BEST OF 2012 - TIE FOR #11

There were a lot of great albums that came out this year, and I'm not going to write an entry about each one that barely missed the top 10, but here's a roundup of what other records I liked in 2012. 

Bettye LaVette - Thankful N' Thoughtful: I've enjoyed everything she's done since her amazing 2005 comeback I've Got My Own Hell To Raise, which I thought was one of the most underrated albums of the '00s. Her label, Anti- Records, gives her room to make great records, and she's done it again.  There's lots of great songs here, including Dylan's "Everything Is Broken," The Black Keys' "I'm Not The One" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."

Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again: I talked and wrote about him early in 2012, and I was really looking forward to this record.  It doesn't disappoint, although I would say that it could use a few more upbeat songs.  Like Gary Clark Jr, the Grammys totally slept on Michael Kiwanuka.

Jamey Johnson - Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran: Jamey's last album, The Guitar Song, was my third favorite album of 2010.  This one didn't hit me quite as hard, but it's a bummer that it didn't get much attention in the press. Maybe because it's a tribute, and because it's all duets (Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson are all on the album).  But it's a really cool album, and has made me want to pick up a Hank Cochran collection.

ZZ Top - La Futura: Why didn't they work with Rick Rubin before this? It's a really really great album, easily their best since Eliminator.  The first single, "I Gotsta Get Paid" is a sort of cover of a obscure '90s hip-hop tune by DJ DMD (I'd never heard of him).  It doesn't come off gimmicky at all.  And it sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album.  It's such a shame that this didn't get too much lip service this year.

Green Day - Uno, Dos y Tre: Essentially a triple album released in three parts.  There's a little bit of fat, but not much.  This kind of has everything they do from punk rock raveups to over the top Broadway-like productions to ballads.

Soundgarden - King Animal: A really great comeback/reunion album... but not quite as good as their pre-breakup material.  Still, there are some amazing songs here, like "Non-State Actor" and "Taree."  But the best might be the weirdest:  "Rowing," which sounds like something that may have been born, oddly enough, in Chris Cornell's ill-fated collaboration with Timbaland on Scream: the song is built around a loop of Chris singing, and a very funky bassline by Ben Shepherd. It's actually become one of my favorite Soundgarden songs ever.

Alabama Shakes - Boys And Girls: They got a lot of buzz this year (and, I'm glad to say, a nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammys)... it's good to see a rock band getting that kind of hype, and these guys deserve it.  I like their album, I don't love it, but wow they have lots of potential.  And they were rockin' when they opened for Jack White earlier this year.

The xx - Coexist: a cool album to chill out to. I was turned on to it by a colleague from work.

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...: A lot of people put this high up in their year-end countdowns.  I liked it, but didn't love it.  Her last album, Extraordinary Machine, was probably my favorite album of 2005, and I thought it was one of the most underrated albums of the '00s.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: LOLLAPALOOZA TURNS 20

Longtime No Expiration readers know that once a week (usually on Wednesday morning at 9 am ET) I go on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SiriusXM's OutQ channel. This week, we  moved my day to Friday. You can listen even if you aren't a subscriber: get a free online trial subscription here.

Last week, Perry Farrell announced this year's Lollapalooza festival, and it turns out that this year the franchise turns 20 (although it was dormant for a few of those years).  Some of my favorite bands ever have played the festival (check out a fun timeline here) and so I figured I'd talk about what a few of them are doing tomorrow.

Of course, I have to talk about Perry's group, Lollapalooza's first headliners, Jane's Addiction. When I last wrote about them, they'd released a live DVD from one of their last shows from their reunion tour, their only one to feature original bassist Eric Avery. By the time the DVD came out, Duff McKagan replaced him, and had already left the band. Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio played bass on the album, he also co-wrote songs and co-produced. But he's not in the band, and now it looks like they're back with Chris Chaney, who played with them in the early '00s.  Their next album, The Great Escape Artist, comes out in August, and the first song, "End To The Lies," is out now.  I don't know if I dig it yet.

I have yet to write about the great Pearl Jam box set, which includes remastered versions of Vs. and Vitalogy (both with bonus tracks), a live album recorded April 12, 1994 at the Orpheum in Boston and (on cassette!) a copy of the radio show they did when Vitalogy came out, which featured performances by them, as well as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Mad Season and The Fastbacks.  I'll write more about that later.

