Coming off their 2004 effort, American Idiot, Green Day had a mighty high bar to clear with their new record, 21st-Century Breakdown. But I'm happy to report that America's biggest rock band has done just that. Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool, and Billie Joe Armstrong just keep getting better, and they're on top of their game with this one...

 

I’ve had a chance over the last week or so to listen to the new Queensryche album American Solider, which is a concept album about soldiers on the frontline. Lead singer Geoff Tate interviewed serviceman who were in various wars to make sure that the album would be truly representative of the their stories. He did a stellar job...

I love to be wrong sometimes. Usually it’s when it comes to music. I love to have low expectations on something and then have it exceed those expectations. That’s exactly what Neil Young has done for me with his new album Fork In The Road.

For those of you that are sick of Bono, get ready to hear more from him because U2 may have just made the album of the year. And its only March...

The four most of important British bands of the 60’s were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Who. Few would argue that particular statement. One more argument that isn’t worth having – simply put, The Who were the best live act of any of those groups...

‘Working on a Dream’ finds Springsteen blending the pop melodies that have been laced in his more recent works like 2007s ‘Magic,’ with upbeat riffs you’d be more likely to find on albums from early in his career...

With the holiday season upon us, the music industry is once more dishing out the box sets for under your Christmas tree. If you're looking for a way to get in good with the Led Zeppelin fan this holiday season, The Definitive Collection is sure to score you some big brownie points...

Ultimately, it's going be hard for alot of people to look past the mythical nature of Chinese Democracy...to these ears, Chinese Democracy sounds like nothing else that's out there at the moment. It's a grandiose rock record that rewards you with each subsequent listen...

Day and Age will no doubt garner a whole bunch of different reactions. Killers diehards won’t have any problems connecting with it. Some will hate the record for all the same reasons I thought I would, while others like me will try hard to fight it, but will end up falling victim to the dance rock rhythms...

Released last week, Genesis 1970-1975 collects the bands 5 Gabriel-era albums, 1970's Trespass, 1971's Nursey Crime, 1972's Foxtrot, 1973's Selling England By the Pound, and 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. While none of these albums were huge commercial successes when first released, they're much beloved by Genesis fans, especially those who didn't neccessarily embrace the direction the group would choose following Gabriel's depature in 1975....

Great news! I found the album that will top my list of worst CDs of 2008, and it comes from three musicians who should of known better...

Most Pink Floyd live albums tend to sound exactly like studio albums with a crowd mixed in, Gilmour's Live in Gdansk finally gets it right. It's without question the best live offering from either the band or its members... 

Only By Night starts off strong, with mid-tempo openers "Closer" and "Crawl". Third song in is the album's first single "Sex on Fire", which is absolutely a great song that would sound good pumping on your stereo. It's propulsive and exciting and singer/guitarist Caleb Followill delivers it with stadium rock sincerity, a la U2...

Dream Theater is the most popular band you’ve never heard of. The prog metal masters have been making music for over 20 years together and have built up a rabid fan base, without the benefit of hit singles or albums. Instead, they’ve continually created solid music, toured incessantly for years and made themselves accessible to their fans.

If you were fan of the speed and musicianship of Metallica of the eighties, this album has it.  If you loved the huge chorus’ of The Black Album, well those manage to find their way in to the record too...

First things first: What’s with the horrible title?

 

For their first album in 13 years, you’d think Extreme would have come up with something as accessible as much of the music contained on their fifth studio album...

20 years ago, B.B. King got some prime mainstream exposure when he appeared in U2’s film “Rattle and Hum”. At the time King was 62 years old (his birthday is September 16th) and Bono and the boys were in awe of him. Few would argue that the U2/King duet “When Love Comes To Town” is one of the highlights of the album and the film...

When last the world heard from Brian Wilson, the creative genius behind the Beach Boys and current solo artist, he was basking in the critical and commercial success of the Grammy-winning “SMiLE”, an album first started in 1966 and which remained incomplete and unreleased until September 2004. Four years later he’s got a brand new album out today titled “That Lucky Old Sun”...