2003 in music. • Page 3

I will re-listen!

 

Hands Down is (was) always the point where I lose it at RockBand and start to sing way too loud :D

 

I honorable mentioned it. It’s really good. I was somewhat disappointed in it when it came out, but a few years later when I was first getting into vinyl I found it in the bargain bin at Newbury comics and bought it for the hell of it and it clicked hard for me. A worthy electric counterpart to the first two records and the EPs. Rapid Hope Loss probably makes my dashboard top 5.

And because there’s nothing cooler than a show you went to getting a professional recording, I saw them on that tour and somewhere still have the recording WBCN in Boston broadcast of it, it’s awesome.

 

I didn't realize this was the first electric Dashboard album, I'll have to give it a listen.

Little Jacob was afraid of acoustic guitars in music when I was a kid haha

 

1. Motion City Soundtrack: I Am the Movie
2. Against Me!: As the Eternal Cowboy
3. The Format: Interventions and Lullabies

 

Obliviously I don't support the person who we learned he is, but I do believe it's the best album that came out in 2003. Bad people make great art. Writing the name of an album in a list on the website also is not "supporting them," I acknowledge the issues with him. I don't care if my votes are counted for it either.

1 Brand New - Deja Entendu
2 Blink-182 - (untitled)
3 Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave
4 Third Eye Blind - Out Of The Vein
5 The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium
6 Limbeck - Hi, Everything's Great
7 Something Corporate - North
8 Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
9 The Early November - The Room's Too Cold
10 The Format - Interventions & Lullabies
11 RX Bandits - The Resignation
12 Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
13 Dashboard Confessional - A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar
14 Saves The Day - In Reverie
15 Andre 3000 - The Love Below
16 Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make A Right... But Three Do
17 Jay-z - The Black Album
18 The Movielife - 40 Hour Train Back To Penn
19 Gatsbys American Dream - Ribbons & Sugar
20 American Hi-Fi - The Art of Losing

 

2003 mix

 

even when i listened to that band, that album was by an extremely large margin my least favorite of theirs and the most difficult to listen to, lyrically

 

It will be getting at least one number 1 vote…

 

It's such a damn good album. Honestly it should probably be a bit higher on my list, it's just such a stacked year with many all-timers for me, almost my entire list is made up of stuff I could make big arguments for being higher tbh

 

It’s the one I listen to most. Lots of albums from this year I love, but that one has really lingered for me.

 

Really? Feels like the first one would be that in terms of difficulty to listen to lyrically haha. With the exception of one song.

 

1. M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
2. Deftones - Deftones
3. Ruxpin - Avalon

I've seen plenty of people refer to DC,RS&LG as the electronic equivalent of Loveless. And not for nothing. It's a prime example of how huge and all-encompassing the most synthetic and filtered music can feel at its best. Ethereal, graceful but equally thick and dense. That dynamic between sounding beautiful but also having that wall of noise intensity can be quite difficult to get right and unpleasant to listen to when it's done wrong but it's amazing when it's done as well as this.

White Pony is often thought of as a drugs record, partly from the cocaine reference in the title. The self-titled Deftones is the dark side effects. The dynamics of it, from the almost obnoxiously dark wall of guitar at times, and the vocal cord shredding screams on Hexagram and When Girls Telephone Boys, in combination with some of the most morose, almost lethargic, moments they've ever written is part of what makes this the gloomiest Deftones album. Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event often feels to me like the gentle acceptance after everything has come crashing down. I believe Robert Smith from The Cure is a fan of this record.

Avalon isn't the sonic-pushing album that the M83 one is and there are a couple of aspects that probably date it to 2003 but that isn't a bad thing either. Beautifully serene, washes over you with beats and lush synth, sometimes with simple, vocoder vocal motifs. A few absolutely fantastic tracks. A dose of peace I turn to on a regular basis. It's a gentle love record.

Honourable Mentions:
Harold Budd - La Bella Vista
Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Funeral For A Friend - Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation
TV On The Radio - Young Liars EP

 

I completely forgot about the FFAF record coming out in 2003. That is 12 back to back bangers and one of the best of the year for sure.

 

I totally JUST remembered that 2003 was the first year that I ever made a year-end "favorite albums" list.

