31. Matchbox Twenty "Exile On Mainstream"

Sales this week: 25,701
Percentage change: -15%
Cume: 299,862
Weeks on: 5

I’m surprised they haven’t already released a NEW version, with additional tracks, just to fuck over the losers who bought this package in the first place. I’m surprised they haven’t already released a NEW version, with additional tracks, just to fuck over the losers who bought this package in the first place.

You know Rob Thomas caught a lot of flack the first time around.  But I’ve come to believe he’s quite talented.  And the hits on the Matchbox Twenty debut were pretty damn good.

If you throw off your hipster hat and listen to "Back 2 Good", you’ll be enraptured.  It’s actually authentic.  Wouldn’t you like to get it back to good, after things are fucked up?  And how come you never can…  Once you’ve broken up, once you’ve fought, it’s toast.  You can try, but it’s fruitless.

And "Long Day"…  Has got an early seventies feel.  Kind of a cross between McCartney and American bands, with a dose of nineties sheen…  The acoustic intro is enrapturing.  The dynamics…  Not quite "Kashimir", but still good.

Then there’s "3 am".  Aren’t you lonely at that hour?  Don’t you hate waking up alone at that hour?

But the piece de resistance is "Push".

She said I don’t know if I’ve ever been good enough
I’m a little bit rusty, and I think my head is caving in
And I don’t know if I’ve ever really been loved
By the hand that’s touched me, well I feel like something gonna give
And I’m a little bit angry, well

Have you ever had self-doubt?  Have you ever wondered if you’ve been good enough?

I have.

And if you haven’t played for a while, you feel rusty, and you don’t trust yourself.  But you’re committed, you’re hanging in there, you’re giving them the benefit of the doubt.  Then you find out you were wrong.  And you get angry, AND YOU WANT TO PUSH THEM AROUND!  You want to take them for granted.  But you just can’t.  And it hurts SO bad.

I didn’t get it with the studio version.  But I’ve got a live acoustic take from a Star 98.7 Christmas record that taught me the greatness of this song.  There are slowed-down acoustic versions all over the P2P services.  Look for one.

And what do you do with a band that played the Top Forty game in an era where Top Forty is a shadow of its former self.  They didn’t try to be credible, they reveled in their moment in the spotlight.  But now there is no spotlight.  They’re talented, but the vast majority of the public has a bad taste in its mouth.

I wish it was solely about songs.  But more important now is your relationship with your fans.  There’s got to be a bond.  And when you’re all over TV, you’re fans with Katie Couric, with  Carson Daly, you’re removed from the street.  It’s like leaving your hometown honey for a supermodel.  When she dumps you, where are you then?  POSITIVELY NOWHERE!

The stardom game Matchbox Twenty played is dead.  Maybe their label can run a single up the chart, but it still won’t help the band’s career.  They need to go on a club tour.  They need a fan club at MusicToday.  They’ve got to come down from the pedestal and INTERACT!

40. Neil Young "Chrome Dreams II"

Sales this week: 20,260
Percentage change: -62%
Cume: 74,363
Weeks on: 2

No one cares.  The album got pretty good reviews, I haven’t listened to it, I have no idea how good it is.  But Neil’s fans just want to relive their salad days, they want to hear him play cuts from "Harvest".  He’s making new records, but he’s a nostalgia act.  Not that the press treats him this way.  This guy gets coverage like he’s selling double platinum.  Funny era…  If you want to know what’s going on in culture, don’t read the newspaper, nor the magazines, dive into the blogosphere.

43. Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace"

Sales this week: 19,306
Percentage change: -14%
Cume: 335,653
Weeks on: 6

You might think this is a borderline call.  I hear you.  But it’s just that this guy gets so much press, people love him.  But he doesn’t resonate with the public like his old bandmate Kurt.  Speaking of which, if they released the Nirvana boxed set THIS Christmas how many people would have cared?  The nineties are finally over.  Just like the baby boomer acts are falling off at the box office, everyone deserving of a boxed set has one.  The cupboards are bare.

44. Coheed & Cambria "No World For Tomorrow"

Sales this week: 18,907
Percentage change: -69%
Cume: 81,105
Weeks on: 2

Shit, this is terrible.  Remember the buzz on this act the last time around?

They waited way too long to release a new album.  They lost their momentum.

83. James Blunt "All The Lost Souls"

Sales this week: 9,980
Percentage change: -22%
Cume: 230,975
Weeks on: 7

Where do they come up with these album titles?  Did James know it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Does this guy have any fans?  Do those that exist even know the record came out?

