This summer there was some good music and lots of fair/bad music, but that's expected I suppose. So for those who have trusted my opinion (you poor saps), you might want to see what I recommended from the CD releases of Summer 2003.

Radiohead "Hail To The Thief"-After dropping the rock sound that made them so popular on "The Bends" and "OK Computer" for the electronic sounds of "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" many had thought they had lost thier touch. With "Hail" it was claimed that this was a return to thier original sound, which it is and it isn't. It is an almost perfect combination of Radiohead's rock sound and thier experimental electronic sound. Thom Yorke sounds more confident and strong than he did on the past two releases and the instrumentation and flow of the entire album has rarely sounded tighter.Grade- A-

Kenna "New Sacred Cow"-He's a mixture of Depeche Mode-type 80's music and Radiohead, has a voice that cracks throughout the album and a producer that has produced for likes of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and *nsync. Regardless it is a fusion that has created one of the most original CDs released this year.An album packed with glourious new-wave arrangements and enough soul to prove that this more than just disposable pop.He may never get as popular as he deserves but if you buy one album from my recommendations, this is it.Grade- A-

Alien Ant Farm "truANT"-After suffering a near-fatal bus accident last year it was expected that maybe Alien Ant Farm would never be the same, and they aren't. They are even better. They mix even more genres on this album than on 2001's double-platinum "ANThology" from mexi-reggae (the mellow "Tia Lupe") to acoustapop (the fantastic "Glow") to hard rock ("1000 Days"). "truANT" showcases a much more intimate band with tight, killer instrumentation (i.e. "Drifting Apart"). Despite the dull nu-metal, hard-rocker "S.S. Recognize", this album is a tight mix of genres and good music.Grade- B+

Sugar Ray "In The Pursuit Of Leisure"- After coming off a failed album (2001's "Sugar Ray") you would think the boys of Sugar Ray would return to thier roots of metal-rock, Nope no luck. They slow it down even more than thier last effort and yet it doesn't sound that bad. Thier are more strings that in some cases enhance the mood (i.e. "Photograph Of You"), disposable dance numbers ("Mr. Bartender") and your by-the-numbers cover song ("Is She Really Going Out With Him"). Overall Sugar Ray really doesn't get too deep sans thier best track "Photograph Of You", but they make up for that by mixing the patented Sugar Ray sound with other genres. Indeed this album won't make any new Sugar Ray and won't bring any old ones back, but for a nice, breezy, chillout album that requires very little thought it is very satisfying. Grade- B-

Third Eye Blind "Out Of The Vein"- Breakups suck. And when you're Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind it's only natural to write an album full of songs about it. That is basically what "Out Of The Vein" is, not there is anything wrong with that. Much 3EB's past releases OOTV has enough thought in it that it can be considered artistic but also enough pop sensibility so all the indie-kids can hate on them for another 5 years. On tracks like "Faster","Blinded","Taste For Danger", and "Crystal Baller" Stephen loathes, reflects and shines in a way that he hasn't since the early days of 3EB. While the album contains some well written pop-rock tracks it also contains the what-seems-to-be longest track ever written titled "Self-Righteous" which features the lead singer of The Moldy Peaches and it fails on almost every level. But besides that and a few other bland tracks "OOTV" is 3EB's attempt to return to thier place on your radio dial and it certainly a worthy attempt.Grade- B-

The So-So and The Ugly

Various Artists "The Matrix Reloaded"- Much like "The Matrix" was surprise hit so was its soundtrack. Combining rock and techno, the first soundtrack joined the ranks of "Pulp Fiction" and "Saturday Night Fever" as a classic soundtrack that captured the emotion and feel of the movie. Needless "The Matrix Reloaded" soundtrack really wanted to capture that same feeling again, they even brought back originals such as Rob D, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Deftones and Rage Against The Machine. But even with these artist and a few new ones (Linkin Park, P.O.D., Unloco) this album feels like a half-assed effort. Most of the songs do nothing to capture the feeling of the second installment of the Matrix series and end up joining the many soundtracks where it sounds like the bands made one extra song for that extra paycheck. But even with its many faults the album does shine on the Oakenfold remix of Dave Matthews Band of "When The World Ends" and on its instrumental second CD.Grade- C

Staind "13 Shades Of Grey"- Judging from thier first single "Price To Play" you might assume that maybe Staind have returned to thier extreme hard rock sound. Unfortunately, you are wrong (as was I). The album busts open with the forementioned track and then returns to the dull sound that plagued some of the duller tracks on "Break The Cycle". A brighter note to give to the album is that it finally shows Aaron has resolved most of his problems that haunted him throughout thier first three records but it's too bad that he can't stay out of the drab midtempo rock songs. Grade- C-

Various Artists "American Wedding"- "Times Like These", "The Hell Song", "Swing, Swing", "The Anthem", this starting to sound like a new "Now 75" collection? But it's not. It's the new soundtrack to the third installment of American Pie which, like the movie series, have become progressively worse further down the line. Add some b-sides to the already overplayed songs and you now have an effortless soundtrack that really does nothing to excite or entertain (minus a decent song by The Wallflowers). Grade- D

Beyonce "Dangerously In Love"- Before I listened to this album I didn't have high hopes but was interested to hear what it sounded like. I must say the first four tracks, although they did nothing particularly groundbreaking, were decent songs....then she puts on the brakes. And by brakes I mean the slow ballads begin and they last almost the rest of the very, very long album. Even considering that this album is Beyonce it is an overly sappy album that takes off for a while but crashes and burns slowly and painfully. Grade- D

Metallica "St. Anger"- Six Years. That's how long Metallica had been away from making new music ("Garage Inc." and "S & M" don't count as new). And they return with possibly the worst "Hey Guys! We've Returned" album to grace this earth since U2's "Pop" album. Lars "Don't look at me! I'll sue you!" sounds as if he's hitting a plastic water jug while James Hetfield whines his way through 11 of the most overly long excuses for hard rock opuses. They obviously were shooting for the "Master Of Puppets" hard rock sound only rawer but in the end they achieve an album with no flow or direction.Grade- F

Summer 2003 Movie Reviews