Guitar Hero 360 - Explorer!

Guitar Hero's sequel, previously only slated for the Playstation 2, is now set to be released for the Xbox 360 as well. Not exciting in itself, but note the new controller it'll be sporting. These guys must have a thing for Gibson, since the last one looked like an SG.

What's sad is that the original article I grabbed this from states that it "seems a wee bit bland". What the hell are they talking about? Since when is the Explorer guitar shape ever bland? All you have to do is write "Eet Fuk" on that thing and you're ready to rock!

Best Unsubstantiated Rumor of the Decade?

A Spain based magazine is reporting that Black Sabbath, sans, Ozzy, is going to reunite with Dio next summer and play gigs under the moniker "Heaven and Hell". More info here.

Exciting news, but a little too funky to believe. Granted Iommi and Dio are working on a new song or two together (for a "best of the Dio era" Sabbath disc), but a tour? It's happened before (including a new album - Dehumanizer), but since they were able to come together as "Black Sabbath" back then, exactly why would there be legal difficulty in using that name again? Especially since as far as I know, this best of CD, complete with a couple of new songs, will be under the "Black Sabbath" name.

More to follow, I suspect.

Music Minutes

• Century Media is releasing a DVD of Iced Earth's Alive In Athens CD. Jon Schaffer is frustrated.
  
• Supernova 0wn3d.
  
• Courtney is working that Nirvana angle. Again. Plus, DVD of Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! in the works.
  
• Unreleased Fight and Halford material on the way.
  

Mike Patton Is Not God

But we all know Jim Martin is. Anywho, you decide.

Primus Sucks (and other Moon Language-y tidbits)

"Spoon!"

• Primus will be releasing two items on October 17: a greatest hits CD, and a DVD depicting their 2003 reunion.
  
• U2 is working with producer Rick Rubin on their next album.
• Catch Metallica on The Simpsons this Sunday. Or watch it here.
• Mastodon's newest release, Blood Mountain, goes on sale this Tuesday in both both CD and CD+DVD formats. The entire album can be listen to via their Myspace page.
  
• Rush has selected a producer for their new album.
• Axl Rose insists that Chinese Democracy will be released this year.
  

Rhino Comes Through

At the start of 2005 I bought the two-disc Rhino re-release of The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys. Great disc, but a little while later I noticed a post on The Cure's website from Robert Smith saying that they had forgotten to put the lyric sheet in with the packaging. Newer runs of the set would have it, and people who already bought the set were encouraged to download and print a pdf that was made available.

An ok option, but I wanted the bona fide booklet. So I wrote to Rhino, on March 5 of 2005, politely asking, but never received an answer. This disappointed me because they always struck me as something of a l33t company (what with their Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman episodes on DVD and all).

So imagine my surprise when I received today, in the mail, an envelope from Rhino with the lyric booklet for Three Imaginary Boys inside. Is that crazy or what? Kudos to them for responding to me, but good grief: a year-and-a-half waiting period? That's just nutty.