Tres Mts, who I wrote about last night - that's the supergroup featuring Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Mike McCready, King's X frontman Doug Pinnick and Fastback Richard Stuverud.

Eddie Vedder, meanwhile, releases his second solo album, Ukelele Songs, later this month, and I have the first song, "Longing To Belong."

The Beastie Boys released Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 this week, I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet.  What up, Amazon? I will certainly write about it after I get it.  I know people want to know about it: a post I did in late 2009 is one of my most popular posts lately.

Green Day just released a live album, Awesome As Fuck. Check out my cousin Kyle's guest review.

The new live Soundgarden compilation, Live On I-5, which I just wrote about.

And Tom Morello's latest song as The Nightwatchman, "Union Town," which makes me proud to be a fan. Dig the video, and get the Union Town EP when it comes out digitally next week. The Nightwatchman's next full length, World Wide Rebel Songs, comes out later this summer.

GREEN DAY - AWESOME AS F*** - GUEST BLOG BY KYLE

Over the summer, I went with my cousin's son Kyle (age 14!) to see Green Day on their 21st Century Breakdown tour, and after the show, we reviewed the concert together via IM. I thought he did such a good job, I wanted to let him review their new live album, Awesome As F***, on his own. I think he did a great job, and I bet you'll agree. Without further adieu:


Green Day is back at it again, releasing their second live album, Awesome as ****. To describe it in one word, it is AWESOME. Featuring songs from 21st Century Breakdown, American Idiot, and even featuring songs from the '90s, such as "Going to Pasalacqua, "which is off Green Day’s first album, 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, and "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?," which, as Billie Joe says in the recording, “This is my favorite song from Kerplunk, by the way.” The CD also includes other classics such as "When I Come Around," "J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva)," "Geek Stink Breath," "Burnout" and "She." The CD also includes an unreleased song, "Cigarettes and Valentines," which was supposed to be off the album of the same name that would have been released instead of American Idiot, except the recordings for the album were stolen from the studio. Instead of rerecording the album, Green Day recorded and released American Idiot (maybe they are re-recording "Cigarettes and Valentines," who knows?). Each song on the album was recorded from different concerts all around the United States and the world.

The DVD that comes with the album is the recording of the band’s concert in Japan. The songs included in the DVD are "21st Century Breakdown," "Know Your Enemy," "East Jesus Nowhere," "Holiday," "Static Age," "¡Viva la Gloria!," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Burnout," "Geek Stink Breath," "Welcome to Paradise," "When I Come Around," "My Generation," "She," "21 Guns," "American Eulogy," "Jesus of Suburbia," "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" and "Cigarettes and Valentines." The DVD starts off with the band walking through the halls of the stage flashing signs at the camera while the credits introduce the band members. The show then begins with a bang and "21st Century Breakdown." The DVD is just as awesome if not more than the CD.

In comparison to Bullet in a Bible, which was a live album recorded on the American Idiot tour, Awesome as **** is an overall better album. This has to do with the limited song choice in Bullet in a Bible (21st Century Breakdown wasn’t released yet) and Green Day being livelier in a way. In the new album, new effects were used (for example, in Holiday, there are gunshot sounds when Billie Joe yells, “Bang! Bang! Goes the broken glass and, bombs away is your punishment!”) on the stage to make it more exciting. This of course, doesn’t mean Bullet in a Bible is a bad album by any means, it is a really good album, but Awesome as **** goes that extra mile, that extra degree from 211, where water is just hot, to 212, where water boils.

I would definitely recommend the new live album for any Green Day fan, as it is a giant rollercoaster of fun and excitement, as Green Day takes you to one of the greatest tours they have ever done.

IM-ing WITH KYLE (13 YRS OLD!) ABOUT THE GREEN DAY CONCERT

Over the weekend, I went to see Green Day at PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey with my wife, my cousin, and her son Kyle.  It was Kyle's first rock concert.  I was interested in his impressions of the show and I figured discussing it via IM would be the best way to share the conversation (with the permission of Kyle and his parents of course). I was a bit jealous: I remember how exciting my first concert was (Rush at the Brendan Byrne Arena on the Grace Under Pressure tour in 1985). Anyway, I haven't been to a Green Day concert in about a decade, since the  Warning tour, when they were not as happening as they are now (the next album, American Idiot, changed their fortunes considerably). These days they are bona fide arena headliners and they really embraced it (the show was extremely sold out, meanwhile Live Nation employees were selling discount tickets for a number of upcoming shows). Kyle's next concert will have a hard time living up to this one.  Anyway, our IM conversation:

4:02pm Me: so how did you like your FIRST ROCK CONCERT?

