Not trying to give you a hard time but if you're buying "uncensored" albums, what's the point in getting them elsewhere? Did you mean "censored"? Thing is, if you're buying something at Wal-Mart you don't know what you're getting since they don't label it as being censored. I meant to concur with you on the Best Buy thing as far as locale. In my area the stock is usually pretty low since it's a small town. Even in larger towns where they have more stock, I still see mostly greatest hits compilations and not an artists' entire catalog to chose from. As for FYE, I almost never buy anything from them unless it's from their used selections since they very rarely have anything on sale. Most of the time when I'm in there the price is usually $17.98 and up.

Although I don't always have a lot of choice, I do try to be conscientious of where I spend my money since shopping at the big boxes does have an adverse effect on the struggling indie stores. In most cases the big box stores will not have what I'm looking for so I order through Schoolkids Records in Raleigh. This doesn't require a credit card and you're not even required to buy your selection once it arrives. As for Wal-Mart, I do have to shop there sometimes but largely avoid it, especially when it comes to music purchases since they sell censored product (that in most cases is unlabeled as such).

Even though I find myself having to shop there sometimes one of the biggest problems with places like Best Buy (besides them helping to put indies out of business) is their complete lack of stock. Usually they only have greatest hits collections and not the deep back catalogs of artists you can find in actual record stores (and/or online). According to what I've been reading even Best Buy (as well as Circuit City and other "big box" stores) will soon be reducing their CD sections (if they haven't already) to make way for more DVDs and video games.

I've seen a few concerts there over the years. In addition to Van Halen (which nearly erupted into a riot) I saw: Grateful Dead w/ Bruce Hornsby & the Range July 10th, 1990 Rolling Stones w/ Lenny Kravitz Voodoo Lounge Tour September 7th, 1994

Duran Duran Wednesday, May 21st Koka Booth Amphitheatre Cary, NC The things we do for love...

With all due respect, it's not like Best Buy is the only place to find Gram/Burrito Brothers stuff. I definitely understand them sometimes being the only game in town but whenever possible I try to support the indies. Not to mention Gram Parson and the Flying Burrito Brothers Archive, Vol. 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969 was released on Amoeba Records, one of the best (and biggest) record stores in the world. If interested, you can read more about it here.

Then on Monday, it was Van Halen at the RBC Center in Raleigh. First time I'd seen them since they played with Poco, Boston and the Outlaws way back in '79 when they all performed at June Jam at Carter-Finley Stadium (also in Raleigh).

Various Artists Sin City Social Club Volume 8 (no artwork available)

Updated version of the Van Halen parody "Slump" that ran in the online version of the Raleigh, NC News & Observer several months ago: Van Halen at the RBC Center

I've heard they're still good live but the only original member left is the lead singer. They were through my neck of the woods a year or so ago but I wasn't about to fork over 30 bucks to see a shadow of what once was.

Do you mean the hair, the clothing or both? I honestly don't get "Elvis" out of either one.

I don't mind Hagar and some of his outside work and even like a good deal of what he did with Van Halen but I prefer Roth in the VH lineup. Sammy may have taken them to the top of the charts but it was on the strength of pussy ass power ballads that definitely didn't fit Van Halen's character. I also lost a great deal of respect for Aerosmith when they took the same route. I love You See Me Crying but there's a huge difference between that and the sell out big movie ballads and shit they did for MTV.

Wasn't the 2004 version with Sammy? I don't expect VH circa '79. Hell, even then I thought every song sounded alike live. I always got the impression if they ever reunited with Dave that it would be a trainwreck or a bloodbath (or both). That it's nothing like that is what I've been most impressed by.

Have you seen any shows on this current tour? Provided they don't cancel or reschedule again I'll be seeing them Monday night for the first time since June of 1979.

Three new Neil Young titles are being made available on vinyl. Click here for more info.

I think they were referring to the live version of Freebird from One More From the Road.

AC/DC with Brian Johnson and Van Halen with Sammy Hagar were both more successful commercially with those line ups but I'll take AC/DC with Bon Scott and Van Halen with David Lee Roth over those line ups any day of the week.

From Billboard.com: Weiland Recording Solo CD With Steve Albini Stone Temple Pilots Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland is recording his second solo album with famed indie rock producer Steve Albini and plans to release it in November. Ex-Velvet Revolver vocalist Weiland broke the news earlier this week on "The Howard Stern Show," during which No Doubt drummer Adrian Young called in to reveal he is also participating on the project. According to Weiland's publicist, the as-yet-untitled solo set will be released on Weiland's Soft Drive label, with distribution through RED/Sony. It is unknown if Weiland's previously recorded collaboration with producer Pharrell Williams, "Happy," will appear on the album. Weiland's solo debut, "12 Bar Blues," was released in 1998. "My music is a little bit different, obviously, than Velvet Revolver music," Weiland told Billboard in late 2006, when he proclaimed the solo album to be "three-quarters done." "It's a little bit more on the esoteric side." As previously reported, Stone Temple Pilots will embark on an extensive reunion tour May 17 at Columbus, Ohio,'s Rock on the Range festival, and have tentative plans to hit the studio later this year.

They also played Jason Bonham's wedding and the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary concert.

Johnny Van Zant is the lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd and has been since they reunited for the Tribute Tour in 1987 ten years after the plane crash. Ronnie Van Zant wasn't the only one to die in the plane crash. Steve Gaines and his sister Cassie Gaines also died (along with their manager Dean Kilpatrick and both pilots). They apparently went through some ideas for other names for the band once they decided to regroup but stuck with Lynyrd Skynyrd. There's also a lot of legal things tied in with their use of the name that is far too much to go into here (that info is readily available online if you wish to know more). In regards to Led Zeppelin carrying on under that name without John Bonham, it goes against the press release they put out after Bonham's death but Lynyrd Skynyrd also said they didn't see the band continuing without Van Zant. Many, many bands have carried on without key members but very few (if any) of them are as good as their original incarnations.

I actually enjoyed Walk Hard and found the vast majority of it very funny. Though it probably helps if you've seen most every music related bio pic that's been made in the last 30 years or so.

.38 Special are still around. Allen Collins was never a member but .38 Special bassist Larry Junstrom played on Skynyrd's first album (Skynyrd's First not to be confused with Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd) (along with Medlocke). However, when Rossington and Collins formed The Rossington-Collins Band they recruited Dale Krantz from .38 Special on the strength of her background vocals.

Allen Collins passed away on January 23, 1990. Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot was in Skynyrd very briefly but has never been considered a founding member of the band. The only original members left at this point are Gary Rossington and Billy Powell. If you have never seen Skynyrd I would recommend seeing them while you still can. I never got to see the original (pre-crash) version of the band but did get to see the Tribute Tour and several other shows after that. All I'm saying is, I'd never confuse them with the Ronnie Van Zant-era Skynyrd.