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Current mood:  relaxed Category: Music
The music industry brought us a NUMBER of surprises for 2008. Some good, some REEEEALLY good, and some you just wish would go the hell away.
Music has always been such an integral part of my life, ever since the age of 6 when my Mom used to play the Beatles, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and Fleetwood Mac incessantly. While I grew up despising the Beatles, I can appreciate them for what they did for music.
There will always be the age old argument 'The Beatles created Rock & Roll'!! Then there are those who say that Carl Perkins is responsible. Me, I'm a fan of The King, Elvis Aaron Presley. I don't care WHO'S responsible, I'm just thankful that we get it in a variety of sounds today.
Without straying too much, I'd like to share with you the cd's I felt were the best in 2008:
1) Metallica - Death Magnetic
This is the cd WE (the Metallica fan since day one) have been asking for since 1988's, '....And Justice for All'. Start to finish, this disc is LOADED with the angst Metallica have been missing since they (according to some) "sold out" or "cut their hair".
Reminder - You don't NEED hair to play some of the heavier riffs today. Ask Paige Hamilton from Helmet.
My favorite tracks on the disc are "Cyanide", "That Was Just Your Life", "All Nightmare Long",
and my favorite to play as loud as possible, "The End of the Line".
I was fortunate enough to have seen Metallica twice in 2008. Once playing ALL hits and the other in support of 'Death Magnetic'. While I loved the greatest hits show, the show with the new material will go down as THE show of 2008 as well. The tour will swing through Reno by September/October of '09 ... mark my word. Sacramento and Reno will both get shows. I might have to do both.
The tour is THAT good.
2) Rise Against - Appeal to Reason
I saw Rise over the summer with MEtallica at the KROQ Weenie Roast (thank you Columbia Records for the love on the tickets!!) and while their set was a little unexpected, mainly because they were on the heels of Bad Religion AND Pennywise, Rise rose to the occasion and laid down their own brand of powerhouse punk rock, including a new song, that later appeared on 'Appeal to Reason' called "Re-Education Through Labor".
The volume is low so dont' fret 
Anyhow, the Rise cd plowes through traditional Rise Against sound while breaking down into a few melodic parts you wouldn't expect from the fellas. When I first got this disc it was hard to break away from the Metallica but found myself giving this equal amount of attention after a while.
3) Supersuckers - Get It Together
5 long years waiting for this disc chock full of hits. Every song on there can fit into a playlist SOMEWHERE on the radio.
"HYPOCRISY!!" scream the masses, and rightfully so.
Hey, if it were my way, we'd (KRZQ) be two songs deep on this cd, looking to get a 3rd one on in the months ahead.
Eddie and the boys return with a new direction, sorta. There are a handful of naysayers out there who like to old 'Suckers' material more. Personally, I'm so stoked to have new material that bitching about the new songs is not my forté. The good news about this release is they've been touring so much that you forgot that the last disc was out in the Summer of 2003.
Some of my favorites on there are, "I'm a Fuckin' Genius", "Listen Up", "What It Takes", "Paid"
and "Something Good for You" which is a solid tribute to Thin Lizzy's "Don't Believe a Word".
Even Eddie admitted their love for Thin Lizzy when he was on the air with me back in October of '08.
4) Shiny Toy Guns - Season of Poison
Stepping away from the sound they worked so hard to establish with 'We Are Pilots', the Shinys made a very dark, brooding disc that's not a one time listen disc. I went rounds with one of the record reps for Universal Motown saying how the band is "all but dead in the water without Carah Faye" and "they'll never be as big", boy was I wrong.
The 'Carah Faye' era of STG was great, and a lot of fun, but the Sisely Treasure era has rolled in like a dark storm looming on the horizon, waiting to strike.
'Season of Poison' is deep, it's layered with SEVERAL hits, including the first single "Ricochet!". The follow-up to that is "Ghost Town"....
The first two singles are only scratching the surface at how great this new disc is. Get it. Let your 'Carah Faye' guard down. Trust me. Everything will flow THAT much easier when you do.
5) Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Rounding out my top 5 of 2008 is this fantastic new disc that you cannot break away from long enough to catch your breath ... and when you do, you're right back at it with this cd.
You've heard "Sex on Fire" ....
...but when you may not have heard is the rest of the cd. This is one of those discs that when you put it on, suddenly every song on there becomes your favorite and you say to yourself, "the radio song is the weakest jam on there."
Whether or not you're right remains to be heard. What you could do for yourself is borrow a friends cd, or even find a downloading site, and pull down a couple clips. I'm not encouraging pirating music, but I am encouraging you to find a way to listen to a few more songs from the cd if you're still skeptical.
You've been warned ... 'Only By The Night' is fucking AMAZING.
I have the list of other discs at my desk at work ... discs I'd like to give honorable mention to ... so forgive me if I post a half ass blog for now.
The rest is coming soon ... you have my word.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Cheers and here's to more great music in 2009!!!
 | Currently listening:
Death Magnetic
By Metallica
Release date: 2008-09-12 |
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5:38 AM
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