Weezer's Rivers Cuomo
Photo: Karl Walter/ Getty Images

In a current Miller Brewing Company ad campaign, various manly men — including actor Burt Reynolds, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis and wrestler Triple H — sit inside a steel cage and debate various tenets of "Man Law."

Well, Weezer might not be as tough as those guys, but they're not taking what they perceive as some sand in the face from Miller lying down.

On Friday, the band filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Miller, alleging that the brewing company used its name in a "grossly misleading and deceptive" manner in a series of advertisements that ran in Rolling Stone magazine and a host of other publications late in 2004.

At the heart of the suit is a two-page ad that displayed a series of concert ticket stubs — including one from a 2002 Weezer show in Concord, California — under the heading "Rock Without the Souvenir. That's Like Beer Without Taste."

The problem, as far as Weezer see it, is that neither Miller nor Young & Rubicam (the advertising agency responsible for the campaign) obtained the band's permission to use its name, and has caused the group to be associated with the promotion of alcoholic beverages, which Weezer "did not, and do not, consent to."

The bandmembers also balked at having their name used in association with other bands featured in the ad (concert tickets by acts like Elvis Presley, Bon Jovi, Devo and, um, Less Than Jake are also featured), which has "further damaged" their reputation.

"The 'Weezer' name has been associated with other bands and musical performers with whom [the band] do not want to be associated with in any advertisement," the suit alleges. "The defendants have, without any right, title or authorization, misappropriated the valuable 'Weezer' name."

The suit seeks damages equal to three times the revenue Miller generated as a result of the advertisements, an amount which at the present time is unknown but, according to the suit, is "believed to be in the millions of dollars." Frontman Rivers Cuomo — who, as the suit reveals, is the "sole owner" of the Weezer name and trademark — would also be entitled to damages equal to three times Miller's revenue.

Audioslave, who were also featured in the ad, filed a similar lawsuit against the beer company last year (see "Audioslave, Miller Beer In Legal Brew-Haha Over Magazine Ad"). It is not known if any of the other artists featured in the advertisement plan on filing suits against Miller, who when contacted by MTV News had no comment on the lawsuit.

Per additional papers filed on behalf of Weezer, the case will be heard before a jury, though there is no date set for the trial.

The band is essentially on hiatus, although its status fluctuates regularly (see "Rivers Cuomo Says Weezer Are 'Done' For Now — Again").

• Weezer
• Elvis Presley
• Bon Jovi
• Less Than Jake
• Audioslave

NOFX's Fat Mike at Warped Tour in Uniondale, New York, on Saturday
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

For most bands, landing a coveted slot on the Warped Tour is like finding a golden ticket. But this year, bands have been dropping off the annual summer tour's 11th installment like flies.

From First to Last bolted just three weeks into the festival so frontman Sonny Moore could undergo surgery to remove a nodule on his vocal cords (see "From First To Last Singer Dispels More Rumors, Reveals Why Band Left Warped").

Then, Gatsby's American Dream dropped out. "There's no juicy gossip to report, we just need a break to be with our families at this time," the band said in a statement.

Next, it was Christian-leaning rockers Underoath, who bailed late in July, saying they needed to resolve some internal issues. "We're deeply frustrated and sorry for any inconvenience this has caused," the band said in a statement. "We felt it necessary to take some immediate time to focus on our friendship, as that's more important than risking it for the sake of touring at this time."

However, many have noted that the band was on the receiving end of a persistent string of gibes from NOFX frontman Fat Mike. Underoath did not grant MTV News' requests for an interview.

Earlier this week, Mewithoutyou announced that they, too, were leaving Warped, citing much-needed tour-bus repairs — the bandmembers, who bring their families on tour, travel in a special vegetable-oil-fueled bus (see "Mewithoutyou: Not Your Average Christian, Vegetable-Oil-Fueled, Flower-Flinging Rockers") — as well as frontman Aaron Weiss' lingering throat malaise.

"No bus, no touring — pretty simple math," they reasoned in a statement. The band's manager told MTV News that the band was playing on the SmartPunk stage (for which acts are not paid) and, after the bus issues, simply couldn't afford to continue the tour.

And then there were Spitalfield, who on Wednesday — with just five dates remaining before Warped '06's Sunday finale in Montreal — dropped out as well. Frontman Mark Rose told MTV News that guitarist Dan Lowder will be leaving the band in the fall.

"With our new record slated for an October 3 release, we were forced to face [replacing Lowder] right when the record came out or canceling a string of shows to get home and begin rehearsing with a fill-in guitar player," he said. The band chose the latter option.

"Spitalfield have been trying to get on the Warped Tour for four years," he added. "It's really disappointing to not be able to finish the dates on such a high-profile tour."

Later that day, gypsy-punk act Gogol Bordello dropped off, citing drummer Eliot Ferguson's need to seek medical treatment for cellulitis in his arm.

Those are all valid reasons for why Warped has had more bands drop out this year than in any other during its 11-year history.

Yet members of some bands say there is definitely a higher level of tension on this year's trek. While some blame the summer's sweltering temperatures and the pressures of spending two long, grueling months on the road, others say there's an old-punks-vs.-new-punks battle that has resulted in tension between bands.

Fat Mike, who has spent eight of the last 11 summers on Warped with both NOFX and cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, says the tension is due to all of the above.

"The thing is, a lot of bands sign up for this, and they have no idea what it's about, and how difficult it is if you're a smaller band," he said. "If you have to do this tour in a van, it's really, really difficult. Our whole goal on this tour is to have as much fun as we possibly can — that's what it's all about, so if you can [accomplish] that, it's a really great tour.

"A lot of bands are here to further their careers," he continued, "and that's not going to happen. You think a band goes on the Warped Tour and suddenly they get big? It's going to happen to somebody, but it doesn't make your career. There are 100 bands on the tour — with so many choices, the only people who are going to watch you are the people who [already] like you."

He went on to say that attitudes definitely have played a role. "From First to Last came on the tour like total rock stars, and everyone alienated them," he said. "And they were gone in a week or two."

Mike also admits that his constant mocking of Underoath got to them, but he doesn't think it was a reason for them to pull out of Warped. He attended one of the band's Bible-study sessions as a joke but claims he was nothing if not respectful.

"I didn't help their cause at all, but I wasn't the main reason either," he said. "They're a weird band. I was going to go after them as soon as I found out they were on the tour."

The no-longer-so-fat Mike also says he witnessed several of the younger bands on the tour copping what he called "rock star" attitudes because "they have a hit record that sells a few hundred thousand copies and they think everyone's there to see them. The older bands, we really don't care. We're just happy to still be around."

Thursday's Geoff Rickly, who is about to finish his third Warped, says the friction largely amounts to a battle between the old school and new school.

"The number of younger bands is much higher, and they seem to think they're the sh-- and all the older bands are has-beens or whatever," he explained. "I think there's an attitude of entitlement. Like, 'All these old bands don't even sell the amount of records we sell' and 'We should maybe be getting better slots' and 'We're the new sh--.' I kind of get that attitude from some of the younger bands, and that's too bad, I think. They don't even realize that when a band works hard for 10 years, there's a reason why they get respect. Just because you write a few pop songs and maybe get on the radio, you're not necessarily given the world."

While he says he's noticed tension between bands on every tour Thursday have ever done, the strain between some of this year's Warped bands is much more intense.

