Last week, I started going through some fourth-quarter CD releases that will have heavy impacts on the bottom lines of the major record labels. Here are a few more:
Muse — The Resistance (Out now): Over the rest of the planet, they’re huge enough or singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy to live in a villa on Lake Como in Italy. In North America, they’re still rather cult-y. This record may change that.
AFI — Crash Love (Tuesday): They’re under pressure to followup 2006’s million-selling Decemberunderground with something just as strong. Many of the songs were road-tested over the summer with the single, Medicate, emerging as a fan favourite.
La Roux — La Roux (Out now): She looks like a Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie but lives in a world of dance floor-friendly electro-pop. Already a hit in the U.K. — she was up for the Mercury Prize — is this the kind of music that translates to North America?
Kiss — Sonic Boom (Oct 6): It’s been 11 years since the last studio album from Kiss, but I can’t say that I know many people devastated by this gap in the band’s oeuvre. One version will come with re-recordings of their big hits.
Dead by Sunrise — Out of Ashes (Oct 13): If you can’t get enough Linkin Park, then you’ll need this first solo release by vocalist Chester Bennington, which contains songs he wrote while LP was locked in an ugly contract battle a few years ago.
Bob Dylan — Christmas in The Heart (Oct 13): Yes, you read that right: a Christmas album from Mr. Zimmerman. He does “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “O Little Town of Bethleham.” No, really.
Nirvana — Live at Reading (Nov 3): Bootleg video of what some people consider to be Nirvana’s finest performance have been floating around for years. Now we’ll finally get nice clean images on the DVD and clean-up sound for the CD version.
Foo Fighters — Greatest Hits (Nov 3): Fifteen years and six albums deep into the post-Nirvana world, Dave Grohl’s crew will issue a double disc that will also feature two new songs, including Wheels, a track the band debuted at a White House barbecue on July 4.
Eminem — Relapse 2 (Nov 17): Mr. Mathers has sold 32 million records this decade, more than any other artist. The follow-up to Relapse, which came out in May, will add to that total.
– The Ongoing History Of New Music can be heard on stations across Canada. Read more at www.ongoinghistory.com and www.exploremusic.com
