Search Results for: Rock am Ring

The dream of many kids learning to play guitar or prancing in front of a mirror with a faux microphone is to play in front of a sold out crowd singing along to their songs and chanting their name; Linkin Park has lived their dreams and then some. After a very successful Projekt Revolution tour this past summer, the band was back out on the road with an arena tour bringing Chiodos and Coheed & Cambria along for the ride. For the near sold-out crowd in Baltimore on February 19th, it was a rock show to remember. Probably one of… Read more »

Given the radical image changes that Panic! At The Disco has undergone in the past year, it’s hard not to read the lyrics to its new album’s opening song as a pre-emptive strike against critics. “Oh, how it’s been so long/we’re so sorry we’ve been gone/we were busy writing songs/for you,” bassist Jon Walker sings, by way of apology for the two-and-a-half-year lag between 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” and the new “Pretty. Odd.,” due March 25 via Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic. Then, he launches into lines meant to comfort fans who have no doubt noticed that their favorite… Read more »

The integrity of “American Idol” as a contest for raw, undiscovered talent was called into question again after an Irish singer who once had a major-label deal, and solo album that flopped, advanced to the top rung of the competition this week. Dublin native Carly Smithson, who formerly recorded for MCA Records under her maiden name, Carly Hennessy, was one of the 24 “Idol” contestants who made it on Wednesday to the semifinal rounds voted on each week by the show’s home TV audience. Online critics immediately seized on her initial success, and her professional recording background, as further evidence… Read more »

Herbie Hancock won the coveted album of the year Grammy on Sunday, becoming the first jazz instrumentalist to win the honor in more than 40 years and causing Hancock to remark “it’s a new day” at the Grammys. Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters,” an all-star tribute to Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell was a surprise victory at the 50th annual Grammys, beating out other nominees Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” Kanye West’s “Graduation,” rock band the Foo Fighters’ “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” and country singer Vince Gill’s “These Days.” “Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, thank you so much,” said… Read more »

Troubled British singer Amy Winehouse is the perfect poster girl for the current state of the music industry. Music isn’t her problem. Everything else is. That’s exactly the same situation that the music industry – faced with lagging sales, a lack of star power and defection from its biggest moneymakers – finds itself in these days. And when the music industry has problems, the Grammys – celebrating their 50th anniversary Sunday – do as well. Winehouse and her stunning R&B revivalist debut “Back to Black” (Universal Republic) are up for six awards; she’s the only artist nominated in all four… Read more »

In the months since Army of Me’s “Citizen” was released, the band has enjoyed nationwide airplay of its hit single, “Going Through Changes,” has been featured on MTV, and has toured the country. But the local rockers, whose sound would fit perfectly alongside the noises Bono and Chris Martin make, aren’t quite satisfied quite yet. “It’s like there’s this big mountain we’re trying to climb, and when you’re far away from the mountain, it doesn’t look that big,” lead singer Vince Scheurman said. “It’s like Mount Everest. There’s ‘false summits.’ When you get to one peak, there’s always another one.… Read more »

For the typically rowdy rock band on the road, “scoring” might not necessarily have anything to do with film music. Yet over the last couple of decades of making music, a number of rock talents have made the career leap from arenas to scoring stages, and the ranks of today’s A-list composers include many with rock ‘n’ roll pedigrees. Randy Newman had a successful career as a songwriter and solo artist; Mark Mothersbaugh was a founder of Devo; and Danny Elfman started out in Oingo Boingo (a band that also included future composers Steve Bartek and Richard Gibbs). Trevor Rabin… Read more »

Rock band Yellowcard will soon travel to the Persian Gulf and perform for service men and women as part of a USO/MNC-I expeditionary entertainment tour.   This is the first USO tour for Yellowcard, who will hang out with armed forces, sign autographs and treat U.S. troops to a selection of hit songs from all their albums.   Their latest album “Paper Walls” debuted at no. 13 on the Billboard charts and sold more than 40,000 copies in its first week. Recognized for their trademark sound infused with entwined guitar lines, airtight vocal harmonies and flourishes of violin, Yellowcard has… Read more »

By all accounts, 2007 was a great year for the video game industry, driven largely by the rising popularity of music-based titles. Total video game sales (hardware and software) through October was $10.5 billion, compared with $7 billion for the same period last year, according to data from NPD Group. Much of the growth can be attributed to a more stable market for the new-generation game consoles: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. But another factor is the “casual game,” a segment that includes significant music-based titles. The rise of casual games — those that virtually anyone can pick up… Read more »

The Material Girl is about to become a Hall of Famer. The ever-evolving Madonna was announced as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee on Thursday along with John Mellencamp, The Ventures, Leonard Cohen and The Dave Clark Five. A panel of 600 industry figures selected the five acts to be inducted at the annual ceremony, to be held March 10 in New York. “The 2008 inductees are trailblazers – all unique and influential in their genres,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President and CEO Joel Peresman said in a statement. “From poetry to pop, these five… Read more »