Following last week's Springsteen-led tsunami of blockbuster new releases, things are comparatively quieter this week on the new music front. That is, if you can call a week where both Kid Rock and Puddle of Mudd will see their new CDs released, "quiet."
Coming off the heels of his Wrestlemania headlining main event cage match with Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kid Rock hopes to see his once bright star "born again" with his new CD, Rock & Roll Jesus. Said to be a return to the unapologetic white trash rap/metal/country hybrid that was once a winning combination for the Kid on albums like Devil Without A Pause, many are looking at this release as a make or break proposition. Based on some of the early reviews that we've read, all we can say is that Kid Rock better hope his Rock & Roll Jesus can perform miracles in CD stores.
The prospects look considerably brighter for Puddle Of Mudd, who return this week with Famous, which promises another potent dose of aggro/grunge/hip-hop/alternative/metal — or whatever it is they are calling what loud, angry, young, tattooed, pierced, and goateed bands do these days.
With the holiday season looming just around the horizon, this is also the time of year that the record companies start to roll out the Christmas music. This week's holiday fare comes courtesy of two old school R&B favorites in the Isley Brothers with their I'll Be Home For Christmas and Patti Labelle's Miss Patti's Christmas, as well as Euro-pop heartthrob Josh Groban's Noel.
The holiday flood of reissued and repackaged product is also underway in earnest. This week brings several repackages from the classic rock era, including Emerson Lake & Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery and a new collection from Eric Clapton, with a title promising listeners the Complete Clapton.
Perhaps of most interest to collectors however is the first wave of reissues from the long out-of-print catalog of seminal sixties Bay Area psychedelic pioneers Moby Grape. This week sees new versions of Moby Grape, Wow, and Grape Jam, all with bonus tracks.
Rounding out this week's new release highlights are new albums from one-time queen diva Jennifer "J-Lo" Lopez (Brave); indie rock darlings Band of Horses (Cease To Begin) and The Fiery Furnaces (Widow City); jazz bass virtuoso Stan (just don't call him Stanley) Clarke (Children Of Forever); and the late, great Luciano Pavarotti (Pavarotti Forever).
Here are all this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
Band of Horses
Cease to Begin
Sub Pop
Indie Rock
The Fiery Furnaces
Widow City
Thrill Jockey
Garage Rock Revival, Indie Rock
Kid Rock
Rock N Roll Jesus
Atlantic
Rap-Rock, Hard Rock, Detroit Rock, Rap-Metal, Southern Rock
Jens Lekman
Night Falls Over Kortedala
Secretly Canadian
Swedish Pop/Rock, Indie Pop, Chamber Pop
Moby Grape
Moby Grape (Bonus Tracks)
Sundazed
Rock & Roll, Country-Rock, Folk-Rock, Psychedelic
Robert Wyatt
Comicopera
Domino
Conceptual Art, Avant-Garde Jazz, International Pop, Chamber Pop, Experimental Rock, Avant-Garde, Singer/Songwriter, Urban Folk
Vanessa Carlton
Heroes & Thieves
Universal/Motown
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Deana Carter
The Chain
Vanguard
Psychedelic Pop, Neo-Psychedelia, Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Country-Pop
Celebration
The Modern Tribe
4AD
Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Cyrus Chestnut
Cyrus Plays Elvis
Koch
Neo-Bop, Post-Bop
Eric Clapton
Complete Clapton
Reprise / Wea
Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Adult Contemporary, Hard Rock, Blues-Rock
Stan Clarke
Children of Forever
Polydor
Fusion, Soul-Jazz, Soul
Marc Cohn
Join the Parade
Decca
Adult Contemporary, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Pop/Rock
Credibility Gap
Bronze Age of Radio
Varese Sarabande
Satire, Sketch Comedy, Political Comedy, Observational Humor
