The Pretenders announced a tour through North American starting January 29 at the Palace Theatre in Albany, NY with the final show taking place on March 14 in Reno, Nevada at the Silver Legacy. The tour is the band's first extensive headlining tour since 2003.
The Pretenders touring line up of Chrissie Hynde Martin Chambers, James Walbourne, Eric Heywood, and Nick Wilkinson is touring in support of the band's ninth album, Break Up The Concrete which was released through Shangri-La Music in October of 2008.



UPDATE: Travis Barker has quashed any rumours of a reunion with Blink 182. According to an MTV report, the drummer was recently asked if Blink are getting back together.

"No," he says. "We're friends, though, everyone's getting along pretty good." He is then asked again if the group is getting back together: "No," he says. Meanwhile, Travis Barker and DJ AM will reunite on-stage for the first time since their plane crash earlier this fall, as part of a New Year's Eve celebration. TRVSDJAM will headline New Year's Nation's Los Angeles party on December 31, which will broadcast online here


Creed is hammering out details for a lucrative 2009 reunion tour, sources tell Billboard. The Scott Stapp-led hard rock group, which was one of the top sellers of the past decade, has not performed since a rancorous split in June 2004.

Stapp promptly embarked on a solo career, while guitarist Mark Tremonti, drummer Scott Phillips and original bassist Brian Marshall formed Alter Bridge with vocalist Myles Kennedy and released two albums. Their 2004 Wind-Up debut, "One Day Remains," sold 496,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan; a 2006 follow-up for Universal, "Blackbird," has moved 227,000.

But Kennedy is rumored to be the top contender to replace Robert Plant for a tour with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. And after a recent USO tour performing for American servicemen oversees, Stapp is said to be in prime physical and mental condition.

As such, there are "significant dollars" on the table for a Creed trek, according to sources close to the situation, who say an official announcement could be imminent. A spokesperson for Wind-Up tells Billboard, "There have been some talks, but it would be premature to comment on them at this time."


On the heels of the release of the second volume of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo's home recordings, the group is now taking a look back into its own vaults.

Cuomo tells Billboard he has "no idea" when the tentatively titled "Odds and Ends" will be released, but describes it as "just another fun project to do. They're great songs, but for some reason they didn't make the final cut for a record. They span a vast period of time from the very beginning of our career in the early '90s right up to the present day."

Meanwhile, Cuomo says Weezer may tour next spring with Oasis, and is hoping to enlist Spike Jonze to direct a video for the song "The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived" from its recent "The Red Album."

And while the next Weezer studio album appears to be a ways off, the group recently recorded six Christmas carols that will be downloadable for the iPhone game "Tap Tap Revenge," including "Oh Holy Night." Says Cuomo, "They're the classics."


Of the 50 to 60 songs U2 penned for their new album, none of the tracks the band wrote while under the guidance of producer Rick Rubin will make the final track list, according to the Edge. “We actually laid all that stuff to one side. Really out of deference to Rick and that set of songs we just said, ‘OK, that’s that,’ and we drew a line,” said the guitarist. “So none of the Rick material went into this project. Everything has been written subsequently. He gave us great advice as much as anything.” The band ended up working with the The Joshua Tree production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. As for the rumored album title No Line on the Horizon, Edge says “It’s an image, Bono tells me. It’s like when you’re moving forward, but you’re not exactly sure what you’re heading towards — that moment where the sea and the sky blend into one. It’s an image of infinity, I suppose — a kind of Zen image.” U2’s new album is due out early 2009.


Travis Barker has filed suit against the makers of the Learjet that crashed in South Carolina in September, which injured himself and DJ AM and killed the crew and two other passengers. The suit names Bombardier Inc., Lacy Aviation and Goodyear Tires and seeks monetary damages. Speaking to E!, Barker said, "if something goes wrong that's not supposed to go wrong or you fall victim of it, I think you should be compensated, adding, "I lost two friends in the accident. Nothing can bring them back or what I lost in the accident."



