Triple-shot of rock

Little has happened to excite rock fans since new albums by Godsmack and Linkin Park debuted at No. 1 earlier in the year. That changed within the past two weeks with releases by three hard-hitting bands -- all of which will be performing in Washington state this summer -- giving rock fans reasons to run to record stores.

Marilyn Manson is back, offering his sixth studio album for every gothically geared, alienated teenager in America. The shock-rocker reached the top of the charts last week with The Golden Age of Grotesque, one of the best albums in his catalogue.

While not as fundamentally sound as 1996's Antichrist Superstar, what makes this album work is its musical merit -- almost every song can stand on its own without creepy sounds or Manson's eerie screams. The lead single, "mOBSCENE," contains a chorus sung by what sounds like a group of cheerleaders singing "Be obscene, be, be obscene/ Be obscene, baby, and not heard," creating a very catchy and strange hook.

The album is fueled by simple yet thoughtful lyrics like, "Your freedom's not free and dumb," and "I'm not an artist/ I'm a fucking work of art" and catchy yet silly songs like "Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag" and "(s)Ain't." It still has a few creepy moments, but TGOAG appeals to a broader audience than Manson's previous efforts, making it his most accessible and listener-friendly album to date.

One of the many bands to benefit from the nu-metal period of the '90s, Staind, released 14 Shades of Grey last week. The band received marginal success with its debut album, Tormented, highlighted by metal riffs and frontman Aaron Lewis' crooning screams, and later reached mainstream audiences with the love ballad, "It's Been A While."

Fans looking for Staind to go back to its metal roots with 14 Shades shouldn't bother purchasing the album, but those who enjoy Lewis' introspective and personal songwriting and the occasional ballad will like Staind's new album. Highlights include "Layne," a song written about Lewis' idol, late Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley, and the single "Price to Play."

Another heavy band with a crooning frontman is Florida's Cold. Like Staind, the band took a turn toward softer sounds and introspective songs, but unlike Staind, it managed to keep its heavy edge. Year of the Spider is the band's third album and it's filled with catchy alt-rock material that will easily get stuck in your head after a single listen.

Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo penned the album's first single, "Stupid Girl," and if frontman Scooter Ward and his bandmates were to don some Buddy Holly specs, it could pass as a Weezer single. The catchiness of most of the album's 13 tracks are its strengths, but The Year of the Spider's downfalls are the formulaic tracks like "Black Sunday" and "Sad Happy," which bring down what could have been a much better album.