Oasis' <I>Don't Believe the Truth</I>
Photo: Epic

The competition for the #1 spot on the albums chart is always tough. Luckily for Oasis, the Gallagher brothers know a thing or two about putting up a good fight.

Manchester, England's notoriously volatile rockers will release Don't Believe the Truth this week, the band's first album since 2002's Heathen Chemistry. The LP, which features writing by all four members, is led by the debut single, "Lyla."

Fans of New Orleans-bred trio Better Than Ezra have been waiting four years for the group's first album of new material since 2001's Closer. Before the Robots is the fifth studio release from the band, best known for the hit single "Good" off its 1995 debut, Deluxe.

Joining their British "next big thing" brethren are Maximo Park. Already a hit across the pond, their first album, A Certain Trigger, is another addition to the dance-infused, indie-rock catalog that seems to be growing by the day thanks to the success of such bands as Franz Ferdinand and the Bloc Party.

Icelandic chanteuse Björk releases her album of remixes and covers, Army of Me. In an effort to raise money for UNICEF, the singer decided to compile 20 remixes of her song "Army of Me," off 1995's Post, and release them all on one disc, with the proceeds going directly to the charity.

Also out this week are albums by Meshuggah (Catch Thirty Three), Daz Dillinger (Gangsta Crunk), Amusement Parks on Fire (Amusement Parks on Fire), Four Tet (Everything Ecstatic), GWAR (Live From Mt. Fuji), Layzie Bone (It's Not a Game), Kottonmouth Kings (Kottonmouth Kings No. 7) and Oppera (Oppera).

Out Tuesday, May 31:

• Alio Die & Jack or Jive - MEI-JYU (Projekt)
• Amusement Parks on Fire - Amusement Parks on Fire (Reincarnate Music)
• Autumn's Grey Solace - Riverine (Projekt)
• Better Than Ezra - Before the Robots (Artemis)
• Björk - Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (One Little Indian)
  Buy Now: Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (One Little Indian)
  
• Peppino D'Agostino and Stef Burns - Bayshore Road (Favored Nations)
• Daz Dillinger - Gangsta Crunk (Gangsta Advisory)
• Electronicat - Voodoo Man (Disko)
• Four Tet - Everything Ecstatic (Domino)
• Connie Francis - Sings the Standards - Live! (Artemis)
• GWAR - Live From Mt. Fuji (DRT Entertainment)
• High & Mighty - 12th Man (Eastern Conference)
• The Hurt Process - A Heartbeat Behind (Victory)
• Kottonmouth Kings - Kottonmouth Kings No. 7 (Suburban Noize)
• Layzie Bone - It's Not a Game (Cleopatra)
• The Levellers - Truth and Lies (Eagle Rock)
• Malente - Rip It Up (Unique)
• Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger (Warp)
• Meshuggah - Catch Thirty Three (Nuclear Blast)
• Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth (Epic)
  Buy Now: Don't Believe the Truth (Epic)
  
• Oppera - Oppera (Dunda Chief)
• Sherwood - Sing, but Keep Going (SideCho)
• Smog - A River Ain't Too Much to Love (Drag City)
• The Stares - Spine to Sea (Mimicry)
• Supagroup - Rules (Foodchain)
• Thrones - A Day Late, a Dollar Short (Southern Lord)
• Tosca - J.A.C. (!K7)
• Twisted Tower Dire - Crest of the Martyrs (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Clubber's Guide to Deep House (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Soundtrack to "Rock School" (Calvin)
• DVD: "Made in Sheffield" (Plexifilm)
• DVD: "Moog" (Plexifilm)
• DVD: Chic - "Live at Montreux 2004" (Eagle Rock)
• DVD: George Clinton/ Parliament/ Funkadelic - "Live at Montreux 2004" (Eagle Rock)
• DVD: Imperial Crowns - "Preachin' the Blues: Live!" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Ana Popovic - "Ana!" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Puddle of Mudd - "Live at the Key Club - Striking That Familiar Chord" (Eagle Rock)
• DVD: Sadaharu - "New and Alternative Careers in Dance" (Music Video Distributors)

June 7:

• Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business (A&M)
  Read: "Black Eyed Peas: 'Mad All Over The Place' "
  Buy Now: Monkey Business (A&M)
  