Some of the biggest names in music are contributing exclusive songs to RED(WIRE), a new digital music magazine launching on World AIDS Day (Dec. 1).

U2, Coldplay, the Killers, the Dixie Chicks, John Legend, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan are on board for the initiative, all proceeds from which will benefit HIV-infected people in Africa. MSN.com will host a kick-off party on Dec. 1.

For $5, users will receive a new issue of RED(WIRE) every Wednesday, featuring an exclusive song from a major artist, a song from an artist (RED) aims to showcase, a multimedia piece that could encompass video or photography and a look at how proceeds are directly benefiting Africans in need. The materials will be downloaded to a custom player and automatically loaded into iTunes. 

U2's track was recorded just last Wednesday, while the Killers, Elton John and the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant teamed up for the Christmas song "Joseph," which MacKinnon describes as "like a power ballad." This is the third year in a row the Killers have penned a holiday song and donated proceeds to (RED).


No Doubt will end their five-year hiatus for a tour in 2009, the band revealed in a IM message conversation on their website. The band, sans Gwen Stefani, started work on their first album since 2001’s Rock Steady earlier this year, crafting songs while Stefani was pregnant with her second child. “I think if we go out on tour it will inspire us to write,” Stefani says in the chat. “I need to see the fans out there.” The band will hit the road “soon,” and continue writing and recording the album as they tour. “I think playing the shows would make the studio time even better,” writes bassist Tony Kanal. No other details regarding exact tour dates were revealed. The band is reportedly working with producer Mark “Spike” Stent, who previously helmed tracks on the band’s last album Rock Steady and on Stefani’s first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.


Following the jet crash that nearly killed DJ AM and Travis Barker, Barker’s +44 bandmate Mark Hoppus has been pondering the future of their old band Blink-182. “In the midst of everything else that has happened lately, Tom, Travis, and I have all spoken together,” Hoppus writes on his blog. “First through a number of phone calls, and then a couple of weeks ago we all hung out for a few hours. They’ve all been great, very positive conversations. We’re just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking.” Following the demise of Blink-182, Hoppus and Barker formed the backbone of +44 while Tom DeLonge splintered off to create Angels & Airwaves. So do the conversations mean we can expect a 182 reunion? “The answer is none of us know. We haven’t talked about it at all. Right now it’s just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect, and let the past be the past,” Hoppus writes. “The events of the past two months supersede everything that happened before. Life is too short.”


Foo Fighters, John Mayer and B.B. King will perform at the first Grammy Nominations Concert, to be held Dec. 3 at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live and broadcast on CBS.

In addition to the performances, the event will reveal the nominees in several as-yet-unspecified Grammy categories. Mariah Carey, LL Cool J and Taylor Swift will serve as co-hosts.

The show coincides with the grand opening of the Grammy Museum in the L.A. Live complex. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the museum.

The 2009 Grammys will be held Feb. 8.


Coldplay's Chris Martin has suggested that he plans to split up the band at the end of 2009.

The frontman told the Daily Express that his decision was based on his view that bands should call it a day before they get too old – saying he wanted to go out with a blast by keeping as busy as possible until 2009 ends.

"I'm 31 now and I don't think that bands should keep going past 33," he said. "So, we're trying to pack in as much as possible. Up until the end of next year, we'll just go for it in every sense.

"I don't believe in time off. We've still got most of our hair, we can still fit into our musical trousers and we've got to make the most of that."


Nine Inch Nails will continue their current mindblowing tour well into 2009. Trent Reznor announced on NIN.com that Lostprophets drummer Ilan Rubin will take over behind the kit for Josh Freese, who previously announced he would be leaving the touring lineup for NIN at the end of 2008. Reznor added "stay tuned for some 2009 tour announcements soon."




