"I sometimes wonder how many more 'firsts' can there be, but I never dreamed I'd see the day that Pearl Jam would appear on the ACL stage, especially considering they seldom do TV," said Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona. "This will go down as one of our all-time classic shows, and one of the best Pearl Jam performances ever captured. There are some musical and emotional highs that gave me goose bumps."

Pearl Jam on ACL setlist: Just Breathe, The End, The Fixer, Johnny Guitar, Amongst The Waves, Unthought Unknown, Army Reserve, Do The Evolution, Lukin, Red Mosquito (with Ben Harper), Inside Job, Porch

To get a taste of what you can expect, follow THIS LINK to watch their ACL performance of the song JUST BREATHE.

A recent YouTube video has since confirmed the critics' worst fears, depicting Cobain and country legend Johnny Cash singing a duet of "YMCA" by the Village People. The videos spread quickly around the web before Activision pulled them, claiming breach of copyright.

"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters . . . We feel he deserves better," former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic said in a statement.

"While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character," they added. "This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future."

In giving her own two cents on the issue, Love has called the use of Cobain's likeness "vile," and has threatened to sue.

Multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Papa Roach and multi-platinum, 2009 American Music Award nominee Shinedown announce co-headlining dates. Two of today's biggest bands in rock, each delivering #1 rock hits this year (Papa Roach's "Lifeline" and Shinedown's "Second Chance" and "Sound Of Madness") will kick off the tour December 5th in Highland Heights, KY. Tickets for Highland Heights, KY, Erie, PA and Binghamton, NY are available now and additional dates go on sale this weekend.

"We are stoked to be touring with Shinedown, we have a lot of love and respect for them. It's been a long time coming, be prepared, both bands are going to annihilate the stage," said Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix.

Known for their electrifying live shows, Papa Roach have been touring nonstop behind their new album and fifth studio recording, Metamorphosis, which debuted at #8 on The Billboard 200 chart earlier this year. Papa Roach is currently on tour with Australian sensation JET and fresh off the heels of their summer tour alongside Nickelback. Shaddix says:

"Playing shows every night is what we're built for. We make a club feel like an arena and we make an arena feel like a club." Indeed Hit Parader raves, "Papa Roach's live energy is like a pack of wild horses - unbridled and uncontainable."

 Metamorphosis has already spawned the hits "Lifeline" and "I Almost Told You That I Loved You," with "Had Enough" hitting radio now. "Had Enough" and many other songs on Metamorphosis address the current social and economic themes prevalent today.

One of the most successful rock bands of the decade, Shinedown has amassed a staggering record of 10 consecutive top 5 rock radio hits over their 3 studio albums. The Jacksonville, Florida-based band's latest single, "If You Only Knew," is already #10 on the Active Rock charts and climbing, with the companion video in rotation at VH1 and Fuse. Last month, Shinedown performed the song on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and, later this month, the band will be attending the 2009 American Music Awards, where they've been nominated for "Favorite Alternative Rock Artist" alongside Kings Of Leon and Green Day. "If You Only Knew" follows the breakthrough success of "Second Chance," one of the biggest cross over hits of the year with nearly 2 million singles sold and going to #1 at Hot AC and top 5 at Top 40 after topping the Alternative, Active and Mainstream Rock charts. Both songs are featured on Shinedown's current album, The Sound Of Madness. Produced by multiple-Grammy Award winner Rob Cavallo, The Sound Of Madness debuted at #8 on The Billboard 200 chart upon release last summer and has since been RIAA-certified Gold, spawning 3 consecutive #1 rock singles ("Devour," "Second Chance" and "Sound Of Madness").

"We're really excited to combine forces with Papa Roach on these dates. Just like us, they bring it every night for their fans," says Shinedown frontman Brent Smith. "I guarantee you this...its gonna be LOUD!"

Launching on this tour, Papa Roach has partnered with WHY (World Hunger Year) to support local and national efforts to end hunger and poverty. The band will be auctioning off special VIP fan experiences via www.paparoach.com including meet and greets, an interview with the band, side-stage tickets, soundcheck access and much more - with all proceeds going to WHY. In addition to raising money, Papa Roach will build awareness from the stage along their tour stops and visit local food banks and homeless shelters to lend support. The statistics are staggering: 36.2 million Americans are hungry and every day almost 16,000 children from around the globe die from hunger-related causes. Shaddix explains, "We're proud to work with World Hunger Year to help those in need. We've been fortunate enough to have a voice and we want to use it by giving back. We encourage everyone to help out their local communities."