4:02pm Kyle: IT WAS AMAZING

4:03pm Me: what was your favorite part?

4:05pm Kyle: when people were getting pulled up on stage (during "Longview") that was cool

4:06pm Me: what year were you born in again?

4:06pm Kyle: 1997

4:06pm Me: so it doesn't bother you that the songs from "dookie" are older than you are? some kids don't like "old" music, right?

4:06pm Kyle: well...those kids have no taste in music

4:07pm Me: ha ha ha good for you

4:07pm Kyle: it doesn't bother me at all "2000 light years away" is one of my favorite songs

4:07pm Me: wow, that's even older than "dookie" I think

4:07pm Kyle: yeah i think it is from "kerplunk"

4:08pm Me: so you don't buy the full albums though, you just download whichever songs you like?

4:08pm Kyle: well i use only itunes giftcards and i buy the full albums when i have enough

4:09pm Me: but you don't care about owning the actual CD, right?

4:09pm Kyle: when i have the cd i don't buy it. I import it into itunes

4:10pm Me: right, me too. did you know the song "who wrote holden caufield"? that was the one when the singer from AFI (Davey Havok) joined them on stage

4:10pm Kyle: no never heard of it

4:11pm Me: so does that make you want to check for it in the itunes store?

4:11pm Kyle: well now i am curious so i will check it out

4:11pm Me: by the way, do you know who holden caufield is?

4:11pm Kyle: no, am i supposed to?

4:12pm Me: your mom would know - he is the main character in a book called "Catcher In The Rye" that you will probably read in school in the next 2 or 3 years

4:12pm Kyle: oh yeah...she mentioned that during the concert

4:12pm Me: so did you have any expectations for what the show would be like from watching Green Day live DVDs - or even from the scenes in rock band?

4:13pm Kyle: i expected it to be awesome but i also expected it to be adult like

4:13pm Me: what do you mean by that?

4:13pm Kyle: like cursing and such

4:13pm Me: there was a lot of cursing!

4:13pm Kyle: yes yes there was but i dont mind it

4:14pm Me: what did you think of the crowd?

4:14pm Kyle: drunk smoking losers

4:14pm Kyle: but that might be harsh

4:15pm Kyle: but they were drunk and smoking

4:16pm Me: how did you like it, compared to American Idiot the Musical?

4:16pm Kyle: it was more authentic maybe because it was actually green day not actors

4:20pm Me: Green Day used to be considered a "punk rock" band - does "punk rock" mean anything to you?

4:20pm Kyle: no not really i think of green day as an alternative rock band

4:20pm Kyle: unless that is the same thing as "punk rock"

4:21pm Me: what does "alternative rock" mean to you? what rock band is not "alternative"?

4:22pm Kyle: well i look at aerosmith or guns n' roses or ozzy osbourne as rock

4:22pm Me: that's a good observation

4:22pm Kyle: i look at green day as alternative

4:23pm Me: "alternative" generally means that something was influenced by punk rock - punk rock rebelled against rock and roll bands in the '70s and '80s. kids felt that rock and roll had gotten too big. so it was ironic when bands like Nirvana and Green Day started getting just as big

4:23pm Kyle: yeah

4:23pm Me: some bands could not deal with it - like nirvana. billie joe and the green day guys really seem to enjoy playing on a huge stage

4:24pm Kyle: yeah i know as they said "This is the most F***ing fun we have had on this F***ing tour!!"

4:25pm Me: ha ha, that's right. when they started playing all of those rock covers like Satisfaction, how did you know all of those songs?

4:25pm Kyle: well

4:25pm Kyle:guitar hero

4:25pm Kyle: :)

4:25pm Kyle: but i knew about the stones before gh

4:26pm Me: I am a big fan of guitar hero even though I don't have it! if it turns people on to those songs (satisfaction was a hit like six years before I was born!)

