Thanks for that great list! very informative and well done. I'm not familiar with most of the stuff on there.

one quip: you think they sound like Jars of Clay?!!!!!?? WOW! really??? HOW? I don't understand...

One album I forgot is "Reborn" by Stryper!!!! <snicker - couldn't resist that one>

This is a BEST of list, not a most embarracing moments list...
(and yes, I do own that CD and listen to it every once in a while...just to make sure I didnt' miss something the other 20 times I listened to it. I like Stryper, I really really do. this one just ain't doin it for me, no matter how hard I try...)

The Mae reference I get, as both bands have records produced by Ken Andrews (of Failure, Replicants, On, Year of the Rabbit). Overproduced? OK, yeah, I can see that... that's sort of Ken's forté (über-produced rock).

The Jars of Clay reference I really don't get at all. And the comment "exactly like JoC" makes me say "w-w-w-w-w-whaaaaaat?" Are you listening to the same Copeland and the same JoC as me? Are you on drugs? Are your ears broken? I like both bands, but I see no comparison other than they both use guitars/vocals/drums (ie- like, 95% of the bands on the planet) and they both think Jebus is cool (which means Copeland making my Top 20 is a serious accomplishment as few Jebusy bands make it nowadays).



*cough* ... came out in 2002 ... Great record nonetheless...



Fiona Apple's 2nd album (entitled when the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king what he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight and he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring there's no body to batter when your mind is your might so when you go solo, you hold your own hand and remember that depth is the greatest of heightts and if you know where you stand, then you know where to land and if you fall it won't matter, cuz you'll know that you're right) is utter brilliance. It ranks as probably one of my Top 50 albums of all-time. It's so jazzy with wonderful songwriting. Her 3rd album (2005's Extraordinary Machine) gets props in that it's still got some chops. I happen to like what Fiona does... that's my reason for it making my 2005 list...



I'd buy Blackfield over early Porcupine Tree (ie- Sky Moves Sideways* and prior), but yeah, the Blackfield easily fits in with the recent Porcupine Tree CDs... I think it would have been better had Aviv Geffen sang rather than Steven. It would have made it a more "different" release from Steven's other brazillian side-projects.

*- Sky Moves Sideways is a great record, but it's way too derivative of Floyd. I like Steven's more "pop sensibility-meets-prog" stylings rather than his "rip off Floyd" stylings (Voyage 34 being another good example of that style).



Now you need to get into the other Ty Tabor stuff... Platypus, Jughead, Ty Tabor solo (especially Safety), King's X... oh, and then if you like Jughead, it opens up the Pandora's Box of Matt Bissonette... The Mustard Seeds, Raising Lazarus, The Squirts, Spot...


Regarding Stryper... their shrinkwrap on Reborn was cool. Too bad it's only the shrinkwrap...

~fff - np: frank zappa - playground psychotics

Doh... Okay, you convinced me. BTW, it was after 3:00 AM when I finised this post this morning...

Kim Taylor should have been listed in the "CD's I found this year that are great" section.

So I'll go ahead and pull Brandi up into my top 25.

#25 Brandi Carlile