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Buy These Now:
Crack the Skye - Mastodon
Mastodon has really outdone themselves with Crack the Skye, a Prog Metal masterpiece about an astral traveling quadriplegic, Rasputin and lots and lots of Acid. Crack the Skye has singlehandedly changed the way I listen to metal. If you do not have this album, you should go find it, right away.
Next to Normal - Written by Tom Kitt
I found out about Next to Normal when a friend of mine showed me the performance of "You Don't Know/I Am The One" at the Tony Awards and I was completely blown away. I had shivers down my back throughout the entire performance, and much to my surprise and excitement, the rest of the soundtrack was equally strong and moving. Next to Normal is the best Rock Musical since Rent, you really don't want to miss out on this one.
Worth Your Time:
The Exited Door - Kirk Hamilton
The Exited Door is possibly one of the most entertaining and creative albums of 09. Kirk Hamilton weaves intricate and appealing melodies together to create a wonderfully varied track list and brings each song to life with his legion of talented San Francisco musicians. Kirk utilizes strings, horns, guitars and keyboards to create what he calls "Diversely Orchestrated Pop." Whatever it is, it's awesome! Give This album a chance, you wont regret it.
21st Century Breakdown - Green Day
The sequel to American Idiot is about as ambitious as Green Day gets (which isn't really saying much, but oh well). It contains some of the best songs Green Day has ever written (see 21st Century Breakdown, Before the Lobotomy and 21 Guns), but it also has some songs that are upsettingly derivative, including a couple of songs that take direct melodic lines and structures from earlier Green Day songs.
Octahedron - The Mars Volta
Octahedron A fun, entertaining romp through the heads of Cedric and Omar, but it lacks the energy and punch of some of their earlier work. Somehow it's just not pretentious enough... (For more information read my full review of Octahedron)
Black Clouds and Silver Linings - Dream Theater
Dream Theater remains constant with Black Clouds and Silver Linings, another strong Prog Rock release. Dream Theater is at their best when they embrace all of their Progressive Tendencies, but the music quickly gets dull when they start to forget that they aren't just a straight up Pop-Metal band. BC&SL also sometimes leans a little to heavily on Dream Theater's influences, particularly on "Best of Times," which at times feels like a direct copy of Rush's Spirit of the Radio. "Court Of Tuscany" is the album's best track, and fortunately, its AWESOME.
Consider It:
Swoon- The Silversun Pickups
Fuzz , Fuzz, Fuzz. That's what Swoon is. A whole lot of Fuzz. It's basically a Carbon Copy of the bands first album, Carnavas, so if you liked that album, you'll probably like Swoon, or maybe you'll just be annoyed at how little the band has grown over the last few years. The music's not bad, it just never surprises you or really gets into your head.
Don't Bother:
Metamorphosis- Papa Roach
Uhhh.... Papa Roach has never been a great band, but I really liked "Getting Away With Murder." Unfortunately, the band's music has been going downhill since then. "The Paramour Sessions" wasn't horrid, but it lost a lot of the edge and energy that made "Murder" so appealing. It seems that that energy has completely disappeared on Metamorphosis. And the Lyrics are atrocious.
The Lonely Road - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
To be honest I can't really say much about this album, since I turned it off after the four minutes and fifteen seconds of complete hell that was the song "Believe." It is without a doubt one of the worst songs I have ever heard in my life.
It's Blitz - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have never really captured my attention, but I always thought that they wrote decent songs. Unfortunately, This is not the case on It's Blitz. Each song on this album is a mess, as The Yeah Yeah Yeahs stray a bit to far into the Art Rock realm that they love so much, and they left the "rock music" part behind.
Stay Tuned:
Untitled - My Chemical Romance
If you were living under a rock in 2006, you might have missed My Chemical Romance's over the top Epic, "The Black Parade," but chances are you've probably heard of it, and probably have a very strong opinion about it. I happened to be in the "loved it" camp, but even if you don't like MCR, you have to admit, they write strong music, and they have improved drastically over each of their first Three Albums. They are apparently going back to their roots as a real "American Rock and Roll Band," and what they mean by that I don't think anyone really knows, but knowing MCR, it will probably be awesome.
Resistance - Muse
Its not a secret that Muse is a terrific band. Black Holes and Revelations was totally awesome and I don't really know many people that don't like their classics like "Time is Running Out" and "Plug in Baby." Chances are a new Muse album will not disappoint.
Beggars - Thrice
I really don't care what you say, Thrice Rocks. They have experimented with a whole range of musical genres, playing a lot of "Emo" Rock, sampling some prog, some metal, some electronic, but the really fun thing about Thrice is that they try something new with each album, and they always combine all of their influences to create something that sounds uniquely, Thrice. Beggars looks to be no different, you really don't want to miss this one. Not to mention, Thrice is a group of absolutely great, hard working guys who spend lots of time advocating different charities and helping others. They also do all of their own studio work. Thrice is a true creative band, doing exactly what they want to do.
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