| 3 Doors Down Seventeen Days | 3.0 |
| 3 Doors Down The Better Life | 3.5 |
| Alicia Keys Songs in A Minor | 3.5 |
| Alter Bridge One Day Remains | 4.0 |
| Audioslave Audioslave | 4.0 |
| Audioslave Out of Exile | 3.5 |
| Audioslave Revelations | 3.0 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Sounding the Seventh Trumpet | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Waking the Fallen | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil | 4.0 |
| Backstreet Boys Millennium | 2.5 |
| Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys | 2.5 |
| Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning | 3.0 |
| Burton Wagner In the Realms of the Unreal | 4.0 |
| Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky | 3.5 |
| Converge No Heroes | 4.0 |
| Converge You Fail Me | 4.0 |
| Converge Jane Doe | 4.0 |
| Danny Elfman The Nightmare Before Christmas | 5.0 |
| Deerhunter Microcastle | 5.0 |
| Deerhunter Fluorescent Grey | 4.5 |
| Django Reinhardt The Best of Django Reinhardt | 4.5 |
| Dream Theater Images and Words | 4.0 |
| Eric Clapton and B. B. King Riding With the King | 4.0 |
| Evanescence Fallen | 3.5 |
| Good Charlotte The Young And The Hopeless | 3.0 |
| Green Day American Idiot | 3.0 |
| Howard Shore The Fellowship of the Ring | 4.5 |
| IAMX The Alternative | 4.0 |
"The Alternative" by IAMX (one-man band, excluding performances, Chris Corner) is a great electronica album that doesn't even feel like an electronica album sometimes; I would say that IAMX meshes together the indie, pop, and electronica genres quite well on this album with a mature feel, even moreso than their first album "Kiss + Swallow."
There are some great lyrics to be found in each song, and the songs themselves are catchy and superbly written. There is definitely a lot of experimentation on this album, especially in "Song Of Imaginary Beings" and "Bring Me Back A Dog", where Corner uses interesting instrumentations and does odd things with his high falsetto, cabaret-like voice. Find it if you can! I sure had a hard time doing so. |
| ISIS Panopticon | 4.0 |
| ISIS In the Absence of Truth | 3.5 |
| Jay-Z The Black Album | 4.0 |
| John Coltrane Interstellar Space | 4.0 |
| John Mayer Room for Squares | 3.5 |
| John Mayer Continuum | 4.5 |
| John Mayer Trio Try! | 4.5 |
| John Williams Star Wars OST | 4.5 |
| John Williams Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | 4.0 |
| John Williams Close Encounters of the Third Kind | 3.5 |
| John Williams Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope | 3.0 |
| John Williams Raiders of the Lost Ark | 3.5 |
| John Williams Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | 5.0 |
| John Williams Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | 4.5 |
| John Williams Jurassic Park | 3.5 |
| John Williams Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | 4.0 |
| John Williams Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones | 3.5 |
| John Williams E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial | 3.5 |
| Julius C Julius C Says | 5.0 |
This short but very, very sweet EP from the well-grounded Staten Island, NYC band Julius C enbodies everything they stand for with their amazing, energetic live shows: profound and groovy musicianship, dynamic songwriting, and powerful and soulful performances from vocalist Jay Stolar. This EP has everything, from the slap bass opening in "Guilty As Charged" to the playful, eclectic lyrics of "Velveteen Rabbit" to the funk-rock epic "Let It Ride." Barely hitting 20 minutes and leaving you thirsting for more, foaming at the mouth, Julius C are a funky, loud, and downright awesome east coast band that, even already critically acclaimed and festival-honored, haven't even begun to peak creatively yet. The best is definitely yet to come for these guys.
You need to experience them here:
www.myspace.com/juliusc |
| Kanye West Late Registration | 4.0 |
| Kanye West The College Dropout | 4.5 |
| Kanye West Graduation | 2.5 |
| Kelly Clarkson Breakaway | 3.0 |
| Korn Korn | 3.5 |
| Korn Life Is Peachy | 4.0 |
| Korn Follow the Leader | 4.0 |
| Korn See You on the Other Side | 3.5 |
| Korn Take a Look in the Mirror | 3.0 |
| Korn Issues | 3.5 |
| Korn Untouchables | 3.0 |
| Lacuna Coil Unleashed Memories | 3.5 |
| Lacuna Coil In a Reverie | 3.5 |
| Lacuna Coil Comalies | 3.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV | 4.0 |
| Limp Bizkit Three Dollar Bill Y'all | 3.5 |
| Limp Bizkit Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water | 2.5 |
| Limp Bizkit Results May Vary | 3.0 |
| Limp Bizkit The Unquestionable Truth - Part I | 3.5 |
| Linkin Park Hybrid Theory | 4.0 |
| Linkin Park Reanimation | 4.0 |
| Linkin Park Meteora | 3.0 |
| Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight | 3.5 |
| Ludacris Word Of Mouf | 3.5 |
| Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer | 3.5 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 | 5.0 |
This, the last of Beethoven's completed symphonies, was composed while Beethoven was deaf. This is no easy task in itself, but when you consider the images and emotions created by this music, hopefully you'll then start to consider Beethoven as one of the greatest musical minds of our history.