Shinedown will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the tour to the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD) at the University of Florida College of Medicine - Jacksonville. The hometown center works to educate and empower individuals and families through support, assistance and awareness within the community to optimize the potential of all individuals with autism and related disabilities. For more information about CARD, please visit shinedown.com.  -ultimate-guitar.com

Rhino and Bright Midnight Archives unleash four inspired performances from The Doors' final tour with Live In New York. The latest addition to the band's acclaimed series of archival concert releases, this six-disc collection contains all four of The Doors' performances - in their entirety - recorded in 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City.

The collection will be available as of today at all retail outlets, including www.thedoors.com and www.rhino.com, for suggested list price of $89.98 for the physical boxed set. A digital version featuring select highlights from all four Felt Forum shows will also be available at all digital retail outlets for $9.99. An exclusive stream of "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" from the second show on January 17, 1970 will premiere at spinner.com beginning this Thursday, August 27.

Recorded January 17 and 18, 1970 - just a few weeks before the release of Morrison Hotel - these concerts find Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek locked in tight as they deliver smoking takes on soon-to-be-classics from their forthcoming album, including "Roadhouse Blues," "Peace Frog," "Ship Of Fools," and "Maggie M'Gill." The shows also feature a number of driving blues covers, such as Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love," Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster," and John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake." "Those were the bluesy songs we always used to do," Krieger says. "We probably hadn't done them in years, but we resurrected them for these shows."

The year prior to these shows, The Doors became one of the first rock bands to play New York City's Madison Square Garden. When they returned in 1970, Densmore says they chose to play the Felt Forum, a smaller venue at the Garden. "It was more intimate, and you could feel the audience more," he says. "There was more interaction, and the acoustics were much better, because it was designed for music."

Manzarek hails these shows as a return to the group's early days, when they used to play a small Los Angeles club called the London Fog. "I mean, talk about going back to basics. We used to do four sets a night at the London Fog, and we only had a small block of songs written up to that time. So we would do other people's material. And in New York, it was like the same thing. We've got four shows to play here, two sets tonight, two sets tomorrow night. Let's play whatever we want! Let's just go!"

And go they did. Along with a mix of then-unheard new songs and old covers, the band also tapped into its 1967, self-titled debut, peppering the set lists with signature songs such as "Break On Through (To The Other Side)," "Soul Kitchen," "The End," and "Light My Fire," The Doors' first #1 hit.

For the final show of the Felt Forum stand, the band was joined onstage by two guests - The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian (who played harmonica on the studio version of "Roadhouse Blues") and drummer Dallas Taylor, who'd played on Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut. Sebastian sat in for "Rock Me" and was joined by Taylor for "Going To N.Y. Blues" and "Maggie M'Gill."

Fans will be blown away by the crisp sound found on LIVE IN NEW YORK. All four shows were mixed and mastered by the band's longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick, who recorded a number of shows from The Doors' 1970 tour on multi-track tape for the Absolutely Live album. While most of the music contained on LIVE IN NEW YORK is unreleased, a few songs (and portions of songs) surfaced in 1970 on Absolutely Live and in 1997 on The Doors Box Set.

Sadly, these shows represent The Doors' final New York City performances with Morrison, who passed away July 3, 1971.

Rhino released 180-gram vinyl versions of all six Doors studio albums on September 15. Previously available only in 2007's The Doors Vinyl Box, original stereo mixes of The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting For The Sun, The Soft Parade, Morrison Hotel, and L.A. Woman will now be available individually at all vinyl retail outlets for a suggested list price of $24.98 each.
Disc 1

January 17, 1970 (First Show)
1. Start Of Show
2. "Roadhouse Blues"
3. "Ship Of Fools"*
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"
5. Tuning
6. "Peace Frog"
7. "Blue Sunday"
8. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
9. "Back Door Man"*
10. "Love Hides"*
11. "Five To One"*
12. Tuning/Breather
13. "Who Do You Love"
14. "Little Red Rooster"
15. "Money"
16. Tuning
17. "Light My Fire"*
18. More, More, More
19. "Soul Kitchen"*
20. End Of Show

