I heard about this record’s album cover before I heard anything about the actual music. Then the reviews came in and people were wiggin’ out over how good it was. Kanye serves up a pretty serious record. He’s got string sections, Elton John piano solos, some Bon Iver cameos, and even some King Crimson samples. The finished product though is a lot less than the sum of its powerful parts. I was done with this record by track 4 and there’s still plenty more where that came from.

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After almost breaking up in 2009, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney realized their band was too important to give up so they went into the studio and put out one of their best records. Like most Black Keys records, it pretty much sounds the same all the way through but this time literally every track is good. There’s never a dip in the garage rock fun they have on this record and even though the music is stripped down and simple it just helps to prove that over production is not the path to greatness.

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Leon Russell hasn’t charted anywhere since 1981. So nearly 30 years later he got together with Elton John and made everyone question why the hell we forgot him. T Bone Burnett also decided to show up and produced the ever loving shit out of this record. The two leaders prance around on their pianos delivering a variety of great sounds from dark and eerie to honky tonk madness. Elton John seems to have saved a bunch of great lyrics for about 20 years and through them on this record and even though the record is called The Union, the two men (whether they mean to or not) battle over the course of the record for their listeners vote. Elton performs as well as ever and now that he’s actually singing worthwhile songs he would seem to be the surefire winner. But Leon Russell begins the record and never lets you forget he’s there. He sings in a voice thats anything but pretty but instead of crooning over the man’s vocal talent you stand in awe of the wisdom and power that manages to come through instead. Its not the best record in the world but its definitely a great thing that it was made.

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For their third album, the Montreal collective decided they would take an album to do what Rush accomplished in one song. Luckily, its fucking brilliant. 

The band gets right into it. They start off the record with one of their most radio friendly tracks yet and it paves the way for audiences everywhere to understand that even though Arcade Fire appears to be some scary art band because they use organs and orchestral arrangements, just about anyone can pick up this record and not only enjoy it, but really understand and relate to its themes. The suburbs isn’t exactly mind blowing subject matter and there are some non genius level tracks on the record but when the group does shine (and they do on the majority of this album) they blow your mind and you remember exactly why you fell in love with them in the first place. The speed of sound string arrangements on “Empty Room” and the almost new wave sound of “Sprawl II” keep listeners interested as the Arcade Fire play their way through a bunch of genres. Win and Regine take their childhood issues, which have definitely surfaced on their previous records, and sort of finish the cycle. They sing through the record from both a past and present point of view. They manage to encapsulate the heartache of youth and the somehow bitter fondness of looking back from adulthood. But not only to they put these intimate feelings into words, they also manage to put them into songs so monumentally huge that they seem to only be appropriate for a packed house at Madison Square Garden. I can’t come out and say that this is my favorite Arcade Fire record but let’s be honest. Choosing a favorite of the three is a waste of time. They’re all so lovely.

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I’d never heard of Jamey Johnson but I saw this album cover and was psyched. Then I heard the album. He may appear to be a gruff and gritty singer but his songs end up sounding like every other current country song. And that ain’t good.

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If their self titled debut was a record for the last days of school and the beginning of summer, then Contra fits snugly into the fading light of the season. Without sacrificing too much of their catchy riffs and rhythms, Vampire Weekend succeeds in creating a heavily produced record thats full of great lyrics and never seems to appear cheap or surface level. Their debut is a fairly one note album (though its a blast to listen to) but Contra sees Ezra Koenig stretching his lyrical wings and helping to remind us that even though summer is coming to an end there’s another one just a year away. They also were a bit more adventurous in the recording stage of the record, utilizing auto tune, some really slow tracks to offset the surf pop image of the debut, and even some really meaningful ones (namely I Think UR a Contra) which even though being brand new, still manages to make you think of the best parts of every summer you’ve ever had.

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Drake’s rhymes and samples are solid but his voice just makes him sound like a wannabee who works in the meat department at Shaw’s.

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This is the record that solidified that Zeppelin probably isn’t getting back together. Plant pulls out a roots rock record thats a little looser than Raising Sand but nowhere near Zeppelin’s power. Plant’s voice still sounds great and the musicians who join him are all accomplished but there just isn’t that much to the record. The music is simple but not so simple as to be genius and even though there is a solid edge of cool throughout the record,  it just doesn’t stay with you when its done.

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Recovery is just that. Eminem put his pain with drug addiction and raising his daughter into a record. A great record. Some of the guest vocalists choruses aren’t as inspired as they have been in the past, but Eminem’s speed and rhymes are better than ever. I found myself being consistently impressed by his speed and his ability to master the rhyming dictionary. 

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The problem with this record, is I listened to the entire thing on the train today and apart from knowing that i physically turned it on on my ipod, I don’t remember anything about it at all. Is that bad? I think its bad.

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