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Before we dive into this week's new album releases, we need to make mention of one very noteworthy item that doesn't even show up on this week's AMG list.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band have just released a four song E.P. of Magic Tour Highlights.
Following on the experiments of bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, this E.P. is also available only as an MP3 download through the usual outlets such as Amazon, iTunes, etc. The difference here is that you will have to pay for it ($2.99 at Amazon). But it's all for a great cause, as the parties involved have all agreed to donate the profits to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund, the memorial charity set up to honor the memory of the late, great E Street Band keyboardist.
Some great stuff here too, all featuring a great lineup of guest artists in various onstage turns with Springsteen recorded at different points over the course of the barnstorming Magic world tour. The guests include Roger McGuinn (on the Byrds classic "Turn Turn Turn"), Tom Morello (a scorching guitar solo on "The Ghost Of Tom Joad"), Alejandro Escovedo, and Danny himself in his final performance with the E Street Band doing his signature tune "Sandy." Definitely well worth the $2.99.
John Mellencamp's new album Life Death Love and Freedom also arrives this week.
The T-Bone Burnett produced album is a more stripped down effort from Mellencamp, following his minor commercial comeback with last year's Freedom's Road, and features rootsier sounding songs like "My Sweet Love" and the politically charged "Jena." This album is also noteworthy because it is the first ever to be recorded using Burnett's said to be revolutionary sounding HD CODE technology.
The biggest noisemaker coming out of the hip-hop world this week comes from Nas, whose new self-titled release may as well be sub-titled The N Word, which in fact, in less politically correct terminology, it actually was at one point. Controversial album title aside, this is said to be Nas' most thought provoking lyrical statement to date — addressing concerns of race, politics, and the once unheard of, yet now possible and perhaps even probable, idea of a Black American president.
Not to be upstaged by Nas, David Banner's new The Greatest Story Ever Told likewise addresses some hot-button issues, not the least of which include our government's response to the Katrina tragedy. Banner mixes these concerns with plenty of his trademark dirty south gangsta anthems.
Wrapping things up before we turn it over to Mark Saleski, is the Hold Steady's with their new, curiously titled Stay Positive. I only label this one curious, because much of what is dealt with in the lyrics comes in the form of a boozy, druggy haze despite the overall big sound combining elements of punk, garage, and — dare I say it — big arena rock.
There's something both endearing and inspiring about a musician who is just as comfortable hammering out meat & potatoes bar band tunes as he is living in the altered reality of Sun Ra. That man is Terry Adams. As one of the masterminds behind NRBQ (You don't have any of their records? Shame on you!), he's made a metric ton of impossibly great rock records.
But then there's his other side. That of "out there" jazz. You don't really get a hint of this if you listen to NRBQ's stuff. This record features Terry on celesta and prepared piano. That's about all I know. Sometimes, you've just got to take a chance.
Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
David Banner
The Greatest Story Ever Told
SRC/Universal Motown
Dirty South, Southern Rap, Hardcore Rap, Gangsta Rap
Dirty Pretty Things
Romance at Short Notice
Mercury
Indie Rock
The Hold Steady
Stay Positive
Vagrant
Indie Rock, American Trad Rock, Rock & Roll
Nas
Nas
Def Jam
Political Rap, Hardcore Rap, East Coast Rap, Hip-Hop
Claudio Abbado
Marches and Dances
Deutsche Grammophon
Marches and Dances for Orchestra
Bajofondo
Mar Dulce
Vibra
Electronica, Tango
Don Braden
Gentle Storm
Highnote
Post-Bop, Modern Creative
Daedelus
Love to Make Music To
Ninja Tune
Indie Electronic, Experimental Techno
Foreigner
No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner
Atlantic/Rhino
Album Rock, Arena Rock, Pop/Rock, Hard Rock
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
The Motown Years
Hip-O Select
Pop, Doo Wop
Delta Goodrem
Delta
Decca
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Gossip
Rework It
Backyard
Indie Rock, Garage Punk, Lo-Fi
The Grascals
Keep on Walkin'
Rounder
Contemporary Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass
Honeybus
Story
Deram
Psychedelic Pop, British Psychedelia
The Imagined Village
The Imagined Village
Real World
Neo-Traditional Folk, Alternative Folk, Worldbeat
Jet Black Stare
In This Life
Island
Post-Grunge, Hard Rock
Gunar Letzbor
Wenzel Ludwig Edler von Radolt: Viennese Lute Concertos
Challenge Classics
Baroque Music for Lute and Ensemble
John Mellencamp
Life Death Love and Freedom
Hear Music
Pop/Rock, Roots Rock
The Music
Strength in Numbers
Polydor
Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Trio Wanderer
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du Temps
Harmonia Mundi
Modern Chamber Music
Original Soundtrack
American Teen
Almost Gold
Soundtracks, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Singer/Songwriter
Original Soundtrack
The Dark Knight [#1]
Warner Bros.
Original Score, Soundtracks
Original Broadway Cast
Passing Strange [Original Broadway Cast]
Ghostlight
Musicals, Cast Recordings
Rehab
Graffiti the World [Universal Republic]
Universal Republic
Southern Rap, Rap-Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Randy Travis
Around the Bend
Warner Bros.
Contemporary Country
Twilight Sad
Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did
Fat Cat
Indie Rock
Unkle
End Titles: Stories for Film
Surrender All
Electronica, Ambient Breakbeat, Trip-Hop, Alternative Dance
Various Artists
From the Valleys: The Best of the Welsh Choirs
ABC Classics
Welsh Choral Music
Cedar Walton
Seasoned Wood
Highnote
Post-Bop
Wild Beasts
Limbo, Panto
Domino
Indie Rock
Ace Young
Ace Young
Pazzo/Fontana
Dance-Pop, Pop Idol, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Club/Dance
