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Paramore to release new album in September, Hayley Williams Joins Twitter

2009-05-19T21:17:13Z

There was a point — midway through the writing process of Paramore's new album — when they almost gave up.

Racked by doubts that they had anything left in the tank, struggling to write material that matched the ferocity of their breakout Riot! album and smothered by unspoken tensions that had simmered ever since they nearly split in early 2008, they were treading water in their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee. And with deadlines — not to mention a tour with No Doubt — looming on the horizon, the situation was getting dire.

"We went through a lot of heavy stuff as a band ... and it was nothing like, 'Oh, it's this situation on this day,' or whatever. It was just, personally, we were all growing up, and sometimes, when you're growing up, you're not always growing together," frontwoman Hayley Williams told MTV News. "And when you don't talk about it, there's even more of a gap. ... I've felt that a lot over the past couple years. We didn't ever talk about it because we didn't have time to talk about it.

"So when we finally had all this time to write these songs, and, you know, [guitarist] Josh [Farro] and I hadn't written in a while — besides what we did for 'Twilight' — and all of a sudden, we were in a room together," she continued. "Like, 'Hey, let's write a record that's bigger than Riot! All these people are expecting it.' And it didn't feel healthy, it didn't feel like us, you know? It didn't feel like what we started for."

And while the communication between bandmembers had all but dried up, Williams herself was batting with the fact that she might be communicating too much with her lyrics. She began to doubt her skills as a songwriter and a leader, something that might seem impossible if you've ever seen her onstage. But it was very real, and it was killing her and her bandmates.

"I had doubts, not just for us as a whole, because ... I wouldn't want to play with anyone else, you know what I'm saying? I didn't have any doubts in them as much as I did in myself," she explained. "I was writing these lyrics, and they didn't feel good — some of it hurt, some if was like, 'Am I being too honest even with myself?' I had doubts that it was the right record."

But, as luck would have it, they were visited in Franklin by album producer Rob Cavallo, who assured them that — deadlines be damned — they were right on track with the new album ... and that they had what it took to surpass the power of Riot! Then, the tension lifted. And "Ignorance" — a spiky slab of pure Paramore power pop (so much so that, according to the band, it's got the inside track to be the first single off their new album) — was born.

"I remember talking with everyone, which was the first real conversation I felt we had in a real long time," Williams said. "We were all really honest with each other about where we had been with our lives over the past two years. Like, 'Hey, I lost touch with you. ... Let's backtrack a little bit.' And once that was done, it was back to the old us and back to the old reasons why we started a band and why we wanted to play music together."

Recharged, Paramore packed up their gear and headed out to Cavallo's Calabasas, California, studio to begin work on the album. They've since wrapped production, and the still-untitled effort will hit stores in September. And Paramore, for the first time in a long time, are doubt-free and ready to be a band — and friends — again.

"There were some doubts, for sure, but we're a better band for going through that," Williams smiled. "I don't know what happens next, but I — we — we're all ready for it."

SOURCE

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Also, Paramore frontwoman has joined Twitter- http://twitter.com/yelyahwilliams

Her boyfriend Chad from New Found Glory is also on there- http://twitter.com/XChadballX

New Music Video- Rise Against - 'Hero of War'

2009-05-19T20:52:19Z

Since there are a few Rise Against fans here, here is their new music video for "Hero of War", which was released today.

The song is their 3rd single from their recent album 2008 "Appeal to Reason" which follows "Audience of One" and "Re-Education (Through Labor)".

Watch the video below and follow the band on Twitter (http://twitter.com/riseagainst) for more news. Also, bassist Joe Principe has a Twitter so you can add him too (http://twitter.com/blackflag1974).

About the song from the band:

"Hero Of War" is the story of one soldier, not all soldiers, as he battles not just the war around him, but the war that rages within. Inspired by true events, we were given the choice to either document the tribulations of these times as they unfold around us, or ignore them. To ignore these problems, in our opinion, is letting down the brave men and women who risk everything.

"Hero Of War" is our attempt to lift the stigma that surrounds everything from the skyrocketing suicide rate of troops, torture, internal sexual abuse, an under-funded VA, and the growing number of military personnel fighting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as they return home. We hope this song and this video help the simmering dialogue about these problems evolve into a rolling boil.

picture source video source

James Corden (Gavin and Stacey) flaunts his curves

2009-01-11T23:58:24Z

The red Baywatch swimsuit has been worn by a host of beauties, from Carmen Electra to Pamela Anderson.

But now it has graced the curves of a rather more unlikely figure – that of tubby comic James Corden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Corden).

The Gavin & Stacey star sports a copy of the iconic costume as part of a skit on the Sunday Night Project.

Flanked by presenters Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins, who are both wearing the suit, he mimics the famous slow-motion run from the Baywatch credits.

In the spoof hip-hop video, they proudly bare their chests and rap about their ‘man boobs’.

They are seen next to a bevy of women in bikinis who appear smitten by the three scantily-clad comedians.

It is not the first time 30-year-old Corden has shown he is not shy about baring his body.

In a shoot for Heat magazine last year, he recreated a smouldering pose that David Beckham made famous in a Campaign for Armani, stripping down to his underwear.

Source

RollingStone.com Announces Top 100 Singles

2008-12-22T20:21:10Z

Beyoncé grabbed the ring, My Morning Jacket swung for the bleachers, Lil Wayne cracked up and Coldplay ruled the world.

Here are RollingStone.com’s top 100 singles of the year!

1 "Single Ladies" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVEGfH4s5g)
BY BEYONCÉ

Love has always been a high-stakes business transaction for Beyoncé, ever since that lousy boyfriend maxed out her credit card in "Bills, Bills, Bills." "Single Ladies" is her definitive statement on that subject. The beat, courtesy of The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, is irresistible and exuberant, the vocal hook is stormy and virtuosic, and her lesson is blunt: Seal the deal. With a shiny ring. Or else.

2 "LES Artistes" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CtzFEAGHcw)
BY SANTOGOLD

The New Wave guitar hook of the year, served with an icy dis of New York hipsters by dance punk's reigning queen: "Leave me out, you name-dropper!"

3 "Time to Pretend" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnRzEjpUmE)
BY MGMT

A magnificent piece of snark about acting like rock stars: The boys are probably joking about shooting heroin, but that fuzzed-out keyboard riff is deadly serious.

4 "Furr" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzCi6qr5qKw)
BY BLITZEN TRAPPER

Deceptively pretty, deeply weird and nearly perfect: the folk fable of a man who matures into a beast and loses "the taste for judging right from wrong." Think Bob Dylan on Klonopin.

5 "Lollipop" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIG1Vr0h_aE)
BY LIL WAYNE

Wayne's first Number One hit is a tour de force — about selling out to get a Number One hit. It's also a tortured oral-sex metaphor. And impossibly catchy.

6 "Gamma Ray" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIBw-lbxtT4)
BY BECK

Go-go dancing at the end of the world: Beck turns the threat of melting ice caps into a giddy, shimmy-shake beach party.

