I like porn. I am proud to admit that I enjoy adult entertainment. I’m an adult and I am allowed to. I also like guitars. So this is a match made in heaven. Brianna banks, one of my favourite tartletts and nice looking guitar combined. Be still my beating heart.

From MusicGadgets:

Schecter and one of the most important adult film companies have joined to create Vivid Guitars, the first officially licensed graphic guitar series. The guitars will feature images of the Vivid’s adult film stars and the first models are Brianna Banks and Stefani Morgan Tempest.

Both models are based on the Schecter Tempest serie and have the same features but each one has a hot design based on photos of Brianna Banks and Stefani Morgan. The features of the guitars are Tempest body design, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 24.75” scale length, Tune-O-Matic bridge, 2 Schecter Alnico Plus humbucker pickups, 3–way pickup switch and 2 volume and 1 tone controls (with push/pull).

The Brianna Banks and Stefani Morgan Tempest guitars are now available and its price is $899. But be careful, people can pay more attention to your guitar than your playing. The photo belongs to Brianna Banks Tempest.

And in some other quick news:

• Guns N’ Roses: ‘Chinese Democracy’ delayed till September? - no way, your kidding!?!?!
• Audioslave split due to money - Can these guys keep a singer happy?

I am a huge Nine Inch Nails fan, and have been since Pretty Hate Machine, so the news of a new album blew me away. But moreso is the fact that is much more than just a new album… a whole concept is in place involving merchendise, web, music, planned “leaks” and other cool stuff. The album is set in a future world where the appears to be drugged by the government.

http://www.ninwiki.com/

There is a lot going on regarding the events surrounding Year Zero and the current future world, where Year Zero takes place. This is to inform new and old users alike of everything going on. According to Trent, Year Zero takes place about 15 years in the future, which would be 2022. There is also a Year Zero Timeline being compiled.

A series of highlighted letters have been found on a Nine Inch Nails tour shirt which spell out the words “I am trying to believe,” leading users to iamtryingtobelieve.com. This site details numerous things going on in this time line, such as the Parepin drug and The Presence. Using the track list to the album, people discovered numerous related websites.

The first of these additional websites, anotherversionofthetruth.com, displays what looks to be a propaganda poster. Clicking and dragging portions of the image reveals it “tears away” into a much more negative image, linking to a message board in which users have been discussing various aspects of society, including handing out links to various audio files and links to other related websites.

More websites have popped up through context, giving more information as to what is happening in the universe and specifying more details, opening up more puzzles, and inspiring the community to dig deeper to explore more of this world.

On February 14th, 2007, “My Violent Heart”, track eight of Year Zero, was “leaked” to the Internet. On February 15th, the first single, Survivalism, was played on KROQ radio and then other radio stations throughout the day, marking its official air date, over a week ahead of schedule. A full-quality rip soon ended up on the Internet.

The Year Zero Research Page is being constantly updated to track recent developments, theories, and essentially organize the Year Zero events into a cohesive storyline.

I love this bit though… one of the key ideas of the concept is a thing called “The Presence” which appears to be a hand reaching down from the clouds (aliens, mass hysteria…. we don’t know yet)

, and images of it show up in the related websites and IN THE MUSIC - literally. One of the leaked tracks had a static signal at the end and when the static was run through an oscilloscope it made an image

I am amazed at how well thought out this entire concept it. It doesn’t feel like you typical viral marketing, but more of just an extension of the album’s concept.

Well, it’s the end of December and all the Best Of lists come out about now. So why the hell should I be any different. I got a lot of music this year so I figured I would share with you my Top 10 albums of the year. As is the nature of lists as such, they are very subjective, and there is no way in hell I expect anyone to agree with me at all. In fact, I had a hard time agreeing with me. The order shown here changed exactly 23,748 times and will likely change again. But to me these were the standout albums of the year. This is my opinion, and mine only. You got an opinion, leave a comment.

10. Breaking Benjamin - Phobia
Breaking Benjamin were never a band I was into, but their latest album is amazing. Some of the more melodic modern hard rock / metal that you will ever hear. A perfect example of how to use two guitars in a heavy band. Some great tracks, great lyrics, great riffs and an awesome sound. Standouts : The Diary Of Jane, Evil Angel, Here We Are

9. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
Showing that they can still be relevant, RHCP came back with their best album since Blood Sugar Sex Magik. They brought back the funky bounce and groove that I feel was severely lacking over the last few albums. Notwithstanding the fact Keidis can not sing live and the Tom Petty fiasco, this is a great album only let down by the fact it is too long, spanning over two discs. Standouts: Dani California, Hump De Bump,
21st Century, Storm In A Teacup

8. Tool - 10000 Days
Any year tool releases an album it is an automatic entry into the top 10. They just seem to do no wrong, and 10,000 Days is no exception. Brutal, dark, hypnotic, oblique, it’s a typical Tool album but with more aggression than the last. And as has become tradition, the inherent plot of the album only unfolds if you listen to the songs in the reverse order. If you listen to heavy music you must own this album. Standouts: Vicarious, The Pot, Rosetta Stoned

7. John Mayer - Continuum
Bonus points for using a word with double “u” in it. Regardless, John Mayer was a revelation for me this year. Sure, we all know Body is a Wonderland, but dagnammit if this boy can’t play guitar. His burning rendition of Hendrix’s Bold as Love is worth the price alone. This is possibly the sexiest album of the year so next time you bring round a date pop this album in for some sure fired action. Standouts: Bold As Love, Belief, Waiting On The World To Change

6. Joe Bonamassa - You And Me
Another new find for me this year is Joe Bonamassa. This album is just amazing. Tone, technique, passion, he has it all. This is a great blues album, and this guy is leading the charge of modern blues. There is not much more to say than just listen to this album. Standouts:
High water Everywhere, I Don’t Believe, Your Funeral and My Trial

