"A Sight To Behold": We have a small vocoder in our rehearsal room so Mario, our drummer, can explain his ideas with the keyboard instead of trying to sing the melodies. It's a good way to communicate between a drummer and a guitarist. Sometimes we jam together with this vocoder and we find some very cool sounds. On this song we decided to use one of the sounds that we really like. We usually never use keyboards or electronic stuff, but on this part we needed something different, something cold and straight. The lyrics are about human's abusive behavior toward nature so this cold vibe was exactly what we needed.

Snow Patrol has teamed up with MySpace.com for a contest where they will give 2 fans a chance to fly to the UK for Snow Patrol's 4 concerts in 2 days tour. The winners will be given 2 spots on the bands private plane with the band to go the shows in Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, and London. They will be given 2 cameras to document their trip which will be available exclusively on MySpace. more info here

DJ AM, who survived a plane crash last month in South Carolina, will appear on tour with Jay-Z. DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, will join the rap mogul Wednesday at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, said Jenni Weinman, the celebrity disc jockey's publicist. more

The third album from Franz Ferdinand is set to be released in late January, according to reports today. 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand' will come out January 26 in the UK and January 27 in the US, and includes six tracks previewed during their intimate show at Music Hall Of Williamsburg last week (October 8). more

Some news about another worthless awards show: Alicia Keys had a leading five nominations for the 2008 American Music Awards, including artist of the year and favorite female artist in both the pop/rock and soul/R&B categories. Coldplay and the Eagles had four nominations each, while Chris Brown and Lil Wayne received three apiece. Who knew Alicia Keys was rock? more

There should a law to keep celebs from naming their own children. Case in point: Marie Presley has named her newborn twin daughters Finley and Harper. more

Have an urge to spend a lot of money to watch a poptart lipsynch? Your are in luck! Britney Spears is gearing up for a tour next spring, her first outing since 2004, sources said. The arena trek will help promote her new album, "Circus," due December 2 via Jive Records. more

Speaking of poptarts. Imagine a 15 year-old having enough of a life to pen a memoir. Apparently Hannah Montana believes she has. US pop sensation Miley Cyrus has finished writing a book of her life at the age of 15. The star of hit TV show Hannah Montana was reportedly paid a seven-figure sum to tell her "inspiring story". "And I like I um make like a record that like totally totally cool, you know?". more like, you know.

Taxing Queen... ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus has won a lawsuit against the Swedish national tax authority. The deal has garnered the musician approximately 85 million kronor ($12 million). more

Indigo Girls principal Amy Ray is about to begin a tour (Oct. 19 in Nashville) in support of her third solo studio effort, "Didn't It Feel Kinder," but her main group is also soon to return to activity. Girls' next studio album, produced by Mitchell Froom, is due in February. Find out what Amy told Billboard here

Sammy Hagar will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, November 5 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with the group by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). more

Eddie the Head, the demoniacal mascot of the British heavy metal group Iron Maiden, has made his way into the debating chamber of a Spanish town hall. Eddie's cadaverous face appears regularly at council meetings in the town of Villava, in Navarre, as part of a war of political symbols between local parties. more

According to the Deep Purple Appreciation Society, guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore (ex-Deep Purple, Rainbow) and his partner Candice Night tied the knot on October 5th. more

If you're gonna go out, go out with a bang! Duran Duran are at the center of a row over the lavish spending of credit crunch-stricken bank Lloyds TSB at their annual staff party. The 'Rio' rockers played at the recent �2 million annual staff bash, which was described as a "disgusting spectacle" by organizers. more

Amos Heilicher, a pioneering independent distributor who also started the Musicland chain, died Oct. 12 of pneumonia at University of Minnesota Hospital Fairview. He was 91. more

Soul Embraced guitarist William "Rocky" Gray has announced that he will no longer play guitar for the band, instead choosing to focus on Living Sacrifice. Gray will, however, play drums for Soul Embraced, as Lance Garvin is leaving the group. Confused? details are here

Events surrounding AC/DC's Black Ice launch in NYC and LA this week, bringing fans a first taste in the countdown to the excitement of Black Ice's release date. Fully decked-out interactive Black Ice trucks and "pop-up" stores will enhance the fan experience to new heights.

Speaking to spinner.com, Bell commented: "Someone jumped the gun. We're still going to focus on promoting the Red album, and when we have the songs and the time feels right, we'll record."

Back in March, the drinks company claimed that it would give away a can of its fizzy brew to everyone in the US should Chinese Democracy be released in 2008, and a spokesperson has now indicated that it may be prepared to honour this deal.

"Save You" was penned in tribute to lead singer Pierre Bouvier's brother Jay, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer at the age of 28. Thankfully now in remission, Bouvier's illness inspired the band to include cancer awareness as one of the initiatives of the Simple Plan Foundation. Thus far, the Foundation has donated over $100,000 to various charitable organizations around Canada and has raised over another $200,000 at various benefit events. In addition, Simple Plan has donated portions of their merchandise sales as well as 50 cents from each ticket sold on their recent and forthcoming tours. For full details on the charity organization, please visit www.simpleplanfoundation.org.

Live In London was recorded live at the Apple Store in London May 2008 and includes the following tracks: "Switching Off," "Fugitive Motel," "Grounds For Divorce," "Mirrorball," "Some Riot," "Newborn," "One Day Like This," "Scattered Black and Whites," and a fan interview.

As previously reported, "Before I Self Destruct" is due Dec. 9 via Shady/Aftermath/Interscope. Producer Scott Storch helmed first single "Get Up."

Elliot explains: "I will, as always, take full responsibility for what happened because I have big pucks. However, someone at the NHL should have known better and informed me first instead of keeping the Stanley Cup under lock and key until the last minute.

The guitar's finish has been designed by UK artist Gerald Scarfe, who worked closely with the band on the album and film of The Wall (1979).

At the time I wrote Cannibal Queen I was obsessed with both cannibals and the band ABBA. I think the word cannibal almost implies something negative or dark but really it's just a straight forward love song about being in a new relationship. When working out the melody and lyrics the song had more of a straight forward strumming and was not as energetic. I started recording a demo in my garageband and for some reason it felt too simple or like I had done this song a million times before. So I trashed what I had done and decided to reapproach it. I was in the height of my ABBA phase and had the thought to try and make an ABBA-like song. This is probably where the influence of the guitar line came from and some of the overall vibe of the song. I always meant to add their classic doubled piano to a part of the song but either forgot or was too lazy, can't remember which.

Months later we went into the studio to start recording Tell It To The Volcano. By this time we had already played Cannibal Queen live a few times and had a better idea of what we wanted it to sound like on the record. As a starting point I brought in a few ABBA songs and Blondie's "Heart of Glass" as a reference. We recorded it and then added a cluster---- of "Blondie" synths over the song. Later that night on the drive home Rick and I agreed that it had taken a wrong turn and we should cut the synths. This song took the most time to get right on the album, nearly giving up at one point. The song finally took shape and while I'm not sure if it's a convincing ABBA rip off, I still love it.