Once again, we see a record filled to the brim with the best of the past year's music - with a few random ones thrown in for good measure too...I'm sure Green Day's American Idiot and HIM's Wing's Of A Butterfly are more than a year old... hum.
Anyway, the CD opens with Kid Rock's feeble rip-off of Sweet home Alabama which, for a name like Kerrang to open their modern day saviour[s] of rock album, does put the fear of God into me as to what else has managed to make it onto the album.
The album itself caters to a variety of alternative music tastes, if this is actually possible, as we have everything from the metal noise of Cancer Bats, The Gaslight Anthem and Killswitch Engage.
Then we cater for the Emo kids with Funeral For A Friend, Bullet For My Valentine, Linkin Park and Avenged Sevenfold. Whilst this modern rush of dance/screamo music fusion creeps in thanks to the likes of Enter Shakari and Pendulum.
Then there are those stuck in between; people like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Good Charlotte who wouldn't look out of place and the cover of a teenage girls magazine and can't seem to decide whether they're pop or rock!
Then there are the quality sounds that act as a light in the darkness thanks to those sexy Scots in Biffy Clyro; who have been the champions of the music industry over the past 12 months; and of course, the smash hit from Billy Talent (despite being so old it's in Hush Puppies) and - as much as you may disagree - the incredible voice of Serj Tankian with his solo project.
Despite the miss-match of tastes and sounds which can be found on the album, it is still a winner, even if it is just due to the fact that it caters to every single lover of anything 'alternative' as it really does have something for everyone.
Fair enough they seem to be heading away from their one faithful audience of 'dirty moshers' in the hope of cashing in on the beautiful and virginal Emo kids which is something we can debate forever and a day... are they moving with the times or are they selling out?
Who's to say...Make your own mind up - but if you really want my advice, I'd say it's a great CD to crank up and drive down the motorway to.. I know we're all Emo kids at heart!
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
CD1
Kid Rock - All Summer Long
Nickelback - Rock Star
Weezer - Pork And Beans
Biffy Clyro - Saturday Superhouse
Good Charlotte - Keep Your Hands Off My Girl
Pendulum - Propane Nightmares
Slipknot - PsychoSocial
Enter Shikari - Sorry, You're Not A Winner
Linkin Park - Given Up
Serj Tankian - Empty Walls
Airbourne - Runnin' Wild
Black Tide - Warriors Of Time
Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver
Dillinger Escape Plan - Black Bubblegum
Scars On Broadway - They Say
Bullet For My Valentine - Waking The Demon
Slaves To Gravity - Mr Regulator
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
The Nightmarchers - I Wanna Deadbeat You
Coheed And Cambria - Feathers
30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill
CD2
Green Day - American Idiot
My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race
Elliot Minor - Parallel Worlds
Simple Plan - When I'm Gone
Panic At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon
Alkaline Trio - Love Love Kiss Kiss
The Blackout - Spread Legs, Not Lies
Funeral For A Friend - Waterfront Danceclub
Madina Lake - House Of Cards
You Me At Six - If I Were In Your Shoes
Billy Talent - Red Flag
Fighting With Wire - Everyone Needs A Nemesis
HIM - Wings Of A Butterfly
Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife
Machine Head - Aesthetics Of Hate
Atreyu - Falling Down
Kids In Glass Houses - Give Me What I Want
Kill Hannah - Lips Like Morphine
Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer
Gallows - Orchestra Of Wolves