Albums of 2011: Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Don't believe all the stuff about going back to basics and recording an album in a garage - if you've seen Back & Forth you'll know Dave Grohl's garage is nicer than most people's houses. Still what we got from Wasting Light was the most consistent Foo Fighters album for ages, and in White Limo a song that harks back to the classic sound of the first album that really was true to keeping things simple.

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Albums of 2011: Fucked Up - David Comes To Life

If you've ever wondered what Bruce Springsteen making a hardcore punk concept album would sound like, this is probably the closest you'll get to finding out.

David Comes To Life is arguably the forgotten album of 2011 and deserved much higher praise in the usual end of year lists - which is even more baffling when compared to the universal praise dished out for the overrated Mastodon, who performed a clean sweep of Kerrang!, Rock Sound and Metal Hammer polls.

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Albums of 2011: Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo

Like most Super Furry's albums, there's a lot of different styles throw in. But Gruff's ability to write a chorus for anything means things always seem natural.

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Albums of 2011: The Horrors - Skying

Moving on from the Krautrock of Primary Colours, the latest album from The Horrors wanders into dreamlike, synth territory with great effect - even if singer Ferris sounds a little bit too much like him out of Simple Minds at times.

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Albums of 2011: The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

The Joy Formidable manage to create epic soundscapes that are reminiscent at times of Arcade Fire, which is quiet the achievement for a three piece.

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Albums of 2011: Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo

Kurt Vile's 4th album draws comparisons to other great US singer-songwriters like Springsteen, Petty and Dylan, but with with a lo-fi stoner haze that surrounds this collection of mainly acoustic songs.

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Albums of 2011: REM - Collapse Into Now

With their final album, REM managed to nail the mix between their classic sound of the college rock years and the Automatic For the People stadium fillers that they became.

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Albums of 2011: Rival Schools - Pedals

Its been well over a decade since the last Rival Schools album, but Pedals sounds like they've never been away - Walter Schreifels' wisdom and melody blow away anything else within the genre.

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Albums of 2011: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic

Malkmus cuts out the jams and experimentations that made most of his solo work hard going and makes his best album since the Nineties.

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Albums of 2011: Yuck - Yuck

It may sound like it was made in the early 90s, but the simple, catchy songs means the Yuck album always sounds fresh and modern.

You can listen to my Top 10 Albums of 2011 on Spotify by clicking here