4:26pm Kyle: wow

4:26pm Me: anyway, thanks for IMing with me. what other bands do you want to see in concert, maybe we can go with you and your mom to another one

4:27pm Kyle: i like aerosmith,

4:27pm Kyle: i like bruce springsteen

4:27pm Kyle: pretty much rock in general

4:28pm Me: those are both great. Bruce isn't touring this year - too bad you'll be away during that aerosmith concert.  what about KISS?  are they on rock band or guitar hero?

4:28pm Kyle: oooooh i like kiss as well and yes

4:28pm Kyle: I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT

4:28pm Kyle: AND PARTY EVERYDAY

4:29pm Me: any last thoughts on the green day concert?

4:29pm Kyle: IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME AND BOSTON CAN'T BEAT THE NJ, NY AND SURROUNDING AREAS' CROWD!!!!

4:30pm Me:  ha ha great. OK, thanks for IMing with me and tell your mom I said hi.
4:31pm Kyle: ok

4:31pm Kyle: bye

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SHOWTUNES! (REALLY)

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Tomorrow I will

veer slightly from my usual comfort zone and talk about showtunes, albiet ones that are pretty rocking.  That's because The Tonys are this weekend. And while I'm not a Broadway guy, this year's Best Musical nominees are pretty rocking.

First is Green Day's American Idiot: The Musical which I saw a few months ago.  I enjoyed it, but the story didn't knock me out. I liked the music.  To me, there's something inherently funny about a musical - people just breaking into song.  The Simpsons have been genius at parodying this (see below video).  Still, if you can get over that, you can have a good time at a musical. In the case of American Idiot though, it was more like a cover band or a musical revue.  I guess I had higher hopes for it, but I have to admit I had fun. So, I'll be playing some songs from the cast recording, as well as some of the original versions, and also Green Day's new version of "21 Guns" with the cast.

Fela! On Broadway is the stage adaptation of the life of Nigerian musical legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Look him up, his music is very different from western rock and pop, it is very funky. I have a song from the cast recording and a Fela original.

The Million Dollar Quartet is about the four Sun Records legends who recorded together... once. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. I'm not sure how they turned this into a show - or if it is just another review. Either way, the source music is mind blowing, hopefully they do it justice.  I don't have that soundtrack yet, hopefully I can grab it in the morning.

Memphis: A New Musical is, as it says, actually new.  Which seems to be a new concept for Broadway - I'm not an expert but all of their shows based on things we've already seen and heard? I have a few songs.  I read that Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan wrote a lot of the songs.  It's pretty impressive. You can hear his Elton influence, but Elton was influenced by Memphis soul and R&B.

Well, I'm not a Broadway expert, so if you're listening, call in and help me out!

Anyway, here's one of my favorite showtunes, courtesy of The Simpsons.  "See My Vest." And by the way, I'm an animal lover, this is just a parody, I'm not endorsing Mr. Burns' wardrobe and neither were The Simpsons' writers.

REVIEW: AMERICAN IDIOT ON BROADWAY

I haven't seen very many Broadway shows since I caught The Who's Tommy nearly two decades ago. I remember thinking that the Broadway renditions of the songs were goofy. Worse, they even changed the storyline to have a more optimistic ending. I'm not a big showtunes guy, and I prefer rock and roll.  But I remember thinking that maybe Broadway isn't really the right venue for rock and roll.  And while Jersey Boys, about The Four Seasons, has done quite well and is supposedly quite good, most rock and roll-based stage productions have tanked.

Green Day's American Idiot is the first time that a Broadway production has been based on recent music: American Idiot came out in 2004. I was wondering how different this would be than Tommy, or the other revue-ish rock-based musicals. Pretty different, actually. You walk in, and they provide magic markers to write on the walls of the lobby.  You gotta love that. The band actually played on the stage, not from a pit. And it was rocking. Musically, the songs stuck pretty much to the original arrangements, the vocal arrangements were of course very different and very Broadway. (A good preview is the "21 Guns" single by Green Day with the cast). If you can't get past that, you wouldn't like it. The same goes for the plot - it didn't go too far, and the characters weren't super developed, but you can get stuck on that point.  Or, as Larry Flick would say, you can have a twinkie and go for the ride. I decided to go for the ride.  I had a great time. The American Idiot songs were fun, and there was even an awesome b-side ("Favorite Son") as well as two tracks from 21st Century Breakdown ("21 Guns" and "Know Your Enemy"). The story wasn't how I pictured it when I listened to the album (I thought of it as a future totalitarian government vs. punk rockers) but I didn't write the play.  I didn't get hung up on anything though, and I had a good time, which is probably the right way to approach something like this.

