A Chronological History of my Music Library

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. 

With no official release date other than the year 2002, a group of System Of A Down fans online created an unofficial B-side album called "Storaged Melodies". It contains a whopping 17 songs that are not on any studio release, including outtakes, several covers and also a few songs by other artists that feature System members. Let's check out some B-side System! The first song is called "Storaged" and it's only just over a minute long. It alternates between a couple really slow notes and Serj Tankian singing slowly to match, and firing into a heavy, fast and very loud riff with Serj yelling quickly to keep up. The dramatic shifts between slow and quiet work really nicely and while I can see why this was a B-side, I think it's a pretty cool one at just 1:21. Up next is "Marmalade" and Daron Malakian leads the way with a really catchy and cool main guitar riff that's got my head boppin'! Serj sings a catchy verse that fits the mood perfec...

On the same day as my last release and a mere four months since "Weathered", The Scorpion King Soundtrack was released and it contained a B-side by Creed titled "To Whom It May Concern". This definitely could have made their last album as it's driven by a smooth and catchy main riff by Mark Tremonti. Scott Stapp sings a solid slow verse overtop and for a bit things are quiet but solid. Then they turn up the heaviness with some nice hard rock stuff and proceed to play a much louder chorus that sounds pretty good. I'm really surprised this was a B-side, I think it could have been a single, which is why I guess they released it on this Soundtrack. This is the last we'll hear from Creed for a while!

A week after my last release a new band joins my library when All That Remains released their debut album "Behind Silence And Solitude" on March 26, 2002. But who is All That Remains? They are a five-piece metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts consisting of lead singer Philip Labonte, lead guitarist Oli Herbert, bassist Dan Egan, drummer Michael Bartlett and his brother Chris Bartlett on rhythm guitar. All That Remains join the budding metalcore scene with Labonte doing mostly screaming vocals, but the band is still very raw at this point. Let's check out their debut!  The album begins with the title track "Behind Silence And Solitude" and they dive right into a solid main riff that is pretty fast and pretty heavy. Labonte screams overtop in a low voice that sounds pretty good, but also very raw with not much emotion. Things sound good, but very scrappy and not very well produced which is holding things back just a little bit. Herbert plays some cool le...

Two weeks after my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Five Pointe O released their debut (and only) album "Untitled" on March 19, 2002. But who are Five Pointe O? They are a six-piece nu-metal band from Joliet, Illinois consisting of lead singer Daniel Struble, guitarists Eric Wood and Sharon Grzelinski, bassist Sean Pavey, drummer Tony Starcevich and keyboardist Casey Mejia. Five Pointe O are definitely nu-metal with a heavy sound and vocals that range from singing, rapping and screaming. Let's see what Five Pointe O are all about! The album begins with it's only single "Double X Minus" and it's got some nice chugging guitars and some solid bass as well driving things along. Struble sings for the most part in a solid high voice, but he does let out some pretty sweet screams every now and then that make things sound super heavy and cool. I can see why this was a single as it's pretty catchy for such a heavy song and these guys fit ...