The Century So Far in Music Part II

The Best Albums of 2005 through 2009

This second part of The Century So Far in Music is a list of my favorite albums that were released between 2005 and 2009. There are 14 albums on this one.

14. Major Lodge Victory - Gin Blossoms

This one was released in August 2006 and was the band’s 4th studio album. It was a sort of reunion album as the band had been broken up for a while. This was a band who had a great hey day in the 90s. The album reached #159 on the US Billboard 200. In the grand scheme of things, this album did not perform well compared to their others albums but for some reason I just really like this album. Granted, I also don’t prefer it over albums like Congratulations I’m Sorry or New Miserable Experience but the album is pretty darn good on its own.

13. Keep Your Heart - The Loved Ones

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t know anything about this band when the album came out in February 2006. I didn’t know anything about the band until after I started listening to the solo material of Dave Hause (the vocalist/guitarist for The Loved Ones). This is an album you really should listen to and, for that matter, you really should go listen to their entire discography. It’s not that hard to do honestly. They only have 2 studio albums (this one and 2008’s Build and Burn) and about 4 EPs. This one is their debut on Fat Wreck Chords. This particular album stands out to me personally because of one of the greatest songs of all time, the song “Jane.”

12. I’m Only a Man - Emery

I was turned on to this band by a friend and former bandmate (his name is Scott) while I was living up in Seattle. He turned me on to them because he and I went to a venue (I can’t remember what it was called at the time but I think it’s call El Corazon now) and saw them. Then we both saw them a couple more times while I was living up there. This was the band’s 3rd studio album and my favorite of their catalog. While most fans of this band prefer their first 2 (The Weak’s End and The Question) I’m just more drawn to this one. It was released in October 2007 by Tooth & Nail. Some of my favorite songs from the album are “The Party Song,” “After the Devil Beats His Wife,” “From Crib to Coffin,” and “Can’t Stop the Killer.”

11. Chamberlain Waits - The Menzingers

This is not the only album from this band you are going to see on in my top 100. In fact, this isn’t even the only album from this band that you are going to see in this specific list. I had a hard time deciding which of them were going to be higher on the list than the other. Ultimately, this one lost the coin toss. This album was released in April 2010 by Red Scare Industries. It is the band’s 2nd studio album. It features guest vocals by The Lawrence Arms bassist Brendan Kelly on the song “So It Goes.” I really like this band. You are going to see a lot of this band in my top 100 of the century. I’ve seen this band live quite a few times.

10. A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology - The Menzingers

This one won the coin toss. It is the band’s debut studio album and was released in July 2007 by Go-Kart Records. The title track is absolutely fantastic. Another really great song, “Ave Maria,” is also on this album.

9. Oh! Calcutta! - The Lawrence Arms

Speaking of The Lawrence Arms, this album by the band was released in March 2006 by Fat Wreck Chords. It is their 3rd studio album and their last to be released on that particular record label. The punk website Punknews named this album #1 on their list of best albums of 2000-2009. While on their previous albums, the vocalists Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan took turns doing lead vocals, on this one they shared vocals in a duet style. I like that formula. It includes some great songs such as “Like a Record Player,” “Great Lakes/Great Escapes” “Cut It Up,” and “Are You There Margaret? It’s Me God.”

8. New Wave - Against Me!

The band’s 4th studio album was released by Sire Records in July 2007. It was #1 on Spin Magazine’s albums of the year and #9 on Rolling Stone’s list of top 50 albums of that year. It reached #57 on the US Billboard 200. It was the band’s first album with the Sire Records label. It has some really great songs on it, including another one of my favorite songs of all time, “White People for Peace.” Other songs that are great include “Thrash Unreal,” “Piss and Vinegar,” and “Animal.”