• Coldplay - X&Y (Capitol)
  Read: "Coldplay Album Preview: X&Y A Complex Stadium-Rocker"
  Buy Now: X&Y (Capitol)
  
• White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  Read: "White Stripes Album Preview: Confounding Satan Both Loud And Subtle"
  Buy Now: Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  

June 14:

• Backstreet Boys - Never Gone (Jive)
  Buy Now: Never Gone (Jive)
  
• Brian Eno - Another Day on Earth (Hannibal)
• Foo Fighters - In Your Honor (RCA)
  Read: "Foo Fighters Album Preview: Grohl Gets Grand On In Your Honor"
  Buy Now: In Your Honor (RCA)
  

June 21:

• Master P - The Ghetto Bill Gates (Koch)
• Ol' Dirty Bastard - The Definitive Ol' Dirty Bastard Story (Rhino)
• Transplants - Haunted Cities (Atlantic)

• Oasis
• Meshuggah
• Björk
• Layzie Bone
• Daz Dillinger

L-Burna, a.k.a. Layzie Bone
Photo: MTV News

Potty mouths beware — you're not welcome in Galveston, Texas, as L-Burna, a.k.a. Layzie Bone, found out found recently.

While promoting his new record, Thug by Nature, there last weekend, the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony member was handcuffed and almost arrested after a police officer heard the profanity-laced lyrics he was reciting for his entourage outside their hotel.

"He was just way sarcastic," Burna said. "I asked him, 'What are you arresting for?' He said for cussin'. I was like, 'I thought I had freedom of speech?' He was like, 'Not here in Galveston, not in my city.'" In the state of Texas, cursing in public can be considered disorderly conduct and is a Class A misdemeanor. Its severity is comparable to a traffic ticket, and fines usually range from $200 to $300, according to the Galveston Police Department.

"It's anything that offends or causes a breach of the peace," explained Galveston Sgt. Brett Luck. "I wouldn't say a lot of people go to jail for it." After being cuffed and detained for 10 minutes in the back of a patrol car, Burna was released with a $245 ticket. Still bewildered, the rapper said he didn't mean any harm — he was just testing out new material. "I had just written a rhyme, and I was saying it to my fellas." The verse that got him trouble included the lines: "Surprise ni---/ It's that little ni--- y'all ni---s ain't ready to f--- with/ Trust this, your muthafu----- wig will straight get busted/ Thug sh--/ We deeply embedded/ We livin' with these playas and hustlers."

• Layzie Bone

L-Burna, a.k.a. Layzie Bone
Photo: MTV News

L-Burna, a.k.a. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Layzie Bone, may be forced to wear permanent corrective lenses after suffering a quarter-inch scratch on his right eye during a video shoot for his track "Listen" on Friday.

"I was real bummed out," L-Burna said Tuesday (April 17). "You know thugs don't wear no glasses. But my spirits are better today." The incident began on Thursday when a makeup artist, spraying the rapper with a mixture of baby oil and water to create the illusion of sweat, accidentally got some of the liquid in L-Burna's eye. A dust particle clung to the oil sometime between Thursday and Friday afternoon and slowly caused the abrasion.

Paramedics were called to the shoot, which took place at a closed mental health hospital in Camarillo, California, north of Los Angeles, on Friday and treated L-Burna with distilled water.

The rapper missed a promotional event for Black Entertainment Television the following day. On Monday, he visited an eye specialist, who explained the seriousness of the injury. He will fly back for a second visit next week.

"I was complaining right after it happened, 'cause it hurt so bad, but I didn't want to sound like I was complaining too much," L-Burna said. "So I toughed it out until Friday. I got the video done. The thing that was most frustrating was that nobody gave a sh-- about me. The production crew just wanted to finish the video. I won't be working with them no more." L-Burna, born Steven Howse, was filming the video for "Listen" from his debut solo album, Thug by Nature,. In the scene filmed on Friday, the rapper watches a doctor "do strange things" to another patient, played by fellow Bone Thugs rapper Wish Bone, and then escapes from a glass enclosure to rescue him, according to Jerry Doby, L-Burna's publicist.

Thug by Nature was released on March 20 and includes the single "Make My Day" (see "Three Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Members Dropping Solo LPs"). He and his fellow MCs in the Cleveland rap collective Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are expected to release an album by the end of the year.

