Rock Rolls With Bluegrass

Eminem enjoys a comeback, too

(NEWSER) - Kanye West's comeback must be complete: Rolling Stone awarded him the top slot in its list of 2010's 30 best albums. The top 10:

1. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: "Music as sprawlingly messy as his life," these songs are "hip-hop epics ... full of the kind of grandiose gestures that only the foolish attempt and only the wildly talented pull off."
2. The Black Keys, Brothers: "Their best record yet: vivid tunes stripped bare and rubbed raw ... it's rock minimalism pushed to the max."
3. Elton John and Leon Russell, The Union: "Two rock giants ... rekindle a friendship and make music that ranks with their best."
4. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs: "An album of vast, orchestral rock that locates the battle for the human soul amid big houses and manicured lawns."

Courtney Love is just one of many making a comeback

(NEWSER) - Perhaps you don’t care about Justin Bieber’s upcoming second album, hot on the heels of his first, but you might be a bit more interested in the rest of Rolling Stone includes in its spring music preview. A sampling:

• Meth, Ghost, and Rae: Wu-Massacre, March 30. Ghostface Killah and fellow Wu-Tang Clan-ers Method Man and Raekwon provide “the closest thing to a Wu album since 2007.”
• Slash: Slash, April 6. Soloist gets help from Dave Grohl, Kid Rock, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie.
• Hole: Nobody’s Daughter, April 27. Courtney Love takes time between Twitter rants to release her first LP in six years.

Big-name acts, up-and-comers see modest rise in attendance

(NEWSER) - Concert tours remained surprisingly strong this year despite the weak economy, with slightly more people heading out to see their favorite acts than in 2008. Gross revenue held steady at $1 billion for the period from May 1 to Sept. 1, matching earnings a year earlier. Big-name acts like Kenny Chesney, the Dave Matthews Band, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, and Coldplay all enjoyed strong tours. More»

Lady Gaga talks new album The Fame Monster and The Monster Ball concerts

(NEWSER) - Lady Gaga's upcoming tour is more than just a series of concerts—it's a pop-electro opera, "a truly artistic experience that is going to take the form of the greatest post-apocalyptic house party that you've ever been to," she tells Rolling Stone. The Monster Ball launches Nov. 27, four days after the release of The Fame Monster, an album she says is "much more personal" than her last. More»

Bono and the boys talk pop stardom, expansive tour with Rolling Stone

(NEWSER) - Rolling Stone goes behind the scenes—and tags along in a private jet—for its cover story on the U2360° Tour (aka “the biggest rock tour of all time”), which is comprised of a 170-ton stage carted around by 200 trucks, 250 speakers, almost 400 employees—and $750,000 a day in overhead costs. The band is eager to “engage and try and do something different,” says Edge. More»