A Chronological History of my Music Library

A day after my last release and two years since "Tonight The Stars Revolt!", Powerman 5000 released their third album "Anyone For Doomsday?" on August 28, 2001. I only have one song off this album, just like their last album, and it was the lead single "Bombshell". It'a got a computer-y, very nu metal vibe and Spider One sings a low chorus that is nice and heavy but it's pretty repetitive. This rings true for the whole song as things sound decently heavy and catchy, but they never stray from the main riff at all and things do sound pretty repetitive. A decent but not amazing addition to the library and the last we will hear from Powerman 5000. 

Two weeks after my last release a new artist briefly joins my library when Devin Townsend released his fifth album "Terria" on August 27, 2001. But who is Devin Townsend? He is a singer, guitarist and producer from New Westminster, British Columbia and he is joined on this album by guitarist Chris Valagao Mina, bassist Craig McFarland, keyboardist Jamie Meyer and drummer Gene Hoglan. I'm not a huge Devin Townsend fan, this is my only album by him in my library, but this album has some good progressive rock/metal that is heavy and atmospheric and epic. Let's check it out! The album kicks off with "Olives" and we hear some very distorted and strange vocals as the music very slowly ramps up. Eventually it builds into a loud and fairly heavy riff and this takes us to the end of this intro song and leads right into the next one, titled "Mountain". They kick right into a heavy and cool main riff that hits jice and hard and is led by some solid guitar by ...

Three weeks since my last release and just under a year since their debut EP "The Burial Plot Bidding War", Every Time I Die released their first album "Last Night In Town" on August 14, 2001. Original bassist John McCarthy is no longer with the band and he is replaced by Aaron Ratajczak. ETID have also signed to a major label and their new producer is actually Adam Dutkiewicz, the drummer for Killswitch Engage! That's pretty sweet and with Adam D. now in in the fold ETID are even heavier and more polished than their EP. Let's check out their first full album! The album kicks off with "Emergency Broadcast Syndrome" and it's got some nice slow, chugging guitars by Andrew William's and Jordan Buckley. There's some solid bass as well and lots of high yelling/screaming by Keith Buckley. A nice heavy way to kick things off and the end leads right into "Jimmy Tango's Method" which has lots of great guitars from both guitarists a...

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release another new band joins my library when Avenged Sevenfold released their debut album "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet" on July 24, 2001. But who are Avenged Sevenfold? They are a four-piece metalcore band from Huntington Beach, California consisting of Justin Sane (bass, piano), James "The Rev" Sullivan (drums, percussion), Zacky Vengeance (guitars, backing vocals) and M. Shadows (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards). Avenged play an interesting mix of heavy metalcore with screaming vocals, but also a very accesible style of metal with singing at others. Let's see what Avenged Sevenfold are all about! The album kicks off with a short intro called "To End The Rapture" and Vengeance plays a nice heavy rhythm guitar riff before coming right in with some soloing! He is just shredding it right from the get-go with some really wicked stuff and then we hear Shadows for the first time in his uni...

Over a month since my last release a new band joins my library when Jimmy Eat World released their fourth album "Bleed American" on July 24, 2001. But who is Jimmy Eat World? They are a four-piece pop-punk band from Mesa, Arizona consisting of drummer Zach Lind, bassist Rick Burch, guitarist Tom Linton and lead singer/guitarist Jim Adkins. I'm not a big Jimmy Eat World fan at all, but I do have one song off this album, the massively successful single "The Middle". It's got a simple but pretty catchy main guitar riff and Adkins sings a pop-y verse overtop. The chorus is louder and also really catchy and it'haed not to shout along with Adkins as he sings the catchy chorus. There's a fast and cool guitar solo, then they predictably jam things out to the finish. It's a very simple song, but it is undeniably catchy and a worthy addition to the library. 

Six days after my last release and just under two years since their debut album "Showbiz", Muse released their second album "Origin Of Symmetry" on June 18, 2001. Muse continue to play their unique style of rock and frontman Matthew Bellamy was in a very sci-fi mood with his lyrics and with some space-y aspects of the music. Let's listen to the latest from Muse! The album begins with "New Born" and Bellamy plays a pretty cool piano riff to start us off. Chris Wolstenholme adds some cool sounding bass and Bellamy sings in his amazing high voice, sounding epic and great in this quiet opening. Then things shift as Bellamy switches to guitar and takes over with a loud and pretty cool guitar riff as Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard provide a solid rhythm section. Bellamy sings a louder but still great verse and things sound pretty hard rock and cool! Bellamy delivers a super fast guitar solo that sounds really good and fits the mood perfectly! This is a pret...