Common's <i>Finding Forever</i>
Photo: Universal Music Group

Jimmy Hoffa, head of the Teamsters Union, went missing 32 years ago Tuesday (July 31). So, in the spirit of the anniversary, here are the artists you should be keeping an eye on this week:

The Big Five:

Common's Finding Forever
For his seventh studio effort, the smooth Chicago MC partnered with the expected (Kanye West), the unexpected (Lily Allen), the ubiquitous (Will.I.Am), the hard-to-find (D'Angelo) — and even the recently passed (J Dilla). Showing even more variety, Com proves he is like no other by sampling 2Pac, Gil Scott-Heron and Mountain all over the course of one track: "The People." Other tunes include "Black Maybe," "Break My Heart" and the album-closing "Forever Begins" (shouldn't that be the first track?).

Korn's Untitled
The last album the band owes Virgin Records is littered with 13 songs, including "Innocent Bystander," "Hushabye" and "B---h We Got a Problem" — which, surprisingly, didn't get the album-title honor as well. But if you're the type of Korn fan who always wants seconds, make sure you gobble up the deluxe edition — it's packed with a fold-out poster, postcards and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes clips and photos. Plus, if you're in need of an extra shirt after seeing the band play at the Family Values Tour, there's a tee that buyers of the deluxe edition can redeem online too.

Various artists' Kidz Bop 12
This franchise has nothing on the Now series — roughly half the installments from the latter, including the recent 25th volume, have debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart. But Kidz Bop has held its own, with its chapters often earning gold certification. This one's got Avril Lavigne ("Girlfriend"), Kelly Clarkson ("Never Again"), Maroon 5 ("Makes Me Wonder"), Daughtry ("It's Not Over" and "Home") and more.

The Starting Line's Direction
After an album on Drive-Thru and another on Geffen, the Pennsylvania pop-punk band is switching gears again with its first effort for Virgin. While frontman Kenny Vasoli has said he looked to Bob Dylan and James Brown for inspiration (cough, cough), modern-rock production pro Howard Benson took the gang under his wing for the effort, which includes "Way With Words," "Something Left to Give" and "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us."

Keith Murray's Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear of Real Hip-Hop)
Convoluted album title aside, the vet is back in a big way this week — his fifth studio LP (and first in four years) was executive produced by Erick Sermon and features Tyrese and Junior (on the first single, "Nobody Do It Better"); plus Method Man, Redman, his Def Squad troupe and more. It could be his most beautifullest album yet.

Four Mo':

Mandisa's True Beauty
Little more than a year after getting the boot from "American Idol," the former finalist is getting love from the Christian-music market with her first album. The set includes a rendition of gospel group Mary Mary's "Shackles (Praise You)" — Mandisa covered it on "Idol" too — as well as another gospel track, "Only the World," but True Beauty is generally being considered an R&B release.

Sean Kingston's Sean Kingston
With 50 Cent and Rihanna collaborator J.R. Rotem producing every track on this effort, you might mistake it for a rap or R&B album — but front to back, this is a pure reggae release. Hear the 17-year-old Kingston — and nephew of reggae hero Buju Banton — chilling out on "That Ain't Right," "Got No Shorty" and "Take You There."

Placebo's Extended Play '07
Chalk this one up to smart marketing: Knowing full well that many of the young fans on the Projekt Revolution tour probably aren't familiar with the 10-year-old band, Virgin has lumped together five of the group's classic songs in the form of a new introductory EP. But the fans get appeased too — rounding out the disc are three unreleased live recordings.

DevilDriver's The Last Kind Words
Dez Fafara and his band of groove metallers just hopped onto this year's Ozzfest — perfect timing to promote their third release for Roadrunner. In case "Head on the Heartache (Let Them Rot)," "Monsters of the Deep" and "Horn of Betrayal" aren't heavy enough for you, Last Kind Words copies sold at Hot Topic have an extra track — "Damning the Heavens" — while a live rendition of "Grinf---ed" comes with iTunes orders.