7 "American Boy" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJwVHB-bEw)
BY ESTELLE FEAT. KANYE WEST

More proof that great R&B can help America improve its international reputation: Winsome U.K. singer Estelle crushes on U.S. B-boys and makes Kanye West actually seem charming.

8 "I'm Amazed" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzdoOGUsEKg)
BY MY MORNING JACKET

The mammoth Southern-rock anthem on Evil Urges where MMJ let it all hang out: Check the guitar solo that shoots out to the cheap seats and beyond.

9 "Viva La Vida" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5TNK-TvIcI)
BY COLDPLAY

Thunderclap tympani! Symphonic swells! Calvary choirs! Coldplay return, stirringly, with their secret weapon, Brian Eno. "I used to rule the world," sings Chris Martin. Used to?

10 "No Matter What" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvkQU95BbmE)
BY T.I.

Even with a prison sentence looming, the King remains as cool as this boom-bap groove, re-establishing his reign with three words: "I ain't dead."

11 "Disturbia" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnG_RvJmefo)
BY RIHANNA

The "Umbrella" girl channels Michael Jackson on this awesomely creepy synth-pop mindfuck co-written by her beau, Chris Brown.

12 "Golden Age" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNWl3o18ddQ)
BY TV ON THE RADIO

The funkiest groove by these Brooklyn experimentalists is stuffed with awesome details: loverman falsetto, disco strings, and lyrics that are skeptical and utopian at the same time.

13 "Magick" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0xvEMYBrcc)
BY RYAN ADAMS AND THE CARDINALS

A hot, grinding rocker that recalls R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It": Adams envisions a mushroom cloud while hollering "Turn the radio up!" Rock on, dude.

14 "Toe Jam" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D-8W4HXFlE)
BY THE BPA FEAT. DAVID BYRNE AND DIZZEE RASCAL

Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, marks his comeback with a party-starting throwdown that's half digital dancehall, half drunken sock hop.

15 "Lay It Down" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYGo6a9scGo)
BY AL GREEN

The master soul singer gets back to his smoldering, bedroom-eyed roots with a band that recaptures the offhandedly passionate sound of his Seventies peak.

16 "My President" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZAuY4ULNcE)
BY YOUNG JEEZY

In the Dirty South's greatest campaign stump speech, black or white didn't matter — Jeezy only cared about green. "My president is black, my Lambo's blue/And I'll be goddamned if my rims ain't too."

17 "Spaceman" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et0R9p606bM)
BY THE KILLERS

Brandon Flowers rediscovers fun on this Bowie-esque romp, an oddly exuberant ode to alien abduction. The bridge is as funky as it is grandiose.

18 "All Summer Long" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be7T8CRC4TI)
BY KID ROCK

The redneck-in-chief gets an assist from the indomitable "Sweet Home Alabama" hook. "It was 1989/My thoughts were short/My hair was long," he sings. Ain't much changed.

19 "Better" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8shnOcVmZg)
BY GUNS N' ROSES

Is it a love song? Or a career confessional? No matter: A welter of power chords and Axl Rose's banshee howl render such questions moot.

20 "I Kissed a Girl" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs)
BY KATY PERRY

Girls Gone Wild, the song. The sexuality is questionable — lesbianism, guys love it! — but you can't argue with a chorus so big it reached Number One in more than 20 countries.

21 "(One) Blake's Got a New Face"
BY VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Ivy League grads mix precise, Afro-pop-spiked rock with pearls of wisdom: "Oh, your collegiate grief/Has left you dowdy in sweatshirts."

22 "Swagga Like Us"
BY JAY-Z AND T.I.

The posse track to end all posse tracks, with the prize for best verse going to a slick, sly T.I. The real star, though, is the infectious sample from M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes."

23 "I Got Mine"
BY THE BLACK KEYS

With Danger Mouse behind the boards, the Akron, Ohio, duo pack an epic blues jam into four hard-rocking minutes of bliss.

24 "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
BY LYKKE LI

Lee Dorsey's R&B hit "Working in a Coal Mine" gets a New Wave makeover by a fetching Swedish chanteuse. Hand claps are the new power chords.

25 "Bleeding Love"
BY LEONA LEWIS

With an airy groove that channels the English diva's gentle desperation, it's a gooey ballad both you and your mom could love — and that's a good thing.

26 "No Sex for Ben"
BY THE RAPTURE

This thrilling dance-rock anthem debuted on a virtual radio in Grand Theft Auto IV, then dominated every rave-up on the real-life airwaves. Secret weapon? Cowbell.

27 "Shut Up and Let Me Go"
BY THE TING TINGS

The song that reinvented dance punk for fans of iPod ads. Over INXS-style funk, a bird gleefully derides a bloke — or maybe a record label — who's kissed her lips for the last time.

28 "Let It Rock"
BY KEVIN RUDOLF FEAT.
LIL WAYNE

A former hip-hop studio musician, Rudolf steps forward with a truly uncategorizable single: part emo, part techno, part hip-hop, all insanely unstoppable club banger.

29 "So What"
BY PINK

Saucier than ever, Pink picks a fight with her ex and crowns herself Queen Badass in what sounds like a very special episode of VH1's Charm School.

30 "Pork and Beans"
BY WEEZER

When Geffen execs demanded that Weezer write a single with a singalong chorus, Rivers Cuomo responded with this screed against the label. Ironically, it became the group's catchiest single since 2001's "Island in the Sun."

31 "Moab"
BY CONOR OBERST

A chiming folk-rock gem about being healed by the highway, whether you're heading toward Utah, California or oblivion.

32 "Everyone Nose"
BY N.E.R.D.

The finest ode ever written for hot girls snorting coke in a club bathroom — a subject about which Pharrell Williams might have firsthand knowledge.

33 "Aly, Walk With Me"
BY THE RAVEONETTES

The words are sweetness and light ("Aly, walk with me in my dreams"), but the sound is brutal. A roiling noir-pop anthem, broken by squalls of noise.

34 "Run"
BY GNARLS BARKLEY

This hot breakbeat soul unspools like a disaster film amid horn stabs and shouts, with Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse directing. Funky and scary.

35 "Addicted to Drugs"
BY KAISER CHIEFS

A British Invasion stomper about trying to hook up the night before your wedding, and facing the fact that you might not be marriage material.

36 "Love in This Club, Pt. 2"
BY USHER FEAT. BEYONCÉ
AND LIL WAYNE

The original was so-so, but Part 2 is the hilarious winner, with Usher and Beyoncé debating the merits of getting down in public. Surprise: He's all for it.

37 "Someday Baby"
BY BOB DYLAN

On Modern Times, this was a raw blues number. But on this alternate take, it's a stately, atmospheric rock tune with Edge-like guitars that add an unexpected, and moving, undercurrent of hope.

