Search Results for: Marvel

Having his solo debut tank might have been the best thing for Butch Walker’s career. Not too many people bought 2002’s Left of Self-Centered – the album sold barely 20,000 copies, according to SoundScan – but many of those who did adored the smart riff-rock from the guy who used to front the late-’90s power trio Marvelous 3. Not only did Walker sing and play all the instruments except drums, he also produced, mixed and engineered the LP. Such versatile qualities appealed to a lot of people, not least of whom was Avril Lavigne. “Obviously, it was a very unpopular… Read more »

Hot on the heels of the band’s 17 track retrospective CD Rockin’ You For 30 Years comes Helix ‘s 30th Anniversary Concert DVD, commemorating the band’s incredibly executed reunion concert in Brantford, Ontario on July 17, ’04. The show, staged in a plush theatre, featured a massive memorabilia display, a number of Helix line-ups (dating back to the mid-’70s) playing songs from their eras, plus a showing of a professional band documentary, available now through www.planethelix.com. The DVD is scheduled for release through EMI on November 23, with the band performing at launch parties (as such) in western Ontario (in… Read more »

When Britney Spears fell down during a video shoot for “Outrageous” earlier this month, the impact was immediate. Her fall has set off a chain of events that’s resulted in the cancellation of her summer tour – something insiders are estimating will cost her as much as $1 million a week in lost revenue from ticket and merchandise sales. But what of the fall itself? Still pictures from paparazzi showed a play-by-play of the incident but failed to capture the essence of the moment – the onset of injury, the expression on the singer’s face, her puzzled dancers’ reactions as… Read more »

Guitarist Robert Quine, one of punk rock’s most daring soloists, was found dead Saturday in his New York apartment. He was 61. According to close friend and guitar maker Rick Kelly, who discovered Quine’s body, the musician died of a heroin overdose Memorial Day weekend. He had been despondent over the recent death of his wife. Born in Akron, Ohio, Quine was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground, whose music he recorded obsessively while living in San Francisco. He moved to New York in 1971 and became the lead guitarist for bassist Richard Hell’s important group the Voidoids, with whom… Read more »

Tuesday (May 25) is a big day for Avril Lavigne. Not only does the date mark the release of the pop star’s second album, Under My Skin, but it’s also the day that Avril makes her debut as a full-grown woman. When Lavigne’s debut, Let Go, came out two years ago, she was 17 – and as most critics who interviewed her at the time will tell you, not a particularly mature 17 at that. Now she’s a hearty 19, has traveled the world, dated a few boys, hung out with rock stars and lives in her own place in… Read more »

Hoobastank, Jet, Smile Empty Soul, the Lostprophets, and others are tentatively set for inclusion on the soundtrack of Spider-Man 2, according to MTV.com. Songs by Dashboard Confessional and Train will serve as singles from the album, which is due out on June 22. Smile Empty Soul bassist Ryan Martin spoke to LAUNCH about their contribution to the disc: “That’s a song called ‘Who I Am’ and we were in New York City probably about two months ago, and we were at the Hit Factory and just stayed in the studio for, like, one day and Sean (Danielsen, vocals/guitar) had already… Read more »

Avril Lavigne will visit twenty-one malls nationwide to preview songs from her second album, Under My Skin. Starting tomorrow in Minneapolis, Lavigne and co-writer/guitarist Evan Taubenfeld will play sets that feature three songs from Skin – including the first single, “Don’t Tell Me” – along with material from her hit debut, Let Go. Fans can find out specific locations for the appearances forty-eight hours in advance by signing up at the tour’s Web site (avrillavigne.net). Skin finds Lavigne no longer working with the hitmaking production team the Matrix, who helped shape the multi-platinum Let Go. In the fold this time… Read more »

If the 6 million fans who made Avril Lavigne’s first album, Let Go, among the best-selling records of 2002 think they know what makes the 19-year-old rocker tick, they’re just scratching the surface. As her second album’s title, Under My Skin, suggests, Lavigne’s about to show them what lies beneath. “There are some songs that are really deep,” she said. “I have this song called ‘How Does It Feel.’ It’s just a very mature song. Just me stepping back and looking at my life, talking about how I am small and the world is big. I’m a deep person and… Read more »

Avril Lavigne is getting personal on the follow-up to her 2002 multi-platinum debut, Let Go, which she’s been recording at the Malibu home of fellow Canadians Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida. The as-yet-titled album is due May 25th. “A lot of the stuff on the record is just strictly emotions that I went through,” Lavigne says, “or ways I’ve felt in the past towards relationships.” Absent are hitmaking producers the Matrix, Let Go’s secret weapon, but Lavigne has a hot new writing and production team that includes Linkin Park and Pearl Jam producer Don Gilmore and Marvelous 3’s Butch Walker.… Read more »

Since Ben Moody’s departure from Evanescence in October, many have wondered about the guitarist’s whereabouts. Three months after he quit the band without so much as a “Dear John” letter, Moody has resurfaced as a part of Avril Lavigne’s Moody, who co-wrote all of Evanescence’s Fallen, including the hits “Bring Me to Life” and “Going Under,” is among the songwriters working with the 19-year-old pop star on her second album, the follow-up to her 2002 debut,Let Go. The collaboration was hatched when Moody contacted Lavigne’s A&R rep and volunteered his talents, according to Lavigne’s spokesperson. Lavigne’s guitarist Evan Taubenfeld and… Read more »