Stephen Shugerman/ Jamie Squire, Getty Images

REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin has probably been called many things throughout his lengthy career as vocalist for the group, but perhaps “human pogo stick” is an additional title which should be added. Cronin’s energetic and unflagging enthusiasm for the REO mission was evident in the verbally animated conversation that he had with Ultimate Classic Rock about the upcoming ‘Midwest Rock N’ Roll Express’ tour featuring REO Speedwagon, Styx and the inimitable Ted Nugent.

Styx and REO have shared the stage many times, but the addition of ‘Terrible” Ted injects a new element that Cronin is looking forward to. Historically, Nugent left quite an impression when he shared the stage with REO Speedwagon in the ‘70s.

“We opened for Ted in San Francisco and I remember, we played and I had never heard him play live, so I snuck around to the back of the arena and I was as far as you could possibly get from the stage and I opened the door to walk into the room to watch Ted and literally, the sound coming from the stage was so loud that I felt like someone hit me in the face with a frying pan, man. It just nailed me to the wall. I couldn’t even believe it — his guitar was just like raging.”

“Ted just brings that insane raw crazy screaming energy and I understand Derek St.Holmes is going to be back singing with him this summer, which is a treat, because Derek’s great.”

Although the on-stage combination of Styx and REO Speedwagon is a friendly and familiar one, you can expect that both groups will still be working hard to bring their A-game, a head-to-head competition of sorts that has been going on for decades.

When REO Speedwagon released an expanded edition of their landmark ‘Hi Infidelity’ release last year in celebration of its 30th anniversary, Styx’s Tommy Shaw remembered all too well that the members of his band were definitely paying close attention at the time the album was released.

“Kevin and I go way back, having met right about the time I joined Styx.  There was probably no one more keenly aware of their chart positions than we were for all those weeks back in 1981.”

Cronin says that the competitive spirit, perhaps downgraded these days to a friendly rivalry, still remains intact.

“You know, it’s kind of like if two sports teams get together and they’re both kind of the top teams in their division and when they meet, it’s a special game, that’s how I feel when we play with Styx. We love those guys, but still, we want people to leave the arena humming an REO Speedwagon song. They want people to leave the arena humming a Styx song, but at the same time, it’s a very supportive and friendly atmosphere. “

“We know how good those guys are — we know that they’re going to come out and bring it every night and they know that about us too. Neither band is comfortable resting on past achievements – both bands are bringing it every night on stage, so just knowing that, we raise the bar on each other every time we play together. When REO Speedwagon and Styx are on tour together, if you’re a fan of either band, it’s a good time to see us, because we’re going to be really motivated to go out there and play 110% per night.”

The opening bell for the tour will sound on May 1 in Hidalgo, Texas and is tentatively set to wrap up on July 8 in Bangor, Maine. Regarding any possible jamming between the three groups, Cronin says that the tour will be a “free-for-all,” making a very intentional Nugent reference and “if anyone wants to come up and join in, we’re into it.”

Cindy Ord, Getty Images

Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsay Buckingham has announced 15 tour dates across the west coast in support of his new ‘Seeds We Sow’ album. The run of dates will begin on May 3, and will be a one-man show.

“I’ve been thinking of doing this kind of tour for a while, and am quite excited to be doing something new, something outside my comfort zone,” Buckingham said in a press release. He’ll perform songs from the new album, previous solo albums and Fleetwood Mac classics while showcasing his distinctive guitar picking style.

“As I’ve grown as an artist, I’ve gotten more and more in touch with my center, and that center is voice and guitar. Over time it has become increasingly vital to express more with less; that is my touchstone now, and the embodiment of that philosophy is what will be largely represented in the new show.”

The stretch of dates ends on May 21 in Spokane, Wash., but a note at his website indicates more dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Lindsey Buckingham 2012 Tour Dates:

5/03 – Solana Beach, Calif.
5/04 – Los Angeles, Calif.
5/05 – San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
5/06 – Thousand Oaks, Calif.
5/08 – San Luis Obispo, Calif.
5/09 – Fresno, Calif.
5/10 – Carmel, Calif.
5/11 – Santa Cruz, Calif.
5/13 – Sacramento, Calif.
5/14 – San Francisco, Calif.
5/15 – Redding, Calif.
5/17 – Bend, Ore.
5/18 – Portland, Ore.
5/19 – Seattle, Wash.
5/21 – Spokane, Wash.

