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Recap of top stories for the first half of this week

Top 5 stories for first half this week

Metallica To Save Ozzfest?

antiMusic reports: After Sharon ran Ozzfest into the ground by taking booking advice from Jack (and maybe Carson Daly) and then last year's poorly executed Freefest scheme, the Ozz needs to call in the big guns to make the fest viable again. 

When you think of Ozzfest main stage and "big name in metal," there should only be one band that comes to mind: Adema! Unfortunately, they already booked a taxidermy convention gig at the Tupelo Holiday Inn, so Ozzy is reportedly trying to talk Metallica into doing the show. 

Blabbermouth heard it from sources, which are usually spot on.(Except in the rare cases when they're not.) Here is what Blabbermouth had to say: OZZY OSBOURNE and METALLICA are strongly rumored to be headlining this summer's Ozzfest, BLABBERMOUTH.NET can reveal. According to our sources, this year's edition of Ozzfest will consist of two separate two-day (Saturday/Sunday) events — one of which will be held in Dallas — in late July/early August, with OZZY headlining one day and METALLICA the other.- But will it only be Texas? 

Ashlee Not Knocked Up In Plot To Hide Wentz's Homosexuality

Wentz told MTV in part, "I'm really in a gay relationship and this is all just a cover." Which would make it kind of interesting to find out how Ashlee got knocked up. The gay thing was (a Freudian slip?) what he used as an example of the false reports that you'll read in the tabloids and it's all part of a vast conspiracy underfoot in the tab press. "There is a witch hunt for people to be pregnant whenever they get engaged in Hollywood," Wentz wrote to MTV. 

For lawyers and dumbasses, we intentionally took Wentz's "gay" quote out of context for humor value and to help make his point. We don't know, nor care, if Pete is a homosexual or if Ashlee is with child.- Now go read the quote in context at MTV if you actually care about either. 

N.E.R.D. Brawl

The outburst nearly shut down production of the clip, which was filmed inside the Madison nightclub, and at least one person was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Both Lindsay Lohan and Kanye West reportedly visited the set at different times during the shoot, but were not present for the disturbance.

"Some dude, one of the extra guys, jumped another extra and started calling him a pu--- and punching him in the face," said one of the club's employees, who spoke to MTV News but did not want to be named. "They fell against the bar, and there were all these beer bottles up there which were being used as props, and the bottles fell over and broke. The guy who was jumped, his arm got cut, and he started bleeding all over the place. The other dude ran away. It wasn't such a big deal. The police did show up, and the dude that was attacked went to hospital and sat there for two hours before he was seen."- more on this story

Zeppelin Reunion DVD Not Likely

According to a Blabbermouth report, Plant "was asked if he felt the success of the band's performance last December at London's O2 Arena was enough of a victory to permanently ice any future work with the band. Plant said, 'Not at all. I really enjoyed it. And hopefully, one day we could do it again for another really, really good reason.'" Maybe lots of cash would be a good enough reason? 

Later in the article "Jimmy Page says that there are currently no plans to release a CD or DVD from the O2 show: 'It was recorded, but we didn't go in with the express purpose of making a DVD to come out at Christmas, or whatever. We haven't seen the images or investigated the multitracks. It's feasible that it might come out at some distant point, but it'll be a massive job to embark on.' 

"When asked point blank what the current status of ZEPPELIN is now and if a tour could happen, Page said, 'The focus was on the O2 show. That's what I had my focus on. As for Robert, he had a parallel project (with Alison Krauss) and it's been successful, which I suppose means he doesn't have time for ZEPPELIN at this moment. What I do know — is at the rehearsals, and the O2 gig, we were really inspiring. Okay? That's all I'll say.'"- what did Jones have to say?

Bon Jovi Endangered Kid?

TMZ has the details: Law enforcement sources tell us there's a dogfight inside the Laguna Beach PD, where the brass has recommended that prosecutors file child endangerment charges against Sambora for his DUI bust March 26. We're told "a significant number of officers" inside the department feel there's no evidence of child endangerment. There was no smell of alcohol on his breath, and no evidence of dangerous or erratic driving.

