Last year I didn't really re-write anything for my list of best albums - this year I've given it a lot of thought and while I'm waiting to complete my best songs list with December, why not run down the 9 best albums of 2009?
But before everything, the rules:
1. An album may be a studio album, a greatest hits package, a compilation, a live album or in Korea's case a MINI-ALBUM (EP). As long as it has more than 10 tracks for standard studio albums and more than 4 tracks for mini-albums, it qualifies.
2. It must have been released in 2009, like duh - doesn't matter if it was digitally or physically. In the case of repackaged albums, they only count if more than one-third the number of the original tracks are new tracks. Confusing? Let's say you have a 12-track album released in 2008. If there's a repackaged version out in 2009, there must be at least 4 new tracks, remixes allowed. If the repackaged album was released in the same year as the original album, then there's no problem, both qualify.
3. If I previously reviewed it, it should have gotten a score of 4/5 and above - no less. If I didn't review it, then the rule doesn't apply.
Now that we've got the rules all sorted out - the criteria.
Albums are a songS put together - a group of songs strung together in a cohesive and entertaining way. No one song carries the album and no one song brings the album down - they all have to contribute to the over-all sound of the album because album tracks are just as important as singles. If the singles are good but the other tracks fail, it's a NO from me.
The album should show one sound and one sound alone. It's not constricting and it's not 'conservative' because one sound can mean a lot of things, the artist just has to know how to manipulate the sound into different styles. There is a difference between sound and style.
That's it, actually. The list is RANKED so #1 is my favorite album of the year.
Legends:
(+/- *insertnumberhere*) - how much the score increased or decreased in relation to my first review
(retain) - That means the score now is the same as the score I gave when I first reviewed it
(UR) - un-reviewed so there was no previous score
#9: 2PM -
01:59 PM The First AlbumThis album is sort of representative of everything that's happened to 2PM this year, the good and bad. It has the singles off their previous mini-albums and it has new tracks - there's the 7-member and 6-member 2PM. I think JYP hit the nail on the head with 2PM when it comes to the music but he wasn't so lucky with the Wonder Girls (DON'T get me started on them, PLEASE). One, it doesn't sound like he's trying to relive his ex-protege Rain in them, two, the songs sound fresh and not recycled but three, they sound distinctly like something only JYP does. The thing with JYP and 2PM is that they make the smooth, sophisticated R&B.
A few days ago I was listening to Another Level's
Summertime and I had a flash of enlightenment. I don't know if JYP knows who Another Level are but I'm pretty sure that's the sound he's going for with 2PM. Heck, even their vocals are reminiscent of the UK boyband - to a certain extent.
The new tracks off this album are really good, if I may say so.
The Best:
All Night Long,
I Hate You (Lounge Remix),
Back 2UThe Bad:
You Might Comeback (Bossa Nova Mix)The Rating (as of now):
4/5 (UR)
#8: The Saturdays - Wordshaker
Despite doing a complete 360 change with
Forever is Over, I think
Wordshaker as a whole was a pretty competent album. But I think had Girls Aloud been around this year, this would be thrown to the wayside. Just a thought though.
There are tracks on this just go right through me but there are now songs that seemed like they went through me at first but listening back, they're pretty good. There's the epic, the serious, the GA-like and the songs that I think will become pretty synonymous with The Sats now and that's what I needed from this album - didn't get it entirely though.
Wordshaker was supposed to give us material that will scream THE SATURDAYS, it didn't, but the songs as individual songs were pretty good. It may not work as a whole album but the singles work as singles and the album tracks work as songs.
The Best:
Here Standing,
Open Up,
DenialThe Bad:
2 a.m. sounds very out of place. It's nice and all but it's not right for the album.
The Rating (as of now):
4.4/5 (-0.4)
#7: Leona Lewis - Echo
I'm not the biggest Leona fan, you guys know that, and Echo was one of the gambles I took this year - thankfully it turned out brilliant.
There are a lot of things I like about this album but the main thing that kept me listening was the fact that the entire package is epic without being heavy and boring - Leona has managed to sustain my attention for more than a few songs.
Echo is one of the best this year because one, I like it and two, it was actually a hit - it's rare in Western music that I put those two statements in one sentence.
Notable highlights of the album are the string section after the middle 8 of the Paula Cole-esque
I Got You, the hook of
Can't Breathe, the out of place but not out of place
Outta My Head, the bridge of
Love Letter,
Naked and The Oasis cover
Don't Cry Your Heart OutThe Best:
Naked,
Don't Let Me Down,
I Got YouThe Bad:
Lost Then Found it's more of a OneRepublic song than a Leona song.
The Rating (as of now):
4.5/5 (-0.1)
#6: Jordin Sparks - Battlefield
I like Jordin Sparks now, I honestly do. I didn't like her on Idol (STILL bitter about Blake not winning) but I like her now.
Battlefield was a solid album - it had one sound and it had cohesion between the songs. Her vocals were good, the arrangements were interesting and the songs themselves delivered. Although very mainstream American, it's the type that kinda sounds like everything else but doesn't sound like anything at all.
But more than that, it successfully transitioned Jordin from first to second album - the hardest shift to make musically. She was her on her first album but she grew up on this one. She knows how to pick songs, she knows how to sing them and she knows how to deliver now. Like I said when I first reviewed it, it's epic in a gazillion different ways.
The Best:
No Parade,
Walking On Snow,
Was I The Only OneThe Bad:
Emergency and
Battlefield I've gotten a little too sick of OneRepublic this year.