Song Title of the Week:

"For Evan's Sake" from Weedeater's God Luck and Good Speed

Album Cover of the Week:

Shivaree's Tainted Love: Mating Calls and Fight Songs

Other Notables:

1990s' Cookies
After Glasgow rocker John McKeown burned out on his other projects the Yummy Fur — which boasted members who went on to join Franz Ferdinand, by the way — and the Girls and the Mars Hotel, he channeled his energy into this new squad. For their debut set, the former Strokes and Babyshambles tour partners came up with "See You at the Lights," "Pollokshields" and "You're Supposed to Be My Friend."

Alan Vega's Station
The man better known as one-half of seminal experimental-punk duo Suicide tracked his 10th studio LP in New York from 2004-2006, playing all the instruments and recording the whole shebang on his own. Tracks on the politically charged album include "Warrior, Fight Fa Ya Life," "13 Crosses, 16 Blazin' Skulls" and "Freedom's Smashed."

Entombed's Serpent Saints
And in case that's not enough impious music for you in one week, look no further than these Swedish metallers and their first album in four years. Indisputably uplifting songs include "The Dead, the Dying and the Dying to Be Dead," "Warfare Plague Famine Death" and "The Kingdom Coma."

New Releases:

· 1990s - Cookies (Rough Trade)
· A Shoreline Dream - Coastal (EP; Latenight Weeknight)
· Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold (Caroline)
· Luka Bloom - Tribe (Cooking Vinyl)
· Budos Band - The Budos Band II (Daptone)
· Tammy Cochran - Where I Am (Shanachie)
· Common - Finding Forever (Universal) [Buy Now]
Read: "Kanye West, Lily Allen Finding Something In Common"
· Crionics - Neu Throne (enhanced; Candlelight)
· Dave Davies - Fractured Mindz (Koch)
· DevilDriver - The Last Kind Words (Roadrunner)
· Duo Dynamic - Unrest for Peace (River Bend)
· Ellegarden - Eleven Fire Crackers (Nettwerk)
· Entombed - Serpent Saints (Candlelight)
· Five Finger Death Punch - Way of the Fist (Firm)
· Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding - It's Now or Never (Rykodisc)
· Charlie Hunter Trio - Mistico (Fantasy)
· Jeff Kashiwa - Play (Native Language)
· Kia Shine - Due Season (Universal) [Buy Now]
· Sean Kingston - Sean Kingston (Epic) [Buy Now]
Read: "Sean Kingston Is Glad He Got Dissed By Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz On MySpace"
· Korn - Untitled (deluxe edition with bonus DVD also available; Virgin) [Buy Now]
Read: "Korn Are Cracking Up Over Eighth LP's 'Gothic Feel,' Munky Says"
· Mandisa - True Beauty (Sparrow)
· Keith Murray - Rap-Murr-Phobia (Fear of Real Hip-Hop) (Koch) [Buy Now]
· Naked Eyes - Fumbling With the Covers (Oglio)
· Chase Pagan - Oh, Musica! (Militia Group)
· Polly Paulusma - Fingers & Thumbs (One Little Indian)
· The Phantom Family Halo - The Legend of Black Six (Cold Sweat)
· Powerspace - The Kicks of Passion (Atlantic)
· Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House (Nettwerk)
· Shivaree - Tainted Love: Mating Calls and Fight Songs (Zöe/Rounder)
· Soulive - No Place Like Soul (Stax)
· The Starting Line - Direction (Virgin)
· Tokyo Rose - The Promise in Compromise (Sidecho)
· Alan Vega - Station (deluxe edition; Mute)
· Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed (Southern Lord)
· Whitechapel - Somatic Defilement (Candlelight)
· Yo-Yo Ma - New Impossibilities (Sony Classics)
· Various artists - Kidz Bop 12 (Razor & Tie)
· Various artists - "Arctic Tale" soundtrack (Bulletproof)
· Various artists - "Hot Rod" soundtrack (Legacy)
· Various artists - "The Bourne Ultimatum" soundtrack (Decca)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · 40 Below Summer - Rain (Crash)
· Bizzy Bone - The Best of Bizzy Bone (Real Talk)
· Deep Purple - Come Taste the Band; Made in Europe; and Stormbringer (Friday)
· Dr. Hook - Greatest Hooks (Capitol/EMI)
· Ella Fitzgerald - Love Letters From Ella (Concord)
· Jimmy Eat World - Clarity and Static Prevails (Capitol/EMI)
· Bob Marley and the Wailers - Roots, Rock, Remixed (Quango/Fontana)
· Placebo - Extended Play '07 (Virgin)
· Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas (RCA)
· Raspberries - Live on Sunday Strip (deluxe version comes with bonus CD and DVD; Rykodisc)
· Johnny Rivers and His L.A. Boogie Band - Last Boogie in Pars: The Complete Concert (Shout! Factory)
· Various artists - Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 1: 1967 (five-CD box set; Hip-O Select)
· Various artists - Down Home Saturday Night (Smithsonian Folkways)
· Various artists - Old Town School of Folk Music Song Book, Vol. 2 and 3 (two CDs; Old Town School)

