Best Albums of 2010: #10 - Titus Andronicus: The Monitor

For my top ten albums of 2010, I'm going to try something a little bit different...

The Top Five References on Titus Andronicus's The Monitor:

5) "In our basements, we look so bored/we've never seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" from "Richard II or Extraordinary Popular Dimensions and the Madness of Crowds (Responsible Hate Anthem)"; Reference to: "Battle Hymn of the Republic"

4) "So now at Rock Ridge Pharmacy, I'll be waiting for my man" - "No Future Part III: Escape From No Future"; Reference to "I'm Waiting For the Man"

3) "John Brown's body lies a'mouldring in the grave and there's rumbling down in the caves" - Another reference to "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in "A More Perfect Union"

2) "Of course, you have never been to blame for the various horrible things that you did/
You may have gotten away with them too, if not for those meddling kids" - from "Richard II," and it's the greatest reference to Scooby Doo of all time.

1) "No, I never wanted to change the world/ but I'm looking for a new New Jersey/Because tramps like us, baby, we were born to die" - from "A More Perfect Union"; Reference to "A New England," by Billy Bragg and "Born to Run," by Bruce Springsteen

The Monitor is loaded with fantastic guitar riffs, barroom sing-a-longs and historical and music references, influenced by the Pogues, Hold Steady and Husker Du. The Monitor rocks harder than any album released in 2010 and uses more words than the average Dickens novel.

Standout Tracks: "A More Perfect Union," "Richard II or Extraordinary Popular Dimensions and the Madness of Crowds (Responsible Hate Anthem)," "Theme from 'Cheers,'" "To Old Friends and New"