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Band's new direction a little blurry *
In Britrock, reinvention isn't just an option; it's a career path. In order to endure as a popular act, a group must either change with the times (à la Bowie), or soldier blandly on into well-paid irrelevance (à la the aptly named Status Quo). The only other option is breaking up.
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Celine Dion: Her full houses will go on *
Even scathing criticism of Celine Dion and her Las Vegas extravaganza can't keep the delirious fans away, a hundred sellout shows later.
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Critic to Vegas: Ta-ta for now, I'll take Miami *
I've never been to Las Vegas and I have no plans to go. That's where Celine Dion is. Nothing good would come of it.
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Duran Duran is hungry again *
The members of British pop group Duran Duran were barely out of their teens in the early 1980s when their glossy music videos and danceable hits like Hungry Like the Wolf ruled the airwaves.
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He walked the line *
The legend of Johnny Cash holds sway in truck stops, alt-rock clubs and even among gospel singers, ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN writes
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How the Eagles became the best-selling band of a generation *
Their greatest hits compilation has managed to become the best-selling album of all time in the United States.
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iTunes for Windows — Apple's hidden agenda *
Apple Computer's music software, iTunes, is now available for Windows computers. Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced iTunes for Windows last week at a splashy media event that featured video chats with Bono, Dr. Dre and Mick Jagger, and a live performance by Sarah McLachlan.
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J&R Computer/Music World *
J&R Computer/Music World has ALL the new releases!
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Jewel cancels tour *
Jewel has cancelled her North American tour due to the death of her bass player, her record company announced Thursday.
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Manufactured music? Whatever *
I went to the Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera show. He is so hot, he is even hotter than the posters I used to have up in my bedroom when he was in 'N Sync.
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Meat Loaf casserole *
Talk about your one-dish meal. He's an actor, he's no slouch as a celebrity pitcher, and he rocks on with a new album, BRAD WHEELER writes
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Mostly Alt-Rock 101 *
Although the first pop stars to make the transition from concert halls to athletic arenas were true giants, the acts most commonly associated with the term "arena rock" were clearly of a lesser order.
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Neil Young moves to Greendale *
Neil Young's fictional town of Greendale is home to 20,000 people, about the same number that filled the Air Canada Centre last Monday to hear him sing and tell stories about a place where old rural habits smack into the new media culture.
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Neil Young vilified by US pundits for antiwar album *
If the snippets Neil Young is posting on his website are any indication, his upcoming album, Living With War, will be a serious musical broadside against the Bush administration and the Iraq war.
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Nickelback: Give the people what they want *
Nickelback has its critics, but it couldn't care less. Millions of fans love what they do, and the band isn't about to let them down
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Rock and roll bonding *
Stewart Hall is making a career out of turning even tone-deaf professionals into overnight rock and roll heroes. . .
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Rock antisongs and antirock songs *
In the 1963 Jean-Luc Godard film Les Carabiniers, a pair of buffoons named Ulysses and Michelangelo get a letter from the King enticing them to go to war, promising they can steal treasures, massacre the innocent and eat free in restaurants. Off they go, promising to bring home bikinis for their women, Venus and Cleopatra. After the slaughter, they bring back only postcards.
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Rock retribution *
Nick Cave and David Eugene Edwards front two of the most powerful bands working in rock music now. So powerful, even people who don't believe in God are moved
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Rufus goes ahead *
Rufus Wainwright talks to ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN about how drug binges, dragon-slaying and opera all intersect on his latest offering, Want One
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Singer's son spars with CBC over documentary *
Simon Collins threatens to sue over the way he is portrayed in a film about children of stars
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Taking care of business -- and playing overtime *
Many professionals are turning into after-hours rock stars by forming bands with colleagues. It's not only fun but good for their careers, too, WALLACE IMMEN finds.
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The queen of girl rock, Wanda Jackson *
Promoters in the fifties used to describe Wanda Jackson as the female Elvis, though her career path runs closer to Al Green's. Like the king of southern soul, the queen of rockabilly got religion in the early seventies, and put her jukin' music aside in favour of gospel.
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This Crowe can sing *
He's come a long way from his punk-rock roots and bouffant locks, when he called himself Russ Le Roq and headed straight to the bottom of New Zealand's pop charts with I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando. These days, Russell Crowe is creating his own pop-rock character, using the styles and scope of artists such as Neil Finn, Alice Cooper and Johnny Cash.
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What would we talk about? Oldham says of the Stones *
Why has the musical maverick who discovered the Rolling Stones succumbed to the siren song of Vancouver? ALEXANDRA GILL tells all
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Why parables, curses and wisecracks speak to me *
I know: You want to talk music, and you hate it when rock crits wallow around in their childhoods and their drug habits and never get to the blasted point about the blasted band.
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America's Sweetheart: Gawking at Love ablaze *
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Courtney Love leans down from her tabloid pedestal to give you a hard kiss that splits your lip and leaves you wondering: Is this new music the sound of talent resurgent, or of another human sacrifice in the greasy jaws of fame?
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Beatles' company sues over trademark *
The Beatles want to take another bite out of Apple Computer Inc.
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City of Augusta gets down on James Brown *
The city of Augusta doesn't feel good about James Brown.
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Festival Express: All aboard the new rockumentary classic (Lacey review) *** 1/2
Pulled out of archives, garages and more than 30 years of legal limbo, about 70 hours of film have been carefully assembled into what amounts to a new rockumentary classic, Festival Express.
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Jeff Healey: A chameleon by any other name *
It doesn't matter whether Jeff Healey is playing rock, blues, jazz or swing, MARK MILLER writes -- he's in it for the pure joy of making music the audience will love
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Led it be *
Vintage rockers Led Zeppelin rise again, J.D. CONSIDINE writes, with the release of a live concert album and a video compilation of performances from the seventies
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Low points in Cancon *
Waving the white flag for cheesy TV, Celine Dion and navel-gazing Canadian writers
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Pop-laced fest hits sublime and ridiculous *
The second half of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal for 2003 is effectively the pop half. Norah Jones, Elvis Costello and Ben Harper have been the big news in recent days. Cesaria Evora is currently in town and Gino Vannelli will close out the 11-day event tomorrow.
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Sarah McLachlan: Songstress as yummy mummy *
Sarah McLachlan went away 5 years ago to begin a family. ALEXANDRA GILL finds she's back, refreshed but no less committed to music.
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Singer Robert Palmer dies at 54 *
Rock singer Robert Palmer, known for his sharp suits and hits including “Addicted to Love,” died Friday in Paris of a heart attack, his manager said. He was 54.
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SonyMusicDirect *
Music...your life? Find whatever your heart desires at SonyDirect.
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The Stills are going places *
The Montreal band is just one year old, but has already made a mark in New York and London, cut a stunning debut album and wound up on Rolling Stone's list of artists to watch in 2003
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