2004: The End
by Paul Hanson
Were there great releases in 2004? Certainly. I got acquainted with acronym bands LAW (Lazy American Workers) and MDC (Magnus Dominus Corpus) and I liked those releases a lot. I've been thinking about the concept that a great CD is one that lives in your CD player for months. It's one thing to say, "Led Zeppelin's IV release -- that's a great CD." It's another to live with that release in your CD changer for months on end. That's why this article only addresses a few official 2004 releases and then dips into the past. I'm basing this list solely on the releases that I have listened to over and over again, listing those releases that I mention when someone asks me, "Do you have any good CDs with you?"
 | Hands down, Green Day's American Idiot is the first release I mention. A classic disc, AI will stand the test of the time. I anticipate listening to this release plenty more times in 2005. Green Day distance themselves from the band who first achieved their commercial success with a song about masturbation, and move forward. From the in-your-face title track through the somber "Wake Me When September Ends" to the kiss-off that is "Whatsername," AI is a great release. |
 | For a couple of years, it was uncertain whether Megadeth's vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine would ever pick up a guitar again after a nerve injury. After rehabilitation, Mustaine picked up the guitar, lined up some studio hired guns and created a monster of a release called The System Has Failed. The opening images paint a world in chaos, while the closing lyrics are reflective about hoping to become a better man. Mustaine can still play guitar and has achieved a creative high. |
 | I'm putting Fear Factory's Archetype in my list, but it wasn't a no-brainer. This is one release that had to grow on me. At face value, it is a comeback CD of sorts, with the bassist switching to guitar and playing a lot of the same type of riffs that their former guitarist played. The more I listen to this release, the more I realize that there is not a single song that slows the momentum. The release is definitely a calculated release as the band progresses, even through the slower "Bite The Hand That Bleeds" through each track with sharp precision. The no-brainer final track "Recess" has become one of my favorite songs in 2004. |
 | Another CD that earned a lot of time in my player was Beyond Surface's Destination's End. I'm not into the gothic rock scene and the "life is terrible / I'm so alone" themes that the genre usually employs to get their meaning across. BS combines the aforementioned themes, but couples it with superb musicianship. The songs melt into one another, much in the same way a release like KISS' Destroyer or AC/DC's Back In Black sometimes feel like a continuous jam. The cover of "Come Back And Stay" is true to the original and ties up the release nicely. |
And that's it for releases that found the light of day in 2004.
When I wasn't spinning the above releases, I was back in the past. I spent a lot of time in 2004 with the following releases (in alphabetical order):
Black Sabbath's ParanoidCount the Stars' Never be Taken Alive
Eric Sardinas' Black Pearls
Guns-n-Roses' Appetite for Destruction
Mothermania's The Sound and the Fury
Shine Down's Leave a Whisper
Spitalfield's Remember Right Now
Ten Foot Pole's Bad Mother Trucker