Miley Cyrus
Photo: MTV News

Those "Twilight" ladies may have just kept her out of the top spot on our Woman of the Year list (don't worry, she also made our Teen Queens Who Ruled 2008 list), but it will be all about Miley Cyrus come New Year's eve. The tween mogul will help MTV close the door on this eventful year when she headlines "FNMTV Presents: A Miley-Sized Surprise ... New Year's Eve 2009."

The show will air live from 8 p.m. till 9:30 p.m. ET with live performances from Cyrus, Metro Station, All Time Low, The Academy Is ... and Kevin Rudolf.

There will, of course, also be a live countdown from Times Square during a rebroadcast of the show at 10:30 p.m., but the real action will be broadcast from the house of one lucky fan, where host Cyrus will give a special performance in his/her bedroom. The "Hannah Montana" star will surprise the fan earlier in the day and spend the afternoon hanging out with them, visiting their friends and helping their favorite charity. Miley will also dropping some serious gifts and treats on the unsuspecting fan all through the evening, during which Metro Station will also set up in their bedroom, while the other artists will perform from MTV's Times Square studio.

The show will be hosted from New York by twin Australian singers Lisa and Jessica Origliasso, a.k.a. the Veronicas. All during the night, MTV and Pepsi will encourage viewers to type into a live text-to-screen dialogue about how they plan to refresh themselves and the world in 2009. People in Times Square can text NYE to 66333 to submit messages that may appear on MTV 44 1/2 (MTV's high-definition Times Square screen), and TV viewers can text CHANGE to 66333 for the chance to see their comments appear on a crawl at the bottom of the television programming throughout MTV's New Year's Eve shows.

MTV will also upload select clips from NYE programming as mobile video to all carrier partners as well as photo galleries, MTV News coverage and Remote Control blog coverage on the MTV mobile Internet site at m.mtv.com. MTV.com will feature photos, clips, and performances, including two performances from the night that won't be seen anywhere else.

• The Teen Queens Of 2008

• Miley Cyrus
• Metro Station
• The Veronicas
• All Time Low
• The Academy Is...

Photo: MTV News

• Livin' Lollapalooza

• Pete Wentz And Cobra Starship At Angels & Kings In Chicago

• Fall Out Boy
• The Academy Is...
• Cobra Starship

Panic at the Disco's Brendon Urie
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Throughout history, rock and roll has been on a mission to systematically destroy punctuation.

This is primarily because punctuation is about rules, conformity and order — three things that rock, in its truest, purest essence, is vehemently opposed to. Semicolons, slashes, commas and periods most certainly do not rock, so in order to smash the system, they are co-opted by rock bands and used for nefarious, decidedly "rock" purposes, which is why we have band names like Motörhead, Mötley Crüe and Hüsker Dü (wanton umlaut abuse), songs like Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er" (an apostrophic calamity) and albums like At the Drive-In's In/Casino/Out (I have no idea).

In fact, rock has been at war with punctuation for so long now that seemingly every offense has been made — W.A.S.P., Enuff Z'Nuff, the Academy Is ..., Blue Öyster Cult, Blink-182, (hed) p.e. — though in recent years (perhaps owing a debt of gratitude to, uh, trailblazers like Neu! and Wham!), no mark as been as overused as the humble exclamation point.

Pioneered by post-apocalyptic rock outfit Godspeed You Black Emperor! (who would later change their name to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, for reasons apparent only to them) in 1994, exclamation-point abuse came to the forefront in 2000, thanks to bicoastal, post-millennial funk act !!! and bands like On! Air! Library! and Against Me! (who felt so strongly about exclamation points that they would include nine of them in the title of their 2006 live album Americans Abroad!!! Against Me!!! Live in London!!!.)

And even more recently, we've seen an exponential growth of exclamation-point abuse, thanks mainly to much-blogged acts like the Go! Team, Los Campesinos!, Die! Die! Die!, ¡Forward Russia!, Thunderbirds Are Now!, Oh No!! Oh My!! — bonus points for double exclamation points — and You Say Party! We Say Die!, which seemed to indicate that we were heading toward a terrifying future in which all new bands were required to choose names that sound like interjections.

But then, last week, something rather extraordinary happened. Bravely — and rather inexplicably — Panic at the Disco decided to drop the "!" from their name, stemming the tide of exclamation overuse and royally ticking off their loyal (and seemingly nuts) fanbase in the process. The bandmembers tried to play it off by saying the point was "never part of the name to us," and that they axed it because it was "annoying to write." But the damage had already been done ... as several of their fans pointed out on sites like PATDOnline.com, the loss of the exclamation point seemed to indicate that Panic were doing everything in their power to put their past behind them (though we're not sure why they'd want to do that.)

And it's not like Panic had foregone all punctuation-related shenanigans this time around ... after all, they decided to title their album Pretty. Odd., as in two seemingly disparate yet equal statements. Conjoined and yet separated by periods. Seriously.

So, really, what's the deal? By dropping the exclamation point and adding a pair of periods, are Panic bucking the system or paying homage to the long and winding history of rock and roll punctuation abuse? Were they ditching their past and heading full-bore into the future? Well, according to an expert, yes ... on all counts.

"Well, you have the right to call yourself whatever you want, and I guess that right extends to adding or removing exclamation points," Geraldine Woods, the author of Webster's New World Punctuation: Simplified and Applied, told MTV News. "It was always a rather interesting choice, because an exclamation point usually doesn't belong in the middle of a sentence, but I think creative people tend to play around with punctuation a great deal — e.e. cummings comes to mind — because there's a form of rebellion in it. I mean, you learn all the rules, and then you get to break them.

"It seems like [Panic have] put some thought into the changes ... they're not just changes for changes' sake," she added. "Pretty. Odd. works because it conjures up images of something that is both pretty and odd, which is interesting," she added. "And it's grammatically interesting, because without the period, the word 'pretty' would be modifying the word 'odd.' So it takes on a completely different context."

See, even though fans are mourning over the loss of the exclamation point, they can take solace in the fact that Panic are now w-a-a-y more grammatically interesting. Of course, there's no denying that their new namesake is decidedly less, well, urgent ... but hey, maybe for album number three, they'll bring the exclamation point back. After all, if rock history has showed us anything, it's that exclamation points rock.

"Exclamation points are used to convey emotion, to increase the immediacy of what you're saying. They instill a sense of emergency and urgency," Woods said. "To change that, especially for a rock band, seems kind of odd to me. There's certainly a reduced sense of 'panic' in Panic at the Disco now."

• Panic at the Disco
• The Academy Is...
• (hed) pe
• Enuff Z'nuff
• Against Me!

Pete Wentz
Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images

It used to be so easy: You released an album, it sold millions of copies, you were on the cover of major magazines, maybe on billboards hawking soda, and then Hollywood came calling with offers of cameos in major motion pictures.

In 2007, — the year the music industry broke — that script went out the window for good.

Even if you were the most famous rapper on the planet or the winner of "American Idol," your album might have gotten lost in the shuffle as music fans spent their time downloading free albums from bands like Radiohead, watching the new "Chocolate Rain" viral clip, scouring gossip sites for news on Britney's latest antics, dialing up Soulja Boy ringtones, watching bootleg clips on YouTube, buying the latest J. Lo fragrance or trying on some of Gwen's L.A.M.B. clothes. All of which made those artists even more famous (or infamous) and maybe rich, even if it didn't really add up to huge album sales on the Billboard charts, which used to be the main way of separating flavors-of-the-week from the truly mega.

