Best Album of 2008

I'm not going to lie; having to choose one release from 2008 to be my favorite was extremely difficult. With epic releases from artists such as Anthony Green, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab For Cutie, and Lydia to name a few, choosing only one album and marking it as the best was a difficult assignment. But alas, one album kept popping up in my head, proving to me to be the best. This was Portugal. The Man's Censored Colors. Hailing from Alaska, this band one of the most unique post-hardcore bands I have in my collection. Seeing them live is unlike any other concert someone will ever go to. 

Censored Colors, released in September of 2008, is the Band's third album. The music is able to successfully combine ranges of music from upbeat piano, to ambient rock, to orchestrated folk. Censored Colors explores back to the 70's psychedelic phase yet gives us tons of new-wave sounds. Anyone who can combine elements of acoustic, electronic, melodic piano, cello, and metal sounds together successfully is a winner in my book. 

Censored Colors is split in two, like ying and yang; the first half includes songs that have been compared to classic rock. They combine pretty vocals, heavy guitars, and pop melodies to create a musical journey into the album. The third track "And I", is just pure magic and creativity. The song begins with vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars, and eventually turn into a classic rock binge, spitting out poetic lyrics such as " We'll be rebord, yeah we'll simply be free/ And we'll be the colors that pour through the streets". This album can clearly be considered "colorful" because of the lyrics. The band repetitively brings up the theme of colors, relating them to death, like the song "Colors" where the lyrics include, "I'm not afraid to die,'cause all these colors will change". The second half of the album breaks off into an experimental interlude; making the album like ying and yang. The ending half includes songs that seem to blend into each other to make one huge song, with spacey psychedelic rock and a cello. No other band has ever sparked my attention like Portugal. The Man. This album is indubitably worthy of being my top choice for Best Album of 2008.