Best Albums of 2011

It was a good year for music and shockingly enough there was more good than bad. Though it's also the year that I swore off the radio and most mainstream music, so to me it seemed like a great year. I don't think Taylor Swift came out with a new album, unless she had some sort of live thing or we count wherever that horrid rendition of "White Christmas" came from. (I can not stand her as an artist. I think she is way over hyped and if I really get into it we'll lose track of what I'm trying to write about.) It took me a bit to come up with a list, but here's some of my favorite albums of the year, in no real order.

Early Morning Blues - Newest Versions EP - I'm not fully remembering when Bryan put this out, but I lean towards early early in the new year and it's been my favorite go-to music all year. Obviously, if you've read anything I've been up to this year that should be obvious. If you want to talk about music that save your life this is my music. Not because I was in a bad place or anything, but listening to it got me motivated to see it live and then I was actually living my life, writing about things I cared about and meeting new friends who shared the same passions.

I've got high hopes for the upcoming album, that there might be more coming our way that will be just as great or better. I'm hoping that will be around in 2012 and I can almost promise it will make the top of my list next year too. Yes I'm biased.

Cage the Elephant - Thank You, Happy Birthday - The sophomore album from my friends from high school dropped this year and made my January. It was so cool to see it out at Target, to see it sell out at stores and Rolling Stone grace them with a bigger honor, naming it their number #15 album of the top 50 of the year. There wasn't as much competition here on my blog, but yes this was a 'must have' of the year.

The Maine - Pioneer - This was a much anticipated album of the year, the self-produced album that was so different than their other music, but lived up to expectations. I kept it in my car for weeks, listening to it on loop and only pulled it out because Champ couldn't stand to listen to the album over and over again on a five hour drive. I would have been fine with it though, it's that good.

The Cab - Symphony Soldier - I've said before that while I only had to wait a few weeks for this one and the rest of the fanbase had been waiting years, it was worth every second. It's annoying to say an album is perfect, but Symphony Solider toes that line so well. Every song is good and every song gets better with each play. I listen to it when i"m driving, when I'm working out, when I'm sitting at my desk trying to get through the day.

Yellowcard - When You're Through Thinking Say Yes - It's always great when a band I already loved comes back with another album, but when a band I loved in college comes back with a vengeance and an album that sounds like a grown up version of what I used to listen to, I can't help but be thrilled. And it's just that. It's Ocean Avenue grown up and blasting in the car stereo.

Jack's Mannequin - People and Things - In a way I live for Andrew's music and this one, was completely fantastic. I'd gotten a taste of it seeing them live before the album released, but I had no idea what I was going to be getting when it did come out. It's a fantastic album, the work of a true singer/songwriter and the kind that you can just listen to over and over again (which is obviously a trend with my favorite albums this year).

So there you go, grab what you don't have already, because it's all good. What were your favorites that didn't make my list?

Theres a lot in store for 2012, so much that I can't wait. I'm looking forward of telling you all about it.

Posted in: cage the elephant, early morning blues, jack's mannequin, the cab, the maine, yellowcard