Several big amounts are still in play

Michelle and I attended a Halloween party in our neighborhood last night. After struggling for several days to come up with a them for our costumes, Michelle came up with the excellent idea of a "Deal or No Deal" motif. She dressed up as case girl #17, and I tried to pull of my best Howie Mandel impression. Needless to say, our costumes were a hit at the party, and we ended up winning "Best Couple's Costume", or something like that. Big props go out to Shel for coming up with the costume idea. We both had a blast - good food, good drink (Blue Moon on tap...with orange wedges!), and good company. The Heiland family wishes you all a happy, safe and kickass Halloween.

Next up - Foo Fighters and Bob Dylan at the Xcel Center in St. Paul tomorrow night. Expect a show report and pictures from me on Monday.

The Chills, man! The Chills!

Come on. Admit it. You've gotten The Chills before. From some song you're listening to for the first time. The excitement builds up inside of you and leaves your body in the form of...you guessed it...The Chills.

You may be saying, "But Joe, today's music sucks ass. I haven't gotten The Chills in years." And I would have to agree with you. There really isn't a whole lot out there today that is Chillworthy. Getting a case of The Chills is a rare occurrance in today's world.

Well, I got The Chills this morning on the way into work. And it was from the last band in the world that I thought would have delivered The Chills to me.

That band was My Chemical Romance. And I'm only serious.

The song? "Welcome To The Black Parade", the first single off of their upcoming album of the same name. It came on the shuffle mix this morning. It comes in with a simple piano melody. Military drumming kicks in, and a modern-day Freddie Mercury enters the speakers. The volume picks up, the singer screaming the lyrics. And then the music fades out, and a drum fill kicks in to the main part of the song, a raved-up pop-punker.

I'll admit, this type of music is probably geared towards 13 year olds. Not an aging hipster like myself. But it just goes to show you that The Chills can come from some of the most unexpected places. Just make sure that when they come, you enjoy them to the fullest. Because moments like those don't come around every day.

Thank you, My Chemical Romance.

Now it's your turn...what songs/albums/bands give you The Chills? Come on, leave your thoughts in the comments section. And make sure to have a killer Friday.

New GnR album details emerge

Saw this piece on the Rolling Stone site and thought I'd share it with all y'all. As we all know, the recording process for this album as been extremely long and bloated, but I'm genuinely excited that a release date is in sight. And besides, if Sebastian Bach digs it, it's got to be cool. Right?

Check out what RS has to report below, and if I hear of anything else that gets released in Friday's story, I'll post it here. And start checking your local record store every Tuesdsay!

In the new issue of Rolling Stone hitting stands this Friday, our Brian Hiatt reveals what he’s discovered about the long-awaited Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy. The article begins with this elusive quote from GN’R manager Merck Mercuriadis, in which he essentially retreads stuff we already know: “The album will come out this year. There are ten Tuesdays left before January – it will come out on one of them.” But trust us, it gets better.

• Following Guns’ headlining gig in San Bernadino, California, on September 23rd, Axl threw a party at his mansion and played the full album in his poolroom for visitors, including his friend Sebastian Bach, former singer of Skid Row. “It was mind-blowing,” says Bach, who is opening for Guns n’ Roses on their upcoming North American arena tour. “It’s a very cool album – it’s badass with killer screams, killer guitar riffs, but it’s got a totally modern sound. The word for it is ‘grand.’ It’s fucking epic. He’s reinvented himself yet again.”
• The album includes some tracks that have been played live or leaked onto the Internet, including the poppy “Better” and the hard-hitting “I.R.S.” “There’s this one song called ‘Sorry’ that’s almost like doom metal with Axl singing really clean over this grinding, slow beat that is fucking mean,” says Bach. “I cannot get it out of my head.”
• Veteran engineer Andy Wallace, who mixed Nirvana’s Nevermind, is working on the project, according to a source close to the band. “We’re absolutely delighted with the mixes,” the source says.
• On October 24th, the band will kick off its North American tour in Miami. Two dates — November 10th in New York and November 20th in Halifax, Nova Scotia — are already sold out, according to Mercuriadis. Additional U.S. dates will be added in early 2007, and the band will return to the States in the summer as well, he says.
• Though a source told Rolling Stone that the album is due November 21st, Mercuriadis declined to confirm this. “I don’t know that we will announce a release date,” he says. “You just might walk into your record shop one Tuesday and find it there.”

mtv.com has turned into a clusterfudge

So, I tried to head on over to mtv.com this morning to see if there was any late breaking news I could steal for the blog, and I got smacked with a crapload of ads and movies after it loaded in my browser. Want to look at an article? Well, you'll have to take a look at this ad for 10 seconds first. Why is it taking so long for pages to load? It couldn't have anything to do with the continuous stream of MTV "Overdrive" videos playing in the upper left corner of the site, could it? Nah...

As I'm sure many of you have thought before, I have no idea how they can call themselves "Music" Television. I cannot remember the last time I actually saw a music video on the channel. And now their website is overrun with content featuring reality shows and the latest celebrity gossip. My days of checking mtv.com for news are numbered. Goodbye emptyvee - hello Pitchfork!

Squash

Have you ever played Squash? It involves a small racquet and a tiny black rubber ball (smaller than a racquetball). You play in a court similar to a racquetball court, but there are certain lines on the court that define borders that you have to hit the ball in. And the ball doesn't bounce worth a crap, so you need to be on your toes.

