A Chronological History of my Music Library

It's a triple release day! Just six months since the EP "The Sea & The Rhythm" and a year and a half since his debut "The Creek Drank The Cradle", Iron & Wine released their second album "Our Endless Numbered Days" on March 23, 2004. While both previous releases were recorded by just Sam Beam, this is the first album where Beam has some help and a full band with him! Joining Beam is Brian Deck (drums, percussion, keyboards), EJ Holowicki (bass) and Patrick McKinney (electric guitar). Obviously going from just Sam and his guitar to a whole band is going to give Iron & Wine a different feel; let's see what a full line-up can do! The album begins with "On Your Wings" and Beam plays a soft acoustic riff to keep the pace then sings a soft verse in his typical high voice. He adds some banjo to the mix for some twang that I'm not a big fan of, but his guitar and singing sound good as you'd expect. After almost three minutes b...

Somehow I missed this song last year, but on October 21, 2003 there was a compilation album released called "Punk Goes Acoustic" where various punk bands played acoustic songs. One of those songs is a new song by Rise Against called "Swing Life Away" and the main acoustic riff is pretty catchy. Tim McIlrath sings a catchy, pop-y verse overtop and the chorus is even more catchy and relatable: "We get by just fine here on minimum wage. If love is a labor i'll slave till the end". This is a pretty simple song, but it's really well done and it's undeniably catchy, a worthy addition to the library I somehow missed last year!

A year after their last album "Words From The Exit Wound", Napalm Death released their fourth EP "Leaders Not Followers" on October 25, 1999. This is a cover EP with all six songs being covers of punk or metal bands that inspired Napalm Death. Let's check it out! The first song is a Raw Power cover called "Politicians" and it's got some slower but loud and heavy guitars overtop some nice fast drums by Danny Herrera. The guitars quickly shift to a fast punk-rock main riff and Barney Greenway sounds pretty sweet when he goes insane on the high end, barking some nice high screams! This song is just 1:45, but it's a solid little punk cover that I'm not surprised these guys would have liked! Up next is a cover of Slaughter called "Incinerator" and it's got a fairly simple and repetitive main riff that is pretty bland sadly. Greenway sounds decent yelling overtop, but this is just plain boring considering what we're used to from...

On the same day as my last release and a long nine years since their last appearance in my library (their second, self-titled album), Clutch released their sixth album "Blast Tyrant" on March 23, 2004. They still have the same line-up and are still playing the same style of stoner rock and this is the only full album I have by Clutch in my library. Let's check it out! The album kicks off with "Mercury" and Tim Sult leads the way with a solid guitar riff and his guitar tone for this whole album sounds pretty epic. Sult plays some pretty catchy and cool stuff for a little over a minute, then Neil Fallon enters with his usual booming voice. Fallon sings a pretty solid vers overtop, then the final minute of the song is things very slowly devolving into nothing. An interesting way to start things off for sure! Up next is "Profits Of Doom" and Dan Maines starts us off with a nice groovy bassline before Sult comes in with some super distorted and interesting ...

Almost a year and a half since "Inside The Torn Apart", Napalm Death released their eighth album "Words From The Exit Wound" on October 26, 1998. This is the last album in Napalm Death's experimental phase and I can't say I'll be sad to see it go! Let's see how they finish it off! The album begins with "The Infiltraitor" and while it's definitely not grindcore speeds, the production and overall sound does sound noticeably better than the last few albums with the first hard-hitting main riff sounding pretty heavy and solid. Both Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris are playing some decently fast and cool guitars and Barney Greenway sounds pretty heavy and solid overtop on his typical lower voice. After a couple rounds of this they turn up the speed to grindcore levels and Danny Herrera is playing some pretty fast and crazy drums; everyone is playing furious and sounding great! This was a pretty sweet way to kick off the album! Up next is ...

A week after my last release and two years since "Behind Silence And Solitude", All That Remains released their second album "This Darkened Heart" on March 23, 2004. We have a few changes since their debut as lead guitarist Chris Bartlett and bassist Dan Egan are both no longer with the band. Rhythm guitarist Oli Herbert moves to lead guitar and Mike Martin joins as the new rhythm guitarist, as well as Matt Deis on bass. Also, producing this album is the legend himself Adam Dutkiewicz from Killswitch Engage! Everything Adam D. touches sounds pretty awesome and since their debut sounded very raw and unpolished I'm excited to see how his touch can help enhance these guys. Let's check it out! The album kicks off with "And Death In My Arms" and Herbert opens things with a light but cool acoustic guitar riff before they slam into the main riff as Herbert switches to some fast and pretty damn wicked electric guitar. The rhythm section backs him up perfec...