December is a time for Christmas, being with loved ones, images of roaring fires and falling snow.. oh bah humbug to all that bollocks, December is review time. This year is double fun because we can review both the year and the decade. I’m going to have a little think about the decade stuff but I reckon I can have a stab at the albums of the year. Now unlike some publications there are some clear guidelines I have set for this task, all of them quite simple and perhaps containing commonsense but reading around other sites I wonder how many follow similar principles. Firstly I have to have said album in my possession. Second I have listened to it at least five times. Third I have listened to all tracks not just a few. Last but not least, the album has meant something to me and I am not just putting it in the list to sound trendy.

So armed with these rules, off we go. There is no top 10, 20 or so, I’m just coming up with a list of what I consider to be worthy of a place on the top list. Hopefully as the list expands you will get a sense whether I consider it a vintage year for great records, if a trend emerges for the year (great debuts, comebacks or compilations for example), or if we are living in a land of X Factor cast offs and imitators rather than innovators. Also the records are not for the most part in any order of preference, though i will attempt a top three at the end. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you:

Doves – Kingdom of Rust

Heavenly

Release date: 06/04/09

UK Chart Position: 2

When this album came out it was almost impossible to read a review without coming across the Elbow factor, everyone speculating this album would follow The seldom seen Kid to Mercury music prize glory and beyond. Whilst this did not quite happen (they were shortlisted), there is no doubt that this album have raised their profile considerably. Also Kingdom of Rust sounds nothing like Elbow, and here’s the clever bit, in places it sounds nothing like Doves either. Tracks like the closer ‘Lifelines’ sound epic, almost Embrace like, and ‘Compulsion’ is almost a disco tune, whilst ‘Jetstream’ is Eno like experimentation. That’s not to say that there are no classic Doves sounding tracks on the album, check the title track and the divine ‘Winter Hill’ for proof. Add up all these factors and you get the most diverse Doves album yet, one that stands up to their impressive levels of quality control. Just don’t spend another 4 years on the follow up please lads.

Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown

Reprise

Release Date: 15/05/09

UK Chart Position: 1

No point beating around the bush (pun intended) here, this isn’t a patch on American Idiot, but there’s no shame in that. Instead 21st is a worthy follow up, not really breaking the mould of the concept piece looking at the state of the nation (USA), this time post Bush as opposed to mid regime. It’s an odd album in that there are no real stand out tracks or no lengthy magnum opus. Instead the album works as a sum of its parts, there are no really weak songs here. It is also a long bugger, clocking in at well over the hour. Older fans will be disappointed at the lack of punk tunes but Green Day have long moved on to more epic ideals. Not really breaking the mould this time out, they get away with it comfortably, their next move will be fascinating.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Its Blitz!

Interscope

Release Date: 09/03/09

UK Chart Position: 9

After the success of their debut Fever to Tell, rated one of the best of the early noughties ‘garage’ albums, Show your Bones was a bit of a failure, almost coming across as an outtakes version of the previous record. Here the New York three piece get well and truly back on track, by changing the formula considerably. Out go most of Nick Zinner’s grungy guitars and in their place come synths and effects pedals. Oh and some great tunes too. ‘Zero’ and ‘Heads will Roll’ have a huge irresistible dance element to them, whilst ‘Skeletons’ goes the other way, a sparse monologue sang on top of a funeral like chord sequence which builds to a crescendo over a simple drum tattoo. Not that they forget their past entirely, ‘Dull Life’ is great fun, whilst ‘Runaway’ is this album’s ‘Maps’. Difficult third album? Don’t think so.

Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Reprise

Release Date: 24/03/09

UK Chart Position: 38

In a relatively quiet year for new metal records this stands head and shoulders above the competition. A hugely ambitious concept piece featuring all the newer metal trademarks (riffs, time changes, more riffs) as well as some old skool touches (The Slayerisms of the title track), Mastodon come on like a metal version of Muse with a nod to the stoner rock of Queens of the Stone Age. The criminally underrated early 90s act Kings X are another huge influence here. With just seven tracks on the album clocking in at an hour in length, its a prog rock masterpiece you need not be embarrassed to own. Shame then that I can’t work out what the hell its all about.

The Cribs – Ignore the Ignorant

Wichita

Release Date: 07/09/09

UK Chart Position: 8

This is the Wakefield band’s most accomplished and musically competent album to date. Boasting the additional talents of Johnny Marr on guitar and songwriting duties, The Cribs move out of their Lo Fi bunker to great effect here. ‘We share the same Skies’ and ‘Cheat on Me’ are polished pop songs, whilst ‘City of Bugs’ is a fascinating slice of American alt rock exploring Sonic Youth or Husker Du territory. The past is still there on ‘We were Aborted’ and its nice to see Marr can still raid the Smiths songbook on the likes of the title track. Here is the sound of a band growing up.

The Big Pink – A brief history of Love

4AD

Release Date: 14/09/09

UK Chart Position: 56

I got this record fairly late and its been heavily played in the last month. Basically the album is a collection of songs about loving and losing and is mightily varied, whether its the eighties electronic feel of  ‘Love in Vain’ the instant pop of  ‘Dominos’, the OMD sounding ‘Velvet’ or the epic rock of opening track ‘Crystal Visions’. Protagonists Robertson Furze and Mile Cordell play most of the stuff here as well as finding time to run a record label and remix Muse songs, the sort of multi talent that makes you a bit sick. First time around the album was largely ignored but I suspect things may change over the course of the next few months.

