Outkast Plan New CD
NMC reports: Along with the Thanksgiving turkey this November, you can give thanks for a new OutKast album. 

Backstage at the KISS-FM Wango Tango Festival in California, Big Boi told MTV that a new OutKast album is coming in November. Big Boi said he and Andre 3000 will actually put out "two albums within the next 365 days." One album is the accompanying soundtrack for the HBO original movie in which the OutKast duo will act. Said Big Boi, "But before we put the soundtrack out, we're going to put another album out this November. It's gonna be a hardcore album, me and Dre letting Organized Noize produce the whole album." [more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Maroon 5 Cover AC/DC, Prince and NIN
NMC reports: Maroon 5 will release a limited-edition eight-song EP sometime this June. 

The EP's track list will contain live songs, some B-sides and at least one cover. During its live shows, Maroon 5 has covered several songs including Prince's "Darling Nikki," AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" and Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." It remains to be seen if one or more of these tracks will make it onto the new EP. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: NMC also has news on Franz Ferdinand, Sarah McLachlan, Incubus and Big Brother, Sean Paul Not Ready To Settle Down, Switchfoot On Fire, R.Kelly Court Case and more click here to check it out

Stone Pony Replaced By Condos?
ArrowFM reports: Even artists like Bruce Springsteen can only hang their heads in sorrow and feel helpless while their childhood neighborhoods are demolished. This is scheduled to happen to the 116-year-old Palace Amusements complex, a Jersey seashore landmark popularized in the Boss' hit "Born To Run." Despite numerous attempts by Springsteen to stop it, the landmark will get the wrecking ball in a few months. The Stone Pony rock venue, where Bruce and his E-Street band used to play surprise shows, will also be demolished along with the rest of the palace, all to be replaced by waterfront condos. Sad, sad, sad. - Click Here for the Full Story 

Oasis Beat Beatles?
ArrowFM reports: British rockers Oasis beat out their heroes The Beatles to attain the title of Best British Album Ever. 1994's Definitely, Maybe has topped a staff poll of the 50 best albums by Q magazine. Second in line is the Beatles' Revolver. Oasis also beat out such legends as the Rolling Stones, Bowie and Pink Floyd. Now, no offense to Oasis, but who said the British have better taste than Americans? Obviously that's merely a rumor. - Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: ArrowFM also has news on Aerosmith, Gene $immon$, The List For The Memorial Day Weekend 500!, Sting Comments On The War In Iraq, Deep Purple Singer Gets Nabbed For D.U.I. and more click here to check it out

Project Revolution Tour Adds Bands
siN's metal news reports: The PROJEKT REVOLUTION 2004 tour that already features LINKIN PARK, KORN, SNOOP DOGG, DOWNSET, GHOSTFACE KILLAH and more have added a few new bands to the tour's second stage. Those bands are: M.O.P. - NO WARNING - AUTOPILOT OFF - INSTRUCTION - Click Here for the Full Story 

Off-fest
siN's metal news reports: As you may have heard LAMB OF GOD, ATREYU, UNEARTH, and EVERY TIME I DIE will be hooking up for some dates during some of the off days of this summer's OZZFEST. Here's the itinerary: 

07/7 - Richmond, VA @ Alley Katz 
07/11 - Montreal, QC 
07/13 - Ottawa, ONT
07/17 - Syracuse, NY
07/21 - Cincinnati, OH
07/30 - San Diego, CA
08/1 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Venue of Scottsdale Formerly Cajun House
08/6 - Corpus Christi, TX 
08/8 - Houston, TX
08/9 - Little Rock, AR
08/15 - Minneaapolis, MN
08/18 - Williamsburg, NY
08/29 - London, ONT 
August 3 - Tallahassee, FL- Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: siN's metal news also has news on All Dreams Fail - Tour set to kick off July 16, Scorpions - They're back again..#20, Funeral For a Friend, Hell is for Heroes - Dropped., Cradle of Filth - Set to debut new material this Friday in London, Headbangers Ball - YOU Choose the best videos and more click here to check it out

Finn Bros. Record Again
Chart Attack reports: Since Crowded House split up in 1996, fans of Neil and Tim Finn have missed the magic of the two brothers performing together. Sure, the brothers have recorded solo albums, but it's just not the same. 

Now, eight years after Crowded House called it quits, Neil and Tim Finn are back together with producer Mitchell Froom and mixer Bob Clearmountain, and while it might not be Crowded House in name, it's Crowded House in spirit. Call it semi-crowded house. [see full story for more] - Click Here for the Full Story 

Clear Channel Under Fire Over Instant Live CDs
Reuters reports: Clear Channel Communications Inc. is under fire from smaller rivals worried that it will shut them out of the quickly growing business of offering live-concert CDs immediately after shows. 