"I think there's, like, two sides to the tour, and those sides are tense with each other," he said. "There are the young, scream-y bands and the old punk-rock bands, and there are only a few bands that can float through both worlds, like us and Rise Against and Anti-Flag. I think, in general, the old guys are like, 'Dude, all these young punks think they know everything,' and all the young bands are like, 'Dude, all these old guys, all they care about is themselves, and they don't want to support anything new.' Each of them has a little bit of truth, and it's also a little bit overblown in their own heads. It just makes it a little tenser than it needs to be, I guess.

"There's been a lot of drama on the tour this year," he added. "The Warped Tour is just a pressure cooker because it's hot and long and seems like it never ends — it's 50 shows in 60 days. I think it pushes bands to a point that they're not quite ready to be at."

Some of that drama took place between Less Than Jake and Every Time I Die, after the long-running ska band mocked the screaming singing style of ETID's Keith Buckley — in ETID's hometown of Buffalo, New York, no less. Buckley responded by calling the band "washed-up."

"It's not going to stress me out," Buckley said. "I know they said something about us and we said something about them. When they found out we retaliated, they said, 'We didn't mean to upset anybody, we're just joking around.' And that's fine, but it's not like we know each other — I don't know them well enough to be joking around like that. All I know is they're making fun of us, and I had to say something back. But I guess once I said something back, they realized it was getting a little too out of control."

The beef has become so widespread that some bands on the tour are even parodying it. Fans hit various punk message boards to discuss comments Silverstein and Motion City Soundtrack were trading onstage — but according to drummer Paul Koehler of three-time Warped act Silverstein, it was all a joke intended to get people to lighten up.

"We did it because, here's all this other drama that's real on the tour, which people seem to be obsessed with, and we wanted to blow this thing up," Koehler said. "We'd make fun of each other's bands onstage, and we even wore T-shirts that said 'Motion Sh---y Soundtrack.' We came clean about it and told the kids not to believe everything they read on the Internet. That was the point we were trying to make, that all the drama on Warped is nonsense. It should just be about seeing good bands and having a good time."

Motion City frontman Justin Pierre said most of the bands on Warped need to loosen up, and should let barbs from the likes of Fat Mike roll off their backs.

"Fat Mike likes to f--- with people, and I don't really have a problem with that," he said. "Underoath and NOFX had a pretty big thing going on back and forth. He would rip on them for saying that everything they do, they do for Christ. But you need to have a sense of humor about things."

For his part, Kevin Lyman, Warped's founder, says that on average he loses three bands each summer, but he hasn't noticed any tension between any of the bands beyond the situation that unfolded between Fat Mike and Underoath.

"The thing with Mike and Underoath really got kind of blown up," he said. "It was more like they both have very strong opinions, and most of it was done in good fun. But Fat Mike tortures everyone — he tortures me all day long. There are a lot of bands out here who are having trouble. I don't like it, but it's been a bizarre year. We've never had a year like this, but there have been reasons why these bands pulled out."

A few years ago, Lyman noted, several bands got into an all-out brawl. "But there's been nothing like that," he said. "Where's this tension? Come into the parking lot. Everyone's having a great time. You have 900 people on the road, so obviously not everyone's going to like each other. There are seven parties every night, and card games.

"Maybe there is tension," he added, laughing. "I think it's the sexual type."

• Pink Spiders, Gym Class Heroes And More At Warped Tour 2006

• From First To Last
• Less Than Jake
• Mewithoutyou
• NOFX
• Thursday

Linkin Park's Chester Bennington (file)
Photo: Rolf Klatt/WireImage

CINCINNATI — Linkin Park thundered their way into the outdoor-festival season Friday with the kickoff of Projekt Revolution 2004, which this year features the biggest lineup in its three-year history.

Headliners Linkin Park were joined by Korn, Snoop Dogg, the Used and Less Than Jake on the main stage of the Riverbend Music Center amphitheater, playing before a crowd of more than 13,000 fans.

The eight-hour event had all the surprise and excitement — as well as a few of the technical glitches — expected of an opening-night show. The switchover after Snoop's set lasted close to an hour before Korn finally hit their first notes, and nü-metal kingpins Linkin Park didn't begin until 40 minutes past their scheduled start.

But long delays couldn't subdue the crowd's rowdy anticipation, and both Korn and Linkin Park delivered walloping sets, with Linkin Park going an additional 15 minutes past the 11 p.m. Riverbend curfew.

Opening their 19-song performance with "Don't Stay" and ending 75 minutes later with a fireworks-punctuated finale of "One Step Closer," Linkin Park's set was a string of hits, tied together with rarities like "Step Up" and a cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Wish."

Rapper Mike Shinoda and singer/screamer Chester Bennington bounced up and down the ramps and risers of the metallic stage during such energy-overdrive hits as "Faint," "Somewhere I Belong" and "In the End," while the giant screen behind the band provided flickering music-video accompaniment during songs like "Breaking the Habit" and "From the Inside."

Metal heavyweights Korn went for a simpler, stripped-down, black-on-black stage design, putting most of the focus on the relentless stomp of their music. They also had the video screen working, but mainly for the purpose of intensifying the proceedings, as close-ups captured the quintet in full rocking-out mode.

One stretch of Korn's hour-long set began with kilt-wearing singer Jonathan Davis busting out the bagpipes for the wailing intro to "Shoots and Ladders," followed by "Freak on a Leash," with just enough of a tease of Metallica's "One" thrown in as a bridge to send the crowd into a frenzy. Later, Korn's take on Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" (doing both parts I and II) drove the audience even crazier (see "Korn Borrow Other People's Hits For Their Greatest-Hits LP").

For all of Korn's stage-design restraint, Snoop Dogg went in the other direction. There was an orchestra-size ensemble of musicians and hangers-on, including two MCs, two keyboardists, a guitarist, a drummer, a DJ (perched on the roof of an oversized dog house in the middle of the stage), a bass player, a percussionist, a three-man horn section, eight female dancers and another dozen entourage members standing to the back. A giant dog bone, engraved with Snoop's name, hung from the rafters.

Snoop ingratiated himself with the local crowd early and often, wearing a Ken Griffey Jr. Cincinnati Reds jersey and calling a hometown musical icon to the stage.

"I got an uncle in Cincinnati," Snoop howled. "I want to bring out my uncle, Bootsy Collins!"

The legendary P-Funk bassist — who had been in the background sipping from a bottle of water and bobbing his head to "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," "Deep Cover" and "Tha Shiznit" — stepped forward and joined Snoop for a slow-groove funk chant-along. Then Collins, wearing a top hat and a cheesy T-shirt bearing the airbrushed image of an Alaskan Malamute, took over on bass as Snoop and the band busted into the super-smutty "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)."

Utah hard-rock quartet the Used whipped through a 25-minute set, mixing songs from their upcoming album, In Love and Death, with familiar sing-alongs like "The Taste of Ink."

Less Than Jake started the main-stage proceedings with a fiery half-hour of pared-down and punked-up ska. Singer/guitarist Chris (no last names, please) filled in the crowd on how the band landed on the bill. "Guess whose place we took on this tour? Here's a hint: 'He did it all for the nookie, so here's a little cookie.' Yeah, Limp Bizkit. [Fred Durst] didn't want to go first," Chris said.

Five more acts were scheduled to play on the smaller Revolution Stage in the Riverbend parking lot, but only Ghostface, Funeral for a Friend and Downset performed. M.O.P.'s no-show was apparently related to travel complications, and a fifth unannounced band was scratched as well.

Other bands booked for the second stage at upcoming Projekt Revolution dates include Mike V and the Rats, No Warning, Instruction and Autopilot Off (see "Dates For Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution Announced; Used Join Trek").

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

• Linkin Park
• Snoop Dogg
• Korn
• The Used
• Less Than Jake

Ashlee Simpson (file)
Photo: Amy Cooper

The two biggest releases in this week's crop of new albums couldn't be more different: Texas-bred pop singer Ashlee Simpson and Swedish rockers the Hives.

