Eagles Of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes really wanted to hate Guns N' Roses' new album, Chinese Democracy. Ever since his band was booted from GN'R's 2006 tour, after a single performance in Cleveland, you could say there's been bad blood between Hughes and Guns mainman Axl Rose. So Hughes has been waiting to get his hands on the oft-delayed, more-than-a-decade-in-the-making LP, hoping it would be an abysmal catastrophe.

But Hughes' verdict is in: "You can't say it's a bad record — you just can't do it."

Hughes, whose band was dubbed "Pigeons of Sh-- Metal" by Rose, joined MTV News for a brief Chinese Democracy listening session Monday at the Downtown Records offices. He shared his thoughts on one of the most anticipated albums of the last 10 years, set for release November 23.

Like much of the world, Hughes never actually believed Rose would deliver Chinese Democracy. "During that one show we were at, they'd play songs like 'Mr. Brownstone' and 'It's So Easy,' and the crowd would be going nuts," he recalled. "Then, all of a sudden, they'd play something off Chinese Democracy, and it was just crickets. And then the crickets went silent."

But now that the release is upon us, Hughes has changed his tune. "The first two tracks, right out of the gate, grabbed me, and the first time I heard the record, I was like, 'F---, it's not bad,' " Hughes said. "I had so many funny things waiting to be said about it, but the record is good."

Hughes, whose band recently released its third album, Heart On, was especially taken with the musicianship on the record, which he called "unparalleled." The LP's overall sound also impressed him.

"The production values had to be probably at the highest level of anything, and you can hear that immediately," he said. "There is not a lot of magic going on, in terms of making sh-- from nothing. These are real players, and this is the greatest karaoke band ever assembled. He pulled together some of the greatest talents from the last 16 years, so it's a lot of talent in one spot."

But Hughes does have one gripe: "To say that it's Guns N' Roses, which is the L.A. freaks who hit the streets and made you scared and your women were being hidden, and you have this ugly son of a bitch on guitar shredding — I don't think it's fair to say that this is Guns N' Roses. When you're releasing multiple albums and you're a band, you're part of a lineage. You're saying you started here, and from here comes forth this. You can't do that with the new GN'R. This is Axl Rose's solo album. There's nothing Guns N' Roses about this. It's a great album, but it's not Guns, and it's an insult to all of us to call it that."

Hughes doesn't think Chinese Democracy does anything to diminish Guns N' Roses' rock-and-roll legacy, but he feels "it helps to contrast and highlight it, because if you've even heard one track off of [1987's] Appetite for Destruction, you're immediately going to go, 'That's not Slash.' And to me, that's cool, because Slash has the rad stuff. Axl — he just has implants."

As for Axl's pipes, Hughes described the vocals as sounding "suspiciously Zapp-ish," a reference to the '70s soul-and-funk outfit that utilized a talk box on the majority of their recordings. (Jesse apparently didn't know that Zapp founders/brothers Roger and Larry Troutman both died in an apparent murder-suicide in 1999.) "The vocals don't sound real," he said. "It sounds like a MIDI sampler that's approximated to his voice.

"Axl, I think he's like the child with chocolate on his face telling you he didn't eat the candy bar," Hughes continued. "This is the reverse. It sounds like a person talking, but it's really a robot. Axl's a robot. Have you ever seen 'Terminator'? I think if we cut Axl's arm at the skin and peeled it off, a robot would emerge."

Hughes realizes that Chinese Democracy is an important record, one he's sure "will topple Communism and the great dragon itself," but after hearing it, he questions why it took so long to produce.

"Let's be serious and set aside my personal issue with the man, and let's just pretend for a second I'm not in this business," Hughes said. "Sixteen f---ing years to make an album is an outrage and an abuse of the system. Who the hell does anyone think they are that they'll take 16 years to make a record? The only thing Axl has going for him is that he's still friends with Sebastian Bach. That man's still a hunk. He's a savage animal if ever I saw one."

Ultimately, though, Hughes respects Rose's position in rockdom. He also wonders when — if ever — we'll see a follow-up to Chinese Democracy.

"It doesn't matter who Axl is or what he's done to me, he's part of one of the greatest rock-and-roll bands that's ever lived, and Appetite has carved out this massive spot for itself that can never be screwed with," he said. "I can't speak ill of the man too much, because it seems like I'm, in a disingenuous way, calling into question his rock nobility. I just can't wait for North Korean Democracy, which will be coming out in 2036. Axl will still look the same then, but he'll actually be growing corn out of his scalp."

• Eagles Of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes Weighs In On 'Chinese Democracy'

• Guns N' Roses
• Eagles Of Death Metal

Kat Von D with Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes in August 2007
Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images

Jesse "The Devil" Hughes has a more interesting life than you. And why shouldn't he?

Dude's in a critically praised rock band called Eagles of Death Metal with his best friend, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. He loves Los Angeles, and he kicks it around Hollywood with the likes of Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, director Liam Lynch and Jack Black. He's a self-proclaimed womanizer, loves the drink and has a cell phone full of pictures of women in various stages of undress.

But perhaps he's been having too much fun.

"When we were [recording] at Sound City Studios, I found it very easy to get drunk and stay there," Hughes recently told MTV News. "I also found it easy to amuse my friends. Joshua, any time he's down, I just want to make him happy, and nothing delights him more than seeing me on Rollerblades. One night I got sh--faced, and, long story short, when the head of Sound City, one of the pre-eminent recording studios, wakes you up at 7 in the morning in their upstairs parking lot, and you're wearing nothing but a tank top, cutoffs and Rollerblades, you've got f---ing problems."

While that's the Hughes his friends — and this reporter — know and love, there's also a rarely seen, more serious side to the Eagles of Death Metal frontman. Fans will finally get a chance to hear that side on the band's forthcoming album, Heart On, which will feature a guest spot from well-known tattoo artisan Kat Von D (star of A&E's "L.A. Ink").

Heart On hits stores October 21. The album is, in Hughes' words, "an essay on the joys of rock and roll," but it's partly about heartbreak, too. Hughes wouldn't finger the dame who broke his heart — not by name, anyway.

"I was rolling with a certain Hollywood figure who may or may not have been aforementioned as a guest singer on this record, and this tattoo artist I was rolling with, in order to keep her in my life as my friend, it meant the end of the potential for another aspect of our relationship, so it was more of a disappointment," Hughes said. "That's the worst kind of heartbreak, in a way, because it was the heartbreak of being an adult. It was the heartbreak not of having someone sh-- on you or break up with you, but the heartbreak of having to go, 'F---, I love you, and we can't do this.' "

Hughes' despair is most evident on the track "Now I'm a Fool." He said that while hanging backstage before a QOTSA gig not too long ago, Homme told him that he wanted Hughes to write a song reminiscent of Beck's "Already Dead." Then he got a call from the object of his affection.

"I get off the phone with this girl, and I said out loud, 'F---, now I'm a f---ing fool. I'm not just an idiot [for falling for you], I'm a f---ing fool,' " he recounted. "I don't care what anybody says, when you're hanging out with celebrities, you never expect to get involved with them emotionally, no matter how much you like them. When you're rolling with someone, and suddenly it's 4 a.m. and the cameras are turned off of the television show they've got or whatever, and they share something with you where you want to protect them, it changes sh-- and it can get scary.

"This album is kind of — I hate to sound corny — but it's kind of a mature look at Hollywood," he continued. "I fell in love with Hollywood, the city itself, in a Randy Newman sort of way. So I guess the album is about a variety of things: di-- swinging in Hollywood and acting tougher than you really might be."

Hughes said that, for the first time, he felt pressure heading into the recording process. "I really believe if you want to keep doing what we're doing in this business, you've got to grow," he said. "You have to go somewhere — you have to be on a curve, not on a line."

Despite this being the band's third record, Hughes said it was the most difficult to make.

"I've never had anything to lose before," he said. "Not that it's a good one, but I have some sort of reputation, and I could f--- that up doing the wrong thing. That's suddenly a consideration that's never been present before that's going to affect everything. The trick was learning how to give appropriate time to certain things, but what I'm glad to see is really, on this record, it's the same story: two best friends having a sh--s-and-giggles good time making rock and roll."

Eagles of Death Metal will tour in September with the Hives.