Electric Six
I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master
Metropolis
Indie Rock
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Brain Salad Surgery (Bonus Tracks)
Shout! Factory
Album Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock
Enon
Grass Geysers…Carbon Clouds
Touch & Go
Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Noise Pop
The Gil Evans Orchestra
Out of the Cool
Verve
Post-Bop, Cool, Progressive Big Band, Modern Big Band, Modern Creative
Sara Evans
Greatest Hits
RCA
Contemporary Country, Country-Pop
Extra Golden
Hera Ma Nono
Thrill Jockey
Afro-Pop, Worldbeat
Faber Drive
Seven Second Surgery
604
Alternative Pop/Rock, Punk-Pop
Fatboy Slim
LateNightTales
Thrive
Soul, Roots Reggae, Pub Rock, Funk
The Gladiators
Studio One Singles
Heartbeat
Rocksteady, Ska, Roots Reggae
Reinhard Goebel
Concertos for 4 Violins
Archiv
Baroque Violin Concertos
Josh Groban
Noel
Reprise
Classical Crossover, Classical Pop, Classical Pop, Adult Contemporary, Adult Contemporary, Vocal Pop, Vocal Pop, Holiday, Christmas, Euro-Pop, Euro-Pop
Brian Harnetty
American Winter
Atavistic
Sound Collage, Field Recordings, Radio Works, Tape Music, Musique Concrète
Debbie Harry
Necessary Evil
Eleven Seven Music
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock, New Wave
Susanne Heinrich
Carl Friedrich Abel: Mr. Abel's Fine Airs
Hyperion
Classical Music for Viola da Gamba
Will Hoge
Draw the Curtains
Rykodisc
American Trad Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
The Isley Brothers
I'll Be Home for Christmas
Def Soul Classics
Holiday, Contemporary R&B, Christmas
Patti LaBelle
Miss Patti's Christmas
Def Soul Classics
Holiday, Contemporary R&B, Christmas
Jennifer Lopez
Brave
Sony
Urban, Dance-Pop
Samara Lubelski
Parallel Suns
Social Registry
Alternative Folk, Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia
Claire Lynch
Crowd Favorites
Rounder
Contemporary Bluegrass, Americana, Traditional Bluegrass
Andrew Manze
Schubert: Sonatas for violin & piano
Harmonia Mundi
Romantic Violin Sonatas
Cass Mccombs
Dropping the Writ
Domino
Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Moby Grape
Grape Jam (Bonus Tracks)
Sundazed
Folk-Rock, Psychedelic, Country-Rock
Moby Grape
Wow (Bonus Tracks)
Sundazed
Folk-Rock, Psychedelic, Country-Rock
The Naked Brothers Band
Naked Brothers Band
Sony
Pop/Rock, Teen Pop
Scout Niblett
This Fool Can Die Now
Too Pure
Indie Rock
Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core
Out Trios Vol. 5: Up from Under
Atavistic
Free Improvisation, Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz
Luciano Pavarotti
Pavarotti Forever
Decca
Opera Arias
Lara St. John
Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo (Hybrid SACD)
Ancalagon
Baroque Violin Music
The Paschall Brothers
On the Right Road Now
Smithsonian/Folkways
Traditional Gospel, Southern Gospel, Black Gospel
Robert Pollard
Coast to Coast Carpet of Love
Merge
Indie Rock
Robert Pollard
Standard Gargoyle Decisions
Merge
Indie Rock
Prince Ali
Curb Side Service
Hiero Imperium
Underground Rap, Hip-Hop, West Coast Rap
Puddle of Mudd
Famous
Geffen
Alternative Metal, Post-Grunge
LeAnn Rimes
Family
Curb
Contemporary Country, Country-Pop
She Wants Revenge
This Is Forever
Geffen
New Wave/Post-Punk Revival, Alternative Pop/Rock
Mindy Smith
My Holiday
Vanguard
Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Holiday, Christmas, Americana
Spank Rock
Spank Rock and Benny Blanco Are… Bangers & Cash
Downtown
Underground Rap, Dirty Rap, Neo-Electro, Party Rap
Sunset Rubdown
Random Spirit Lover
Jagjaguwar
Indie Rock
Van Zant
My Kind of Country
RCA
Album Rock, Arena Rock, Hard Rock, Southern Rock
Ohmega Watts
Watts Happening
Ubiquity
Underground Rap, Hip-Hop, Alternative Rap
Chuck E. Weiss
The Other Side of Town
Select
Roots Rock, Beat Poetry, Rockabilly, Rock & Roll
White Shoes & the Couples Company
White Shoes & the Couples Company
Aksara
Indie Pop