Friday, December 22, 2006
The Top 06 Albums of 06
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My album of the year is, naturally, going to get a larger section of this article than the others. And in a slight cop-out, I'm using the extended version of my review published in the latest edition of Buzz Magazine here in Australia. I felt there was no point in simply re-writing my feelings on the record all over again because it would have come out sounding exactly the same anyway. On a side note, not only is this the first time EVER that I have a male artist at my number 1 spot for album of the year (in 11 years of writing up lists), but it is also the first time that the top 5 is mainly male artists. Strange, but for the first time ever the boys really did deliver. So here goes...
 01. ROBBIE WILLIAMS - RUDEBOX
Robbie Williams. He's been in a boy band, he's swung with Nicole Kidman, he's bathed with Kylie Minogue, and toyed with Reggae-pop ("Tripping") a good year before Paris Hilton had a good stab at it. From singing the lead vocals in a cover of "Could It Be Magic", right through to more recently - being fined for smoking on stage in Australia - Rob's career has been anything but boring. So, as you would imagine, it was a pity when his last album - the mediocre Intensive Care - was about as exciting to listen to as a night of washing the dishes might be. So Rob went off and made this: the greatest album of his career. No one's seemed quite fussed about actually buying it though. Pity, because there are some absolute pop culture defining moments readily available on this CD that people should know about.
Virtually everyone will disagree with me when I say Robbie's rapping on "Rudebox" is ridiculously sexy - but whatever - it's seriously my opinion, and latest single "Lovelight" (produced by the excellent Mark Ronson) is stroke of electronic-fuelled pop genius. Lily Allen lends a helping hand in the form of background vocals on the ace Manu Chao cover "Bongo Bong" (which then has Lily break into a stunning chorus of "Je Ne T'aime Plus"), but it's the two Pet Shop Boys collaborations that truly manage to give you a sense of listening satisfaction within this collection of songs. First off, the incredibly cheeky "She's Madonna", a soft synth-driven love song about dumping your current girlfriend in favour of the Queen of Pop because; "face it, she's Madonna", and the audio-stun-show of "We're The Pet Shop Boys" - a cover version that is the best Williams album song in history - which even features Neil Tennant gracefully delivering his hypnotic voice as a background layer. And then there's the robo-tronic rap, in which Robbie puts together some of the PSB's most recognised song titles into one brilliant breakdown. Exhilarating and beautiful, it has always been a dream of mine to one day hear these two pop acts collaborate together... what a delight that the wait has truly been worth it.
Other stellar moments include "The Actor", in which Robbie namedrops some famous stars of the screen and even throws in a brilliant stuttering of "Dame Judi Dench", the William Orbit produced "Louise" is a lovely moment, a cover of Stephen Duffy's "Kiss Me" which betters the original, grower "Never Touch That Switch", and "Viva Life On Mars" which - to be honest - is the only real safe Robbie-by-numbers track on here. Two part story-telling also rears through in the magnificent "The 80's" and "The 90's", whose subject matters are fairly self explanatory.
In my opinion, there is not a single dud moment on this record. Truly amazing, I haven't heard an album so excitingly schizophrenic since Janet's janet. back in 1993. Album of the year without a doubt.
 02. TAKE THAT - BEAUTIFUL WORLD
Take That were a band of men who truly captured my heart with their music and their general being (how much so you can read about by heading over to the sadly somewhat now defunct 1001 Greatest Pop Songs website). The announcement of a reunion sparked up such excitement in me that I didn't even bother to think a new album from them could actually turn out to be crap. Thank heavens, then, it actually turned out to be really bloody good. Mark Owen's lead vocals on "Shine" - a moment which sounds more like the Scissor Sisters than the Scissor Sisters do on their new album - do for the song exactly what it says on the tin, Jason Orange does a splendid job on "Wooden Boat", and Howard's Beautifull World" really IS beautiful in every sense of the word. But being a die-hard fan of Gary Barlow's melodic, heart melting voice, nothing pleased me more than hearing just how superb he could still croon on the splendid first single "Patience", "Butterfly", and the most gorgeous moment on here "I'd Wait For Life". A truly special record from a truly special pop act. Welcome back boys. Now please don't go anywhere for a while.
