Top 10 Albums of 2008 (SO FAR)

Well we are a good 6 months into 2008 already believe it or not. I have a smart play list set up on iTunes that keeps track of all 2008 releases and it made me stop and think that 2008 has already been a pretty solid year for music.

2007 gave us amazing releases from Arcade Fire (Neon Bible), Radiohead (In Rainbows) which technically saw it's brick and mortar release in the first week of January but had been available for several months online. "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" by Modest Mouse was an amazing album and the most overlooked album of the year belonged to Silverchair with "Young Modern." If you have never heard that cd you are missing out big time! I was never a fan of Silverchair but this disc blew me away! Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky", Alicia Key's "As I Am," Brandi Carlile's "The Story," Jay-Z's "American Gangster," and Kanye West's "Graduation" were also on heavy rotation all year. In fact Alicia Key's album still is, it is the best female R&B album since Lauryn Hill's first and only solo album.

Another overlooked album belonged to former Semisonic lead singer Dan Wilson. The former front man known for his one hit wonder hit "Closing Time" released an amazing singer songwriter album co-produced by the legendary Rick Rubin. If you want a copy of "Free Life" I would gladly burn it for anyone, I hate to see an album this great go unnoticed by the masses.

A few other great discs of 2007 included albums by Spoon, a wonderful pop/rock album by Jimmy Eat World "Chase This Light" which got little attention yet was nearly as great as their breakthrough "Bleed America." Bloc Party's debut album was one of my favorites of all time, their sophomore release was a little bit of a let down but when combined with their internet release of an entire album full of worthy b-sides they put out quite a bit of good music last year. The Foo Fighters "Pretender" was a great effort and albums by The White Stripes, Band of Horses, The Shins, Kings of Leon, Rilo Kiley, Ben Harper, Bright Eyes, Crowded House, a great b-sides album by The Killers (following their amazing 2006 release) british band Travis, Canadian, lesbian twin sisters Tegan and Sara, Ryan Adams, and many others released excellent albums in year that was 2007.

But enough about that, let's take what I will try to make sure is a relatively quick look at the best releases thus far of 2008.

#1- Coldplay "Viva La Vida" I think I have said enough about this album already!

#2- MGMT- Oracular Spectacular. This album is amazing. If you have not checked this band out you are missing out. It is a bit top heavy, as the first 6 songs are so are much stronger than the back end of the disc. If not for that it would be a co #1 with Coldplay.

#3 Girl Talk- "Feeding The Animals." Again this is one we have recently talked quite a bit about. Even though it's not a true album by a band or singer, its an amazing work of art IMO.

#. 4 From this point on my list is pretty tentative, but I really like the Lupe Fiasco album "The Cool." It's an original hip hop statement that is jam packed with great songs. It was released in late December so I include it as a 2008 release.

#5. Lil Wayne- "The Carter 3" A near classic that is really strong throughout and showcases Weezy's many talents. It's a bit all over the place but surprisingly it does not matter. I know he left off some really strong tracks, "The Leak" was a great EP and I would have liked to have seen a few of those songs left on The Carter.

#6. "The Raconteurs- Consolers of The Lonely- Jack White's other band put out a rocking disc that really does cover the map of rock music in what is almost an attempt by the band to try anything they can think of. But it works, very very well!

#7. Nada Surf- "Lucky" "See These Bones" is one of the top 3-5 songs released this year and while the album does not reach the heights of the amazing "Let Go" it is better than "The Weight is a Gift" and on par with "Proxemity Effect"

#8. Death Cab For Cutie- "Narrow Stairs" Another solid effort for Death Cab. I need to listen to this album more as there has just been so much released this summer I have lost it in the shuffle since the first week or 2, but it's a very good album.

#9. Weezer- The Red Album. This is a strange album, it feels much more like a collection of songs and to fit this spot I have to rate it as the deluxe edition because several of the bonus tracks are much better than a few of the songs on the album which technically just has 10 songs, including 3 not sang by lead singer Rivers Cuomo. However while there are a few duds, there are some freaking great songs on there as well, especially "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived," and "The Angel and The One."

#10. N.E.R.D.- "Seeing Sounds" Not as great as their classic debut but better than their follow up. Again another album that is a bit top heavy, but honestly I need to listen more to the last 4 or 5 songs more, they just don't have the instant impact of the other tracks.

Other's that I have enjoyed thus far this year include albums by Gavin DeGraw, Usher, The Roots, Mariah Carey (Yes, seriously) REM, NIN, Matt Costa, Gnarls Barkley, Jacob Dylan, She and Him, My Morning Jacket, Old 97s, The Black Keys, Stephen Malkmus, Cat Power, Hayes Carl, Rick Ross, Bun, B and others and I still listen to Alicia Keys alot too.



Ok, I am done now...