As the vinyl format increasingly becomes obsolete and the term "B-side" fades into a quaint anachronism, new albums by Simple Plan and the Donnas will soon return literal meaning to the term "flip side."

Simple Plan's Still Not Getting Any... and the Donnas' Gold Medal are the first albums to be issued in the new DualDisc format. One side of the conventional-looking compact disc contains the album's music, while the other includes features such as music videos, photo galleries, Web links, lyrics and other extras, as well as the album in enhanced sound (i.e. 5.1 Surround Sound, DVD-Audio and/or LPCM stereo).

The DVD component of Simple Plan's second album, set for release October 26, allows fans to watch a 20-minute "making of the album" vignette, view an assortment of photos and read the lyrics. The Donnas, whose seventh album, Gold Medal, is also released that same day, treats listeners to the music video for their single "Fall Behind Me," a making-the-video segment, and lyrics (see [article id="1490998"]"The Donnas Take Charge With Gold Medal "[/article]). Both DualDisc albums will not be priced any higher than conventional albums.

Forthcoming DualDisc releases include Five for Fighting's new album, The Battle for Everything, on October 26 and reissues of the Grateful Dead's 1970 classic American Beauty (November 9) and Trapt's 2002 self-titled debut (November 16).

Besides the DualDisc component, Simple Plan are giving their fans even more to look forward to on their new album: Still Not Getting Any ... will be issued with three different cover images. While the first features the bandmembers as they appear today, sitting in the back of a bus, the other covers look far into the future. On one, they're in their 40s, living a peaceful existence in suburbia; the other one shows them gathered in front of a retirement home, replete with walkers, gray beards, oxygen tanks and wheelchairs. The two faux-aged covers will only be available for a limited time.

The jokey covers belie the decidedly more serious themes explored therein, but that doesn't mean the guys have gotten poker-faced about everything (see [article id="1491357"]"Simple Plan Less Simple On Second Album"[/article]).

"I think it sucks when bands take themselves too seriously, and everything about them -- from the videos to the album art -- is very cool and serious," said Simple Plan drummer Chuck Comeau. "We don't care. We can still have some fun."