I took my young 13 year old cousin Kyle, and his review was much more succinct than mine. "Best. Play. Ever." I'm looking forward to taking him to see Green Day in concert this summer, which I think I will prefer. Still, I'll give props to the cast and crew of American Idiot, they brought rock and roll in a semi-legit way to the Broadway stage which is no easy feat.

LOLLAPALOOZA 2010: SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, LADY GAGA

Well, the rumors were true. Soundgarden, Green Day and Lady Gaga are headlining Lollapalooza this year (August 6-8 in Chicago's Grant Park). I am pretty sure this is the first show that Soundgarden has announced, and it is appropriate as they are one of the only bands (along with Tool) to be a Lolla headline act more than once (in 2991 and 1997), Also on the bill: Arcade Fire ,Social Distortion, Jimmy Cliff, the Black Keys, Devo, Cypress Hill, The Drive-By Truckers, and many more.  Find out more at the festival website.

AMERICAN IDIOT: THE MOVIE?

I just got my tickets to see Green Day's American Idiot on Broadway just a few hours ago. And now I've read that Tom Hanks is considering adapting the story for the silver screen.  Well, I guess it worked for ABBA's Mamma Mia. Well, Mr. Hanks will probably do the story justice.  He definitely "gets" rock and roll. I never saw That Thing You Do, which he produced, but it was based on The Dave Clark 5, and his speech about them when they got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year sold me on his rock and roll credentials. He was also one of the producers of this summer's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert, and he was part of the Monty Python performance at George Harrison's tribute concert earlier this decade.

GREEN DAY ANNOUNCE SUMMER TOUR

Happy to hear that Green Day is touring the U.S. this summer.  Gothy punk band A.F.I. is opening. Get the dates at the band's website. I'm looking forward to seeing both the band in concert, as well as American Idiot on Broadway in the next few months.

LOLLAPALOOZA RUMORS: SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN DAY, GAGA

This year, Lollapalooza will take place, as usual, in Grant Park in Chicago on August 6-8. The rumored headliners are Green Day, Soundgarden and Lady Gaga. Pretty cool lineup: Green Day and Soundgarden were both Lollapalooza main stagers back in the '90s. And I think that in her own way, Lady Gaga kind of fits in. Although if I were going, I would stay until the last note of Soundgarden and Green Day rang out. I would not, however, brave a parking lot traffic jam for Lady Gaga (although I'd be curious to check out her live performance).

TOMORROW MORNING ON OUTQ: GRAMMY WRAP-UP

Last year, I went on OutQ Monday morning after the Grammys and was ready to defend the fact that I voted for Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand five times, over the likes of Leona Lewis and Lil' Wayne. Tomorrow, I'm going on the air, but I don't have anything that I felt that passionate about. Beyonce and Taylor Swift both had big nights, and I don't have huge opinions about them. Some people probably thought that Lady Gaga should have won more awards.

I was happy to see Green Day win Best Rock Album, I was glad to see Judas Priest, Maxwell, Levon Helm and Booker T. Jones get some Grammy love. I guess that's what we'll be talking about tomorrow! On Wednesday, I'll be back, talking about film music: the Oscar nominations come out Tuesday.

SPIDER-MAN UPDATE

The Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark official website (for those of you who don't know, this is the Broadway production featuring music by Bono and The Edge that is the bane of my existance and probably Larry Mullen's as well) says that the show starts previews on February 25. But Alan Cummings, who was so great as Nightcrawler in X-Men 2 and who is playing The Green Goblin in this mess, tells The New York Times that that is not the case. You want to see a cool music production on Broadway? Try Fela, about the life of Fela Kuti, or the upcoming Green Day inspired American Idiot. I say this as a huge U2 fan, this Spider-Man thing is just corny!