Ronny Waleska, Wetag Consulting

The taxman may have been taking 95% of George Harrison‘s earnings at one point in time, but that didn’t stop the Quiet Beatle from amassing enough money to purchase a gorgeous Swiss estate in 2001, which Radar is reporting has recently hit the market over 10 years after Harrison’s death.

The truly sad thing about this story is that Harrison bought the house in July 2001 (he was receiving treatment for cancer at a nearby facility), and died a mere four months later at his home in Los Angeles, meaning that Harrison himself had precious little time to enjoy what has to be a breathtaking view of the Swiss Alps. Harrison bought the property for $10 million at the time, but Wetag Consulting, who’s handling the sale, is only revealing the asking price “upon request,” which is a polite way of saying that if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

The Radar article also mentions that along with the Swiss mansion, Harrison had houses in England, Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Australia. Lots of musicians spend their money foolishly (most of them, really), but that sentence alone proves that Harrison clearly had perspective. It was always summer at one of his homes; that is how to live, people.

Anna Webber, Getty Images

2011 found Sting in a retrospective mood, celebrating both his 60th birthday and 25 years as a solo artist. Early indications are that he will continue to follow that same path this year with summer tour dates spotlighting hits from his solo career and the Police.

According to a press release, the former Police bassist will tour North America and Europe this summer. He’ll be accompanied by a five piece band featuring longtime collaborators Dominic Miller (guitar), David Sancious (keyboards), Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), plus Peter Tickell (electric fiddle) and vocalist Jo Lawry.

Three tour dates have been confirmed so far, including St. Louis, Mo. (June 5), Atlanta, Ga. (June 7) and Montreal, Quebec (June 11).

The tantric vocalist is wrapping up the final leg of his current ‘Back to Bass’ tour with two final shows in South Africa on Tuesday and Wednesday.

While the summer tour dates promise a selection of “many of his greatest hits,” Sting won’t completely rest on his laurels as a recording artist. He’ll have at least one bit of new music this year, a version of ‘Deep in the Meadow (Lullaby),’ the musical centerpiece of the red-hot ‘The Hunger Games’ movie. Sting’s rendition of the song was produced by T-Bone Burnett and will be available digitally starting tomorrow.

Hip-O Records

Although known to fans as “the quiet Beatle,” George Harrison left behind a wealth of legendary albums upon his death in 2001. Fans have also been exposed to a number of unreleased demo tracks over the years through unofficial releases, including solo demos recorded in the waning days of the Beatles as he transitioned to working on his debut album, ‘All Things Must Pass.’

Some of those demos, along with other rarities, will see a U.S. release on May 1 with the release of ‘Early Takes Vol. 1,’ a set of ten songs featured in Martin Scorcese’s October 2011 documentary on Harrison, ‘Living In The Material World.’ Both DVD and blu-ray editions of the documentary are due for release on the same day.

Many of these tracks appear similar to those released on the famous Beatle bootleg ‘Beware of ABCKO,’ at least one of which also turned up on the Beatles’ ‘Anthology 3′ release. Harrison’s collaborations with Bob Dylan are also spotlighted, including an early take of their co-written track ‘I’d Have You Anytime’ and Harrison’s demo of Dylan’s ‘Mama You Been On My Mind.’ Rarities from later albums such as ‘Thirty Three and 1/3′ and ‘Living in the Material World’ also appear on the collection.

The set will be available in both vinyl and CD incarnations and should be available for pre-order soon from Amazon. Harrison fans with iPads will also want to check out the singer-songwriter’s guitar collection in the exclusive ‘The Guitar Collection: George Harrison’ app, available through iTunes.

