Summer Music Preview

June 2008 News

Jay-Z once boasted of being able to rule the radio waves for eight straight summers, but the thought I have when I look at the music release schedule for the summer of '08 is "where's the music"? Record companies tend to hold their big guns until the 4th quarter of the year, as customers begin their holiday shopping, which means that at other points of the year, the new release area of your local music emporium can resemble a barren wasteland. It actually took a bit of digging, but I've been able to uncover a reasonable amount of music that might make it worth your while to emerge out of the air conditioning from.

*Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends — Let's hope the ridiculously pretentious album title isn't a sign of things to come. Coldplay's fourth album has already spawned the band's biggest hit in its title track, which has already climbed to #2 on the singles charts. Chris Martin and co. are poised to officially snag the crown of biggest band in the world with this album, following the triple-platinum success of the superstar-confirming X&Y album. Production from Brian Eno should expand the band's sound a little...or it just might provoke even MORE U2 comparisons. (6/17)

*Beck Modern Guilt — Beck is one of music's most popular chameleons — able to jump from folk-flecked ballads to falsetto funk to...well, just about any other kind of music you could dream of. His music's almost good enough to forgive him being a Scientologist (I kid, sort of...). 2006's The Information found Beck in party mode, and it's anyone's guess where Modern Guilt will take him. Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley fame produced the set, though, so it's sure to be an interesting one. (7/8)

*Nas Untitled — I am afraid. I am VERY afraid. I'm cool with Nas trying to make statement albums. Thing is, they're not always good. The inconsistency worries me. Will this new album, originally titled Nigger, already the victim of one of the most idiotic manufactured controversies in recent musical history, be a classic like 2006's Hip Hop is Dead (the album that finally offered a mature adjunct to his classic 1994 debut Illmatic) or will it be a hot mess like 2004's Street's Disciple? Let's hope that the courting of controversy doesn't result in Nas forgetting how to make good music. (7/15)

*LL Cool J Exit 13 — Screw hip-hop, how many artists in any genre make it to 13 albums? For that alone, LL Cool J should be congratulated. However, one should also keep in mind the fact that the self-proclaimed G.O.A.T's work has undergone massive slippage in quality over the past decade or so. His last two albums have been lazy and uninspired, and this album's first single (which I blogged about a couple weeks back) is not winning over any converts. Hip-hop's first sex symbol might be handing the reigns over to some hotshot new producers for what's expected to be his last Def Jam album, but it's gonna take a miracle to get him back to his Mama Said Knock You Out heyday. (7/29)

*Ne-Yo Year of the Gentleman — Something tells me Ne-Yo's spreading himself a little thin. This will be his third album in about 3 1/2 years. This is in addition to lending his lyrical talents to everyone from Celine Dion to Rihanna. You would think that the well may have run dry at this point, no? Well, Ne-Yo apparently feels inspired, although not by what he terms as the stagnant state of current R&B. At any rate, this album's first single, Closer finds him working a more Euro-dance vibe, which makes him sound even MORE like Michael Jackson than he already does. Expect your usual lovesick ballads and superstar collabos with a monkey wrench or two thrown in. (8/5)

And that's not all folks!! Those of you into the teen-pop thing will revel in July albums from High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens (y'know, the one with the naked pictures) and Miley Cyrus (the one with the almost naked pictures), while August will bring the sophomore effort from The Jonas Brothers (of whom no naked photos have yet been located). The moms of those teens will delight in the release of the highly-anticipated comeback effort from New Kids on the Block. Their first album in fourteen years arrives on September 9.

Speaking of comebacks, metal legends Judas Priest and Nineties punk-pop pioneers The Offspring both return on 6/17, while Motley Crue releases Saints of Los Angeles a week later. Those of you with an Eighties jones might enjoy the debut solo album from Simply Red's Mick Hucknall and the final Ali Campbell-fronted album by UB40 in June. July brings a career-spanning box set from synth-pop duo Yaz in addition to a new set from R&R Hall of Famer John Mellencamp and deluxe reissues of the pre-Joshua Tree albums from U2. Also on the re-issue trail, deluxe versions of Billy Joel's The Stranger and Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville, in addition to a greatest hits package from D'Angelo and a live set from John Mayer.

Rockers of all stripes can rejoice this summer. Bizarre indie-rockers Sigur Ros have a new one coming on 6/24, while critically-acclaimed anthem-rockers The Hold Steady return on 7/15. If you're a little more emo, then the new one by Hawthorne Heights might be right up your alley.

Finally, there'll be a ton of hip-hop & R&B arriving on the scene. We'll see if the third time is the charm for The Game, whose L.A.X. arrives (maybe) on 7/22, unless 50 Cent sees fit to have the album pushed back again. Southern rappers Young Jeezy and T.I. follow later in the summer, while Nelly tries to reclaim what's left of his career with Brass Knuckles on 8/19. Another oft-delayed set is the seventh album by Missy Elliott, which is finally scheduled to arrive on 8/26, as well as the reconfigured Pretty Ricky and the sophomore set from Beyonce's baby sis Solange Knowles.

Of course, plenty of wildcards can drop in and out of the schedule, but for now, pop this in your pocket and enjoy it as your handy-dandy guide to summer '08's upcoming music!!

Coldplay photo courtesy of Fibercool; LL Cool J photo by Travis Hudgons/PictureAtlanta.Net licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.

-- M. Heyliger