CHARLOTTE - To get people to attend his new church campus, Robbie McLaughlin is sending his message to where the people are. Next Friday, staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte to hand out shot glasses which ask patrons to "give us a shot" and bear the slogan, "Real church for real people." McLaughlin, the pastor, said he is confident that it will be controversial, but he said the goal is not necessarily to impress people who already go to church. Next Level is a nontraditional church that encourages members to dress casually and snack on coffee and doughnuts during services.

The FYEs I have been in have a pretty good selection. It was used but hell they even had an Ike Reilly Assassination disc in there. I also found the 2 disc special edition DVD of The Kids Are Alright in there for half price. So, they do have some deals, you just have to look for them. Overall, though, their standard prices are pretty high. As for the big boxes (like Best Buy and Circuit City), their on sale CDs are usually very reasonably priced. That's the whole idea, to price that sort of stock lower to get you in there to buy the higher priced electronic items (with the CDs and DVDs referred to as "loss leaders"). That said, both stores often engage in some trickery via their sales ads that are often (if not impossible) to get them to make good on. Case in point, when R.E.M. released And I Feel Fine and the When The Light Is Mine DVD on the same day, the ad said you could get both on sale for some kind of special priced combo deal. The first problem I had was finding a Best Buy that even had both in stock. Even then I had a hard time getting them to make good on the deal. And I Feel Fine had been released in two configurations, a single disc and a double disc (with rarities). The totally unknowledgable clerks would insist that the two disc version contained the DVD referred to in the ads when in fact, it did not. Hell, in one store they even called a meeting so they could open one up and find out for themselves. Even after all of that they refused to make good on the deal advertised. At this point I just said fuck it and took my business elsewhere. I ran into the same thing with a Waylon Jennings box set that was very clearly adverstised as being onsale but when they put it through the price scanner the sale price didn't show up. Despite being advertised as being onsale, they refused to make good on the advertised sale price. That's the downside to places like Best Buy despite their usually reasonable prices. All of that said, I recently read where stores like Best Buy and Circuit City will soon be reducing the floor space normally reserved for CDs and will be expanding it to include more DVDs and games. Eventually CDs will be a thing of the past. As for Barnes and Noble, they, like FYE, are very high priced. Borders, on the other hand often has a budget section set aside where you can find some real deals on older CDs.

I wasn't implying that either of those albums were censored, just that Wal-Mart sells censored albums, period. As for the current state of TV, the U.S. is notoriously more tolerant of violence than they are of sex. With the writer's strike going on all we are going to get now is reality (who's reality, I'm not sure) TV since it doesn't require scripts. The more tits n' ass the better.

Wal Mart have a long and storied history of selling censored albums. I think I first heard of it around the time of Nirvana's In Utero.

Despite the public perception of MySpace it's not just emo type bands aimed at teens, pretty much every artist out there (even the biggest and most well known) have a MySpace site. It's just the way of things in this day and age. I don't have a MySpace site myself (nor do I ever intend to) but it is an easy way of checking out bands.

I ain't buying shit from Wal-Mart, especially music, even at those prices. Wal-Mart has a censorship policy in place where you can buy a censored CD yet they don't have to give the consumer any indication that it's been censored via the packaging. Fuck a bunch of Wal-Mart. I'd rather pay a few more dollars and know I'm getting the product the artist intended me to hear, not the censored version. Target (who, to the best of my knowledge doesn't have a censorship policy) had The Song Remains the Same on sale for $10.99, hard to beat when most everyone else had it on sale for no less than $20.

The big box stores and occasionally the indies, especially when they have new releases on sale. Sometimes their prices are even better than the big boxes. I have browsed at FYE on several occasions and periodically found something used or in the bargain bin but I've never picked up a new purchase there. They are far too pricey.

http://www.homegrownmusic.net/Merchant2/me...tegory_Code=New Few music lovers will forget the first time they heard Dread Zeppelin. Whether they were amused, appalled, speechless or disgusted, none could deny that Dread Zeppelin was the finest Elvis-impersonator-fronted reggae-driven Led Zeppelin cover band in existence at that time. Even now, almost 20 years after their auspicious debut, Dread Zeppelin still do what they do better than anyone, and while Bar Coda might (?) signal the end of this intrepid band, their daring contributions to music will live on forever. 1- Celebration Day 2- The Lemon Song 3- No Woman No Cry 4- The Ocean 5- The Rover 6- Suspicious Minds 7- Out On The Tiles 8- That's Alright Mama 9- Thank You 10- Bar Coda Released 2/12/08

I have no Deep Purple or Rainbow on CD but I do have Made In Japan, On Stage and Long Live Rock n' Roll on vinyl (and maybe more, my vinyl has been in storage for far too long). In any case, my Deep Purple collection could proably use some expanding. I remember Machine Head and Burn on 8-track (and vinyl) being some of the first stuff I ever heard by them way back in the 70s.