Here’s the track listing for ‘Early Takes’:

1.  My Sweet Lord (demo)
2.  Run Of The Mill (demo)
3.  I’d Have You Any Time (early take)
4.  Mama You’ve Been On My Mind (demo)
5.  Let It Be Me (demo)
6.  Woman Don’t You Cry For Me (early take)
7.  Awaiting On You All (early take)
8.  Behind That Locked Door (demo)
9.  All Things Must Pass (demo)
10. The Light That Has Lighted The World (demo)

Dave Hogan, Getty Images

Today, March 25, marks Elton John‘s 65th birthday. With scores of albums under his bedazzled belt, he’s had an incredibly long and successful career — but which of his early releases is your favorite?

In the past four decades, Elton has sold more than 250 million records and racked up more than 50 Top 40 hits (including the best-selling single of all time, ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’). He’s won six Grammys, an Oscar and a Tony, and his Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised some $200 million for AIDS research since its launch two decades ago.

By anyone’s standards, that’s one hell of a run. But let’s go back — way back — and take a look at his older, more classic material. Yeah, there were lots of hits later on, but we think his first dozen albums had some of his best work.

From 1969′s ‘Empty Sky’ through 1976′s ‘Blue Moves,’ we were treated to Elton at his (arguable) finest with classic tracks like ‘Your Song,’ ‘Bennie and the Jets,’ ‘Daniel’ and the singalong stand-by ‘Tiny Dancer.’ Even still, there were also so many great songs from the era that never made the charts, including ‘Take Me to the Pilot,’ ‘Come Down in Time,’ ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’ and ‘Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.’

As Elton preps his newest release, tell us: which of his earlier albums is your favorite?

Michael Buckner, Getty Images

Touring behind an album that mostly featured other musicians could be a challenge for most bands. In a recent interview, E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren discussed how Bruce Springsteen‘s side men and women are handling the songs from ‘Wrecking Ball‘ on their current tour.

“Already the songs have evolved into more of an E Street Band presentation, but they’re still authentic and true to the spirit of the record,” Lofgren told Billboard. “And they will evolve as the tour goes and becomes more and more our own.”

It’s not just the songs from ‘Wrecking Ball’ that Lofgren is looking forward to performing. “There’s 23 songs from the ‘Darkness’ package (2010′s ‘The Promise’ box set) that are basically unreleased,” he continued. “When you throw that in with the 11 songs on ‘Wrecking Ball’ you’re talking about three and a half hours of new music that we’ve never put into the show.”

Indeed, last night’s (March 23) show in Tampa saw the first song from ‘The Promise’ make its debut. ‘Talk To Me,’ the R&B-flavored potburner that Springsteen gave to friend Southside Johnny for his 1978 album ‘Hearts of Stone, was audibled by the Boss instead of the chestnut ‘Spirit in the Night,’ which appeared on the setlist.

But it was another rarity that had everybody talking. Springsteen performed ‘American Skin (41 Shots),’ his song about the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed Guinean immigrant, by four New York City police officers. The performance was undoubtedly a show of solidarity with those protesting last month’s killing of Trayvor Martin in Sanford, Fla., which is approximately 100 miles from Tampa.

Watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Perform ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ at Madison Square Garden in 2000

Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty Image

On May 8, Glenn Frey of the Eagles will release his first solo album since 1992. To promote ‘After Hours,’ Frey spoke with Rolling Stone, who are always willing to give some high-profile press one of their legacy artists. After a few cursory questions about the new album, which is a collection of standards from the ‘Great American Songbook,’ reporter Andy Greene asked him how, or if, the Eagles are planning to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

In addition to hinting at projects he can’t discuss, Frey said that they are working on a two-DVD history of the Eagles. The documentary will be directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (‘Taxi to the Dark Side,’ ‘The Smartest Guys in the Room’).

As for touring, he said that the band will play a few select dates, including the Jazz Fest in New Orleans on May 5, but a full-scale tour in 2012 will not happen. “This is more of a planning year for us,’ Frey told Greene. “We went through a four-year touring cycle with ‘Long Road Out of Eden,’ and this year we’re playing some places where we’ve never played before.”

