Keane's "Hopes and Fears" (2004)
By Chris Moore:
(May 10, 2004)
Review:
Any album that deals its catchiest songs before track three begins is an album that’s bound to disappoint; it’s not so much that these songs are bad — they’re quite good, actually — it’s just that they threaten to put the listener to sleep after a while.
Top Two Tracks:
“Somewhere Only We Know” & “This is the Last Time”
The National's "High Violet" (2010)
(May 11, 2010)
Review:
Debuting higher on the charts than any previous album from the National, High Violet deserves the attention: these are some of the most pensive, most beautifully orchestrated tracks they’ve released (particularly on the second half of the album), even if they do threaten to lull you into a forlorn stupor by the end.
Top Two Tracks:
“Conversation 16” & “Lemonworld”
Eric Clapton's "Back Home" (2005)
(August 29, 2005)
Review:
The only “revolution” that happened between 2001’s excellent Reptile and Back Home was Eric Clapton’s conversion to the school of light contemporary snooze rock, filling up his new album with instrumentally pedestrian and lyrically boring recordings; Clapton’s guitarwork is, as always, interesting, but that can’t save most songs from dragging on a minute too long (“Love Don’t Love Nobody” has no business being over seven minutes!) or the background singers from drawing a smirk.
Top Two Tracks:
“So Tired” & “Back Home”
Honorable Mention:
“Love Comes to Everyone” (yes, the George Harrison song, recorded as a tribute following his death and recognized here for sounding so much like the original)
The Foo Fighters' self-titled debut (1995)
(July 4, 1995)
Review:
Top Two Tracks:
“This is a Call” & “I’ll Stick Around”