Saturday, July 17, 2010

Sarah McLachlan's Laws Of Illusion dropped a spot to #13 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Bret Michaels' Custom Built debuted at #14. Carole King & James Taylor's Live At The Troubadour climbed 3 places to #16. Ozzy Osbourne's Scream dropped 7 spots to #18. Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite debuted at #19. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers' Mojo fell 4 places to #20. Glee Cast's Glee The Music Vol. 3: Showstoppers dropped 4 spots to #26. Glee Cast's Glee The Music: Journey To Regionals fell 9 places to #30.
Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums chart. Gorillaz' Plastic Beach dropped 9 spots to #21. AC/DC's Iron Man 2 soundtrack fell 3 places to #23. Glee Cast's Glee: The Music Vol. 3: Showstoppers dropped 2 spots to #25. Stevie Wonder's The Definitive Collection fell 11 places to #27. Michael Jackson's Number Ones dropped 8 spots to #30. Glee Cast's Glee The Music: Season One Vol. 1 climbed 4 places to #33. Glee Cast's Glee The Music: Journey To Regionals dropped 13 spots to #34.
Kylie Minogue's "All The Lovers" fell 6 places to #9 on the U.K. Singles chart.

Friday, July 16, 2010

According to California assemblyman Mike Davis, he believes that it would be worth studying to see whether the California Department of Parks and Recreation should take over the Neverland Ranch and possibly turn the 2,500 acre estate into a state park.
Heart have finished work on their follow-up to Jupiter's Darling. The Ben Mink-produced album, Red Velvet Car, is due out on Aug. 31st. Expect the 10-track set to be accompanied by a DVD filmed on Mar. 5th at the Experience Music Project in Seattle.
French composer, producer and performer Jean Michel Jarre was recently presented with The MOJO Lifetime Achievement Award by John Foxx during a celebratory event in London.
It seems that one release will prevent the timeliness of another. Trent Reznor's wife Mariqueen Maandig is pregnant and, as the couple expect their first child, fans will not be able to expect the release of their debut album, How To Destroy Angels. The album has been pushed back until next year.
Bono is currently recovering from his recent back surgery but things are going well enough that the band has scheduled tour dates for as soon as next month. North America looks to get dates by May of 2011.
Gang Of Four have announced that their sixth studio album, Content, will be released on Oct. 4th. The first single, "Who Am I?," comes out Sept. 13th.
For Tom Jones' 36th studio album, he chose to avoid the Christmas album idea Island Records had and wanted to go more spiritual for Praise & Blame due out in the U.K. on July 26th. The album has been getting great reviews for the stripped-down nature and hints of Johnny Cash. The official video for "Did Trouble Me" has been released at YouTube.

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali is hoping to raise $20,000 to finish work on a Quiet Riot documentary. If anyone was to get a documentary done it would have been Banali who was in the band for 27 years and doubled as the band's manager for the last 13 years. He also has a wealth of material in his personal home video vaults to use for the project. If you are interested in helping by pledging money to help finish shooting and edit -- visit here.
Most of you have been waiting for metal and sci-fi to embrace and create offspring... maybe not everyone, but you may enjoy this video for Iron Maiden's title track to their new album, The Final Frontier. The album is due out Aug. 16th but they've now launched a directors cut of the opening song on the album "Satellite 15... The Final Frontier."


The Final Frontier - Director's Cut

Iron Maiden | MySpace Music Videos
Emmylou Harris has been writing new music over the last year. She expects to take those and a few other songs into the studio to start recording a new album by August.
Jon Bon Jovi reportedly tore a calf muscle on stage in New Jersey on Friday night. He continued to perform. Several YouTube videos have shown the frontman struggling through the show but after taking the next day off they will resume their summer tour.
Original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler will release his new autobiography, My Appetite For Destruction, via Harper Collins on July 27th.
Weird Al Yankovic has announced that the release of his new studio album has been put in "suspended animation" for the duration of his North American tour. There are 3 more songs that he plans to write and record when he gets off the road to complete the album.
The Michael Schenker Group will see the release of Live In Tokyo: 30th Anniversary Japan Tour on DVD, Blu-ray and CD on Oct. 19th via MVD Entertainment.
Pearl Jam announced to fans attending their performance at the Optimus Alive festival in Lisbon, Portugal on Sunday, "Thank you for coming to our last show. Not our last ever, but our last in a long time." This extended hiatus will go through 2011 with drummer Matt Cameron planning to rejoin Soundgarden for their upcoming reunion shows.
Former Kansas and Dixie Dregs guitarist Steve Morse has collaborated with Sarah Spencer on a new project named Angelfire. The self-titled debut will be released on Aug. 10th via Radiant Records.
The Posies have announced that they will release their new studio album, Blood/Candy, via Rykodisc on Sept. 28th.
Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh has set an Aug. 31st release date for her new book, Rat Girl: A Memoir.
The BBC have announced that they are producing a film based on the story of Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith's 1985 charity event, Live Aid, to mark its 25th anniversary.
Paul Collins will release his new studio album, King Of Power Pop, as a free download on Aug. 24th. According to Collins, "For me this is the record that connects the dots, from The Nerves to The Breakaways to The Beat to today this is the record that puts it all together!" You can download one of the songs, "Do You Wanna Love Me?," from the album right now here.
Roy Orbison's The Last Concert will be released on CD on Aug. 10th via Eagle Rock Entertainment The set was available for a limited time on iTunes in 2008 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his passing.
Carlos Santana's new studio album will be titled Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time when released on Sept. 21st. Meanwhile, he proposed to Cindy Blackman on stage 4 songs into his July 9th concert in Tinley Park, Illinois. The proposal came after Cindy's virtuoso drum solo on "Corazon Espinado" and after she accepted, they kissed, the audience cheered and the show continued.
Stryper have announced the track list for their album, The Covering, due out this fall which includes covers of songs by Sweet, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, UFO, Kansas, Deep Purple, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. In honor of Ronnie James Dio, you can check out the sample of their version of "Heaven And Hell" at YouTube.