However, anything can happen in 2013. “Maybe when September comes around we can sort of look and say, ‘OK. Let’s go out next year and let’s do,’” he continued. “That’s my idea, but whether it happens or not we gotta just wait and see. We just do one year at a time with the band. It seems to be the best way to take everybody’s temperature and see what we’re up for doing each year.”

BrianMay.com

In the section of his official Web site called Bri’s Soapbox, Queen guitarist Brian May writes often about his deep concern for the world’s wildlife.

On March 22, May took to the radio airwaves in South Africa to further explain his animal interests, as well as promote his upcoming performance as part of the Pride of Cape Town event for the Born Free animal foundation.

“I suppose my biggest obsession has become trying to change the world with regard to animals,” said May during an interview with Ryan O’Connor, a DJ in South Africa. May added that music remains his salvation, and he also admitted “it’s not actually a great pleasure to do most of this stuff for animals because most of us wish we didn’t have to do it. … Every animal matters, the same as every human matters.”

May is scheduled to perform March 27 in Cape Town with theater star Kerry Ellis, with whom he’s worked before as producer of her ‘Anthems’ album. The goal of Pride of Cape Town is to raise funds that will be used to continue Born Free’s efforts to save Africa’s endangered lions.

“By creating this amazing art event,” May said in a press release issued earlier this month, “we hope not only to inspire the public but also attract the support of the corporate sector, raising funds to help protect and conserve a species which, across much of Africa, is now in serious trouble.”

Listen to Brian May’s March 22 Interview with Ryan O’Connor

SyFy

In the promo reel for the upcoming ‘Battlestar Galactica: Blood And Chrome’ movie, Led Zeppelin is once again taken for a ride into the future courtesy of Karen O and Trent Reznor.

The electronic-based cover of the Zep classic is the brainchild of Reznor and features the vocals of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer. The cover was previously used in the trailer to another film, last year’s hit ‘Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,’ which features a score composed by the Nine Inch Nails mastermind.

The music of Led Zeppelin, or more to the point, other artists interpretations of Zep music has been making the rounds in film as of of late. One of this year’s biggest flops, ‘John Carter,’ used an orchestral-based cover of ‘Kashmir’ by the Australian/British string quartet Bond. The strains of the seductive Zep tune hasn’t helped ticket sales as Disney is predicting a 200 million dollar loss for the sci-fi adventure.

Watch the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Trailer Featuring ‘Immigrant Song’

Courtesy of Lawrence Kirsch

The City of Brotherly Love is like an adopted (and geographically nearby) home for Bruce Springsteen. Jersey’s favorite son has a long and storied history with (the streets of) Philadelphia and now, the Springsteen Memories Roadshow is making its first pit stop in Philly on April 21.

Curated by Springsteen mag/site Backstreets and author Lawrence Kirsch, fans are invited to visit the National Constitution Center’s exhibit of all things Springsteen during the day and then continue to celebrate and party the night away at McFadden’s at Citizen’s Bank Park, home to the Phillies.

Admission is free, although special incentives are offered for advance registrants. If you register early, you will receive a discount of $3 per ticket to the National Constitution Center exhibit and a 20 percent dinner discount at McFadden’s.

Donations are encouraged on site for two Springsteen-supported charities: Philabundance, a hunger relief group, and the Kristen Ann Carr Fund, which researches sarcoma cancers. Additionally, fans are asked to bring any and all Springsteen mementos, including photos, t-shirts, posters, ticket stubs and most importantly, memories.

Local photographer Art Reilly, who has long shot Springsteen, will be on hand. Kirsch, who authored ‘For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen’s Legendary Fans,’ will also be available to sell and sign his limited edition book ‘The Light in Darkness,’ which serves as an unofficial companion volume to ‘The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story.’

Brian Bahr, Getty Images

The ongoing sessions for a new album and the occasional dramatic moment won’t keep Aerosmith away from their natural habitat – the concert stage. The legendary Boston rockers have reportedly confirmed their first North American tour date for 2012.

