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With the release of a new U2 album just around the corner, apparently named ‘No Line on the Horizon’, U2 have not been able to keep the details of the new album from surfacing. In southern France, a passer-by recognized Bono’s voice from a stereo blasted loudly from his villa and managed to record it. Despite this, the quality of the audio is quite poor and has nonetheless been removed from the internet.

The Four songs that were recorded were apparently, ‘No line on the Horizon’, ‘Sexy Boots’, Moment of Surrender’ and ‘For Your Love.’, with ‘Sexy Boots’ going to be the first single. Besides from the minor leaked details, no one really knows what to expect of ‘No line on the Horizon’, except the approach the new album will take, based on Bono’s comments on it. So what can we expect from ‘No line on the Horizon’? Well Bono has said that ‘This is our chance for us to defy gravity once again’ and the approach of ‘having no plan.’
 
We can expect ‘No Line on the Horizon’ to be much more experimental than ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ and ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which represented a retreat to the familiar 80’s rock formula of ‘The Joshua Tree’ and ‘The Unforgettable Fire. U2 have since conceded the latest two albums to be more ‘personal albums’. Both ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ and ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’, weren’t ‘bad’ albums- they won a combined total of 15 Grammy’s. The problem with those 2 albums is that they did little to expand U2’s ’sound’. With ‘No Line on the Horizon’, we can expect this to be a group of highly eclectic songs, much different in sound than anything ever heard before. Don’t expect the same familiar U2 sound- that’s always going to change.

By: Toto N

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After the successful reunion concert by the Led Zeppelin band fans are awaiting for more from their music icons. I could not blame them because after decades of silence it is about time that they make a big come back in the music industry. Fans are even hungrier now than before. I am pretty sure that many recording companies would like to get a contract for a new album from this band. It is surely a certified hit maker if they are going to release their new album.

Even today there are a lot of clients downloads on the web regarding their singles and albums. Sales are of the charts once again. The band just revived the fans interest on them. Not that their not famous but because it is a rare opportunity to watch these legends play after decades of silence. However, fans should not expect a new album just yet. It is just a year after their reunion. For the meantime we just have to be content on their tribute concert tours. There are no new singles just yet for the band but surely there are plans of doing so. Maybe the record companies and the band itself would just tour for a while and have a feel of concert turn outs.

If the time is right then surely they would not disappoint fans and eventually make a new album, hopefully. We should keep our fingers crossed and hope that our wish would come true. A fan can dream, right? If they are planning to make a new song then I hope that it would be soon because the suspense is killing me.

By: Antwon Chitown

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Iron Maiden is a British heavy metal rock band that is famous for such hits as “Run to the Hills”, “The Trooper”, and “The Flight of Icarus”. The name “Iron Maiden” was taken from the name of a medieval torture device, and the most recognizable member of the band is the zombie “Eddie”, who is found on virtually all Iron Maiden merch.

Iron Maiden was formed in 1975 by the current bassist Steve Harris. The original band consisted of Steve Harris on bass, Paul Day as lead singer, Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance were the guitarists, and Ron Mathews was the drummer. This line-up was very short lived. The band would undergo several changes before achieving wide stream success.

The first album released by Iron Maiden was aptly named “Iron Maiden”, which was released on April 14, 1980. By this time, the lineup had changed to Steve Harris on bass, Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton on guitar, Clive Burr on drums, and Paul Di’Anno on vocals. Shortly after the release of Iron Maiden, the band opened for Kiss on the European leg of their “Unmasked” tour. Shortly After the tour, guitarist Dennis Stratton was fired from the band due to creative and personal differences.

Sadly, in 1981 lead singer Paul Di’Anno was fired due to behaviors that were attributed to drug abuse. Bruce Dickenson was brought in as the lead singer, and after the third album “The Number of the Beast” was released in 1982, the success of Iron Maiden skyrocketed. The album kicked off a world tour. In the United States concert sites were met with protests by Christian activist groups who believed the album had satanic overtures. The protests, along with album burning parties gave Iron Maiden even more publicity, and may have contributed even more to the bands success. The follow up album “Piece of Mind”, released in 1983 was the first album to go platinum in the United States. By this time, drummer Clive Burr had left the band due to personal reasons, and he was replaced by Nicko McBrain who stayed with the band to this very day.