• Eagles Of Death Metal

Kanye West
Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Don't believe Kanye West has a sense of humor? He's posted a hilarious new "Can't Tell Me Nothing" clip, starring underground comedian Zach Galifianakis and indie-folkie Will Oldham, on his site. According to Billboard.com, the hilarious low-budget clip — which features Galifianakis and Oldham mouthing the words to the song while they hang with cows and gyrate against tractors — was filmed at Galifianakis' farm in North Carolina. Galifianakis also made a memorable appearance in Fiona Apple's "Not About Love" video, but he recently told Impose Magazine that it was his clip for Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy" that won over West. ...

Beyoncé took a big spill at her concert in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday night, tumbling headfirst down 12 steps at Amway Arena. Video capturing the gaffe is making the rounds on the Web — even though the singer told the crowd not to post the clip on YouTube. "Beyoncé's fall onstage last night ... was a case of her coat's hem getting caught in her shoes," her publicist Yvette Noel-Schure said in a statement issued Wednesday (July 25), "but Miss Knowles picked herself right up, without missing a beat, showing to all that she is the best." ... The Backstreet Boys have pegged October 30 as the release date for their new, yet-untitled album, which will be led by first single "Inconsolable," Billboard.com reports. Don't expect to hear Kevin Richardson on there, though — he left in June 2006 (and wasn't replaced). ...

Wyclef Jean has snatched up Akon, Lil Wayne and newcomer Niia for "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)," the first single from his forthcoming album Carnival II (Memoirs of an Immigrant). The Columbia release will hit stores in November. ...

Has "Deathly Hallows" left you with a question or two? You might be able to get an answer from the author herself — on Monday, "Harry Potter" publisher Bloomsbury will hold a live chat with J.K. Rowling on Bloomsbury.com. In other Potter news, publisher Scholastic says a few hundred of the 12 million copies of "Deathly Hallows" are missing pages, The Associated Press reports. The company said defective books can be replaced by bringing them back to point of purchase, but some fans are stowing them away as keepsakes. ...

Lindsay Lohan might have even more problems on her hands — according to TMZ.com, she pulled an illegal U-turn in April in Los Angeles that wound up causing an accident between vehicles driven by her bodyguard Jaz Bennett and another woman, Signe Dupuy. Dupuy says Bennett gave her a fake name and number after the accident and that she's considering filing suit against him and Lohan. A representative for Lohan told TMZ that a letter sent by Dupuy was filed away because it was assumed that it would also be sent to Lohan's lawyers. In yet another legal case involving Lohan, TMZ.com reports that she filed documents in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week pertaining to the October 2005 car crash in which she hit a parked van in Beverly Hills, California. Last month, Raymundo Ortega, the owner of the van, filed a lawsuit claiming Lohan was drunk at the time of the accident. In the documents she filed, Lohan claims the suit is "nothing more than an attempt to extort money from a celebrity by setting forth false and scurrilous allegations in a complaint." She said the police report claims, "Ms. Lohan had not been drinking. I did not observe any objective signs of either alcohol or drug intoxication and determined that no further investigation regarding intoxication was warranted." ...

It might not be showtime for Swizz Beatz if police in Camden, New Jersey, get their way. According to AP, authorities are threatening to drop their sponsorship of a peace rally due to the producer's scheduled appearance and his perceived anti-snitching stance on his single "It's Me Snitches." But Swizz released a statement to AP explaining the track, which has no anti-snitching content, was renamed for radio from its original title "It's Me Bitches." "If I supported violence or the 'Stop Snitching' campaign, I wouldn't have agreed to be a part of the event [in the first place]," he said in the statement. ...

Devo can't get any satisfaction these days — thanks to Korn. The New Wavers are lashing out at Jonathan Davis and the gang for allegedly biting the group's "devolution" concept in a fake movie trailer posted on EvolutionDevolution.com. "We denounce this as imposters playing with fire," Gerald Casale wrote in a post on Devo.com. He told RollingStone.com that Korn fans have been sending him hate mail since he posted the note on the site. "We went, 'Wow, this is insane. This is a perfect example of devolution. ... Gee, I'm sorry we thought all this up 30 years ago and have been putting it out there and preaching it ever since.' " ... A medical examiner was "hasty" in calling actress Lana Clarkson's death a homicide, forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz testified for Phil Spector's defense on Wednesday (July 25), AP reports. "In my opinion, it was most likely a suicide," said Spitz, who added that he has seen autopsy reports. Spitz testified that Clarkson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the mouth. ...

Mya and Claudette Ortiz, formerly of City High, headlined the weekly R&B Live showcase at Spotlight Live in Manhattan, New York, on Tuesday night. Music industry bigwigs Steve Stoute, Sylvia Rhone and Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo were in attendance as D-Nice manned the DJ booth. ... Don't worry about calling Bartman — the Simpsons have the United Nations on their side. The World Intellectual Property Organization, a UN agency, ruled Wednesday that the ownership of the domain name TheSimpsonsMovie.com must be turned over to 20th Century Fox after the company complained about the address registered to Keith Malley of Brooklyn, New York. Malley had demanded a $50,000 fee to cede the domain name, but the WIPO found that he "has no rights or legitimate interests" to it. ...

Pearl Jam will perform an intimate concert at Chicago's Vic Theatre on August 2 — which will warm the guys up for their headlining set at Lollapalooza three days later. Tickets will go on sale Thursday, but only for members of the band's Ten Club fan organization; tickets won't be made available to the general public. ... Chevelle have rolled out a new set of tour dates for the late summer and early fall. The first show is set for August 25 in Grayslake, Illinois, and the tour is scheduled to run through September 16 in Dayton, Ohio. ...

In a recent interview, Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan discussed the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next album. "Musically, [the next LP will be] a lot ballsier," he said. Donegan added that there will be "those signature things that are us, just 'cause stylistically that's the way we perform, and [frontman] David [Draiman], vocally, is always going to sound like him, so ... he's got some big melodic moments, but there's some still aggressive stuff. [We're] trying to get a good blend of the elements of the past three CDs to try to evolve into something fresh and new for us as well." The band will hit the studio in the fall and is planning an early 2008 release for the yet-untitled offering. ...

Indie "death-rapper" Necro has bailed from the Sounds of the Underground Tour because "the tour's demographic was not receiving hip-hop well," he said in a statement. "I was facing hostile, disrespectful crowds and was returning the same energy back tenfold by being more aggressive than them. It was making a lot of people in the tour crew nervous and there was concern someone might get hurt (not me)." ... The Eagles of Death Metal are starting to write material for the follow-up to 2006's Death by Sexy. According to frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes, the guys "hear your cries for boot-skootin', guitar-rock-tootin', sex-rock music, honeybabies," and promise a 2008 release for their next set. "EODM will quench your musical thirsts with a burst of mantastic-fantastic!!! Album #3 will be the greatest EODM release to date." ...

Don't expect to see the cast of "High School Musical" lighting up anytime soon — Disney has become the first major Hollywood studio to ban depictions of smoking in its family-oriented films, Reuters reports. In a letter to Representative Edward Markey — whose House committee recently held a hearing on how movie images affect children — Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said Disney would "discourage" smoking in films distributed by its labels Touchstone and Miramax. He added that anti-smoking public-service announcements would appear on DVDs of films that do depict smoking and would encourage theaters to show similar PSAs along with such films. Markey called the move "groundbreaking."

07.24.07

Ja Rule's Sunday arrest in New York on a single felony weapon count was "another instance of hip-hop targeting," according to the rapper's attorney, Stacey Richman. She claims the .40-caliber Taurus pistol police recovered from inside the 2004 Maybach that Ja was riding in when he was arrested belonged to someone else. Ja; his driver, Mohamed Gamal; and his road manager, Dennis Cherry, were charged with criminal possession of a weapon and spent Sunday night in jail. The three were arraigned Monday afternoon, and Ja (born Jeffrey Atkins) was released on $150,000 bond. He's expected back in Manhattan Criminal Court November 7. According to Richman, the car in question was a company vehicle owned by Gamal's Maximum Transportation firm and is used by his clients. "If you get a car, and something's left in the car, is that yours?" Richman wondered. "How you can ascribe that anybody knows what's in a car?" She also contends that the car was stopped about a block away from the Beacon Theatre and that it had been "parked outside for two and a half hours, with the police department, and they ran the plates — they could have just handed out a ticket then, but they didn't. They waited for [Ja Rule] to get into the car." As for the speeding claims, Richman simply doesn't believe them: "Why would he speed for one block? What, he's going to speed to the next light on Broadway? Come on." The prosecutor's office would not comment on Ja Rule's arrest. ...

