KITTIE’s latest album, “In The Black”, sold around 3,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 132 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Led Zeppelin are unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history, and Jimmy Page is continues to be one of the all time most influential, important and versatile guitarists. He is the man whose riffs and bluesy soloing served as blueprint for the foundations of heavy rock.

Learn to Play Led Zeppelin Volume 1 (RRP £24.99) – This world class guitar workshop gives you the inside take on the great songs, sounds and riffs played by the legendary Jimmy Page. Jamie Humphries breaks down note by note five all time classic tracks including Black Dog, Rock & Roll, Stairway to Heaven, Immigrant Song, and Heartbreaker helping you nail that signature Jimmy Page sound and style well enough to play in any guitar shop!

Learn to Play Led Zeppelin Volume 2 (RRP £24.99) – In Jamie’s second guitar workshop he take you thorough more of the greatest and most well known riffs in rock history. This DVD looks at five more timeless tracks including Whole Lotta Love, Kashmir, Communication Breakdown, Since I’ve Been Loving You and Babe I’m Gonna Leave You. Each of these double DVD sets contain over 3 hours of lessons and further support can be found at www.licklibrary.com

Learn to Play Jimmy Page the Solos (RRP £23.99) -This guitar DVD tutorial is presented by Danny Gill and features five unforgettable solos from Stairway to Heaven, Rock and Roll, Good Times Bad Times, Black Dog and Whole Lotta Love. Learn to play these inspired solos a lick at a time and practice along to the jam tracks on the CD. Each track is featured at slow, medium and full tempo so you can learn at your own pace and steadily build up to full speed.

Quick Licks Up Tempo Rock in the Style of Jimmy Page (RRP £19.99) – Seven solos taking in over forty licks in the style of Jimmy Page are featured in this guitar class DVD. In the process Danny looks at pentatonic, diatonic and blues scales, string bending, hybrid picking and shows you how all these can all come together. A further thirty solo blues licks reminiscent of Since I’ve Been Loving You and Tea For One can be explored with the Quick Licks Minor Blues in the Style of Jimmy Page (RRP £19.99) DVD guitar workshop. Both the Quick Licks DVDs include backing tracks for you to practice soloing over.

Lick Library offers you a wide choice of types of guitar tutoring formats – Learn to Play.., Quick Licks… and Jam with… along with over 20,000 other guitar tuition products. For the ultimate range of tuition products, www.licklibrary.com has the comprehensive and definitive professional guides to learning to playing the guitar.

Click here to view the embedded video.

BURNHILL UNION RECORDS

BY: STEPHANIE STEVENS

RATE: 4/5

AM CONSPIRACY is downright rock n roll to the core. Fronting this new band is Jason “Gong” Jones a name that might be familiar with you since he fronted Drowning Pool for a bit. That stint with them really brought forth his talent as a singer and it shines even more brightly with these new songs on the debut. His voice brings in a gritty, heavy and raspy tone. Then spread over a musical ambiance and melody driven beat you get something like if you would intertwine Soil and Alice InChains.  Each song brings a new element and sounds to make your ears perk up and makes the album a start to finish record without the mundane same ol’ same ol’ bullshit a lot of records are. The bands first single PICTURES shows the commercial avenue sound of the band. I love the great melody though and driven verses, with subtle intro and the punch factor when you get to the chorus. MYSELF is ballsy gritty and has a heavy rock twist. AWAY is a keeper with a brassy, elegant intro which elevates to a rock chorus and slides back to the elegant rock element. ABSENCE has harmony and dark elements like AIC. DEAD AND GONE brings the ballad-esque sound out of the band

If you want solid rock with diversity and grit AM CONSPIRACY is where it’s at!

