Hellboy’s Best of 2006

I know some people out there are interested in my opinion. If you’re not one of those, stop reading now. You won’t find (much) Tool information in this post.

Since I don’t listen to every single album out there, rather than try and compile a top ten list out of the probably 11 albums I’ve listen to this year, I’m just going to post a few mini-reviews on albums that have caught my attention this year. Here we go:

Tool – 10,000 Days

I’m sure it comes to no ones surprise that 10,000 Days is my favorite album of 2006. I mean it would be kinda pointless to run a Tool website and not love the band. Unlike some people though, I love 10,000 Days, and personally think it’s second only to Lateralus. “Sacrilege” I hear all you Aenima fans yelling, but that’s just how I feel about it. To me 10,000 Days is a consistently good album, which highlights the skill of the individuals within the band, and pretty much met all of the expectations I had about the album during all the hype before it was released.

Peeping Tom – Peeping Tom

After many years of speculation, Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom project finally came to fruition this year. I’ve been a Patton fan since getting into Faith No More in high school, and I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed by the record. I’m unashamedly a fan of heavy music, and I guess the fact that Peeping Tom was largely a hip-hop electronic type record didn’t quite work for me. But maybe not, I actually like the General Patton vs The Executioners album, yet there’s something about Peeping Tom that I just can’t quite get into. In the end, I don’t think it’s a terrible album, but I don’t think it’s an amazing one either.

Mastodon – Blood Mountain

Well this is one of those albums which pretty much everyone seems to be adding to their top 10s this year. Mastodon are a great band, there’s no doubting that they’re a talented bunch of musicians, and Blood Mountain was a great CD. I was a little disappointed though. I really liked Leviathan and Blood Mountain just didn’t quite stack up to it for me.

As Blood Runs Black – Allegiance

I stumbled across these guys on Myspace about a month ago now. I was looking at a so called “Deathcore” band who’s name escapes me at the moment, and came across these guys. After listening to their samples I decided that these guys kicked some serious ass. Nothing really special about this lot, no overly talented musicians, just balls to the wall metal, but not that old school Trivium type crap that seems to be popular these days. Well worth checking out if your tastes venture to the heavier end of the spectrum.

The Melvins – (A) Senile Animal

I never really got into The Melvins until pretty late in the game. I was always conscious that they were around during the 90s (Kurt Cobain didn’t let us forget about them). Their last few albums though have really made me sit up and take notice though, and (A) Senile Animal is pretty much the best of them. Employing the talents of Big Business, the Melvins took the unusual route of having two drummers. This really paid off in my opinion, and created a drum sound not quite like anything else I’ve heard. Here’s hoping for a Melvins tour (with Big Business) down under in 2007.

Isis – In The Absence of Truth

Isis have always been a little meh to me, and In the Absence of Truth seems to continue this downward spiral unfortunately. I much prefer heavy Isis, but this album just seems to soften them up a bit too much for my liking.

Dr Octagon – The Return of Dr. Octagon

Kool Keith is pretty much the best rapper going around these days, and The Return of Dr. Octagon is a great album, though probably not quite as good as the first. It does contain one of my favorite tracks this year with the funky Trees.

Body Count – Murder For Hire

Ah Body Count. No one can deny (not even Doors) that Copkiller is one of the great albums of all time. If you don’t own it or haven’t heard it, do yourself a favor and check it out now. Murder For Hire seems to be by the numbers metal album though. All the humour that made the Copkiller album so great seems to be non existant, and the production values sound like that it was recorded for $100 down at the local University Radio Station. Don’t waste any money on this on, BC is no longer in the house….

The Mars Volta – Amputechture

The Mars Volta seem to spurt out music at a pretty prolific rate. It seems like only the other day I was wondering why the fuck people thought Frances the Mute was any good. The Amputechture cam out, and while it was better, it still leaves me wondering why so many people worship the sun shining out of the TMVs assholes. It’s not a bad album, and a few of the songs have some great moments, but I just don’t have the patience these days to sit through all the drivel to get to the good bits.

Sparta – Threes

Sparta seem to contain all the good bits of At The Drive-In, and I’ve been a fan of theirs for a while. This new album is a little softer than before, but still has the same emo sounds that we all love to hate. I probably haven’t given this enough listens to really comment too much, but it seems quite good to me. I’ve really gotta get 10,000 Days out of the stereo a bit more to give these guys a shot.

So there, we go, that pretty sums up my year in new music listening. Feel free to agree or disagree with what I’ve said here. I value your opinions as much as I hope you value mine. Let me know what you think I’ve missed out on. Don’t both suggesting Thom Yorke though…