We posted a PropertyOfZack Friday Discussion on The Best Album Openers last week, so we’re following it up this week with The Best Album Closers. Album closers have the ability to leave a truly emotional mark on the listener, and we’ve experienced quite a few memorable ones over the years in our scene. We put the closers together in an Rdio Playlist to listen to as you read the Discussion as well. Check out our list below and feel free to reblog with some of your favorite album closers!
Thrice has been one of my favorite bands ever since I bought The Artist In the Ambulance off the Target new releases shelf years ago. Of course I was bummed about them breaking up, as I would be with any band that I loved. It was acceptable though, because they cited the need for Dustin and Teppei to settle down and focus on their families. Fine. I made it to three of the shows on their last tour and they were amazing as usual. It was bittersweet.
And then Dustin announced that he would be moving to Seattle to take up a worship leader position with a Mars Hill Church location. Well… that was convenient timing. And because of this, I started reading up on the Mega Church. I had heard the name Mars Hill before but wasn’t very familiar with it, and I knew all about Pastor Mark Driscoll’s ridiculous authoritarian beliefs, but never made the connection between the two. Wow.
I really couldn’t believe someone like Dustin, who I admittedly do not know but feel like I understood him a bit from years of listening to his lyrics, could even associate with an organization like that. Everyone has always known Dustin was a Christian. Not outspoken, but strong enough in his beliefs to communicate them effectively. From how I’ve heard him talk about his faith in interviews, I can’t even see how he aligns with a church that is so power hungry and committed to what basically amounts to a caste system.
Up to this point, I was looking forward to the day that Thrice would announce they were getting back together to do another album. Because it seemed like that’s what they really enjoyed doing, it was the extensive touring that got to be too much to handle. Now I’m not so sure. I’m not sure I want to hear the lyrical output of someone immersed in a culture like Mars Hill for years. Yes, he has been part of a satellite branch for a while, but it’s one thing to drink the Koolaid, and a whole other thing to be the one pouring it. And yes, this is probably overreacting, but a favorite band means so much more than just the music that comes out of some speakers. It’s hard not to have such a visceral response when something you love is gone, and then gets tarnished even more after the fact.
I’m sure we’ll all get over it soon enough, but for now, this:
Good Old War has a new album! And it’s pretty great. I loved their first one, but wasn’t really a fan of the second so I didn’t really pay attention when the new one came out… until I saw them on Conan and they played the song, “Better Weather”, which was awesome. And now that I think about it, I don’t really remember why their second album didn’t do it for me. So I guess I need to give it a re-listen. I still would rather have their old band back though, Days Away was amazing.
Not sure how this happened, but I missed the three song EP that Hot Rod Circuit put out at the end of last year. I had the single, “Forgive Me” but missed out on the rest somehow. I was in the process of learning how to play that one on the guitar when I stumbled across the other two songs. While not quite as good as the first, they are still decent tracks and make me miss Hot Rod.
I would highly recommend picking up both of those, which collectively cost under $10 on Amazon.
Unique Artists: 64 Total Tracks: 146 Total Plays: 160
Both blink-182 and Thrice will definitely be on my top 10 this year. Saves the Day surprised me with how good it was, it reminds me of In Reverie but a lot better. I’ll have to pull myself away from those three albums and listen to the rest of these.
