Our April Fools’ Album Picks
Photo: MTV News

April Fools' Day is possibly the most hilarious (and torturous) 24 hours of the year, a day filled with plastic dog poop, really awful pranks that result in moderate-to-severe head injuries and guilting and shaming those closest to you. Or, at least, that's how it is here at MTV headquarters.

So, in the spirit of the day — and in an attempt to avoid being Maced by MTV News Director of Operations Jonathan Goldner (that dude's hilarious) — I've holed myself up in my office and have decided to grind out a list of the funniest albums of all time. These are the musical equivalents of plastic dog poop ... records that must surely be a joke (perhaps even a mean-spirited one), because there really is no other explanation for their existence.

As a side note, just because I find all these albums to be hilarious doesn't mean they're terrible. In fact, looking at the list again, I'm struck by how many of them I actually like. Still, that's beside the point. April 1 is a cruel day, and I must roll with the punches. So, for your April Fools' Day pleasure, may I present the greatest musical pranks of all time — a handful of records that probably aren't meant to be laughed at, but, as Q-Tip once said, sometimes you've gotta laugh to keep from crying.

Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music (1975): Either the funniest album of all time or the worst (or probably both), Lou Reed's ear-splitting, dissonant and downright atonal double album (!) was greeted with reviews that compared it to "the tubular groaning of a galactic refrigerator" and "a night in a bus terminal" upon its initial release. Anyone who made it through the album's four noisy, feedback-drenched sides probably agreed — they probably also believed that Reed was either joking or had gone completely insane. Reed himself maintained the album was not a joke (he reportedly also claimed it "invented" heavy metal), though in a 2002 interview, he did admit, "I was serious about it. I was also really, really stoned." We're laughing with you, Lou.

Bob & Doug McKenzie, The Great White North (1981): Toqued up Canadian brothers (as played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas) record comedy/concept album about beer, back bacon and black holes, land an improbable cameo by Rush's Geddy Lee, inexplicably score a hit single ("Take Off") as a result. All very funny. The fact that this won the Canadian Grammy for Comedy Album of the Year? Hilarious.

Neil Young, Trans (1982): Imagine Neil Young — hirsute, warbly godfather of grunge — singing almost entirely through a Vocoder. Now imagine he's singing songs with titles like "Computer Age," "Transformer Man" and "Computer Cowboy." Slap a goofy, "Tron"-esque cover on that nightmare, and you've got Trans, an album that befuddled pretty much, well, everyone. Most thought it was an elaborate joke; others believed it was Young at his most satirical, poking fun at the soulless, electro-pop that dominated the decade. Regardless, his record label — Geffen — wasn't pleased, and thanks to this album (and 1983's goofy, 25-minute long Everybody's Rockin'), they sued Young for releasing "uncharacteristic, uncommercial" records. For that reason alone, you need to listen to this.

Ween, 12 Golden Country Greats (1996): OK, for starters, this is a Ween album, recorded using legendary Nashville session musicians like Hargus "Pig" Robbins and Russ Hicks. There are songs featuring Muhammad Ali samples and songs with titles like "Piss Up a Rope" and "Mr. Richard Smoker." Oh, and despite the title, there are only 10 tracks on 12 Golden Country Greats.

Beastie Boys,Country Mike's Greatest Hits (1998): Hey, another country piss-take ... and this one is due to severe head trauma! Sometime between the release of 1994's Ill Communication and 1998's Hello Nasty, Mike D was hit on the head and lost all his memory. According to fellow Beastie Adam Yauch, while he was in the grips of amnesia, D believed himself to be a crooner named Country Mike. Acting on a psychologist's advice, the Beasties played along, recording an album of country cuts with titles like "Don't Let the Air Out of My Tires" and "Country Delight." Some appeared on the 1999 Sounds of Science anthology; the rest have become much-sought Beasties' nuggets. Roughly 90 percent of this is actually true, BTW.

Beck, Midnite Vultures (1999): Do you like party-dude, popping-and-locking Beck, or serious, guy-and-an-acoustic-guitar Beck? Well, if you prefer the former, then boy you must love this album. Sadly, most didn't ... mostly because, for the first time in his entire career, people weren't sure if Beck was joking or not. And while the jury's still out, it's hard to think of anyone being serious while thrusting through tracks like "Sexx Laws" or "Hollywood Freaks." And don't even get me started on album closer "Debra," a gut-busting exercise in libidinous bleating and pleading. Beck hasn't been nearly as funny at any point before (or after).

The Bloodhound Gang, Hooray for Boobies (2000): This album is called Hooray for Boobies. What more do you need to know?

Coheed and Cambria, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (2005): Possibly the goofiest thing Coheed have ever done, and given everything they've done, well, that's saying something. From the doomy riffs of "Welcome Home" to the overarching (and overwrought) story line to the hidden tribute to Led Zeppelin that closes the record, this is prog rock at its most hilarious (to say nothing about Claudio Sanchez's hair or the fact that the band toured behind the album with a winged guillotine onstage). The fact that no one in the band seems to be laughing along with the listener transports this into the realm of high art.

Trans Am, T.A. (2002): Washington, D.C.'s Trans Am have always excelled at pointing out the rather ridiculous extremes of genres like prog and post-rock, but on T.A., they push the pointing into overdrive. Positively bathed in '80s synth sheen and featuring feathered and airbrushed liner notes, it's a completely hilarious send-up, one that also includes brilliantly stoopid joints like "Party Station" and "Different Kind of Love," not to mention a drunken impression of Derek Fisher lifted off someone's answering machine. You have to be smart to be this dumb.

Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Beastie Boys
• Beck
• Neil Young
• Coheed and Cambria

Carrie Underwood's <i>Carnival Ride</i>
Photo: Arista

Everyone's an underdog when pitted against the sales might of someone like Carrie Underwood, who stole the "American Idol" title during the Fox series' fourth season.

After all, the bubbly blonde's debut album, 2005's Some Hearts, has been certified six-times platinum by the RIAA and remains the fastest-selling debut country album in the history of SoundScan. Not only that, but it's one of the best-selling LPs of the last two years. Some Hearts, which eventually yielded five #1 singles, debuted at #2 on Billboard's top 200 with 314,600 copies sold and has sold close to 6 million copies in the U.S. alone. It hasn't fallen out of the top 200 once since its initial release.

So let's face it — no one in the music business awoke this morning and was shocked to learn that Underwood's sophomore LP, Carnival Ride, opens at #1 on next week's albums sales chart with an impressive 527,000 in week-one scans.

Carnival Ride becomes the artist's first chart-topping bow, and she walked away with the win. Raising Sand, a collaborative offering from Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass pioneer Alison Krauss, came closest to Underwood, opening at #2 with 112,300 sold, according to the latest SoundScan totals. That's a margin of nearly 415,000 albums separating #1 from #2.

Carnival Ride is now one of the best-selling debuts of 2007, following Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight (with 623,000 scans), 50 Cent's Curtis (691,000) and Kanye West's Graduation (957,000).

All told, 27 new releases enter next week's chart, with six finishing in the top 10. Right behind Plant and Krauss at #3 is the latest from country stud Gary Allan, Living Hard, which sold 69,200 copies. The politically charged debut solo album from System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, Elect the Dead, opens at #4, having sold 66,000 units. When asked during a recent MTV News interview about the prospect of debuting in the chart's top 10, Tankian said, "I'd be happy, but I just made the record I was meant to make — whatever it's going to do, it's going to do."

Coming in at #6, with sales reported at 61,900, is Coheed and Cambria's new one, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. Two: No World for Tomorrow. It marks the band's highest career debut, as well as its highest chart position. And returning to the chart at #9, thanks to sales of close to 56,900, is Seether's latest, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces.

