To any longtime Sarcasmatron readers (as if there are any), already know this isn't going to be a typical Best Of 2010 list. It's not so much a "Best Of" as it is albums of what I managed to get a hold of. I tried to shine the spotlight on those I may have missed out on but this is the list that, for better or worse, I was able to accumulate through my own meager means. So let's get this thing started:
#10 TIE) David Cross - Bigger and Blackerer/Brian Posehn - Fart and Wiener Jokes
Ok, so neither of these albums are musical but this is my list so I can do whatever I want with it. Unfortunately, this was a bit of a disappointing year when it comes to comedy albums. As one of my favorite comedians, I was looking forward to a new David Cross album for years. But as someone who doesn't care much for politics, Cross' acerbic views have become a bit alienating to me...and this is coming from someone who, by and large, agrees with him. To make matters worse, I swear this album had some sort of recording problems as the volumes either range from whisper quiet to ear-shatteringly shrill. Luckily, most of the non-political jokes are top-notch. If I can recommend Bigger and Blackerer (great title, by the way), I say get the performance on DVD if you can find it.
As for Brian Posehn, there's not really much more I can say that hasn't already been said. If you're a nerd and listen to metal, you'll enjoy Posehn. But there's not much else different on Fart and Wiener Jokes that wasn't already on previous album Nerd Rage. Honestly, I'd probably put Nerd Rage above this album in terms of enjoyability. Also, I'm not feeling the musical tracks, particularly More Metal Than You, as much as I did on Nerd Rage.
#9) William Control - Noir
I'm usually pretty open and up-front with what I enjoy. But if I ever had a "guilty pleasure" that I wouldn't be readily to admit, it would probably be William Control. The dark-techno solo project of Aiden's Wil Francis can really be summarized in a couple words - "depraved" and "self-indulgent". What kind of guy would accompany his music with porno samples? (Though I guess I'll have to give him credit and think he's grown up since previous album Hate Culture, as he only used the porn samples in half of his songs, compared to all of them.) And what kind of guy has TWO intros to an album, in addition to an Epilogue? What kind of guy does an acoustic cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love" and nestle it in-between songs of self-loathing and drug abuse? On one hand, I'm almost embarrassed to be listening to something this...but I can't stop. Of course, listening to Noir so many times actually help cause a major bout of depression that I haven't totally recovered from so, like everything else in life that's bad for you, it should be enjoyed in moderation.
#8) The Birthday Massacre - Pins and Needles
Speaking of guilty pleasures, I'm sure admitting that I enjoy The Birthday Massacre could expose me as some sort of Hot Topic kid. But I don't care, their songs rock. On the surface, the band's sound hasn't really grown much from album to album. But they did decide to speed up the tempo to some of their songs, making some of their more morose tracks peppy and a bit more upbeat. There's not really a whole lot I can say but if a goth-synth-pop amalgamation is sounds interesting to you, give The Birthday Massacre a shot.
#6 TIE) Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra/Cradle of Filth - Darkly Darkly, Venus Aversa
Despite both bands' eventual progression past "true" Black Metal, Dimmu and Cradle still remain the poster-boys of the mainstream version of the genre. Thus, me placing their albums in a tie could be considered as mere laziness. But unfortunately, I just wasn't blown away enough by either one to place them any higher on the list. Dimmu Borgir had a chance to do so as they split from various band members and incorporated a full orchestra and choir to bring them up to a new level. But to me, most of the songs on Abrahadabra ended up being quite basic and if you stripped away the orchestra elements, there wouldn't be much left. In addition, utilizing clean vocalist Snowy Shaw wasn't that great of a mix for Dimmu, evident by the fact that they've already cut the man loose. I'm not going to say that the man doesn't have a voice (even if he does sound like Marilyn Manson with a head cold singing a rock opera), it just doesn't mesh well with Dimmu's sound, even if they are progressing more towards an "epic" sound. In my opinion, just listen to "Gateways", which sounds the closest to an "old-school" Dimmu song, despite it's many shifts in style, and also utilizes better sung vocals than what Shaw has to offer. Oh, and if you're looking for a limited edition for the bonus songs, don't bother with the Hot Topic version. As much as I love cover songs, these ones aren't worth it.
As for Cradle of Filth, it's almost as if they're going the opposite way of Dimmu Borgir. Whereas Dimmu is trying to go with a more orchestral sound, Cradle is seemingly stripping it away little by little. With Darkly..., there's no instrumental interludes that come standard with every other Cradle album, and no speeches by Pinhead to boot. Even though I missed out on previous album Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder, Darkly Darkly, Venus Aversa is possibly, from beginning to end, the heaviest and fastest Cradle of Filth album. However, because of this, the songs seem to blend together into one heavy mess and none of the songs really have their own identity. They're just fast, heavy and that's about it. The only two songs I could pick out of the lineup are "Lilith Immaculate", due to the female vocals, and "Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned)", due to it sounding different than every other track. Even if you get the special edition with four bonus songs, it's just another four songs that could've been interchangeably swapped out.
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