Swiss Army Knife Award Preamble

At long last, the Audible Heisman for the best album of the year.  This one was quite the photo finish!  2010 was a solid year for music.  The runner-up department is multi-tiered.


Farthest from the front, you have the Lady Antebellum/Sufjan Stevens for the show.  Need You Now was a very impressive sophomore showing.  I really didn't think it would be all that great. But four singles to date, including the crossover that is the album's namesake; I was mistaken.  Age of Adz was a raving indie success.  A lot of people's favorite album of the year! To be great, an artist must continue to adapt & grow and Age of Adz certainly accomplishes this.  Its sound is takes a complete 180 and goes crazy electro-funk hippie and it really lands.  The hardcore Sufjan purists might hate the change, but I like it.  The main reason the album slipped to third runner-up is that I think the concert that I attended was much better than the album actually was.  The visual experience of the concert really brought the music alive but the best album of the year should be able to stand on its own.  Plus, if I was ever to grab coffee with Sufi, I think I'd throw up in my mouth bout 3 times & cold cock him 5 times. 


Placing is Taylor Swift/Arcade Fire.  Speak Now is fantastic.  The album will probably have 4-5 hits when its all said and done.  Unlike Sufjan, my beloved Tay Tay has not really adapted or changed all that much, which is kinda okay by me.  I know it sounds contradictory, based on the previous paragraph, but let me explain.  Some artists just need to find they're lane and stay in it, she may be in that category.  She's still really young and time will tell which way her career goes, but I still submit that if she wants to be great, I mean, short list great, she'll evolve.  Suburbs really hits hard.  A slightly different sound, but still retains the Arcade Fire intensity & depth.  The whole album just flows really well.  I don't have anything really negative to say about it, it just didn't do enough to eek out the victory. 


With the win, the first runner-up is Kanye West.  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, in a way, encapsulates Kanye West.  He's gonna piss you off with his arrogance; then bring you back with his talent (small jag: he doesn't piss me off with his arrogance.  I am really attracted to arrogance.  Especially when it is backed up).  Lets do the timeline:
09.13.2009: Kanye Crashes Tay Tay's acceptance speech.
09.14.2009: Start of a whirlwind of Kanye shunning. Butt of everyone's jokes, national tour with Lady Gaga cancelled, bit of depression, etc.
02.2010: Goes to Hawaii, fly's out Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, Charlie Wilson to record upcoming album.
07.28.2010: Ye joins Twitter, accumulates over 220,000 followers on first day.
08.2010: Starts G.O.O.D. Fridays where he leaks a free song every friday (started a chain reaction of other hip hop artists doing the same), assures public next album is gonna be fire and will come out in November.
11.22.2010: drops My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy as the years most anticipated album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with almost 500,000 sold in first week, 4 hit singles, etc. 
04.17.11: Closes Coachella, the biggest music festival of a year (prolly the best musical festival in my lifetime) with a 2 hour set that left crowd stunned & awed. Game, blouses!


And MBDTF is the runner-up!!!!!!!! So, the Swiss Army Knife Award goes to...