joan jett

Joan Jett is an originator, an
innovator, and a visionary. As
the leader of the hard-rocking
Blackhearts, she's had eight
platinum and gold albums and
nine Top 40 singles, including
the classics "Bad Reputation," "I
Love Rock 'N' Roll," "I Hate Myself
For Loving You," and "Crimson
and Clover." She sits at the head
of her own independent label,
Blackheart Records. Jett has
acted in movies, including
1987's Light Of Day, with Michael
J. Fox and Gena Rowlands, and in
a Tony-nominated Broadway
musical, The Rocky Horror Show.
As a producer, she has overseen
albums by Bikini Kill, Circus
Lupus, and the Vacancies, as well
as the Germs' LA punk
masterpiece, GI. Jett was even
one of only two women named
to Rolling Stone magazine's list
of the 100 greatest guitar
players of all time.
In the end, though, Joan Jett's life
has been dedicated to one goal
and one goal only - rocking the
hell out of every listener she can
reach. "I remember times when I
was at shows and the person
onstage locked eyes with me,"
she recently told Esquire
magazine. "And in that moment,
everything was right with the
world. I think that's part of my
job, to create these thousands of
moments every night."
Since co-founding the
Runaways, the pioneering all-girl
punk quintet, at age 15, Jett's
determination and drive have
kept her in the public eye. This
year, however, her profile will
skyrocket yet again, with the
release of both a long-awaited
feature film telling the story of
the Runaways and a new, two-
disc Greatest Hits collection.
The Runaways is based on lead
singer Cherie Currie's book Neon
Angel. Kristen Stewart, star of the
Twilight series films, plays Jett,
and her fellow A-Lister Dakota
Fanning portrays Currie. The
movie chronicles the band's
early years; formed by teenage
girls living near Hollywood, CA.,
the Runaways became the first
all-girl band to break into the
world of arena-filling hard rock
acts.
After the success of their first
single, "Cherry Bomb," the
Runaways toured with such acts
as the Ramones, Cheap Trick, and
Tom Petty. But in Japan, the band
became huge stars - their arrival
for a set of shows in 1977 was
like Beatlemania all over again.
During the Japanese tour, Currie
began to struggle, and she left
the band when they returned
home - but Jett decided to keep
fighting the rock & roll fight,
with the Runaways and then on
her own.
Jett has been close to the project:
She serves as an executive
producer on the film, and she
has described Kristen Stewart as
being "like a little sister." For her
part, the young actress has said
of Jett that "her story's
important - it's an incredibly
triumphant feminist story,
really."
The two discs of the Greatest Hits
set, meanwhile, present twenty
blazing tracks from Jett's three-
decade-plus career. From "Cherry
Bomb" through her smashes in
the '80s and '90s, all the way up
to the recent favorite "A.C.D.C.,"
it's a comprehensive look at one
of rock's most iconic figures.
In addition, the compilation will
feature eco-friendly packaging
(100% recycled paper and
biodegradable trays). Jett, who
has been dedicated to protecting
the environment for most of her
life, couldn't be more thrilled to
be offering a "green" effort.
"I've always appreciated nature,"
she says, "trees, grass, birds, sun,
and even insects. I obsessively
recycle. I almost never turn on
lights; I pretty much live in the
dark. I don't use a lot of water.
I'm a vegetarian, so I avoid
contributing to the major
environmental damage that the
meat industry creates. I hope
that soon we can make sure that
everything we do is earth-
friendly."
Of course, the hits collection will
be released through Jett's own
Blackheart Records, a label she
founded in 1980 - which made
her the first female artist to own
and operate an independent
record company. She and her
longtime songwriting partner/
producer Kenny Laguna created
Blackheart after being rejected
by 23 different labels when she
was trying to release "I Love
Rock n Roll," after she parted
ways with the Runaways. (The
song went on to spend eight
weeks at Number One in 1982,
and remains one of Billboard
magazine's top thirty songs of all
time.)
Blackheart Records is currently
home to such up-and-coming
groups as San Antonio-based
female threesome Girl In A Coma
(Both Before I'm Gone) and Los
Angeles' pop-punk trio the
Dollyrots (Because I'm
Awesome). The label continues to
add new artists to its roster.
"I keep my eyes open [for new
acts to sign] all the time when
I'm on the road," says Jett. "We
made Blackheart Records what
we wanted it to be. It's a place
where musicians can feel
comfortable, both in a work
environment and on an artistic
level."
Since the release of Sinner in
2006, Jett has continuously
toured across the globe,
including a summer as a
headliner on the Vans Warped
Tour and stints alongside such
bands as Aerosmith. Her music
has become a permanent force
in mainstream culture. Faith Hill
sings "I Hate Myself for Loving
You" as the theme for NBC's
Sunday Night Football, and "Bad
Reputation" is the theme for the
hit show American Chopper.
Jett’s version of "Love is All
Around," the theme from the
Mary Tyler Moore Show, became
a popular anthem for women's
sports. Her songs have also been
featured in countless films,
including Shrek, Charlie's Angels,
and Monster.
Joan Jett has spent her lifetime
breaking barriers and
challenging expectations. She’s
fought hard for all of her historic
accomplishments, yet she
remains humble and
appreciative.
"I've had a blessed career," she
says. "I consider myself so lucky
to have been able to do things
my own way."
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts

