Looking Forward

He's a few artist who are releasing CDs I look forward to this year:

Prince (March 31): Three CDs for 13 dollars? OK, one of them is by a protege he is promoting, but still at that price I am willing to take a gamble. Of course, every CD he's released since 1987 has been a gamble, so I don't know what to say about this one.

Bob Dylan (April 28): Remember when Time Out Of Mind came out and people were calling it a great way to close his career? That was 12 years ago. Since then, he's released two better studio albums. This has to work. He can do no wrong.

Eminem (19 May): His "retirement" did mange to outlast Jay-Z's "retirement" by a few years. Hip-hop has really moved on from the comedic pop he did ten years ago, so does he have something new? With Dr. Dre and 50 Cent on board, it will sell no matter what, but artists who peak this fast and burn out usually don't have long careers.

Lil Wayne (May): He is releasing a rock album. After hearing him slaughter his guitar on the otherwise great album Carter III, I really can't get excited about this. I think Kanye West's bizarre genre experiment last year is going to cause other hip-hop artists to do the same. Beware.

Green Day (May): Love it or hate it, you have to admit that American Idiot is one of the greatest career-revival moments of all time. Now they want to do another concept album and repeat that success. I am not optimistic about this one. I think they've already overreached their boundaries. Just do another punk album with guitars and poop jokes, guys. You've earned it.

Flaming Lips (June): Hopefully, they will title this album We Apologize For At War With The Mystics. I'm excited anyway.

Sufjan Stevens (possibly never): Has anybody seen or heard from him in the last 4 years? Where did he go? We need you!