On Sunday night (November 16), after 10 years and more than 2,500 episodes, MTV's legendary "TRL" bid adieu to the airwaves with "Total Finale Live," a positively packed three-hour party that was as much about celebrating memories from the past as it was creating ones for the future. Performances and video clips of the past were shown last night, as well as the return of Carson Daly. For more, go here.



The 2008 MTVu Woodie Awards were held the other night Nov. 12) at New York's Roseland Ballroom. Motion City Soundtrack kicked off the night by winning the video of the year Woodie for "It Had To Be You." They were followed by indie rappers Atmosphere, who picked up the Performance Woodie. Eighties revivalists Chromeo took home the Left Field Woodie, while NYU band the Bride Wore Black won for best music on campus.

The Breaking Woodie went to emo band There For Tomorrow. Jack's Mannequin took home the Good Woodie for charitable work, and Paramore snagged the top prize, Woodie of the Year.

Live performances at the show included short sets by Cool Kids, Lykke Li (who was joined by Q-Tip), All Time Low, Santogold and Vampire Weekend.

Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Keidis' memoirs could be adapted into an HBO series, according to Variety. The show would be based on Keidis' book, Scar Tissue, and his unusual upbringing with his father, who lived on the fringes of Hollywood in the 1970s, selling drugs and attempting to break into show business. "He introduced me to the arts, to a more culturally magnificent life," Kiedis told Daily Variety. "But some of it was this heavy, adult matter that I wasn't quite capable of digesting. It was a very rich but kind of challenging period of my life. I was thrust into this adult mentality by age 11."


The soundtrack to Twilight debuted at #1 on the album sales chart this week, becoming the third #1 soundtrack this year after Juno and Mamma Mia! The set moved 165,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, 29 percent of which were digital downloads. The Twilight soundtrack boasts new songs from Paramore as well as tracks by Linkin Park, Muse, MuteMath, Collective Soul and Perry Farrell. The movie hits theaters on November 21 and is based on the vampire book series by author Stephenie Meyer.



Jimmy Eat World will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seminal album Clarity with a short tour early next year. The band will play the entire record start to finish at ten shows (for the 10th anniversary) in several cities, including San Francisco. 




AFI has finished penning tunes for their eighth album and is now ready to hit the studio and record. "We have a fabulous producer we'll be working with, David Bottrill, who has worked on some fantastic and legendary albums by Peter Gabriel, Muse, Silverchair, Placebo and Tool," wrote guitarist Jade Puget on the AFI Web site. "We've spent this whole year crafting these songs and we're impatient to share them, so let's get busy." The band's last effort, Decemberunderground, came out in 2006.



Santogold has apparently changed her name to her actual first name according to reports. Her new name will be "Santi" which works out well since we call her that in abbreviated form anyway, and her real name is Santi White.

This may give some validity to the Santo Gold vs. Santogold lawsuit that was handed down some months back, with a man claiming that it was in fact he that held the name first in the 1990's.


Coldplay have been declared the biggest-selling act of 2008 at the World Music Awards in Monaco.

The band picked up the prize – along with the Rock Act Of The Year award – after their current album album 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' topped charts around the globe.


Deftones bassist Chi Cheng is recovering well after a serious car crash last week. Cheng has been in a coma since the incident, and is now said to be in a stable condition and responding well to treatment. Speaking on the Deftones blog a statement said Cheng had responded to his father's request to move his lower lip and his legs had also responded with movement after a tendon reflex test. There was also a shout out from Cheng's family thanking the off duty EMT's who stopped to help Cheng after the crash, and to all fans who had left well-wishing messages. The blog added: "Doctors continue to remain optimistic, and the energy at the hospital remains very positive."


The Strokes plan to regroup in February, ending a hiatus that began after touring to promote 2006's "First Impressions of Earth," according to drummer Fabrizio Moretti.

Moretti -- who's about to tour in support of the just-released debut album of his new band Little Joy -- tells Billboard.com that the quintet has "plans of meeting up all of us together in February (to) kind of start noodling around and stuff." A new album and, presumably, more touring, is expected to follow.

