Rush Celebrates 30th With Live CD/DVD
Veteran progressive rock trio Rush's Sept. 24, 2004, stop in Frankfurt, Germany, is the subject of the upcoming CD/DVD "R30 Live in Frankurt." The project is due Nov. 22 via Rounder in the United States and Anthem in Canada; Sanctuary Visual Entertainment will issue it Nov. 28 in Europe.
"Well, basically nobody was in a big hurry to do another live project, because we've got about 60,000 of them out there," singer/bassist Geddy Lee tells Billboard.com with a laugh. "But when we were touring Europe on the last tour, we hadn't been to those countries in 10 years -- some of them 20 years. And there was such an exuberant response from the crowd; it just seemed like a unique opportunity to capture the band in that kind of environment."
"The venue is very old," Lee continues. "We've played there a couple of times. It's always a strange atmosphere for North Americans to come over there and play in one of these buildings that Hitler used to do speeches in and so forth. So it's always got kind of an ominous vibe for us. But the crowd is always great and a lot of fans hadn't seen us in a long time."
"Live in Frankurt" follows 2003's "Rush in Rio" DVD, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Music Video chart. "'Rush in Rio' has been one of our best-selling music DVD titles, and we are delighted to have secured European DVD rights to 'R30,'" says Sanctuary head of audiovisual Spencer Pollard.
In addition to featuring 22 tracks from the show, the set will also come with a second disc, which collects a multitude of rarely seen bits from the Rush archives, including studio footage from 1978, a sound check from 1980, and a recent rendition of "Closer to the Heart" with Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson. The set will also be made available as a deluxe edition, which will include two audio CDs of the Frankfurt concert, as well as various goodies, such as limited edition Dunlop guitar pick and a backstage pass.
As for the vintage footage, Lee attributes the discovery of some it to his brother, who works in the film business. "He took it upon himself to get involved in our vault and see what the hell was lying around down there, and he discovered some of these old things that we had forgotten about," Lee says, adding that some of the clips "are kind of painful to watch [laughs]! Bad hair, bad glasses. You just kind of look in wonderment like, 'Is that really me?' And you really feel how much you've changed since that time."
Meanwhile, Rush is gearing up for a new album, the follow-up to 2002's "Vapor Trails." "We're just at the stage now where we're getting ourselves ready to do some writing," Lee reports. So that will take place over the next six to eight months probably, and we'll gather some material together into a record."
But beforehand, more archival releases should arrive, including the long-awaited DVD releases of the group's '80s-era concert home videos "Exit Stage Left," "Grace Under Pressure" and "A Show of Hands."
"Those are being revamped," Lee says. "I think [guitarist] Alex [Lifeson] spent a good chunk of last year remixing all of those things for 5.1, and they should come out over the next couple of years. Maybe even in the next year, on a DVD. I think they're going to come out separately, from what I'm told. But I'm not sure about that."
Lastly, has Lee given any thought to following up his 2000 solo debut, "My Favorite Headache?" "I think about it from time to time, and then I get really tired," he says with a laugh. "Rush takes up so much time and energy; it's really hard to accommodate both. I'm going to start writing virtually over the next couple of weeks, and if I end up feeling very prolific, and have stuff left over that's not Rush-suitable, you never know. I might throw something together."
Here is the "R30 Live in Frankfurt" DVD track list:
Disc 1:
R30 Overture ("Finding My Way," "Bastille Day," "Anthem," "A Passage to Bangkok," "Cygnus," "Hemispheres")
"The Spirit of Radio"
"Force Ten"
"Animate"
"Subdivisions"
"Earthshine"
"Red Barchetta"
"Roll the Bones"
"The Seeker"
"Tom Sawyer"
"Dreamline"
"Between the Wheels"
"Mystic Rhythms"
"Der Trommler"
"Resist"
"Heart Full of Soul"
"2112"
"Xanadu"
"Working Man"
"Summertime Blues"
"Crossroads"
"Limelight"
Disc 2:
"Fly by Night" (Church Sessions Video 1975)
"Circumstances" (live in studio 1978)
"La Villa Strangiato" (live in studio 1978)
"Farewell to Kings" (live in studio 1978)
"Xanadu" (live in studio 1978)
Sound Check (1980)
"Closer to the Heart" (compilation video 1977)
"Freewill" (Toronto Rocks concert 2003)
"Closer to the Heart" (with Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson)
Apple Introduces Video IPod, TV Deals
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Apple Computer Inc. introduced an iPod capable of playing videos on Wednesday, evolving the portable music player of choice into a multimedia platform for everything from TV shows to music videos.
Videos will now be sold online alongside songs on Apple's iTunes store.
Citing a groundbreaking deal with ABC Television Group, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said video offerings via iTunes will include episodes for $1.99 each of the hit shows "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," which will be available the day after they air on television.
The purchased video can be watched on a computer or taken on the road for viewing on the new iPod's 2.5-inch color screen.
