Britney Spears <I>Greatest Hits: My Perogative</I>

Before she exercises her prerogative to take another break from the music business, Britney Spears is giving her fans a parting gift.

The domestically inclined pop star is releasing an album of her biggest hits this week. Greatest Hits: My Prerogative includes her breakout hit "... Baby One More Time," coming-of-age track "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," Madonna collaboration "Me Against the Music," and the Bobby Brown cover and title track "My Prerogative."

Ja Rule had a large amount of material to pick from as well when he put together his new album, R.U.L.E. The disc's 18 tracks were picked from around 25-30 songs Ja recorded in the studio. R.U.L.E. features collaborations with Ashanti, R. Kelly, Jadakiss and Fat Joe and the street single "New York."

Fabolous gives some Real Talk on his third album, produced by Just Blaze. The disc also features Lil' Mo, T.I. and Sean Paul. But the hottest grouping of artists can be found on the soundtrack to "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie." Avril Lavigne, the Flaming Lips, Wilco, Motörhead, the Shins and Ween are just a few of the artists who've recorded songs for the soundtrack.

Anticipation has been similarly mounting for the release of the soundtrack to the video game "Halo 2." The disc features tracks by artists including Incubus, Hoobastank and Breaking Benjamin.

Also out this week are albums by New Edition, whose last studio release was in 1996 (One Love); Vanessa Carlton, whose sophomore album is coming two years after the release of her debut (Harmonium); NOFX (The Greatest Songs Ever Written (By Us)); Neko Case (The Tigers Have Spoken); Elton John (Peachtree Road); and Handsome Boy Modeling School (White People).

Out Tuesday, November 9:

• An Angle - And Take It With a Grain of Salt (Drive Thru/Sanctuary)
• Tony Bennett - The Art of Romance (Columbia)
• Vanessa Carlton - Harmonium (A&M Records)
  Read: "Vanessa Carlton Recalls Her Days As A Naughty Ballerina"
  Buy Now: Harmonium (A&M Records)
• Bill Carrothers - Armistice 1918 (Sketch/Cryptogramophone)
• Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken (Anti/Epitaph)
• Will Downing - Christmas, Love and You (GRP)
• Fabolous - Real Talk (Elektra/Atlantic)
  Read: "Fabolous Breathes Easy With Lil Jon, Sean Paul, Lil' Mo On His LP"
  Buy Now: Real Talk (Elektra/Atlantic)
• Glide - Curvature of the Earth (spinART)
• Grizzly Bear - Horn of Plenty (Kanine)
• Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People (Atlantic)
• Hellogoodbye - Hellogoodbye (EP, Drive Thru/Sanctuary)
• Ja Rule - R.U.L.E. (Def Jam)
  Read: "Ja Rule Nearly Extended His R.U.L.E."
  Buy Now: R.U.L.E. (Def Jam)
• Elton John - Peachtree Road (Rocket/Universal)
• Toby Keith - Greatest Hits 2 (Dreamworks Nashville)
• Love.45 - Love.45 (Rock Ridge)
• Mystics - Hushabye Again (Collectables)
• New Edition - One Love (Bad Boy)
  Read: "One Love But Two Sounds: Classic New Edition And '04 BBD Flow"
  Buy Now: R.U.L.E. (Def Jam)
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Dirt on the Strings: The Instrumental Collection (S&P)
• NOFX - The Best Songs Ever Written (By Us) (Epitaph)
• Carl Palmer - Working Live - Vol. 2 (Sanctuary Classics)
• Queen - On Fire: Live at the Bowl (Hollywood)
• Linda Ronstadt - Hummin' to Myself (Verve)
• Seal - Best of 1991-2004 (Warner Bros)
• Derek Sherinian - Mythology (InsideOut)
• Britney Spears - Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (Jive)
  Read: "Britney Fans, You Can Stop Speculating Now — Official Hits LP Track List Revealed"
• Stray Cats - Rumble in Brixton (Surfdog)
• Stroke 9 - All In (Rock Ridge)
• Toothpick - Time Travelin' Couch (V1)
• Shania Twain - Greatest Hits (Mercury Nashville)
  Buy Now: Greatest Hits (Mercury Nashville)
• John Wells - The Dash (Cross Movement)
• Michael Wolff & Impure Thoughts - Dangerous Vision (Artemis)
• Various artists - All-Star Bluegrass Celebration (Rainmaker)
• Various artists - Give 'Em the Boot IV (Hellcat)
• Various artists - "Halo 2" soundtrack (Sumthing Else)
• Various artists - Music From the Chocolate Lands (Putumayo)
• Various artists - "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" soundtrack (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Avril Lavigne Gives Squishy SpongeBob Song A Harder Edge"
• Various artists - We Like to Party (V1)
• DVD: Poi Dog Pondering - "Audio Visivo" (Koch)
• DVD: Something Corporate - "Live at the Ventura Theater" (Geffen)