Disc 2
January 17, 1970 (Second Show)
1. Start Show 2
2. Jim "How Ya Doing?"
3. "Roadhouse Blues"
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"*
5. "Ship Of Fools"
6. "Crawling King Snake"
7. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
8. "Back Door Man"*
9. "Five To One"
10. Pretty Neat, Pretty Good
11. "Build Me A Woman"
12. Tuning/Breather
13. "Who Do You Love"*
14. Tuning/Breather
15. "Wild Child"*
16. Cheering/Tuning
17. "When The Music's Over"

Disc 3
January 17, 1970 (Second Show) continued
1. Tuning/Breather
2. "Light My Fire"*
3. Hey, Mr. Light Man!
4. "Soul Kitchen"*
5. Jim's Fish Joke
6. "The End"
7. End Of Show

Disc 4
January 18, 1970 (Third Show)
1. Start Show 3
2. "Roadhouse Blues"*
3. "Ship Of Fools"*
4. "Break On Through (To The Other Side)"*
5. Tuning/Breather
6. "Universal Mind"*
7. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" - False Start*
8. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"*
9. "Back Door Man"*
10. "Five To One"
11. Tuning/Breather
12. "Moonlight Drive"
13. "Who Do You Love"*
14. Calling Out For Songs
15. "Money"*
16. Tuning/Breather
17. "Light My Fire"
18. More, More More
19. "When The Music's Over"*
20. Good Night - End Show

Disc 5
January 18, 1970 (Fourth Show)
1. Start Show 4
2. "Roadhouse Blues"*
3. "Peace Frog"*
4. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"*
5. "Back Door Man"
6. "Five To One"
7. We Have A Special Treat
8. "Celebration Of The Lizard"
9. Alright Let's Boogie
10. "Build Me A Woman"
11. "When The Music's Over"*
12. More, More, More

Disc 6
January 18, 1970 (Fourth Show) continued
1. "Soul Kitchen"*
2. For Fear Of Getting Too Patriotic
3. Petition The Lord With Prayer
4. "Light My Fire"
5. Only When The Moon Comes Out
6. "Close To You"
7. The Encore Begins
8. "Rock Me"*
9. What To Do Next?
10. "Going To N.Y. Blues"*
11. Tuning/Breather
12. "Maggie M'Gill"*
13. Tuning/Breather
14. "Gloria"*/End Of Show

*Previously unreleased

-antimusic.com

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that THEM CROOKED VULTURES are premiering on Rock Band beginning next week with "New Fang", the single from the band's self-titled debut album. The song will be added to the Rock Band Music Store and LEGO Rock Band Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii.

"THEM CROOKED VULTURES are keenly aware of the different ways in which modern music fans digest new music and are therefore especially happy to be able to offer the first single from their self-titled debut up as a downloadable Rock Band game track on the same day the album goes on sale," stated THEM CROOKED VULTURES.

The debut self-titled album from THEM CROOKED VULTURES, comprised of Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones, will be released November 17 in the United States, the same day and date that "New Fang" will be available for Rock Band download on the Xbox 360. The band released the single as a free download for fans November 3 and has been streaming their full album on their web site, www.themcrookedvultures.com, since November 9. The band is touring the United States in November, and their December tour of the United Kingdom sold out in just 12 minutes.

THEM CROOKED VULTURES' "New Fang" will be available November 17 for the Xbox 360, November 24 for the Wii and December 3 for the PlayStation 3 in both the Rock Band Music Store and LEGO Rock Band Music Store.

Price:

* $1.99 USD, £.99 UK, €1.49 EU (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
* $2.00 USD (200 Wii Points) per track -blabbermouth.net

Shinedown and Black Stone Cherry are among the artists who will perform on VH1 Best Cruise Ever -- the ultimate party thrown by VH1, Sixthman, hosts 3 DOORS DOWN, and featuring additional appearances by a full lineup of great artists.

VH1 Best Cruise Ever will set sail April 15, 2010 from Tampa, Florida and will cruise to the white sands of Grand Cayman before returning April 19. You can expect non-stop concerts from BLACK STONE CHERRY, 3 DOORS DOWN, LIFEHOUSE, SHINEDOWN, CAROLINA LIAR, SAFETYSUIT and more to be announced soon -- not to mention VH1-themed activities, contests and events. Oh, and you'll be doing all this onboard a full-service cruise ship decked out with crystal-clear pools, a dozen bars, awesome restaurants, nightly parties in the dance club, 24-hour room service and a full-service casino.

