Special: A Decade Under The Influence: Albums From 2007

Welcome to "A Decade Under The Influence" where we'll look back 1 decade to find the best of whatever category we're focusing on. Today we're looking at all the great albums released 10 years ago in the year 2007.

10. Yellowcard - Paper Walls

Release Date: July 17, 2007

Record Label: Capitol

Choice Tracks: Light Up The Sky, Five Becomes Four and Cut Me, Mick

Review: Paper Walls should be described as a mingling of the band's previous material. The band has re-grouped with just enough One for the Kids (drumming and lyrics), a pinch of the Underdog EP (melodies), a healthy filling of Ocean Avenue (style and feel), and a tiny portion from only the best parts of Lights and Sounds (instrumentation). It was redemption for their former fans however with the pop-punk scene dying this album unfortunately buried Yellowcard for a few years until they made their aspiring comeback only to call it quits this year.

9. Amber Pacific - Truth In Sincerity

Release Date: May 22, 2007

Record Label: Hopeless

Choice Tracks: You're Only Young Once, Summer (In B) and Follow Your Dreams, Forget The Scene

Review: As much as Amber Pacific have similarities with other power pop/skateboard punk bands, their music has sonic wails and tangling coordinates that are truly of their own making. Their music has charisma and strength, exuberance and contrasting textures that give their songs character. Amber Pacific may have left us too soon however their 2 Hopeless releases will keep us reminiscing about the good old days.

8. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High

Release Date: February 6, 2007

Record Label: Island

Choice Tracks: I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You), Thnks Fr Th Mmrs and The Take Over, The Breaks Over

Review: How do you follow up such a ground breaking album such as From Under The Cork Tree? You don't play it safe. You continue to thrive and improve and with Jay-Z's blessing that's exactly what FOB does with Infinity. It doesn't come across as well as Cork Tree did, but it's about the closest they've come to it in the last decade plus of albums.

7. A Day To Remember - For Those Who Have Heart

Release Date: January 22, 2007

Record Label: Victory

Choice Tracks: Monument, The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle and Here's To The Past

Review: A Day to Remember have quite the multiple personality. One second they're blasting the most melodic pop-punk this side of NFG, and the next, they're channeling the depths of hell with acerbic growling and heavy breakdowns. And this is all in the same song. Somewhere an As I Lay Dying fan is dating a Fall Out Boy devotee, and they're in desperate need of a compromise album. For Those Who Have Heart could very well fill that void.

6. All Time Low - So Wrong It's Right

Release Date: September 25, 2007

Record Label: Hopeless

Choice Tracks: Six Feet Under The Stars, Holly (Would You Turn Me On)? and Dear Maria, Count Me In.

Review: All Time Low don’t rewrite pop-punk rules by filling their records with dramatic musical innovations or profound personal revelations. But the thing All Time Low does well is write pitch-perfect pop-punk anthems designed for sunny days at the beach/mall and evenings under the stars/influence they do really freaking well.

5. Four Year Strong - Rise Or Die Trying

Release Date: September 18, 2007

Record Label: I Surrender

Choice Tracks: Bada Bing! Wit A Pipe!, Beatdown In The Key Of Happy and Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die

Review: The main theme of this album is that it's all supposed to be a lot of fun, and they have certainly achieved that goal. Some say it's a shame they went away from their uniqueness and went more cookie-cutter on ''Enemy Of The World'' but I disagree. This album had it's share of bangers but I feel FYS has evolved quite well and I would prefer EOTW as well as their EP to this springboard album even though this will always be how many people first heard and fell in love with Four Year Strong.

4. Paramore - Riot!

Release Date: June 12, 2007

Record Label: Fueled By Ramen

Choice Tracks: Misery Business, When It Rains and CrushCrushCrush

Review: I come to the question whose answer I have been mentally debating for the last few days. Is Riot! better than All We Know is Falling? The answer is probably a no. All We Know is Falling just seems much more innocent, emotional and probably better written. Like maybe popularity and money have taken away something Paramore used to have. But Riot is still mega catchy and sugary sweet.