Music DVDs:

· David Bowie - "Glass Spider" (limited-edition set with two CDs; Virgin/EMI)
· The Lovin' Spoonful - "Do You Believe in Magic: The Music of John Sebastian & the Lovin' Spoonful" (Standing Room Only)
· Ratt - "Videos From the Cellar: The Atlantic Years" (Rhino)
· Various artists - "Los Zafiros - Music From the Edge of Time" (Shout! Factory)
· Various artists - "Rap Sheet: Hip-Hop and the Cops" (Universal)

Coming Attractions:

August 7:
· Constantine Maroulis - Constantine (6th Place)
Read: " 'American Idol' Vets Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis Can't Stop Rockin' "
· Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
· UGK - Underground Kingz (two CDs; Jive) [Preorder]
Read: "Ex-Con Pimp C Juiced For UGK Album, Says He Has Lessons To Teach"

August 14:
· Blaqk Audio - Cexcells (Interscope)
Read: "AFI Members Have Another Fire Inside: Side Project Blaqk Audio"
· Wayne Wonder - Foreva (VP)
· Various artists - "High School Musical 2" soundtrack (Disney)
Read: " 'High School Musical' Stars Dish On Sequel's Showstoppers, Love Triangles"

August 21:
· As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us (Metal Blade) [Preorder]
· Cartel - Cartel (Epic) [Preorder]
Read: "Pop-Punks Cartel Show Off Grandma's Digs, Borrow Benz For 'Cribs' "
· Talib Kweli - Ear Drum (Reprise) [Preorder]
Read: "Stung By Criticism Of Last LP, Talib Kweli Promises No Sting Samples This Time"
· New Pornographers - Challengers (Matador)
· Swizz Beatz - One Man Band Man (enhanced; Motown) [Preorder]
Read: "Beyonce Hitmaker Swizz Beatz Defies Radio Rules With Two-Minute Single"

• Common
• Korn
• The Starting Line
• Placebo
• Keith Murray

Brian Molko at Slim's in San Francisco on Sunday.
Photo: John Shearer

SAN FRANCISCO — Placebo singer Brian Molko set the tone for Sunday night's show with his first comments to the crowd: "You'll have to indulge me, pretentious f---er that I am."

With the help of Molko's between-song banter ("Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Brian Molko, and I am an alcoholic"), the British glam-rockers kept a packed Slim's rocking and moshing for 90 minutes, throwing a few older nuggets into the set, but focusing on their third and most recent album, Black Market Music. They kicked off the set with the melodic "Haemoglobin" and quickly gained momentum via the Without You I'm Nothing rocker "Scared of Girls" and "36 Degrees," the sole offering from their 1996 self-titled debut.

When several fans shouted for that album's first single, "Nancy Boy," Molko scoffed, "'Nancy Boy'? In the history of the world, a song as f---ing stupid as 'Nancy Boy' has not been written." The chatty Molko apologized repeatedly for being drunk and proved it by forgetting the first verse of "Every You Every Me," laughing and finally getting back on track by the third verse. Statuesque bassist Stefan Olsdal, who doubled on guitar, filled in vocals on "Without You I'm Nothing," while Molko knelt on the stage, lazily strumming his guitar.

The singer returned to the mic to belt out Queens of the Stone Age's "Feel Good Hit of the Summer," which fit the theme of the evening with its mantra of "Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy, alcohol," and played a double-whammy for the moshers — the back-to-back Black Market singles "Special K" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Taste in Men."

Placebo revealed their sweeter side during the ballad "My Sweet Prince," and Molko played piano on "Peeping Tom" and the lilting "Leni," a B-side to "Slave to the Wage." Rapper Justin Warfield, who provided the rapped tirade in "Spite & Malice", returned to add the laundry list from "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" to the final encore, "Pure Morning."

