Word reaches me, Dr Pepper lovers, that Guns N’ Roses will release their long long long long long awaited Chinese Democracy album on 23rd November of this very year.

A major pat on the back for Axl, perhaps showing exactly how petty he can be when someone makes fun at his expense! Or maybe he’d planned to release an album this year?

Slipping into the world of facts for a moment, at the moment, we know that the album will be released through an exclusive deal with Best Buy in the USA. No word yet on how it will be distributed in the UK or the rest of the world, and we’re not sure Axl even knows about Amazon/iTunes. Watch this space.

Shackler’s Revenge is due to make an appearance in Rock Band 2, while another track for the album, If The World can currently be heard at the end of the Body Of Lies movie.

With all the excitement building, we can expect more GNR rumours, snippets of songs and more. I’m personally looking forward to the album cover. From the band who forged one of the most iconic album covers in rock, the Chinese Democracy cover had better live up to expectations.

Oh, and there may be music on the disc too! Is this release as anticipated as Death Magnetic, and which will be the bigger return this year - Metallica of Guns N’ Roses? Over to you.

In their 17th year, you’d have thought Oasis would have imploded by now.

However, their new single The Shock Of The Lightning shows that they’re not showing any signs of slowing down or stagnating.

As it stands, The Shock Of The Lightning is a surprisingly hard rocking tune. It’s got a big sound, but probably the least obvious chorus I’ve heard from Oasis in a long time.

As Lee says, it would be easy but lazy to hark back to early Oasis and make the usual comparisons. Winston does make the comparison to Morning Glory, but only to point out that the sound of the single is unmistakably Oasis:

It’s rolling drums, growling bass lines, instantly memorable melody and Definitely Maybe style hook combine to form exactly the same huge sound that Oasis have used to introduce the public to their new material since the awesome D’you Know What I Mean led us into Be Here Now.

In other news, Shock is apparently not the strongest track from the new album (Dig Out Your Soul), so there are plenty of gems left to discover. But, after years of indifference toward the Gallagher brothers, I’m finally starting to look at them as a treasure of the UK music scene.

So good to hear Liam’s drawling vocals and that trademark wall of sound that have become part of the fabric of pop music over the course of their careers.

It’s a less well-known tune called Traveling Riverside Blues. In keeping with the Delta Blues obsession that spawned the blues rock of the late 60’s/early 70’s, the song is based on Robert Johnson’s original of the same name.

The version of the song that Zep recorded back in 1969 resurfaced in 1990 on the Remasters box set, and then again in a compilation of early Led Zeppelin live songs called BBC Sessions.

For me, Traveling Riverside Blues is the perfect rock song – it’s got a searing slide guitar intro by Jimmy, and Robert is in classic form borrowing some choice lyrics from Johnson’s catalogue of songs. He’s even singing about squeezing lemons years before The Lemon Song was ever recorded.

It’s a great example of a band paying homage to the genre that influenced them most, and encapsulates Led Zeppelin at their absolute best. Check out the track and tell me it isn’t one of the best Zep tracks ever…

As we said last week amid all the speculation of a Led Zeppelin reunion - it ain’t over with Zep until someone releases an official statement.

And now someone has released an official statement: stand up Mr Robert Plant. Via his website, Plant has released an official statement saying that he’s not planning to tour for at least the next two years, and that he will certainly not be touring with Led Zeppelin.

In a post-script to all this, he managed to insult fans and Zep-watchers by claiming that the speculation was “frustrating and ridiculous”.

This leaves folk like us confused about what’s going on with Led Zeppelin. Wasn’t there speculation that Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham were working together with an unnamed singer?

Only time will tell if this is true or not. If the remaining Zeppelin members did decide to tour, would they have the right to call it “Led Zeppelin” if Plant’s still alive? We’re sure that issue is a legal and logistical minefield. Probably better to call it something else and disassociate Led Zep. The fans will lap it up anyway.

But is Plant a spoilsport? Is he disregarding the wishes of the loyal legions of fans who’ve followed him and Zeppelin over the decades?

It’s hard to judge. Plant has had a long and distinguished career, first as lead singer of Zep, then as a solo artist. He’s now managed to completely reinvent himself and start a new phase of a career with Alison Krauss in the bluegrass genre. How many musicians are that lucky in their lifetimes?

And Zep fans, especially those who’ve taken the time to read and learn about Robert and Jimmy, will understand Robert’s need to thrive and record new music and explore different genres. It would be easy for him to coast by on past glories and spend his later years rehashing Zeppelin tracks while people complain “he can’t hit the high notes like he used to”.

Interestingly, Plant has taken the high road, while we - the fans - seem to be living in the past. Let’s celebrate his career, buy a copy of Raising Sand and stop day dreaming about reunions that will never happen.

The Led Zeppelin rumour mill has been in overdrive since way back in June 2007 – that’s when we first started talking about possible reunions.

As you all know, Robert, Jimmy and John reunited, with the rightful heir to the drum riser, Jason Bonham, and the band performed a one-off concert in London last autumn.

However, Robert Plant went cold on the idea of a full-on reunion soon after the O2 concert, preferring to focus on his collaboration with Alison Krauss. I remember saying at the time that while disappointing, Plant’s comments about preferring to be a “creator, not a curator” were dignified and understandable.

Recently the instrumental section of Led Zeppelin have been getting together for some sessions. Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham were said to be working with an unnamed singer with a view to replacing Robert Plant as lead singer. Sacrilege! No way!

Whatever the truth of the matter, it seems that this may have spurred Plant into action – recent reports suggest that Led Zeppelin might be reforming for that all-important tour. According to the various sources:

The rest of the band had all but given up on Robert joining them, but they were determined to go ahead so had started to seriously explore other avenues. When Robert realised the band were serious about doing it without him, it made him think long and hard.

He realised he couldn’t face the thought of not being involved. The band were over the moon when he told them the news. They are now forging ahead with the tour plans and they can’t wait to get on the road.

I saw Page and Plant’s Walking Into Clarkesdale tour back in the 90’s, and my only criticism was the way they’ excluded Jones from the Unledded project and the follow-up album. So a proper reunion that fans can afford has me salivating.

However, if you’re a long standing Zep fan, you’ll be waiting for that official announcement, since the rumour mill can be deadly unreliable. All we can ask for now is that the guys come out and confirm the speculation. And hopefully some free tickets and an interview for Unreality Music?

You can’t stop the rock reunions. Alice In Chains are the latest act to reform, despite the sticky issue of having a deceased lead singer.

It’s been 13 years since the band’s last album, and 6 since their legendary lead singer Layne Stayley died from a drugs overdose.

In this latest incarnation, Stayley has been replaced by singer-with-a-pulse William DuVall who’s been knocking around the rock and punk scene since the early 80’s.

DuVall has been with the band since 2007, when they toured with Velvet Revolver. However, the latest buzz comes from a blogger who’s working with the band under the moniker of ‘The Baldy‘.

October will arrive and Alice In Chains will reconvene to record the new album…

So, as 2008, winds down, band activity will be gearing up, and at some point in 2009 you’ll finally hear what I’ve been raving about for the last several months.

If you want to see DuVall in action, here’s a clip of him performing Rain When I Die with the band last year.

It looks like Jimmy’s got tired of the short hair he’s been sporting for the last few years. Is it worth reminding you that we’re among the biggest Led Zeppelin fans on the planet, so just watching Jimmy strut his stuff onstage brings on an attack of the goosebumps!

In what Idolator described as an Aguilera-like performance, Leona Lewis did an awesome performance of the song. OK, it wasn’t quite Robert-Plant-squeezing-lemons quality, but it cements Lewis’s position as a class act. And doesn’t she look hot?

Maybe it’s time to start some rumours about Lewis taking Plant’s place for a reformation of Led Zeppelin? Perhaps we’ll get that world tour after all…

Although the best bit by far was Beckham launching a ball into the audience and knocking over some Chinese audience member!

Otherwise known as ‘the drummer and guitarist from Queen hooking up with the vocalist from Free’.

There’s good news and bad news with this new single from Queen (+ Paul Rodgers). The good news is that it’s got some heavy riff-laden brilliance attached to it.

Brian May’s guitar work shows that he’s still got the chops (not the lamb chops - the guitar ones), and Paul Rodgers brings a powerful, bluesy voice to proceedings. OK, he’s never going to throw on a canary yellow jacket and give us Freddie MK2.

On the other hand, this new Queen is bloody preachy. First they were banging on about some Third World issue, now they’re wagging their fingers at celebrity culture - a bit rich for two guys who exhumed the corpse of Queen for what? Fame and fortune. May and Taylor aren’t in this for the good of their health, are they?

Long time Queen fans were probably thirsting for a good rocker. The riff delivers, but the chorus leaves you flat. And repeats a bit too much.

So, OK. The point will be driven home that this isn’t Queen as we know them and love them. But we will hold them to the same high standards. And C-lebrity doesn’t even compare to classic Queen. It’s far too patchy to be part of that rich legacy of music.

What we will say about C-lebrity is that it shows a lot of promise for this new lineup. Just keep the preachy lyrics out and give us some fist-pumping choruses. And a special note to Brian May - sack the stylist, man. Sack the stylist now.

Welcome back, friends, to the MySpace Tour and stop #2 - the Chris George Band. The first stop on our tour was LA’s Heart Of Cygnus, and we’ve selected Chris George from their list of friends to continue the tour.

Okay, any band that sports the name of one of its members usually has that person as the focus. Chris is the main man - lead guitarist and vocalist. He’s aided and abetted by drummer Farid Medjane and bassist Rob Butterfield.

You should know that Chris is some kind of guitar prodigy - he’s been playing since he was 7 years old, and was crowned Young Guitarist Of The Year in 1997 by Guitarist Magazine.

Some MySpace stats…

Friends: 959 at time of writing. Profile views: 15927.

Influences: Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Who, Jimi Hendrix

Label: Blue Juice Music

Review

We couldn’t be happier that we discovered Chris’s band for our MySpace tour - he’s an unassuming Guitar God, teasing beautifully melodic and distorted notes from his guitar. And in keeping with legendary rockers Messrs Hendrix and Cobain, he plays his six-string left-handed. The only difference is…he’s not dead.

Check out the official Chris George Band website for more information, photos and stuff.

Chris George on Video

Here’s a couple of examples of Chris milking his guitar and Marshall amps to perfection:

And…with Paul Gilbert

Steve McQueen is the latest single from The Automatic, and man is it on heavy rotation on the radio right now.

File this one under Anthems…

Because that’s what this is, a raucous rock anthem, with a banging, irrepressible chorus. If this is the lead single from their forthcoming album, then we’re in for a treat.

Younger music fans will be wondering exactly who the hell Steve McQueen is. Yeah, we don’t know either. Some actor or something like that.

One thing’s for sure, for a band that we barely noticed before, this single has made us suddenly sit up and take notice. We’re looking forward to some more quality rock tunes from these guys.

Gigwise have an interview with the band here. The Steve McQueen single is due for release on August 18th and the album, This Is A Fix will follow on August 25th.