3. Farewell - Isn't This Supposed To Be Fun!?

Release Date: September 25, 2007

Record Label: Epitaph

Choice Tracks: War, First One On The Blog and Eighty-Eights

Review: Some bands want to rock your socks off, while others, like Farewell for example, want to take the place of the rocket pops you used to get from the ice cream man when you were a kid. ISN'T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN, an appropriate title for this candy colored treat of an album, is synth-greased power pop for people who liked the Rentals better than Weezer. Singer Marshall Davis and the tight pop harmonies of the group combine to create bright, breezy tunes that remind the listener of all the fun they've had (and should still be having) while listening to music.

2. Mayday Parade - A Lesson In Romantics

Release Date: July 10, 2007

Record Label: Fearless

Choice Tracks: Champagne's For Celebrating (I'll Have A Martini), Walk On Water Or Drown and If You Wanted A Song Written About You, All You Had To Do Is Ask.

Review: Every song is spectacular on this album and is a potential hit. In fact it was hard to narrow it down to three for the Choice Tracks. And even when I did I was shocked at all the great tracks I left off! The perfect hooks and lyrics just keep coming in this album.

Honourable Mentions:

Chiodos - Bone Pallace Ballet
New Found Glory - From Your Screen To Your Stereo Part 2
Anberlin - Cities
Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
Say Anything - In Defense Of The Genre
Relient K - Four Score And Seven Years
Silverstein - Arrivals And Departures
The Starting Line - Direction
Sum 41 - Underclass Hero
Saves The Day - Under The Boards
Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival
MxPx - Secret Weapon

1. illScarlett - All Day With It

Release Date: July 9, 2007

Record Label: Sony BMG Canada

Choice Tracks: Nothing Special, The Fashion (Do Or Die) and N.T.F.

Review: All Day With It, the full-length debut by Toronto quartet illScarlett, is as gleamingly overwrought and damnably catchy as most of the angsty hard rock for suburbanites with which shoved illScarlett into the spotlight ten years ago.

Special: A Decade Under The Influence: Movies from 2006

Hey everyone! 2016 is winding down so I thought we should bang out 1 more "A Decade Under The Influence" segment where we turn the clocks back 10 years and look at the best of years past, in our case 2006 so let's look at my 10 favourite movies from 2006.

10. The Benchwarmers

Release Date: April 7, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $59,843,754

Synopsis: For anyone who's ever been picked on, put down or pushed around, your heroes are here! Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) star as three older guys who know what it's like to be bullied. After catching some nasty neighborhood kids picking on a friend's son, they strike back by forming a three-man baseball team to challenge the state's best youth teams. Now, cheered on by every nerd, geek, and misfit in town, these underdogs are about to have a field day in this slapstick hit comedy from the director of Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore and producer Adam Sandler.

9. Underworld: Evolution

Release Date: January 20, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $62,318,875

Synopsis: Tribes of vampires and werewolves battle for supremacy among the undead in this follow-up to the horror hit Underworld. Tracing the bloody history of the ongoing war between the Death Dealers, a gang of upper-crust vampires, and the Lycans, a pack of scruffy werewolves, Underworld: Evolution finds beautiful Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and hunky Lycan Michael (Scott Speedman) exploring their own pasts as well as those of their comrades in hope of uncovering the secrets of this centuries-old conflict. As Selene and Michael deal with their bloody legacy as well as their forbidden romance, the violence between the Death Dealers and the Lycans escalates in what may be the final face-off between them.

8. Casino Royale

Release Date: November 17, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $167,455,960

Synopsis: James Bond's first 007 mission takes him to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist Mollaka. Not everything goes as planned and Bond decides to investigate, independently of the MI6 agency, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters Dimitrios and his girlfriend, Solange. He learns that Dimitrios is involved with Le Chiffre, banker to the world's terrorist organizations. Secret Service intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre is planning to raise money in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses, it will destroy his organization. 'M' places Bond under the watchful eye of the beguiling Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together--and even torture at the hands of Le Chiffre. In Montenegro, Bond allies himself with Matthis, MI6's local field agent, and Felix Leiter, who is representing the interests of the CIA. The marathon game proceeds with dirty tricks and violence, raising the stakes beyond blood money and reaching a terrifying climax.