WFJA reports that the band will be the headlining act at the Freshwater Suzuki Salmon Festival in Newfoundland, Canada on July 14. Aerosmith will anchor the bill of musical entertainment that will also feature Cheap Trick as the band’s official opener, with Uncle Kracker also set to perform at the festival.

Aero frontman Steven Tyler previously confirmed that the band would be on the road this summer with tour dates starting on June 18, which gives Tyler plenty of time to wrap up his current ‘American Idol’ commitments.

New music from the band will appear in the form of ‘Legendary Child,’ a ‘Get a Grip’-era outtake that has been retooled for the June 29 soundtrack release of ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ and also will likely be on the new Aerosmith LP.

Whether ‘Legendary’ will make it into the setlist for the summer shows remains to be seen, but it would certainly be nice to hear something new to preview that long-awaited album, which is being produced by Jack Douglas.

With their comments on the material currently in the works for that new album, Aerosmith is giving fans plenty to look forward to. Guitarist Joe Perry recently said that it “definitely has a feel like some of the early stuff,’ which he said is a direct response to constantly hearing the request from the masses for music that sounds like the “old stuff.”

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

As we alluded in our previous update, Paul McCartney’s 1971 ‘Ram’ will be expanded in a big way with releases in several different formats, including a deluxe edition that will be available as a massive five disc set.

Superdeluxeedition reports that the upgraded ‘Ram’ will be released on May 22 in the U.S. (which matches the Amazon listing for the product), with a U.K. release coming around that same time.

McCartney will preview the contents of the release on Record Store Day with a reproduction of the 1971 ‘Another Day’ single,  but that’s just the smallest taste of what you can look forward to when the full reissue lands in May.

The deluxe edition box set will of course have a fresh remaster of the album, accompanied by a 128 page linen-bound book, similar to the other recent McCartney reissues. Several different art prints, photos of McCartney’s original lyric sheets and alternate shots from the cover photo sessions will also be included.

The second bonus disc adds 8 tracks covering outtakes from the period, b-sides and non-album tracks. Among those bonus tracks will be ‘A Love For You,’ which was previously only available on the soundtrack for ‘The In-Laws.’ The contents of the disc don’t appear to clear the vaults of the material reportedly recorded during the ‘Ram’ sessions, but it presents a hefty chunk.

Disc three presents the mono mix of ‘Ram’ (the audiophiles are starting to salivate now) which was available as a not-for-sale promo when ‘Ram’ was originally released. This will be the first commercial issue of the mono mixes, which have been heavily sought by both fans and collectors for years.

The fourth disc brings ‘Thrillington,’ an instrumental version of the ‘Ram’ material, released for the first time ever as a Paul McCartney release. Previous editions released were attributed to the alias of Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington.

A DVD will be the fifth disc rounding out the set and it appears that it will include home movie footage set to ‘Ram’ tracks as well as a brand-new documentary, “Ramming” narrated by Paul, and the original music videos for “Heart Of The Country” and “3 Legs. All audio will also be available as both high resolution and normal downloads.

McCartney will get his own tribute with an upcoming album featuring an interesting assortment of artists presenting their own versions of McCartney’s work with the Beatles, Wings and as a solo artist. Alice Cooper, Billy Joel, Kiss and Steve Miller are just a few of the names set to tackle McCartney’s music.

Mercury Records

In the ‘80s, Def Leppard had one of the most successful albums of the decade with their bombastic 1987 release ‘Hysteria,’ which featured a hefty seven hit singles that charted from the album. As the album marks its 25th anniversary, guitarist Phil Collen told Ultimate Classic Rock how ‘Hysteria’ finally saw the light after the band faced a series of obstacles and an abortive attempt at working with Meat Loaf’s ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ producer Jim Steinman.

The sessions with Steinman came about as a result of normal Def Leppard producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange being unavailable to produce ‘Hysteria.’ Lange was wrapped up working on ‘Heartbeat City’ by the Cars and brainstorming potential replacement producers brought a flurry of possible choices, including Phil Collins of Genesis, believe it or not.