The band continued wide stream success during the eighties with albums “Powerslave”, “Somewhere in Time”, and “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”. Iron Maiden merch was selling very well. Everywhere you looked you could find Eddie on a t-shirt. Bruce Dickenson was with the band for two more albums in the nineties (”No Prayer for the Dying” and “Fear of the Dark”) before leaving the band in 1993 to pursue a solo career. His replacement was Blaze Bailey of Wolfsbane fame. Bailey’s vocals were very different than Dickerson’s, and his inclusion in the band met with limited success. The album “The X Factor” suffered from poor sales, and a follow up album “Virtual XI” released in 1998 suffered the poorest sales ever.

In 1999 Bruce Dickenson and Adrian Smith rejoined the band, and they embarked on a world tour. Fans were hungry for the Iron Maiden that had achieved most of it’s success in the eighties, and the tour was a huge hit. Once again you could see Iron Maiden merch everywhere. On April 21, 2009 the band will release the film “Iron Maiden: Flight 666″, which follows the band on their first leg of the “Somewhere Back in Time Tour”. In Sau Paulo Brazil on March 16, 63000 people attended the show, the most ever for an Iron Maiden concert. With A new album due to be released sometime this year, Iron Maiden is expected to add a new generation of fans to the huge legions of old fans.

By: Missy Ray

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My last article touched upon the importance of bands investing in themselves, and the different types of financial options available for bands looking to take a calculated gamble on themselves. So now you’ve got some money to your band’s name. You are on top of the world, ready to make a positive change and take your band to the next level. But you also feel dangerously rich and this newfound, fleeting wealth is going to define you as a band from this point forward. How your band uses its collective willpower (or doesn’t), how it handles temptation (or doesn’t) will determine whether your group is building a sustainable, long-term career or is merely dealing with fleeting infamy and locals-only fame. And no matter how money you are working with, mistakes are expensive to make and can quickly add up. So, for bands that are truly looking to capitalize on their new financial status, here are some tips on how to avoid squandering your newfound pseudo-wealth so you don’t again end up working two odd jobs without enough money to pay the rent.

1) Drinking and/or Drugs (Part 1)

Yeah, I’ve heard it all. “Its part of the rock and roll lifestyle!” “It’s only when I’m on the road.” “What are you, straight-edge? Everybody does it.” To be clear, we’re not talking about having a couple of beers. We’re talking about the undefined drug cocktails, the band member who blacks out and has no recollection of what he did last night and last night didn’t remember who he was. We’re talking about those with a real problem. And if it your band mate’s problem it inevitably soon becomes your problem. Drugs and are a great way to end up working at a car wash and being referred to locally as, “that guy who used to be kinda famous.” The advice to avoid this scenario is simple: if you don’t want to end up an alcoholic or an addict, avoid drugs and alcohol. The moment these scourges start to interfere with your band, you have a problem. And the moment you start denying that they’re interfering with your band, you have a big problem. If this sounds like you, please get healthy and contact your local AA branch or MusiCares MAP (Musician’s Assistance Program).

2) Drinking and/or Drugs (Part 2)

I have met countless bands who complain that they’re broke. They go on about how they have no money to buy food or gas yet put money into 12-packs of Budweiser as if they owned stock. Now, let’s do a little math. Assuming you don’t have an endorsement where you obtain it for free, let’s say you run a band bar tab of $60 for your various alcoholic beverages of choice. If you’re playing even just on the weekends, you’re easily spending over $400 a month on alcohol. And if you’re a full-time touring band…you can see where much of your money is going. And don’t even get me started on bands that can’t afford new guitar strings and yet somehow manage to find enough money to buy their drug of choice every night. These intoxicated scenarios lead to a simple, yet poignant question: Which do you want more drugs or success, because the two don’t go together well for long.

