Roxor Blog

The much anticipated “sixth album” from Weezer is scheduled to be released soon and a lot of people are looking forward to the improved compilations on this new album. It has been almost three years since their fifth album “Make Believe” made its debut when it was released to the general public. The sixth album was originally scheduled for release sometime in the spring; however in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Rivers Cuomo stated that it would be released in April of 2008. The recordings were done last summer in 2007 and will be produced by Rick Rubin. Rivers Cuomo has hinted that he will be playing drums on two of the songs and also stated that the album will contain longer and non-traditional song forms than others contained. The fifth album “Make Believe” was released on May 10, 2005, and was a very successful album.

This new album has a lot of Weezer fans sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation, including me. “Make Believe” is one of my favorite albums and with all the great tracks on it I have really been looking forward to something more to come from Weezer. Let’s hope that these new arrangements that Cuomo mentions sits well with the fans. Anyway, if you have any opinions I’d like to hear them, so comment away!

Van Halen - When I hear the name I immediately think back to the late 70s and early 80s when I was a teenager and  they were the talk of my High School. Everybody knew the name. Everybody had their albums. Everybody loved their music. I remember waiting for the next big album to come out. It’s just amazing how time flies! It’s still fresh in my memory. To me, their music was unique and they had their own special style that defined who they were. Van Halen will always have a place in my thoughts. But how did they come to be? I never thought about it until today. Some of you may know and some of you may not, so without further ado…

Van Halen was originally formed in Pasadena, CA way back in 1972 as a band called “Mammoth”. Eddie was the lead singer at the time (David Lee Roth auditioned, however he was turned away as lead singer for unknown reasons). The group mammoth continued playing at clubs and any place that would let them play. However, the money was tight and the group was paying a lot of money for the sophisticated sound equipment that they rented. Now, guess who they rented this equipment off of? right - David Lee Roth. Eventually the underpaid group needed to cut costs and save money so in exchange for the use of this equipment they allowed David Lee Roth to be their lead singer and the rest is history! Now that David is on board we still have this band called Mammoth. Well, the story is that Mammoth decided to change their name because it was discovered through undisclosed sources that the name was in use by another band - so the name “Van Halen” was born! This was in 1974, by the way.

Other cool facts are that Gene Simmons helped Van Halen out by giving them funds for their demo tape. Remember, “Runnin’ with the Devil”? That song was originally included on their demo tape.

If you know of any other cool things about Van Halen I’d like to hear form ya! So comment away!

Singer Matthew Caws of band Nada Surf performs on stage during their concert at the Rock-en-Seine Festival in Saint-Cloud near Paris last year. The band is attempting a come-back with their release of “Lucky” available in stores on February 5, 2008. Caws says the record represents another step forward for the band. “We are always asking ourselves, ‘Can we make another good record?”‘ he says. “I feel like this album is strong, and I’m glad we made it.

Seattle-based Barsuk Records is in the process of developing a publicity plan, however president Josh Rosenfeld worries the Hollywood writers strike, which has sent most of the late-night TV shows into reruns, may mean missed opportunities.

“This is a band with a great licensing history, and we wanted placement on TV shows to be part of the album’s rollout,” Rosenfeld says. “We were also hoping to do the usual late-night shows, but all that is up in the air if the strike continues.”