G-Unit's Tony Yayo was in court Tuesday morning (July 24) in connection with charges of harassment and endangering the welfare of a child, the 14-year-old son of Game manager Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond. According to Yayo's lawyer Scott Leemon, the rapper rejected a plea offer that would have him serve nine months in jail, and the case was adjourned until September 6. Leemon said the judge in the case asked for more time to make a decision on whether he will enforce subpoenas issued by Leemon to the public-relations firm for Rosemond's Czar Entertainment record label. Leemon would not discuss what information he is seeking from the PR firm. ...

R. Kelly is still feeding off his recent Double Up set, but he's already got another treat in store for next month: Ten new episodes in his "Trapped in the Closet" series. In his latest go-'round, R. dresses as a preacher in a wig — and even more amusingly, from the sound of it, an old man with a fake belly and beard, Billboard.com reports. A DVD encompassing the 10 eps will hit stores August 21, but you can catch them prior to that on, oddly enough, the Independent Film Channel. ... Lindsay Lohan's wax statue at Madame Tussauds in New York has a new addition: It's now dressed in black and white prison stripes. The museum pulled the same move with Paris Hilton's statue when the heiress went to jail. ...

Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk, Iggy and the Stooges and Queens of the Stone Age are among the headliners of this year's Vegoose Festival. The third annual installment of the Las Vegas event, to be held October 27-28 at Sam Boyd Stadium, will also feature sets from Muse, Cypress Hill, the Shins, Public Enemy, Ghostface Killah, Pharoahe Monch, Battles, Gogol Bordello and more artists to be announced soon. The Stooges will perform their classic Fun House album in its entirety for the first time ever in the U.S. ...

Daughtry will hit the road next month for a spate of headlining gigs. Dates are scheduled from August 1 in Columbus, Ohio, through October 20 in Raleigh, North Carolina. ... Mandy Moore will team up with Paula Cole for a co-headlining tour set to kick off August 18 in Portland, Oregon, and expire August 25 in San Diego. Moore's also set to play some of her own headlining gigs, starting August 30 in Fort Worth, Texas. That trek runs through September 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina. ... Tori Amos has mapped out the U.S. leg of her world tour, which will launch October 9 in Albany, New York, and run through December 17 in Los Angeles. ...

Tupac Shakur's estate is trying to stop the late rapper's former label, Death Row Records, from selling his unreleased recordings as part of a bankruptcy settlement. Shakur's mother, Afeni, sought an injunction in federal bankruptcy court Friday, claiming the label was trying to sell Shakur material that belonged to the rapper's estate and should have been turned over to it as part of a 1997 agreement with Death Row. Shakur's lawyer Donald N. David said that during the label's bankruptcy proceedings, "it was revealed that an album's worth of unreleased Tupac material was being advertised to potential buyers as the jewel in the crown of the Death Row assets." ...

A Los Angeles judge has refused to dismiss Phil Spector's murder charge or reduce it to manslaughter on Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. Prosecutors rested their case Monday, and one of the attorneys said they might not even have to show the music producer pulled the trigger to the gun that killed actress Lana Clarkson in order for Spector to be convicted. "He had the gun in his home, loaded with his bullets," said Alan Jackson, who added that prosecutors only need to show that Spector pointed the gun at Clarkson. "Whether he pulled the trigger, whether he sneezed or she slapped his hand away or there was an earthquake — it doesn't matter. It's implied malice." The defense argued that implied malice wasn't shown and that the prosecution didn't support its second-degree-murder theory, so the charge should be dismissed or reduced. "It's very clear to me ... that there's more than enough substantial evidence to support a conviction if there was one," Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said, refusing the motion. ...

Static-X, Shadows Fall, 3 Inches of Blood and Divine Heresy are planning a U.S. run that will commence in September. Dates and venues have yet to be announced, but we'll keep you posted. ... There's been some turmoil as of late in the world of Hopesfall. According to a statement from the band, it seems the only remaining member is singer Jay Forrest, meaning guitarists Joshua Brigham and Dustin Nadler, drummer Jason Trabue and bassist Mike Tyson have split. No explanation for the departures has been made public. ... Coheed and Cambria's forthcoming album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow, will hit stores October 23. ... The Bled's next effort, Silent Treatment, has been set for a September 25 release. The LP will contain 11 tracks, including "You Should Be Ashamed of Myself," "Platonic Sleepover Massacre" and "Breathing Room Barricades." ...

English manager Don Arden, the father of Sharon Osbourne, died Saturday in a Los Angeles nursing home, according to a BBC News report. He was 81. The man born Harry Levy in Manchester, England, but known variously as the "Al Capone of Pop," "The English Godfather" and "Mr. Big" for his uncompromising business practices was at one time the manager of acts ranging from ELO to the Small Faces and Black Sabbath. Sharon was famously estranged from Arden for nearly 20 years after she wrested control of husband Ozzy Osbourne's solo career and was forced to pay her dad a $1 million court settlement. The two reconciled in 2002. ... In an attempt to smooth the pathway to a proposed merger, satellite-radio competitors XM and Sirius have said that if the $4.7 billion merger is approved, they would offer new a la carte pricing plans that would allow users to pay only for the stations they want. The Washington Post reports that the proposed plans would start at $6.99 for 50 stations, which is almost half of the current price of $12.95 for about 150 stations, and include a $14.99 price for 100 stations and the option to add stations one at a time for 25 cents each.

• Harry Potter's Grand Finale: The Experts' Take
• Lindsay Lohan Arrested Again

• Kanye West
• Beyoncé
• Lindsay Lohan
• Pearl Jam
• Disturbed

Snoop Dogg
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Snoop can breathe a little easier — for now. On Monday (December 4), a superior-court judge in Santa Ana, California, postponed the rapper's felony weapon-possession arraignment until January. The charges — not to be confused with the ones surrounding Snoop's arrest for gun and drug possession last week — stem from a September incident at John Wayne Airport, where he was caught carrying a collapsible baton in his luggage. Snoop showed up to court Monday with three guards and his defense attorney, but he signed a waiver that will free him up from having to appear at most of the "non-substantive" hearings. He could face up to three years in prison if convicted. ...

A teary-eyed Jessica Simpson quickly left the stage Sunday night at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., after singing Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," The Columbus Dispatch reports. Simpson's performance — which the reportedly silent audience did not applaud — was part of a tribute event honoring the country legend, Steven Spielberg, Smokey Robinson and others. Simpson ended the song abruptly by saying, "So nervous," and appeared to still be crying when she returned to the stage with other singers later in the show, according to the paper. The tribute will be broadcast December 26 on CBS. ...

Madonna's Confessions road trip is heading to a new venue — fans' homes. A to-be-named tour DVD will hit U.S. stores January 23. ... Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl have broken up, according to People magazine. Bass revealed his relationship with the "Amazing Race" winner when the 'NSYNC singer announced to the magazine in July that he's gay. ...

Police shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old who had been accused of robbing a student of two PlayStation 3s the day the console was released, AP reports. Peyton Strickland was shot Friday in New Haven County, North Carolina, after police had been sent to arrest him at a house the student shared with three roommates. One of the roommates said Strickland was unarmed but may have been holding a video game controller when police bashed in the door to the house. Authorities said Monday that the shooting will be investigated. ...

Paris Hilton has backed out of an appearance at the Billboard Music Awards on Monday because she's not into cracking on her pals. Hilton's spokesperson, Elliot Mintz, told AP that his client wasn't happy with some of the jokes that had been written for her. "Some satirical references ridiculed some of her peers," he told the wire service. "Paris did not want to say anything that could appear hurtful or embarrassing about people she knows." The awards show, which airs Monday on Fox, will not have a host, according to a network representative. ...

