A Chronological History of my Music Library

Two weeks after my last release and three years since "Conspiracy Of One", The Offspring released their seventh album "Splinter" on December 9, 2003. This is the first Offspring album that I don't have, I found it to be a big step down from even their last album, but I do have the album's lead single "Hit That". It's got a techno-y beat that I usually don't go for, but they make it work on this catchy song and it still has some cool guitars by Noodles and some catchy piano! Dexter Holland sings a pretty catchy verse and it leads into a pretty damn catchy chorus as well! They stick to this main drag, but it's a no-brainer for a single and an undeniably solid song. It's too bad the rest of the album was nowhere near as good. 

Three days after my last release and two and a half years since "One Day I'll Be On Time", The Album Leaf released their second EP "Seal Beach" on November 24, 2003. Jimmy LaValle is still playing the same style of post-rock and after a long break we get another EP. Let's check out the latest from The Album Leaf! The EP begins with "Malmo" and it fades in quietly before a lead piano riff takes over. LaValle's piano is slow but pretty space-y and cool and it's backed by some electronic drums, which are usually not my favourite, but they actually sound decently catchy here. As the song flows on the drums get faster and more involved with more weird percussion noises and this all sounds pretty cool as LaValle continues to lead the way on piano. Things slow down after a couple minutes as an echo-y new keyboard riff takes the lead, with the piano still going in the background and this adds an extra trippy element to things before the drums retur...

A year since their last EP "Mass Appeal Madness" and two years since their last album "Harmony Corruption", Napalm Death released their fourth album "Utopia Banished" on May 18, 1992. We have another line-up change and there are no original members left in the band anymore as drummer Mick Harris has departed. Mick is a pretty awesome drummer who can play at incredible speeds and he will be dearly missed! The tough task of replacing Mick falls to new drummer Danny Herrera. Napalm Death revert somewhat back to their grindcore past with more, shorter songs once again, but they do keep some of the more standard heavy metal that was very present on their last album. How will these two styles combine? Let's find out! The album begins with a short intro called "Discordance" and it has a bunch of very difficult to understand talking overtop of a very distorted and repetitive riff. It's nothing special by any means and it leads right into the next...

Three days after my last release and about a year and a half since "Untouchables", Korn released their sixth album "Take A Look In The Mirror" on November 21, 2003. Like the album's name suggests, Korn thought that it was time that they reflected on their past and returned to a heavier, more aggressive sound like their early albums with less experimenting than the last couple albums. It's also the final album to feature the original line-up, so let's enjoy the last of original Korn! The album kicks off with one of it's many singles "Right Now" and it's got a typical Korn vibe with some heavy and cool guitars, some super low and dirty bass by Fieldy and Jonathan Davis sounding pretty good singing overtop. This is definitely a nice throwback and my head is banging nicely throughout the verse and chorus as Davis holds some long notes and also sings faster, and sounds good doing both. After another round things get very quiet as Davis nicel...

Just under a year since their last album "Harmony Corruption" Napalm Death released their third EP "Mass Appeal Madness" on May 28, 1991. It's a short EP that is half new songs and half re-recordings of songs off "From Enslavement To Obliteration" with the new line-up. Let's give it a quick listen! Up first is the title track "Mass Appeal Madness" and it's got some great fast drums by Mick Harris as you'd expect and of course some fast and heavy guitars and bass. Barney Greenway yells in his low voice and he still sounds so monotone and unexciting. The music is some typical Napalm Death goodness still and thankfully it's a largely instrumental song! And a three and a half minute one to boot, decent opener for sure! Up next is "Pride Assassin" and they take no time jumping right into a furious main riff and these guys continue to amaze with their synchronicity at such insane speeds! Greenway's vocals sound better ...

A week after my last release a new band joins my library when Skillet released their fifth album "Collide" on November 18, 2003. But who is Skillet? They are a four-piece Christian rock band from Memphis, Tennessee consisting of the only remaining original member John L. Cooper (lead vocals, bass), his wife Korey Cooper (keyboards), Ben Kasica (guitars) and Lori Peters (drums, percussion). I'm not a huge Skillet fan by any means, but I do have three songs off this album, all of them singles. The first one is "Open Wounds" and it's got a pretty catchy and smooth main riff and Cooper sounds solid overtop singing in a quiet voice. Once he gets louder he sounds much more mainstream and average (but still decent) and the heavy shift from the guitars in the chorus sounds great as Cooper sings a catchy chorus overtop. It's easy to see why this one was a single, it's catchy the whole way through and everything sounds pretty cool. It's the perfect mix of ...