 03. PET SHOP BOYS -FUNDAMENTALL
There is not a dud moment on this record. A truly inspiring piece of art that flows from number to number. It was such a rewarding experience listening to this for the first time after being disgruntled with Release a couple of years back. I didn't hate the Release project, but I didn't totally love it either. When I'm asked what my favourite Pet Shop Boys album is, I honestly can't decide. Which is odd, seeingg as my passion and love for Madonna's work is a lot stronger and yet it is fairly easy for me to share what my top 5 of hers are. Er, actually, it's not that odd come to think of it. Behaviour, Very, Bilingual, Please and Actually are the ones that get the most spins, but Fundamental could very well turn out to be the one that strikes the top spot for me. "The Sodom & Gomorrah Show" is so exciting, "Minimal" is gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS (xolondon wrote a piece on just HOW gorgeous this track is back in April), the Dianne Warren-penned ballad "Numb" still brings a tear to my eye, and "Integral" is the best song to come from the guys in years. Then there's the bonus Fundamentalism disc, which contains not only the Richard X produced "Fugitive", but also the Elton John duet "In Private", which is an all out trance-tastic affair that would most probably be balls of fun to dance to at a club absolutely high on something. Pure Pop Art.
 04. AMY WINEHOUSE - BACK TO BLACK
Mark Ronson is a musical genius. So it's no surprise that the heavily Ronson produced new disc from Amy Winehouse is an absolute masterpiece. First single "Rehab" is a whole heap of fun, "Me & Mr Jones (Fuckery)" is a song I could very easily get absolutely blind drunk to, and title number "Back To Black" is such a captivating moment, one that pull at the heart and demands you listen. It' a track that is just full of proper soul. X-Tina may have done her roaring-old-times album (which Madonna did a lot better, and with much more conviction over 15 years ago with the fun "I'm Breathless") of 89 songs over two discs (89 songs which actually fit on the ONE 80 MINUTE CDR!! SCANDAL!), but Amy's 32 minute romp with the blues manages to outdo not only the dirrrrrrrrrty chapper's flashback disc, but also a lot of the material it's sending an homage to. And that my friends, is a very special thing indeed.
 05. McFLY - MOTION IN THE OCEAN
Granted, it's the worst album title in years, but by god it's a ripper. The thing that I love about this album the most is that it truly paints a picture of how much these boys have grown as artists. If you look past the naked romps at G.A.Y, the countless amount of shirtless photo shoots they've done in the last 6 months (not that I'm complaining, mind), you'll find four boys who have managed to grow with every album release. Their first album, Five Colours In Her Hair, was a fun, Beatles-ish Surf and sand styled long player that was great for its time. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a good record, but in comparison to their last two, it truly is the weakest link. And surely that's promising. Wonderland, their second album, was a much more mature sounding and somewhat serious collection of geniusly written songs, taking their obsession with The Who to an incredibly public level. It was also the first proper indication of Tom Fletcher being one of the most gifted songwriters of our time. Motion In The Ocean is the combination of core elements from both previous albums. It still harbours the mature feel of Wonderland, but doesn't take itself too seriously, much like Five Colours. "Sorry's Not Good Enough" is massive in so many ways, "Friday Night" is a rather great energy-infused pop-rock moment, and "Transylvania" is probably the second greatest song they've recorded, with the heartbreaking "Too Close For Comfort" from Wonderland obviously being their best. Their take on Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" is a fuckin' corker too.
