Top40: The Best of 2004

21. Elvis Costello
The Delivery Man
(From UK)

The best movement in his life made Elvis Costello when he decided to leave from the unhealthy environment of the UK Music Press/Industry. Coming to Canada/USA, he found a new life to expolore according to music terms. Inspiration, new musicians, thousands of listeners to "consume" his new songs... Jealousy against the environment of North American Music Industry? THIS IS THE ONLY REASON THAT HIS NEW ALBUM WAS INGORED SO MUCH, IN BRITAIN!
Thankfully, for all of us, Elvis gave us on the Radio or our cd/iPod players, some of our best moments. Can someone ignore this piece of art? With strong melodies and lyrics and ferocious playing by The Imposters, The Delivery Man is Mr. Costello's most accesible album in years; it will hopefully help him broaden his ever-shrinking fan base.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters album The Delivery Man is an impressive 13 track set. Costello, who was once called "the most talented pop tunesmith ever" by The New York Times in 1982 seems to have traded in his pop tunes for more rock and jazz influenced. The album may even be considered part blues and rockabilly at times. The album opens with the unforgettable song "Button My Lip." One of the best songs on the set is "The Name of This Thing Is Not Love."
"Bedlam" is another awesome song on the track. Another thing that makes this album special is that their is a real band playing and real musical instruments and not electronic or re-created instrument sounds.
The entire album sounds like it could be played during one long funky night at a lounge and the songs seem perfect for soundtracks.

22. Usher
Confessions
(From USA)

Usher's on a roll, no denying it. The man's comin' off a multi-platinum release, and four chart-topping singles, "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Pt. 2", and "My Boo" (with Alicia Keys), which we are sure you've already heard. USHER is being a part of the unique list which includes not just some 'hits' but the BRIGHTEST SUPERSTARS OF MUSIC. Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Jacksons 5 had 4 No 1 singles in a year. Usher is the first artist of this Century who enters this unique list and presents us a REAL SUCCESS - according to CHARTS terms.
Usher's a talented dude, he can sing and dance, and he puts on a good show. We think he deserves to be at the top of the charts unlike most chart-topping artists this year. If you love Usher, but don't own Confessions for some reason, pick this up.
You get the 17 tracks included on Confessions, plus 4 new cuts, although "My Boo" with Alicia Keys is probably the most lackluster single Usher's released this year. The Confessions pt. 2 remix with Shyne, Kanye West and Twista is nice though. This special edition album is worth pickin' up if you don't have the album already and you're a fan of Usher past singles out this year.

23. U2
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
(From Ireland)

Time and again U2 has demonstrated why they're on the short list of the greatest bands in the history of rock and roll music. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is yet another example of what distinguishes this band from all the rest. This album carries a singular sound, infectious hooks, meaningful lyrics, variable textures, stellar musicianship, and a lot of attention to detail.
U2 has developed each song on this album as an admirable work. Separately these songs are independently worthy of adulation, but collectively they present a synergy that is rarely seen in albums these days. Meticulous craftsmanship has come to define U2's songwriting and production, and it's wonderfully apparent here. Throughout Atomic Bomb the band takes you through a variety of musical landscapes, frequently transitioning from one place to another within tracks. Those transitions are what separate this band from others: as you listen you're captivated by HOW the band brought it all together as much as you're captivated by the great melody, music, lyrics, etc.
Consistent with past practice, U2 didn't put any filler on this album - if it wasn't worth listening to, it wasn't placed anywhere on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
The album begins with the driving hit "Vertigo," a fun freight train of a tune laced with Spanish (listen for the HOLA!). After the rousing opener, "Miracle Drug" changes the pace with a plaintive, beautiful song containing oblique religious references - this blend of the secular and the spiritual is mesmerizing from start to finish. "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" is a soft and poignant reassurance that we need each other. The next track, "Love and Peace Or Else," is reminiscent of a Led Zeppelin-style romp with a benign introduction that transforms to a groovy, funky pounding of heavy guitars. The fifth track is one of my personal favorites on the album: "City of Blinding Lights" is a soaring, affective song with a heavenly sound and message. "All Because of You" is another hard rocker that bears a compelling chorus and melody. With "A Man and a Woman," Bono explores the complexities of relationships between the sexes while backed by the acoustic guitar and the terrifically prominent bass guitar of Adam Clayton. "Crumbs from Your Table" is a conscious-prickler of moderate tempo bearing an activist message. Things slow down further with "One Step Closer," another beautiful song with unapologetically spiritual overtones. On "Original of the Species," Bono reminds us that each of us is unique and that "some people got way too much confidence baby" (how true is that)! Atomic Bomb gracefully closes with "Yahweh," a title citing the Hebrew reference to God, a title which artfully conveys the message of this final song, the one selected to be the uplifting end note of this album. "Yahweh" is part prayer/part worship song, and it has instantly become one of my very favorite U2 songs of all time.
We have been a U2 fan for most of our lifes. With each successive album, this band has shown that they continue to care about their music. The music U2 is making these days is the type that can be created only by seasoned artists who know themselves, are in touch with the world around them, and settle for nothing less than the best they can give in their art.
The Irish band has always unabashedly laced their music with religious undercurrents, but those seem more overt in Atomic Bomb, a fact which makes the album even more appealing to me. U2 has achieved such Herculean stature that they don't need to prove anything to anybody, and Atomic Bomb represents an honest work born of musicians who value, first and foremost, the art itself. Commercial success is an inevitable byproduct of what they've created, given the worldwide popularity of this band.
So, we'd definitely encourage you to make How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb a part of your music collection. The album is abundantly rewarding!