7. The Warrior’s Code - Dropkick Murphys

Another band who appears on this specific list twice. This one is their 5th studio album and was released in June 2005 by Hellcat Records. This one is one of their best selling albums and has reached gold status in the United States. It is their first album to feature both mandolin/acoustic guitar player Tim Brennan and bagpipe player Scruffy Wallace. The album features on their biggest and well known songs “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” While that is a really good song, I feel like it is overplayed, mostly due to its appearance on the soundtrack for the 2006 film The Departed. Still a good song but there are songs on the album that I think are better. A few of those include the title track, “Wicked Sensitive Crew,” “Sunshine Highway,” “Captain Kelly’s Kitchen,” “Your Spirit’s Alive,” and “Tessie,” which I think wasn’t actually on the original released and showed up at some time as a bonus track.

6. Crimson - Alkaline Trio

I think of lot of hardcore Alkaline Trio fans would disagree with this particular album of theirs being included on this list rather than some of their previous albums. Personally, I’m just drawn to this album. I’m not sure why. Maybe because it’s the first album of theirs that I actually listened to or perhaps it is just because there are a lot of really good songs on it in my humble opinion. It was released in May 2005 by Vagrant Records. Some of those great songs include “Back to Hell,” “Sadie,” “Settle for Satin,” “Time to Waste,” and “Mercy Me.”

5. The Meanest of Times - Dropkick Murphys

This was the band’s September 2007 follow up to the aforementioned The Warrior’s Code. It was released on their own label Born and Bred Records. It was the last album to feature guitarist Marc Orrell. While the previous album was really good, this album was great. Some of my favorites from the album are “The State of Massachusetts,” “Famous for Nothing,” “Tomorrow’s Industry,” and, quite possibly the band’s absolute best song ever, “God Willing.”

4. The Body, The Blood, The Machine - The Thermals

There has been some controversy surrounding this band lately but, you know what, fuck it. I like this band’s music and I really love this album. It was their 3rd studio album and released by Sub Pop Records in August 2006. My friend Justin talked about this album with his brother on their podcast Punk Lotto Pod. It was produced by the drummer of Fugazi, Brendan Canty. The album itself is somewhat of a concept album that is the story of a nation ruled by fake Christians. Some of my favorites songs are “Here’s Your Future,” “A Pillar of Salt,” “I Might Need to Kill You,” and “Test Pattern.”

3. Appeal to Reason - Rise Against

Rise Against is a great band. They will appear on this top 100 again. This album was released in October 2008 by DGC/Interscope. It blasts out of the gate with the absolutely amazing song “Collapse (Post-Amerika)”

“When the air that we breathe becomes air that we choke.”

It is the band’s 5th album. The songs on the album focus heavily on the presidency of George W. Bush and the Iraq War. It was recorded at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado and was produced by Descendents’ drummer Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore. It is the band’s first album to feature guitarist Zach Blair (incredibly nice guy). This album hit #3 on the US Billboard 200, #2 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums, and has reached platinum status in the United States. This album also includes the great songs “Lost Forgotten Sons,” “Re-Education (Through Labor),” “Kotov Syndrome,” “Hero of War,” and “Savior,” among other greats.

2. This Won’t Hurt - The Methadones

This 5th studio album by the Chicago punk band was released in July 2007 by Red Scare Industries. Very good album. It features what is probably my favorite song from the band (“Getting Older/Losing Touch”). In fact, that song would probably end up on a favorite songs of all time list. Other really good songs on it include the opening track “Six Degrees of Separation,” “Already Gone,” “Starting Line,” and “Falling Forward.”

1. New Maps of Hell - Bad Religion

The 14th studio album by the iconic Los Angeles based punk band was released in July 2007. It debuted at #35 on the US Billboard 200. Some of my favorite songs from the album include “Heroes & Martyrs,” “New Dark Ages,” and “Dearly Beloved.” What else can I say about this album? I dunno. It’s Bad Religion. It’s great.

That’s it for this section of the century’s favorites. Come back for more when I go over my favorite albums that were released between 2010 and 2014.