Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

Album of the year—a selection judged solely by me, and my vast expertise of music theory. LUL.

Regardless of the year it was released, from this point forward, one album will be chosen every year to receive a thorough recommendation and seal of approval from Dogentricks.com. Because I happen to be the meticulous type that rates their music, scoring works like this:

Individual songs are assigned 1 to 5 stars. Albums, in turn, are averages of their songs. Because 1 to 5 is a bit too restrictive, stars are divided into two points, making a 5 star album a 10/10. Likewise, an averaged 2.5 star album, such as Bond’s REMIXED, would be a 5/10.

Discovered several years too late, 2009′s album of the year is—OH WAIT. If I’m to introduce my favorite album, regardless of it’s release year, wouldn’t it be natural to first introduce the winning albums of previous years?! But of course.

1999 Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind
‘Motorcycle Drive By’ and ‘God of Wine’ are reason alone to buy this CD. The fact that ‘Semi-charmed life,’ ‘Jumper,’ and ‘Hows It Going to Be,’ are also sprinkled throughout this album between equally brilliant songs makes this the standout winner for 1999. Also worth mentioning this was the first CD I ever owned.
Score: 9.3

2000 The Offspring – Americana
My friend’s got a girlfriend and he hates that bitch. He tells me everyday. He says man I really gotta lose that chick, in the worst kinda way.
Score: 8.6

2001 Various Artists – Ray’s House
Baby steps in trance. First time hearing Ian Van Dahl’s ‘Castles in the Sky’ as well as Darude’s ‘Sandstorm.’ Need I say more?
Score: 8.5

2002 Goldfinger – Hang Ups
An introduction through Tony Hawks Pro Skater 64 led me into a Goldfinger frenzy. My first real ‘favorite band,’ as well as my first concert. This album is the birthplace of the pop culture phenomenon and everyone’s first sampler song, ‘Superman.’
Score: 9.0

2003 Softball – 八紘一宇
My second Softball album. Though I actually listened to the Warawabe/Tokoshieni single much more than this album, I’m not about to overlook the other great songs on this CD. Easily the most influential album in my life.
Score: 9.1

2004 AFI – Sing the Sorrow
This, much like the following three albums, follows the example of the Beach Boy’s ‘Pet Sounds’ and the Beatles ‘Sergeant Peppers’ as not a collection of songs, but a single piece of work. The transitions from one song into the next are brilliant throughout the album, the lyrics are amazing, and the creativity is top notch. Fantastic punk/pop rock album.
Score: 9.0

2005 Lost Prophets – Start Something
Knowing nothing about the band or their sound, I bought this CD in Target because the CD sleeve looked cool. Perhaps even more than Sing the Sorrow, this album pays meticulous attention to flow. While full of brilliant songs, the two standouts are Goodbye Tonight and Last Summer. I saw this band during the height of the album’s tour and am glad to say the live performance thoroughly justified the CD.
Score: 8.6

2006 Shina Ringo – Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana
This is the only 5 star album in my entire music library. Everything about this album is polished to perfection. The names of the tracks are symmetrical, the lyrical style is ancient, and every instrument introduced on the album was composed by Ringo herself. Hell, even the length of the album has significance. That, and the fact that no two songs on the album sound even a bit similar really makes this CD incredible. I cannot praise this album enough–it is an incredible collection of music, but moreover, a triumph of attention to detail and imagination. Buy this album, now.
Score: 10

2007 Bonobos – A, Un
You know those people that are always smiling? It’s like they’re on way too much zoloft, or missing the part of the brain which regulates sadness. You know the people I’m talking about–there’s one in every class and two in every office. Well, I know their secret. They have this album–the best chill out CD ever created. At least, that’s one someone on keikaku.net said in a similar review of this album. Music best listened to in the presence of palm trees.
Score: 9.5

2008 Mass of the Fermenting Dregs – Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. This is the number one band on my ‘see in concert before I die’ list. While Skabetty is a bit dull and Endroll, while brilliant, is slightly long for my tastes, the remaining songs on this concise album are absolute phenomenal. Highlight is like a bulldozer on NOS; delusionalism is like a drill crashing through the seven layers of hell. Though I’ve only known the band for two years, MOTFD takes up more places on my top 25 most played than anything other band.
Score: 9.3

2009:

This year was close. Yamato’s Eien to Ichinichi (8.6), as well as Mass of the Fermenting Dregs 2nd album, The World is Yours (9.0), both came close to taking top honors. But when it came down to it, the scores pointed to a rather old album that I hadn’t really noticed until recently.

And the winner is:

Muse – Absolution

I’ve been listening to Muse off and on, mostly through friends and siblings, since the beginning of high school. For those of you who don’t know, that’s about 5 years ago. However, it wasn’t until earlier this year when I heard “Knights of Cydonia,” that I really took time to properly evaluate the band.

Starting with Black Holes and Revelations, I began working my way backwards. Though I love ‘Starlight,’ ‘Invincible,’ and ‘Knights of Cydonia,’ I can’t help but feel there are a few songs on the album which feel out of place–namely ‘Supermassive Black Hole.’ Though I can appreciate the structure and allure of the song, it just doesn’t sit well on an album that screams ‘epic.’ On the other hand, ‘Assassin,’ while it is an incredible song, sounds all to similar to ‘Stockholm Syndrome.’ Thus, while I’d rate Black Holes and Revelations around an 8.5 or so, there were several albums I listened to this year that simply outscored it–one being Muse’s preceding album, Absolution.

This album is simply soaking with identity–it’s like they burnt it, and then dunked the whole CD in a big black bucket of despair. As it begins rotating in your CD player, the paint is slowly pulled off by centrifugal force, revealing a brilliant, glowing light underneath. The plastic continues to shine through the edges of your CD player, and you watch, just dying to open it. But, you can’t. You can’t disturb the light as it slowly emerges from the dark. It’s a conflict you can only obersve. Be it fast, or slow, that bit of light emerging from the bleak background holds an intrinsic beauty that is very apparent on every single track. When the CD stops spinning, you’ll open your Walkman and see the same black album as before. One listen through though, and you’ll know the hope and beauty even the darkness can hold.

The fact they are one of the world’s best live bands doesn’t hurt either.

Here’s how I broke it down:
Intro 5
Apocalypse Please 5
Time is Running Out 5
Sing of Absolution 5
Stockholm Syndrome 5
Falling Away with You 4
Interlude 5
Hysteria 4
Blackout 5
Butterflies and Hurricanes 5
The Small Print 4
Endlessly 5
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist 4
Ruled by Society 5

Total 66
Divided by song count 14
x2

Score: 9.4

Closing comment: this CD is what might happen if a yin yang was turned into music— with an extra bit of black for style. Simply outstanding.

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