I have TONS of stuff in my iTunes library (yes, I still buy CD’s) and sometimes it’s difficult to choose what to listen to. These are the albums that top my list at the moment, stuff I’m loving right now.

• NIN – The Slip. This one is a totally free download! (Thanks to Kat for blogging about this.)

• 3 Doors Down – 3 Doors Down

• Seether – Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. I’m loving this even more after seeing them live again last month.
  

• Three Days Grace – One X

• One Republic – Dreaming Out Loud

• Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight

• Breaking Benjamin – Phobia. If ONLY they’d come and play in South Africa, but Benjamin Burnley has a phobia about flying. No, really!

• Muse – Everything!! Showbiz, Origin of Symmetry, Hullabaloo, Absolution, Black Holes & Revelations, H.A.A.R.P.

• Jeff Buckley – Grace. Mmk, this one will ALWAYS be at the top of my list. I think I listen to him every day =)

What about you?
What’s topping your charts right now?

The self titled 4^th album by 3 Doors Down is a winner in my opinion. I’ve been a fan of theirs for a few years now and seeing them live at My Coke Fest last year was a huge treat for me. I have most of their stuff and I listen to it a lot so I was really excited to hear their latest album, which was released last month.

I wasn’t disappointed =) The opening track, “Train” is rocking! The final track “She Don’t Want The World” is hauntingly beautiful. As usual, Brad Arnold’s vocals are stunning.

The album is not exactly ground-breaking in any way, actually it’s quite “safe”, but it’s polished and easy to listen to. I enjoy their tempo, their powerful, brooding lyrics and their distinctive, rich Southern-rock sound.

“I guess I just got lost
being someone else.
I tried to kill the pain,
but nothing ever helped.
I left myself behind,
somewhere along the way
hoping to come back around
to find myself someday”

The album has received mixed reviews (not that I ever worry about anybody else’s opinion when it comes to music) but it has already reached #1 on the Billboard200 chart and will probably go platinum. To some fans of post-grunge alternative rock, this one may be a bit too mainstream – it does have a heavy pop influence (definitely “radio friendly”) and I don’t think it’ll attract many new fans – but to existing followers of the band, 3 Doors Down is a solid production and worth the long wait.

3 Doors Down Track Listing

1. Train
2. Citizen / Soldier
3. It’s Not My Time
4. Let Me Be Myself
5. Pages
6. It’s The Only One
7. Give It To Me
8. These Days
9. Your Arms Feel
10. Runaway
11. When It’s Over
12. She Don’t Want The World