So far, 2002 has been a great year for music. This summer, the industry hopes to continue its winning streak with some long-awaited albums from big names. Of course, with summer albums come summer tours. But enough about that, let's get to the music! And in chronological and alphabetical order, no less.
May 7 •Heart: Definitive Collection •Lauryn Hill: MTV Unplugged 2.0 •Naughty By Nature: Icons •Method Man/Redman: PartII / Round & Round •Mr Big: Mr Big in Japan •Tom Waits: Alice •Tom Waits: Blood Money Who would have thought Mr. Big was still touring Japan?
May 14 •Bryan Adams: Best of Me •Get Up Kids: On A Wire •Moby: 18 •Onelinedrawing: Visitor •Van Morrison: Down the Road •Weezer: Maladroit We really like the groups releasing albums on this day and have no doubt this stuff will be no less than amazing. They might even be more than amazing.
May 21 •Breeders: Title Tk •Meredith Brooks: Bad Bad One •Buffalo Tom: Besides •Danzig: 777 I Luciferi •Dio: Killing the Dragon •Randy Newman: Good Old Boys •Pete Townshend: Scooped Meredith Brooks is metal's bitch on May 21st. Randy Newman is old.
May 30 •Ghostface Killah: Wonderful World of Wallabees Ghostface Killah finally releases his concept album about Australia. Tom Waits is pulling a Bruce Springsteen and releasing two albums simultaneously. Weezer and Moby will be releasing their newest to a rabid fan base, while veterans Van Morrison, Danzig and Dio continue to beat out tunes. Meredith Brooks and Breeders, however, don't have anyone left to make albums for. Thankfully, Rhino Records is re-releasing Randy Newman's ode to the racist South in double-cd form.
June 4 •Damn Yankees: Essentials •Eminem: The Eminem Show Damn Yankees only had one album before this compilation.
June 11 •David Bowie: Heathen •Korn: Untouchables David Bowie brings his us newest vision through different colored eyes.
June 18 •Guided By Voices: Universal Truths and Cycles •Our Lady Peace: Gravity
June 25 •Onyx: Bacdafucup Part 2 •Jerry Cantrell: Degridation Trip Let the boys with clever album title sequels be boys.
Eminem will most likely own June, especially if his new album is as spiked with an infectious mix of hip-hop and '70s rock as Dr. Dre claims. His "Without Me" video is sure to raise some eyebrows, as he will don yet another persona — Osama Bin Laden. Korn's aggro-rap-rock compliments this taste for irreverence perfectly. Don't forget David Bowie. Any release from the thin white duke is worth checking out, at least for the cover. God Bless.
The rest of the summer: Keep in mind, not every summer album has been announced. There are probably another dozen must-buy albums coming during the warm months. Others may be just plain and bland. Some will face the inevitable conflict of censorship. While you wait for those releases, keep your stereo pumping with some of the great records mentioned above. Enjoy your summer.
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