Collen says the band went with Steinman, because he was the only producer name out there “who we’d kind of heard of,” but unfortunately, the pairing didn’t produce the desired results.

“Song-wise, he didn’t really get what we were trying to get and we were so inexperienced we didn’t really didn’t know how to do it [ourselves]. Obviously now it’s a totally different story – you know, I do this stuff on my laptop. [But] even the sound of the band, he didn’t quite get what we were going for.”

Eventually, Mutt came back into the picture. Having written the songs for ‘Hysteria’ with the band in the early days prior to the Steinman sessions, he had a definite game plan in mind for where he wanted to do with the album, aiming for a rock/pop hybrid sound that would become his signature sound (later used to great success with the music of Shania Twain). With Mutt on board, things began to move.

“When we reconnected with Mutt, the album went pretty quickly. We got the stuff done, we were getting that sound, it was very inspiring. We got all of that together in probably about nine months or a year. We were just dicking around before that and not really getting far. So that’s really the reason that it didn’t work out with Steinman really, is because he wasn’t really the guy to be doing it.”

Something that’s very evident from hearing the final product is that Lange pushed the band creatively.

“He’d always be getting me to play things or sing things I couldn’t actually do. ‘You gotta play this chord’ and I go ‘that note is the other end of the fretboard,’ [and he’d say] ‘yeah, just stretch your finger out’ and you’d try this and you’d go ‘f-ck!’ and it sounds great. So there was always that, pushing that thing and there was no excuse, you just tried it and it usually sounded amazing.”

“There was some stuff, he’d say ‘let’s try to take it this direction’ and then it wouldn’t work and then we’d just go back and do something else. So there was always something flowing and I think that was the thing, it was never a dull moment, it was always very, very exciting and just like a learning curve as well. Because most people aren’t that open-minded, they wouldn’t suggest the things that he would be saying.”

In the end, Lange had not only the right ideas creatively, but he also had incredible precision, when it came to forecasting future success for the album.

“He said from the get go, we’re going to have a rock album, but we’re going to have seven hit singles off it and that’s actually how it ended up. We had seven singles and they were all pretty much a hit somewhere and it was great.”

Collen recently stopped by the Ultimate Classic Rock offices to talk about Def Leppard and his own project Manraze. He performed the classic title track from ‘Hysteria’ during his visit which you can watch via this link.

Brad Barket, Getty Images

It was performance night last night (March 21) on ‘American Idol,’ and the contestants sang tunes from the Billy Joel songbook. But since so many kids these days don’t seem to even know who the Beatles are, how many will actually be familiar with him? We shall see.

Also, not to give away too much, but Steven Tyler seems ready to shed his “nice” label and become the bastard his Aerosmith bandmates claim he is.

Steven, who’s sung with Billy, opened the show by saying, “If you can’t sing Billy Joel, you can’t sing at all,” adding that Joel’s melodies are amazing and he’s an “American icon.” In other words, kids, don’t mess too much with perfection or you will feel Steven’s wrath.

Producer Jimmy Iovine shared mentoring duties with Puff Daddy or Diddy or whatever it is he’s calling himself this week, who wasn’t there as a Joel authority but rather as the expert he inarguably is on performance and what superstars are made of.

The kids all had consults with the show’s new style guru, Tommy Hilfiger, who certainly has his work cut out for him with this bunch. Some contestants took his advice a little bit and some not at all, but others listened to the point where they’re now almost unrecognizable.

In fact, Erika not only had her long hair cut super-short, she went from blonde to pitch black. It looks great, but those of us with long blonde hair flinched involuntarily when the stylist got busy with the scissors and dye.

Oh, and there was singing, too. As usual, the performances were all over the place — good, bad, and somewhere in between. But nevermind all that. Let’s get to Steven’s semi-harsh words.

It started when this season’s resident jokester, Heejun (who was charming for about a minute a couple weeks ago but that’s over now), screwed around with the mentors, the stylists, and the song ‘My Life.’ By the time he was done treating his whole performance as an improv comedy routine, Steven, who had been staring unhappily the whole time, had a few things to say.