The much-anticipated new iPods, available starting next week, will replace Apple's current 20-gigabyte and 60-gigabyte models. A 30 GB version will sell for $299 and a 60 GB version will cost $399. A 30 GB model can hold about 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos, or 75 hours of video, Apple said.
Apple hopes to repeat with Hollywood the coup it achieved with music labels: Ease an industry's piracy fears and transform its business models to include convenient, legal distribution of digital content over the Internet at reasonable prices for consumers.
"It's never been done before, where you could buy hit TV shows and buy them online the day after they're shown," said Jobs, whose other company, Pixar Animation Studios Inc., has a long relationship with ABC's parent, The Walt Disney Co. Short films from Pixar also will be sold via the iTunes store.
But that's just the beginning, Apple executives say, noting that the iTunes store catalog has grown to 2 million songs from 200,000 at launch in 2003. More than 600 million downloads have been recorded since.
"We've gained a lot of credibility in the industry in the past two and a half years with what we did with songs," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of applications. "And that's what we're trying to mirror in the video space."
Analysts consider a video iPod a test of whether consumers would embrace video on such a small screen. Over-the-air TV services are already available for cell phones but the quality remains substandard.
Competing portable video players have been available for several years but very little compelling content has been available, and Apple's move comes amid fledgling initiatives to offer original video programming on the Internet.
"This is the first giant step to making more content available to more people online," said Robert Iger, Disney's chief executive. "It is the future as far as I'm concerned. It's a great marriage between content and technology and I'm thrilled about it."
The new video iPod, available in black or white, will be able to play video and podcasts. Apple said the 30 GB model will have up to 14 hours of battery life while the 60 GB model's battery will last up to 20 hours. Both versions will include a clock, a calendar, a stop watch and a screen lock.
"It's really very beautiful and very thin," Jobs told assembled journalists and guests.
The video iPod will lock TV shows, films and music videos downloaded from the iTunes store with copy-protection software — just as Apple does for music. Users will be able to download purchased video to up to five computers and transfer it to iPods, but unlike songs, users will not be able to burn the videos onto a CD.
The new iPod will also support the MPEG-4 video standard, meaning users could view home movies and other unencrypted videos on it.
Susan Kevorkian, an analyst with research firm IDC, said she expected Apple to increase the screen size of the video iPod in future generations.
"This will tell us a lot about whether their consumers will be comfortable watching longer-format programming on a small screen," she said.
Apple has been riding high on the success of its iPods, which helped quadruple the company's profits last quarter.
In the last fiscal quarter, about 6.5 million iPods were sold, accounting for nearly a third of Apple's revenue; Macintosh computers, Apple's historical core product, accounted for about 44 percent with 1.2 million units sold.
On Wednesday, Apple also introduced two newer, thinner models of the all-in-one iMac desktop computer.
Each of the 17-inch and 20-inch iMac G5 models, priced at $1,299 and $1,699 respectively, comes with a built-in webcam and a slim, six-button remote control about the size of thin pack of gum.
Using software called "Front Row" that comes with the iMacs, the remote control allows users to quickly browse and access their music, photo and video files from across the room, as far as 30 feet away, according to Apple.
The new iMacs also carry new software called "Photo Booth" that allows users to take quick snapshots and send them to others via e-mail.
It all falls in line with Apple's goal of making the computer a digital multimedia hub and the iPod its portable extension.
Apple shares closed Wednesday down $2.34, or 4.5 percent, at $49.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In after-hours trading Apple lost 2 cents to $49.20. The shares' 52-week low was $18.83 on Dec. 12, 2004.
Canada's Nickelback 'Right' on top of U.S. charts
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Canadian rock band Nickelback scored the first chart-topping album of its career Wednesday, while new sets from Twista, Sara Evans, Fiona Apple and Franz Ferdinand also bowed in the upper reaches of the U.S. charts.
Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons" (Roadrunner/IDJMG), the fifth full-length set of its career, sold 317,000 copies in the week ended October 9, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday.
The rock group's previous high-water mark came with its 2001 breakthrough, "Silver Side Up," which debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 and has sold nearly 5.1 million copies. In 2003, "The Long Road" opened at No. 6 in 2003, and has sold 2.8 million to date.
Reigning champ Gretchen Wilson's "All Jacked Up" dropped to No. 4. The country artist's sophomore Epic album sold 120,000 in its second week.
Chicago rapper Twista took the album chart's second slot with "The Day After" (Atlantic), though sales of 129,000 copies fell far short of its 2004 predecessor, "Kamikaze," which opened at No. 1 with 312,000; it has sold 1.8 million to date.
"Real Fine Place," Evans' fifth RCA studio album, opened at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums list. First-week sales of 126,000 were a career best and the placing is the highest she's seen on either album tally. The set follows 2003's "Restless," which started at No. 20 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 917,000 units to date.
Sheryl Crow's "Wildflowers" (A&M) dropped three places to No. 5 with 106,000 copies in its second week, while Kanye West "Late Registration" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) slipped one to No. 6 with 94,000.
