two rules: no eps, and only 1 album per artist. otherwise this list would just be 100% devi mccallion. she's like, the coolest person ever.
Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road
overrated for a reason. the sauce is in how they're assembled. i, for one, hate indie rock (especially of the arcade fire ilk) nearly as much as i hate needless throwback games. so take that as proof of how saucy the songwriting and level design in afut and pizza tower respectively are. btw, 50% of the reason this snagged a placement over like, enter the wu-tang or pd&th's s/t or whatever is basketball shoes. insane song.
Afrikantis - Lil B
the cynics will look at both of these and see nothing more than a random, chaotic, tasteless mishmash of vaguely pleasant kitschiness. i tell you that both are celebrations of their awesome primitive tech.
Antichrist Superstar - Marilyn Manson
I WASN'T BORN WITH ENOUGH MIDDLE FIN-
ah sorry. got carried away there. two points here:
1. both hate you
2. both hate you
Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? - Megadeth
gonna make a new genre called "hellthrash". it's like thrash metal except it's fucking awesome.
hey, i just realized! both doom and peace sells have AWFUL pointless remasters that no one seems to mind except me and 50 year old white men on reddit!
for a moment i saw myself as inexorably beautiful - smiling broadly
both are paced surprisingly poorly but the VIBES. ohhhhhhhh the VIBES. so sunny and lovely and life-enriching without lacking an oddly pensive edge. both make me embarrassingly emotional. both use the least take-seriouslyable vessels possible (at least normies) to tell their stories. also, this album just sounds like sonic adventure 1's soundtrack. that's the real reason. i made all that other shit up just now.
Meteora - Linkin Park
you just... had to grow up with it, man. coming at it nowadays, you're gonna be disappointed cuz it was catering to a certain audience (stunted by design, in other words). but if you were like, 10 years old when you first experienced meteora or the force unleashed ii, you probably think of it fondly. you'll try and defend it. no one understands. you had to be there.
WORRY. - Jeff Rosenstock
art about bittersweet summers spent in a city that's collapsing all around you. except in disaster report 4, it's not like "oh government bad the soul of the city is dying" - the entire city is LITERALLY coming down around you God Please Save Us We're Going to Be Crushed
UNDERTALE Soundtrack - Toby Fox
well, i'm not wrong, am i?
Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
overambitious, would-be masterpieces of idiosyncratic geniuses. both surely would have influenced their mediums at large upon release. neither ever saw the light of day until, many years later, being reincarnated into a new format. and mfs who were dying for the original thing will be disappointed, but if you open your mind you'll have a great time. at least, i hope this ends up being true of the duelin firemen project. we'll see how it goes. i need to write about grady sain someday.
Hospice - The Antlers
feel bad for liking either of these as much as i do, but the ways in which they're emotionally manipulative and totally tactless only make me more attached to them. i'm in an abusive relationship with this sadboy art. most of the time i avoid discussing either of these with people.
The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
edgy shit, gothic ruminations on death, a healthy helping of melodrama, ambitions that crush their predecessors (though their predecessors were more popular online for so long) and a self-awareness so strong that keeps it all from becoming overbearing. also, they both have this perceived underrated-ness online despite having merch available at every hot topic across the country . also, both feel like home to me :)
Peaceful as Hell - Black Dresses
yeah. #1 album ever from the moment it dropped until i die. one time my mom said i only listen to this band because they're bad and i'm still upset about that to this day.