24. Rufus Wainwright
Want Two
(From USA)

We'd like to begin this review by saying that Rufus's latest album, WANT TWO, could easily be the best album of 2004! But as you know, in Top40 Charts review of the year, is not only enough the "artistic" side of music, for being higher must considerate high sales, radio airplays, etc.
Taken from the "Want" recording sessions that gave us last year's WANT ONE, this meditative follow-up to an artist's perspective on the undying passions, desires, and romantic longings that each and every one of us harbours, is almost a mirror-image of the first WANT album and of the artist himself, as he taps into the more effeminite aspects of his inner-psyche to explore the same themes found on WANT ONE, but this time from the perspective of a woman - from the album's cover artwork to selected song titles ("Little Sister" & "Old Whore's Diet") to the inviting lyrics.
Both of the WANT albums were originally intended to be releases together in a double-disc package, but we agree with a previous reviewer that they are much more effective as independent albums. While they tackle similar universal themes, their persepctives and overall vibes are so different that they both deserve their own spotlight. We also find it ironic that WANT TWO is partially comprised of tracks that didn't "fit" into the WANT ONE story, but we find the latter to be more cohesive and focused. In fact, we'd go out on a limb to say that WANT TWO is his strongest, most cohesive album in his ever-growing repertoire of music.
When we indulge in a Rufus album for the first time, there are always tracks that we initially feel indifferent about that eventually grow on us, but the first time we listened to WANT TWO wewere amazed at how each and every song appealed to a wide range of our emotions and how the entire album had my undivided attention from start to finish.
Some of Rufus's best songs are contained within this devine work: "The One you Love," while very commercial and radio-friendly, has frank lyrics and an incredible melody that is sure to have people singing along in their heads for years to come; "Little Sister" sounds more Beethoven than Beatles, the lyrics are incredibly witty and manage to mesh quite well with the classical music backdrop; "This Love Affair" spotlights the album's darker side and this track, while agonizingly painful, is beautiful in its misery as the antagonist moves on with his/her life after an affair; the somber mood continues with the Jeff Buckley ode "Memphis Skyline," being a Buckley fan ourselves we really appreciated this one and was in tears the first time we listened to it the way Rufus alludes to Ophelia and Eurydice, the last minute or so is hauntingly beautiful; "Waiting for a Dream" is the real gem for us - it's got a great melody, and the lyrics are personal to the artist and at the same time very representative of the state of things today in America, this is one of those bright spots in such a dark time that gives us hope that things will get better (hopefully in 2008!!!); "Crumb by Crumb" certainly taps into the fairytale sort of theme running throughout the WANT albums with allusions to Hansel & Gretel's trail of bread crumbs, the song also brings the two characters from the WANT albums, the knight and the lady-in-waiting, together on their trip through the "big, black forrest" and their trip through life...
WANT TWO is not a casual album, it's a natural progression in an extremely talented artist's life that serves as a ravishing reminder of Rufus's musical greatness, and on a more subliminal level, the album serves to remind us that there's always light in the dark and happiness in the pain...