The rest of the top 10 is filled out by the usual assortment of artists: Josh Groban's Noel finishes at #5 with 65,400 sold, while Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus slides five spots to #7, selling another 61,000 units. Rascal Flatts' Still Feels Good follows at #8 with 57,000 scans, and coming in at #10 with 56,500 sold is the soundtrack to the Disney Channel flick "High School Musical 2."

Neil Young's Chrome Dreams II enters the chart at #11, having generated nearly 53,700 first-week sales, while La Vida ... Es un Ratico, the new one from Colombian singer/songwriter Juanes, comes in at #13 with 46,700 scans. Rapper Hurricane Chris' 51/50 Ratchet enters the top 200 at #24 with 26,200 units leaving store shelves, and with 24,800 copies sold, Say Anything's In Defense of the Genre debuts at #27. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals' Follow the Lights EP claims the chart's #40 spot with sales of 18,500, while Dwight Yoakam's Dwight Sings Buck finishes at #42 with 18,200 sold.

Steven Curtis Chapman's This Moment opens at #47 with 16,700 copies sold, and at #52, with 15,400 scans, is Shooter Jennings' The Wolf. Rob Zombie's Zombie Live comes in at #57 with 14,200 copies snatched up, and Ween's La Cucaracha sold 11,600 units to claim the #69 slot. Meanwhile, Cobra Starship's Viva La Cobra! enters at #80 with 10,600 scans, and at #89 with 9,500 copies sold is Little Brother's Getback. Rapper Trae's Life Goes On sold more than 7,500 copies its first week in stores, landing the album at #104, while the Temptations' Back to Front opens at #108 with 7,300 scans.

The soundtrack to the forthcoming video game "Guitar Hero 3" enters the top 200 at #147 with sales of 5,000-plus, just in front of Swedish metallers Soilwork and their latest, Sworn to a Great Divide, which sold just under 5,000 copies to take the #148 position. Relient K's second Christmas album, Let It Snow Baby ... Let It Reindeer, enters at #149 with 4,900 scans, and comedian Nick Swardson's Party finishes at #156 with 4,800 copies sold. Lastly, just making the cut at #200, is La Arrolladora Banda El Limón's Y Que Quede Claro, which generated a first-week total of 3,800.

• Carrie Underwood
• Serj Tankian
• Coheed and Cambria
• Kid Rock
• Seether

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way
Photo: Paul McConnell/ Getty Images

My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way got married over the weekend, his representative confirmed to MTV News on Wednesday (September 5). The Projekt Revolution tour, which featured the band, ended Monday in Englewood, Colorado, and Denver radio station 93.3 FM reports that Way married Mindless Self Indulgence bassist Lyn Z that evening at the venue, the Coors Amphitheatre. MSI were on the Projekt Revolution tour as well and are slated to support MCR on their European tour beginning October 30. ...

Lindsay Lohan attorney Alfred Gerisch filed a brief late last week supporting the starlet's request for the dismissal of all or part of a negligence suit that had been filed against her over an October 2005 car crash, according to Los Angeles TV station CBS 2. In the brief, Gerisch claimed Raymundo Ortega is using lies about Lohan being drunk at the time of the crash "as a battering ram to force a settlement." Gerisch cited as the evidence a police report that called Lohan an "innocent victim" and stipulated alcohol was not involved in the incident, although Ortega's attorney Robert G. Klein has called the document hearsay. A hearing on Lohan's motions is set for Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. ...

Busta Rhymes (real name: Trevor Smith) saw his trial postponed Wednesday after the prosecutor and the defense lawyer said they weren't ready to begin, The Associated Press reports. Instead, a judge ordered the rapper to appear in court November 7 for hearings on charges of attacking two men, driving drunk and driving with a suspended license. He previously rejected a deal that would land him in jail for a year. ...

Looking healthier than she had prior to her reported drug overdose and hospitalization last month, Amy Winehouse took the stage at Tuesday night's Mercury Awards show in England to sing "Love Is a Losing Game." It was the singer's first public performance since she announced the postponement of her fall U.S. tour and cancellation of her VMA appearance on doctor's orders to rest. ... Usher — who just remarried pregnant wife Tameka Foster on Saturday — is making another lifestyle change: He has put his five-bedroom in metro Atlanta's Country Club of the South community up for sale, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The asking price for the house — which Usher bought from L.A. Reid — is a cool $1.9 million. ...

A judge on Wednesday approved Jennifer Lopez's $545,000 arbitration award in a lawsuit against her first husband. Also in accordance with a court-ordered arbitrator's decision early last month, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael C. Solner issued a permanent injunction barring Ojani Noa from publishing negative details about the singer/actress. Lopez had filed the breach-of-contract lawsuit over Noa's plans to publish a tell-all book in which he was expected to claim Lopez had multiple affairs. Solner also told Noa to give Lopez all copies of materials related to the book, and denied his request for another 30 days to find a lawyer. ...

It sounds like fans aren't feeling the American Idols Live Tour this time around. Halfway through the outing, there were no sellouts for the first 30 shows on the tour, with only one date topping the 93 percent capacity mark — a gig in winner Jordin Sparks' home state of Arizona — Billboard Boxscore reports. Compare that to last year's tour, which boasted appearances from Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin — and had 17 sellouts in its first 30 dates and 10 shows with more than 93 percent capacity. Boxscore reports 14 of first 30 shows for the current tour were below 60 percent capacity and a gig in Birmingham, Alabama, was at an anemic 38.9 percent. ...

Bono, J.K. Rowling, Russell Simmons and — sure, why not? — Homer Simpson rub elbows with Bill Gates, President Bush and Oprah Winfrey on USA Today's most-influential-people list, which came out Tuesday. ... Master P is going Green — well, in a sense. The hip-hop mogul is joining forces with none other than Seth Green for "Play the Industry," a new role-playing video game with a hip-hop theme, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Play the Industry" will feature a 3-D world and allow gamers to become a star hip-hop artist, athlete, power broker and more. A late 2009 release is being targeted. ...

Apparently $31 million isn't good enough for Rob Zombie. While the director's "Halloween" scared up a whopping figure at the box office over the weekend, he's "not going to do any more 'Halloween' movies, or any more remakes of any kind," he told EW.com. In fact, Zombie isn't even so sure he'll be sticking to horror when it comes to his recent deal with Dimension Films. "I signed up for two more pictures, but not two more 'Halloween' pictures. They're going to be original stuff — and I don't necessarily know that they're going to be related to the horror genre either.'' ... Daniel Radcliffe is "terrified" over the prospect of acting on Broadway. He told Reuters that "Equus" — for which he appeared nude in the London production — might open in New York late next year. "It will be amazing, but I will be terrified," the actor said of the prospect. "I would be very nervous because I think that [the audiences are] even more discerning than in London." ...

For a guy who isn't planning to release an album anytime soon, Beck sure is busy. In addition to "Timebomb," the new track he pumped out last month, he's spruced up Philadelphia psych-rockers Dr. Dog's "The Girl" with a new remix. The song will appear on a Dr. Dog 7-inch in October, and the B-side will be a cover of the band's "Heart It Races" by Architecture in Helsinki. Dr. Dog will tour with Wilco starting Tuesday and ending September 21. ... Pop Montreal has put together a snappy lineup for its five-day stint October 3-7. The fest will host Hot Hot Heat, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Patti Smith, Black Mountain and more. ...