A sort of concept piece, Symphony No. 9 represents the struggles and conflicts found in our world and ultimately a triumph of peace and joy. While the German lyrics sung by the choir in the fourth and most famous movement aren't exactly "Joyful, joyful, we adore thee...", they are not only an adaption of Friedrich Schiller's poem about a call to embrace those around you in happiness but one of the first times in composed music where a choir's sung parts were just as powerful, important, and loud as the orchestra (a trend most commonly found in movie soundtracks today).
Although, it was met with mixed criticism when it debuted in 1824, it is now heralded as one of the greatest human accomplishments, the official anthem of the European Union, and can be recognized after only the playing of four notes (F# F# G A...). |
| Maroon 5 It Won't Be Soon Before Long | 3.0 |
| Maroon 5 Songs About Jane | 3.5 |
| Mastodon Blood Mountain | 3.5 |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning | 3.5 |
| Metallica Metallica | 3.0 |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All | 4.0 |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 3.5 |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All | 3.5 |
| Mnemic Mechanical Spin Phenomena | 3.0 |
| Nelly Nellyville | 2.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Further Down the Spiral (US) | 3.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Beside You in Time | 4.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails The Fragile | 4.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Year Zero | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails With Teeth | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine | 3.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral | 5.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Still | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Broken | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Ghosts I-IV | 4.5 |
| NSYNC No Strings Attached | 2.0 |
| Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon | 4.0 |
| Pink Floyd Animals | 3.0 |
| Puddle of Mudd Come Clean | 3.5 |
| Radiohead OK Computer | 3.5 |
| Radiohead Kid A | 3.5 |
| Radiohead Amnesiac | 3.5 |
| Radiohead The Bends | 3.0 |
| Radiohead In Rainbows | 4.0 |
| Radiohead Hail to the Thief | 4.0 |
| Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine | 4.0 |
| Ray Charles Ray Original Soundtrack | 4.0 |
| Razed in Black Damaged | 2.5 |
| Richard Cheese Aperitif for Destruction | 3.5 |
| Run-D.M.C. Raising Hell | 4.0 |
| Sage Francis Human The Death Dance | 4.0 |
| Santana Supernatural | 3.5 |
| Saul Williams The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust | 4.0 |
| Scott Joplin The Entertainer (Fine Tune Gold Collection) | 4.0 |
| Simon Says Shut Your Breath | 4.0 |
| Slipknot Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. | 3.0 |
| Slipknot Slipknot | 3.5 |
| Slipknot Iowa | 4.0 |
| Slipknot Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses | 4.0 |
| Slipknot 9.0: Live | 4.5 |
| Smash Mouth Astro Lounge | 3.5 |
| Staind Tormented | 3.5 |
| Staind Dysfunction | 4.0 |
| Staind Break The Cycle | 3.5 |
| Staind 14 Shades of Grey | 2.0 |
| Staind Chapter V | 2.5 |
| Stone Sour Come What(ever) May | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Mezmerize | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Toxicity | 4.0 |
| System of a Down Hypnotize | 3.0 |
| The Allman Brothers Band A Decade of Hits 1969-1979 | 4.0 |
| The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East | 4.0 |
| The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour | 3.5 |
| The Beatles 1 | 4.0 |
| The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | 4.0 |
| The Black Eyed Peas Elephunk | 2.0 |
| The Decemberists The Crane Wife | 3.0 |
| The Rolling Stones Forty Licks | 3.5 |
| The Who Quadrophenia | 4.5 |
| The Who Who's Next | 5.0 |
| The Who Tommy | 4.0 |
| Thom Yorke The Eraser | 3.0 |
| Tool Undertow | 3.5 |
| I've been getting into Tool over the past several months, and "Undertow" is the last album of theirs that I've obtained. It's quite interesting to hear the bridge between their hard rock EP and their spiritual, atmospheric brand of metal albums. This is by no means a concept album, but a solid collection of similarly themed songs dealing with abuse, deception, despair, and power struggle with lyrics that range from provocative and intellegent to passionate and off-beat (rather dumb, as some might say). Although the variety on "Undertow" is nowhere near that of "Aenima" from Tool, the songs are tighter and the production is much better. Lead singer Maynard James Keenan's voice is in top form and is more graceful and heartfelt here than on Tool's clever but despondant "10,000 Days" album. It is definitely an album that puts YOU in the mood it wants to. |
| Tool Opiate | 3.0 |
| Tool Ænima | 4.5 |
| Tool Lateralus | 4.0 |
| Tool 10,000 Days | 3.0 |
| Trapt Trapt | 3.5 |
| Trapt Someone in Control | 2.5 |
| Various Artists (Hip Hop) 8 Mile OST | 3.5 |
| Velvet Revolver Contraband | 3.5 |
| Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) | 4.0 |
| Yes The Yes Album | 4.0 |