led zeppelin

"Led Zeppelin"
Early days (1968–1969) With
their first album not yet
released, the band made their
live debut under the name
"Led Zeppelin" at the
University of Surrey, Guildford
on 25 October 1968. This was
followed by a US concert
debut on 26 December 1968
(when promoter Barry Fey
added them to a bill in
Denver, Colorado before
moving on to the west coast
for dates in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and other cities. Led
Zeppelin's eponymous debut
album was released on 12
January 1969, during their
first US tour. The album's
blend of blues, folk and
eastern influences with
distorted amplification made
it one of the pivotal records in
the creation of heavy metal
music. However, Plant has
commented that it is unfair
for people to typecast the
band as heavy metal, since
about a third of their music
was acoustic. Live in
Montreux, 1970 In an
interview for the Led
Zeppelin Profiled radio promo
CD (1990) Page said that the
album took about 36 hours of
studio time to create
(including mixing), and stated
that he knows this because of
the amount charged on the
studio bill. Peter Grant
claimed the album cost
£1,750 to produce (including
artwork). By 1975, the album
had grossed $7,000,000. Led
Zeppelin's album cover met
an interesting protest when,
at a 28 February 1970 gig in
Copenhagen, the band were
billed as "The Nobs" as the
result of a threat of legal
action from aristocrat Eva von
Zeppelin a relative of the
creator of the Zeppelin
aircraft, who, upon seeing the
logo of the Hindenburg
crashing in flames,
threatened to have the show
pulled off the air. In their first
year, Led Zeppelin managed
to complete four US and four
UK concert tours, and also
released their second album,
entitled Led Zeppelin II.
Recorded almost entirely on
the road at various North
American recording studios,
the second album was an
even greater success than the
first and reached the number
one chart position in the US
and the UK. Here the band
further developed ideas
established on their debut
album, creating a work which
became even more widely
acclaimed and arguably more
influential. It has been
suggested that Led Zeppelin II
largely wrote the blueprint
for 1970s hard rock.
Following the album's
release, Led Zeppelin
completed several more tours
of the United States. They
played often, initially in clubs
and ballrooms, then in larger
auditoriums and eventually
stadiums as their popularity
grew. Led Zeppelin concerts
could last more than three
hours, with expanded,
improvised live versions of
their song repertoire. Many of
these shows have been
preserved as Led Zeppelin
bootleg recordings. It was
also during this period of
intensive concert touring that
the band developed a
reputation for off-stage
excess. One alleged example
of such extravagance was the
shark episode, or red snapper
incident, which is said to have
taken place at the Edgewater
Inn in Seattle, Washington, on
28 July 1969. "The biggest
band in the world" (1970 –
1977) Led Zeppelin's
popularity in the early years
was dwarfed by their
triumphant mid-seventies
successes and it is this period
that continues to define the
band. The band's image also
changed as members began
to wear elaborate,
flamboyant clothing. Led
Zeppelin began travelling in a
private jet airliner nicknamed
The Starship, rented out
entire sections of hotels most
notably the Continental Hyatt
House in Los Angeles, known
colloquially as the "Riot
House", and became the
subject of many of rock's most
famous stories of debauchery.
One escapade involved John
Bonham riding a motorcycle
through a rented floor of the
Riot House, while another
involved the destruction of a
room in the Tokyo Hilton,
leading to the band being
banned from that
establishment for life.
However, although Led
Zeppelin developed a
reputation for trashing their
hotel suites and throwing
television sets out of the
windows, some suggest that
these tales have been
somewhat exaggerated.
Music journalist Chris Welch
argues that "Led Zeppelin's
travels spawned many stories,
but it was a myth that they
were constantly engaged in
acts of wanton destruction
and lewd behaviour. For the
composition of their third
album, Led Zeppelin III, Jimmy
Page and Robert Plant retired
to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote
cottage in Wales, in 1970. The
result was a more acoustic
sound and a song, "Bron-Yr-
Aur Stomp", misspelt as "Bron-
Y-Aur Stomp" on the album
cover, which was strongly
influenced by folk and Celtic
music, and revealed the
band's versatility. The album's
rich acoustic sound initially
received mixed reactions,
with many critics and fans
surprised at the turn taken
away from the primarily
electric compositions of the
first two albums. Over time,
however, its reputation has
improved and Led Zeppelin III
is now generally praised. It
has a unique album cover
featuring a wheel which,
when rotated, displays
various images through cut
outs in the main jacket
sleeve. The album's opening
track, "Immigrant Song", was
released in November 1970
by Atlantic Records as a single
against the band's wishes. It
included their only non-
album b-side, "Hey Hey What
Can I Do". Even though the
band saw their albums as
indivisible, whole listening
experiences —and their
manager, Peter Grant,
maintained an aggressive
pro-album stance —some
singles were released
without their consent. The
group also increasingly
resisted television
appearances, enforcing their
preference that their fans
hear and see them in live
concerts. The four symbols on
the label and inside sleeve of
Led Zeppelin IV, representing
(from left to right) Jimmy
Page, John Paul Jones, John
Bonham, and Robert Plant.Led
Zeppelin's fourth album was
released on 8 November
1971. There was no indication
of a title or a band name on
the original cover, but on the
LP label four symbols were
printed —. The band were
motivated to undertake this
decision because of their
disdain for the music press,
which tended to label them
as hyped and overrated. In
response, they released the
album with no indication of
who they were in order to
prove that the music could
sell itself.[24] The album is
variously referred to as Four
Symbols and The Fourth
Album both titles were used
in the Atlantic Records
catalogue, and also IV,
Untitled, Zoso, Runes, Sticks,
Man With Sticks, and Four. It is
still officially untitled and
most commonly referred to as
Led Zeppelin IV. In an
interview with Rolling Stone
magazine in 2005, Plant said
that it is simply called The
Fourth Album. further refined
the band's unique formula of
combining earthy, acoustic
elements with heavy metal
and blues emphases. The
album included examples of
hard rock, such as "Black Dog"
and an acoustic track, "Going
to California" (a tribute to Joni
Mitchell). "Rock and Roll" is a
tribute to the early rock music
of the 1950s. Until mid-2007,
the song was used
prominently in Cadillac
automobile commercials—
one of the few instances of
Led Zeppelin's surviving
members licensing songs.[56]
The album is one of the best-
selling albums in history and
its massive popularity
cemented Led Zeppelin's
superstardom in the 1970s. To
date it has sold 23 million
copies in the United States.
The track "Stairway to
Heaven," although never
released as a single, is
sometimes quoted as being
the most requested and most
played album-oriented rock
FM radio song. In 2005, the
magazine Guitar World held a
poll of readers in which
"Stairway to Heaven" was
voted as having the greatest
guitar solo of all time. Led
Zeppelin's next album,
Houses of the Holy, was
released in 1973. It featured
further experimentation, with
longer tracks and expanded
use of synthesisers and
mellotron orchestration. The
song "Houses of the Holy"
does not appear on its
namesake album, even
though it was recorded at the
same time as other songs on
the album; it eventually made
its way onto the 1975 album
Physical Graffiti. The orange
album cover of Houses of the
Holy depicts images of nude
children climbing up the
Giant's Causeway (in County
Antrim, Northern Ireland).
Although the children are not
depicted from the front, this
was controversial at the time
of the album's release, and in
some areas, such as the "Bible
Belt" and Spain, the record
was banned. The album
topped the charts, and Led
Zeppelin's subsequent
concert tour of the United
States in 1973 broke records
for attendance, as they
consistently filled large
auditoriums and stadiums. At
Tampa Stadium, Florida, they
played to 56,800 fans
breaking the record set by
The Beatles at Shea Stadium
in 1965, and grossed
$309,000. Three sold-out
shows at Madison Square
Garden in New York were
filmed for a motion picture,
but the theatrical release of
this project (The Song
Remains the Same) would be
delayed until 1976. During
the final night's performance,
$203,000 of the band's money
from gate receipts went
missing from a safety deposit
box at the Drake Hotel. It was
never recovered. Led
Zeppelin live at Chicago
Stadium, January 1975.In
1974, Led Zeppelin took a
break from touring and
launched their own record
label, Swan Song, named after
one of only five Led Zeppelin
songs which the band never
released commercially (Page
later re-worked the song with
his band, The Firm, and it
appears as "Midnight
Moonlight" on their first
album). The record label's
logo, based on a drawing
called Evening: Fall of Day
(1869) by William Rimmer,
features a picture of Apollo.
The logo can be found on
much Led Zeppelin
memorabilia, especially t-
shirts. In addition to using
Swan Song as a vehicle to
promote their own albums,
the band expanded the
label's roster, signing artists
such as Bad Company, Pretty
Things, Maggie Bell,
Detective, Dave Edmunds,
Midnight Flyer, Sad Café and
Wildlife. The label was
successful while Led Zeppelin
existed, but folded less than
three years after they
disbanded. 24 February 1975
saw the release of Led
Zeppelin's first double album,
Physical Graffiti, which was
their first release on the Swan
Song Records label. It
consisted of fifteen songs,
eight of which were recorded
at Headley Grange in 1974,
and the remainder being
tracks previously recorded but
not released on earlier
albums. A review in Rolling
Stone magazine referred to
Physical Graffiti as Led
Zeppelin's "bid for artistic