After a six-year hiatus, Apple earned her highest berth on the album chart with "Extraordinary Machine" (Epic), which entered at No. 7 on the strength of 94,000 copies. The placement is higher than the No. 13 opening of her 1999 sophomore release "When the Pawn...," but that set had higher first week sales at 103,000. To date, that disc has sold 925,000.
Franz Ferdinand also scored a career best Billboard 200 peak with the No. 8 entry of "You Could Have It So Much Better" (Domino/Epic). With an 81,000-copy opening week, the Scottish quartet has come a long way from last year's self-titled debut, which had a first-week total of just 8,000 copies to bow at No. 164. But fueled by the modern rock hit "Take Me Out," that album has so far racked up sales of 971,000.
In its 17th week on the chart, the Black Eyed Peas sold 80,000 copies of "Monkey Business" (A&M/Interscope), which rose one place to No. 9.
Faith Hill benefited from a dose of the Oprah magic as her former chart topper, "Fireflies" (Warner Bros. Nashville), soared 30 places to No. 10 with 79,000 copies. Suring an October 3 appearance on television's syndicated " Oprah Winfrey Show," Hill performed the single "Breathe," which previously topped the Billboard Top Country Songs chart for six weeks.
Rapper Trina is living the "Glamorest Life," which debuted at No. 11. A career-best sales week of 77,000 copies resulted in her highest ranking on the album chart. The Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic album follows 2002's "Diamond Princess," which opened at No. 14 with 67,000 and has sold 490,000 to date.
Gospel veteran Kirk Franklin returned to The Billboard 200 at No. 13 with "Hero" (Gospo Centric), while Melissa Etheridge's first greatest hits project, "The Road Less Traveled" (Island), bowed at No. 14.
Other notable debuts included Shinedown's "Us and Them" (Atlantic, No. 23); Chris Cagle's "Anywhere But Here" (Capitol Nashville, No. 24); O.A.R.'s "Stories of a Stranger" (Lava, No. 39); Deftones' "B-Sides & Rarities" (Warner Bros., No.42); Cross Canadian Ragweed's "Garage" (Universal South, No. 44); and Liz Phair's "Somebody's Miracle" (Capitol, No. 46).
At nearly 11 million units, overall U.S. album sales were up 6% over the previous week, on par with the same week last year. Sales for 2005 lag behind 2004 by 10% at 426 million units.
"Casino Royale" backers set date to name new Bond
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - James Bond, 007, is back. Or, at least he will be on Friday.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Hollywood studio backing new Bond film "Casino Royale,"said on Wednesday that the actor who will portray the suave secret agent with a license to kill would be named at a news conference in London on October 14.
No further details were disclosed, and the mystery remains over who will star in the film franchise that has grossed nearly $4 billion at global box offices since the first Bond flick, "Dr. No," hit the silver screen in 1962.
Reports in London have identified English actor Daniel Craig, who recently starred in the gangster film, "Layer Cake," as the new Bond, but that could not be confirmed.
The new actor will succeed Pierce Brosnan, who first donned Bond's tuxedo for 1995's "Goldeneye" and ended his run with 2002's "Die Another Day."
Four others have portrayed Bond. Sean Connery and Roger Moore had successful outings as the secret agent while George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton bombed in the role.
"Casino Royale" is scheduled to begin production in January and is expected to be in movie theaters in the fall of 2006.
Billy Joel boxed set boasts plenty of rarities
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Billy Joel's upcoming five-disc boxed set, "My Lives," boasts features 23 never-before-heard songs as well as a previously unreleased live DVD shot in Frankfurt during the River of Dreams tour.
The set, due December 6 via Columbia/Legacy, begins with rare cuts from Joel's mid-1960s bands the Lost Souls and the Hassles and moves into material recorded by his hard rock act Attila, which released its only album in 1970. Disc one also features demos of "Only a Man," "Oyster Bay" and "Piano Man," plus early versions of "New Mexico" (which became "Worse Comes to Worst") and "These Rhinestone Days" (which became "I Loved These Days").
The second disc sports early versions of "For the Longest Time" and " Elvis Presley Blvd.," a live take on "Captain Jack" from a July 1981 show at Sparks Saloon in Huntington, Long Island, an alternate version of "Getting Closer" with Steve Winwood and a live cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changin"' recorded in 1987 on a Russian TV show.
Disc three is dominated by live and studio covers of such tracks as the Isley Brothers' "Shout," Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" and "Heartbreak Hotel," the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," Leonard Cohen's "Light as the Breeze" and the Carole King/Gerry Goffin oldie "Hey Girl."
The final audio disc features a 1994 live duet with Elton John on "You May Be Right," audio clips of recordings first issued on Joel's "Essential Video Collection" and a series of his recent classical compositions.
The live DVD rounds up 14 selections from throughout Joel's career, including "Pressure," "Allentown," "We Didn't Start the Fire," "Big Shot" and "Goodnight Saigon."
Fans can also utilize Umixit technology encoded onto the disc to make their own remixes of Joel's "Zanzibar" and a live version of "I Go to Extremes."