This week Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band, and their new album, The Rising, are poised to deliver a musical response to September 11, starting with, of course, the band's version of "My City of Ruins," which Springsteen played at the "America: A Tribute to Heroes" telethon last year.
Following in the Boss' wake are a bunch of less somber, more indulgent releases, starting with Linkin Park's Reanimation, yet another addition to the seemingly never-ending list of artists who won't stop tinkering with their own, previously released material. While the group prefers to call it a "reimagination" of songs from Hybrid Theory, it's a remix album.
Next up is wrestler Chris Jericho's metal outfit Fozzy, complete with alter egos (more to stroke!) and a mock backstory of how the group came to be. Their second album, Happenstance, finds Moongoose McQueen and gang a bit more serious about their own music, though they still rock out with classic covers like Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules."
The third exercise in vanity is obvious just by scanning the list below, where you'll find it nearly impossible to ignore one particular band who, following in Pearl Jam's footsteps, decided to simultaneously release 19 live albums — one for each of its shows from its most recent tour.
More traditional releases this week come from newcomers Amerie and Lamya who both issue their debut albums, All I Have and Learning From Falling, respectively, in addition to the soundtrack to the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Top Dog/Underdog," which features tracks from both of the show's stars, Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright, plus contributions from DMX, Jay-Z and the Wu-Tang Clan.
Also look for new music from Filter The Amalgamut and X, the first release from Def Leppard since 1999's Euphoria. Feels good just thinking about it.
The American Foxes - Cotton Candy (Sympathy for the Record Industry) Amerie - All I Have (Columbia) Brazil All-Stars - Rio Strut (Milestone) Cattle Decapitation - To Serve Man (Metal Blade) Datcyde - Positive Climb: The Mixed CD (D&D) Deep Forest - Music Detected (Sony/Red Ink) Disco Biscuits - Bisco Lives II (Hydrophonic) DJ Bam Bam - Do You Like it Hard? 100% Pure Hardhouse (Topaz/ Warlock) DJ Venom - Raise the Volume (Surge) The Enemies - Seize the Day (Lookout!) Fear Factory - Concrete (Roadrunner) Filter - The Amalgamut (Reprise) The Flipsides - Clever One (Pink & Black) Diana Fox - Running on Empty (Prisoners of Dance) Fozzy - Happenstance (Megaforce) Halo Friendlies - Get Real (Tooth & Nail) Knoc-Turn'Al - L.A. Confidential Presents (Elektra) Lamya - Learning From Falling (J) Linkin Park - Reanimation (Warner Bros.) Michael Manson - The Bottom Line (A440) Kathy Mattea - Roses (Narada) Maysa - Out of the Blue (N-Coded) Mountain - Mystic Fire (Lightyear Records) Graham Nash - Songs for Survivors (Artemis) The Natural History - The Natural History (Star Time) Beth Orton - Daybreaker (Heavenly/ Astralwerks) Tours, Breaks Day With Ryan Adams, Chemical Brothers"
Greg Osby - Inner Circle (Blue Note/ Metro Blue) Pina Kollars - Quick Look (Real World) Dave Pirner - Faces and Names (Ultimatum Music) Plankeye - Wings to Fly (BEC/Tooth & Nail) David Poe - The Late Album (Epic) Willy Porter - Willy Porter (Six Degrees) Question - Vital Energy (Lightyear Records) Darius Rucker - Back to Then (Epic) Kevin Salem - Ecstatic (Future Farmer Records) Karen Clark Sheard - 2nd Chance (Elektra) James Alan Shelton - Song for Greta (Rebel) Shimmer Kids Underpop Association - The Natural Riot (Hidden Agenda) Sinch - Sinch (Roadrunner) Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - The Rising (Columbia) Stepa - Stepa (Locomotive) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Ann Arbor, MI April 14, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Atlanta, GA April 20, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Atlanta, GA April 21, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Austin, TX April 4, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Austin, TX April 5, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Austin, TX April 6, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Birmingham, AL April 19, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Chicago, IL April 12, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Chicago, IL April 13, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Columbus, OH April 16, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Dallas, TX April 8, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Louisville, KY April 17, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Nashville, TN April 18, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: New Orleans, LA April 27, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: New Orleans, LA April 28, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Omaha, NE April 10, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Orlando, FL April 24, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Pompano Beach, FL April 23, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Tulsa, OK April 9, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity) Linda Thompson - Fashionably Late (Rounder) Tierra - Sangre de Reyes (Locomotive) Ralph White - Trash Fish (Terminus) The Wildwood Valley Boys - Back Country Road (Rebel) Various artists - Brazil 5000 (Shadow) Various artists - Cabana Beach Club Vol. 2 (Streetbeat) Various artists - Nationwide R.A.N.: United We Stand (Realizme Ent.) Various artists - Rhythm + Grooves: Groove Is in the Heart (Time Life) Various artists - "Signs" soundtrack (Hollywood) Various artists – "Top Dog/Underdog" soundtrack (MCA) Various artists - The Very Best of This Is Acid Jazz (Instinct) Yes - In a Word: Yes (5 CDs, Rhino) Eve - Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope) Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic) Various artists - Mali Music (Honest Jon's/ Astralwerks) Various artists - "XXX" soundtrack (2CDs, Universal) Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park (Redline) Slum Village - Trinity: Past, Present and Future (Priority/ Capitol) Keith Sweat - Rebirth (Elektra) Lady May - May Day (Arista) Maná - Revolución De Amor (Warner Music Intl.) Murderdolls - Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner) Orbital - Work 89-02 (FFRR/ WSM) Erykah Badu - TBD (EP, Motown) Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash - Distance Between (Ultimatum) BBMak - Into Your Head (Hollywood) Beenie Man - Tropical Storm (Virgin) The Black Crowes - The Black Crowes Live (V2) Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol) The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP, Epitaph) Dixie Chicks - Home (Open Wide/ Monument/ Columbia) Gus Gus - Attention (Moonshine) Aimee Mann - Lost in Space (Superego) Mudhoney - Since We've Become Translucent (Sub Pop) Ms. Jade - Girl Interrupted (Beat Club/ Interscope) Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope) Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Flex Their Star Power" Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic) Stone Sour - Stone Sour (Roadrunner) Trina - Diamond Princess (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic) Viva Death - Viva Death (Vagrant) Christina Aguilera - TBD (RCA) Cassius - Au Rêve (Astralwerks) Ladytron - Light & Magic (Emperor Norton) Nine Days - So Happily Unsatisfied (Epic) Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance (Century Media) 