The annual Bridge School Benefit concert hosted by Neil Young at the Shoreline Amphitheatre near San Francisco will boast the usual mix of old friends and new faces this year, with unplugged sets from John Mayer; Metallica; Eddie Vedder with Flea and Jack Irons; Tom Waits with the Kronos Quartet; Tegan and Sara; Regina Spektor; Jerry Lee Lewis; and, of course, host Young. The shows will take place October 27-28. ... Warped Tour has come to a close — so naturally, it's time to move on to founder Kevin Lyman's other big shindig: next year's Taste of Chaos. Atreyu will headline the fest, with dates and additional acts to be announced in the coming months. ...

Closing arguments in the Phil Spector murder trial began Wednesday, with prosecutors delivering a multimedia presentation that traced the events leading up to the death of Lana Clarkson, the Los Angeles Times reports. The defense objected to part of the presentation, asking Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler to declare a mistrial, but he refused. The defense is due to begin its closing statements Thursday, and jury deliberations will likely begin Friday. ...

Jude Law was arrested outside his London home late Tuesday after allegedly attacking a photographer there, according to the U.K.'s Press Association. The actor voluntarily went to a police station after the incident, which is under investigation. ... Nicole Kidman was engaged to marry another man in between her marriages with Tom Cruise and Keith Urban, she divulged to Vanity Fair, although she did not identify the person. "I got engaged to somebody ... but it just wasn't right," she told the magazine for its October cover story. The actress also said she didn't have any regrets about marrying Cruise. My agents told me, 'Once you become Mrs. Tom Cruise, you do know your career is going to die.' I was appalled. I was like, 'Hello?' I'm in love, and I don't care if it's shooting myself in the foot. I'd much rather be married and have a family.' " ...

Legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who has pancreatic cancer, is in very serious condition, according to AP. He has been suffering kidney problems and losing consciousness while recovering after a recent hospital stay. ...

New Model Army have scrapped their planned tour of North America due to visa complications. ... As the Strokes continue their hiatus, guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. announced on his MySpace blog last week that he is headed back into the studio to work on the follow-up to his solo debut, Yours to Keep. "I'm happy to say that at the end of October we are going in for round two," Hammond wrote. "We are going into Electric Lady Studios for five weeks to record the second record." Hammond said he plans to videotape some of the sessions and show the clips on his MySpace page.

09.4.07

In Style's readers have voted, and Justin Timberlake, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Fergie are among the sexiest stars in the constellation. TV and movie stars dominate the Sexy Portfolio, part of the magazine's 10th annual Sexy Poll, which garnered 50,000 votes on InStyle.com. Fergie is the only musician to get "hot-to-the-touch" status (her 14 fellow hotties include Terrence Howard, Isla Fisher, Ben Stiller and more). "Cleavage is in-your-face, a bare stomach is overt, but a bare leg is always sexy and appropriate," Fergie said, explaining her appeal. "I'm pretty out there in my videos, but in real life, I feel sexier when I'm more subtle. Josh [Duhamel, her boyfriend] agrees. It's better to be alluring than too available." Beyond the Portfolio, "Grey's Anatomy" won Sexiest TV Cast; Jolie earned Sexiest Movie Star Whose Va-Va-Va-Voom You'd Like to Steal; Pitt and George Clooney tied for Sexiest Reasons to Spend $10 on a Movie; Pitt and Jolie nabbed Sexiest Too-Hot Twosome; Timberlake got the Sexiest Troubadour badge. Beyoncé, Shakira and Carrie Underwood tied for Sexiest Girl Found on on iTunes. ...

(See Fergie, Terrence Howard, Ben Stiller and more make In Style's Sexy Poll.)

Britney Spears' lawyer says the singer has been cleared of recent complaints to child-welfare workers, People.com reports. "It does not appear [Los Angeles County] will pursue any action at this time," Laura Wasser said at a hearing in Spears' child-custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline. According to the site, there will be three more court hearings in the dispute this year, during which Federline's request for primary custody of sons Sean Preston and Jayden James will be considered. His attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan is seeking depositions from Spears' assistant, former nanny and others close to her. Meanwhile, Spears bodyguard Cesar Julio Camera has been officially charged with misdemeanor battery after wrestling with a pair of men who were trying to photograph the singer with her children in Las Vegas in July. ...

Owen Wilson has returned to his home in Santa Monica, California, after attempting suicide last week, Fox News reports. Director Wes Anderson — who collaborated with Wilson on September 28's "The Darjeeling Limited," as well as "The Royal Tenenbaums" and more films — talked to reporters at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, saying Wilson is "doing very well." "Owen wishes he could be with us," Anderson said. "We all miss having him. Obviously he has been through a lot this week. I can tell you he has been doing very well, he has been making us laugh. When he is ready he's going to speak for himself much better than any of us could." ...

Game (real name: Jayceon Terrell Taylor) will stand trial on three felony charges stemming from a pickup basketball game in Los Angeles in February, TMZ.com reports. His next court date is September 25. Game is charged with three counts of making a criminal threat, possession of a firearm in a school zone and exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer. The rapper, who is free on $50,000 bail, faces more than five years in state prison if convicted. ...

The full itinerary for Kelly Clarkson's rescheduled tour in support of My December will carry the singer through a 26-city outing. The trek begins with a string of three dates at the Beacon Theatre in New York (October 14-16) and also ropes in two home-state gigs, in Dallas and Houston. The seven-week tour — which replaces a scrapped summer tour — will have Clarkson playing more intimate theaters than the arenas she was originally booked into, including the Orpheum in Boston (October 23); Fillmore in Detroit (October 28); Paramount Theater in Denver (November 5); and the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on December 3. ... Take a seat, Amy Winehouse — Klaxons have scooted by the starlet and picked up the U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Prize for their debut, Myths of the Near Future. The band also nudged past the Arctic Monkeys, Jamie T and others. ...

Usher made it official again on Saturday. The 28-year-old singer married pregnant wife Tameka Foster, 37, in a large, glitzy ceremony in Atlanta a few weeks after the pair got officially hitched in a civil ceremony. People.com reports that 200 people attended the wedding at a 16th-century-style French chateau resort outside Atlanta. The lavish wedding came nearly a month after their previously scheduled wedding was called off at the last minute. ... Halle Berry is three months pregnant with her first child. She's due to have the baby, whose father is Berry's boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, on Valentine's Day. ... Tobey Maguire tied the knot with his fiancee, jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer, in Hawaii over the weekend, according to "Entertainment Tonight." Leonardo DiCaprio was among those who reportedly attended the ceremony. ...

Evanescence have sketched out new tour dates for the U.S. and Mexico. Amy Lee will take her troupe through Florida and Texas from October 23-31, then head to Mexico for three shows to be held November 3, 5 and 7. After that, they'll plow through the States from November 10-December 4. ...

Zac Efron denies that money is the deciding factor in whether he takes part in "High School Musical 3" — he says it's all about the script. The actor told People, "There's no feuding with 'High School Musical,' " and added, "If the script is good and if we all agree on a final script, then there's nothing that is going to hold us back from doing [a third installment]." ...

Hulk Hogan has spoken out on last week's car crash involving his son, Nick Bollea, saying he didn't think anyone had survived. "We were going to get something to eat and Nick paged me and said, 'Dad, I want to go early, because we don't have a table at the restaurant,' " he told TV's "The Insider" in an interview set to air Tuesday (September 4). "As I was going down our normal route, I saw this yellow car, and it happened to be twisted ... and there were ambulances there and police were there, and — bam — [I realized that] it was my car." Hogan also commented on his son's condition and that of John Graziano, the passenger who is still in critical condition. "Nick is doing good," Hogan said. "He's got a broken arm, some broken ribs, some neck problems and some stuff wrong with his knees, but he's hanging in there. He's living at the hospital with John. He's going to be OK, and John's going to be OK, and we're going to move forward." ...

