Kerrang! The Album '08
Review by Jack Foley
KERRANG! magazine hails itself to be “the undisputed modern day saviours of rock” and they have teamed up with Rhino Records to compile “the most essential and hardest rocking tracks of 2008”. Expect to see some discharge from the ear-drums afterwards.
According to magazine editor Paul Brannigan, rock has never been away, or sounded better. Kid Rock supplied the soundtrack to the summer with All Summer Long, while the likes of Green Day, Linkin Park and Nickelback are among the biggest bands in the world. It’s difficult to argue.
There are some cheats among the selections. Green Day’s American Idiot wasn’t released in 2008… but that’s perhaps being churlish. It’s one of the standout tracks.
On the whole, this is a riotous – even thunderous – collection of songs from the rock acts that currently matter. And as with all really good compilations, there’s a nice balance between the well-known (that draw newcomers in to begin with) and the waiting to be discovered.
Kid Rock’s All Summer Long will be an obvious favourite, as will Nickelback’s Rock Star, while Linkin Park demonstrate their rockier side with Given Up and My Chemical Romance crop up with their mini-epic Welcome To The Black Parade – the song that really put them on the map.
But the real gems are those songs that exist just under the radar… from the likes of Biffy Clyro, Weezer, Billy Talent and…. It’s these acts who might suddenly benefit from being included on such a high-profile compilation CD, even though – in some cases – they’ve been doing their stuff for some time.
Hence, the really worthwhile songs are Weezer’s Pork & Beans, a cheeky ode to rebellion and non-conformity that recaptures their Buddy Holly era; Biffy Clyro’s vibrant Saturday Superhouse, which admittedly finds them channelling the spirit of Foo Fighters; Black Tide’s Warriors of Time, which draws on a Latin influence in its lush guirtar work early on before entering into a crowdpleasing “wooh ooh” style anthem; Dillinger Escape Plan’s no-nonsense Black Bubblegum; The Gaslight Anthem’s classic rock The ’59 Sound, and Scars On Broadway’s They Say, a heavy hitter that shows the System of a Down duo have lost none of their energy or enthusiasm as they seek out pastures new. All those are on CD1.
CD2, meanwhile, begins with a trio of well-known, obvious crowdpleasers (American Idiot, Welcome To The Black Parade and This Aint A Scene, It’s An Arms Race) before mixing things up a little more. And the highlights include Simple Plan’s synth-rock combo When I’m Gone; Panic At The Disco’s ELO-esque bundle of sunshine that is Nine In The Afternoon; Alkaline Trio’s fratboy rocker Love Love Kiss Kiss; Billy Talents’ fast, furious Red Flag; Fighting With Wire’s Everyone Needs A Nemesis; HiM’s Wings Of A Butterfly and Avenged Sevenfold’s epic, strings-laden Afterlife.
There are the obvious headache inducers from the likes of Slipknot and Enter Shakiri, but that’s what the skip button is for. And, hell, this is a heavy rock album after all…
Download picks: Pork & Beans, American Idiot, Given Up, Warriors of Time, Love Love Kiss Kiss, Red Flag, Everyone Needs A Nemesis, The ’59 Sound, They Say, Saturday Superhouse, Afterlife
Track listing:
Disc: 1
Disc: 2
- Green Day – American Idiot
- My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade
- Simple Plan – When I’m Gone
- Elliot Minor – Parallel Worlds
- Panic At The Disco – Nine In The Afternoon
- Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
- Alkaline Trio – Love Love Kiss Kiss
- The Blackout – Spread Legs, Not Lies
- Funeral For A Friend – Waterfront Danceclub
- Madina Lake – House Of Cards
- You Me At Six – If I Were In Your Shoes
- Billy Talent – Red Flag
- Fighting With Wire – Everyone Needs A Nemesis
- HIM – Wings Of A Butterly
- Avenged Sevenfold – Afterlife
- Machine Head – Aesthetics Of Hate
- Atreyu – Falling Down
- Kids In Glass Houses – Give Me What I Want
- Kill Hannah – Lips Like Morphine
- Cancer Bats – Hail Destroyer
- Gallows – Orchestra Of Wolves