The News Review:

- Billy Idol: Charmed Life : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone
- ld school metal makes new sounds in Sofia
- … ‘ Driver’s-License Case Postponed – News Story |…
- The Gauntlet: Poison Metal News
- Music memories don’t have to die
- Is pop music bad for your health?

Billy Idol: Charmed Life : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone – Feb 20, 2008
He migrates to America after that group’s breakup and discovers a metal-driven whiz-kid guitarist named Steve Stevens. They reach the big time with a pair of albums Billy Idol and Rebel Yell that yield a string of hit singles and videos. The machinery of fame abetted by the cartoonish medium of rock video turns aspects of a complex personality into a dangerous and reductive caricature that is bought by the audience and apparently by the artist himself. Seven years have passed since Rebel Yell with only one other album of new songs from Idol the tentative dispirited Whiplash Smile. Rumors of dissipation have hounded the singer… ” The music is delicate; Idol’s voice is pensive stripped of its gravelly swagger. With its classic sense of hard-soft dynamics and its slow deliberate buildup from aspiration and struggle to transcendence – a structure that recalls both “Dream n” and “Stairway to Heaven” – “Prodigal Blues” could well become a rock standard. The other allusion to the Bible occurs in “Mark of Caine” the album’s most amazing song in which the battle between the will to love and the compulsion to self-destruct comes into boldest relief. Jazzy clear-toned arpeggios from guitarist Mark Younger-Smith give way to fulminating power chords and dissonant intervals create an acidic uneasy air as Idol faces his demons.

ld school metal makes new sounds in Sofia
Sofia Echo – Feb 20, 2008
Tickets go on sale on February 22 at a cost of 25 to 50 leva at various ticket-sale points and websites around the country. The Def Leppard-Whitesnake presence at Academic Stadium is part of the second leg of their North America and Europe tour that will start in March. Both bands were founded in 1977 and have managed to keep their names above the mucky surface of the nether lands of popular music. Earlier this month Metallica and Kiss announced they would play gigs in Sofia in summer while industrial metal icons Ministry will hold one of their last live performances in the Bulgarian capital before disbanding after the farewell tour… The Def Leppard-Whitesnake presence at Academic Stadium is part of the second leg of their North America and Europe tour that will start in March. Both bands were founded in 1977 and have managed to keep their names above the mucky surface of the nether lands of popular music. Earlier this month Metallica and Kiss announced they would play gigs in Sofia in summer while industrial metal icons Ministry will hold one of their last live performances in the Bulgarian capital before disbanding after the farewell tour.

… ‘ Driver’s-License Case Postponed – News Story |…
MTV.com – Feb 20, 2008
For a first date he’s up for “whatever you wanna do — crazy or low key. ” McCartney notes that he’s “fortunate enough” to have made music his profession and adds in his profile that he’s working on his third album (Departure out May 20). 08Lindsay Lohan has done some racy photo shoots in the past but she takes it to a whole new level in… Green Jellÿ that long-forgotten mock-metal outfit behind the infectious “Three Little Pigs” have reformed and are in the process of booking a national tour for this summer. The band will also re-release 1991′s Cereal Killer and 1994′s 333 LPs along with a DVD of all their videos. For now Green Jellÿ are scheduled to play the new Milwaukee Metalfest on June 7 in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

The Gauntlet: Poison Metal News
The Gauntlet – Feb 20, 2008
Michaels and his solo band will perform Thursday July 10th as the second annual event gets under way for the weekend. Michaels whose music has sold more than 25 million records worldwide in the span of his 22 year career with his band Poison is taking top billing at what is fast becoming one of the premiere rock music festivals in the world Rocklahoma. Singing both his solo music and classic Poison Bret Michaels will bring his talent as one of rock’s most charismatic frontmen to the event sure to shake up the tens of thousands of fans that pack this klahoma festival annually. The #1 rated show on VH1 “Rock of Love with Bret Michaels” has drawn a new legion of fans to Michaels’ music. Michaels has crossed over to being both a rock and roll icon and a television star to boot! The facilities include over 6300 assigned and numbered seats as well as general admission on the lawn for over 50000 people. The grounds also feature over 4000 campsites on site parking bathroom facilities a convenience store and overnight security… Michaels and his solo band will perform Thursday July 10th as the second annual event gets under way for the weekend. Michaels whose music has sold more than 25 million records worldwide in the span of his 22 year career with his band Poison is taking top billing at what is fast becoming one of the premiere rock music festivals in the world Rocklahoma. Singing both his solo music and classic Poison Bret Michaels will bring his talent as one of rock’s most charismatic frontmen to the event sure to shake up the tens of thousands of fans that pack this klahoma festival annually. The #1 rated show on VH1 “Rock of Love with Bret Michaels” has drawn a new legion of fans to Michaels’ music. Michaels has crossed over to being both a rock and roll icon and a television star to boot! The facilities include over 6300 assigned and numbered seats as well as general admission on the lawn for over 50000 people. The grounds also feature over 4000 campsites on site parking bathroom facilities a convenience store and overnight security. Rocklahoma also has a Picture Alley that allows anyone in attendance to approach the stage during any performance and take photographs of their favorite artist at close range.

Music memories don’t have to die
MSNBC – Feb 20, 2008
But backing it up this way gives people a way to preserve those memories for future generations. ?Sure if you have a massive collection storing it doesn’t make sense? Anderson said. ?But the 12-inch 45 RPM vinyl on metal disk that granddad recorded while in the U. during World War II and sent home so the kids could hear his voice is not the kind of thing someone gets rid of just because they don’t have the means to play the recording directly off of it. It still holds that piece of history. ?So does the cassette that was recorded in a friend’s basement and labeled with hand-typed labels to distribute at shows in other people?s living rooms.

Is pop music bad for your health?
La Scena Musicale – Feb 20, 2008
The assumption in the popular press is that music with violent lyrics leads to violent crime and the louder and longer the exposure the greater the likelihood of anti-social behaviour. See a hooded youth on the upper deck shaking and swaying to a noise that leaks from his headphones and many passengers will be on their guard. This precautionary view of popular music has taken root with politicians and officials who are quick to ban artists they consider a risk to society. The charismatic and articulate rapper Snoop Dogg for instance was prohibited in 2006 from re-entering the United Kingdom after a scuffle at Heathrow airport. He remains on the exclusion list despite assurances of good behaviour for reasons that may have more to do with his myth than his music… Their parents sued Judas Priest and lost. In the range of triggers for the tragedy the album – despite such lyrics as ‘he had enough’ and ‘do it!’ was no more culpable than the state’s gun law and cheap beer. Several research projects show that heavy metal fans are likely to have a low regard for women while rap listeners have a higher tendency to aggression. An unpublished study quoted by North and his co-author David Hargreaves calculates that teenagers who listen to a lot of to rap music are three times more likely to hit a teacher. They also drive faster and have unsafe sex. What’s missing though is a smoking gun. There is little to demonstrate that social music causes social problems and much to suggest that violence in music is simply a truthful reflection of existing urban tensions.