The new single from Dave Matthews, the live favorite "Eh Hee," debuted Tuesday on iTunes. The video for the song, co-directed by Matthews, will be available as a free iTunes download for a week. The track, on which Matthews sings all vocals and plays all the instruments, is not tied to any upcoming release. ... PJ Harvey is planning two live performances around the release of her next album, White Chalk, which drops September 25. She'll perform October 10 at the Beacon Theatre in New York and October 15 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. ...

DragonForce guitarist Herman Li performed with Tool during their August 22 gig at London's Brixton Academy. He performed a guitar solo in the middle of "Lateralus." ... H.I.M. and Bleeding Through will hit the road next month for a trek that is set to run through December. The first gig is booked for October 18 in Sayreville, New Jersey, the jaunt will wind down December 2 in New York. ... Bloodsimple have been forced to drop off the tail end of this year's Family Values Tour, as frontman Tim Williams needed dental surgery. The band's sophomore LP, Red Harvest, is slated for release October 9. ... Alice in Chains plan to immortalize their August 21 acoustic gig at the Rave/ Eagles Club in Milwaukee with a to-be-scheduled live release. During the show, the band performed "Heaven Beside You," "Angry Chair" and "Rooster," as well as a cover of Elton John's "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy." ... Tracks made famous by Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong and Aretha Franklin get a new shine on Frankie Valli's Romancing the '60s, due October 2. ...

Pete Doherty's drug case was postponed Tuesday after he failed to show up in court, Reuters reports. The case — which stems from the troubled rocker's recent arrest on suspicion of drug possession in London — was adjourned until October 2 after West London Magistrates Court heard he had checked himself into rehab. ... Bill Murray was dropping off people after a party when he was pulled over for speeding in a golf cart in Stockholm, Sweden, late last month, he said at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, The Associated Press reports. The police "asked me to come over and they assumed that I was drunk, and I explained to them that I was a golfer," he said. Authorities took a blood test after Murray refused to submit to a breathalyzer test, and he could face drunken-driving charges. ...

Bo Diddley was released from a hospital in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday. The rock icon was hospitalized late last month after suffering a heart attack during a routine medical exam. ... Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, 34, who played keyboard for Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians since 1999, was shot and killed early Monday morning in Dallas while trying to kick in the door of his girlfriend's neighbor's house. The neighbor, who believed a burglar was trying to break in, fired a shot through the door around 4 a.m, according to AP. Albrecht, who had also played with Brickell's husband, Paul Simon, and who was prepping a solo album, died on the scene. No arrests had been made in the incident as of press time.

• Fergie, Terrence Howard, Ben Stiller Make In Style's Sexy Poll

• Amy Winehouse
• Bono
• Rob Zombie
• Taylor Hicks
• Katharine McPhee

Musiq Soulchild
Photo: Atlantic

When it comes to predicting which artist will end up topping Billboard's albums sales chart, some weeks are easier than others.

Many were counting on urban crooner Lloyd to mop the floor with the competition last week, and thought him a lock for a #1 debut. But Philadelphia-born R&B artist Musiq Soulchild came out of nowhere with his latest, Luvanmusiq, and just narrowly edged Lloyd out of contention, by a margin of fewer than 5,000 scans.

Luvanmusiq — which sold 149,000 copies — becomes Musiq Soulchild's second studio effort to open in Billboard's #1 spot; his 2002 LP Juslisen was the first, selling more than 260,000 units.

Lloyd's Street Love finished a close second, selling 144,000, according to the latest SoundScan figures. At #3 is another new release, rapper Rich Boy's self-titled LP, which generated close to 112,000 scans its first week in stores.

In all, there were six newcomers to the latest top 10, including Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall 1971 at #6 with 57,000 sold, and British songstress Amy Winehouse's Back to Black at #7, selling 51,000 copies. Bowing at #8 is 8Ball & MJG's Ridin' High, which netted 50,000 scans.

Meanwhile, six other new releases made the top 200, including James Morrison's Undiscovered, which opens at #24, with close to 24,000 sold. Type O Negative's Dead Again follows at #27, with sales topping 22,000.

The Fratellis' Costello Music debuts at #48 with 15,000 sales, while Aqualung's Memory Man takes the #88 slot with 9,000 scans. Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration, a double-disc, 50-track celebration of the birth of Stax Records — featuring tracks by the Mar-Keys, Booker T. & the MGs, and Otis Redding — enters the chart at #120, selling 7,000 copies.

Daughtry, the debut disc from "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry's rock band, leads the pack of chart veterans, dropping one spot to #4 with nearly 80,000 copies sold. Akon's Konvicted, which racked up 71,000-plus scans, follows at #5. Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High finishes out the week at #9, selling 43,000 units, and Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts returns to the top 10 at #10, with 42,000 copies sold.

Last week's #1, Notorious B.I.G.'s Greatest Hits, suffered the typical second-week slump, with sales skidding 61 percent, dropping the disc to #15 on the chart with close to 39,000 copies sold. Similarly, the Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, which debuted at #2 on the previous week's chart, slips to #18 thanks to a 60 percent sales dip; the disc sold fewer than 37,000 units its second week in stores.

• Musiq Soulchild
• Lloyd
• Rich Boy
• Akon
• Neil Young

Nas' <i>Hip Hop Is Dead</i>
Photo: Def Jam

There are probably more coins in your pocket right now than there are new releases this week, but don't forget about that big fat precious silver dollar with an "N" on it that's jingling around. That's right: If this week's batch of fresh titles has a mantra, it's "Make Way for Nas."

UGK and Mos Def — and Katharine McPhee, for that matter — postponed their upcoming efforts, clearing the battlefield so Nasty Nas can wreak havoc. A few other hip-hop artists are holding strong against the big guy, though: Styles P, Trick Daddy, Bow Wow and DJ Clue are also laying out fresh slices, and no less than T.I. is anteing up with a spic-and-span compilation from his label, Grand Hustle.

But if you're not into hip-hop, this might be a good week to take a nap: Aside from a Bullet for My Valentine DVD and a Neil Young reissue, rock fans probably won't be debating which new title to spend their money on this week.

Not that he has any reason to worry, but here's the competition Nas is facing this week, and a reason why he can expect to trounce every one of them:

Styles P's Time Is Money: Despite the cautious title of his new LP, the former LOX-er took a spell to put out the follow-up to 2002's A Gangster and a Gentleman. But now Styles has finally come around to do the whole sophomore thing, and he's galvanized his friends for the affair: The LOX reunite for a remix of "Who Want a Problem," which also features Swizz Beatz; Mario Winans throws down on "Can You Believe It"; Talib Kweli guides Styles to "Testify"; Gerald LeVert joins him for "Real Sh--"; Sizzla shows him through "Fire & Pain"; and the band Flipsyde re-emerge to help Styles "Burn One Down."

Why Nas Will Beat Him: On his new one, Hip Hop Is Dead, Nas' guests include Jay-Z ("Black Republican"), Snoop Dogg ("Play on Playa"), the Game and Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius ("Hustlers"), Will.I.Am ("Hip Hop Is Dead"), Kelis ("Not Going Back"), newcomer Chrisette Michele ("Can't Forget About You," "Hope" and "Still Dreaming") and, last but not least, Kanye West (also on "Still Dreaming").

Trick Daddy's Back by Thug Demand: Chamillionaire, Jaheim, Trey Songz, Trina, Baby, 8Ball and others are helping Trick-Trick celebrate his seventh solo LP. "There are people out there that ain't got nowhere to stay," he said in his most recent press bio. "All they can do is rob or gamble or steal or sell dope. I put people on the level where they can relate and understand what other people go through."

