A Chronological History of my Music Library

It's a double release day! Two years since "Last Night In Town", Every Time I Die released their second album "Hot Damn!" on July 1, 2003. Aaron Ratajczak has left the band so ETID are on to their third bassist already with Stephen Micciche taking over bass duties. They're still playing the same style of metalcore though and the longest song on this album is just 3:11 as they fire through ten songs in a little over 27 minutes! Let's see what their latest has to offer!  The album begins with "Romeo A Go-Go" and it alternates nicely between a pretty speedy verse, and a slower breakdown of a chorus. Andy Williams and Jordan Buckley both play some pretty cool guitar and Keith Buckley does some high screams in the verse and switches to some high, almost pop-y singing in the chorus. It's an interesting combo but it's pretty catchy for something so heavy! I thought this was a solid way to kick things off. Up next is "Off Broadway" an...

Two weeks after my last release and two years since "Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes", As I Lay Dying released their second album "Frail Words Collapse" on July 1, 2003. Bassist Noah Chase has left the band and he is not replaced as these guys briefly become a three-piece with guitarist Evan White playing the bass as well. As I Lay Dying are still playing the same super heavy style of metalcore, but this is their first album on a major label (Metal Blade Records) so the production quality has gone up. Let's see what their latest has to offer! The album kicks off with it's lead single "94 Hours" and it's surprising that any of these songs were "singles" considering how heavy and non-radio-friendly these guys are. They start with a speedy verse with some cool guitars and some nice heavy bass by White, some nice speedy drums by Jordan Mancino and some pretty brutal-sounding vocals by Tim Lambesis. They break things down for a slower chorus...

Twelve days after my last release a new band joins my library when Finger Eleven released their third album "Finger Eleven" on June 17, 2003. But who is Finger Eleven? They are a five-piece alternative rock band from Burlington, Ontario consisting of lead singer Scott Anderson, guitarist/vocalist James Black, guitarist Rick Jackett, bassist Sean Anderson and drummer Rich Beddoe. I'm not a big Finger Eleven fan, but I do have one song off this album, their breakthrough, mega-popular single "One Thing". It's driven by a super catchy acoustic guitar riff that is hard not to tap your toe along to and a pretty smooth verse by Anderson. There's some louder acoustics in the chorus as Anderson sings a repetitive but also pretty catchy chorus. The whole song is extremely repetitive, but ur's one if those ones that is just so damn catchy that you don't mind. It's a little long for sure, but still a worthy addition. 

Two days after my last release and a long four and a half years since "Garage, Inc.", Metallica released their ninth album (their last album doesn't count as an official studio album, but it's the eighth for me, making this the ninth) "St. Anger" on June 5, 2003. This is the only album by Metallica to not have an official bassist as Jason Newsted left the band before the recordings started. All the bass on this album is done by longtime producer Bob Rock. Part of the reason for the long gap between albums was James Hetfield actually checked himself into rehab for alcoholism for nearly a year. Along with all these other changes comes a stark shift in style for Metallica as there is a much more raw production sound, metallic drums by Lars Ulrich, and amazingly no guitar solos. Not one solo on the whole album! What does Kirk Hammett do?! Let's see how all these changes affect the legends in Metallica! The album kicks off with one of it's four singles ...

A week after my last release a new artist joins my library when Sam Roberts released his debut album "We Were Born In A Flame" on June 3, 2003. But who is Sam Roberts? He is a singer/guitarist from Montreal, Quebec and he does all the instruments on this album other than drums, which are by George Donoso. Sam Roberts plays an almost folk-style of rock with lots of acoustic guitars and catchy riffs. Let's see what Sam Roberts is all about! The album kicks off with "Hard Road" and it's driven by a fairly simple but undeniably smooth and catchy main acoustic guitar riff. The rhythm section nicely falls in behind and Roberts sings a smooth verse to match in his smooth, folk-rock style. He adds another guitar riff to the mix in the chorus to spice things up a little more and everything is really smooth even though it's not really jumping out at you. Roberts plays a solid little guitar solo before the final verse and chorus and this seems like a pretty good in...

A week after my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Shinedown released their debut album "Leave A Whisper" on May 27, 2003. But who is Shinedown? They are a four-piece rock band from Jacksonville, Florida consisting of lead singer Brent Smith, guitarist Jasin Todd, bassist Brad Stewart and drummer Barry Kerch. I'm not a big Shinedown fan at all, but I do have one song of theirs, the hit single "45". Smith has a very post-grunge voice that sounds pretty good overtop a quiet, but epic opening guitar riff. The rest of the band finally joins in halfway through the first verse and things build to the loud chorus with a slow but loud guitar riff and some pretty solid belting vocals by Smith make for a catchy chorus. They go through another pretty catchy round and I can see why this was a pretty succesful single. Smith really Let's loose at the end of the song with some nice raspy long notes that even border a scream! This is the only Shinedown so...