38 "High Cost of Living"
BY JAMEY JOHNSON

A pitch-black addiction post-mortem from outlaw country's rising star: "I had a job and a piece of land/My sweet wife was my best friend/But I traded that for cocaine and a whore."

39 "About a Girl"
BY THE ACADEMY IS...

Emo grows up in real time: The whine about broken hearts smacks of teen angst, but that hook is classic Cheap Trick.

40 "Sex on Fire"
BY KINGS OF LEON

A raging yeaaaah leads to the Kings' most gloriously unsubtle chorus ever: "Your sex is on fire," Caleb Followill yawps. An unusual come-on, maybe, but it's so passionate, it works.

41 "Warwick Avenue"
BY DUFFY

Punctuated by soaring strings and a vintage-soul beat, this British ballad finds the romance in being a woman scorned. It's a fatal attraction so simmering, you could boil a bunny in it.

42 "Salute Your Solution"
BY THE RACONTEURS

Exploding like the Who, Jack White's other band brings the fuzz on a sick garage-rock rant about creative problem-solving. Is said solution chemical or sexual? Your call.

43 "The Healer"
BY ERYKAH BADU

Built on a haunting psych-funk sample, Badu declares hip-hop "bigger than religion," chanting rhymes like a high priestess. Call us converted.

44 "Nine in the Afternoon"
BY PANIC AT THE DISCO

Las Vegas emo kids finally discover the Beatles and deliver a postmodern "Eleanor Rigby" for the drama-club set. A song that bridges generation gaps.

45 "Cassius"
BY FOALS

Tightly wound Oxford kids unleash a deliciously hyperactive New Wave ode to being second-best. Art-rock guitars + dance beats = geek party tonight!

46 "Fifteen"
BY TAYLOR SWIFT

Take it from Taylor, boys suck: "When you're 15, somebody tells you they love you/You're gonna believe them." Puppy love may be short, but with tunes like these, Swift's teen-pop reign will be longer.

47 "Many Moons"
BY JANELLE MONÁE

"Weirdo/Stepchild/Freakshow," she sings. You said it, sister. A bracing punk-soul debut from Diddy's new protégée, who has an appealingly oddball sensibility and the best pompadour since Amy Winehouse.

48 "Troubled Land"
BY JOHN MELLENCAMP

Produced by T Bone Burnett, this stark heartland rocker offers a clear-eyed view of Bush's America, with a nation left hungry for some kind of peace. But the ending feels like a benediction: "Just know that truth is coming."

49 "Video Girl"
BY JONAS BROTHERS

An uncharacteristically nasty — and characteristically catchy — swipe at chicks-on-the-make from the titans of Radio Disney: "They're all the same, they all want money..../They live for fame, honey."

50 "Time the Conquerer"
BY JACKSON BROWNE

A loping meditation on uncertainty and years gone by that recalls Browne's classic Seventies material. He's always sounded wise beyond his years; here, he catches up.

51 "Rule Breaker"
BY ASHLEE SIMPSON

Mrs. Wentz's rebellion jam is all bratty 'tude, stabby guitar and 2008's most entertaining taunt: "You don't want no beef!"

52 "Last Call"
BY LEE ANN WOMACK

An instant classic from one of country's most soulful singers. "You must be in a bar," sings a long-suffering lover, "'cause I'm always your last call."

53 "Big Jack"
BY AC/DC

Somebody forgot to tell AC/DC what year it is: With its ricocheting power chords and fists-clenched vocals, this could have been a lost track from Back in Black.

54 "I Believe in You"
BY CAT POWER

A Stones-y cover of Dylan's Slow Train Coming gospel ballad, with Chan Marshall pledging her faith — to a lover, or to God — like she's opening a vein.

55 "Gobbledigook"
BY SIGUR RÓS

The Icelandic art-rock mystics make magic with little more than hand claps, acoustic guitar and la-la-las that refract like flashlight beams on a glacier. Dazzling, and dizzying.

56 "Constructive Summer"
BY THE HOLD STEADY

Everybody's favorite bar band mixes shit-kicking guitars and witty lyrics for an awesomely fist-pumpable jam about getting hammered with your friends.

57 "Brooklyn Girls"
BY CHARLES HAMILTON

Just what New York needed: a smart outer-borough answer to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." Hamilton scores with this playful ode to his two great loves: his neighborhood and the outspoken girls who call it home.

58 "Bust Your Windows"
BY JAZMINE SULLIVAN

A revenge anthem at its most sultry: "You broke my heart, so I broke your car," admits the Philly crooner on a Fifties-style ballad swimming in strings and soul.

59 "Don't Forget Sister"
BY LOW VS DIAMOND

This elegiac tune from these L.A. newcomers is the year's best arena-rock anthem never to hit an arena. The chord progression echoes "Baba O'Riley"; the vocals are styled after Bono.

60 "Closer"
BY NE-YO

Amid thumping disco, the R&B playboy ratchets up his velvety crooning and remakes himself as the kind of old-fashioned gentleman we haven't seen since Michael Jackson's Off the Wall.

61 "Cobrastyle"
BY ROBYN

Swedish pop star overhauls a dancehall-style tune from the Teddybears and ends up with a blast of freezy-cool electro that oozes sass.

62 "The '59 Sound" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOBb13yDnzo)
BY THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

You ain't supposed to die on a Saturday night, as these Jersey punks note on a glorious, crashing anthem. But if you do, at least listen to your favorite song one last time.

63 "Big Ideas"
BY LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

Dance-rock kingpin James Murphy hitches a dark, sexy chorus to percussion-laden disco, ending up with what sounds like a killer remix of a lost goth-pop tune.

64 "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here"
BY SHE AND HIM

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward hook up for a retro-pop duet with sweetly plaintive vocals that make Brill Building pop sound unexpectedly hip.

65 "Rich Girls"
BY THE VIRGINS

Ultra-louche New York quartet revive the Studio 54 era with this percolating disco-rock ode to posh party girls. Is that a high-hat cymbal? Or could it be someone snorting a line off a glitter ball?

66 "Acid Tongue"
BY JENNY LEWIS

Over a simple strummed guitar and Fleetwood Mac-ish harmonies, Lewis sings with worldly cool and wistful regret about acid trips and loneliness.

67 "Shells"
BY M.I.A.

Danceably weird beats, shout-outs to AK-toting young'uns: It's the kind of global club jam only the world's best Sri Lankan pop star could make.

68 "I Don't Care"
BY FALL OUT BOY

Pete Wentz and Co.'s hilarious sendup of rock-star ennui: "I don't care what you think, as long as it's about me." With stellar ZZ Top-style riffs, self-loathing narcissism has never been so charming.

69 "Ching-A-Ling"
BY MISSY ELLIOTT

Hip-hop's freakiest talents join forces over change-purse-jingling beats. Missy brings the cheeky rhymes, the Arkiteks and Lamb bring the club-shaking bass, and each out-weirds the other.

