I will also include a few that I bought that missed the top ranking, as well as some that I still need to go out and get. The top entries are in the order of when they were released.

So with that, here’s my 2009 list:

• Lily Allen “It’s Not You, It’s Me”
  
  My daughter introduced me to Lily Allen, who I had heard of, but had never heard her music before. So I bought this sophomore release and was hooked. Of course, the two stand out tracks here are “The Fear” and “Fuck You”, which pretty much says to other young female artists to step it up a few notches if they want to have an outstanding album.
• Depeche Mode “Sounds Of The Universe”
  
  Most of you know I am a huge Depeche Mode fan. I’ve seen them multiple times in concert and there’s not that many songs or albums of theirs that I don’t like. This year’s release was a pretty strong effort by the band and songs like “Wrong” and “In Sympathy” made me love this band even more.
• Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
  
  I was rather surprised that this was their fourth album. Where the hell have I been? Obviously not listening to this band. Tracks like “Lisztomania” and “1901″ only cement the love for playing this entire album from start to finish.
• Chickenfoot “Chickenfoot”
  
  I discovered this album early on in the year and I was instantly hooked. You take Sammy and Michael from Van Halen, add in Joe Satriani and Chad Smith to the mix and you have some kick ass tunes. “Soap On A Roap” and “Turnin’ Left” are just the tip of the iceberg for this hot new super group.
• Killswitch Engage “Killswitch Engage”
  
  One of the few metalcore bands that I really like released a new album this year. It’s self-titled [their second of their career... confusing to say the least] and it’s good… really good. Tracks like “Starting Over” and “The Forgotten” are melodic and hard-edged starting points to the greatness of the entire album.
• Pearl Jam “Backspacer”
  
  Pearl Jam was one of those bands that had to grow on me. But once they did, their grunge-like sound stuck. And while their self-titled release a few years ago wasn’t one of their better releases, they redeemed themselves with “Backspacer.” Stand out tracks like “The Fixer” and “Amongst The Waves” prove they still have got the musical touch.
• Alice In Chains “Black Gives Way To Blue”
  
  There has never been a band like Alice In Chains. So imagine my apprehension when they decide to release a new album with a new lead singer, William DuVall. Well, after many listens, this has proven to be really good. True Layne Staley fans may be bothered by him being replaced, but they should take a listen to songs like “Check My Brain” and “A Looking In View” and they may feel better about this return.
• Them Crooked Vultures “Them Crooked Vultures”
  
  Another super group? Did we really need another one? Before you shake your head in disagreement, you may want to listen to their debut album. Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones [of Led Zeppelin] make this release a must listen. Songs like “New Fang” and “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” are just a couple of the 13 tracks that make this album rock.

Down A Few Rungs

And there were some albums that I bought that just didn’t grab me or they promised more than I thought they produced.

• U2 “No Line On The Horizon”
  
  U2 is one of my favorite bands and over their career, they have released some incredible albums. This was not one of them. Sure there were some catchy songs like “Get Your Boots On” and “Moment Of Surrender”, but overall, it was a snoozer for this fan.
• Muse “The Resistance”
  
  Muse have proven they are an incredibly talented band. Musically, they’ve released several albums that have been fan favorites. But there is something lacking in this latest release. Sure, their trademark sound is here, but there are many weak tracks on this album that just didn’t seem as strong as they could have been.
• Green Day “21st Century Breakdown”
  
  Green Day is one of those bands that I’ve always liked. And “American Idiot” was a great album and one that plays well from start to finish, telling a great story. But when you try to tell another story from start to finish on a new album, it may just start to feel the same. This album did just that. There were some great songs, but the melody sounded way too similar… almost like they were phoning it in. They did redeem themselves by being great in concert, though.
• Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest”
  
  I really did try to like this album. Lots of people loved it and praised it over and over. Even my daughter talked about how great it is. But I have to be honest that I didn’t completely fall in love with it, even after half a dozen listens. That doesn’t mean I hate it. On the contrary, but just not enough to make it a top candidate.

Albums I Need To Get Still

And there are a few releases that I need to pick up still, lauded by my daughter and others.

• Silversun Pickups “Swoon”
  
  I know my daughter has this album because she loves this band. I’ve heard a few songs from this album and liked them just as much as I did the tracks from their first release, “Carnavas.” Guess I need to get this latest release from my daughter.
• Passion Pit “Manners”
  
  I like some electronic dance music. LCD Soundsystem is one of my favorites. So after listening to several of the tracks on this album, I put it on my “must have” list. I still don’t have it, but I’m about to change that before the year ends.
• Cage The Elephant “Cage The Elephant”
  
  Grant Ruby, a friend and a DJ at local radio station 101.9 FM The End, has praised this album both on his blog and on the air. I’ve got one song “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and I like it. Now I need to get the album to hear what other great songs I’ve been missing out on.
• Pet Shop Boys “Yes”
  
  I’ve been a fan of the Pet Shop Boys since their mid-80′s debut. I’ve had most of their albums over the years and they have never strayed from being great. Thanks to Dave from Blogography’s praise, this is an album that I will eventually own.
• White Rabbits “It’s Frightening”
  
  I really like the song “Percussion Gun” and have heard the rest of the album is just as good. I just need to go get the album and see for myself if the other tracks stand out just as great.

