Alternative Sound Bytes

The British music press has a penchant for spewing superlatives for bands that are still so fresh, they haven’t even released any album yet. Case in point was the accolades Suede got even before they released a single. Yes, a single. But if there’s one thing the British music press also has going for it is that they are usually correct. And if their streak continues then The Vaccines are going to be extremely huge this year.

The Vaccines was officially formed last year and will only release their debut album this March but they are already getting the “best band in the world” tag from the press with some saying that they are going to be vanguards of a new movement. The tags are a bit lofty, but listening to The Vaccines’ songs, it’s perfectly understandable why there is unbridled excitement over them.

America doesn’t always make the right choice in American Idol, and good performers always get voted out while the less talented ones are left behind.

Good thing for Chris Daughtry, who got voted out in the 5th season of American Idol but was part of the final four, that he went beyond the popular singing talent search to carve out a name for himself in the music industry. Chris now fronts Daughtry, and alternative / rock band that has been making waves on air, starting with their singles “It’s Not Over” (with 3,276,000 point sales) and “Home” (with 1,181,000 point sales), which were released in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Daugthry also has the distinction of being in the #1 U.S. Billboard 200 for 2 weeks and the #1 U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums position for 14 weeks.

Besides Chris, the band is made up of Josh Paul on bass, Joey Barnes on drums, Brian Craddock and Josh Steeley on guitars.

The band has announced their schedule for their Spring tour pending the release of two albums, “Ursa Major” and “Ursa Minor” that are expected to be released this year. They will be in New Orleans for the first leg of the tour on March 18 as they hug the East Coast with some off-route stops in Tucson, Cleavland and St. Louis ending with a performance in San Jose California. Though no specifics as to the dates of release for the two albums are made public, Ursa Major is the group’s first major studio effort in five years making it one of the most anticipated albums by fans.
Singles have been released but only going as far as each individual song’s components for use in a mixing contest where they have encouraged fans to do stuff with them to produce a unique representation of their music. They have already chosen the winners whose work will be included in a digital compilation that would be accompanying the official album release. Ursa minor, is to be released later this year and is revealed to contain some of the B-sides of the previous album as well as rare tracks and extra’s from the Alternative rockers.

Seems the coming year would be a good one for alternative music fans the world over for Creed and No Doubt has released information that in 2009 there would be reunion tours for them. Creed who last played in 2004 has announced that it is a great possibility when the members of the band had vacant seats when their current bands have split (what’s new). Gwen and the gang have also leaked information that it would also be possible the band would be getting together for a reunion tour 2009. There are no solid facts and industry leaders are not speculating but two bands on a reunion tour, and not just any band, two of the best. Now that’s news for you. Gwen says they took a break to get their lives on the roll and to get new inspiration for the music they oh so love, good for you guys and more power.

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Chi Cheng, the bassist of the popular band Deftone is in a coma following a recent automobile accident in Santa Clara, California. His band mate, front man Chino Moreno assures the fans that Chi Leng is in serious but stable condition. The band wasnt able to update their website for a long time due to the fact that everybody were busy with Chi Cheng. Offering moral support. The singer is set to head for the hospital where Cheng is confined to visit his buddy. The Deftones formed in 1988 and toured most of their career. It was in the movie The Crow:City of Angels, Deftone gained its wide audience that pushed them into where they are now. The band is set to release their next album, early next year.

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Another band, The Foo Fighters, sent a complaint regarding John McCain’s use of their song to promote his campaign. The rockers sent out a letter, telling the presidential candidate to stop using their song, My Hero. They only got to know that their song was being used through TV news reports. They cite that, the song was written as a celebration of the common man and his potentials. The band said that the use of the song by McCain for the election greatly contradicts the message of the song. McCain previously had a brush with the music industry for using songs by John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne. Some of them even, sued. On the other side, McCain’s spokesman, revealed that all the songs they used has every permission obtained. And they paid for licenses etc.