MY Favorite 2008 Albums

2008 for me is one of the worst years since the Great Depression. With the global financial crisis, it seems that rock music also experienced a slump with regards to album releases. Excellent bands such as Breaking Benjamin, Blue October, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will be releasing their new ones on 2009. I still have to hear if there's a Foo Fighters album in the works. No word on Incubus or Linkin Park.

Here are some of the few albums which made the crunch easier for me to take.



VIVA LA VIDA AND DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS BY COLDPLAY

This is my only Coldplay album, ever. I like their songs, but I usually end up just borrowing friends' CDs. It was for the shallowest reasons I bought this album. I like the cover art. Songs such as Lost!, Viva La Vida, Violet Hill, and Lovers In Japan are also good enough excuses.



THE SCRIPT BY THE SCRIPT

This illustrates the slim pickings I had this year. Not exactly alternative or rock, The Scripts is borderline pop-rock. Coming from nowhere, the song The Man Who Can't Be Moved moved me to hysterics I had to buy the album. It wasn't a disappointment. Most of the songs are auditory friendly. The song lyrics are even more interesting, specially for those who had relationship fallouts - check the song Breakeven.



If there is one band out there who deserves to release a GREATEST HITS album, Stereophonics would be it. This is ear candy all the way. Although Movie Star is nowhere to be found, the new single You're My Star is a welcome bonus to the collection.



TWILIGHT SOUNDTRACK

It's inevitable. The saga of Bella and Edward took a life on its own and spawned a movie. Trust me, I love the book. I love the actors. But hell, what happened to the script!?! I have so many complaints about the movie starting from the make-up department to the direction, and wonder how Stephenie Meyer allowed this (well, it didn't stop me from watching it several times though). Thank God for the soundtrack. Like VICODIN it takes away the pain. With songs from bands such as Muse, Mutemath, The Black Ghosts, Collective Soul, Linkin Park, Blue Foundation, Iron & Wine, and of course Paramore, it's enough to prevent me from going berserk.



THE RED ALBUM BY WEEZER

A ray of sunshine in these dark times, trust Weezer to put a smile on those weary faces. Known for their self-deprecating humorous lyrics and catchy riffs, the band offers tunes such as Pork and Beans, Troublemaker, and The Greatest Man That Ever Lived making you want to post your own homemade videos on YouTube.



FOLIE A DEUX BY FALL OUT BOY

Known for their quirky song titles, FOB releases yet another good album. This is one of the bands out there who shouldn't stop EVER. Trust the song with a title that goes like Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet (further explains Pete Wentz and Ashley Simpson's baby naming skills.)




A HUNDRED MILLION SUNS BY SNOW PATROL

One of those impulse buys. There's a new noun for beautiful and this album is it. If this were a guy I already married it, period. Check out Crack The Shutters and The Planets Bend Between Us. A must-have!!

BITTEN: The Twilight Saga

Gist in a telegram: Young girl moves to new town. Falls in love. Gets married. Lives happily ever after.

What's so special?


It was one of those unusual days that I picked TWILIGHT on pure superficiality.

I know, I know, there's a saying don't judge a book by it's cover. But then I was feeling adventurous and the cover of the book showed promise ... a set of ghostly white hands holding a very red apple against a broodingly black background.

I didn't bother to read anything at the back. I wanted to surprise myself.

The cashier tips me on getting NEW MOON and ECLIPSE. "Copies are diminishing in an alarming rate and will certainly be sold out before BREAKING DAWN gets out," she says.

When the bartender gives you a free drink, chug it down.

Five cups of black coffee and six unholy hours later ... I wanted to kick myself. I should have listened.

After several trips to different bookstores and one online pre-order later, I'm hooked.

MY THOUGHTS IN A NUTSHELL: TWILIGHT itself is a gem. It stands out among the four and clearly my favorite. Love indeed holds no boundaries. NEW MOON for me single-handedly redefined the word broken in an entirely different level of comprehension. I love it. ECLIPSE made me see how terrible it is when one thinks "Can we all just get along?" because in reality, such is never the case. BREAKING DAWN ...inevitably inevitable. She warned us that the book is for cowards. In Meyer's defense, it's told in a totally different LIFE. Face it, we all grow up and it gets ugly sometimes. I thank her for the happy ending .... we all needed it. I cannot wait for MIDNIGHT SUN. Puleeeze, finish it soon.

The Romeo & Juliet plot has been rewritten, replotted, filmed, revived, sung, and twisted in so many ways that the thought of another rendition of it may make you barf. Well, leave room for one more. Take my assurance though, you won't be reaching for the bag. Even those with balance problems will scream for more vertigo and not puke. This series is just too damn good to be dismissed.


WHY?

I could enumerate so many reasons yet the words in my brain fail to compose something coherent I would sound like a gibbering chimp.

But then what's the use of writing about it? I might as well plod on.



THE VAGUEST REASONS WHY TO READ TWILIGHT:

1. The heroine is as plain as brown hair and brown eyes. Like the rest of the world.
2. (Vampire + Human) - Werewolf = Half-Vampire + Werewolf = Happily Ever After. Trust me, even I got lost on that one but hey, I'm not complaining.
3. One day you might want to live in Forks, Washington.
4. "It doesn't matter." & "You're my brand of heroin."
5. Only in death shall one be "perfect."
6. Love can literally kill you, but then you allow it almost always.
7. Sex actually and ONLY occurs after marriage.
8. .... and you will be spared of the pornographic details. Thank God.
9. Damn, I have to say it: Edward Cullen.
10. The movie will be shown on Dec. 12, 2008. Read the book and have the right to say if it sucks or not. Otherwise, shut up.

I read this blog and cannot make sense of it. Sorry, my head is still stuck in some meadow in the Olympian Peninsula.