Divided we stand


Scott Stapp
The Great Divide
Wind up records

By: Keith Thompson

At the end of 2003, the break up of the band Creed really suprised the public. Im not sure if it was creative or personal differences, however undeniably the band still had alot of talent that would not stay rested very long. Last year we saw a debut albumn from the remaining members of Creed, form the band Alter Bridge shortly after the break up. Frontman Scott Stapp was also contribuitng to Mel Gibson's "Passion" soundtrack. Now as a solo artist Stapp offers his fans; The Great Divide. The opening track "Reach Out" sounds like a open letter to his former band mates, but I would not speak for the man. I hate to compare the track "The Great Divide" as sounding like Creed, but I think the formula exist in it. Other stand out tracks include; "Surround Me" and "Sublime". I would give a rating of four stars out of five, I accept this albumn with arms wide open.

Black Eyed Peas Monkey Business
A&M/ Interscope Records(2005)
By: Keith Thompson
The pea's are back with their fourth and first collective albumn: Monkey Business. Bringing with this time, an all star cast of familiar sounds and voices. Promising to give you more boom for your buck, The pea's get it started with the Dick Dale driven "pump it". The B.E.P crew lace the track with their infectious hip hop style, to deliver a soon to be club favorite. Elephunk guest artist Justin Timberlake returns on the Timbaland produced track "My Style", which I'm sure you wont be able to escape once the video drops on any music video station. Lead front man and producer Will.i.am expands the groups horizons by re mixing the Jack Johnson track "Gone Going". The biggest highlight on this albumn is when a opportunity of a lifetime takes place, when the pea's get to mix it up with the godfather of soul James Brown on the funktified track "They don't want music" Even former Police front man Sting participates on a remix of his song "Englishman in New York" into the B.E.P's version "Unity". The future hit " Don't lie" and the laid back hypnotic "Audio Delite at low fidelity" are tracks that increase the demand for this albumn. The Black Eyed Peas;Will.i.am,Apl.de.ap,taboo and vocalist Fergie divide their talents on a great hip hop/pop albumn, and show the world that their more than just Monkey Business.

Blink 182 Greatest Hits (Geffen Records) 2005 By: Keith Thompson

Just in time for the holiday season, Blink 182 releases a greatest hits collection of their alternative radio staples. Included on this disc are the hits "Dammit", "What's my age again?" , "All the small things", "The Rock Show", and "Feeling this" to name a few. This collection of songs represents Blink 182 from their humble beginnings to their current pop punk rock god status. With seventeen songs to get you pumped up, this disc is a great alternative to caffine.

Weezer re-FUSE-to be lame

I just wanted to give a shout out to the Fuse network for having some balls,
When it came to playing the new Weezer video “We are on drugs”.
I was surprised to see that they had released the version; “We are all in love”.
You could clearly see the actor’s mouths saying drugs in the back ground.
I don’t endorse drug use, or even like that song as much as the others on
that albumn. It’s just good to see that someone still has some integrity and
that we all do not not live in a world just filled with love. KT

Where in the world is Zach De La Rocha? The simple answer to that would be; everywhere! I got a little curious about the ex-R.A.T.M front man, when I decided to listed to “Evil Empire” the other day. It would seem that on the mainstream end of things that his career would be stagnant. However, he has been quite busy. He has teamed up with Trent Rezor to produce twenty some tracks for and upcoming albumn. He has also had the track "We want it all", featured on the Michael Moore compilation; “Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11”. If you have an appetite for more political activism, the new collaboration of Zach and D.J. Shadow’s “March of death” is also available for download. Believe me; the man is alive and well, and very busy. To see everything else going on with Zach, log onto: http://www.zdlr.net/portal/index.php

WARP TOUR '05/ Bristow VA
August 10th
By: Keith Thompson


Summer time is the host of an abundance of concert events. One in particular is the Warp tour. This is the one event I had been waiting for this summer. What I will tell you is that this was my first time, and will it be my last? Time will tell. For now, I would like to share some highlights with you. The Warp event gave the fans an opportunity to hear from bands such as; The Starting Line, My Chemical Romance, Funeral for a friend, Atreyu, The Transplants and The Offspring. With the sun heating things up, the warp event simultaneously had bands playing at separated designated areas. This was a little too much concert for me. I did manage to hook up with the band: Funeral for a friend, and chat with the guys about the tour, record labels and video games. They informed me that they were on the new "Madden" and also had a song on the new xbox 360 hard drive. The FFAF fellows were very cool, look forward to talking more with them in the future. As I headed over to one of the stages to catch Relient K, I was informed that they were already on. One of the problems I soon found out was, that time schedules were different from the itinerary I was handed. Soon after, I checked out the band MXPX. I have always heard of them, but never heard anything from them. I still couldn't tell you any of their song titles, but there were good all the same. I headed back over to the production suites to get an interview with the band: Fallout Boy. I had arrived a little to early, and was in fear that I would miss a band that I really wanted to see. The Transplants were up next, I was not going to miss them. On my way over i bumped into Relient K, and was honored with a quick photo opp. Stay tuned for more of the guys when I review them in the fall. Now, back to our show. The stage is set and the crowds are getting bigger. The Transplants, driven by Rancid singer Tim Armstrong and"Blink" drummer Travis Barker kick off their set with a track from their new albumn, and continue to perform songs from their catalog. If you don't have the new albumn, and I'll be honest that I don't have it yet. I would highly recommend it. These guys are great. Another band that I had been looking forward to was The Offspring. With a greatest hits CD now out on the shelf's, The Offsping gave the fans want they wanted without hesitation. They opened up with "Come out and play" and continued to pump out the hits. With the show coming to a close, I realized that with play there also comes a lot of work. If and when you decide to come to an event such as this. You should prepare to do a lot of walking, and a lot of listening.