70 "Tic Toc"
BY BUSY SIGNAL

The slyest bragging ever devoted to size 10, um, shoes. But the dancehall superstar is not totally self-serving: He also shouts out Sisq?'s "Thong Song" over a snake-charmer beat.

71 "Do the Panic"
BY PHANTOM PLANET

While we wait for the new Strokes record, this will do just fine: Amid sexy garage-band propulsion, Alex Greenwald delivers the sunniest lines ever written about severed heads.

72 "Black and Gold"
BY SAM SPARRO

The burbling bounce of this Australian soul singer's breakthrough single showcases his liquid-caramel voice. But it's also the year's deepest rave anthem — a tormented meditation on agnosticism.

73 "High Price"
BY CIARA FEAT. LUDACRIS

A wonderfully outlandish paean to expensive tastes. Like every other R&B diva, Ciara likes her Louis Vuitton togs. But she also likes her copy of Prince's "1999" — check out those freaky falsetto squawks.

74 "Dying is Fine"
BY RA RA RIOT

A miraculous feat: Sad-eyed indie balladeers set an E.E. Cummings poem to a jaunty violin groove and make it sound like a stadium-rocking anthem.

75 "Low"
BY FLO RIDA FEAT. T-PAIN

The hypnotic beat you heard bumping from every car on the road this summer. If scraping the club floor with your ample buttocks is wrong, we don't want to be right.

76 "Rising Down"
BY THE ROOTS

Philly's finest unleash a fiery tirade against greenhouse gases and dirty politics in Alaska, but their biggest selling point is that beat — a sleek funk groove even Sarah Palin couldn't resist.

77 "Blind"
BY HERCULES AND LOVE
AFFAIR

With a rubber-band bass line and an ecstatic vocal from cross-dressing warbler Antony, this summer jam is as awesomely gay as a glitter-coated rainbow. Disco? Back.

78 "Holy"
BY LOVE AS LAUGHTER

The wildest boast from these scandalously underrated Brooklyn rockers — "We can be the best Babylon band" — doesn't seem so far-fetched. Especially considering those raggedy, Neil Young-like guitars.

79 "Day 'N' Nite"
BY KID CUDI

He's Kanye's new sidekick, and no wonder: This portrait of a "lonely stoner" is emotionally raw, thanks to its minimal, bleeping electro hook.

80 "Crystal River"
BY MUDCRUTCH

Lighters up! This jamadelic slow dance by Tom Petty's reunited pre-Heartbreakers outfit sounds like a lost soundcheck from the Grateful Dead's Europe '72.

81 "Cappuccino"
BY THE KNUX

Two coolster rappers combine guitar-soaked beats and brainy, head-spinning lyrics about mocha twists and getting it on. Result? The best party joint A Tribe Called Quest never made.

82 "ICARUS"
BY SANTOGOLD AND DIPLO

The dub diva gets ghostly above Diplo's glitchy melody, flying her paper plane so close to the flame that her high notes transform into a ritual folk chant.

83 "Cold Summer"
BY GET 'EM MAMIS

For fans of The Wire: Baltimore ladies rhyme about diamonds over a sample that sounds like a shivering polar bear.

84 "A Milli"
BY LIL WAYNE

The year's most jacked beat was It producer Bangladesh's nagging earworm for Weezy's delirious spiel about the joys of being, well, Lil Wayne.

85 "Kim & Jessie"
BY M83

Celebrating the glories of Eighties New Wave, this French act's radiant paean to young love would've sounded great on the Top Gun soundtrack.

86 "Cowboy"
BY THE RUMBLE STRIPS

Is doo-wop the new retro soul? These Mark Ronson protégés make a strong case for that idea with rollicking, horn-powered grooves and spooky harmonies.

87 "Jump in the Pool"
BY FRIENDLY FIRES

This vibrant U.K. breakthrough proves dance rock still has a pulse. Singer Ed Macfarlane's existential dread mixes with glitchy synths and a dizzying Afro-funk beat — it's LCD Soundsystem for emo kids.

88 "Skinny Love"
BY BON IVER

Forget "Heartless." The year's most wrenching split-up ballad is this acoustic dirge from everyone's favorite new beard-y troubadour. "I tell my love to wreck it all/Cut out all the ropes and let me fall." Ouch.

89 "Alabama High-Test"
BY OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW

A fast-rhyming banjo blues from old-timey cowpunks high-tailing it down the southbound highway with Smokey on their bumper and drugs in their trunk.

90 "Don't Touch Me (Throw da Water on 'Em)"
BY BUSTA RHYMES

Busta breaks out of club-rap purgatory to drop a lightning-tongued salvo about how hot he is. When MCs talk about spitting fire, this is what they mean.

91 "Check Your Coat"
BY O'NEAL McKNIGHT

The "Billie Jean" bounce of this R&B newcomer's Michael Jackson-obsessed jam is guaranteed to get the party started — especially if it's the kind of party where Diddy shows up and dances on a banquette.

92 "Shake Shake Shake"
BY WHITE DENIM

Heads up, Little Steven. No garage-rock jam this year was as messy — or as fun — as this Texas trio's joint, which mixes skronky Farfisas, clattering drums and thudding bass lines with righteous psychedelia.

93 "Candy Shop"
BY MADONNA

If 50 Cent and Lil Wayne can make sugar filthy, the Queen of Pop can, too. Pharrell brings a delicately thunky beat, Madonna brings the sticky sweet.

94 "Miserabilia"
BY LOS CAMPESINOS

Aided by a hyperactive string section and an Arcade Fire-style groove, these Welsh kids sing about puking at a Mexican restaurant — and still make it sound like good, clean fun.

95 "Real Love"
BY LUCINDA WILLIAMS

An equal-opportunity rave-up from contemporary country rock's godmother. First it's "Be my girl," then it's "Be my man," as the guitarists duke it out for Mama.

96 "Brand New Start"
BY LITTLE JOY

A sweet, strummy tribute to fresh love by Strokes drummer Fab Moretti's new trio. Sounds like the Kinks in Malibu; smells like kind bud and Coppertone.

97 "Now That You're Gone"
BY SHERYL CROW

All the sassy independence of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," except 20 years wiser. With bluesy swagger, Crow has mastered the art of writing breakup anthems for grown-ups.

98 "Google Me"
BY TEYANA TAYLOR

Leave it to a Nineties-born Harlem teeny-rapper who grew up Googling to come up with a definitive love note to the search function that rules the world — and validates her famosity.

99 "You're Not Alone"
BY THE ENEMY

With the earnestness of U2, the consciousness of the Clash and the melodic grit of the Jam, the young British trio turn a fist-pumper about a factory closing into a defiant pub chant.

100 "Yes We Can"
BY WILL.I.AM

Artistically, it's not exactly "A Change Is Gonna Come." But in 2008, this R&B polemic was the anthem we needed, and in terms of votes swayed and ballots cast, it was the rare song that made a difference.

