New Album Releases 10/23/07: All Is Well Again In New Release Land: Neil Young, Ryan Adams, Carrie Underwood, Dave Gahan, Rob Zombie, Plant/Krauss And More

After a couple of rather slow weeks, it is our happy duty to report that all is once again well in new release land. In fact, the menu of new releases arriving in stores this week has something for virtually every musical palate.

Leading the pack is the new (or maybe not so new) album from Neil Young. Chrome Dreams II is actually something of a sequel to a never released album that was originally supposed to come out in 1976 called Chrome Dreams.

Some of you may recall my own displeasure over Neil's concert ticket prices for his current tour. As it turns out, I attended the Seattle show of that very tour just last night, and can happily report the show was pretty amazing. Based on that, as well as Neil's Chrome Dreams II album, I'm actually almost ready to forgive Neil.

Almost.

You can read more about the Chrome Dreams II album in my review published earlier this week right here on Blogcritics. In a nutshell though, anybody who has ever loved Neil Young in full-on guitar opus mode will love at least two of the tracks on Chrome Dreams II — the eighteen minute "Ordinary People," and the eleven minute "No Hidden Path." I'll have more on Neil in my concert review later this week.

Some of the other new release highlights this week include a new EP from the ever prolific Ryan Adams & The Cardinals. Follow The Lights comes on the heels of the amazing full length Easy Tiger album released earlier this year, and includes the concert highlight, a cover of Alice In Chains "Down In The Hole."

American Idol's country sweetheart Carrie Underwood releases her second solo record this week in the form of Carnival Ride. Speaking of sophomore solo albums, Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan has Hourglass, which is said to combine elements of darkness with the uptempo electronic dance beats Depeche Mode fans have come to know and love.

In one of the week's more unusual pairings, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant teams with bluegrass stalwart Alison Krauss for Raising Sand. If old school metal makes your hair stand on end, you can't go wrong with Rob Zombie's Live or Motley Crue's Carnival of Sins Live 1 & 2.

Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:

Coheed & Cambria
Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 2: No World for Tomorrow
Columbia
Progressive Metal, Album Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Metal, Emo

Dave Gahan
Hourglass
Virgin/Mute
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Dance, Alternative Pop/Rock

Robert Plant/Alison Krauss
Raising Sand
Rounder
Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Americana, Contemporary Folk, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Modern Delta Blues, Folk-Rock, Modern Acoustic Blues

Serj Tankian
Elect the Dead
Warner Bros.
Neo-Prog, Progressive Metal, Industrial Metal, Hard Rock

Carrie Underwood
Carnival Ride
Arista
Pop Idol, Contemporary Country

Ween
La Cucaracha
Rounder
Comedy Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock

Neil Young
Chrome Dreams II
Reprise
Album Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Folk-Rock, Hard Rock, Country-Rock

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
Follow the Lights
Lost Highway
Americana, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Country-Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Gary Allan
Living Hard
MCA Nashville
Contemporary Country

Babyshambles
Shotter's Nation
EMI/Parlophone
Indie Rock

Bobby Bare
Drunk and Crazy [Bonus Tracks]
Raven
Outlaw Country, Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan, Progressive Country, Traditional Country

Bizarre
Blue Cheese 'N' Coney Island
KR Urban
Hardcore Rap, Underground Rap

Bush Tetras
Very Very Happy
Roir
No Wave, Post-Punk

Cassius
15 Again
EMI/Virgin
Progressive House, House, Club/Dance

Castanets
In the Vines
Asthmatic Kitty
Indie Rock

Coke
Na Na: A Funk Anthology
Essential Media Group
Latin Rock, Funk, Latin Soul

Justin Currie
What Is Love For
Wea/Rykodisc
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Bo Diddley
I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958
Hip-O Select
Rock & Roll, R&B, Electric Chicago Blues

Jermaine Dupri
Ya'll Know What This Is…The Hits
Island
Pop-Rap, Urban, Hip-Hop

Enthroned
Tetra Karcist
Napalm
Heavy Metal, Death Metal/Black Metal

Ghost
Overture: Live in Nippon Yusen Soko
Drag City
Improvisation, Free Improvisation, Experimental Rock, Experimental, Psychedelic, Avant-Garde

Everette Harp
My Inspiration
Shanachie
Crossover Jazz, Jazz-Pop, Instrumental Pop, Smooth Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Heart
Dreamboat Annie Live
Shout! Factory
Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Hard Rock, Arena Rock

Hurricane Chris
51/50 Ratchet
Polo Grounds/J-Records
Southern Rap, Hardcore Rap

Shooter Jennings
The Wolf
Universal South
Alternative Country, Contemporary Country, Outlaw Country, Southern Rock, Country-Rock

Paavo Järvi
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathètique"; Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy [Hybrid SACD]
Telarc
Romantic Orchestral Music

Roman Kofman
Liszt: Christus
MDG
Romantic Oratorio

Ulrich Krieger
The Marvellous Aphorisms of Gavin Bryars: The Early Years
Mode
Contemporary Chamber Music

Julie London
All Through the Night [Bonus Track]
Capitol
Traditional Pop, Cool

Taj Mahal
Oooh So Good N'Blues/Recycling the Blues
Raven
Folk-Blues, Electric Country Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues

Mötley Crüe
Carnival of Sins: Live, Vols. 1-2
Eleven Seven Music
Hair Metal, Heavy Metal

Susan Narucki
Kernis: Simple Songs; Valentines; Songs of Innocents
Koch International Classics
Contemporary Vocal Music

Lisa O'Kane
It Don't Hurt
New Light/Universal
Contemporary Country

Of Montreal
If He Is Protecting Our Nation… Who Is Protecting Big Oil, Our Children?
Track And Field
Indie Pop, Neo-Psychedelia

Original Video Game Soundtrack
Guitar Hero 3
Interscope
Video Game Music, Soundtracks

Phosphorescent
Pride
Dead Oceans
Indie Rock, Alternative Folk, Lo-Fi

Prefuse 73
Preparations [Bonus CD]
Warp
Left-Field Hip-Hop, IDM

Relient K
Let It Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer
Capitol
Christian Punk, Alternative CCM, Punk-Pop, Holiday, Alternative Pop/Rock, Christmas

Emmy Rossum
Inside Out
Geffen
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Saturday Looks Good to Me
Fill Up the Room
K
Indie Pop, Alternative Singer/Songwriter

Say Anything
In Defense of the Genre
J-Records
Punk-Pop, Punk Revival, Emo

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Bloodshot
Indie Pop

Seether
Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
Wind-up
Post-Grunge, Alternative Metal

Ringo Starr
Live at Soundstage
Koch
Pop/Rock

Two Lone Swordsmen
Wrong Meetings
Rotter's Golf Club
IDM, Electro-Techno, Techno, Ambient Techno, Experimental Electro

Various Artists
Nick Didkovsky: Ice Cream Time
New World
Contemporary Chamber Music

Jerry Wallace
The Best of Jerry Wallace: The Country Years
Varese Sarabande
Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan, Country-Pop

The Weakerthans
Reunion Tour
Epitaph/Anti
Indie Rock

Joe Williams/Count Basie
Every Day I Have the Blues [Bonus Tracks]
Capitol
Traditional Pop, Standards, Swing, Vocal Jazz

Nancy Wilson
The Nancy Wilson Show!
EMI/Capitol Jazz
Traditional Pop, Standards

Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Sings Buck
New West
New Traditionalist, Bakersfield Sound, Neo-Traditionalist Country

Rob Zombie
Live
Geffen
Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal