Game Documentary album

With the help of 50 Cent, Kanye West and Busta Rhymes, the debut album from Dr. Dre's newest protégé is entering the hip-hop game with a strong advantage.

Compton, California's the Game releases his album, The Documentary, this week, which was executive-produced by Dre and 50 Cent; 50 also raps on the single "Westside Story." The Documentary, which was initially titled N.W.A Vol. 1 and slated for a late-2004 release, also features collaborations with Just Blaze and Snoop Dogg, among others.

Wrestling fans unsatisfied by simply watching the Rock strum away on his acoustic guitar in the ring would do well to check out the latest release from Chris Jericho's metal band, Fozzy. The group's third album finds them letting go of their fabricated history — that they had signed a bad record deal, spent 20 years in Japan and had their songs stolen by Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe, among others — and releasing a set of original hard-rock and thrash-metal songs with collaborations from Zakk Wylde, Alter Bridge's Mark Tremonti and Bone Crusher.

Also hitting stores this week is a greatest-hits album by Cuban-American singer Martika (Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika) whose 1989 hit "Toy Soldiers" is heavily sampled in Eminem's "Like Toy Soldiers," and albums by Kinnie Starr (Sun Again), Kill-A-Watts (Circuit Breaker Love), and Magnolia Electric Co. (Trials and Errors).

Out Tuesday, January 18:

• Ambrosia - Road Island (Wounded Bird)
• Jason Anderson - The Wreath (K)
• The BellRays - The Red, White and Black (Alternative Tentacles)
• Don Ellis - Connection (Wounded Bird)
• Don Ellis - Tears of Joy (Wounded Bird)
• Fats Domino - Complete Reprise Recordings (Rhino Handmade)
• Four Volts - Triple Your Work Force (Kanine)
• Fozzy - All That Remains (Ash)
  Read: "Fozzy Get Serious — Really! — On New LP"
• The Game - The Documentary (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope)
  Buy Now: The Documentary (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope)
  Read: "Game Album Preview: Gritty Stories, Slick Production"
• Kill-A-Watts Circuit Breaker Love (Rough Trade)
• Magnolia Electric Co. - Trials and Errors (Secretly Canadian)
• Martika - Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika (Sony)
  Buy Now: Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika (Sony)
• Davey Ray Moor - Telepathy (Lakeshore)
• Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day (Sony)
• Kinnie Starr - Sun Again (Lakeshore)
• DVD: Various artists - "Straight from the Heart - Volume 1" (Shout! Factory)

• And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart (Interscope)
  Read: "Trail Of Dead's Plan To Save Rock And Roll Postponed Until January"
• Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
  Read: "Bright Eyes Slam 'Off-The-Leash Administration'; Give Details On New Albums"
• Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek)
• Chemical Brothers - Push the Button (Astralwerks)

• Mötley Crüe - Red, White & Crüe (Hip-O)
• Tina Turner - All the Best (Capitol)
• Various artists - 2005 Grammy Nominees (Capitol)

February 8:

• Sage Francis - Healthy Distrust (Epitaph)
• Brian McKnight - Gemini (Motown)
• 3 Doors Down - Seventeen Days (Universal)

• Game
• Fozzy
• Martika
• Kill-A-Watts

Fozzy's Chris Jericho performing as Moongoose McQueen (file)
Photo: WWF

Singer Mongoose McQueen has left Fozzy and been replaced by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho.

Confused? Thought McQueen and Jericho were one and the same? Well, not anymore. After two records as the boastful, obnoxious McQueen, Jericho will put his alter ego to rest with the fall release of Fozzy's All That Remains.

When Fozzy released their self-titled debut in 2000, Jericho and Stuck Mojo guitarist Rich Ward conceived a back story that was almost as ridiculous and entertaining as the plot of "This Is Spinal Tap." Fozzy, as the legend went, were an early-'80s metal band who wrote a long list of classic tunes, then languished in Japan for 20 years because they'd signed a bad record deal.

While Fozzy were trapped in the Far East, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, the Scorpions and others stole Fozzy's songs and turned them into international hits. When they were finally able to return to the U.S., Fozzy re-recorded their hits and released them on two albums, along with a smattering of new songs.

"The story had really played itself as far as it can go," Jericho said. "It was kind of a fun thing at the time, but we realized this band is really kick-ass, and our original stuff is really good. So we decided we should do all original stuff and take it as far as we could from there."

All That Remains will feature material influenced by a cross-section of '80s metal legends and contemporary rockers. The songs will run the gamut from melodic hard rock to thrash to extreme metal. "If you took Metallica crossed with Iron Maiden crossed with Saliva crossed with Journey, you might get an idea of what Fozzy sounds like now," Jericho said.

To load up the album with maximum firepower, Jericho recruited a bunch of guest musicians. Most of them — Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti and ex-Megadeth shredder Marty Friedman — were pretty obvious choices, but Bone Crusher? Fozzy hooked up with the crunk MC early this year after they found out he's a huge wrestling fan, a big Jericho supporter and a fan of Fozzy's first two discs (see "Fozzy Get Crunk With Bone Crusher On New Album").

"He's not your typical rapper," Jericho said. "His voice is very heavy. He could be singing for Slayer or Testament. I'm not all that familiar with the rap world — Young MC, Ice-T and Ice Cube is about as far as I go. But Bone Crusher was almost like a musical genius. He came in and listened to the part on the song 'It's a Lie' for about three minutes, wrote some stuff down, went into the booth and about five minutes later came back and said, 'Do you want the next verse?' And what he did was very catchy and very cool. It's not a rap-metal song like you would hear Rage Against the Machine do. It sounds more like something the Beatles would have come up with."

The recording with Tremonti was more spontaneous. Jericho first learned of the guitarist's interest when they were introduced in a club by a mutual friend. Tremonti told the wrestler/rocker he'd love to play an acrobatic guitar solo with Fozzy because he never got to do that in Creed, then the two went their separate ways. That was that — until Fozzy wound up recording in the same Atlanta studio as Tremonti's new group, Alter Bridge (see "Life After Creed: Alter Bridge Look To A Stapp-Free Future").

"I went down there and said, 'Hey, man, are you still interested in doing a track with us?,' and he was totally into it," Jericho said. "We found a song that was perfect for him ['The Way I Am'], and he just let it rip. He enjoyed it so much, then his singer, Miles Kennedy, came down and laid some backing vocals on another one of our songs."

The old Fozzy would surely have claimed they stole guitarist Marty Friedman away from Megadeth, which is why he's absent from Megadeth's new record, The System Has Failed. The revamped Fozzy, however, get more mileage out of the straight story. Friedman was a big fan of Fozzy producer Rick Beato's former band Billionaire, and over the years, the two became friends. So even after Friedman moved to Japan, Beato was able to track him down to deliver a frenetic solo for "Born of Anger."

"Rick e-mailed Marty and said, 'I got this track I'd love for you to play on,' and Marty said, 'Anything for you, man,' " said Jericho. "It's the heaviest song on the record, full of all these different thrash and black-metal parts, and there's an Indian-sounding part in the middle, so we had Marty put down a crazy solo over that. He went into a studio in Japan, recorded the track and then e-mailed it to us, and it sounds amazing."

Other numbers on All That Remains include "Nameless Faceless," about a homeless man who used to be rich; "Enemy" and "Wanderlust," which are both relationship songs; and "Daze of the Weak," which addresses rising from a pit of depression.

Fozzy will tour to support the new album, though their schedule will be dictated by Jericho's day job. "We'll go to a town and I'll wrestle, then I'll go to the gig and we'll play," he said. "Now, more than ever, we're ready to go out and do it. This is the real deal."

• Fozzy

Chris Jericho (file)
Photo: Rossa Cole

NEW YORK — Oh yeah: WWE Superstars and Divas know about shaking it like a Polaroid picture. Every Monday and Thursday, we get to see at least a couple of them wringing each other's necks like Homer Simpson does Bart's. But just days before WrestleMania XX in New York, the grapplers were in full Andre 3000 mode.

"Shake it, shake it, sh-sh-shake it ..." sang WWE Divas Stacie Keibler and Lita, who were seated with Chris Jericho in the studios of Westwood Radio. The ladies were imitating the Outkast member, hand gestures and all. Jericho, who is much more laid-back away from the camera than his on-air persona Y2J, was even inspired to join in.

"You getting crunk! I got my crunk juice — listening to Lil Jon — with the horny goat weed," Jericho laughed.