 06. FERGIE - THE DUTCHESS
I made a half-arsed turn-around with Fergie about 2 months after "My Humps" was released. Initially, I hated it - as I should have too. But eventually I began to really love it. So much so that it ended up charting quite high in last years top singles of the year. It wasn't until Fergi-Ferg's first solo effort was released, "London Bridge", that the half-arsed turn-around became a complete love story. I bought the album and totally enjoyed every moment on it. "Fergalicious" is "My Humps" times a thousand (it also contains the song lyric of the year: "I be up in the Gym just workin' on my fitness"), "Pedestal" is cheeky, and "Clumsy" is really quite adorable, but it's the ditties themed on Fergie's openly-discussed former battle with drug addiction that ring true on this for me. "Voodoo Doll" is a frantic piece of music that truly captures the insane feeling one gets when they're addicted to Crystal Meth, an absolute demon that I was fortunate enough to successfullyy battle myself a couple of years back. "Losing My Ground" deals with the uphill motion of constantly taking ecstasy, and is a strikingly well produced and superbly written number. I honestly think these two tracks are the strongest moments in pop discussing the issues. The most enjoyable moments though include "Glamorous", which is not only rather smooth and sexy, but contains the spelling of the songs title. I *love* spelling in pop songs, always wins me over. Then it's the real gem on this disc, "Mary Jane Shoes", a Bob Marley sampling reggae-pop assault in which Fergie sings about how superb she feels when putting on a pair of Mary Jane Shoes. Then, in its last 40 seconds, she turns it into a viciously exciting punk-ska epileptic fit of brilliance. Black Eyed who?
and the rest, Numbers 7 to 16...
07. JAMELIA - WALK WITH ME
HIGHLIGHT: The sampling of Mrs. Slocombe from Are You Being Served in "Window Shopping"
IN A WORD: Electrifying.
08. LILY ALLEN - ALRIGHT, STILL
HIGHLIGHT: "Everything's JustWonderfull" and its clever usage of elevator music as a sample.
IN A WORD: Genius.
09. EMMA BUNTON - LIFE IN MONO
HIGHLIGHT: Emma's take on the Mono classic "Life In Mono" is, in my opinion, breathtaking.
IN A WORD: Classic.
10. PARIS HILTON - PARIS
HIGHLIGHT: The absolute pop electricity fused within "Nothing In This World". So very awesome.
IN TWO WORDS: That's Hot.
11. NELLY FURTADO - LOOSE
HIGHLIGHT: The rawness found within "Say It Right", an absolute diamond of a number.
IN A WORD: Glow.
12. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE - FUTURESEX/LOVESOUNDS
HIGHLIGHT: The "I Think She Knows" interlude right after "LoveStoned". Very special indeed.
IN THREE WORDS: Sexy. Back. Yeah.
13. YOUNG DIVAS - YOUNG DIVAS
HIGHLIGHT: The new spins on Barbra Streisand's "Woman In Love" and Princess' "Say I'm Your Number One".
IN A WORD: Camp.
14. BERTINE ZETLITZ - MY ITALIAN GREYHOUND
HIGHLIGHT: The brilliant cover art almost tops the brilliance of the music. That's a pretty good effort if you ask me.
IN A WORD: Clever.
15. LIL' CHRIS - LIL' CHRIS
HIGHLIGHT: "Gettin' Enough??" without any shade of doubt. Total brilliance.
IN A WORD: Pocketsizedfun.
16. LADY SOVEREIGN - PUBLIC WARNING
HIGHLIGHT: The hyperactivity of title track "Public Warning". A mighty as fuck tune.
IN A WORD: Cheeky.
(Robbie Williams Rudebox review originally printed in Buzz Magazine, January 2007 edition. © Buzz Magazine 2007)
3 Comments:
- 12:53 PM | Woodsman said...
Brilliant work Mr IAR. Lil' Chris is a bit of fun isnt he?
For what it's worth - im going Nelly Retardo at #1.
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- 7:15 PM | said...
what a great set of albums - i continue to persevere with Robbie. I have loved him his whole career to a ridiculous level, so it baffles me why i can't connect with this album. I would still totally do him though rapping or not! And take that number two! Bonza!
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- 11:04 AM | said...
I agree with Woodsman!
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