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February 26, 2002 - The Changing Of Times

Three weeks after my last release and a year and a half since their last album "Cries Of The Past", Underoath released their third album "The Changing Of Times" on February 26, 2002. There are some personnel changes and big stylistic changes as well! Bassist Matt Clark is only around for the one album as he is replaced by new bassist William Nottke and original lead guitarist Corey Steger has also left the band, with Tim McTague becoming the band's new lead guitarist. I thought Steger was a pretty good guitarist and gone with him is Underoath's progressive death metal style completely! Their last album had five songs, all over seven minutes long; this album has ten songs and the longest one is five and a half minutes! Underoath have shifted to a much more accessible style of metal that is a lot more pop-y at times, but still has Dallas Taylor's screaming vocals. Let's check out a completely different kind of Underoath! The album kicks off with it...
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February 5, 2002 - The Illusion Of Safety

A week after my last release and a year and 8 months since their debut "Identity Crisis", Thrice released their second album "The Illusion Of Safety" on February 5, 2002. Thrice have evolved from the hardcore punk sound of their debut into a blend of heavy metal with screaming vocals, mixed with melodic parts with clean vocals. I like the sound of things getting even heavier, let's check out some new Thrice! The album kicks off with "Kill Me Quickly" and we hear some nice aggressive vocals by Dustin Kensrue. His singing is solid as well but the screaming sounds great. There's some really cool, fast guitar by Teppei Teranishi and some groovy bass by Eddie Breckenridge as well. The first seven songs are all three minutes or less and although it was short, I thought this was a powerful opener with a nice slow breakdown to finish it off. Up next is "A Subtle Dagger" and it's got a super fast punk-y main riff with some nice heavy bass by E...
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January 29, 2002 - Citizen Cope and Let The Drummer Kick

On the same day as my last release a new artist briefly joins my library when Citizen Cope released his second album "Citizen Cope" on January 29, 2002. But who is Citizen Cope? He's a hip-hop artist from Memphis, Tennessee who plays guitar, keyboards and also does drum programming. I'm not a big Citizen Cope fan by any means, I only have one song in my library, but it's a catchy one called "Let The Drummer Kick". It's driven by a repetitive but pretty catchy little piano riff along with a catchy drum beat, but this song is all about the vocals. Cope sings in a decent voice a whole bunch of words that all end in -ation, and while things are really simple and nothing is blowing you away, it's just really catchy and smooth! The chorus is just the name of the song on repeat and isn't anything special, but Cope adds some more involved rapping vocals in the next verse and things sound pretty solid even though this isn't usually my thing. It...
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January 29, 2002 - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

Four weeks after my last release and a little over two years since "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory", Dream Theater released their sixth album "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" on January 29, 2002. It's their first double album, with the first disc having five regular songs, and the entire second disc being one long 42 minute song! (Albeit broken up into eight parts, or tracks.) Let's check out the latest from the progressive metal gods! The album kicks off with the near 14 minute epic "The Glass Prison" and after a quiet intro John Petrucci plays a catchy guitar riff, John Myung adds some wonderfully heavy bass, Mike Portnoy provides the epic drums and Jordan Rudess completes things with some epic keyboards. It's a great slow, heavy riff to start, then they turn up the speed and Petrucci plays some pretty awesome guitar to lead the way. Finally after about three minutes the first verse starts and Portnoy does some solid backing vocals w...
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January 1, 2002 - Open Container

Happy New Year! A month and a half since my last release and a year since their debut "No Time To Worry", The Expendables released their second album "Open Container" on January 1, 2002. The Expendables continue to play the same style of reggae/rock/punk that they established on their debut. Let's check out the latest from The Expendables! The album kicks off with the lead single "Drift Away" and it's got a catchy main riff with a cool drum beat by Adam Patterson, some cool guitars, both rhythm and lead, by Cam Hanson and Raul Bianchi respectively and a smooth and catchy verse by Geoff Weers. The rhythm guitar is reggae but with some nice faster parts mixed in and there's some cool lead guitar overtop, including some short solos between verses by Bianchi that sound pretty cool! It's a very smooth and solid way to kick off the album! Up next is a short song called "Piped" and Bianchi and Hanson both play some fast electric guitar o...
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November 20, 2001 - Weathered

Five days after my last release and a little over two years since the mega popular "Human Clay", Creed released their third album "Weathered" on November 20, 2001. Bassist Brian Marshall was going through a really tough time with substance abuse and was fired from the band. Creed becomes a 3-piece for this album as Mark Tremonti does both guitars and bass. Scott Stapp was going through problems of his own so this was a very tumultuous time for the band, but that didn't stop them from making a second straight album to reach #1 on the charts. Let's check out the latest from Creed! The album kicks off with it's second single "Bullets" and after a slow opening with some quiet talking they emerge nicely into the main riff with Tremonti playing some fast, heavy and pretty sweet guitars. Stapp sings a pretty solid verse in his typical post-grunge voice and things sound pretty heavy for Creed, especially for a single! They quiet things down briefly bef...
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November 15, 2001 - Gary Jules and Mad World

Nine days after my last release a new artist briefly joins my library when Gary Jules released his second album "Trading Snakeoil For Wolftickets" on November 15, 2001. But who is Gary Jules? He is a singer/guitarist from Fresno, California and like a lot of people I only have one song by him in my library: the wildly succesful Tears For Fears cover of the song "Mad World". There's a slow and sad piano riff that leads the way and Jules sings a soft verse overtop in a decent voice that is unique but not that all that flashy honestly. When the cello joins in things sound even darker and more depressing and it's the epic, dark music that makes this such a memorable song for me. It's a worthy addition to the library for sure, but also certainly a one hit wonder.
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