For more details, visit www.vh1bestcruiseever.com.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry says estranged singer Steven Tyler's surprise guest appearance at his Joe Perry Project concert Tuesday night (Nov. 10) in New York "really didn't change anything in my mind" about the status of their band.

Tyler joined Perry and company for an encore rendition of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way," before the song that "I want you to know that I'm not leaving Aerosmith."

Now, Perry tells Billboard.com that Tyler "never said he was leaving the band" but further explains that the singer "said he wanted two years off to do his other projects," which is where things become problematic. 

"Aerosmith wants to work," says Perry, who Tweeted earlier in the week that the band was "positively looking for a new singer to work with." He adds, "the band's been playing together for 40 years. It's a really powerful rock band, and I don't want to see it just go to waste and I don't think any of the other guys do, either. We're gonna work and we're gonna do something -- I'm not exactly sure what yet, but the band's too good to let it sit around. We're not going to wait for Steven." 

Perry says he's had one conference call during the past week with bandmates Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer, but they have not made any firm decisions about anything -- including working with another singer while Tyler is pursuing his outside endeavors. "We're waiting for things to kind of settle down, and then we'll figure out what we're gonna do. Anything is possible," the guitarist says.

Perry also says that Tyler's appearance at Irving Plaza on Tuesday caught him completely by surprise. Tyler, he says, appeared backstage just as the Project was taking its encore break. "He was really the last person I expected," Perry recalls, "and then I saw him. He said, 'How ya doin'? What's going on? What songs are you playing -- anything good or what?' I said, 'Well, we've got a couple more to go...You want to come and sit in with the band?' and he said 'Yeah' and...[chose] 'Walk This Way.'"

"I was really blown away that he came to the show," says Perry, "but he showed up and was really anxious to come and sit in and play, so I figured, what the hell? He's been my partner for 40 years, and I figured I'd let him have some fun and...give the fans an extra treat."

As for spreading Internet rumors about Tyler's health, Perry says that the singer "came and went so fast I didn't even get a chance to check him out that much...We read the Tweets and the different bits of gossip here and there, but that's stuff you need to talk to Steven about."

Perry says the Project, meanwhile, will be on the road throughout the month and then plan to resume touring in late January, though he expects to be speaking to the other Aerosmith members in the near future about their potential plans. -billboard.com

past few years, and their latest step towards a global takeover is upon us, in the

form of 'Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere.' The album dropped from the

solar system on October 6th (via Mighty Loud!/Fontana), and as judged by such

song titles as "Super Villain," "V is for Vampire," "Horror Show," and "Get your

Bones," 'Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere' is bound to be another gnarly

slice of PM5K.

"We made this record with a clear vision and a purpose," explains frontman,

Spider. "We wanted to reclaim a sound we created and represent certain influences

as only a band like Powerman 5000 can. While writing, we would watch

'Godzilla' or 'Ultraman' films to ensure the sonics were on point. We knew that

this record needed to sound like the footsteps of a giant robot!"

"On the surface, this album is a big fun electro metal romp...though there are

bigger concepts hidden within. A quote from HG Wells sums it up best, he said,

'Man is the unnatural animal, the rebel child of nature.' That is an ongoing theme

in the songs, our inability to find a place in our own world. I couldn't be happier

with the results. I finally feel like we have made a record that not only is exactly

wanted we wanted it to be, but also a record that the fans are going to love!"

Originally formed in 1991, PM5K has been led from the beginning by Spider (who

also goes by the nom de plum "Spider One"). In the process, the group has built a

large and loyal fanbase, on the strength of such hit albums as 'Tonight the Stars

Revolt!' and 'Transform' (all of which landed in side the top 30 of the Billboard

Album Charts), as well as the radio favorites "Supernova Goes Pop," "Nobody's

Real," and "When Worlds Collide." Spider and company plan on hitting the road

hard in support of their seventh release overall - get prepared for a total assault of

the senses!

'Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere' Track Listing:

Intelligent Creatures

Show Me What You've Got

Super Villain

V Is For Vampire

Do Your Thing

Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere

Time Bomb

Get Your Bones

Make Us Insane

Technology Eats Its Young

Horror Show

Get ready for Powerman 5000 LIVE tonight at SCOUT BAR

Two songs -- "Scream With Me" and "Heard It All Before" -- from the forthcoming self-titled album from MUDVAYNE are available for streaming below. Reportedly the first album to ever use blacklight-reactive ink (making it only visible under a black light), the CD's cover image was created by world-renowned tattoo king Paul Booth.