“Are you happy that you took the piss out of that song?” he asked Heejun, before sarcastically continuing, “You showed em, you told em. I’m glad you did, I hope it made you feel good inside. But they were right, the music business will kick your ass. At some point you’ve got to try and take it more serious.”

We don’t disagree with Steven at all, but when Joshua turned the quietly lovely ‘She’s Got a Way’ into a screamy gospel gig, Steven was robbed of the chance to eviscerate him too. Turns out he simply never heard the song before (which seems unreal for someone who claims to be such a fan), so we yelled at the TV in his stead.

Oof. Painful. See you Thursday night for the results show.

Watch Steven Tyler Shred Heejun Han on ‘American Idol’

YouTube

10 different songs by Billy Joel were performed on ‘American Idol’ tonight (March 21) — one by each of the remaining contestants on the Steven Tyler-judged singing competition.

Granted, we’re not the target audience for this program, and yes, some of these kids can sing, and sure, we’re sounding like a broken record running their taste and style down each and every week. But, we’d rather listen to a broken record than to hear any of those performances again.

Quite simply, watching kids who for the most part seem to have only a passing knowledge of Joel’s music rush to learn one of his songs in rehearsals — then add their own shopping mall / pop radio mentality to the proceedings — didn’t give us a lot of reason to expect anything great in the actual live performances.

If only there was some experienced mentor to guide these young hopefuls by the hand. Oh, wait, we forgot to mention that ‘Idol’ did in fact choose a big music star to do just that very job. But don’t get your hopes up because it was Sean Combs / Puff Daddy / P. Diddy / Diddy. (What, they couldn’t get Lil’ Wayne?) Most of his advice seemed to be of the fortune cookie variety.

‘New York State of Mind,’ ‘Movin’ Out,’ ‘Shameless’ and of course, ‘Piano Man’ were among the Joel songs interpreted on this program, but we think a quick viewing of DeAndre Brackensick’s overly peppy reading of “Only The Good Die Young” will show you most of what you need to know about the evening:

DeAndre Brackensick Performs ‘Only the Good Die Young’

Concord Music

Rock and Roll hall of famer, guitar legend, and all around funny guy Joe Walsh is back with his first new solo recordings in two decades!

The first single from the album is the title cut, ‘Analog Man,’ which finds the irrepressible Walsh contemplating life in the 21st century.

“I’m an analog man in a digital world / I’m gonna get me an analog girl” he proudly states in the song’s extremely catchy and repeatable chorus.

“I decided to call it ‘Analog Man’ because my generation of musicians, we grew up analog. And now it’s a digital world, and we had to learn it, you know? Everything’s totally different” he told Ultimate Classic Rock in an interview late last year.

The album was produced by Move, Traveling Wilbury, and ELO pilot Jeff Lynne, so it does that have that certain, shall we say, “Lynne-e-ear” gloss to it. The no-frills drum beat, the driving acoustic guitar and the overall radio friendly sterility that feature on most of Lynne’s recordings from Roy Orbison to Tom Petty and George Harrison are present.  Despite that, Walsh’s raw guitar manages to cut through loud and proud.

The song is very catchy and is sure to please Walsh fans the world over. The album will be released June 5 on the Fantasy/Concord label and features Walsh’s brother in law on drums…some guy named Ringo Starr, maybe you’ve heard of him?

Ironically, the album was not recorded in analog, but was done all digital. As to if it will be available on vinyl as well as CD, there is no word yet, but according to another lyric in the song, Walsh probably hopes it will find it’s way to the wax platter format. “What’s wrong with vinyl I think it sounds great / LP’s, 45′s, 78′s, but that’s just the way I am.”

Listen to ‘Analog Man’ by Joe Walsh

Jason Merritt, Getty Images

We’ve known for awhile that Paul McCartney would be continuing his series of catalog reissues with a deluxe version of 1971′s ‘Ram,’ but now details are starting to surface regarding the release — and we could see the results on store shelves before summer.