Why Nas Will Beat Him: Because as gritty a concept as Trick Daddy is bringing to the table, Nas' is way more controversial. Hip Hop Is Dead sparked a flurry of debate and outrage before its release, even provoking Ludacris to wear to the BET Hip-Hop Awards a T-shirt that read "Hip-hop is not dead, it lives in the South." Even Nas seems to be taking the other side of the debate on "Hope," which includes the lyric "Hip-hop will never die."

Bow Wow's The Price of Fame: Few rappers have put out five albums before breaking out of their teens, but Bow can now consider himself part of that elite crew. Perhaps to help him grieve over former girlfriend Ciara, who he waxes about on his new effort, the rapper enlisted some help, including Chris Brown and Jermaine Dupri. As a bonus, he doled out signed copies of his album to fans who preordered.

Why Nas Will Beat Him: Nas didn't sign any preorders, but he is gifting early birds who use iTunes with something perhaps even better: an exclusive track called "Shine On!"

DJ Clue's The Professional 3: A Roc-A-Fella co-conspirator for about a decade, the mixtape guru from Queens, New York, sure knows how to attract rap's biggest names. The roster this time around includes Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, Juelz Santana, Jadakiss, Swizz Beatz, Paul Wall, Beanie Sigel, Fabolous, Styles P and Kanye West.

Why Nas Will Beat Him: Because even though Clue has been in Jay-Z's good graces for years, it's the man Jay beefed with for years that he's putting all his power behind to promote. Expect Nas' new one to overshadow his labelmate's latest.

Various artists' Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4: T.I. has been dishing In Da Streetz comps since 2002, but finally the mixtape series is getting some extra cred by going retail for its fourth volume. Hoping to piggyback on Tip's five Billboard Awards, the 14-track platter features Young Jeezy ("Top Back" remix), Young Dro ("My Girl"), Yung Joc ("Yeah" remix) and others.

Why Nas Will Beat Them: Those "others" include Xtaci, Alfamega, Macboney and other newcomers. Nas fans, on other hand, won't be distracted by much fresh blood on his new one.

Bullet for My Valentine's "The Poison - Live at Brixton" DVD: The Welsh metalheads have only been around for three years, but they've already proved their salt by selling out the U.K.'s vaunted Brixton Academy for this filmed concert involving 15 cameras. Beyond the live material, there are eight episodes from the band's life-on-the-road "Bullet TV" series, plus an additional hour's worth of videos and more.

Why Nas Will Beat Them: Uh, because it's a rock album?

Neil Young's Living With War - Raw: This limited special edition is boosted by a DVD containing in-the-studio footage for each of the politically charged album's 10 tracks.

Why Nas Will Beat Him: Because it's Nas versus Neil Young.

Song Title of the Week:

"Shortie Like Mine" from Bow Wow's The Price of Fame

New Releases: · Blak Jak - Place Your Bets (Universal Republic) · Bow Wow - The Price of Fame (Sony Urban) [Buy Now] Read: "Bow Wow Fesses Up About Ex-Girlfriend Ciara On December LP" · DJ Clue - The Professional 3 (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) [Buy Now] · Lorraine Hunt Lieberson - Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Sings Peter Lierberson: Neruda Songs (Nonesuch) · Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead (Def Jam) [Buy Now] Read: "MTV News Exclusive: Nas Previews Hip-Hop Is Dead ... The N" · RBD - Rebels (enhanced; Virgin) [Buy Now] · Styles P - Time Is Money (Ruff Ryders) · Trick Daddy - Back by Thug Demand (Atlantic) [Buy Now] · Various artists - Grand Hustle Presents: In Da Streetz Volume 4 (Grand Hustle/ Atlantic)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Jerry Lee Lewis - Rockin' With the Killer (Fuel) · Neil Young - Living With War - Raw (limited-edition version with DVD; Reprise) · Various artists - The Ultimate '50s Collection (Fuel)

Music DVDs: · Bullet for My Valentine - "The Poison - Live at Brixton" (Trustkill)

Coming Attractions:

December 26: · Good Charlotte - "Fast Future Generation" DVD (Epic/Daylight) · N.W.A - The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge (deluxe version with DVD also available; Capitol/Priority) [Preorder] · Omarion - 21 (Sony Urban) [Preorder] Read: "Boy To Man: Omarion Grows Up On The 'Personal' 21" · Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity (Columbia) [Preorder] Read: "Life, Death, Social Entropy? Switchfoot Get Weighty On Oh! Gravity" · Various artists - The Family Values Tour 2006 (Firm)

January 2: · Various artists - L-Tunes: Music From and Inspired by "The L-Word" (Columbia) · Carly Simon - Into White (Columbia) · Unwritten Law - The Hit List (Rocket Science) [Preorder]

January 9: · Green Day - 1,039/ Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (enhanced; Reprise) and Kerplunk (Reprise) [Preorder] · Mario - Go! (J) [Preorder] · Mos Def - Tru3 Magic (Geffen) [Preorder]

• Nas
• Styles P
• Trick Daddy
• Bow Wow
• DJ Clue

Busta Rhymes' <I>The Big Bang</I>
Photo: Aftermath

A Cosmic Effort: The stars are aligning for Busta Rhymes' new album — it's his first for Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint and has a good chance of breathing new life into Bus' career. But the stars are also aligning on the record, what with Nas, Missy Elliott, Will.I.Am, Q-Tip, Raekwon — hell, even Stevie Wonder and the late Rick James — cropping up on there. "You Can't Hold the Torch," Rhymes declares midway through the record. Let's see if he can.

Outta Sight: Be on the lookout this week, as two of the biggest music releases hitting stores are meant for the eyes, not the ears. No Doubt's "Live in the Tragic Kingdom," which found its way into a million VHS players, reaches the DVD format bundled with unreleased home movies, more performances, backstage stuff, promo clips and a slideshow.

"Chris Brown's Journey," on the other hand, is all-new material by the R&B phenom and revolves around a 25-minute documentary featurette, rather than concert footage. Still, there is some live content — two numbers from Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party — plus three videos (with making-of segments for each), bloopers, Easter eggs and "Krumping With Chris," wherein he busts his best moves. The bonus CD has two unissued slices — "So Glad" and a remix of "Run It" — and a software device that lets you do your best Scott Storch and remix "Gimme That."

Sonic Youth probably aren't expecting Kidz Bop-like numbers with their newest opus, Rather Ripped, which is why they've been streaming all 12 tracks for free online. The band returned to what it calls its "OG nucleus" of Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo, as fifth member Jim O'Rourke was busy studying language and film in Japan. Tracks include "Do You Believe in Rapture?," "Turquoise Boy" and "Or."

Sibling Revelry: Speaking of OGs, "We O.G.'s" is the lead single from the Reyes Brothers — the long-awaited matchup of Sen Dog and Mellow Man Ace. That tune features fellow West Coasters Snoop Dogg and Warren G, while the rest of Ghetto Therapy hosts two Bishops — Lamont and Don Magic Juan — plus Sen's Cypress Hill teammate, B Real.

Also showing signs of brotherly love are Aron and Robert Mardo, whose band goes by their last name. The group's second outing, The New Gun, showcases the unit's new keyboardist and guitarist, but the deaths of nine people close to the group in one month made "The Healing" undeniably grim.

Guitarist Mato Nanji is taking a different approach: While he originally made his band Indigenous a family effort, he's since given his siblings the boot so he can focus entirely on the undertaking himself. The American Indian singer/songwriter did co-write "The Way You Shake" with his sister Wanbdi, but he left the production duties to Steve Fishell (Willie Nelson, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band).

Beyond the Stereo: Alas, a handful of this week's releases might actually make you leave your bedroom. Jam titans Widespread Panic are playing their new LP, Earth to America, in its entirety at a free show at New York's Irving Plaza on Tuesday night (June 13). While 100,000 people showed up for the band's 1998 CD release party, expect 1,000 or so of the Panic faithful to help celebrate the band's 20th anniversary.

