On The Shelf: Tomorrow’s New Releases Revealed Today

In this week’s edition of On The Shelf, Idolator’s weekly look at select releases coming out on Tuesday: Nine Inch Nails’ Year Zero at long last arrives, as do new albums from Avril Lavigne, Mark Ronson, and Bucky Covington.

Nine Inch Nails, Year Zero The artist: Internet-friendly industrial powerhouse. The sound: Apocalyptic, glitch-filled nightmares. The first in line: Digg users. (The ones who buy CDs, anyway.)

Avril Lavigne, The Best Damn Thing The artist: “Bratty” “punky” “Canadian” “blonde” “singer.” The sound: An overly self-satisfied eight-year old slapping you in the face for 45 minutes straight. The first in line: Manga hounds.

Mark Ronson, Version The artist: DJ/producer/Foreigner-fortune heir. The sound: An all-covers album that’s either completely ironic or completely sincere. We can’t tell anymore. The first in line: People who were really into the sound of Back To Black. (Honestly? They should really buy a Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings record instead.)

Bucky Covington, Bucky The artist: The eighth-place finisher on last season’s American Idol. The sound: Gruffly slick slide-guitar pop. (Our prediction? It won’t do Daughtry numbers, but it may outsell Taylor Hicks.) The first in line: Idol watchers who can’t wait for tomorrow’s Martina McBride-shepherded episode.

On The CD Front [Pause & Play]