New CD Releases, Oct. 9: Jennifer Lopez, Kid Rock, Josh Groban
Jennifer Lopez "Brave"
Having released the all-Spanish album "Como Ama Una Mujer" back in March, the dance queen wastes no time and returns her with her second offering of the year, "Brave."
"Como Ama Una Mujer" was a major success for Lopez. The disc, the actor/dancer/singer's first all-Spanish album, shot to No. 1 on Billboard's Latin album chart and debuted at No. 10 on The Billboard 200. It's the highest-selling Spanish debut ever, according to a press release.
Now, she's looking for success with this "Brave" batch of English-sung songs. So far, so good--the album's first single, "Do It Well," has proven to be a radio hit.
Lopez is currently on the road with her husband, Marc Anthony. For the 14-city "Jennifer & Marc En Concierto" outing, Lopez and Anthony plan to perform separate sets of their own material and then appear together for a third set. Each will sing songs in both English and Spanish.
In addition to focusing on their first tour together, the star couple has been busy promoting their recently released film, "El Cantante," in which Anthony stars as the tragic salsa legend Hector Lavoe and Lopez co-stars as his manager/wife.
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Kid Rock "Rock and Roll Jesus"
The Kid can still make headlines, but can he still sell records? That question will be answered when the rocking rapper drops his new studio set, "Rock N Roll Jesus."
The album was produced by Rock and Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls) and features Rock's Twisted Brown Trucker band and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The vocalist is touring through early next month in support of "Rock N Roll Jesus."
Of course, none of that is what people really seem to be interested in when it comes to Rock. What they apparently care about is his high-profile hijinks, such as when he brawled with Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.
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Josh Groban "Noel"
The young pop/classical vocalist's fourth album is a holiday-season offering. "Noel" features the crooner singing duets with R&B star Brian McKnight and country diva Faith Hill, as well as performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The album was produced by David Foster.
Given Groban's healthy following, "Noel" looks like a surefire holiday hit for those who simply can't get enough versions of "The Christmas Song," "First Noel," "Ava Maria," "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and other seasonal favorites.
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Eric Clapton "Complete Clapton"
"Complete Clapton" hardly lives up to its name. It would take much more than two discs and 36 tracks to do justice to the mighty singer/guitarist's entire career.
Still, this in-"Complete Clapton" does offer a nice overview of one of the most remarkable runs in rock history. Included in the mix are such songs as "After Midnight," "Tears in Heaven," "Let It Rain" and, of course, "Layla."
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LeAnn Rimes "Family"
The former country music child prodigy returns with her tenth studio album, which follows last year's "Whatever We Wanna."
Rimes, although now in her mid-20s, is still best known for the work that she did as a young teen. Her major-label debut, "Blue," made her a star at age 13 and earned her two Grammy awards.
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Alter Bridge "Blackbird"
The rock group--which comprises former Creed members Mark Tremonti (guitar), Scott Phillips (drums) and Brian Marshall (bass), along with ex-Mayfield Four frontman Myles Kennedy--is ready to drop its sophomore set.
"Blackbird" was produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette (Incubus, Three Days Grace) and follows 2004's Gold-certified "One Day Remains." The band is currently flying through North American venues in support of "Blackbird."
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More new releases:
Anuna, "Christmas Songs" (Koch)
Band of Horses, "Cease to Begin" (Sub Pop)
Beirut, "The Flying Club Cup" (Ba Da Bing)
Vanessa Carlton, "Heroes & Thieves" (Motown)
Marc Cohn, "Join the Parade" (Decca)
Sara Evans, "Greatest Hits" (RCA)
Jens Lekman, "Night Falls Over Kortedala" (Secretly Canadian)
Megadeth, "Warchest Box Set" (EMI)
The Naked Brothers Band, "The Naked Brothers Band" (Sony)
Overkill, "Immortalis" (Bodog)
Puddle of Mudd, "Famous" (Geffen)
She Wants Revenge, "This Is Forever" (Geffen)
Van Zant, "My Kind of Country" (Sony)
Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse top Q Awards
The Arctic Monkeys were honoured as the best music act in the world at the 21st annual Q Awards in London.