John Fogerty will drive some fans to cineplexes Tuesday, as the release of his "The Long Road Home in Concert" DVD is being celebrated with one-night-only theatrical showings in eight major cities. Speaking of which, Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" DVD, which sold a fair number of tickets earlier this year, hits the shelves in double-disc form this week.

And so-called "multimedia art-punk terrorists" the Residents are forcing you to get off your couch if you're interested in their River of Crime project, a series of recordings that are only available at Virgin Megastores, Cordless.com or New York's Museum of Modern Art. Modeled after true-crime radio broadcasts, the five episodes were previously available online in serial form.

Spotted: Gwen Stefani sweetening up "All Nighter" on Together as One by reggae hero Elan of the Wailers; Motion City Soundtrack, Plain White T's, Nightmare of You and other pop-punk newcomers giving it up for their favorite caped hero on the Sounds of Superman compilation; Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco and Steve Earle showing their mugs in the bonus video content that accompanies the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack reissue; Replacements Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars coming back together to record their first new material in 16 years for Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements; MF Grimm and Angelo from Fishbone hopping onto Krak Attack by underground hip-hop bizarro CX Kidtronik; Origin drummer John Longstreth hitting the toms on Skinless' brutal Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead; and Fountains of Wayne guitarist Jody Porter adding licks to Life in the Shade, the second album by Brookville, the latest venture of Ivy's Andy Chase.

Song Title of the Week:

"Pudgy Young Blondes With Lobotomy Eyes" from Zao's The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here

Other Notables:

Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope: She's made a name for herself by touring with the Strokes, lending her voice to an mtvU commercial and spelling her last name slightly differently than a certain embattled record producer, but will the anti-folk antihero be able to overcome her nemesis, black-metal wizards Spektr? Their Near Death Experience drops this week as well, but expect Spektor's Begin to Hope — limited versions of which boast a five-track bonus disc — to win out.

The Futureheads' News and Tributes: Hurry, 'Heads heads, as only the initial pressings of the U.K. breakout band's second LP will have three bonus tracks that previously appeared on its Area EP. Producer Ben Hillier (Depeche Mode, Blur) holed up with the quartet in his Scarborough studio, where they crafted "Return of the Berserker," "Worry About It Later" and "Favours for Favours."

Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds: Sometimes the track list just says it all, like this roster by Toronto's very own one-man orchestra. Each song is supposed to correlate with a level in "Dungeons & Dragons," so test your skills accordingly: "Arctic Circle," "He Poos Clouds," "This Lamb Sells Condos," "If I Were a Carp," "I'm Afraid of Japan," "Song Song Song," "Many Lives 49 LP," "Do You Love" and "Pooka Sings."

New Releases:

• The Acacia Strain - The Dead Walk (Prosthetic)
  
• Tony Allen - Lagos No Shaking (Honest Jons/ Astralwerks)
  
• The Alarm - Under Attack (enhanced; Eleven Thirty)
  
• Antler - Nothing That a Bullet Couldn't Cure (Small Stone)
  
• The Bleeding Alarm - Beauty in Destruction (Immortal)
  
• Brookville - Life in the Shade (Unfiltered)
  
• Sam Bush - Laps in Seven (Sugar Hill)
  
• Busta Rhymes - The Big Bang (Aftermath)
  Read: "Busta Making An Even Bigger Bang With Em, ODB, Neptunes, Rick James"
  Buy Now: The Big Bang (Aftermath)
  
• Regina Carter - I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (Verve)
  
• Codetalkers - Now (Collard Green)
  
• Compton's Most Wanted with MC Eiht - Music to Gang Bang (enhanced; Thump)
  
• CX Kidtronik - Krak Attack (Sound Ink)
  
• Dabrye - Two/ Three (Ghostly)
  
• Jamie Davis - It's a Good Thing (with DVD; Unity)
  
• Dropping Daylight - Brace Yourself (Octone)
  
• Elan - Together as One (Interscope)
  
• Every Time I Die - Gutter Phenomenon (with bonus DVD; Ferret)
  
• Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds (Tomlab)
  
• First Nation - First Nation (Paw Tracks)
  
• Foundry Field Recordings - Prompts/ Miscues (Emergency Umbrella)
  
• Frankie J - Un Nuevo Día (Columbia)
  Buy Now: Un Nuevo Día (Columbia)
  
• Futureheads - News and Tributes (limited edition also available; Vagrant)
  Buy Now: News and Tributes (Vagrant)
  
• The Handsome Family - Last Days of Wonder (Carrot Top)
  
• Hot Chip - The Warning (DFA/ Astralwerks)
  
• Glenn Hughes - Music for the Divide (Frontiers)
  
• Indigenous - Chasing the Sun (Vanguard)
  
• Nicki Jaine - Nicki Jaine Live (self-release)
  
• Billy Joel - 12 Gardens Live (two CDs; Columbia)
  Buy Now: 12 Gardens Live (Columbia)
  
• Etta Jones - Don't Go to Strangers (Prestige)
  
• Keb' Mo' - Suitcase (Epic)
  
• Dayna Kurtz - Another Black Feather (Kismet)
  
• Blaine Larsen - Rockin' You Tonight (BNA)
  
• Lil Weavah - Underground Music (BCD)
  
• Mardo - New Gun (House of Restitution)
  
• The Del McCoury Band - The Promised Land (McCourey Music)
  
• Allison Moorer - Getting Somewhere (Sugar Hill)
  
• Morning 40 Federation - Ticonderoga (M80)
  
• Mr. Lif - Mo' Mega (Definitive Jux)
  
• The Playwrights - English Self Storage (Sink and Stove)
  
• Priestess - Hello Master (Red Ink)
  
• Joshua Radin - We Were Here (Columbia)
  
• The Residents - River of Crime (Cordless)
  
• Reyes Bros - Ghetto Therapy (Lightyear)
  
• Roses Are Red - What Became of Me (Trustkill)
  
• Satyricon - Now, Diabolical (enhanced; Century Media)
  
• Shadows Fall - Fallout From the War (Century Media)
  Buy Now: Fallout From the War (Century Media)
  
• Skinless - Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead (Relapse)
  
• Small Sins - Small Sins (Astralwerks)
  
• Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped (Geffen)
  Buy Now: Rather Ripped (Geffen)
  
• Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope (two-CD limited-edition version also available; Sire/ London/ Rhino)
  Buy Now: Begin to Hope (Geffen)
  
• Spektr - The Near Death Experience (Candlelight)
  
• Strays Don't Sleep - Strays Don't Sleep (Hybrid)
  
• Three Days Grace - One X (enhanced; Jive)
  Buy Now: One X (Jive)
  
• The Vibration - Amarilla (Sink & Stove)
  
• Waking Ashland - Telescopes (enhanced; Immortal)
  
• Widespread Panic - Earth to America (Sanctuary)
  
• David Wilcox - Vista (What Are Records)
  
• Trent Willmon - A Little More Livin' (Sony Music Nashville)
  
• Zao - The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here (limited edition with bonus DVD also available; Ferret)
  
• Various artists - Sound of Superman (Rhino)
  
• Various artists - "The Break-Up" soundtrack (Hip-O)
  
• Various artists - "Waist Deep" soundtrack (Def Jam)
  

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• Yolanda Adams - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Virginia Bell Armstrong - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Boston - Boston and Don't Look Back (deluxe digipaks; Epic/ Legacy)
  
• Toni Braxton - The Collection (La Face)
  Buy Now: The Collection (La Face)
  
• Brandi Carlile - On Tour (Red Ink)
  