I haven't followed Deep Purple all that much in recent years but I have liked what I've heard of the current incarnation whenever I hear them on XM.

I faced a similiar dilemma in recent years in regards to my car stereo and opted for satellite radio instead. Going the iPod route would mean countless hours of ripping my CDs to my computer, something I'm not exactly looking forward to but know I will have to do someday. With me, I imagine it will be like when CDs replaced vinyl, CDs will have to become virtually nonexistant before I make the transition to digital only.

I realize they're far from everyone's favorites but Green Day did an entire album that spoke out against the war called American Idiot. There have also been other performers (both old and new) that have cut anti-war songs but in today's musical climate it's hard to get those songs on the radio but they're definitely out there.

The digital download. What's next after that is anyone's guess.

That's not just a problem with CDs themselves but with digital downloads of the album as well since they both come from the same source. Has anyone heard the vinyl (I thought there was a vinyl edition as well)?

I haven't read all of this person's posts but the vast majority of them have been accusing other board members of racism. Are the Mods simply turning a blind eye to these posts? If so, why? I know trolls sometimes walk a thin line but this poster has very clearly crossed the line many, many times so there should be no question that they're here for the sole purpose of stirring up shit and nothing else. Hell, a pro-Avril post by Rockin' In the Free World would even be welcome about now and that's saying a lot. I could give a rat's ass about Avril myself but I always admired Rockin's hardbound loyalty to her.

The only thing I can clearly remember about this made-for-TV movie is just how horribily it sucked.

How about the Mods banning this dalihendrix person from the board? Either that or put the sick motherfucker back in the insane asylum where they belong.

Tower Records officially went out of business (at least stateside) a year or so ago.

Like it or not, a huge factor in keeping vinyl alive is rap music DJs who need vinyl for their trade. The other thing is audiophiles who insist upon vinyl for it's audio quality. Myself, I don't fall into either category but I have a fairly huge collection of vinyl I don't plan to get rid of and still enjoy listening to vinyl from time to time. With that in mind, I still pick up new and used vinyl on occasion even though my turntable has been in storage since the late 90s. Someday in the not too distant future I hope to bring it (and all of my records) out of retirement.

I hear Brent, Slobberbone and the Drams very frequently on XM satellite radio. They also get played on more progressive stations nationwide. I'd say that's pretty "public".

With CDs now going the way of 8-tracks, vinyl and cassettes before them record stores have less reason to stay open. However, there seems to be a niche market for vinyl (new and used). So that alone will assure that some of them will stay open. Same for CDs. No matter what comes along, the resurgance of the popularity of vinyl proves there will always be a demand for them. There may not be many stores but at least there will be some that cater entirely to that group of people that are in search of vinyl (and CDs).

I have a great deal of respect for Clapton but having been reared on AOR it seemed like he was everywhere: Cream, Derek & the Dominoes, Blind Faith, solo, etc. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hearing a Clapton (or Clapton-related) song. Of course that's through no fault of his own but it didn't stop me from getting a bit burnt out on him. In recent years I've been glad to see him jamming with the likes of Doyle Bramhall II, Derek Trucks and Robert Cray, all of whom have seemed to light a fire under him again. People always seem to hold Clapton up to his past standards (and sometimes, like in the case of one post in this thread: wish him dead) but that is entirely unfair. Yes, perhaps the days of his Hendrix-level playing have long since passed but that's nothing to hold against the man. On any given day he's still one of the most talented guitarists on the planet.

Indies are also feeling the bite if not more so than chains like Tower. It's a combination of things from downloading (both the legal and illegal variety), competitive pricing from the big boxes, etc. I still try to shop indie but it's not always an option, especially if you live in a remote area where the only choice is the big box stores.

Sources? I named Welfare Music because you asked how I knew of Brent Best. It wasn't a venue but a web site devoted to reviews and interviews with alt.country artists. I don't see what that has to do with songwriting royalties as they don't even enter the picture.

What is with all the racist accusations and just what the fuck is a "Hendrix aviator"? I knew he was a paratrooper in the service but this is ridiculous.