For some reason, I feel it necessary to post a list of my favourite albums of last year, at least a month and a half after the rest of the world had completely lost interest in 2009. To be honest, I think now is a better time to be compiling a list like this than December would have been. There’s actually been time to properly digest the records that were released towards the end of the year and compare them more objectively with those from earlier months. So anyway, here are my top five albums of 2009:
5. Porcupine Tree – The Incident
I must admit I’m still digesting this one, so it’s possible it ought to be higher on the list. This certainly isn’t PT’s most accessible album, with disc 1 being a single 54-minute-long suite of music (although the not-quite-20-minute disc 2 is a much more approachable selection of four extra songs unrelated to the main concept). It’s ever so good, though.
4. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
I’ve mentioned this one already, and odds are you’ve heard at least some of it on a BBC trailer or on the radio or wherever. But as long as constant over-exposure hasn’t jaded you against it, this is a really good album.
3. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
I first heard the lead single from this album on the radio, which sparked my interest, and then I was again drawn to listen to more when saw her on Later… Each time I heard more of this record, it turned out not to be quite what I thought it would be, and generally it proved to be something better instead. And Natasha Khan’s voice is simply gorgeous, which is always a plus.
2. Jon Boden – Songs from the Floodplain
A concept album set after the apocalypse that follows flooding and oil shortages. It took me a few listens to get into this one, but it was well worth it; it’s brilliant stuff. It’s folkier than Boden’s last album (the more indie-oriented Painted Lady), but it’s still quite different from his work with John Spiers and Bellowhead.
1. Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know
No real surprises here; this album is largely what you’d expect from these guys in all respects bar one: how damn good it is. There can’t be many bands whose members have an average age of 59 rocking this damn hard. Regardless of the name it was released under, this is easily the best Black Sabbath album since The Mob Rules.
Honourable mentions:
Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Slayer – World Painted Blood
Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot
Albums I probably would have liked if I’d got around to listening to them yet:
Skyclad – In the…All Together
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Show of Hands – Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed