I’ve got a lot to thank Bon Jovi for. Back in the day (that’s 1988, kiddies), they were my earliest introduction to the wonderful world of Hair Metal. It’s been quite a ride, and the ‘Jovi sound has mellowed in the intervening years.
This one’s been long-awaited: a new album from Green Day, to be called 21st Century Breakdown, and to be released sometime in May, this year!
U2 will be special guests at BBC Radio on Friday 27 February when listeners can enjoy access to one of the world’s greatest rock bands – including a special Live Lounge session on BBC Radio 1.
The band will be performing three tracks for a Radio 1 Live Lounge session in Jo Whiley’s daytime show from 10.00am.
Later that day on BBC Radio 2, Chris Evans will play host to U2 on his drivetime show at 5.00pm, interviewing all four members of U2 about the secrets of their success, from their formation in Dublin in 1976, to nine number one albums in the UK and 22 Grammy Awards.
Gives You Hell is one of those almost novelty rock tunes that surfaces every once in a while, like Nickelback’s Rock Star or the all-time classic Pretty Fly (For A White Guy).
There’s the comedy featuring frontman Tyson Ritter playing dual roles of rebel and geek neighbours. The pair antagonize one another throughout the video, until a bout of suburban wife-swapping seems to solve their quarrel. Hooray for wife-swapping!
It’s interesting to note when writing this particular single review that Kelly Clarkson had a brief career as a vacuum cleaner salesperson. You have to wonder if she wrote My Life Would Suck Without You with her old job in mind…
After all the rumours that Kelly was heading for a career in country music, it’s refreshing to see that she’s actually returned to her musical roots. My Life Would Suck is a slab of power pop/rock that many reviewers are comparing to classic Clarkson songs like Since U Been Gone.
Brandon Flowers is back with another of those ‘curious’ jackets with feathers on the shoulders and another song to sing.
The latest Killers single is called Spaceman, and is very much in the same synth-heavy vein as Human was, but is a little more conventional. It’s still really sonically dense, as it packs in a pulsating verse and chorus, the aforementioned synths and some distorted guitar to glue the whole thing together.
Consider this your polite introduction to King Of Conspiracy – a trio of Parisian punks who are invading the UK right now, and whose debut single Youth Against The Empire is released on 2nd March 2009.
We often overuse the word ‘energetic’ when we’re trying to describe bands, but when Youth Against The Empire started sputtering from my laptop speakers, all the excitement of the lean guitar riffing and French-accented vocals, ‘energetic’ was the first word to spring to my mind.
OK, here’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for – a listen to U2’s new single, Get On Your Boots.
It’s the first single from No Line On The Horizon (which we talked about earlier), and it’s beyond all my expectations. It’s described as a “blazing, fuzzed-out rocker that picks up where "Vertigo" left off.”
More importantly, the lyrics show that Bono can have a laugh at himself, when he sings “I don’t wanna talk about wars between nations”. In fact, the basic thrust of Get On Your Boots is about just having some fun.
Possibly the most exciting news of the New Year is a new album by U2.
The new album is to be called No Line On The Horizon, and it’s their first studio release in 5 years!
U2 usually undergo some form of musical reinvention every now and again, and that’s probably why it’s so exciting when they release new material.
Fall Out Boy are back to bother the charts again, and we’re hearing loads of America’s Suitehearts – their latest single – at the moment.
From their new album, Folie à Deux, the video’s very…er… like a horror version of a Beatles movie. Allie questions the fixation with carnival and circusfolk – which goes for them and Panic At The Disco if memory serves me right.