Even a band that's enjoying traditional platinum-level success — Fall Out Boy — knows very well that its true popularity can't be measured by traditional means.

"We could complain all day about it, but I don't know that anyone would've ever heard of Fall Out Boy if it wasn't for peer-to-peer downloading," bassist Pete Wentz said. "It was something that [made] a giant surge for our band.

"I just think it's kind of an interesting time to be out there and be a band," he continued. "It's leveled the playing field. If you're some schmo in Nebraska, this is your chance right now. You have a great idea, a great song — this is your chance."

The Future Of Music Part 1:The Year The Music Industry Broke: In 2007, CD sales continued their freefall and superstars began bailing from major labels. And that's just the beginning ... Part 2: What Makes A Star These Days? CD sales are just a small part of it. We take a look at other ways artists are getting their names out there and making money ... Part 3: The Future: What will the music industry be like in a year? Five years? We spoke with experts — they don't know either but have some fascinating theories ...

So, if the tried-and-true Billboard charts can't really be relied on to tell us who is the hottest artist at any given moment — what can?

"I'm a firm believer that an artist's cultural impact and their popularity has never been the same," said Steve Stoute, a former executive at Sony Music and Interscope Records and founder of Translation, a company that specializes in pairing huge stars with huge brands, such as Jay-Z and Reebok (for the highly successful S. Carter Collection) and Justin Timberlake and McDonald's. In a year when album sales took yet another double-digit dip — the seventh straight decline in as many years while a billion songs a month were downloaded, mostly illegally — Stoute said he doesn't rely on charts to tell him which artists matter.

"Impact and popularity were never aligned in my mind," he said. "Jay-Z never had a #1 song, but he's been the most culturally impactful artist of the last five years. Celine Dion has sold way more records than Mary J. Blige, but Mary has had a much bigger impact." Stoute defines that impact as anything an artist does that makes fans want to look, dress, smell and be like them — which lately has little to do with buying their latest album.

On that score, Stoute said he's working on a top-secret project, which he hopes to unveil in late 2008, that will create a tool to help people like him measure the pop-cultural impact of an artist using a wide variety of factors. "Nobody's found a way to measure cultural impact," he said, "and I think the entertainment business needs to look at which artists on their roster may not sell the most records, but have a tremendous value in commerce."

That value could be measured in the number of blog or gossip-column mentions, how many spins a record got in clubs or even a snapshot of the "pass-along" value of music, a measure used in the magazine world to set advertising rates based on estimates of how many times a magazine is passed from a subscriber to someone else.

Stoute isn't the only executive dreaming up new popularity yardsticks. Steve Greenberg, founder and CEO of S-Curve Records and former president of Columbia Records, said the music industry is missing a chart that combines album and single sales with downloads, radio play, viral-video popularity and ringtones to give a picture of which artists are really on everyone's brains from one week to the next.

"SoundScan gives you what albums are being bought by people going to stores, but that's skewed," he said. "If you could put all that data together, you could see what is really going on. You can still look at the Billboard Hot 100 to see, based purely on radio play and single downloads, what people are listening to — but in a way, what is the most-watched video on YouTube or MySpace, or which video is most viral, is the better measurement."

To that end, Greenberg is part owner of a company called Nabbr, a widget-promotion network that allows users to decorate their MySpace pages or desktops with branded viral-video players, which, of course, are embedded with ads for things like Lil' Jon's Crunk Juice. "Kids can take these video players and put them on their MySpace pages and we can update them from our end with new material," explained Greenberg of players such as the one found on WhateverLife.com, which rotates in 10 new clips every week from artists like the Jonas Brothers, the Pack and Jordin Sparks. "And we have a page where we can see how many people watched the video, how many watched it for more than 30 seconds, how many embedded it on their MySpace page and how many of those players on their pages got taken and copied onto someone else's page."

It's not the only site offering branded, mountable players, either. Among a dozen sites with similar takes on sharing music streams are Fuzz.com, where you can make and share your own mixtapes; Haystack.com, which allows you to share playlists; and Mog.com, which lets users instantly listen to any song in any other user's library or playlists thanks to a recent deal with Rhapsody (which has a partnership with MTV).

Greenberg said every major label group is using the Nabbr widget and, as an example of the kind of data it can collect, he pointed to an internal page on one of his S-Curve bands, We the Kings, that tracks, second to second, how many plays, views and embeds its video is getting, the number of MySpace and YouTube views and a male/female breakdown of viewers.

"What you have to do is separate out the people who are really engaging in music and those who are encountering celebrity through a perfume or the cover of People magazine, which is interesting, but doesn't tell me how popular their music is," Greenberg said.

Even if a chart, or widget, is developed that is able to synthesize all the information floating around us every day, the chances that an album like Michael Jackson's Thriller — which was a monumental cross-format, cross-generational smash 25 years ago — could have the same impact today are very slim. Success, though, is ultimately in the eye of the beholder. Longtime manager Jim Guerinot, whose clients include Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, Trent Reznor and Social Distortion, said his bands know what they want and judge their success or impact accordingly, though not always in units shifted.

"If you want to be seen on the cover of People, that's a different criteria than selling a couple hundred thousand records, so it depends on what your goal is," he said. "For the artists I work with, nothing matters as much as doing what you want to do over a long period." As an example, he pointed to punk lifers Social Distortion, who have been able to sustain a career since 1979, pay their bills and be creatively satisfied while selling a relatively modest number of albums and playing to steady, adoring crowds.

"Will Trent Reznor survive not being on Interscope?" he asked of the Nine Inch Nails leader, who very publicly split with his longtime label this year over his claims that it was overcharging his fans for music. "He did it before and he will after. Will it sustain at the level of stadium tours like [the reunion tour by '80s superstars] the Police? I don't know."

Though Year Zero was one of Nine Inch Nails' lowest-selling albums in the U.S., Guerinot said the alternate-reality game that was launched to promote it was an unqualified success, with 1.6 million phone calls flooding a Cleveland phone number and 8.6 million page views for one of the game's Web pages. "Was that as important as getting played on MTV or radio?" he asked. "We thought so. It dovetails with a larger, long-term strategy for his career that's about creating a long-term relationship with fans, not selling a quick ringtone or having quick first-week album sales."

William Beckett, lead singer for the Academy Is ..., also knows that the numbers don't always tell the truth. He has watched as other bands shoot up the charts and score #1 songs, but if they can't fill a ballroom, he said, so what? "You certainly can't measure things in terms of units sold," Beckett said. "There are countless bands that have outsold us, but they can't fill the rooms that we do. They don't have fans that are real like our fans are real."

Williams' manager, Bob McLynn of Crush Management, told MTV News earlier this year that he has always gauged his artists' strength by looking at its live-show and ticket sales. He said he feels that increasingly, the ability to be a strong live draw will play a more vital role in sustaining or launching careers. That equation might explain why companies like mega-promoter Live Nation are cutting so-called "360 deals" with established touring giants like Madonna, banking on the fact that the more people who see Madonna live, the easier it will be to sell more of her records, merchandise, DVDs and license her songs for commercial use at a time when the music charts have taken on the first-week make-or-break blockbuster mentality of the movie business.

These equations are being hashed out all across the rock and pop world, but they're a bit harder to calculate for the majority of contemporary hip-hop artists, many of whom can rack up huge ringtone sales but whose album sales might be more modest, and who rarely have the benefits of earning extra cash by touring the country. Part of it is the result of the proliferation of what veteran manager Michael "Blue" Williams (Outkast, Killer Mike, Scarface) calls "ringtone rappers": artists so focused on catchy hits that they don't bother to put together a strong album to lure in more fans.

"You used to look at two or three things — like radio play or club play — but now you have to look at MySpace pages, iTunes and chat rooms to figure out what the buzz is," Williams said. "It's not just about what the physical, club buzz is, because if you're getting 1,000 spins a week but no one's talking about it on the Internet or you only have 4,000 MySpace friends, something's wrong."

No one has come up with the definitive new equation yet, but for now, according to Billboard Executive Editor Bill Werde, it will include all of the above factors, plus some we haven't even begun to imagine yet.

"How would I define success in today's music industry?" Werde said. "Maybe 'survival' would be a good word! I think the definition of success is changing a lot in the music business today. Once upon a time, it was pure and simple: 'Did your record go gold? Did your record go platinum? Did your record sell a million copies its first week? If not, it's not that hot ...' Those days seem to be gone. The way success gets defined in 2007, in 2008, it's really changing. I think once upon a time it was just about the album — now I think it's about, 'Can I create a career for myself, and how do I go about doing that?'

"I think bands are more open and understanding of the idea that they make all of their money this year touring and the album becomes sort of a calling card for that. On the hip-hop side, success can be defined by your ringtone sales — T-Pain is going to sell a lot more ringtones than albums. That would've been unthinkable a couple of years ago. There are so many different ways to define success now."

Check back on Wednesday, when the third and final installment of our "Future of Music" series rolls out.

• The Future Of Music: What's Next?

• Fall Out Boy
• Gwen Stefani
• Jennifer Lopez
• Nine Inch Nails
• Jay-Z

Madonna
Photo: Dave Hogan/ Getty Images

Time to pucker up for Madonna's next album — Billboard.com reports that the singer has settled on the title for it: Licorice. The effort, which will reportedly feature "Candy Shop" and "The Beat Goes On" (featuring Pharrell), is due in late April and will be Madge's last effort for longtime label Warner Bros. Kanye West is said to be a guest on "The Beat Goes On," according to the site, which also reports that Madonna's vintage track "The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" will get an update on the new disc. ...

Jessica Sierra pleaded not guilty on Thursday (December 6) to charges of disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest and violating conditions of her parole on earlier felony battery and possession charges, according to The Associated Press. The former "American Idol" finalist was arrested early Sunday morning outside a bar in Ybor City, near Tampa, Florida, after causing an unspecified disturbance while working inside the establishment. Sierra's lawyer reportedly said he is consulting with doctors to map out a comprehensive drug and alcohol plan for the ex-"Idol" contestant, who is currently being held without bail. Sierra is to remain in jail at least until her next hearing on December 20. ...

Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is ... and Relient K will help anchor next year's Warped Tour, according to Alternative Press. Every Time I Die, From First to Last and the Bronx are also among the first 18 bands named for the summer trek, with the dates yet to be announced. ... Speaking of summer fests, Bonnaroo will take place June 12-15 in Manchester, Tennessee, Billboard.com reports. The lineup will be revealed in late January or early February. ... Your chance to download Radiohead's In Rainbows is about to end. The band has announced that the InRainbows.com Web site will close Saturday. But you can still plunk down $80 for the box set at Radiohead's online w.a.s.t.e. store, while supplies last. ...

Ne-Yo and Macy Gray are joining Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and others as they pitch in for presidential aspirant Senator Barack Obama. Ne-Yo and the Goo Goo Dolls will play at an Obama fundraiser in Universal City, California, on Monday, while Gray, Tweedy and others will perform at the senator's Friday event in Obama's hometown of Chicago. On a related note, Wilco will set out for a two-week U.S. tour in February. ... Paris, you've got nothing on Britney — Spears outdid Hilton on eBay in terms of related items sold this year. AP reports that 34,345 Brit-related items were sold, compared with 27,377 for Paris. A mere 8,099 items related to Lindsay Lohan were auctioned, while on the movies front, "Transformers" beat out Harry Potter with 442,342 and 344,825 related items sold, respectively. ...

Indie-rockers, state attorneys general and anti-smoking activists are finding themselves on the same side, oddly enough — some of them are reportedly peeved about an ad for Camel cigarettes that appeared alongside a cartoon-heavy indie-rock feature in the magazine's November 15 issue, Pitchfork reports. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has stopped promotions for its "The Farm" marketing campaign after nine attorneys general sued the company over the ads, according to North Carolina's Winston-Salem Journal. More states are reportedly expected to also sue R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which could face a fine of more than $100 million for violating a 1998 agreement between 46 states and tobacco manufacturers. The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement banned the use of cartoons to sell market cigarettes in 1997, effectively killing off Joe Camel. Also being debated, according to Pitchfork, are Camel-sponsored concerts that have featured the Flaming Lips, Band of Horses and the Faint. ...

Alicia Keys will ring in the new year with a performance on the roof of New York's Rockefeller Center as part of Carson Daly's shindig on NBC, People.com reports. The show, which will air December 31 at 11:35 p.m. ET, will also feature Lenny Kravitz performing in Times Square. Keys will sing two songs from her latest album, As I Am. ... LL Cool J, Rev Run, Petra Nemcova, Brett Ratner and other celebs have ponied up items for an ongoing online charity auction staged by Russell Simmons' Diamond Empowerment Fund. "Diamonds Give" features 15 lots of donated diamond pieces and runs through December 16 on eBay. ...

It sounds like U2 might be going back to the future on their upcoming album. The band, which flirted with dance beats and techno on such albums as 1991's Achtung Baby, is incorporating trance, metal and Moroccan influences on its new disc, according to an interview with Bono in The Independent. The singer said fans will "feel the difference. ... Normally when you play a U2 tune, it clears the dance floor. And that may not be true of this. There's some trance influences." He also said the yet-untitled and unscheduled album has some "very hardcore guitar" and "real molten metal" from guitarist the Edge that doesn't sound "like anything we've ever done before, and we don't think it sounds like anything anyone else has done either." Though he wouldn't categorize the album as "world" music, Bono said its sound was inspired in part by a religious music festival the guys attended in Fez, Morocco, where they were exposed to Sufi music. "It was a real humbling thing for a punk-rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies." So far, U2 have recorded enough material for two records, he added. ...

Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson recently hung with locals, bathed in an irrigation ditch in their boxers and visited an orphanage in Peru this week, according to AP. An image that surfaced shows the two, who reportedly stayed at a cheap hotel room that cost less than $50 per night, smiling and waving in Cuzco. Cameron Diaz, Bill Gates and others visited the area earlier this year. ... Courtney Love has a new video on her hands ... kind of. A clip featuring manga character Princess Ai — whose universe of properties was co-created by Love — will premiere at the New York Anime Festival on Saturday. "Princess Ai: Broken Leash," which includes live action, animation and music, will appear as part of a CD/DVD anthology due in fall 2008. ... It's hard to keep old punks down. After their recent reunion tour of England this year, punk grandfathers the Sex Pistols will hit the road again next summer, according to Reuters. Guitarist Steve Jones did not give any specifics about the 2008 tour on his Los Angeles radio show on Wednesday, other than to say that the group might play an upcoming charity show at London's Royal Albert Hall organized by Who singer Roger Daltrey. ...

