Albums of the Year Continued.....

In my continuing look at this year’s best albums I have included my hero's super group and a diminutive angry Brit. As always, The Prez wholeheartedly rejects the existence of country music...

Tool: 10,000 days- Dark and heavy with an epic quality. Not as quality as "AEnema", but everything that a music fan wants. I still get a listen to this almost every day. Plus, their coming to Hartford in October!

Audioslave: Revelations-The sound of brand new riffs by guitar genius/hero for social justice Tom Morello almost makes me tweak out like a little kid watching those Japanese cartoons. The man may be the last vestige of pure greatness we ever see come from the radical left before its ideas are co-opted by the major parties to solve the crisis the major parties have created. That said, this band is very much an enigma to me. Every album they put out is fantastic, a guarantee because each member of the band is absolutely insanely talented. But I get tired of Cornell’s voice after a while. And he sings on these albums….alot. This ensures that every Audioslave album will be bittersweet in that the overwhelming byproduct leaves you wanting an ultra radical Rage Against the Machine reunion album. However, Audioslave does fill the massive void for no-nonsense music that destroys 99.5% percent of the music being created today. There is a unique synthesis to this album that gives you a sense of the true Audioslave sound. Sure , I would love the longer and heavier intense Rage–esque riffs of past Audioslave songs like “Cochise”, but the grandure of songs like “Moth” and “Wide Awake” get the job done. Plus, cranking “Original Fire” on a Friday evening in downtown Hartford rules.

Thom Yorke: The Eraser-I put off buying this album for many reasons. The first being that the live versions of the songs off this album that are on You Tube are much better then the studio recordings. The second reason, of course, is that I am anxiously awaiting a new Radiohead album. The live clips of the new stuff the band has put together is sweet. The last reason was that I am not a huge fan of the ultra computer generated sounds, but Yorke is a manical musical genius whose gloomy perspective on the world mimics my own. Thus, I eventually end up loving it no matter what, even if it periodically turns me into a self loathing little bitch. The high points on the album “Harrowdown Hill” and “Cymbol Rush” are epic. It is a good appitizer the main coarse of a new Radiohead album early next year.

Neil Young: Living with War-An angry Young goes electric while saying everything most Americans only tell their friends and family. It makes you proud to one day be a Canadian.
"Lets Impeach the President" gets better with every listen, even if is campy on some level for modern revolutionaires like myself.

Pearl Jam- Pearl Jam-Not the return to basics it was marketed as, but good stuff nonetheless. Despite its fall on the list, it has grown on me over the coarse of the year. Put on the song “Gone” and drive. You may end up lost in some Podunk northwestern Connecticut town, but it will be worth it.

*** For all of you Progressive/Spanish Jazz/Psychedelic Punk/Space Rock Fusion aficionados, I chose not to purchase the new Mars Volta album this week. I am sure I will eventually, but the idea of buying an album that I will have to listen for weeks and weeks before I come close to understanding it is just too daunting a task right now.

Until next time kids, Strength and Honor......