7. Accepted

Release Date: August 18, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $36,323,505

Synopsis: Misfit teenagers who can't get into college instead create one of their own in this youth-oriented comedy. Bartleby Gaines (Justin Long) is a high school senior who's a nice guy and reasonably bright. However, his academic history is none too impressive, and as graduation comes and goes he's yet to find a college willing to admit him. Bartleby's parents are unhappy about this turn of events, and when he's turned down by his final "safety" school, Bartleby hatches a desperate scheme -- using his computer, he creates a website and letterhead for a non-existent college, South Harmon Institute of Technology, and tells his parents he'll he matriculating there come September. As it happens, several of Bartleby's friends -- Glen (Adam Herschman), Rory (Maria Thayer), Hands (Columbus Short), and Schrader (Jonah Hill) -- are in the same predicament, and soon they're also part of the new class at South Harmon. Word spreads like wildfire about South Harmon via the internet, and soon hundreds of prospective students are lined up waiting to sign up for its nonexistent classes. Bartleby and his pals commandeer a condemned mental hospital to serve as their campus, persuade Bartleby's mildly deranged Uncle Ben (Lewis Black) to serve as their dean, and soon they're running what looks like a genuine alternative educational facility, at least from a distance. But how long can the kids keep up the scam before their parents get wise...not to mention the officials governing institutions of higher education?

6. Inside Man

Release Date: March 24, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $88,513,495

Synopsis: The volatile showdown between a determined cop and a perfectionist bank robber is sent spiraling toward disaster when a scheming power broker steps in to take control of the situation in this hair-raising heist flick directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster. Dalton Russell (Owen) is a bank robber with a difference. In his quest to execute the perfect heist, Dalton has taken every possible factor into consideration. Dalton's uncanny ability of staying one step ahead of the law thwarts even-tempered Detective Keith Frazier's (Washington) best efforts. But there's another factor at play. The bank president (Christopher Plummer) has requested the services of high-profile negotiator Madeline White (Foster). Despite her commendable track record, Madeline is something of a wild card, and before the day is over, this bank robbery will go down in history as one of the most elaborate heists ever executed.

5. Monster House

Release Date: July 21, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $73,661,010

Synopsis: A suburban home has become physically animated by a vengeful human soul looking to stir up trouble from beyond the grave, and it's up to three adventurous kids from the neighborhood to do battle with the structural golem in this comically frightful tale, directed by Gil Kenan and featuring the voices of Steve Buscemi, Nick Cannon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Kevin James. DJ Harvard (voice of Mitchel Musso) lives directly across the street from a most unusual house. A malevolent entity that longs to feed on the energy of the living, the once peaceful house that looms ominously outside of DJ's bedroom window would like nothing more than the chance to feast on the children of the neighborhood. As Halloween begins to draw near and the children of the neighborhood prepare for another long night of trick-or-treating, it appears as if it may be the house that is in for the biggest treat of all. Now, with the adults turning a deaf ear to DJ's strange findings, it's up to the brave young boy and his faithful friends Chowder (voice of Sam Lerner) and Jenny (Spencer Locke) to break through the barrier of the supernatural and defeat the powers of darkness before the house grows too powerful to fight.

4. Mission: Impossible 3

Release Date: May 5, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $134,029,801

Synopsis: The third entry in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible film series involves super Impossible Mission Forces (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) being forced back into the field just when he was planning on marrying his girlfriend, Julia (Michelle Monaghan). The agency asks Hunt to save an operative (Keri Russell) he trained after weapons dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) kidnaps her. With the help of his field team -- played by Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and Maggie Q -- Hunt achieves his goal, but becomes involved in a web of double-crosses that leave him wondering if he can trust his superiors (Billy Crudup and Laurence Fishburne). Eventually Davian threatens Julia's life in order to get away with his evil plan.

3. The Pursuit Of Happyness

Release Date: December 15, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $163,566,459

Synopsis: Chris Gardner is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.