At the young age of 19, Simpson has already completed her Autobiography. Jessica's little sis tries to step out of her big sister's shadow on her debut album by making her sound a little more rock and roll. Ashlee lets listeners into her personal life immediately with the first single, "Pieces of Me."

Pompous rockers the Hives return this week after a four-year absence. The Swedish band's Tyrannosaurus Hives follows up 2000's Veni Vidi Vicious and incorporates influences like T. Rex, Wire, Devo, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Electric Light Orchestra.

Hardcore punk band the Dillinger Escape Plan release their third album this week, Miss Machine, the follow-up to 2000's self-titled effort.

Rock trio By Divine Right are releasing their fourth album since their debut in 1997; Sweet Confusion hits stores this week.

The Faces — Rod Stewart, Ian McLagan, Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane and Kenney Jones — played blues- and soul-infused rock together from 1969-1975. This week a four-CD boxed set of their material titled Five Guys Walk Into a Bar hits stores.

Also out this week are albums by R&B trio Mis-teeq (Mis-teeq), rockers Hazen Street (Hazen Street) and power-pop punks Less Than Jake (B Is for B-Sides).

Out July 20:

• Ben Arnold - Calico (SCI Fidelity)
• Bitter, Bitter Weeks - Revenge (My Pal God)
• By Divine Right - Sweet Confusion (spinART)
• Chinese Stars - A Rare Sensation (Three One G)
• Michael Cooper - Are We Cool (Thump)
• Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine (Relapse)
• Sean Doyle - The Light and the Halflight (Compass)
• Ego Likeness - Water to the Dead (Noir)
• Faces - Five Guys Walk Into a Bar (Rhino)
• Fred One - Phobia of Doors (Raptivism)
• F--- - Those Are Not My Bongos (Future Farmer)
• Everette Harp - All for You (A440)
• Hazen Street - Hazen Street (Epic)
• Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives (Interscope)
  Read: "Hives Album Preview: Out Of The Garage, Into The Laboratory"
  Buy Now: Tyrannosaurus Hives (Interscope)
  
• Horns of Happiness - A Sea as a Shore (Secretly Canadian)
• Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch - You Can't Save Everybody (Compass)
• Less Than Jake - B Is for B-Sides (Sire)
• Lloyd - Southside (Def Jam)
• Low - Lifetime of Temporary Relief (Chairkickers Music)
• Maria Mena - White Turns Blue (Columbia)
• Mis-teeq - Mis-teeq (Reprise)
• Normanoak - Born a Black Diamond (Secretly Canadian)
• Old Canes - Early Morning Hymns (Second Nature)
• Grant Olney - Brokedown Gospel (Asian Man)
• Noam Pikelny - In the Maze (Compass)
• The Pink Mountaintops - The Pink Mountaintops (Jagjaguwar)
• Stan Ridgeway - Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs (Redfly)
• Ashlee Simpson - Autobiography (Geffen)
  Read: "Ashlee Simpson: The Rock Sister"
  Buy Now: Autobiography (Geffen)
  
• Todd Snider - East Nashville Skyline (Oh Boy)
• Soda Club - Anthem Alert (Water Music)
• Rick Springfield - Mission Magic (Master Classics)
• Static-X - Beneath ... Between ... Beyond ... (Warner Bros.)
• The Dog & Everything - Sound Off (Emphasis)
• Those Darn Accordions! - Lawnball (Globe)
• Triple Seis - Only Time'll Tell (Ryko Records)
• Jessica Williams - Live at Yoshi's 1 (MAXJAZZ)
• Kevin Yost - Bongo Madness (I!)
• Various artists - Soundtrack to: "At Home at the End of the World" (Milan)
• DVD: Doors of the 21st Century - L.A. Woman Live (Image Entertainment)
• DVD: Various artists - NASCAR: Adrenaline Vol. 1 (Melee)

July 27:

• Kevin Lyttle - Kevin Lyttle (Atlantic)
• Old 97s - Drag it Up (New West)
• Pearl Jam - Live at Benaroya Hall (Ten Club/BMG)
• Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 16 (UTV)

August 3:

• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Live (Vanguard Records)
• Marc Broussard - Carencro (Island)
• Cherie - Cherie (Lava)

August 10:

• Alter Bridge - One Day Remains (Wind-Up)
  Read: "Life After Creed: Alter Bridge Look To A Stapp-Free Future"
• Richard Marx - My Own Best Enemy (Manhattan Records)
• Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare (Jive)
• Shyne - Godfather ... Buried Alive (Def Jam)

• Ashlee Simpson
• The Hives
• Mis-Teeq
• Less Than Jake
• Dillinger Escape Plan

Less than 24 hours after tickets went on sale, an Elliott Smith tribute concert in Los Angeles has already sold out. The show, double billed as a memorial and benefit for the Elliott Smith Foundation for Abused Children, will take place Monday at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles and will feature Beck, Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, Beth Orton, Grandaddy and others performing some of Smith's most beloved tunes. A screening of the experimental short film "Strange Parallel," featuring Smith, will precede the show. ...

P. Diddy's clothing company Sean John has been under investigation by the National Labor Committee for allegedly using overseas sweatshop labor to create its garments. The committee issued a report on Tuesday (October 28) that claims workers at the Southern Textiles factory in Choloma, Honduras, have been subjected to daily body searches, 11-to-12-hour shifts and contaminated drinking water. In addition, they are only paid for their productivity, not their time — 24 cents for each $50 sweat shirt they sew. Puffy may not be the only rap mogul under fire from the committee. While 80 percent of the labor at Southeast Textiles is for Sean John, the remaining 20 percent is for Roc-A-Wear, the clothing company founded by Jay-Z and Damon Dash. ... Reports in the U.K. press last week that Roc-A-Fella Records boss Damon Dash was suing Victoria Beckham's U.K. record label to be reimbursed for helming her hip-hop album are untrue, according to a spokesperson for Dash. It was reported that Beckham's label, Telstar, wasn't happy with the idea of the former Posh Spice doing an urban-oriented album, and would refuse to release such a project. But reps for both Telstar and Dash deny any serious conflict, and Dash's people maintain that he's still producing her album, expected in 2004. ...

With Try This just around the corner, Pink has already chosen her follow-up to first single "Trouble": the dance floor burner "God Is a DJ," produced by Billy Mann. She's currently deciding between directors and locations for the video shoot. ... New York radio station Z-100 should think about renaming their Jingle Ball holiday festival the "Gigli" Ball, since Jennifer Lopez will host the annual event. Set for December 11 at Madison Square Garden, the show will also feature performers Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Michelle Branch, Sean Paul, 3 Doors Down, Kelly Clarkson and Hilary Duff, among others. ...

Actor/director Tim Robbins will serve as master of ceremonies at the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute concert in Nashville November 10. Tickets to the event, which will feature Sheryl Crow, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson and others, are being distributed by lottery. Unlucky Cash fans who miss that concert are still in for a windfall, however: new music from the man himself.  Johnny Cash: Unearthed is a five-CD box set that will feature 79 tracks all recorded with producer Rick Rubin between 1994 and 2002, including collaborations with Tom Petty, Fiona Apple, Willie Nelson, Nick Cave and Joe Strummer. Sixty-four of the 79 tracks are previously unreleased and include acoustic covers of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," Roy Orbison's "Down the Line" and Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (with Strummer).  Rubin began assembling the box set this August and will release it in the spring. ...

