I received it as a gift two Christmas' ago and have been enjoying the trip down memory lane immensely. I seriously doubt I ever pick up the other two.

If all off-shoots of Jefferson Airplane are supposed to be bad I wonder what they think about the impeccable Mr. Papa John Creach?

From Billboard: Modest Mouse, The National Opening R.E.M. Tour Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. R.E.M. has drafted Modest Mouse and the National as support acts for its upcoming tour of North American theaters and arenas, which begins May 23 in Vancouver. The outing comes on the heels of the April 1 release of R.E.M.'s new Warner Bros. album, "Accelerate." Although an official announcement was made today (Jan. 28), the National frontman Matt Berninger spilled the beans during an interview last week with Australia's Triple J radio. R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has been a vocal admirer of the New York-by-way-of-Cincinnati band in recent months, and attended one of its shows in London last year. Modest Mouse has been off the road since mid-December; the group's 2007 Epic album, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sunk," was its first to feature former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Here are R.E.M.'s tour dates: May 23: Vancouver (Deer Lake Park) May 29: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl) May 31: Berkeley, Calif. (Greek Theatre) June 3: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks) June 6: Chicago (United Center) June 8: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre) June 10: Raleigh, N.C. (Walnut Creek) June 11: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion) June 13: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center) June 14: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach) June 18: Philadelphia (Mann Center June 19: New York (TBA) June 21: Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheatre)

I wonder how many other artists playing in the wake of Bonzo's death also didn't mention it? Should I also forever write them off as well? Maybe, just maybe they had their reasons for staying mum on the subject or perhaps they had no reasons at all. It's kinda like the poster that said they would never like The Clash again because of comments one of them made about Zep. Who cares what other musicians think of their peers, it's all boils down to my own personal opinion as to whether I like a particular artist or not. I could give a shit what others think, fellow musicians or otherwise. That sort of reasoning (or in this case, the lack thereof) boggles the mind.

Isn't it Amazing Journey? In any case I recently saw it on VH1 and while I enjoyed it quite a bit myself since it tells the entire story of The Who, the viewer is never allowed the luxury of hearing a song from beginning to end throughout the entire movie. In that regard, The Kids Are Alright still gets my vote as the best Who doc ever made, then again I haven't seen all of them that are out there.

From Billboard: Young Eschewing CDs For 'Archives' Project Neil Young Gregg Goldstein, The Hollywood Reporter Another year, another new twist in the saga of Neil Young's long-in-the-works "Archives" series. The multi-disc first volume of the project, which has shifted release dates countless times in the past two years, was most recently scheduled to arrive Feb. 19. But Young told Billboard last week that a new technological twist is responsible for the latest delay. "I know it's in technical production now, but it's only coming out on Blu-ray and DVD," he said during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where he and his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates unveiled their "Deja Vu" documentary. "There won't be CDs. Technology has caught up to what the concept was in the first place [and] how we're able to actually present it. But there's no doubt it will come out this year." That's right: no CDs, a format Young has long despised due to its audio limitations. Instead, Young is utilizing DVD capabilities to present an interactive "time line" for the music, allowing users to experience articles and film clips from a song's given era as well as ephemera like lyric sheets. "Archives" appeared closer than ever to release in October, when Young's new studio album, "Chrome Dreams," was bundled at select retail outlets with a bonus CD with a song from "Live at the Riverboat." That collection, which will appear in "Archives," chronicles a week's worth of concerts taped in Toronto shortly after Buffalo Springfield split. The package is also expected to include the previously released concert sets "Live at the Fillmore East" and "Live at Massey Hall." The remainder will feature material cut with Young's early Canadian band the Squires, recordings from the period during which he lived in Topanga Canyon, Calif., and scores of previously unreleased studio tracks. Additional reporting by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Their Contact page (http://www.rollingstone.com/contactus-update) says this: "To order gift subscriptions, back issues or to renew please use the links provided on the RollingStone.com homepage in the Subscription area." However, when you go to the Subscription area (https://w1.buysub.com/pubs/WM/RGS/Copy_Of_38783.jsp?cds_page_id=41857&cds_mag_code=RGS&id=1201545666396&lsid=80281236323040404&vid=4&cds_mag_code=RGS) I don't see any links for back issues.

Sometimes it can be hard to separate certain artists from their personalities and Ted is one of those. I'm not even a fan of his current music but still have a soft spot for the old stuff. I doubt there's anything he's said (or ever will say) that will change that. Same for some other musicians putting down an artist that I like. I'm not going to stop liking that particular musician just because they don't like an artist that I do. As for the old rock n' roll and how much of it I still listen to, everything I've listened to over the years (including old 50s rock and blues) somehow informs what I listen to today. I consider it all to be a part of the same big picture.

No problem but Snot Tuna? I may be in the minority but always thought Hot Tuna were pretty good.

It's important to remember that even Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman eventually became part of the system. What better way to affect change than from on the inside?

I kinda wrote 'em off way back when their Popular video was all over MTV but picked up The Weight Is A Gift a couple of years ago which I loved so much I purchased the album before it, Let Go. Nada Surf are definitely among my most favorite current bands. I keep missing them in concert but hope to finally catch 'em the next time they swing through here.