No one cares.

Welcome to the modern record business.  Where the major labels and mainstream media conspire to jam shit down our throats, and although they may get us once, we don’t get fooled again.

No one thought James Blunt was real except himself.  They just wanted a nostalgic song that made them think about love.  That’s it, no more.

111. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals "Follow The Lights"

Sales this week: 7,817
Percentage change: -58%
Cume: 26,409
Weeks on: 2

Did you know this EP came out?  Come on, how would you know?

This is an artist in search of a business model.

We had to endure the endless hype how his previous record, "Easy Tiger", released at the end of June, was the second coming, a return to form.  Only it wasn’t.

But this guy always comes up with a keeper or two.

Maybe he needs a chart on his homepage.  His fans telling those passing through which songs are necessary, and which aren’t.  Maybe he needs a fan club with automatic delivery.

I applaud the fact that he’s writing, that he’s a working musician.  I would check out everything he does if it was e-mailed to me when it was completed.  But to find out about releases, to read reviews…  Impossible.

You can tell with Ryan with one listen.  I want to hear a song and decide whether I want to keep it, and delete the rest.  I’m cool with that.  But I don’t want to buy everything, make an investment, to find out I’m not interested in hearing the vast majority ever again.

116. Puddle Of Mudd "Famous"

Sales this week: 7,221
Percentage change: -18%
Cume: 60,083
Weeks on: 4

No they’re not.

I’m stunned they’ve even got a new record.

A band with hits but no fan base.

120. KT Tunstall "Drastic Fantastic"

Sales this week: 6,595
Percentage change: -16%
Cume: 124,182
Weeks on: 7

I really like KT.  But this record did not get good reviews.

She was the girl of the moment because of a ton of media exposure, in TV, movie trailers, ads for all I know.  All I do know is "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See" were on every corner, it appeared she had broken through.  But she was still playing clubs.  People liked the songs, it’s just the bond with the fan base…didn’t really exist.

Maybe all those commercial endorsements and TV placements sell the tracks featured, but don’t do much for your career.  You get noticed, but that’s about all…  People see you, but they’re not in love with you.  When they discover you more organically, they love you.’

Kind of like the Moby syndrome.  He licensed the tracks from "Play" EVERYWHERE and then never had another hit.  Then again, he never cut anything nearly as good thereafter.

I think you have to settle for less.  Better to have a bunch of buddies than a plethora of casual friends, people you can count on as opposed to those who are only into you because you’re flavor of the moment.

This business is sick. It’s based on selling tonnage, and then getting the buyers to go to the gig.  It’s just that this isn’t happening.

125. Melissa Etheridge "The Awakening"

Sales this week: 6,154
Percentage change: +11%
Cume: 112,011
Weeks on: 6

This shouldn’t be on a major label.  She’s positively NICHE!  You might see her all over the media, but no one cares.  She needs to stop playing to everybody and start playing to her CORE again.

Do you own the very first album?  She wasn’t smiling.  She needed success.  She needed it for her LIFE!  There was no calculation.

This is sad.  Because she’s got a modicum of talent.  But she’s so busy being a celebrity…  And celebrityhood doesn’t sell records.  Just ask Paris or Lindsay.  Or Jessica Simpson!

140. Dashboard Confessional "Shade Of Poison Trees"

Sales this week: 5,587
Percentage change: -24%
Cume: 89,563
Weeks on: 5

Screaming irrelevancies.

151. Mark Knopfler "Kill To Get Crimson"

Sales this week: 5,166
Percentage change: -14%
Cume: 78,398
Weeks on: 7

Tell me why I need another Mark Knopfler record.  With maybe one great track and a lot of stuff I can respect but I don’t need to hear again.

He’s got something.  But it’s been so long since it’s been vital that most people have tuned out, they’ve got no idea this record IS out.

He’s not featured in expensive videos on MTV.  He’s got no significant airplay.  He’s on a world stage playing to a club audience, maybe a theatre audience…

Velvet Revolver "Libertad"

Released on July 3rd, no longer in the Top 200

Wait a second, G N’ R really only had one great album and that was TWENTY YEARS AGO!  Should we really care about Slash these days?  Did you ever hear Snakepit?  See them live?  Would have you scratching your head.  Makes Mike Clink look like a genius.

All we read about is Duff McKagan taking business courses. He’s gonna need them, he’s gonna be out on the street SOON!

Terrible name anyway.