Greer's Ears

2018 has been a phenomenal year in music — a year of both quality and quantity. Unfortunately, it's swiftly coming to an end. You might have seen my post from November,  Top 50 Albums of 2018 (So Far) . That was a pretty comprehensive list, but I thought it would be beneficial to break down the albums of 2018 even more - leading up to my finalized Top 50 Albums of 2018. Welcome to the 2018 Albumpalooza. This post has three parts: Part One - Top 5 Albums by Genre Part Two - 2018 Report Card (Giving a Grade to 175+ Albums from 2018)  Part Three - Finalized Top 50 of 2018  Without further adieu, here is part one: 2018's Top 5 Albums by Genre! Disclaimer: There are multiple projects on here that would be appropriate in more than one genre category. I split them up to the best of my ability, but there's no perfect way of doing this. Nevertheless, here are the results! Enjoy. Rock / Alternative The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relati...

If you would have told me back in January that the 1975 was going to release one of my favorite albums of 2018, I probably wouldn't have believed you- but here we are.  A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships  is a career-defining moment for the group. In a recent interview, front man Matty Healy told Entertainment Weekly, "Soundtracks are how I see my albums because they go all over the place but they make sense." That's certainly the case here, and  A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships is a soundtrack for the screen age.  Conceptually, this record paints a stark and honest picture of modern life, in a time where interconnectivity and isolation are one and the same. While it touches on topics like self-identity and drug addiction, it really homes in on the nature of relationships in the postmodern world. We live in a society that is characterized by things like division, dishonesty, insincerity, insecurity, miscommunication, polarization, addict...

2018 has been an amazing year in music. Unfortunately, it's swiftly coming to a close. I thought I would make this list of my Top 50 Projects of 2018 (so far) to ensure that none of these incredible projects slip under your radar.  Obviously, this list is opinion-based. Music taste is subjective. You may not like every album on this list. In fact, you probably won't. But for one reason or another, I thought these albums were noteworthy and worth sharing. Hopefully this list introduces you to something that will resonate with you. Before we jump in, I wanted to give a few honorable mentions. These albums didn't make the Top 50, but they were  so  close I had to include them - Honorable Mentions The Beths - Future Me Hates Me  -  Future Me Hates Me  is the debut studio album from The Beths, an indie rock band based out of New Zealand. This record brings a lot of energy, along with some infectious hooks and melodies. If fun and catchy indie rock is y...

Anthem of the Peaceful Army is the new debut LP from Greta Van Fleet—a young, up-and-coming rock 'n' roll band based out of Frankenmuth, MI. The group took the rock music industry by storm with the release of their debut EP Black Smoke Rising  in April 2017. Their debut single "Highway Tune" quickly reached the top of the charts and stayed there for weeks to follow. The group raised a lot of eyebrows due to their uncanny sonic resemblance to the band Led Zeppelin. Nearly every nuance of lead vocalist Josh Kiszka's voice calls to mind the iconic vocals of rock legend Robert Plant. The crunchy and distorted blues riffs of guitarist Jake Kiszka are quite redolent of Jimmy Page's modus operandi. And between his tightly-tuned bottom heads and his strong emphasis on triplets, drummer Daniel Wagner is very noticeably influenced by the late John Bonham. But do all these similarities work in the group's favor? Well, yes and no. To some extent, Greta Van Fleet ...

Twenty One Pilots is an alternative pop duo from Columbus, OH. Surely you've heard of them by now. Their third studio album  Vessel  broke them into the mainstream, and their follow-up album Blurryface launched them into superstardom. I've always respected their passion, ambition, and melodic sensibilities. They have a real talent for creating "earworm" hooks and melodies that stick with you for hours or even days after listening. However, those catchy and memorable melodies are often paired with painfully generic instrumentation. And while the themes of their songs are often admirable, I've usually found their lyricism to be slightly mawkish. In the past, their music has generally left me underwhelmed. However, all of this changed with their newest studio album Trench.  Trench feels like the duo's most mature, consistent, and unique album to date. In terms of production and instrumentation, this album is leagues above anything else the band has ever...

American indie rock/synth-pop duo MGMT released their fourth full-length studio album last weekend. Following their poorly received self-titled studio release, the group took a hiatus from making music for a while. Little Dark Age is their first album release in over four years, and fortunately, it is well worth the wait. Musically, this album strikes a perfect balance between creativity, experimentation, and accessibility. This is definitely their most pop-centric and accessible release since their debut album Oracular Spectacular . Lyrically, this album tackles an incredibly wide range of topics: relationships, depression, death, friendship, phone addiction, political climate, and more. However, the way they approach these sorts of topics is refreshingly unconventional. The album begins with the witty masterpiece "She Works Out Too Much," which is my favorite track ever released by MGMT. As the title suggests, this song chronicles a relationship that failed because the...

When your favorite artist of all time curates a soundtrack for the newest installment of your favorite movie franchise, it's a good day. Last Friday, Kendrick Lamar released the soundtrack for the latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther . This album is nothing short of impressive - especially considering how busy Kendrick has been as it is for the past eight months touring the world with his latest award-winning album, DAMN.  Kendrick and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith (CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment) have done a great job at bringing together a very eclectic group of talented artists. In addition to Kendrick, there are 22 artists featured on this record—and nearly every feature feels significant/worthwhile.  Black Panther The Album  is thematic, cohesive, and fun. I started writing this review a lot earlier in the week, but I decided that it might be beneficial to see the movie before finishing/publishing it. That was a good decision. Granted, only ...