Eh, why not. Note that this is ever-changing, as I overplay things quite easily.
<spoiler=NUMBER 5>
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9Fl3JiqWQ9Q/TJY_SSDpm9I/AAAAAAAAAJc/ZrE_MAPbC0k/s1600/cover.jpg
Alternately mournful, pretty, and frightening, Akira Yamaoka weaves a spellbinding series of mood pieces, effortlessly switching from scary to sad to happy to intense at a moment's notice. Many a long bus ride was spent staring out a window with "Heaven's Night" caressing my eardrums, solidifying Silent Hill 2: Official Soundtrack as my fifth favorite album of the now.
Standout tracks: "Ashes and Ghost", "Betrayal", "The Reverse Will", "True", "Angel Thanatos"
<spoiler=NUMBER 4>
http://www.rockyourguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/thefray.jpg
I'm a sucker for the "light alternative" sound done by the likes of The Fray, Coldplay, Snow Patrol and OneRepublic, but none of it really "wowed" me... except for The Fray's self-titled album. Isaac Slade's voice is a bit of an acquired taste, but their insistence on using a piano very prominently more than makes up for it. Ranging from quiet and mournful to driven, but maintaining a high quality throughout (to the point that there are no duds on the tracklist), The Fray's The Fray secures fourth place on my favorite albums list.
Standout tracks: "We Build And We Break", "Absolute", "Ungodly Hour"
<spoiler=NUMBER 3>
http://thereviewspider.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/a-collision.jpg
(Expanded Edition)
"OMG A CHRISTIAN BAND YOU SUCK GO DIE RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEG"
Save your bile. While much of Christian rock tends to be quite derivative, David Crowder and his band are not. Every track is tightly composed with something completely unique and different, all of it driven and intense, with some tracks melded, others standing alone, and all interspersed with the sound of someone walking up and down a set of stairs, before ending quite differently with an interview.
An interview.
That is set to "The Lark Ascending".
You haven't heard a disk like David Crowder Band's A Collision (Expanded Edition), Christian Rock or otherwise. And I adore it.
Standout tracks: "Our Happy Home", "B Quiet Interlude", "Be Lifted Or Hope Rising", "(Repeat/Return) Or When The Seventh Angel Sounded His Trumpet, And There Were Loud Voices In Heaven, Which Said: "The Kingdom Of The World Has Become The Kingdom Of Our Lord And Of His Christ, And He Will Reign Foreverandever Etc..."
<spoiler=NUMBER 2>
http://img54.exs.cx/img54/6934/portishead_L.jpg
Portishead is pretty and relaxing, except when it's not. That's the best description I can give for the sound. Beth Gibbons is one of my favorite singers, period, and the music they write is some of my favorite, period. The only reason they didn't take number one is because there's a couple tracks that don't click with me, and I find boring. It doesn't change that I find the rest of the album beyond fantastic, and the sound is ever-interesting and lets me feel like an art snob without boring me. Portishead's self titled album is my second favorite right now.
Standout tracks: "All Mine", "Only You", "Cowboys"
http://www.gnus.com/circus/jukebox.php?image=display.jpg&group=Aphex%20Twin&album=Selected%20Ambient%20Works%20Volume%20II%20(1)
"What's this?" say those of you who haven't heard of Aphex Twin.
"Wat?" say the rest of you that have.
Aphex Twin (real name Richard D. James) has synesthesia, and can "hear" images. Thus, he took a bunch of photos of random things and wrote down what they sounded like, then compiled the results.
The result? Pure, distilled awesome.
Every track is entirely unique, and some don't even follow the basic rules of music. All of them are fascinating to listen to, and range from the abstract and bizarre ("Untitled 15", a photo of a gray stripe) to pretty and pleasant ("Untitled 16", a photo of twigs placed in a Z shape). I can't even really justify why I love it beyond it being a really nifty musical experiment, but I cannot get enough of it. I listened to it for fifty hours after getting it, and it still surprises my ears even now and will simply not grate on me. Selected Ambient Works Volume II is my favorite album ever.
Standout tracks: "Untitled 16" (z-twig), "Untitled 3" (rhubarb), "Untitled 1" (cliffs), "Untitled 22" (second white blur)
