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September 29, 2003 - Oceansize and Effloresce

Six days after my last release a new band joins my library when Oceansize released their debut album "Effloresce" on September 29, 2003. But who is Oceansize? They are a five-piece progressive/alternative rock band from Manchester, England consisting of Mike Vennart (guitar, lead vocals), Steve Durose and Richard Ingram (guitars), Jon Ellis (bass, keyboards) and Mark Heron (drums, percussion). Oceansize play a style of rock that definitely falls under alternative, but there are several long songs and at over 75 minutes they are pretty progressive as well. Let's see what Oceansize is all about! The album kicks off with "I Am The Morning" and it's got some space-y guitars that are slow and smooth as we hear all three guitarists and some keyboards combine for a psychedelic/progressive opening. When the drums kick in one of the guitarists goes a bit heavier and it's an interesting mix of sounds that all sounds pretty cool! This opening song is actually instr...
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September 23, 2003 - The Long Road

A week after my last release and two years since "Silver Side Up", Nickelback released their fourth album "The Long Road" on September 23, 2003. I'm still not a huge Nickelback fan, but I do have a few songs off this album, all of them pretty succesful singles. The first one is "Someday" and it's driven by a pretty catchy acoustic guitar riff and Chad Kroeger sings a solid post-grunge verse overtop. The loud, electric guitars come in for the chorus and Kroeger sings a decently catchy, very accessible chorus overtop. It's easy to see why this was a huge single as it's very easy smooth and easy to get into. After the next round we even get a brief guitar solo, and while it fits the mood nicely it's pretty basic. Still an undeniably catchy tune! My next big single is "Feelin' Way Too Damn Good" and it's also driven by a catchy acoustic guitar. Kroeger sings about how something has to go wrong because everything is going s...
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September 16, 2003 - Thirteenth Step

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release and over three years since "Mer De Noms", A Perfect Circle released their second album "Thirteenth Step" on September 16, 2003. Billy Howerdel does just guitars on this album as Jeordie White (aka Twiggy Ramirez from Marilyn Manson!) joins the band as their full-time bassist. Troy van Leeuwen and Paz Lenchantin are still credited as members, though the former only plays on three songs and the latter on only the final track! This album was written as more of a band collaboration as opposed to their debut which was largely written by Howerdel and it's got a softer, more atmospheric sound than their more hard rock debut. Let's check out the latest from A Perfect Circle! The album kicks off with the near eight-minute "The Package" and Billy Howerdel plays a light but pretty cool guitar riff to drive things and Josh Freese follows along with some solid drumming as well. Van Leeuwen adds s...
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September 16, 2003 - Billy Talent and Billy Talent

A day after my last release a new band joins my library when Billy Talent released their debut album "Billy Talent" on September 16, 2003. But who is Billy Talent? They are a four-piece alternative rock band from Mississauga, Ontario consisting of Benjamin Kowalewicz (lead vocals), Ian D'Sa (guitar, vocals), Jonathan Gallant (bass) and Aaron Solowoniuk (drums). Billy Talent play an interesting style of rock that is pop-punk at times, but Kowalewicz also does some nice high screaming and some even categorize them as post-hardcore (though I wouldn't go that far). Let's see what Billy Talent is all about! The albu begins with "This Is How It Goes" and D'Sa leads the way with a fast and pretty catchy guitar riff. Kowalewicz sings a solid verse in his very unique , pretty high voice and he goes full scream in the pretty sweet chorus. The guitar is catchy and cool and Kowalewicz sounds awesome belting out the chorus in a super high voice. After another sol...
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September 15, 2003 - Absolution

A day after my last release and a little over two years since "Origin Of Symmetry", Muse released their third album "Absolution" on September 15, 2003. This album went to #1 on the charts in both the U.S. and U.K. and spawned six singles. Muse worked with new producer Rich Costey (who worked with Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave) and he helped to give Muse a much grander and epic sound. Let's see what the latest from Muse has to offer! The album begins with a 22 second "Intro" that sets up the first of the album's six singles (and four in a row), titled "Apocalypse Please". Matthew Bellamy plays some intense and pretty cool piano to drive this song and he holds plenty of great long notes in his spectacular-as-always voice. Dominic Howard's drums are solid as well and it's a very epic main riff indeed! Bellamy hits all kinds of super high notes with seemingly relative ease and he even adds a bit of guitar to the mix midway t...
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September 14, 2003 - Jet and Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Five days after my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Jet released their debut album "Get Born" on September 14, 2003. But who is Jet? They are a four-piece rock band from Melbourne, Australia consisting of bassist Mark Wilson, guitarist Cameron Muncey, drummer Chris Cester and his brother Nic Cester (lead vocals, guitar). I'm not a big Jet fan by any means and although this album was very successful and spawned five singles, I only have their most popular song "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", and boy is it a catchy one! They build it up very nicely and it's a super bouncy and catchy main guitar riff with both guitarists syncing up. Nic has a pretty solid rock voice and he leads a pretty damn catchy verse, and probably an even better chorus with a couple nice long yells. This song is unbelievably catchy and it's hard not to get into the cool stop-and-start verse. How could you not clap along once they get to that part and there's a pret...
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September 9, 2003 - The Sea & The Rhythm

A week after my last release and a year since his debut album "The Creek Drank The Cradle", Iron & Wine released their first EP "The Sea & The Rhythm" on September 9, 2003. It's still just Sam Beam and his guitar and he's still playing the same style of acoustic folk music. Let's check out the latest! The EP begins with "Beneath The Balcony" and things sound very much the same style as the first album as Beam leads the way with a pretty catchy, slightly twang-y acoustic guitar riff and he sings a soft verse that matches the mood pretty well. After a couple light rounds we get treated to a little acoustic solo, and it's pretty cool as Beam definitely spices things up with some faster guitar. How come he doesn't solo in every song, I thought it was a really welcome addition to things! Up next is "The Sea And The Rhythm" and it's driven by a very slow and pretty sappy-sounding guitar riff as Beam sings a soft, slow ve...
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