When Jericho isn't promoting WWE events or plotting the downfall of his former best friend Christian and love interest Trish Stratus as part of the "Raw Is War" storylines, we all know him as Moongoose McQueen, self-loving leader of the rock group Fozzy (see "WWE's Chris Jericho Explains Fozzy's Metal Legacy"). Jericho and his bandmates Rich Ward (a.k.a. Duke LaRue), Bud Fontsere (a.k.a. KK LaFlame) Keith "Watty" Watson and Billy Grey (or as the group calls him, Miles Biscuit) have started to record their next LP, All That Remains, in Atlanta.

While down in the A, the group will be hooking up with another heavyweight who knows about cracking bones and getting crunk.

"There's obviously a lot of guys in the rock and roll world we're gonna play with," Jericho said. "Zakk Wylde who plays for Ozzy [is going to be on the album]. And we're actually gonna do a track with Bone Crusher. He's gonna lay down some vocals for us in Atlanta. The guys that I play with [Ward and Fontsere] were in a band called Stuck Mojo, which was one of the first metal bands in the '90s, so they've always had that edge. They wrote a song that had some really cool parts for us to lay down some good freestyle rap, and Bone Crusher was available."

The WWE grapplers have learned over the years that their world doesn't differ too much from the hip-hop community.

"We were at [Jay-Z's] 40/40 Club when we did a Def Jam party," Lita, who says she was the first in the locker room to play Chingy's music, explained. "It's fun to hang out with people that you don't think you have a lot in common with, but with our lives being on the go and them being on the go, you find out you have a lot in common with them, just lifestyle-wise."

"People know us just as we know them," Jericho marveled. "You would never expect. I was in Vegas, Spike TV did a videogame awards show and DMX was there. He performed a song that was pretty kick-ass; I'm not huge fan but watching him play was cool. Then in the hallway, we're passing each other, he had a huge entourage and he saw me and was like, 'Hey Jericho!' It's good to know that rockers, football players, hockey players, we all appreciate each other."

• Fozzy
• Bone Crusher

Greetings all, and welcome once again to the realm of all things hard, heavy and metal. This week we have word on Judas Priest's first show with Rob Halford in more than a decade, the "Hellboy" soundtrack, and a member of Cannibal Corpse getting a new gig. Enjoy:

The recently reunited Judas Priest will join UFO, Children of Bodom, April Wine, Exodus, Opeth, Slade, Entombed and a host of others for the three-day Sweden Rock Festival 2004 in June. The gig, whose motto is "Fill your head with rock," marks the first announced date of Priest's upcoming reunion tour. ... Cannibal Corpse guitarist Jack Owen has teamed up with drummer Kevin Astl (Epitaph, Resurrection) to form Adrift. The group also includes singer Mark Elm, guitarist Analia Pizzaro and bassist Michael Campuano. ... Two songs from Norwegian black metal powerhouse Dimmu Borgir are featured in a new trailer for the forthcoming film "Hellboy," based on the popular comic book of the same name. ...

Archetype, Fear Factory's first album since the 2002 departure of guitarist Dino Cazares, is due in April. The disc is being mixed in Vancouver by guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers and was recorded at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles with engineer Ken Marshall. The 11 tracks include "Cyberwaste," "Act of God," "Corporate Cloning" and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds." ... Wrestler and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho will sing three songs on the reunion album by Nasty Savage, titled Psycho, Psycho. The band was one of the staples of the Florida thrash scene in the '80s and released four albums before breaking up in 1989. The new disc, due in March, will feature 12 songs, including a new version of "Savage Desire," which previously only appeared on a demo. ... Fleshcrawl recently wrapped sessions for Made of Flesh at Sweden's Underground Studio. The album is due March 9. ...

Swedish death metal vets Hypocrisy will release The Arrival on February 17. The disc was recorded at frontman Peter Tagtgren's Abyss Studios and includes the tracks "Born Dead Buried Alive," "Slave to the Parasites," "Stillborn" and "Dead Sky Dawning." ... Early next year, Anthrax will enter the studio to re-record songs from their first five albums for a new best-of disc called Metallum Maximus Aeternus. Singer John Bush, hired in 1992 for the following year's Sound of White Noise, will sing on the tracks, which will be selected online by fans. A live CD and DVD will also be released, culled from shows happening this weekend. The package is due in late spring. ... Godhead have parted ways with drummer Ken Jay because of an undisclosed ailment that rendered him unable to play. Original drummer James O'Connor, who has been out of the group for two years, has rejoined. ...

