Their new album may be unplugged, but Godsmack rock hard enough to break on through to The Other Side. Sully Erna and the boys go acoustic for the first time this week on a seven-song EP that features new tracks such as "Running Blind" and "Voices," as well as "Touche," which gets a little help from Sully's friends and new protégés Dropbox.
Big Tymers' Big Money Heavyweight: The Screwed and Chopped Album features guest appearances by Ludacris and Petey Pablo, while newcomer Cassidy is joined by Jadakiss on his album Split Personality.
The "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" soundtrack features contributions from some of the movie's stars, including David Bowie, Courtney Love, the Ramones, Alice Cooper, Chris Martin and even the subject of the film himself: Rodney Bingenheimer. And in other movie news, the soundtrack to Jim Carrey's new flick, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," features tracks by Beck, the Polyphonic Spree and the Willows.
David Byrne's quirky Grown Backwards ranges from opera -- a duet with Rufus Wainwright -- to a cover of Lambchop's "The Man Who Loved Beer." Meanwhile, Joe Jackson's Live: Afterlife cozies up next to Jackson Browne's The Very Best Of and Finley Quaye's Much More Than Love, with songs written by William Orbit and featuring Beth Orton.
And Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins represents for the Grand Canyon State, releasing fellow Arizona emo rockers Rubens Accomplice's latest, The Bull, the Balloon, and the Family, on his Western Tread label.
36 Crazyfists - A Snow-Capped Romance (Roadrunner) Claudia Acuna - Luna (Max Jazz) Jason Anderson - New England (K) Ativin - Night Mute (Secretly Canadian) Beauty Pill - The Unsustainable Lifestyle (Dischord) Before the Dawn - My Darkness (Locomotive Music) Big Tymers - Big Money Heavyweight: The Screwed and Chopped Album (Universal) Blithe Sons - Arm of the Starfish (Family Vineyard) Jackson Browne - The Very Best Of (Elektra) Burd Early - Mind and Mother (Western Vinyl) David Byrne - Grown Backwards (Nonesuch) Calliope - Sounds Like Circles Feel (Thick) Cassidy - Split Personality (Full Surface/J) Coffin Lids - Rock 'n' Roll (Bomp!) Coma Star - Headroom of Conscience (Locomotive Music) Cropknox - Rock and Rot (Punkcore) Catie Curtis - Dreaming in Romance Languages (Vanguard) Grey DeLisle - The Graceful Ghost (Sugar Hill) Denial tha Danksta - Six Figure Dropout (Elephant Size) Gibson Brothers - Long Way Back Home (Sugar Hill) Gipsy Kings - Roots (Nonesuch) Godsmack - The Other Side (Republic) Fred Hersch Trio - Fred Hersch Trio + 2 (Palmetto) Hunns - Long Legs Die Hunns (Disaster) Irish Tenors - Heritage (Razor & Tie) Joe Jackson - Live: Afterlife (Rykodisc) Simon Joyner - Lost With the Lights on (Jagjaguwar) Rebecca Luker - Leaving Home (PS Classics) New Black - New Black (Thick) Ozric Tentacles - Spirals in Hyperspace (Magna Carta) Finley Quaye - Much More Than Much Love (Sony) Rasputina - Frustration Plantation (Instinct) Enrico Rava - Easy Living (ECM) Dan Reeder - Dan Reeder (Oh Boy) Reubens Accomplice - The Bull, the Balloon, and the Family (Western Tread) Tad Robinson - Did You Ever Wonder? (Severn) Seventh Key - The Raging Fire (Inside Out) Shearwater - Winged Life (Misra) Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans (Sounds Familyre) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: September 5, 2003 Morrison, CO (SCI Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: September 6, 2003 Morrison, CO (SCI Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: October 4, 2003 Philadelphia, PA (SCI Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: December 8, 2003 Redwood City, CA (SCI Fidelity) The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: December 14, 2003 Vancouver, BC (SCI Fidelity) Threshold - Extinct Instinct (Inside Out) Gibb Todd - Goin' Home (Compass) Vivisick/Mukeka Di Rato - Vivisick/Mukeka Di Rato (split LP, Sound Pollution) Richard Youngs - River Through Howling Sky (Jagjaguwar) Various artists - Baby Einstein: Lullaby Classics (Walt Disney) Various artists - Beethoven's Wig 2: More Sing Along Symphonies (Rounder) Various artists - "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" soundtrack (Hollywood) Various artists - "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" soundtrack (Shout! Factory) Various artists - Six Degrees 100 (Six Degrees) DVD: Marc Anthony - The Concert From Madison Square Garden (Columbia) DVD: R.E.M. - Perfect Square (Warner Bros.) N.E.R.D. - Fly or Die (Virgin) Usher - Confessions (LaFace) Vines - Winning Days (Capitol) Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 15 (Capitol) Aerosmith - Honkin' on Bobo (Sony) Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series 6: Concert at Philharmonic Hall (Sony) Janet Jackson - Damita Jo (Virgin) Various artists - Music From "The O.C." Mix 1 (Warner Bros.) Barry Manilow - 2 Nights Live (BMG) Paul Oakenfold - Greatest Remixes (Topaz) Various artists - "Kill Bill 2" soundtrack (Maverick) Hanson - Underneath (3CG) Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb) 