McCartney certainly seems to be in a nostalgic frame of mind these days: he’s offering a reproduction of his 1971 single ‘Another Day/Oh Woman, Oh Why’ on 7″ vinyl for this year’s Record Store Day event on April 21. And according to a report at the Second Disc, the official label information reads, “this exclusive reissue single is taken from the forthcoming Paul McCartney Archive Collection edition of ‘Ram’ coming this spring!”

According to another report, we can expect to see the ‘Ram’ reissue as soon as May — and it looks like it’ll come in a variety of configurations, including an “ultra deluxe edition” that could conceivably pack in even more material than the “three-CD, one-DVD set that has been in the works for over a year.”

That’s a heck of a lot more content than McCartney fans were treated to with the 1993 ‘Ram’ reissue, which tacked on ‘Another Day’ and ‘Oh Woman, Oh Why’ as bonus tracks. Have you been waiting for an “ultra deluxe” ‘Ram’ — and if so, what are you hoping to hear (and see) in this package?

Glass Onyon PR

Over the past year, Yes fans have been looking forward to a proposed project from former vocalist Jon Anderson that would reunite him with his ‘90125’ Yes-mate Trevor Rabin and famed former Yes keyboard legend Rick Wakeman.  Unfortunately, as Anderson tells Ultimate Classic Rock, the grouping has been put on hold.

“We did some songs last year, and Trevor had some things going on in his life that he had to sort out, you know, family things and he gets very, very tied up in his music for movies, so we just found it hard to collectively get together. And Rick’s got so many things that he’s doing in England. He has TV shows and radio shows. So eventually, it will happen. You keep the door open and hope that it will happen.”

Wakeman and Anderson have worked together in the time since Anderson departed from Yes. They recorded a well-received album together called ‘The Living Tree,’ which was followed by a tour featuring songs from the album in addition to Yes favorites. A live CD was released from this trek, and Anderson says the pair are going to continue their collaboration with more new music.

“We’re actually writing some new music next month. He sent a couple of things last week. We’re still creating, we’re still talking about touring later in the year or the beginning of next year, so we’re in touch.”

The Anderson/Wakeman duo played primarily East Coast dates in the U.S. previously and they’re now talking about possible West Coast U.S. tour dates for January and February of next year.

Anderson is the featured vocalist on a new single from Italian composer/producer Marco Sabiu called ‘Limitless Lives,’ which recently went on sale as a digital download. The pair were brought together by a mutual friend, and Anderson says that the collaboration happened fairly easily.

“He sent an MP3 and within a couple of hours I’d sang the song, the melodies and the lyric and everything and Marco said ‘it’s called “Limitless”’  and I said ‘that’s good, I like that, the idea that we are limitless human beings and we shouldn’t limit our lives at all.’”

With the single currently charting in Italy, Sabiu is hopeful that he and Anderson can do further work together. Anderson says that the pair are “talking about getting together in the summer” and adds that “maybe we’ll get together and write some more songs and tour,” including a possible visit to Italy.

The FW

Freddie Mercury of Queen and Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead are among the celebrities to endure (or benefit from, depending on your perspective) the “Mustache Eyebrow” treatment from the FW.

What’s the Mustache Eyebrow treatment, you ask? Well, it is as simple as it sounds; take a photograph of a mustached celebrity, flip that crumb collector over on its backside, and affix it over the person’s peepers to create bold new eyebrows.

This daring digital facial adornment follows closely on the heels of such photographic series as Hot Chicks with No Eyebrows and Celebs with No Eyebrows. The treatment makes a dramatic difference on departed Queen frontman Mercury — as you can see from the picture above, he’s almost hard to recognize.

Lemmy, on the other hand, has a one-of-a-kind face that’s weathered far worse than even the most powerful version of Photoshop can dish out. Heck, it might even take his Motorhead bandmates a few days to notice anything’s new! Be sure to check out the FW’s complete gallery of Celebrity Mustache Eyebrows to see how big-time stars Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Justin Bieber look with extra facial hair!

See More Celebrities with Mustache Eyebrows