The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (45-55)

For the week I will count down my favorite albums of 2011.  Like a holiday advent calendar I will only give you a little taste of the good stuff one day at a time.  There's no denying that this year dubstep broke through to the mainstream like a ADD little boy hopped up on food coloring.  For those of us listening to Burial years ago, this was an overwhelming "duh" moment.  But for the rest of the world, it was like a 100-yard dash to the marketing finish line.  Within a matter of weeks of Skrillex's creative video (and it was a great video) every marketing campaign chucked their pop songs hoping they could be the first to latch onto this hip young trend.  There was a dubstep version of the White Stripes in the new Battleship trailer.  Verzion has a little kid tweaking out to dubstep on his cellphone with his grandma.  What's next?...will Tim Tebow pray to a dubstep beat?  I wouldn't doubt it.

Now...I WANT YOUR HELP.  Send me your lists of your favorite albums of 2011.  Top twenty.  I will compile all your votes into one master list.  So send it via email...or just post it in the comment box.  Will post on Dec. 31st the final result.

Here are the 44-55 Best Albums of 2011:

45.       Cage The Elephant - Thank You Happy Birthday

46.       R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now

47.       Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

48.       Skrillex - More Monsters and Sprites EP

49.       Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams

50.       Drake - Take Care

51.       Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now

52.       David Lowery - The Palace Guards

53.       Rival Sons - Pressure & Time 

54.     Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist (End To the Lies)

55.     Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You

Buy these albums and more...now!!!  (all albums under $5 for a limited time)

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 00s

In music, it's not about being the best, it's surviving the longest.  Duran Duran was a seminal 80s group.  They had a string of hits...but very few people would consider them one of the best of the decade.  In fact, I would doubt they would even crack the top 25...maybe not even the top 50.  But entering into their 4th decade as a band, they've outlived most of their synth-pop peers.  Because of this, they've been pushed higher on the alternative pedestal.  Now, 30 years into their career, they've just put out their best album since the 80s.  It's at this point in a band's career, that every thing comes full circle and they just go back to doing what they do best.  Now, bet you can't wait for the new Whitesnake album next week.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 00s:

1. Reach Up For The Sunrise (Astronaut)
2. Playing With Uranium (Pop Trash)
3. Someone Else Not Me (Pop Trash)
4. Still Breathing (Astronaut)
5. Tempted  (Red Carpet Massacre)
6. The Sun Doesn’t Shine Forever (Pop Trash)
7. Want You More (Astronaut)
8. Mars Meets Venus (Pop Trash)
9. Astronaut (Astronaut)
10. Skin Divers  (Red Carpet Massacre)
11. She’s Too Much  (Red Carpet Massacre)

Buy Duran Duran's new album, All You Need Is Now...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 90s

Most movie trilogies struggle through their second film.  In a similar situation, most bands struggle through their second decade.  Bands spends their first decade as the next big thing with the fresh sound.  When they hit their second decade, they're now being pushed aside for the new young fresh next big thing.  Most bands spend their second decade re-ordering their line-up and playing with their sound.  In their second decade, U2 went pop/dance, R.E.M. went grunge, Beastie Boys went back to punk, and GNR went into hiding.  It's not until the third decade that bands once again find even footing and become comfortable with their sound.  That doesn't mean those second decades don't give us some good moments.  There are always a few hits among the plethora of misses.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 90s:

1. Come Undone (The Wedding Album)
2. Out of My Mind (Medazzaland)
3. Ordinary World (The Wedding Album)
4. Electric Barbarella (Medazzaland)
5. Serious (Liberty)
6. Perfect Day (Thank You)
7. Thank You (Thank You)
8. Can You Deal With It? (Liberty)
9. So Long Suicide (Medazzaland)
10. Too Much Information (The Wedding Album)
11. Watching The Detectives (Thank You)

Buy Duran Duran's new album, All You Need Is Now...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 80s

