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There are albums in this list that I remember as very good but haven't played for years, but put it in anyway. More recent years are more at the front of my memory. It is a fair question whether these albums would still be in here, had they been ten or more years old. There's no way of telling. All in all, it is a good cross section for most years. Only 2006 is not represented I noticed.
100 Albums. That is a lot. Can any of these albums match the impact the albums that I got to know in puberty? The albums that are a true part of me? Most likely not, but that said, some of them certainly come close. Even in the past few years a few albums have. I will have to wait a while before I know for certain. What I know with almost certainty, a list for the next 25 years seems highly unlikely. Let's start this adventure with:
100. Ten Aarzel. Krang (2000)
Krang is the band of, also, comedian André Manuel, a man who got fined for baring his bottom to the (to be) king and (to be) queen. He sings in the local dialect of eastern The Netherlands, with his loud but raspy voice. Musically, Krang is somewhere between De Kift, Tom Waits and Kaisers Orchestra, lyrically he is everywhere, even on a bicycle with Herman Brood and Marco Pantani, the former Tour de France winner or lauding the beauty of a field full of leek. Krang released several nice albums in the first years of the zeros. This was my first one and deserves a spot on this list. Not in the least because of the great live shows I went to in those years. A great title as well. It translates into something like forward, hesitating.
The former The Kinks frontman Ray Davies, released five albums this century, if I include one with choir versions of his old The Kinks hits. All are good but this one is simply better. The songs are almost as good as his old hits and stick to the mind like glue. In the year Davies turned 80 years, I celebrate his great career with a spot in this list.
Former Utrecht band The Maureens released four albums in the past 12 years. They were all on my longlist. But life is hard, choices need to be made. The Maureens' mix of pop, California's west Coast muiss and The Beatles, is nearly irresistible. Its songwriter Hendrik-Jan de Wolff is able to find the extra melodies in all his songs. His band members are very capable of playing and not to forget singing them. On record and on stage the band always delivers. With a song like 'September' on this album, it scores the extra points to make it here with ease.
The owner of an American grill restaurant in Matsumoto, Japan, can claim to be the reason why this album is in this list. He played it all evening long while frying delicious American chicken wings, slices of beef and what not for us. In a further totally empty place full of U.S. memorabilia, while not speaking more than five words English. Clapton and King were going through their set of blues songs where all the danger has been taken out, yet play with so much joy and obvious respect for one another. Once home I bought the album immediately and have played it many times, but not as often as that Japanese gentleman, bar owner and cook.
I'm following Arcade Fire since the first album, 'Funeral', but never became a true fan. In fact, I do not own any of the albums between 'Funeral' and Everything Now. The upbeat songs really got to me and the mood changes are simply superb. I played my LP version a lot. and was totally surprised to find out that it is already seven years old.
The first post punk album by the latest generation post punkers from Ireland and the U.K. on the list. Shame never really delivered on its promise. Songs Of Praise is an album that is charged with the energy of a young, new band that went into its hobby in the hope of turning it into a career. It has it all and the band does not hold back for one second. Especially the second album seemed far more calculated, the third somewhere in between (With fantastic artwork though. I wear the touring t-shirt proudly.) Songs Of Praise is the Shame album to really check out, but do take it from there.
The first really new album. It is hard to really judge the mettle of albums so new in the years to come. I am quite convinced though that The First Exit, Tramhaus' debut album, will be one that stays. The post punk band is extremely inventive in finding the more awkward melodies and yet make them work with such ease. Now touring extensively through Europe with undoubtedly more to come, this band will grow and become bigger and bigger and will be able to compete with the best of them. Tramhaus truly is a young band worthwhile following and live close to a sensation. At number 94, it is conservatively scored for now.
Bettie Serveert, over thirty years ago, was the indie darlings of The Netherlands and far beyond. Now the band is in semi-retirement, has not released a new album for eight years and its members have regular jobs. Only recently they started to play some shows together again. Oh, Mayhem is the example of the albums of this quarter century. 'Log 22', 'Pharmacy Of Love', 'Damaged Good' all could have taken Oh, Mayhem's place. All the albums are more than just good. The world is a little less good because Bettie Serveert is not releasing new albums any more.
A rock opera, no less by The Decemberists. I loved the album from the moment I found out about it, shortly after its release in 2009. Together with its 2024 album, my favourite. I decided against featuring 'As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again' at the very final decision point of this list. It is too new to make a truly correct decision on the final 100. The Hazards Of Love truly takes the listener up and down like a rollercoaster. Fire and brimstone, hell and damnation versus ferry-like love. It all comes by, in abundance. The Decemberist make music at a very consistent level but this one sticks out just this little more.
Speaking of musical rollercoaster.s The four Californians of Armenian decent take their listeners through all sorts of emotions. Where singer Serj Tankian may sound crazy, when Daron Malakian takes over craziness is but a metaphor. Gotham's Arkham seems like a funfare. In my opinion the band never made a better album then Mesmerize. All the inventions and inspiration, twist and turns that can come out of and into a single song were blended superbly. (And then there's the hit single 'Chop Suey' of course.) Mesmerize rocks in abundance but don't throw out opera, reggae and so much more. The album has it all and then some.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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