Rocker Joan Jett has a soft side. Along with some family and friends, she appears on the next episode of "Crossing Over With John Edward" to get a reading in hopes of reconnecting with some departed loved ones. Since Edward ultimately fails to get her a psychic link to those she's seeking, she "serves as the conduit" for her friends to hear from a recently deceased daughter, according to a rep for the show. Jett's episode airs on UPN at 2 p.m. Wednesday. ... Annie Lennox has contributed two songs to the final chapter of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Return of the King." Her song "Into the West" will be used in the actual film, while a second track was recorded for the DVD. The soundtrack is due out November 25. ...

Less Than Jake are hitting the road once again in support of their latest album, Anthem, and they're bringing along a little something extra for their fans. On the tour, which runs from November 4 in St. Louis through mid-December, a six-song EP featuring two exclusive LTJ tracks and cuts from openers Yellowcard, Rufio, Fall Out Boy and Punchline will be on sale. ... Andrew W.K., Hoobastank and Die Trying will tour together for a month starting November 1 in Springfield, Missouri. The 21-date jaunt ends December 3 in Clifton Park, New York. Hoobastank's last date on the Nokia Unwired Tour, which also features All-American Rejects, Diffuser and Ozomatli, is Tuesday night in Seattle. Hoobastank's second album, The Reason, will be released December 9. ...   Oddball alternative band Ween will record three upcoming Chicago shows for a live DVD, guitarist Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo wrote on the band's Web site. The gigs being taped are November 7, 8 and 9 at the Vic Theatre. Ween have seven other shows with which to warm up, starting Tuesday night in Northampton, Massachusetts, and running through November 5 in Detroit. ...

10.27.2003

Britney Spears is gearing up for her upcoming tour. In August, she began auditioning dancers, and they're planning to start rehearsals in February in Los Angeles for a trek that will launch in March. There's already been a switch in choreographers — Jennifer Lopez's ex Cris Judd was first slated to shape Britney's dance moves, then Jamie King of "Dance Fever" stepped in. But now, according to a source close to the pop princess, King is out and Kevin Tanchareon (who co-choreographed the "Me Against the Music" video) will be keeping Spears in step. There's no name for the tour just yet, and dates have yet to be announced. ...

Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits album was expected to rain down on record stores November 25, but the LP has been pushed back indefinitely by Geffen Records. ... Former Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha has emerged from hiding to weigh in on the band's upcoming CD and DVD, Live at the Olympic Grand Auditorium. "After watching both the Olympic Grand Auditorium and the Democratic National Convention concert footage, I can think of no other moments in all of our 10 years as a band that captured the intensity and the intent of Rage Against the Machine. These moments belong to our fans as much as they belong to history." The concert CD will come out November 25 and the DVD will follow December 9. De la Rocha plans to release his first solo album in 2004. ...

She's the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, so obviously music runs in her blood. On November 18, Bobbi Kristina Brown makes her singing debut alongside her famous mom on One Wish - The Holiday Album. The LP is Whitney Houston's first Christmas LP and will feature such standards as "The First Noel," "The Christmas Song" and "The Little Drummer Boy," the track on which Bobbi Kristina is featured. Houston will include several new tunes on the set as well. ... If a shapely woman dressed like Shakira rings your doorbell on Halloween and rattles a cardboard box filled with coins, take note. It might actually be Shakira. The Colombian superstar has been appointed a global goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, a major charity for children. "UNICEF has done tremendous work in my home nation of Colombia and I have seen first-hand the difference UNICEF makes," she said in a statement. As part of her new duties, Shakira will travel to Third World nations to witness the struggle of children living in those countries. ...

Cee-Lo, Hatebreed, Pennywise, Body Count and M.O.P. are among the new additions to the lineup for Cypress Hill's sixth annual Smoke Out festival, which Linkin Park, DMX, Obie Trice, Papa Roach and Superjoint Ritual will headline November 15 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California. Boo Yaa Tribe and DJs Christopher Lawrence, Doc Martin, DJ Dan, Miguel Migs and Roy Davis Jr. are also performing, along with a surprise special guest at 4:20 p.m. ... At an acoustic benefit concert in Seattle last week, Pearl Jam debuted "Man of the Hour," a song written for the upcoming Tim Burton film "Big Fish." Starring Ewan McGregor, the movie opens December 10 in select cities and January 23 nationwide. ... Live versions of Tori Amos' "Cornflake Girl" and Macy Gray's cover of the Beatles' "Come Together," recorded during the Oxygen Custom Concerts series, will be included on Oh! From the Girls, a benefit LP for Oxygen Media's Build Your Own Business program. Due January 13, the album will also include favorites from Avril Lavigne, Stacie Orrico and Dido. ...

Bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake have been stricken from the records and they're not coming back. The musicians had appeared on the original versions of Ozzy Osbourne's albums Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981), but their parts were removed and re-recorded by others when the albums were reissued. Since Daisley and Kerslake had both sued Ozzy for unpaid royalties, Sharon Osbourne thought she would teach them a lesson by erasing them from Ozzy's recorded legacy, ensuring they would receive no future royalties. To add salt to the wound, Daisley and Kerslake's lawsuit was dismissed last year by a district court judge, whose opinion was upheld last week by a U.S. Court of Appeals judge. Daisley and Kerslake are currently playing in a band called The Meek with Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, ex-Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and one-time Ozzy keyboardist Don Airey. The band's debut, Relentless, is due in February. ...

Varg Vikernes, the former frontman for Norwegian death metal band Burzum who has been imprisoned for the past eight years for murdering Mayhem frontman Oystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous), is back in prison after an attempted jailbreak. Vikernes was released from jail on a short leave and failed to return to authorities on Saturday, once his reprieve was up. Instead, he hijacked a car and drove off. Less than 24 hours later, the vehicle was spotted by an unmarked police car north of Oslo, and a chase ensued, which ended when two police cars sandwiched Virkernes' vehicle, forcing him to halt. The singer surrendered without further incident. ...

• Elliott Smith
• Diddy
• P!nk
• Johnny Cash
• Beyoncé

Andrew W.K.
Photo: Gregg Delman/MTV

And you thought Andrew W.K. was scary.

The organizers behind the Vans Warped Tour are tapping into the world of cinema by filming a "teenage slasher film" during the trek. (Click here for photos from the tour.)

"It's about a disgruntled employee," said Kevin Lyman, founder of the tour that mixes extreme sports and punk/ska music. "The guy gets fired the first day and he comes back and puts a curse on the Warped Tour. Then all these things happen."

The tentatively titled "Punk Rock Holocaust" will be shot by Backseat Conceptions.

"It's going to be a lot of shadows and lurking in the movie and mostly just staff dying at certain points of unimaginably horrible deaths at the hands of the [murderer]," Lyman said with a laugh.

A spokesperson for the Warped Tour, which kicked off June 19 in Boise, Idaho (see "Where Mouth Geysers Meet Cheesy Macaroni — Warped (Tour) Indeed"), said every band on the tour, ranging from the Suicide Machines to Andrew W.K. to Pennywise, have been asked to participate.

"We're trying to have fun and trying to remind ourselves that it is a business but to have a lot of fun this year," Lyman said.

The tour, in its ninth year, runs through August 10 at the Asbury Park Lot in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

• Andrew W.K.
• Simple Plan
• AFI
• Rancid
• Bowling For Soup

The Used's Bert McCracken performs on the Warped Tour
Photo: Jason Squires

CINCINNATI — It was as if the tattooed hand of a punk rock god reached down and anointed Andrew W.K. The hard partying rocker was enthusiastically playing his anthem "I Get Wet" as the skies opened up and a torrential downpour put an early end to the eighth stop on this year's Vans Warped Tour. He always sports a maniacal smirk and a dirty T-shirt, but even W.K., surrounded on the stage by a dozen head-banging fans, couldn't help but laugh. (Click here for photos from The Warped Tour.)

