The debut release from New York rock 'n' roll musician Rob Carlyle's rotating project. This album features current Guns N' Roses members Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer on guitar and drums respectively. This EP features some old-fashioned rock music featuring the punk-like sneer best associated with Johnny Thunders.
Best Song: Desperation
521) Robbie Williams - Sing When You're Winning (2000)
This is another album that will seem like it's come out of left-field considering the majority of the other stuff I've been talking about. But this third solo album from the former/current/possibly former again Take That man is some really top quality pop music. The highlight is the duet with the usually atrocious Australian singer Kylie Minogue, 'Kids', which at this point was the most rocking either of the artists featured had ever gotten.
Best Songs: Better Man; Kids
520) Saivu - Saivu (2010)
Another EP featuring the guitar-playing talents of Richard Fortus, this is the first release from the rock band formed by Norwegian Lasse Kvernmo, with a full length album expected soon. Other members that appear on the record are drummer Will Hunt (Evanescence/Black Label Society), and guitarist Geno Lenardo (Filter).
Best Song: The Concept Of Dread
519) Cee Lo Green - Cee Lo's Magic Moment (2012)
There's not many people who can release a proper, non-joke Christmas album and have me not only tolerate, but like it enough to include it on one of these lists. It seems that Cee Lo Green is the one person to do it. It's not quite the follow-up to 'The Lady Killer' we're all waiting for, but it's very entertaining, nonetheless.
Best Songs: Baby, It's Cold Outside; You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch
518) Slipknot - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004)
After a brief period in which it looked like Slipknot were going to fall apart at the seams, the band hired legendary producer Rick Rubin to work on their third album. Rubin has a history of pulling bands back from the brink, and he worked his magic on this album, too. The big change of pace here is that on a couple of tracks, acoustic guitars are made use of, and Corey Taylor's genuinely brilliant singing voice comes out on more than just a catchy chorus here and there. There were criticisms that the band was becoming too much like Taylor's other band, Stone Sour, but to me it's not true, and wouldn't be a bad thing if it were. The one thing that the album achieves more than anything else is prove that Slipknot are not merely a gimmick as they had been portrayed by certain people in the past.
Best Songs: Duality; Vermilion Pt. 2
517) The Cure - Seventeen Seconds (1980)
The Cure's second album is the first to feature their trademark gothic rock sound, as opposed to the more punky 'Three Imaginary Boys'.
Best Songs: A Reflection; A Forest
516) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Kanye's previous album '808's & Heartbreak' was an unmitigated disaster that led me to believe that he had lost his touch. That followed by his public displays of assholeishness - including claiming that he was going to carry the torch from Michael Jackson just after his death - didn't exactly put him in the best light, either. In short, I was ready to hate this, and then I heard it... and I couldn't. The autotuned sound that just sounded like a mess on that album proved to not be entirely a bad idea when used in moderation and not the entirety of the record. And thankfully, the man was back to rapping through the majority of the record, and tracks like 'Runaway' proved that he wasn't content with sticking with the usual hip-hop formula that is prevalent with almost everyone else in the business nowadays. Still not his best album, by any means, but a step in the right direction.
Best Songs: Power; Runaway
515) Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell Part 1 (2003)
The first part of Ryan Adams' double EP (both of them were later packaged as one album). I've featured him a lot in this list so far, but this is the one that finally confirmed to me that the other ones I'd liked weren't a fluke.
Best Songs: Love Is Hell; Avalanche
514) Bob Marley & The Wailers - Survival (1979)
A militant anti-Apartheid album from the legendary Bob Marley & The Wailers. Marley had been categorised as laid-back in previous releases, and some of this drew criticism from others for overshadowing what his songs were actually about. This album was a reaction to that, and is call to arms of the like he'd never produced before.
Best Songs: Survival; Africa Unite
513) Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele (2010)
Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls' first release since being released from her contract with Roadrunner Records was basically a huge, "I can do what I want!". And what she wanted to do was learn to play the ukulele, and release a Radiohead covers EP on bandcamp.com. Despite the novelty factor, she actually hasn't done a bad job of replicating the songs. And it's nice to finally be able to make out what the words are in 'Idioteque'.
Best Song: Idioteque
512) Mark Lanegan - Field Songs (2001)
Solo album from the former Screaming Trees frontman. This is heavily acoustic music with Lanegan's famous vocals (often described as 'whiskey-soaked' despite him being tee-total), but also features some experimental musical landscapes and Middle Eastern influences on some tracks.
Best Songs: Field Song; Fix
511) Izzy Stradlin - Like A Dog (2005)
This album from the former Guns N' Roses guitarist is probably the heaviest thing he's released since leaving that band in 1991. This features some absolutely fantastic songs, and it would have been a shame if Izzy's original plans for the record worked out for him. He recorded it in 2003 for his own amusement, only to be met with a fan petition of over 1,000 signatures two years later. Apparently he thought that not enough people would be interested to be bothered releasing it, and he then organised to have a limited number printed. This was to be the last of Stradlin's records to be released on CD, with all subsequent music released exclusively on iTunes (which is now also the only place you can find this album).
Best Songs: Bomb; Chop Away
510) Return To Earth - Captains Of Industry (2007)
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Ron Scalzo is an independent musician from New York who releases his music via his label Bald Freak Music. As the singer of Return To Earth, he is joined by guitarist, bassist and programmer Brett Aveni, and drummer, programmer and synth player Chris Pennie (formerly of the Dillinger Escape Plan). This is their debut album, featuring metal music that defies definition. It really is quite original, and it's kind of a shame that not many people are ever going to hear it. Scalzo has since had to start his life from scratch after losing everything he owned in both his home and his studio in Hurricane Sandy last year. But not before Return To Earth released an even better follow-up that I'll be writing about eventually.
Best Songs: A New Sound; Gunpoint Poetry
509) Soul Asylum - Clam Dip & Other Delights (1989)
An EP from the Minneapolis alternative rockers led by Dave Pirner (who scored Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy).
Best Song: Artificial Heart
508) Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral (2012)
Lanegan's latest album is a bit of a departure from his previous work, as it features some electronic elements on some tracks. But mostly, it sounds like Mark Lanegan doing what Mark Lanegan does best. There isn't anybody else around who sounds like Mark sings, or produces music that sounds like Mark plays.
Best Songs: The Gravedigger's Song; Riot In My House
507) David Bowie - Station To Station (1976)
One of Bowie's most famous albums, I was surprised to learn comprises of only six tracks. Not sure that would even constitute an album nowadays, but either way, it's a good album to listen to. This is Bowie's last album before he went to Berlin and got all depressing.
Best Song: Golden Years
506) The Cult - Choice Of Weapon (2012)
I was going to say that The Cult are one of those bands that just keeps on releasing material of mostly good quality. But looking into it, I've just realised that since their debut in 1984, they've only released a further eight albums (this being their latest). So maybe they're not quite as prolific as I first thought, but the fact remains that they're still going strong after nearly 30 years (over thirty years, if you include Astbury and Duffy's earlier bands, Southern Death Cult and Death Cult... they're very creative with their band names).
Best Songs: Honey From A Knife; Wilderness Now
505) Soul Asylum - Delayed Reaction (2012)
Soul Asylum's second album since the tragic death of their original bass player Karl Mueller. Also the first to entirely feature Karl's replacement, Tommy Stinson who's been in Guns N' Roses since 1998, and quite appropriately was also in another of Minneapolis' top alternative rock bands, The Replacements from the age of 11. After the disappointing 'The Silver Lining', this is a satisfying return to form.
Best Songs: Gravity; Let's All Kill Each Other
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