I don’t think it comes as a surprise to our regular visitors that we here at Gigatracks are something that one might call slack-asses. We don’t update as frequently as we ought to and all that jazz, but hey, we keep hangin’ around. And one of my resolutions is to post a little more frequently. And it’s already the fifth and I haven’t broken my resolution yet, so I’m doing better than I figured.
Anyway, I finally got motivated and have put together my list of the best albums of 2006. And since I’m not a critic who kisses very much ass or shares anything as far as taste goes with most music critics, don’t be surprised when my list looks different from everyone else’s. Too bad for them that my list is the right one and their’s is just so, so wrong. And it won’t surprise me one bit if ol’ Bogtrotter doesn’t come on here with his list and try to claim otherwise… but we all know better.
Also, just to refresh everyone on the ground rules of how Gigatracks yearly ‘Best Of’ lists go, the album didn’t have to come out this year, we just had to have discovered it for ourselves this year. We go through so much music that sometimes it takes us a little while to get up to speed on new releases. Also, the afore mentioned condition of slack-assiness doesn’t help either.
Anyway, without further ado, here are the greatest ass-kicking albums of 2006 (in alphabetical order).
Breaking Benjamin - Phobia
No new ground broken here, but these guys do melodic sing-along modern rock with a ferocious intensity.
Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
After their last misstep with their self-titled album, I was glad to see the Deftones reclaim their place again as one of the best and often-overlooked artists in rock music. They step even further away from the nu-metal crowd and just do their thing.
Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic
Soul Coughing’s frontman shows that he can do it all on his own. Folky pop-rock with just enough electronics to keep it interesting, Mike lets the songs here stand on their own.
Eighteen Visions - Eighteen Visions
Of all the things I read about this album, no one pointed out the 80’s metal influence. I grew up listening to hair metal and while a lot of it is cheese, their was some great songs from that period. Eighteen Visions takes that sound, updates a bit and releases it coupled with shout-along choruses and bigger-than-life guitars. Need proof? Just listen for the reverse drums scattered throughout the album and tell me the singer doesn’t sound like a young Jeff Keith from Tesla. Rock on fellas.
Fair - The Best Worst-Case Scenario
Pop-Rock at its finest from Fair. It ’s easy and comfortable with familiar melodies and choruses. These guys just craft a perfect pop rock song. And it’s from our favorite label around here, Tooth & Nail.
Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
Initially I didn’t care for this one. Don’t get me wrong. I never doubted the awesomeness that is ‘Crazy’, but the rest of the album didn’t grab me. But after a few listens, and a bit of pruning on the ol’ mp3 player, thus eliminating the crap like ‘Boogie Monster’, this became a solid release. And I had to eat a little crow.
Institute - Distort Yourself
The guys from Helmet help Gavin Rossdale craft his most even and solid album to date, surpassing anything he has done with Bush. The production is lean and mean, the choruses come huge and the sound is enormous.
Kill Hannah – Until There’s Nothing Left Of Us
Glam, goth, electro-whatever rock, Kill Hannah releases the album that Placebo should have put out this year instead of sticking us with that steaming pile ‘Meds’. Androgyny is out in full force on this one and it sounds great. Bring on the dance-rock.
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble
I’m late on this one here… sue me. And yes I know he released another album this year, but I haven’t cared for that one. This one however is smoky, bluesy folk rock and I swear I don’t think it can be done any better than this right here. This is probably my most spun album of 2006.
Amos Lee - Supply And Demand
Very similar to Ray LaMontagne, Amos leans a little more jazzy, like his label-mate Norah Jones. This release is a little more bluesy than his self-titled album, but it’s still got that lounge act feel to it. Amos proves that he’s one of the best modern day crooners in my book.
Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
Here’s another that I didn’t initially care for, which is saying something, because NIN is one of my perennial favorites. But after numerous listens, it finally clicked and I was hooked. Think of this album as a mixture of all of his other albums distilled down to their barest essence. It’s the antithesis of his masterpiece, double-disc opus, ‘The Fragile’.
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldier
I’ve not hopped onto the garage rock bandwagon at all. I’m struck by the irony of four guys in a modern day studio trying to sound like they record with the built-in mic on a boombox. The Raconteurs are working to change my mind though. The Zeppelin-esque songs, coupled with killer-choruses and a generally unique sound made this a truly great release.
Damien Rice - O
Another one that I’m behind on, I was not alerted to Damien until I saw the movie ‘Closer’, which was complete crap, by the way. Damien stole the movie with the great track, ‘The Blower’s Daughter’. This album is filled with beautiful folk songs from start to finish. Check out the closing track ‘Eskimo’, with it’s opera singer. I know it sounds cheesy, but Damien pulls it off. This guy deserves all of the hype that he’s recevied. He’s the real deal.
Seether - Karma & Effect
Seether’s release is one of the few that I’ve heard recently that I can hear the Nirvana influence in. Modern rock mostly goes towards Alice In Chains, with good reason, but this album turns back to Kurt for influence. Most modern rock records live and die by their choruses, and this one is no different. These guys nail it.
Stereoside - Wake Up
Our only Gigatracks artist to make the list this year. Congrats guys. Our regular readers should already know what I think of this album. If not, pull up our full review of the album from earlier this year.
Tegan & Sara - So Jealous
Tegan & Sara are a sister group (twins, to be exact) whose voices match complement each other magnificently and they write perfect pop rock songs with a hint of electronica. They have definitely honed their songcraft and this is their strongest release so far. Here’s looking to many more great releases from these two.
Under The Influence Of Giants - Under The Influence Of Giants
Do you know how big of a pair you have to have to put together a band in this musical climate whose biggest influence is the Bee Gees? Now think about how talented you have to be to pull it off and make it sound good. Well, that’s ‘Under The Influence Of Giants’. They are a blend between Maroon 5 and the Bee Gees and they have put together a fantastic collection of dance rock songs. My hats off to these guys.
Pete Yorn – Night Crawler
Pete Yorn issued his latest, ‘Night Crawler’ and he almost got tossed from the list for the piece of crap that he opens the album with. It’s a track called ‘Vampyre’ and it just sucks. Delete it, skip it, pretend it never existed. Begin the album with track 2 and you’ll immediately see why he’s on this list. You can count on Pete for a solid release each time out and this one’s no different. As a footnote, this is supposed to be the final chapter of a trilogy, although I’m apparently too stupid to figure out what the theme is. To me, it just sounds like a great collection of rock songs.
So there you have it. The year of 2006 music laid to rest. Hope this list helps some of you out there discover some new music.
