Please note: Artists' names link to their official web sites. Album titles link to album availablity at Amazon.com.
matchbox twenty
Yourself or Someone Like You: forget the comparisons to Hootie and the Blowfish. Hootie was the vocal equivalent of a three-chord punk band. mb20, on the other hand, craft songs that are lasting favourites on rock radio. After all, haven't we all had days where we've just wished the real world would stop hassling me?
Mad Season: the orchestra album. As the guys have said, this was a case of "let's see what it sounds like if we use a string and brass orchestra on every track." Experimental, sure, but not in a bad way. There are still some hard rock tunes on this album.
More Than You Think You Are: the stadium rock album. A solid mix of today's best and the greatest from the 70's - in terms of sound only - the tracks are all original, with the possible exception of "All I Need," which sounds waaaaay too much like Roy Orbison's "You Got It." ^_^; From hard rock to tender ballads, this disc's got it all.
David Usher
Little Songs. The album where he let all of the skeletons out of the closet and monsters out from under the bed and exorcised his demons. Does it make a whole lot of sense? Not if you analyze it. But there's something primal and moving in these tracks, particularly ones like "Jesus Was My Girl" and "Trickster." I think there's probably a language warning on this album, but we're all grown up enough to deal with a few bad words, aren't we? ^_~
Morning Orbit. A lighter disc than "Little Songs" but still a source of amazing lyrics and music. And David Usher puts on a helluva show, if you ever get the chance to see him live.
Moist.
David Usher was, and is, Moist's front man. Several of the guys also tour with him as part of his band on his solo tour. But when it comes down to it, Moist is harder, edgier, darker, and raw. There are rumors of a new album, soon-ish. We'll be looking forward to it.
We recommend Machine Punch Through - the Singles Collection, but if you can't find it, try Creature and Silver.
Matthew Good - Avalanche. From what we've heard (being new fans) this album is nothing like his previous ones as the Matthew Good Band. Regardless, if you enjoy politically astute lyrics with amazing song composition, give this one a try. It's bitter and poignant, but never compromises musical ability for delivering a message.
Moby - We recommend Play and 18, but if you can find re-mixes of his tunes, they're the most fun. ^_^
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head. I honestly don't know what genre to put Coldplay in, but they're good. We got hooked on them via "Yellow," from the Parachutes album.
Train - Drops of Jupiter. We're not huge Train fans, but we do like the two first singles off this album -- "Drops of Jupiter," and "Something More." Their new single "Calling All Angels" sounds good, too.
Michelle Branch - The Spirit Room. We found Michelle via her appearance on Buffy, where she performed "Goodbye to You." We were so impressed that we looked her up and found that we had seen her on MMM, with "Everywhere," and "All You Wanted." Despite comparisons to Vanessa Carleton, we find Michelle refreshing and Vanessa overblown.
Evanescence - Like most people, we found these folks via the Daredevil soundtrack (see below). Their album, Fallen, is really good, though. We never would have guessed that they're from Arkansas. >.< Despite "Bring Me to Life," they're not much like Linkin Park, but are good, moody goth music. "Tourniquet" has to be one of the most interesting metaphor songs we've ever heard.
Soundtracks:
Daredevil: The Album. Daredevil managed to redeem the "comic book turned movie" genre for us. X-men is also not bad, but Spiderman sucked, IMNSHO. This album (to get back to the point) features a number of interesting tracks by young bands. Seems like movie soundtracks are the way to hit the big time these days!
The Saint: Music From The Motion Picture.... An oldy but a goody. This is the soundtrack from the Val Kilmer version, which is what lured us into the techno/dance/trance field. Moby, Sneaker Pimps, and the Chemical Brothers all have great tracks, as well as David Bowie and Duran Duran. ^_^ Oh, and Duncan Sheik. Must not forget Duncan Sheik, especially since Puddle of Mud have ripped off his "Barely Breathing" to make their name with "Blurry." Bah. NE way.
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