Kanye, Axl, The Killers, Oh My!

A perfect storm is upon us.

It's the type that will leave ears ringing and wallets barren; an event so epic, a day so important that even the struggling music industry can't help but be captivated by its possibilities.

And to think, it has nothing to do with the next copyright infringement lawsuit, or earnings report from another bankrupt label. No, if all holds true, November 25, 2008 will prove to be the sort of day music fans and industry bigwigs dream of. It will be a day that reflects the best of music as a media not bogged down in frivolous lawsuits and questions over its future, but one still offering the ability to captivate and delight, and ultimately, remind us why we fell in love with the sounds resonating from those crackling speakers in the first place.

You see, November 25th could very well end up being one of the most exciting days in the history of music. It's a Tuesday, a day of new releases, in the midst of the biggest shopping time of the year So it already reasonable to expect big things -- big new music from big names. But this big?

If all holds true, the final Tuesday in November will offer three of the year's most anticipated new releases in music. So anticipated in fact, that there aren't enough adjectives in the English dictionary to do these releases justice. Think I'm kidding?

Kanye West, the Killers, and Guns N' Roses

Yeah. That's no typo. And you thought I was just trying to be cute.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a perfect storm is in our sights, one ready to slam us with a tidal wave of new music that can't help but makes heads spin and wallets burn. Oh, the humanity!

So how'd we get there? What evil masterminds (aka geniuses) made Tuesday, November 25, 2008, music's closest version to an apocalypse? Well, lets see. Best Buy, 50 Cent, and some dude over at Island Records who thought that day would be a good time to release the Killers' third full-length studio album.

Since Gun N' Roses have been making us wait the longest, lets give Axl and Co. a taste of their own medicine and instead, start dissecting this madness by taking a look at Mr. Kanye West's latest creative endeavor. After spending the summer feuding with Bonnarooers, hanging with Obama, and getting arrested, the Chicago hip-hopper recently took some time to record his fourth studio album. Originally scheduled to hit stores on December 16th, 808’s & Heartbreak, headed by its stunningly awesome first single Love Lockdown, was to make the perfect holiday gift. But then greedy old 50 Cent got involved, calling out Kanye for another one of those tiring record release rematches (see: 2007). Kanye was unwilling to oblige, instead choosing to move the release date for 808 up to November 25th.

The Killers on the other hand, have no reason for choosing November 25th, at least the best I can tell. Instead, it's the classic example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. News of the Las Vegas outfit's new album, entitled Day & Age, was a bit sudden (then again, isn't this the case for most new releases these days?) but since offering a taste of a few selections on Saturday Night Live, I think it's safe to say no one is complaining too much over the chain of events. Produced by Stuart Prince, known for his work with Madonna, the 12-track effort will apparently feature an assortment of sounds, as seen during the band's appearance on SNL. Think: Madonna remixes + David Bowie. Or at least, that's what it sounds like so far.

Finally, there is Guns N' Roses and Chinese Democracy. I think I've said enough about the actual album already so lets just get down to the nitty gritty. While nothing is 100% set in stone, according to a number of industry sources, Axl and his latest incarnation of Guns N' Roses are finally satisfied, or got a good dosage of OCD pills, and are ready to release the album now 15+ years in the making for all to enjoy. The fine folks over at Best Buy were apparently the incredibly talented souls ingenious enough to not only convince Axl that the album was good enough to release, but get him to agree to do it exclusively through their stores. Talk about Marketing 101.

So that's where we stand. Three albums from three artists with a collective résumé featuring four number one appearances and 115 million records sold worldwide. A perfect storm is probably the only way to put it, a day which could very well go down in music history.

Then again, Kanye could pull an ego trip or Axl could run out of meds, find a tiny flaw, and scrap China's long awaited "Democracy" forever. As beautiful as this perfect storm could be, it could also turn out to be equally disastorus. Remeber the end of The Perfect Storm when George Clooney goes down with the ship, while Marky Mark drifts slowly away among the dark ocean waves? Yeah, something like that.