thevoid99's Best & Worst of Music 2009 Jan 04 '10    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Michael Jackson & the Beatles Triumph While Chris Cornell Sucks in 2009. The year in music for 2009 was definitely a remarkable year that saw its ups and downs. A year where new artists emerged with new trends and some fallen with bad ideas. Now that we've heard what was the best in songs, albums, and EPs, it's time for those who did great this year as well as those who made the worst pieces of music this year as well as those who made 2009 sucked. It's time to celebrate the good and the bad of 2009. The Best of 2009: Artist of the Year: Michael Jackson Though he didn't really release any new music in 2009, which would be the last time the world would see Michael Jackson. The King of Pop's death definitely inspired a worldwide resurgence as everyone did the Moonwalk, do the choreography of Thriller, and remind everyone why he is the King. From his days as a member of the Jackson 5 in the late 60s and early 70s to his mega-successful solo career in the 1980s. Michael Jackson was the man who is pretty much the greatest entertainer that ever lived. Though he is no longer around, his music will live on as Michael Jackson at least got the entire world to dance, do the Moonwalk, and go "hee-hee, shamon!!!". Runner-up: Natasha Khan aka Bat for Lashes 3. Beck 4. Charlotte Gainsbourg 5. Bradford Cox aka Atlas Sound Honorable Mentions: Annie Clark aka St. Vincent, Morrissey, Bill Callahan, Bob Dylan, and Neko Case. Band of the Year: The Beatles Another act that didn't release any new music, the Beatles did however create a brief resurgence of Beatlemania through some major releases. One was the long-awaited reissue of their entire catalog remastered in both mono and stereo. The second was the highly-anticipated release of The Beatles Rock Band video game. It was as if the Beatles were not only popular again. It was the fact that they were gaining an entire new generation of fans through a now popular medium of rock video games as it appealed from everyone to young kids to adults as they all can play Beatles classics. Runner-Up: Animal Collective 3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs 4. Phoenix: 5. Grizzly Bear Honorable Mentions: Them Crooked Vultures, Deerhunter, Dirty Projectors, the Horrors, and Mastodon. Best New Act: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart No band definitely carried more excitement or promise as Brooklyn's twee/noise-pop band the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. 2 EPs, several B-sides and non-LP singles, and a self-titled album has definitely made this Brooklyn quartet one of the most exciting new acts to come around in the world of indie. Whether it's through noisy, upbeat rockers or dreamy yet evocative pop songs. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart definitely have captured the attention of the indie music press as they are a band worth hearing about. Runner-Up: Girls 3. Lady Gaga 4. The xx 5. Passion Pit Honorable Mentions: The Big Pink, Lotus Plaza, Fever Ray, Florence & the Machines, and Street Sweeper Social Club Best Reissue: The Beatles-Stereo/Mono Box Set The band's thirteen studio albums plus the two-disc Past Masters compilation of non-LP singles, B-sides, and rarities are finally given the remastering it needed after it was originally released on CD more than twenty years ago. The overall work on the remastering is truly spectacular as the music sounds much clearer with more depth into the band's performance and George Martin's production work in most of the albums. Not only do they sound new again but it reminds older audience how great those albums and songs sounded back in the days when the music was really new then. Runner-Up: Nirvana-Live at Reading 3. The Stone Roses-S/T (20th Anniversary Release) 4. Big Star-Keep An Eye on the Sky 5. Jane's Addiction-A Cabinet of Curiosities Best Hard Rock/Metal Act: Them Crooked Vultures Rock never sounded as heavy or as fun as the supergroup called Them Crooked Vultures. Formed by Nirvana/Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl on drums, vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme of Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age, and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on bass/keyboards. Hard rock never sounded as cool or as heavy as this band did as they redefine the term supergroup while making sure rock and hard rock doesn't pander down to the confines of mainstream production styles or slick power ballads. Runner-Up: Mastodon 3. Anvil 