Jon Bon Jovi recently said that Steve Jobs is to blame for killing the record store.  He may have a point.  Itunes has made buying music so easy, that people don't browse anymore.  In the days of the record store, an errand to buy music wasn't like a trip to the grocery store, it was its own experience.  You blocked time out of your day to ensure that you experienced the whole store and not just the artist that brought you there.  Every time you bought an album by a desired artist, you had to look at their whole catalog.  You were familiarized with their other releases, whether you were planning to get them or not.  I'm only here today to buy Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever" but that album cover for "Let Me Up I've Had Enough" looks pretty interesting...I may have to look into that.  That doesn't happen anymore.  We only know what we want, and we only get what we know.  Buying albums based on cover artwork or impulse is gone.  We've forgotten how important cover artwork is...or was.  Seeing the cover art for an album in a record store is basically a visual advertisement for that album.  Every time you see it, you're reminded that it's sitting there waiting for you.  Like Peter Gabriel's melting face, or Andy Warhol's banana...or especially Bruce Springsteen leaning in a doorway, hands in his pockets, starting at you...just waiting for you to buy Darkness on the Edge of Town.  Maybe this is why Duran Duran and the other 80s band have lasted so long.  They came from an era where bands built foundations with legions of fans who took time out of their days to hunt down their music.  Now, when you can buy music with a call from your cell phone, there's no connection to the music.  There's no journey to acquire.  And without a connection...there's nothing holding the fan base in place.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran of the 80s:

1.  Rio (Rio)
2.  Save A Prayer (Rio)
3.  Hungry Like The Wolf (Rio)
4.  Union of the Snake (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
5.  A View To A Kill (Decade)
6.  New Moon On Monday (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
7.  Girls on Film (Duran Duran)
8.  Shadows on Your Side (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
9.  Anyone Out There (Duran Duran)
10.  The Reflex (Seven and the Ragged Tiger)
11.  Is There Something I Should Know (Duran Duran)


Buy Duran Duran's new album, All You Need Is Now, now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. And most of us have something to be thankful for...

If you're reading this, then you have to be thankful for your eye sight.

If you like music, then you have to be thankful for all the music blogs. And probably your hearing.

And if you're Duran Duran, then you have to be thankful that 25 years down the road...that you still have a sustainable music career. Buy their new album (Red Carpet Massacre) here.

The 11 Best Songs By Duran Duran:

1. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine (Hot Fuss)
2. Somebody Told Me (Hot Fuss)
3. Bones (Sam's Town)
4. All the Pretty Faces (Sam's Town Bonus Track)
5. Midnight Show (Hot Fuss)
6. Bling (Sam's Town)
7. When You Were Young (Sam's Town)
8. For Reason's Unknown (Sam's Town)
9. Mr. Brightside (Hot Fuss)
10. Under The Gun (Somebody Told Me B-Side)
11. Daddy's eyes (Sam's Town Bonus Track)

The 11 Best Songs By The Killers

Here's the deal. There's one key to staying relevant in the music world. Keep releasing music. It never surprises me how certain bands will release a debut album to great success, then spend the next 3 years making their follow-up, only to have it released to mediocre reviews and lukewarm sales. The reason why this happens...EVERY...SINGLE...TIME: people forget.

A band's shelf life is 18 months. If you don't release something within 18 months of your last release (or single), the band expires and the world of music moves on. Perfect example: the White Stripes. They've released 6 albums in 8 years...and what's the result? They're considered one of the biggest rock bands of the generation. On the flip side, anyone remember Hot Hot Heat? They had a huge break-out album in 2002...then took 3 years to put out a even better follow-up. But it didn't matter, by then, it was too late. People forgot about them. Linkin Park is a good example of how to take time in between releases but to stay relevant. Release a "Tide Over" album. That's an album that a band releases to "tide over" its fans until it's next big release. Linkin Park released a Live album, a remix album and a mash-up album, and each of their big releases kept the band at the top of the game.

The Killers have taken a page out of this playbook with the release of their new B-Side album, entitled Sawdust. What's kind of sad about this release, is that I think I like it better than the last "official" release. Regardless of what anyone thinks, the Killers are all over the place, even though they're merely re-issuing old tracks sprinkled with a few new ones. It's a smart move and look out for them when they release album number #3.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by The Killers:

1. Rio (Rio)
2. A View To A Kill (Decade)
3. Save A Prayer (Rio)
4. Anyone Out There (Duran Duran)
5. Hungry Like the Wolf (Rio)
6. Union of the Snake (Seven and The Ragged Tiger)
7. Of Crimes and Passion (Seven and The Ragged Tiger)
8. Girls On Film (Duran Duran)
9. Come Undone (The Wedding Album)
10. Reach Up For the Sunrise (Astronaut)
11. Ordinary World (The Wedding Album)

Buy Sawdust here.