While 2009 has been a somewhat decent year as far as music is concerned, there have been a few prominent releases that truly disappointed me. I’m not saying these are “bad” albums by any means. It’s just that when I hear a new album from one of my favorite artists, there are a few things I expect. Now this may not be what you think I’m going to say, but I do not expect every band or artist that comes out with new music to stick with the same sound they’ve rehashed year after year. In fact, my number one rule for new music is as simple as this: “how has their product improved?” I am not suggesting that everyone should ditch their trademark sound and replace it with a complete reinvention, but new music should mark some kind of evolution. In my opinion, if you fail to change at all, you are not a true artist. The key is to retain what makes you unique while still adding something new. Anyway, here are my picks for three biggest disappointments this year…
3. Breaking Benjamin – Dear Agony
It hurts me to say it, but Breaking Ben really dropped the ball here. I understand that they want to become more mainstream and have some more big radio hits to establish themselves, but this sounds like a watered-down, less creative version of the band to me. On their first album, Saturate, Breaking Benjamin came out blazing with real heavy rock that was still catchy and perfect to sing along to. They followed suite with their sophomore effort We Are Not Alone, complicating their arrangements a bit while still retaining heaviness and sing-along choruses. Phobia, their third album, was a misstep in my view, but it was still listenable. The songs were a little less dynamic, and they all sounded quite similar. With Dear Agony, Breaking Ben unfortunately continues their downslide into mediocrity with a radio-friendly album full of simple ballads and containing little of what made the band popular in the first place: scathing, straight-up catchy rock.
2. Busta Rhymes – Back on My B.S.
I don’t really need to say too much about this one. For every track where Busta harkens back to his old, fast-spitting self there is another full of fluff and nonsense. I mean, come on… the chorus to “Sugar?” Let me enlighten you guys to the masterful lyrics of this song. And no, this is not a joke:
“I wanna taste your body / I wanna taste your face
I wanna taste your breast / taste below your waist
Right here’s the perfect place / for me to kiss and fuck you”
I rest my case.
1. Weezer – Raditude
I like Weezer and much as the next guy or gal – in fact, I’m a huge Weezer fan. Their first record is one of my top ten albums of all time, and Pinkerton is not far behind. I was also a huge fan of The Green Album, Maladroit and last year’s Red Album (the only stinker on the latter was the tune written for Brian Bell’s other band). Unfortunately, this release falls more in line with the mediocre Make Believe than anything else. 2005’s Make Believe wasn’t terrible, but in my opinion featured some less-than-stellar songwriting in some cases. I feel similarly about Raditude, although this time around I have more of a gripe with the lyrics than anything else. The music has taken a turn for pure pop, which is fine… but it seems that nearly all of Rivers Cuomo’s eccentricity has been lost to the wind. He is writing as if he is a teenager still in high school, which is similar to what he did on the Red Album - though instead of making you think about the content of the song, here he just sounds bland. I do, however, dig the collaboration with Lil’ Wayne (“Can’t Stop Partying”) as well as a couple of others. I hope Weezer takes some more time with their next album and return to true form.
[by Greg Michaels]
No comments:
Post a Comment