MY Favorite 2008 Albums

2008 for me is one of the worst years since the Great Depression. With the global financial crisis, it seems that rock music also experienced a slump with regards to album releases. Excellent bands such as Breaking Benjamin, Blue October, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will be releasing their new ones on 2009. I still have to hear if there's a Foo Fighters album in the works. No word on Incubus or Linkin Park.

Here are some of the few albums which made the crunch easier for me to take.



VIVA LA VIDA AND DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS BY COLDPLAY

This is my only Coldplay album, ever. I like their songs, but I usually end up just borrowing friends' CDs. It was for the shallowest reasons I bought this album. I like the cover art. Songs such as Lost!, Viva La Vida, Violet Hill, and Lovers In Japan are also good enough excuses.



THE SCRIPT BY THE SCRIPT

This illustrates the slim pickings I had this year. Not exactly alternative or rock, The Scripts is borderline pop-rock. Coming from nowhere, the song The Man Who Can't Be Moved moved me to hysterics I had to buy the album. It wasn't a disappointment. Most of the songs are auditory friendly. The song lyrics are even more interesting, specially for those who had relationship fallouts - check the song Breakeven.



If there is one band out there who deserves to release a GREATEST HITS album, Stereophonics would be it. This is ear candy all the way. Although Movie Star is nowhere to be found, the new single You're My Star is a welcome bonus to the collection.



TWILIGHT SOUNDTRACK

It's inevitable. The saga of Bella and Edward took a life on its own and spawned a movie. Trust me, I love the book. I love the actors. But hell, what happened to the script!?! I have so many complaints about the movie starting from the make-up department to the direction, and wonder how Stephenie Meyer allowed this (well, it didn't stop me from watching it several times though). Thank God for the soundtrack. Like VICODIN it takes away the pain. With songs from bands such as Muse, Mutemath, The Black Ghosts, Collective Soul, Linkin Park, Blue Foundation, Iron & Wine, and of course Paramore, it's enough to prevent me from going berserk.



THE RED ALBUM BY WEEZER

A ray of sunshine in these dark times, trust Weezer to put a smile on those weary faces. Known for their self-deprecating humorous lyrics and catchy riffs, the band offers tunes such as Pork and Beans, Troublemaker, and The Greatest Man That Ever Lived making you want to post your own homemade videos on YouTube.



FOLIE A DEUX BY FALL OUT BOY

Known for their quirky song titles, FOB releases yet another good album. This is one of the bands out there who shouldn't stop EVER. Trust the song with a title that goes like Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet (further explains Pete Wentz and Ashley Simpson's baby naming skills.)




A HUNDRED MILLION SUNS BY SNOW PATROL

One of those impulse buys. There's a new noun for beautiful and this album is it. If this were a guy I already married it, period. Check out Crack The Shutters and The Planets Bend Between Us. A must-have!!

The Perfect Christmas Gift

December 4th was a red-letter day for Potterheads anticipating the release of "Tales of Beedle The Bard," a collection of 5 fairy tales told to little children of wizarding families. For us Muggles, we became aware of this book in the last installment, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. These tales are a few of the important puzzles of that book. It came into the possession of Hermione Granger after the demise of Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Translated from ancient runes, the stories include: The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock's Hairy Heart, Babbitty Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump, and The Tale of The Three Brothers.

All tales give us an insight on the wizarding community's opinions (or beliefs) about love, muggles, and death. But more importantly, these are cautionary stories of use or misuse of magic. It also contains helpful (and often hilarious) commentaries by Albus Dumbledore himself.

With JK Rowling's knack of weaving the fantastic, this book is a wonderful side dish to the 7 already stowed in your shelf.

Another bonus is that the net sales of this book goes to the Children's High Level Group, a charity foundation co-founded by JK Rowling and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne.

A wonderful Christmas gift for yourself, your family and friends, and of course to the children that will benefit from your patronage.