The Rating (as of now):
4.5/5 (-0.1)
#5: Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom
As I've said numerous times, Alicia Keys was instrumental in building my foundations in pop music - back when I knew virtually nothing I knew her. It's always been about the music for her and that's one of the things I learned to always look for in a pop star but have found in only a few.
Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart gave everyone a dose of Alicia Keys for this year and she means business with this album. It doesn't fail to impress - listening to it is literally like a breath of fresh air. There are single-worthy tracks and album-worthy tracks, everything was just put together seamlessly and you can really hear it.
Sweeping melodies, gorgeous instrumentals and epic explosions make
The Element of Freedom a brilliant, brilliant album.
The Best:
Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart,
Doesn't Mean Anything,
That's How Strong My Love IsThe Bad:
Put It In A Love SongThe Rating (as of now):
4.7/5 (UR)
#4: Britt Nicole - The Lost Get Found
My love for the beautiful melodies in CCM is still alive - Britt Nicole's 2009 album is stunning. If you strip off the Christian lyrics and all, you get a pop album in it's purest form.
I love the melodies, I love the songs and I LOVE her vocals. Deserving of the praise.
The Best:
Have Your Way,
Like A Star,
Welcome to the ShowThe Bad: I'll get back to you on this.
The Rating (as of now):
5/5 (retain)
#3: Super Junior - Sorry, Sorry
Unlike offerings from SNSD, SHINee and a ton of other bands,
Sorry Sorry is one of the few kpop albums this year that actually delivered - it wasn't just the single(s) taking center stage. I think that shows to a certain extent how "smart" kpop buyers are, a heck of a lot of them bought the album and as of now it's swept the award shows.
No matter how much you say Super Junior can't sing (actually that's more of me), it's time to face the truth - you don't have to be able to sing well in pop. Heck, can Britney sing well now? (she could before but NOW? Puh-lease.)
The lead single turned title track
Sorry Sorry is addictive, annoying (in a good way) and everything kpop stood for this year - processed like hell, dance-worthy and to a certain extent brilliant. It pretty much started the whole autotuned like hell thing within the more popular boybands and girl groups this year and it's either a good thing or a bad thing.
BUT, the track that I never, ever get sick of listening to even if you drum it into my head is the second single
It's You off the THIRD repackaged version of the album. (Tes, THIRD. What a way to milk the fans' money.) It's a more epic and subdued kind of catchy but catchy nonetheless. It's not the fearlessly addictive/annoying type like Sorry Sorry but it's epic and that's enough for me. You have to remember that I happen to
like epic songs.
The rest of the album is standard kpop - ballads, the occasional uptempo, guest appearances by Lee Yeon Hee (
Club No. 1), Yunho and Yoochun DBSK (
Heartquake), the added tracks for Version C (in short the third repackaged version) and Super Junior's so-so vocals. Oh, and the brilliant
Why I Like You.
And in case you're getting lost with all the kpop, here's something I think you'll be a little more familiar with. SM is known (by me at least) for taking Western (more like European) songs, adding Korean lyrics and putting them on their acts' albums. Super Junior are no exception. Guess what they got - A MONROSE SONG. Yes,
Monster on
Sorry Sorry is actually a cover of
Just Like That off Monrose's 2007 album
Strictly Physical. *bangs head on computer table*
The Best:
It's You,
Why I Like You,
Love DiseaseThe Bad:
Shining Star,
She Wants ItThe Rating (as of now):
4.8/5 (+0.1)
#2: Kevin Borg - The Beginning
No matter how adventurous I am and how I get when it comes to my taste in music (I think.), I still love and look for a solid pop album year in and year out. I want an album filled with pop masterpieces - that's what started my entire music addiction. I got that this year with Kevin Borg's debut album.
After all, Swedish make some of the best pop music.
I won't write about every track anymore because it'll be too much of a pain for all of us if I do so I'll just quickly run-through some of the songs. Note that I think all the songs are great though.
Street Lights has the most gorgeous string section laced with a brilliant melody and his capable vocals - I mean, this is like the most perfect pop song. Epic but not serious - fun.
Paint It Black seriously sounds like something fit in a Darin album, which is good.
The Last Words is rock-y epic and it's gorgeous. I love it. His
Idol winner's single
With Every Bit Of Me is very
Idol but very European as well - I couldn't imagine this being sung by an American winner.
More Than I Do Now is one of my two other favorite songs on the album apart from
Street Lights. It sounds Swedish, it is Swedish and for crap's sake that just spells brilliance. I love the melody and although the instrumental is a slightly cheap-ish, AAAAAHHHHHH. Brilliance.
The Light You Leave On has the stereotypical 'girl running in a deserted/haunted mansion' piano loop but then the percussion comes in and I was like "oh shet" - the song sounds so different because of it. But the main, main, main point of this song is the melody - I honestly can't stress how beautifully stunning it is. Like, it's beaten out all the other beautiful melodies of the year with that chorus. It's simple but gosh, I faint every time.
The Best:
The Light You Leave On,
Street Lights,
More Than I Do NowThe Bad: Can't really think of any.
The Rating (as of now):
5/5 (UR, unrated but not unreviewed)
I'll reveal my favorite album of 2009 tomorrow. Guesses, anyone?
Excited? Excited? lol. It's been a long year for me and it marked the start of my kpop addiction. Is the best album of 2009 Korean or not Korean?
EP
