LINKIN PARK ANNOUNCES SPECIAL ALBUM RELEASE

COURTESY OF BLABBERMOUTH.NET

Two-time Grammy-winning rock band LINKIN PARK has announced a December 3 release date for “LPU9: Demos”, a special rarities album available with a membership to the band’s fan club, the Linkin Park Underground. The album and membership package can be purchased together at www.lpunderground.com and at select Best Buy locations and includes a t-shirt, patch, and other exclusive merchandise items.

“LPU9: Demos” features nine unreleased demo versions of some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Faint”, “Breaking The Habit”, and “Leave Out All The Rest”. Also included is “Across The Line”, a previously unreleased song recorded during the “Minutes To Midnight” studio sessions. Fans also get “Morning After (acoustic)”, from frontman Chester Bennington’s side project, DEAD BY SUNRISE (as an exclusive download).

“Songs change constantly over the course of the creative process, so we thought it’d be cool to share early versions of familiar tracks,” says LINKIN PARK vocalist Mike Shinoda. “The versions in this collection represent important moments in the evolution of each song: different vocals, music variations, and missing parts. They’re snapshots of our works-in-progress.”

Since its formation in 2001, the LPU’s reach has extended worldwide to form a tight global community. The band has maintained a strong direct bond throughout, and every year they design special merchandise and release music exclusively to LPU members.

Fans first heard the new song, “Across The Line”, during online video episodes (”LPTV”). Originally entitled “Japan”, fans sought out the song for years, but the band had never released it. In response to fan feedback, the band decided to finish the song and make it available as a highlight of “LPU9″.

“The LPU is a movement,” says guitarist Brad Delson. “Their support of the band is inspiring. So we try to give back to them whenever we can. When we heard that they had been talking about ‘Across The Line’, we knew we had to make it available for them.”

The LPU has enabled fans worldwide to interact with members of the band, meeting them at exclusive LP Underground meet-and-greet signings (held at almost every LINKIN PARK show), or chatting with them online at exclusive chats through the fan club members-only website, www.lpunderground.com. In past years, the band has offered free concert tickets to fan club members, cast them as extras in a music video (”Faint”), and flown them out for rehearsal sessions. The site also provides fans with exclusive news, presales, contests, photos, video, and more. The fan club consistently strives to offer more to its members through web site innovations, creative content, and engaging contests and giveaways.

The full track listing for “LPU9: Demos” is as follows:

01. A-Six (original long version 2002)
02. Faint (demo 2002)
03. Sad (”By Myself” demo 1999)
04. Fear (”Leave Out All the Rest” demo 2006)
05. Figure.09 (demo 2002)
06. Stick And Move (”Runaway” demo 1998)
07. Across The Line (unreleased demo 2007)
08. Drawing (”Breaking The Habit” demo 2002)
09. Drum Song (”Little Things Give You Away” demo 2006)

LINKIN PARK is currently in the studio preparing a new album for release in 2010.

LIMP BIZKIT’S NEW ALBUM TITLE

Limp Bizkit’s first album since 2005 is titled ‘Gold Cobra.’ The album will feature the group’s original lineup, which hasn’t recorded together since ‘Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water.’

‘Gold Cobra’ is supposed to drop in early 2010.

AARON LEWIS EMBARKS ON SIXTH SOLO ACOUSTIC TOUR

-COURTESY OF NOISECREEP.COM

Staind vocalist Aaron Lewis has been doing his solo acoustic tour for six years now. “Why not?” was how the singer responded to our question as to why he’s kept this special tradition going. Beginning on New Year’s Day 2010, Lewis will suit up with his acoustic guitar and spend two months hitting casinos and other venues, proudly showcasing his softer and more sensitive side. He says that he does see some Staind fans in the crowd while on his solo sojourns, but has noticed that he mostly attracts an older demo.

“I know that I see a lot of older people there, that I would not see at a Staind show and I don’t know if that is the exposure I’ve gotten from playing casinos or whether they are parents of kids that are fans that want to check out a kinder, gentler version of what their kids would go to,” Lewis told Noisecreep.

Whatever the case, however these fans came to discover his music, it’s all for the greater good and could actually increase Staind listenership. “I am sure it all helps in one way or another,” Lewis said with a bit of zen-ness. “I really try to not think about stuff like that and be in the moment and be happy to be there and hope the ride doesn’t stop.”

Being in the moment also means that Lewis has a fluid approach to his solo sets. He doesn’t scribble a set list and he certainly doesn’t plan things in advance. “I never know what I am going to play,” he admitted. “I go out with no set list and no plan of any sort. I know what the last three songs will be, and me and my guitar tech argue for 10 minutes before I hit the stage as to what the first song should be. Everything in the middle is off the cuff until I get on the stage.” Lewis saves the big hits, ‘Outside’ and ‘It’s Been a While,’ for the very end, and with good reason. “Those are for the people who came just for those songs. They have have to wait to hear them. It makes the most sense for me to play those at the end of the show.”