During a pretrial hearing last week, Jennifer Lopez's first husband, Ojani Noa, revealed plans to fight the singer's efforts to thwart his tell-all memoir. AP reports that Noa told the court he regrets agreeing to a preliminary injunction that bars him from "criticizing, denigrating, casting in a negative light or otherwise disparaging or causing disparagement" to his ex. "I want to fight this thing to the end," he declared. Lopez filed the suit against Noa in April and successfully obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting him from publishing details about the couple's most intimate moments. Noa said the book would concentrate on his experiences, and said Lopez "was only a part of my life, but I was going to talk about my other girlfriends as well." Lopez and Noa married in 1997 and divorced 11 months later. ...

Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson has responded to claims made last week by Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes regarding the band's departure from GN'R's current tour. Hughes had said that Stinson tossed his bass down in disgust during a November 24 gig in Cleveland, when frontman Axl Rose called the Eagles the "Pigeons of Sh-- Metal." Hughes also said Rose then picked up the instrument and hurled it at Stinson. "Eagles of Death Metal were a suggestion of mine a while ago," the GN'R bassist wrote. "Turns out they were the wrong band for our crowd. They were booed and did not play for as long as they were scheduled to. As for all of the inaccuracies that have been said since, I would like to say that's all they are — inaccuracies. In the past, I have thrown my bass. I have never thrown it at Axl or anyone else in the band, nor has anyone thrown my bass back at me ... yet. Axl has been a dear friend to me for nine years. We have no problem communicating and wish that people would stay the f--- out of sh-- they don't know anything about." ...

In related news, organizers of a guns-for-Guns N' Roses ticket exchange program in Oakland, California, said the event was a success, with more than three dozen guns being turned over in exchange for goods worth an average of $100, including tickets to the band's December 15 gig. The handguns and rifles collected during Saturday's event will be transferred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, to be melted down and converted into manhole covers. ... All-female metal band Kittie have been forced to change the name of their record label to X of Infamy, following the arrival of a cease-and-desist letter issued by attorneys representing Kiss. The Canadian band's label was originally dubbed Kiss of Infamy, which, according to Kiss' lawyers, is "confusingly similar" to their client's moniker. Kittie will release their new LP, Funeral for Yesterday, February 20. ...

If you had told somebody 40 years ago that a copy of The Velvet Underground & Nico would have ever fetched $110,000 ... well, let's just say you never would have. But that's what a rare vinyl item by the band is going for on eBay — dwarfing ever so slightly the 75 cents it was purchased for at a New York street sale in 2002. The acetate is being considered the only surviving copy of the first "finished" version of the debut album Andy Warhol brought to Columbia Records. The auction ends Friday. ... Devendra Banhart popped up at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre late last week to join his bandmate Noah Georgeson onstage. Georgeson opened for Joanna Newsom and performed in support of his own Find Shelter. ...

Despite plenty of bloggerati rumors to the contrary, Los Angeles duo Giant Drag haven't broken up — but things are going to be a whole lot different from now on. According to a spokesperson for Interscope Records, drummer/synth player Micah Calabrese has left the band, but guitarist Annie Hardy will soldier on as "the writer and face of Giant Drag." The band's most recent album was 2005's critically lauded Hearts and Unicorns. ... A West Virginia concert promoter has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Slipknot, claiming the Iowa metal act bailed on a 2001 concert he organized. The suit claims Slipknot was scheduled to perform November 27, 2001, at the Huntington Civic Center, but canceled the appearance when a family member of one of the rockers fell ill. The complaint — which names all nine members of Slipknot as defendants — alleges that the band was aware that promoter Don Maynard "expended a significant amount of time, energy and money promoting the show based on the contract and that he would suffer damages as a result of the defendants breaching the concert contract." Maynard is seeking $72,000 in damages.

12.01.2006

Lindsay Lohan, who has caught a lot of flak for her alleged partying ways, has been going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings of her own volition, her publicist told The Associated Press Friday (December 1). "She started attending some, and I think it's a positive thing," Leslie Sloane told AP. "My biggest fear is who's the big idiot to out which [chapter] she goes to. It's no place to go and feel safe. No one judges her, and it's going to be a slow process. But, to me, the fact that she's seeing that there's something not right makes her smarter than the next person." ...

"American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee will appear at the 118th Tournament of Roses Parade, airing January 1 at 11 a.m. ET on NBC. George Lucas is the Pasadena, California, event's grand marshal. ... Jay-Z is a very interesting man — just ask Barbara Walters. The rapper joins actor Patrick Dempsey, retired tennis pro Andre Agassi and Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour among those profiled by the reporter in her interview special, "Barbara Walters Presents the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2006." It will air December 12 on ABC. ...

Three 6 Mafia have settled a lawsuit filed by a Pittsburgh teenager who claimed he was severely beaten during an August 2003 concert by the group. In the suit, Ramone Williams said he suffered a fractured jaw after he was thrown to the floor, hit with a chair and kicked in the face while Three 6 performed their song "Let's Start a Riot." The settlement was reached last month, and details were not released. ... Fall Out Boy are calling on their fans to help design the cover for the iTunes pre-order version of their upcoming Infinity on High album. Amateur artists can submit their potential covers through the band's site, FallOutBoyRock.com, and FOB will choose their favorite. Submissions are being taken until December 31, and the winner will be revealed when the album becomes available for pre-order on iTunes on January 16. ...

Nirvana's MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video — for "Heart Shaped Box" in 1994 — will be up for bid beginning Tuesday on ItsOnlyRockNRoll.com. The Moonman is expected to fetch $5,000. A signed Beatles album from the collection of George Harrison's sister; Bob Dylan recordings from 1961; and a hat belonging to Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger will also go up on the block. The auction ends December 16. ... With the Eagles of Death Metal out, Guns N' Roses have called on Helmet to open for them for the remainder of the Axl Rose-fronted band's current tour, which rolls into Ames, Iowa, on Friday. The trek runs through December 20 in Universal City, California; Sebastian Bach and the Suicide Girls are also on the bill. ... Beyoncé will be up and at 'em early on Monday, performing at New York's Rockefeller Plaza as part of NBC's live "Today" broadcast. Her performance is scheduled to air between 8 and 9 a.m. ET. ...

Joining the Killers and others, the Arcade Fire are becoming the latest band to give music for Bono's [RED] charity campaign. The anti-corporate indie-rock group is donating "Rebellion (Lies)" for a (Product) [RED] ad campaign that is tied to companies like Motorola, Converse and the Gap. "To some people this seems crass and capitalistic," frontman Win Butler wrote in a post on the band's site, "and I sympathize with that position, but in the first week of the campaign, they have raised enough money for 10,000 women to have antiretroviral drugs for a year ... money and medication which wouldn't have been there without a program like this." Bono's [RED] campaign aims to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa through the sale of branded merchandise. ... Kevin Lyman's Taste of Chaos Tour — which some like to call "The Winter Warped Tour" — will hit the road for a total of 39 dates this winter, it was recently announced. The trek — which starts February 15 in Seattle and wraps April 8 in Vancouver, British Columbia — will feature 30 Seconds To Mars, the Used and more. For the full list of dates, check out TasteOfChaos.com ...

Want to hang out with Metallica? Now you've got a shot. To celebrate Tuesday's release of their DVD "The Videos 1989-2004," Metallica are giving fans a chance to win a two-night stay (including hotel and travel expenses) in San Francisco, where a lucky fan will meet the band and tour their headquarters. Ten others will win a copy of the DVD. The contest ends December 31. Visit Metallica.com for additional details. ... An auction featuring the paintings and personal effects of late Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett raised more than $230,000 for children's educational programs. Items under the gavel at the U.K. auction included 10 paintings by the reclusive musician, a pair of his bicycles, a leather armchair and his artificial Christmas tree. Barrett, who all but disappeared from public life after parting ways with Pink Floyd in 1968, died in July at his home in Cambridge, England, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. ...

Starsailor lead singer James Walsh is doing a week of solo acoustic shows beginning Thursday in Seattle. The trek will also hit San Francisco; Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; and Austin, Texas. ... Brian McKnight's 10th album, aptly titled 10, is due Tuesday and will feature collaborations with Jill Scott and country group Rascal Flatts. "We're friends, so we got together to see what we'd come up with and we came up with a pretty good tune," he said of the latter act. ...

