What I listened to this week

What with it being my first week back in civilization, I had quite a bit of catching up to do when it comes to music. I spent an unhealthy amount of quality time with my iPod (whose name is Dash Z. Linkin, if you were curious), and here's a quick rundown of what I was playing:

-Fuel released Angels & Devils, its first album with Toryn Green as lead singer on Tuesday. Green's a decent fit with the band, but in some ways he's almost too good a fit, and his voice gets lost behind Carl Bell's guitars and just becomes part of one big clusterfuck of radio rock. Tracks like "Wasted Time" and "Scars in the Making" show off how well the band can be when everyone's on, but Fuel has always been about its lead singer, whether it's Brett Scallions or Toryn Green, and for too much of Angel's and Devils Green gets washed out by simply serviceable instrumentation
Ruling on the field: 5.5/10
Highlight Reel: "Wasted Time"

-It only took about a week for me to get tired of "Who Knew" by P!nk. It's OK, 'cause that's still 6 days, 23 hours, and 57 minutes longer than it took "Girlfriend". Meanwhile, the new singles from Velvet Revolver and Finger Eleven are incredible.

-I know I'm a month late, but I got around to hearing Smashing Pumpkins' Zeitgeist. It has it's moments, but like everything else Billy Corgan's done, it's just a bit too weird and without direction for my taste.
Ruling on the field: 6/10

-At the suggestion of a friend from over the summer, I picked up the second album from Boston duo The Dresden Dolls, entitled Yes, Virginia. Expecting an hour-long lesson in elitist girl punk a la Courtney Love with a piano, I was very pleasantly surprised. Amanda Palmer's voice is strong, albeit it not very nuanced, but the drummer is absolutely sick in every sense of the word. Think Panic! At the Disco for people who have too many brain cells to deal with P!ATD.
Ruling on the field: 8/10
Highlight Reel: "Backstabber"

Downloading music from my blog makes me feel good about myself, but buying the music is good karma.

Fuel on iTunes
Smashing Pumpkins on iTunes
Dresden Dolls on iTunes

==TJ==