Monster Magnet have hired drummer Bob Pantella (ex-Raging Slab) to replace Michael Wildwood. The band recently finished Monolithic Babies with producer Scott Humphrey (Rob Zombie, Andrew W.K.). The disc features new bassist Jim Baglino and will include the songs "Slut Machine Mach 2," "Ultimate Everything" and "Master of Light." ... Although March will see the European release of In Flames' Soundtrack to Your Escape, the follow-up to 2002's Reroute to Remain currently has no U.S. release date. "F(r)iend," "The Quiet Place," "Discover Me Like Emptiness" and "Evil in a Closet" are among the album's 13 tracks. ... On a similar note, Machine Head are still trying to secure a North American record deal for Through the Ashes of Empires, which is already out overseas. The San Francisco Bay Area band will remain on tour in Europe until late December. ...

Eighteen Visions have chosen Obsession as the tentative title for the follow-up to 2002's Vanity, which the band is currently recording with producer Mudrock (Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold). The album is due April 20. ... The soon-to-disband Shai Hulud are combing through their archives in hopes of compiling a lengthy rarities collection to be called A Comprehensive Retrospective Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Release Bad and Useless Recordings, according to the band's Web site. The band also plans to mount a final tour featuring former singer Chad Gilbert, who has spent his post-Hulud days playing guitar in New Found Glory and Hazen Street. ...

Ken Susi of Unearth has signed on to produce the upcoming effort from Massachusetts' Beyond the Embrace. The band hopes to have Insect Song wrapped up by mid-January. ... Stoner-rock purveyors Orange Goblin have set a February 24 release date for their upcoming Thieving From the House of God. The band also has a DVD and covers album in the works. ... Premonitions of War have parted ways with bassist Nick Hale. The Ohio-based metalcore band, who are planning a West Coast tour in January with Curl and Die and Bury Your Dead, has yet to name a replacement. ...

— compiled by Ryan J. Downey, Robert Mancini and Jon Wiederhorn

• Judas Priest
• Fozzy
• Cannibal Corpse
• Anthrax
• Dimmu Borgir

Chris Jericho
Photo: Rossa Cole

As Axl Rose once sang, "Nothing last forever, even cold November rain." Maybe so, but Fozzy frontman and WWE wrestler Chris Jericho didn't have time to wait out the rain during a recent video shoot for "With the Fire."

Jericho, a.k.a. Moongoose McQueen, and his band had planned to stage a dramatic road sequence filled with stunt cyclists and sports cars roaring down the highway, but inclement weather in Charlotte, North Carolina, forced Fozzy to rapidly and dramatically restructure the shoot.

"It was a real case of guerilla filmmaking," Jericho said. "While we were trying to figure out what to do, we drove past this parking garage, and we decided, 'Well, let's just park some of those fancy funny cars in there and play around there.' It wasn't what we were shooting for, but a lot of times when you don't have a lot of time to make a video, you gotta just do what you can to improvise."

Fortunately, when you're Chris Jericho, people are eager to meet your needs. All he and his minions had to do was descend upon a nearby shopping mall and they had a new cast within minutes.

"We went in there and asked a bunch of people, 'Would you like to come out with us and make a video?' A lot of them did, so we had a pretty good crowd."

The video for "With the Fire" was lensed by Scott Ross and co-directed by Jericho, who also sang, wrote the treatment and choreographed. The clip starts with the members of Fozzy sitting in a limousine, then McQueen falls asleep and dreams that the band is transported into a hip-hop video (see ).

"It started out as having the ultimate heavy metal band thrust within the confines of the cliché rap video, but it branched out into something crazier than that," he said. "It became this very unique, original spectacle that reminds me of a David Lynch film, where it's very surreal and very strange but also really funny and very entertaining as well."

During the video, a midget and a man in a pig mask escort the band, bling-bling-sportin' booty girls pout and strut, McQueen puts the moves on a senior citizen, and Jericho performs a synchronized dance reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," accompanied by WWE wrestler the Hurricane.

"I kind of watched 'Thriller' to get some inspiration," Jericho admitted. "And I used Hurricane because he's a white boy who can really throw down. The dance part came out great. If anybody wants to hire me to be a dance choreographer for the next Justin Timberlake video, I'm available."