Just one week into a grueling cross-country summer trek, the ninth edition of the punk and extreme-sports tour experienced both kinds of Warped weather: intense heat and drenching rains. You would have never known it, though, from the goofy grins on the faces of the 50 pumped-up bands or the 7,000 waterlogged and sunburned fans who braved the unpredictable weather to take part in punk rock summer camp. There was Rancid's Tim Armstrong, rocking his band's afternoon set in a leather jacket, AFI's Davey Havok in vinyl pants and a long-sleeved mesh shirt, and Used singer Bert McCracken not letting a little sweat bother him as the heat made the red face-paint across his eyes drip all over his face.

Though it was inconceivably plastered with more signage than Cincinnati's new baseball stadium (not that the fans would know, since nearly everyone was wearing a shirt promoting their favorite band), what continues to separate the Warped Tour from other summer festivals is its egalitarian vibe. Indie label bands such as Rise Against, Vaux, Eleventeen and the Unseen mixed with up-and-coming major-label acts in the massive pavilion, while the Ataris, Face to Face and Rancid humbly hit the midway. Everyone got 30 minutes, regardless of whether your name was Less Than Jake, Anatomy of a Ghost or Scallywagon. Coupled with the cheap ticket price ($25), Warped might not be much of a payday for the bands, but it could teach its fellow festival tours a lesson or two about keeping fans happy.

Yes, it's cheesy to have Kraft Macaroni and Cheese on-the-go samples right next to a stage and Yoo-Hoo-branded beach balls ping-ponging across the crowd. But it's kind of cool to find bands like Simple Plan, who could easily headline the city's biggest club, playing early afternoon sets on side stages and not complaining about it. It's also cool to see veteran Irish punkers the Dropkick Murphys getting one of the most raucous receptions of the day with their bagpipe, beer-and-blitz chord sing-alongs.

The Used got things cranking early thanks to McCracken's spastic stage presence. Spewing water into the air with his mouth and making huge geysers, the scrawny singer played the part of a slightly crazed arena rocker as he got the audience to shout along to such cathartic punk ballads as "The Taste of Ink" and "Blue and Yellow."

Like many of the acts, McCracken told the crowd that the Cincinnati stop was the best one on the tour so far, in between his bouts of thrashing around the stage, stringy hair plastered to his gaunt face.

It was a totally different scene across the midway though, where AFI looked like a group of daytime ghouls who'd accidentally opened their crypts a bit early. Singer Havok, with his pasty face and jet-black hair, looked like a cross between the Cult's Ian Astbury and Elvira, and definitely like someone more used to dark clubs than bright daylight shows. As he yelped the lyrics to the band's breakthrough hit, "Girl's Not Grey," and "The Leaving Song, Pt. II," Havok repeatedly performed what was the unofficial, but mandatory mantra of the day, "who-ooh-ooh." That simple pop refrain could be heard from nearly every band on the bill, from Police-like reggae punkers Maxeen to SoCal old-schoolers Face to Face and Detroit garage rockers the Fags.

Bowling for Soup did their best to lighten things up with canned stage patter that would make Poison blush ("Look at all the great t---ies out there!"), but Rancid showed the kids how it's really done with a hit-packed set that snuck in just as the blazing sun gave way to thunderclouds. Singer Armstrong paid homage to his heroes in the Ramones by entering the stage in a black leather jacket, as well as black pants, a black baseball hat and black sunglasses, not removing the jacket until the fifth song, despite the choking heat. The band blitzed through energetic versions of "Journey to the End of the East Bay," "Ruby Soho," "Roots Radicals" and "Maxwell Murder." During the latter, bassist Matt Freeman ripped off a nimble-fingered, jazzy solo that seemed to even surprise singer/guitarist Lars Frederiksen. The band unveiled the new song "Red Hot Moon," from their upcoming album, Indestructable (August 26), and invited pal Skinhead Rob on stage to do a mid-song rap.

Once the rain began to fall, the midway offered more than mac 'n cheese, CDs and T-shirts to the punks whose liberty spikes were beginning to sag. Nearly every act took time to sign T-shirts and CDs for fans and there were dozens of booths supporting political causes and selling the usual festival fare.

Parents could even dip into the air-conditioned "Reverse Daycare" tent and sink into comfy chairs while "About Schmidt" played on a big-screen TV. With so much music, the "extreme" part of the tour — demos from professional skaters and BMX riders — was shunted off to a corner of the midway and seemed less prominent than in the past.

By the time the Ataris hit the stage around 5 p.m., the rain seemed like it was there to stay. The hard-cores held on, but if the young crowd recognized that the band was covering a Don Henley song with its punked-up take on "Boys of Summer," they didn't show it. They did, however, react wildly when spazz rockers S.T.U.N. laid waste to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall," especially when singer Christiane J. amended the lyrics to "another brick through your wall!" Huddling under the pavilion to avoid the rain, hundreds of fans watched as J. hurled his microphone across the stage, perched himself precariously on the kick drum and danced around like a disco insect to songs such as "Movement," during which he repeatedly howled the refrain, "We are just a moment away!"

Glassjaw and Poison the Well got washed out as the side stages closed early, but, in the end, there was Warped sophomore W.K., whipping the soaked crowd into a frenzy with "Party Hard," and looking up at the rain as if it were just another party favor on his nonstop summer punk bash.

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

• Simple Plan
• AFI
• Rancid
• Bowling For Soup
• The Used

Less Than Jake's Chris, Buddy, and Roger
Photo: MTV News

IRVINE, California — Who needs expensive video directors to send in treatments when you have creative minds in your band?

"I have a video idea," Less Than Jake bassist Roger said, surprising his bandmates Saturday when asked about plans for "The Science of Selling Yourself Short." "It's like we're all like trying to do things, but we're horrible at it. Like, you're a golfer and you're trying to golf, but you can't and you keep slicing it. Like, you're bowling with little kids and you're getting gutters the whole time and they're kicking your ass. Stuff like that."

"I don't have anything better," singer Chris responded.

Easy enough.

Less Than Jake were originally going to follow up "She's Gonna Break Soon" with the Billy Bragg collaboration "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out," but Los Angeles' KROQ-FM recently began playing "The Science of Selling Yourself Short" and the response has been good.

The song, which will be the second single from the band's sixth studio album, Anthem (see ), is about as self-explanatory as songs come.

"It's about the science of just doing all the stuff bad to yourself that you shouldn't be doing," Chris said backstage at KROQ's Weenie Roast (see ).

"It goes along with the rest of the lyrics for the record," added trombone player Buddy (no last names in Less Than Jake). "The title of the record, Anthem, kind of sums up all of the lyrics. They can be an anthem for anybody who's going through any of the problems or any of the situations that are in the songs. The whole record was kind of written from that standpoint."

After nearly a dozen years together, Less Than Jake are finally garnering a mainstream audience. "She's Gonna Break Soon" has even appeared on "TRL," a surreal experience for a band that was happy just to see past videos on "120 Minutes."

"That never would have happened, the 'TRL' thing, if it wasn't for our fans," Roger said. "I mean, that's insane. I know people who were, like, calling, calling, calling all day."

"It was mostly our sax player's mom," Buddy added. "She's our #1 fan."

Less Than Jake attribute their recent success partly to the rising popularity of pop-punk and partly to their own hard work.

