An image depicting my sacrificed sanity for listening the these albums multiple times.
Hey, remember me? No? Eh, story of my life.
November was chaotic on all fronts for me. You could say it was the worst month of the year and what a better way to say goodbye to it than display for you the worst of the worst in this year’s musical outputs. Before that, I would like to apologize to the readers and the FAN staff for not being around this past month. Thank you guys! You’re the best!
Fuck November, Fuck School, and Fuck These Albums.
It is December and the end of the world year is drawing near. 2012’s music wasn’t terrible. There have been some solid releases, but as always there are some pretty terrible ones too. So before I can get into the greatness of 2012, I must first address the not so great. I present to you the Worst 5 Albums of 2012. Enjoy not enjoying these albums.
5. Linkin Park: Living Things (Warner Bros Records)
I love Linkin Park and since their nu-metal days they have done a solid job reinventing them selves and staying relevant, but this self-dubbed return to form didn’t quite make the mark. The songs sound outdated and Mike Shinado’s overwhelming presence on the album showcases some of his most dull rhymes and even more boring vocal talents. Chester Bennington’s voice sounds aged and broken. Silver lining, the bar will be set pretty low for their inevitable follow up.
4. Muse: 2nd Law (Warner Records)
Hey “Madness” you’re cool, but everything else on your album can only be described as
pretentious self-pleasuring guitar wanking and the portrayal of a shadow that was once the face of the one of the most melodically brutal bands the world has ever seen. I could say more, but you can see how I really feel at my review here.
3. Soundgarden : King Animal (Seven Four Entertainment)
After hearing the opening single, “Been Away Too Long,” fans thought Soundgarden came down with a bad case of the Audioslaves. Turns out that was only partially true. Truly, “King Animal” was a solid creative effort, but Chris Cornell simply cannot achieve what he used to. The sound of the record is dated to point of being ancient and the production value is abysmal with trashcan like drum mixing, clunky guitar tones, and dry, lifeless vocal quality. The thing about “King Animal” is that it isn’t bad as it is a missed opportunity and that is even more disappointing
2. Fun.: Some Nights (Fueled By Ramen)
In what seems to be one of the most unlikely hits of the summer, Fun. (no that is not a 
typo) has succeeded in producing one of the most epic albums of the entire year and somehow it is still terrible. Built around big choruses, everything between them on “Some Nights” is void of purpose and often time’s complete gibberish. Choruses may be the most momentous part of songs, but without good verses to guide you into them the songs become confusing and just plain annoying. That is the only consistent thing that goes on within this entire album.
1. Silversun Pickups Neck of the Woods (Dangerbird)
I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t find a justifiable way to describe the depth of which this album is bad. I’m going to try though. Imagine noise rock, a form of music that sometimes succeeded in breaking down boundaries between popular and experimental music. However, when you take out the rock value it becomes just noise. That is exactly what this album is. Noise! It has very little structure and the lyrics almost make you think that Brian Albert of the Silversun Pickups is as bored as the lyrics say he is. “I’m still waiting,” “I’m already bored,” “Nothings coming.” If playing indie-rock star isn’t as fun as you thought it would be, you could always try something else man. This album is so completely and formally painful that it’s like staring at TV static for an hour. If this album served as a flotation device to save my life just let me drown. I know this is like a rant, but sometimes that’s how you get a message accross. I would highly recommend skipping this album when looking through notable releases of 2012. That’s all I can really say.