Sambora's 10-year-old daughter Ava, along with Ava's 17-year-old cousin and Richie's GF, were also in the car when he was popped. Looks like Richie's blood alcohol level was over the legal limit. But that's not the end of the story.

In order to file child endangerment charges, prosecutors look to the actual behavior of the suspect. In this case, we're told Sambora exhibited no "dangerous conduct." The reason he was stopped in the first place was because his big-ass Hummer had crossed the line in which it was supposed to be traveling. We're told crossing the line was a function of how large the vehicle was, not evidence that Sambora was impaired- The ol' Hummer defense. But how does that square with "Richie's blood alcohol level was over the legal limit." TMZ story is here 

Oops Britney Crashes Again, But Her Makeup Looks Fine

According to the CHP collision report, the popwreck drove her 2008 Mercedes into the back 2006 Nissan as she drove on the 101freeway in L.A. around 8:18 PM PT. The other driver was a 20-year-old man from the valley -- his friends are gonna love this. 

TMZ spoke with the guy she hit, who says before the accident, he was admiring the white Mercedes and the woman putting on makeup while driving it. It wasn't until after she hit him at an estimated 10-15 MPH that he realized the woman was Britney. The man also says he wasn't sure if she was still putting on makeup at the time of the crash.- more on this story

Meet Paul Stanley for Only 25K

Breakout your KISS Visa Card, Blabbermouth has the details: The Wentworth Gallery at Tysons Galleria in McLean, Virginia will reportedly host a special "An Evening With…" event with KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley on October 11, 2008. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will include cocktails and dinner with Paul Stanley and deluxe accommodations at the Ritz Carlton in McLean. Spaces are limited to only 20 couples or 40 people. A $5,000.00 non-refundable deposit towards the minimum new purchase of $25,000.00 in artwork will reserve your place for the evening.

Paul is currently working on new pieces to add to his exhibit as well as for future purchases. He will even be painting on guitars to describe the emotions that his songs evoke.- more on this story

10 Reasons To Avoid The New Coldplay CD

Frontman Chris "Ricky" Martin spoke with Billboard about the effort, "We're still obsessed with making songs that can be sung to the rafters. We just wanted to present them differently." The CD title had a thoughtful back story* until they added the "or Death and All His Friends," which we're not sure about the loca reason for that addition. Maybe he likes the conflicting statements. Like Apple to Orange?

Nevertheless, Martin and those other guys brought on Markus Dravs and Brian Eno to produce the ten track album which hits stores on June 17th. But there is hope for some kind of extras CD or a 'make our fans buy this again' special addition, as the band reportedly recorded more song then they can use. Some of those tracks are supposedly titled "Postcards From Far Away," "Rainy Day" and "Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground."- Here are the tracks that did make the final cut or as we like to say 10 Reasons To Avoid The New Coldplay CD

Def Leppard Goes Mute

The band were forced to cancel all of their shows this past weekend and BW&BK's Mitch Lafon had to get to the bottom of it. So he rang up guitarist Phil Collen who explained, "Joe (Elliott - vocals) and I came down with a virus - they thought it was pneumonia, but it's not. But we both have lost our voices and there was just no way to do the shows. We are currently holed up in Quebec City." Which leads us to ask: if he lost his voice, how in the hell did he tell Mitch this? Not important. We'll have to take his word for it that the voice of the band (a.k.a. Joe) is really mute. 

And to add injury to illness, Collen also told Mitch that Rick Allen is laid up and can't drum because he threw his back out. Now before we shoot you off to BW&BK for the latest on this saga of Leppard woe, we must clarify that we assumed the vet part in the beginning of this article because of Phil saying "they thought." He could have been talking about Styx and REO Speedwagon (who they are touring with.) Since we're reading into things, it should be safe to say that Viv and Sav have apparently escaped calamity (for now). On happier note, we can report that the advance of "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" showed up today and we gave it a spin before Tony K snatched it up for his forthcoming review. All we can tell you is that some guitar loving fans might be pleasantly surprised come April 29th when it hits stores in America.- We hope they can claw their way back to health real soon. For now read the latest at BW&BK

Viagra Mixups for Tools

Puscifer, the artist collective helmed by Maynard James Keenan (Tool/A Perfect Circle), will release a thirteen song remix album titled "V is for Viagra: The Vagina Remixes" on Apr. 29 via Puscifer Entertainment.- more on this story

Alice Cooper and Slash To Be Honored for Drug Addiction

"I've made myself very available to friends of mine," says Cooper, who will receive the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award. "They're people who would call me late at night and say, 'Between you and me, I've got a problem."' 

