Some of you may have already hear the first single off the album, No Line on the Horizon by U2. If not, here's a link for you. I I have declined to offer my opinion on it as many U2 fans will no doubt like it lots. If you loved "Vertigo" from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, then you'll love this song ("Get On Your Boots"). Enjoy the preview.

We have the results of the Aerosmith Poll, which was woefully participated in with only 89 votes. However, there was enough input to get a feel for what the general feeling would be. Interestingly, the choice is what I thought it would be and so there is no surprise. Given the band's two separately successful careers points, the stronger of the two wins out as expected. Here's the results:

• Rocks (20) - This album was at the band's pinnacle in the '70s. Their tour for this album was unprecedented for the band as it sold out to many locations. With a collection of great memorable songs, Rocks is the undeniable favourite - unsurprisingly - of Aerosmith fans everywhere. With nine songs like the primal "Back in the Saddle," the rockin' "Last Child," and the power ballad, "Home Tonight," and a host of other, Rocks quite simply ROCKS. Even so, it still hasn't sold the units that the next favourite had.
• Toys in the Attic (18) - This album sold over 8 million units. It catapulted the band into the stratosphere after the re-release of "Dream On," a single that found strength after Get Your Wings was in stores. With songs like the title cut, "Sweet Emotion," "You See Me Crying," and "Walk this Way," as well as other staples of that album. Like Rocks, it rocked into the consciousness of fans and secure Aerosmith forever.
• Get Your Wings (12) - This second album had a much stronger showing in this Poll than I thought it would get. But with its unmatched version of Bradshaw's "Train Kept a Rollin'," as well as the excellent "Seasons of Wither," "Lord of the Thighs," "SOS (Too Bad)," and - I can just go on the album is so perfect. Glad to see it get this much love.
• Pump (12) - This album from their second period aroused fans interest as it yielded not only strong tunes like "Love in an Elevator," and "Janie's Got a Gun" but also sold a whopping 20 million copies plus. I could have placed this ahead of Get Your Wings - and should have - but hey, it's my Poll...Get Your Wings gets first.
• Aerosmith (5) - This S/T effort was the home of "Dream On," a tune ignored first pass until a wise Boston DJ thought otherwise and resurrected it - and Aerosmith. but it also had "Mama Kin," and Rufus Thomas' searing "Walking the Dog."
• Night in the Ruts (3) - Drugged out, the band still did an awesome job here although there are some detractors. "Perry left here but left behind "Remember (Walking in the Sand)." I liked it...but not many did.
• Get a Grip (3) - This sold extremely well and followed Pump. It pitched out "Cryin'" and a whole lot of other songs as well. So why did it score so low here?
• Nine Lives (3) - This arrived after Get a Grip but faltered somewhat. I can't pitch it.
• Done With Mirrors (3) - Perry and Whitford come back into the fold on this first Geffen release. It did alright but still gets some love with 3 votes.
• Permanent Vacation (3) - The band's second Geffen release and a springboard for their second successful period because of "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)." "Rag doll" did some nice business too.
• Draw the Line (2) - Aerosmith was in deep drug-wise here but I loved this album nevertheless. I love that take-off on the title track as only Tyler could. I thought it was a solid effort, maybe not as strong as Rocks but it had the blood of Get Your Wings running through it. I'm glad that it shows up in the Poll. The album was gutsy with Hirschfeld caricatures and - hey look - no name on the cover. Don't you know them by now? You should have.
• Just Push Play (2) - Wasn't my speed but then much of the second career output by Aerosmith wasn't. This one didn't do the business that other Aersomith albums did. But nevertheless, some loved it.
• Honkin' on Bobo (2) - I loved this one. Great Aerosmith duty here with music like we know they can produce.
• Rock in a Hard Place (1) - Even the least loved Aerosmith, recorded without Joe Perry, gets a little love.
• None (1) - Believe this or not, this was the first vote received when I ran the Poll. Someone simply stated that nothing Aerosmith did warranted any attention at all.

All Aerosmith albums were represented in this poll with nothing ignored. Some bands just get lucky like that. Thanks to everyone (87) who participated. It was fun. Many of you not only gave me your choice but also chose your favourites in a descending order. You guys are real Aerosmith fans because one choice wasn't enough, you HAD to go down a line. All multiple album listers did choose their favourite though.