Source

Rolling Stones Top 100 Singles

2008-12-22T18:14:25Z

Beyoncé grabbed the ring, My Morning Jacket swung for the bleachers, Lil Wayne cracked up and Coldplay ruled the world. Here are RollingStone.com’s top 100 singles of the year!

1 "Single Ladies"
BY BEYONCÉ

Love has always been a high-stakes business transaction for Beyoncé, ever since that lousy boyfriend maxed out her credit card in "Bills, Bills, Bills." "Single Ladies" is her definitive statement on that subject. The beat, courtesy of The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, is irresistible and exuberant, the vocal hook is stormy and virtuosic, and her lesson is blunt: Seal the deal. With a shiny ring. Or else.

2 "LES Artistes"
BY SANTOGOLD

The New Wave guitar hook of the year, served with an icy dis of New York hipsters by dance punk's reigning queen: "Leave me out, you name-dropper!"

3 "Time to Pretend"
BY MGMT

A magnificent piece of snark about acting like rock stars: The boys are probably joking about shooting heroin, but that fuzzed-out keyboard riff is deadly serious.

4 "Furr"
BY BLITZEN TRAPPER

Deceptively pretty, deeply weird and nearly perfect: the folk fable of a man who matures into a beast and loses "the taste for judging right from wrong." Think Bob Dylan on Klonopin.

5 "Lollipop"
BY LIL WAYNE

Wayne's first Number One hit is a tour de force — about selling out to get a Number One hit. It's also a tortured oral-sex metaphor. And impossibly catchy.

6 "Gamma Ray"
BY BECK

Go-go dancing at the end of the world: Beck turns the threat of melting ice caps into a giddy, shimmy-shake beach party.

7 "American Boy"
BY ESTELLE FEAT.
KANYE WEST

More proof that great R&B can help America improve its international reputation: Winsome U.K. singer Estelle crushes on U.S. B-boys and makes Kanye West actually seem charming.

8 "I'm Amazed"
BY MY MORNING JACKET

The mammoth Southern-rock anthem on Evil Urges where MMJ let it all hang out: Check the guitar solo that shoots out to the cheap seats and beyond.

9 "Viva La Vida"
BY COLDPLAY

Thunderclap tympani! Symphonic swells! Calvary choirs! Coldplay return, stirringly, with their secret weapon, Brian Eno. "I used to rule the world," sings Chris Martin. Used to?

10 "No Matter What"
BY T.I.

Even with a prison sentence looming, the King remains as cool as this boom-bap groove, re-establishing his reign with three words: "I ain't dead."

11 "Disturbia"
BY RIHANNA

The "Umbrella" girl channels Michael Jackson on this awesomely creepy synth-pop mindfuck co-written by her beau, Chris Brown.

12 "Golden Age"
BY TV ON THE RADIO

The funkiest groove by these Brooklyn experimentalists is stuffed with awesome details: loverman falsetto, disco strings, and lyrics that are skeptical and utopian at the same time.

13 "Magick"
BY RYAN ADAMS AND
THE CARDINALS

A hot, grinding rocker that recalls R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It": Adams envisions a mushroom cloud while hollering "Turn the radio up!" Rock on, dude.

14 "Toe Jam"
BY THE BPA FEAT. DAVID
BYRNE AND DIZZEE RASCAL

Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, marks his comeback with a party-starting throwdown that's half digital dancehall, half drunken sock hop.

15 "Lay It Down"
BY AL GREEN

The master soul singer gets back to his smoldering, bedroom-eyed roots with a band that recaptures the offhandedly passionate sound of his Seventies peak.

16 "My President"
BY YOUNG JEEZY

In the Dirty South's greatest campaign stump speech, black or white didn't matter — Jeezy only cared about green. "My president is black, my Lambo's blue/And I'll be goddamned if my rims ain't too."

17 "Spaceman"
BY THE KILLERS

Brandon Flowers rediscovers fun on this Bowie-esque romp, an oddly exuberant ode to alien abduction. The bridge is as funky as it is grandiose.

18 "All Summer Long"
BY KID ROCK

The redneck-in-chief gets an assist from the indomitable "Sweet Home Alabama" hook. "It was 1989/My thoughts were short/My hair was long," he sings. Ain't much changed.

19 "Better"
BY GUNS N' ROSES

Is it a love song? Or a career confessional? No matter: A welter of power chords and Axl Rose's banshee howl render such questions moot.

20 "I Kissed a Girl"
BY KATY PERRY

Girls Gone Wild, the song. The sexuality is questionable — lesbianism, guys love it! — but you can't argue with a chorus so big it reached Number One in more than 20 countries.

21 "(One) Blake's Got a
New Face"
BY VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Ivy League grads mix precise, Afro-pop-spiked rock with pearls of wisdom: "Oh, your collegiate grief/Has left you dowdy in sweatshirts."

22 "Swagga Like Us"
BY JAY-Z AND T.I.

The posse track to end all posse tracks, with the prize for best verse going to a slick, sly T.I. The real star, though, is the infectious sample from M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes."

23 "I Got Mine"
BY THE BLACK KEYS

With Danger Mouse behind the boards, the Akron, Ohio, duo pack an epic blues jam into four hard-rocking minutes of bliss.

24 "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
BY LYKKE LI

Lee Dorsey's R&B hit "Working in a Coal Mine" gets a New Wave makeover by a fetching Swedish chanteuse. Hand claps are the new power chords.

25 "Bleeding Love"
BY LEONA LEWIS

With an airy groove that channels the English diva's gentle desperation, it's a gooey ballad both you and your mom could love — and that's a good thing.

26 "No Sex for Ben"
BY THE RAPTURE

This thrilling dance-rock anthem debuted on a virtual radio in Grand Theft Auto IV, then dominated every rave-up on the real-life airwaves. Secret weapon? Cowbell.

27 "Shut Up and Let
Me Go"
BY THE TING TINGS

The song that reinvented dance punk for fans of iPod ads. Over INXS-style funk, a bird gleefully derides a bloke — or maybe a record label — who's kissed her lips for the last time.

28 "Let It Rock"
BY KEVIN RUDOLF FEAT.
LIL WAYNE

A former hip-hop studio musician, Rudolf steps forward with a truly uncategorizable single: part emo, part techno, part hip-hop, all insanely unstoppable club banger.

29 "So What"
BY PINK

Saucier than ever, Pink picks a fight with her ex and crowns herself Queen Badass in what sounds like a very special episode of VH1's Charm School.

30 "Pork and Beans"
BY WEEZER

When Geffen execs demanded that Weezer write a single with a singalong chorus, Rivers Cuomo responded with this screed against the label. Ironically, it became the group's catchiest single since 2001's "Island in the Sun."

31 "Moab"
BY CONOR OBERST

A chiming folk-rock gem about being healed by the highway, whether you're heading toward Utah, California or oblivion.

32 "Everyone Nose"
BY N.E.R.D.

The finest ode ever written for hot girls snorting coke in a club bathroom — a subject about which Pharrell Williams might have firsthand knowledge.