And the battle over James Brown's estate goes on. According to AP, two former trustees for the late singer's estate say the judge who is handling the disputes made them resign in late November. In recently filed court documents, Buddy Dallas and Alford Bradley reportedly said they want to retract their resignations and that South Carolina Circuit Judge Jack Early used "improper judicial influence." They are also seeking for the appointment of their successors to be overturned.

12.5.07

Unlike Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, Kiefer Sutherland is not getting off easy with his DUI — the "24" actor has been sentenced to 48 days in a Los Angeles County jail for his September 24 arrest and violating his probation. The actor must start serving his sentence at the Glendale City Jail prior to March 30, UsMagazine.com reports. He has also been sentenced to five years of probation, must finish a year-and-a-half-long alcohol-education program and go to weekly therapy sessions for a half-year. Sutherland, who had a previous DUI before his fall arrest, had been pulled over by police after making an illegal U-turn and reportedly blew twice the legal blood-alcohol level during a breathalyzer test. He issued a statement after entering a no-contest plea in early October, saying, "I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently, and I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and co-workers on '24' and at 20th Century Fox." ... Contrasting with Sutherland's devastating news, Richie caught a break on Wednesday when her court-mandated anti-drinking program granted the socialite a leave of absence, according to People. Coordinators at the program were reportedly worried for Richie's safety, with her rep saying such leaves of absence are granted to people with medical conditions and that she did not get special treatment. Richie is eight months pregnant and has to complete the 18-month program as part of her DUI plea deal ...

Bad news for Vanessa Hudgens: A Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday (December 5) that a breach-of-contract suit by her former lawyer can go forward, according to CBS News. Brian L. Schall is suing the "The High School Musical" star for breach of contract, although Hudgens has argued that she was a minor at the time she signed the agreement and therefore isn't bound to it. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow said the matter of Hudgens disaffirming her contractual obligations within a reasonable time period is a "factual issue," and that Hudgens' decision to wait until she was 18 years and 9 months old to reject the contract is an issue for either a jury decision or a motion for summary judgment. The next hearing in the case is slated for January 15. ... Lindsay Lohan might be facing another setback too: Raymundo Ortega, the busboy who is seeking $200,000 in damages stemming from Lohan's collision with his van in October 2005, says he has proof the starlet was drinking before the crash, according to The Associated Press. He reportedly filed papers Tuesday. ...

An interview with T.I. that was conducted prior to his October arrest on gun charges appears in the December/January issue of Rap-Up magazine, which features him and Nicole Scherzinger on alternate covers. The rapper said he has a new urban-clothing line on the way — called "A King of Oneself" — and also revealed his interest in a different type of endeavor: commercial construction. "I want to build a Home Depot or a Wal-Mart, shopping centers," he told the mag. Tip cited Tupac as the rapper who had the most influence on him growing up — and called out some other big names for keeping him out of trouble. "Sometimes I be wildin' out, then [Suge Knight says,] 'Man, you got too much going on, you can't do that. It ain't like the old days,' " said the rapper, who is currently under house arrest. "[Jay-Z] will tell me the same thing, [Diddy] tell me the same thing, Kevin Liles — everybody trying. Wyclef is another one. People, I guess, just care." ...

For her part, Nicole Scherzinger named Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as the singers she admires the most. She also talked about someone else you may have heard of — Kanye West — and why the tracks he produced for her solo debut didn't make the cut. "I wasn't able to really finish them in time," said the singer, whose Her Name Is Nicole LP is due January 29. "When I have the right time and the right album, I wanna finish those songs. There was talks of putting Common on one of them." Scherzinger also talked about shooting her "Whatever U Like" video with the other Rap-Up cover artist, T.I. "When we did the video it was crazy 'cause we were all up in each other's grills, like [director] Paul Hunter really made us go there, but it was great. He's a professional. Paul was making us tug on each other; we were hard-core for a hot second." ...

Jay-Z celebrated his 38th birthday with Beyoncé in Paris on Tuesday, according to People.com. The couple reportedly holed up in a hotel suite, took a drive around the city, ate at L'Avenue restaurant and caught a cabaret show. ... Pete Wentz, Chris Brown, the Jonas Brothers and Corbin Bleu all made Teen magazine's list of the 50 Hottest Guys in Hollywood — but Zac Efron takes the cake by topping the bunch. ... Keira Knightley stripped down for the revealing cover of the latest issue of Interview magazine. "How does that always happen?" the "Atonement" actress asked herself, in the interview, of taking off her clothes. "Because I say yes, I suppose." ...

Styles P, Hurricane Chris and Fabolous will bring some yuletide cheer to Russell Simmons and Rev Run's eighth annual Youth Holiday Party in New York on Tuesday, with MTV News' own Sway acting as one of the emcees. For the festivities, the Simmons brothers and their Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation will turn the Fillmore at Irving Plaza into a winter wonderland, raffling off prizes like an Xbox 360 and tickets to a taping of "106 & Park." Kids will also get Target gift cards. ...

Journey are counting a new singer among their ranks: Arnel Pineda. The Filipino crooner, who previously covered the band's songs with his group the Zoo, is the third Journey singer in two years — he follows Jeff Scott Soto, who left the fold earlier this year after filling in for Steve Augeri, who split with the band in 2006 due to medical reasons. "I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'the voice,' " Pineda said in a statement, referring to yet another former Journey singer: Steve Perry. "But that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world." "Arnel doesn't sound synthetic and he's not emulating anyone," added guitarist Neal Schon, who discovered the singer's Zoo clips online. "I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him ... but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter." ...

Deerhunter, Black Dice, Fischerspooner and others have chipped in unreleased new songs for Living Bridge, a two-CD collection of songs by bands who have previously recorded at Brooklyn, New York's Rare Book Room Studio. The 25-song package will hit stores February 26 and christen Rare Book Room Records, a new label. ... The Breeders will be back in '08 with a new disc hitting stores April 8. Mountain Battles will arrive six years after the band's previous effort, Title TK, which the band took nine years to put out following its most successful album, 1993's Last Splash. The Pixies-affiliated group is also due to tour throughout the year, hitting up South by Southwest and Coachella along the way. ... Peaches will sweeten up New Year's Eve this year by counting down the clock in downtown Los Angeles as part of Hard NYE's bash. She will also perform, as will Justice. ...

Paula Abdul was a "disaster" on "Saturday Night Live" when she hosted the show two years ago — so says Tina Fey in the January issue of Playboy. "I was pregnant at the time and probably a little moody, but I remember thinking, 'She's a disaster!' " Fey said. ... Vivica A. Fox booked herself on Wednesday on charges of driving under the influence, TMZ.com reports. A judge ordered on Monday that the actress be booked or face a bench warrant. ... Charges were dropped against Jonathan Rhys-Meyers after he apologized for creating a drunken fracas at an airport in Ireland earlier this year. The actor, who faced two charges of public drunkenness and breach of peace, said through his lawyer that he intends to make a donation to an unspecified charity. ...