• Twinkie Clark - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Commissioned - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Daryl Coley - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook, Vol.1 (Prestige)
  
• Miles Davis All Stars - Walkin' (Prestige)
  
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Fit to Be Tied: Great Hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (enhanced; Blackheart)
  Buy Now: Fit to Be Tied: Great Hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Blackheart)
  
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Legends of American Music: Jerry Lee Lewis - A Half Century of Hits (three-CD box set; Time Life)
  
• Barry Manilow - Live (two-CD special edition; Arista/ Legacy)
  
• Jack McDuff - The Honeydripper (Prestige)
  
• The Replacements - Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements (Rhino)
  Read: "Replacements — Well, Some Of Them — Reunite For New Songs"
  Buy Now: Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements (Rhino)
  
• RuPaul - Reworked (Ruco)
  
• Richard Smallwood - Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend (two-CD special edition; Volcano/ Legacy)
  Buy Now: Girlfriend (Volcano/ Legacy)
  
• Various artists - The State I'm In (Hip-O)
  
• Various artists - The Very Best of Praise & Worship (Verity/ Legacy)
  
• Various artists - "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack (special edition with DVD; Columbia/ Legacy)
  

Music DVDs:

• Arcturus - "Shipwrecked in Oslo" (Season Mist)
  
• The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - "40th Anniversary" (Classic Rock)
  
• Chris Brown - "Chris Brown's Journey" (with CD; Jive)
  
• J.J. Cale - "To Tulsa and Back: On Tour With J.J. Cale" (Time Life)
  
• DMX - "Ride or Die" (Allumination)
  
• Extreme - "Videograffitti: The Definitive DVD" (A&M)
  
• John Fogerty - "The Long Road Home in Concert" (Fantasy)
  
• The Gipsy Kings - "Live at Kenmore House in London" (Liberation Entertainment)
  
• Jimi Hendrix/ Otis Redding - "Jimi Plays Monterey/ Shake! Otis at Monterey: The Criterion Collection" (Criterion)
  
• No Doubt - "Live in the Tragic Kingdom" (Interscope)
  
• Rush - "Replay X 3" (three DVDs and one CD; Mercury/ Universal)
  
• Therion - "Celebrators of Becoming" (six DVDs; Nuclear Blast)
  
• UB40 - "Live" (Eagle Vision)
  
• Wu-Tang Clan - "Legend of the Wu-Tang: The Videos" (CMV/ Loud/ RCA/ Legacy)
  
• Neil Young - "Heart of Gold" (two DVDs; Paramount)
  
• Various artists - "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (widescreen edition also available; Universal)
  
• Various artists - "Monterey Pop: The Criterion Collection" (Criterion)
  

Coming Attractions:

June 20:

• Fefe Dobson - Sunday Love (enhanced; Island)
  Preorder: Sunday Love (Island)
  
• Nelly Furtado - Loose (Geffen)
  Read: "Nelly Furtado Hooks Up With 'Distant Cousin' Timberlake, Emerges With 'Sexy' Song"
  Preorder: Loose (Geffen)
  
• Keane - Under the Iron Sea (Interscope)
  Read: "Keane Nearly Followed Breakthrough With A Breakup"
  Preorder: Under the Iron Sea (Interscope)
  
• Madonna - I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (with DVD; Maverick)
  Preorder: I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (Maverick)
  
• Pearl Jam - Live at Easy Street (J)
  
• Obie Trice - Second Round's on Me (Aftermath)
  Read: "Eminem Denies Retirement Rumors; Currently Hard At Work On Obie Trice LP"
  Preorder: Second Round's on Me (Aftermath)
  

June 27:

• Björk - Surrounded (seven-DualDisc box set; Rhino)
  
• Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer (Vagrant)
  Read: "No Reggae Emo, But New Dashboard LP Owes A Lot To Jamaica"
  Preorder: Dusk and Summer (Vagrant)
  
• Lostprophets - Liberation Transmission (Columbia)
  Read: "Lostprophets Enlist Metallica Producer But Leave 'Chugga-Chugga' Metal Behind"
  Preorder: Liberation Transmission (Columbia)
  

July 4:

• Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways (Lost Highway)
  
• Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness (Geffen)
  Buy Now: The Sufferer & the Witness (Geffen)
  
• Hans Zimmer - "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" soundtrack (Disney)
  

• Busta Rhymes
• No Doubt
• Chris Brown
• Shadows Fall
• Sonic Youth

• Neil Young

Neil Young in "Neil Young: Heart of Gold"
Photo: Bob Vergara

No director approaches the subject of music, and the players who make it, with more respect and understanding than Jonathan Demme. Demme made one of the most mesmerizing of all rock concert documentaries — the 1984 Talking Heads feature, "Stop Making Sense" — and he directed one of the most likeable, too, with the 1997 "Storefront Hitchcock," a chronicle of a typically rambling show by the lovably eccentric English singer Robyn Hitchcock. He has also shot videos for Bruce Springsteen and the Feelies, and in 1991, the year Demme won an Oscar for "The Silence of the Lambs," he also produced an album called "Konbit," which is a compilation of Haitian music, in which he's something of an expert.

In 1994, Demme shot a short in-the-studio film about Neil Young and his band, Crazy Horse, called "The Complex Sessions." (Young had been nominated for an Oscar himself for the title song he wrote for Demme's 1993 AIDS movie, "Philadelphia.") So when the director got back together with his old friend to film two concerts that Young performed in Nashville last August, the result was pretty much guaranteed to be an unusually affecting film. And it is.

Last year was a turbulent period for Young. In March, the then-59-year-old singer was diagnosed as having a brain aneurysm, which was successfully removed (not a moment too soon) during an operation in a New York City hospital. Between the diagnosis and the operation, new musical ideas had begun coming to him, so he had flown to Nashville, begun writing songs in a studio, and gathered together some of the city's most celebrated session musicians to record them. These songs — reflections on mortality and reminiscences of times long gone — now make up the bulk of Young's new album, Prairie Wind.

In June, Neil's father, the noted Canadian sportswriter and author Scott Young, died at the age of 87. On August 19, Young debuted his new songs in two concerts at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. (The Ryman, a venue built entirely of wood, is prized for its warm acoustics. "It's like a big guitar," Young says.) Demme filmed both shows, and the resulting picture is a loving contemplation of the magic of live musical performance.

"Heart of Gold" isn't quite like any other concert movie. There are no frantic edits, no showy montages, no swooping pans across a cheering audience. (In fact, the audience isn't even shown.) The picture was shot entirely with long-range lenses, which means there were no cameramen scurrying around the stage to distract the musicians. The performances move forward in long, serene takes, and the result is a film that focuses completely on the playing and singing. The musicians' empathic interaction is revelatory.

There is a trio of backup vocalists in the ensemble (including Young's wife, Pegi), and three horn players, and a string section that includes six Stradivarius violins. (More resonant wood.) A gospel choir, the Fisk University Jubilee Singers, also chimes in occasionally. For the most part, though, we are watching a band, composed of incredibly fine musicians, that is effortlessly working together, warmly responding to one another's playing like the old friends they actually are. We see the great Spooner Oldham, a grizzled presence on piano and organ, and he doesn't seem to be doing anything — there's no body language. But when we listen carefully (the sound mix is gorgeously detailed), we hear his rich chord inversions and his subtle, almost off-hand fills, and we realize the song wouldn't be anything like the same without him. This would also have to be said of drummer Chad Cromwell, who crisply hits every rhythmic accent without once overplaying, and of the bassist, Rick Rosas, who (you really have to see this) anchors the entire sound playing solely, and very simply, with his thumb.

