaking Benjamin, Audioslave, Evanescence released new albums this year. On top of that there were a lot of other bands whom I might have known or never heard of, but I discovered along the way and was very glad to. I'll post a bunch of little mini-reviews of some of the music I got into this year. First up are the two albums I was most looking forward to (before I heard official announcement of Light Grenades).
Hoobastank – Every Man for Himself
I'd gotten into Hoobastank relatively recently, so I had been still quite enjoying their first two albums for a while before I heard the new album was announced. I have to say that overall I was quite disappointed in EMFH, as it was at first a little strange-sounding. While the band is pretty popular in the mainstream demographic, and have always done well on the pop charts, I would always consider them a rock band; their singles were always the more accessible out of the albums and they were a different band when their whole catalogue was put into consideration. However with the latest album you might mistake them for the very kind of pop band their singles would suggest. Overall it's a good album, listenable and has some great tracks like First of Me, arguably one of the best they've ever done in my opinion, and Inside of You. I just think it's weird the kind of direction they've taken, and ultimately this album doesn't quite have the lasting appeal that the previous two have.
Lostprophets – Liberation Transmission
This is another band I got into around the same time as Hoobastank. I only really loved their second album, Start Something, which I thought was great. While I liked The Fake Sound of Progress, it was a little too offbeat for me, and I was a fan of their more refined sound. I was really looking forward to LT, and again was a little bit disappointed in it. Just like Hoobastank they seemed to embrace a more pop feel which was only suggested in SS. The difference, though, with Lostprophets, is that their blend of rock and pop is a lot more palatable because they've always been very clear fans of 80's pop and rock and it's come out in their music. This album is fun and catchy, and they managed to retain an edge in their sound that fits them, despite the direction they could have gone. There are some great tracks on the album, and I think they chose the best songs for the singles. I think what's interesting is how good the album demos are. On each of the singles they have put a few B-sides which are demos that didn't make the album, and they accordingly sound unpolished and different from the songs on the album. But they are really good, and sound a lot like stuff they'd write between the first two albums which makes for some good music.
Hoobastank – Every Man for Himself
I'd gotten into Hoobastank relatively recently, so I had been still quite enjoying their first two albums for a while before I heard the new album was announced. I have to say that overall I was quite disappointed in EMFH, as it was at first a little strange-sounding. While the band is pretty popular in the mainstream demographic, and have always done well on the pop charts, I would always consider them a rock band; their singles were always the more accessible out of the albums and they were a different band when their whole catalogue was put into consideration. However with the latest album you might mistake them for the very kind of pop band their singles would suggest. Overall it's a good album, listenable and has some great tracks like First of Me, arguably one of the best they've ever done in my opinion, and Inside of You. I just think it's weird the kind of direction they've taken, and ultimately this album doesn't quite have the lasting appeal that the previous two have.
Lostprophets – Liberation Transmission
This is another band I got into around the same time as Hoobastank. I only really loved their second album, Start Something, which I thought was great. While I liked The Fake Sound of Progress, it was a little too offbeat for me, and I was a fan of their more refined sound. I was really looking forward to LT, and again was a little bit disappointed in it. Just like Hoobastank they seemed to embrace a more pop feel which was only suggested in SS. The difference, though, with Lostprophets, is that their blend of rock and pop is a lot more palatable because they've always been very clear fans of 80's pop and rock and it's come out in their music. This album is fun and catchy, and they managed to retain an edge in their sound that fits them, despite the direction they could have gone. There are some great tracks on the album, and I think they chose the best songs for the singles. I think what's interesting is how good the album demos are. On each of the singles they have put a few B-sides which are demos that didn't make the album, and they accordingly sound unpolished and different from the songs on the album. But they are really good, and sound a lot like stuff they'd write between the first two albums which makes for some good music.
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