CHAT WITH SKILLET LIVE ON DECEMBER 3RD

Skillet will host a live chat on December 3rd, at 6:30 pm EST via Facebook and partner UStream.  The band will be answering your questions so make sure to RSVP now on their official Facebook page and tune in for the broadcast next Thursday.

The band is currently on the Awake And Alive tour with Hawk Nelson and Decyfer Down to promote their latest album, Awake.  Awake is available now on iTunes and includes songs “Hero” and “Monster,” the first single from the record.  Visit Skillet’s official MySpace page for remaining tour details and additional information about the band.

PUDDLE OF MUDD ANNOUNCE TRACK LISTING

The track listing for Puddle of Mudd’s upcoming album, ‘Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate’, has been announced.  The cd will drop December 8th.  Track listing is as follows:

1. “Stoned”
2. “Spaceship”
3. “Keep It Together”
4. “Out Of My Way”
5. “Blood On The Table”
6. “The Only Reason”
7. “Pitchin ‘A Fit”
8. “Uno Mas”
9. “Better Place”
10. “Hooky”

CREED LIVE DVD OUT SOON

Creed fans are in for a special treat this Holiday Season as Creed Live, the first-ever live DVD from one of the most successful bands of the past decade, hits stores and all major online retailers on December 8, 2009, the day after its nationwide theatrical screening in movie theaters.

Creed Live, captured during the band’s long-awaited “Full Circle” reunion tour, includes every favorite track a Creed fan would want, including “Higher,” “My Sacrifice,” “With Arms Wide Open” and “Bullets” plus new songs such as “Overcome” and “A Thousand Faces” from Full Circle, the band’s first studio effort in seven years.

Full Circle recently debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts second only to Michael Jackson’s This Is It. The DVD also includes a revealing documentary that follows Creed throughout “Full Circle” tour with exclusive band interviews and behind-the-scenes, and a photo gallery with over 100 intimate photos from the Summer 2009 trek.

Directed by Daniel E. Catullo III (Rush, Nickelback, Alter Bridge, Smashing Pumpkins, Godsmack) and produced by Catullo, Lionel Pasamonte, and Peter Bowers, the 239-camera, state-of-the-art high definition shoot was filmed in front of a fanatical audience of 18,000 screaming fans in Houston at The Woodlands - Cynthia Woods Pavillion” on September 25, 2009. The band gave the performance of a lifetime, setting four World Records – including most cameras utilized in a live concert recording - and using first-time technology in a live concert environment, highlighted by the “Big Freeze” effect immortalized in the hit film “The Matrix.” The concert audio was mixed by Andy Johns (The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin) in 5.1 Surround Sound and the disc will feature Standard 5.1, Stereo and DTS audio streams.

“Making this DVD was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us,” says Creed lead singer Scott Stapp. “Daniel Catullo and his staff not only set a world record filming this, but set a whole new benchmark for filming the live show with unprecedented vision and creativity. I have never seen anything like this, nor have our fans. I am so excited to finally give CREED fans something they will never forget. I know this is something that will keep us connected at all times through the live experience. Honestly, I am blown away!”

In addition to an arsenal of High Definition TV Cameras, jibs, cranes, etc, the “Big Freeze” technology required over 200 Nikon still cameras to create and entirely new concert viewing experience in scenes which will be made available in the “Deluxe Edition” of “Creed Live” coming out in early 2010. The “Deluxe Edition” promises to be a true collector’s piece. The limited edition set will include a full feature-length film about the history of Creed, a live audio CD and special collectors’ items such as a T-shirt, poster and a backstage pass from the “Full Circle” tour”.

The main concert set list will include the following songs:
1. Bullets
2. Overcome
3. My Own Prison
4. Say I
5. Never Die
6. Torn
7. A Thousand Faces
8. What If
9. Unforgiven
10. Are You Ready?
11. What’s This Life For
12. Faceless Man
13. With Arms Wide Open
14. My Sacrifice
15. One
16. One Last Breath
17. Higher

Bonus features Include:
Behind the Scenes Documentary of the Full Circle Tour
Photo Gallery
Trailer for the Upcoming “Deluxe Box Set”

ALICE IN CHAINS ROCKS YAHOO WITH SPECIAL ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE

Alice in Chains are currently being featured on Yahoo Music’s Maximum Performance! The band stopped by the Yahoo studios to perform an acoustic set featuring songs off the new record Black Gives Way To Blue. The band rocked through amazing acoustic renditions of their new hit single “Check My Brain”, “Black Gives Way To Blue”, and “Your Decision”. The band also sat down with Yahoo for an exclusive video interview, where the band talks about life after Layne, and their amazing re-birth with new singer William DuVall.

Alice in Chains’ new album Black Gives Way To Blue is in-stores now.