2. The Departed

Release Date: October 6, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $132,384,315

Synopsis: Legendary director Martin Scorsese takes the helm for this tale of questionable loyalties and blurring identities set in the South Boston organized crime scene and inspired by the wildly popular 2002 Hong Kong crime film Infernal Affairs. As the police force attempts to reign in the increasingly powerful Irish mafia, authorities are faced with the prospect of sending in an undercover agent or seeing their already frail grip on the criminal underworld slip even further. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young cop looking to make a name for himself in the world of law enforcement. Collin Sullivan (Matt Damon) is a street-smart criminal who has successfully infiltrated the police department with the sole intention of reporting their every move to ruthless syndicate head Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). When Costigan is assigned the task of working his way into Costello's tightly guarded inner circle, Sullivan is faced with the responsibility of rooting out the informer before things get out of hand. With the stakes constantly rising and time quickly running out for the undercover cop and his criminal counterpart, each man must work feverishly to reveal his counterpart before his identity is exposed by the other.

1. Thank You For Smoking

Release Date: March 17, 2006

North American Box Office Gross: $24,793,509

Synopsis: Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes on TV talk shows and enlisting a Hollywood super-agent to promote smoking in movies. Nick's newfound notoriety attracts the attention of both tobacco's head honcho and an investigative reporter for an influential Washington daily. Nick says he is just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage, but the increased scrutiny of his son and a very real death threat may force him to think differently.

Special: A Decade Under The Influence: Albums from 2006

Hey everyone, firstly I'm sorry I haven't provided you a Sunday Special in a while but I've been busy. Glad I could get one banged off today though. Best of all this is a new Segment called "A Decade Under The Influence" where we'll look back 1 decade to find the best of whatever category we're focusing on. Today we're looking at all the great albums released 10 years ago in the year 2006.

10. New Found Glory - Coming Home

Release Date: September 19, 2006

Record Label: Geffen

Choice Tracks: Oxygen, On My Mind, Coming Home

Review: Although this is far from NFG's finest release it was a perfect snapshot of the times where Pop-Punk was being fazed out to Pop, Punk or Remo (Radio Emo). NFG tried to make the jump and although originally applauded for it's mature sound rather than fizzling out (All-American Rejects) Coming Home is now seen as a step-back for the band but it still holds up ten years later as an interesting detour the band took while all happily married and no longer writing about heartbreak.

9. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Don't You Fake It

Release Date: July 18, 2006

Record Label: Virgin

Choice Tracks: Face Down, In Fate's Hands, Damn Regret

Review: Does anyone remember this band? Yeah the one that sand about spousal abuse? Yeah they were basically a one-hit wonder but it was a darn shame since this album was full of bangers. It's an album I forget about all the time but as soon as I pop it in I'm brought back to that Summer of 2006 when I couldn't get enough of these tracks, and guess what they're still together and charting high on the Christian Rock charts in the US! Craziness...

8. Senses Fail - Still Searching

Release Date: October 10, 2006

Record Label: Vagrant Records

Choice Tracks: Calling All Cars, Can't Be Saved, The Priest And The Matador

Review: This is an album that is held up by a great first half that then trails off, by the time you reach track 8 you'd think a different album was playing before The Priest And The Matador brings it home. So sure maybe this album is 5 songs too long but the other songs are all phenomenal that are still deserving of your attention today.

7. Yellowcard - Lights And Sounds

Release Date: January 24, 2006

Record Label: Capitol Records

Choice Tracks: Down On My Head, Rough Landing Holly, Lights And Sounds

Review: Yellowcard followed up their debut with the explosive Lights and Sounds which kicked 2006 off with a bang in January, featuring heavier guitars and more violin than it's predecessor, Lights And Sounds never matched the success of their major label debut but it was still a solid album all around. It's unfortunate that shortly after celebrating this albums 10 year anniversary Yellowcard announced they were disbanding and by this time next year they'll be no more... The FEELS!

6. Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now

Release Date: April 25, 2006

Record Label: Warner Bros

Choice Tracks: MakeDamnSure, Liar (It Takes One To Know One), Spin

Review: I was one of the TBS that felt let down after the release of their softmore record Where You Want To Be which was supposed to put them into the spotlight, they had a couple spots on TV but nothing major, definitely not the breakout we all expected after Tell All Your Friends but Louder Now anchored by MakeDamnSure and Liar made sure that TBS was getting all the airplay they so justifiably deserved, they've fallen a bit in recent years but borrowing some Americana sounds for their new release it may not be long before TBS is highly talked about again.