The evening began with a short, tight set of vigorous pop-punk from Scottish rockers Idlewild. Despite problems with singer Roddy Woomble's mic, the group tore through 10 songs in 40 minutes, getting the crowd moving with "Little Discourage" (RealAudio excerpt) and "I Don't Have a Map" from their latest album, 100 Broken Windows, released in the U.S. in March.

The Placebo/Idlewild tour continues Tuesday at the Palace in Hollywood.

• Placebo
• Idlewild

Foo Fighters
Photo: Danny Clinch

Although many of the U.K.'s fabled summer music festivals have been daunted by the rash of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, V2001 is charging fearlessly ahead with a lineup that includes the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The recently finalized lineup also includes David Gray, Coldplay and Doves, a V2001 spokesperson said. The massive annual concert will take place at two English locations — Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and Weston Park, Stafforshire — over the weekend of August 18-19, and tickets go on sale Saturday.

The Chili Peppers will headline Saturday's Weston Park show and Sunday's show in Chelmsford. Meanwhile, Coldplay and Texas will co-headline the Saturday gig in Chelmsford before heading over to Weston Park for Sunday night wrap-up duties.

Other bands scheduled to play V2001 include the Charlatans U.K., Muse, Placebo, JJ72, Grandaddy, Toploader, Faithless, the Divine Comedy, Shed Seven and Stairsailor.

• Foo Fighters
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Coldplay
• David Gray
• Doves

After spreading their Black Market Music across Europe in October, British glam-punk trio Placebo will finally release their new album in the U.S. on May 8.

In conjunction with the album's release, Placebo have mapped out plans for an extensive North American trek with Idlewild. The outing's slated to launch April 30 in Detroit and continue through a May 29 gig in New York.

But before their dates with Idlewild, Placebo will play a few Canadian dates with Ether Net as the supporting act, beginning April 26 in Toronto.

"They're real kindred spirits, Idlewild," Placebo frontman Brian Molko said of the Scottish group, which will be touring to support its new release, 100 Broken Windows. "They've done a lot of touring with us in Europe and they're a fantastic band, so it will prove to be a really good show," Molko added. "I just can't get over their new record." Placebo sold more than 100,000 copies of their most recent album, 1998's Without You I'm Nothing — far more than records from such critically lauded British imports as Gomez, Stereophonics and Badly Drawn Boy. They delayed the U.S. release of Black Market Music until they could work out the logistics for an accompanying tour, according to Molko.

"The decision was [made] to release the record ... when we could actually come over and play and take the music to the people, because that, we feel, is our best promotion, really," he said. That's how you gain a loyal following, and that's how bands like U2 and R.E.M. did it. We just wanted to be here when the record came out to give it a bit of momentum by doing some hopefully excellent shows." Based on the album's performance in Europe, where it went top 20 in 12 countries — including top-five appearances in Germany, Greece and France — Placebo are hoping Black Market Music will be an even easier sell for American audiences, who will be served the album's third UK single, "Special K," first.

"That doesn't bother me, to be honest, to release different singles in different countries at different times," Molko said. "I think it's quite interesting to have these different songs just floating around the airwaves." "Special K" already has generated minor controversy in the UK because of its reference to Ketamide, a common veterinary sedative that has become popular on the Euro club scene because of the drug's psychedelic effect on humans.

"It's actually a love song. It's not a song that promotes the use of controlled substances," Molko contended after comparing the track to Sly and the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher." "All it does is kind of compare the rush of coming up on controlled substances to the rush of falling head over heels in love," he said. "An infatuation kind of vibe.

"Ketamide is a horse tranquilizer, and they give it to babies, in really small doses, to stop thrombosis," he continued. "They did experiments with it on astronauts in the U.S. in the '50s in order to create the feeling of anti-gravity. Which is why I don't understand that it's a club drug, because if you feel like you're in anti-gravity, how are you supposed to dance? "[But that explains] the chorus, which goes, 'Gravity/ There's no escaping gravity,' because with ... controlled substances or falling head over heels in love, whatever goes up always comes down." Placebo already shot a video for "Special K" with director Howard Greenhalgh loosely based upon the 1966 sci-fi classic "Fantastic Voyage," a flick in which a group of surgeons are miniaturized so they can internally operate on an important patient.

