Fall Music Preview

Lots of potentially great new music coming out this fall. Here’s a list of what I’m looking forward to (I’ll continue to update as I find more info):

8.19
The Verve, Forth
The reunited Manchester outfit’s first album since 1997’s Urban Hymns. They’ve been playing new songs on tour this summer, and early buzz is good. Even if Forth is only half the record Hymns is, that would still make it a quality reunion album.

8.26
Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies
I’ve heard a couple tracks on his MySpace page, and I can’t tell if they're rough mixes, or if his production is that raw. His last few albums have been hit or miss for me, so I’m hoping this one will be more along the lines of In Reverse or Kimi Ga Suki, and not another Living Things.

9.12
[UPDATE] Metallica, Death Magnetic
I can’t decide about this one. It’s hard for me to get excited about a new Metallica album since their last few have sucked so hard, but the word is that they’ve returned to their roots for this one, tapping into some ...And Justice For All-type riffs. That sounds good... after all, Justice is the album that made me love these guys in the first place, but then again, it’s hard to forget how bad St. Anger was. I think I’ll give this one a listen before I drop any cash on it.

9.23
Kings of Leon, Only By the Night
Their last one, Because of the Times, was such an amazing leap forward, I’m interested to see if this is more of the same, or if these four Southern boys keep pushing their sound.
[UPDATE] If the first single (now playing on their MySpace page) is indicative of the whole album, I’d say they haven’t strayed too far from Because of the Times. I’m good with that.

Mogwai, The Hawk is Howling
Same here. I liked Mr. Beast a lot, and Mogwai’s the type of band that sticks with what works. Fine by me.

9.30
Ben Folds, Way to Normal
On the other hand, we have Ben Folds, coming off the underwhelming Songs For Silverman. I’m hoping he can get back to the fun of Rockin’ the Suburbs on this one.

10.07
Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos, Animal! & Not Animal! (2 separate releases)
No idea what to expect here, although I do know the excellent “Broad Ripple is Burning” will be on one of these.

Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul
It might suck, but I’ll still play the shit out of it. Easily worth it for the two or three Noel-sung songs that are sure to appear, like [UPDATE] the newly-released “Falling Down”. I'll buy it on the strength of that song alone.

11.18
U2, No Line on the Horizon
Early word is that U2 are “very, very pleased” with this one. Bono is happy, and just in time for the holidays. Looks like we’re in for 7 years of peace and prosperity the world over.

(Most of these dates come from Metacritic.com)