Music News Page 1083

Canadian rock band Nickelback has nothing but all the right reasons to top the Billboard 200 albums chart Wednesday. This is the first time for them to have such attainment in which their album "All the Right Reasons" has become their first U.S. No. 1 album, sold 317,000 copies in its debut week. Chicago rapper Twista is at 2nd with "The Day After" sold nearly 129,000 copies.

Country star Sarah Evans' "Real Fine Place" opening at No. 3, ahead of Gretchen Wilson's "All Jacked Up" which drops to No. 4 from last week's No. 1 debut. Sheryl Crow's "Wildflowers" drops three places to No. 5 with 106,000 copies in its second week, followed by Kanye West's "Late Registration" at No. 6. Entering the chart at No. 7 is Fiona Apple's "Extraordinary Machine" which has been sold for 94,000 copies.

No days without rolling. The slogan maybe is suitable to be attached to music group The Rolling Stones who keeps rolling day to day no matter what happen.

The always full of spirit Stones is about to debut the video for "Streets of Love" on the NBC soap opera 'Days of Our Lives' next Tuesday. This is considered as an attempt they take to market their new disc "A Bigger Bang."

Christmas is coming and people preparing the things. Yes they are busy to welcome the big day, a day when Jesus the Savior was born. December 25th is a very historical day that Christians in the whole world won't miss the chance to celebrate the day their Redeemer came into this universe.

Just like other, singer Faith Evans also is preparing herself to celebrate Christmas. Though, she has her own way to mark the day that is releasing a Christmas album. And just like her given name, that's the name of her new album, "A Faithful Christmas." Includes such familiar songs as "Merry Christmas Baby," "White Christmas," "Santa Baby," "Christmas Song" and "O Come All Ye Faithful," the album will hit stores October 25th.

Despite the fact that he's been reported to retire, or at the very least take an extended break from music industry, Eminem has announced plans to release "Curtain Call," a greatest hits album that will be available on December 6 world wide. It is claimed that he's been working on the album since early summer.

Per his Aftermath/Interscope label, "Curtain Call" will among others feature tracks like "My Name Is," "The Way I Am," "Lose Yourself" and "Stan" plus two new songs. About his new set, Em says "I have some songs that a lot of people like, I have some songs that only I like. This album is obviously for the 'lot' of people."

Her entourage would obviously cheer her as Ciara leads this year Vibe Awards, taking in five nominations all at once, which among others include Artist of the Year. Ups for the same category is Kanye West, Mariah Carey, John Legend and 50 Cent, who each have four nominations.

Elsewhere, nominees for Album of the Year are "Get Lifted" by Legend, "Late Registration" by West, "The Documentary" by The Game, "The Emancipation of Mimi" by Mariah Carey and "The Naked Truth" by Lil' Kim, who won't be able to attend the ceremony as she is serving a 366-day sentence at a federal detention center in Philadelphia.

It's close to a month that Nine Inch Nails have been touring with Queens of the Stone Age. Though, the ride seems incomplete with the absence of NIN regular drummer Jerome Dillon due to health concerns. Thus, the music group has tapped Australian Alex Carapetis to fill in during its ongoing fall tour.

NIN leader Trent Reznor wrote on the band's Web site "I can't begin to tell you what a difficult job it is to replace your drummer in this band, and these guys have truly risen to the high-pressure situation that it is." Following such decision, Carapetis already played his first show with Nine Inch Nails on Friday in Chicago.

Years working on his music career, Latin singer Ricky Martin feels the need for changes. The star begins talking about "Life." It's his first English-language album since 2000's "Sound Loaded."

"Life," which is slated for an October 11 release date via Columbia, is aimed to reconnect Martin with his fans as he delves into new musical styles. "I hope I'm not the same artist I was five years ago, because it would be impossible," so says Martin. "Life -- where it takes you, what you see, what you read -- changes you. Definitely, when I began to create for this album, the one thing I wanted was to not even attempt to do what I had already done. That's why I played with many genres I hadn't visited before, and I made them mine," he continues.

Not all confession comes from the heart, and so not all people positively accept the confession itself. As of pop superstar Madonna, her "Confessions on a Dance Floor," despite drawing respect, it tends to cause criticisms. The album actually is slated for a Nov. 15 release date. Unfortunately, one of its tracks entitled "Isaac" which is about a 16th century Jewish mystic and Kabbalah scholar named Yitzhak Luria, raises criticism from other rabbis.