"We spent a lot longer working on these songs than any other album before," Roger said. "A lot of the stuff before, we would write in the studio or have a few weeks to work on, and on this one we really took time and we sorted through like 30-something songs to come up with the songs for the record, so we definitely did our homework too."

The Gainesville, Florida, band will continue to bust its collective butt, beginning with the Vans Warped Tour on Thursday (June 18), an adventure Less Than Jake know from past summers.

"The best part is looking for a clean Porta Potti every day," Roger said. "It's like 350 dudes on tour and like three Porta Potties."

"I earned the name Chafe the Clown about three weeks into it," Chris joked. "I'm walking like a penguin to the bathroom every morning."

• Less Than Jake

Staind's Aaron Lewis
Photo: John Shearer

With two consecutive #1 albums, it's safe to say Staind are no longer on the outside looking in.

The band's fourth album, 14 Shades of Grey, will take the pole position on next week's Billboard albums chart, having sold more than 220,000 copies its first week in stores, according to SoundScan. Its predecessor, Break the Cycle, also placed above all others when it was released two years ago, though it sold considerably more copies — about a half million.

Emotionally disturbed frontmen seem all the rage at retail, as the Deftones' eponymous fourth album will come in at #2, with more than 167,000 copies sold. Thanks to nail-biting anticipation that culminated in a distinct and refreshingly fierce single, "Minerva," the Sacramento quintet retained much of its fanbase in the three years since the release of White Pony. Although Deftones placed one spot higher on the chart, White Pony sold about 10,000 more copies in its first week.

Kelly Clarkson, we hardly knew ye. A need to bask in the past might explain why the first-season "American Idol" winner's debut album, Thankful, has been making steady progress on the chart just as the TV program's second idol, Ruben Studdard, was being anointed. Next week, Clarkson's LP will move up four spots to #3 (105,000), after having increased its weekly total by nearly 27,000 copies.

Evanescence's Fallen hasn't yet begun to act like its title. Since its release three months ago, the tumultuous emotional rocker has been a fixture in the top 10 as the first single, "Bring Me to Life," continues its rock radio reign. With more than 1.1 million in total sales, Fallen will retain its hold on the #4 spot by selling more than 103,000 copies, a weekly increase of more than 6,000 copies.

Pimpin' came easy to Southern thug David Banner, whose major-label debut, Mississippi: The Album, will place at #9, with more than 75,000 copies sold. One half of late-'90s duo Crooked Lettaz owes a debt of gratitude to "undaground legend" Lil' Flip, who helped make "Like a Pimp" a hit at rap radio.

The rest of next week's top 10 finds 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' finally easing up on the throttle and moving from #2 to #5 (101,000); the soundtrack to "The Matrix Reloaded" dropping a spot to #6 (94,000); Norah Jones' Come Away With Me cracking the 6 million mark at #7 (83,000); the soundtrack to "Lizzie McGuire" holding at #8 (77,000); and The Very Best of Cher slipping a spot to #10 (73,000).

Ricky Martin's Almas Del Silencio, his first Spanish-language studio album since 1998's Vuelve, will land at #12, with more than 65,000 in first-week sales. Country singer Jo Dee Messina's Greatest Hits will place at #14, and the clown prince of parody "Weird Al" Yankovic will proudly wear his Poodle Hat at #17.

With more guests than the Hilton during a Shriners convention, DJ Kay Slay's The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1 will find itself at #22. If the beef farmer and self-professed drama king has a problem with his placement, bet on hearing all about it on his next mixtape.

Two current chart champions will take massive nosedives following their big first-week debuts. Marilyn Manson, whose The Golden Age of Grotesque took the #1 slot, will plummet 20 spots, thanks to a 73,000 dip in weekly sales. Cold's Year of the Spider, meanwhile, will take a chilling 26-spot descent to #29 as weekly sales withered from 101,000 to just 37,000.

Other notable debuts on next week's chart include Powerman 5000's long-awaited and completely redone third album, Transform, at #27; Birds of Pray, Live's follow-up to 2001's V, at #28; horny punks Less Than Jake's Anthem at #45; singer/songwriter semi-supergroup (Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, Pete Droge) the Thorns' self-titled debut at #62; the various-artist collection Punk-O-Rama Vol. 8 at #79; and California pop band Rooney's self-titled LP at #141.

• Staind
• Deftones
• Kelly Clarkson
• Ricky Martin
• David Banner

Who knows the streets better than DJ Kay Slay? In addition to his proficiency on the 1s and 2s, this week Kay Slay can officially add Streetsweeper to his resume. The album features "50 Shot Ya," by 50 Cent, "Purple Haze" by the Diplomats and Cam'ron, and "Freestyle" by Eminem.

Staind expose 14 Shades of Grey on their latest album, which includes a DVD documenting the band's history, concert footage and behind-the-scenes action, while the Deftones show their action in the song titles. See songs like "Moana," "When Girls Telephone Boys" and "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event."

Former Poison frontman Bret Michaels gives us Songs of Life, and on another solo effort, former Onyx member Fredro Starr offers the sage advice Don't Get Mad, Get Money.

Other notable releases: Cherrywine, the band fronted by former Digable Planets principal Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, and their Bright Black, with its funked-up, spaced-out sounds; and Starlight Mints' second album, Built on Squares, whose quirky pop reveals subtle nods to the Pixies, the Kinks, Pavement and the Flaming Lips.

Finally, Weird Al Yankovic kicks out the jams on Poodle Hat, featuring his "Lose Yourself" parody, "Couch Potato."

Out Tuesday, May 20:

