A Chronological History of my Music Library

A week after my last release and a year and a half since "Spiritual Machines", Our Lady Peace released their fifth album "Gravity" on June 18, 2002. Big changes are coming to OLP and I don't think I'm going to like them! Apparently due to tensions that had been present for years, lead guitarist Mike Turner was kicked out of the band. I love Turner's style of playing and he is a big part of what makes OLP so great so he will be greatly missed. He does still feature on rhythm guitar on half of this album's songs though. He is replaced by new guitarist Steve Mazur and with this change also comes a big shift in style towards a much simpler, stripped down version of OLP. In another big change it's their first album without producer Arnold Lanni as they instead chose to work with acclaimed producer Bob Rock. They recorded largely live off the floor without all the layering and backing vocals that they usually use (very well). That's a lot of change...

Two weeks after my last release and two and a half years since "Issues", Korn released their fifth album "Untouchables" on June 11, 2002. Tensions were high amongst the band members during this time and they considered firing bassist Fieldy due to his drug problems, but it's still the same original line-up playing the same nu-metal that Korn has pioneered. Let's check out the latest! The album kicks off with it's lead single "Here To Stay" and you can still tell that it's Korn right away with some heavy guitars and some dirty and super low bass by Fieldy. It's a really groovy and pretty catchy main riff and Jonathan Davis sounds good singing/yelling overtop. It's an easy choice for a single with such a toe-tapping main riff, but it's still very Korn with plenty of heaviness. Up next is "Make Believe" and one of Head or Munky plays a distorted and creepy lead guitar riff, while the other plays an interesting rhythm guit...

A week after my last release a new band joins my library when Mastodon released their debut album "Remission" on May 28, 2002. But who is Mastodon? They are a four-piece metal band from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Brann Dailor (drums, percussion), Bill Kelliher (rhythm guitar), Brent Hinds (lead guitar, vocals) and Troy Sanders (bass, vocals). Mastodon play a unique and interesting style of metal unlike anyone else at this time. It's listed as progressive metal/sludge metal but I don't think it really fits either of those genres entirely; Mastodon is a unicorn, with Sanders and Hinds all over the place, singing together, separately and alternating depending on the song. Let's see what Mastodon is all about! The album begins with a two minute song called "Crusher Destroyer" and it showcases the Lightning fast speed that Mastodon can play at with some speedy and cool guitars and some extremely fast and awesome drumming by Dailor. Sanders screams in a ra...

A week after my last release and a little under two years since their self-titled debut, Killswitch Engage released their second album "Alive Or Just Breathing" on May 21, 2002. Killswitch have since signed to a major label so their production quality has gotten better, but they're still playing the same super heavy style and this album would become a landmark in the metalcore genre. Let's check out the latest from Killswitch Engage! The album kicks off with "Numbered Days" and they duve right into a really heavy main riff with some cool heavy guitar by Joel Stroetzel and some nice heavy bass by Mike D'Antonio. Jesse Leach talks to start things off, but then leads a nice heavy verse with some sweet high screaming. Leach shows that he can sing as well with a well done chorus that is a little lighter, but most of the song is plenty heavy and this seems like a good choice to come out of the gates running. Up next is "Self Revolution" and Stroetzel...

Two weeks after my last release and a long six years since their last album "Test For Echo", Rush released their seventeenth album "Vapor Trails" on May 14, 2002. The reason for the long hiatus was Neil Peart lost both his daughter and his wife in the span of a year and the band went on an indefinite hiatus, possibly to never return. After many years Peart decided to rejoin the band and this is their first album back together. It's also the first album since 1975 to contain no keyboards! This is a pretty big change after Rush's last several albums, but one I like for sure! Let's finally check out some new Rush! The album kicks off with it's lead single "One Little Victory" and Peart starts us off with a nice fast drum beat before Alex Lifeson comes in with some cool fast guitars. Geddy Lee adds some pretty cool bass to the background and it's so refreshing to have Rush back! The verse has a groovier main riff with Geddy singing nicely o...

Over a month since my last release the soundtrack to the feature film "Spiderman" was released on April 30, 2002. I have one song off this soundtrack, the very popular single "Hero" by Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and featuring Josey Scott from the band Saliva. Kroeger sings a pretty basic first verse, but this song is all about the epic chorus with both Kroeger and Scott singing, and a whole orchestra to help add to the epicness! It's all pretty simple and made-for-radio, but to that end they absolutely nailed with a super catchy and solid single that everyone fell in love with.