Moretti says the five Strokes are "all pals" and relationships are good, but he did some have concerns about whether the group would indeed come back together. "I never had anything to base that anxiety on, but it crossed my mind," he confesses. "We all kinda knew we were just taking a bit of a break."

Moretti made the most of his time away with Little Joy, a group he formed with girlfriend Binki Shapiro and Rodrigo Amarante of Brazil's Los Hermanos, who Moretti met when both of their bands played at a festival in Portugal. The trio recorded its 11-track debut in Los Angeles -- where Moretti and Shapiro reside -- with producer Noah Georgeson.

The Strokes' Nick Valensi, Devandra Banhart (Moretti guested on the new album by Banhart's Megapuss) and the Moldy Peaches' Adam Green make guest appearances. Another two musicians will accompany the trio on its tour, and Moretti says shows will include covers and some unreleased and even brand new Little Joy songs.


Feist's breakthrough 2007 album The Reminder will be re-issued as a deluxe edition on December 2. The bonus disc includes remixes, cover songs and music videos. The second disc will also be sold separately as a stand alone CD. Feist is currently wrapping up a brief tour of her home and native land, Canada.





Flight of the Conchords member Jemaine Clement has become a first-time father - his wife has given birth to a baby boy. The comedian and his partner Miranda Manasiadis welcomed Sophocles Iraia Manasiadis Clement in New York last month (Oct 08), while the comedy duo filmed the second series of their hit show. Clement and Manasiadis wed in a lowkey ceremony in Los Angeles earlier this year.





Deftones bassist Chi Cheng has been hospitalized after being involved in what singer Chino Moreno called a "terrible" car crash.

The incident, which took place on Monday (November 3), resulted in Cheng being taken to the intensive care unit at an area hospital, where he remains in a "serious, but stable" condition according to Moreno.

Writing on the Deftones blog, Moreno asked fans to pray for Cheng.

"It deeply saddens me to inform you all that our brother Chi Cheng was involved in a terrible car accident last night. He is currently in a northern California hospital in a serious, but stable condition," he explained.

"I am on my way up north right now to be by his side along with the rest of our bandmates and family. Chi is one of the strongest people I know, and I'm praying that his strength will get him through this. Please say a prayer for him as well."


Frank Navetta, a founding member of pioneering punk band the Descendents, has passed away. Navetta co-founded the group in 1979 and spent six years with them, co-writing their seminal record Milo Goes To College. He died on Halloween after a brief, sudden illness.





Social Distortion and Motorhead have been tapped to headline the inaugural 25-city Samsung Mobile Musink Tattoo and Music Festival, which will also feature popular tattoo artist and cable TV personality Kat Von D on all dates. An official itinerary is still in the works, but the North American trek will visit arenas, exhibition halls and convention centers beginning Jan. 30 in San Francisco. The tour is expected to wrap March 15 at a to-be-determined venue in Los Angeles. Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks.


The massive tower headquarters that U2 had been long planning to erect in Dublin has been shelved, due to the credit market's financial instability. Reuters reports that negotiations over the tower have been suspended up to 12 months. It was slated to include luxury hotel rooms, stores and an egg-shaped recording studio for the Irish superstars on top of the largest building in Ireland.




Ever since The Killers debuted their new single, "Human," fans have been wondering why singer Brandon Flowers has decided to drop an "s" in the song's chorus when he says "Are we human/ Or are we dancer?" Some fans even wondered if he was singing something else, perhaps saying "denser." Flowers finally explained the grammatical error to MTV News, saying, "It's taken from a quote by [author Hunter S.] Thompson. 'We're raising a generation of dancers,' and I took it and ran. I guess it bothers people that it's not grammatically correct, but I think I'm allowed to do whatever I want," he laughed. " 'Denser'? I hadn't heard that one. I don't like 'denser.'" The Killers new album, Day & Age, comes out November 25.


