Here is my Top 5 Albums that were released in 2011 (In no particular order). This is obviously just my opinion, feel free to add your own. Click “Read More” for the list.
5. Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights
With more and more bands that are imitating each other in this genre in the past couple of years, its noteworthy that I think Defeater stands above most, if not all of them. There is alot of emotion in this album, and the lyrics are awesome.
Pros: The last 4 acoustic songs really caught me off guard on my first listen, but they work well. White Oak Doors is probably the best song on the album, other then the acoustic ones, which are all memorable and well written pieces as well.
Cons: His voice tends to sound similar throughout.
4. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
This is a very atmospheric album, and I find that I appreciate it the most when I listen to it as a whole, rather than picking through the songs on my own, out of order. They work better together than on their own.
Pros: The Synths and other subtle background noises make for a very atmospheric sounding album. Best song - “Wait”.
Cons: It is very long, with 22 songs, and that may turn some listeners away from listening to the whole thing. (As they should do).
3. Bring Me The Horizon - There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Lets Keep It A Secret
Bring Me The Horizon is defining the sound of modern metal as we know it with their urgently dark, epic new album. I think it’s much better than their previous work, and the songs are far more catchy and rhythmic. The presence of LIGHTS is awesome, and I wish her voice was even more present than it is.
Pros: “It Never Ends”, “Fuck”, & “Don’t Go” sound really good when all played together. LIGHTS voice is a very nice addition to the album as well. Good call on BMTH’s part for getting her on.
Cons: Oli Sykes is a good vocalist but he tends to sound very similar throughout the album.
2. LIGHTS - Siberia
I hoped that her second release would be even better than her first, and it definitely is. Not to take away from “The Listening” which I also really enjoyed, but it seems as though she has matured as an artist and sounds much more experienced. Best Song: “Flux And Flow”. So Catchy.
Pros: All the songs are catchy. Her lyrics and voice remain her strongest asset.
Cons: The last song.. if you can call it that, titled “Day One” is.. well less than enjoyable. I wouldn’t even really consider it a song because its just noises. Here is her explanation of it: “Those nine minutes, she explains, were a very real document of the first time she ever jammed with Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh, musicians in experimental electronic act, Holy F–k. “That’s literally the last nine minutes of Day 1 that we worked together. That’s what the file was called. We just saved it,” she explains. “I didn’t mean to add it to the record, but it was such a cool adventure,” she continues. “And the record sort of started to form from there.”
1. Angels & Airwaves - LOVE Parts I & II
I had extremely high hopes for this release. Part One was released on Valentine’s Day, 2010 for free, off of their website modlife. Tom Delonge said that Part Two is better than the first one, but I’m not sure if I can agree. In my eyes, they are both equally as good. I find myself being very picky about Angels & Airwaves. For Example, I wish at the end of “All That We Are” it faded out slower, it seems to drop off very quickly after such an epic song. Best Song on Part I - “The Moon-Atomic (…Fragments & Fictions). Best Song on Part II - “All That We Are”.
Pros - Very atmospheric sounding throughout, and the guitar riffs and melodies are awesome. I also love the use of the synths.
Cons: “Surrender” and “Saturday Love are pretty repetitive, I think they could have been done a little differently. “Moon As My Witness” probably would have been one of the best, if not THE best song on the entire double album if it did not suddenly cut out just as the epic build is about to unleash a great chorus. The lyrics are also a tad confusing at times.