Dates for Placebo's Black Market Music tour, as provided by the band's label: With Ether Net opening:

• 4/26 - Toronto, ON @ Warehouse
• 4/27 - Montreal, QC @ Spectrum
• 4/28 - Ottawa, ON @ Oliver's

• 4/30 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
• 5/1 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door, Chicago
• 5/2 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
• 5/3 - Winnipeg, MB @ The Pyramids
• 5/6 - Edmonton, AB @ Red's
• 5/7 - Calgary, AB @ Palace
• 5/9 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
• 5/10 - Seattle, CA @ Crocodile Café
• 5/11 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
• 5/13 - San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
• 5/15 - Los Angeles, CA @ Palace
• 5/17 - Mexico City, MX @ Teatro Metropolitan
• 5/19 - Dallas, TX @ Trees, Dallas
• 5/20 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
• 5/22 - Atlanta, GA @ Roxy Theatre
• 5/24 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 5/25 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
• 5/26 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 5/29 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

• Placebo
• Idlewild

Placebo is currently in the midst of co-headlining a U.S. tour with Stabbing Westward, and on Monday night in New York City, the Brit-based trio was joined onstage by a surprise guest -- David Bowie.

• David Bowie
• Placebo

In what may be one of the more interesting tour pairings of the season, moody glam rockers Placebo and the industrial metalmen of Stabbing Westward have agreed to join forces for a co-headlining tour, slated to kick-off in Pittsburgh in late February.

Even though the two bands hail from two rather distinct genres, Placebo and Stabbing Westward have walked in each other's figurative footsteps before, as both groups opened at differing times for the Sex Pistols "Filthy Lucre" tour a few year back.

For Placebo, it will be the chance to build on the rave reviews the band's live show drew back during a short promotional tour of the U.S. in December. In a recent interview with MTV News, the band talked about its live evolution, much of which Placebo credited to the stability offered by drummer Steve Hewitt.

"It's such a tight unit now," Hewitt offered,

"It's just rather obvious that the more you play the better you get," scoffed frontman Brian Molko.

"Exactly," Hewitt agreed.

"We just got a bit more powerful," added bassist Stefan Olsdal. "Tight and large."

"It just connects, you know," Hewitt said, "good chemistry."

"It's as tight as a vicar's dirt box," Molko said, "that's how we say it in ole England." [28.8 RealVideo]

The dates for the Placebo/Stabbing Westward tour:

• 2/25 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Metropol
• 2/26 - Baltimore, MD @ WHFS Radio Show
• 2/27 - Norfolk, VA @ Boathouse
• 3/1 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
• 3/2 - Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
• 3/3 - Orlando, FL @ House Of Blues
• 3/5 - Hallandale, FL @ Button South
• 3/6 - Tampa, FL @ Jannus Landing
• 3/9 - Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theatre
• 3/11 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum
• 3/12 - Oklahoma City,OK @ Diamond Ballroom
• 3/13 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
• 3/16 - St. Louis, MO @ TBA
• 3/16 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
• 3/17 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
• 3/19 - Toronto, ONT @ Warehouse
• 3/20 - Montreal, QUE @ Spectrum
• 3/22 - Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 3/23 - Providence, RI @ Lupos
• 3/26 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 3/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 3/29 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 3/30 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
• 4/1 - Cleveland, OH @ TBA
• 4/2 - Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo
• 4/3 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera
• 4/5 - Milwaukee, WI @ Rave
• 4/6 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest Club
• 4/8 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
• 4/9 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Brick's
• 4/12 - Vancouver, BC @ Rage
• 4/15 - San Francisco @ TBA
• 4/16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Palace

• Placebo
• Stabbing Westward

Placebo have just wrapped up two weeks worth of U.S dates at various radio promo shows across the country, and are planning to return to the states in February to mount a full-scale outing.

• Placebo

Since the release of its debut album two years ago, the sexually-charged, Brit-based group Placebo has developed an association of sorts with rock's reigning chameleon, David Bowie.