Every bit of art and text in the packaging of the record will be printed on ink that can only be seen under a black light.

Commented Booth: "This project has been absolutely killer to work on! The whole black light concept was totally experimental and quite the challenge, so of course, as an artist, I was drawn to it like a moth to a bugzapper."

He added, "I am happy to see bands focusing more energy on their album art... something I thought the Internet had killed. Hailz to MUDVAYNE and everyone at the label for going the extra mile!"

The album will be available in the following formats:

***1. Super Deluxe - "Limited-edition" run of only 1,000 copies which will be sold direct to the consumer from the band's site. Pre-order it at Mudvayne.com starting next Tuesday, November 10 and receive the digital album two weeks before release!

It contains:

a. The deluxe version of the album
b. The album on glow-in-the-dark vinyl (also blacklight-reactive)
c. A 24-inch blacklight
d. A 24x24 poster designed by Paul Booth in blacklight-reactive ink
e. An 8x8 blacklight-reactive decal designed by Paul Booth

***2. Deluxe - "Limited-edition" first run of 100,000 copies. Pre-order it at Mudvayne.com starting Tuesday, November 24 and receive the digital album two weeks before release!

It contains:

a. The album in jewel case
b. A LED, keychain-sized blacklight
c. Special blacklight-reactive packaging designed by Paul Booth

***3. Vinyl

a. Glow-in-the-dark vinyl (also blacklight-reactive)
b. Blacklight-reactive art designed by Paul Booth

***4. Jewel Case

a. Blacklight-reactive art designed by Paul Booth

Due on December 22 via Epic, "Mudvayne" has been described by drummer Matt McDonough as "the best" CD "the band has recorded since our second album, 'The End Of All Things to Come'." The album was produced by Dave Fortman's (SLIPKNOT, EVANESCENCE) right-hand man, Jeremy Parker, and is "a little more retro for MUDVAYNE" from a songwriting point of view, according to singer Chad Gray. "We've been kind of making this natural progression, and I think for this one, we just sort of naturally regressed," he told Noisecreep. "We took the smarter songwriting guys that we've become and mixed it with the not-smart songwriting guys that we were ... I mean, we used to just take 20 parts, cram it together, and call it a song. Over time, playing in a band, you kind of know what to expect. It doesn't really make it easier, but you kind of have this thing in your head that you kind of know where you're going. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel before entering the tunnel. It's faint, and dim, but it's there."

MUDVAYNE's fourth studio album, "The New Game", has sold more than 200,000 copies in the United States since it came out in November 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD shifted 48,000 units in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 15 on The Billboard 200 chart. -blabbermouth.net

A documentary on Ozzy Osbourne titled Wreckage of My Past is in the post-production phase and should be out soon.

The film will be the first release from Jacko Productions, a company started by Ozzy's son Jack. Jack and Ozzy's wife, Sharon, are the film's executive producers.

"I'm trying to paint a realistic picture of who my father is," Jack told Rolling Stone. "I think The Osbournes, to a degree, tarnished the public's perception of my dad as a bit of a senile, funny, bumbling guy. Yeah, my dad can be that guy, but it's not him."

"My dad's not an idiot," Jack continued. "He's nothing short of a genius, in my opinion. He does have huge flaws, and we're trying to really paint an honest picture of that."

The documentary was directed by Mike Piscitelli and was written and produced by Jordan Tappis.

The project has been filming since January 2008 and has collected interviews with all the members of Ozzy's first band Black Sabbath, along with the members of Ozzy's solo bands.

"The hard thing is getting people to be honest and not have it be a fluff piece, because that's not what we're trying to do," Jack concluded.

Wreckage of My Past is due out in theaters in early 2010. Watch a glimpse of the film below.

Before Aerosmith's recent show at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Steven Tyler said he will spend 2010 working on solo projects. "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself - Brand Tyler," he told Classic Rock magazine. He also cryptically stated, "Once the band hit the final note and I walk off stage - then I'll tell you the whole story."

The magazine also said that off stage there appears to be some friction within the band, and that no one sees Tyler until they go on stage as his dressing room is located far away from the rest of the group. Aerosmith will reportedly meet over the next couple of weeks to discuss future plans, possibly without Tyler.

