The Constant Sorrow of 2000

We're getting closer and closer to 2010, so let's all gather 'round and take another look back at one of our favorite albums from the last 10 years.

In late 2000 the Coen Brothers commissioned T-Bone Burnett to score their upcoming film based on the story of Homer's grand Odyssey, and I'm sure they expected great things out of him. What they ended up getting was a #1 album and "Album Of The Year" at the 2002 Grammy's, (along with 2 others).

In the summer of 'ought 2 (2002 that is), I had the opportunity to do some manual labor for my friend John; he was remodeling his 18th century home and had decided the finishing touch would be a large, in-ground concrete fountain/hot tub.  So, being that I had no experience building hot-tubs or anything of the sort, I was given all the back breaking labor; excavation being my main task.  I probably spent 4 hours pounding earth with my trusty maddox before I decided to put some music on to help pass the time.  Now John didn't have much in the way of a CD collection but he did have a burned copy of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

 Seeing as I hadn't heard the album yet I decided to give it a spin and after the first few bars of the opening track I could tell it was the right selection for my task.
The soaring harmonies and catchy nature of the old timey songs made the album amazingly fun to sing along with even though I hadn't seen the movie.  Being serenaded by the Soggy Bottom Boys as well as Alison Krauss, Harry McClintock, Norman Blake and others made time pass fairly quick in the back yard.

Re-Branded Contraband

As this new decade creeps closer and closer into our lives, we here at Metal Top Hat would like to continue our feature on 20 of our favorite albums released in these past 10 years.

Many strange and interesting events occurred in 2004. In presidential news, Ronald Regan passed away at the grand ole age of 93 and incumbent George W. Bush was re-elected to a second term in office. At the box office, Spider-Man 2 set opening weekend records while another sequel, Shrek 2 lead the way for total global grosses. In other news, a Tsunami rocked south Asia, Mars got a few visitors, and USC won the first of it's 4 Rose Bowl games of the decade.

Following two soundtrack standouts for 2003's Hulk and The Italian Job, Velvet Revolver was a surging supergroup on the rise. Comprised of a chunk of Guns N' Roses, a vein of Stone Temple Pilots, and Dave Kushner, star power was clearly not an issue and in the Summer of 2004 they released their debut full length, Contraband.

Debuting at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 list, the album would soon go on to double platinum status behind a somewhat tepid critical response. Stand out tracks include: "Slither", the lead single garnered VR a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance; "Big Machine", a pounding track showcasing Weiland's scratchy, harsh vocals; "Superhuman", another STP flavored track enhanced by Slash's signature singing guitar; and the ever-corny ballad "Fall To Pieces" (video after the jump).

One Month To Go!!!

It's coming everyone! That's right, the year of the Tiger is only 31 short days away and that not only means the end of 2009, it's the end of the freakin' decade yall!! To celebrate, we here at Metal Top Hat will be re-living 20 of our favorite albums of the past decade (in no particular order as we don't believe in lists of any kind). It's been a tumultuous last 10 years to say the least (in fact Time Magazine is calling it: "The Decade From Hell"); it started with a terrible attack on our soil and is coming to close in the midst of one of the worst economic downturns in our country's history. Nevertheless, some pretty amazing music came out of this "lost decade" so we wanna remember it in the right way, by posting pictures and videos.

And, to start us off on the right foot, I've chosen an album released in the spring of 2000; in May of that year the all and powerful Britney Spears released her sophomore album "Oops!...I Did It Again".

The anticipation for this record was ridiculous, coming off her smash debut "...Baby One More Time" (14x Platinum and a #1 single in the title track), Britney had a lot to live up to. The title track from "Oops!" was released as a single to massive appeal worldwide, but especially on the US airwaves where it set the record for most adds in one day and it was quickly atop the TRL countdown.

In addition to the title track, the album boasts such Britney classics as:

"Lucky", "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know", "What You See Is What You Get", and my personal favorite off the album, "Stronger" (Video Below).

Readers must remember that there once was a Britney before the controversy, before K-Fed, and before this. So I invite you all to remember the Britney of our youth, the cute and cuddly southern belle who won our hearts and minds. If you haven't heard this album lately, I suggest digging it out of your CD bin and giving it a spin if anything, as a celebration of the decade that was.