The one guy who seemed kind of charmed by Borat's antics in last year's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" has joined the parade of people suing the fake Kazakh reporter. According to Reuters, driving instructor Michael Psenicska's suit against the film's makers and star Sacha Baron Cohen claims that he was tricked into participating in a film that he was led to believe was a "documentary about the integration of foreign people into the American way of life." Psenicska said he was paid $500 in cash to give Borat a driving lesson and described the experience as "surreal," saying Cohen drove erratically down residential streets, drank alcohol and yelled to a female pedestrian that he would pay her $10 for "sexy time." Psenicska is seeking $100,000 in compensatory damages and additional punitive damages for being misled, and for the emotional harm he allegedly continues to suffer. Psenicska said if he had known the true nature of the film, he never would have participated. The studio behind the flick said the suit had no merit and that Psenicska was a willing participant in the film. ...

Eddie Vedder is making his first video appearance since his spot in Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" clip 15 years ago. Mr. Ed is supporting his soundtrack to "Into the Wild" with a video for "Guaranteed." ... Saosin can't get enough of the road — the band, which toured for most of 2007, has rolled out a new 2008 itinerary. The California rockers will take Armor for Sleep and the Bled along for their jaunt, which starts January 21 in Tucson, Arizona, and ends February 14 in Chico, California. ... The sounds made by the creepy creatures in Will Smith's new movie "I Am Legend" might seem familiar to Faith No More fans — Mike Patton is the one behind them. The always-busy musician, who previously lent his voice to video games like "The Darkness" and "The Portal," is also delving into the film world with "A Perfect Place," a noirish short film for which he composed the music. ...

The family of Justin Barker, the white student who was allegedly beaten by six black classmates last year in Jena, Louisiana, has filed a civil lawsuit against the teens, their parents, the local school board and a seventh student who was not charged in the case, USA Today reports. The lawsuit claims that the attack on Barker was of "such extreme nature so as to require emergency medical care and treatment for the harm inflicted by the attack, and resulting in extensive and permanently disabling injuries." The suit, filed Thursday, also alleges that employees of the LaSalle Parish School Board were not adequately supervising students or maintaining discipline. ...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will flex his rock muscle on Friday at a fundraising show featuring Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy performing solo alongside buzz band the Cool Kids, Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins, Jill Sobule and local indie bands the Changes and Canasta. The "Change Rocks" show will take place at the Riviera Theatre in Obama's hometown of Chicago, with tickets ranging from $50 to $500 apiece. ... Hillary Clinton's campaign has had a change of heart. Less than a month before the Iowa caucuses, Clinton has dropped her controversial campaign theme song, "You and I" by Celine Dion, and replaced it with "Blue Sky" by Colorado 1990s college faves Big Head Todd and the Monsters, according to ABC News. ...

We can see now why comedian Dave Chappelle might have walked away from that $50 million Comedy Central deal: He'd rather be doing stand-up. Chappelle broke his own endurance record on Sunday with a set at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California, that lasted six hours and 12 minutes, besting his previous mark, set in April, by a good five minutes. Club owner Jamie Masada told AP that Chappelle was on a mission. "Dave was determined to keep his record because he recently heard that Dane Cook was planning on trying to break [his] record," Masada said. ... R&B singer Avant has signed to Capitol Records to release his next album, due in the summer. The multiplatinum crooner was previously signed to MCA, before the label folded into Geffen Records, through which he released four albums and a string of hit singles, including his breakout "Separated." Avant's yet-untitled next album is expected to include production from Rodney Jerkins and Mr. Collipark, among others.

• Madonna
• Gym Class Heroes
• Alicia Keys
• Radiohead
• The Academy Is...

Butch Walker
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

In a tragic turn of events, it has come to light that the rental home owned by Flea that burned in the Malibu, California, wildfires over the weekend was being occupied by Avril Lavigne producer Butch Walker — and he lost everything in the blaze.

Walker was touring New York at the time of the incident, and "had just consolidated my entire recording studio and house from Atlanta into the one house in Malibu," the songwriter/producer, who has also worked with Pink, Fall Out Boy, the Academy Is..., Tommy Lee and others, said in a press release. "I lost everything I've ever owned. Every master of every song I've ever recorded, every piece of recording equipment, guitars, drums and things I've collected over the years, cars, motorcycles, every family memorial, heirloom, picture and document we ever had. ... Gone. I feel like I finally know the difference between 'going back' and 'going home.' "

Over the weekend, Flea said in a text message obtained by the Los Angeles Times that his $4.8 million home in Corral Canyon was "burnt to a crisp" by the fires on Saturday morning. According to TMZ.com, a second, $10 million Malibu home owned by Flea — the one in which he currently resides — did not burn. The one that did was a house that the bassist had been renting — most recently to Walker — and currently has up for sale, the site reports.

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose also had a close call when the fires burned his roof and singed some of his property. According to a report on KCAL-TV, Rose's assistant said the rocker "was with the hose everywhere" on his property, fighting to save his home.

The fires, which have largely been contained, were the worst in Malibu in years, according to the Times. In late October, another series of fires forced evacuations in the area but hit the San Diego area much harder.

• Avril Lavigne
• Guns N' Roses
• P!nk
• Fall Out Boy
• The Academy Is...

Gym Class Heroes accept the award for Woodie of the Year at the 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is ... and Boys Like Girls all got Woodies on Thursday night.

Does that sound like the opening salvo in a frat-boy film? Actually, it's a rather cheeky summary of the winners at the mtvU Woodie Awards.

Yes, the emo boys were among those taking home hardware at the fourth annual Woodies, an awards show and genuinely cool concert held once again at New York's Roseland Ballroom. GCH won the night's biggest honor, the Woodie of the Year, which is given to "the artists who made the biggest splash on mtvU and the college music scene"; TAI won the Viral Woodie, for "acts that crashed servers and blew up the World Wide Interwebs"; and BLG grabbed the Breaking Woodie, given to the year's best emerging artist.

Other (non-acronymic) winners included Madvillian — the mind-melting hip-hop project from MF Doom and Madlib — who took home the Left Field Woodie for the year's most original artist; Say Anything, whose "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too" won the Best Video Woodie; and Muse, who were given the Best Performing Woodie for the year's strongest tour.

But the awards were only half the show: The Woodies boasted an impressive, genre-bending list of performers, too. Lupe Fiasco kicked things off with a fiery version of "Superstar," joined onstage by Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump. Baltimore raunch-masters Spank Rock teamed up with Philly MC Santogold on bumping renditions of "Loose" and "Rick Rubin." The Academy Is ... were backed by a string section from the Julliard School of Music. And Rilo Kiley closed the show with a pair of tunes from their Under the Blacklight album, the slinky "Moneymaker" and the bittersweet "Breakin' Up."

Presenters at the Woodies included Fall Out Boy, Q-Tip, Annie Lennox, Talib Kweli and Tom DeLonge and Dave Kennedy of Angels & Airwaves. Winners were determined entirely by student voting on mtvU.com. More than 4.6 million votes were cast this year.

If you're bummed that you couldn't be in NYC for the show, don't fret. It'll be broadcast in its entirety on mtvU and mtvU.com on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, with a half-hour "Best Of" show to follow on MTV on November 17 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and on MTV2 November 18 at 12:30 a.m. ET.

