favourite albums

it ain't no secret that i love music! i can and often do listen to the same song on repeat if it tickles my gray matter. but enjoying an album from start to finish? a rarity! here are the few that make the cut. listed not by release date, but rather in the order i discovered and then became obsessed with them!

britney (2001)

it's too bad this isn't the album that features my absolute favourite britney song (breathe on me) but it has my favourite listening experience by miss spears. also, it holds a lot of nostalgia for me! when this album was released, my friends and i would make choreo for the songs we really liked, and seeing crossroads a few months after this albums release was the icing on the cake. this era of hers made me go batshit for big, billowy bell sleeves! if you know, you know.

favourite tracks:

- i'm a slave 4 u
- overprotected
- i'm not a girl, not yet a woman
- anticipating
- that's where you take me

hybrid theory (2000)

the album that started it all! my teenaged obsession with linkin park, that is. i stole the CD from my brothers collection, and used to blast it at full volume while playing resident evil: dead aim. god, could that sentence be any more early 2000s? anyway, something i always appreciate in an album is when the songs all flow into each other, and hybrid theory is what turned me onto that! honorable mention goes to the remix album, reanimation, which wasn't well-received by fans and critics alike... but i love it!

favourite tracks:

- papercut
- points of authority
- runaway
- by myself
- a place for my head
- cure for the itch
- my december

queen of the damned (2002)

this movie may have been a horrible adaptation, but the two things it had going for it? stuart townsend in leather pants and aaliyah's hypnotic hip swishing. throw in a fantastic soundtrack, and you have one of my most beloved bad movies! what can i say? it further reaffirmed my feelings as a baby bi, and a burgeoning lil vampire goth. it also introduced me to some of my most-played artists at the time!

favourite tracks:

- system by chester bennington
- change by deftones (the rose petal scene anyone??)
- penetrate by godhead
- slept so long by jay gordon
- excess by tricky
- before i'm dead by the kidneythieves

meteora (2003)

alongside fefe dobson's self-titled debut album, this was one of the first CDs i bought with my own money. and that's saying something, considering i was barely a pre-teen at the time! after stealing hybrid theory from my brother, i had officially declared LP as my top band so i knew i just needed their follow-up as soon as it went on sale. i didn't realize how important this particular album would be to me until a couple of years later, when i went through some of the worst years of my life as a teen. it turns out that i actually had shit in common with chester bennington, and they were sad, ugly, shameful things. i'm just so fucking sorry he wasn't able to overcome them in the end.

favourite tracks:

- don't stay
- somewhere i belong
- lying from you
- hit the floor
- easier to run
- figure.09
- breaking the habit
- session

watch out! (2004)

i gotta admit that it was the cover art that drew me in initially! it kicks absolute ass! as do all of the songs on the album. this was my go-to on all of the long car rides to visit relatives, and my parents often teased me as i used to fall asleep with their music tearing through my cheap, tinny headphones. i was never quite as into the rest of alexisonfire's music following this release, but it'd been a dream of mine as a 12 year old to see them live! and i finally did last summer, and they were incredible! it was one of the best shows i've ever been to. it felt like a religious experience. they ended their set with happiness by the kilowatt, and i swear the entire crowd could've listened to them play it forever.

favourite tracks:

- accidents
- control
- it was fear of myself that made me odd
- side walk when she walks
- no transitory
- happiness by the kilowatt

what's your pleasure? (2021)

for me, nothing beats this album. it's transcendental! jessie ware has a voice and sound that is incomparable to her contemporaries, and what's your pleasure? is her magnum opus. there's nothing else out there that sounds this sensual, luxurious, and rich. this is sexy fun music for us grown bitches! i had such a hard time picking my top tracks, which is how you know this whole album is an experience from start to finish.

favourite tracks:

- spotlight
- what's your pleasure
- save a kiss
- in your eyes
- step into my life
- mirage (don't stop)
- remember where you are
- please
- eyes closed
- hot n' heavy

blackout (2007)

i know, i know - exactly what kinda fake ass britney fan am i when i hadn't even bothered listening to her most influential album to date? the truth is i wanted to save it for as long as i possibly could, holding it tight to my chest until the moment finally came when i needed it the most. that was the entirety of 2024, by the way! she was my most listened to artist that year because of this album. it really does deserve its place upont the pantheon of pure pop perfection, and you can hear just how many other pop artists she inspired (and still does to this day!) with blackout. it's simple, if you like pop music, you must listen to this album!

favourite tracks:

- gimme more
- heaven on earth
- get naked (i got a plan)
- hot as ice
- ooh ooh baby
- why should i be sad?

bonus!

this album (like many of her albums) has several unreleased tracks that never made it to the final tracklist, and as you can imagine they're just as good as the official releases!

- state of grace
- pull out
- hooked on (sugarfall)

sorry we're closed (2024)

if you're a gay horror fan like me then you've probably played this game already, and if you haven't yet: go buy it now! this is one of my only favourite games of 2024, and the soundtrack plays an important role in that decision. it has some of the best boss music i've had the pleasure of listening to (thanks to rap duo okumura!), and nestled in between the dreamy, haunting sound design exists my most beloved video game antagonist - the duchess! an absolutely wonderful piece of queer storytelling, made all the more impactful thanks to its music, sorry we're closed is an experience that is both painful and inspiring - just like love.

favourite tracks:

- town
- open your eyes
- bedroom
- matilda
- churchyard
- dream eater
- clarissa