ROADRUNNER RECORDS

BY: STEPHANIE STEVENS

RATE: 5/5

Listening to this debut disc from Las Vegas, NV TAKING DAWN bring s me back from the days of old. Childhood memories rush back of the great 80’s. Yes, I loved the 80’s the music, maybe not a lot of the hairdos but the clothes oh god yes but mainly the fun bands, that street attitude! Anyway, TAKING DAWN’s debut disc TIME TO BURN isn’t full out 80’s rock and the guys in the band don’t want to be known for that but instances and moments of the disc just bring back that Skid Row mentality that off the cuff street toughness with amazing melody but the change up is that the band brings modern tones of guitar solos that merge classic rock and metal modern thrills. From start to finish this album is a guilty pleasure. ENDLESSLY is probably the song that drove me to happiness it has an upbeat melody groove with a catchy chorus, harmonies and just a fun onslaught of sassiness! LIKE A REVOLUTIONis dynamite with an upbeat and quick paced drive.  NEVER ENOUGH has attitude and power, it sizzles and soars with good punch, reminds me of an Avenged Sevenfold type of song. I could go on and on with each song because every song just is a fun, monster melody driven song and it makes the album a seamless listen front to back. I would say if you like the 80’s attitude especially something like Skid Row with the modern attitude of something like Avenged but not really and a little Soil, Bullet for my Valentine and maybe even Burn Halo (old singer of Eighteen Vision’s new band) then I’ll say with confidence this album and band is something to look into.

ROADRUNNER RECORDS

BY: STEPHANIE STEVENS

RATE: 1/5

I don’t even know what to say about this CD. When I got it in my mailbox I was super excited cause ROB ZOMBIE is the shit with his booty shaking music and just cool look and well he did remakes of Halloween and I loved it. Well this CD just totally disappointed me. It does have that same ZOMBIE sound and flair but the songs are just really cheesy and not that much appeal.

I felt each song didn’t have a distinct sound and well not one song stood out to say yes this is going to outdo his older shit like DRAGULA or LIVING DEAD GIRL.  If you’re a hardcore ZOMBIE fanatic then you will probably dig it and call me a fool or worse for not sharing your thoughts but it took all my power not to shut it off after the 4^th or 5^th song.

ROADRUNNER RECORDS

BY: STEPHANIE STEVENS

RATING: 4/5

Give me a band with a strong and ranged front man and the giant smile will be written all over my face. MUTINY WITHIN a new band on Roadrunner Records displays that with an extreme power of melody, a mystical ambiance, metal shredding and technical prow less. Some people may think a band using keys in the music has already been played out but my heart still melts listening to that beauty and elegance they bring to a bands sound.

One song that I was pleased by was the last track on the disc called REFELCTIONS. It gives off aggressive growls, an upbeat dynamic sound, and soaring clean vocals. IMAGES punch you with heavy guitars, pounding rhythm section but still sticking you with crazy melody. The bridge and chorus really reels you in and captures your heart. FALLING FOREVER even with the 80’s scream in the beginning (yes, it has that scream and I giggled a bit) really gives you depth and the vocals on this track is the highlight.

Overall this album is solid. It has a bit of everything rock n metal combined.

From 1/20 NOW EXPANDED through 2/8, unsigned acts can submit demo packages at www.metalinsider.net/nolabelneeded.

Twenty finalists will be selected and one winner will be voted on by the public and a panel artists, agents, writers and managers who work with the likes of Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying and Shadows Fall. Voting will run from 2/9 through 3/8. The grand prize winner, to be announced on 3/15, will win all the help and education they need to become a truly self-sufficient artist without having to sign a traditional record deal.

The winning band will receive a personalized, all-encompassing tutorial focused on the secrets and tips needed to achieve success in the music industry through DIY means of marketing.   Winners will be mentored by the members of Shadows Fall, record an EP produced by Machine (Lamb of God, Every Time I Die, Suicide Silence), shop for their stage and photo shoot clothing with Maria Brink (In This Moment) and Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy) and receive advice from the likes of Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan.  Their website will be re-designed, their merch re-imagined and radio and press campaigns mounted to promote their EP by the best in their fields.

The series is not only meant to be a learning experience for one band, it is meant to teach any dedicated musician who wants to learn how to properly market their craft.  Readers will be able to interact with contest partners and contributing musicians and professionals through the site to get some real insight into specific areas of expertise.

For further information, please contact Jamie Roberts (roberts@bigmachinemedia.com) or Leo Lavoro (leo@bigmachinemedia.com) at Big Machine Media at 646-395-2600.

The album is preceded by first single Stylo (featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack) which will receive its radio broadcast premiere tonight and will be available for download on January 26.

Confirming “Stylo,” Murdoc Niccals twittered <http://twitter.com/MurdocGorillaz>, “A leak! A leak! Plastic Beach has sprung a leak! One of those Russian pirates has put a bullet hole in my island! My single’s leaked! STYLO!”