Anyways, I played squash last night for the 1st time. Actually, it was my first time stepping inside a gym in a long time. And it felt pretty damn good. The wife and I just got a membership to Lifetime, and I'm gonna shoot for going 3-4 times a week.

In other news, some good friends of ours are leaving this Thursday for Florida. They'll be gone until Sunday. In all honesty, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. I'll probably start by curling up into a ball, beat myself repeatedly in the head, and then sob uncontrollably until I run out of tears. Which is why I need your help. Can you guys help me come up with some thoughts that I can jot down in a card that will convey the feelings I'll be going through during their absence? Feel free to leave any similar thoughts/stories you may have had in the past in the comments section. Any comments I could get soon would be greatly appreciated, as I hope to give them this card at dinner this evening. Thanks in advance.

Believe the Hype

New feature to the site - if you let your eyes wander to the right of the page, you'll see a list of hot songs that have recently been posted to the Hype Machine. The Hype Machine is a repository that collects various music postings from the web and puts them in a central, organized location. So now you can stay hip to the cool, fresh beats that are hitting the streets. Never again will you have to hear about the latest Jay-Z track from your sister. Just plug in to the list on the right, and you'll be tuned in to the latest and greatest.

May you all have a slamming week.

Happy Thursday

I bring to you...Lithium...Nirvana live at the MTV Music Awards in nineteen ninety something or other. Make sure to check out the kickass display of bass tossing near the end!

Confirmed song list for Guitar Hero 2

Here it is kids - get your fingers limber, because on November 7th, we're going to have a whole new batch of Guitar Hero songs to master. I am extremely pleased with the roster of tunes they have assembled for this new edition. I just put my pre-order for the game in yesterday...time to beef up on the 1st game so I can be ready for some R n' R.

1. Opening Licks

* "Strutter" - KISS
* "Mother" (possibly by Danzig or Pink Floyd)
* "Message in a Bottle" - The Police
* "Monkey Wrench" - Foo Fighters
* "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" - Spinal Tap

2. Amp-Warmers

* "Shout at the Devil" - Mötley Crüe
* "Heart-Shaped Box" - Nirvana
* "Woman" (possibly by Wolfmother)
* "Carry On Wayward Son" - Kansas
* "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks, as performed by Van Halen

3. String Snappers

* "Surrender" - Cheap Trick
* "Them Bones" - Alice in Chains
* "Search and Destroy" (possibly by either The Stooges or Red Hot Chili Peppers)(not yet confirmed)
* "Tattooed Love Boys" - The Pretenders
* "War Pigs" - Black Sabbath

4. Thrash and Burn

* "Cherry Pie (not in yet)" (possibly by Warrant)(not yet confirmed)
* "Who Was in My Room Last Night?" - The Butthole Surfers
* "Girlfriend" (possibly by The Darkness or Matthew Sweet)(not yet confirmed)
* "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" - The Rolling Stones
* "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses

5. Return of the Shred

* "Killing in the Name" - Rage Against the Machine
* "John The Fisherman" - Primus (performed by Primus)
* "Freya" (possibly by The Sword)(not yet confirmed)
* "Bad Reputation" (possibly by Thin Lizzy or Joan Jett)(not yet confirmed)
* "Jessica" - The Allman Brothers Band

6. Relentless Riffs

* "Crazy on You" - Heart
* "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" - Stone Temple Pilots
* "Rock This Town" (possibly by the Stray Cats)
* "Last Child" - Aerosmith
* "Stop" (possibly by Jane's Addiction)(not yet confirmed)

7. Furious Fretwork

* "Madhouse" - Anthrax

Confirmed Songs not in the first 6 tiers

* "Arterial Black" - Drist (Bonus track)
* "Beast and the Harlot" - Avenged Sevenfold
* "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
* "Hangar 18" - Megadeth
* "Laid To Rest" - Lamb of God
* "Misirlou" - Dick Dale
* "Psychobilly Freakout" - The Reverend Horton Heat
* "Raw Dog" - The Last Vegas (Bonus track)
* "YYZ" - Rush

Foo orchestra live album details emerge

image courtesy of foofighters.com

From Billboard:

Foo Fighters Acoustic Trek Heading To CD, DVD

Three Los Angeles performances from the Foo Fighters' recent stripped-down tour form the basis for the live album "Skin and Bones," Billboard.com can reveal. Due Nov. 7 via RCA, the 15-track set was taped in late August at the Pantages Theater and spotlights an expanded eight-piece lineup featuring violinist Petra Haden and keyboardist Rami Jaffee.

A DVD from the shows, boasting additional songs and extra features yet to be announced, will arrive later in November.

The track list blends material from the band's half-electric/half-acoustic album "In Your Honor" with vintage cuts like "Big Me," "Everlong," "My Hero" and "Walking After You," plus the Dave Grohl-penned Nirvana B-side "Marigold," which the Foos had never performed prior to this tour.

As previously reported, the band is keeping the acoustic concept rolling with a host of fall dates, including three shows early next month in Australia, Oct. 21-22 appearances at Neil Young's Bridge School benefit outside San Francisco and a run of support slots for Bob Dylan through early November.

Here is the CD track list for "Skin and Bones":

"Razor"
"Over & Out"
"Walking After You"
"Marigold"
"My Hero"
"Next Year"
"Another Round"
"Big Me"
"Cold Day in the Sun"
"Skin and Bones"
"February Stars"
"Times Like These"
"Friend of a Friend"
"Best of You"
"Everlong"