Although most of these pieces have been previously recorded, here they are given a fresh spin by the economically sized quartet. An empathic and masterful group of musicians, this is easily one of the better offerings in the genre this year, and definitely one of the finest albums in Douglas' ever growing catalog.

Yellowcard's major-label debut is that rarity in latter-day punk-rock–a nuanced, almost subtle collection of distinctive songs with lyrics sensitive enough to reference moonlight, the ocean, and DEATH OF A SALESMAN, amongst its more usual expressions of post-teen angst. (And, by the way, they also have a violinist.) But, far from consigning them to the ranks of the irredeemably nerdy, OCEAN AVENUE is the sound of a young band flexing its imaginative muscle and emerging from behind the one-sound-fits-all sonic shadow of Green Day to produce a singularly distinctive collection of songs.

Sure, the album's opening salvo "Way Away" is straight out of the SoCal punk rock playbook, but by the shimmering intro to "Only One" it's increasingly obvious that there's more on offer here than one-dimensional posturing. It's not that Yellowcard are any slouches in the sonic thrash department, as evidenced by the breathless rush of "Twentythree"–it's just that they're not afraid to let their strong lyrics and musical smarts speak for them as much as their twentysomething stamina.

The Human League - Greatest Hits
EAC Rip | Included: EAC Log + AccurateRip Log + Tau Analyzer + CUE + Flac + Covers | RAR 3% Rec. | 449 MB | RS.com
Release: Nov 1995 | Label: Virgin Records | Number: CDV 2792 | Genre: New Wave, SynthPop, Dance Pop | Mono/Stereo: 2 Channel

Human League Greatest Hits is a compilation album released by British synthpop band The Human League. It was released by Virgin Records in 1988 and contained 13 singles released by the band, spanning from their debut single (1978's "Being Boiled") to their most recent album at the time (Crash, 1986) plus Philip Oakey's collaboration with Giorgio Moroder "Together In Electric Dreams". The album reached no.3 in the UK. In November 1995, to cash in on the band's renewed success at that time, Virgin repackaged the hits collection with a new cover and added newer tracks: "Tell Me When" (from the Octopus album) and a new remix of the band's biggest hit "Don't You Want Me" by German-American electronic music group Snap!. In addition to this, a brand new track, "Stay with Me Tonight", was included which the band had recorded under their new recording contract with EastWest Records. This would later be released as a single.

The repertoire presented here is made up exclusively of the musical glosses or Ars nova diminutions that are found in the manuscript 117 of the Biblioteca Comunale Manfrediana of Faenza, the renowned 'Codex Faenza'.

Katatonia's eighth album is perhaps the most well-rounded, multi-dimensional work of their career so far. In addition to the heaviness, depth and atmosphere of their previous several albums, they also incorporate moments of prog rock, doom and folk. With the band's trademark haunting guitar tones and despairing vocals leading the way, 'Night is the New Day' is truly one of the greatest metal events of 2009.

No more making allowances for countertenors–now the best of the breed have voices as rich and as varied as those of any other range. Exhibit A: Gramophone cover boy Andreas Scholl...