We have two reviews for you that include the just released Kind of Blue - 50th Anniversary Legacy Edition by Miles Davis. In addition, we have reviewed an awesome 4-song EP by Northern Ireland band, The Answer. Like '70s Rock, then The Answer and this EP, Never Too Late, is your thing.

We have several things to kick-off the New Year with. The first is our Annual Reader's Choice 'Best of 20xx' picks. In this case, you'll be picking the Best of 2008. i always look forward to these picks because it gives me a fast way to check up on things that I have missed over the year. I have always made new gains to my library with the arrival of these lists and I'm sure to do so again. You guys know the rules by now. Just send a list of the Best that graced our players over the course of 2008. We'll run this through January and then post results in February. Send them here at The Best Albums of 2008.

In addition, and to start the New Year Out, we have several more things before moving on. The first is a new band introduction, found below in the reviews section. They are called The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Be sure to scroll down for that. the second is that we have (tried) to launch a Facebook set of pages. We have a button for you to click on and befriend us and we hope that you will. We have a personal TAP page (because Facebook insists). And we also have a Business page and a Group page. I know...complicated. And it is. But we'll figure which to use in the long run but until then, check them all out. They are a bit different in content. I do suspect that it will be the personal page that you'll want to frequent most often as it easily leads to both of the other pages. I'm still trying to make one singular page the most impactful but haven't figured how to do it yet. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. There's nothing worse than being a 'noob' trying to produce a bit of usefulness...and not succeeding very well at it. There are some new things that we can do with it. For example, there is plenty of room there to discuss in an open forum. For those that wanted this to happen, here's an opportunity to guage it. In addition, there may als obe extra content there, capsule-like reviews, etc. This is an experiment to see what happens. You might have to sign up to check us out...I don't know. Forgive any problems that might arise from this but we'll get it figured out somehow.

For the long promised Albums You MUST Hear Before You Die! list (#31), I will be posting a letter each post until exhausted (there were only 17 21 25 27 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 40 emails).  Some were only a few titles, some only one.  But there were more than a few that were massive and a few extended, well-detailed lists.  I’ll post them as I received them.  For today's post, we have a list of six in letter form. Thanks Jeff.

Hi Matt,

Rather than list the obvious choices that might make these lists (a Desert
Island Discs with of course Revolver, Pet Sounds, etc), I'm going to list
some albums that changed the way I listened to music and made me appreciate
what I love about music in the first place.

Kelly Joe Phelps-Roll Away the Stone:  Imagine driving down the road in
Wyoming and coming across a man playing an acoustic guitar on the porch or a
ramshackle house.  You're drawn in first by the voice and playing, then time
and time again by the words.  I've listened to this probably 100+times, and
every time I listen, I hear something new.

Chris Whitley:  Living With the Law:  Down and Dirty, powerful, emotional
and a shame that this talent left us so early :(

Patty Griffin:  Living With Ghosts-a collection of demos with a woman and
her guitar.  After hearing these, you can't help but wonder WHAT IS THE
WORLD THINKING BY NOT MAKING THIS WOMAN A STAR!

Jellyfish:  Spilt Milk- Take Queen, the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the 60's
and put them into a blender and you get one of the most sonically amazing
albums ever released!

Mike Viola-Lurch:  A Spilt Milk for 2008.  He moves to California, his music
becomes sunnier and he wears more of his influences on his sleeve.  Can't
get it out of my head.

Anything by pianist Bill Evans on Riverside:  enough said.no need for
elaboration.

Thanks for reading-this one was fun!

We're going to keep the Best Album of ALL Time up for a long while as we continually update it. But I'll say this: The Beatles took the lead with not only The White Album but also the fact that they have been selected with two albums. Like The Albums You MUST Hear Before You Die! run, which does not show signs of stopping (I'm still getting emails, which I have no problem with and encourage - Send Them In), I'm hoping that this new thing stays strong. Send in your selection (one only, please) for the album that is the ruler of all.

If you have missed the last As The Disc Spins (updated), check it out here.

To access the previous site and catch up, click here.