Bowie openly touted Placebo and its self-titled first record in the U.K. press, which drew comparisons between Bowie's ambisexual glam-era personas and Placebo's fierce, though ambiguously-themed music. After serving an opening stint on Bowie's '96 European tour, Placebo was tapped to perform at the Thin White Duke's 50th birthday concert in New York last year.

The group also scored a cameo scene (and soundtrack appearance) in the rockudrama "Velvet Goldmine," Todd Haynes' new film that features characters and story elements loosely based on David Bowie and Iggy Pop's '70s creative union.

Placebo was in New York earlier this month to perform at a label showcase, and afterwards MTV Online talked with the band about it's thoughts on Bowie and his ability to remain musically relevant.

"David Bowie has never really been stuck in a rut," said Placebo frontman Brian Molko, "maybe apart from a bit of a dodgy sort of late '80s period, but apart from that he's always searched to reinvent himself and that's always been the impetus for what he does."

"He recognizes quality in new music," Molko continued, "and obviously because he's not dead artistically, he wants to sort of like take the best of what he likes that's around and try to do it on his own way. That's why he's survived and which is why he's still a relevant artist -- and which is why he's still somebody you have to respect."

"He's definitely not scared to push the boundaries," added drummer Steve Hewitt,

• David Bowie
• Placebo

The Brit-based trio of Placebo were in New York over the weekend, where they performed alongside Whale and Gomez at Virgin Records' showcase as part of this year's CMJ Music Fest.

At the conclusion of the band's blistering, 45-minute set, Placebo launched into a relentless version of "Pure Morning," the first single off of the band's just-released sophomore album, "Without You I'm Nothing."

The striking video for "Pure Morning" [28.8 RealVideo] features lead singer Brian Molko dangling rather precariously from the ledge of a multi-story high rise, an idea the band admits to having copped from an old Hollywood film.

"We're tired and bored of performance videos where bands just play their instruments," Molko told MTV, he added, "but for the most part I'm not there really. There was a stunt man out there and all of my work was done basically at a blue screen in a studio. Somehow I think we couldn't get any insurance for me to be on top of a building." [28.8 RealVideo]

Placebo kicks-off a European tour on November 11, but will return to the States in early December to perform at KROQ's annual Christmas show. Placebo then plans to launch a full-scale U.S. tour in February.

• Placebo

ANAHEIM, California — Creed vocalist Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti will start working nights this week as they resume writing the follow-up to 1999's smash Human Clay. Refreshed from taking the holidays off, the songwriting duo plans to buckle down four nights a week and pen an album that intensifies the larger-than-life feel of its predecessor.

"It's gonna be more extreme on all extremities — the harder stuff a little harder, the epic stuff a little more epic," Tremonti said Saturday.

Creed plan to spend the next few months writing before heading into the studio in July and hopefully releasing the disc in October or November. Tremonti said the band, which worked with longtime friend and producer John Kurzweg on both My Own Prison (1997) and Human Clay, has not picked a producer for the album.

The spiritual Florida rockers parted ways with bass player and founding member Brian Marshall in August and hired Brett Hestla as their touring bassist. Hestla will be working on an album with his group Virgos while Creed are recording their LP as a trio, but the bands are considering a joint fall tour after both albums hit stores. Hestla said he would play both sets.

Tremonti, Hestla and Creed drummer Scott Phillips attended last weekend's National Association of Music Merchants trade show in Anaheim, where Paul Reed Smith Guitars unveiled Tremonti's new signature model.

Tremonti said he had been working with PRS to design the guitar for about a year. "It's the baddest guitar on the planet. It's a technically perfect, thick, massive-sounding guitar. I think it's the best in the world today." Creed, who cleaned up at several recent award ceremonies, are up for two Grammys next month. "With Arms Wide Open" is nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Rock Song, the latter of which would go to its songwriters, Tremonti and Stapp.

"A Grammy would be great — I'm just not gonna count on it," Tremonti said. "We've won a lot of awards this year, and I'm happy about 'em. If we don't win a Grammy, we don't win a Grammy. We've got a lot more albums ahead. But we're up for two of them, so we'll keep our fingers crossed." For much more on Creed, don't forget to check out the MTV News Online feature Creed: Higher Learning"

• Placebo

MTV Tours: 2001

• Dave Matthews Band
• Placebo
• blink-182
• *NSYNC
• Coldplay