We have reached the Top 10 albums of 2000. Some of these won't be a surprise. One of them will be a huge surprise. My 6-10 has two new listens. I really like this Top 10, and I'm fairly confident no one else would agree with it. Here goes...
10. RADIOHEAD - KID A ( 4.0 STARS )
Here's the huge surprise. I posted in the past about how I've bought Kid A twice, because I'm supposed to like it, and subsequently got rid of it twice. So, this dive gave me one more opportunity to connect with the album. And I did. It wasn't looking good after "Everything in Its Right Place" and the title track, but when the bass kicked in on "The National Anthem" my mind began to open. When I got to the brilliant track, "Optimistic" I was on board. It's one of the few guitar jams on Kid A. I would still have this ranked as, probably, my 5th favorite Radiohead album, but there's a chance I'll buy it for a third time. Third time's a charm.
9. BADLY DRAWN BOY - THE HOUR OF BEWILDERBEAST ( 4.0 STARS )
Badly Drawn Boy is the moniker of Damon Gough. This album is a long time favorite of mine, that for some reason, I've never owned. It's a beautiful record. The track "Everybody's Stalking" is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's menacing and languid, with a great chorus. "Another Pearl" is a nice, Zombies adjacent, piece of Chamber Pop. There's even some lo-fi on the track, "Cause a Rockslide". My only complaint about The Hour of Bewilderbeast is it's over an hour long. There's too much to focus on for that long, but it's still great.
8. ELLIOTT SMITH - FIGURE 8 ( 4.5 STARS )
Maybe it's because I'm old, and not in on the ground floor with Elliott Smith, but from the two albums I've listened to he seems very inspired by George Harrison. Not that it's a bad thing. Figure 8 is a marvelous record. The production is spectacular. The songcraft is great; particularly "Son of Sam" and "L.A.". The latter is quite Beatles-esque. I'll have to get around to his 90's albums, since they are all rated higher than Figure 8 on RYM.
7. THE FALL - THE UNUTTERABLE ( 4.5 STARS )
I'm really starting to love Mark E. Smith. The Unutterable opens to "Ballroom Blitz" drums on the track "Cyber Insekt". "Two Librans" is a banger, with snarling guitars. The riff on "W.B." sounds like a slowed down "Peter Gunn". He even gets in on the garage rock revival on "Hot Runes". I can't even explain "Octo Realm / Ketamine Sun, but it's a brilliant composition. "Serum" has a distinct cyber-punk sound. My favorite track is the psycho-billy tune, "Hands Up Billy". I could see this being a 5 star album after a few more listens. MES is a legend.
6. GEDDY LEE - MY FAVORITE HEADACHE ( 4.5 STARS )
Speaking of legends...Geddy Lee. During RUSH's five year hiatus, Geddy decided to make a solo album. He enlisted his friend Ben Mink and Grunge drummer Matt Cameron to record the excellent My Favorite Headache. It opens with a blistering bass riffs on the title track. The most surprising thing about MFH is Geddy Lee's level of lyric writing. Neil Peart wrote virtually all the lyrics in RUSH since Fly By Night, so no one really knew what to expect from Ged on that front. He comes out of the gate with, "One man standing on the plains of Abraham watching a damaged sunrise. One man standing near the edge of a quiet breakdown". Wow. I also love the line "Just between the ice ages anyway". The other standout track for me is "Runaway Train", but there are no bad songs on this record. Maybe, one of these days, he'll make another one. I hope so. Peace.
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