33 "Aly, Walk With Me"
BY THE RAVEONETTES

The words are sweetness and light ("Aly, walk with me in my dreams"), but the sound is brutal. A roiling noir-pop anthem, broken by squalls of noise.

34 "Run"
BY GNARLS BARKLEY

This hot breakbeat soul unspools like a disaster film amid horn stabs and shouts, with Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse directing. Funky and scary.

35 "Addicted to Drugs"
BY KAISER CHIEFS

A British Invasion stomper about trying to hook up the night before your wedding, and facing the fact that you might not be marriage material.

36 "Love in This Club,
Pt. 2"
BY USHER FEAT. BEYONCÉ
AND LIL WAYNE

The original was so-so, but Part 2 is the hilarious winner, with Usher and Beyoncé debating the merits of getting down in public. Surprise: He's all for it.

37 "Someday Baby"
BY BOB DYLAN

On Modern Times, this was a raw blues number. But on this alternate take, it's a stately, atmospheric rock tune with Edge-like guitars that add an unexpected, and moving, undercurrent of hope.

38 "High Cost of Living"
BY JAMEY JOHNSON

A pitch-black addiction post-mortem from outlaw country's rising star: "I had a job and a piece of land/My sweet wife was my best friend/But I traded that for cocaine and a whore."

39 "About a Girl"
BY THE ACADEMY IS...

Emo grows up in real time: The whine about broken hearts smacks of teen angst, but that hook is classic Cheap Trick.

40 "Sex on Fire"
BY KINGS OF LEON

A raging yeaaaah leads to the Kings' most gloriously unsubtle chorus ever: "Your sex is on fire," Caleb Followill yawps. An unusual come-on, maybe, but it's so passionate, it works.

41 "Warwick Avenue"
BY DUFFY

Punctuated by soaring strings and a vintage-soul beat, this British ballad finds the romance in being a woman scorned. It's a fatal attraction so simmering, you could boil a bunny in it.

42 "Salute Your Solution"
BY THE RACONTEURS

Exploding like the Who, Jack White's other band brings the fuzz on a sick garage-rock rant about creative problem-solving. Is said solution chemical or sexual? Your call.

43 "The Healer"
BY ERYKAH BADU

Built on a haunting psych-funk sample, Badu declares hip-hop "bigger than religion," chanting rhymes like a high priestess. Call us converted.

44 "Nine in the Afternoon"
BY PANIC AT THE DISCO

Las Vegas emo kids finally discover the Beatles and deliver a postmodern "Eleanor Rigby" for the drama-club set. A song that bridges generation gaps.

45 "Cassius"
BY FOALS

Tightly wound Oxford kids unleash a deliciously hyperactive New Wave ode to being second-best. Art-rock guitars + dance beats = geek party tonight!

46 "Fifteen"
BY TAYLOR SWIFT

Take it from Taylor, boys suck: "When you're 15, somebody tells you they love you/You're gonna believe them." Puppy love may be short, but with tunes like these, Swift's teen-pop reign will be longer.

47 "Many Moons"
BY JANELLE MONÁE

"Weirdo/Stepchild/Freakshow," she sings. You said it, sister. A bracing punk-soul debut from Diddy's new protégée, who has an appealingly oddball sensibility and the best pompadour since Amy Winehouse.

48 "Troubled Land"
BY JOHN MELLENCAMP

Produced by T Bone Burnett, this stark heartland rocker offers a clear-eyed view of Bush's America, with a nation left hungry for some kind of peace. But the ending feels like a benediction: "Just know that truth is coming."

49 "Video Girl"
BY JONAS BROTHERS

An uncharacteristically nasty — and characteristically catchy — swipe at chicks-on-the-make from the titans of Radio Disney: "They're all the same, they all want money..../They live for fame, honey."

50 "Time the Conquerer"
BY JACKSON BROWNE

A loping meditation on uncertainty and years gone by that recalls Browne's classic Seventies material. He's always sounded wise beyond his years; here, he catches up.

51 "Rule Breaker"
BY ASHLEE SIMPSON

Mrs. Wentz's rebellion jam is all bratty 'tude, stabby guitar and 2008's most entertaining taunt: "You don't want no beef!"

52 "Last Call"
BY LEE ANN WOMACK

An instant classic from one of country's most soulful singers. "You must be in a bar," sings a long-suffering lover, "'cause I'm always your last call."

53 "Big Jack"
BY AC/DC

Somebody forgot to tell AC/DC what year it is: With its ricocheting power chords and fists-clenched vocals, this could have been a lost track from Back in Black.

54 "I Believe in You"
BY CAT POWER

A Stones-y cover of Dylan's Slow Train Coming gospel ballad, with Chan Marshall pledging her faith — to a lover, or to God — like she's opening a vein.

55 "Gobbledigook"
BY SIGUR RÓS

The Icelandic art-rock mystics make magic with little more than hand claps, acoustic guitar and la-la-las that refract like flashlight beams on a glacier. Dazzling, and dizzying.

56 "Constructive Summer"
BY THE HOLD STEADY

Everybody's favorite bar band mixes shit-kicking guitars and witty lyrics for an awesomely fist-pumpable jam about getting hammered with your friends.

57 "Brooklyn Girls"
BY CHARLES HAMILTON

Just what New York needed: a smart outer-borough answer to Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." Hamilton scores with this playful ode to his two great loves: his neighborhood and the outspoken girls who call it home.

58 "Bust Your Windows"
BY JAZMINE SULLIVAN

A revenge anthem at its most sultry: "You broke my heart, so I broke your car," admits the Philly crooner on a Fifties-style ballad swimming in strings and soul.

59 "Don't Forget Sister"
BY LOW VS DIAMOND

This elegiac tune from these L.A. newcomers is the year's best arena-rock anthem never to hit an arena. The chord progression echoes "Baba O'Riley"; the vocals are styled after Bono.

60 "Closer"
BY NE-YO

Amid thumping disco, the R&B playboy ratchets up his velvety crooning and remakes himself as the kind of old-fashioned gentleman we haven't seen since Michael Jackson's Off the Wall.

61 "Cobrastyle"
BY ROBYN

Swedish pop star overhauls a dancehall-style tune from the Teddybears and ends up with a blast of freezy-cool electro that oozes sass.

62 "The '59 Sound"
BY THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

You ain't supposed to die on a Saturday night, as these Jersey punks note on a glorious, crashing anthem. But if you do, at least listen to your favorite song one last time.

63 "Big Ideas"
BY LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

Dance-rock kingpin James Murphy hitches a dark, sexy chorus to percussion-laden disco, ending up with what sounds like a killer remix of a lost goth-pop tune.

64 "Why Do You Let Me
Stay Here"
BY SHE AND HIM

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward hook up for a retro-pop duet with sweetly plaintive vocals that make Brill Building pop sound unexpectedly hip.

