Here is an example of how the UK music tabs are spinning the story: "drummer Lars Ulrich admits he would jump at the chance to tour alongside Axl Rose's legendary group. He says, 'We're road dogs. We love to tour. So we'd never say no. We've learned never to say no to anything, and all four of us love Chinese Democracy.'"

The actual exchange went like this (full video below): A reporter asks "on the topic of drama and near tragedy, would you guys ever consider touring with Guns N' Roses again now that they're back out?"

(Laughter from Metallica) Lars is seen shaking his head and mouthing the word "no" but then becomes diplomatic and says, "Like James was saying earlier, we're rode dogs we love to tour, so if that opportunity ever came in the right situation� of course."

Los Angeles station Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over the air today, according to on-air announcements, but will continue to broadcast via the web. There is a silver lining: the overly neglected Spanish radio market in L.A. can add one more station to its massive numbers. (The first part of that sentence was sarcasm). The corporate parent to boycott is Entravision. At least So Cal rock fans still have KLOS (if they changed their format you might see another riot). more on the shutdown from Billboard

A tabloid newspaper has apologized to Sharon Osbourne for a story that falsely accused her of overworking her rock star husband Ozzy. The Sun agreed to pay undisclosed damages and Osbourne's legal costs. more

Paul Simon will reopen Manhattan's historic Beacon Theatre with two concerts next month. The Feb. 13-14 concerts follow a seven-month, $15 million restoration. more

The assets of Death Row Records, said to include master recordings of Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, were auctioned off today (Jan. 15) for $18 million to WIDEawake Entertainment Group, a development company out of Canada. more

Metallica want to avoid drama at the Crock Hall induction ceremony. During their press conference frontman James Hetfield addressed the topic of their former bassist Jason Newsted being invited to the ceremony. "There's been an invite put out, no doubt," Hetfield said. "We want everyone to celebrate � everyone who's been a part of it. Jason has been a big part of that. We don't want to see the drama of, unfortunately, Blondie or [Sex] Pistols or Van Halen. It's ridiculous. This is Metallica's moment � along with others � but let's celebrate. Let's forget the crap." more about the press conference at FMQB. So from that we can assume that Dave Mustaine be there?

Shakira has recorded with Pharrell Williams and Wyclef Jean for her next album, due later this year from Epic. Sources tell Billboard the artist has also tracked a duet with Calle 13 and may collaborate with Algerian artist Khaled. more

Suffocation will enter the studio to begin recording their Nuclear Blast Records debut "Blood Oath" starting January 31st. The follow-up to their 2006 self-titled record will once again be recorded with Joe Cincottamore

Looks like some people at Red are seeing pink (slips that is): Billboard.biz reports: Sony Music Entertainment began cutting staff today (Jan. 15), with the process expected to be completed tomorrow, sources tell Billboard.biz. At deadline, at least 30 people had been cut from the company's two distribution companies more

Gojira has finalized dates for their forthcoming European tour. Grab the dates here

For those keeping score: With a production record of 80,000 guitars, including the introduction of the SolidBody electric and Liberty Tree T5 guitars, new product innovations and expanded international distribution, Taylor Guitars ended 2008 as a record year of growth. For show updates and additional news go here.

Warner Brothers will be releasing a compilation of covers this year and will feature some of their current roster covering some of their favorite tracks from the past. Among these covers include Disturbed doing a rendition of the Faith No More'ss, "Midlife Crisis," and Mastodon performing ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid" more

Doghouse Records plans to reissue the Get Up Kids' Something To Write Home About, on vinyl next month. The CD was released ten years ago, on Vagrant Records. Doghouse is promising that only 2000 copies will be made available and that they will be pressed on Opaque Purple vinyl. more

Cleveland.com has reported that Abdullah is breaking up. Their final show will be Saturday, January 17 at The Jigsaw Saloon & Stage. more

Scott will be playing songs off his sophomore solo album, "Happy" in Galoshes as well as songs from his debut solo album, 12 Bar Blues.

Rhino starts the celebration a few days before Phish's highly anticipated shows with a 7-DVD collection documenting The Clifford Ball, a landmark concert event that drew more than 70,000 fans to upstate New York in August 1996. It was the largest concert event of 1996 in North America and set the tone for festivals including Bonnaroo and Coachella.

Lamb of God has put together one of the strongest bills to come out of the metal community in recent times. As I Lay Dying and Children of Bodom are the main support acts on the tour, with the opening slot rotating between God Forbid and Municipal Waste.

From Butch with love... Spring '09 is seeming quite fine: Here we go kids! I'm so excited to be hitting the road again! The weather is gonna be slowly creeping towards beautiful, the sounds out of the speakers will be fun and flowery, and the band will be looking sharp. This is gonna be a good one! I know, I know...The economy sucks. The American dollar sucks...Well, we will have to change that. The tickets will be affordable (not like I'm worth any less y'all), the new merch will as well, and I promise that I'm picking up the tab for the drinks (maybe).

"You guys already knew that Roel [Sanders] is back in the band after 8 years of absence. Again we have a new band member in the ranks of God Dethroned. Already somewhere in 2008 it became clear that Isaac [Delahaye] and the band would follow their own seperate paths again. Everything for our own private reasons, so we said goodbye as friends.

Along with this comes news that the band is writing for a new record--the first CD of new material for the band in over 12 years.