Celebrity photo agency X17 filed a copyright-infringement suit against Mario Lavandeira — better known as Perez Hilton — in federal court Thursday, accusing the blogger of using images owned by X17 without permission. A statement issued by the photo agency claims that the success of PerezHilton.com is "due in large part to the quality and quantity of celebrity images he posts on the site, many of which are owned by X17." Lavandeira, who has not commented on the claims, told gossip site TMZ.com that he has not been served with the suit. "My lawyers and I will address the situation when we have the opportunity to review the materials." A group of seven additional photo agencies — including Splash News and World Entertainment News Network — sent the blogger a cease-and-desist notice earlier this week, urging him to stop posting photos without permission and to pay a licensing fee for prior use to avoid further legal action.

• Snoop Dogg
• Jessica Simpson
• Madonna
• Lance Bass
• Paris Hilton

Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes
Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

Jesse "The Devil" Hughes realized something just wasn't right fairly early in the night of November 24.

Even before his band, the Eagles of Death Metal, took the stage at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena to open the first of what was supposed to be 15 North American dates on the Guns N' Roses tour, Hughes witnessed what he perceived to be an odd occurrence.

"I saw people booing the Suicide Girls," he said, referring to the inked and pierced goth pinups who served as one of the night's other openers. "A rock show booing hot naked chicks is not a rock show — it's a freak show. And now I'm just sorry we won't be touring with the Suicide Girls every day."

That's because on Friday, the Eagles of Death Metal exited the GN'R trek — after just that one performance — following an onstage rant by Guns frontman Axl Rose, during which he nicknamed the band "The Pigeons of Sh-- Metal" before informing his audience that the gig would be the Eagles' last on the tour (see "Pigeons Of &#*! Metal? Eagles Of Death Metal Laugh Off Axl's Ohio Rant").

"I've been really thinking about this because, to be honest with you, I don't know what happened," Hughes said from a recording studio in Los Angeles, where he's hanging out with Queens of the Stone Age, who are currently mixing their forthcoming LP. (Queens frontman Josh Homme, Hughes' high school friend, is a member of the Eagles, though he doesn't always tour with the band and was not present at the Cleveland show.) He thinks, perhaps, that Rose might be just a tad bit envious.

"I think he's just jealous of my mustache," Hughes said.

He is a bit more circumspect about the crowd's reaction to his band's straight-up but tongue-in-cheek hard-rock stylings.

"It had nothing to do with us," he said, referring to the boos that greeted the band's arrival. "That sh-- doesn't faze me, and we turned it around and we had a f---ing kick-ass show and we walked off the stage to a cheering crowd. When you're not the headlining band, you've got to win them over, which we did."

As for Axl's comments, Hughes insisted that GN'R bassist Tommy Stinson threw down his bass in disgust after Rose went off on the Eagles, and that Rose later fired a member of the GN'R crew. "When [Rose] called us the 'Pigeons of Sh-- Metal,' Tommy Stinson took his bass off, threw it down and went, 'F--- you, that's it!' to Axl. And then Axl picked [Stinson's] bass up and threw it at [him]."

GN'R's manager, Merck Mercuriadis, disagreed with Hughes' account. "There is no truth to either claim [that Rose fired a crew member or that Stinson threw down his bass] as evidenced by the fact that our crew remains identical to when the tour started almost six weeks ago, and to say Axl threw a bass at Tommy is pure fiction," he told MTV News. "The Eagles of Death Metal were asked to leave the tour not only because Guns N' Roses' audience hated them and tore them apart but because they could not handle the response. They were supposed to play a 60-minute set but left the stage after 42 minutes due to the hostile reception. The facts do not support the image they are trying to portray, which is why they are attempting to put this spin on it."

With this unexpected gap in the band's schedule, Hughes said the Eagles will take some time off for the holidays before heading to Europe in January for a run of gigs there. And he's not going to take Axl's snub to heart: He believes Rose had never heard his band before that night, and maybe their tongue-in-cheek rock was lost on him.

"I can't take this personally," he said. "I'm disappointed that Axl Rose presents himself as sort of a knighted person in the pantheon of rock and roll and behaves so poorly. People want to see him freak out. And that's just not the place for the Eagles of Death Metal."

• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Guns N' Roses

Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes
Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The Eagles of Death Metal probably hadn't gotten the mustache wax unpacked from their suitcases before their maiden voyage on the S.S. Axl Rose hit an iceberg Friday. On the first night of what was supposed to be a three-week stint opening up for Guns N' Roses, the band was unceremoniously dumped from the bill after a chilly reception from the audience at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Following a well-received set by tour opener Sebastian Bach, the Eagles took the stage and, according to John Soeder, pop critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the band was met with "not deafening boos, but lots of grumbling and grousing and ... indifference."

While a handful of people were dancing along to the Eagles' good-time, sleazy garage rock, Soeder said it appeared as if the majority of the audience was not into it and was even a bit confused by the group. (Queens of the Stone Age singer/guitarist Josh Homme is a member of the Eagles, although he rarely tours with them and did not perform at Friday night's show.)

After a two-hour wait for the headliners, Rose came out and promptly dissed the Eagles, asking the audience, "So how'd you like the Pigeons of Sh-- Metal? Don't worry, that's the last show they're playing with us." And, just like that, the Eagles were tossed out of the nest.

The Eagles took the Rose kiss-off with their usual fistful of salt. "At first the audience refused to welcome us to the jungle, but by the time we took our final bow, it had become paradise city," reads a statement from the band released on Monday (November 27). "Although Axl tried to November rain on our parade, no sweet child o' mine can derail the EODM night train. We say live and let die."

"My impression was, and I don't want to belittle the GN'R fans, but they didn't really get the inside-joke quality of the Eagles ... or the facial hair," Soeder told MTV News about the handlebar-mustache look sported by Eagles singer Jesse "The Devil" Hughes.

"Axl seemed like he was in a bad mood," said fan Nate Harris, who attended the show. "One of the first things he did was kick out someone who was in one of the first few rows during the opening song. He came back to the 'Pigeons of Sh-- Metal' bit all set long." Harris said Rose also turned the sound man into a target, repeatedly glaring at him, and at one point calling him "useless."

"Sebastian Bach ... they ate up his hair metal hits from the '80s and the new stuff, which sounded like the old stuff," Soeder reported. "But the audience seemed to be confused [during the Eagles' set] as to who the joke was on. They like their metal unironic. Numerous songs slipped into falsetto, and if you're a purist heavy-metal fan, falsetto isn't good."

Harris concurred that the crowd bid the Eagles farewell with "a few boos, some spare applause, but definitely no cheering," and added that Axl concluded the night with a graceful thank you to the crowd for bearing with his bad day.

A spokesperson for Guns N' Roses did not return calls for comment and no announcement had been made at press time as to who will replace the Eagles (see "Guns N' Roses Hint At Democracy's Arrival, Add Tour Dates"). The band cancelled its Tuesday night (November 28) concert in Milwaukee due to Rose "suffering from an ear infection and strep throat," according to the band's Web site.

• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Guns N' Roses

Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

It's a Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, and Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes is riding down Hollywood Boulevard on his way to the dentist ("I'm scared," he explained, "because I have serious Irish teeth, which is one step away from English teeth"). He's got the windows of his car rolled down, and he's bumping Britney Spears' "Toxic."

"Isn't it one of the greatest songs you've ever heard?" he asked, adding that the sight of someone like him blasting Britney is "probably an interesting thing to see." He's discussing the treatment for his band's next video — for the track "I Gotta Feeling (Just Nineteen)" — which will be filming in Hollywood this week. Hughes wonders aloud when Spears will be making a video of her own, because frankly, the man misses the pop star's sultry clips.

"Britney Spears videos rock, and I don't care how much she's singing or not singing, writing or not writing — I just want to see that girl make a comeback and make more videos," he explained, issuing an interesting proposition: "Britney, please let me help you, girl. I will do whatever you need to help you make that comeback."

Britney isn't likely to take him up on his offer, and that's fine. The Devil's got quite a bit on his plate these days, beyond the mustache maintenance that always takes up a large bulk of his time. The Eagles of Death Metal will issue their first DVD, called "DVD by Sexy," on Tuesday (October 10), and two days later they kick off their U.S. trek with Joan Jett in Philadelphia. There's the video shoot too, and the Eagles will tape a commercial for Microsoft's new portable media player, Zune.