respectability," adding that
the only competition the
band had for the title of
'World's Best Rock Band' were
The Rolling Stones and The
Who. The album was a
massive fiscal and critical
success. Shortly after the
release of Physical Graffiti, all
previous Led Zeppelin albums
simultaneously re-entered
the top-200 album chart, and
the band embarked on
another U.S. tour, again
playing to record-breaking
crowds. In May 1975, Led
Zeppelin played five highly
successful, sold-out nights at
the Earls Court Arena in
London, footage of which was
released in 2003, on the Led
Zeppelin DVD. Following
these triumphant Earls Court
appearances Led Zeppelin
took a holiday and planned a
series of outdoor summer
concerts in America,
scheduled to open with two
dates in San Francisco.[54]
These plans were thwarted in
August 1975 when Robert
Plant and his wife Maureen
were involved in a serious car
crash while on holiday in
Rhodes, Greece. Robert
suffered a broken ankle and
Maureen was badly injured; a
blood transfusion saved her
life.[23] Unable to tour, Plant
headed to the channel island
of Jersey to spend August and
September recuperating, with
Bonham and Page in tow. The
band then reconvened in
Malibu, California. It was
during this forced hiatus that
much of the material for their
next album, Presence, was
written. By this time, Led
Zeppelin were the world's
number one rock attraction,
having outsold most bands of
the time, including the
Rolling Stones. Presence,
released in March 1976,
marked a change in the Led
Zeppelin sound towards more
straightforward, guitar-based
jams, departing from the
acoustic ballads and intricate
arrangements featured on
their previous albums.
Though it was a platinum
seller, Presence received
mixed responses from critics
and fans and some speculated
the band's legendary
excesses may have caught up
with them. The recording of
Presence coincided with the
beginning of Page's heroin
use, which may have
interfered with Led Zeppelin's
later live shows and studio
recordings, although Page has
denied this. Despite the
original criticisms, Jimmy
Page has called Presence his
favourite album, and its
opening track "Achilles Last
Stand" his favourite Led
Zeppelin song. In an
interview with a Swedish TV
program, Plant stated that
Presence is the album that
sounds the most "Led
Zeppelin" of all their LPs.
Plant's injuries prevented Led
Zeppelin from touring in
1976. Instead, the band
finally completed the concert
film The Song Remains The
Same, and the soundtrack
album of the film. The
recording had taken place
during three nights of
concerts at Madison Square
Garden in July 1973, during
the band's concert tour of the
United States. The film
premiered in New York on 20
October 1976, but was given
a lukewarm reception by
critics and fans. The film was
particularly unsuccessful in
the UK, where, after being
unwilling to tour since 1975
due to a taxation exile, Led
Zeppelin were facing an
uphill battle to recapture the
public spotlight at home.
Plant (left) and Page (right)
on stage during the 1977
North American tourIn 1977,
Led Zeppelin embarked on
another major concert tour of
North America. Here the band
set another attendance
record, with 76,229 people
attending their Pontiac
Silverdome concert on 30
April. It was, according to the
Guinness Book of Records, the
largest attendance to date for
a single act show. However,
though it was financially
profitable, the tour was beset
with off-stage problems. On 3
June a concert at Tampa
Stadium was cut short
because of a severe
thunderstorm, despite tickets
printed with "Rain or Shine".
A riot broke out amongst the
audience, resulting in several
arrests and injuries. After a 23
July show at the "Day on the
Green" festival at the Oakland
Coliseum in Oakland,
California, John Bonham and
members of the band's
support staff including
manager Peter Grant and
security coordinator John
Bindon were arrested after a
member of promoter Bill
Graham's staff was badly
beaten during the
performance. A member of
the staff had allegedly
slapped Grant's son when he
was taking down a dressing
room sign. This was seen by
John Bonham, who came over
and kicked the man. Then,
when Grant heard about this,
he went into the trailer, along
with Bindon and assaulted
the man while tour manager
Richard Cole stood outside
and guarded the trailer. The
following day's second
Oakland concert would prove
to be the band's final live
appearance in the United
States. Two days later, as the
band checked in at a French
Quarter hotel for their 30 July
performance at the Louisiana
Superdome, news came that
Plant's five year old son,
Karac, had died from a
stomach virus. The rest of the
tour was immediately
cancelled, prompting
widespread speculation
about the band's future.
Bonham's death and breakup
(1978 –1980) November 1978
saw the group recording
again, this time at Polar
Studios in Stockholm,
Sweden. The resultant album
was In Through the Out Door,
which exhibited a degree of
sonic experimentation that
again drew mixed reactions
from critics. Nevertheless, the
band still commanded legions
of loyal fans, and the album
easily reached #1 in the UK
and the U.S. in just its second
week on the Billboard album
chart. As a result of this
album's release, Led
Zeppelin's entire catalogue
made the Billboard Top 200
between the weeks of 27
October and 3 November
1979. In August 1979, after
two warm-up shows in
Copenhagen, Denmark, Led
Zeppelin headlined two
concerts at the Knebworth
Music Festival, where crowds
of close to 120,000 witnessed
the return of the band.
However, Plant was not eager
to tour full-time again, and
even considered leaving Led
Zeppelin. He was persuaded
to stay by Peter Grant. A brief,
low-key European tour was
undertaken in June and July
1980, featuring a stripped-
down set without the usual
lengthy jams and solos. At
one show on 27 June, in
Nuremberg, Germany, the
concert came to an abrupt
end in the middle of the third
song when John Bonham
collapsed on stage and was
rushed to a hospital.[76] Press
speculation arose that
Bonham's problem was
caused by an excess of
alcohol and drugs, but the
band claimed that he had
simply overeaten, and they
completed the European tour
on 7 July, at Berlin. On 24
September 1980, Bonham
was picked up by Led
Zeppelin assistant Rex King to
attend rehearsals at Bray
Studios for the upcoming tour
of the United States, the
band's first since 1977,
scheduled to commence on
17 October. During the
journey Bonham had asked to
stop for breakfast, where he
downed four quadruple
vodkas (450 ml), with a ham
roll. After taking a bite of the
ham roll he said to his
assistant, "Breakfast". He
continued to drink heavily
when he arrived at the studio.
A halt was called to the
rehearsals late in the evening
and the band retired to Page's
house — The Old Mill House in
Clewer, Windsor. After
midnight, Bonham had fallen
asleep and was taken to bed
and placed on his side. At
1:45 pm the next day Benji
LeFevre (who had replaced
Richard Cole as Led Zeppelin's
tour manager) and John Paul
Jones found him dead.
Bonham was 32 years old. The
cause of death was
asphyxiation from vomit, and
a verdict of accidental death
was returned at an inquest
held on 27 October.[28] An
autopsy found no other drugs
in Bonham's body. Bonham
was cremated on 10 October
1980, at Rushock parish
church in Droitwich,
Worcestershire, England.
Despite rumours that Cozy
Powell, Carmine Appice,
Barriemore Barlow, Simon
Kirke or Bev Bevan would join
the group as his replacement,
the remaining members
decided to disband after
Bonham's death. They issued
a press statement on 4
December 1980 confirming
that the band would not
continue without Bonham.
"We wish it to be known that
the loss of our dear friend,
and the deep sense of
undivided harmony felt by
ourselves and our manager,
have led us to decide that we
could not continue as we
were." Post-Led Zeppelin
(1981 –2007) In 1982, the
surviving members of the
group released a collection of
out-takes from various
sessions during Led Zeppelin's
career, entitled Coda. It
included two tracks taken
from the band's performance
at the Royal Albert Hall in
1970, one each from the Led
Zeppelin III and Houses of the
Holy sessions, and three from
the In Through the Out Door
sessions. It also featured a
1976 John Bonham drum
instrumental with electronic
effects added by Jimmy Page,
called "Bonzo's Montreux". On
13 July 1985, Page, Plant and
Jones reunited for the Live
Aid concert at JFK Stadium,
Philadelphia, playing a short
set featuring drummers Tony
Thompson and Phil Collins
and bassist Paul Martinez.
Collins had contributed to
Plant's first two solo albums
while Martinez was a member
of Plant's current solo band.
However, the performance
was marred by the lack of
rehearsal with the two
drummers, Page's struggles
with an out-of-tune Les Paul
and poorly-functioning
monitors, and by Plant's
hoarse voice. Page himself
has described the
performance as "pretty
shambolic", while Plant was
even less charitable,
characterising it as an
"atrocity". When Live Aid
footage was released on a
four-DVD set in late 2004 to
raise money for Sudan, the
group unanimously agreed
not to allow footage from
their performance to be used,
asserting that it was not up to
their standard. However, to
demonstrate their ongoing
support for the campaign
Page and Plant pledged
proceeds from their
forthcoming Page and Plant
DVD release and John Paul
Jones pledged the proceeds
of his then-current US tour
with Mutual Admiration
Society to the project. The
three members reunited
again in May 1988, for the
Atlantic Records 40th
Anniversary concert, with
Bonham's son, Jason Bonham,
on drums. However, the
reunion was again
compromised by a disjointed
performance, particularly by
Plant and Page (the two
having argued immediately
prior to coming on stage
about whether to play
"Stairway to Heaven"), and by
the complete loss of Jones'
keyboards on the live
television feed. Page later
described the performance as
"one big disappointment",
and Plant said unambiguously
that "the gig was foul". The
first Led Zeppelin box set of
the nineties, featuring tracks
remastered under the
personal supervision of Jimmy
Page, introduced the band's
music to many new fans, thus
stimulating something of a
renaissance for Led Zeppelin.
This set also included four
previously unreleased tracks,
including the Robert Johnson
tribute "Travelling Riverside
Blues", which was released as
a single in the US. The song
was a huge hit, with the
video in heavy rotation on
MTV. 1992 saw the release of
the "Immigrant Song" b/w
"Hey Hey What Can I Do" (the
original b-side) as a CD single
in the United States. The
second box set was released
in 1993; the two box sets
together containing all
known studio recordings, as
well as some rare live tracks.
In 1994, Page and Plant
reunited in the form of a 90
minute "UnLedded" MTV
project. They later released
an album called No Quarter:
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
Unledded, which featured
some reworked Led Zeppelin
songs, and embarked on a
world tour the following year.
This is said to be the
beginning of the inner rift
between the band members,
as Jones was not even told of
the reunion. When asked
where Jones was, Plant had
replied that he was out
"parking the car". On 12
January 1995, Led Zeppelin
were inducted into the
United States Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame by Aerosmith's
vocalist, Steven Tyler and
guitarist Joe Perry. Jason and
Zoe Bonham also attended,
representing their late father.
At the induction ceremony,
the band's inner rift became
apparent when Jones joked
upon accepting his award,
"Thank you, my friends, for
finally remembering my
phone number", causing
consternation and awkward
looks from Page and Plant.
Afterwards, they played a
brief set with Tyler and Perry
featuring Jason Bonham on
drums, and with Neil Young
and Michael Lee replacing
Bonham. On 29 August 1997,
Atlantic released a single edit
of "Whole Lotta Love" in the
U.S. and the UK, making it the
only Led Zeppelin UK CD
single. Additional tracks on
this CD-single are "Baby Come
On Home" and "Travelling
Riverside Blues". It is the only
single the band ever released
in the UK. It peaked at #21.
On November 11 1997 the
release of Led Zeppelin BBC
Sessions, the first Led
Zeppelin album in fifteen
years. The two-disc set
included almost all of the
band's recordings for the BBC.
Page and Plant released
another album called Walking
into Clarksdale in 1998,
featuring all new material.
However, the album wasn't as
successful as No Quarter, and
the band slowly dissolved. On
29 November 1999 the RIAA
announced that the band
were only the third act in
music history to achieve four
or more Diamond albums. In
2002, Robert Plant and John
Paul Jones reconciled after
years of strife that kept the
band apart. This was followed
by rumours of reunion,
quickly quashed by individual
members' representatives.
2003 saw the release of a
triple live album, How the
West Was Won, and a video
collection, Led Zeppelin DVD,
both featuring material from
the band's heyday. By the end
of the year, the DVD had sold
more than 520,000 copies.
Led Zeppelin were ranked
#14 on Rolling Stone's 2004
list of the "100 Greatest Artists
of All Time",[89] and the
following year the band
received a Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award. In
November 2005, it was
announced that Led Zeppelin
and Russian conductor Valery
Gergiev were the winners of
the 2006 Polar Music Prize.
The King of Sweden
presented the prize to Plant,
Page, and Jones, along with
John Bonham's daughter, in
Stockholm in May 2006.[90] In
November 2006, Led Zeppelin
were inducted into the UK
Music Hall of Fame. The
television broadcasting of the
event consisted of an
introduction to the band by
various famous admirers, a
presentation of an award to
Jimmy Page and then a short
speech by the guitarist. After
this, rock group Wolfmother
played a tribute to Led
Zeppelin, performing the
song "Communication
Breakdown". On 27 July 2007,
Atlantic/Rhino, & Warner
Home Video announced three
new Led Zeppelin titles to be
released in November, 2007.
Released first was Mothership
on 13 November, a 24-track
best-of spanning the band's
career, followed by a reissue
of the soundtrack to The Song
Remains the Same on 20
November which includes
previously unreleased
material, and a new DVD. On
15 October 2007, it was
reported that Led Zeppelin
were expected to announce a
new series of agreements
that make the band's songs
available as legal digital
downloads, first as ringtones
through Verizon Wireless
then as digital downloads of
the band's eight studio
albums and other recordings
on 13 November.[94] The
offerings will be available
through both Verizon
Wireless and iTunes. On 3
November 2007, a UK
newspaper the Daily Mirror
announced that it had world
exclusive rights to stream six
previously unreleased tracks
via its website. On 8
November 2007, XM Satellite
Radio launched XM LED, the
network's first artist-exclusive
channel dedicated to Led
Zeppelin. On 13 November
2007, Led Zeppelin's
complete works were
published on iTunes. 2007
The Reunion The surviving
members of Led Zeppelin and
Jason Bonham at The O2 in
London in 2007Main article:
Ahmet Ertegun Tribute
Concert On 10 December
2007 the surviving members
of Led Zeppelin reunited for a
one-off benefit concert held
in memory of music
executive Ahmet Ertegün,
with Jason Bonham taking up
his late father's place on
drums. It was announced on
12 September 2007 by
promoter Harvey Goldsmith in
a press conference. The
concert was to help raise
money for the Ahmet Ertegün
Education Fund, which pays
for university scholarships in
the UK, US and Turkey. Music
critics praised the band's
performance. Hamish MacBain
of NME proclaimed, "What
they have done here tonight
is proof they can still perform
to the level that originally
earned them their legendary
reputation...We can only hope
this isn't the last we see of
them." Page suggested the
band may start work on new
material, and stated that a
world tour may be in the
works. Meanwhile, Plant
made his position regarding a
reunion tour known to the
Sunday Times, stating: "The
whole idea of being on a
cavalcade of merciless
repetition is not what it's all
about." However, he also
made it known that he could
be in favour of more one-off
shows in the near future: "It
wouldn't be such a bad idea
to play together from time to
time." Reunion tour reports
(2008) Following the reunion
concert and the press
coverage it generated,
speculation on the future of
the band and the possibility
of a tour with Jason Bonham
on drums increased to a level
not seen in several years. In
an interview promoting the
release of the Mothership
compilation in Tokyo early in
2008, Jimmy Page revealed
that he was prepared to
embark upon a world tour
with Led Zeppelin, but due to
Robert Plant's tour
commitments with Alison
Krauss, such plans will not be
announced until at least
September. Showing
enthusiasm for continued
performing, in late spring
Page and Jones joined Foo
Fighters frontman Dave Grohl
and drummer Taylor Hawkins
onstage at Wembley Stadium
to perform Led Zeppelin
tracks "Rock and
Roll" (Hawkins on vocals and
Grohl on drums), followed by
"Ramble On" (Grohl on vocals
and Hawkins on drums). Plant
however continued to remain
focused on his recent work
and tour with Krauss. Their
duet album Raising Sand
became certified platinum in
March, and their recordings
received awards including a
Grammy for the song "Gone,
Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)"
and Album of the Year from
the Americana Music
Association. Along with
concentrating on the duo's
American tour, Plant
remained evasive on the
subject of a Led Zeppelin
reunion tour, and expressed
displeasure at the process
leading up to the 2007
reunion show during an
interview with GQ Magazine,
saying "The endless
paperwork was like nothing
I've experienced before. I've
kept every one of the emails
that were exchanged before
the concert and I'm thinking
of compiling them for a book,
which I feel sure would be
hailed as a sort of literary
version of Spinal Tap." After
the BBC reported in late
August that Jimmy Page, John
Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham
had been recording material
which could become a new
Led Zeppelin project,[104]
the rumours of a reunion
began to accumulate through
the remaining summer. On 29
September Plant released a
statement in which he called
reports of a Led Zeppelin
reunion "frustrating and
ridiculous". He said he would
not be recording or touring
with the band, before adding,
"I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul
Jones and Jason Bonham
nothing but success with any
future projects." Following
Plant's statement,
authoritative but divergent
views of the possibility of a
Led Zeppelin reunion tour the
next year were offered by
John Paul Jones and promoter
Harvey Goldsmith. In late
October, Jones confirmed to
BBC Radio Devon in Exeter
that he, Page, and Bonham
were seeking a replacement
for Plant. The bassist
remarked: "We are trying out
a couple of singers. We want
to do it. It's sounding great
and we want to get on and
get out there." The next day,
Goldsmith commented on the
prospect of a Led Zeppelin
reunion, casting doubt on the
possibility or wisdom of such
a venture. In an interview
with BBC News, Goldsmith
stated "I think that there is an
opportunity for them to go
out and present themselves. I
don't think a long rambling
tour is the answer as Led
Zeppelin." The Ertegün
Concert promoter felt the
result of the ongoing plans of
Jones, Page, and Bonham
would not be "called Led
Zeppelin" A spokesman for
guitarist Jimmy Page later
confirmed this, telling
RollingStone.com that a new
band featuring Page, bassist
John Paul Jones and drummer
Jason Bonham would not go
by the name Led Zeppelin
due to the absence of singer
Robert Plant. On January 7,
2009, Music Radar reported
that Jimmy Page's manager
Robert Mensch said that the
band had "tried out a few
singers, but no one worked
out, that was it. The whole
thing is completely over now.
There are absolutely no plans
for them to continue." In a
radio interview, Plant cited a
fear of disappointment as a
major factor for not
continuing a reunited
Zeppelin. "The
disappointment that could be
there once you commit to
that and the comparisons to
something that was basically
fired by youth and a different
kind of exhuberance to now,
it's very hard to go back and
meet that head on and do it
justice.