3) Spend $10,000 on a Music Video

I have met several bands though the years that are able to obtain some money and excitedly tell me the first thing they are planning to lay down some significant cash on is a music video. My reply is generally, “Why?” Because in and of itself, how exactly does a music video further your career? Does it independently increase your sales? Can you sell it to make you money to spend on other things? Do music video viewers tend to be motivated enough, without any other source of promotion, to buy your music? Invariably, the band gets defensive and mumbles something along the lines of, “We thought it would be cool.”

There are two points to take away from this. First off, bands, you have no business at this stage in your career spending $10,000 on anything that isn’t going to have a direct effect on your sales. Secondly, “Because it would be cool,” is not a substantial reason to spend lots of money on things that aren’t going to catapult your career to another level.

4) Indulge in Personalized Fancy Stage Gear

Another phenomenon I’ve witnessed is that bands with some money behind them seem to forget who they are. Do I mean this in some existential sense? No, I mean this literally, because they insist on everything – equipment, instruments, body parts – being emblazoned with their band name. And though there is no problem with this in theory, when you’ve finally obtained some capital do you really want to spend thousands of dollars on something as trivial as customized, matching road cases? Remember, at this stage it’s not about what you want, it’s about what you need and how what you need can lead to an amplified band profile, which results in increased sales and opportunities.

5) Order Customized Stage Clothing that Costs More than Your Rent

Like it or not, much importance is placed on the visual aspects of musical groups. However, it seems unfathomable that on a band’s short list of priorities that stage attire would rank above something as integral equipment that reliably functions correctly. And yet, bands often put more time – and money – into their respective appearances than the more unglamorous, essential elements to their impending success. It again comes down to a group’s priorities. When you run out of money and spend the next year playing the same ten venues because you chose trendy outfits over a more useful form of band advancement, will new outfits still be worth it? After all, who is going to appreciate your fierce new wardrobe if you are still playing in front of the same 500 people you always do because you didn’t have the money to break into other markets?

6) Spend $30,000+ on Recording a New Album

Certainly, recording a quality album is every band’s rightful priority. Bands need to spend enough that they get prime recordings and work with a producer they feel comfortable with. And there are definitely advantages to working with a “name” producer. However, at your current stage, it may make more sense to work with an up-and-coming producer who has worked with many notable bands, rather than a super producer who has worked with legends. Besides, if your band spends all of its money on recording the “perfect” album, with the “perfect producer, in the “perfect” studio, what’s left to actually sell your “perfect” album? Remember, good albums don’t sell themselves. If they did, then you wouldn’t have had to obtain this outside funding in the first place, would you?

It is clear just how focused your band needs to be in determining how your funding ought to be allotted. Getting funded is only the first step of many that will directly impact your career. So remember to ask yourself the next time that irresistible temptation comes along – is this really necessary to our long-term career? If not, perhaps it’s better to avoid it until there comes a time where you can afford to lose a million dollars.

© 2008 Refugee Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

By: Alana Mileras

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Do you remember the new wave of British heavy metal. A musical movement originating in the late 1970s which almost overnight catapulted a seemingly endless supply of British heavy metal bands on the road to either superstardom or obscurity.

If you were a teenager in Britain during the late 1970s or early 1980s with a fondness for rock music you surely must remember as it gathered momentum and became affection ally known as NWOBHM.

The new wave of British heavy metal saw the emergence of bands which went on to become global stars of their craft. Examples including Iron Maiden and Def Leppard who even now some thirty years later continue at the top of their game selling millions of albums every year.

Some other NWOBHM stalwarts still recording or touring today include Saxon, Motorhead, Girlshchool , Diamond Head and Praying Mantis. And not forgetting the much missed White Spirit. Band personnel were reasonably fluid and interchangeable as well as I recall. Like Janick Gers starting out as a Ritchie Blackmore impersonator with White Spirit before getting the call to join Gillan and then ending up in Iron Maiden. Long time Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson used to ply his trade singing with another NWOBHM act by the name of Samson.

Many bands associated with the new wave of British heavy metal had their fifteen minutes of fame before disappearing in to smoke as quickly as they burst on to the scene. Some examples here being Mythra, Varis, Zorro and literally hundreds of others.

