Album Rundown

As an aficionado of music, I have quite a few albums that I'd like to review. Instead of doing a full post on all of them, I'd like to do a quick rundown of at least most of them. These are not necessarily in order from my favorite to my least favorite, just several albums that I truly find fantastic.

Neutral Milk's Hotel "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is probably one of the most emotional albums I've ever heard. The driving force behind the band is Jeff Mangum, the guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. His lyrics range from relatively obvious (see "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One") to the slightly bizarre (see "Communist Daughter") but his singing is always incredible passionate. There's one moment in the 8th track "Oh Comely" where he sings a long note and his voice just catches in a way that is just heartbreaking.
It's certainly not a perfect album (Mangum can be very pitchy at times) but the overwhelming emotion Mangum brings is well worth any technical flaws.
Favorite Track: "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One"

Next up: "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire. Another emotionally ranging selection, "The Suburbs" is a concept album about something to do with the suburbs. I've really never figured out exactly what it's about, but it doesn't really matter. Win Butler's lyrics are fantastic, his singing passionate and the whole (despite being 8 people big) really seems to connect on a musical level to create a cohesive album that really flows from one track to the next. While it's certainly less raw than some of their previous albums, I think the polish just makes it sound more complete.
Favorite Track: "Rococo"

To change it up a little bit, next up is Rage Against the Machine's debut album, "Rage Against the Machine". The beauty of this album comes from its simplicity: Tom Morello's riffs barely move out of the Minor Pentatonic scale and very often feature large amounts of power chords. But the brutal simplicity of it works. They're not trying to amaze you with their musical talent, they're trying to slap you over the head with power.
And power they bring. With Zack de la Rocha's powerful leftist lyrics, Tom Morello's crazy solos, the grounded but still fantastic bass lines and the rock-solid drums, these guys really sound like one cohesive unit tossing musical Molotov cocktails onto the political scene.
Favorite Track: "Bullet in the Head"

Moving into some more modern sounds, here I have "Don't Say We Didn't Warn You" by Does It Offend You, Yeah? As you might have guessed, subtlety is not exactly this band's strong point. From screaming "get out of my f**king way" on "John Hurts" to yelling about funky monkeys on "The Monkeys Are Coming", the purpose of this album is to get right in your face and basically be as obnoxious as possible. That's not to say they don't have their soft side. Both "Pull Out My Insides" and "Broken Arms" are touching tracks, just to give your ears a break. For the most parts though, the rest of the tracks just want to make you get on your feet and dance very aggressively.
Favorite Track" "Wrestler"

Finally, I'd like to end with an album that has currently captured me, The xx's first album, "xx". A neat, whispery indie rock album, what has captured me most is that it's surprisingly catchy. Consisting of 2 guitarists, a bass and a drummer who play on synth, they have a really unique sound that I really haven't heard before. Even down to the drumming, they're very minimalist. There is a good amount of silence on the album, or even just space filled with only one instrument. The result is a very organic sounding album that, despite getting a bit repetitive, will leave you humming the tunes for hours after.
Favorite Track: "Crystalised"