British Music magazine NME has named The Cure as the 2009 recipient of its "Godlike Genius" Award. The ceremony will be held at London Brixton Academy on February 25. "I've probably gone through a curve where at one point I would have given a much more po-faced answer about the nature of genius, it's discovering something that no one has ever discovered before and having the mental capacity to see things in an entirely different light," commented singer Robert Smith. "I still deep down believe that, but I think in music if you can create something that's very simple that sticks with someone else and it emotionally moves them, it's genius in its own way. Few people manage to do it. Lots and lots and lots of people try but very few people manage to do it."


As previously reported, the Beastie Boys have revealed they are working on a new studio album, their first since last year's instrumental record The Mix-Up, and their first proper album since To The Five Boroughs in 2004. Speaking to MTV News about it, the B-Boys explained their new material in their typical, in-jokey, round-about way.

"It's a very wordy record, in a good way," Mike D told MTV. "It's pretty scatological, to be completely honest. There are probably more scatological lyrics on this particular album than ever before," MCA added. "If you don't know what that means, go home and look it up."
"[There's] a lot of stuff on it. I would say there's a lot going on with the record," Adam "MCA" Yauch said. "There's a lot of layers to it. It's a deep record. It's overwhelming, in a good way. It sounds good — it's weird, but it's good-weird. You don't want bad-weird."

"We're making a 'good-weird' album for the people. Good-weird is good though," Mike D added. "Like, when you go to a restaurant and you try something, and it's kind of weird and it's nothing you've ever tasted before, and you're actually even questioning why you're eating it while you're eating it. But then afterwards you're like, 'You know what, I'm really glad I ate that. I really liked it.' And then all of a sudden it's, like, two days later and you're like, 'Damn, I'm gonna go back and get that dish.'"

In non-food news, the Beasties are currently in the middle of their "Get Out The Vote" tour, performing in swing states leading up to the election along unlikely tour mates Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones and others. The tour hits Dayton, OH tonight and winds up in Milwaukee on November 2.

Billy Corgan has posted another lengthy missive online about the Smashing Pumpkins' 20th anniversary fall tour. Corgan wrote on his blog, "I've noticed in the run-up to the tour a few indications that seem to think that we are sentimental in announcing our 20th anniversary extravaganza. When you see the total set list... I don't think terms like 'hearkening back' or 'sentimental' will be the words that will come to mind. This tour is a celebration of where we are, not where we've been. We are HERE! (With a big smile and a foot in your back) Enjoy it if you will, we realize its not for everybody." As for ex-members James Iha and D'Arcy, Corgan wrote that the band "absolutely, without reservation, honor" the pair but "I can now say definitively that they aren't ever coming back. Period. There is no maybe. If the door was once open to at least have the conversation and consider the possibility, it is now closed. For good. We have moved on. We love them, and we wish them well. The Smashing Pumpkins are now whoever is standing on that stage, on any given day, with a willingness to play those songs." In other Pumpkins news, the band played Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit concert over the weekend. While the set list mostly consisted of new material and covers, crooner Josh Groban surprisingly joined the band to take lead vocals on the hit "Disarm."


More details have emerged about Lily Allen's sophomore album, "It's Not Me, It's You," which will arrive Feb. 10 in North America via Capitol and a day earlier in the U.K. through Regal/EMI.

The album features a country song, "Not Fair," and the young Brit's musings on her absent father, comedian Keith Allen, on the track "He Wasn't There." She plays xylophone on "Everyone's At It," which is currently being streamed on Allen's MySpace site.

As previously reported, that track and "I Don't Know" showcase a more electronic sound, with the latter song dissecting her tabloid infamy.

The 12-track album was recorded at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles with producer/songwriter Greg Kurstin, who produced three songs on her 2007 debut "Alright, Still." That album has sold 518,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work," says the 23-year-old Allen. "I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that."


Weezer main man Rivers Cuomo will release his second collection of home demos in two years on November 25. Alone II: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo finds the singer/guitarist again delving into his bottomless archive of unreleased songs.