COREY TAYLOR TALKS ABOUT UPCOMING STONE SOUR ALBUM

In the ever busy world of Corey Taylor — the frontman who divides his time between masked metalheads , solo work, and Stone Sour — it’s quickly on from one project to the next. So with Slipknot having wrapped up their most recent tour on Halloween and the decade of celebration nearly wrapped, it’s Stone Sour’s turn next.

And while Taylor says they’ll probably go into the studio in January “for two or three months to get the record together,” the record is already taking shape. “We’ve already got ten tunes fully written and another 15 we’re kind of working on here and there,” he tells Noisecreep. “When I’m not on the road I’m still working, I never stop. And it’s really good, everything we’re doing is really, really good.”

Though the record is still in its “infancy,” according to Taylor, he does have an idea of the sound. “I can say the material is darker than ‘Come Whatever May,’ but a lot more melodic, a lot stronger, a lot more mature, and the lyrics that are coming out of me are really good,” he says. “I’m really excited.”

Speaking of lyrics, with so many projects how does Taylor which song belongs with which band? “I just kind of go by my gut,” he says. But it’s his gut he listens to, not yours. “A lot of times people ask me and this is a perfect example, why I brought ‘Snuff’ to the table for Slipknot,” he says. “They’re like, ‘That’s so obviously a Stone Sour song.’ I was like, ‘How do you know? I wrote the song. How would you like to tell me what my song should go with?”

Sometimes the songs just make it easy. “There are certain songs that are just quite simply very specific. Like a lot of my solo stuff doesn’t sound like the other two bands. It’s much more three-chord rock ‘n’ roll,” he says. “But then Stone Sour stuff it’s very specific; I just know what’s a Slipknot song, what’s a Stone Sour song, and what’s a solo tune. And luckily I can kind of see that. But at the same time if there’s a song that sounds different but I want it to go with a different band that just means you gotta lead with your heart. I don’t want to ever limit anything.”

courtesy of NoiseCreep.com

HALESTORM VIDEO PREMIERE FOR “IT’S NOT YOU”

Halestorm have debuted their “It’s Not You” music video on AOL’s NoiseCreep.  The track is the second single from their self-titled debut which is available now.

AEROSMITH + ZEPPLIN + CLAPTON = SUPERGROUP???

While nobody knows what’s happening with Aerosmith, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford have apparently been keeping busy, and in good company too.

Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page have joined them in recording with engineer Kevin Shirley, the man behind the sound of Led Zeppelin’s 21st century releases, How the West Was Won, DVD and the reissue of the soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same.

Shirley says he has been recording these guitarists and “many others.” He hints toward some “high profile projects” about which he’s been sworn to secrecy.

“Suffice it to say,” offers the father of two infants, “that life is very busy.”

Writing from Malibu on his online diary today, he spoke of a “supergroup” project — his term, not mine (I don’t need the derision). He said that come January he would be “producing what has the promise to be one of the most exciting ’supergroups’ to come around in a long time.

“But theory is just that until we see how the dynamics play out in the studio between these superb musicians. And of course the songs will make the real difference.”

Shirley also said he would be “remixing one of Classic Rock’s seriously classic albums.” This could be just about anything, but next year marks the 40th anniversary of such perennial favorites as Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Band of Gypsys, Abraxas,Led Zeppelin III and Live at Leeds.

Perhaps Shirley’s biggest news pertains to the litany of axemen he’s recorded of late. The others he mentioned by name are John Petrucci of Dream Theater, Neal Schon of Santana and Journey, and Joe Bonamassa.

He also referred to “Maiden’s Three Amigos,” presumably Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, all of Iron Maiden. Shirley added that he is “to record one of guitar’s great legends” in December. Evidently another one of the secret projects.

Page’s name was also invoked last week by photographer Ross Halfin, who posted some photos of Page relaxing in front of a jukebox. Hanging on a wall behind the jukebox was a framed picture found to be of Elvis Presley. On the Internet discussion group For Badgeholders Only, user Dawn Atherton discovered the Elvis photograph to have beentaken in 1960, upon the King’s meeting with the king of Thailand.

Halfin, a traveling companion of Page’s and currently the guitarist’s No. 1 photographer, writes that Nov. 17 “was a sunny day, good winter light. I was taking pictures for something new - out this January… The King with his jukebox and his photo of the kings - look closely and work it out.”

In other Page-related news, “It Might Get Loud” is now set for a theatrical release in England.

Led Zeppelin news source Tight But Loose reports today “It Might Get Loud” will receive a theatrical release in the United Kingdom beginning Jan. 8. The film, which profiles Page, The Edge and Jack White, has already come and gone from U.S. movie theaters. It is also scheduled to have been released for an online download and on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States this December.

In addition to his on-screen role, Page is credited an associate producer of the film

courtesy of LedZepplinNews.com

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