My Favorite Albums of 2008

Music I Listened to That Came Out in 2008

Ranking on the list is based on things like enjoyment and amount of time I listened to each item. Constructed as ‘band – album’.

Favorites

1. Foxy Shazam – Introducing – Barely beats the two after it for my number one spot this year. This is the single most fun album I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. There is not a boring or less than great song the disk over, and it’s just the right length that I can listen to it whenever, wherever, and whatever song I feel like. Many a bike ride and time in room was made awesome by this album. I can’t name a song from it I’m not liable to start singing at random.

There are a couple highlights, such as Red Cape Diver, It’s Hair Smelled Like Bonfire, and Ghost Animals. However, nothing even compares to Black Man’s Breakfast. This 50s style crooning love ballad is the most definitively ‘awesome’ thing ever. My entire family knows the lyrics just from having to hear me belt it out all the time. I’ve even found myself strolling down the sidewalk singing it as loud as I can. Truly glorious.

2. The Sound of Animals Fighting – The Ocean and the Sun – ‘Beautiful’ is an overused word, but more than fitting here. This album is less music and more pure emotion. It’s something I can get completely lost in with no problem, especially because there is so much going on that I never get bored yet it is calm enough to be wholly relaxing. The entire album is spectacular, though certain songs stand out as totally amazing. The Heraldic Break of the Manufacturere’s Medallion is as great as it’s title is long. My favorite is On the Occasion of Wet Snow which has come to be one of my outright top 5 favorite songs ever; One of those I leave on loop all day and let myself be absorbed.

3. Ye Olde Relic – The Seasons – I have yet to listen to this album and not be blown away. The fusion of death, black, and folk metal is perfect and truly, nothing has been left behind here. There is craziness, experimentation, catchiness, happy, sad, and occasional hilarious. You will never see another album transition from singing about the cold embrace of death to some delicious taco bell while sounding so incredibly right doing it. I can’t sing my praise highly enough for this album, as it is one of the best debut’s I’ve ever heard. I wish this could have come out in a different year where I could have marked it number one.

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4. Galneryus – Alsatia EP – Yes, it’s an EP, so it’s hard to count. Plus only two of the songs, Alsatia and Cause Disarray, are really any good. However, Alsatia is, I dare-say, my favorite metal song EVER. It’s perfect in every way, and without an album to assign it to, I had to make note of this EP.

5. Opeth – Watershed – Like any Opeth album, I haven’t fallen completely in love with this one because as usual there are some songs that I totally love and some that make my attention start to whither away. The good here is really fucking good, though. Burden, The Lotus Eater, and Porcelain Heart are all well worth noting. Having heard Funeral’s emotional words on Burden especially added weight to the song, and the humming in The Lotus Eater is made even more awesome by having heard it done so perfectly by Mikael in concert.

6. The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath – This album is, in many ways, a major disappointment for me because I don’t care much for about half of the album. It’s simply not as gripping or exciting as the music on their other albums is. However, there are still a number of fuckwin songs here such as the drum-intense Wax Simulcra and the dead-sexy groover Ilyena. More than those, Goliath is the album’s smashing hit that easily takes the place as one of TMV’s best songs to date.

7. Alestorm – Captain Morgan’s Revenge – I could have sworn this had come out last year, but nonetheless it’s my favorite power metal album of 2008. Sure, the whole pirate schtick is a little campy and takes some getting used to, but once you do there’s some damn good fun and merriment to be had. Nancy the Tavern Wench is an anthem for a pirate generation perfect for getting as many friends to swing a cup and sing along to (as I’ve done, and it is beautiful.) Wenches and Mead never stops being fun, and some of the faster middle songs are great for gaming to.

8. Yoshino Yuuji – Spice and Wolf OST – This is probably my alltime favorite anime OST. The fun variety of catchy folk melodies has drifted in and out of my head all year and made for something I can have fluttering in the background whenever.

9. Krallice – Self Titled – I may not be a big black metal fan, but Krallice is certainly my favorite black metal album. The guitar wankery is enormous, as is the all-consuming tone of the music. I don’t get many opportunities to really sit back and engage myself in the universe that this album creates, but when I do I am always surprised by how far I get into it.

10. Bloodbath – the Wacken Carnage – One of the best live DVDs I’ve seen, and it’s a very convenient collection of all the best Bloodbath songs performed to perfection. SOUL EVIVERATIOOOOOOOOOON!

11. Amon Amarth – Twilight of the Thunder God – It’s only real weakness, though a powerful one, is that it’s quite repetitive and some of the riffs are less than great. However, Amon Amarth definitely brings the thunder on many tracks with some of the almighty stomping anthems they’re known for. The title track is in my head the most often, though my personal favorite is probably The Hero.

Honorable Mentions

1. Dragonforce – Ultra Beatdown – By no means bad, but feels a little uninspired and doesn’t shine quite like Inhuman Rampage. Heroes of Our Time is still a monster track, and from the special edition version, Strike of the Ninja is in-fucking-credible as well as my favorite Dragonforce song.

2. Mirrorthrone – Gangrene – Not a bad album, but hard to listen to without thinking ‘you know, I could be listening to Carriers of Dust right now.’

3. Scars on Broadway – Self Titled – Some pretty good tracks, some pretty shitty tracks, but all-around a mediocre album. It’s fun from time to time, especially just to laugh at the fucking horrid lyrics.

I don’t have a list of disappointments because I probably listened to them like once and forgot they existed. This list might have been bigger if I’d listened to certain albums more this year, but oh well.