MusiCares will also honor Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash for his dedication to the organization's mission and goals. Cooper and Slash will perform at the alcohol-free event, at the Music Box at the Fonda theater, as will Cat Power, Blind Melon and all-star group Camp Freddy. - more on this story

Gwen Stacy Robbed

"While we were in LA, we stopped at grocery store to get some food, and just to get out of the van for a little bit. After being inside for close to ten minutes we came out we noticed our driver side window was busted out, so we ran to the van. We found that our cash box with close to 3000 dollars was stolen. 

"So, needless to say we could really use some help. The loss of this money has really set us back financially. We've been throwing around the idea of setting up a paypal account if people would be interested in helping that way, but mainly we'd just like to ask if you could keep us in your thoughts and prayers.- more on this story

Quicks: Matchbox Twenty Rodeo Bull, Def Jam Tag Product Whores

But now you won't even be able to find them at a Wyoming rodeo as they are all Peta over the idea of making money over the alleged mistreatment of animals. . AP reports, "Matchbox Twenty has cancelled a performance at a large rodeo event in Wyoming... making money from what it believes to be the mistreatment of animals. " No details of said mistreatment were mentioned. Bull? You decide. 

Island Def Jam's Jermaine Dupri proclaimed, "my goal is to find artists that have longevity written all over their face." We can respect that, as not too many label execs seem to have that in mind these days. However, he was talking about the following when he made the comments, "Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble is getting into the hip-hop business by launching a record label with Island Def Jam Music Group. The joint venture with be called Tag Records, a nod to Procter & Gamble's's Tag body sprays." And these label execs wonder why their sales are falling. They've seen to have forgotten that you can make big profits without sacrificing credibility.- Just look at the top five best selling albums in U.S. History. 

Shady Act for Mandela Birthday

Idolator reports: P.W. Botha will get the gas face when Eminem headlines a concert at London's Hyde Park celebrating the 90th birthday of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

Shady's planned warm-up acts include Stevie Wonder, Queen and a bunch of white British songbirds ranging from Annie Lennox to Keane, with more superstars invited but not yet confirmed. It will be Eminem's first public performance since 2005.- more on this story

Jurassic Rock The Movie

Now the film version is set to do the same. "Young at Heart" documents the group of U.S. senior citizens belting out songs by Sonic Youth through to James Brown. 

The small-town act has been running for some 25 years but international fame is now at hand. The film opens across the United States this week and, after scoring distribution deals, will soon open in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Australia- more on this story

Foxy Brown the Next Martha Stewart?

Idolator have the story: [Foxy Brown] is coming home on April 18, after having served eight of her twelve-month sentence for attacking a neighbor with her BlackBerry while under probation for attacking the staff at a nail salon. 

"She did every single minute of her bid in jail, and she did it under the most severe conditions," said manager Chaz Williams. We remember, but that's over now. What isn't is Foxy's career, what with a new album in the wings and, shock of shocks, the possibility of a reality show. Williams revealed that Brown, born Inga Marchand, is in talks with a couple of television networks for a potential documentary and reality show on her life.- more on this story

more stories including: 04/14: Metallica To Save Ozzfest?- N.E.R.D. Brawl- Gwen Stacy Robbed- Matchbox Twenty Rodeo Bull, Def Jam Tag Product Whores, Fishing for Tix- Vanilla Ice- more
 

