It’s no surprise that Blender picked Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III as their number one alum of the year, considering they did everything they could to make sure he appeared in nearly every issue. However, it’s surprising whose albums they picked as the other 32 best albums of 2008 (Why 33 you ask? No one knows.), namely, Randy Newman, Usher, Mariah Carey, and Metallica.
I can give them Usher and Mariah Carey (they need to flesh their list out with an appropriate number of R&B albums, and those two fit the bill), but why Randy Newman and Metallica in the top ten? The Metallica picks seems like a concession to the backwards baseball cap set that usually reads Blender, but Randy Newman’s album is a pick more fit for the confines of Rolling Stone.
I also can’t co-sign on Death Cab, Jenny Lewis, Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, or Girl Talk making this list, because those albums are mostly noticeable for how terrible they aren’t. That’s the point of these things I suppose. Here’s the full list:
33 Hayes Carll: Trouble In Mind 32 Taylor Swift: Fearless 31 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! 30 Young Jeezy: The Recession 29 Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It 28 Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks: Real Emotional Trash 27 Mariah Carey: E=MC² 26 Usher: Here I Stand 25 Santogold: Santogold 24 The Roots: Rising Down 23 The Cool Kids: The Bake Sale 22 Coldplay: Viva La Vida 21 Erykah Badu: New Amerykah: Pt. One (4th World War) 20 Wale: The Mixtape About Nothing 19 Katy Perry: One Of The Boys 18 Ponytail: Ice Cream Spiritual 17 Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst 16 Be Your Own Pet: Get Awkward 15 Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago 14 Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue 13 Al Green: Lay It Down 12 My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges 11 Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs 10 Fall Out Boy: Folie A Deux 09 Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend 08 Randy Newman: Harps and Angels 07 of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping 06 Robyn: Robyn 05 Hot Chip: Made In The Dark 04 Metallica: Death Magnetic 03 TV On The Radio: Dear Science 02 Girl Talk: Feed The Animals 01 Lil' Wayne: Tha Carter III [via Stereogum]
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jeez, how did that ponytail album make it on there. I mean, ponytail's pretty good, but this is Blender.