Top 5 Billboard Albums
Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted holds the #1 for a second week, moving 90,000 (down 65%). U2's No Line on the Horizon climbs a notch to #2 with 76,000 (down 42%) while the Twilight soundtrack rebounds to #3 with 74,000 (up 251%). A March 17 relaunch, with five bonus tracks and a DVD added, helped reposition the vamp flick soundtrack.
The Dream's Love Vs. Money drops two positions to #4 with 56,000 (down 63%) in its second week, while Lady GaGa's The Fame climbs one notch to #5 with 50,000 (up 8%).
Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
Flo Rida's "Right Round" maintains its #1 spot this week, while his track "Suga," featuring Wynter, scores the chart's hot shot debut at #25. The chart's greatest airplay gainer was Lady GaGa's "Poker Face," which climbs to #2 this week, while "Kiss Me Thru The Phone," by Soulja Boy Tell 'em shifted up one spot to #3.
Rounding out the top 10 are "Dead and Gone," by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake, which slips two positions to #4; the All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell," up one to #5; Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You," dropping one spot to #6; "Blame It," by Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain, up one spot to No. 7; Kanye West's "Heartless," down one to #8; "I Told You So," by Carrie Underwood featuring Randy Travis, which zooms up to #9 from No. 57; and Lady GaGa featuring Colby O'Donis with "Just Dance," maintaining at #10.
Rapper T.I. was sentenced to serve a year and a day in jail after pleading guilty to weapons charges, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. While federal sentencing guidelines mandated that he serve at least four years and nine months for his crime, the rapper’s legal team worked out an experimental plea bargain that allowed T.I. to stay under house arrest, pay a $100,000 fine and serve 1,000 hours of community service, with another 500 hours due after release. Having complied with the requirements of the plea bargain, T.I. was handed the sentence today in an Atlanta courtroom. He was arrested in October 2007 for attempting to add guns to an already large illegal arsenal.
T.I isn’t expected to report to prison for another six to eight weeks, due to "prior commitments". He's only expected to spend 298 days behind bars, because the plea agreement allows for the rapper to eliminate 15 percent of his sentence based on good behavior. The two weeks that T.I. spent in prison after his initial arrest will also count toward his prison term, reducing the length of the sentence even further.
The dates and lineup were announced for the 2009 Vans Warped Tour, set to feature performances by Bad Religion, NOFX, Underoath, Thrice, 3OH!3, Black Tide, Flogging Molly, Bayside, Less Than Jake, Flipper, Shooter Jennings and the Gallows, among others.
The 15th edition of the 46-date traveling rock/punk festival begins June 26 at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, CA, and runs through Aug. 23 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.
Other acts scheduled to perform include Anti-Flag, the Dickies, DOA, Ivy League, Senses Fail, Jeffree Star Chiodos, Fishbone, Guttermouth, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Silverstein, the Ataris, the White Tie Affair, the Exploited and Westbound Train. A full list of festival dates and artists are available at warpedtour.com.
Pre-sale tickets go on sale April 1 for $25 plus a shitload of obscene, unexplained TM service charges. Each pre-sale ticket purchase will include a copy of the Vans Warped Tour 2009 CD compilation, and 25 cents from each ticket sold will benefit the Camp Hollywood Heart charity. The general ticket on sale begins April 18.
3Oh!3's Nathaniel Motte (That's a band name? Really? Come the fuck on already) recently told Billboard.com that his group is "stoked" to be a main stage act for Warped's full summer run this year. "It's a rough tour as far as weather and stuff like that," he says, "but it's so much fun and there's so much energy, pretty much like summer camp. We're really excited about it."
They should be. Last year's Vans Warped tour grossed $13.2 million and drew more than 482,000 fans to 34 concerts, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Green Day plans to release its eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, on Friday, May 15. It's the band's first full length since 2004's American Idiot, and will be produced by Butch Vig, known for his work with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and his own band Garbage.
21st Century Breakdown is said to possess a narrative structure, telling the story of a young couple, Christian and Gloria. The album is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints" and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades." Track titles include "21 Guns," "East Jesus Nowhere," "Before the Lobotomy," and "Restless Heart Syndrome."
The first single, "Know Your Enemy," will go on sale digitally in April.
Last month, Billboard previewed six songs from Breakdown" "Know Your Enemy" is reportedly a sturdy, catchy rock cut demanding "revolution," while "Before the Lobotomy" begins as an acoustic wash before shifting into a heavy three-chord riff and lyrics dripping with antipathy: "I'm not stoned / I'm just fucked up."
The album's title track, an ultra-melodic midtempo rocker with Green Day's familiar three-chord verses and Billie Joe Armstrong's summation of society: "My generation is zero / I'd never make it as a working class hero."
At SXSW last week, Lars Ulrich had a talk with the LA Times about the Guitar Hero: Metallica Game, the true role of the record label, and the Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger. Surprisingly, it sounds like the little prick is finally growing a brain.
