2002.
I always had in my head that 2002 was a pretty average year for music in the last decade or so, certainly not the worst (2005 has that honour), but nothing of real note.
Then recently my iPod was on shuffle, and two bangers came on in a row, and it clicked that each of the songs were from records released in 2002. It got me thinking, and I realised that some great, and a few legendary records were born in this so called average year.
This is my ‘Top 10 records of 10 years ago’. Most of you will laugh at this list – I had a VERY questionable taste in music.
1. The Streets - Original Pirate Material
I heard their first single ‘Has It Come To This’ in September 2001, and for some strange reason, it really connected to this confused, grunger, middle class kid.
I was given the album for my 17th birthday, and I can honestly say it is the most played album in my collection, and in my ‘Top 5’ records of all time (see the next album for another in that list). It was so fresh, and just so DIFFERENT to anything I had heard before, and while listening to it I could feel my music taste changing for the rest of my life.
The Streets are mostly known for the light hearted, banterous singles like, ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’ and the satirical ‘Irony Of It All’, but I personally feel that there is no better song in their whole back catalogue than ‘Weak Become Heroes’, and ode to the club life of the late 90’s, and early 00’s, which to someone had never experienced that, made it seem like the most appealing, and romantic way to come of age.
In my opinion, the most important British album of this generation.
Standout Track – ‘Weak Become Heroes’ http://www.mediafire.com/?tk1dmiannkj
2. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
As I mentioned in the previous post, I have a ‘Top 5’ records of all time. They include Deftones, Arcade Fire, The Streets, Michael Jackson, and this album, ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’.
Now, I didn’t hear this album until 2003, but as soon as I saw the video for ‘Obstacle 1’, I was hooked. They were dark, they were mysterious, and to an awkward 17 year old, hell, to a 26 year old now, they were cool. Cool. As. Fuck. To my ears, they were the bridge between the dark brooding music I was into at the time, and the indie groups I listened to as a young teen, and that all my school mates were digging.
Ironically, this album sounds best with the lights out. On your own. The first notes of ‘Untitled’ send shivers down your spine, the moans in ‘Stella Was A Driver’ haunt you, and the drop in ‘PDA’….well, just listen to it (3.07 if you’re interested).
I have nicknamed this album my ‘sleep’ album, as it sounds perfect as your drifting off.
This is the album that helped me fall in love with indie music all over again.
I love it.
Standout Track – ‘NYC’
3. Funeral For A Friend – Between Order And Model
Now, you can argue that this isn’t an album (it’s not, it’s a 4 track EP) but I don’t care, this is my list, and what I say, goes.
Again, I didn’t hear this until the year after,2003, but I can honestly say that this era of this band changed my life. At this point, I quite liked pop punk, and I loved metal, and this was the perfect mix of punk and metal. I was blown away by the heaviness of ‘1045 Amsterdam Conversations’, but it had singing at the same time?! I was then to delve further in to this scene that they came from, and within a few months I had discovered hardcore, became obsessed, and that’s where it all started.
I know they weren’t the first to do this. I know they aren’t the best to do this. I know the Americans do it a thousand times better, but these 4 songs have had more impact on my life than any other. Ever.
Standout Track – ‘1045 Amsterdam Conversations’ // ‘Juno’
4. Terror - Lowest Of The Low
My favourite hardcore record. Ever.
I could just leave it at that, but I love talking. At the time (again, a year later than the release) I had never in my life heard something so angry. 9 tracks, just over 15 minutes. I found a way to vent my anger.
This was the first I had heard of Scott Vogel, and when I saw videos of him live, I had found a new god. Everything he said, well nearly everything, made sense to me, and made me feel like I had found this new world.
Lyrically, this record is what hardcore is about. Musically, it makes you want to mosh. I rarely listen to this just the once, I always have to play it again.
Standout Track – ‘Lowest Of The Low’ (That was a hard decision)
5. The Used - The Used
It always used to be a common argument with my friends, and I still have it to this day – “Finch, or The Used?”.
My answer circa 2002-2003 was Finch. But now, I feel this album has stood the test of time a lot better than its rival.
I had heard about this singer puking on stage, climbing up, jumping off stuff, throwing himself into the crowd, and I thought this was crazy – the band stay on the stage, shouldn’t they? This was my first real experience of a band being ‘just like me’.
The album itself is 12 tracks of singles. There isn’t a bad song. You can argue that most have the same formula of sing/scream/vocal drop/scream, but this didn’t matter to me.
As a teenager, it had everything you needed, songs about love, hate, escape.
I feel this was the ultimate ‘modern day emo’ record.
