My vote for the best of 2000?  It�s not Gore, and it�s not Bush, and it�s not even Nader.  It�s not even an album.  It�s the spirit of the industry.  The kids have exploded this year, the rocking masses have awakened, and there�s rock to be had finally again for anyone who wants it.  Styles, fads and genre names come and go, but rock and roll is always there, and lately we haven�t had to even dig for it. 

On my trips to the record store over the past few years, I have been finding myself more and more going back to just fill in the gaps in my record collection, rather than purchasing many new releases.  The �thug� rock that�s been dominating the scene for the last three years, while some of it is good, just doesn�t always connect with me.  (Don�t even get me started on the Britney Spears� and boy bands of the world. )  I am a white blonde skinny assed chick from the Midwest who listens to the �Pretty in Pink� soundtrack in its entirety at least once every two weeks.....still.  I love and adore metal, don�t get me wrong, but I can�t even begin to step into Fred Durst�s shoes and even have a smidgen of a clue of where he�s coming from.  He�s found his niche, and filled it well.  Kudos to him.  Say it�s because I�m a girl, whatever, I don�t care.  I am just not crazy about it. 

Bands like Monster Magnet, Type O Negative, the Foo Fighters and Collective Soul were the only thing that the mass media was giving me that was on the front rack for me in the nineties.  Everything else, well, I had to order it myself.  I know I could order it off of the internet, but I have this little thing about supporting the local stores that service my area, no matter how lame they may be.  Still, there�s something wrong about getting laughed at when you show up at the counter at your local record store, and the guy behind the counter with fifteen piercings and a mohawk, says �Whoa, who listens to this???�.  That�s the music industry�s attitude towards good rock right there, and it�s just plain sad.  Take a good look around your local Musicland or Sam Goody.  They don�t care if you have taste.  They just want your money.  What else would the industry have me buy?  Oooh, I am a girl.  Maybe I should have checked out Mariah Carey.  Maybe a nice Celine Dion album.  Oooh, there was a festival just for me, Lilith Fair.   PULEASE.  I was and still am so insulted.  I want to rock too, and with none of the ©rap!  I was really beginning to wonder if those in the industry knew that there was more to rock than Creed.  Hey, music industry idiots!  I already own several Creed-sounding albums, they�re called �Vitalogy� and �Dirt�.  I didn�t feel like spending my hard-earned money on new ones that sounded the same, and I am one of those few who actually can�t bring herself to download much of anything on Napster, and even when I do, I always go out and buy it.  I can�t help it.  I feel guilty�because I am a girl.  Doh.

I honestly can�t remember the last time I heard of five new band�s albums that I just HAD TO GET.  I was off on a tangent discovering the European and NYC techno club scene this year, (Montreal is rock and roll HELL to give you an idea), and what do I come back to but a plethora of new bands trying to bring back �the rock.�  A Perfect Circle, Finger Eleven, Incubus, Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Papa Roach, are all prime examples of guys (and girls) going out there and just rocking their asses off.  They�re making music for what it is�music.  It�s not an easily packageable thing, no matter how many labels the industry gives them, but each of them have been doing their own thing and�for the first time in years�selling.   They�re not trying to be gangstas, they�re not trying to be Kiss, they�re not trying to put on airs of being �above it�, nor are they trying to depress the hell out of us.  They just want to make good music so we can buy it and listen to it in our cars, our houses, our parking lots, our malls, wherever.  That�s all we really want of our bands, isn�t it?  Isn�t that part of the American dream? 

So rock on, kids�they�re handing it to you.  No matter who�s president for the next four years, no matter where our economy goes, one thing will be for certain, rock will be there for you.  We�ll be listening.  I will continue to do what I have always done, and vote for my bands the good old fashioned way, by walking down to the store and casting my ballot with the folks at Visa.