The complete list of winners for the fourth annual mtvU Woodie Awards:

» Woodie of the Year: Gym Class Heroes

» The Breaking Woodie: Boys Like Girls

» The Left Field Woodie: Madvillain

» Best Video Woodie: Say Anything, "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too"

» The Good Woodie (Greatest Social Impact): Guster

» Best Performing Woodie: Muse

» The Alumni Woodie (aka The You're Still OK in Our Book Award): Spoon

» Viral Woodie: The Academy Is ...

» Best Music on Campus Woodie (given to the artist with the most votes, streams and/or buzz on mtvU's BestMusiconCampus.com): Stella by Starlight, Duke University.

• Fall Out Boy, Lupe Fiasco, Boys Like Girls, More At 2007 mtvU Woodie Awards

• Gym Class Heroes
• The Academy Is...
• Boys Like Girls
• Lupe Fiasco
• Fall Out Boy

Smashing Pumpkins
Photo: Virgin Records

The Smashing Pumpkins have been gone for seven years, but they've got a much-anticipated new album called Zeitgeist due in about two months. So what better time to pay tribute to Billy Corgan and company than ... well, right now?

That's the thinking behind an upcoming Pumpkins tribute project, spearheaded by MySpace and featuring acts like Panic! at the Disco, 30 Seconds to Mars, (+44) and the Academy Is ... taking cracks at their favorite SP tracks.

According to a source at MySpace, the project (currently known as, uh, "The MySpace Smashing Pumpkins Tribute Project") will launch on May 14, when each of the participating bands will post a Pumpkins cover on their respective MySpace pages. The songs will then be collected onto a CD, which will be included in newsstand editions of July's Spin magazine (that issue will feature each of the bands talking about the Pumpkins' influence on them).

And who exactly are those bands? Well, early reports linked My Chemical Romance to the project, but according to both MySpace and MCR's management, the band has not contributed a song. MTV News' source at MySpace provided a list of 12 of the participants plus the songs they've chosen to cover. Note: 30 Seconds to Mars haven't announced their song yet — we know of no Pumpkins song called "(track TBD)."

· Panic! at the Disco: "Tonight, Tonight"
· (+44): "I Am One"
· The Academy Is ... : "Mayonaise"
· Deftones: "Siva"
· 30 Seconds to Mars: (track TBD)
· The Bravery: "Rocket"
· Young Love: "1979"
· The New Amsterdams: "Thirty-Three"
· Test Your Reflex: "Ava Adore"
· Ben Kweller: "Today"
· Hawthorne Heights: "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
· Gliss: "Rhinoceros"

As mentioned earlier, the re-formed Smashing Pumpkins will release Zeitgeist on July 7 (see "Smashing Pumpkins Drummer Offers More Clues About Forthcoming LP"). The band recently announced a string of festival appearances, including the U.S. leg of the Live Earth concert series on July 7 (see "Kanye, Fall Out Boy, Kelly Clarkson Lead Live Earth's U.S. Lineup") and the Virgin Festival near Baltimore on August 4-5 (see "Amy Winehouse, Wu-Tang Clan Fill Out Virgin Fest Lineup").

• The Smashing Pumpkins
• Panic at the Disco
• The Academy Is...
• 30 Seconds To Mars
• (+44)

Photo: MTV News

• Fall Out Boy
• Ashlee Simpson
• Jay-Z
• The Academy Is...
• Gym Class Heroes

Hilary Duff's <i>Dignity</i>
Photo: Hollywood Records

Duffing Up: You may have caught a little lady named Hilary Duff on "TRL" recently — that's because of her Dignity, which drops this week. The set is powered by the "TRL"-topping first single, "With Love" — if you took advantage of iTunes' preorder, you already got the video for it. Going the extra mile, the singer has loaded up the deluxe edition with a Duff-at-home retrospective video, featured on an accompanying DVD, as well as exclusive art.

She'll B Back: Beyoncé waited a spell before rolling out the deluxe edition to her latest studio effort, B'Day. Packaged with different cover art, the revised set also boasts a dozen extra tracks, including Spanish-language cuts, remixes and more. That includes the Shakira duet "Beautiful Liar" and three additional mixes of that song. Maybe fans should have held off celebrating her B'Day so soon last year.

Wall-to-Wall: Paul Wall has two tough acts to follow this week, but based on the platinum success of his The Peoples Champ two years ago, the Houston grill master is banking on his Get Money - Stay True follow-up all the same. It's a more diverse outing than you might think — partially recorded at a Texas studio frequented by Willie Nelson, the disc also features (+44) rocker Travis Barker — as Expensive Taste, along with cohort Skinhead Rob — plus Snoop, Jermaine Dupri, Rick Ross, Fergie and more. It's a custom fit.

Kings of the Times? Casual music fans might mistakenly think Kings of Leon's Because of the Times is the group's second disc, since 2004's Aha Shake Heartbreak broke them out on the strength of three singles. But Because is actually their third opus, and it features 13 songs — including a seven-minute opening cut called "Knocked Up" that sounds like a fitting theme song for the soon-to-be-released Judd Apatow movie of the same name.

Timber!: Timbaland has spent so much time sitting behind the boards, it's a wonder his legs haven't atrophied to the point that he needs a wheelchair. Proving that he can indeed rock the mic, the producer steps up with a studio LP of his own this week. The results are what you might expect — Shock Value is nothing short of a historic payback affair, with everyone from Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado to Fall Out Boy and the Hives to Madonna and Elton John. As the saying goes, it's all about who you know ...

Twofer Tuesday:

The Academy Is ...' Santi and Corinne Bailey Rae's "Live in London & New York": The Academy will soon be touring with the aforementioned Paul Wall on this year's Honda Civic Tour, but before they do, they're eking out their second album, Santi. The Chicago band stretches out with bigger songs crafted to be performed at larger venues — including the first single, "Big Mess on Our Hands Tonight," "LAX to O'Hare" and "Sleeping With Giants (Lifetime)." Fellow 2006 Woodie Award nominee Rae is trying to keep her own hype going by issuing a video to accompany her self-titled album from last year. The U.K. singer/songwriter's "Live" item captures performance footage plus four promo clips, as well as a bonus CD encompassing her show at NYC's Webster Hall last fall.

Shadows Fall's Threads of Life and Poison the Well's Versions: Expect this devilish duo to duke it out for biggest metal debut of the week. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) and led by first single "Redemption," Shadows' set also features such inspirational titles as "Failure of the Devout," "Burning the Lives" and "Dread Uprising." While that band is on Atlantic, former roster act Poison the Well have since re-relocated to their indie sphere — Ferret, specifically — for their fourth studio album. Don't expect to hear typical metalcore on the release — the act employs everything from mandolin and slide guitar to horns and banjo.

Chevelle's Vena Sera and Static-X's Cannibal: Both hard-rocking squads were chart-topping contenders in their heyday, but are either still formidable? Chevelle will try to top the #8 Billboard albums chart debut their This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) made two and a half years ago with Vena Sera, which features "Antisaint," "Brainiac" and "Straight Jacket Fashion." Static-X's Start a War opened at #29 in 2005, and the industrial-metal cretins hope for more success with Cannibal, which Wayne Static produced on his own.

Various artists' "Hip Hop Life" and "Urban Spotlight": Don't overlook either of these street DVDs, hip-hop fans. Exclusive performances, battles and rare chats with Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Jadakiss, MC Lyte and Fat Joe bulk up "Hip Hop Life," a documentary about the underground freestyle. In the other corner, Snoop Dogg, Mobb Deep, Ice Cube, E-40 and Too Short climb onto the "Urban Spotlight" disc, which is the premiere issue of the video-interview "magazine."

