The MVI Disc

To make life even more confusing, the new Rush album, Snakes & Arrows, will not only be released on CD, but also in a new format: the MVI disc. Atlantic's new "Music Video Interactive" disc will contain some sort of higher resolution audio, a 5.1 mix of the album, a documentary, mp3 files (supposedly without Digital Rights Management), and some other silliness (on-screen lyrics, wallpapers, etc.).

I don't expect this to be a true DVD-A with 24-bit/96 kHz sound. Since the thing is designed to play in all DVD players, I'm guessing that it will have 16-bit/48 kHz audio, like the latest Judas Priest DualDisc (barely better than a regular CD).

So unless I discover otherwise, I'll be buying the regular CD version. Let's hope the production and mastering are better that what we got on Vapor Trails. And that we get a guitar solo or two.

Jesus and Mary Chain Reunion

The Jesus and Mary Chain are currently together and playing a few dates. Of note is their show at Coachella 2007, which also saw the reunion of Rage Against the Machine. They played a new song, which you can listen to here.

An official web page is currently up, and tour dates are listed at their Myspace page.

Matt Barlow Returns to Heavy Metal

So I guess Barlow's career with the Department of Homeland Security isn't enough to keep him happy. Sadly, it doesn't seem like we'll see him reunite with Iced Earth. More here and here.

April Skies

Hope the rain isn't getting you down. News-y!

• Iced Earth has reimagined their web site. A new single is due June 5, and they will be touring with Heaven & Hell in Europe at the end of the year.
  
• nin's well received new album, year zero, comes out today.
  
• Guitar Hero III has been officially announced for all major gaming platforms (except for PC, bah). Wooden guitar controllers? Eep!
  
• Rush is Rolling Stone's top "guilty pleasure" band. Lame to be sure, but not as lame as their new single. Snakes & Arrows, complete with three instrumental tracks, has a release date of May 1.