The Biggest Albums of 2005
In one of my first articles for Kurrent I wrote about the most impactful debut albums from 2005. 2005 was a special year for me as it was the year that my musical tastes started to mature and mutate into the tates I have now: Editors first album was a step closer to understanding the dark appeal of Joy Division, I still enjoyed Coldplay's music before Radiohead took hold, and Bloc Party's Silent Alarm felt like the most dangerous record about being young in Britain. So I wanted to follow up the debut article by talking about a few albums that consolidated certain bands reputations. In order to begin, we have to talk about Coldplay so brace yourselves.
Coldplay: X&Y
Regardless of whether you like Coldplay or not, they have had a fascinating career. Unlike Arcade Fire, you can pick any Coldplay album and be given insight into the musical trends of that time. Their debut Parachutes was the cornerstone of acoustic indie that was rife in 2000, just before The Strokes came and burned it down. A Rush of Blood to the Head was the cornerstone of grand British rock in the mould that Radiohead made with The Bends, and X&Y perfectly captures the stadium rock template of 2005.
Despite an early chart defeat by Crazy Frog, Coldplay became the biggest band on the planet due to X&Y, and for the first time became the band that dictated where British stadium rock would go in the future. Their influence passed on to other stadium wannabes like Snow Patrol, Doves, and Elbow.
Sufjan Stevens: Come on Feel the Illinoise
Come on Feel the Illinoise was Sufjan Stevens’ second album in a proposed 50-album project, with each album representing an American state. He never continued the project after this album, and who could blame him? Better artists than him couldn’t have topped his 2005 masterwork.
It’s Steven’s need to “go big or go home” that makes him a unique talent. This uniqueness is all over Illinoise as the multi-instrumentalist soars through different tones and moods over these 24 songs. His penchant for huge soundscapes is loud and clear on the likes of Chicago (which was a modest hit all by itself), and the title track. The album isn’t all brass and bluster though: tracks like Casimir Pulaski Day, and the murder balled John Wayne Gacy, Jr, see his sweet, delicate, crooning come to the fore.
Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
For many, I’m Wide Awake its Morning is Conor Oberst’s best album. The acoustic half of his two-album project, coupled with the electric Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, I’m Wide Awake its Morning is not only the better of these two albums, but possibly the best of his long career.
Opening with the sublime, borderline improvisational ode to everything wrong with the world and man’s own insignificance: “I found out that I’m really no one”, the album then effortlessly transitions into more delicate and introspective territory with We Are Nowhere, and Lua. The best song is, without a doubt, Road to Joy, which reinterprets Beethoven’s Ode to Joy (which alone is audacious) to create his own acoustic symphony.
Gorillaz: Demon Days
It’s hard to imagine that, in 2005, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewitt’s Gorillaz were viewed as an entertaining oddity that would surely be a flash in the pan at best. And then they released Demon Days.
The animated band’s sophomore effort took the world by surprise, not only because it even existed, but that it was so bloody good. Albarn’s song writing seemed to soar without the confines of Blur (a band of real people which Gorillaz taught us was a drag), with an album that spans many genres both in music and with their videos, which ranged from gorgeous (El Mañana) to downright disturbing with Shaun Ryder on top (Dare).
If any album signalled the destruction of indie it was Demon Days. Due to its influence, bands dared to dream a little bigger mixing and matching different genres at will. If 2005 should be remembered for anything, it should be for Demon Days, when four crazy cartoons took over the world.