Apologies to the Queen Mary [Digipak] by Wolf Parade

Pros: An album that leaves me speechless

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: One of the best albums of the decade so far. A work of art.

Review: At the risk of getting dangerously meta on you: whenever I sit down to write a review, I always have a pretty good idea of what I want to say about something. The points I want to make, the things I want to single out for praise or criticism, and so on. ...

Pros: Isaac Brock helped produce. Nearly every song.

Cons: Same Ghost Every Night. Last three minutes of Dinner Bells.

The Bottom Line: Best album I've heard in 2005.

Review: If one only looks at the major record label releases from 2005 they will most likely be very unimpressed. Besides the White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand few big name bands performed up to par. Several big time bands completely bombed out this year, Weezer ...

Pros: Dan Boeckner. Hadji Bakara. Arlen Thompson. Enough good tracks to overcome the forgettable ones.

Cons: Spencer Krug's lead vocals on half of the tracks. Isaac Brock's Modest Mouse production influence.

The Bottom Line: If you don't mind Wolf Parade, via Spencer Krug's lead vocals, sounding exactly like Modest Mouse on half the tracks, you will love the other half of "Apologies..."

Review: The first time I listened to Wolf Parade’s “Apologies to Queen Mary” was during a solo three-hour drive east and west through Long Island, New York. Aside from intermittent distractions caused by the usual assortment of aggressive butthole ...

Pros: Contrived goodness.

Cons: Contrived goodness.

The Bottom Line: is almost as contrived as Wolf Parade.

Review: Please disregard the text of this review. My views on music have changed in recent months. Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary is so fundamentally perfect, it's ridiculous. I've objectively examined every song on this record, and ...