In addition to the footage in the garage, "With the Fire" features scenes shot in a club called Amos', which was also used as a location for the film "Shallow Hal." While much of the video is tongue-in-cheek, the song, one of five originals on the band's second album, Happenstance, delivers a serious and life-affirming message.

"It's about harnessing the fire that's inside of your heart," Jericho said. "[It's about] having that fighting spirit and having the courage inside of you to do whatever you wanna do and to be the best you can be."

• Fozzy

Chris Jericho
Photo: MTV News

Don't believe everything you hear — Fozzy are no joke.

They're more real than even Spinal Tap, and their dramatic and sometimes tragic legacy continues with the release of a new CD, Happenstance, a new video, and, as always, new frustrations.

After a long history of having their music stolen while they were trapped in Japan in the '80s, Fozzy thought their days of battling plagiarists were ancient history. They say they even secured signed apologies from members of Dio, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and other acts who had pilfered and scored huge hits with Fozzy songs. But just as the band was preparing to shoot its first big-budget video for either "Happenstance" or "Crucify Yourself," Fozzy claim their video idea was stolen while their backs were turned.

The band had hired WWE pro wrestler Chris Jericho (who bears a striking resemblance to Fozzy frontman Moongoose McQueen) to pen the video treatment, and the muscular metal fan concocted a story line that spoofed "American Idol." In the clip, Fozzy were to be filmed auditioning for a panel of judges to prove once and for all that they were the kings of metal.

Unfortunately, Jericho asked an intern to photocopy the treatment before it was distributed, and Robert John — president of Fozzy's label, Megaforce — swears the pimply teen turned out to be a spy for Jimmy Fallon, who filched the plot for a comedic music sketch at this year's Video Music Awards. And the rest, as they say, is history ... or at least Fozzy's brand of rock and roll fiction.

"I can't understand why Jericho trusted that weasel with the papers," John said. "It was a crushing blow after the weeks of preparation that had gone into the video. With Fozzy foiled again at the high point of their career, having just released their new CD, Happenstance, we had to return to the drawing board and look for another concept."

Fozzy now plan to go with a story line that would drop the bewildered band onto a bling-bling flauntin' hip-hop set. And while it took awhile for the band to forgive Jericho for allowing their last treatment to leave his sight, they've agreed to consider allowing him to direct.

"You know those cliché rap videos that you always see?" asked Fozzy singer McQueen (who bears a striking resemblance to WWE pro wrestler Chris Jericho). "We're doing something like that where there's the bouncing car, the pit bulls on a leash and all the dancing girls. The whole deal. It's the next step in our plan to take over the world and Fozzify the globe."

• Fozzy
• Jimmy Fallon

This week Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band, and their new album, The Rising, are poised to deliver a musical response to September 11, starting with, of course, the band's version of "My City of Ruins," which Springsteen played at the "America: A Tribute to Heroes" telethon last year.

Following in the Boss' wake are a bunch of less somber, more indulgent releases, starting with Linkin Park's Reanimation, yet another addition to the seemingly never-ending list of artists who won't stop tinkering with their own, previously released material. While the group prefers to call it a "reimagination" of songs from Hybrid Theory, it's a remix album.

Next up is wrestler Chris Jericho's metal outfit Fozzy, complete with alter egos (more to stroke!) and a mock backstory of how the group came to be. Their second album, Happenstance, finds Moongoose McQueen and gang a bit more serious about their own music, though they still rock out with classic covers like Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules."

The third exercise in vanity is obvious just by scanning the list below, where you'll find it nearly impossible to ignore one particular band who, following in Pearl Jam's footsteps, decided to simultaneously release 19 live albums — one for each of its shows from its most recent tour.

More traditional releases this week come from newcomers Amerie and Lamya who both issue their debut albums, All I Have and Learning From Falling, respectively, in addition to the soundtrack to the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Top Dog/Underdog," which features tracks from both of the show's stars, Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright, plus contributions from DMX, Jay-Z and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Also look for new music from Filter The Amalgamut and X, the first release from Def Leppard since 1999's Euphoria. Feels good just thinking about it.