GREEN DAY'S "AMERICAN IDIOT" COMES TO BROADWAY

Green Day's official website has announced that the stage production of American Idiot begins its Broadway run soon. Previews start March 24 with the show officially opening on April 20. I am normally not a fan of rock and roll and Broadway mixing, and I usually don't think it works.  I remember going to see The Who's Tommy when it was on Broadway, and felt it was really watered down. I haven't gone to see any productions featuring Elton John's music, and I wasn't interested to see the John Lennon Broadway show. (To be fair, I don't like Broadway much anyway, so it's not like I'm going to shows without rock star involvement). And don't get me started on U2's Spider-Man disaster. But I have a feeling that this may be pretty good (although the new version of "21 Guns" by Green Day and the cast of Berkeley production of American Idiot is very... Broadway). So, even though I am not a Broadway person, I may be getting tickets for two shows: American Idiot and Fela.

BEST OF THE 00's: GREEN DAY

In the '90s, I liked Green Day, but found them a bit overexposed and annoying. I became a fan at the exact moment where it seemed that people had lost interest: their 2000 album, Warning. I saw the video for "Minority" (which inspired my posting name on this very blog) and I was sold. Even if you are white, suburban and middle class, you can feel like you don't fit in, and "Minority" is all about that. Warning had some other great songs, like "Warning" (although how they avoided getting the crap sued out of them by The Kinks - the song sounds exactly like "Picture Book" - I don't know).

I saw them on that tour - they had scaled down from arenas to large theaters and it was a bit more intimate.  There were probably less fair weather fans at the show, it was great. But after that, they went on a "co-headlining" tour with blink-182, who had clearly copped some of their schtick from Green Day, and did it in a more safe and less punk way. Green Day played before blink. Green Day seemed to be going the way of lots of other Lollapalooza vets: even though they were just in their thirties, they were going to be '90s nostalgia.

And then: American Idiot.

In a democracy, questioning your government is a duty, and even a patriotic one if you do it without malice. American Idiot, recorded and released during bush's reign, is an against-all-odds classic. In the age where no one was making very political statements, it was a big one. In an era where "the album" was dead, it was a concept album in the spirit of Tommy. And when very few rock bands were getting hit singles, American Idiot was all over the radio. The tour started out in clubs and ended in stadiums.  Green Day was the most relevant band in the land. The band who used to sing about being stoned and being bored. They ended up collaborating with no less than U2 (on "The Saints Are Coming") and with The Simpsons (covering the show's theme for the film, which they appeared in, animated style).

Following it up must have been a bitch, so the band came up with a new identity, The Foxboro Hot Tubs and released my favorite album of 2008, Stop Drop and Roll, a classic garage rock album.

21st Century Breakdown has been one of my favorite rock albums of 2009, although something of a letdown after American Idiot and The Foxboro Hot Tubs. Still, this is a band that will remain relevant for years to come.

BEST ROCK ALBUM? GREEN DAY OR U2?

No Expiration is a NARAS member and Grammy voter, and this weekend, I've spent time on my ballot. One category I'm stuck in is Best Rock Album. My favorite albums that would be considered for this category were unsuprisingly not nominated: The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Rancid's Let The Dominioes Fall, The Dead Weather's Horehound and Muse's The Resistance. 

The nominees in the category, though, are AC/DC's Black Ice, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood's Live From Madison Square Garden (which is disqualified from my ballot, many of the songs on the album are as old as I am, and some are older, you can't compare albums that came out this year to Blind Faith and Traffic), The Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown and U2 's No Line On The Horizon.

So, Clapton/Winwood is disqualified. While I respect DMB, I'm not a huge fan and their album didn't seem to make any kind of impact. I really dig Black Ice, but I really think the best of the bunch are the Green Day and U2 albums.

Green Day's album was a bit disappointing to me: it comes on the heels of my favorite album of 2008, Foxboro Hot Tubs' Stop Drop and Roll (Foxboro Hot Tubs are actually Green Day playing old school garage rock). And before that was Green Day's greatest album, American Idiot. But there are a lot of classics here, I love "Know Your Enemy," "21st Century Breakdown," "Peacemaker," "21 Guns" and especially "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" which sounds like a Foxboro Hot Tubs song.