In an extensive interview with Pitchfork, Cuomo says that all his demos and unreleased songs are organized and cataloged extensively through iTunes, which allows him to sort them and decide which tracks to use. Cuomo is considering a smaller-scale version of the "Hootenanny" concept to promote Alone II. He told Pitchfork, "I want to do a really cool event to promote Alone II on the day of release. It's basically another Hootenanny, but it's a little different. Anyone can come, you don't have to bring an instrument, but if you want to, you can bring an instrument, and you the audience will pick the songs we play, and it can be anything. And I'll just print up the lyrics right there on the spot, I'll have to have a computer there or something, I'll get them off line, off the Internet. Look for Alone II next month.


Linkin Park is planning what singer Chester Bennington calls "a concept record" for its fourth album, which the group will start recording in early November and be ensconced in making by the time its new live album, "Road to Revolution," rolls out Nov. 25.

Bennington is mum on details -- "I'm not sure I'm allowed to say what the big plan is," he notes -- but tells Billboard.com that Linkin Park "never envisioned ourselves doing a concept record, but we see an opportunity to do something really cool so we jumped on it, and we'll see how it comes out. I think it's a challenge and we'll see if we can rise to the occasion."

The singer says Linkin Park has already started writing music for the follow-up to last year's "Minutes to Midnight," which has been a different process as well. "If we're writing a song with a specific purpose you're allowed to step out of the realms of commercialism a little bit," he explains. "You don't want to dilute that purpose with something that doesn't have anything to do with it, which is really interesting."

While Linkin Park is starting the new album, Bennington will be putting the finishing touches on his first solo album, which he's been recording with producer Howard Benson and hopes to have out next spring or summer. "I'll probably be finished in the next couple months," reports Bennington, who describes the set as "a lot more straightforward rock, with a little bit of an electronic element to it, lots of keys and snyths and stuff like that. And there are a few elements where I think you'll be able to see what my influence on Linkin Park is."

The Killers will begin an early 2009 tour Jan. 17 in Denver in support of their third Island album, "Day and Age," due Nov. 25.

Before the year is out, the Killers have a few stray shows on tap: Nov. 3 in London, Dec. 9 in Seattle and the Dec. 12th make up show in San Francisco. A three-week U.K. tour begins after the North American shows on Feb. 20 in Dublin.


Congratulations to Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl, whose wife Jordyn is expecting their second child, according to People magazine. The couple's first child, daughter Violet, was born in April 2006.





Jack White has injured a disc in his next while touring with The Raconteurs, reports Yahoo! Music. White and Alicia Keys had been slated to perform their duet, "Another Way To Die," from the new James Bond film, at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November, but those plans have been scrapped.





Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz will miss the rest of the band’s reunion tour due to the passing of his father. Korn drummer Ray Luzier will take over until the tour’s last show in Pelham, Alabama on October 31st.





In addition to penning “50-60 songs” for U2’s upcoming album, Bono will also use his literary skills by frequently contributing to the New York Times Op-Ed section in 2009. NYT editor Andrew Rosenthal told journalism students at Columbia University that Bono will write between six and ten pieces for the newspaper, ranging on topics from Africa to poverty to the music of Frank Sinatra. Asked about Bono’s fee, Rosenthal said the Irishman would be working for free, but it’s not like Bono needs a journalist’s salary anyway. The editor also expressed an interest in reacquiring Queen guitarist Brian May to pen some columns. This isn’t Bono’s first foray into journalism: Bono guest-edited an issue of Vanity Fair back in June 2007 and UK’s The Independent in May of 2006. More recently, he blogged for the Financial Times during the United Nations Milliennium Development Goals event earlier this year.

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Gnarls Barkley is unveiling four different versions of the song "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" on a digital EP of the same name, due Nov. 11 via Atlantic. Also included is a live version of "Neighbors" from the 40-Watt Club in Athens, Ga., and the non-album track "Mystery Man."