Early recordings by NWOBHM bands are these days extremely collectable if you can find them. Way back in my youth my record collection was full of singles and albums by many NWOBHM bands most of which have been lost or otherwise misplaced over the subsequent decades. If only I still had them.

If, like me, you do recall NWOBHM and are still slightly stuck in the past I wager your CD collection is sprinkled with reissues from the good old days which when played bring back hazy memories of nights spent in obscure venues watching equally obscure bands trying to make it big.

We probably will not see the likes of the new wave of British heavy metal again. The mid-1980s saw the decline of NWOBHM with the emergence of the glam rock scene epitomised by the likes of Motley Crue, Ratt and others. But it wasn’t quite the same was it. Glam rock had its moments though could never match the earthy grit of the new wave of British heavy metal.

Some of my earliest recollections of those ways are seeing Iron Maiden open for Judas Priest, Def Leppard supporting Sammy Hagar and travelling quite some way to watch Praying Mantis on a support slot with Gamma fronted by the great Ronnie Montrose.

I hope this short article has triggered a few NWOBHM memories for you and sent you scurrying up to the attic to see if you still have that rare pressing of Death and Destiny by Mythra.

By: Andy Machin

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My Favorite Album Of All Time
The White Album is my favorite album ever (by The Beatles or anyone else.) I love it because of all of the different styles of music on it. I love it because of all of the brilliant songs. I love it because of it’s imperfections (”Don’t Pass Me By” comes to mind.) And yes, I love “Revolution #9.”

The Last Beatles Album Mixed In Mono
For most of The Beatles career mono was the standard and the stereo mix was something that was done as an afterthought. The band (and the producers and engineers) worked to get the mono mix just perfect and then would throw together the stereo mix rather quickly, sometimes in a very experimental fashion (as stereo was still very new, people were trying things out to see what worked.) But by 1968 mono was getting phased out and The White Album was The Beatles final album mixed in mono. Their last three albums (Yellow Submarine,

By: Jackson Weinheimer

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If you don’t have your own recording studio, making a hit recording requires a lot of time and money to purchase studio time, hire studio quality musicians and find people with the expertise necessary to produce a top quality CD. In the end, the quality of the CD is greatly affected by how much time and money you sink into the project. Unfortunately, most fledgling recording artists don’t have the required funds and don’t know where to turn to obtain them.   The purpose of this article is to give you a few tips for funding your next album or your first album, whichever the case may be.

1. Go directly to your fans. Last year, singer-songwriter Jill Sobule shocked the music world by asking her fans to fund her next album. Using a weblog, she set up donation levels from $10 to $10,000 for her fans to donate and each person who donated received a prize. For example, the $10 donation received a free digital download of her album; the $10,000 donation won the opportunity to sing on her album! Jill raised the needed $75,000 to create her new album that will be released in April, 2009.

This worked for Jill because she already had a huge fan base from her six previous recordings. Maybe you won’t use such a novel approach for funding your next album; however, whatever method you use, you will need money unless you’ve landed a contract from one of the major labels or you intend to use the do-it-yourself (DIY) method. Even if you use the DIY method you will need funds, although the amount needed will be much less.

2. There are websites that foster personal and financial relations with indie artists and music fans worldwide. Sites like Sellaband, MICROFUNDO and indie FINANCIAL network are great resource sites that allow you to build a fan base and raise funding for your projects.

3. Private investments from friends and business people in your own hometown. Sometimes this is the best place to start. If you have built up your fan base in your own hometown you will have many acquaintances in the business community who might jump at the chance to help you out.

4. Private grants or grants from private foundations. There are still a few places available to obtain private grants. For example, Foundation Grants to Individuals Online is one such organization.  They provide information to obtain private grants for students, artists and academic researchers. Since you are an artist this is worth investigating.

5. Government Grants. Although it is difficult these days to get a government grant, you may find help at cfda.gov and grants.gov. These sites provide information on federal government grants available and details of how to apply for a grant.

