Rock Ruled Music In 2008: Biggest Sellers Revealed

- The Nielsen Company included these interesting facts in their report

Axl Hints At New CD

Metal Underground reports: Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has hinted that a follow up to "Chinese Democracy" could be in the cards after finally breaking his silence over the long awaited album.

Speaking to various fan forums and message boards, the singer said there was a wealth of material left over which could be released in the near future. "For now we'll concentrate and keep our focus on this album but I will say I've always thought of it as a double," he said.

He also spoke about why the original line-up split and a recent court case brought by Duff McKagan and Slash, reports Billboard. "What I can say now is you've been told a lot of things in order for others to promote themselves that factually they cannot backup in regard to either," Rose said. "They are complicated legally, financially and have devoured a good portion of my life."
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The Grateful Dead Resurrected For Tour

E! reports: The Dead have turned the page on their differences. Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann—original members of pioneering jam band the Grateful Dead—have announced they'll be hitting the road in April for their first tour together in four years.

Per the surviving Dead mates' website, their latest jaunt will encompass nearly 20 dates between mid-April and mid-May.

Details haven't been announced, but the band instructed fans to keep returning to the site for updates. Guitarist Warren Haynes and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti will also be along for the ride.
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Royal Zeppelin- Jack Black Goes Country- Triple Prince- Allman Returns- Guns N' Denials- Wilco DVD- Tour Damned by Illness- Beastie Remaster and more

antiMusic reports: Jimmy Page can't seem to get Robert Plant onboard for a Led Zeppelin reunion. Maybe Queen Elizabeth can do some arm-twisting. Seems Her Majesty is a big Zep fan, naming Plant as one of the recipients of her New Year's honors. more

Jack Black may have been schooled in rock, but now he'd like to sing at the Grand Ole Opry with wife Tanya Haden's family, who recently turned him on to bluegrass music. more

Teen country star Taylor Swift led the U.S. pop album chart for a fourth week on Wednesday, while Beyonce rebounded three places to No. 2 with her former chart-topper.more

The Allman Brothers Band will play 10 shows at New York's Beacon Theater in March after scrapping the 2008 edition of its annual residency while frontman Gregg Allman recovered from hepatitis C.more

Prince says he is releasing three albums—likely through an exclusive deal with a major retailer—in 2009, including an electro-pop effort tentatively titled MPLSOUND and Lotus Flower, tracks from which were featured on L.A. indie station 103.1 FM this year.more

Guns N' Denials: The GNR camp claim it was only a fun comment taken out of context… we're talking about the story that Lars from Metallica is somehow holding up the release of the new Guns N' Roses video. details. It seems everyone in the GNR camp is misunderstood these days because guitarist Richard Fortus now claims that he was misquoted in a report that the band planned a two year long world tour. Damn. More details on that here

Wilco will release its first concert DVD, "Ashes of American Flags," chronicling February 2008 visits to Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and Tulsa, Okla.'s Cain Ballroom. The project is due in February or March from Nonesuch, just in advance of the next Wilco studio album, which the band is now recording. more

Due to severe illness The Damned will not be able to complete the North American dates of their world tour. The band was touring in support of their December release So, Who's Paranoid?.more

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of their sophomore album, Paul's Boutique, Beastie Boys have announced plans to reissue the classic disc. The new disc will be digitally remastered for the first time with the hands-on trio in the studio overseeing the process.more

My Darkest Hate, the German death metal band featuring former Primal Fear drummer Klaus Sperling, has parted ways with bassist Andreas Siegl (Black Abyss, ex-Paradox). more

Which band told Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner to "stick it up his ass" and doesn't care about Jann's Crock Hall of Fame and actually turned down Rolling Stone magazine when they offered them the cover? Find out here

Bleed The Sky, Straight Line Stitch, and Flatline will tour together briefly next month.more

Dr Dre's son died after taking an overdose of heroin and morphine, Los Angeles County coroners have revealed.more

Into The Moat has titled their new full-length "The Campaign" and debuted a track from the album online. Metal Blade Records will release the effort on February 17th.more
Jesse Michaels has released some information on his new band - Classics of Love. The band features Michaels on guitar and vocals, Mike Huegenor on guitar, Morgan Herell on bass and Max Feshbach on drums - all three other members are currently in The Hard Girls and have played in Pteradon and Shinobu. Jesse's comments

Every Time I Die has reportedly inked a deal with Epitaph Records. In a July 2008 interview with U.K.'s Rock Sound magazine, Every Time I Die frontman Keith Buckley stated about the band's label situation, "Our latest album was the last thing we had to deliver for Ferret so we are in limbo. - more

The Greatest Voices In Rock

Nightwatcher reports: The U.K's Sun is reporting that Robert Plant beat legends Mick Jagger and David Bowie to top a poll of the greatest voices in rock.

The Zeppelin front man led a host of Brit talents in the vote by digital radio station Planet Rock.