• Acceptance - Black Lines to Battlefields (Militia)
• Aeternus - Darker Monument (Candlelight)
• Affair - No Substitute (MTM)
• Akrobatik - Balance (Coup d'Etat)
• Matti Alfonzetti - Machine (MTM)
• Amber Asylum - Learn to Love Your Cancer (United States Dist)
• American Dog - Red, White, Black and Blue (Glue Factory)
• Anti-Anti - Horray for Everything (Fast Music)
• Angie Aparo - One With the Sun (Oarfin)
• Articles of Faith - Fortunate Son (EP, Alternative Tentacles)
• Mark Bacino - Million Dollar Milkshake (Parasol)
• David Banner - Mississippi: The Album (Universal)
• Jeff Bates - Rainbow Man (RCA)
• Beavershot - Beavershot (Raucous)
• Bedroom Heroes - Sea Change (Standard Recording)
• Dave Beegle - Beyond the Desert (Hapi Skratch)
• Black Dynasty - Reality Check: Deep East (Community)
• Bavu Blakes - Create & Hustle (Bomb Hip Hop)
• Betty Blowtorch - Last Call: Memorial Rarities Collection (Foodchain)
• Big Dismal - Believe (Wind-up)
• Biloxi - Right the Music (MTM)
• Gus Black - Uncivilized Love (Immergent)
• Black Cross - Art Offensive (Equal Vision)
• Tim Blake - Tide of the Century (United States Dist)
• The Bluebirds - Highway 80 East (Louisiana Red Hot)
• Boz Boorer - My Wild Life (Raucous)
• Brave - Searching for the Sun (The End)
• Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies - Daddy of Western Swing (Proper Box)
• T. Graham Brown - Next Right Thing (Compendia)
• Burning Point - Feeding the Flames (Limb)
• Callenish Circle - My Passion Your Pain (Metal Blade)
• Canyon - Canyon Live in NYC (DCN)
• Kevin Ceballo - Yo Soy Ese Hombre (RMM)
• Celebrity - Lovesick (Doghouse)
• The Chaos Engine - Escape Ferocity (United States Dist)
• Chap - Horse (Lo)
• Charger - Confessions of a Man Mad Enough to Live Amongst Beasts (Peaceville/Snapper)
• Cherrywine - Bright Black (Dcide)
• The Children's Hour - SOS JFK (Minty Fresh)
• Chinchilla - Madtropolis (Metal Blade)
• The Commercials - It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It (Blackout)
• Rusty Cooley - Rusty Cooley (Lion Music)
• Alex Cortiz - Mesmerising (Kriztal)
• Craig G - This Is Now (D&D)
• Paul Craver - Let the Music Play (Ripete)
• Dame Darcy - Greatest Hits (Action Driver)
• Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (Victory)
• Daughter - Skin (Aum Fidelity)
• Deadbolt - Haight Street Hippie Massacre (Headhunter)
• Deadline - Back for More (Captain Oi!)
• Death on Wednesday - Songs to To (Sidecho)
• Defiled - Divination (Season Mist America)
• Deftones - Deftones (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Deftones Almost Done With Deftones — For Real This Time"
  Buy Now: Deftones (Warner Bros.)
• Deminer - Woes and So's (Johanns Face)
• Sir Bald Diddley & His Wigouts - Man With Two Left Hands (Raucous)
• Die Monitr Batss - Youth Controllerzzz (Dim Mak)
• The Dining Rooms - Tre (Guidance)
• The Divorce - There Will Be Blood Tonight (Tooth & Nail)
• DJ Kay Slay - Streetsweeper, Vol. 1 (Sony)
• Donnie - Colored Section (Universal)
• D.U.S.T. - From the Sublime to the Obscene (United States Dist)
• Dwele - Subject (Virgin)
• Earth Wind & Fire - Promise (Kalimba)
• Earwigs/Dataclast - Split (Crucial Blast)
• The Eaves - Eaves (Ace Fu)
• Eisley - Laughing City (EP, Warner Bros)
• Electric Six - Fire (Beggars XL)
• Empire - Trading Souls (Lion Music)
• Enslaved - Below the Lights (The End)
• Esmerine - If Only a Sweet Surrender (Ninja Tune)
• Esperanto - Play This Anywhere (Uprising)
• Eternal Flame - King of the King (MTM)
• FBC - Born to Hustle (Shot Callin)
• Feeder - Comfort in Sound (Universal)
• The Flaming Sideburns - Sky Pilots (Jetset)
• Forgotten - Out of Print (Better Youth Organization)
• The Forgotten/The Headaches - Split (People Like You)
• Frantic Flintstones - EP Collection (Raucous)
• Fresh Blueberry Pancake - Heavy (Shadoks Music)
• Freudstein - Mondo Freudo (United States Dist)
• Freya - As the Last Light Drains (Victory)
• Marty Friedman - Music for Speeding (Favored Nations)
• Jeff Friedman - Slo and Lo (Accurate)
• Hirsh Gardner - Wasteland for Broken Hearts (MTM)
• Ghost Cauldron - Invent Modest Fires (K7)
• Mickey Gilley - Invitation Only (Varese)
• Good Riddance - Bound by Ties of Blood and Affection (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Goteki - Goteki O/S (United States Dist)
• Government Issue - Strange Wine: Live at CBGB (Dr. Strange)
• The Guild League - Private Transport (Matinee)
• Guyana Punch Line - Direkt Aktion (Prank)
• Sammy Hagar - Hallelujah (Sanctuary)
• Neil Hagerty & the Howling Hex - Howling Hex (Drag City)
• Hanzel und Gretyl - Uber Alles (Metropolis)
• Ed Harcourt - From Every Sphere (Astralwerks)
• Jesse Harris & the Ferdinandos - Secret Sun (Blue Thumb)
• Hatesphere - Bloodred Hatred (Century Media)
• Richard Hawley - Lowedges (Beggars XL)
• Helicopter Helicopter - Wild Dogs With X-Rays Eyes (Initial)
• Helloween - Rabbit Don't Come Easy (Nuclear Blast America)
• Hello Defective - Kill Us Now (Element)
• Homesick for Space - Unison (Lakeshore)
• Marques Houston - MH (Interscope)
• Neilson Hubbard - Sing Into Me (Parasol)
• William Hut - Road Star Doolittle (Five One)
• Hybrid Freak Division - Non Conformative (Lion Music)
• Ignition - Ignition (MTM)
• Ikara Colt - Basic Instructions (EP, Epitaph)
• In Dying Days - After the Fire (One Day Savior)
• Incognito - Who Needs Love (Dome)
• Invictus - Black Heart (Limb)
• Iota - Iota (Shadoks Music)
• J Boogie - J Boogie's Dubtronic Science (OM)
• J-Sce the Mastermind - Brain Food (Buymai)
• Jedi Mind Tricks - Psycho-Social CD (Babygrande)
• Joan of Arc - In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust (Perishable)
• Kaito - band-red (Spin Art)
• Karda Estra - Constellations (Cyclops)
• King Drapes - King Drapes Stomp (Raucous)
• King's X - Black Like Sunday (Metal Blade)
• Kuprij/Ferrigno/Leal - Promised Land (Lion Music)
• Less Than Jake - Anthem (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Less Than Jake Want More Than Partying On Anthem LP"
  Buy Now: Anthem (Warner Bros.)
• The Liberty Ship - Northern Angel (EP, Matinee)
• Like Young - Art Contest (Parasol)
• Lilys - Precollection (Manifesto)
• Live - Birds of Pray (MCA)
• Love and Rockets - So Alive (Psychobaby)
• Lynch Mob - Revolution (Cleopatra)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Vicious Cycle (Sanctuary)
• The Marked Men - Marked Men (Rip Off)
• Ricky Martin - Almas del Silencio (Sony)
  Buy Now: Almas del Silencio (Sony)
• Matchbox - Rockabilly Dynamos, Vol. 1 (Raucous)
• Lars Eric Mattsson - Power Games (Lion Music)
• Cass McCombs - A (Monitor)
• Melodie Group - Updownaround (Matinee)
• Mendelbaum - Mendelbaum (Shadoks)
• Raz Mesinai - Resurrections for Goatskin (Tzadik)
• The Meteors - Psychobilly (People Like You)
• Bret Michaels - Songs of Life (Poor Boy)
  Read: "Open Up And Say 'Aww ...' — Bret Michaels Croons For Daughter On Solo LP"
• Mindfield - Below (Lifeforce)
• Miracle Chosuke - 7/8 Wonders of the World (Dim Mak)
• M.O.D. - Rebel You Love to Hate (Nuclear Blast America)
• Matthew Moon - XOM (Hapi Skratch)
• La Mosca Tsé Tsé - Tango Latino (EMI)
• Much the Same - Quitters Never Win (Af)
• Narnia - Great Fall (Nuclear Blast America)
• Nedelle - Republic of Two (Kimchee)
• Network - Best of: View From the Bar (Wenlock)
• Nocturne - Axis of Evil: Mixes of Mass Destruction (Underground Inc.)
• North Mississippi Allstars - Polaris (Artemis)
• A Northern Chorus - Spirit Flags (Sonic Unyon)
• Noxagt - Turning It Down Since 2001 (Load)
• N.V.A. - Straight From the Crate, Vol. 1 (Avatar)
• John Oates - All Good People (Liquid 8)
• Ohm - Ohm (Lion Music)
• On Trial - Blinded by the Sun (Tee Pee)
• The Ordinary Way - Dojo (Bos Music)
• Robert Palmer - Drive (Compendia)
• Papa Reu - Certified (Rue Musik)
• Perfect Murder - Cease to Suffer (Suburban Home)
• The Pernice Brothers - Yours, Mine and Ours (Ashmont)
• Pink & Brown - Shame Fantasy II (Load)
• Pipas - Cat Escaped (Matinee)
• Post Stardom Depression - Ordinary Miracles (Control Group)
• Jeff Potter & the Rhythm Agents - Rhythm Riot (Raucous)
• Powerman 5000 - Transform (DreamWorks)
  Read: "Powerman 5000 Bury The Zombie And Transform Their Sound"
  Buy Now: Transform (DreamWorks)
• Presence - Rise (Curb)
• Protagonist - Hope and Rage (Blackout)
• Pseudo Heroes - Prison of Small Perceptions (Go Kart)
• Railer - Frame of Mind (Underground Inc)
• Rappin' 4-Tay - Gangsta Gumbo (Liquid 8)
• The Real McKenzies - Oot & Aboot (Honest Don's Hardly)
• The Red Hot Valentines - Summer Fling (Polyvinyl)
• The Red King - Vitreolvm (The End)
• Rexway - Last Call Scars (Hapi Skratch)
• Righteous Boy - I Sing Because of You (Future Farmer)
• Robinella & the CC String Band - Robinella & The CC String Band (Sony)
• Amanda Rogers - Place You Dwell (Immigrant Sun)
• Rooney - Rooney (Geffen)
  Read: "Rooney Look To The Past For Pop Perfection On Debut LP"
  Buy Now: Rooney (Geffen)
• Sadis Euphoria - Instinct and Obsession (Willowtip)
• The Scoldees - Nightcap World (Off Hour Rockers)
• Science Fiction - Walls Don't Exist (Third Earth Music)
• Serart - Serart (Sony)
  Read: "System Of A Down Frontman Gets Even More Eclectic On New LP"
• Shai Hulud - That Within Blood Ill-Tempered (Revelation)
• Kate Shindle - Till Today (Skip Sams)
• Silverstein - When Broken Is Easily Fixed (Victory)
• Solefald - In Harmonia Universali (Century Media)
• Son Doobie - Funk Superhero (Battle Axe)
• Soulless - Agony's Lament (Crash Music)
• SouthFM - Drama Kids (MCA)
• Staind - 14 Shades of Grey (Elektra)
  Read: "New Staind LP Marked By Grey Matters"
  Buy Now: 14 Shades of Grey (Elektra)
• Starflyer 59 - Old (Tooth & Nail)
• Starlight Mints - Built on Squares (Pias)
• Fredro Starr - Don't Get Mad, Get Money (Riviera)
• Street Talk - Restoration (MTM)
• Joe Stump - Armed and Ready (Leviathan)
• Sumptin' Terrible - Sumptin' Terrible (Thizz)
• Suntan - Send You Home (Kimchee)
• Swift - Communication Manual (Tribunal)
• Swimming Pool Q's - Royal Academy of Reality (Bar/None)
• Tarantella Serpentine - Class One Laser Product (United States Dist)
• Therapy? - High Anxiety (Spitfire)
• 1349 Rykkinn - Brown Ring of Fury (Jester)
• The Thorns - Thorns (Sony)
• Those Peabodys - Unite Tonight (Tiger Style)
• The Threats - Demos and Rarities (Dr. Strange)
• To/Die/For - Jaded (Nuclear Blast America)
• Toshack Highway/Sianspheric - Magnetic Morning/Asperin Age (Sonic Unyon)
• The Tyde - Go Ask Yer Dad (EP, Sanctuary)
• Ultimate Fakebook - Before We Spark (Initial)
• Ultra X - Taste the X (Bomb Hip Hop)
• Uproar - And the Lord Said (Step 1)
• Vanderhoof - Blur in Time (Steamhammer)
• Verbena - Musica Negra (Capitol)
• Very Ape - Kosher Boogie (Alive)
• Void - Posthuman (Candlelight)
• Rocky Votolato - Light and the Sound (EP, Second Nature)
• Weird Al Yankovic - Poodle Hat (Volcano)
  Read: "Weird Al Parodies 'Lose Yourself' But Won't Spoof Em's Video"
  Buy Now: Poodle Hat (Volcano)
• X27 - Your Neu Favourite Band (Narnack)
• Jesse Colin Young - Walk the Talk (Liquid 8)
• Various artists - America the Beautiful (Sony)
• Various artists - Black & Proud: The Soul of the Black Panther Era (Trikont)
• Various artists - Booty Summer Party 2003 (Little Joe)
• Various artists - Casey Kasem Presents: America's Top Ten (Top Sail)
• Various artists - Guitar Ace: A Tribute to Link Wray (Musick)
• Various artists - Hits of 1952 (Memoir)
• Various artists - Hardest Hits (SPG)
• Various artists - Ingredients Step, Vol. 5 (Good Looking)
• Various artists - Lexoleum (Lex)
• Various artists - Lullaby for the Apocalypse (Uprising)
• Various artists - Lyricist Lounge: West Coast (BP Metro)
• Various artists - Non-Stop Bluegrass (K-Tel Entertainment)
• Various artists - Now That's Chicago (Sony)
• Various artists - Patriot Songbook (Hollywood)
• Various artists - Punk-O-Rama, Vol. 8 (Epitaph)
• Various artists - Punk vs. Emo (Fast Music)
• Various artists – "Queer as Folk" Third Season (Tommy Boy)
• Various artists - Riddim Driven: Time Travel (VP)
• Various artists - Sound Pollution: High Energy High Voltage (Pollution)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Garth Brooks (Vitamin)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Linkin Park (Vitamin)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Rod Stewart (Vitamin)
• Various artists - String Quartet Tribute to Staind (Vitamin)
• Various artists - Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Tribute to 3 Doors Down (Big Eye)
• Various artists - Ultimate Diva Collection: The Diva Series (Verve)
• Various artists - Ultimate Wedding Hits, Vols. 1 &2 (Curb)

