scaryblog

2010 was the year of our second born - so were there any other great deliveries in that year? "Amusingly", like the previous year (2006), we started the year off with a Take That album - so there was only one way the year could go after that for me (although there were considerably worse albums at times throughout the year) The ownership ratio was very low this year - it seems like we'd pretty much stopped buying albums by this time with the only ones we owned being Take That, Florence and Marina.  We also own  Laura Marling  which would have been in the list this year, if we hadn't already met it. Looking at the best selling albums of the year, despite it only coming out in mid-November,  Take That  took the year easily selling 1.7 million copies with six weeks at #1.   Michael Bublé  took second spot with an album that came out over a year beforehand and spent the entire year in the chart, never going any lower than #44 - its success really pass...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 03/01/10 : The Resistance  -  Muse Our FIFTH visit with the lads from Teignmouth - they've snuck more albums in than I was expecting!  I think I've listened to this one, but I have to admit their ridiculousness makes their albums tend to blur into each other so it's quite possible I'm coming to this completely fresh. No - I had heard it, but not many times.  It's still very Muse-y, but with some interesting diversions into classical/orchestral music in places - it also reminded me of Depeche Mode in more places than I was expecting.  And yes, of course, Queen-like sounds pop up from time to time to say "Hi"!  It's all perfectly listenable, but for me it doesn't have the high points of Black Holes And Revelations , which is probably why I've not visited it many times - I'd say "Uprising" and "Resistance", the opening two tracks were probably my favourites, although th...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 10/01/10 :  I Dreamed A Dream -  Susan Boyle This is a very important week because it heralded the arrival of our second born and coincidentally this is our second visit with Susan this year - it very much feels like an album I could choose to ignore, but I do have to admit it was a cultural phenomenon so I feel have to give it a go.  I'm very much not expecting to like it though. And I very much wouldn't claim I liked it - but I also have to admit that it's not nearly as dreadful as I was expecting.  She certainly has a decent voice (it's quite Streisandy) and, in a few select places, I'd say she does a better job than most.  The title track ain't bad, "You'll See" (a Madonna cover) is actually quite good and "Up To The Mountain" is a much better stab at gospel than I'd imagine her managing.  However, I really didn't enjoy "How Great Thou Art" and the arrangement o...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 17/01/10 :  Contra -  Vampire Weekend I'm pretty certain I listened to this at the time and was pretty unimpressed with the whole thing - I've certainly not listened to it in the intervening period, so it will be interesting to see what I think upon revisiting it. Hmmm - I'm not entirely sure what I found to object to with this.  It's just not quite as catchy as their debut, but it's still nicely bouncy and there's nothing wrong with it if you like this sort of US quirky arty indie sound.  Will I be rushing back to it again before another 13 years are up?  Well no, but I still feel a bit guilty that I remembered it being terrible. We're at #3 in the charts this week at the start of sixteen week run, after which it took a month off and then came back for a seventeen week run - but it never got any higher than this.  The rest of the top five were  Florence ,  Paolo ,  Gaga  and You Me ...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 24/01/10 :  Turn It Up -  Pixie Lott Pixie is another one of those random female singer-songwriters who was always being mentioned around this time without me ever be aware of any of her songs.  I think she's on the poppier side of things, but I'm not entirely sure... Yeah, on the poppier side of things would be a fair enough comment.  None of it's horrible and some of the songs are pretty catchy, but I'd struggle to describe it as memorable.  I was often reminded of Girls Aloud or Little Mix - I thought that some of the songs would have benefited from having more than one voice on them.  Apart from that, I've got nothing! We're at #7 in the charts this week on her 18th week of a frankly astonishing 84 week run, with it having peaked at #6 in its debut week.  84 weeks!  The top five this week were  Florence ,  Paolo , Lostprophets (a new entry which I didn't have to decide whether to...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 31/01/10 :  Only Revolutions -  Biffy Clyro Our third visit with Biffy and without being massive fans of theirs, they hit a sweet spot for me as being rocky enough - there's some weight to the songs without them taking things too far.  It's the sort of thing I would have appreciated much more when I was a young thing - I'm just too old these days (and I'm not allowed to play my music loud enough to truly enjoy such things).  But I've got a reasonable level of expectation for this and I'm sure they won't let me down. Nope, they didn't.  I did actually recognise "Many Of Horror" - it's actually their second most successful single (after "Mountains" - which is also on this album and I didn't recognise at all!) but the rest of it hit the said sweet spot.  There's also a good amount of variation on the album - all in all, it's a decent listen. We're all the way down...