4. ISIS 5. Street Sweeper Social Club Best Dance/Electronic Act: Passion Pit The Cambridge, Massachusetts quintet led by vocalist/songwriter Michael Angelakos definitely brought indie-dance to the consciousness of the mainstream through car ads and appearances on various talk shows. Yet, dance music hadn't sound this creative or as exciting as what Passion Pit has done for their genre. Even as it features a band-like feel in the music with four guys playing keyboards or providing samples in what is certainly an imaginative band of guys playing dance music. Runner-Up: F*ck Buttons 3. YACHT 4. Lady Gaga 5. Depeche Mode Best Music Video: Animal Collective-Summertime Clothes (Danny Perez) Only Animal Collective can bring psychedelia back in such a way with people under blankets as colors swirl throughout. Though the band doesn't appear in the video, it is all about the song's psychedelic elements as it is truly a mesmerizing yet hypnotic video. Runner-Up: Bat for Lashes-Daniel (Johan Renck) 3. Pearl Jam-The Fixer (Cameron Crowe) 4. Matt & Kim-Lessons Learned 5. Lady Gaga-Paparazzi (Jonas Akerlund) Best Live Tour: Nine Inch Nails & Jane's Addiction-NIN/JA 2009 Along with opening act, the Street Sweeper Social Club, NIN/JA 2009 was a monstrous tour that feature two of the most influential acts in alternative music. For NIN, it would be the band's last tour for some time as audiences get to see Trent Reznor and company pull out all the stops for some good old industrial rock. Yet, the tour also marked for the very first time in 18 years, Jane's Addiction first major tour with the original line-up as they brought their art-rock sound to massive heights while showing everyone how it's done. Best Comeback: Anvil Probably one of the greatest stories ever told this year. An obscure Canadian metal band who were slated to hit it big in the early 80s and then, faded into obscurity for more than 20 years. Then came a documentary about the band trying to maintain their determination where all of a sudden. The film becomes a hit and Anvil is finally getting their due. Let's just hope they get the credit they deserve along with rewards. Producer of the Year: Beck Though he didn't really release any new, original material this year. Beck has been busy with various projects. Among them was his Record Club project in which he invited several guests including Wilco, Feist, and MGMT to do reinterpretations of classic albums like The Velvet Underground & Nico, Songs of Leonard Cohen, and Skip Spence's Oar. Beck also collaborated with Charlotte Gainsbourg for her third album IRM which he wrote and produced the album that shows Beck's talents as a producer and musician in which he deserves the year's prize for best producer. The Worst of 2009: Worst Artist of the Year: Chris Cornell No artist fell hard and in such an embarrassing way than Chris Cornell did. Not only did he make what is possibly one of the worst albums ever made. The fact that he was delusion about the album's expectations and production that the record overall became a joke. Here is a man who decided that his solo career needed a boost and what happens is that he sells himself to the devil in order to succeed. Instead, he succeeds in failing big time. Runner-up: Chris Brown 3. Asher Roth 4. Adam Lambert 5. Miley Cyrus Worst Band: Nickelback The band continues to succeed with their overblown, overproduced schlock of overly-polished hard rock with no soul and passion. For a band that has sold millions of albums, they are clearly the one that band that deserve any of that success. Even as they have ripped off everyone from Alice in Chains to Marilyn Manson. They're a band that claims to succeed for all the right reasons but that's only because they're just a bunch of corporate lackeys who are willing to make money without any thought of who is buying their albums. Runner-Up: Black Eyed Peas 3. Jonas Brothers 4. 3 Doors Down 5. Shinedown Worst Album of the Year: Chris Cornell-Scream Truly one of the worst albums ever made. Chris Cornell's third solo release is a record in which an artist sells his soul, be told by every record executive on what to do, and team up with a talented producer who has ran out of new ideas. What is the result, Scream. An album that ranges from the laughingly bad to the downright horrific. Filled with lame codas, overproduced beats and electronic arrangements, and contributions from everyone like Justin Timberlake and Ryan Tedder. The album itself is a crime of how an artist is willing to make a record to appeal to a wide audience only to end up making a fool of