Out Tuesday, July 30:

• The American Foxes - Cotton Candy (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
• Amerie - All I Have (Columbia)
   Read: "Amerie Makes 'Em 'Fall In Love' With Debut Single, Nas Track"
• Brazil All-Stars - Rio Strut (Milestone)
• Cattle Decapitation - To Serve Man (Metal Blade)
• Datcyde - Positive Climb: The Mixed CD (D&D)
• Deep Forest - Music Detected (Sony/Red Ink)
• Def Leppard - X (Island)
• Disco Biscuits - Bisco Lives II (Hydrophonic)
• DJ Bam Bam - Do You Like it Hard? 100% Pure Hardhouse (Topaz/ Warlock)
• DJ Venom - Raise the Volume (Surge)
• The Enemies - Seize the Day (Lookout!)
• Fear Factory - Concrete (Roadrunner)
• Filter - The Amalgamut (Reprise)
• The Flipsides - Clever One (Pink & Black)
• Diana Fox - Running on Empty (Prisoners of Dance)
• Fozzy - Happenstance (Megaforce)
   Read: "WWE's Chris Jericho Explains Fozzy's Metal Legacy"
• Halo Friendlies - Get Real (Tooth & Nail)
• Knoc-Turn'Al - L.A. Confidential Presents (Elektra)
   Read: Knoc-Turn'Al Album Won't See Light Of Day Yet"
• Lamya - Learning From Falling (J)
   Read: "You Hear It First: Lamya"
• Linkin Park - Reanimation (Warner Bros.)
   Read: "2Na But No Neptunes On Linkin Park Remix LP — Here's Why"
   Buy Now: Reanimation (Warner Bros.)
  
• Michael Manson - The Bottom Line (A440)
• Kathy Mattea - Roses (Narada)
• Maysa - Out of the Blue (N-Coded)
• Mountain - Mystic Fire (Lightyear Records)
• Graham Nash - Songs for Survivors (Artemis)
• The Natural History - The Natural History (Star Time)
• Beth Orton - Daybreaker (Heavenly/ Astralwerks)
   Read:
• Greg Osby - Inner Circle (Blue Note/ Metro Blue)
• Pina Kollars - Quick Look (Real World)
• Dave Pirner - Faces and Names (Ultimatum Music)
• Plankeye - Wings to Fly (BEC/Tooth & Nail)
• David Poe - The Late Album (Epic)
• Willy Porter - Willy Porter (Six Degrees)
• Question - Vital Energy (Lightyear Records)
• Darius Rucker - Back to Then (Epic)
• Kevin Salem - Ecstatic (Future Farmer Records)
• Karen Clark Sheard - 2nd Chance (Elektra)
• James Alan Shelton - Song for Greta (Rebel)
• Shimmer Kids Underpop Association - The Natural Riot (Hidden Agenda)
• Sinch - Sinch (Roadrunner)
• Snot - Alive (Hip-O)
• Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - The Rising (Columbia)
   Read: "Springsteen, E Street Band On The Rise After 18 Years"
   Buy Now: The Rising (Columbia)
  
• Stepa - Stepa (Locomotive)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Ann Arbor, MI April 14, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Atlanta, GA April 20, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Atlanta, GA April 21, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Austin, TX April 4, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Austin, TX April 5, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Austin, TX April 6, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Birmingham, AL April 19, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Chicago, IL April 12, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Chicago, IL April 13, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Columbus, OH April 16, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Dallas, TX April 8, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Louisville, KY April 17, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Nashville, TN April 18, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: New Orleans, LA April 27, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: New Orleans, LA April 28, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Omaha, NE April 10, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Orlando, FL April 24, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Pompano Beach, FL April 23, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• The String Cheese Incident - On the Road: Tulsa, OK April 9, 2002 (Sci-Fidelity)
• Linda Thompson - Fashionably Late (Rounder)
• Tierra - Sangre de Reyes (Locomotive)
• Ralph White - Trash Fish (Terminus)
• The Wildwood Valley Boys - Back Country Road (Rebel)
• Various artists - Brazil 5000 (Shadow)
• Various artists - Cabana Beach Club Vol. 2 (Streetbeat)
• Various artists - Nationwide R.A.N.: United We Stand (Realizme Ent.)
• Various artists - Rhythm + Grooves: Groove Is in the Heart (Time Life)
• Various artists - "Signs" soundtrack (Hollywood)
• Various artists – "Top Dog/Underdog" soundtrack (MCA)
   Read: "Jay-Z, DMX, Wu-Tang, Mos Def Bone Up 'Topdog/Underdog' LP"
• Various artists - The Very Best of This Is Acid Jazz (Instinct)
• Yes - In a Word: Yes (5 CDs, Rhino)