Tuesday

Maiden To Spread Anthrax In California

PR reports: Metal legends Anthrax have announced a short spring tour, kicking off with a warmup club show at Chicago's Double Door on May 28th, 2008. The Chicago warm-up show will be the band's first live performance with their new singer Dan Nelson. In addition to the band's classic hits from their 25 year career, ANTHRAX will for the first time ever perform brand new material from their current writing sessions. After the warm-up show, Anthrax will then fly to Los Angeles and join Iron Maiden on their "Somewhere Back In Time" world tour. Anthrax is direct supporting Iron Maiden at the May 30th and 31st shows at Irvine, CA's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

Anthrax's Charlie Benante says "Playing with Iron Maiden again is such a thrill for us! We can't wait to be a part of these two magical nights." Guitarist Scott Ian adds, "It is an absolute honor to be asked to open the Irvine shows for the Kings of Metal Iron Maiden. Anthrax's tours with Iron Maiden are my all time favorites. Up The Irons!!!" Lastly, bassist Frank Bello exclaims, "I saw them 2 weeks ago and sang every word. They're better than ever!! I can't wait to play with them again!! Good times!!"

Anthrax is currently writing for their new album. This will be their first studio album since 2003's "We've Come For You All," and also their first album with Dan Nelson on vocals.- more on this story

Curved Air Reunite

Curved Air, originally formed in 1969, was a groundbreaking progressive art-rock band renowned for the showmanship of individual musicians. Each member pushed the boundaries of possibilities for rock music performance; Darryl Way, with his flamboyant virtuoso exploration of electric violin, Francis Monkman's brilliant innovative sound manipulation of synthesizers and fiery intricate guitar playing, and Florian's expressive approach to rock drumming. Vocalist Sonja Kristina won the hearts of a generation of music lovers and was voted top British Female Vocalist of the 70's. Three 'top twenty' albums that this lineup released are generally regarded as classics, with "Back Street Luv" reaching the 'top ten' singles chart.

Of the reunion, Darryl said, "I'm very excited to be performing again with Sonja and Florian and looking forward to meeting faithful fans and maybe creating some new ones along the way."- more on this story

Ozzy Resurrects Monsters Of Rock Brand for Festival

This one-day celebration of the heaviest music in the universe is landing exclusively in the Great White North at Calgary's McMahon Stadium on Saturday July 26th. Also along for the ride will be: JUDAS PRIEST, SERJ TANKIAN, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, SHADOWS FALL and VOIVOD. 

Also included in this stunning, hard-hitting line-up are American metal warriors TESTAMENT, Canadian dragon-slaying heroes 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, Montreal's swaggering headbangers PRIESTESS, and Vancouvers metal jesters ZIMMERS HOLE. (More bands TBA).- more on this story

Killing Joke Reunite for Album and Tour

Die hard fans have been waiting for this moment for two decades! Bassist, Martin 'Youth' Glover also steps back into the live arena after a near 15 hiatus, having not played live with Killing Joke since 1994's Pandemonium tour.

The tour will see Killing Joke take up a two night residency in most venues offering a different set on each evening. On the first night, they will play their first two albums in their entirety, 1980's self-titled album followed by the album 'What's This…For!'. Their second performance in each city will treat fans to 1994's Pandemonium and the Island Records singles of '79 to '80.
- more on this story

Loudness Drummer Fighting Cancer

Loudness will play the three previously announced Japanese dates with a replacement drummer, whose name hasn't been revealed yet. 

After those gigs, the band will be put on hold indefinitely until Munetaka gets his full strength back.- more on this story

UK's Answer To Rage Against The Machine

If this happens it could be a disaster of Limp Bizkit proportions, but then again considering who is involved they might just pull it off. On the other hand, Matt didn't seem too serious about the pairing and may have been having a go at a BBC reporter. 

Gigwise has this: Speaking to BBC 6 Music, Bellamy said that they had yet to ask Skinner but hoped it would lead to "England's answer to Rage Against The Machine." 

"Like London rap rock – just like a little one off – it might be a laugh," he said.- more on this story

Quicks: RockWalk Over The Smashing Pumpkins, Radio Says Hell Yeah, Deadlock Recording, And Charlotte Sometime

Rev Theory's fist-pumping anthem "Hell Yeah" made its first move in its hopeful climb to the top of the rock radio charts as the single was the number one most added song to active rock radio in its debut week.