The video for "I Gotta Feeling," Hughes said, is "going to be the greatest video ever made. The vision [Queens of the Stone Age frontman and Eagles accomplice Josh Homme] and myself are working with right now is us cruising the streets, interacting with people and inspiring them to dance and have fun, like some neo-biker '60s faction that runs the show."

Of course, the clip — much like the one for "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)," the first single from the band's 2006 studio LP, Death by Sexy (see "Eagles Of Death Metal Frontman's 'Soft Boomerang Of Love' Takes Center Stage In Clip") — will feature tons of smokin'-hot babes.

"That's the gig, really," he reasoned. "It's fine and dandy to have cool songs and have a cool style, but unless you have t--s and ass, ain't nobody gonna give a sh-- about your video. We want to steal an idea from the Flock of Seagulls video for 'I Ran,' where they're all in that rotating circle with the mirrors. We want to cop that for some cutaway scenes, because that looks cool."

Comely females will also play a significant role in the Zune commercial, which should begin airing later in the fall. Hughes said the finished ad is going to depict a car loaded with lovelies racing toward a venue where the band is performing. Hughes couldn't provide additional details, but he hopes there will be lots of close-ups of his thick 'stache.

The band's top priority now, though, is the impending release of "DVD by Sexy," which was compiled from footage captured by director and musician Liam Lynch — who helmed the forthcoming film "Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny" — over the eight days it took for the EODM to record Death by Sexy at L.A.'s Sound City Studios (see "Eagles Of Death Metal Singer Expects 'Bikini Girls Every Night' When LP Drops" and "Eagles Of Death Metal Frontman Gushes About 'Amazingly Sexy' LP, Own Moustache").

"We didn't want to make a DVD, but Liam was like, 'Dude, I have to film what's going on here,' " Hughes said. "The DVD's about a band making an album, but it's also about two best friends [Hughes and Homme] having the time of their lives. There's some behind-the-scenes sh-- that's intense, because the day we started recording was the day my ex-wife took me back to court, and I began a year-and-a-half-long custody battle that almost killed me and put me in rehab. The studio became the only place where I could escape all that sh--."

The Eagles slept very little during those eight days, and Lynch captured all of the insanity of the sessions on a handful of cameras — some of which he'd hidden throughout the studio without the band's knowledge. "To accomplish an approximation of the reality of the situation, we also had to add animated characters to the footage," Hughes said. Several sequences feature animated flowers, fuzzy bunnies and dancing bananas Homme beats and bullies around.

"And you actually can feel the tickling of the hairs of my mustache on your body as you watch it," Hughes added. "It's a virtual mustache ride, via the television."

The DVD also includes a never-before-seen video for the track "Solid Gold," which was directed by Lynch and depicts Hughes "in an animated city of gold, cruising around in a gold car and lifting weights." Hughes' favorite part of the DVD is a segment during which the band rags on him for his obsession with Rollerblading.

The outing boasts all of the band's videos, as well as performance footage captured at several of the EODM's recent gigs — which, of course, Hughes considers the best in all of rock and roll.

• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Joan Jett

LL Cool J’s <i>Todd Smith</i>
Photo: Def Jam

Cool as Ice: He's been there, back, there again and back again a few more times, but LL Cool J apparently still wants all the help he can get. The guest list for his Todd Smith LP speaks to the hip-hop icon's impressive stature: Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Teairra Marí, 112, Ginuwine, Freeway, Lyfe, Ryan Roby, Mary Mary and Juelz Santana. That's not to mention producers Jermaine Dupri, the Neptunes, Scott Storch and Bink. Or the extra boost Ne-Yo gives LL with a bonus-track remix of the up-and-comer's "So Sick." Or Jesus, L.A. Reid and his barbers Jay and John, all of whom get props (and with respect to Christ, they are mad props indeed) in the credits.

Judas Mae C a Cutie?: Looking for some indie pop and a few tips on how to shoot a short film? Look no further than Death Cab for Cutie's "Directions" DVD, which is rife with videos — one for each track on the band's recent Plans, plus clips for two unissued cuts — as well as director's instructions, commentary, behind-the-scenes action, original sketches, alternate endings and production stills (each video has at least one bonus feature). The band enlisted a crew of rookie directors to handle the clips, although noted auteur Lance Bangs is the one behind "Talking Like Turnstiles."

L.A. punks the Mae Shi are going a similar route with their first DVD, "Lock the Skull, Load the Gun," for which they enlisted a fleet of art students and friends to direct 32 videos. Their video disc also has a documentary surrounding their Celebration tour, including footage of house parties, bar mitzvahs and other joyous shindigs.

The tone is just slightly more somber on Pimp C's "Pimptaliation" DVD, which, despite the funny title, documents the rapper trying to get back on his feet after being released from jail. Lightening the mood a little are Young Jeezy, Scarface, Lil' Flip and Pimp C's erstwhile UGK bud Bun B, all of whom head to the studio to record with C.

But who's more preoccupied with "breaking the law" than Judas Priest? The metal gods' "Live Vengeance '82" was tucked into limited runs of their 2004 Metalogy box set, but now the video's seeing a proper release as a standalone disc bursting with concert takes of "Screaming for Vengeance," "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" and "Living After Midnight."

Eagles Have Landed ... Again: Some of the new Eagles of Death Metal songs on Death by Sexy sound harmless (and hilarious) enough — "Cherry Cola," "The Ballad of Queen Bee and Baby Duck" — but rest assured, the so-called Dream Boys do have an ulterior motive (see for reference some other Sexy songs, like "I Gotta Feeling [Just Nineteen]" and "Bag O' Miracles"). The LP was recorded in 12 days by Eagles drummer Josh Homme (a.k.a. Carlo Von Sexron, J. Ho or, most recently, Baby Duck) and his Queens of the Stone Age amigo Alain Johannes.

Trackin' All Over the World: Everyone seems to be taking matters into their own hands this week. Ex-Nine Inch Nails drummer Jerome Dillon wrote, produced, performed and arranged almost every note of his new project Nearly's debut, Reminder. Based on a dream that haunted Dillon and broken into three four-song "movements," the record was laid to tape across the globe, from a hotel room in Amsterdam to a beach in Australia.

Another recent globe-trotter is Mr. Anonymous — better known as onetime Samples drummer Jeep MacNichol — who headed to Kingston, Jamaica, three times to craft his eponymous debut. There he hooked up with Sly and Robbie, Bounty Killer and members of Black Uhuru and the English Beat, who helped MacNichol "hang out under the palm trees ... and write lyrics all afternoon."

And there's good reason why the title to the latest effort by Paris' Gotan Project — Lunático — doesn't sound especially French. Not content recording around their villa natale, the quartet hauled its production equipment to Buenos Aires' Studio ION, a throne usually reserved for tango nobility. Ushering in some top Argentinean talent, GP also tapped Calexico for the first jingle, "Amor Porteno."

Speaking of 'Lexico, their fifth opus, Garden Ruin, slides into stores in digipak form and boasts songs like "Letter to Bowie Knife," "Panic Open String" and "Bisbee Blue." CD-buying fans, keep your eyes peeled: The initial pressing of the disc has a code that lets you download exclusive unreleased material online. Vinyl fans, rejoice: The black circle contains the exclusive-tracks code, plus a second code that enables you to download all of Garden Ruin gratis.

Song Titles of the Week:

"." from Pretty Girls Make Graves' Elan Vital

Other notables:

Built to Spill's You in Reverse and Christopher O'Riley's Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute: Fans will surely relate to "The Wait," having been patient for new BTS material for the past five years. But that song is actually featured at the end of the indie-rock heroes' new record; the first cut, "Goin' Against Your Mind," is only a couple of minutes long. Frontman Doug Martsch welcomes new guitarist Jim Roth and an organ-playing Sam Coomes over the course of the 10 tracks, which also includes "Conventional Wisdom," "Just a Habit" and "Mess With Time." Speaking of Coomes, right around the time he started up his still-thriving Quasi in 1996, he partnered with Elliott Smith for a separate project, Heatmiser. As it turns out, Smith is being hailed this week by noted pianist O'Riley, who previously gifted Radiohead with two sets of solo tributes. Hear O'Riley accent the classical-music influences in Smith songs like "Cupid's Trick" and "Stupidity Tries," and read his touching liner-note essay saluting the late, great songwriter.

