Asher Roth - Asleep In The Bread Aisle

Asher was making a name for himself for a while with a dumb little song called "I Love College" (see below). One of those viral campaign things followed and he got a big record deal and got a couple of guest to stop by, including Cee-Lo Green and Busta Rhymes. He made a big splash at the SxSW festival and got hyped by the important people to get hyped by. And like many things that get hyped by the hype-important people... it kinda sucks.

Asher was being positioned as the next Eminem, a wordy white rapper, in the absence of Eminem. His vocals even sound like Eminem. He addresses this topic specifically in "As I Em", where he almost apologizes and admits Slim Shady as his biggest love and influence. The problem with this positioning is that a.) Eminem actually has a new album now. and b.) While Asher is wordy and maybe his rhymes have some uniqueness, he's really just rapping about stupid mundane shit.

Playing MarioKart, screwing moms, being a lazy stoner, Sour Patch Kids. Maybe I'm spoiled on smart intellectual/emotionally-stirring hip-hop- but I found Asher more than a little boring. (2/5 stars)

Queensrÿche - American Soldier

Well, the 'Ryche has been pretty hit and miss this century. They came out with an unnecessary sequel to one of the greatest albums ever, and then followed that up with a cover record. This release sees them in another concept record, and one I was not necessarily too excited about. The life of the American soldier.

I'm as political as the next guy, but I just assumed I wouldn't relate to anything here. Which is true, but I was still able to enjoy it from a songwriting perspective. It was a compelling account and it wasn't too trite or ass-kissy. The narrated stories are a hard sell initially, but it wasn't just ham-fisted flag waving like Kid Rock and it's certainly not protest music. This album really compels the listener to take the perspective of the conflicted integrity of the character(s).

For example below, "Home Again" sees Geoff Tate singing with his real life daughter. It describes the hardships of going off to answer your call of duty while leaving something behind. It works for any vocation or any trade in one's life experience. And while I don't need to carry these themes around with me forever, I can still stand up for the effort. (3/5 stars)

The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love

Don't let the rating get you down, it's just entirely not my style. Colin Meloy is still going to get a ton of credit for making such an ambitious album; one that steps way outside of indie rock's box. If this were a new band, I imagine that it would be ignored. But being the darlings that the Decs are, they'll surely be lauded.

This is a concept prog-rock record straight from 1971. It has romance, terror, an evil witch and a feeling of mystical power given over nature. Basically guy falls for girl, mom doesn't approve, mom sends evil guy out to kidnap girl. Guy goes to look for girl. But the songs are very theatrical. In one, the guy is trying to convince his mom to let him go out partyin'. She eventually lets him, but she give him the drama queen act first. There's also a tale of a guy who has kids, hates them- and kills them. That's pretty cool. I won't tell you how it ends, because frankly... I don't really understand the ending or why its there. It's good enough, but I can't say I'll be giving it another spin. (2.5/5 stars)

Superdrag - Industry Giants

The return of these power-pop/pop-punk Knoxvillians took me back to the music that I played on my weekend afternoon radio shows of 1996 or so. It's good, I just don't listen to this much anymore. However- while normally I would be completely fed up at the end of a record like this- somehow, they manage to pull off two of the best right at the bottom of the list. Check out "5 Minutes Ahead Of The Chaos" and "Aspertame" (included below). (2.5 out of 5 stars)

Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted

The moniker "return of KC", as this is being dubbed, is lost on me. I was actually a big fan of My December- as dark and loud as it was. So, as the cover suggests, Kelly gets back to the light bright side of town and sings more upbeat songs. The first single "My Life Would Suck Without You" is a shameless copy of "Since U Been Gone", but is still good enough. "I Do Not Hook Up" would be a better example of a familiar sound to Kelly-ites while not being so samey-same.

The highlight times-ten, though, is the punk-pop perfection of "Whyyawannabringmedown". A cover by a dude group called Aranda that I just heard and Kelly was VERY faithful to. (hear the versions played together here.) Sounds better coming from my girlfriend's lungs though. Speaking of Kelly's lungs, she should totally take her shirt off.

It took me a 2nd and 3rd listen though to appreciate much of the rest of the album, but now that I have, I can definitely embrace this as easily as I did Breakaway. I would advise her, though, to follow her own heart, commercial success or not. (4 of 5 stars)

Chris Cornell - Scream

So you know the story by now. Chris collaborated with hip-hop/r&b producer Timbaland. The results have been universally panned already. So much so, that I saw Chris on Leno last night. He has traded all of this production to a live rock band again.

The songs aren't even necessarily that bad. He just dials the pop way up on the bridges and choruses, and repeats those hooks way too many times. Coming from a pop guy, this would be fine. But it's a bad fit here. The lone track that I liked, still too sugary sweet for some, is the John Mayer penned, "Two Drink Minimum". A modern bluesy drinking song. (1.5 of 5 stars)

Two Drink Minimum - Chris Corn...

U2 - No Line On The Horizon

Nothing here hit me like Achtung Baby, but nonetheless it's a decent effort. I would have like to see what they would've done sticking with Rick Rubin as producer- maybe toned down the keyboard use at least. There are a couple of tracks that are far too long. I think this works best when they get riffy and too the point. (3 of 5 stars)