5. Audioslave - Revelations
When I was younger I loved RATM, and still love Soundgarden today, but was never able to “get” Audioslave until this album. Even though Tom Morello’s soloing gives me the shits he comes up with great grooves, and Chris Cornell’s vocals are as strong as ever. A great rocking album only marred occasionally by the “look how clever and unconventional I am” guitar soloing. Standouts: Revelations, Broken City, Original Fire

4. Johnny Cash - America V - A Hundred Highways
Released posthumously, this is possible the most moving of all the American Recordings. On some Cash sings like it truly is his last breath, and the pain of losing his life long love in June Carter-Cash is so painfully obvious. A fitting farewell for a great artist. Standouts: God’s Gonna Cut You Down, Like The 309, If You Could Read My Mind, I Came to Believe

3. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

With a new found electronic groove Muse found a new stride with this album. With the opening single “Supermassive Black Hole” being described by some a ’sex in stereo’, this album has an overall different feel from previous releases. However the sense of the grand is still pervasive throughout, especially with the standout final track “Knights of Cydonia”. This has taken the place as my favourite Muse album.

Standouts: Supermassive Black Hole, Knights of Cydonia, Starlight

2. Gary Moore - Old New Ballads Blues

Without a doubt, Gary Moore is still the man. This collection of tracks once again shows how relevant and important Moore is to the blues rock genre. From slide filled tradition blues with modern attitude, to balls out rock and sweet, heart breaking melancholy, this albums covers the full spectrum of what Moore has to offer. Great guitar and great tone, and fantastic vocals make this the best Gary Moore album since 1992’s “After Hours”.

Standouts: I’ll play The Blues For You, Midnight Blues, Ain’t Nobody

1. The Panic Channel - (ONe)

Because Dave Navarro is God.

I love Christmas, and not for the usual reason. I like Christmas because I can spoil myself with all the great sales that are on. Yesterday was a great example of that. I made a huge haul of great DVDs and I just had to share with you all.

Neil Young - Heart Of Gold
Neil Young is the reason I play guitar. I know that sounds strange but it’s true. I Was sixteen and had been tinkering with guitar for a few months and not really being to serious about it. I was really into the whole grunge scene at the time and though Pearl Jam were the greatest band of all time (of course now I know it is Stone Temple Pilots, but I digress). MTV Awards, 1993, and Pearl Jam just played Animal, when they are joined on stage by this old guy with long grey hair. I knew it was Neil Young, but I didn’t really know who Neil Young was. But when he rocked, I knew that when I got to that age I wanted to act the same. Wild, passionate, in the moment.

This DVD is nothing like that performance, but the passion and honesty is still there in his more acoustic music. Once I opened my mind and listened, it all made sense. I haven’t watched all of it yet, but it is an amazing performance.

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Gary Moore and Rory Gallager - Llive in Montreux
Blues-Rock guitar players rarely come any better than the criminally underappreciated Gary Moore. If you love hot guitar playing and have never heard this man before, this is the DVD you need in your collection right away!

In this dynamic 1990 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, we see Gary Moore taking his place alongside Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen as one of the most POWERFUL guitarists in the world of rock and blues! It is a shame that a guitarist of this calibre is only marginally known here in America. The electrifying solos that dominate this performance show that Gary could easily blow most guitar players right off the stage!

This show captures Moore in his prime, right at the point when he switched his style from heavy metal to blues-rock. Most of the songs here are from his excellent 1990 album Still Got the Blues. One of the highlights of the show is a hot performance of “Texas Strut” where Gary pays tribute to Stevie Ray and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top with some nice impersonations of Gibbons and Vaughan.

Another highlight is the special guest appearance by blues legend Albert “Ice Man” Collins who delivers a fine version of the beautiful blues masterpiece “Cold Cold Feeling”. Albert sticks around for several more songs too. Gary delights the audience with three encores and finally ends the show with the haunting and searing guitar instrumental “The Messiah will come again”. If you care anything about electrifying guitar solos or powerhouse blues-rock music, buy a copy of this sucker and turn it up!

For many years the 1974 Irish Tour DVD has represented quintessential live Rory Gallagher. This collection, however, may well replace it. Rory was the real deal and never gave in to the temptation of the commercial route like many of his contemporaries. Rory was not only a monster flat picker who was able to get that cool harmonic out of the string with his right hand but he was also a great standard tuning slide player. What distinguishes Gallagher from other players is his presence, raw talent, and genuine passion. What he lacks in vocal ability he more then makes up for with stunning command of those six strings. Just a beat up 1961 Stratocaster (most players opt for a few stand bys in case of a string break or an open key change, but not Rory) plugged directly into a 100 watt amp most of the time provide for no BS sets of great guitar based music.

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Classic Albums: Who’s Next - The Who
The songs and story of the Who’s classic album. Who’s Next is viewed by many as the greatest testament to the songwriting talent of Pete Townshend and the musical power of the Who. When the album was released in 1971, it climbed to the Top 5 on the Billboard chart and remained in the Top 40 for five months. The story of how the Who came to record the album is told by group members Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle, together with contributions by those who were close to the group during this recording, also providing insight into the importance of the late great Keith Moon to the success of the Who. The songs recorded for the Who’s Next album are featured here, including such classics as “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Baba O’Riley,” and “Behind Blue Eyes.” Included in this documentary program are previously unseen performances of songs from the album that prove the longevity and lasting appeal of “Who’s Next,” a true classic album. While many bands these days are reaching back to this era to for their sound (Oasis, Jet, Woldmother and more with more than passing resemblances to act like The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath et al), no band can possible sound like the Who on this album. One of my favourite albums of all time, and made even more enjoyable by the fantastic insight provided by this DVD.