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The first Moonman won’t be handed out for another month, but Jay-Z and Beyoncé are already looking like the king and queen of the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards: The two led the pack when nominations were announced Tuesday morning. Usher, Kanye West, Jessica Simpson, Hoobastank, Yellowcard and Jet were also unveiled as the show’s first performers at Tuesday’s announcement in Miami, where the show will be held August 29, marking the VMAs’ first staging outside of New York or Los Angeles. Jay’s gritty “99 Problems” clip grabbed the most nominations with six, including nods for Best Video of the… Read more »
Hoobastank have a choice to make with their next single – not which song to pick, but which video. The group has made two clips for “Same Direction,” the follow-up to “The Reason.” The first is a sequel to that song’s clip, and in the second video, Hoobastank’s fictional former fifth member, “Ted,” runs the show. Ted, according to a treatment conceived by a fan who wrote it as part of a contest, was once the band’s triangle player, let go in the fifth grade for artistic differences. Ted, now 25, is still obsessed with Hoobastank, and he builds shoebox… Read more »
Green Day leads the roster of rock and rap artists contributing music to Madden 2005, the latest in the series of football video games bearing the name of legendary announcer John Madden. The title track from Green Day’s forthcoming album, American Idiot, will appear on the game even before it reaches radio stations or record stores, while other artists contributing tracks from current albums include Franz Ferdinand, Hoobastank, the Hives, Chevelle and New Found Glory. Madden 2005 arrives on August 17. Green Day’s new album, American Idiot, is set for release on September 21. Hard rockers Earshot contribute their own… Read more »
There’s a reason Hoobastank’s next video seems a lot like their last one: The band is going in the same direction for the follow-up, so much so that the new clip will act as both a prequel and a sequel. Thanks to nonlinear storytelling, “Same Direction” will make “The Reason” seem as though it should be sandwiched inside the tale told in the new video, which establishes what happened before “The Reason” and reveals what happens afterward, with just as many twists as its predecessor. In “The Reason,” the bandmembers stage a diversion so they can carry out the elaborate… Read more »
Not one rock-based track has reached the top two slots of the Billboard Hot 100 during the past couple of years until this week. The dearth of retail singles for such songs, coupled with the massive audience potential of R&B/hip-hop titles, has all but relegated rock, and some pop titles, to the middle of the top 10. But Hoobastank defies the recent trend, as “The Reason” jumps 5-2 to become the highest-charting rock track on the Hot 100 since Linkin Park took “In the End” to No. 2 in March 2002. With the surrounding R&B tracks having reached their peak… 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 »
Jet, Hoobastank, Yellowcard and Lostprophets lead the crop of bands already on board for the album, due June 22, according to a Columbia Records spokesperson. Tracks by Train and Dashboard Confessional will serve as the LP’s two singles, set for a simultaneous release at an unspecified date. Videos for the songs are also expected to surface at the same time. Yellowcard are especially excited to have a song on the soundtrack, since frontman Ryan Key has not only claimed to have had Spider-Man sheets and footy pajamas as a child, but now sports a swinging Spidey tattoo on his shoulder.… Read more »
After they finish their tour opening for Linkin Park and P.O.D. on March 6, Hoobastank will head back out to headline this year’s MTV Campus Invasion Tour. The trek launches March 19 at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and runs through April 24 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Lostprophets and Ima Robot will open all dates. Hoobastank will be touring to support their sophomore album, The Reason, which came out December 9. A video for their current single, “The Reason,” was shot earlier this month by Brett Simon. Lostprophets, whose single “Last Train Home” continues to climb… Read more »
The Deftones were forced by their record label, Maverick Records, to remove 49 live bootleg recordings from their website. Singer Chino Moreno told MTV.com, “I think Maverick got mad because they own all that music…it was our idea to put it up there, but I think we were maybe supposed to ask permission or something.” The bootlegs, recorded at various shows in 1992, 1995, and 2000, were available for free downloading at the site, but abruptly disappeared about three weeks ago. Hoobastank have reportedly dropped off the list of support acts for the upcoming Deftones headlining tour, which begins October… Read more »
