It’s always unfortunate when you hear a really great song and then run out to buy the album based on that one song, only to find that the rest of the album sucks! This is particularly why I’m an advocate of free online music (be it streaming or P2P). Sometimes you just need to hear the whole album before a purchase can be justified. Case in point, the following five songs. They’re great songs, some of 2007’s best! But they make you greatful for online music stores like iTunes where you’re able to buy by the song. The following are the Top 5 songs of 2007 that were on crappy albums!
#5: “Icky Thump” – The White Stripes, from the album Icky Thump – While all the major media outlets were raving about the return-to-form that was Icky Thump, us levelheaded folks were busy wondering what the fuss was all about. Aside from about 2 to 3 decent tracks, Icky Thump sucked. Not only that, it was the same crap we’ve been hearing from The White Stripes for over a decade! The band showed no progression, and hardly any justification for positive feedback. “Icky Thump” was the biggest exception to this. An upbeat, infectious, and unapologetic rock song, “Icky Thump” really proved how bad the album was. It kicked things off with a bang, and everything else just whimpered.
#4: “Don’t Make Me a Target” – Spoon, from the album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Spoon has this habit of making 4 or 5 really great songs and lumping them on an album with 6 or 7 really forgettable songs. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was a really good example of this. Tracks like “Don’t you Evah” and “The Underdog” were fantastic tracks, while a song like “Japanese Cigarette Case” is just begging for you to skip it. My favorite track on the album is the powerful, toe-tapping opener, “Don’t Make Me a Target.” Brit Daniel’s vocals are spot-on as usual, and the infectious groove created by the guitar is just unstoppable. I love every minute of it; both on the CD and live!
#3: “Sugar Assault Me Now” by Pop Levi, from the album The Return to Form Black Magick Party – Wow, what a mediocre album. With only two songs that I listen to occasionally, The Return to Form Black Magick Party is an album that doesn’t need to exist. Not good enough to enjoy and not bad enough to make fun of, Pop Levi’s debut album was just mediocre enough to forget. “Sugar Assault Me Now” is yet another lead-off track that showed promise, only to find that promise squandered on annoyingly repetitive guitar riffs and vocals. It’s as if Pop Levi thought to himself, “What’s the best way I could ruin this?” and then did exactly that. This song is still one of my favorite on my running playlist, and if it weren’t for that, Pop Levi would’ve been forgotten about a long long time ago.
#2: “Lake Michigan” by Rogue Wave, from the album Asleep at Heaven’s Gate – Oh man, what a disappointment! Rogue Wave is one of my favorite bands, so I was so hyped about their newest album. When I found out that it’s only about half an album with a bunch of filler, I was as close to heartbroken as you can be over music. Their first two albums were flawless. This one, not so much. There are some fantastic song on here though, “Lake Michigan” being the stand out by far! And people are taking notice too, thanks to Microsoft. While I’m not the biggest fan of the album, I’m finally happy that the band is getting the attention that they deserve. If only it were for Descended Like Vultures.
#1: “One Two Three Four” by Feist, from the album The Reminder – To say The Reminder was a disappointment is an understatement. The album has one great song in “One Two Three Four” and then a bunch of mediocre to terrible songs filling in the rest of the space on the CD. It’s a shame when you consider how great Let It Die was. Like Rogue Wave, Feist has gotten a lot of attention recently thanks to Microsoft Apple, which is good. She’s too talented of an artist to not be heard, and the video to this song is much too magical to be ignored. If anything, I’m happy for Feist. But my feelings remain the same about The Reminder. It’s bad!
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