Anthony Hamilton's Southern Comfort and David Gray's Shine: The Best of the Early Years: Soul singer Hamilton earned his repute largely due to his 2003 debut, Comin' From Where I'm From, but the set he's dropping this week actually culls material from before that release. Recorded with three producers — Fanatic, Doug Coleman and Ced Solo — the 11-track set includes "Don't Say What You Won't Do," "Magnolia's Room" and "Never Give Up." Gray is also unearthing some early material in the form of Shine, which corrals "Birds Without Wings," "Faster, Sooner, Now" and "A Century Ends."

Song Titles of the Week: The track list to the Chariot's The Fiancee: "Back to Back," "Faced Each Other," "They Drew Their Swords," "And Shot Each Other," "Deaf Policeman," "Heard This Noise," "Then Came to Kill," "Two Dead Boys," "Forgive Me Nashville" and "Trumpet."

Other Notables:

Various artists' "Radio On": Co-produced by iconic filmmaker Wim Wenders ("Paris, Texas," "Buena Vista Social Club"), this flick is coming back from the grave nearly 30 years after it was made. The movie features an early Sting, and the accompanying soundtrack features David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Devo and others.

The Jai-Alai Savant's Flight of the Bass Delegate: DJ Ralh Darden has some friends in the Mars Volta, and they're trying to get the punk-and-reggae-loving Chicago artist some extra attention with this disc issued through Gold Standard Laboratories, co-helmed by Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Songs include "Scarlett Johansson Why Don't You Love Me," "White on White Crime" and "Data Massaganna."

Everybody Else's Everybody Else: Named after a Kinks B-side, the trio came about after two other acts — Boston's the Push Kings and Richmond, Virginia's Waking Hours — moved to L.A. and disbanded. Their debut was recorded with Rick Parker (Sugarcult, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and features 12 punk-rock slices, including "Button for Punishment," "Meat Market" and "I Gotta Run."

New Releases:

· A Hero From a Thousand Places - Mistakes (Novus Ordo)
· John Abercrombie - The Third Quartet (ECM)
· The Academy Is ... - Santi (Atlantic) [Buy Now]
Read: "The Academy Is ... Say New Album Sounds Nothing Like Fall Out Boy"
· The Almost - Southern Weather (Tooth & Nail/ Virgin)
· American Head Charge - Can't Stop the Machine (with DVD; Nitrus)
· Andiamo - Love, From Italy (Denon)
· Bang Gang - Something Wrong (From Nowhere)
· Vicky Beeching - Painting the Invisible (Sparrow)
· Blood Tsunami - Thrash Metal (Candelight)
· Boys Like Girls - Boys Like Girls (Columbia) [Buy Now]
· Jonatha Brooke - Careful What You Wish For (Bad Dog)
· Brandi Carlile - The Story (Columbia)
· Rodney Carrington - King of the Mountains (Capitol) [Buy Now]
· Kendel Carson - Rearview Mirror Tears (digipak; Train Wreck)
· CéU - CéU (Six Degrees)
· The Chariot - The Fiancee (Solid State)
· Chevelle - Vena Sera (Epic) [Buy Now]
· Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis (enhanced; Rough Trade)
· Cruachan - The Morrigan's Call (Candelight)
· Bethany Dillon - Waking Up (Sparrow)
· Hilary Duff - Dignity (special edition with bonus disc also available; Hollywood) [Buy Now]
· Matt Dusk - Back in Town (Decca)
· Elk City - New Believers (Friendly Fire)
· Kurt Elling - Nightmoves (Concord)
· Everybody Else - Everybody Else (The Militia Group)
· Ferocious Eagle - The Sea Anemone Inside of Me Is Mighty (54° 40' or Fight!)
· Flickerstick - Live From Atlanta: Two Nights at Tree Sound Studios (Flickerstick)
· Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather (Virgin) [Buy Now]
· MC Frontalot - Secrets From the Future (Level Up)
· Funeral - From These Wounds (Candlelight)
· Further Seems Forever - The Final Curtain (DualDisc; 567) [Buy Now]
· Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager (Atlantic)
· Matthew Herbert - Score (!K7)
· Tim Hughes - Holding Nothing Back (Sparrow)
· Idlewild - Make Another World (Sanctuary) [Buy Now]
· Alan Jackson, George Strait and Jimmy Buffett - Live at Texas Stadium (MCA Nashville)
· The Jai-Alai Savant - Flight of the Bass Delegate (GSL)
· Rose Kemp - A Hand Full of Hurricanes (One Little Indian)
· Kings of Leon - Because of the Times (RCA) [Buy Now]
Read: "Kings Of Leon Growing Up, But New LP Still Goes 'Below The Waist' "
· Let's Go Sailing - The Chaos in Order (Yardley Pop/ GR2)
· Jeff Lorber - He Had a Hat (Blue Note)
· Los Straitjackets - Rock en Español, Vol. 1 (Yep Roc)
· Maxïmo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures (Warp) [Buy Now]
· Martina McBride - Waking Up Laughing (RCA)
· Mêlée - Devils & Angels (Warner Bros.)
· Monstrance - Monstrance (two CDs; Ape House)
· Mother Hips - Kiss the Crystal Flake (Camera)
· Paul Motian/ Bill Frisell/ Joe Lovano - Time and Time Again (ECM)
· Nicole C. Mullen - Sharecropper's Seed (Word)
· My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - The Filthiest Show in Town (Rykodisc)
· Omnium Gatherum - Stuck Here on Snakes Way (Candlelight)
· The Orangeburg Massacre - Moorea (Pluto/ East West)
· Ozomatli - Don't Mess With the Dragon (Concord) [Buy Now]
· John Platania - Blues, Waltzes and Badland Borders (Train Wreck)
· Poison the Well - Versions (Ferret) [Buy Now]
· Dino Saluzzi and Anja Lechner - Ojos Negros (ECM)
· Saxon - The Inner Sanctum (two CDs; SPV)
· See You Next Tuesday - Parasite (Ferret)
· Martin Sexton - Seeds (Kitchen Table)
· Shadows Fall - Threads of Life (Atlantic) [Buy Now]
Read: "Dave Grohl's Party Calls Can't Distract Shadows Fall From Recording LP"
· Sh--ake Monkey - Street Beef (Outlook)
· David Shultz and the Skyline - Sinner's Gold (Triple Stamp)
· Sia - Lady Croissant (live; Astralwerks)
· Sick Puppies - Dressed Up as Life (Virgin)
· Emilie Simon - March of the Empress (Milan)
· Spellbound - Incoming Destiny (Locomotive)
· Leeroy Stagger - Depression River (Boompa)
· Stars of the Lid - And the Refinement of Their Decline (two CDs; Kranky)
· Static-X - Cannibal (Warner Bros.) [Buy Now]
· Koko Taylor - Old School (Alligator)
· T-Squad - T-Squad (Disney)
· This Beautiful Republic - Even Heroes Need a Parachute (Forefront)
· Throbbing Gristle - Part Two - The Endless Not (limited edition; Mute)
· Throne of Katarsis - An Eternal Dark Horizon (Candlelight)
· Timbaland - Shock Value (Interscope) [Buy Now]
Read: "Timbaland Still In Shock Over Jay-Z, Madonna, Elton Collaborations"
· Lao Tizer - Diversify (Yse)
· Tyler Read - Only Rock & Roll Can Save Us (Immortal)
· Umphrey's McGee - The Bottom Half (Sci Fidelity)
· Gina Villalobos - Miles Away (Face West)
· Paul Wall - Get Money - Stay True (Atlantic) [Buy Now]
Read: " 'Mature' Paul Wall Still Raps About Girls, Grills With Mariah, T.I."
· Welcome - Sirs (Fat Cat)
· James Zabiela + Nic Fanciulli - One + One (Ministry of Sound)
· Various artists - FabricLive 32: Tayo (FabricLive)
· Various artists - One Tree Hill: The Road Mix - Volume 3 (Maverick)
· Various artists - "Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof" soundtrack (Maverick)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· Beyoncé - B-Day - Deluxe Edition (with bonus CD; Columbia)
Read: "Beyonce Turns Heads With Sports Illustrated Cover, Shakira Duet"
· Black Sabbath - The Dio Years (Rhino)
· Colin Blunstone - One Year (Water)
· Laura Branigan - Greatest Hits: The Best of Branigan (Rhino)
· Anne Briggs - The Time Has Come (Water)
· Ruth Brown - The Definitive Soul Collection (two CDs; Rhino)
· Crusaders - Gold (Hip-O/UMe)
· Disrupt - Unrest/ The Rest (Relapse)
· Marvin Gaye - Number Ones (Motown/UMe)
· J. Geils Band - Greatest Hits: Best of the J. Geils Band (Rhino)
· Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil (Water)
· David Gray - Shine: The Best Of The Early Years (Astralwerks)
· Anthony Hamilton - Southern Comfort (Merovingian)
· The Honey Drippers - Volume One (Rhino)
· John Lee Hooker - The Best of Friends (Shout! Factory) and Gold (Hip-O/UMe)
· Killing Joke - Inside Extremities, Mixes, Rehearsals and Live (two CDs; Candelight)
· Chris Knight - The Trailer Tapes (Drifter's Church)
· Alison Krauss - A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection (Rounder)
· Mario Lanza - The Essential Mario Lanza (two CDs; RCA)
· Chris LeDoux - Cowboys Ain't Easy to Love/ Paint Me Back Home in Wyoming; Songbook of the American West/ Sing Me a Song Mr. Rodeo Man; Songs of Rodeo & Country by Chris LeDoux/ Life as a Rodeo Man; Used to Want to Be a Cowboy/ Thirty Dollar Cowboy; Western Tunesmith / He Rides the Wild Horses; and Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy/ Under This Old Hat (Capitol Nashville/ EMI)
· Huey Lewis & the News - Time Flies ... The Best of Huey Lewis & the News (Rhino)
· Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Greatest Hits (Rhino)
· My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - The Resurrection of Luna (Rykodisc)
· Ono - Open Your Box (remixes; Astralwerks)
· Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors; Jolene; and My Tennessee Mountain Home (Rhino)
· Pentagle - The Time Has Come: 1967-1973 (Castle)
· Robert Plant - Dreamland; Now and Zen; and The Principle of Moments (Rhino)
· David Lee Roth - A Little Ain't Enough and Sonrisa Salvaje (Friday Music)
· Run-DMC - Live at Montreux 2001 (Eagle)
· Skid Row - Greatest Hits: 40 Seasons - The Best of Skid Row (two CDs; Rhino)
· Todd Snider - Peace, Love and Anarchy (Oh Boy)
· Stanley Brothers - The Definitive Collection - 1947-1966 (three-CD box set; Time Life)
· Steel Pulse - Greatest Hits (Rhino)
· The Temptations - Number Ones (Motown/UMe)
· Big Joe Turner - The Definitive Blues Collection (two CDs; Reprise)
· UB40 - Under the Influence: A Collection of Musical Influences & Inspirations (Under the Influence)
· Karyn White - Superwoman: The Best of Karyn White (Shout! Factory)
· Chris Whitley & Jeff Lang - Dislocation Blues (Rounder)
· Yes - Greatest Hits - Highlights From the Very Best of (Rhino)
· Zombies - Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London (two CDs; Rhino)
· Various artists - '80s British Gold (Hip-O/UMe)
· Various artists - Joe Meek's Freak Beat: You're Holding Me Down - 30 Freak Beats, Mod & R&B Nuggets (Castle)
· Various artists - Motown Number Ones, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Motown/UMe)
· Various artists - Mullets Rock! Too!: Mullets in Love (two CDs; Sony Legacy)
· Various artists - Old School Jams: Gold (Hip-O/UMe)
· Various artists - Soft Rock Gold (Hip-O/UMe)

