Doing it for the Music - Locked Up for Days
by Rosie Valdez

I bombarded myself with stacks upon stacks of music releases from the past year (thank you to the fine music reps I have met this past year) and let the music move me.

However, as I was deciding on my top ten albums a la Rob Gordon (Rob Fleming for the totally hip), I decided that maybe I should do also mention my favorites in books and movies as well.

The music lists are separated into two groups because it would be damn near impossible for me to only choose ten albums and seeing as I'm the owner of a Tri-State Metal Card, I have to share my love of all these albums.

Mainstream (Not considered metal) Tops of 2004

1. Green Day - American Idiot
I was very hesitant to get this album because Green Day's last release didn't feel as if it did anything to really distinguish itself in a good way but I was more than pleasantly surprised by American Idiot. American Idiot shows Green Day with a more mature sound while still holding true to their punk days.

It was more than refreshing to see them go into the direction of a punk rock opera with political tones. The title track off the album begins to grow tiresome due to heavy radio rotation but songs like "Wake Me When September Ends" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" seem to remain strong after repeated listens.

Still holding strong and aging with grace, atta boys!

2. Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill
3. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
4. Arcade Fire - Funeral
5. Interpol - Antics
6. Elvis Costello - Delivery Man
7. Tom Waits - Real Gone
8. Killers - Hot Fuss
9. Faint - Wet From Birth
10. Brian Wilson - Smile

Metal Albums of 2004

1. Slipknot - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
Slipknot's third release has been a point of contention with many Slipknot fans both old and new. The band, consisting of nine masked members decided to go a different route from their more metal/dance infused self titled and their more metal/industrial album Iowa in Subliminal Verses, Vol. 3.

In Vol. 3, elements of lead singer Corey's side project, Stone Sour show up with such songs as "Circle" and "Vermillion, Part 2" and this is where problems arise. Hardcore, "from the beginning" Slipknot fans feel that the band is losing it's edge and is getting too Stone Sour but others, such as myself feel that the band has to be allowed to try a different sound and that doesn't mean they are betraying their metal roots. If anything, the inclusion of such songs adds to a deeper, more cryptic hidden message; after repeated listens to the album you wonder who the woman mentioned throughout the album is and what is her significance.

Their metal edge is still very much present in such songs as "Duality", their radio friendly single and quite possibly, aside from the Vermillion songs, my favorite song on the album "Before I Forget".

While I feel that the album does not hold up to my first almost too favorable impression of it, I think that it is differently worth the money spent.

2. Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake
3. Haunted - Revolver
4. Killswitch Engage - End of Heartache
5. Rammstein - Reise, Reise
6. Shadows Fall - War Within
7. God Forbid - Gone Forever
8. Mastodon - Leviathan
9. Bleeding Through - This is Love... This is Murderous
10. My Dying Bride - Songs of Darkness, Words of Light

Movies

1. Shaun of the Dead
When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it was going to be a silly, fun movie that I would watch and then later forget about but I was more than wrong. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are able to portray characters that you can relate to and want to hang around with, even the sometimes unbearable Ed, who in all honestly should be slapped but you can't help wishing he was one of your friends.

Shaun of the Dead is a clever comedy that garnered respect from several top people in the industry and even from Romero himself. It has just the right amount of romantic comedy, classic lines that you'll find yourself repeating with your friends, great soundtrack and smart nods to other popular zombie movies (28 Days Later, the Dead movies) while holding it's own with it's originality. Geeks and non geeks alike will enjoy.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. The Incredibles

Books

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
It takes a very strong writer to create a vivid, jarring, and at many times very upsetting book that many people will feel the need to get others to read. This book is one of them.

The book takes you to a place that most people are no where near familiar with and forces you to get emotionally involved with two characters from opposite ends of the spectrum. It's a story of cowardice, shame, unconditional love, and redemption that will make all other books this past year pale in comparison.

It's a book that stands up to the hype.

-posted to The Great Hoboes of New York, April 1, 2005