There's a lot of big music hitting stores this week, but the hottest new release of the batch doesn't feature a single note.
Jay-Z strips The Black Album down to the bare essentials, throwing out the samples and sounds and focusing on just his lyrics for the a cappella version. Though it hits the stores officially this week, it has been on the streets for months, fueling creations like Danger Mouse's The Grey Album (see [article id="1484608"]"Remixers Turn Jay-Z's Black Album Grey, White And Brown"[/article]).
Garage-rock quartet Division of Laura Lee aim to ensure fans haven't forgotten the Swedish Invasion as they release Das Not Compute, the follow-up to 2002's Black City, which was released in the midst of a barrage of albums by Swedish rock outfits.
If you judge an album by it's title, Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache might imply a departure from the band's metal sounds and a move toward monster ballads, and Seven Mary Three's sixth studio album, Dis/Location, might find the band departing from its usual alt-rock sound. But don't count on either one.
A-Wax & Baby Bash - So Quick ... Like a Heist (40 Ounce) Arild Andersen - The Triangle (ECM) Another Damn Disappointment - Hooligan (Volcom) Beelow - Beelow Presents: Thugz Gone Wild (CD/DVD combo, Ark 21) Clarence Bucaro - Sense of Light (Rounder) Shirley Caesar - Every Day Is Mother's Day (Liquid 8) Cans - Beyond the Gates (Sanctuary/Noise) Vinicius Cantuaria - Horse and Fish (Bar/None) Carolina Road - The Road That Took You There (CMH) Charalambides - Joy Shapes (Kranky) Popa Chubby - Peace, Love & Respect (Blind Pig) Lloyd Cole - Plastic Wood(One Little Indian) Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething (Verve) Detroit Grand Pubas - Galactic A** Creatures From Uranus (Poker Flat) Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Funeral for a Friend (Ropeadope/Artemis) Division of Laura Lee - Das Not Compute (Burning Heart) Read: [article id="1486421"]"Sweden's Division Of Laura Lee Reboot With Das Not Compute"[/article]
Dragonforce - Sonic Firestorm (Sanctuary/Noise) Effcee - Perfect (two CDs, Hypnotic/Cleopatra) Filthee Immigrants - Filthee Immigrants (Thump) Steve Forbert - Just Like There's Nothing to It (Koch) The Frank and Joe Show - 33 1/3 (Hyena) Donavon Frankenreiter - Donavon Frankenreiter (Universal) Gift of Gab - Fourth Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (Quannum) The Girls - The Girls (Dirtnap) Gone Without Trace - Gone Without Trace (Thorp) Great Deceiver - Terra Incognito (Peaceville) Great White - A Double Dose (Deadline) Hint Hint - Young Days (Suicide Squeeze) Jay-Z - The Black Album (A Cappella) (Def Jam) The Judas Cradle - Too Bad They're All Dead (Eulogy) Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache (Roadrunner) Lil' Flip - U Gotta Feel Me: Chopped & Screwed (Sucka Free/Columbia) Loscil - First Narrows (Kranky) The Marked Men - On the Outside (Dirtnap) Teena Marie - La Dona (Universal) Matches - E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals (Epitaph) Lori McKenna - Bittertown (Signature Sounds) Helen Merrill - Lilac Wine (Sunnyside) Minus the Bear - Bands Like It When You Yell "YAR" at Them (EP, Suicide Squeeze) Mountain Heart - Force of Nature (Skaggs Family) Maura O'Connell - Don't I Know (Sugar Hill) Evan Parker/Electro-Acoustic Ensemble - Memory/Vision (ECM) Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers - Keepin' It Real (Blind Pig) Craig Pruess - Language of Love: Music for the Kama Sutra (Artemis) The Real Tuesday Weld - I, Lucifer (Six Degrees) Rhythm of Black Lines - Human Hand, Animal Band (GSL) Pete Rock - Soul Survivor II (BBE/Rapster) Louis Sclavis - Napoli's Walls (ECM) John Scofield - EnRoute (Verve) Seven Mary Three - Dis/Location (DRT) Sloan - Action Pact (reissue, Koch) Spit for Athena - Extermina (Eyeball) Tomasz Stanko Quartet - Suspended Night(ECM) Teargas & Plateglass - Teargas & Plateglass (Lakeshore) Thornley - Come Again (Roadrunner) Tonemasters - Goin' With the Flow (Blues Leaf) Marshall Tucker Band - Beyond the Horizon (Ramblin'/Shout! Factory) U.S. Roughnecks - Twenty Bucks and Two Black Eyes (Hellcat) Unicorns - The Unicorns 2014 (EP, Suicide Squeeze) Ben Vitamin - Bohemia (Nardis/Liquid 8) We Ragazzi - Wolves With Pretty Lips (Suicide Squeeze) Jody Williams - You Left Me in the Dark (Evidence) Various artists - Creole Bred: A Tribute to Creole & Zydeco (Vanguard) Various artists - Dancehall Xplosion 2004 (two CDs, Jam Down) Various artists - Guitar Tribute to 40 Years of the Beatles (Tribute Sounds) Various artists - Parkinsong Volume One: 38 Songs of Hope (Rykodisc) Various artists - Reggae Xplosion 2004 (two CDs, Jam Down) Various artists - Smooth Sax Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire (Tribute Sounds) Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Creed (Vitamin) Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to George Strait (Vitamin) Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Good Charlotte (Vitamin) Various artists - This Is Rave 6.0: From Dusk Til Dawn (three CDs, Hypnotic/Cleopatra) Various artists - A Tribute to The Darkness (Big Eye) Various artists - A Tribute to Ruben Studdard (Big Eye) Various artists - A Tribute to the Misfits (Anarchy) Various artists - A Tribute to Tupac Shakur (Tribute Sounds) DVD: Disco Donnie - Rise: The Story of Rave Outlaw Disco Donnie (Music Video Distributors) DVD: Various artists - Skgrilla Vol. 1 (Radikal) Lenny Kravitz - Baptism (Virgin) Read: [article id="1485660"]"Lenny Kravitz Ditches Funk, Feels Reborn On Baptism"[/article]
Alanis Morissette - So-Called Chaos (Maverick)Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary) New Found Glory - Catalyst (Drive-Thru) Everlast - White Trash Beautiful (Island) Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (Arista) Read: "Avril Lavigne: No Looking Back"
Slipknot-Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses (Roadrunner)Read: [article id="1486471"]"Slipknot Album Preview: More Structured, But Still Programmed To Kill"[/article]
Auf Der Maur - Auf Der Maur (Capitol) Truth Hurts - Ready Now> (Pookie) Read: [article id="1486127"]"The Calling Returning With New LP, New Hired Hands"[/article]
Corrs - Borrowed Heaven (Atlantic)Gene Simmons - A--hole (Sanctuary) Velvet Revolver - Contraband (RCA) Read: [article id="1485400"]"Velvet Revolver Album Preview: GN'R + STP = Uphill Battle"[/article]
Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare (Jive) Stevie Wonder - A Time 2 Love (Motown) 