On whether Metallica needs a major label: "Without offending any of the good people from the record company in the room, no. Let's cut to the chase. . . . The primary — not the only, but the primary — function of a record label is to act as a bank. When you're fortunate enough to be successful and so on, you don't need to rely on record companies as the banks. . . . We're doing a bunch of shows with Trent [Reznor, Nine Inch Nails] this summer in Europe. I look forward to sitting down and talking to him about what's on his radar."
On the proposed merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster: "We haven't sold out to Live Nation, and we are certainly not planning on it. And we are very, very fortunate that we do not need what they offer to continue to be who we are. Certainly, some of the practices that come in the wake of this — like direct reselling and all the stuff that Bruce [Springsteen] was up against in January and some of these other things — obviously are very distasteful, and downright . . . it's just ripping people off. It's impure. So obviously I'd stand up and scream from every rooftop that I think that's . . . impure."
Take it as you will.
Former Guns N' Roses drummer and current alcoholic downward-spiraling mess Steven Adler had some strong words for Axl during an interview with Psycho Babble.
When discussing the possibilities of a Guns N' Roses reunion and what it would mean to him, according to a Sleazeroxx report Adler said, "It would be nice if we could do a reunion. I know, it would help me, in my life. Because I'm afraid when I die I'm gonna have to come back again to finish what I started. And if I could finish what I started with the GN'R guys, as a band, I know I could die happy.
"But I'm not gonna wait for him (Axl Rose). I waited and cried for decades, and no more. Fuck him!"
In what can only be described as a match made in trashy hick heaven, Kid Rock and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger are set to perform at the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania next month.
Scherzinger will open the show with a rendition of "America the Beautiful" while Kid Rock plans to play a medley of tracks including "Cowboy", "Bawitdaba", "Rock N Roll Jesus" and "So Hott".
Let's buy tickets.
Flo Rida denied any involvement on the part of he and his entourage in regards to recent animal cruelty accusations... involving a rabbit.
An eyewitness claims to have seen two men kill a rabbit during Flo's tour bus stop in Kentucky on Wednesday (March 25). Rida responded, “While no one in my party was in any way involved in any incident, the media report that I saw was sickening. As an animal lover, I would never want to see cruelty inflicted upon them.”
Kentucky authorities still want to discuss the incident with everyone on the bus, but at the moment, Rida remains on a promo tour for his upcoming album R.O.O.T.S. (Routes of Overcoming The Struggle). That hits on April 7.
Marilyn Manson's giving fans a free taste of his forthcoming The High End of Low album. Available as a free download March 27, We're From America can be found at MarilynManson.com. The song will be available as a digital single on April 7 and will preview Manson's seventh studio album, which arrives May 26.
The album's official first single, "Arma... geddon", will arrive at radio April 13. Manson's new lineup, including ex- A Perfect Circle bassist Ramirez (for the first time in close to a decade), plus keyboardist Chris Vrenna, and drummer Ginger Fish, will close the main stage at the Mayhem Festival, this July through August. Manson will also kick off his world tour with a headline festival run this June in Europe.
Produced by Manson, Vrenna and Twiggy, The High End of Low was recorded in Manson's Hollywood Hills studio and also features the track "I Want to Kill You Like They Do In The Movies". Manson says of the new album, "I think my life definitely ended and began. The record sounds very final, but it's almost optimistic — though that feels like a strange word to use. It's a phoenix from the fire and a redemption resurrection."
Guns N' Roses has hired Dj Ashba as the official replacement for current NIN guitarist Robin Finck. Ashba is best known as co-founder of hard rock bands Sixx AM and Beautiful Creatures, which both sucked ass.
"Dj's a gifted, energetic guitarist that Guns N' Roses is proud to have on board!!" exclaims Axl Rose. "We're very excited to have the opportunity to work together. Guns' radar has silently been aware of Dj's presence for quite some time! He brings a fresh approach to our particular brand of mayhem expanding the tapestry of Guns N' Roses live. Once Dj's name was in the hat, the hat disappeared!!"
"It's an honor to have the opportunity to be a part of a band that I have always loved and respected," said Dj Ashba. "I'm looking forward to working with Axl, who is not only one of the few great front men of our generation, but a true artist."
Not that this helps the digestion process, but Dj Ashba co-wrote and co-produced Motley Crue's latest album Saints of Los Angeles.
The sad, ridiculous animal that is Billy Corgan announced last Friday (March 20) that he is heading into the studio to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, despite the fact that none of his original bandmates will be a part of it. Jimmy Chamberlin, the group's original drummer and the only original Pumpkin to play with the band on its recent 20th anniversary "reunion" tour, "has left the group" according to a terse statement released on the band's website.
The statement said, "The Smashing Pumpkins' guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member Billy Corgan has announced that drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has left the group. Chamberlin joined the band Corgan founded in Chicago in 1988 and played on all their albums except Adore (1998). Corgan will continue to write and record as Smashing Pumpkins with plans to head into the studio this spring."
