Rob's Best: #3: Every Time I Die - Hot Damn!

Released: July 1, 2003.

Dear friends, I give you my Top 3.  They are all undeniable monoliths of sound.  Every Time I Die are scholars of aggressive music; minstrels of wit and swagger; laureates of lyricism, ready with a nudge and a wink.  Hot Damn!  This album is the pinnacle of the genre; the bar against which all others are compared.  Exactly what genre is this, you ask?  Well, that's part of the fun, isn't it?  Part metal, part hardcore, part southern rock, part witty observation-based sitcom, part dance, part cut brake wires, part Clockwork Orange, part standing on the ledge of a bridge staring at the river below, part infectious disease party... But all a great time: Groove metal, perhaps?  Party metal?  No, Andrew W.K. already has the rights solidly for that one.  For lack of a better term... One must always fall back once again to Hot Damn!

It seems that all good things come in threes: This album is the number 3 album of the decade for both Trystan and I.  It was released in 2003.  And Every Time I Die stand tall at Number 3 on my Best Live Bands Ever list.  An Every Time I Die show is like witnessing seasoned rock and roll veterans dominate a stage with pure spectacle.  Pure, wondrous, entertaining spectacle.