• Eve - Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
   Read: "Eve, Alicia Keys Team Up For Some 'Gangsta Love' "
   Buy Now: Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
  
• Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Trick Daddy Celebrating Thug Holiday In August"
   Buy Now: Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
  
• Various artists - Mali Music (Honest Jon's/ Astralwerks)
• Various artists - "XXX" soundtrack (2CDs, Universal)

• Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park (Redline)
• Slum Village - Trinity: Past, Present and Future (Priority/ Capitol)
• Keith Sweat - Rebirth (Elektra)

• Lady May - May Day (Arista)
   Read: "Lady May: Savage Hip-Hop Straight From the Suburbs"
• Maná - Revolución De Amor (Warner Music Intl.)
• Murderdolls - Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
• Orbital - Work 89-02 (FFRR/ WSM)

• Erykah Badu - TBD (EP, Motown)
• Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash - Distance Between (Ultimatum)
• BBMak - Into Your Head (Hollywood)
• Beenie Man - Tropical Storm (Virgin)
• The Black Crowes - The Black Crowes Live (V2)
• Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP, Epitaph)
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• Ms. Jade - Girl Interrupted (Beat Club/ Interscope)
   Read: "Ms. Jade's 'Big Head' Is Meant To Move Your Big Butt"
• Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)  Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Flex Their Star Power"
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic)
   Read: "Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates"
• Stone Sour - Stone Sour (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
• Trina - Diamond Princess (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Diamond Princess Trina Recruits Tweet For 'No Panties' Single"
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• Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance (Century Media)
   Read: "You Hear It First: Shadows Fall"

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• Fozzy

Chris Jericho
Photo: MTV News

The world's biggest rock stars, Fozzy, are about to descend from the skies once again to enthrall the masses and incinerate the skeptics.

The band's Happenstance, due July 30, combines five brand new skull-shattering rockers with classic tracks that were pilfered from Fozzy over 20 years ago, then made famous by groups including Judas Priest ("Freewheel Burning"), Black Sabbath ("The Mob Rules") and W.A.S.P. ("Love Machine").

"You know what W.A.S.P. stands for? It stands for 'We Are Stupid People because we stole Fozzy's song and now we got busted and now we're embarrassed,' " snarled vocalist Moongoose McQueen after swinging by to promote his new record, which he said pre-sold 10 million copies. "Now that we're back, we're tracking down these charlatans and pulling down the curtain to reveal the shriveled-up old men shivering and shaking and saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' All the pirates who have stolen our stuff are now bowing down and scared to death that Fozzy has returned to the United States. I want signed, written apologies from all of them. And I'm gonna get 'em, too."

McQueen's arrogance and hostility are warranted. Fozzy virtually invented heavy metal. They were the first band to wear leather, grope groupies and conceive moshing. Artists who have unsuccessfully auditioned for the band include Paul McCartney, Ozzy axeman Zakk Wylde, Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, who, Moongoose revealed, took up bass just to audition for Fozzy. Heck, they even invented nü metal.

"That was ours, but we spelled it k-n-e-w, because we knew we were better than everybody else," McQueen boasted. "As far as Korn Bizkit goes and all those other guys, it's fine that they're playing their little new-age metal, but nobody can compare to the true metal glory of Fozzy."

If all this sounds bogus, that's because Fozzy really aren't all they claim to be. Most of their accomplishments exist only in the mind of WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, who created the band's mythos. Jericho, who had played in various metal groups in his youth, formed Fozzy three years ago with Stuck Mojo guitarist Rich Ward while he was recovering from an ankle injury. During his many years in professional wrestling, Jericho learned the value of a good storyline as well as how to work a crowd, and he applied both to his new group.

"My character of Chris Jericho is not my real-life persona, that's my character," said the wrestler, whose real name is Chris Irvine. "People don't pay money to see me, they pay to see my character. It's the same thing with rock and roll. People don't pay to see David Lee Roth. They pay to see Diamond Dave. They pay to see Paul Stanley as the Star Child. And that's what it is with Fozzy. Moongoose McQueen is the most pompous, arrogant lead singer of all time, but also flamboyant, very charismatic, and one of the greatest live performers of all time in his own head."

