Search Results for: Queen

It was a good, flatulent, slur-filled and sexist-gag-soaked run, but the bad boys of radio appear to be living on borrowed time. On Tuesday (May 15), XM shock duo Opie and Anthony were slapped with a 30-day suspension for last week’s gag involving a homeless character discussing his desire to sexually assault Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, first lady Laura Bush and the Queen of England. “Nobody in radio thinks they’re a shock jock; they’re entertainers. But if [the genre] isn’t dead, it’s certainly had a storm warning,” said Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio, citing last month’s firing of… Read more »

Rage Against The Machine played its first show in seven years last night (April 29) to close the 2007 edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. The foursome tore into staples like “Testify,” “Bulls on Parade,” “People of the Sun” and “Guerrilla Radio” to one of the largest main stage crowds in the event’s history. Guitarist Tom Morello was in particularly blazing form on “Know Your Enemy,” and the band grooved in lockstep throughout, as if no time had passed since it was last active. Rage has thus far only scheduled four other shows in… Read more »

Damon Albarn has confirmed he is concluding his animated pop act Gorillaz later this year with a feature-length send off. Rumours had been circulating throughout 2006 as to the band’s demise, particularly with Albarn focused on his musical work with side project The Good, The Bad and the Queen, and his return to the new Blur album, and speaking to BBC Radio last week, the singer/songwriter confirmed an animated film and accompanying film score would be the band’s swan song. “We’re trying to make a film next, starting in September hopefully,” said Albarn, commenting that they had approached famed Monty… Read more »

Young indie rockers Arctic Monkeys, who made history with Britain’s fastest-selling debut album in 2006, are out to prove they are no one-hit wonders with their second record released on Monday. Critics wonder if the weight of expectation will be too much for the musicians from the northern city of Sheffield, among the first to make it big by harnessing the power of the Internet. Alexis Petridis, music critic for the Guardian newspaper, called “Favourite Worst Nightmare” arguably the most anticipated second album in a decade. Judging by early reviews and the reaction of fans at gigs across the country,… Read more »

Media industry executives and analysts have expressed surprise and alarm at last week’s decision by EMI, the record label, to start selling music videos without the protection of anti-piracy software. The decision was a little-noticed part of the company’s ground-breaking deal with Apple that made all of EMI’s catalogue available on iTunes in a format that can be copied and played on any digital device without restriction. That deal, announced with fanfare by EMI chief executive Eric Nicoli and Apple founder Steve Jobs, was hailed as ushering in a new digital music era. EMI is expected to begin announcing deals… Read more »

For then 15-year-old Travis McCoy, high school gym class was nothing more than an excuse to chat about music with buddy Matt McGinley. McCoy, who was an aspiring rapper, was the frontman for a local band, and McGinley played drums for another in their native Geneva, N.Y. The summer after sophomore year, McGinley’s band landed a party gig, and McCoy, who happened to be at the same gathering, stepped to the mic and began to rhyme along with it. Thus Gym Class Heroes was born and went on to release three independent albums before signing to Fall Out Boy principal… Read more »

What’s up with all the different versions of Avril in her new video? Or, for that matter, Christina, Ciara and Beyoncé? Everywhere you look, it seems some pop diva has replicated herself so she’s the star of her clip several times over. Multiple versions are nothing new – Mariah and Madonna are old pros by now – but the idea has been spreading like a video virus, with Avril and others just the latest to be infected. It got us to thinking – are they copying themselves or someone else? Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” Avril Lavigne gets to have it both… Read more »

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame swung open its doors Monday night to the latest batch of acts ticketed for music immortality, with the Georgia alt-rock icons and the dysfunctional Pasadena party band leading the way. They were joined by ’70s punk pioneer Patti Smith, ’60s girl group the Ronettes and the first hip-hop act to crash the party, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. The 22nd annual induction ceremony–which per tradition was held at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel–felt like an I Love the ’80 special, thanks to its two biggest inductees. R.E.M. received a warm introduction… Read more »

Every day, the roughly one million people who visit the iTunes Store home page are presented with several dozen albums, TV shows and movie downloads to consider buying — out of the four million such goods the Apple site offers. This prime promotion is analogous to a CD being displayed at the checkout stands of all 940 Best Buy stores or featured on the front page of Target’s ad circular. How do bands get these boosts? Who decides whether Arcade Fire is plugged at the top of the iTunes site — or whether Nickelback gets no mention? Apple has jettisoned… Read more »

It’s understandable that Adam Levine would admit to “going a little mad” as Maroon 5 embarked on the follow-up to their multiplatinum, Grammy-winning Songs About Jane. “It’s one thing making a record, but it’s another thing making a record when you’ve had all this success and there’s all this pressure, and you say you don’t feel it and pretend you don’t, and then one day you wake up and it knocks you in your face,” the singer said. Levine responded to the pressure by, well, partying. “I worked my ass off for four years, and I thought, ‘I’m going to… Read more »