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Why didn't I like these discs? Does anyone else feel the same way?

The discs by these well-known artists just didn't click for me: Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Ryan Adams, Steve Earle and Wilco. It isn't that I don't dig these artists. I've seen them all live multiple times. I have every official release from each artist as well as a slew of bootlegs. I know many readers put them on their 2011 lists.

I guess that's not really a discussion but more of an observation.

Instead I found the following discs to be my 2011 favorites:

1-Jason Isbell "Here We Rest"

2-Girls Guns and Glory "Sweet Nothings"

3-Todd Snider "The Storyteller"

4-Dave Alvin "Eleven Eleven"

5-Joe Ely "Satisfied At Last"

6-Drew Kennedy "Fresh Water and the Salton Sea"

7-Emory Quinn "See You At The Next Light"

8-John Howie Jr. and the Rosewod Bluff "Leavin' Yesterday"

9-Los Fabulocos "Dos"

10-The Bottle Rockets "Not So Loud"

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hal Bogerd on December 20, 2011 at 2:57pm

Maybe I should pull out Richard Thompson's "Dream Attic" from 2010.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Fiddler on December 19, 2011 at 2:39pm

I thought the Bottle Rockets "Not So Loud" was an excellent disc, probably influenced by seeing them earlier this year in Nashville. I would tend to agree that some of the discs were not as strong as earlier efforts by the respective bands, excluding

Dave Alvin "Eleven Eleven", which I think is an excellent disc, and I would rate it on par or only slightly behind his previous effort.

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Permalink Reply by Don Sticksel on December 20, 2011 at 8:04pm

Waits' Bad As Me is hitting a majority of the lists, but I couldn't get through two full spins. Even as a 20+ year fan, I felt like I was listening to a greatest hits record of all new material. Maybe I figured it out when I made a playlist of old stuff and started hearing the same 4 songs -

The Sparse Ballad That Might Feature A Concertina,

I've Got More Effects For This Recorded in the Garage Sound Than Instagram Has Filters,

Guitar Song That Keith Richards Can Play On If He's Not Busy, and

Hang On, Is This 16 Shells or Big Black Mariah?

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Permalink Reply by steviedal on December 21, 2011 at 8:54am

Ha ha , excellent Don. I love Tom but i know what you mean. He gets a lot of praise/credit for changing his style totally in 83 but has now peddled the "new" style for nearly 30 years !!!

I still love him though , guess it's really about the sheer quality of those songs , no matter how he dresses them up.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Owen on December 22, 2011 at 8:54am

Lucinda and Steve Earle put out consistently good albums, so they are hurt when they put out another good one. Hiatt's was one of the better of his over the past few years (anyone remember Little Head?). I agree with other posters that the Ryan Adams grows on you. Wilco is one of my favorites of the year. Other favorites of the year for me that are lsited above are Joe Ely and Dave Alvin. Here are a few others that I really liked:

Tom Russell - Mesabi

Drive By Truckers - Go Go Boots

Ry Cooder - Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down

Nick Lowe - The Old Magic

The Tedeschi/Trucks album Revelator was one of the bigger disappointments because I really like Derek; it sounded repetitive.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Williams on December 22, 2011 at 9:28am

Little Head is quite a while ago, I think (1997?). Toward the bottom as far as his albums go, but it had some charm for me (e.g., Little Head, Pirate Radio, Graduated, My Sweet Girl). The recent one that disappointed me was Same Old Man. Thought his latest and The Open Road to be strong releases.