Archive for November, 2009
On the Charts: John Mayer’s “Battle Studies” Wins Number One
November 25th, 2009
Photo: Mazur/WireImage.com
The Big News: John Mayer proved to be well versed in the art of sales warfare as his Battle Studies slaughtered all of its big-name competitors, selling 286,000 copies to give the singer his first Billboard Top 200 Number One album since 2003’s Heavier Things. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Battle Studies also came in just shy of the 300,000 copies 2006’s Continuum sold in its Number Two debut week, so Mayer has demonstrated he ...
Fricke’s Picks: Blues from India
November 25th, 2009
Gary Lucas is a modern guitar miracle, an alchemical soloist with monster technique and a rare collaborative touch. He is especially good with master voices; his work with Captain Beefheart and the late Jeff Buckley is a master lesson in aggressive invention and supportive electricity. That empathy is half the pleasure of Lucas’ Indo-blues venture, Rishte (World Village), with British-born Indian vocalist Najma Akhtar. The other half is the sharp, soaring way she threads his ...
Adam Lambert Slithers in a Club in “For Your Entertainment” Video
November 25th, 2009
Adam Lambert grabbed headlines for his racy rendition of “For Your Entertainment” on Sunday’s American Music Awards, and now the American Idol star is giving fans a more PG-13 version of that performance in the song’s video, which debuted on Adam Official. Lambert, his spiked shoulder pads and his cadre of dancers take to a grimy subterranean nightclub for title track from his debut album, and it’s easy to see how the AMAs performance riffed ...
Fall Out Boy, Anthrax Members Unite in The Damned Things
November 25th, 2009
Photo: Mike Coppola/FilmMagic
There’s another new supergroup of sorts on the horizon: two members of Fall Out Boy are using their time away from the band to provide riffs and beats for a new heavy metal side project called the Damned Things. FOB guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley have teamed with Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley and bassist David Karon in the new band, which Ian describes ...
Adam Lambert Argues “I’m Not a Babysitter” on “The Early Show”
November 25th, 2009
Photo: Cohen/WireImage.com
Adam Lambert defended his controversial American Music Awards performance on The Early Show this morning, telling host Maggie Rodriguez the AMAs were filled with content that wasn’t kid-friendly. “I think it’s up to the parents to discern what their child is watching on television. Lady Gaga smashing whiskey bottles, Janet Jackson grabbing a male dancer’s crotch, Eminem talking about how Slim Shady has 17 rapes under his belt — there was a lot of ...
News Ticker: Beyonce, Coldplay, iTunes, Creed
November 25th, 2009
Photo: Mazur/WireImage.com
Beyoncé ended her British “I Am …” tour with a promise to be back next year with a new album, and producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins tweeted he is indeed working on tracks for the superstar’s next LP, Billboard reports.
Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman has started a side project called Apparatjik with Mew’s Jonas Bjerre and A-Ha’s keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and producer Martin Terefe, Spinner reports. The group plans to release its debut November 30th, and ...
Pixies’ Limited Edition “Minotaur” Box Set Unveiled
November 24th, 2009
Pixies fever has swept into New York as the reunited rockers played the first of four Doolittle shows last night at the Hammerstein Ballroom. With Black Friday looming, the perfect gift for the Pixies fan in all of us is the band’s mammoth Minotaur box set. In the video above, check out the limited-edition version of Minotaur, which boasts artwork from the Pixies’ longtime graphic designer Vaughan Oliver. This 26-pound mega box features all five ...
Rolling Stone Readers’ Poll: The Best Music of 2009
November 24th, 2009
We’ve already started soliciting your opinion for the best album, song and artist of the 2000s in our massive Greatest Music of the Decade Readers Poll — but the voting doesn’t end there. On December 15th we’ll reveal our picks for the best music of 2009, and we want to hear your selections, too. Click here for the 2009 Readers Poll ballot and get your voice heard (you have from now until December 8th to ...
Rihanna Brings “Rated R” Tracks and Her “Umbrella” to “GMA”
November 24th, 2009
When Rihanna took the stage early today for an appearance on Good Morning America, she faced a crowd that had been waiting in the misty morning for several hours to catch a glimpse of the star the day after Rated R hit stores. When she emerged from behind a black backdrop, they erupted. She half-smiled, then asked, “What’s happening, New York?”
Get a look at Rihanna’s fiercest fashions, onstage and off.
Rihanna kept a black coat on ...
Paramore Dig a Grave in Video for “Brick By Boring Brick”
November 24th, 2009
During a recent visit to Rolling Stone, Paramore’s Hayley Williams was reluctant to talk about the new video for the band’s Brand New Eyes single “Brick By Boring Brick” — to be fair, Williams was reluctant to talk in general, as she was still suffering from laryngitis — hoping instead to keep the band’s long-in-the-works clip under wraps. But now the secret is out and the video is streaming on Paramore’s official Website.
The CGI-heavy, autumn-washed ...