November 16:

• Eminem - Encore (Aftermath)
  Buy Now: Encore (Aftermath)
• Bon Jovi - 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong (Island)
• Destiny's Child - Destiny Fulfilled (Sony)
  Read: "Destiny's Child: Reunited And It Feels So Good"
  Buy Now: Destiny Fulfilled (Sony)
• Lil Jon & East Side Boyz - Crunk Juice (TVT)
  Read: "Lil Jon's Crunk Juice Finalized; Usher, Luda, Nas, Snoop, Chris Rock On Board"
  Buy Now: Crunk Juice (TVT)

November 23:

• U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope)
  Buy Now: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope)
• Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope)
• Fantasia Barrino - Free Yourself (J Records)
  Read: "Missy Elliott, R. Kelly Helping Fantasia With Her Debut LP"
• Ruben Studdard - I Need an Angel (J Records)
  Read: "Ruben Studdard Decides Christmas Just Isn't Spiritual Enough"
  Buy Now: I Need an Angel (J Records)

November 30

• Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (RCA)
  Read: "Kelly Clarkson Tries For Another 'Breakaway' Hit"
  Buy Now: Breakaway (RCA)
• Nas - Street's Disciple (Sony)
  Read: "Nas: A Fire Inside"
  Buy Now: Street's Disciple (Sony)
• T.I. - Urban Legend (Atlantic)
  Buy Now: Urban Legend (Atlantic)

December 7:

• Lindsay Lohan - Speak (Casablanca)
• Ashanti - Concrete Rose (Def Jam)
• Cam'ron - Purple Haze (Roc-a-Fella)
• Diana DeGarmo - Diana DeGarmo (RCA)

• Britney Spears
• Ja Rule
• Fabolous
• New Edition
• Vanessa Carlton

The Pixes at Austin City Limits on Saturday August 18
Photo: MTV News

AUSTIN, Texas — There is exactly one big tree in Austin's Zilker Park. And seemingly everyone was under it.

Every square inch of shade was occupied by someone at the third annual Austin City Limits music festival. But the intense heat and humidity — temperatures soared near the 100-degree mark each day — didn't stop approximately 210,000 people from attending the three-day music festival.

With eight stages and more than 120 bands, the music ranged from roots-rock to reggae, from blues to funked-up jam bands. And although the cowboy-hatted crowd seemed partial to music of the twangin' persuasion, hyped-up hipsters and alternative rockers ruled the day.

The Pixies were obviously the festival's main draw — organizers credited the group with the festival's first-ever sold-out day on Saturday — and performed each song with immaculate faithfulness to their studio renditions. Featured on the giant Jumbotron video screen above the stage, the group looked a little rounder and a little balder, but rocked liked it was 1991 all over again.

While the sprawling 45-acre site, the multitudes of people and the number of stages made it impossible to catch all the music, MTV News did manage to keep an eye on most of the significant action. Here are some highlights ...

• "It's OK to clap," said the Killers' Brandon Flowers as eye shadow ran down his face. It's not that the band had a hard time kicking off ACL's opening-day festivities, but the audience was acclimating itself to the oppressive heat that would stifle them for the next three days. The sweat-soaked Sin City hipsters forged on and even broke out the U.K. B-side "Indie Rock & Roll" for their understandably truncated 45-minute set.

• "Is it hot enough for you?" asked Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand — easily the hottest U.K. import of the festival. The group's post-punk sound has apparently struck a chord with the masses, as its blistering set had festivalgoers of all stripes pogoing in the Friday-evening heat.

• "This song is stupid, but we're going to play it anyhow, 'cause it tends to rock," said Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy before the group launched into the crowd-pleasing "Kingpin" from 1996's Being There. Never ones to be too ingratiating, the group — which had a gorgeous sunset as a backdrop on Sunday evening — also flexed its experimental muscles on material from its latest LP, A Ghost Is Born, highlighted by the 10-minute krautrock jam "Spiders (Kidsmoke)."