Finding Good Cheap Guitars

It is always a tricky thing when you put together the words "good and cheap." This is the case when it comes to finding good cheap guitars. We must remember to look at the word "cheap" two different ways. One, the guitar is inexpensive or two, its just plain garbage. We will be speaking to both meanings in this article. You can own a sweet instrument without spending a lot of money. There are several things you can do in order to be satisfied with the purchasing of cheap guitars. Lets take a look at a few points that will help you make a wise decision.

General Considerations
One of the most important things to keep in mind is, how does the guitar feel when you hold it, as well as the quality of sound it produces. With a few exceptions the guitar will be made from quality wood such as walnut, hickory or rosewood. Avoid guitars made out of composite materials. They just do not resonate sound like wood does. (There are a few exceptions to this rule.)

The shape is important as well. How it fits your body while your sitting down or the feel of balance if you are standing up. Pick a shape that makes it feel like it is a extension of your body. Visit a local music store and have an employee or a friend play several guitars and listen for a sound that is the most pleasing to your ears.
Note:( When you decide to purchase, do so on-line. You WILL pay less there.)

Replace Tuner Heads and Pickups
You will be amazed at how much better a guitar can sound by replacing cheap pickups with ones that have strong name recognition. There are several to choose from. Find pickups that fit your style. Also the tuner heads on cheap guitars often do not stay in tune very well. Again there are several quality heads that will be fine replacements. Simply doing these two things will narrow your search in finding good cheap guitars and boost your guitars performance quite a bit. They are easy to do using simple tools.

Be Willing to Spend $100 or More
In your pursuit of finding good cheap guitars the most important thing to keep in mind is maintaining that passion to practice. Especially for beginners it is essential that you own a guitar that you just can not wait to play when you get home. If you own something that is really cheap, you will not be enthusiastic about playing it. From my experience plan on spending at least $100 or you will end up with a dust collector.

Check Out Reviews and Ratings
Finally, spend some time on the Internet researching and learning.You will need to educate yourself on the vast array of options available to you. There is a huge amount of selection out there. Many guitar manufacturers are battling for your dollars. That being the case, competition is fierce, and companies are producing fine guitars at a fair price. The most difficult thing in finding good cheap guitars is deciding between all the options you have.

The good news is, there are websites out there that have done the research for you.

It can be frustrating weeding through all the forums and blogs out there while trying to find cheap guitars. If you want to see several 5 star guitars for under $500 all in one place, check out my website Cheap Guitars

I have been in the music business since the early 70's. My goal is to bring all the reviewed guitars and related gear to one place. Saving you the time of running all over the Internet.
Gold Top Musician- Researcher
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=T._Gibson

metallica world magnetic tour

Metallica world tour, death magnetic album, james hetfield, lars ulrich, robert trujilo, kirk hammet, american heavy metal, metal band, supergroup, live, on stage,

kirk hammet

Hammett was invited to join Metallica following the dismissal of the band's original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine in 1983. This was prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All. At the time Hammett was taking private guitar lessons from the now-famous Joe Satriani.

Hammett has written and contributed riffs for Metallica songs since the mid-1980s (particularly in the 1990s during the Load era). One of these riffs, used in "Enter Sandman" became one of Metallica's most popular songs. It was the first track and first single on Metallica's self-titled "Black Album" and was ranked 399th on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest songs of all time.

The bridge for "Creeping Death" was originally an Exodus riff that Hammett took with him to Metallica.

Hammett is also known for always having his picking hand taped up. During the course of a full tour, due to constantly palm muting and fast picking, the back of his hand takes sizable abuse.

Hammett's playing style is noted for his extensive use of the wah-wah pedal in his solos. Hammett says "The wah-wah is an extension of my personality." Hammett's use of the wah-pedal hadn't been featured in recent Metallica solos, but has seen a resurgence in his solos on the newest album, Death Magnetic.

Hammett initially wanted to have guitar solos on Metallica's 2003 album, St. Anger, but drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock thought that the solos did not sound right in the songs. He later admitted himself, "We tried to put in solos but they sounded like an afterthought so we left them out".

On April 4, 2009, Kirk, along with remaining Metallica members Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Robert Trujillo, and former bassist Jason Newsted, was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Former bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident during the Master Of Puppets tour in 1986, was posthumously inducted as well. In 2009 Hammett supplied the foreword to British author Joel McIver's book To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton

Hammett now resides in San Francisco with Lani, his second wife, whom he married in 1998. They have two sons, Angel Ray Keala Hammett (September 29, 2006) and Vincenzo Kainalu Hammett (June 28, 2008).

Hammett's interests include surfing, cooking, horses, archeology, cars, science fiction magazines, collecting skulls of animals such as cats and dogs as seen in Metallica's movie Some Kind of Monster, and collecting horror film memorabilia.

Kirk also commented recently on the T3 gadget website in their audio interview that he was previously addicted to video games, stating that the addiction resulted in the loss of eating, social interaction and guitar practice.

Kirk hammet, gibson flying V, gibson signature, rock guitar, metallica, rock concert , guitar solo, metallica guitarist, world tour,

Birth name Kirk Lee Hammett
Born November 18, 1962 (1962-11-18) (age 47)
San Francisco, California, USA
Genres Thrash metal, speed metal, heavy metal, hard rock
Occupations Musician, songwriter
Instruments Guitar, bass, sitar
Years active 1979 - present
Labels Warner Bros., Elektra, Vertigo, Megaforce
Associated acts Metallica, Exodus, Spastik Children
Website Metallica.com
source wikipedia

GIBSON les paul and SG part 2

Ready to Rock


The advanced electronics on the 2009 Raw Power models speak volumes about their intentions. A pair of 57 Classic humbucking pickups offer a broad appeal for a wide range of playing styles. One of Gibson’s most popular pickups of all time, the 57 Classics employ Alnico II magnets, vintage enamel coated wire, nickel-plated pole pieces, nickel slugs, maple spacers and vintage-style, two-conductor, braided wiring, just like the legendary PAFs that they are based on. In a variation from the majority of original PAFs, however, the ’57 Classics’ coils are wax potted to combat microphony and feedback squeal at high volumes so, while vintage voiced, they are also suited to high-gain playing.

Solid to the Core

The Raw Power Series carries a hardware complement that cuts straight to the core of its intentions. The legendary Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece pairing aid tuning stability and enhance sustain, while green-key Grover Kluson-style tuners add subtle vintage elegance to their superior performance. A Corian nut helps to ensure excellent resonance and sustain, as well as hitch-free performance. Both guitars feature glued-in necks and are built to Gibson’s traditional 24 3/4" scale length, with a neck width of 1 11/16" at the nut. All Raw Power Series guitars come equipped with a Gibson gig bag, so they’re ready to hit the road and roll.

the Raw Power Les Paul and the Raw Power SG .... just GREAAAAAAAT.

source gibson.com

GIBSON les paul and SG

When it comes to Gibson’s Raw Power Series, exactly what it declares: two of the world’s most iconic electric guitar designs, stripped of superfluous frills and ready to roar. Inspired by the popular but short-lived Raw Power Les Paul of 2000-2001, the newly revitalized series of 2009 includes both the Les Paul Studio Raw Power and SG Raw Power, both in the dressed-down styling and meaty performance package that so many players loved in the original release, but with notable added features to update the theme.

