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Ch-Check It Out

I've purchased three new albums in the last week or so, and all of them are outstanding. They are the new Wilco, the new Beastie Boys, and the new Velvet Revolver. Now I know many of you don't like STP or GnR, but if you do then Velvet Revolver is really both bands combined. Some songs sound like early STP, and some songs sound like GnR, and then others sound like both. Altogether, the album rocks the whole way through, which at times is a problem because some of the songs blend together and sound the same, but it's a great album for a road trip.

The Wilco album is everything I expected it to be, and everything I didn't expect it to be. There are some really great songs on it, but at least right now I don't think it's as good as Yankee Hotel. That may be unfair since many consider Yankee Hotel to be their magnum opus, and it usually takes several listens or more to really fall in love with a Wilco album. That's not to say I was disappointed however, but I was pissed about the 12 minues of feedback on that one song. It was like, "Jeff, you're wasting my time, you're wasting your time, you're wasting everybody's time." The great thing is you can skip to the next song if you don't wanna hear it. Excluding those 12 minutes though, the album is close to spectacular.

And surprisingly, the Beastie Boys "To the 5 Boroughs" was my favorite of the trio that I bought. It's just good fun. There are more boasts about their "skills" and disses of other rappers than on the other Beasties albums that I own, Adam Yauch's/MCA's apparent cigarette habit has done wonders for his voice by turning into this low sort of growl, and the beats are phenomenal. I cannot stop listening to this album. It also has one track that gives me chills..Track 12, "An Open Letter to NYC" has an awesome beat and is a great tribute to post 9/11 New York. It might be the best new song I've heard this year.