Name an album you bought on day of release

How about pre-paying/ordering before release?

Metallica - ... And Justice for All meet and exceeded every expectation

I frequently order CD's prior to their release to get them on the day of. Here's the last five I can think of:

Just got Patty Griffin's, "Downtown Church", the day it came out (2 days ago). Initially a bit disappointed as I'm a big fan of her music and this is mostly traditionals with guest artists, so I found the experience of Patty somewhat diluted. I have only given it a few listens, so it may grow on me.

Cowboy Junkies, "Trinity Revisited" - exceeded my expectations! I thought: How could the original be topped? Well, they didn't try to top the original, and that is part of it's success. It is the same material by the same band, with some great guests, done 20 years later in the same church. It is every bit as outstanding a recording as the original, but in entirely different ways. The original was recorded with a single stereo mike, while the recent version used individually miking with state of the art equipment. The video production of the entire set is really top notch as well, both visually and sonically (the CD is better at the latter).

Tom Waits, "Glitter and Doom". Again, I'm a huge fan of Waits and will always get anything new that he puts out. This is a live CD that I would probably only recommend to Waits fans as the SQ and recording/mixing is not great. The spontaneity of his performances and stage banter are very enjoyable though. Just for the performance of one of my favorite spoken pieces of his, Circus, it was worth it to me.

Arvo Part, In Principio. It was not what I expected from the perspective of coming from Te Deum, Silencio, and Alina, all of which are quite distinct from each other, and perhaps more quiet and peaceful (Te Deum comes closest, being a choral piece...but it still more low-key and perhaps gentle). This is quite dramatic and weighty...armagedon-like at times. No it did not disappoint.

Anouar Brahem, "The Astounding Eyes Of Rita". This artist has never disappointed. Each project is a different and unique collaboration with a different trio of musicians...always with similar haunting and beautiful results that are no doubt driven by Brahem. My favorite remains, "Le Pas du Chat Noir"

Well, it was back in '93, but I bought The Butthole Surfers' "Independent Worm Saloon" at the Tower Records in Hiroshima, Japan on release day (well, whatever the release day in japan was).

It was no "Hairway to Steven", but I did love it then, and I still love it now.

Radiohead - IN RAINBOWS

Not on the day of release, but I bought Hot Chip's new album "One Life Stand" a month or two ago, in the form of a promo cd from my favourite second hand record store. It is due to be released on the 9th Feburary.

I love these poverty stricken freelance journos that risk the wrath of recording companies by selling the promos that get issued to them to review. Some promos have a notice saying they are watermarked and traceable so it's not exactly a great idea to sell them for a couple of bucks.

Coheed and Cambria - No World For Tomorrow
Vampire Weekend - Contra

Both exceeded expectations

Most everything else I heard about after the fact, or I waited until after the album came out because I couldn't get it the day of.

Thrice - Beggars

Yes I was very impressed with this album. Thrice never fails to amaze me, they are always changing their sound and evolving. Some fans of the early stuff complain and say they changed too much, but I think it's just a sign of the band maturing and I like their new sound as well as their old music.

Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressible and Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongleland
Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth

Many classical discs performed by some of my favorite musicians, however I don't feel that this is the approperiate thread for those..

hmmm.. oh yes, and Infected Mushroom - Legend Of The Black Shawarma

EDIT: I should say I pre-ordered these albums the day they were released.. I got Shpongle's latest from the Twisted website (they were selling it before it was distributed to retailers) and the others from various websites I can no longer remember.

Oh, I have bought many on the day of release, but one that I long anticipated and that has never failed to satisfy:

Joan Armatrading "The Shouting Stage"



I have it Vinyl, Cassette Tape and CD...

...

Norah Jones, "The Fall", on vinyl was the most recent pre-order

I think that the last album i bought on release would be Resistance by Muse, and it definitely didnt meet my expectations, i thought it was pretty bad actually. Neither did the Deathalbum II from dethklok.

I think the last album i bought on release day that i really liked would be Daisy by Brand New

Daisy by Brand New is another recent album that I bought on release day that I was very impressed with.

I actually saw thrice and brand new in concert on halloween of 2007, that was a darn good show