25. Rosalia de Souza
Garota Diferente: The Remix Album
(From Brazil)

Rosalia De Souza was born in Rio de Janeiro, in the Nilopolis district - famous for its samba Beija-Flor although she moved to Italy in 1989 to study at the Scuola Popolare di Testaccio, Roma, (Popular school of Testaccio, Roma) - taking classes in musical theory, Cuban percussion, jazz and jazz history.
Throughout this first year she began working with Brazilian artists including guitarist and bassist Alvaro dos Santos, Ney Coutinho, Roberto Taufic and the Roman pianist Giovanni Guaccero which gave her the possibility to sing in the most important jazz clubs of the capital. Their typical 'repertoire' included classical Brazilian songwriters such as Tom Jobin, Baden Powell, Joao Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Edu Lobo, Joyce, Toquinho, Vinicius de Moraes, Djavan, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gill, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimiento and many other less renowned artists.
We were pumped when we first heard about "Garota Moderna" and when it came out in 2002, several months after getting a preview of what to expect thanks to Break & Bossa vol 5, we knew that Rosalia De Souza's feature CD would be a smash success. It featured Nicola Conte's great musical influence/production work and hey, it is on the Schema label after all. But today there's the remix project that's been IMO LONG overdue but you look at the tracks on "Garota Moderna" and think, how can you improve them or give the tracks a twist without taking away their charm? Enter the fortune of Schema's evolution. The label's been going into a mad big-band bossa styled that's crazy jazzed up and slick & cool. "Garota Diferente" is yet another sample of that!
The CD starts out with labelmates Five Corners Quintet contributing with their rendition of "Adriana" complete with a fresh beat, live instruments and solos. The cut starts out slowly but you can feel that it'll kick up and when it does, watch out! Want something slick, check Zero dB's remix to "Maria Moita" which has a old school sly, top hat, zoot suit sort of feel to it before transforming into a sort of drum & bass hybrid... neat stuff. "Fica Mal Com Deus" is given two different face-lifts, one by Truby Trio and the other by an old time Break&Bossa veteran from the old days, Stateless.
Honestly, neither version grabbed me, which was surprising because I'm a huge Truby Trio fan. But I have to admit - the first 2:12 secs of Truby Trio's gets me - especially that quiet intro. But there are some other fantastic remakes by other Schema artists and even Povo, who's "Saudisismo" is cool and collect, GIanluca Petrella proves he's no slouch when it comes to mixin' it up and Gerardo Frisina... if you heard "Hipnosis" a few years ago, you know what he can do to a tune. But the real gem on this one is IMO The Dining Rooms take on "Mais". That was one cut on "Garota Moderna" that did need a nice remix and they did it very well with a gentle beat, a cool guitar and alternate direction with the music. Same sweet vocal, different, sexy, lazy mood.
We definitely recommend this: It's not like a few of the other remix projects that've come out over the past. You can tell Schema put a lot of effort into who actually would redo the cuts and all in all, they're rather good. Besids who we mentioned, Big Bang, Raw Deal and Buscemi contributed with some pretty neat takes on the tracks. And hey - these songs are anything but short so you'll hardly feel slighted with cut length... many clock in at around at least 6-7 minutes long or more! Also there are some noticable omissions - "As Gotas", "Mar Azul" and "Ipanema" missed the remix bag. But if you look hard enough in the lounge/underground market, you might find something. (And if you dug this - check out Nicola Conte's "Jet Sounds Revisited" for some beats, maybe Koop's "Alternative Takes" and for fans of the new jazzed up sound, check Nicola Conte's "Other DIrections", Gerardo Frisina's "Hi Note" and Soulstance's "Life Size").

26. Eminem
Encore
(From USA)

Eminem came back with his fourth solo effort 2+ years since his third album. Like with all his releases a lot of hype was leading to this release. All in all it is a good album.
Dre produces 8 of the 19 songs with Eminem doing the rest. Quite a few of the songs are hilarious, and there are a few real good songs, but a few that are definitely skippable. There are a few that don't really sound like rap at all but they're different and Em would be the one to make them. He gets on a few people on his CD, most notably Ja Rule, Benzino, his ex-wife Kim, Michael Jackson, George Bush, and quite a few others as he always does.
It seems as if there are two parts to the album.
One is serious, the other is stupid. When Em sticks to being serious I am interested in listening. He really rips it on tracks like "Mockingbird", "Like Toy Soldiers", "Mosh", and the album's best cut "Encore" featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent.
When he wants to act stupid on tracks such as "Ass Like That", "Puke", and "My 1st Single", I get annoyed and skip through the track.
We also feel like he ruins some good Dr. Dre beats by trying to be funny.
Altogether there are too many burps and farts on the album. The three tracks on the bonus disc should have been included on the main disc and replaced some of the childish songs.
Features D12, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Obie Trice, Nate Dogg & Stat Quo. This is an overall decent album, but not on the level of the Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem has once again ripped it.

