The big rockers are here

There are times when the world winds itself up as though it doesn’t have a care in the world. Time to jump, shout, mosh as though in a huge rock concert. This must be one of those for I found a veritable treasure trove of CDs with the most explosive, most energetic rock sounds ever made by some of the greatest rock bands today.

Awesome As F**K by Green Day. Awesome indeed is Green Day. It has gone from young punk rockers to Tony nominated Broadway artists with songs set to become future classics. This CD is not a new recording. These cuts are out of the 21st Century Breakdown tour which took Green Day around the world. Singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dint and drummer Tre Cool watched nearly 20 concerts taped in their entirety to pick out the best for this CD.

For only P550, buyers get a bonus DVD of the entire performance in Tokyo, Japan and I do not know if there are fans in the world who are more gaga about the band than the Japanese. Proof is all here. Watch and enjoy the spectacle and the Green Day tunes. Come to think of it, another good thing about this album is that although it is from the 21st Century Breakdown tour, the band has included their other hits. Okay, no Bullet In A Bible but you will find almost everything else.

Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere, Holiday, Viva La Gloria, Cigarettes And Valentines, Burnout, Going To Pasalaqua, J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva), Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? Geek Stink Breath, When I Come Around, She, 21 Guns, American Idiot, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Welcome To Paradise, My Generation, American Eulogy and Jesus Of Suburbia are performed live.

Wasting Light by Foo Fighters. This is another Foo Fighters masterpiece. I do not know how these guys do it but they keep coming up with great albums. I have even learned to take anything by the Foos at face value. No need to preview a track or two before getting the CD. These past 15 years have time and time again proven that the Foo Fighters does not disappoint. The usual beautiful melodies and relatable lyrics are all here and Dave Grohl’s singing is at its most intense.

But that is not all that these guys prepared for their fans. Wasting Light is actually very special because it was recorded using the old-time analog process. This means that not a single computer was used during the sessions. Analog recordings have a warmer sound and are not edited or autotuned. I wonder if the Foos intend to release a vinyl LP of Wasting Light. That sounds like a great idea. You know analogs were meant for vinyl and this is the right album. Everything in this CD was recorded in the studio as in a live performance and it is very good.

No need to name favorites or which among the cuts is the best. Every song here is a gem. Just pop the disc into the player and they will come out, one after the other, all excellent from start to finish. Bridge Burning, Rope, Dear Rosemary, White Limo, Arlandria, These Days, Back & Forth, A Matter Of Time, Miss The Misery, I Should Have Known and Walk.

 A Thousand Suns + by Linkin Park. If you already have Green Day and Foo Fighters, then you should also have this one. Linkin Park music is more of the alternative kind that blends rock with rap. Its melodies are also not as commercially accessible as the others bands. What it makes up for are the concepts it comes up with for the albums. It is as though the band wants to take on all that is bad in this world and make things better. For example, A Thousand Suns is against nuclear warfare and the title refers to the blinding light that comes after an atomic bomb explosion.

Of course, there is also the music, which is hard, urgent and gut busting. That is why they use Linkin Park music in those Transformer films. If you are in the right frame of mind, ready for anything, and body, can stand the bangs and the shriek, the total effect of the songs is symphonic. The band is once more featured in the upcoming Transformer flick.

Also selling at P550, this two-disc set features a DVD of the Live MTV Show from Madrid and an MP3 Audio of the entire performance. The recent hits, The Catalyst and Waiting For The End are here plus The Requiem, Wretches And Kings’ Papercut, New Divide, Faint, Empty Spaces/ When They Come For Me, Iridescent, Numb, The Radiance, Breaking The Habit, Shadow Of The Day, Fallout, The Messenger, In The End, What I’ve Done and Bleed It Out/ A Place For My Head. The MP3 also has Wisdom Justice And Love, Blackout, Jornada Del Muerto, Robot Boy and Burning In The Skies.