"It's the first song we did for the new record. There was that nod of agreement and sigh of relief that we're starting, and ... we're off!," group member Cee-Lo tells Billboard of "Soul," which appears in its original version, as a demo, an instrumental and as the audio from MTV's "52 Bands."


Early this morning, aggro-punkers Against Me! were involved in a bus accident that has forced them to cancel their performance tonight in Salt Lake City, UT. The bus skidded on ice on a highway in Wyoming, and while nobody was hurt, the band’s gear was thrown from the trailer and ended up all over the road, forcing tonight’s cancellation. The band is expected to make their show tomorrow night in Boise.





Linkin Park will link up with forensic drama CSI to promote their new single “Leave Out All The Rest.” The newest Minutes to Midnight single will feature prominently both in the opening scene and closing credits as well as throughout the episode. Plus, the song and episode share the same title. The addition of Linkin Park will break the series’ diet of the Who, who soundtrack all three CSI credit sequences. “We have always been huge fans of Linkin Park,” says executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. “They have an anthemic sound that’s full of strength and simultaneous vulnerability. They were perfect for the show and the conflict within it.” That conflict within, in this episode at least, revolves around “the building story of lead character Gil Grissom (William Petersen), who’s departing the hit series, and his unresolved love with Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), who recently left the crime lab.” The show will air November 6th.


Rivers Cuomo will release the second volume of his Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo on November 25th, a rep for the Weezer frontman confirmed for Rolling Stone. No other details were provided as yet for Alone II. The first volume featured demo versions of Weezer hits like “Buddy Holly,” a cover of Ice Cube’s “The Bomb” and other unreleased tracks, many culled from the band’s unreleased space opera Songs From the Black Hole.


The Foo Fighters' epic Wembley Stadium gigs from June have already been released on DVD overseas, and will be out in the U.S. on November 18. Foo Fighters: Live At Wembley Stadium will see release on DVD and BluRay and the show includes appearances from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on "Rock and Roll" and "Ramble On."

U2 will receive approximately $19 million in shares of Live Nation, as part of the Irish band's touring deal with the company. In an SEC filing late last week, Live Nation registered 1.56 million shares of the company to U2, according to Billboard. The U2 deal includes touring, merchandise and U2.com. The band is expected to release their long-awaited new album early in 2009, with a tour to follow.



Paramore will release the CD/DVD set The Final RIOT! on November 25. The live disc was filmed and recorded during this past summer's extensive tour. The DVD also includes the documentary 40 Days Of RIOT!. Paramore's new single, "Decode," is featured on the soundtrack to the movie Twilight and is moving up the charts at radio currently.



Billy Corgan tells Rolling Stone that the Smashing Pumpkins will start to record "a long-ranging concept album" early in 2009, after completing their fall 20th anniversary tour. The Pumpkins will perform their new single "G.L.O.W." on October 24 on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The Pumpkins' tour kicks off on Halloween night in Columbus, OH.

Prospekt's March, was originally announced as a five-song EP, but in a second posting on Coldplay.com, Martin says the tracklisting will now have eight tracks. Six are new songs, along with the alternate version of "Lost!" and a remix of the Viva La Vida tune "Lovers In Japan." It may also feature a Jay-Z duet called "Beach Chair."

Martin wrote, "We are very proud of these and are pretty excited to release them. They have been the subject of many discussions and arguments; some might be considered too catchy or too heavy for Coldplay songs but in our minds they complete the Viva La Vida picture."

He adds that the EP will be available as a digital download, or as a CD sold online, or in a special edition of Viva La Vida, called Viva La Vida: Prospekt's March Edition.

Prospekt's March EP track list:

"Life In Technicolour II"
"Postcards From Far Away"
"Glass Of Water"
"Rainy Day"
"Prospekt's March / Poppyfields"
"Lost! +" (f/Jay-Z)
"Lovers in Japan" (Osaka Sun remix)
"Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground"