Upcoming music releases this week

Artist	Album	Label
A Gruesome Find	Minions Engage	CrashMusic
Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill Acoustic	Maverick
Angela Johnson	Got to Let It Go	Purpose
Angelville	We Are the Wolves	HappyCouples Never
Antimatter	Planetary Confinement	The End
Arch Enemy	Doomsday Machine	Century Media
Barcode	Showdown	Nuclear Blast America
Black Cobra	Abode of the Dead	Cyclop Media
Bleed the Dream	Awake	Adrenaline
Bleed the Dream	Awake	Adrenaline
Blessing the Hogs	12 Gauge Solution	Goodfellow
Bob Mould	Body of Song	Yep Roc
Bob Mould	Body of Song [Deluxe Edition]	Yep Roc
Bobby Goldsboro	Country Legends	Brentwood
Bonnie Prince Billy/Matt Sweeney	I Gave You	Drag City
Boondogs	Fever Dreams	Max Recordings
Boys Night Out	Trainwreck	Ferret
Bratz	Rock Angelz	Hip-O
Brian Setzer	Rockabilly Riot, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Sun Records	Surf Dog (Ada)
Buck-Tick	Juusan-Kai Wa Gekkou	BMG International
Buck-Tick	Juusan-Kai Wa Gekkou	BMG International
Caliban/Heaven Shall Burn	Split Program, Vol. 2	Lifeforce
Carnival in Coal	Collection Prestige	Earache
Catherine McKinnon	Everybody's Talkin'	Unidisc
Catherine McKinnon	Voice of an Angel, Vol. 2	Unidisc
Catherine McKinnon	Something Old Something New	Unidisc
Catherine McKinnon	Voice of an Angel	Unidisc
Catherine McKinnon	Both Sides Now	Unidisc
Cher	Gold	Geffen
Chiodos	All's Well That Ends Well	Equal Vision
Chris de Burgh	Live in Dortmund	SPV UK
Chris Whitley	Soft Dangeous Shores	Messenger
Cornell Dupree	Saturday Night Fever	Unidisc
Cru Jones	Roadside View	Undecided
Cynthia	All the Hits	Warlock
Danny Federici	Out of a Dream	V2
Del Shannon	Drop Down and Get Me	Unidisc
Del Shannon	Handy Man	Unidisc
Del Shannon	Little Town Flirt	Unidisc
Del Shannon	Hats Off to Larry	Unidisc
Del Shannon	Sings Hank Williams	Unidisc
Denison Witmer	Are You a Dreamer?	Militia
DJ Williams Projekt	Projekt Management	Harmonized
Dope	American Apathy	Artemis
Dope	American Apathy	Artemis
Elle	Paradisiaque	Fran Canada
Evil Queens	First It Boils, Then It Spills	Addison
Excepter	Throne	Load
Excepter	Throne	Load
Fear My Thoughts	Hell Sweet Hell	Lifeforce
Fight Paris	Paradise, Found	Trustkill
Flotsam & Jetsam	Dreams of Death	Crash Music
Fordirelifesake	Daydream Disaster	Thorp
Fruit Bats	Spelled in Bones	Sub Pop
Ganesh	Club 21	Scenario
Gary Higgins	Red Hash	Drag City
Gene Dunlap	Peaceful Days	215
Gene Vincent	Boppin' With Gene Vincent	Blaricum
Generation X	Kiss Me Deadly [UK Bonus Tracks]	EMI
Gentle Giant	Live in New York	Glass House [VCP]
Geoff Byrd	Shrinking Violets	Granite
Glass Candy	Iko Iko	Troubleman Unlimited
Glenn Tilbrook	Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook [Japan Bonus Tracks]	3d Japan
Goat	All of My Friends	Lightyear
Goat	All of My Friends	Lightyear
Goldrush	Ozona	Better Looking
Hanson	Underneath [Bonus Tracks & DVD]	Big
Happy Mondays	Greatest Hits	Universal International
Hazel O'Connor	Hidden Heart	Invisible Hands
Helicopter Girl	Voodoo Chic	Robbins
Hunka Munka	Hunka Munka/Dedicato	BMG International
Ian Brown	Unfinished Monkey Business [Bonus Tracks]	Koch
Ian Brown	Golden Greats [Bonus Tracks]	Koch
Ian Brown	Music of Spheres [Bonus Tracks]	Koch
Integrity	Silver in the Hands of Time	Good Life
Isis	Oceanic [Bonus Track]	3d Japan
J.E.T.	Fede Speranza Carita	BMG International
Jason Mraz	Mr. A-Z	Atlantic
Jerry Cole & The Spacemen	Outer Limits	Sundazed
Jimmy Cavallo	Rock the Joint! The Jimmy Cavallo Collection 1951-	Blue Wave
Joan Armatrading	Gold	A&M
Joe Strummer	Walker [Bonus Tracks]	Astralwerks
Johnny Warman	Hour Glass [Bonus Tracks]	Angel Air
Jose Padilla	Man Ray, Vol. 4	Wagram
Keith LeBlanc	Stop the Confusion: Global Interference	Collision Cause Chap
Kevin Tihista	Home Demons, Vol. 1	Parasol
Kids Like Us	Outta Control	Eulogy
King Elementary	Kudzu	Terminus
Know the Score	One Hell of a Fight	Goodbye Blue Skies
Limp Bizkit	Limp Bizkit [Germany EP]	Universal International
Marlon Saunders	Groove So Deep	Black Honey
Mazarin	We're Already There	I and Ear
Mecca Bodega	Skin	Harmonized
Mental Care Foundation	Alcohol Anthems	Crash Music
Mindgrinder	Riot Detonator	Candlelight
Mink DeVille	Coup de Grace	DBK Works
Modern Man	Modern Man	Unidisc
Mon Frere	Real Vampires	Cake
Moonbabies	War on Sound	Hidden Agenda
MoZella	MoZella	Maverick
Natalie Imbruglia	Shiver	BMG International
Nations by the River	Holes in the Valley	Astralwerks