65 "Rich Girls"
BY THE VIRGINS

Ultra-louche New York quartet revive the Studio 54 era with this percolating disco-rock ode to posh party girls. Is that a high-hat cymbal? Or could it be someone snorting a line off a glitter ball?

66 "Acid Tongue"
BY JENNY LEWIS

Over a simple strummed guitar and Fleetwood Mac-ish harmonies, Lewis sings with worldly cool and wistful regret about acid trips and loneliness.

67 "Shells"
BY M.I.A.

Danceably weird beats, shout-outs to AK-toting young'uns: It's the kind of global club jam only the world's best Sri Lankan pop star could make.

68 "I Don't Care"
BY FALL OUT BOY

Pete Wentz and Co.'s hilarious sendup of rock-star ennui: "I don't care what you think, as long as it's about me." With stellar ZZ Top-style riffs, self-loathing narcissism has never been so charming.

69 "Ching-A-Ling"
BY MISSY ELLIOTT

Hip-hop's freakiest talents join forces over change-purse-jingling beats. Missy brings the cheeky rhymes, the Arkiteks and Lamb bring the club-shaking bass, and each out-weirds the other.

70 "Tic Toc"
BY BUSY SIGNAL

The slyest bragging ever devoted to size 10, um, shoes. But the dancehall superstar is not totally self-serving: He also shouts out Sisq?'s "Thong Song" over a snake-charmer beat.

71 "Do the Panic"
BY PHANTOM PLANET

While we wait for the new Strokes record, this will do just fine: Amid sexy garage-band propulsion, Alex Greenwald delivers the sunniest lines ever written about severed heads.

72 "Black and Gold"
BY SAM SPARRO

The burbling bounce of this Australian soul singer's breakthrough single showcases his liquid-caramel voice. But it's also the year's deepest rave anthem — a tormented meditation on agnosticism.

73 "High Price"
BY CIARA FEAT. LUDACRIS

A wonderfully outlandish paean to expensive tastes. Like every other R&B diva, Ciara likes her Louis Vuitton togs. But she also likes her copy of Prince's "1999" — check out those freaky falsetto squawks.

74 "Dying is Fine"
BY RA RA RIOT

A miraculous feat: Sad-eyed indie balladeers set an E.E. Cummings poem to a jaunty violin groove and make it sound like a stadium-rocking anthem.

75 "Low"
BY FLO RIDA FEAT. T-PAIN

The hypnotic beat you heard bumping from every car on the road this summer. If scraping the club floor with your ample buttocks is wrong, we don't want to be right.

76 "Rising Down"
BY THE ROOTS

Philly's finest unleash a fiery tirade against greenhouse gases and dirty politics in Alaska, but their biggest selling point is that beat — a sleek funk groove even Sarah Palin couldn't resist.

77 "Blind"
BY HERCULES AND LOVE
AFFAIR

With a rubber-band bass line and an ecstatic vocal from cross-dressing warbler Antony, this summer jam is as awesomely gay as a glitter-coated rainbow. Disco? Back.

78 "Holy"
BY LOVE AS LAUGHTER

The wildest boast from these scandalously underrated Brooklyn rockers — "We can be the best Babylon band" — doesn't seem so far-fetched. Especially considering those raggedy, Neil Young-like guitars.

79 "Day 'N' Nite"
BY KID CUDI

He's Kanye's new sidekick, and no wonder: This portrait of a "lonely stoner" is emotionally raw, thanks to its minimal, bleeping electro hook.

80 "Crystal River"
BY MUDCRUTCH

Lighters up! This jamadelic slow dance by Tom Petty's reunited pre-Heartbreakers outfit sounds like a lost soundcheck from the Grateful Dead's Europe '72.

81 "Cappuccino"
BY THE KNUX

Two coolster rappers combine guitar-soaked beats and brainy, head-spinning lyrics about mocha twists and getting it on. Result? The best party joint A Tribe Called Quest never made.

82 "ICARUS"
BY SANTOGOLD AND DIPLO

The dub diva gets ghostly above Diplo's glitchy melody, flying her paper plane so close to the flame that her high notes transform into a ritual folk chant.

83 "Cold Summer"
BY GET 'EM MAMIS

For fans of The Wire: Baltimore ladies rhyme about diamonds over a sample that sounds like a shivering polar bear.

84 "A Milli"
BY LIL WAYNE

The year's most jacked beat was It producer Bangladesh's nagging earworm for Weezy's delirious spiel about the joys of being, well, Lil Wayne.

85 "Kim & Jessie"
BY M83

Celebrating the glories of Eighties New Wave, this French act's radiant paean to young love would've sounded great on the Top Gun soundtrack.

86 "Cowboy"
BY THE RUMBLE STRIPS

Is doo-wop the new retro soul? These Mark Ronson protégés make a strong case for that idea with rollicking, horn-powered grooves and spooky harmonies.

87 "Jump in the Pool"
BY FRIENDLY FIRES

This vibrant U.K. breakthrough proves dance rock still has a pulse. Singer Ed Macfarlane's existential dread mixes with glitchy synths and a dizzying Afro-funk beat — it's LCD Soundsystem for emo kids.

88 "Skinny Love"
BY BON IVER

Forget "Heartless." The year's most wrenching split-up ballad is this acoustic dirge from everyone's favorite new beard-y troubadour. "I tell my love to wreck it all/Cut out all the ropes and let me fall." Ouch.

89 "Alabama High-Test"
BY OLD CROW MEDICINE
SHOW

A fast-rhyming banjo blues from old-timey cowpunks high-tailing it down the southbound highway with Smokey on their bumper and drugs in their trunk.

90 "Don't Touch Me (Throw
da Water on 'Em)"
BY BUSTA RHYMES

Busta breaks out of club-rap purgatory to drop a lightning-tongued salvo about how hot he is. When MCs talk about spitting fire, this is what they mean.

91 "Check Your Coat"
BY O'NEAL McKNIGHT

The "Billie Jean" bounce of this R&B newcomer's Michael Jackson-obsessed jam is guaranteed to get the party started — especially if it's the kind of party where Diddy shows up and dances on a banquette.

92 "Shake Shake Shake"
BY WHITE DENIM

Heads up, Little Steven. No garage-rock jam this year was as messy — or as fun — as this Texas trio's joint, which mixes skronky Farfisas, clattering drums and thudding bass lines with righteous psychedelia.

93 "Candy Shop"
BY MADONNA

If 50 Cent and Lil Wayne can make sugar filthy, the Queen of Pop can, too. Pharrell brings a delicately thunky beat, Madonna brings the sticky sweet.

94 "Miserabilia"
BY LOS CAMPESINOS

Aided by a hyperactive string section and an Arcade Fire-style groove, these Welsh kids sing about puking at a Mexican restaurant — and still make it sound like good, clean fun.

95 "Real Love"
BY LUCINDA WILLIAMS

An equal-opportunity rave-up from contemporary country rock's godmother. First it's "Be my girl," then it's "Be my man," as the guitarists duke it out for Mama.