Best of Decade

There you have it – my 2009 list of albums that were great, not so great and ones I have yet to get. I also plan to do a best of decade list. That one is a bit more difficult to put together, but I’ll make sure it gets posted as soon I’m done.

So did I leave anything off? Put one on my list you think sucked? Comment away.

YouTube has censored another one of my videos. Nope, not another Scooter or Snowy Sunday video. This time is was concert footage from a show I went to this year.

Back in September, I went to see The Psychedelic Furs live here in Salt Lake at a small club. Even got to meet them afterwards, which was nice. And as I normally do, I had my digital camera with me and took some photos and a short video clip.

I’ve posted clips of concert footage before from other shows and have never had any warnings or notices until now. Here’s the first notice I got in my email:

Emailed notice of copyright infringement

Clicking through to my YouTube account, I was greeted with the following notice:

I had to click the Acknowledge button to get into my account

Here’s the offending footage that YouTube removed (which I uploaded to Vimeo, hoping they won’t yank it):

Psychedelic Furs – 9/12/09 – Salt Lake City, UT from Marty Mankins on Vimeo.

Puzzled and Confused

Obviously, I’m a bit concerned as I don’t want to be have my YouTube account disabled or removed. So I decided to do a bit of research to see if there were other videos by Psychedelic Furs that were removed. Imagine my surprise to find another video of concert footage uploaded from the October NYC show, which still remains online.

What The Fuck? Why is mine taken down while this video gets to stay? Is it that the quality is better? Surely it can’t be that the video is too short, as this footage is most of the song. Mine was just a couple of minutes of the song.

And I found another one from the Philadelphia show two days before the NYC show:

Quality wise, this guys video is so-so, but yet it’s not the video that YouTube is taking issue with. It’s the music. And I really think this is coming from RIAA or the bands record label, not directly from the band, as the notice states.

I was under the impression that the copyright issue didn’t apply to concert footage that you personally shoot on your own camera. But according to YouTube’s video upload page, they now include “music concerts” as content to avoid uploading. Yet, my concert footage clips from Pearl Jam, Green Day and Depeche Mode remain on my page, with no issues or warnings.

Which is why I am further confused about what gets to stay and what gets removed on YouTube.

And which is why I will make even more efforts to further reduce what I upload to YouTube.

I love going to concerts. My first was Van Halen in 1982 and I’ve been to many shows in the last 27 years. I lost count on how many bands I’ve seen live, but I can easily say it’s over 1,000 different bands… seriously. Just scanning my concert ticket stubs and thinking of all the show I don’t have a ticket stub for, that’s a safe amount.

But out of all of those many shows, there is one band that I’ve seen in concert nine times: Depeche Mode.

The band never ceases to amaze me with what kind of show they put on. From the first time I saw them live in 1986 during the “Black Celebration” tour until the most recent show of the Tour Of The Universe, Depeche Mode have been one of the most amazing, entertaining and talented bands I’ve seen perform on stage.

This most recent date, here in Salt Lake City, had an extra bonus: Dave from Blogography was in town to enjoy this show. While the concert went off without a hitch, the lead up to this show wasn’t without it’s concerns. The band was forced to cancel a few of its dates, including two California dates, just weeks before the SLC date.

All of us were nervous about the show – even up to the day before during Dave Lake City 3 at the Rio Grande Cafe, Dave and I both hoping that there wouldn’t be a last minute cancellation.

But there wasn’t.

This was also my daughter’s second time seeing Depeche Mode, her first time being in 1998 for the Singles Tour.

Who the hell is that dude behind us and why is he not excited for Depeche Mode?

All three of us waited in anticipation, with big smiles….

When Bad Monkey pushes the button, the show will begin.

Dave has already posted a great set list and his thoughts on each of the songs performed. As for my thoughts, I’m with Dave on just about everything he said, especially with the selection of “Jezebel”, which isn’t one of my favorites from the new album “Sounds Of The Universe”. As with Dave, I would have preferred “Home”, which is one of my favorite Martin Gore songs. But regardless of that weak moment, The show was spectacular. I didn’t even miss hearing “People Are People” or “Everything Counts” [which is one of my all time favorite songs to hear live]. It was that good of a show. And I was able to capture a good amount of photos with my camera. Here’s a selection from the Flickr set:

The band on stage

Martin Gore at his finest moment

Dave was in top form, never missing a chance to be the frontman

During the final number “Waiting For The Night”

Thank you, Depeche Mode, for a kick ass show

BONUS: Video

And here’s a video of some of “Policy Of Truth” that I was able to capture on my camera.

=======================================

Green Day

Staged

Not to take away from the awesome show that was Depeche Mode live, I also recently went to another concert about a week before. Green Day played at Energy Solutions Arena [formerly known as the Delta Center] and put on a great show.

While sometimes blamed for getting too big and too popular and forgetting their punk roots, I have to admit that Billie Joe Armstrong has a great on-stage persona and is very good at building up audience participation. This was my third time seeing them live and I have never been bored or disappointed each of those times.

Here’s a selection of pics from my Flickr set from the concert on August 16, 2009:

Billie Joe on the big screen

Mike Dirnt on the big screen

Tre Cool on the big screen

… and the ending number “Good Riddance (Time of your Life)” – Billie Joe all by himself

BONUS: Video

And I was able to capture part of “Brain Stew” on video.