We’re just a round the corner from February (WHAT?!?!) and I thought that it wouldn’t hurt too badly to just remind you of some interesting stuff coming out shortly.  Since the year has gotten off to its usual slow start, I’m bringing up a few titles that I’m interested in. 

On February 3, Nonesuch is re-releasing My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, a 30 year old classic by David Byrne (Talking Heads/solo) and Brian Eno, in LP form.  The album will be released in 180g and over two LPs.  This comes out at the right time because both Byrne and Eno has just released a wonderful album called Whatever Happens Will Happen Today (not heard it, you should).  This is the re-mastered version released earlier on CD.

Rhino is releasing a 3CD Box called Reflections for Graham Nash.  The Box contains 64 chronologically placed Nash tunes spanning between 1967-2007.  That includes work from The Hollies (the band Nash began with Allen Clarke), Crosby, Stills, & Nash (w/Young), and his solo materials.  32 of these selections are previously unreleased tunes (alternate mixes, alternate versions, and unissued music).  Highlights include mono versions of “On a Carousel,” “King Midas in Reverse” – Hollies, and alternate mixes of “Teach Your Children” (CSN), and “Military Madness” (solo).  There are much, much more to this set including a crammed 150 page booklet with lots of photos and essays.  The set is presented in HDCD for those with players that can decode this.  Reflections is scheduled for February 3.

429 Records will release the new The Young Dubliners album called Saints and Sinners on February 3.  The label will also release Hungry Bird by Clem Snide on February 24.

Black Keys singer and guitarist, Dan Auerbach has a solo release coming called Keep It Hid.  The album has 14 tracks, and is scheduled for release in both CD and LP.  Keep It Hid is planned for February 3 by Nonesuch Records and will ship in digipak packaging.

Nonesuch Records will release Volume One of The Best of Bill Frisell, this one Folk Songs.  This is a fifteen-track compilation that draws from Nonesuch catalogue albums.  It is planned for February 24.

Amid all of the hoopla surrounding the release of the anticipated film, The Watchmen, we get a Various Artists soundtrack for the film.  The soundtrack collects songs by Bob Dylan (“The Times They Are a-Changin’”), My Chemical Romance (covering Dylan’s “Desolation Row”), Janis Joplin (“Me and Bobby McGee”), Leonard Cohen (“Hallelujah”), Jimi Hendrix (famously covering “All Along the Watchtower”), and more.  It is slated to be released by Reprise Records on both CD and LP on February 24.

Additionally, Reprise will release the Original Score for the film (The Watchmen) on the same date on CD (which includes a Limited Edition CD), and LP.  Tyler Bates is the composer.

Warner Brothers is releasing an interesting Various Artists project called Covered: A Revolution in Sound.  This VA release will feature songs like “Burning Down the House” (Talking Heads) as interpreted by The Used; “Borderline” (Madonna) by The Flaming Lips; “A Case of You” (Joni Mitchell) as sung by Michele Branch, and “More Than This” (Roxy Music) by Missy Higgins.  There are more very interesting songs with even more interesting covering bands.  This releases on February 24.

Mono vs Stereo Records will release The End is Not the End by House of Heroes, slating the album for March 3.  You can get a hint of the music on their MySpace page.

Don’t forget to slot the Rush retrospective (Retrospective III: 1989-2008) into your calendar for March 3.  This collection will be available as a CD and a CD/DVD from Anthem and Atlantic Records.

Here is a cover shot of the 9-hour, 7DVD Rhino Box for Phish called The Clifford Ball, which covers the first Phish festival in 1996 over a weekend of 2 days.  The set contains bonus documentary, sound checks, and ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage.  This is complete love for the Phish fan and is scheduled for March 3.

Miles Davis created one of the most revered Jazz albums ever with his wonderful Kind of Blue. Last year, Legacy released a grand collection surrounding this album in preparation for the album's 50th Anniversary. This pared back Legacy Edition is for those that found last year's set too pricey but still wanted the collection of music. Here you go, fans.

Late of the Pier is a UK band, whose debut release, Fantasy Black Channel is a strong selection for one of the Best of 2008. Now, as of January 13, the album is available in the US with two bonus tracks.