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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz

  • But Isn’t John Bonham Dead??

    OK, folks, seriously.
    I love Led Zeppelin-really, I do.
    But what’s the big hubbub over this reunion concert? (For those who don’t know, the three surviving members of Zep are performing in the U.K. at a tribute concert for the late Atlantic Records honcho Ahmet Ertegun).
    First off-it’s not like they haven’t had reunions before. Remember Live Aid? (where Phil Collins subbed on the drum kit for the dearly departed John Bonham…best rock drummer of all time IMHO). What about the Page & Plant acoustic album and tour in the mid-Nineties?
    And is it really a “reunion” when one of the members is deceased? If Paul and Ringo went on a tour today as The Beatles, it wouldn’t be the same, would it??

  • The M Now Stands For "Mess"…A Hot One…

    So, I’m an award show junkie. Well, specific to music awards shows, anyway. You won’t catch me watching the Oscars (at least not with both eyes open), but…the Grammys? American Music Awards? BET Awards? Soul Train Awards? I’m there! Which is why it hurts me to say that the majority of these ceremonies blow chunks now.

    I didn’t actually watch last night’s MTV Video Music Awards…I was actually at Farm Aid’s inagural trip to NYC (yeah! Mellencamp!!), but anyone who stops by www.mtv.com can pick and choose which parts of the show they’d like to see…pity that most of the show (at least the parts I decided to click on) weren’t worth seeing.

    The performances were cut into little chunks (very few of them were complete), and the amount of awards given out has shrunk to damn near zero. There were no nutty acceptance speeches (someone call Fiona Apple or Macy Gray stat), and even the presentation of an award by 50 Cent and Kanye West together didn’t generate any sparks.

    What we were left with was the last nail in the coffin of Britney Spears’ career (although, to be fair about it, her performance was no better or no worse than any previous VMA performance…say, has anyone EVER seen/heard Britney sing live on TV???), a performance of “Wake Up Call” that signaled that Adam Levine might be taking the jump soon from lead singer of Maroon 5 to former lead singer of Maroon 5, a WHOLE lot of Justin Timberlake, and Mary J. Blige making mincemeat of her teleprompter.

    Oh, and Beyonce’s boobs nearly fell out of her dress. Awesome!!

    Actually, the chopped up format by which you can view on MTV’s site is better than having to sit through it on TV because you can skip around to the good parts, which were few and far between: I’m not sure how I feel about Chris Brown, but damn it, the boy can dance. After Cee-Lo’s performance of “Darling Nikki” with the Foo Fighters, it’s my contention that he would do the best black rock album of all time. Ah, and have I mentioned Beyonce’s boobs?

    Oh, and Justin implored the powers that be at MTV to play more videos. Wise call, considering the network only airs actual music during the graveyard shift.

  • I Guess Roth Needs Some New Hairplugs?

    So, the Van Halen reunion is back on. Remember when this was a big deal earlier in the year, right before the band’s induction in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame? Then Eddie went into rehab and…well, you know the rest. But Eddie’s out, and it looks like the band is ready to hit the road again. How long until it implodes?
    You know, I was cool with The Police reunion tour. Not only does it not seem like any of the three members are hurting for cash, but at the one performance I saw, it was obvious that they are trying to push their music forward, and it still sounds fresh. The band’s matured musically, and the technological changes over the past twenty years have brought a fresh wrinkle to their sound.
    VH? The whole thing just seems kinda desperate. Well, just about anything David Lee Roth does nowadays seems desperate, but I’m saying. Besides, how can you take this whole thing seriously when Van Bertinelli’s teenage son is playing bass?
    Of course, 40-ish yuppie types who have fond memories of being the high school badass will revel in this reunion. Me? I’ll chill at home with my copy of 1984 and be perfectly happy.
    Besides, after seeing Roth perform “Jump” in a bluegrass stylee earlier this year on TV, does anyone have great expectations for this reunion tour? Seriously!!
    Van Halen’s website: http://www.van-halen.com/