himself as Scream serves as a cautionary tale. Runner-Up: Weezer-Raditude 3. Jonas Brothers-Lines, Vines, & Trying Times 4. Black Eyed Peas-The E.N.D. 5. Creed-Full Circle Worst Song of the Year: Black Eyed Peas-Boom Boom Pow While it isn't as bad as My Humps, the Black Eyed Peas do succeed in creating one thing. How to make pop music sound stupid and without any original thoughts. Boom Boom Pow is a lazy, overproduced schlock that gives enough reasons on why the electro-pop sound should remain underground. The song is also an indication of how low the Black Eyed Peas have sunk where they were once an interesting alternative-hip hop group who have sold their souls to become an overblown pop act. Runner-Up: Nickelback-Burn It To The Ground 3. Black Eyed Peas-I Gotta Feeling 4. Miley Cyrus-Party In The U.S.A. 5. Asher Roth-I Love College Sellout of the Year: Chris Cornell From being an influential rock god in the days of grunge to now a wannabe-R&B crooner with Timbaland providing the beats. Chris Cornell has sunk himself to an all-time low by making music to please not just record executives but the public at large. Instead, he angered his rock fans with this new move as they were baffled into what he was doing while the public at large couldn't get into it. While Cornell may be claiming that it's time for Soundgarden reunion. It seems like fans should wait a little longer so that Cornell should atone for his sins. Runner-Up: Weezer Douchebag of the Year: Kanye West & Chris Brown (tie) Well, it was hard to choose but both Kanye West and Chris Brown made total fool of themselves this year. Kanye for interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards and claiming Beyonce's Single Ladies was the best video of all-time making Beyonce feel embarrassed. For that, Kanye's ego once again made him hated at large to the point that the President himself, calls Kanye a "jack*ss". Then there's Chris Brown who does something that will be unforgivable. He beats up Rhianna and makes himself into a pariah. Along with a very bad album, Chris Brown has done nothing but make a total fool of himself. So for both Kanye and Chris, they shall get their *sses handed to them by Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Rhianna as they will carry baseball bats and beat the holy hell out of them. Worst Trend: The Autotune The vocoder vocal manipulator may have been cool to the likes of Daft Punk and Kanye West. Now, it's become nothing more than an unnecessary tool to make everything sound stupid. Everyone from Miley Cyrus to even Bon Iver of all people are using it for some strange effect. What was once a new thing has now become something that will date the music of that time for the rest of its life. The Autotune has got to go. Worst Producer: Timbaland Once an innovative and talented producer, Timbaland was at the core of urban music trends and creating great pop hits for Justin Timberlake among others. Now, it seems that his best days are clearly behind him as he has no more new ideas to create. From the debacle that was Scream to the laziness of his new Shock Value album in which he raps again. It's an indication that his time has come and gone. Not only should he just take a break from music but he needs to stop appearing in other people's songs to rap. That's just annoying. Worst Music Publication: Rolling Stone What was once one of the most influential magazines that was at the cutting edge of where rock was at the time has now becoming nothing more than a magazine where it will profile whoever is hot or what band/artist/personality they should kiss *ss to. From a special magazine edition devoted entirely to the Jonas Brothers to two baffling five-star album reviews of albums by Bruce Springsteen and U2 in which they're at the top of their best albums of 2009 list. It's clear that the magazine isn't much fun to read anymore while Jann Wenner is once again an individual who has no clue on what direction his magazine should go to as maybe it's time for longtime subscribers to end that subscription. Well, that is it for the year in music 2009. It was good and it was bad. Yet, it was certainly exciting nonetheless. Let's hope 2010 will be just as good while it's also likely to be bad as well. Until, then goodbye 2009 and farewell to the 2000s. Now it's time to begin a new decade. The Best of Music 2009: Top 10 EPs - Top 50 Songs of 2009 Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Top 50 Albums of 2009: Honorable Mentions - Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

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