Imaad Wasif's Imaad Wasif and Mountain Con's Sancho Panza: Occasional Yeah Yeah Yeahs collaborator and tour opener Wasif pulls a self-titled record out of his sleeve this week. Venturing into solo territory for the first time, the Alaska! and New Folk Implosion agent found inspiration in classical Eastern music, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint and a book by Truman Capote to craft songs like "Into the Static," "Tomorrow Is Ours" and "(Dandelion)." Rock band Mountain Con — actually five musicians and one DJ — also go the literary route with Sancho Panza, named after a character from Cervantes' "Don Quixote" who was promised an island for traveling with the klutzy adventurer.

Lucero's The Attic Tapes and Lambchop's The Decline of Country and Western Civilization Part II: The Woodwind Years: The Memphis, Tennessee, country-folk fellas have cranked out five proper releases, but early in their career they eked out a handmade set Alternative Press called "one of the top five home recordings ever." The new, spruced-up version has three additional early demos and two rare 7-inch tracks, including the band's cover of Jawbreaker's "Kiss the Bottle." Over in Nashville, like-minded country-folksters Lambchop have an archival collection all their own (we'll save space by not repeating the title). This set culls singles, B-sides, unreleased tracks and more from the band's 1994-1999 era, and a second comp spanning the latter years is due in the near future.

New Releases:

• The 303s - Lines of Parallel Minds (Cult Hero)
• Aloha - Some Echoes (Polyvinyl)
• Ark - State of the Ark (Rebel Group)
• Attacker - The Unknown (Sentinel Steel)
• Jeff Bates - Leave the Light On (RCA)
• Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet (Dim Mak)
• The Black Angels - Passover (Light in the Attic)
• Robert Bradley - What About That: New Year's Eve in Bloomington (two-CD live set; Kufala)
• Bratz - Genie Magic (Hip-O)
• Buckcherry - 15 (Eleven Seven)
• Built to Spill - You in Reverse (Warner Bros.)
  Buy Now: You in Reverse (Warner Bros.)
• Bullets and Octane - In the Mouth of the Young (RCA)
• Calexico - Garden Ruin (digipak; Quarterstick)
  Buy Now: Garden Ruin (Quarterstick)
• Crystal Skulls - Outgoing Behavior (Suicide Squeeze)
• The Danger O's - Little Machines (Blackout!)
• Brigitte DeMeyer - Something After All (BDM)
• Dixie Witch - Smoke & Mirrors (Small Stone)
• Drive By - I Hate Everyday Without You Kid (Riot Squad)
• Eagles of Death Metal - Death by Sexy (Downtown)
  Read: "Eagles Of Death Metal Frontman's 'Soft Boomerang Of Love' Takes Center Stage In Clip")
  Buy Now: Death by Sexy (Downtown)
• Eulorhythmics - Extended Play (All Natural)
• Euphoria - Precious Time (digipak; Zoë)
• Feathers - Feathers (Gnomonsong)
• Fightstar - They Liked You Better When You Were Dead (Deep Elm)
• Juan Diego Flórez - Sentimiento Latino (Decca)
• Sue Foley - New Used Car (Ruf)
• Gotan Project - Lunático (XL/ Beggars Banquet)
• Tre Hardson - Slimkid3's Cafe (Reggae Lounge)
• Hit the Lights - This Is a Stick Up ... Don't Make It a Murder (Triple Crown)
• Jesu - Silver (EP; Hydra Head)
• Toby Keith - White Trash With Money (Show Dog Nashville)
• Knights of the New Crusade - Knight Beat(Alternative Tentacles)
• Albert Lee - Road Runner (Sugar Hill)
• LKN - Postulate 1 (Greyday)
• LL Cool J - Todd Smith (enhanced; Def Jam)
  Read: "With Blige, J. Lo, Foxx On Board, LL Cool J's New LP Is A Guest Fest"
  Buy Now: Todd Smith (Def Jam)
• Benny Mardones - Let's Hear It for Love (Warrior)
• Edwin McCain - Lost in America (Vanguard)
• Mecca Normal - Observer (Kill Rock Stars)
• Mint - Magnetism (Funzalo)
• Moneen - The Red Tree (digipak; Vagrant)
• Mono - You Are There (Temporary Residence)
• Mountain Con - Sancho Panza (Hidden Peak)
• Mr. Anonymous - Mr. Anonymous (Kab America)
• Tim Murphy - Ain't No Shame (Big 7)
• Nearly - Straight to Nowhere (Kufala)
  Read: "Ex-NIN Drummer Welcomes You To His Nightmare — Reznor Responds"
• Negative Trend - Negative Trend (2.13.61)
• New Bruises - Transmit! Transmit! (Kiss of Death)
• Lee Newman - Happy Together: The '60s Songbook (SLK)
• On Thorns I Lay - Angeldust (Black Lotus)
• Christopher O'Riley - Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute (World Village)
• Parts & Labor - Stay Afraid (Jagjaguwar)
• Pinetop Seven - Beneath Confederate Lake (Empyrean)
• Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - Nothing but the Water (Hollywood)
• Daniel Powter - Daniel Powter (Warner Bros.)
• Pretty Girls Make Graves - Elan Vital (Matador)
  Buy Now: Elan Vital (Matador)
• Punchline - 37 Everywhere (Fueled by Ramen)
• Raffi - Quiet Time: Songs for a Pause, a Cuddle or a Nap (Rounder)
• Josh Ritter - The Animal Years (digipak; V2)
• Rosesdead - Stages (One Day Savior)
• Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm (Vagrant)
• Mark Schatz - Steppin' in the Boiler House (Rounder Select)
• Scissorfight - Jaggernaut (Tortura)
• Shonen Knife - Genki Shock! (digipak; Glue Factory)
• Throttlerod - Nail (Small Stone)
• Vandermark 5 - Free Jazz Classics Vol. 3 and Vol. 4 (Atavistic)
• Peter Walker - Young Gravity (Dangerbird)
• Imaad Wasif - Imaad Wasif (Kill Rock Stars)
• Whysall Lane - Whysall Lane (Blackball)
• Wilderness - Vessel States (Jagjaguwar)
• Tom Zé - Estudando O Pagode (Luaka Bop)
• Various artists - 5rc Sur la Mer Samp-le-Mer (5 Rue Christine)
• Various artists - Headbangers Ball: The Revenge (two CDs; Roadrunner)
• Various artists - "La Mujer de Mi Hermano" soundtrack (Nacional)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Avail - 4AM Friday, Dixie and Over the James (Jade Tree)
• The Beatles - The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 (available as four-disc, limited-edition brick or longbox set)
• Brian Eno + David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (enhanced; Nonesuch)
• Grateful Dead - Built to Last, Dead Set (two CDs), In the Dark and Reckoning (digipaks; Rhino)
• Tish Hinojosa - Retrospective (Varèse)
• Judas Priest - The Essential Judas Priest (two CDs; Columbia/ Legacy)
• Lambchop - The Decline of Country and Western Civilization Part II: The Woodwind Years (Merge)
  Buy Now: The Decline of Country and Western Civilization Part II: The Woodwind Years (Merge)
• Lucero - Attic Tapes (Liberty & Lament)
• Queen - Stone Cold Classics (limited edition; Hollywood)
• Saving Jane - Girl Next Door (Universal)
• Various artists - Journey Into Paradise: The Larry Levan Story (two CDs; Rhino)
• Various artists - The Tommy Boy Story, Vol. 1 (two CDs; Rhino)
• Various artists - Ultimate Disco 2 (Madacy)

DVDs:

• Death Cab for Cutie - "Directions" (Atlantic)
  Read: "Death Cab For Cutie Taking A Page From 50 Cent's Playbook "
• Judas Priest - "Live Vengeance '82" (Columbia/ Legacy)
• The Mae Shi - "Lock the Skull, Load the Gun" (5 Rue Christine)
• Pimp C - "Pimptaliation" (Asylum/ Rap-A-Lot)
• Sun Ra Arkestra - "Live in Oakland" and "Live at the Roadhouse" (Transparency)