Nattefrost	Terrorist (Nekronaut, Pt. 1)	Season Mist America
Nerina Pallot	Fires	Idaho UK
Nevermore	This Godless Endeavor	Century Media
Norman Finkelstein	Issue of Justice: The Origins of the Isreal/Pal	Alternative Tentacles
Odiorne	Heavy Wish	File 13
Outspoken	Spotlight	Indecision
P.H.O.B.O.S.	Tectonics	Candlelight
Paramore	All We Know Is Falling	Fueled by Ramen
Patsy Gallant	Take Another Look	Unidisc
Perfect Murder	Strength Through Vengeance	Victory
Peter Pringle	Jeu de l'Amour	Unidisc
Pillory	No Lifeguard at the Gene Pool	Unique
Plow United	Goodnight Sellout	Blackout
Plow United	Narcolepsy	Blackout
Poverty Plainsmen	Lap of Luxury	Royalty
Premiata Forneria Marconi	Jet Lag	BMG International
Rahim	Jungles	French Kiss
Reel Big Fish	Favorite Noise: Best Of	BMG International
Reel Big Fish	Why Do They Rock So Hard [Bonus Track]	BMG International
Reel Big Fish	Cheer Up! [Bonus Track]	BMG International
Renee Geyer	Tonight	Abc Music
Rhonda Vincent	Written in the Stars	Koch
Robert Deeble	This Bar Has No One Left	Fractured Discs
Rod Stewart	Gold	Mercury
Roger Waters	Radio K.A.O.S.	Sony Japan
Ronnie Dove	Greatest Hits	Collectables
Ronnie Hawkins	Hawks & Rock Live in UK 1982	Unidisc
Roy Orbison	Celtic Christmas	Eagle
Saint Vitus	Live	Southern Lord
Salt Peter	NaNO3	United One
Sara Valenzuela	Lado Este	Nacional
Screeching Weasel	Kill the Musicians	Asian Man
Serge Gainsbourg	Love and the Beat	Universal International
Shawn Desman	Back for More	BMG International
Silversun Pickups	Pikul	Dangerbird
Small Towns Burn a Little Slower	Mortality as Home Entertainment	Triple Crown
Sons and Daughters	Dance Me In	Domino
Space Vacuum from Outer Space	Starcade	Dionysus
Stardust	Stardust	Unidisc
Stephen Bruton	From the Five	New West
Summer Lawns	First We Waited Then It Started	Isidore
T.M. Revolution	Vertical Infinity	Tofu
Tanita Tikaram	Sentimental	Naive China
Teenage Head	Frantic City	Unidisc
Ten in the Swear Jar	Accordion Solo	Asian Man
The Cherry Valence	CTV3	Bifocal Media
The Church	Momento Descuidado	Cooking Vinyl
The Commercials vs Shadow Agency	Split EP	Blackout
The Concretes	Layourbattleaxedown	Astralwerks
The Crimea	Tragedy Rocks	Warner Bros.
The Crimea	Tragedy Rocks	Warner Bros.
The Dying Light	Killing Plan	Willowtip
The Everly Brothers	Wake Up Little Susie: Greatest Hits [Woodford Musi	Woodford Music
The Flamin' Groovies	Shake Some Action	DBK Works
The Futureheads	Futureheads [Japan Bonus Tracks]	Wea Japan
The Go! Team	Thunder, Lightning, Strike	Memphis Industries
The Guess Who	All This for a Song	Unidisc
The Guess Who	Guess Who's Back	Unidisc
The High Dials	War of the Wakening Phantoms	Rainbow Quartz
The Korgis	Kollection [Bonus Tracks]	Angel Air
The Latin Pimps	Me Voy	Basement Front
The Minor Times	Making Enemies	Razor & Tie
The Stuff	Pick It Up, Pig Boy	Big
The Travellers	This Land	Unidisc
The Travellers	Applaud Canada	Unidisc
The Travellers	Century of Song	Unidisc
The Who	Who Sings My Generation	Sony International
Thee Minks	Are You Ready Now	Steel Cage
Traffic	Gold	Island
Turbonegro	Party Animals [Sweden Bonus DVD]	Burning Heart
Turbonegro	Party Animals	Burning Heart
Unni Wilhelmsen	Hurricane's Eye	Big
Various Artists	Forever 90s	Razor & Tie
Various Artists	I Love Guitar Wolf: Very Much	Narnack
Various Artists	Lost Legends of Surf Guitar: Shockwave	Sundazed
Various Artists	Doo Wop 45's on CD, Vol. 16	Collectables
Various Artists	Doo Wop 45's on CD, Vol. 15	Collectables
Various Artists	Doo Wop 45's on CD, Vol. 14	Collectables
Various Artists	Doo Wop 45's on CD, Vol. 13	Collectables
Various Artists	JJJ: Like a Version	Abc Music
Various Artists	Hits from the 60's, Vol. 2	Woodford Music
Various Artists	Hits from the 70's, Vol. 4	Woodford Music
Various Artists	Hits from the 60's, Vol. 4	Woodford Music
Various Artists	Hits from the 60's, Vol. 3	Woodford Music
Various Artists	Hits from the 60's, Vol. 1	Woodford Music
Various Artists	Massive Party Hits	Time Life
Various Artists	Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box	Rhino
Various Artists	Power Ballads Gold	Hip-O
Various Artists	Absolutely the Best of the 70's, Vol. 2	Fuel 2000
Various Artists	Best of the 60's: Oh! What a Night/Love...	Brentwood
Veda	Weight of an Empty Room	Second Nature
Weezer	Beverly Hills [Japan]	Universal Japan
Witchcraft	Firewood	Candlelight
Xysma	Lotto/Girl on the Beach	Candlelight
Yngwie Malmsteen	Unleash the Fury	Spitfire
Yoko Utsumi	Yoko Utsumi	Asian Man

