He's played with Fred Durst, Puff Daddy and many others, why not Gene Simmons?

Rolling Stones Plan London Jam Session

You're right, thanks for providing the correct one.

The White Album had "the Beatles" embossed on the cover whereas Led Zeppelin IV had nothing written on the cover or spine letting anyone know that it was a Led Zeppelin record. As for it being a "marketing ploy", yes, I'm sure that played a role but it was also Zeppelin's way of sending a "fuck you" to the industry in general. In regards to the 80s, some of my very favorite music was made in that decade. If all you listened to was MTV, then maybe I could understand your frustration but there was much more to the music world back then than MTV. Funny, the people that miss MTV list that as it's "golden age" but they're also the same people that knock the 80s music-wise. Never have understood that. Sounds like an attempt to have your cake and eat it too.

It has everything to do with the 40th anniversary of the release of the fourth album. I can't seem to find it now but there was one post that said to look forward to lots of posts surrounding the original release of the album that would include old advertisements and other memorabilia.

Stipe & Mills do an interview on Norwegian television.

I bought this back when it first came out (which has been quite some time ago) so I'm not sure if it's even still available on newsstands anywhere. Though it could probably be ordered directly from Mojo.

To give R.E.M.'s Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982–2011 a spin (including the three previously unreleased songs) courtesy of NPR's First Listen series, click on the album cover below:

Hit a couple vinyl/CD shows in Raleigh and Carrboro today. Still no sign of a copy of a first pressing of R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe" 45 but I did finally track down something I've been looking for for a long time, David Lindley's Mr. Dave (his solo debut) on CD. Aside from the double sets (the Meters, the Neville Brothers, Bob Marley & the Wailers), I found most of the rest of these for around $2-3 a piece. The Cars' double CD collection was $5.

Even though I've been a fan of Willie Nelson since the 70s, I never did see him in concert until the 00s. It was a good concert but he never seemed to be able to finish an entire song so it came across as one long medley. Unfortunately that gave his concert the air of someone performing at Branson that is well beyond their prime. Still, I finally I got to see Willie Nelson in concert and for that I am grateful but I wish I had seen him back in the 70s or 80s instead before he started up with the Vegas/Branson routine. I also saw Chuck Berry a few years ago when he played a free concert as part of Raleigh Wide Open. I had been warned beforehand by friends that had seen him before that I needed to be on time because Chuck plays 30 minutes and that's it. There's NO encore. I arrived in plenty of time and he was great, even if it was a trainwreck at times (one song faded into the next, probably not hard to do since they all sound so similar). At the end, he invited any girls that wanted to, to get up on stage with him. About mid-way through that, he slowly slithered off of the stage (while still playing guitar). Once he reached the backstage area, which everyone could see since it was held out on the street, he took off his guitar, gave me a tip of his captain's hat (I was standing right on the rail) and went into the Marriott where he was staying, which was directly behind the stage. That was it but I'm very glad I got to see Chuck Berry, a living legend if ever there was one. Local News & Observer music writer David Menconi also got this great story about Chuck's search for barbecue which is well worth reading.

From the All Things Music page on Facebook: ON THIS DATE (41 YEARS AGO) November 5, 1970 - Led Zeppelin: “Immigrant Song” b/w "Hey Hey What Can I Do" (Atlantic 45-2777) 45 single is released. "Immigrant Song" is a song by Led Zeppelin, released as a single from their third album, Led Zeppelin III, on this date in 1970. "Immigrant Song" was written during Led Zeppelin's tour of Iceland, Bath and Germany in mid-1970. The opening date of this tour took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, which inspired Plant to write the song. As he explained: “We weren't being pompous ... We did come from the land of the ice and snow. We were guests of the Icelandic government on a cultural mission. We were invited to play a concert in Reykjavik and the day before we arrived all the civil servants went on strike and the gig was going to be cancelled. The university prepared a concert hall for us and it was phenomenal. The response from the kids was remarkable and we had a great time. 'Immigrant Song' was about that trip and it was the opening track on the album that was intended to be incredibly different.“ Just six days after Led Zeppelin's appearance in Reykjavik, the band performed the song for the first time on stage during the Bath Festival.

Below is a clip of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit from Letterman last night. They also did a couple of songs ("Alabama Pines" and "Go It Alone") that are available as bonus performances which you can watch here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXiyWiUgp9M

This movie is of the "you either love it or you hate it" variety, at least judging from the reviews for it at Amazon, most of which either give it one star or 5 stars with very few people taking the middle ground. Although I felt it had some shortcomings, I'd put myself into the love it category. If you are looking for summer blockbuster fare, you will not find it with The Tree of Life. This movie is very slow moving, it's long (139 minutes), has very little dialogue and no discernable plot. On the upside, it's those very factors that allow you to make up your own mind about what the movie is about. I found several aspects of it to be very profound and quite moving, the sort of film that will stay with me long after I've finished watching it. If any of these things pique your interest, I suggest having a look at the trailer:

Black Sabbath Holding L.A. Press Conference on 11/11/11 (Rolling Stone)

From TheDaily.com: Wilco Our musical mathematician breaks down what makes up performers BY @DISCOGRAPHIES MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011 15% Volvo-esque stability, reliability and mid-tempo choogling [View Image] 15% Moody, semi-evocative lyrics about ... uh ... well ... you know ... stuff [Jeff Tweedy: “I grunt and make noises and sounds that I think sound like what lyrics would sound like if I had any, and then I go and listen to them over and over and over and over again until it sounds like words, and then I write them down.”] [MIKE: can you italicize “stuff”?] 15% Jagged tempo shifts, guitar squalls and sudden bursts of static-y weirdness [Jeff Tweedy: “The band itself overall is populated with pretty major Rush fans.”] 14% Hatred of being labeled “dad rock” [Glenn Kotche: “Being a dad twice over now, that phrase makes no sense ... I understand the term means complacent, middle-aged and you have a house and a luxury car, but man, being a dad? I drink 10 times more than I did before.”] 12% Social media awareness [Jeff Tweedy: “I have no doubt that the second this record becomes available there’s somebody sitting in a basement at their computer with the word ‘meh’ already typed up, waiting to post a review.”] 11% An informed fanbase [Jeff Tweedy: “We were waiting for some food one time at a bar ... and this guy turned around and he recognized me, and he said, “Hey, man. I really wish your records would start selling.”] 9% #humblebrag [Jeff Tweedy: “There are gaping holes in my knowledge of literature, and at the same time I’m a big fan of Robert Walser, a semi-obscure German short-story writer.”] 5% Social democracy [Jeff Tweedy: [“You know, I don’t think Kanye West probably hangs out with his [road] crew too much.”] 3% “ ‘M’ is for the million things she...” [Jeff Tweedy: “My mom told me something that I struggled with my whole life: ‘You’re born alone and you die alone. So you should get used to being alone.’ And that’s just terrible advice.”] 1% Archopyrophobia [Jeff Tweedy: “[Our worst show ever was] the first time we played the Sasquatch festival. We went on after Arcade Fire, who were just becoming huge at the time ... it was like having your ass handed to you by, like, Cirque du Soleil.”]

For anyone that may be interested, here's the rest of the videos for the HearYa Live Sessions including the new song "Swannanoa". Click on this link for more info as well as a way to download audio from the entire session.

I'm sure Sam can help set the record straight but prior to this becoming the official Led Zeppelin site before the concert at the O2, I'm pretty sure the URL was led-zeppelin.com. Meanwhile the official site (pictured above with the front cover of the Led Zeppelin DVD) didn't have the dash in the web address.