Search Results for: decade

Over the course of four solid albums and the better part of a decade on the concert trail, Detroit punk quartet the Suicide Machines have proven superior to much of their more popular competition, with Saturday’s excellent hourlong set at the packed Whisky just the latest local example. So the same big question continues to dog the band: What’s it going to take for these guys, who were equally impressive at the Roxy last year, to break through to more than small club gigs and barely there retail sales? Opening fast with the two-toned “Break the Glass,” a favorite from… Read more »

Virgin Records vice chairman Nancy Berry, the estranged wife of ousted music executive Ken Berry, Tuesday became the latest casualty of a restructuring at ailing British music company EMI Group Plc, where the couple reigned over rock ‘n’ roll for several years. Alain Levy, who abruptly replaced Ken Berry as chief executive officer of EMI’s recorded music division last week, announced Tuesday that Nancy Berry will leave Virgin immediately after more than two decades at the EMI unit. The news, which was not a surprise to many industry insiders, broke as Virgin prepares to release key albums in coming weeks… Read more »

With a career spanning nearly 35 years, Elton John has a simple explanation for his longevity: “I tend not to look back. I look forward.” That said, John doesn’t disagree with the overwhelmingly favorable reviews that refer to his new album, “Songs From the West Coast,” as a vintage work hearkening back to the early 1970s hits that established him as a leading pop music figure. “I’m fine with that,” says John, 54, of comparisons to such early albums as “Tumbleweed Connection” and “Madman Across the Water.” “It’s the same kind of lineup as I had on the old albums,… 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 »

U2’s Bono, who will perform at the Concert For New York City with U2 guitarist the Edge on Saturday (October 20), says the show comes at a poignant time in the Irish band’s career. The group’s latest album, the year-old All That You Can’t Leave Behind, returned U2 to political and social commentary after nearly a decade of “throwing rocks at our own demons,” according to Bono. The singer tells LAUNCH that a key idea for U2 now is the search for grace in a world that makes it very difficult to achieve. “It’s a powerful idea, grace. It really… Read more »

Carole King-Her Greatest Hits (Songs of Long Ago), has been certified platinum by the RIAA on September 4. The compilation was originally released in March, 1978 and reissued by Sony Legacy in May, 1999. This certification joins Music and Rhymes & Reasons as King’s third Platinum album award, which she now adds to six Gold albums and her Diamond award-winning 1971 album Tapestry. Tapestry stayed on Billboard magazine’s Top 200 album chart for an incredible 302 consecutive weeks and was the best-selling solo album by a female artist for over 25 years. Her 24th solo album release, Love Makes The… Read more »

The 2001 Family Values Tour boasts two acts – Linkin Park and Staind – with triple-platinum albums currently in the Billboard top 10, though neither group is the headliner. That distinction goes to Stone Temple Pilots, who met the challenge at the tour’s second stop Friday, at the Allstate Arena near Chicago. Led by Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots played like a band with something to prove to the young crowd of some 15,000 fans, which – nearly a decade after the release of their debut album, Core, and in an era dominated by rap-rock and nü-metal – they do.… Read more »

ARTISTdirect CEO Ted Field and company Marc Geiger vice chairman today announced that Heidi Ellen Robinson has been named SVP of press and media relations. In her new post, Robinson will design and implement media campaigns for all facets of the company, including ARTISTdirect Corporate, ARTISTdirect Records and its roster, ARTISTdirect Talent Agency, and all special projects that the company undertakes such as the SnoCore and Fan Nation touring events. Robinson will report directly to Field and Geiger. “Having worked directly with Heidi for years on many projects,” said Geiger, “I know first hand how valuable she is as a… Read more »

Michael Jackson’s star-studded concerts in New York last month will make it to the small screen on November 13. Although such newer royalty as Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child performed at the King of Pop’s two tribute shows, Jackson’s solo set – his first in the U.S. in more than a decade – will be the focus of “Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special,” according to a spokesperson for CBS television. The show will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT. (MTVi’s parent company, Viacom, also owns CBS.) The show will feature Jackson performing such hits as “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Black… Read more »

Los Lobos have entered the studio with legendary producer John Leckie to record their eleventh studio album and their first recording of new material since 1999’s This Time. The group plans to release the record in early-2002, to coincide with their twenty-fifth anniversary. The past year has found the group looking backwards with the reissue of Del Este de Los Angeles, their 1977 debut recording of traditional material and their second retrospective, El Cancionero: Mas y Mas, a four-disc compilation that spanned their career. The new album will be the group’s first recording without the production team of Mitchell Froom… Read more »