Best Of 2010 - #25

The Automatic - Tear The Signs Down



The Automatic, in my opinion, have just gone downhill. Their debut album was fantastic; I had it on repeat for absolutely ages, and was definitely up there with my favourite albums of 2006. Then came the second album, This Is A Fix. It was decent enough, but didn't quite reach the same standard.

Then there was this. I heard Interstate and Run And Hide before the album, and I was looking forward to it a bit more. But there are only three tracks on the album that I like - the previously mentioned two and another one called List.

I understand that it's good for bands to take slightly different directions with their music, but to be honest I just don't like the way they went with this one.

SCORE:


Previous albums: Not Accepted Anywhere (9/10), This Is A Fix (5/10)

Tear The Signs Down Pushed Back

Apparently the new Automatic album has been pushed back to March 2010.

Updates: The Automatic

The Automatic's third album will be Tear The Signs Down.
Not sure if I want to buy this. I didn't like their second album but loved their first.

Known songs are:
Interstate - first single, released December 6
Parasol
Run And Hide - second single, to be released in February
Cannot Be Saved
My Time
Something Else - free download from mid-2009

Best Of 2008 (#25-#21)

After the annoying problem of having my entire blog from early 2008 deleted, I thought it was time to start afresh. What better than the top 25 albums (for me) of 2008, bearing in mind that according to my iTunes, I've only got 30, and the 5 that didn't make it are because I haven't really listened to them. These are:

• Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
• The Futureheads - This Is Not The World
• Kanye West - 808s And Heartbreak
• Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
• The Script - The Script
  

25. The Feeling - Join With Us

After the success of their debut, Twelve Stops And Home, this seems to be a fairly dismal follow-up. There are highs and lows on this album, but mainly lows.

Good tracks include I Thought It Was Over, Without You, Turn It Up and Loneliness, and practically everything else is awful.

It's a shame that it ended up the way it did, considering The Feeling's first venture would have received 10/10 had this site been running then.

SCORE: 3/10

24. Foals - Antidotes

The first album from Foals was a very tempting buy at first - of course I did buy it in the end - after hearing the fantastic Cassius and other songs such as Olympic Airways and Balloons, but the album, despite not having a bad song whatsoever, just doesn't get to me. Only Cassius is memorable, but it is a good attempt.
SCORE: 5/10

23. The Automatic - This Is A Fix

After the brilliant first album, Not Accepted Anywhere, which was one of the best albums of 2006, in my opinion, this new album is nowhere near as good as its predecessor. Whilst songs such as Steve McQueen, Magazines and In The Mountains all hit the spot perfectly, the others just don't. Especially the title track. Screaming "this is a fix" over and over again just ruins the entire song. But this is the only abysmal song on the album. There is good (Steve McQueen), bad (Sleepwalking) and downright ugly (This Is A Fix) on this album.
SCORE: 5/10

22. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires

This is by no means a bad album, it just, like #24, doesn't quite hit the spot, aside from the astonishing opener Jump In The Pool and the sheer brilliance of Paris. There are no bad points, just not many very good songs.
SCORE: 5/10

21. The Verve - Forth

The opening three tracks of this album are absolutely brilliant, particularly Love Is Noise. But the album just goes downhill from there. I expected more from the Verve, this album is just not very memorable.
SCORE: 5/10