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 07/02/10 :  The Sea -  Corinne Bailey Rae The ladies are on a roll here - they've had seven of the last eight entries, which has got to be one of the best runs we've ever seen.  This is our second visit with Corinne - last time was the one that everyone knows and loves, but I'm not sure I've ever even heard of this one which isn't exactly a great sign... Hmmm - it's OK, but I struggle to imagine it would have gone anywhere without the love generated by her eponymous debut.  This one has a rawer, jazzier sound - in a lot of ways it's a more interesting album, but that doesn't make it more enjoyable.  I can't recall one track jumping out at me - it feels like it would take several listens to dial into it enough to see if there are nuances worth investigating (which I suspect there are), but I'm afraid that ain't gonna happen. We're at #5 on the charts this week with a new entry startin...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 14/02/10 :  Soldier Of Love -  Sade Our third visit with Sade after the totally expected Diamond Life and the not so expected Love Deluxe - this is another one that I don't know (although I have heard the title track and seem to remember it's OK, but not great).  I quite like a bit of Sade, but I have to admit my expectations for this aren't super high, mostly because I suspect I'd have heard it at the time if was all that good. And it's OK, but a bit forgettable on one listen.  Maybe I would get into the groove given enough dinner parties, but that feels unlikely to happen given that I don't  go to any dinner parties these days and, even if I did, they probably wouldn't play thirteen year old albums.  Her voice has matured nicely and it's the same old smooth sound but the songs didn't quite stick for me - I can't see me rushing back to this.  It was a nice album to meet on Valentine's ...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 21/02/10 :  Ocean Eyes -  Owl City Coming to you from the group who is a common pop quiz answer because no-one ever remembers who sang that firefly song, an album that I suspect might prove to be a little too much - but I'm happy to be proved wrong. But, before we get there, we have an interesting one to consider before ultimately rejecting - Forever Vienna by Andre Rieu.  At this point, Andre (a Dutch violinist/conductor) had been doing his classical music schtick for years and was very popular globally, drawing huge audiences from across the music spectrum - but we'd been completely oblivious to his charms.  Until this album happened, which somehow got to #2 - and since then he's been somewhat of a fixture to this day (six of his last seven albums have made the top ten).  And I was so intrigued as to what this album has that I checked it out - and I can declare it to be perfectly fine.  But quite why ...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 28/02/10 :  The Family Jewels -  Marina & The Diamonds Yay!  I'm so pleased I've gotten to see this album - I never imagined that would happen.  The eagle-eyed amongst you might argue that I've already written about it - but I don't care, I'm writing about it again (and the format was somewhat sketchy back then, to say the least!).   I love this album and listen to it reasonably frequently - I saw her playing these tracks at Glasto wearing some VERY fetching orange dungarees.  It does have a high degree of quirk ( " We are the spoons, metal-ly mean - w e scooped our way into your dreams.   To knock the knives out bloody cold a nd lead you down the unforsaken road" ) but it's a quirk I like - she's got a great voice (although not as trained as later Marina) and the songs generally have a good hook to them.  "Hollywood" is the one everyone knows - I think "I Am Not A Robot...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 07/03/10 :  Lights -  Ellie Goulding Our third visit with Ellie over the years - and so far none of her albums have delivered the kinda stuff of hers that I thought I liked.  Is this going to be the one that does?  I'll be honest - my expectations aren't high becase  I think it's the next one that delivers the goods, but let's see. Oh no - I'm totally wrong.  It's this one with "Starry Eyed", "Under The Sheets" and "The Writer" - three of the first five tracks which totally rock.  Yes, her voice is totally wrangled beyond belief but it's been wrangled to sound wrangled which works well.  The rest of it isn't quite so memorable - but hey, who cares?  I'm amazed I've not heard more covers of "The Writer" - it's actually a really well put together song. We're at #1 with a new entry this week - on the start of a somewhat impressive 33 week run.  Aft...

Continuing my trip back through the 2010 album charts. 14/03/10 :  A Curious Thing -  Amy McDonald Amy's another one of those random female single/songwriters that popped up a lot around this time (see also Eliza Doolittle, Pixie Lott, Diana Vickers) - I don't think she's an X Factor escapee, but couldn't be sure.  Additionally, I don't think I minded her, but my complete lack of memory of any of her songs suggests I could be wrong. I can't say any of it jogged my memory - but I didn't mind it at all.  It's a bit like a cross between KT Tunstall and later era Big Country - Del Amitri also sprung to mind in places or Thea Gilmore if you are aware her.  It's kinda bouncy singalong pop-rock and she's got a nice voice - the lovely Mrs Reed may well like it.  However, absolutely none of it stuck in my brain - but I'd be quite happy to listen to it again. We're at #4 with a new entry this week on the start of a fifteen week run - it then took t...