5. Anti-Flag - For Blood And Empire

Release Date: March 21, 2006

Record Label: RCA

Choice Tracks: The Press Corpse, War Sucks Let's Party, This Is The End (For You My Friend)

Review: Anti-Flag matured prior to releasing For Blood And Empire and no one gave a shit that they were on a major label either. What was important was that George W. was still president and these PA punks had something to rock out against. It's a non-stop rush of blood to the head as every guitar riff and every lyrics will forever be lodged in your brain for eternity. Their major label status didn't last long but they have one heck of an album to remember it by.

4. Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely

Release Date: February 28, 2006

Record Label: Victory Records

Choice Tracks: This Is Who We Are, We Are So Last Year, Saying Sorry

Review: Although thyis record didn't sell as well as their last it did feature their most successful single in Saying Sorry. Too bad for Hawthorne Heights that while they were suing their label the emo craze seemed to have died by the time the follow up to If Only You Were Lonely was released, that combined with the passing of their screamer while touring in support of this record lead Hawthorne Heights to be a shell of their former glory. At least we'll always have 2006.

3.  All Time Low - Put Up Or Shut Up EP

Release Date: July 25, 2006

Record Label: Hopeless Records

Choice Tracks: Coffee Shop Soundtrack, Jasey Rae, The Girl's A Straigt Up Hustler

Review: While still in high school ATL recorded this EP during their march break shortly after signing to Hopeless Records... Wait a minute how does an EP get this high in the rankings?? Oh wait, it's because it's that damn good. I discovered ATL in the summer of 2006 listening to Coffee Shop Soundtrack on the Warped Tour sampler, I then discovered the rest of the album and by the next summer the rest of the scene had as well and by the time Dear Maria hit in 2008 the whole world knew that All Time Low was on their way to being juggernauts of the genre, too bad their career stalled as a major label got involved at the same time major labels were dying (see the top 2 bands as well) but they're definitely still at the top of their game. ATL we salute you even though I'm still older than some members.

2. Hit The Lights - This Is A Stickup... Don't Make It Murder

Release Date: April 11, 2006

Record Label: Triple Crown Records

Choice Tracks: Save Your Breath, One Hundred Times, The Call Out (You Are The Dishes)

Review: This is considered an essential Pop-Punk record for a reason, filled with bangers it was hard to just pick 3 for the choice tracks section, even harder still was ranking this number 2 when it was just as deserving of the number 1 spot. Similar to ATL they finished up their indie deal and were greeted with offers from major labels which resulted in 2012's Invicta, a step away tonally for HTL that didn't sell nearly as well as this or 2008's Skip School, Start Fights. Luckily for us HTL signed with Pure Noise Records shortly after and have gone back to the sound we love to hear from them, now if only they could've figured out how to steal the #1 spot away.

Before we get to #1 let's look at 10 Honourable Mentions:

+44 - When Your Heart Stops Beating
Bowling For Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
The Early November - The Mother, The Mechanic And The Path
HelloGoodbye - Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!
Matchbook Romance - Voices
Mayday Parade - Tales Told By Dead Friends EP
Rise Against - The Sufferer & The Witness
Set Your Goals - Mutiny!
Sugarcult - Lights Out

1. Boys Like Girls - Self-Titled

Release Date: August 22, 2006

Record Label: Columbia Records

Choice Tracks: The Great Escape, Dance Hall Drug, Five Minutes To Midnight

Review: It's catchy, it's upbeat, it's Boys Like Girls at it's finest. I could not get enough of this album in late 2006 through summer 2007 and beyond. If you don't believe me you need to see the status of the case, it's wrecked. They followed this up with 2009's Love Drunk which netted them 2 more Platinum singles before falling off the face of the earth before resurfacing in 2012 when people no longer cared. Though singer/songwriter Martin Johnson has been keeping busy as he's been credited in writing many top singles for Avril Lavigne, Jason Derulo, Karmin and Christina Perry. Here's hoping BLG makes their way around these parts though as they just wrapped up a 10 year anniversary tour for this album.