I had high hopes for this album. With over 4 years passing since their last record, I though Linkin Park would put out a better album. For some reason, they pretty much totally abandoned rap-rock. I have a problem with that because LINKIN PARK WAS THE BEST RAP-ROCK BAND PERIOD! I read in Entertainment Weekly that rap-rock is losing popularity. Linkin Park must have taken that too seriously.

Who isn't going to buy a Linkin Park rap-rock album. The royalities alone from selling rights to pay songs from Meteroa every where even 3 or 4 years after it was released should have been a sign enough that Linkin Park could still sell a ton of albums while staying in the rap-rock genre. But instead, we get this album. It just sound like a lot of it has already been done. It is not dreadful, but it is disappointing. And another thing that ticks me off is the cursing on the album. I'm not used to hearing Linkin Park drop f-bombs on their songs and I don't think it really adds much emphasis.

Enough about the bad. So my favorite song on the album is "What I've Done". I like "Given Up", but I could do without the f-bombs. Everything else is good, but it all could be better. I think they could have done much better by their fans by sticking more to what their fans became their fans for. Linkin Park's previous albums were so great because they mastered the vocal team of singer and rapper to create catchy, powerful music. This is just tragic.

Wow! How have a never heard of these guys? Great metal from a band that has been making great music for a long time without me noticing it.

Listen to the song "Focus Shift" from this awesome album.

Anyway, about this album... Vena Sera is the first album where Chevelle is consistently heavy. The songs are hard driving and forceful. My favorite songs on the album are "Safewaters", "Well Enough Alone", and "Straight Jacket Fashion".

It certainly is a good listen, but Wonder What's Next is still better. I think some bands that they tour with have become a bad influence on them because the lyrics on this album are at times very harsh and just unlike what I thought these guys stood for. I don't really get it, but this is still it is much better than my lowered expectations caused me to expect.

More coming soon.

Another great album by Anberlin. Their music has matured a lot. This album has a lot good songs, but few really stand out as great. Highlights are "Godspeed" and "(Fin)".

Love It! The Showdown has drastically changed their style. The vocals are sung rather than the screaming/growling vocals on their previous album. The songs are great and addicting. I love them all. I am having a hard time taking this one out of my CD player in my car.

Some highlights are "Head Down", "Six Feet Under", "Forget My Name", "Spitting in the Wind", "I Victim (Here's to the Year)". But really, they are all awesome.

This one has been in my car's CD player since it came out. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I just can't take it out. It is certainly one of the best albums of the year. It just squeaked by Underoath, Unearth, and All That Remains to get the number one spot on my Best of 2006 list.

Of course, being the best album of the year, this one is full of great songs. My favorites include "Daylight Dies", "The Arms of Sorrow", "My Curse", "Break the Silence", and "Reject Yourself".

This album is incredible smooth sounding, which actually threw me off because the other albums have a rougher, more raw sound. I am not really sure how to describe it, but it is certainly different.

P.O.D. at its best. This album is full of great songs. I rarely buy a "Greatest Hits" album of any band, but I think this one is worth the money. It has 2 new songs. Plus it has a few songs that I didn't have because they were on the self-titled album that I thought was mostly horrible with the expection of these few good ones that got put on this album.

This album has an excellent mix of songs from all of there albums starting with Southtown up through Testify.

My favorite songs are "Sanctity of Brothers", "So It Goes", "This Glorious Nightmare", "March of the Mutes", "Giles", "This Time Was Mine", "Unstoppable", "Imposters Kingdom", "Bled Dry", "The Devil Has Risen", and "Big Bear and the Hour of Chaos". (That's every song on the album because they are all awesome, but hey at least I put them in an order of preference.)

"So It Goes" features my favorite riffs on the album to start off and end the song. "Sanctity of Brothers" is just great period. So my point is, if you like metal, you must own this now.

The lyrics sound a bit harder to understand that on their previous album, but I am really beginning to warm up to it. An album as heavy as this one is, is hard for me to get into at first. It is the kind of music you can sing along with, but it make for a good listen if you are into very heavy music.

Listen to songs from the album on Zao's website. See the link below.