Tuesday Rock Roundup

The Aerosmith Guitar Hero we talked about last week has a release date now. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will hit stores in June and will feature about 30 Aerosmith songs, as well as songs from artists the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way. Players will be able to perform as Joe Perry, Brad Whitford or Tom Hamilton. Perry says, "Having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honor and really a great experience for us. We've put a lot of ideas into the game so that fans can have fun interacting with our music, getting inside our body of work and learning about the band's history." Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be available for X-Box 360, the Wii and Playstation Two and Three.

A new remix of The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" will be sold exclusively on I-Tunes for a week starting today. The track was remixed by the Belgian duo Soulwax for use in the new Kevin Spacey film 21, which opens March 28th. The remix will also be sold as a ringtone through most cellphone providers.

The Kurt Cobain documentary Cobain: About a Son arrives on D-V-D today. The film, which was directed by A-J Schnack, does not include any footage or music of the late Nirvana frontman. The soundtrack consists of Cobain interview material conducted by Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad in the early '90s, along with songs that were significant to Cobain. The corresponding visuals document the locales of his life. Frances Bean Cobain, Kurt and Courtney Love's 15-year-old daughter, can be seen modeling expensive clothes in the current issue and website of Harper's Bazaar magazine.

Eagles manger Irving Azoff tells the New York Post, "There's a history of the Eagles film and D-V-D in the works."

U-2 are returning to the studio this week to continue work on their new album. They'll be joined in Dublin by producer Daniel Lanois [pr: lan-WAH], who is optimistic about the album's direction. He tells the Toronto Sun, "We've had a few very successful jam sessions so far, including one in Morocco. I'm very excited about what we're doing. Everyone has an appetite for breaking new ground and everybody wants to make a masterpiece.

Don't expect Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to reunite in Israel, despite the recent invitation from the nation's ambassador to Britain. Jerry Goldman, director of The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool tells London's Jewish Chronicle, "Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney have made it clear that they are not going to play together again, and they are not going to get together just because it is Israel's 60th."

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills still have not settled their divorce. Despite an extra day's session in London yesterday, the estranged couple were not able to hammer out the terms that would officially end their marriage. Sir Paul, well aware of the impasse, didn't even attend the proceedings at Court 34 in London. Instead, sources say he was rehearsing for his appearance tomorrow night on the Brit Awards. Judge Hugh Bennett will now weigh the evidence and data in drawing up settlement terms, which would likely be Britain's most expensive divorce ever. The previous record was set in 2007 when businessman John Clarman paid out 48-million pounds (roughly 100-million dollars) to his ex-wife. (McCartney has a net worth of around 800-million pounds.) The terms will be binding, and most likely kept private. Only if McCartney and Mills choose to take the case to an appeals court will the massive numbers ever leak out. The Times of London reports that McCartney is eager to keep the numbers under wraps, while Mills, who has painted herself a victim in the failed marriage, may be more willing to continue the case in public.


Ronnie James Dio tells us that Heaven and Hell -- Black Sabbath with him in place of Ozzy Osbourne -- will record their first studio album since 1992's Dehumanizer this year. He tells us it will be out by early 2009, and adds that they may tour again this year. Dio reunited last year with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinnie Appice for a retrospective album and tour.


Boston guitarist Tom Scholz wants presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to stop using "More Than a Feeling" during his campaign. The former Arkansas governor has played bass on covers of the song and even invited former Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau to play with him while on the trail. Scholz wrote an open letter that said he's "shocked" Huckabee would use his band's music without his consent. "Boston has never endorsed a political candidate and, with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for. I am an Obama supporter." Earlier this month, John Mellencamp asked John McCain's campaign to stop using "Our Country."


NEW RELEASES TODAY:


American Gangster DVD with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe
Michael Clayton DVD with George Clooney
Rendition DVD with Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon
Kurt Cobain - About a Son DVD
George W. Bush: Fighting to the Finish DVD
Gangsters - The Ultimate Film Collection DVD
Nine-Disc DVD Set - Includes the Movies
Scarface (1983)
Carlito's Way (1993)
Casino (1995)
American Gangster (2007)
Kinks frontman Ray Davies releases his second solo studio album today. Working Man's Cafe comes less than two years after his first one, Other People's Lives, but Davies tells us the songs on this album were written for the first one. "I would have recorded them except for the accident I had in New Orleans." That "accident" was him getting shot when a mugger grabbed his girlfriend's purse in New Orleans in 2004. "I decided after the accident not to record anymore but to mix the songs I'd done so far."