Search Results for: NeX GEn

In early 1984, when Epic Records executives presented their slate of upcoming releases at the convention in Hawaii of parent company CBS Records they couldn’t resist playing up the success they were experiencing. So between the pitches for new albums, Epic inserted stock footage of semi trucks and a voice-over that thunderously announced, “There goes another load of Michael Jackson’s Thriller albums!” Trucks weren’t really leaving the warehouse every few minutes, but Thriller was still shattering expectations more than a year after its November 30, 1982, release. Epic was selling more than 1 million copies per month in the United… Read more »

Let’s Get It joins the Fearless Records family ahead of an Aug. 4 debut release. “We couldn’t be more excited to sign with Fearless,” vocalist Joe Gilford says. “We’ve been really focused and are grateful to have a label support to help us reach our full potential. This is the next big step for us and our music.” This five piece pop/rock band from Dayton, Ohio is setting the scene on fire and catching eyes as they go. “With creativity of this caliber and a broad but focused emphasis on making something new, their sound is perhaps better described as… Read more »

President Barack Obama’s promises of change are falling short for one core Democratic constituency: gays and lesbians, whose leaders say Obama’s administration is not keeping up with the times. Gay rights campaigners, most of them Democrats who supported Obama in November, have begun to voice their public frustration with Obama’s inaction, small jokes at their community’s expense and deafening silence on what they see as the signal civil rights issue of this era. His campaign promises to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and the military ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers have not been fulfilled. And the news,… Read more »

Depeche Mode has revealed that singer Dave Gahan successfully underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his bladder and the band’s Tour of the Universe will resume on June 8th. Gahan was rushed to the hospital before a concert in Athens, Greece on May 12th, after suffering a severe bout of gastroenteritis. While the frontman was in the hospital, further tests revealed what is described as a “low-grade malignant tumor,” according to a new statement on the band’s Web site. Doctors have ordered Gahan to take a break until June 8th, so several more concerts on the Depeche Mode tour… Read more »

Not much rattles Apple. Disciplined and focused, the company lavishes attention on its own elegant products and rarely deigns to discuss rivals. Yet here was Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer and designated stand-in for ailing CEO Steve Jobs, erupting during an earnings call in late January at the mere mention of a pip-squeak competitor. The pest in question was Palm, the fallen pioneer of handheld digital organizers, which two weeks earlier had unveiled a new smartphone, the Palm Pre, to rave reviews. Not only did the Pre have features the iPhone couldn’t match – snazzy multitasking, universal search, a… Read more »

Hard at work on its fourth album, rock band Linkin Park has kept busy on a number of other fronts as well, among them its first movie soundtrack. In addition to the group’s contributions to the new “Transformers” film, some of its members have solo projects in the works. As for the new Linkin Park album, it likely will come out in 2010, according to co-frontman Mike Shinoda. “It’s moving,” said Shinoda. “I feel like we’ve been writing a lot. I’d say we’ve got about half the music done, though I shouldn’t say halfway, because who knows how long the… Read more »

“As individuals, we’re misfits,” says Fergie, the sultry female singer of the Black Eyed Peas “Together, we’re like one big misfit. People are always questioning who the hell we are.” It is the day after the group’s May 6th performance, on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Chilling out in a small, sparsely furnished room at Center Staging in Burbank, California, she and fellow members of the multiracial group resemble a live version of a United Colors of Benetton ad. Fergie is dressed in black-and-white capri-length leggings set off by a hot pink shirt and a sharp pair of black ankle-strapped heels… Read more »

I’m about to make a fairly simple comparison seem unnecessarily complex, but the situation demands it. So here it goes: Paramore are the new No Doubt. To do this to any other way would be lazy, not to mention a tad bit insulting. But in this case, there is one glaring similarity between both bands: the dynamic, iconic frontwoman who also doubles as the media focal point. In essence, Hayley Williams and Gwen Stefani are covered the same and contextualized the same. Yes, they’re both pretty girls with dye jobs who are showing the guys how it’s done and are… Read more »

Call him the “dark horse,” the “Come-From-Behind Kid,” the humble crooner. Call him whatever you like. But from now on you also need to call Kris Allen your “American Idol.” After a historic tally of nearly 100 million votes, the shy 23-year-old singer from Conway, Arkansas, pulled off one of the most surprising wins in the show’s nearly decade-long history by taking the crown from the theatrical season-long frontrunner, Adam Lambert. After nearly two hours of anticipation, when the time came for host Ryan Seacrest to announce the results, Allen and Lambert stood arm-in-arm, their friendship looking much more like… Read more »

Green Day has been delivering power-punk to the mainstream  since Billie Joe Armstrong clutched a monkey in “Longview” nearly 15 years ago.   The trio has done it all with one foot firmly entrenched in its hometown East Bay punk scene, stating its allegiance to gutter punks and Gilman Street at every possible chance. It’s been both a blessing and a curse, eternally indebted to the past, but inching ever closer to the future. With the reigning punk royalty out of the picture the past couple years, the number of punk releases declined sharply. Anyone hoping Green Day would bring… Read more »