Impertinent Thoughts on the Good of 2002 (Steal This Music Review W/O Part One))Dec 25 '02 (Updated Mar 22 '03) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line blah blah blah :) Far be it from me to say no to my good friend Steven (known to Epinions as thevoid99) and his year end write off. And for those of you expecting anything like a normal IT column, you'll surely be disappointed. Below are my picks for the best in music in 2002. I went more than 5 deep with albums and singles...you'll just have to deal. Artist/Group of the Year 1.Reel Big Fish 2.Mighty Mighty Bosstones 3.Puddle of Mudd 4.Eminem 5.The Donnas It was a really really good year for ska fans. Reel Big Fish made the nearly 4 year wait between albums worth it with their extremely awesome Cheer Up! record and subsequent tour that made my jaw drop on it's stop in Boston. The Bosstones came out of nowhere really, despite a strong album. It was the Hometown Throwdown that saved them. Puddle of Mudd surprised the hell out of me, as they just kept on releasing great single after great single (well, once they got Control out of their system anyway). Eminem released a decent album, and then followed that up with the hands down single of the year in Lose Yourself. And The Donnas made the album of the year...which of course leads to: Albums of the year 1. The Donnas-Spend The Night: Who knew that bluesy, meat and potatoes rock and roll still had a place in the musical world? I mean, really, after Buckcherry... 2.Reel Big Fish-Cheer Up!: 4 words. Ban the Tube Top! Yeah, that sums this album up. 3.Andrew W.K.-I Get Wet: Some called him sophomoric, others called him stupid, I call him great fun. It's like if Meatloaf were on speed and he didn't totally suck. 4.Wilco-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: A large surprise given my tastes, but I found this album to work a whole lot of charms on me. It drew me in and wouldn't let me go until I loved it. 5.Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-The Last DJ: Petty shows off his kahunas. It's a travesty that this isn't going to sell 5 million copies. No, really, it is. It's such a brilliant indictment against the music industry at large, it deserves to be heard in larger numbers than it is. 6.Bruce Springsteen-The Rising 7.The Kickovers-Osaka 8.Dave Matthews Band-Busted Stuff 9.Mighty Mighty Bosstones-A Jacknife to a Swan 10.Foo Fighters-One By One 11.Kay Hanley-Cherry Marmalade 12.Pearl Jam-Riot Act 13.Audioslave-Audioslave 14.Weezer-Maladroit 15.Joey Ramone-Don't Worry About Me SINGLES/SONGS of the Year-please note that not all of these were singles, but some of them definitely should have been 1.Eminem-Lose Yourself: For this one, he dropped the pop kitsch of his novelty hits, the darkness of his past best work, and came up with an unbelievable number that sparks inspiration into the mind and heart of the listener. He won a whole lot of people with this song, and deservedly so. 2.Weezer-Keep Fishin: Rivers Cuomo has made catchy pop songs his life, no matter how much his most hardcore fans want to deny that simple fact. Keep Fishin is the song that should have blown up, but didn't, in 2002. 3.Foo Fighters-Burn Away: This one may get by some fans, as it's buried as the next to last track on their excellent record. It doesn't matter, it's THE standout track on the record. 4.The Dropkick Murphys with Kay Hanley-The Dirty Glass: Probably missed by a good amount of hardcore Murphys fans, this collaboration with Boston sweetheart Hanley continues their string of great songs that no one seems to notice. 5.Pink-Just Like a Pill: Pink helped start a heated debate in 2002 about rock in pop music: as in using live instrumentation. Make no mistake, Pink is still pop, but live, her pop music has a lot more edge than Britney. Just Like a Pill is quite possibly the best pure pop song of the last 5 years. 6.Vanessa Carlton-Ordinary Day/A Thousand Miles: I couldn't choose between either of these, so it's a tie, because I say so. The melodies in these songs are absolutely to die for, and while the lyrics are very much simplistic in both songs, it works anyway. 7.Mighty Mighty Bosstones-Sugar Free: 2 and a half minutes of pure energy. I hate to be cliche, but don't listen to the title, because this song is as sweet as sugar, and twice as addictive. 8.Puddle of Mudd-She Hates Me: Come on, you yourself know it's the best novelty song of the past year. You know you don't turn it off if you come across it on the radio. And if you say you do, you're a liar. No, about that Fred Durst connection... 9.Outkast-The Whole World: Right now, Outkast is the only rap group whose albums I feel like I HAVE to own. Then again, I'm a rock guy, what do I know? Sure this one is a bit kitschy, but who cares? 10.Kylie Minogue-Love at First Sight: To hell with Can't Get You Out of My Head, this is clearly the better pop song. Guilty Pleasure of the Year Nelly, featuring Kelly Rowland-Dilemma: Ok, so how much did my credibility go down after naming this my guilty pleasure? I can't resist it, as cheesy as it is. Then again, I've always kind of dug Nelly's singles in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Video of the Year Weezer featuring MUPPETS-Keep Fishin: So let me get this straight: Linkin Park sells 8 million records, and this awesome awesome video can't even get Weezer platinum sales? What is WRONG with the teenagers of today??? This was the new Buddy Holly, except it didn't take off for some unknown reason. Best New Artist Vanessa Carlton wins, hands down. Her album isn't all lite fluffy pop fare either. It's actually a lot darker than the first two singles suggest, but I didn't lose any enjoyment from that fact, and neither should you. Sexiest Artist Call me crazy, but Michelle Branch is sexy without being slutty. Plus, she's not engaged to that dork Affleck like a certain other artist. Live Album of the Year The Who put out their own series of "official bootlegs" this year, and the two I got are absolutely fabulous. You can go to http://www.themusic.com to check them out. The Dropkick Murphys, Nine Inch Nails, and The Black Crowes also put out live albums worth throwing down your hard earned money for. Reissue of the Year So many reissues, so little time. Long story short, buy these: The Rolling Stones, The Who, Elvis Presley. That's it for now, I'll be back soon with parts 2 and 3 of Steven's write off. For now, check out the other participants' entries: Lambchops KCFoxy Boffie Brotherman Cartman2k Cletta1201 Deaser26 Dedemw Dr.Faustus Ekidd911 Guildenstern Hierograffiti Jeff_Wilder78 Kristinafh Madtheory MattA75 PacmanY2J Paulyoungotti Speeddemon531 Stairway2Drew TheUnknown285 thevoid99 (our host)  |
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