Down to Business

The new Raw Power guitars follow the no-nonsense ethos of Gibson’s popular Studio series, and their down-to-business looks are packed with performance features that the hard-gigging modern musician will appreciate. These are grab’n’go workhorse guitars for tone-conscious rock and blues artists, and they wear their attitude on their sleeves. Both the Les Paul Studio Raw Power and SG Raw Power feature unbound solid maple bodies, with a traditional carved top on the former. This sturdy tonewood offers a clear, well-defined sonic response, as well as looking great with minimal cosmetic treatment. Their solid mahogany necks are topped with unbound maple fretboards, which are dressed with simple dot position markers, and graced with a traditional trapezoid marker at the 12th fret.

Simple, Yet Sizzling

None of this simplicity means that the Raw Power guitars suffer cosmetically, however, and just like the original Raw Power Les Paul — and the Les Paul Studio — these instruments are destined to be admired for their visual purity as well as for their power and tone. A Natural Satin finish denotes the cornerstone of the series (with smoky acrylic pickguard to enhance the natural elements in these guitars’ tops), but both models are also available in a range of finish options, including Satin Gold, Satin Yellow, Satin White, Satin Blue/Platinum, Satin Trans Ebony, Satin Aquamarine, and Gloss Platinum. Furthermore, the Les Paul Studio Raw Power is available in either chrome or gold-plated hardware.

metallica death magnetic tour USA

]
Some photos of Metallica american tour, the core of american metal band. Greeting All metallica fans there at the death magnetic tour. James Hetfield, lars ulrich, robert trujilo, kirk hammet ...looking great..... . awesome metal band!!!!. oooooh I miss Jason. still prefer the old metallica though.
metallica stil has a strong followers after 20 years and deserve recognition and do not forget to mention
that
Metallica is a LEGEND

Oops where did I left my gibson ? suddenly I got the urge to play "enter the sandman" and crank my marshall amp out loud..... In order to wake the neighbors.. lol ... wish I could learn to play rock guitar at a guitar school earlier... or enroll at Joe Satriani guitar school..... Like kirk hammet did. hehehehe lol.... anyway... keep on rocking ... where ever you are.. thats the matter...

Beatlemania strikes again

LONDON (Reuters) - A wave of "Beatlemania" struck Britain's streets as a specially remastered edition of the Fab Four's albums was released on Wednesday, complete with an interactive video game for a new generation of fans.

The Beatles collection, launched worldwide on 09/09/09 and priced at 180 pounds ($300), is expected to dominate the charts in the United States and Britain, bringing a windfall to the group's label EMI Music and the Beatles' company, Apple Corps.

While queues formed at major music stores in London, there was also Beatles nostalgia across Europe and parts of Asia.

A front page cartoon in France's Le Monde newspaper showed France's divided opposition leaders dressed as Beatles. "It would be nice if we played the same music," says one. "All you need is love," replied another.

In Ireland, a radio station hosted a karaoke event with people invited to sing and play Beatles tunes on guitar.

Ahead of the launch, Beatles singer and songwriter Paul McCartney wrote a letter to Britain's biggest selling daily newspaper saying how he once imagined the band, which changed the face of popular music in the 1960s, would only last a couple of years.

"Now it feels like the Beatles will go on forever," he wrote in The Sun, nearly 50 years after the group was formed.

While the remastered catalog, its first overhaul since 1987, is seen appealing mainly to Beatles' fans who would appreciate subtle variations and improvements, most excitement surrounds MTV's video game, "The Beatles: Rock Band."

"I'm buying the game," said Stefan Krupicki, 32, who queued for an hour at the launch at the HMV store in central London and declared himself more a fan of Metallica than the Beatles. "I just want to try the game and see how it is going to work."

Developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by Viacom's MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, analysts say the game could sell 2 million units in the first month.

In New York's Times Square, Ken Zemsky, 56, picked up several copies of the game for his three children aged 12 to 20. "It's going to be a Christmas present," he said, after waiting in a short line at Toys "R" Us. "I thought I'd get it early in case the game sold out."

Although Zemsky said he rarely played video games, "I may play this one a little, but I'll really enjoy listening to the music while I watch them play."

QUALITY IMPROVED

The new music collection -- with its hefty price tag -- comprises 16 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in Britain, and "Magical Mystery Tour," which became part of the Beatles' core catalog when the CDs were released in 1987.

Allan Rouse, who oversaw the remastering, said improved computer software had allowed his team to improve the quality and sound of the Beatles' catalog, including the removal of bad edits, electrical clicks and sibilance.

The release should boost CD sales in an era when songs are often downloaded online and fans can choose their favorite tracks. But the Beatles appear set to move into the digital age -- with some of their music likely to be made available as downloadable content for the video game.

"I'm probably not going to buy the album. I'll probably download it because it's free," said Robert Gold, 21, who works at a clothing store in central London.

Fans of arguably the world's most successful pop band, with album sales of more than 600 million worldwide, have waited for years to be able to download the Beatles' coveted body of work, but have been frustrated partly by a trademark dispute.

The game, which offers 45 songs from the band's catalog, has won rave reviews from critics.

Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said the significance of the Beatles release was the introduction of a new generation of fans worldwide to the group's music.

"Music-based franchises such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero now sell in the tens of millions and have huge family appeal," said Castaldo, "which is why the release of Beatles Rock Band, combined with the simultaneous release of the remastered Beatles albums, promises to be such a global event."

With video game sales falling in the United States, the makers of the game hope to appeal to older consumers whose love of the music may draw them into gaming.

However, Jeff Howells, a 36-year-old civil servant, said he was at the launch to get the discs.

"I'm not interested in the game; quite a few people are not, I suspect. I think most people will be interested in the music. The game is just a nice little fad -- I don't think it will last."

Pearl Jam release Backspacer

By Jonathan Cohen.
NEW YORK (Billboard) - "Super poppy." "Just plain fun." "Surprisingly optimistic." "Catchy as hell." These are not phrases often used to describe Pearl Jam, the 30 million-selling purveyor of angst-ridden guitar rock now approaching its 19th year of existence.

And yet these are the words being used on blogs to describe "The Fixer," the first song from the Seattle rock band's ninth album, "Backspacer."

The track is a surging, '80s-style rocker written by drummer Matt Cameron.

You can't blame Cameron, singer Eddie Vedder, bassist Jeff Ament or guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready for smiling wider than usual. President George W. Bush, who the band vilified in song and onstage for eight years, is out of office. The group remains a huge touring draw and A-list festival headliner, having grossed nearly $42 million from 51 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore from 2006 to 2008. Vedder won a Golden Globe for his soundtrack to the 2007 movie "Into the Wild." Life is quieter on the homefront, too: Four of the five band members have children.

But Pearl Jam is also celebrating because it finally made good on a longstanding desire to release its music on its own, without the aid of a major label. "Backspacer" will come out September 20 in the United States through a creative patchwork of deals with physical and digital retailers, the most prominent of which is a one-off, big-box exclusive with Target. Internationally, Universal Music is the label for the release.

The Target partnership threw fans for a loop when the news leaked in June. At first glance the move seems at odds with a band whose DIY, fan-first business ethic has set it against corporate behemoths like Ticketmaster and AT&T. But as details began to emerge, it became clear that Pearl Jam struck a deal that rewards the band and its fans as much as it does the stores that sell its music.

MORAL BAROMETER

Target agreed to let independent music retailers carry "Backspacer," a first for one of its exclusives. "Backspacer" will also be sold on Pearl Jam's Web site and at Apple's iTunes Music Store.

