High Fidelity

Courtesy of my good friends Sal and Tony at NYCD, here's an informative and amusing preview of some of this week's fine new audio products.

BLACK SABBATH - "THE DIO YEARS." Ah, the Dio years -- how the mere mention of the name mingles memory with desire. Their first post-Ozzy record, "Heaven & Hell," is arguably a hard-rock classic. Their two followups (follows up?), not so much. This collection compiles some of each, with three newly recorded tracks, just in time for Pesach -- and their sold-out reunion tour.

HILARY DUFF - "DIGNITY." Dignity is a word that instantly springs to mind when we think of Hilary Duff. (Have you SEEN "Cheaper By The Dozen 2"?) And this is her most dignified album to date.

KINGS OF LEON - "BECAUSE OF THE TIMES." First there was Arcade Fire. Then the Killers. Now, the third most overrated band in the history of overrating bands, the Kings Of Leon, release their third not-so-good CD. Buy it now! Only in theaters.

BEYONCE - "B'day (Deluxe Edition)". Just in case you still like CDs, here's another ripoff that's sure to try your patience. This time, you get a bonus disc with THREE brand new, never-released songs, and SIX brand new, never-released songs in Spanish! This is, as our Spanish friends say, "Caca de vaca."

TIMBALAND - "TIMBALAND PRESENTS SHOCK VALUE." The Eugene Landy of Britney Spears' life drops his new joint which features collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Fall Out Boy, The Hives and Elton John. Our Yiddish friends refer to this as "trayf."

BTW, for those of you who don't live in Manhattan, NYCD was until recently the Greatest Neighborhood Indie Record Store in the history of Western Civilization. Now they mostly do business in cyberspace.

Go to their blog and give them some love.