top pick of my favorite albums for 2002

as usual, i been listening to lots of music this year. so, i guess it's time to compile my list of favorite albums. the list is not arranged in order.

daybreaker - beth orton
Listen to her 3rd album presently and she still using her familiar producers like william orbit, chemical brothers and etc and Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris appeared as guest singer. This set pushes her electronica folkish features even more further. But,I can sense this album is pale in comparison to her earlier work. My favorite tracks are 'Concrete Sky' (the 1st single which features Ryan Adams as guest singer), 'This One's Gonna Bruise' (written exclusively by Ryan Adams, originally entitled-OK) and 'Thinking About Tomorrow'. Sometimes, I do think her lyrics are too depressive. However, I expect her to remain on my list of favorite female vocalists for years to come. Yeah, B-or.


stripped - christina aguilera
Weird? I will pick this album as my favorite album. What I like about this album is it comprises different style of music and put them all into one album like soul,rock,hip hop,gospel,ballad,r&b,neo-soul and others and she manages to do a good job at it. I think the ballads and last 3 tracks are more powerful in delivering her message than the 'Dirrty' song. Actually, the new album potrays the message 'To be yourself, to be confident though being criticised and keep on doing your thing' and not like what the album cover conveys here above. My favorites are 'Loving Me 4 Me' (very Angelo-Jill Scott soundish), 'Underappreciated' (Macy Gray-funkish sound), 'Beautiful'(2nd single), 'Make Over', "Soar'(this should have been a Whitney song) and the last song 'Keep On Singing My Song'. This is only her second LP and we guess we be seeing her for a long time.


sea change - beck
A sure Grammy contender for best album. This album is written after her break-up with a long girlfriend. So, with the song titles, you will know that the album is very depressing and sad in nature. He didn't break any new ground with this offering but he rather strips all those electronica arrangement to a simple acoustic and orchestra arrangement. That's why I connect more to this album than her previous efforts because it sounds revealing and intimate. My favorite tracks are 'The Golden Age', 'Guess I'm Doing Fine', 'End of The Day', 'Sunday Sun' and the only exclusively bonus track found on the Japanese version album entiled 'Ship In A Bottle'.


unplugged version 2.0 - lauryn hil
her latest effort following the debut 'the miseducation of lauryn hill' who won 5 Grammy awards in 1999 and sold an estimately 12 million copies worldwide. In between the years, Lauryn was suffering from depression and the pressure to do a follow-up to her debut. Then somehow, she managed to learn guitar again and write all the songs using that instrument. Of course, it's hard to find someone talented like her to release such an album. The 2CD LP contains mainly her conversation with the audiences about the songs and she even cried in one song. The songs like 'Jerusalem' and 'I Gotta Find Peace of Mind' are outstanding from the 13 tracks.


out of season - beth gibbons and rusting man
the debut album from the portishead lead singer that currently is taking break from working on the new Portishead album. 10 songs are featured and the sound is folkish(lots of guitar sound) and string arrangement but no trip-hop elements from Portishead. My favorite tracks are 'Romance'(a very Portishead kind of vocal is featured in this track), 'Mysteries'(very Joni Mitchell-ish) and 'Resolve'.


special thanks to... - eason chan
the only chinese album i prefer this year. his vocal is as outstanding and powerful. my favorite tracks are the three interludes, 'Man Made Satellite' and 'Days Without Mobile Phone'. i think this is the not-overproduced alnum which i prefer although i still find it a bit depressing that my favorite tracks comprised of cover-version songs. Anyway, a good effort for his 4th mandarin studio album.

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