Five years on from the release of Demon Days, Murdoc Niccals and co. return with Plastic Beach. The band have taken up residence, recording on a secret floating island deep in the South Pacific, a Plastic Beach HQ, made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity. This Plastic Beach is the furthest point from any landmass on Earth; the most deserted spot on the planet.

The world’s biggest animated band, Gorillaz formed in 1998, and have since sold 12 million copies over two albums Gorillaz (2000) andDemon Days (2005). They have hit number 1 in more than a dozen countries and picked up awards including Grammys, Novellos, VMAs and EMAs.

The Gorillaz’ return will be marked by a headline appearance at this year’s Coachella festival. The Sunday April 18 performance will be the first Gorillaz live spectacle on U.S. soil since the awe-inspiring Demon Days Live run in April 2006 at New York’s Apollo Theater.

Plastic Beach is produced by Gorillaz.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Orchestral Intro
2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (feat. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. White Flag (feat. Kano & Bashy)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo (feat. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
6. Superfast Jellyfish (feat. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
7. Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze (feat. Mark E Smith)
9. Some Kind Of Nature  (feat. Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. Plastic Beach (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge (feat. Little Dragon)
15. Cloud Of Unknowing (feat. Bobby Womack)
16. Pirate Jet

It goes without saying that all three acts – Semi Precious Weapons, Jason Derulo, and Lady Gaga – worked their collective tails off to give Chicago a great show. Semi Precious Weapons kicked off the event performing the singles, “Fucking Gorgeous” and “Put a Diamond In It”. Steve Pyne, the guitarist and backup vocalist, managed to wrestle his guitar to the floor to keep the riffs coming. Cole Whittle on bass joined in, running back and forth across the stage with Steve in a fashion reminiscent of AC/DC’s heyday. Not a single member of the band failed to deliver amazing energy to the show and their music. Dan Crean on drums kept the energy going for the set, tossing his sticks in the air while the others rolled around and ran on stage, or even jumped in the audience. Justin Tranter, the lead vocalist, pulled out a bottle of champagne featuring a picture of his face on it, and poured it into the mouths of a few lucky front row fans. As though that wasn’t enough, he held up a t-shirt bearing a picture of that bottle of champagne which in turn had a picture of his face on it. Another lucky fan received this t-shirt. Chicago may very well have found a new love in New York.

Jason Derulo, an emerging artist of the R&B/hip-hop persuasion, made an appearance and performed his June 2009 single “Whatcha Say” along with a brand new track, “In My Head”. Though the show was fairly simple with a few dancers and a bar stool, it is all that was necessary given Derulo’s approach to his art. An excellent dancer among a small pack of excellent backup dancers, Jason Derulo added another dimension to the entire show with his pop-lock inspired choreography. When the songs got softer, he pulled a female fan up on stage and sang to her, and concluded the performance by ripping off his shirt in a pseudo strip tease, much to the delight of the entire audience.

Only a few minutes later when the stage was clear, and shortly after the Michael Jackson dance party had a packed theater dancing their shoes off, the lights went out and a neon green grid befell the stage. A giant, computer-generated version of Lady Gaga appeared within the grid, and began a countdown to her appearance in real life. The crowd became deafeningly excited as Lady Gaga seemed to suddenly emerge from out of nowhere dressed in a light-up leotard in her performance of “Dance in the Dark”. Lady Gaga performed tirelessly through several costume changes including an entirely gold-plated getup that seemed a mashup of ancient Egypt meets Gladiator meets vintage glam Madonna. Her performance of “Speechless” and “Poker Face” on the piano showcased her talents in burlesque performance and piano. She took the time to literally make a connection with her fans, and called a young lady from the audience on her cell phone. The two were then set to have drinks after the show as again the audience roared in applause.

As Lady Gaga closed the show, almost no one left the theater. Every single fan started singing “Bad Romance”, as she had yet to perform this new single. The stage was empty. A few minutes later, Lady Gaga returned and gave them all exactly what they wanted. Everyone danced and sang at the top of their lungs, “…you and me could have a bad romance”…

All the dancers returned once again, held hands with Lady Gaga, and bowed out.