The band is led by the steel guitarist Ben Keith, who first played with Young more than 30 years ago, on the singer's Harvest album (which was also partly recorded in Nashville). Keith doesn't seem to be doing much either (Demme says he looks at some points like he's nodding off), but his sliding chords move through the music with intuitive finesse, and when he steps in for a solo, it's a compact, slashing marvel that would leave most six-string guitarists slack-jawed.

Young himself is playing his 1941 Martin D28 — a guitar that once belonged to Hank Williams, who used to play it in this very building. ("I'm glad to see it back here," the singer says, lifting a hand toward heaven.) He seems relaxed and happy, but as he makes his way through haunting new songs like "When God Made Me" and, especially, "Falling Off the Face of Earth," you know he's experienced some things recently that have left a mark that will never be erased.

He does a number of older songs, too ("I Am a Child," "Harvest Moon," a cover of Ian and Sylvia's "Four Strong Winds"), and they fit right in with the set's sometimes elegiac tone — in particular, a solo rendition of the brilliant, mournful "The Needle and the Damage Done." If some of this sounds like heavy going, it never is — the music is infused with a spirit that's unmistakably related to rock and roll. (Young actually power-chords a banjo at one point, to remind you of what a genius he is.)

The performances so beautifully captured in this movie are a glowing embodiment of American vernacular music — strains of country, folk and rock twine through the proceedings as if no borders of style or fashion had ever forced them apart. You come away from the picture feeling as if you'd learned something new about the wonder of music, and maybe the human spirit, too. There can't be a much higher recommendation for seeing it.

• "Neil Young: Heart Of Gold" Photos

• Neil Young

Neil Young at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival
Photo: Peter Kramer/Getty Images

When rock icon Neil Young was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain aneurysm last spring, the grandfather of grunge and legendary singer/songwriter responded as only he could. In the weeks between the diagnosis and lifesaving surgery, he wrote and recorded Prairie Wind, a plaintive, cohesive song cycle of love, death, family and friends.

When Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme ("Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia") received an advance copy of the album, he was jolted into action.

"I went, 'Oh my God, this is a masterpiece!' " Demme said. "I called Neil and I suggested that we do something, anything, to give cinematic life to this great group of songs. Very quickly it started evolving into the fact that these songs are born out of Nashville, that their home is the Ryman Auditorium, the most beautiful, mother church of music in all of the country."

The two decided to stage and film a "dream concert" at the Ryman. The result, an amber-hued performance documentary, "Neil Young: Heart of Gold," stands out in a crowded field of Sundance music-doc premieres.

The film captures Young with a full stage of musicians, including longtime bandmates Rick Rosas, Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham, old friends like Emmylou Harris, plus the Memphis Horns and Fisk University Jubilee Choir. They performed 18 songs spanning Young's extraordinary career; alongside Prairie Wind tunes, Young played some of his most well-loved numbers, including "Old Man," "Heart of Gold" and a chilling solo performance of "Needle and the Damage Done."

Beyond the extraordinary songs and setting, though, Young and Demme set out to shoot a visually unique, aesthetically distinct film. Lush sets, period costumes, warm lighting and patient pacing create a filmgoing experience that is utterly out of time.

"When the curtains part," Demme said, "that's it. The musical journey begins. If people wandered in after the show had started, we want them to ask, 'When was this filmed?' With the quality of the music, the outfits that everybody was wearing, and the old-fashioned, beautifully expressive backdrops we had, it could've been filmed in the '30s."

"We wanted to make it a concert that treated every song like a scene in a film," Young said. "Every song had its own care and its own staging."

And in the Ryman, the fabled home of the Grand Ole Opry and host to legends from Hank Williams to Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, Young and Demme had an additional, less-tangible contributor.

"I've heard about how great the Ryman is," Demme said, "but you've got to walk in the door and see this breathtaking room. It was a real church before it became the citadel of music. And not only is that visually interesting, but it brings all the ghosts and spirits to life in there."

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"It's a very revered place," Young added. "So we were trying to pay homage to our roots and to our heroes: Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, George Jones and all those great songwriters who are at the heart of country music."

The film's conclusion, a rousing performance of "One of These Days," creates the distinct sense that the film is some sort of a love letter to Young's fans, and, as importantly, his bandmates, friends and family.

" 'Heart of Gold'" is really about the interplay between my family of musical friends, my family of songs and my immediate family," Young said. "That's what it's all about."

"And that's the best version of ['One of These Days'] I ever did," he concluded. "I'm glad it's on the film."

"Neil Young: Heart of Gold" hits theaters February 10.

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• "Neil Young: Heart Of Gold" Photos

• Neil Young

Gretchen Wilson's <I>All Jacked Up</I>
Photo: Sony

For Memphis rappers Three 6 Mafia, who open at #3 on Billboard's albums chart with Most Known Unknown, visions of a chart-topping debut were annihilated by country queen Gretchen Wilson and rock leading lady (and soon-to-be Mrs. Lance Armstrong) Sheryl Crow, who finish the week at #1 and #2, respectively.

Female artists debuted big on the chart, owning four of the six new releases that crack the latest top 10. Newcomers rule again this time around — as was the case with the two charts that preceded it — bucking the tendency for top-10 LPs to linger within those ranks for weeks.

While Most Known Unknown managed to move more than 115,000 units during its first week on record-store shelves, Three 6 Mafia were outdone by Crow's Wildflower, which finished with 140,000 scans, and Wilson's new one, All Jacked Up, scoring first-week sales of nearly 264,000 to earn Billboard's blue ribbon.

But Gretchen and Sheryl weren't the only ladies leading the chart. With just over 114,000 copies of her LP Libra scanned, sexy R&B songstress Toni Braxton earned herself the chart's #4. And finishing in this week's #6 slot is Lil' Kim's latest hardcore outing, The Naked Truth. Kim's take (close to 109,000 discs) might come as something of a bittersweet triumph for the rapper who recently left her New Jersey manse for a Philadelphia prison cell. The pint-sized rapper bested dancehall dude Sean Paul, whose latest offering, The Trinity, sold more than 107,000 copies its first week out to earn the chart's #7 spot.

Kanye West's Late Registration falls two spots to #5 after moving close to 110,000 units during the album's fifth week at retail. The previous chart's #1, Disturbed's Ten Thousand Fists, takes a 61 percent hit in sales, slipping to #8 with over 92,000 copies sold. Bon Jovi's Have a Nice Day also suffers a fall, dropping from #2 to #9 with nearly 89,000 scans. The Black Eyed Peas round out the top 10 with sales of Monkey Business hovering just under 77,000.

Grunge granddaddy Neil Young's new disc, Prairie Wind, opens at #11 with 72,000 scans, making it the week's seventh-biggest debut. The chart includes many fresh faces, including #18 finisher H.I.M. — Bam Margera's nominee for best band ever. The Finnish emo-metal act's first proper U.S. release, Dark Light, sold more than 46,000 copies. Another favorite of Bam's, Bloodhound Gang, return to the chart at #24 with Hefty Fine, which sold nearly 36,000 copies during its opening week. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals' Jacksonville City Nights debuts at #33 with 31,000 copies sold, while Mack 10's Hustla's Handbook finishes at #65 with 17,000 plus scans.

Other notable debut showings were turned in by Ill Nino's One Nation Underground (#101 with sales of nearly 11,000), Blackalicious' The Craft (#102, over 10,000), Panic! At the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (#112, nearly 10,000), Project 86's ... And the Rest Will Follow (#131, 8,000) and Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary (#158, close to 7,000).

• Lil' Kim
• Sheryl Crow
• Gretchen Wilson
• Toni Braxton
• Kanye West

MusiCares 2005 Person Of The Year Ceremony 02.11.2005

• India.Arie
• Backstreet Boys
• Neil Young
• John Legend
• Red Hot Chili Peppers