Music

Madonna continues to be one of the biggest female stars in the world and Music was one of the biggest releases of 2000. Continuing the electronic dance-pop of 1998's Ray Of Light, Madonna produced Music with French dance sensation Mirwais, Ray Of Light's William Orbit, Mark Spike Stent (Bjork, Oasis, Beth Orton) and others. In the new millennium, Madonna's Music takes her to the top once more.

American Life (Explicit Version)

Madonna... More than 150 million albums sold worldwide. All of her previous 15 albums platinum, 13 of those multiplatinum; 14 Top 10, nine #1 or #2. More Top 10 singles than any woman in history; one double platinum, three platinum, 20 gold. Her last studio album, Music - #1, double platinum; the Music single - #1, platinum. Now Madonna, the most popular and significant female artist in pop music, unveils her first original album in three years... American Life. Live it.American Life is being hailed as Madonna's most accomplished, original and intensely personal album to date. Recorded over a full year in London and Los Angeles, American Life, her tenth studio album, features eleven Madonna compositions, including the title track as well as the smash single Die Another Day.

Blood Mountain

Reigning kings of the early-2000s metal resurgence, Atlanta's Mastodon expertly blended vintage speed-metal riffage, stoner rock's sludgy power, and prog's vision and scope on 2004's acclaimed LEVIATHAN. The band returns even stronger on their 2006 major label debut, BLOOD MOUNTAIN. The quartet's playing remains unquestionably tight, as fierce solos overlay colossal riffs, which are anchored by a rhythm section that is fluid when necessary (as on the ambient prog-metal of Sleeping Giant ) and lock-step perfect when the orders for speed and power are sent down from on high (see Bladecatcher ). While BLOOD MOUNTAIN is purportedly a concept album (loosely built around the idea of being lost and doomed and at nature's mercy in the great wild, as opposed to LEVIATHAN's overt Moby Dick theme) it's difficult to decipher a clear narrative from the scorched-earth vocals. Nonetheless, a classical sense of grandiosity pervades the album, as the lightning intensity and sheer power of the music take the listener on a bewildering journey. But remain calm, dear listener: Mastodon will get you to the top of the mountain--bloody and beaten, but altogether satisfied.

Play

Play...took voices from the early days of the century - scratchy old field recordings of gospel spirituals and lonesome blues - and wired them to the silvery, cybernetic textures of our electronic age. The New York Timescalled Play the best album of his career, while The Los Angeles Times says Moby opens the door to 21st century pop in this liberating work Listeners who never heard Moby's music before Play might assume he's a new artist, or be tempted to pigeonhole him as a dance-techno musician, but Moby has made interesting, provocative records throughout the late '80s and '90s, consistently confounding expectations by refusing to limit himself to one particular style.

The Black Parade (Explicit Version)

On this ambitious 2006 outing, My Chemical Romance boldly follows in the footsteps of Green Day, both in working with producer Rob Cavallo and in taking a conceptual route (a la American Idiot). The result is an impressive collection of songs that finds the goth-leaning New Jersey punk-pop group transforming itself into the title's Black Parade, a darkly clad marching band that relates the woeful tale of the Patient, as portrayed by frontman Gerard Way (who bleached his hair blond to convey the character's sickness). In addition to bringing--believe it or not--the equally dramatic and eye-liner-loving Liza Minelli on board for a guest appearance, My Chemical Romance proves its theatrical mettle by moving from the melancholy grandeur of Welcome to the Black Parade, which bears an undeniable Queen influence, to Cancer, an emotive piano-driven ballad. Lifted by its lush, inventive arrangements and Way's dynamic vocal performances, The Black Parade effectively stakes its claim as the Sgt. Pepper's of the brooding Myspace set, and secures My Chemical Romance's shadowy space in rock history.