White Lies – To lose my Life

Fiction

Release Date: 19/01/09

UK Chart Position: 1

For such young imps to write a whole album on the theme of death is surprising. However death comes in many forms and here the themes range from the end of love, the decline of a small town with its fairground, as well as the more mortal aspects of such a theme. This whole affair would be truly depressing if the London three piece didn’t dress it up in a sonic wall of epic rock that sounds mature beyond their tender years. Singer Harry Mc Veigh possesses an excellent set of vocal chords and it’s a voice well suited to both the theme of the album and the sonic racket his band mates make. Their next release threatens to send them into the big league.

Manic Street Preachers – Journal for plague Lovers

Columbia

Release Date: 18/05/09

UK Chart Position: 3

The hype suggested The Holy Bible part two. The cover art suggested The Holy Bible part two. The backwards spelling of the title suggested The Holy Bible part two. The song titles suggested The Holy Bible part two. However the music did not. Whilst some tracks leaked the angst and frustration of missing member Richey Edwards whose lyrics make up the album, others showed that he had let his most vicious and darkest observations go onto the 1993 classic. Instead here we get (Whisper it) humour (’Me and Steven Hawking’) and tender moments (’Doors slowly closing’). There could never be another Holy Bible – it is an album set in a moment in time. This record though is a triumph for the three remaining members in the way they have interpreted the lost lyrics. And as such it stands as a fitting tribute to their missing friend, summed up by the heartfelt closing track ‘Williams last Words’ sung by his best friend Nick Wire.

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions

Roadrunner

Release Date: 09/11/09

UK Chart Position: 8

You have gotta love their sense of irony, revolution is the farthest thing from the Kilmarnock trios minds on this, their fifth album. Instead they choose to go down the tried and tested route taken by previous and breakthrough album Puzzle. Only this time the songs are more refined and much stronger overall. ‘The Captain’ has a quirky feel similar to ‘Who’s got a match’ and previous single ‘Mountains’ straddles the 2 records nicely. Elsewhere ‘That golden Rule’ and ‘Born on a Horse’ sound like they were born to be played on daytime radio, demonstrating that the band have now effortlessly found that difficult middle ground between being commercial and credible. There are a lot of potential singles on this record and its one that they will surely be touring to death next summer.

The XX – The XX

Young Turks

Release Date: 17/08/09

UK Chart Position: 36

The debut album from the London 20 year olds instantly takes you back to the dark side of the Eighties. Hints of New Order, The Cure and The Cocteau Twins (surely one of the most underrated bands of all time) as well as a multi layered keyboard and bass driven sound that invokes more recent Interpol. For such a potentially dark album it possesses quite a few upbeat almost dancy moments. Its an album you won’t get instantly but after a few plays you will be hooked. Debut album of the year.

My Top Three Albums of 2009

Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Columbia

Release Date: 08/06/2009

UK Chart Position: 1

Well its got the album title of the year in the bag but what about the music? Well after a so so second album Kasabian have really delivered here and pushed themselves into the big league. Forget any misguided Oasis comparisons and listen instead to the mix of old and new; the roadhouse blues of ‘Fire’ surely a tune to crack America, and the Coral ish ‘Thick as Thieves’ contrast with the commercial dance stomp of ‘Where did the love go?’ They also have a go at the mellow stuff too in ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ and ‘Happiness’, and the use of gospel backing singers is a masterstroke and reveals a new depth to the band. The impressive thing about this album is a lack of any filler, every track is strong. Kasabian have long been a band born to headline festivals and now three albums in they now have the tools to do so.

Alice in Chains – Black gives way to Blue

Virgin/EMI

Release Date:25/09/09

UK Chart Position: 19

You would have got very long odds on a new Alice in Chains album just a couple of years ago. Former singer Layne Staley dead and the rest of the band embroiled in solo projects. Then in 2007 William DuVall played some gigs with the band, something clicked and they decided to enter the studio. The outcome is surely better then anyone could dared have hoped. Just one minute of listening to opener (and weakest track) ‘All secrets known’ is enough to convince they still have that trademark grunge sound. DuVall does a great job on the album but its the work of Jerry Cantrell that shines most brightly, whether on the epic ‘Acid Bubble’ with its multiple time changes’, the mellow acoustic led ‘Your Decision’ or the gorgeous Stayley tribute title track which also features Elton John on piano no less. Add in the surprise but deserved hit ‘Check my Brain’ and we have the comeback album of the year, no contest.

The Horrors – Primary Colours

XL

Release Date: 24/05/09

UK Chart Position: 25

I just could not believe I was listening to the same band. A few weeks before Primary Colours was released, ‘Sea within a Sea’ the epic album closer was leaked onto the Internet prompting a quick release as a single. I had just watched the video on a well know website expecting some more trashy shock rock aka the debut Strange House, one of the most over hyped records of the last ten years, only an ok album at best. ‘Sea within a sea’ was eight minutes of majestic, brooding rock, and split into two parts; the goth rock/Echo and the Bunnymen opening half and the upbeat keyboard outro, a sort of ‘I am the Resurrection’ for the goth rock fraternity. Even more surprises when the whole album arrived, from start to finish it was magnificent, the Motown feel of  ‘Who can Say’, the power of ‘Mirror’s Image’ and the tuneful pop of the title track. Frontman Faris Rotter’s vocals are excellent throughout revealing much more than a Mark E Smith impersonation and the keyboards and synths stay to the fore driving the whole thing along. Apparently for their next move they are working with Damon Albarn, God knows what results that will bring.

So there we have it, a pretty good year for albums by my reckoning. Agree, disagree? Well have your say via the comments below, and feel free to put your choices forward for albums of 2009.

And for you lucky folk with Spotify, here are the albums of 2009 as a Spotify Playlist. Spotify is an excellent Music Streaming service, find out more and how to subscribe At the Official Site