Music DVDs:

· Abba - "The Visitors: The Essential Albums of All Time" (Classic Rock Legends)
· Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Music in Review" (Classic Rock Legends)
· Linkin Park - "Breaking the Rabbit" (Locomotive)
· Duncan McTier - "Live in Vienna" (MVD Visual)
· Mentors - "El Duce Vita" (MVD Visual)
· Metallica - "Master of Puppets: The Essential Albums of All Time" (Classic Rock Legends)
· Nirvana - "Behind the Music: The Ultimate Critical Review" (Classic Rock Legends)
· Corinne Bailey Rae - "Live in London & New York" (with CD; Capitol)
· Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Behind the Music: The Ultimate Critical Review" (Classic Rock Legends)
· Run-DMC - "Live at Montreux 2001" (Eagle Eye)
· Bobby Rush - "Live at Ground Zero Blues Club" (MVD Visual)
· The Shirelles - "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (MVD Visual)
· Siouxsie - "Dreamshow: Live at the Royal Festival Hall With the Millennia Ensemble" (Rhino)
· T. Rex - "Music in Review" (Classic Rock Legends)
· Johnny Tillotson - "Rock 'N Roll Legends" (MVD Visual)
· Dionne Warwick - "Live in Concert" (Image)
· Yes - "Close to the Edge: The Essential Albums of All Time" (Classic Rock Legends)
· The Zombies - "Live at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London" (Rhino)
· Various artists - "Hip Hop Life" (Universal)
· Various artists - "Radio On" (Plexifilm)
· Various artists - "Rock 'N Rolls Greatest Teen Idols" (MVD Visual)
· Various artists - "Urban Spotlight" (MVD Visual)

Coming Attractions:

April 10:

· Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek) [Preorder]
Read: "Bright Eyes Slim Down With Single LP, Fatten Up With Loads Of Collabos"
· Hellyeah - Hellyeah (Epic) [Preorder]
Read: "Vinnie Paul Returns To Make 'Hellacious' Magic With Hellyeah"
· Various artists - Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack (William Street)

April 17:

· Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing (deluxe limited edition with DVD due same day; RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Don't Know How To Spell 'Avril Lavigne'? Prepare To Be Scolded"
· Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero (Nothing) [Preorder]
Read: "Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero Preview: Beginning To Solve The Mystery"
· Patti Smith - Twelve (Columbia) [Preorder]

April 24:

· Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino)
· The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution (Epic)
Read: "Nightwatchman, Rage Reunion Have Morello Fired Up For Political Fights"
· Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (Atlantic)
Read: "Porcupine Tree's Wilson Talks Complex New LP, Project With Opeth's Akerfeldt"

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