Scott’s Top 5 releases of 2006
5. The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me – Brand New
I will be mocked mercilessly for this but Brand New’s third full length release was one of the few albums this year that could be listened to the whole way through. While there were no stand-out tracks, the album was well worth the three years we had to wait for it.
4. A City by the Light Divided – Thursday
They’re back. After War All the Time was so disappointing, Thursday was able to recover with A City by the Light Divided. Once again, the entire album was listenable. For the first time, Thursday really showed that they were able to play good mellow music and still retain that edge that made Full Collapse so good.
3. Nightcrawler – Pete Yorn
There are some guys who are really able to write music, and Pete Yorn is one of those guys. His third full length release returned to the genius of his freshman release Musicforthemorningafter. With stand out tracks “Ice Age” and “Undercover,” Yorn put out an album that is hard not to enjoy. He succeeded in producing pop music without sacrificing the quality of the music.
2. No Heroes – Converge
Brutal, unforgiving and a kick in the teeth are only three ways to describe Converge’s 2006 release. While a lot of hardcore bands are getting away from controlled anger and moving towards “noise,” Converge was able to produce an album that was beautiful in the way it terrorized the listener’s ears.
1. Ascertain – SleepBellumSonno
I got this album through Independent Clauses in May of 2006 and I don’t think I’ve gone two full weeks without listening to it. I said it in the review and I’ll say it again now, SleepBellumSonno is producing music that is void of genre, without attempting to. Ascertain was and remains an album that everyone will find something they like on. This is the best album of the year and it will propel this band on to great things.
Honorable mention: Always Open Mouth – Fear Before the March of Flames; Everything’s Watched, Everyone’s Watching – Heavy Heavy Low Low; New Amsterdam Live At Heineken Music Hall February 6, 2003 – Counting Crows