Standout Track – ‘A Box Full Of Sharp Objects’
6. Glassjaw- Worship And Tribute
I was obsessed with Chino Moreno from the Deftones, I thought he was the coolest guy in the world. Then a friend of a friend told me that this guy called Daryl Palumbo was EVEN cooler. I had seen him in Kerrang/Metal Hammer, and thought he just looked like an average skater dude.
So I bought “Worship And Tribute” in October 2002. And I was blown away. I hadn’t heard anything by them before – not even EYWTKAS, and his voice, the music, everything was perfect. It was like the new stuff I was into like Finch and The Used, mixed with my favourite band ever, Deftones.
The effects on the vocals throughout the album really stick out for me, plus Daryl’s strange twist on a horse race, involving his broken heart in ‘Must’ve Run All Day’. It showed me that you don’t have to write wimpy songs about falling out of love, and hating someone.
It hurts me that I never saw Glassjaw during this era. One can only daydream what it was like.
Standout Track – ‘Tip Your Bartender’
7. Hatebreed - Perseverance
Now, I liked this album in 2002, for very different reasons that I do now.
2002, and I loved metal. I loved all kinds. And as far as I was concerned, this was a metal album, by a metal band. It was sold to me as a modern day Machine Head. And I thought it was heavy as hell. It was so pissed off.
Fast forward a year, and once I discovered hardcore, and knew more about Hatebreed, this album took on a whole new level. I started noticing lyrics, and understood what they were talking about. And those bits that are awesome to head bang to? That’s called a breakdown.
‘Proven’ is the best opener to any heavy album, ever. THAT breakdown. The lyrics to ‘You’re Never Alone’ show that this band were still rooted in hardcore.
It’s not their best album – ‘Satisfaction…’ will always be one of the best in the genre. But ‘Perseverance’ is a fantastic metallic hardcore record.
Standout Track – ‘Proven’
8. Hundred Reasons - Ideas Above Our Station
I said don’t laugh.
For me, this band were the nice mix of the radio rock that I have always enjoyed, and the heavier side that I had recently discovered.
Technically, they were the first band I ever saw live, supporting Papa Roach in 2001, so I have a soft spot for them.
Again, I feel like every song could have been a single. It’s easy to forget that the album got to number 6 in the album charts, beaten by Moby, Lulu and Enrique!
‘I’ll Find You’, ‘What Thought Did’ and ‘Silver’ were my absolute jams in 2002. I remember going to dozens and dozens of their shows (I have only seen 1 band – the band I work for – more times than HR) with school mates that liked The Libertines, and ones that liked Slipknot. It reminds me of a real fun time in my life.
You know that feeling everyone says they get when they listen to pop punk? Well that’s what I feel for this album.
They were massive, and I honestly think they, along with Lostprophets and Feeder, helped British bands make it to the ‘big time’ – FFAF, Youmeatsix, Enter Shikari and Lower Than Atlantis owe these guys.
Standout Track – ‘Silver’
9. Frou Frou - Details
Now this is the album I know the least about on this list. A one album, side project of Imogen Heap’s.
I didn’t hear this album until 2006, and yes, it was because of ‘Let Go’, but it really was an instant love affair. I first listened to the album on a beach in Greece, and fell for it. I listen to the album while sleeping. I listen to the album when I’m sad, and when I’m happy. It just makes me, feel.
This album opened the doors to dream pop/lo fi/shoe gaze for me in a roundabout way, so I thank it.
Standout Track – ‘Let Go’
10. Disturbed - Believe
I SAID don’t laugh.
I know they’re awful. I know they are metal for the masses. I know David Draiman is an egotistical mentalist. But for 2 years, Disturbed were my favourite metal band. Someone had to like them (Although this album did go Platinum in USA, Canada and Australia)
I got the first album the same time as Slipknot’s self titled, and Marilyn Manson’s Holywood, and all three were dark, crazy, and scary. And I was hooked.
So when ‘Believe’ came out in 2002, I was excited. I love a good, clean vocal in a heavy song, and this record is packed with them. It was nu metal, but grown up.
‘Liberate’ was fast, ‘Remember’ was an absolute anthem, and the acoustic ‘Darkness’ was a perfect end.
There is no shame when I say that Disturbed at Brixton in 2002 was one of my favourite gigs of the year.
Just this week I listened to it. All the way through. And I loved it.
Standout Track – ‘Remember’
Honourable mentions:
Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf.
A great album to listen to when driving.
Standout Track – Go With The Flow
Poison The Well – Tear From The Red
Average album from my favourite metalcore band.
Standout Track – Botchla
New Found Glory – Sticks And Stones
One of the best pop punk records.
Standout Track - Understatement
Finch – What It Is To Burn
Too similar to Glassjaw and The Used to make the list.
Standout Track – New Begginings
No Warning – Ill Blood
An album I got into years later. But one of the best modern day hardcore records of the last decade.
Standout Track – Short Fuse
