I’ve not bought an Alice Cooper album since Hey Stoopid, but the king of getting killed onstage is obviously still working in between rounds of golf, because Alice has a new album coming out in July!

Playing heavily to the old ’shock rock’ image, the track listing has a definite slant toward chilling titles. I remember back when Trash was released they talked about keeping the titles horror-related in line with Alice’s image, but making the content more contemporary.

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I got a shout earlier today from a musician called Bradley Boyer, the guy behind a brilliant band called Auto Defiance. I’d all but stopped writing about unsigned bands because of the pitiful quality of acts that emailed me, but Auto Defiance are worth writing about!

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It’s a known fact that rock bands love to cover Michael Jackson songs, which is why we’re not surprised to learn the mascara-loving members of Fall Out Boy are covering Jackson’s classic, Beat It.

On this track, they’ve teamed up with celebrity boyfriend-for-hire/guitarist John Mayer (come on, you’ve never heard his music either, have you?) for quite a stormin’ rendition of an awesome song.

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If hints dropped by Floyd’s Dave Gilmour recently are anything to go by, the band’s brief Live 8 reunion might not be the last time the Pink Floyd OAPs club performs on stage.

Only joking about the OAPs thing, serious fans - we love Pink Floyd here!

Apparently Gilmour told BBC 6Music “Who knows? Who knows the future? I haven’t absolutely said ‘no’ to the possibility, but I think that in reality any sort of long-term thing together is not going to happen. At my incredibly advantaged age - having achieved this - I’ve earned the right to sit on my ass for a little while and consider what to do next.”

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Panic release their second single from Pretty.Odd, That Green Gentleman. Oh, and it’s the song that features the album title in the lyrics - we love spotting those ones!

The surrealism of previous Panic At The Disco songs remains, but this acoustic tune is far more mainstream than we’ve seen the band venture to date.

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We’ve always been right behind The Zutons. Their first album was a masterpiece of riff-laden retro rock, and their second spawned one of the biggest hits of this decade.

However, we’re left slightly disappointed by Always Right Behind You, a slip into glam-era choruses that leaves us wondering where exactly the stormin’ return of Dave McCabe and the gang went to.

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What the crap? According to Blabbermouth, Dave Grohl has penned an open letter to Metallica, urging them not to release their new album until it’s ready.

I have to say - I don’t understand it. I keep thinking “What’s Dave’s motivation for writing an open letter to Metallica?” I mean, baiting Metallica is huge. And Foo Fighters don’t have anything new coming out at the moment, do they?

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Well, they promised us different, and I can confirm that Coldplay have delivered something different. But is it good? Hell yeah.

Even speaking as a determined Coldplay hater, Violet Hill sounds dark, foreboding, and heavy. Less of the piano-sturbation, and Chris Martin retires the falsetto in favour of a more earthy vocal tone.

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I can’t keep up with this guy! No sooner that being kicked out of Velvet Revolver and rejoining Stone Temple Pilots for a reunion tour, Scott Weiland has plans in the pipeline to release a new solo album.

Apparently alt-rock producer Steve Albini is signed on to twiddle the knobs for the project and No Doubt drummer Adrian Young (fed up with waiting for Stefani to get her act together) is said to be collaborating on the album as well.

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The word on the street today is that Motley Crue have a new single in the pipeline called Saints Of Los Angeles. Apparently we have to get down on our knees and pray to them.

I’ve listened to the track (some kind soul has put a copy on YouTube) and can say I’m shocked. This is exactly like old school Motley Crue. And that, music fans, is a good thing.

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