Bob Dylan's Xmas Album 'Sort of Insane'

New music video not exactly well-received

(NEWSER) - Justin Bieber teamed up with Mariah Carey for a new version of her '90s holiday classic, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and the results are just about as bad as you'd expect. A sampling of the reactions:

• "Why has the Bieb launched a campaign to traumatize everyone who's old enough to remember the '90s?" moans Margaret Hartmann on Jezebel . His Boyz II Men video was bad enough, but "now he's released a Macy's commercial disguised as a Mariah Carey duet—though we used that term loosely because it sounds like Bieber is just wailing over the old recording of the song."

Even Chief Justice Roberts has cited his lyrics

(NEWSER) - When judges want to give their opinions a lyrical flourish, many turn first to Bob Dylan. He’s the most-cited musician in court opinions and briefs, experts tell the Los Angeles Times . That’s because his early songs give voice to political and legal concerns—and they emerged when today’s judges were “coming of age,” an expert says. “The chance to throw in a line from your favorite artist is tempting, a chance to let your freak flag fly.” More»

Legend expected to sell out 8,000-seat venue

(NEWSER) - Decades after making his name with Vietnam-era antiwar songs, Bob Dylan is set to perform in Vietnam for the first time, the AP reports. He’ll play in an 8,000-seat university stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, and planners expect the show to sell out. “Bob Dylan is a very important legend of music and we think it's important that Vietnamese people, particularly the younger generation, are exposed to his legacy,” says a promoter. (Dylan also recently snagged his first China gigs .) More»

'It's hardly surprising that people grew to hate me'

(NEWSER) - Phil Collins is quitting music—and he basically thinks the planet's reaction will be good riddance. "I don't think anyone's going to miss me," the former Genesis drummer told FHM magazine, via the Telegraph . Highlights from the interview:

• Health is a big issue: Among his ailments: ruined hearing in his left ear, a dislocated vertebra in his neck, nerve damage in his hands. He said: "I think of it like air miles—it's all part of the job. I'm not worried about not being able to play the drums again, I'm more worried about being able to cut a loaf of bread safely or building things for my kids."

...Madonna, say many, but critics still mostly impressed

(NEWSER) - Lady Gaga’s new single is here (click here to listen), and, shockingly, the Guardian notes, the throngs of people freaking out over it has not yet broken the Internet. Early reactions:

• It sounds "a lot like Madonna’s 'Express Yourself,'" writes Michael Cragg for the Guardian . “So much so that those two words are currently trending on Twitter.” The spoken-word parts definitely hearken back to the Material Girl, but ultimately Cragg deems the song less a copycat, more “a knowing nod and a cute wink.” And while it might be “ridiculously camp ... one suspects it will probably shift a few copies.”
• The Sun is slightly less forgiving, concurring with many Twitter users that the song “bears more than a passing resemblance” to Madonna’s 1989 track. The newspaper notes that one Twitter user even claims, “you can literally sing the original over this one.”