My 25 Favorite Albums Of The Decade (in no particular order)

1. Alkaline Trio- Good Mourning
2. Lifetime- Lifetime
3. New Found Glory- New Found Glory
4. Tiger Army- III: Ghost Tigers Rise
5. Morrissey- The Best Of Morrissey
6. Millencolin- Pennybridge Pioneers
7. Ben Kweller- Sha Sha
8. Taking Back Sunday- Tell All Your Friends
9. Glassjaw- Worship and Tribute
10. The Lawrence Arms- Apathy and Exhaustion
11. The Movielife- This Time Next Year
12. Northstar- Pollyanna
13. Saves The Day- Stay What You Are
14. Set Your Goals- Mutiny
15. At The Drive In- Relationship of Command
16. Brand New- Deja Entendu
17. The Gaslight Anthem- The 59' Sound
18. Fall Out Boy- From Under The Cork Tree
19. The Strokes- Is This It
20. Thursday- Full Collapse
21. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend
22. AFI- The Art of Drowning
23. Against Me!- As The Eternal Cowboy
24. Bloc Party- Silent Alarm
25. Gatsbys American Dream- Gatsbys American Dream

I would have liked to write a little something about each album but that would have taken to long and im lazy. So i'll just say a few words about the list. Say what you will about Fall Out Boy but that album is surrounded by some pretty strong memories in my life. So although i feel that "Take This To Your Grave" is a better album i feel that "fuct" has a bigger place in my mind. I know that having a greatest hits album on this list is kinda lame but that Morrissey greatest hits album was HUGE in my life. It was my introduction to him AND The Smiths. Choosing between "Good Mourning" and "From Here To Infirmary" was painful to say the least. I had to choose the former because i feel that it overall is just a stronger album. Here's to 2009 and a welcome 2010. Hopefully Alkaline Trio will put out a solid disc in February and MAYBE we'll see some new Glassjaw material this decade. Fingers crossed!

Chamberlain "The Moon My Saddle"

Once upon a time i used to read a magazine called Alternative Press. For as long as i can remember they would do an issue once a year where they would highlight albums from 10 years before. In 2008 they highlighted an album from a band i had never heard of. This band was Chamberlain. The album they were highlighting was "The Moon My Saddle". The thing that caught my eye immediately was the author said the band "sounded more like John Mellencamp" and "the biggest factor separating them from there post-hardcore peers was the fact they could actually PLAY instead of merely posture".

A brief history of the band is that they are from Indianapolis,Indiana. Once again something that caught my eye. lol. They used to be more of a hardcore band named Split Lip until they changed there name and went for a more mature sound. They released this album in 1998 on Doghouse records. Doghouse Records is also the former home of bands such as The Get Up Kids, and The All-American Rejects.


So after reading this article i combed the interweb for this gem of an album. My search ceased when i found there music on last.fm. The article couldn't have been more accurate. Every song i listened to was so mature and well written. How could this be? It's pop/emo/americana music that is perfectly tuned for your radio frequency. The difference between this album and every other pop band was TALENT. Although every song is standard verse/chorus/verse pop music it is extremely well written. David Moore's voice is a deep baritone with a ton of range that dives deep into your soul. Adam Rubenstein's guitar work is like a slowed down country version of a Johnny Marr. Charlie Walkers drum work is to me the highlight of the album. It is one of the most crisp,clear and well written drum recordings i have ever heard.

I got this album about a year and a half ago. It is perfect driving music. I just listened to it about 3 times on a trip to Chicago this last week. To get down to business it sounds like a band that Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem would like. A good mix between the country/americana sound of John Mellencamp and the pop sensibilities of The Counting Crows.

Here is a link to a .zip file to download the album http://www.mediafire.com/?qnzte4jnoyy

Download at your own risk and enjoy