27. Steve Earle
Revolution Starts Now
(From USA)

Much of Steve Earle's strength as an artist has been centered around his writing ability; over the last two decades he has honed a style that is both thoughtful and intelligent, observant and direct, yet, at the same time, never preachy or anything less than heartfelt. Many have come to consider him the new Dylan (heck, even Dylan himself has sung his praises for Earle!).
That's why THE REVOLUTION STARTS...NOW, Earle's tenth studio album of original material, is some what of a letdown - there's a forced emptiness to much of the material, a feeling that Earle's just trying too hard.
Things kick off well enough with "The Revolution Starts...", a trippy, 60's-influenced rocker that serves as a sort of call to arms, exhorting the listener to get involved and make a difference. With it's slightly echoed vocals, hand claps and to-the-point lyrics ("Yeah, the revolution starts now/In your own backyard/In your own hometown/So what you doin' standin' around?/Just follow your heart/The revolution starts now"), Earle delivers both a crisp commentary about change starting with one person and a great pop song, all wrapped up in 3:10 minutes.
"Home To Houston" and "Rich Man's War" are a pair of tales about the vagaries of war, with the former centering on a young trucker who feels the only way to improve his lot in life is to inlist, while the latter is about two young men from different ends of the world who have a lot more in common than they'll ever realize, the worst of it being lives controlled by richer, more powerful, men.
"Home..." has an almost Beatles-meets-Bill Monroe vibe to it, while "...War" is a sort of South of the border shuffle. Things rebound nicely though with "Comin' Around", a stripped-down duet with Emmylou Harris. It's amazing how comfortable and right these two have come to seem as duet partners in just the past few years. They complement each other's vocals, never hogging the spotlight, always sharing in a glorious give and take. Truly one of the all-time great Country pairings of the last 50 years!
We'll say it now: "Earl is the best songwriter in America, nowdays."

28. Mark Lanegan
Bubblegum
(From USA)

Lanegan is a man of many "phases." As a matter of fact, you may be reading this review either because of his work with Screaming Tress, his haunting and stripped down Americana solo output, or his recent singing contributions to Queens Of The Stone Age, have interested you enough to see what our boy is up to here.
The good news here is that Lanegan, rather than "returning" or "departing" from what you may be used to, has brought all of it together into a an intense boil, and come out of it with a powerful collection of songs that will offer immediate, if different, favorites for everyone.
In addition to this, the list of musicians called on to help his efforts is quite impressive and likely to make you salivate, even before the album starts playing. Whether it is PJ Harvey, Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers' mastermind Greg Dulli, or Josh Homme - from QOFTA - to name only the ones we were most excited about and intrigued by for what they may add to this album, their contributions are a major plus to "Bubblegum'"s sound.
Speaking of "bubblegum" - a reference from a line in the song "Bombed"- Lanegan could not sound farther from what that word may make you expect. Actually, he sounds closer to Tom Waits than ever before, a similar tone yet not ever trying to imitate Tom, and he phrases his words in ways that remind us of the dark sensuality of Jim Morrison.
The reference to Morrison may be more apparent on "When Your Number Isn't Up," and ominous and prophetic slow tune about mortality, or "Wedding Dress," as dark a "love song" as you can expect. As far as Lanegan ability to bring into a single album everything he's explored musically in the past, we'd like to name some of the remaining tunes. "Methamphetamine Blues" is probably densest piece of the bunch, in part thanks to Homme's raging guitar and the machine-like pipe-banging that drives the song from the beginning... Let's just say its title could not be more accurate PJ Harvey's duet on the quieter "Come To Me" - one of two songs she sings on - makes it another high moment from this album, giving it a sensuous and menacing mood, think of it as a hymn to dark love.
Other songs I particularly recommend are "Morning Glory Wine," as tender a ballad as Lanegan gets; the bluesy "Like Little Willie John;" and the dense beauty of "Strange Religion" and "One Hundred Ways."
Last but not least, we must mention Chris Goss' co-production, which gives Lanegan a partner who seems to read his mind and soul, and pushes him to further greatness, and Wendy Rae Fowler whom we didn't know but whose voice adds incredible depth to the above-mentioned "Wedding Dress, and the very brief, although sad and gorgeous, "Bombed."
All in all, this is a remarkable album, a dark and fierce set of songs that has stretched Mark Lanegan in more directions than any of his prior recordings, and, to our taste, one of the best albums of 2004.

