Search Results for: good terms

Acknowledging that online piracy is forcing dramatic changes in the music industry, the world’stwo largest record companies are poised to make it easy and cheap for fans to buy-rather than steal-songs off the Internet. The moves by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment accelerate the industry’s transition to an era in which music is distributed electronically. Other major labels are likely to follow as the record business grapples with the rise of online music copying through unauthorized services such as Napster, Kazaa and Morpheus and potentially billions of dollars in lost sales. Rather than trying to force consumers to… Read more »

Strahov Stadium has had it all – communist rallies, anti-globalization protests, gymnastics exhibitions, drive-through movies and, now, Ozzfest. The crumbling structure, which stands as the largest stadium in the world per square foot, lent itself well to Ozzy Osbourne and his latest touring comrades, who hit the venue Thursday night for the seventh stop on the metal tour. With their stage parked in the middle of the field, the hard rockers used only half of the 200,000-capacity stadium, carving out an almost cozy cradle for Bohemia’s metalheads within the concrete monolith. While the tour got off to a less-than-grand beginning… Read more »

The people who tried to take away your VCR are at it again. Hollywood has always dreamed of a “well-mannered marketplace” where the only technologies that you can buy are those that do not disrupt its business. Acting through legislators who dance to Hollywood’s tune, the movie studios are racing to lock away the flexible, general-purpose technology that has given us a century of unparalelled prosperity and innovation. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed the “Content Protection Status Report” with the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, laying out its plan to remake the technology world to suit its… Read more »

A legal fight that has pitted file-swapping software companies Kazaa BV and StreamCast Networks against big record labels and movie studios is collapsing as the small companies run out of funds. Netherlands-based Kazaa BV, which created the file-swapping technology underlying Kazaa, Grokster and earlier versions of Morpheus, is conceding defeat-although its founders already appear to have started another near-identical company. Meanwhile, StreamCast is losing a high-powered attorney with a winning track record against the music companies in court. The disintegration of the companies’ legal case will have little immediate affect on the popular Kazaa and Morpheus file-trading networks themselves. But… Read more »

The song “One Little Victory” starts with flailing militaristic drums, followed by a churning down-tuned guitar riff that drips with angst. It sounds like Tool covering P.O.D. Strangely, it’s Rush, a band that was around when Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were considered “new metal” and Rush members Geddy Lee (vocals/bass), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drums) were articulate mavericks carving out their own iconoclastic space. Some things never change. The track is from Vapor Trails, due May 14, and it’s a major triumph for Rush. Not only does it represent a commitment to remain sonically relevant, it marks… Read more »

When Dick Clark first pitched “American Bandstand” to ABC as a national series in the 1950s, network executives yawned. “I still have the letter, still have it framed in my office, which in effect said ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you. Thank you, and it’s nice to see your dance party,’” Clark recalls. When he proposed a 50th anniversary special, Clark found out how little television had changed. Despite the show’s iconic place in pop culture, he had to argue the case of “American Bandstand” all over. An idea that was once ahead of its time was now hopelessly behind… Read more »

Matt Sharp, founding bassist for Weezer, has filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, their ex-manager and a slew of band accountants seeking compensation and credit for songs on Weezer’s first two albums. At the heart of the lawsuit lies a catalog of some of Weezer’s most beloved songs, including their first single, “Undone (The Sweater Song),” as well as most of their album Pinkerton (“Tired of Sex,” “Getchoo,” “No Other One,” “Why Bother?,” “Across the Sea,” “The Good Life,” “El Scorcho,” “Pink Triangle,” “Falling for You”) and a handful of B-sides (“You Gave Your Love to Me Softly,” “I… Read more »

It’s official – Britpop is a flop in the United States, with not a single act on the U.S. industry barometer Billboard chart for the first time in nearly 40 years. Pop pundits insist that the disappearance of UK acts from Billboard’s top 100 singles chart is just a blip, but it follows a long decline in sales which critics say reflects the flood of manufactured bands on both sides of the Atlantic. Long gone are the days when bands like the Beatles dominated the U.S. singles charts. In 1964 the Fab Four held the top five singles in the… Read more »

With the passing of Layne Staley, those who knew him best remember him as deeply troubled yet immensely talented. Described as a caring person, he made great strides to elevate an underground genre to the mainstream. In the early ’90s, Alice in Chains, along with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were directly behind Nirvana on the grunge wave that began in Seattle and cascaded throughout the country. The singer’s Alice in Chains bandmates – guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez, drummer Sean Kinney and former bassist Mike Starr – their manager and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell gathered Saturday, a day after police… Read more »

The fourth track on Megadeth’s 2001 album, The World Needs a Hero, is “1000 Times Goodbye.” Written as a breakup song, its title is more meaningful now that after nine studio albums and nearly 20 years, Megadeth have bid the world farewell. Frontman Dave Mustaine made the announcement Wednesday (April 3) in a written statement. “For the time being, I have decided to exit Megadeth and explore other areas of the music business,” he said. Mustaine’s decision was triggered by a series of episodes that date back to the beginning of the year. In January, he relapsed after over a… Read more »