1. Alice in Chains—Black Gives Way to Blue—  Wow, after a 14 year Hiatus, Chains are back and  in true form.  The new singer William Duvall(not Robert duvalls’ brother) sounds just enough like Layne Staley but still different enough so you never think you’re listening to an Alice in Chains cover band, the music is great, couple of nice slow songs on the album, great riffs and all, fav (4) song on the album is Lesson Learned. A very well put together album.

2. Them Crooked Vultures- Self Titled—Damn Rock and Roll as I live and breathe and almost lose my breath again!  Supergroup comprised of John Paul Jones who is god on bass, Dave Grohl god on drums and Josh Home from QOTSA on guitar and vocals a solid musician in his own right.  The songs rock and are always changing tempo, never know what you’re going to get kind of like a james Cameron movie but not nearly as bad as how he looks now!  Great grooves and moves on this album, solid debut effort… it puts the R in rock and the L in roll….  4 song(fav song)—is  Gunman, kind of dancey, funky song.

3. Bob Dylan— Together Thru Life— The first Bob Dylan original CD that I actually have the others are copied—just a great mix of all different sounds, voice sounds good, band is solid,  4 song(fav song) is Forgetful heart… as long as it doesn’t stop beating!!!

4. U2—No Line on the Horizon—   Well, call it a comeback as in my opinion this is their best album since the classic achtung baby,, Pop and Zooropa have some great songs on the albums but I don’t think those albums are so great overall..  The ballads on this album are about as smooth as drinking a strawberry milkshake, singing is good, Edge is in top form, and the half instrumental song Fez being born is a very creative song… 4 song(fav song) on the album is Magnificent….

5. Dream Theater— Black Clouds and Silver Lining—After a couple of subpar records DT bounce back with a solid effort, long epic songs, god on guitar, great music, good singing, tempo changes and all… fav song(4)—is Rite of Passage.

6. Pearl Jam—Backspacer—Well, not as good as the album that preceded it but still very good, some of the songs have a good pop rock style to them, singing as always is great, songs at times are a bit short… still a must have for any pearl jam fan to keep up with the catalog—4(fav song) is Got Some, ironically enough the first time I heard this song was on a late night tv show at linus’s place and I thought it was just okay but on the album it has the best drumming on it and good punch to it, not the kind you drink!

7. Chicken Foot—Self titled—Another supergroup with Chad smith or is that Will Farrell on the drums from chili pepers, satriani on guitar, michael Anthony on the bass and the one and only Red Rooster Sammy Hager on the vocals— Chad Smith shows another side of his drumming on this album which is just great, stead bass and fraternity boy looks by Michael Anthony, god on guitar by Satriani he’s like a Lamborghini just can’t stop it! And vocals that have never changed in over 30 years by sammy hager.. some corny lyrics at times but I think the music is so great it compensates welll… 4(fav song) is Running Thru… awesome guitar solo in this song.

8. Air–  Love 2–  well, I enjoyed their last album more than walkie talkie which fans tend to like more, this is their best album since the classic I’d take this disc on me to a desert island to be stranded with Moon Safari… great mix of electronic and 70s sounds blended in, some but not much singing, feel like I’m on another planet when I listen to it… Fav song (4) is Missing the light of day.

9. Peter Yorn–  Back and Forth—Coming off a solid album the album before this one, Pete Yorn returns with what he does best a good blend of acoustic and electric sounds, lyrics are good, singing is in top form… 4 song (fav) is Paradise Cove…

10. Jarvis Cocker- Further Complications—Just hitting the top 10 close race with Depeche Mode’s album—for his second solo record Jarvis returns with a slightly more rock oriented sound, catchy hooks, his first album is def better but this is a good listen.. fav (4) song is Sludge.

Fav live Albums that came out in 2009.

1. The Doors—Live at the Felt Forum 1970— Wow, this 6 cd set is a must get for any Doors Fan, crystal clear recording, great singing, music is solid, many different versions of lightmy fire and others and all sound so great..

2. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers—Live Anthology 4 cd set—as always, does a great job of adding to and mixing up songs live, proof is it’s good to be king where he takes a good song and makes it outstanding with guitar solos etc, and woman in love, it’s not me sounds better than ever on this record with the great lead in on keyboards by benmont tench (sp?)… I dig it, dug it and want to keep listening….!

3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club—live from last tour—solid psychedelic rock by these rockers,songs are crisp and fast, like a rollercoaster in the dark.

4. REM- Live at the Olympia—Can’t go wrong with REM live, singing keeps getting better, music is strong, downside not as much jangly pop rock sound that’s their tradermark, songs are more rocking which is good and sometimes not as good… 4 songs(fav) is These Days.

5. The Cult- Love Live—and let’s be flippant about 9 11 in concert!  I think it’s good but the rhythm section we saw live is def better than this album but its still very good.

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2. Yankees Ticker Tape Parade 2009
3. Congrats to the New York Yankees…2009 World Series Champions.