29. Loretta Lynn
Van Lear Rose
(from USA)

Country and rock "crossovers" are not new. The Byrds did it back in the 1960's, and for that matter, most of Elvis Presley's biggest hits were equally popular with both rock and county & western audiences. The Eagles and other music acts have managed to also build huge fan bases from both country and rock audiences. Late in life, Johnny Cash managed a few hits that rock & pop audiences liked, and even though Willien Nelson is a "country singer/songwriter", every rock band in Texas thinks he's as cool as they come.
So, Loretta Lynn gets Jack White (White Stripes) to collaborate on a new album. Nothing new right? WRONG! This is a masterpiece. If Loretta Lynn never does another album of songs, this is one that will define her career as surely as anything else she ever did. The collaboratin might seem surprising, but The WHite Stripes dedicated their WHITE BLOOD CELLS album to Loretta Lynn as a major inspiraton. The admiration Jack (and his band mate, Meg) White has is genuine.
Jack White tells people that Digital Is Evil, and The White Stripes use analog recording equipment to record & mix. This CD is analog as well - done with 8 tracks or less on all songs. So, I guess the corrollary is that analog is good. J. WHite sure makes that case convincingly here.
On a few songs, Loretta Lynn sings with enough passion and intensity to rival Janis Joplin at her peak, or even Robert Plant. Loretta Lynn is a "hall of Famer" nearly 70 years old, yet she sounds like she's just starting out and eager to get noticed - for all the right reasons.
The production is sparse, not over-orchestrated. It's a lot like the really great country songs of many years ago - and not that much different in concept from what The WHite Stripes do on their own albums.
"Van Lear Rose" is also a lot like "Hard Again", a Muddy Waters album produced by long time admirer, Johnny Winter. If you're going to check out, then why not do it at the top?
'Miss Being Mrs.' is a sad lament about widhowhood - but sad songs about loss are what make the best C & W tunes. Same for 'Family Tree' (marital infidelity), and 'Portland, Oregon' (a duet with Jack WHite) which recalls past love.
This "comeback" is magnificent. Check it out.

30. Air
Talkie Walkie
(From France)

With 'Talkie Walkie', Air are headed back where they came from. That they do this without actually retracing their own footprints and have produced an album with its own delicate but distinct hallmarks is a measure of their talent. Most obvious is the fact that Godin and Dunckel themselves provide most of the vocals, rather than a troupe of guests whose contributions are heavily treated. There's nothing that approaches the devastatingly immediate 'Sexy Boy'; rather, 'Talkie Walkie' delivers its pleasures gradually, revealing more and more with each sweet and subtle unravelling.
Thankfully for all Air fans, Talkie Walkie is very much a nod towards their critically acclaimed Moon Safari, an LP that has stood as king of the ambient genre since its release in 1998. It can, however, be more readily compared to their soundtrack for Virgin Suicides, an album that appears to be grossly undervalued by many.
Talkie Walkie is classic Air, and showcases their trademark dreamy melancholy. We find that the boys have embraced minimalism since 2001's hit-and-miss 10,000Hz Legend, and many tracks consist of a sparse drum loop, few instruments and the most basic but beautiful vocal harmonies. Tracks like Cherry Blossom Girl and Run could have been written years ago, such is their resemblance to now-classic Air tracks such as All I Need and Ce Matin La.
The album is strong throughout, and Biological boasts a sparse and melancholic verse, which somehow fits perfectly with an uplifting banjo chorus. In addition we find English lyrics that could only be thought of by French speakers ("Thousands of hairs / Two eyes only / ... It's you"), sung with Air's remarkably endearing French inflection.
Talkie Walkie is the the wistful landscape for the 2004, it paints will make you dig out Moon Safari once more: Air at their very best.

The best of the best for 2004 without music frontiers:

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