Top 10: 1. Robert Plant (LED ZEPPELIN) 2. Freddie Mercury (QUEEN) 3. Paul Rodgers (FREE/BAD COMPANY) 4. Ian Gillan (DEEP PURPLE) 5. Roger Daltrey (THE WHO) 6. David Coverdale (WHITESNAKE) 7. Axl Rose (GUNS N' ROSES) 8. Bruce Dickinson (IRON MAIDEN) 9. Mick Jagger (ROLLING STONES) 10. Bon Scott (AC/DC)
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Slipknot Frontman Going Solo

Angry Ape reports: Corey Taylor, frontman with masked rockers Slipknot and Stone Sour, is to pursue a solo career.

The singer intends to put out a record of his own songs, but will not be quitting his other bands. Taylor is so eager to release an album, that he's already written over 40 songs.

"It's something that I'd like to do purely for myself." Corey is quoted as saying. "It's something that I need to release before I can think about moving on to anything else." - more on this story

Reznor To Testify for Marilyn Manson

E! reports: Marilyn Manson wants to hook back up with Dita Von Teese...and Trent Reznor and several other old pals.

The shock-rocker's camp has unveiled a witness wish list that includes his ex-wife, his Nine Inch Nails-fronting mentor to testify on his behalf in an upcoming court showdown with estranged keyboardist Stephen Bier.

Bier, otherwise known as Madonna Wayne Gacy, sued Manson for more than $20 million last year, claiming Manson siphoned off millions of dollars in band revenue.
- more on this story

My Chemical Romance Plan Aggressive New Album

Angry Ape reports: My Chemical Romance are to get more aggressive on their next studio album, according to the band's frontman Gerard Way.

The singer says of the forthcoming record, due sometime in 2009: "You know, we've made concepts for three albums now, so I think this one - at least from my standpoint - I want to go into it not thinking about a definite story."

"The one thing is we've never really captured that 'live' feeling. We've gone for sometimes more polish..." Way tells MTV.
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Merle Haggard Beats Cancer, Plans Busy 2009

Reuters reports: Merle Haggard is not letting a bout with lung cancer get in the way of his ambitious touring and recording plans.

Seven weeks after the 71-year-old country legend had a lemon-sized tumor removed in what he calls "the greatest test of my fortitude," he said on Wednesday that he expects to work harder in 2009 than he has in 20 years.

Haggard says he is singing better now that he is in the throes of kicking his daily marijuana habit. More importantly, the son of Depression-era Dust Bowl migrants from Oklahoma views himself as a cheerleader during tough times.
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Grand Funk Founder Speaks Out On Reunion Possibilities and Brown Nose Hall of Fame

Nightwatcher reports: In a brand new exclusive interview conducted by Nightwatcher's House Of Rock with rock legend Mark Farner, the ex Grand Funk Railroad frontman discusses his latest album, 'For The People', his days in Grand Funk, the possibilities of a reunion of the original band, the chances of the band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and much more. A short excerpt from the interview follows below :

NHOR : I've got to ask you the inevitable question Mark... what do you feel the chances are of the original Grand Funk reuniting again for even a few shows? When I talked with Don Brewer about it he seemed to tense up at the mention of the subject. What's the situation, and do you ever feel it will happen again?

MF : As for me, I've been trying to put the band back together. I talked to Capitol Records prior to that DVD that you spoke of,(Grand Funk's Greatest Hits) with the Shea footage and the companion CD that accompanied it. I sat across the table from those guys in California, and told them I wanted to promote this. I thought that the three original members should be promoting this product, because it would get the most sales. Isn't that what putting the product out there is all about? I went to Capitol because I knew if I went to the other two guys that Don would keep it from Mel, and they wouldn't even entertain it. Just because of what's going on there. I went to Capitol, and they called those guys, Don told them that they didn't want to do it, and that they would use their version of Grand Funk to promote it. And of course, Capitol passed.

NHOR : There are a lot of fans who feel that without you it just isn't Grand Funk Railroad....

MF : Well, I appreciate that, and it isn't. That's what I've always said. Grand Funk has been three amigos and nobody else. There's no other three people on this earth that can make that sound.

NHOR : What do you feel at this point are the chances of Grand Funk Railroad ever getting into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame? Why do you think the band isn't in there already?

MF : I think it's political. I think it's because we haven't obtained the brown ring around the mouth from kissing somebody's hind end. That's not who I am. I'm not going to bow to that god. It's only important to me at all for the fans, for the sake of the fans. From that viewpoint, yes. Because it is something which is supposed to be representative, but it's the same thing as where the Congress of the United States is supposed to be representative of us by coining and controlling the money. But that ain't happening either.
- Read the entire interview here

School's Out Again

Nightwatcher reports: Audio Fidelity will release the classic 1972 album by the original Alice Cooper band, 'School's Out' in a numbered, limited edition 24KT gold CD form, remastered from the original master tapes February 10, 2009.

The title track"School's Out" became Alice Cooper's first major hit single, and propelled the album to #2 on the Billboard 200, selling over a million copies.

The song reached #1 on the UK singles chart for three weeks in August 1972, and is listed as one of Rolling Stone Magazine's '500 Greatest Songs Of All Time'.
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