Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2005…
#4 – Songs for Silverman – Ben Folds
Ben Folds’ second solo album dropped the tongue-in-cheek, juvenile elements of his previous work in favor of a more mature, thoughtful song cycle. Some fans were disappointed in the direction, but I was delighted.
Don’t get me wrong… I love many of Folds’ silly songs. But I also love to see artists evolve and explore new territory, especially when they are as talented musically and lyrically as Ben Folds.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2005…
#5 – Devils & Dust – Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen’s 13th studio album, Devils & Dust, came three years after the celebrated The Rising but was more in the style of the album that preceded that one, 1995’s The Ghost of Tom Joad.
The other touchpoint would be 1982’s Nebraska, suggesting that Springsteen has one of these somber acoustic albums in him every decade.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2005…
#6 – The Forgotten Arm – Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann’s fifth solo release is a concept album about a romance between Vietnam vet boxer John and his girlfriend Caroline. Set in the 70s, it depicts the couple’s struggle with John’s alcoholism.
Though the songs shape the narrative, they are general enough to work as standalone tracks, and Mann serves up a great batch of her signature melancholy mid-tempo pop.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2005…
#7 – Time Well Wasted – Brad Paisley
This is the first album on my list that I didn’t hear in 2005. Brad Paisley, and country music in general, just weren’t on my radar that year.
It was four years later when I first heard Paisley’s American Saturday Night that I became an instant fan. And that sent me right to his back catalog to catch up with everything I’d missed.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2005…
#9 – Rebel, Sweetheart – The Wallflowers
I’m a massive fan of The Wallflowers’ 2000 album Breach, their third studio release and first after 1996’s breakthrough Bringing Down the Horse. But I had one foot out of the bandwagon after their uninspired follow-up, 2002’s Red Letter Days.
That made Rebel, Sweetheart a pivotal next entry in their discography. And fortunately, it was a return to form.
Meet Me In Montauk 