The annual trophies, handed out by influential British music magazine Q, also gave embattled soul singer Amy Winehouse the prize for best album for Back to Black. Winehouse has been fighting a public battle with drug addiction. She did not attend the noon-time ceremonies at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday.
Other major winners included ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, bestowed the title of Q Icon. He thanked his former bandmates, his children and his late wife, Linda.
"I thank Linda for seeing me through some real tough periods," said McCartney, who notably excluded his estranged wife Heather Mills, whom he's divorcing.
"I've been doing this since I was just a little bairn and it's still the same for me now — still the same magic, still the same emotion, still the same thrill."
Minogue nervous on 'first day back at work'
Australian songbird Kylie Minogue got a standing ovation after she was announced the winner of the Q Idol award.
"Just don't ask me what it means, but I'm very grateful and honoured to be receiving this," the 39-year-old pop diva, who recently recovered from breast cancer.
"It's my first day back at work … so it's very exciting and slightly nerve-wracking."
Other winners included:
Top single: Your Love Alone is Not Enough by Manic Street Preachers.
Best video: Ruby, Kaiser Chiefs.
Best new act: The Enemy.
Best live act: Muse.
Innovation in sound: Sigur Ros.
Best classic songwriter: Billy Bragg.
Best classic album: Urban Hymns by the Verve.
Lifetime achievement: Johnny Marr, ex-guitarist for the Smiths.
A Q Hero award was given posthumously to the late Tony Wilson, the founder of Manchester's Factory Records and the man credited with bringing acts such as Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays to the world.
Peter Hook of Joy Division struggled to hold back the tears as he paid tribute to Wilson, known as Mr. Manchester, and presented the prize to Wilson's two children.
Gabriel juggling new album with array of projects
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Peter Gabriel has resumed work on his next studio album while juggling an array of other projects.
"There are some (new) things," he told Billboard last Friday in New York. "I've been very good at distraction with some charitable things and some Internet things. But I'm now back in writing mode and I'm very much enjoying that."
Gabriel, however, wouldn't put a timetable on when the as-yet-untitled project would be ready. After all, a decade went by between the release of his last two albums, 1992's "Us" and 2002's "Up."
"Autumn. Or spring," he said with a laugh when asked about a potential arrival date. "That usually suffices. In some year."
He did not rule out some kind of collaboration with his ex-Genesis bandmates, who are on the road with a successful reunion tour. There had been talk of presenting the 1974 concept album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" on stage, but Gabriel couldn't commit to clearing his schedule for the time necessary to do so.
"I'm hoping to see the show because I think they're going to do some more European dates, he said. "Nothing is excluded (in terms of a possible reunion). We're still breathing and we don't need to be wheeled onto the stage. But I don't know. It's quite a time commitment to get it sounding right. When WOMAD (Gabriel's world-music festival) started and got into heavy financial trouble, (Genesis) extremely generously agreed to do a benefit with me, performing. I learned then it takes a lot longer than you think to relearn what you think you knew."
Gabriel, who was in New York for the Audio Engineering Society convention, has recently been focusing on the launch of TheElders.org, which aims to create a coalition of veteran leaders to inspire a younger generation to help solve global issues. In conjunction, Gabriel is hoping to organize a concert timed to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 2008.
"With any luck it will be the most significant bands of the new generation," he said. "I hope we can make it happen."
Sting tops list of worst lyricists
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Maybe Sting should start writing more instrumentals.
The school teacher-turned-rock star topped Blender's list of the worst lyricists, thanks to lines that betray "mountainous pomposity (and) cloying spirituality," the music magazine said.
The survey, contained in the November issue that hits newsstands next week, placed Rush drummer Neil Peart at No. 2, Creed frontman Scott Stapp at No. 3, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher at No. 4, and soft-rocker Dan Fogelberg at No. 5.
Blender assailed Sting for such alleged sins as name-dropping Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov in the Police tune "Don't Stand So Close to Me," quoting a Volvo bumper sticker ("If You Love Someone Set Them Free"), and co-opting the works of Chaucer, St. Augustine and Shakespeare.
A spokeswoman for the English rocker, who is currently in Belgium on the Police's reunion world tour, did not respond to a request for comment.
Blender described Canadian rocker Peart's lyrics as "richly awful tapestries of fantasy and science," and said Gallagher "seemed incapable of following a metaphor through a single line, let alone a whole verse."
