Welcome to the pond

Upcoming CD releases I am looking forward to

- Aerosmith "Honkin' on Bobo" later this month

- Avril Lavigne "Under My Skin" at the end of May

- Afro Celts "Pod" (remix album + DVD) sometime in May

I will definitely be purchasing the latter two, and we'll see about Aerosmith. By the way, isn't that a hilarious title? "Honkin' on Bobo"! I wonder what it means. Probably nothing too decent, knowing good ol' Steven Tyler. It's an album of mostly blues covers, I hear, so that will definitely be interesting. I'm sure a lot of Aerosmith fans are going to be pleased.

I'm VERY excited for Avril and the Afro Celts. Especially the Afro Celts, since we've heard about this remix project since last fall. I hope it's very clubby and danceable, like Volume 3 was. I suspect that perhaps this is one last goodbye from the electronic "sound system" era of the Afro Celts before they totally immerse themselves in more acoustic, instrument-heavy sounds.

And I don't care what YOU think of Avril Lavigne, I like her. She can sing, and I'm sure her voice will continue to mature and get even better in years to come. She is also a VERY good song writer. She gets to the heart of what matters to her. She's honest and puts it all out there, and that's why I like her. No, she's not "punk." If you actually listen to most of her songs, you'll discover she's almost a Michelle Branch type of singer. Sure, she has the more rock-oriented songs such as "Losing Grip" and "Sk8r Boi," but she also has gentler, lyric-driven songs like "I'm with you" and "Naked." So, she's very diverse. I can't wait to see what she'll unleash on us this spring.

One last thing. I'm currently working on an album review. It will be QUITE long as it's a 2-CD album I'm reviewing, and I am definitely putting a lot of effort into it. So it will take a LOT of room on this page, but it will be quality. I hope that at least one person is moved to buy the album after reading my review of it. What album is it? You'll have to wait and see!

*UPDATE* I've just now listened to preview tracks of Honkin' on Bobo from Aerosmith's website (you can find the tracks here). I must say that, from what I've heard, this will be a VERY good album. I know I may not be the most critical music listener out there, but I'd say that the majority of the album is going to be just excellent. It sounds like it'll be good, solid, Aerosmith rock and roll with kickin' guitar licks and passionate Steven Tyler vocals. A few of the songs sound VERY different from what the band has been doing in the past decade. It's definitely bluesy, and just a kick-arse good time. And that's just from listening to 30-second sound clips. So, yeah, I think I'll have to buy this one too when it comes out. Why not?