San Antonio, Texas-based Clear Channel claims a key patent for the technology to offer such recordings, but competitors challenge whether that gives the company exclusive rights to create and sell instant recordings of live performances. 

The competing claims comes as Clear Channel, which is the No. 1 U.S. radio station owner, faces a trial in August over allegations that it abused its radio market clout to benefit its concert business. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Nickelback Pranksters
AP reports: Nickelback has discovered the perfect pastime for life on the road � the fine art of playing pranks. 

Recently, lead singer Chad Kroeger planned retaliation for a previous prank. It involved the band's bus driver and a lightning storm (which shook the tour bus) and resulted in incriminating photos of the band and crew sitting on top of bags of garbage, protecting themselves from lightning. [see full story for current tour dates... on the pranks front you should check out our interview with Mike Kroeger from 2001 where he discussed a backstage bet involving a fan (the thing that blows.. of the electric variety.. not human) and a hanging part of someone's anatomy] - Click Here for the Full Story 

Viacom Shakeup
AP reports: Mel Karmazin, one of the most highly regarded executives in the media industry, resigned suddenly as the No. 2 executive at Viacom Inc., the media conglomerate that owns CBS and MTV. 

He was replaced by two senior Viacom executives, CBS head Leslie Moonves and MTV chief Tom Freston, the company announced Tuesday. The moves clear the way for either Freston or Moonves to succeed Sumner Redstone, who is 81 years old, as CEO. - Click Here for the Full Story 

Adler's Debut
Blabbermouth reports: ADLER'S APPETITE, the new band featuring ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler, RATT/ex-LOVE/HATE singer Jizzy Pearl, ex-SLASH'S SNAKEPIT guitarist Keri Kelli, FASTER PUSSYCAT guitarist Brent Muscat, and ex-VINCE NEIL/RATT bassist Robbie Crane, will enter the studio in November/December to record their debut album, tentatively due in early 2005 through Shrapnel Records. [see full story for more including Euro dates]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Which GNR offshoot CD do you think will sell better? 

Extreme Motley Makeover?
Blabbermouth reports: According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil is scheduled to begin a three-month extreme makeover today for MTV's version of "The Swan". 

At 43, Vince is the first rock star to join the reality re-do craze. 

The new Neil will be revealed August 28, after seeing a lot of a trainer, a plastic surgeon and a lifestyle counselor. 

MTV is billing the show as "The Remaking of Vince Neil". At stake for Neil is a recording contract and the opportunity to work with a top producer and a recording artist. - Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: Blabbermouth also has news on IN FLAMES To Support METALLICA In Germany, CANNIBAL CORPSE, VADER Open For METALLICA In Poland, SOLEFALD Prepare To Enter Studio, Former ANTHRAX Singer JOEY BELLADONNA Announces Canadian Dates, L.A. GUNS, WARRANT, GREAT WHITE Confirmed For ROCKIN' THE HILLS Festival, ENUFF Z'NUFF's DONNIE VIE Comments On DEREK FRIGO's Passing and more click here to check it out

Krazy Fest To Rock On In The Fall?
KrazyFest.com reports: [this is part of the message posted to the official Krazy Fest website] Thanks to everybody who has emailed us or posted on a message board offering their support for Krazy Fest. It's been a really positive vibe and we hope to have Krazy Fest 7 take place in the early Fall. Maybe September or October. How does Labor Day Weekend sound to everybody? We're tossing that around right now. 

The delay and possible cancellation is due more to economics than anything else. Over the past few years production expenses have skyrocketed. Insurance alone hit the stratosphere increasing from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. Nobody wants to insure an outdoor music event. Luckily we were saved at the eleventh hour last year by a local insurance company who liked what we were doing and didn't mind covering us. 