After all was said and done, no one was left disappointed. Semi Precious Weapons, Jason Derulo, and Lady Gaga herself all performed flawlessly and were truly there for the fans. The Monster Ball Tour is one of the only tours in pop music today that brings a theatrical experience to its fans and is worth checking out, even if you don’t normally listen to pop.

Pink Floyd are one of rock music’s most critically acclaimed acts and their songs have for a generation of guitarists given inspiration and ideas. Lead guitarist Dave Gilmour solo’s and riff’s have been central to the Pink Floyd sound and are often characterised by blues-influenced phrasing, expressive note bends and the sustain he uses.

Learn to Play Pink Floyd Volume 2 (RRP £24.99) –Jamie Humphries studies note by note five classic tracks in this guitar workshop including Time, Mother, Learning to Fly, On the Turning Away and Have a Cigar. Each track is explained and demonstrates the techniques used such as rhythmic chord variations, blues scales, time signature changes and much more. This double DVD set also includes an in depth analysis of David Gilmour’s gear and its use, to help you get that Pink Floyd sound. An added bonus is actual footage of the Australian Pink Floyd live at the Royal Albert Hall.

Learn to Play Dave Gilmour the Solos (RRP £24.99) – Jamie takes you through the mighty solos from five timeless tracks, Comfortably Numb, Money, Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), Time and Dogs on this double DVD set and CD of with jam tracks. This unique style of guitar lesson allows you to learn each solo at slow, medium, full tempo and play along with the tutor. You can practice these different tempos along with the accompanying CD of guitar jam tracks, further helping you study at your own pace.

Quick Licks in the style of Dave Gilmour (RRP 19.99), this guitar tutorial helps you learn killer blues licks in the style of Dave Gilmour. Jamie studies chord progression, dynamics, vibrato, whammy bar techniques and a whole lot more as you look at licks based around famous Pink Floyd tracks. These can be picked up quickly and incorporated into your guitar playing. Each lick is taken in short sections, played and explained slowly, and built up into full tempo. After this, you can play along to the accompanying guitar jam track to practice your new licks and techniques.

Lick Library offers you a wide choice of types of guitar tutoring formats – Learn to Play.., Quick Licks… and Jam with… In each format you are guided through tracks and licks by expert tutors who break them down into uncomplicated bite size sections. The DVDs are easy to navigate with chapter points at key positions in the tutorials. Lick Library includes many more famous guitar legends, all are available to purchase through www.licklibrary.com along with over 20,000 other guitar tuition products. For the ultimate range of tuition products, www.licklibrary.com has the comprehensive and definitive professional guides to learning to playing the guitar.

Unfortunately the same enthusiasm can’t be carried over to South Wales boys Anterior. Coming from a similar vein as tonight’s headliners with their mix of old school thrashing and modern metal sensibilities there’s nothing notably wrong with the set, it just feels a little formulaic. They play hefty, competent, straight-up metal with the prerequisite breakdowns and rockstar poses in all the right places, and to their credit they do deal with some inane crowd heckling pretty admirably, but some kind of spark is needed if they’re ever going to progress beyond the mid-bill slot.

The early heaviness feels like easy listening once Ted Maul take to the stage with an almost intolerable, guttural noise incorporating grind, drum and bass and death metal. The audio torture hardly lets up in a barrage that only very occasionally allows glimpses of actual riffs and individual sounds. Despite the chaos it’s a spectacle to watch, flying dreads and drummed hairy chests akimbo. You get the feeling that they don’t give a flying fuck if they make any fans or not – an audience comment that the set was ‘like being raped’ probably only touches on their intended result.

Despite having only one album and a pair of EPs to their name Sylosis manage to slot more bar-raising anthems into their frantically paced fifty minutes than most other bands do with a decade’s back catalogue to work from. ‘Oath Of Silence’ and ‘Conclusion Of An Age’ display some awesome guitar harmonics, and Jamie Graham’s brutal vocal range sits nicely next to good old fashioned head-bang moments. The most impressive thing is the effortlessness with which they tear up the crowd, combining the song structures of old school metal with the hardcore aggression and technicality of more recent thrash and hardcore influences. It all ends in a spiralling wall of death to ‘Teras’, leaving no doubt that this is the start of something big: Sylosis are coming and they’re out for blood.

Click here to view the embedded video.