Further down the ranks, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant (No. 23) was derided for his Tolkienesque musings on Gollum and Mordor in "Ramble On."
Carly Simon (No. 31) was mocked for rhyming "yacht," "apricot" and "gavotte" in "You're So Vain."
Paul McCartney made No. 38, thanks in part to "Ebony and Ivory," his socially conscious duet with Stevie Wonder.
Apatow tells how he got hero's autograph
NEW YORK - Judd Apatow, writer and director of comedy hits "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," is doubtless already a hero to kids who want to break into film or comedy. But once, he was just a kid dying for the autograph of his own hero, Steve Martin.
Apatow regaled an audience at the New Yorker Festival this weekend with the tale of how, on vacation in California as a boy, he had spotted Martin washing his car in front of his home.
The young Apatow jumped out of the car and asked for an autograph, but Martin said he didn't give autographs at his home. "Please, we won't tell anyone," Apatow begged. Sorry, Martin said, but no.
So Apatow went home and wrote Martin a nasty letter, in which he gave an early glimpse of his now well-documented talent for profanity. Three months later, he received a package from Martin that contained a copy of his book "Cruel Shoes."
"I'm sorry," read Martin's inscription. "I didn't realize I was speaking to THE Judd Apatow."
THE Judd Apatow's latest hit, as a producer, was "Superbad," one of the most popular comedies of the summer. The movie, which chronicles the final high-school days of two teenage friends (Michael Cera and Jonah Hill), was written by Seth Rogen (the star of "Knocked Up") and Evan Goldberg, and directed by Greg Mottola.
Rogen, who also appeared with Apatow at the New Yorker Festival, discussed how similar his real life with his buddies is to "Knocked Up," in which his real friends actually appear with him, living and acting in ways best described as juvenile.
"I've lived with them, in conditions that are humiliatingly similar," Rogen said.
Britney Christens New Album 'Blackout'
Britney Spears has christened her new album "Blackout." The Jive set is due Nov. 13 and is led by the single "Gimme More," which rockets 68-3 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week after selling 179,000 downloads, her first top 10 hit since "Toxic" in March 2004.
A video for the track is now available on iTunes and will premiere Monday on traditional broadcast outlets.
A track list has yet to be announced, but “Blackout” is known to include the songs “Heaven on Earth,” “Radar,” “Piece of Me” and “Break the Ice.” Among the production and songwriting collaborators are Bloodshy & Avant, Nate “Danjahandz” Hills and Kara DioGuardi.
Spears’ sizzling chart performance this week stands in stark contrast to her ongoing personal travails. The artist was stripped of custody of her two small children and although she was given visitation rights, a monitor must be present at all times.
Police guitarist says new album possible
DUBLIN, Ireland - Will the curtain close again on The Police when their reunion tour ends? Andy Summers says the fractious trio could have a new album in them.
"It's sort of like living with the elephant in the room. I would see it as a challenge, to make an absolutely brilliant pop album at this stage of our career, and that would be something quite remarkable," Summers, 64, said.
The Police broke up in 1984 following five albums and a relationship-wrecking world tour. Their hits include "Roxanne" and "Every Breath You Take."
Since then, frontman Sting, 56, has sustained solo stardom. Guitarist Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland, 55, have pursued their own, much more low-key recording projects.
They reunited for a 30th-anniversary world tour that began in May and is scheduled to run into next year.
Summers said the trio has yet to discuss in any detail the prospect of recording a new album together. But he said the tour had sharpened their group skills — and, four months into the reunion, creating something new together would make sense.
The Police performed a sold-out concert Saturday in Dublin's 82,000-seat Croke Park that received praise from critics and the largely 30-something crowd alike.
Summers — whose percussive guitar style is an important part of The Police's sound-fusing pop, punk, jazz and reggae — said the tour is a full-time workout.
"Right now it is just the tour and holding everything together, mentally, physically and musically. The tour and the traveling and the playing and the tension you have to keep to do it every night is all-devouring," he said. "It is just too much."
Summers spoke to reporters in a central Dublin park, where he was signing copies of "I'll Be Watching You: Inside The Police 1980-1983," his personal photographic record of the band's glory years. Last year he published his autobiography, "One Train Later: A Memoir."