96 "Brand New Start"
BY LITTLE JOY

A sweet, strummy tribute to fresh love by Strokes drummer Fab Moretti's new trio. Sounds like the Kinks in Malibu; smells like kind bud and Coppertone.

97 "Now That You're
Gone"
BY SHERYL CROW

All the sassy independence of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," except 20 years wiser. With bluesy swagger, Crow has mastered the art of writing breakup anthems for grown-ups.

98 "Google Me"
BY TEYANA TAYLOR

Leave it to a Nineties-born Harlem teeny-rapper who grew up Googling to come up with a definitive love note to the search function that rules the world — and validates her famosity.

99 "You're Not Alone"
BY THE ENEMY

With the earnestness of U2, the consciousness of the Clash and the melodic grit of the Jam, the young British trio turn a fist-pumper about a factory closing into a defiant pub chant.

100 "Yes We Can"
BY WILL.I.AM

Artistically, it's not exactly "A Change Is Gonna Come." But in 2008, this R&B polemic was the anthem we needed, and in terms of votes swayed and ballots cast, it was the rare song that made a difference.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24947047/singles_of_the_year/print

New Ben Folds Video -"Hiroshima"

2008-08-06T17:51:57Z

New Ben Folds Video -"Hiroshima"

Below is the new Ben Folds new video for "Hiroshima"::

(CLICK BELOW IF VIDEO ABOVE DOES NOT WORK.)

Source

understandastar @ 2008-08-05T11:05:00

2008-08-05T18:05:28Z

View Poll: Testing

Barenaked Ladies Stripped of Disney Slot

2008-07-22T18:09:09Z

For Disney, it seems sex and rock 'n' roll are one thing—at least when it comes to their younger and fairer stable of talent. But when it comes to drugs, the Mouse House apparently draws the line.

Anticipating as much, the Barenaked Ladies have opted to bow out of the summer lineup for Disney's Music Block Party tour—a series of concerts geared toward families with kids—in the wake of singer-guitarist Steven Page's recent arrest on a cocaine charge.

The group announced they would withdraw from the performance out of respect for Disney, fully aware that the bad publicity wouldn't sit well with the Mickey set.

"Members of the band completely support Steven Page, but we don't want to put Disney in an awkward position before issues involving Steven's arrest are resolved," band manager Terry McBride says on the group's website.

Page, 38, was busted in upstate New York earlier this month. He has since pleaded not guilty and said he plans to "strongly contest" the charges.

The Canadian-based band was set to headline the Long Island stop on the Playskool-sponsored, Raven-Symoné-hosted festival Aug. 22-24.

The musical lineup varies from city to city, but They Might Be Giants, already set to headline a different date, has stepped up to replace the Barenaked Ladies on the Long Island stop. Other stops will feature the kid-friendly likes of Dan Zanes and Ralph's World.

The Barenaked Ladies have already been scrubbed from the fest's official site.

Source

I DON'T GET IT. VANESSA HUDGENS GOES NUDE, MILEY GOES SEMI-NUDE......AND THEY STILL GET TO STAY WITH DISNEY? GUESS THEY KNOW WHERE THEIR CASH COWS ARE AND WANT TO KEEP THEM CLOSEBY. IDK.

understandastar @ 2008-07-17T17:12:00

2008-07-18T00:12:24Z

Ben Stiller has been married since 2000 to actress Christine Taylor, has two kids, three dogs, and a minivan.

This has mad him realize two things, reports Men’s Vogue.

A) Work isn’t everything, and it doesn’t define who you are;

B) If you care about what you do, work is everything, and it does define who you are.

“It’s just part of the craziness of being a creative person, and the wonderful thing about it too,” Stiller says. You care. You’re vulnerable and you’re insecure, but you’re also confident sometimes. It’s just, like, all a big mix.”

understandastar @ 2008-05-19T17:30:00

2008-05-20T00:30:21Z

A man blaring a Mariah Carey song from his car stereo was arrested Saturday night after throwing a bottle at someone who didn't share his taste in music, according to deputies.

Zachary Alan Schreiber, 21, of 5750 Painted Leaf Lane in Golden Gate, was stopped at the light at Pine Ridge and Airport-Pulling roads around 10:30 p.m.

His music drew the attention of Mariah-hater William Greenman, 22, who called Schreiber a derogatory name for listening to the newlywed singer's music.

Profanities flew back and forth between Schreiber and Greenman, who was a passenger in the other vehicle, as the cars traveled west on Pine Ridge, deputies say.

When they again stopped at the Goodlette-Frank intersection, the war of words escalated. Deputies say the avid Mariah fan then hurled a beer bottle at Greenman.

Greenman ducked, but deputies say the bottle hit the car's driver, 21-year-old Christine Bec, in the side of the head.

Schreiber is charged with shooting a missile into a vehicle and criminal mischief.

understandastar @ 2008-05-09T18:00:00

2008-05-10T01:01:32Z

View Poll: #1185489

Make comments here. Sorry. I can't make edits to my ONTD post. The poll won't show up.

understandastar @ 2008-05-02T11:43:00

2008-05-02T18:43:37Z

View Poll: Favorite Game?

understandastar @ 2008-05-02T11:38:00

2008-05-02T18:38:23Z

View Poll: The Price Is Right

Do you think Nick Hogan's sentence was fair?

Yes--What he got is enough

No--He deserves more time and a more severe punishment

No opinion / I haven't followed this story

understandastar @ 2008-04-09T20:38:00

2008-04-10T03:38:17Z

Gloria Estefan - Get On Your Feet

ELLEN ANSWERS THE IGGY QUESTION IN MODERN DOG MAGAZINE!

2008-04-03T21:39:23Z

Ellen DeGeneres sat down for an interview with Connie Wilson’s Modern Dog and answered a bunch of ~~really tough~~ softball questions!
The one that I was waiting for was, obviously, Ellen’s answer to that whole Iggy controversy. Here’s what she had to say:

Modern Dog: Have you recovered from the heartache of Iggy?
Ellen: I think I felt like a victim. For me to have been on any kind of attack for an animal issue felt like “This is crazy.”
I thought I was saving an animal. The way I read it was that if you cannot provide a good home for the animal, it comes back to the shelter. And so I provided a good home.
I’ve learned a whole lot. I had no idea it really meant making a phone call saying “Is this okay?”

I’m the most honest person you will ever meet - to a fault. I will show you exactly how I feel. I happen to have a talk show. So, I talk about whatever is going on in my life. I had spent all night trying to save this family from losing their dog. It was a dog that I knew was in a good home and I couldn’t just do a show without talking about it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to completely contain it and I lost it.

Source

The Cadbury Egg Cake...

2006-04-14T22:52:35Z

A guy making a cake with Cadbury eggs instead of real eggs:

http://shmivejournal.livejournal.com/125746.html

understandastar @ 2005-10-11T19:40:00

2005-10-13T02:38:41Z

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