What is it about rock music that makes us love it?

I love the energy, the grittyness of rock - with moderation; I'm no fan of death metal, for example, though it has loads of energy. Rock's rarely as smooth as dance music, it's got more energy than elbow-like indie. I prefer the format of rock to pop, dance and all that; a band, onstage, playing music, and perhaps going a bit wild too. No dancing, no preset choreography, none of that. The emphasis is on the music and on the release of energy, aggression, basically testosterone through guitars, drums, and maybe a few other instruments like a keyboard to make the medicine go down

i also like the fact that rock artists are often talented enough to do acoustic or very calm, ballad-like songs; you get both in Stairway to Heaven, for example, with a ballad up to half way and then the outburst after that.

i like the rawness of the music.. being able to hear each seperate instrument making up the song. I like the fact that rock bands make the music that they want to make. I like the experimentation. there is no limits... they dont have to follow guidelines to please anyone else, the music that comes out is 100% theirs. I like how bands dont follow the basic song structure... how every song can be completely different, and 20 minute songs are nothing out of the ordinary. I love the live music scene... the passion of live shows, the friendliness of the fans and bands, and the closeness of local gig. i like the fact that just a normal fan like me can arrange for my favourite bands to play in my town. Rock and all surrounding genres (indie, metal, punk etc) is just real music played by normal people.

Josh Homme (QOTSA frontman) explains why Nick Oliveri was sacked

Interviewed live on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show last night (Wednesday 6th July), Josh Homme finally delivered an answer to the army of Queens Of The Stone Age fans demanding to know why wild guitarist Nick Oliveri was sacked last year: Nick had been beating his girlfriend.

Josh decided this was the final straw. Until now, rumours abounded that Nick was just too much of a party animal, that he was a heroin addict, or that he had got sacked for throwing bottles at crowds in packed venues during their sellout gigs.

As I will be pointing out on a great site for rock music, I find the reaction to this news - that it's a 'shock revelation' - pretty surprising. After all, we rock music lovers tolerate all sorts of affronts to the law, encourage them too - especially the use of drugs. From the moment we willingly, knowingly place ourselves above the law in one place, why should examples of the line being crossed in other places surprise us?

And it's not like us rock fans are strangers to mental instability and the violence it causes, either! We value songs about suicidal tendencies; so is it right for us to be so surprised when someone loses their nut and beats their partner?