Of course I posted it to Xanga.... anyone remember Xanga?

I did a Top 15 albums as I recall, and Sing The Sorrow was my #1 at the time. Wish I could track down the rest of that list to compare to how I rank them now.

 

Oh man limbeck came out this year too. That band rules. What great road trip album. Hey everything fine is really cool too.

 

2003
1. Blink 182 - (Untitled)
2. A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
3. Muse - Absolution

4. The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium
5. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
6. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
7. Third Eye Blind - Out Of The Vein
8. Cursive - The Ugly Organ
9. Less Than Jake - Anthem
10. Linkin Park - Meteora
11. 311 - Evolver
12. Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts
13. Dashboard Confessional - A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar
14. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
15. Explosions In The Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
16. Thursday - War All The Time
17. Motion City Soundtrack - I Am The Movie

Honorable Mentions
The Matrix: Reloaded (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won (Live)
Atticus: ...Dragging The Lake, Vol. 2 (Compilation)

Favorite songs from other 2003 albums
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps"
Gary Jules - "Mad World"
Limp Bizkit - "Eat You Alive"
NOFX - "Glass War"
Snow Patrol - "Spitting Games"
Britney Spears - "Toxic"
David Bowie - "Pablo Picasso"
Jane's Addiction - "Just Because"
Billy Talent - "Try Honesty"
The Appleseed Cast - "Fight Song"
Jay-Z - "99 Problems"
Eve 6 - "Think Twice"
AFI - "Dancing Through Sunday"
Thrice - "All That's Left"
Story Of The Year - "Until The Day I Die"
Evanescence - "Bring Me To Life"
Saves The Day - "Anywhere With You"
The Books - "There Is NO There"
Alkaline Trio - "We've Had Enough"
Lagwagon - "E. Dagger"
Switchfoot - "Meant To Live"
50 Cent - "In Da Club"
The White Stripes - "Ball & Biscuit"
The Format - "The First Single (You Know Me)"
Deftones - "Minerva"

 

It's funny I just don't even care that critics thought nu-metal was a 'nadir' for rock music. That Three Days Grace song is a banger, so are the Shinedown singles from '03. And I just heard "I Stand Alone" by Godsmack and "Enemy" by Sevendust back to back on shuffle. They may not work for everyone, but they sure as hell work for me. *Shrugs*

 

One of the most important music years ever for me. So many all timers released this year

1. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
2. blink-182 - blink-182
3. Streetlight Manifesto - Everything Goes Numb

ALSO
Brand New - Deja Entendu (would be number 1 but I rather not vote for it for obvious reasons. Too important for me not to mention and I would be kidding myself otherwise)
Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave
Something Corporate - North
Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain
50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Copeland - Beneath Medicine Tree
Motion City Soundtrack - I Am The Movie
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Less Than Jake - Anthem
The Postal Service - Give Up
Third Eye Blind - Out of the Vein
Linkin Park - Meteora
Mae - Destination: Beautiful
Nada Surf - Let Go
Dashboard Confessional - A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar
Thrice - The Artist in the Ambulance
The Ataris - So Long, Astoria
AFI - Sing the Sorrow
Thursday - War All the Time
John Mayer - Heavier THings
Mew - Frengers
Every Time I Die - Hot Damn!
The Early November - The Room's Too Cold
Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

 

We are already in 2003?!?!?! Jesus Christ, I can't keep up!

 

Out of the ones on the list, here are the ones I had on heavy rotation my Freshmen year of college...

Kelly Clarkson – Thankful
Beyonce - Dangerously in Love
The Neptunes - Presents Clones
Hilary Duff – Metamorphosis
John Mayer - Heavier Things
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Jay Z - The Black Album
Britney Spears - In the Zone3
Blink 182 - (Untitled)
Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
Switchfoot – The Beautiful Letdown
The Story of the year – Page Avenue
Limp Bizkit – Results May Vary

 

Now I have to listen to Heavier Things tonight. what a fucking banger that album is.

 

I'm still very upset with myself that I didn't even know who FOB was in 2003. I didn't hear TTTYG until 2005.

 

An absolutely formative year for me. Week after week of iconic albums.