• Indie-rockers gone big time Modest Mouse battled the midday elements to showcase material from their Good News for People Who Love Bad News album, favoring twang-friendly material like "Bukowski" and "The Good Times Are Killing Me."

• Some crowd members were even crying: Fist-pumping, anthem-screaming fans were out in full force for Dashboard Confessional's acoustic-driven set. The sensitive emo-rockers represented for the fragile community with songs mostly from their latest, A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar.

• The Roots were the only outfit at the festival that relied solely on rhythm and rhyme. The group, which has been adopted by the jam-band scene in recent years, more than held its own against the more conventional roots-rock, twang and blues that dominated much of the festival's lineup — in fact, with their funky percussion, improvisational stretches and noodley guitar soloing, the Philadelphia crew fit in rather inconspicuously.

• While there was no marriage proposal at this show (see "Cure, Pixies Hottest Things At Coachella (Aside From Weather)"), Toronto's Broken Social Scene did keep it in the family. Augmented by members of Stars and Metric, the 10-member collective grew to 11 with the addition of singer Kevin Drew's wife on trumpet. The communal aesthetic extended to other bands on the bill when BSS's technical difficulties were aided by Sloan's Jay Ferguson (acting as guitar tech) and Franz Ferdinand's Bob Hardy, who loaned his four-string to bassist Brendan Canning.

• Chicago chanteuse Neko Case represented both the female contingent and the alt-twang community with her smoky voice and country strum. Backed by an upright bassist and a banjo/lap steel player, the singer showcased material from her entire discography, plus songs from her upcoming live covers album, The Tigers Have Spoken, highlighted by a cover of Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain."

• Who knew Calexico were so huge? The mariachi-inflected alt-country band was easily the first big draw of Sunday's early lineup, vastly dwarfing the audience attendance on the other stages. Their set was highlighted by a note-perfect cover of Love's "Alone Again Or," and their horn section would later help out Wilco during "I'm The Man Who Loves You."

• Finally, it's probably safe to assume that Frank Black never dreamed he'd have 75,000 people singing the name of Luis Bunuel's surrealist masterpiece, "Un Chien Andalou," but that's exactly what happened Saturday night during the band's 1989 cult hit, "Debaser." The evening's cinematic references didn't end there, as the quartet broke out "Where Is My Mind?" (immortalized in "Fight Club") and the obscure Deal-sung B-side, "In Heaven," a cover taken from David Lynch's seminal "Eraserhead."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• The Pixies
• Franz Ferdinand
• Wilco
• Modest Mouse
• The Roots

P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Ice Cube and the Cash Money Millionaires are among the rappers who appear in "Hip-Hop Story: Tha Movie," the first production from NBA star Nick Van Exel's RapRock Films, due February 11. Smoot, the film's star and Van Exel's partner in the company, will release his debut on July 8 and will also appear on the movie's soundtrack, due April 22. ...

Avril Lavigne, Pink, Usher and the Clipse will be the first artists to participate in Arista Records' new DVD singles series. The DVDs, due March 11 and packaged in CD jewel cases, will feature two videos apiece, along with bonus material. ... On February 7, the third anniversary of Big Pun's death, his widow, Liza Rios, announced the establishment of the Big Pun Foundation at a press conference in the Bronx, New York. The non-profit organization will establish social programs for inner-city youth. ...

The debut album by the Mars Volta, the electronic-inspired offshoot of defunct At the Drive-In, is set for a June release. While the album remains untitled, its packaging will be designed by Storm Thorgerson, who's worked on classic covers such as Pink Floyd's The Division Bell and Wish You Were Here and the Cranberries' Bury the Hatchet. ... Professional wrestler Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig, who came to prominence in the late '80s and early '90s with the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation, was found dead in his hotel room in Brandon, Florida, on Monday at the age of 44, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The cause of death has yet to be determined. In 1999, the Minnesota native embarked on a "West Texas Rednecks" gimmick with World Championship Wrestling that saw him team up with country artist Chad Brock against the No Limit Soldiers (including Master P and Silkk the Shocker) and record two songs, "Rap Is Crap" and "Good Old Boys." ...

According to his lawyer Robert Simels, former drug kingpin and Murder Inc. associate Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff remains in custody awaiting a February 28 court hearing in Baltimore for a gun-possession charge. He is also awaiting a hearing on another New York-based gun charge. In related news, Jon Ragin, McGriff's partner for his independent film "Crime Partners," who was arrested and indicted during last month's FBI Murder Inc.-related raids, will be arraigned in Brooklyn, New York, on February 14 for one count of money laundering. ...

... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have recorded five new tracks for an EP due March 25 on Interscope Records. Titled The Secret of Elena's Tomb, the album will feature a track called "All Saints Day" and another dubbed "Mach Schau." ... The Smoking Popes will finally release The Party's Over, the covers album recorded before their split in 1998 featuring songs by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, the Byrds and others, on March 25 on Double Zero Records. The same label is releasing a Smoking Popes tribute album the same day with songs from the Ataris, Bad Astronaut, Death on Wednesday and more. ...

Jill Sobule, who "Kissed a Girl" in 1995, is on the verge of a comeback, recording her first album in three years and performing two songs on Wednesday's episode of "The West Wing." Creator Aaron Sorkin is apparently a fan of the singer/songwriter. ... Canadian indie-rock supergroup the New Pornographers will release their second album, Electric Version, May 6 through Matador Records in the U.S. The group, whose members include Neko Case, Carl Newman (Zumpano), Kurt Dahle (Limblifter), John Collins (Thee Evaporators) and cartoonist/filmmaker Blaine Thurier, have added guitarist/keyboardist Todd Fancey (Limblifter) in place of founding member Dan Bejar (Destroyer), whose singing and song contributions on Electric Version were limited. ... Aforementioned alt-twang chanteuse Neko Case has launched the second leg of her U.S. tour in support of her 2002 release, Blacklisted. The 15-date trek, which began on February 6 in Chicago, will end March 30 in Seattle at the Experience Music Project. ...

02.09.03

The Donnas were booted from their own after-show party at New York's Belmont Lounge on Friday when the gals got a little too drunk and rowdy. The Strokes were there to witness and partake in the revelry, but the Used's Bert McCracken, who attended the show, couldn't make the late night soiree. ...

In an effort to increase the set time for bands, the fifth annual March Metal Meltdown will be extended to three days instead of the usual two. The heavy metal festival, set for March 7-9 in Irvington, New Jersey, will feature '80s British metalheads Status Quo; Fozzy, featuring pro wrestler Chris Jericho; and hometown heroes Overkill, among many others. ...

Though she's known to take years between albums, Icelandic songstress Björk will follow-up her 2001 album Vespertine with a potential new album this summer, tentatively called LakeExperience, according to an oblique message on her official Web site. In the stream-of-consciousness post, Björk said that she has recorded "song a day. song a day. for how many days. I do not know. but some days." Work-in-progress video snippets of new material featuring shots of coffee cups and laptops are available at www.bjork.com. ... Faith Hill will perform a free concert for about 8,000 soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Thursday. Fort Bragg is home to the 82nd Airborne Division and the Army Special Operations Command, and anyone with military I.D. may be admitted. ...

Blur have announced that former Verve guitarist Simon Tong will accompany them on the road when they tour this summer. He will not, however, be joining as a full-time member. Blur have been without a guitarist since original axeman Graham Coxon left last year before the band started recording in Morocco. Singer Damon Albarn played guitar on most of the record, which comes out later this year. ... If you think this year's Lollapalooza lineup is too radio-friendly, you might want to check out Ipecac Records' traveling road show, which will feature the Melvins, Tomahawk and Skeleton Key. The U.S. tour is tentatively scheduled to begin in late April or early May and additional bands may be announced in the coming weeks. ...

Are the Flaming Lips the new go-to band for cred? First it was touring with Beck, then it was a Top of the Pops performance with Justin Timberlake. Now the Chemical Brothers are testing this theory — the British dance duo recently revealed plans to collaborate with the Oklahoma pop oddities on at least one new track on their upcoming, as-of-yet untitled album, according to their fan Web site Planet Dust. ... On Friday, the recording industry filed an opposition to Verizon Internet Services, Inc.'s motion to postpone a judge's ruling that the ISP must surrender the name of a person suspected of being the source for thousands of unlicensed song files. A federal judge had agreed to a subpoena filed by the RIAA in July that would force Verizon to give up the offender's identity. Verizon opposed that order last month. ...

Hold onto your mullets: Def Leppard are getting ready to play the U.S. The first of 17 scheduled shows is March 21 in Pittsburgh, and the dates run through May 4 in Atlanta. ... Pigface, the Chicago industrial outfit revolving around ex-Ministry member Martin Atkins, are auctioning off an onstage wedding during their upcoming U.S. spring tour to promote their new album, Easy Listening. Fans can bid to win the chance nuptials on eBay until Valentine's Day. ...