What is there to say? This is simply just another of Kerrang!'s annual releases that sum up the year of music in the form of backhand pay offs, but if we took this view for every musical release then there would be barely anything on our iPods! Generally, as expected of Kerrang! compilations,the quality of the tracks included is very high (perhaps more so this year than ever before) and the range of sub-genres included is phenomenal. From Canadian bruisers Cancer Bats through to poster boy pop-bitches Fall Out Boy via the creative maze of Scars On Broadway, this CD really is a who's-who of alternative rock culture in 2008. Except for Green Day's 'American Idiot', why is that on there? It was released years ago and now sounds stale as a result. As I said, backhand pay offs....
As always is the case with Kerrang!'s annual compilations, this double CD is rammed to the rafters with '42 Mega Tracks' (A welcome comeback for the word 'Mega' after a lull of about a decade) and boasts of veterans such as Kid Rock, Nickelback, Slipknot, Machine Head and Billy Talent living in perfect harmony with new blood like Kids In Glasshouses, The Blackout, Cancer bats, The Gaslight Anthem and Kill Hannah in the ideal world of unity and peace that our forefathers dreamt of. This is something that the compilers of this annual CD have been doing for years, and it is a great idea as it offers new talent to be heard by fans of the stadium bands on the CD, who perhaps otherwise would not take the time out to listen to the next generation of rock music. Bands that pull in these crowds this year include My Chemical Romance, Panic At The Disco, Biffy Clyro, Bullet For My Valentine and Enter Shikari. if this type of music is too commercial for you, get over yourself, there's loads of radio friendly unit shifters on here that you have no doubt tapped your foot to or got stuck in your head at least once. It's OK to like Fall Out Boy, as long as you haven't got their 'official backpack'. There's a line that must be drawn for everything you see.
Once again, the Kerrang! album hasn't disappointed. If this type of music rocks your socks then it's a sure fire hit for your CD collection and a worthwhile purchase; defying the credit crunch by getting 42 tracks for under fifteen quid. Gordon Brown would be proud, if he hasn't already got it.
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Various - Kerrang! The Album '08
