Best Album of 2005: Day 7

Day 7 - Dec 15:
GZA & DJ Muggs - Grandmasters

Wu-Tang's cerebral rapper GZA teams up with Cypress Hill DJ Muggs to deliver a highly anticipated collaborative effort. There is alot of references to chess and the album has a feeling of being intelligent, deliberate, calculated...in other words, exactly the kind of stuff GZA is known for. Muggs utilizes Wu-Tang styled soul samples so this acutally sounds very much like early 90's Wu as opposed to a real clash of styles between Wu and Cypress Hill. The album gets a lift from guest appearnces such as the posse cut "Advanced Pawns" featuring RZA, Raekwon and Sen Dog. Overall a good addition to any Wu fan's collection even if it wont go down as an incredible classic. "Unprotected Pieces" is the shit.

Best Album of 2005: Day 6

Day 6 - Dec 14:
Opio - Triangulation Station

Opio of the Hieroglyphics collective made me notice this album by scoring a perfect 10 at rapreviews.com, although with little mention elsewhere. While this album is not perfect, it certainly holds up and gets better as it moves along. However, I'm not particularly digging every beat - they are solid but not spectacular. This is probably were Common is.

Best Album of 2005: Day 5

Day 5 - Dec 13:
Opeth - Ghost Reveries

This album has been confirmed by several trusted people to be the best metal album of the year. The album certainly doesn't lack in creativity, and the musicianship is well above average. I can't say that I'm a big fan of the low-pitched growling, but their ability to switch quickly between styles and to make each track sound fresh certainly earns my respect. I'd put this up there with One.Be.Lo.

"Hello Kitty: My Little Bedtime Friend" (a Vibrator)

Best Album of 2005: Day 4

Day 4 - Dec 12:
One.Be.Lo - S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.

One.Be.Lo serves as my second example of a man splitting from his duo (in this case, Binary Star) to create a compelling solo album; the other one is Sean Price. Anyways, this album is sublimely produced and One.Be.Lo dominates lyricially. The album is 73 minutes long but manages to stay fresh throughout. At times some songs tend to drag, but in general it is masterfully done. I'd put this ahead of the last 3.

In other news....new coffee-infused coke. It will probably suck. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051207/bs_nm/food_cokeblak_dc

Best Album of 2005: Day 3

Day 3 - Dec 11:
Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth

First off, I have to commend Trent Reznor for getting Dave Grohl to do drums on this. Dave has a very distinctive style, very powerful - think of the opposite of Kanye's drums. On the other hand, his lyrics sometimes are subpar. His songwriting ranges from pretty good to great. I tended to not like it so much when it slowed down. But overall, its a good album - I'll put this tied with Sean Price.

What is the best album of 2005?

So...when I saw the Grammy nominations come out, I realized that even when I had enough sense to know that none of the Grammy nominees were correct, I myself didn't know what the correct winners would be.

So I am embarking on a discovery of the best album of 2005 - downloading and listening to an album per day to find the best. I'll do a brief overview of the albums I've heard so far in this quest.

Day 1 - Dec 9:
Sean Price - Monkey Barz

Sean Peeeee is a nice continuation of hardcore NY hip hop, with grimy beats and a sense of humour. He shows a nice switch up from regular topics with songs like "Brokest Rapper You Know" and the gully "I Love You (Bitch)" which probably is the best love song ever. The bad part is that some of the musical backdrops lack a little and sometimes Sean himself seems stuck treading the familiar parts of uncreative brag rap. All in all, it's a nice album.

Day 2 - Dec 10:
Common - BE

Common's most successful and hyped-up album is, unsuprisingly, not his best (that would be "Ressurection"). However its an honest effort from the Chicago native. The production is split between JayDee, who shines on the 3 tracks he produces, and Kanye West, who dissapoints in about half the 8 songs he produces. The album is good overall but inconsistent - I like parts of this better than the Sean Price album, but overall I like "Monkey Barz" better.

2005 still sucks: Richard Pryor RIP.