L-Burna is also developing a musical called "Ghetto Fairytales" with his record label, Mo Thugs Records, and rapper Snoop Dogg's Dogghouse imprint. Funk marvel George Clinton and Snoop's Doggy's Angels are in talks to be featured in the production.

"It's my life story incorporated into a stage show," L-Burna said. "It's a fascinating, very personal story. I don't want to give the plot away just yet." (This story was updated at 2:24 p.m. ET Wednesday, April 18, 2001.)

• Layzie Bone
• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Krayzie Bone
Photo: Priority

The next few months are going to be bonier than Calista Flockhart, as three of the four members of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony — Bizzy Bone, Layzie Bone and Krayzie Bone — plan to release solo albums.

Bizzy Bone is scheduled to drop his second album, The Gift, on March 20, the same day Layzie Bone's solo debut, Thug by Nature, is due. Krayzie Bone's Thug on the Line, pushed back from its initial, February release date, now is due June 5.

Those albums are not scheduled to feature appearances from any other Bone members. Layzie Bone said that was because the group members are working on solo albums, while Krayzie Bone said each member was "doing his own thing," which is why he didn't feature Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone or Wish Bone on his album.

Although Bizzy Bone was berated in the press by the other Bone members for missing promotional duties for the group's most recent album, 2000's BTNHResurrection, Krayzie Bone said he doesn't feel there's any competition among the group members regarding their solo releases.

"I can only speak for myself, but it won't affect me," he said. "I just go in and work like I normally do. There isn't any competition with me at all. I've heard Layzie's album and it's off the hook.

"This is the first time that we've ever [released albums so close to one another], but I don't think that it should have a negative effect on anything, because we've got a lot of fans," he continued. "Everybody likes different members. Bone fans will buy all three of them." Despite the lack of appearances on one another's albums, Layzie Bone and Krayzie Bone say another Bone album should be released by the end of the year.

(Wish Bone is also working on a solo album, according to Layzie Bone and Krayzie Bone, but it is not yet scheduled for release.) Layzie Bone said one reason he kept his outside guests to a minimum was to make sure that fans heard enough of him. "On the solo side, I put all of me into it," he said. "It's always easier when I'm working with other cats. All I've got to do is really have my little 16-bar verse, if that much." Krayzie Bone also trimmed the outside guests on his new album, which is a single album, unlike his double-disc debut, 1999's Thug Mentality. "On the first album, I felt anxious, that I had a lot to say," Krayzie Bone said. "Now I'm more relaxed. I'm trying to keep it short but sweet." Bizzy Bone's follow-up to 1998's Heaven'z Movie will be released independently. It's his first album since the Ohio rapper sued Loud Records, Sony Records and others in December for allegedly failing to pay him a $1 million advance for the recording of his second album. Bizzy Bone dropped the charges last month in exchange for a release from his recording contract as a solo artist with Sony, allowing him to release solo albums independently, according to a spokesperson at AMC Records, which will release The Gift. Layzie Bone will adopt the "El Burna" alias on Thug by Nature. "I just feel like I'm a thug by nature," Layzie Bone said of his album's title. "It's just in my nature to be that way. I'm not trying to be a thug. It's what I'm made up to be." The project's first single will likely be "Make My Day." Krayzie Bone's Thug on the Line was pushed back to get clearance for samples and add new songs, according to a Loud Records spokesperson.

Krayzie Bone also is working on "Ghetto Cowboy," a movie inspired by the 1998 Mo Thugs single. "It's a black Western," Krayzie Bone said about the film, which he hopes to release by the end of the year. "I'm locking down the people now to star in it. I'm going to have R&B singers and rappers in it, as well as some of the top black actors." The Bones see their impact continuing to creep into hip-hop nearly a decade after their introduction, via gangster-rap pioneer Eazy-E.

"The music and the flow has definitely advanced towards Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's style, because there's a lot of stuff going on that wasn't before we came out," said Krayzie Bone, who also appeared on "Murder Murder," a song from the Comrads' Wake Up & Ball album last year. "Our music has had a major effect on the industry."

• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
• Layzie Bone
• Krayzie Bone
• Bizzy Bone