Brent mentioned that the new Metallica CD is so bad, it's not worth the retail price. It's a sad state of affairs that the music industry keeps churning out worthless junk from "big name artists". Sadly, this is why album sales are down, and p2p file sharing is just a symptom, not a cause. Even the New York Times has figured this out: sales of the fifth Harry Potter book are brisk, and illustrate that there is money to be made in entertainment, so long as there's value.
In other news, I purchased the new Annie Lenox CD a couple of days after it came out. I'm quite happy with it, and very happy to hear it in heavy rotation in coffee shops and music stores. Her music has been a staple in my MP3 playlists for years now, and it's nice to hear something fresh, yet familiar.