Levellers frontman/songwriter Mark Chadwick has announced that he will release his solo debut album, All The Pieces, on Sept. 6th. Curious about the sound? You can download "Satellite" from the album right here.
David Gilmour, Flea, Nile Rodgers, Mani of Primal Scream/Stone Roses and a reunited classic line-up of Roxy Music (for the first time since 1973) are among the guests joining Bryan Ferry on his new studio album, Olympia, due out Oct. 25th via Astralwerks Records. The disc includes 8 originals and several covers. The first single from the album will be "You Can Dance" due out Aug. 2nd.
Morrissey will see his 1990 release, Bona Drag, hit stores in a 20th anniversary version on Oct. 4th via Major Minor Records/EMI. The album compiled the early solo work by the Smiths frontman and launched his solo success in the U.S. The singer has overseen the project which includes 6 bonus rare tracks.
Queensryche plan to release a 20th anniversary edition of their Empire album on Sept. 14th which will include a bonus disc of 10 live tracks recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon.
The long-awaited double-disc David Bowie tribute album, We Were So Turned On, will be released on Sept. 6th. Duran Duran ("Boys Keep Swinging"), John Frusciante ("Red Money" with Swahili Blonde) and Mick Karn ("Ashes To Ashes") are among the performers on the set that raises funds for the War Child charity.
Jerry Lee Lewis will release his new album, Mean Old Man, on Sept. 7th which will feature guest appearances by Mich Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Ringo Star, Eric Clapton, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Slash and many others. Two versions will be available: a 10-track standard version and a 18-track special edition.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry was taken to Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton, Massachusetts, after police identified him as the victim of an accident on Thursday afternoon. Perry was driving his motorcycle when it was rear ended by a sedan. He suffered a back injury and some minor scrapes but he was treated and released. The group's manager has said the injuries will not impact their summer tour.
Killing Joke plan to release their new studio album, Absolute Dissent, via Spinefarm Records in the U.K. on Sept. 27th.
Pink Floyd's David Gilmour has announced that he will be joining former bandmate Roger Waters on stage during Waters' tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Wall. Gilmour had recently joined Waters on July 10th for a performance at the Hoping Foundation Benefit Evening.
R.E.M. has reportedly finished recording their new studio album in Berlin with producer Jacknife Lee. The band are expected to gather to mix the album this fall with the possibility of a spring release. Meanwhile, Peter Buck's Tired Pony side-project released their debut album, The Place We Ran From, this week.
OMD have announced that they will release, "If You Want It," the first single from their new studio album, History Of Modern, on Sept. 6th. The album is expected out on Sept. 20th.
Grammy Award-winning gospel vocalist, composer and pastor Walter Hawkins, 61, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday at his Ripon, California home. During the 1980s, he released 4 albums and earning 9 Grammy Award nominations. He is best known for his Love Alive albums which numbered 5 by 1998 and he had plans to record a new one this fall.
Reggae singer/producer Sugar Minott, 54, died on Saturday at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. A cause of death was not disclosed but Minott was forced to cancel performances in Canada two months ago due to chest pains (which may be unrelated.) He did suffer from a heart condition as of last year. Minott released 23 albums just during the 1980s. He ran his own record label (Black Roots) and also nurtured many up and coming artists including Junior Reid. Minott did record a new studio album, New Day, that is scheduled for release in the next few weeks.
Country singer/songwriter/producer Hank Cochran, 74, lost his battle with cancer on Thursday. Cochran was a legendary songwriter in county music -- writing hits for Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, George Strait and many others. By the 1980's, he had become more of a producer and composer but scored a 1980 country hit with Willie Nelson on "A Little Bitty Tear" off of Nelson's Honeysuckle Rose album.
New albums due out next week include: Big Head Todd & The Monsters - Rocksteady, The Innocence Mission - My Room In The Trees, Joe Elliott's Down 'N' Outz - My ReGeneration, Micki Free - American Horse, Paul Hardcastle - Jazzmasters VI, Brian Setzer Orchestra - Don't Mess With A Big Band, The Triffids - Wide Open Road, R.E.M. - Fables Of The Reconstruction, Sting - Symphonicities and Charlie Louvin - Hickory Wind: Live At The Gram Parsons Guitar Pull, Waycross GA