After Fozzy's self-titled debut came out, Jericho planned to tour as much as possible and enjoy a few laughs. When audiences responded well to the album and live performances, Fozzy decided to continue the legacy. Only with Happenstance, Jericho decided not to play the spoof angle quite as hard. While the first album featured eight classic metal covers and two originals, the new disc is made up of five originals and six covers. And Jericho said the band's next album will probably have even fewer covers.

"It's fun playing the other guys' songs, but playing our songs is the ultimate rock and roll moment," Jericho said. "We're evolving and getting tighter and stronger, so it's a natural evolution to play our own material. It's a different thing, because it's your own picture that you're painting, not someone else's picture that you're copying. But that's what music's all about."

Now that Fozzy is becoming more of a serious band, Jericho is dropping his guard and letting fans in on the joke. He's not eliminating the Moongoose shtick, but he's drawing clear distinctions between his personae.

"We're kind of like the Blues Brothers now, which is better than a Tony Clifton/ Andy Kaufman type scenario [in which Kaufman wouldn't admit to fans that he played both characters]. Doing it that way in the past confused people, and as a result it became difficult to hang onto the storyline completely. I realized if we opened the door a bit and let people into the joke it's much more accessible and more understandable, which is going to create more opportunities for Fozzy."

Jericho said the WWE plans to promote the band at various house shows and wrestling broadcasts, which should help spread the legend of Fozzy far across the land. As for the nonbelievers ...

"Who doesn't believe in Fozzy?" Jericho sneered, returning to the character of McQueen. "Give me the name and telephone number of every person who doesn't believe in Fozzy and they'll pay the price. My bodyguards Moishi and Tico, we'll send them door to door. We have the money to do that. I'll send them to Sidney Bernstein in Peoria, Illinois, and Clarence Johnson in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We'll have a little talk with them and we'll straighten them out. They'll become true believers very quickly."

The rock god threw back his head, brushed a hand through his long hair and took a moment to compose himself. "The people that don't believe in Fozzy are complete and utter nerds," he concluded. "They're the people that sit at school when everyone is outside smoking cigarettes and groping each other and failing their classes. I bet you they're the ones that are studying their books and being A-plus students and going on to lucrative lives and great careers. Who needs that? If you're listening to Fozzy, it doesn't matter if you're a derelict."

For a look back at Fozzy, check out the feature interview "Fozzy: Putting Metal First!"

• Fozzy

• Fozzy

The self-proclaimed "greatest metal band ever" is primed for a return to the U.S., perhaps with the help of WWF superstar Chris Jericho.

Fozzy (short for Fozzy Osbourne) recently inked a deal with Megaforce Records and plans to hit the studio in July to record an album that will arrive in late October.

To hear Megaforce tell it, Fozzy has been banging out metal for the last 20 years, toiling away exclusively in Japan for the last 13 years. During that time, numerous more notable bands have traipsed through Japan, caught the band's act, and stolen Fozzy's songs. Megaforce says that the band plans to reclaim these now-popular metal anthems on its debut album and hopes to introduce the world to a few less recognizable ones as well. Megaforce also notes that the band plans to confront a few of the artists who "stole" the band's material in a short documentary that will accompany the release of the album.

However, there is another theory about Fozzy, one that holds that the band is made up of Jericho (who often refers to himself as "The Ayatollah Of Rock And Rollah" in the ring) as well as members of Stuck Mojo. Jericho and friends have played out numerous times under the name "Fozzy," and the Canadian wrestler (recently voted the "sexiest man in Manitoba" by the "Winnipeg Sun" newspaper) is a well-known metal junkie who pens a monthly column for "Metal Edge" magazine.

The Fozzy-Is-Jericho theory also holds that when Fozzy's first album arrives this fall, it will carry a number of cover tunes as well as three original tracks.

The truth (or at least one prevailing version of it) will be revealed on July 14, when Fozzy plays Orlando's Hard Rock Live at a show that will be filmed for inclusion in the upcoming Fozzy documentary. Megaforce notes that it's unlikely the band will stage any extensive touring behind its debut album, but says that Fozzy will likely play select dates in select cities.

• Fozzy