Top Albums of 2005

Since this is my first post, I thought I would start with something simple and list my top 10 albums of 2005. So, here they are:



1. Depeche Mode Playing The Angel - After the lackluster outing that was 2001's Exciter, Depeche Mode roared back in 2005 with Playing The Angel, an album that had many comparing it to their 1990 masterpiece Violator. I am not one of those people, but the album is great and easily tops my list for 2005. You know that an album is great when the band has been around for 25 years and they are still creating songs that will go down as classics in their catalog and DM did just that with the magnificent "Precious." Other standout tracks include "A Pain That I'm Used To," "John The Revelator," and "Suffer Well," which is a composition by lead singer Dave Gahan, who is making his first songwriting credits on a Depeche Mode album with Playing The Angel. The album is much more up tempo than either Exciter or 1997's Ultra and it seems that Depeche Mode is back in top form.

2. Doves Some Cities - The British band Doves continues making great music after their hiatus following 2002's fantastic The Last Broadcast. Some Cities is alternative rock with a soulful edge that hearkens back to the sixties and the band pulls off this sound very well as captured in great tracks like "Black & White Town" and "Almost Forgot Myself." However, they do take the time to get more experimental on tracks like "The Storm" and "Shadows Of Salford," with no less amazing results. If you've never heard of this band before, you don't know what you're missing. Head on over to iTunes now and get this album and believe me, you'll be compelled to by their back catalog as well. Other standouts include "Walk In Fire" and the epic "Snowden."

3. Beck Guero - While Beck's last album Sea Changes was not lackluster, it was a departure for him in that it was and all acoustic affair and quite the melancholy record, but great nonetheless. Guero sees Beck return to his playful self and channel some of the energy he captured on 1996's Odelay and returning with an album just as strong. As he is known to do, Beck fuses together several different styles of music to come up with something that he can call his own. From the creepy, but danceable "Girl," to the hard rocking "E-Pro," Guero is the album that any other artist would kill to make and Beck makes it all look so effortless. Other notable tracks include "Scarecrow," the trippy "Earthquake Weather," and "Missing," which recalls the lounge room cool of the stellar track "Tropicalia" from the Mutations album.

4. Coldplay X & Y - "You know how I know you're gay? You listen to Coldplay." Thanks to the film The 40-Year Old Virgin, this joke was inescapable for Coldplay fans, but it still does not tarnish the great music that the band produced for X & Y, the long-awaited follow up to their 2002 album A Rush Of Blood To The Head. While this album never really hits the peaks of that one, it is still a fine record and would be any other band's masterpiece. "Fix You" is another soaring ballad in the vein of "The Scientist," while "Speed Of Sound" reaches back to pay tribute to their hit "Clocks." And here's the shocker of this album, there are actually fast songs on it! Songs like "White Shadows," "Low," and "Talk" make up for lost time for a band known for their mid-tempo and slow songs. However, there are plenty of those on this 13-track disc as well, with one of the best being the underrated "A Message." Great stuff.

5. British Sea Power Open Season - British Sea Power picked right up where their 2003 album The Decline Of British Sea Power left off and crafted another album of intelligent Britpop with Open Season. This album, like the last, contains an unnecessarily lengthy track, "True Adventures," that the band probably thinks is epic, but it's really just too long, but the rest of the album is topnotch. The band is in tight form and one can only wonder at what they have in store for their next album, as they have trumped the "sophomore slump" and come out winners. Top tracks: "Oh Larsen B," "Victorian Ice," "Please Stand Up."

6. Simple Minds Black And White 050505 - Who would have thought that in 2005, people would be lauding an album by Simple Minds? The group's fans, that's who. After their 2002 effort, Cry, Simple Minds returned with this even better album. While Cry had about half an album's worth of standout tracks, Black And White is simply a standout album, solid in every way. From the driving single "Home" to "Kiss The Ground," a track that recalls their 1985 heyday, Black And White shows that there may just be life left in this old band. This album has not been released in the U.S., but if you're a fan of Simple Minds' old stuff, I suggest you track it down on import or on the internet.

7. Erasure Nightbird - After churning out album after album that sounded like clones of one another, it seemed like Erasure had written themselves into a cul de sac, but with Nightbird, they made a great return to form that hearkens back to their best work from the late 80's and early 90's. Some of the synths used here sound familiar, as Erasure were never great experimenters with sound like Depeche Mode, but the results here are just as good as ever. Standouts include "Sweet Surrender," "I'll Be There," and their best song in ages, "All This Time Still Falling Out Of Love."

8. Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better With Franz Ferdinand - More of the same from Franz, but it sounds so great, it has to make anyone's Top 10. They expand a bit on this record, but the album carries essentially the same sound as their 2004 self-titled debut. That's not to say that the album is any less great, but with the first album the sound was fresh and now it's sounding a bit old. One hopes that they take a little more time with their next album in order to try different things, but you can't blame them for striking while the iron was hot for them. They needn't worry, though, their audience will still be around if they take a little longer in the studio next time. Essential tracks: "Do You Want To," "I'm Your Villain," and "The Fallen."

9. New Order Waiting For The Siren's Call - New Order continues what they started in 2001 with their amazing comeback album Get Ready, but take their sound back into more electronic territory with Waiting For The Siren's Call. This album is not as strong as Get Ready, but it's still a great listen for fans and non-fans alike. Some of the tracks, like "Morning Night And Day" and "Guilt Is A Useless Emotion," sound like lost songs from Bernard Sumner's side project with Johnny Marr, Electronic, and while this is not a bad thing, they just sound out of place on a New Order album. Regardless of a few missteps, this is still a great album, with the best tracks being "Krafty," "I Told You So," "Jetstream," and the rockin' "Working Overtime."

10. Garbage Bleed Like Me - In 2005, Garbage delivered what could be, arguably, their best album. I've heard that the band might be breaking up, and if this is the case, they certainly went out on a high note. From the hit single "Why Do You Love Me" to the haunting title track, Bleed Like Me is a quality effort with songs that rock and gentle ballads that turn out to be not so gentle as they wind down to their ends. Other tracks to single out: "Sex Is Not The Enemy," "Right Between The Eyes," and the album closer "Happy Home."

Well, those are my Top 10 for 2005. Of course, these only reflect the best of the albums I purchased this past year, so I'm sure that there are other records that are just as good, but since I didn't hear them, I can't rank them. Let me know what I forgot and why you think it's great.