The Kooks' 'Konk' hits stores today but not sure if you want to buy it? You can preview the entire CD online to see if they have earned your cash. The preview can be found http://music.aol.com/songs/new_releases_full_cds

Deadlock will enter the studio in early-August to record a album which they hope will be released in November by Lifeforce Records. 

Finally, if you ever wondered who is Charlotte Sometime, and why could she just kill a man? You can find out part of the answer- here

Barker Makes Co Blink Over Whoring His Image

AP reports that Barker and Rockstar have reached a tentative settlement to the lawsuit. According to the AP report, "Barker's lawsuit claimed invasion of privacy, unfair competition and misappropriating his likeness to promote the product.

"The lawsuit said the Rockstar Web site published a photo of the 32-year-old Barker 'holding a can of one of Rockstar's beverages, and identifying him and his endorsement by name' without his consent. - Read the AP report for more info

Red Hot GNR Concerts?

The online edition of the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reports that Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns N' Roses will come to Brazil in this year. Dates and locations for the possible shows are yet to be announced. 

On January 1st, 2008, it was reported that according to a producer there are "good chances" that Guns N' Roses will visit Brazil in the early third quarter of 2008. - more GNR news

Sad End To Bullet For My Valentine Tour

"Jay had a call [Friday] night about his little girl," Bullet For My Valentine guitarist/vocalist Matt Tuck told Blabbermouth.Net in an exclusive interview this past Saturday (April 12). 

"She's very, very ill — she's in the hospital. I'm not gonna go into too much detail 'cause that's obviously his personal stuff — but she's very ill and he had to fly home straight away, which obviously is the correct thing to do, and he wants to be there by her bedside and hopefully she's gonna pull through. He didn't have any choice — he had to go home — and that was totally fine with us."- more on this story

more stories including: 04/15: Bon Jovi Endangered Kid?- Zeppelin Reunion DVD- Loudness Drummer Fighting Cancer- Curved Air Reunite- Maiden To Spread Anthrax In California- Radiohead- more
 

Top Reviews of the Week

.The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (IMAX)

The Rolling Stones don't embody rock n' roll... they ARE rock n' roll and Martin Scorsese wondrously captured this for future generations to witness on his new film Shine A Light. Tony K takes a look at the IMAX spectacular. (5 stars) - Read the full The Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (IMAX) review
 

.Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow

Long-time fans will probably want this in their collection and will find stuff on it they'll like--"Scapegoat," "Prodigal Son," and "Contradiction" at the very least I'd guess--but I'll be hoping the next Sevendust disc puts them back to their true form. (3.5 stars) - Read the full Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow review
 

.Porcupine Tree - NIL Recurring

"Progressive' does not have to be synonymous with "boring". Long? Sure. Pretentious? Absolutely. But it's the albums like this with equal parts pop sensibility and difficult sprawling guitar phrases that keep some blood running through the tired prog body. (4 stars) - Read the full Porcupine Tree - NIL Recurring review
 

.10 Years of antiMusic: The Queen Of CBGB

We're looking back at 10 years of antiMusic. Today we revisit Trent McMartin's profile and interview with Deborah Olin, also known as The Queen of CBGB. Trent wrote this article in 2005 as the venue was still in a legal struggle for survival.- Read the full The Queen Of CBGB review
 

.10 Years of antiMusic: We Are All In This Together

We're looking back at 10 years of antiMusic. Today we look back at our editor's favorite article. It was published in the wake of the Great White fire and Dimebag's murder, and it deals with a topic that anyone that loves music can related to- What brings us together.- Read the full We Are All In This Together review
 

.10 Years of antiMusic: When Zane Met Dio

We're looking back at 10 years of antiMusic. We have a flashback of a different kind today as Zane tells us about one of his favorite antiMusic memories. Meeting metal legend Ronnie James Dio-. The only man with the stature and voice to replace Ozzy!- Read the full When Zane Met Dio review
 

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