May 27:

• Lillix - Falling Uphill (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Lillix Pair Angelic Voices With Rock Sensibilities On Debut"
• Local H - No Fun (Thick)
• Vince Neil - Live One Night Only (Image)

• Jewel - 0304 (Atlantic)
  Read: "Jewel Bites Into A Musical Pickle-And-Peanut Butter Sandwich"
  Buy Now: 0304 (Atlantic)
• Monica - All Eyez on Me (J)
  Read: "Monica Revises Leaked LP With Help From Missy Elliott"
• Sugar Ray - In Pursuit of Leisure (Atlantic)
  Read: "Babies, Marriage Somehow Lead Sugar Ray To Write A Club Song"
• Train - My Private Nation (Sony)

• Duran Duran - Singles Box Set 1981-1985 (Capitol)
• Justin Guarini - TBD (RCA)
• Metallica - St. Anger (2 CDs, Elektra)
  Read: "Metallica Album Preview: Damage Inc. Is Back In Business"
  Buy Now: St. Anger (2 CDs, Elektra)
• Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
  Read: "New Radiohead Album, Hail To The Thief, Due In June"
• Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father (J)

• Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive)

• Gang Starr - The Ownerz (Virgin)

• Beyoncé - Dangerously in Love (Sony)
• Triumph the Insult Comic Dog - TBD (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Eminem Enemy Triumph Previews LP; Beefs With Bow Wow, Benji"

• Macy Gray - The Trouble With Being Myself (Sony)

• Deftones
• Staind
• DJ Kayslay
• Less Than Jake
• Weird Al Yankovic

Warped Tour 10th Anniversary Show at Foxboro Stadium in Boston 08.20.2004

• Good Charlotte
• New Found Glory
• Bad Religion
• Rancid
• Less Than Jake

Less Than Jake Anthem Album Art

• Less Than Jake