To the best of my knowledge no one in the Marshall Tucker Band died of a gunshot wound, self-inflicted or otherwise. BTW, it took me all of about five seconds to find their band bio online: http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/marshall_tucker_band/bio.jhtml

Hey, you were close and as you can tell, even R.E.M. themselves have been known to tell the story differently. Other band name contenders besides Negro Eyes: Cans of Piss and Twisted Kites.

The Marshall Tucker Band is still together but the only original member is lead singer Doug Gray. Yes, Tommy and Toy Caldwell were both in the band and yes, they have both since passed away. As for the "tragic" aspects of their deaths, anytime someone dies I consider it a tragedy. As for the details, I'm sure a simple search online will do it. Other members have been lost along the way, most recently George McCorkle. To me, they lost their spirit when Toy died but I understand their new albums sounds more like the Marshall Tucker Band than they have in years.

The 80s for me is when my tastes began to shift away from hard rock to reggae and artists such as R.E.M., U2, the Alarm, the Cure, 10000 Maniacs, the Replacements, Los Lobos, Lone Justice, Guadalcanal Diary, etc. all artists that were much more popular on college radio at the time and would, like it or not, later help give birth to the "alternative" movement.

Mickey Hart or Mickey Thomas? Mickey Hart was one of the drummers from the Grateful Dead. I've always thought he bore a slight resemblence to Leonard Nimoy.

How could you not include the Allman Brothers Band who are largely considered "The Grandfathers of Southern Rock"? Yes, Gregg Allman has been quoted as saying "Southern Rock" is redundant and like saying "Rock Rock" since rock n' roll was born in the South but every artist ever saddled with that label (or any label for that matter) has at one time tried to distance themselves from it including Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet and others. As for copying the Allmans, in one breath you separate the Allmans from Southern Rock and in the next accuse every other act that followed in their footsteps of copying them. So, if the Allmans are somehow above the Southern Rock mantle how can the others be accused of copying them? For one, I don't hear any similarity between Skynyrd and the Allmans. The Allmans drew directly from American blues while Skynyrd drew from British blues-based artists such as Cream and Free that were influenced by American blues. As for the rest, they all had their own distinctions, especially groups like Sea Level, the Dixie Dregs and the Marshall Tucker Band who oftentimes leaned heavily towards jazz instead of blues, rock and country like so many other Southern Rock acts did.

While I'm not fond at all of Ted's comments he wasn't nearly as outspoken politically back in the 70s, at least that I remember. He has always been the Motor City Motor Mouth though. I still like some of his old solo records but having seen him in concert a few years ago (with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and ZZ Top) I can his show was closer to a pro George Bush, Jr. rally. He even took to the stage wrapped in the U.S. flag so you wouldn't mistake where he was coming from. Requests hollered out for Dixie Chicks tunes fell on deaf ears.

Try either of these on for size when it comes to more factual info in regard to band names: Some of the Digital Door entries remind me of those "The Story Behind Every Song"-type books. Some have been very well written and actually tell the story behind the song, others don't do as good of a job and are very sketchy with their info. That can be for a variety of reasons but for the most part they sometimes come across as very poorly researched.

I think the distinction is pretty clear, not that it doesn't take any skill or practice to excel at Guitar Hero but that is fantasy, actually playing guitar is the reality. I see no harm in it personally and certainly don't see it as another reason today's music sucks. At least the younger generation is getting into rock n' roll via games like Guitar Hero and Rockband.

There's plenty more but here's four just off the top of my head: R.E.M. w/Let's Active Pagentry Tour November 15, 1986 Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke University, Durham, NC Grateful Dead March 31, 1989 Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC Page & Plant w/Rusted Root Unledded Tour February 28, 1995 Omni Atlanta, GA Drive-By Truckers Acoustic House Concert October 6, 2001 Pine Hill Farm Durham, NC

I still pretty much love all the artists I grew up listening to but there may be some I love a little less. I was a huge Kiss fan up to the solo albums but they completely lost me with Dynasty. They are also one of the few artists I have records by on vinyl but have never purchased a CD by. That may change someday with Alive! but that most likely will be it. As for the rest such as Aerosmith, Skynyrd, Foghat, Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Sabbath, ZZ Top, Zep, Rush, etc. I still revisit those artists fairly often as well as the other music I grew up listening to back then: John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, Commander Cody, Pure Prairie League, Goose Creek Symphony, Steve Goodman, Waylon, Willie, David Allan Coe, etc.

http://www.myspace.com/nadasurf Also, a video from the new album can be seen here: http://stereogum.com/archives/video/new-na...rem_007696.html

A lot of this material has been available for years in bootleg form but it will be nice to finally have some cleaned up versions of it. There's enough extra unofficial Whiskeytown stuff out there to release a box. Lost Highway has even threatened to in the past but one has never materialized. Perhaps after they finally release the long awaited Ryan Adams box, which is due this year.

Yes, I did. An older brother had it on vinyl but I believe it's finally been made available on CD as well.