"We've put a tremendous amount of thought into this, and we've done it in a way that we think will be good for everybody," Vedder says. He understands why some fans may be confused about the deal, but he says, "I can't think of anything we've ever done without putting it through our own personal moral barometer. Target has passed for us. The fans just have to trust us."

As Gossard puts it, "If somebody would have said 15 years ago that they were going to give us a great chunk of money and let it be a one-off and not hold us to any strings, we would have said, 'Come on! This is the best deal ever!' We fought our way through eight records at Sony and J to get ourselves in a position where we could cut a deal to get paid $5 a record, rather than $1.50 or $2. It was the right compromise for this record, and I think it will give us even more flexibility in the future. The fact that we cut out a few other chains -- I think it's our prerogative to do that. We're bringing a lot of smaller stores with us."

The Target discs will link to a virtual "vault" of 11 concerts spanning Pearl Jam's career, from which fans can choose two. The band will also create an organic cotton T-shirt to be sold at Target, with proceeds earmarked for the hunger relief charity Feeding America. And in September, a Cameron Crowe-directed TV ad will air featuring footage shot during a private performance at Seattle's Showbox in late May.

For Vedder, an avowed vinyl junkie who still savors memories of buying Jackson 5 records as a preteen in Chicago, Target isn't exactly his preferred music purchasing environment. "Maybe it will change, but I'm not going to find Thee Headcoatees at a Target," he says, invoking the obscure British band with a hearty laugh. "But if they only have 300 records at Target, and you can be one of them, and that's how people are going to hear your music, you have to think about that."

That's not the only thing Vedder is thinking about, either. While acts like AC/DC and Aerosmith were winning new fans with branded versions of "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero," respectively, Pearl Jam was sitting on the videogame sidelines. The band finally took the plunge this spring when it made all of the songs from "Ten" available for download on "Rock Band" the same day the reissue hit stores. The band's manager, Kelly Curtis, declined to discuss sales, but sources at MTV say the "Ten" songs have generated more than 850,000 downloads.

"Backspacer" will also be available on "Rock Band" the day it comes out, and Target has an exclusive on an edition of the album featuring access to download its songs for "Rock Band" on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. It's a precursor to a dedicated Pearl Jam game that could hit stores as early as 2010.

Industry observers are eager to see how Pearl Jam's plan plays out. If successful, it could inspire a host of established bands to try a similar approach, according to Tsunami Entertainment president Bruce Kirkland, who has helped negotiate numerous exclusives between artists and big boxes, including the Pearl Jam/Target pairing.

"Any artist that can tour without support and has a base is well served by this system," he says, pointing to Wal-Mart's deals with the Eagles and Garth Brooks. "For them, the record is a marketing tool for other revenue-generating opportunities. It is a no-brainer. It's a perfect deal in that sense. The financial upside is cutting out a lot of the middle pieces. I like the model because it basically puts more money into marketing, which is a big piece missing from labels these days, and there's a better bottom line for the artist."

Others are impressed that Pearl Jam has been able to create synergy among such a disparate roster of partners. "They're playing ball with the big boys," one former major-label executive says. "This isn't like some other bands, who self-released music online and then followed it up at retail months later. They picked major partners, because this is still a major band."

LEAN AND MEAN

As Pearl Jam reinvented its business, it turned to a familiar face when it came time to record: Brendan O'Brien. The band recorded "Backspacer" in Los Angeles and Atlanta with the producer, who also worked on "Vs." and "Vitalogy" but hadn't produced a Pearl Jam album since 1998's "Yield."

Pearl Jam's members quickly realized what they'd been missing, as O'Brien provided crucial input on arrangements; played piano, keyboard and percussion; and put together orchestrations for delicate Vedder songs like the acoustic guitar-powered "Just Breathe" and the gut-punch finale "The End."

"He does those melodic things from his musician brain first, and then he's able to layer them within the music with his producer brain," drummer Cameron says. "He uses both sets of skills in a way that most producers aren't even able to do." O'Brien's efficiency rubbed off on the band, according to Gossard. "We made this faster than we've made any record," he says. "We were 30 days in the studio total, including mix. I think we had 90 percent of the record cut in the first nine days."

At 11 songs and less than 37 minutes, "Backspacer" is the leanest and meanest Pearl Jam album yet. "At one of our gigs, without flashpots and electricity, there's only so much room for those more difficult listening songs," Vedder says with a laugh. "That was one reason why we kept the arrangements lean. The songs come off more like sparkling water than pea soup, and I think that's good for our group right now."

"The Fixer" became the foundation for the album after Vedder came up with an edit of an arrangement the band bashed through without him. "My personal interpretation is that it's about how (Vedder) makes our songs work," Gossard says of the track. "When someone inspires him, he's an incredible collaborator."

Other musical highlights on "Backspacer" include the opening one-two combo of "Gonna See My Friend," a furious Stooges-style garage blast, and the propulsive, Police-y "Got Some," which Pearl Jam premiered June 1 on the first episode of "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien."

On the softer side, "Just Breathe" is a ballad based on an instrumental from Vedder's "Into the Wild" soundtrack, while "The End" is an aching love song that closes the album with startling lyrics: "My dear/I'm here/But not much longer."

"You know, I'll admit that even I felt some impact myself listening to it back the first time, and not even really knowing where it came from," Vedder says of the song, which he debuted this summer during a solo tour. "A lot of the songs on this record were ones I just tried to get out of the way of, without self-editing."

Vedder named the album in homage to a typewriter key. The frontman, who still uses typewriters for lyric writing and personal correspondence, says he got upset when he saw vintage typewriter keys being used as jewelry. "For me it was like shark fin soup: 'You're killing typewriters for a bracelet!'" he says.

The band, which headlined the past weekend's Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, has shows lined up in Seattle, Los Angeles and Philadelphia through September and October, with the Philly gigs set to be the final ones at the Spectrum.

Also on tap is a headlining slot October 4 at the Austin City Limits festival, plus a run of shows in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii in November and December.

As satisfied as they are with their new album and their new deals, Vedder and his bandmates insist they're as driven as ever to keep challenging themselves, both as a band and a business.

"You'd like to be able to go to work and have everything be smooth, but there's some weird artistic gene in some of us," he says, expanding on the theme of "The Fixer." "It can feel like a curse, because it makes you push yourself to make things better and not allow them to be easy. That's how you get the good stuff."

Megadeth so far, so good .... so what

megadeth 1985
Megadeth has remained a vital element in continuing to define and redefine the sound and the fury of metal music. When Dave Mustaine met up with David Ellefson in 1983, several months after Mustaine departed from Metallica, the musical beast they conceiv ed was Megadeth.

As co-founders of the band, Mustaine and Ellefson have devised a musical creature that, with each new album, forges new ground and stretches the very boundaries where metal lives. As the creative genius behind the music, Mustaine writes lyrics that are pr ofound and that analogous to his sharp, cynical view of modern society. "It's not like I am this frustrated bleeding anarchist," Mustaine remarks. "I am just telling a story of how my life is. I grew up in a broken home. I was latchkey kid. I want our fan s to have better lifestyle than the one I grew up in."

Mustaine's intelligence and talent, combined with those of Ellefson and the other players who have graced the formation of the band thoughout the years, have spawned authentic, raw, unruly music. "Our music is very stimulating, aggressive music, that cont ains influences all the way from blue to jazz fusion to speed and thrash metal", explains Mustaine. With intricate, furious guitar licks and heavy drums and bass, Megadeth continues to reign as a premier speed metal band of the 1990's, personifying metal music itself with every song reeling in ferocity, honesty and powerful thrash induced rhythms.

Their meteoric rise to forefront of the metal genre began in 1985 with Killing is my business... and business is good released on Combat records. This powerful debut propelled them straight into a deal with Capitol records. Their next album, Pe ace Sells... but who's buying, was released in september 1985. This sophomore release was a veritable onslaught of pure aggression and went gold.

In 1988 So far, so good... so what was released. The album was harder, more forceful and maintained an even punk feel, unleashing such monsters as "Mary Jane" and "Set the world afire."

