The 2000’s: 2002
2002: Favorite Albums
I don’t really feel like writing in paragraph form for this part, so here are some albums from 2002 that I think you should re-listen to or check out for the first time:
- Beck - Sea Change
- Ben Folds - Ben Folds Live
- Ben Kweller - Sha Sha
- Colin Hay - Company of Strangers
- Dashboard Confessional - So Impossible EP
- Rhett Miller - The Instigator
- Something Corporate - Leaving Through The Window
- The Starting Line - Say It Like You Mean It
- Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
- Weezer - Maladroit
Coldplay : A Rush of Blood To The Head
I love Coldplay, if you feel differently, stop reading lol.
2002’s A Rush of Blood to the Head is Coldplay’s career highlight so far; however, Parachutes and Viva La Vida (or Death and All His Friends) would come in 2nd for me in 2000 and 2008, respectively. I think they bring a little bit of everything to the table, from rock sensiblities, to pop melodies, and an alternative angst that can all be heard through their songs.
ARoBttH is definitely their most alternative album, taking many cues from Radiohead and 80’s U2. They wear their influences on their sleeve, and are very open to acknowledge that at times they feel like a glorified cover band. Though it is impossible not to hear Radiohead, U2, and The Beatles among others in their music, I think the combination is something that hasn’t been heard before…at least not in popular music.
The album is full of some great songs and to me, probably the “best song”* of the decade. I would say it is a very dark album that allows flashes of light to seep out; songs like In My Place, Clocks, and Green Eyes, are lighter, but even they have this aura of melancholy and/or some kind of inner panic that defines the rest of the album. Songs like God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, A Whisper, and A Rush of Blood to The Head show a kind of attitude that I think they lost on 2005’s X&Y, but regained a bit on Viva.
All that said, you can’t talk about A Rush of Blood to the Head without talking about The Scientist. It is simply a beautiful song about love, loss, regret, and a little bit of hope. The lyrics are complex, yet perfectly simple in what they emote to the listener. And don’t even get me started on the melody. Not even to mention the video. I remember the first time I saw it, it just amplified that emotion and helped paint the picture of the song. I’ve always thought a definitive music video can make a good song a great one, and a phenomenal song a classic, which I think The Scientist accomplishes better than pretty much all others.
A Rush of Blood to the Head is a classic that many will listen to on the same level of U2’s Joshua Tree and Radiohead’s OK Computer (There are many MANY things different about those 3, but bear with me here lol).
Love’em or hate’em, I would like to hear an argument against Coldplay being the biggest band of the decade.
* (I’m using more of a Grammy definition here, using that term as more of a measure of songwriting than anything else.)
By Ryan Hoffman
A Second Opinion
Midtown : Living Well Is The Best Revenge
2002. Midtown releases the best pop punk album of the decade.
Boom. Roasted.
Living Well is the Best Revenge was Midtown’s follow up to their somewhat successful debut Save the World, Lose the Girl. This album builds upon the same formula as its predecessor using close harmonies and rocking guitars to create a sound which explodes from your speakers with energy.
The opening track Become What You Hate kicks in and you already know you’re in for a ride. The song keeps its frantic energy throughout and never lets up while Gabe Saporta’s lyrics chew out someone who has changed for the worse.
All three guitarists sing on most of the tracks with each having a distinct voice so that you can pick out the harmonies in each song. This gives everything a much more solid sound. Still Trying contains the same manic energy of the first track. It tackles a lost relationship but does so in an upbeat manner, so you don’t get real depressed.
Get it Together and Like a Movie are the singles of the album and probably also its best songs. Get it Together is a perfect pop punk rocker, while Like a Movie sounds a bit more somber. The bridge, however, is the best thing I think Midtown ever did. The song slows down and the two guitarists, Heath and Tyler, exchange words and then all three chime in for an epic climax. It’s good.
There’s No Going Back is…ok. Perfect takes slows down the tempo of the ablum for a little bit. You Should Know is nothing to write home about. Ditto with One Last Time. Faulty Foundation is Midtown’s heaviest rocker at this point, although their next album will blow that title out of the water. In The Songs is a nice upbeat song with some solid harmonies in the second verse. The closer, Find Comfort in Yourself takes the energy back up for the finale. Heath’s guitar work in this song is frantic yet controlled. He manages to rock the shit out of it. The track ends abruptly leading into a bonus track. Make This Right is a b-side by Tyler in the basic Midtown formula, although it’s a bit different with the lead vocals by the “third singer”.
So that’s that. The only thing wrong with Living Well is the Best Revenge is the production. Compared to Save the World, Lose the Girl and even the next and final Midtown album, this sounds overproduced. It isn’t make or break but I would have preferred a more natural sound. This album is good but Midtown more than one upped themselves in 2004. You’ll see.
