Blue October

This album is the sound of a band attempting to overachieve after being dumped by their label. The good news is that they accomplished their intended goal by crafting a masterwork whose only flaw is its attempts to be all things to all fans -- veering from introspective on "Ugly Side," which beats like an arrhythmic heart with its idiosyncratic time signatures, to the power pop of "Calling You" to the haunted tragedy of "Chameleon Boy," a guilt-ridden soap opera about a friend who died of an overdose. The best news of all is that after the release of History for Sale, Blue October's label re-signed them.