U2's album, as always comes with huge expectations, and at first I felt a bit let down. It has definitely been growing on me, and I now realize that "Moment Of Surrender" is one of their greatest songs. And there are other great songs: "No Line On The Horizon," "Magnificent," "Breathe," "Stand Up Comedy" and "White As Snow." One of the problems with the album is that they led off with a kind of weak single, "Get On Your Boots," which was like a second rate version of "Vertigo." And their performance at last year's Grammy Awards wasn't great (the live version they've been doing on tour is much better), and the second single, "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" is also weak (the "remix" version that they were playing live was also better).

Tough decision: but a few years ago when I was doing interviews for VH1 at the 2004 Grammys, Bono himself told me that he was glad that they had won a bunch of Grammys (for "Vertigo") but that U2 would gladly step out of the way for another band -- he mentioned Green Day -- to get more acclaim.  There's room for everyone of course. Hmm, this is gonna be a touch choice.

GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND COMING IN 2010

Green Day has consistently done cool stuff in recent years. They fight the power with a concept album American Idiot, make a classic garage rock album under the alias Foxboro Hot Tubs (my favorite album of 2008), tour arenas and stadiums when few rock bands can do it, and are coming to Broadway, the cool way. (By the way, thier new version of "21 Guns" with the cast of American Idiot will be out on iTunes on December 22, but you can hear it at the band's website now.  It is kind of moving; it's very "Broadway," but I kind of like it).

Now, the band have announced that they are going to have their own Rock Band game out next year. Read more about it at MTV.com.

Not enough Green Day for you?  Of course not! Well, in case you missed it, on iTunes, the expanded version of 21st Century Breakdown has covers of The Who's "A Quick One While He's Away" and Social Distortion's "Another State Of Mind." There are two bonus tracks on the "Know Your Enemy" EP ("Lights Out" and "Hearts Collide") and there's a new live EP Last Night On Earth (Live In Tokyo).

GREEN DAY RECORD NEW "21 GUNS" - WITH "AMERICAN IDIOT" CAST

This is pretty cool: Green Day is recording a new verison of their single "21 Guns" with the cast of the Berkeley production of American Idiot. It will be a digital download available soon. Green Day has also started announcing summer concerts (all in Europe) on thier website.

COMING TO BROADWAY: GREEN DAY'S AMERICAN IDIOT

According to Playbill (not a source I often quote), Green Day's American Idiot is coming to Broadway. The show was originally staged in Berkley, California, by Tony winning director Michael Mayer. It was supposed to only be in September, but due to popular demand, it was extended through November!

So, to those of you who think I am hating on Broadway because I've been complaining about Bono and The Edge's involvement in the ill-fated Spider-Man musicial... well, I'm not anti-Broadway (not that I go very often!). I just think that the idea of a Spider-Man musical is a "naff" idea as the Brits say (i.e. silly, corny). And U2's Larry Mullen agrees - Bono wanted to have U2 record the album of Spider-Man songs that he and Edge wrote, and Larry, thankfully, said "Over my dead body" or something like that.

Back to Green Day, they've just released an iTunes exclusive 6 track live EP, Last Night On Earth: Live In Tokyo. They sound like superheroes on the album, and I mean that (in this case) as a compliment.

AAARGH! THE FOXBORO HOT TUBS RETURN

Longtime readers of No Expiration know how I'm a huge fan of the Foxboro Hot Tubs - the garage rock alias of Green Day. Their album from last year, Stop Drop and Roll! was my favorite album of 2008. I can't believe that Green Day did a Foxboro Hot Tubs gig in England for Halloween! They played all Hot Tubs songs (including "Stop, Drop and Roll!!!" six times!) as well as "Supermodel Robots" from another Green Day side project, The Network (which also featured members of Devo) as a bunch of covers of songs by The Who, The Ramones and Chuck Berry. I am super jealous!

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: RANCID, STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL CLUB, DEAD WEATHER AND MORE

I had a great vacation, and now I'm glad to be back. I'll be on OutQ tomorrow talking about Rancid's Let The Dominoes Fall, my second favorite rock album of the year (after The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine Day's Massacre), Street Sweeper Social Club's debut and The Dead Weather's debut, Horehound. If time permits, I'll also talk about Tinted Windows - a new band featuring former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Adam Schleshinger of Fountains Of Wayne, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick and Taylor Hanson of Hanson. Also, Cheap Trick's new album The Latest - available now on mp3, CD and 8-track! Also, two new b-sides from Green Day's new album and a band that is new to me, The Dolly Rocker Movement.