Those rabbis, who oversee Luria's tomb and a seminary in the northern town of Safed, are unimpressed with Madonna's musical tribute and tend to perceive the inclusion of "Isaac" on the album as an attempt by the pop star to profit from his name. What's more, head of a seminary named after Luria, Rabbi Rafael Cohen, thinks that her actions could lead to divine retribution, about which he says "Jewish law forbids the use of the name of the holy rabbi for profit. Her act is just simply unacceptable and I can only sympathize for her because of the punishment that she is going to receive from the heavens."

Well done Ashlee Simpson. The singer successfully sang at "Saturday Night Live" without another lip-synch incident.

In her return to the same scene since her last lip-synch incident, the star simply commented "I wrote this song after my last `Saturday Night Live" appearance." At the weekend "Saturday Night Live" appearance, Ashlee among others sang "Catch Me When I Fall" and "Boyfriend" before then at the end blowing a kiss to the audience while saying "Thank you so much!"

It's been five week, but the "Gold Digger" still ruling. The single of Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx again stays on top of Hot 100 singles chart Thursday. As strong as the rapper is pop diva Mariah Carey, whose "Shake It Off" sits at No. 2 of the chart for a sixth. Just behind is Canadian rock band Nickelback's "Photograph" ups one place to No. 3.

"Like You" by Bow Wow drops one place to No. 4, ahead of "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas which remains at No. 5. Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and David Banner's "Play" each ups one to No. 6 and 7 respectively. In time, Young Jeezy's "Soul Survivor" featuring Akon rising eight places to No. 8. At no. 9 is Carey's former chart-topper "We Belong Together," followed behind by Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" at No. 10.

The special concert punk rock trio Green Day previously scheduled for next Tuesday in Los Angeles will take place at the Wiltern Theater. Those interested to attend can buy tickets, priced at $45 each, beginning Monday through Ticketmaster and the Wiltern box office.

The gig will be broadcast on AOL Music LIVE! (http://www.aolmusic.com), a digital entertainment network that distributes live events through such outlets as the Internet, satellite radio, video-on-demand, wireless and high-definition TV. In related news, Green Day will on November 15 release their "Bullet In A Bible" concert CD/DVD. Don't miss it.

The prince of darkness covers almost all under his new effort. Ozzy Osbourne is set to cover John Lennon's "Woman," Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" and the Moody Blues' "Go Now" under his new album. Dubbed "Under Cover," the set is a Dualdisc and will marry the street November 1 via Epic Records.

The three components actually is a follow up to the remaining 10 cuts that were released this year on the "Under Covers" disc of Osbourne's boxed set "Prince of Darkness." As of the forthcoming DVD set, it will feature the featurette "Dinner With Ozzy and Friends," which finds him regaling his son Jack Osbourne and Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister with tales of rock'n'roll excess. A video for Ozzy's cover of The Beatles' "In My Life" is also included.

She did it. Gretchen Wilson really jacks all to up the charts, landing at the very top safely. The singer's sophomore effort titled "All Jacked Up" successfully debuts at the top of the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top Country Albums charts this week after moving 264,000 units in its first week of release. Sheryl Crow's "Wildflower" secures the 2nd rank with 140,000 copies.

Comes after Crow at No. 3 is Three Six Mafia's "Most Known Unknown," which sold 115,000 copies in its first week of release. The band followed by Toni Braxton at No. 4 with "Libra" which moved 114,000 units in its debut week. Rounding out the top five is Kanye West's "Late Registration," which drops from No. 3 to No. 5. Debuts at No. 6 is Lil' Kim, whose "Naked Truth" sold 109,000 units in its first week on the charts.

The 'big' day is coming and 'big' musicians are preparing themselves to welcome the 'big' event. We're talking about the 2006 Big Day Out festival tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Included in the initial list of performers at the event among others are The White Stripes, Iggy & the Stooges and Franz Ferdinand. Apart, there will also Kings of Leon, The Mars Volta, AFI, Sleater-Kinney, Soulwax/ 2 The Magic Numbers, The Living End, Cut Copy, the End of Fashion and Youth Group.

Fans of country singer Kenny Chesney will find their idol on the road and the radio, either one, soon as his second studio album of the year, "The Road and the Radio," will be released November 8 this year. The set consisting of 11 tracks, which among others are first single "Who You'd Be Today," "Tequila Loves Me (Even if You Don't)," "Another Beer in Mexico," "Living in Fast Forward" and "You Save Me."

To support the album promotion, Chesney is about to have number of television appearances. There has yet tour plans announced, but the singer has been scheduled for a November 7 performance on ABC's "Good Morning America" in New York's Times Square. In addition, ABC also is preparing a Chesney special to air the week of Thanksgiving.