Coming Attractions:

April 18:

• The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia ... (digipak; Roadrunner)
• NOFX - Wolves in Wolves Clothing (Fat Wreck Chords)
  Buy Now: Wolves in Wolves Clothing (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Various artists - "Coachella" (Epitaph)

April 25:

• Godsmack - IV (Republic)
  Read: "Godsmack Finishing Up 'Killer' Fourth LP, Working On Football Theme"
  Buy Now: IV (Republic)
• Rihanna - A Girl Like Me (Def Jam)
  Read: "Rihanna Getting In Touch With Her Rock Side For Next LP"
• Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Taking Back Sunday Say Debuting At #800 Wouldn't Bother Them")

May 2:

• Lil' Flip - I Need Mine (Sony Urban)
• Mobb Deep - Blood Money (Interscope)
  Read: "Mobb Deep, 50 Cent Get Tattoos To Prove Their Loyalty"
• Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam (J)
  Read: "Pearl Jam, Post-'Therapy': 'The Sex Is Better Than Ever!' "
• Thursday - A City by the Light Divided (Island)
  Read: "Thursday Frontman Says He Doesn't Want To Exploit My Chemical Romance, But ..."
• Tool - 10,000 Days (Volcano)

• LL Cool J
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Pimp C
• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Calexico

The Eagles of Death Metal
Photo: MTV News

Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes promises that April 11 will be a momentous day. After all, his band's Death by Sexy will land in stores on that date and, according to him, it's the finest collection of rock tracks ever put to tape.

"I just steal from the best," he confessed. "I take it all. Technically, this is the best rock record ever made, because I have stolen from the greatest rock songs ever recorded."

Of course, Hughes isn't completely serious about plagiarizing from the legends of rock. He said Death by Sexy was also inspired by life's little moments and sculpted with precision for all the ladies of the world.

"I hole myself up in my bedroom, and I try to envision something that will make me feel sexy — and hopefully [make] someone else feel sexy," Hughes explained. "I listen to a lot of Parliament, because I want it to dance. I listen to a lot of Stooges, a lot of Sonics, Marvin Gaye, James Brown — it's like baking a cake. I want all the right ingredients in it, the right attitude. And you can't fake it, because people will see right through it. You have to be writing about something you've lived, and honey, I've lived every single moment of the songs I have written, and it isn't easy.

"There isn't anything under the sun that's new, so you can't really invent anything yourself," continued Hughes, who also credits his mustache with influencing the band's direction. "I'd rather be compared to someone I love than try to make something different. I just want to make Little Richard proud. And I don't think that's a bad goal. Sometimes you get a bunch of these tough-guy rocker bands who're pretending they've invented something, and it just turns into a giant boy party with a bunch of sweating dudes crammed into a little rock space bobbing up and down. That's not fun and sexy. Hopefully people will remember the ladies are what rock and roll is all about."

When Hughes claims to have lived his songs, he means it. Take the first single off Death by Sexy, "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)." The Devil said he was chasing after a woman he'd met through mutual friends. She was thinking about going out with him, until some of his guy pals stepped in to warn her that he'd only love her and leave her. "I wrote [the song] in one breath and sent it to her," he said. "And it worked like a charm, if you know what I mean."

The album was recorded at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, where the likes of Nirvana, Cheap Trick and Fleetwood Mac have crafted their masterpieces. "We set the vocal booth up in the same spot where Rick Springfield recorded 'Jessie's Girl,' " Hughes said. "My name's Jesse, so as you can imagine, it was magic."

The magic continued two months ago, when the band shot a video for "I Want You So Hard" with the Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer (We Are Scientists) behind the lens. The clip, which features cameos from Jack Black and Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, has Hughes "blowing everyone's clothes off whom I come in contact with, with the power and majesty of rock and roll" (see "Eagles Of Death Metal Frontman's 'Soft Boomerang Of Love' Takes Center Stage In Clip").

"Originally, Akiva had us re-creating the volleyball scene from 'Top Gun,' " he said. "And I said, 'Honey, I don't know. Let's think about blowing girls' clothes off instead. Maybe that will work better — for me, anyway.' And it did." While there are no definite plans for the second video ("Just 19" and "Cherry Cola" are the front-runners for second single), Hughes has an idea in mind for the treatment.

"Well, 'Just 19' is obvious — it should be filled with 19-year-old girls, and it should be me, alone, with all them, fighting them off," he explained. "It needs to [have] intensely hot dancing girls, with a highly coordinated dance number. Britney and Christina and Mariah aren't the only ones who can dance, girl."

The Eagles of Death Metal will be spending this spring on the road with the Strokes, a tour that runs through April 26. A few days later, the band will take the stage for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. ("It's a triumphant homecoming for us," Hughes said. "Almost a 'local boy makes mustache and makes good' story.") The band is also planning a tour of its own this fall, but Hughes is keeping mum about who will be on the road with them.

At the end of the day, Hughes makes no mistake about what the Eagles of Death Metal are all about.

"We didn't come here to save whales. We came here to make a little money — and save whales, too, if we can," he said, which explains how the band's songs have ended up in Budweiser and Payless ads. "This ain't no Bible study. It's rock and roll. And [when Death by Sexy hits stores], I am expecting riches beyond my wildest dreams and bikini girls every night, because it's sex rock and I made it for ladies everywhere."

• Eagles Of Death Metal

The Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes
Photo: Getty Images/Karl Walter

What would the Eagles of Death Metal do without Jesse "The Devil" Hughes' formidable facial hair?

The singer's moustache was instrumental in the making of the video for "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)," the first single from the band's forthcoming album, Death by Sexy. "We had to bring in a special lens just to capture each of the hairs of my soft boomerang of love," Hughes said of his prized Sam Elliott-esque moneymaker. "Most of the budget went to pay for the lens required to properly capture my moustache," the tending of which, he said, demands "a variety of delicate scissors, oils and combs. It has to be trimmed from the innermost point of my lip to the outermost part of my lip, as to not cut off the hooks of the boomerang."

Like most of the Eagles of Death Metal frontman's conversations, the video — which was shot last weekend by Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer (We Are Scientists) — revolves around Hughes' 'stache, and, he said, "how the majesty of rock and roll was returned, in force, through the power of my moustache.

"I am so amazing when I rock from my guitar, that the power and fury of rock blows people's clothes off, with sexiness," he said of the clip's concept. Through the use of wires and strategically placed Velcro, spectators of an Eagles of Death Metal performance — staged inside Hollywood's M Bar — find themselves suddenly stripped bare, by both the rock and Hughes' come-hither gaze.

Other scenes for the video were shot inside a hotel on Sunset Boulevard, which travelers described on TripAdvisor's message board as "wholly unsanitary" and "where clients bring prostitutes to have their liaisons."

"It's where I think every porno from 1971 to 1978 that totally sucked was shot," Hughes said. "And I am pretty sure they haven't cleaned up since they shot those movies." Those scenes, of course, involved clothes being ripped from the body of "a rock beauty of untold limits." They also involved the moustache.

But beyond the unexplainable and sudden nudity that's taking place in the video, Hughes said there's an underlying story — and he and his Eagles partner Carlo Von Sexron (otherwise known as Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme) summoned Jack Black and the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl to help them tell it.

"Jack plays a bartender in the bar where we're playing, and Dave plays a drunk who's warning this girl I'm bad news, because it's true," Hughes said. "But I'm bad news in a good news sort of way. And [Homme] plays a drunk, too. Using movie magic," and outlandish wigs, "he plays a drunk watching himself play drums — like the way Steve McQueen chased himself in 'The Great Escape.' And then I blow everyone's clothes off in the room, and it ends up with us doing like a tribute to 'West Side Story,' where we're the Jets cruising down Sunset Boulevard."

He said the video should start airing about a month before the album reaches stores on April 11. At the moment, Hughes said the Eagles are planning a spring tour — but he still doesn't know who with, or when that trek will begin. The band won't finalize its touring plans until after the birth of Homme and fiancee Brody Dalle's baby girl (see "QOTSA's Josh Homme, Brody Dalle Expecting Their First Child"), who is due before the end of the month.

• Eagles Of Death Metal