OK, so I really wanted to start out this week’s music news wrap-up with some info about the new Michael Jackson album. Unfortunately, the Gloved One is still keeping an airtight lid over the proceedings, and news has been scarce — apart from the fact that you can see the unimpressive album cover hanging on the walls of Face The Music.
However, Jackson fans should be rejoicing this week, as his four most successful solo albums were re-released Tuesday. “Off the Wall,” “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous” are all digitally remastered and contain bonus tracks.
“Bad” contains two previously unreleased songs, plus a Spanish version of “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” but most people will probably be more excited about the newfangled “Thriller.” It has the demo version of “Billie Jean,” two unreleased songs and a new mix of “Thriller” with an extra verse included in Vincent Price’s rap!
Furthermore, Jackson’s recent tribute concerts will be airing on CBS on Nov. 13. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a great time to be a Michael Jackson fan.
No Doubt fans may still vividly remember the wait between their last two albums. What was it, four, five years? Anyway, the band, perhaps wishing to avoid a repeat of that embarrassing situation, will be releasing the follow-up to last year’s “Return of Saturn” on Dec. 18. “Rock Steady” was helped by a slew of producers, including Nellee Hooper (Björk), Sly & Robbie (reggae masterminds), William Orbit (Blur knob-twiddler and genius behind Madonna’s “Ray of Light”) and Ric Ocasek (ex-Cars frontman and current Weezer producer). Oh yeah, Prince produced and played on a song as well.
Speaking of Prince, the Purple One will be releasing his new album, “The Rainbow Children,” on Nov. 30. The album will be his first since his high-profile conversion to being a Jehovah’s Witness. Preliminary reports on the album say that it has no swear words or elaborate descriptions of kinky sex.
In fact, if last spring’s Internet-only single “The Work — Pt. 1” was any indication, the album will be a bit like a gospel sermon with the world’s funkiest preacher man. As a fan of past carnal glories such as “Head” and “I Want 2 Melt With U,” I must admit that I’m a little apprehensive about this new direction.
Finally, two high-profile bands lost their lead guitarists this past week. Wallflowers’ axeman Michael Ward quit the band after songwriting conflicts with lead ‘Flower Jakob Dylan came to a head. In a posting to his Web site, Ward stated that “for a long time we were writing together, and then just stopped, and that made me pretty unhappy.”
The other, and perhaps more shocking, exodus is the departure of Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit. Details are scarce as to the exact terms of Borland’s leaving, other than the usual press release statement of “it was an amicable parting.”
The band will be holding auditions in cities throughout the nation starting in late November. On the band’s Web site, head Bizkit Fred Durst said, “We’re going to comb the globe in search of the illest guitar player known to man.”
In related news, the only reason many people could stand Limp Bizkit was the presence of Wes Borland’s positively insane guitar playing. Oh well. Fortunately for us, Seattle is on the band’s list of audition sites. Perhaps you, dear reader, could be the next Bizkit guitarist. Grab thy axe and make the Northwest proud.
Dave Depper is the webmasterfor the Oregon Daily Emerald. His opinionsdo not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].