After the So far, so good...so what album, with Nick Menza on drums and Marty Friedman on guitar, Megadeth began yielding songs, fueled by Mustaine's fierce intellect and supported by superior musicianship, that spiraled Megadeth towards its best a nd most creative period. "When the four of us got together and made the record Rust in Peace, we knew we were on to something special," says Ellefson.

"Since then we have really honed our sound and we have learned how to write and record together." The unique bond that resulted changed the face of Megadeth's future. "This lineup is more successful than any other because the vision is the same," says Dave Mustaine, a sentiment concurred by Marty Friedman who notes, "We are lucky because we are all a similar age, have a similar vision and share a chemistry. When the four of us strap on our instruments it just sounds like Megadeth." The four embrace a soulful commonality, especially regarding what their music is about. "We are focused and in alignment with what we wan
t to do and how we want to do it," says drummer Nick Menza. "We have always been the type of band that makes music for ourselves foremost. That is why there is so much substance to it. It is not contrived. It is real. It is reality."
megadeth 2006
 Megadeth has done very well at bringing their music to new audiences. Countdown to extinction was released in 1992, taking them on a world tour. The year also saw Mustaine as a host on MTV for "Rock the vote" covering the Democratic Convention - a job which coincided perfectly with Mustaine's penchant for political commentary and social awareness. Also keeping the band in the limelight, the band's single, "Angry Again" from the Last Action Hero soundtrack made a major breaktrough and "99 way s to die", the lead track on the hugely successful The Beavis and Butthead Experience compilation album, became an MTV and metal radio staple.

The release of Youthanasia brought Megadeth to new heights and also to parts of the world never before ventured, including Israel and Eastern Europe. It represented a departure in many ways for the band. "Killing is my business... and business i s good" up to Countdown to Extinction were all written while performing previous material," explains Mustaine.
"Youthanasia was written totally and 100% in the studio. We weren't playing any old cataloged material. None of the past influenced the new record." The album contains songs that explore the depths of Mustaine's darker, deeper thoughts and feelings - songs such as, "The Family Tree" a song about child abuse and the deep pain of lost love described in "Addicted to Chaos" while also delving into his inner fear of nuclear war in "Black Curtains."

The band withstood controversy after controversy with the release of Youthanasia, "A tout le monde" being banned by MTV for its suicidal overtones. "This is coming from an institution that is supposedly for your mind and says that censorship is un- American," says Mustaine. "We don't write music that makes suggestions of taking one's own life. It's more saying - we have a problem here, let's be part of the solution." The cover art for the album, decipting babies hanging from clotheslines, caused a m ajor stir as well. "We never do anything for shock value or to get controversial press because that is basically a pain in the ass," says Marty Friedman. "We like it and that is what we wanted our album cover to be." Youthanasia has gone platinum.

The band released a new album, Hidden Treasures, in the UK an March 13, 1995 to coincide with the European leg of the Youth tour. In addition to a new Sex Pistols cover, the album contains songs only previously released on complation and soundtrack albums. A version off Hidden Treasures was released in Japan and the U.S. as well.

1995 also found the band on-line with Megadeth Arizona. "We use it as a communication tool between us and our fans. We are more accessible and more able to communicate with include our fans within Megadeth's world," says David Ellefson.

On Cryptic Writings (1997), Megadeth's eighth album, the band's unwavering conviction mixes with a desire to explore new territory, characteristics which mark their career as true musical pioneers. Recorded in Nashville, TN, Cryptic Writings ranges from Mega-rock (the melodic "Trust" and "Almost Honest" with their relationships-going-to-hell vulnerability), balls-out powerful (the monsterous thrash of "the Disintegrators" and the fight for freedom of "FFF") and hard pummeling metal ("Masterm ind" and the edgy "I'll get even").

Cryptic Writings was written during 1996 and the last three months of the year were spent in the recording studio with producer Dann Huff. When Megadeth went in search of a cutting edge, not necessarily well-known producer - They found Huff, the si nger-guitarist of hard rock's Giant in the late '80s to early '90s, who was also a student of famed producer Mutt Lange.

"I wanted to take guitar lessons from Dann six years ago. I'd heard a Giant record and said, 'Here's a guy who knows where to put the notes.' He sounded awesome," Mustaine says. But Huff instead offered to jam with him. Recalls Mustaine, "I didn't realize that he was a session player and what he meant was 'I'll give you a free lesson.' So I turned him down." Now Mustaine wanted him as a producer and flew to Nashville. "I never heard anything he'd produced or even any music from him recently. He had really short hair and he got us lost driving from his house to the studio. But I thought, 'He's the guy.'"

Recording far from home, he says, was the best it's ever been for a band that has been nothing short of volatile over the years. "There was a congeniality and a level of trust in each of us created an enviroment of cooperation. This was the most painless experience we ever had in a studio."

In the time between Youthanasia and Cryptic Writings, the members of Megadeth kept their fierce work ethic in full tilt. Mustaine collaborated with Lee Ving of Fear on MD.45, the full length album, The Craving, on Capitol. Marty Frie dman released a solo album entitled, True Obsessions.
In addition to contributing regularly to Bass Player Magazine with the column "The Real Deal," Ellefson's book "Making Music Your Business" is now available, published by Miller Freeman. Nick Menza put together a band called SOMA, which has recorded 14 songs, played a gig opening for Dokken and has yet to release any material.

Megadeth touring plans for Cryptic Writings have the guys on the road for much of 1997. After promotional touring of Europe and the US, and then rehearsals, the havoc began in Mesa, AZ on friday, June 13. The summer of 1997 included rock festivals such as the Waldrock Festival in the Netherlands, Graspop festival in Belgium and Midtfyn Festival in Denmark. With Megadeth's dedication to their fans, they fit in gigs at smaller venues as well.

July through September marked Megadeth's return to the US where they continued their onslaught from state to state, leaving sold-out venues in their wake. Additional dates will take Megadeth all around the world where they can expect to remain as the reigning beasts of metal music.

SKID ROW

In 1986 SKID ROW was born in a garage somewhere in Toms River, N.J. Formed by founding members Snake Sabo and Rachel Bolan. Like a bastard child of a thousand maniacs, they relentlessly pounded the New Jersey club circuit; packing houses wherever they performed. Fast forward to 1989. SKID ROW's debut album goes on to sell over 5 million copies in the U.S.A. along with a tour that takes them around the world.
1992 the band releases their second record SLAVE TO THE GRIND which debuts at..1 on the Billboard charts. Making them the first Heavy metal/Hard rock band to do so. Slave rockets to multi-platinum status. This is also followed by a massive world tour. In 1995 band relationships severely strain, but they reluctantly go into the studio to record what was thought to be their final release


SUBHUMAN RACE. Soon after, the band parted ways.

That was until late 1999 when founding members Rachel Bolan, Scotti Hill, and Snake Sabo decided that SKID ROW meant far to much to them let the music fade into rock obscurity.

There were changes to be made the question was who. Enter Texan singer Johnny Solinger. Suggested through a mutual friend the band visited Johnnys website and were immediatley interested in what they heard. A few e-mails later and the singer was on a plane to N.J. He had a quiet confidence about him when he walked through the front door says guitarist Snake. Rachel adds We knew he was the guy half way through the first song of his audition. Johnny fit the bill to a T. Great voice, great attitude and was clear on what the band was about.

With a new frontman in place the band needed a rock solid drummer. They turned to Atlanta native Dave Gara. Dave came into rehearsal and started playing and everything felt right. It was like he had been in the band forever. explains guitarist Scotti Hill. If they thought things couldnt get better, they did. In 2000 SKID ROW landed the coveted opening slot on the KISS Farewell Tour. The tour of tours. It brought SKID ROW's music back to the hungry masses.

Since then the band has logged a few hundred thousand bus miles and some 350 shows during which the band was busy writing new songs for their cd THICKSKIN that was released in 2003. That album put SKID ROW's past in perspective and future in place. SKID ROW has just put the final touches on their new CD REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE that released worldwide October 24th, 2006 on SPV records.