Album Playlist: 1/18/12

Mae - The Everglow
(2005) (A)

The Everglow is a top five favorite album of all time to me. The entire record is perfectly flowing from one song to the next, and every single song is extremely memorable. "We're So Far Away" is one of the best piano ballads ever. Honestly, this record has zero weaknesses, though it doesn't hit me as hard as Everything In Transit and Leaving Through The Window do.
Key Tracks: This is not an album to listen to individual tracks to, but if you really want some, "The Everglow", "We're So Far Away", "Someone Else's Arms"


Recommended If You Like: Piano supported, guitar based pop rock. Really though, everyone should be able to love this album.

Check below the jump for one of my favorite records of 2011 by Those Dancing Days and Mayday Parade's comeback record.

Sky's The Limit Free Download (Pre-Mae)

Are you a huge Mae fan? Do you have every one of their records and enjoy them all? Before Mae, lead singer Dave Elkins fronted the band Sky's The Limit, which is pretty much what Mae would have sounded like if they had a record before Destination: Beautiful. In fact, "Skyline Drive" originated from Sky's The Limit, as the original version is on this self titled release. Although the band does not stand up to pretty much all of Mae's releases, it is still nice to see the progression from the start for Dave. And when Dave's new songs get released in the next week or so, it will be interesting to see what direction he goes next. For now, download Sky's The Limit's album on Bandcamp for free here.

Mae

A little piece of me cried when Mae broke up. The Everglow was one of the first full albums I downloaded when I moved from liking individual songs to the full work of art a band produces. "We're So Far Away" is still probably the best piano-rock song I've heard. The whole album is just overall one of the most consistently great albums out there. Since the breakup was announced, I downloaded their entire catalog (minus their sub-par Singularity), including the different, but equally as great Destination: Beautiful. The vocals and songs may be a little less polished than The Everglow, but the songs are even more emotionally captivating, especially the incredible "Sun". The band also showed their intense dedication with their (m)orning/(a)fternoon/(e)vening project, donating much of the profits to charity. (e)vening had the band going out with some of their best material yet, including a 13 minute, three part instrumental piano piece. Mae just knows the formula for truly beautiful music. The band will definitely be missed, but their influence will live on. You can listen to and purchase Mae's tracks up for charity purposes on their site here.