Coming Soon: Albums that Just May Rejuven8 the Industry

This past year bore witness to great success for Chris Daughtry, Maroon 5, and Amy Winehouse. In case you did not know, that is bad news. Radio has been saturated with dull, lifeless, cookie cutter studio efforts. Here are 8 albums coming out in the first half of 2008 that have the potential (mostly with my approval) to return the music industry to a place where Daughtry is properly scoffed upon.

1.) Radiohead- In Rainbows (January 1) - Sure, I downloaded the album within a few moments of its early online release, but it's a physical copy. I also doubt that Radiohead will be able to resist the temptation to throw in a few bonus tracks, or maybe a DVD to make this album irresistible to fans that already have the digital tracks. Not to mention that if there is one band that benefits from the bit rate of the CD versus a digital download, it is Radiohead.

2.) The Magnetic Fields- Distortion (January 15)- Originally a one man synth-pop band, the Magnetic Fields have now assembled a live act that will be on a limited upcoming tour, but not before releasing their new effort, Distortion. Eschewing their synthesizers in the last album in place of a wealth of instruments, it will be exciting to see which direction the band takes on this album.

3.) The Mars Volta- Bedlam in Goliath (January 29) - The geniuses of progressive rock have turned out to be quite the entrepreneurs. Coming to Amazon.com on January 2-29 is Goliath the Soothsayer, a video game based on the story that inspired their upcoming album. The Mars Volta has taken many directions across various releases but it is safe to say that Bedlam in Goliath will be a concept album, and will continue the typical Mars Volta formula-progressive rock + jazz + 80's punk + Latin + funk + punk + 70's psychedelic-that we have seen on previous releases.