Don't buy it. Don't go to the show. Don't listen to his misguided ranting. He's a sore on his own history. Let's let him fade.
Tool fans had a slow year in 2008, with frontman Maynard James Keenan focusing on Puscifer and his vineyards. The band’s hiatus appears to be nearing an end, as the Tool Website has revealed plans for a summer tour. No dates have been confirmed as yet, but “once they are finalized and official, we’ll be sure to announce them on the site,” the band writes. According to a press release announcing the performers at Denver’s Mile High Festival on July 18th and 19th, Tool are confirmed headliners.
Tool was last week mentioned by the Chicago Tribune as one of the possible headliners at this year’s Lollapalooza festival, so the fact that the band revealed plans to tour this summer lends credence to that theory.
The band’s last tour was an 18-month world-trip that kicked off at April 2006’s Coachella Festival (I was there - amazing performance) and wrapped up December 14th, 2007 in Las Vegas. In between, the quartet headlined a night at the 2007 Bonnaroo.
Soundgarden reunites! But they don't!
From Rock Daily: Spotted some reports about a near Soundgarden reunion last night in Seattle at one of Tom Morello’s Justice Tour stops. RS reader Chris Senn writes in with an eyewitness account of what went down at the Crocodile Cafe after the MC5’s Wayne Kramer, Morello’s Nightwatchman, Steve Earle and Morello’s new Street Sweeper had taken their turns onstage (YouTube after the jump!):
“Of course, with Tom Morello and Wayne Kramer in the building it’s a given the audience is in for some kind of incarnation of ‘Kick Out the Jams.’ For lead vocals they brought out Mark Arm, lead singer of Mudhoney, while Morello and Kramer faced off in a guitar duel front and center stage. Shortly after this an additional guitarist showed up quietly, playing at the side of the stage. Although it’s been over a decade since Soundgarden broke up and his signature beard is now gray, there’s no mistaking Kim Thayil!
When Thayil was playing I could see Matt Cameron peeking around the backstage curtain. That’s when it was obvious something was up because Cameron wasn’t announced on the bill. After the song they were playing at the time ended, whatever it was, Tom Morello had the announcement those at the Croc had been waiting for.
‘I haven’t been this fucking excited about something in a long time,’ Morello exclaimed, almost bubbling over with joy. ‘It’s like I won some type of contest or something.’ Then came the introduction: Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, Matt Cameron and Tad Doyle as Tadgarden!!
The Soundgarden bandmates, playing for the first time together since the band broke up in 1997, didn’t take long to hit a groove. Tad Doyle, a veteran of the Seattle scene with a voice as rough as he looks and the size of about two Matt Camerons, screamed at the top of his lungs while bounding around the stage with reckless abandon. Their way-too-short three-song set rocked nonetheless. They tore through ‘Nothing to Say,’ and Morello joined them on ‘Spoonman.’ Kim Thayil displayed his signature guitar licks as if no time had passed. They finished with an energetic version of ‘Hunted Down.’ Then they were gone.”
It's probably better that Cornell wasn't there. This was no time to piss all over the history books. It was a celebration among friends.
The makers of Rock Band have revealed that after only 15 months of business, the franchise has reached over $1 billion in North American retail sales alone. MTV Games and Harmonix also announced that more than 40 million individual tracks had been downloaded and purchased on the Rock Band platform.
Despite heavy competition from its predecessor Guitar Hero, in 2008 Rock Band was the number one title of 2008 by revenue across all game genres. Of course, 2007’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was the first video game ever to break the billion-dollar barrier. So right now I'd say things are pretty even.
Fans can expect the numbers to fluctuate as both titles release big-name versions this year: Guitar Hero: Metallica hits shelves March 29th, and The Beatles: Rock Band, perhaps the most-anticipated game in either franchise’s history, will be released on September 9th, 2009. Guitar Hero reportedly has a Van Halen-dedicated version on the way as well.
Chickenfoot, the band which features former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar, guitarist Joe Satriani, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, have announced the release of their debut album Chickenfoot: Sunday, June 7th, only at Best Buy.
The album, retardedly hailed as the most intense rock'n'roll album since Led Zeppelin, coincides with a European tour that will consist of outdoor festivals, including Montreaux, Switzerland, and Bospop, Holland, plus various intimate indoor rock shows including the London O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on June 25th.
"People have this idea of what this band is about, or what Sammy Hagar is about as a lyricist and a vocalist," says Joe Satriani. "We manage to get each guy to up his game in a non-confrontational way. When I play with Chickenfoot, I want to give them more all the time, and I don't hold anything back. I think the rest of the guys feel the same way."
"Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is from Detroit and he can play the hell out of funk, but he's a rocker," says Sammy Hagar. "He plays hard and he's balanced. Chickenfoot wouldn't exist without his groove."
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