"I'm not sure how good that would look, it would largely depend on who we could get and who would want to do it. That's big shoes to fill," guitarist Brad Whitford told Classic Rock, referring to the idea of the group performing with a different singer. "Nobody could replace Steven or imitate him - he's one of a kind. But if somebody was willing to do it and the chemistry was right, why not?" -fmqb.com

Dave Grohl's primary band Foo Fighters have a new greatest hits collection out this week , and though it has two new songs on it (including the single  "Wheels"), Grohl is focusing his new output on the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. The band reunites Grohl with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme (Grohl played drums on QOTSA's Songs for the Deaf) and adds Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones. The result is a throwback power trio whose debut album is full of swampy riffs, doomsday vocals and lots and lots of volume.

The band is currently offering up a free song on iTunes called "Mind Eraser, No Chaser." Built around a psychedelic guitar loop, the tune is the perfect blend of classic rock and modern guitar music tropes. Homme and Grohl share vocal duties, including a call-and-response section where Grohl shouts "All I wanna do is have my mind erased!" It's mostly just refreshing to hear Grohl behind the skins again, as his drum style is uniquely savage and -- keeping in step with the rest of the band -- extremely loud.

It's a big week for fans of Grohl's rhythmic skills, as this week also marks the release of Nirvana's "Live at Reading," the album and DVD of the legendary band's notorious set at the Reading Festival in 1992. It's the portrait of a band absolutely hitting on all cylinders and unleashing a difficult, anthemic set to a rabid festival crowd. Grohl's work behind the kit is fantastically brutal, especially on the rarity "Been a Son."

In the meantime, Them Crooked Vultures' debut album self-titled debut will hit stores on November 17. -MTV.com

Jack White has turned down the chance to appear on Slash's debut solo album, according to the former Guns N' Roses guitarist.

Slash is due to release 'Slash & Friends' in early 2010, and the album reportedly features a host of guest musicians, including the likes of Flea, Dave Grohl and Alice Cooper.

However, the one artist that Slash says he really wanted to appear was Jack White - however, The White Stripes mainman was apparently reluctant to sing on the record.

"I wanted to get Jack White to sing on something, but he didn't want to sing," Slash told Musicradar.com. "He said I'll play drums, I'll play guitar, but I don't wanna sing. He was one guy that I wanted to work with. Pretty much everyone else that I went after I managed to get."

Writing on his Twitter.com/Slashhudson account, the guitarist said he hopes to have the album completely finished by the end of November. -nme.com

Slipknot singer Corey Taylor has finally confirmed rumors that he tried out for Velvet Revolver's vacant lead singer slot, telling Altitude TV, "I had a meeting with those guys, we did some demos together, and it just didn't work -- for whatever reason." Since Scott Weiland's departure from Velvet Revolver in April 2008, everyone from Lenny Kravitz to Sebastian Bach to Chris Cornell to obscure Canadian singers have been rumored to  the permanent fill-in for VR, but Taylor is among the first to reveal that he actually tried out for the job.

"It was just really cool. It was one of those things where it's like I could have got to jam with legends, man, in my opinion," Taylor said, adding that he's still on good terms with the band. Slash had previously said in passing that Taylor had worked with VR, and while it seemed like Taylor might take over as lead vocalist, the band decided against it, Blabbermouth writes.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, even though Slash is currently hard at work at his own solo album, he's still devoted to the singer search. "We (VR) know the right guy is out there somewhere," Slash wrote in a MySpace post in August 2009. "It's possible somebody could turn up before I do my tour and we could start working on new material sooner than later, in a perfect world." -rollingstone.com

Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland has told Spin magazine that the band will release a new album in early 2010. In a new interview on his current solo tour, Weiland revealed that guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo have begun writing music, explaining, "Those guys have already been writing the instrumental music ... with STP, Robert, and Dean write the chords and riffs and then they bring stuff to me." Asked if he had heard any finished songs yet, Weiland added, "No, except for the stuff we jammed at sound check. And some of that was really cool ... So when I'm finished doing my thing, I'll hear what kind of ideas they have. And in the spring we'll be ready to record."

Weiland said that the album, STP's sixth studio effort and first since 2001's "Shangri-La-Dee-Da", will arrive early next year.

He did not address a recent lawsuit filed against him and STP drummer Eric Kretz by the band's label, Atlantic Records, for breach of contract, nor did he reiterate his recently stated desire to record outside the major label system.

STP reunited last year for a six-month tour that ended in late October. Since then Weiland has been touring behind his second solo album, "Happy In Galoshes", which came out in November.  -ultimate-guitar.com