We don't want to increase ticket prices again because the whole idea is to offer a great value for a weekend made up entirely of headlining bands. [see full story for the rest of the statement]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Band Jumped By Godsmack Crew
antiMUSIC reports: Things reportedly became violent backstage on Saturday at the X-103's May Day 2004 radio sponsored show at the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. Pop-punksters Story of the Year (Maverick Records) posted an angry message on their website, claiming that members of the group and their road manager were roughed up by members of Godsmack's crew and security personnel, following their performance on Saturday night (May 29). [see full story for more including the posting by Story of the Year] - Click Here for the Full Story 

Velvet Revolver Preview
Day In Rock reports: Want to hear the Velvet Revolver CD "Contraband"? Don't want to wait til next week when it hits stores? Well, you are in luck as the CD is the latest featured release in MTV online's album preview series. They are streaming the entire album right now. So hit the full story link to go check it out. - Click Here for the Full Story 

Aerosmith Sales Blues
New York Daily News reports: "Honkin' on Bobo" has Aerosmith singin' the blues � not only on the album, but over its commercial prospects, as well. The CD, a spirited collection of covers of 12-bar standards, has sunk to No. 73 after just eight weeks, a point at which Aerosmith CDs are usually sitting pretty in the Top 20. 

Unfortunately, "Bobo" seemed like a commercial boo-boo from the start. Its opening sales of 160,000 represented a 33% drop from those of "Just Push Play," the band's previous record, which started with 240,000 copies in 2001. "Play" went on to move more than 1.2 million platters. So far, "Bobo" has sold 395,000. [see full story for more... but to be fair, the band probably knew that this CD would sell as well as a new studio CD, but they wanted to pay tribute to the artists that inspired them.]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Doherty Back in Rehab
Ananova reports: Pete Doherty is back in rehab in France.

 Last week the guitarist, who has spent some of the last month in The Priory in a fresh attempt to kick his drug addiction, said he was going to France with his girlfriend to beat the drugs. He claimed that being in rehab wasn't helping. 

A spokesperson for The Libertines said that his mother took him to a clinic over the channel reports NME. [see full story for more] - Click Here for the Full Story 

SoundScan Nixes Give Away Platinum
Launch reports: Prince set a precedent when he decided to include copies of his new album Musicology in with the price of tickets to his current tour. Another precedent was set when SoundScan, the company that tallies album sales and reports to the Billboard albums charts, decided that it would count those concert CD giveaways as sales, thus boosting the Musicology album into the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and giving Prince his best-selling album in years. 

But other acts looking to gain higher chart placements by bundling CDs with concert tickets are out of luck. Both SoundScan and Billboard are revising their policy after seeing Prince move more than 632,000 copies in five weeks, thanks to his sold-out tour. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

China's Britney Cover-up
Guardian reports: Beijing's bureaucrats will vet Britney Spears' wardrobe to ensure she does not reveal too much raw talent on her first tour of China next year, a government-run news organisation reported yesterday. 

The US pop singer has been told that the outfit inspections are a condition for approval by the communist government, which is struggling to hold in check the liberal tendencies of the country's increasingly affluent and curious urban middle class. 

The singer is seeking permission to perform five concerts in Shanghai and Beijing early next year, which would be among the biggest staged by a foreign act in China. [see full story for more]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Live Aid A No Go... Really It Is...
liveDaily reports: U2 frontman Bono and others involved with 1985's Live Aid benefit concert said on Tuesday (6/1) that, despite recent reports, there are no plans for a second Live Aid concert. 

"We would love to be talking about Live Aid II, but the sums of money we are dealing with are in the billions of euros, not the millions," Bono reportedly told the European Union's development ministers in Dublin. "It would help, but not fix the problem." - Click Here for the Full Story 

Kid Rocks On
liveDaily reports: Kid Rock, who launched his latest round of tour dates last week, is now set to remain on the road until October. 

The outing, which focuses on the U.S. amphitheater circuit, will feature Puddle of Mudd in the opening slot for most of June. [see full story for more, plus dates]- Click Here for the Full Story 

Source: liveDaily also has news on Britney Spears, Cake, Enuff Z'Nuff, Bruce Hornsby, Soulfly, Ill Nino link up for summer run and more click here to check it out

Darkest Hour Reissue
press release reports: DARKEST HOUR is confirmed to rock the second stage all summer long on Ozzfest 2004! They will be joining friends like Atreyu and Lamb Of God in bringing the new generation of metal to the masses. The band couldn't be more excited, guitarist Mike explains, "We are very stoked about being added to Ozzfest. There are so many great bands we grew up listening to, like Slayer, Sabbath, and Judas Priest, we can't wait to see them, let alone be a part of the same tour. The line up brings us back to when we were younger, these bands made us excited about metal." 

To celebrate bringing the rock to large festival audiences all summer long, Victory Records will re-release Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation on July 13, 2004. The album Revolver Magazine called "...intricate and relentless -- a metalcore classic" will now include a bonus DVD with the new video for The Sadist Nation, behind the scenes footage that will have to be seen to be believed and a bonus track. - Click Here for the Full Story