Search Results for: billy corgan

Dashboard Confessional and Jack Johnson played acoustic, and Beck and Coldplay celebrated Christmas, but otherwise KROQ-FM’s annual Almost Acoustic Christmas was a two-day, 20-act festival all about rocking. And the sold-out event was certainly crammed with rock and roll moments, particularly the announced live debut of Audioslave (they played a secret club show the night before), and an amusing rendition of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” orchestrated by Beck and the Flaming Lips and featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba, Johnson and a horribly off-key Juliette Lewis. (Click here for photos from the show.) Audioslave were the talk… Read more »

Rockers want to act, actors want to rock. What are you gonna do? For musicians who lack thespian aspirations, though, scoring a movie seems to suffice. Following in the footsteps of everyone from Bob Dylan and Jon Bon Jovi to Björk and Peter Gabriel, bandleaders Jonathan Davis, Billy Corgan and Jeff Tweedy and solo act Badly Drawn Boy are scoring some points with the Hollywood crowd this summer. Korn singer Davis teamed up with film scoring veteran and ex-Oingo Boingo keyboardist Richard Gibbs for the soundtrack to “Queen of the Damned,” released earlier this year. The pair co-wrote and performed… 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 »

“One-man band”: when you hear that phrase you probably picture a dude on a street corner with a pair of cymbals between his knees, a drum on his back, some kazoos in his mouth and a guitar case full of quarters. Think again. While naming a band after yourself is fine and good for guys like Dave Matthews and Jon Spencer, some band names are actually just cryptic pseudonyms for a single, mad studio genius. The past year has seen an explosion of do-it-yourself-ers, including ex-Eels bassist Tommy Walter with his band Abandoned Pools, stone alone emo-ter Chris Carrabba of… Read more »

As showbiz celebrities and hired models watched in awe, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger let it loose during a rare solo concert at a tiny Los Angeles club Thursday. Jagger’s new album hits stores next week, and he chose the 770-capacity El Rey Theatre near Hollywood as the venue for his only concert performance to promote the release. “This is the world tour for this album, ‘Goddess in the Doorway,”‘ Jagger, 58, told the invite-only crowd. “You can say you were at every gig, OK?” Wearing a sleeveless red T-shirt emblazoned with the Statue of Liberty over the slogan “Liberte,”… Read more »

On Nov. 20, 2001, Virgin Records will release the long-awaited Smashing Pumpkins Greatest Hits Video Collection 1991-2000. The video companion to the Smashing Pumpkins’ Greatest Hits CD Rotten Apples will feature over eighteen music videos chronicling the Pumpkins’ musical career. In total, the DVD contains over 90 minutes of solid music, as well as an array of extras, including commentary about the production of the clips by the band themselves, narration by the directors who lensed the videos, never-before-seen outtakes from the shoots, and bonus behind-the-scenes documentaries. Among the highlights on the compilation are the band’s very first video, a… Read more »

First album together in eight years finds band returning to its roots. For many years over the past two decades, New Order crafted cynical synth-pop that radiated with alternative dancefloor chic. But on Get Ready, the band’s first record together in eight years, New Order have done something they haven’t tried since their pre-Order days. They’ve rocked out. While the album still shimmers and shivers with electronic textures, it’s anchored by organic instrumentation and galvanic grooves. “60 Miles an Hour,” Get Ready’s second single, sounds like a beefier spinoff of the band’s hit “Blue Monday,” and “Rock the Shack” is… Read more »

In the Fall of 2001, Virgin Records will release the long awaited Smashing Pumpkins “Greatest Hits” album. The tracks for the compilation are currently being selected by the band. To coincide with this release, Virgin will also release a two-CD package (limited edition) that will include the “Greatest Hits” disc as well as “Judas O Riley.” “Judas O Riley” is the follow-up to “Pisces Iscariot,” the 1994 b-sides release by the Pumpkins, and will include b-sides and rarities culled from the band’s sessions, which produced “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” “Adore,” and “MACHINA/the machines of God.” The artwork for… Read more »

Ozzfest 2001 drew to a close Sunday, leaving many fans wondering what the future holds for their favorite bands. Whether it’s working on a new album, heading back out on the road or prepping their next video, to cop a metal cliché from Ozzy’s 1989 solo album, there seems to be no rest for the wicked. For those who missed out on this summer’s hardest happening, the live album Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium, featuring live cuts from all the Ozzfest offenders, hits stores Tuesday. Black Sabbath are hoping to book more studio time to finish up their new album,… Read more »

If anything, the Moby-spearheaded Area:One package, which wrapped up its tour at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Sunday, suffered from an embarrassment of riches. With nearly 20 bands and DJs arrayed on three stages over nine hours, there was something worth checking out at given moment, and often two or three. This meant that choices had to be made: to see the Orb in an automaker-sponsored DJ tent meant missing the reunited New Order on the main stage, or forgoing one of the impressive collection of turntablists and MCs holding court on the small urban stage. With the eclectic… Read more »