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By Roderick Armageddon

Withering away in the heat of a blistering July, there is little to pep you up, aside from maybe an ice-cold shower or a naked run through Central Park at midnight. Luckily, you can still bask in other pleasures with the hope that by taking your mind off the heat, you'll be able to keep your pants on as you lounge in a cool (hopefully) corner of the world. Some people choose to use these low-energy days to work their way through that last great Danielle Steele novel, while still others choose to take advantage of the heat for fat loss, punishing themselves with a brisk ten mile run in the mid-day sun. For those of us who choose not to exercise our minds or our bodies too excessively, we seek recreation that stimulates without over-baking.

For me, the perfect stimulus for a horrendous heat wave is music. Whether an iPod, boombox or family room hi-fi, chances are a good dose of aural pleasure will do far more for your mood than most any high-heat therapy. In our undying quest to provide the most useful, useless or titillating information to our readers, Anvil is proud to present the top eight summer albums for killing the pain generated by the latest heat wave. Why only eight? Simple. Ten is just too much to deal with in this damn heat.

Sit back, queue up your browser and start sampling the best cochlear massage available.

8) Absolution, MUSE
This album is the commercially-successful follow-up to the band's far more intense and complex UK-only release, Origin of Symmetry, which introduced me to MUSE and to musically complex, and melodically beautiful rock. Heavy metal makes its mark with ravaging guitar thrashing that drives through every imaginable chord possible, whereas MUSE's less-aggressive rock is perfect summer fare, drifting from hard-driving heat rage to truly melodic and downright haunting meditation. What's more, Mathew Bellamy's voice seems to be channeling the late great Jeff Buckley. MUSE is the real deal.

7) Flood, They might be Giants
From the radio-happy "Little Birdhouse in Your Soul," to the summer-camp-ready "Istanbul," this album is begging to be played out on the front porch, right next to your chocolate milkshake and ice cold PBR. The "Johns" that comprise They Might be Giants (TMBG) have produced a boatload of inspiring, uplifting and thoughtful songs over the years, but this album put them on the commercial map, making way for an extended career that now features albums targeted for the ankle-biters in your house. While this album truly sets the standard, you could put just about any TMBG record on the turntable and generate a toe-tappin' good time.

6) I'm Your Man, Leonard Cohen
Just about everything Leonard Cohen touches turns to gold, but this late 80's masterpiece finds the songster at his best, slicing through hard-driving and slow waltzing tunes with the precision of a master horseman. His lyrics are the brilliant revelations of an aging genius who has seen much, done more and remembered well enough to make the rest of us feel like we haven't really lived at all. This album just screams (with purpose) summer, as it's one of the first records I played on a back road journey with my wife through Eastern Oregon on our way to Idaho one blistering August. Nothing touches you quite like the sight of a beautiful open plain, backed by the sincere, brilliant words of a true poet.

5) Soundtrack, Batman (1989), Prince
As if the general public wasn't already having trouble accepting Tim Burton as the director of a beloved comic classic, the director cast Mr. Mom (Michael Keaton) as its hero and then along came the funky little purple man to really mix it up. Allowing a single artist to pen all the songs for a movie is always a gamble, but with Prince at the helm, Burton took faith in knowing the velvet lord's musical creations would likely be just as exciting and surreal as the director's visual creations. The film premiered in the middle of the summer and when the first single, "Bat Dance," hit the radio, everyone knew exactly how big the film was going to be, and the little purple Prince giggled all the way to the bank.

4) A Kind of Magic, Queen
Recorded in late 1985, this was the first album that Queen developed entirely in the studio –and the first time they ever let cameras in the studio to record the entire process. More importantly, for his 1986 epic, the Highlander, starring Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert, filmmaker Russell Mulcahy commissioned this album as an unofficial soundtrack. The album was released by Queen but never released as a soundtrack to the film. Plain and simple, this album kicks ass, and it's as varied as they get, drifting from hard-driving rock and supple love songs, to uplifting fun-for-alls and the beautiful, "Who Wants to Live Forever." This is summer blockbuster fun at its best and a band at its prime. If you have a car with a big stereo, crank it up on the track, "Princes of the Universe."

3) Movin' Melodies, ATB
ATB is a relatively attractive, seemingly personality-less German producer that launched his recording career into full swing with this 1999 breakout album. Nearly every tune makes you want to move the junk in your trunk, so maybe it's not the best album for relaxing, but the tone is always pure sunshine –even "Too much Rain over Paradise." Whether it's the licks he applies to his leading synths, or perhaps the tropical splendor of the steel drum samples, there's something on this dance album to please just about anyone. What's most intriguing about this album is the fact that it hasn't aged much in the six years it's been on the market –a rarity in electronic dance music.

2) Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
There is far too much to say about this album to do it any justice, but I'll do my best. It's a known fact that music critics worldwide almost unanimously regard this record as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Truly the work of a mad genius who made the toil of his troubled workshop finally come to life, this is Brian Wilson and company at their absolute best. There isn't a tune on this album that doesn't sound ready to rocket your convertible down the highway. Random Pet Sounds fact: my copy of this album was purchased at a Wal-Mart just south of the Washington and British Columbian border after I went mad listening to the radio. I think my wife and I listened to it at least 20 times during the rest of our trip. Like a fine wine, this album gets ever more precious as the years roll by.

1) Soundtrack, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Various Artists
Stephan Elliot's 1994 groundbreaking film marked a new era in drag-chic, spawning cheap imitators (To Wong Fu...) and jumpstarting the careers of two of Australia's finest actors (Hugo Weaving and Guy Pierce). What's more, Terrance Stamp proved that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks, showing us why he is one of the best damn actors to grace the planet. Filmed almost entirely in the barren and beautiful center of Australia, this film just feels like summer. Perhaps it's the fabulous frocks and thoughtful look at parenthood, friendship, homosexuality and growing up. Or maybe it's simply a combination of the best disco tunes recorded and the memory of Guy Pierce walking through a dusty old town in a jaw-dropping G-String. Whatever the case, this album provides endless reasons to grin.