A difficult year manifests itself in many ways, one of which is a larger collection of music that winds up disappointing me in one way or another. Maybe I set my expectations too high, or maybe I spent too much of the year in a mood where nothing could have made me happy, but there were an ample number of albums that didn't live up to what I wanted them to be. There were the ones that were truly terrible, and those that merely weren't all they could have been. In either event, they left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
These are those albums.
The Worst:
The Offspring - Supercharged
Once again, The Offspring have made an album that leaves me wishing they hadn't. Last time, I was embarrassed to have ever counted myself a fan of the band. Things aren't quite so bad this time, but the record isn't much better. They rehash some of their older songs, which only serves to remind us of when they were actually a 'good' band, and they do it with a production that sounds worse than before they had a budget to work with. We sometimes talk about veteran bands that only make music as an excuse to keep touring, as if reason was needed anymore. This is one of those albums that proves the point, because I don't know who can hear "Supercharged" without thinking it sounds much more like a battery that has caught fire our in the garage.
Green Day - Saviors
The is very much the same case as our previous entry. Green Day has improved, but only in comparison to the complete black hole that was "Father Of All..." Taken on its own, "Saviors" is yet another Green Day album that gives us pause, and makes us reconsider if they were ever as good as we thought them to be. The answer to that is clearly 'no', and they were really always a singles band that somehow conned us into thinking they were something more. They only thing this album saves is me from having to ever think another Green Day album is worth my time.
Neal Morse - The Restoration: Joseph Pt II
I should just copy-and-paste everything I said about the first album of this set. Neal has once again written a bunch of boring dad rock that tells a story that was already told better. It's completely irrelevant, and I really don't want to have to say anything else.
Jack White - No Name
The return to bare-bones rock is not the celebration White Stripes fans might have been hoping for. After years of weird experiments that didn't work, Jack White goes back to the basics, and either he forgot how to do that, or more of his success is due to that Lego music video than I thought. This record is no fun at all, with fuzzy guitars that are a bit of a mess, and songs that bring almost nothing in the way of memorable moments. It's as if you took "Fell In Love With A Girl", gave it to random people at Guitar Center, and listened to them struggle. This isn't the blues, it just left me feeling blue.
Opeth - The Last Will And Testament
It's rare, but sometimes I hate an album for reasons other than it's quality. This record is at or near the bottom of Opeth's discography, easily, but the real reason I hate it is because of the discourse it created. What Opeth has done is make it impossible for me to take so many fans and critics in the metal scene seriously, because 90% of the talk is about nothing but Mikael growling once again. The fact that this is the same version of boring prog as the last few albums is completely obscured by the fact that so many are more interested in how 'heavy' something is, rather than if it's actually good. I could make the comparison between this and the conclusions drawn from our political climate, but I'm already depressed enough.
The Disappointing:
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department
Oh, Taylor. Just when it seemed like she was conquering the entire world, she goes and puts out an album that reminds us she is as flawed as any of us. This record takes the good parts of "Midnights", and throws them in the trash so we instead focus on her salty language. Taylor made mistakes with brighter pop as well, but they never seemed as dour as this record. And I'm not even talking about the version that's a double album, which is far too much of Taylor for one sitting. I get the impulse to remind people things aren't always as great as they appear on tv, but her tortured poetry could use a lot more poetry and less torture. Or at least a few decent melodies would have been nice. I didn't sign up for a poetry slam.
Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project
Nearly twenty years.... that's how long we waited for Bruce to follow up three of the best metal records ever. All that time meant this was always going to be a disappointment, but I didn't think it would come in the form of sounding half-assed. Rather than trying to do too much to justify the time, this record rehashes a couple of shorter numbers, and then goes off on several prog tangents, one of which was literally a stream-of-consciousness bit of writing. It sounds it. I suppose the version with the graphic novel is better, because if you're like me, you zone out and lose bits of time when you're reading. That might be the only way to be truly happy listening to Bruce struggle to find his way.
Anette Olzon - Rapture
Once again, Anette Olzon is stuck with her worst material being put out under her own name. Magnus Karlsson wrote the fabulous Allen/Olzon albums, but has saddled her with his least melodic songs, which come complete with harsh vocals dotted throughout. I know there is a family connection in there, but to take the focus off of Anette, who is the best part of the album, is a massive mistake. By not giving us more beautiful distraction, we're left to focus on how this album comes across as a preachy bit of evangelicalism. It does make you wonder, though, why God can't inspire his followers to make better music in his name. So much for being all powerful?
Yours Truly - Toxic
So much for Yours Truly being the most promising new band out there. As much as I loved "Self Care", I am disappointed by this record. It isn't bad, don't get me wrong, but they detour into darker and more 'modern' sounds, which strips away the optimism that made their punk/emo so great. This is a much more downbeat record, which certainly has its place, but it wasn't what I expected or wanted from Yours Truly. This isn't so much the sound of maturity as it is the sound of a band being beaten down by life. That's rather sad, and I'm not sure if they will be able to rebound.
Ad Infinitum - Abyss
What happened? Their album last year was them finally hitting their stride and living up to expectations. They quickly crank out another record, and they leave all of that behind to go down more 'modern' paths. That means everything holding the strong hooks together is washed out in electronics and barking vocals, which plays against everything the band is good at. Melissa Bonny still delivers the choruses with aplomb, but when everything else is so forgettable, that's not enough.
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