Worst 2010 Album I Heard In Its Entirety

I thought it would be nice to provide a brief interlude between parts 1 and 2 (the latter still forthcoming) of my favorite 2010 albums by telling you my least favorite album of 2010. There were of course many songs that I heard that I enthusiastically disliked, but I didn't listen to the respective artists' full albums from which those songs came. You might recall that the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack came out this year, but despite the otherwise awfulness that the whole Twilight franchise puts out, their soundtracks are fantastic (for example, this one has Fanfarlo, Muse, Cee-Lo Green, Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather, and more). Perhaps the new Kings of Leon album failed to grasp your attention and impress you, but this too is not the worst. Maybe you too bought Dave Barnes' new album when it was the Amazon MP3 daily deal only to realize that no music should sound that much like a pink-walled candy store – but no, while it is close to the bottom of the list of 2010 albums, it does not take the cake.

The worst album of 2010 that I heard in its entirety was Sky Sailing: An Airplane Carried Me To Bed. This is the "side project" of Adam what's-his-name from Owl City, the "band" that always tempts me to rhyme the second words of its name with something else. I put "side project" in quotes because despite the different name, it's just more Owl City crap. The only difference between the two is this: Owl City sounds like the singer of Blink-182 trying incredibly hard to rip-off the Postal Service while reading through a children's picture book with a CCM producer's sterile over-production; Sky Sailing is less overtly a Postal Service rip-off (though it is still quite similar in the worst way possible), because someone taught the guy four chords to strum on a guitar – but everything else is the same.

Just like Owl City's "Fireflies" and "Hello Seattle," these songs can get stuck in your head when you are at a weak moment. Lots of people like lots of awful songs lots of the time – mainstream radio is more often than not proof of this (e.g. Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas) – so there are certainly a good number of people who liked this album. But for me, I just can't recognize any redeeming qualities about this album. This is a warning post, lest you should be tempted to buy it.

I will close this blog with a Sky Sailing/Owl City inspired song that I will make up right now. Remember that it is sung in his voice, so "my eyes," for example, are pronounced "moy oyes."

My eyes open from my glitter dream;

I wash my hands in the sparkling stream,

Rub my face in the warm, green grass,

Glad I am finally here at last.

Swarming around me are dragonflies

As I harness them and ride them through the diamond skies:

Airplanes, clouds, planets, stars,

They take me further – I go so far!

Dancing on gumdrops, eating gummy bears,

Look at the city lights and start to stare,

At the city and the nature, and sing my ditty

And planets, rainbows, candy canes! Yay Owl City!