In order to obtain funding using the above methods you will need to have an estimate of actual costs of creating the CD. Following are expenditure possibilities that you will incur:

Setting up the legalities of your business Musicians Production fees Engineering Mixing Time/Additional Studio costs Mastering Manufacturing Artwork New Gear Piano Tunings CD Release Party Radio Promotion Advertising
You will need to estimate the prices for all of these possible expenses by talking with professionals in your area. You may cut corners by doing some of the work yourself.  However, you must always be aware that homemade CDs seldom become top hits. If you want to compete with the big boys you will need to bite the bullet and pay a professional to produce your music CD. While the expenses can be enormous, funding your next album may be as close as a phone call to a friend, or as easy as starting a blog aimed at getting the support of your fan base. All it takes is perseverance, patience and a good plan.

By: Jimmy CL Newson

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Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1963 to John Houston and Cissy Houston, a gospel singer. Dionne Warwick is her cousin and Aretha Franklin is her godmother. By age 11 Whitney was following in her mother’s footsteps and was performing in the junior gospel choir at their New Hope Baptist Church.

Houston spent some of her teenage years touring nightclubs with her mother while Cissy was performing, and she would occasionally get on stage and perform with her mother. Then in 1978, at age fifteen, she got a big break, singing background vocals on Chaka Khan’s hit single “I’m Every Woman;” a song she would later turn into a hit for herself on her massive-selling soundtrack album The Bodyguard. Around this time Whitney Houston also started working as a fashion model. She appeared in Seventeen Magazine and later became one of the first African-American women to appear on the teen magazine’s cover.

Houston signed with Arista in 1983 and had her first To 5 R&B hit with a single released in 1984. Whitney Houston released her debut album Whitney Houston in 1985, which became the best-selling debut album by a female artist according to the music magazine Billboard magazine. In 1986 she lands the cover of People magazine as “America’s Top New Star.”

Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard magazine’s Top 200 albums chart.

From her first two albums and beyond, Whitney Houston became one of the most successful female singers of all time. She has won seven Grammy Awards and been nominated 26 times.

In 1989 Whitney met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the Soul Train Music Awards. Bobby Brown was also a successful performer, having had several hits with his group New Edition and later as a solo artist. Bobby and Whitney married on July 18, 1992 on the grounds of Whitney’s home in Mendham, New Jersey. Later in 1993 they welcomed daughter Bobby Kristina Houston Brown.

Following her marriage to Bobby Brown, Houston achieved phenomenal success with her the movie The Bodyguard in 1992. The movie’s original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and became the world’s best-selling soundtrack of all time. Its single, “I Will Always Love You,” became one of the best-selling singles in music history.

Much to the chagrin of Whitney’s fans, soon after her success with The Bodyguard, rumors that the singer was using drugs with her husband circulated in celebrity magazines like People magazine, Us Weekly magazine and OK! magazine after she missed performances, airport security discovered marijuana in her luggage and appeared to sustain a dramatic weight loss. By 2000 she was again on the cover of People magazine, this time under the headline, “Whitney’s Troubled Times.”

In 2002, Houston did an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her upcoming album. During the prime-time special, Houston spoke on topics including rumored drug use and marriage. She was asked about the ongoing drug rumors and replied, “First of all, let’s get one thing straight. Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let’s get that straight. Okay? We don’t do crack. We don’t do that. Crack is wack.” Houston did, however, admit to using various substances at times.

Despite her erratic behavior and seemingly destructive marriage, Houston continued to star in feature films and contributed to soundtracks. She renewed her recording contract with Arista Records in 2001 for an unprecedented $100 million dollars. She subsequently released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney the following year with her sixth studio album One Wish: The Holiday Album being released in 2003.

Finally after years of personal and professional turmoil, Whitney Houston ended her marriage to Bobby Brown in 2006.
The singer gave her first interview in seven years, appearing on The Oprah Winfrey show in September. In the interview Houston admitted she was addicted to crack cocaine and weed and that Bobby Brown was emotionally abusive.

With her new album I Look to You, Whitney Houston’s has her first number one album since The Bodyguard, and her first studio album to reach number one since 1987’s Whitney.

By: Jessica Vandelay

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