Signings: Hollywood Records signs Austin, Texas act Alpha Rev. The band cites Radiohead, HIM, NIN, and The Beatles as influences. I don’t hear HIM and NIN – not even close. This falls under adult contemporary and sounds more like Train meets Jonas Brothers with less intensity. Listen to the track Phoenix Burn.

New Music: Our critic and at times nemesis, Jon Cole recommends a band worth listening to. Check out the track Anna No by Right Away, Great Captain! The new album titled “The Eventually Home” will be released on November 11th. This indie act is fronted by Andy Hull who spent 300 nights on the road in 2007 with Manchester Orchestra and came home and immediately began writing. “This is a really slow burning project. I want this to be something that I can continue to write records for the next 20 years,” says Hull. Hull wanted to write a series of concept albums detailing the saga of a sailor in the 1600s.

MTV struck a deal with Columbia Records, to create an AC/DC version of the channel’s popular Rock Band video game that will be sold at Wal-Mart. “If you want to be a physical band, you better make an alliance with a strong physical retailer,” said Steve Barnett, chairman of Columbia Records.

Send new music to Tips@kingsofar.com

Guns N’ Roses long awaited Chinese Democracy is expected to be sold exclusively through Best Buy.

Management firm Union Entertainment Group has added three managers to the company. UEG roster includes Nickelback, Candlebox, Red, and Hinder.

Nickelback has released their new single Gotta Be Somebody as a free download – it can also be heard on Youtube, although it will probably be pulled within minutes. The new album is titled Dark House and will be released November 18th. The album was produced by songwriter and producer Mutt Lange who is the most well known rock producer and has worked with the GREATS including Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cars, Bryan Adams, AC/DC, and The Corrs. You can download the song here. Yes, it’s a Mutt Lange flawless production and a perfectly written song, will certainly do well at radio.

The new video from Fallout Boy features an appearance from former Guns N Roses touring guitarist Gilby Clarke. Gilby opens up the video with “What the hell happened to rock n roll? Eyeliner, energy drinks, and no guitar solos! I’ve taken shits with bigger rockstars than them!

The Telegraph posted an article titled iTunes ‘under threat as bands take their business elsewhere‘.

AC/DC’s 1980 Back in Black album will soon surpass Michael Jackson’s Thriller to become the biggest-selling album ever (50 million+) and it won’t be available on iTunes.

“We don’t make singles, we make albums,” says AC/DC guitarist Angus Young. “Way back in the Seventies, we drew these figures on the back of an envelope for our record company. “We showed them how much they earned from us if we sold one million singles and how much they earned if we sold one million albums. The difference was staggering. “That was to get them off our back because we only very grudgingly release singles. Our real reason is that we honestly believe the songs on any of our albums belong together.

“If we were on iTunes, we know a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album – and we don’t think that represents us musically.”

We all know iTunes changed the way how we consume music. For instance, “Katy Perry has sold 2.2 million downloads of I Kissed a Girl on iTunes, but only 282,000 copies of her album.”

Here is a tip. If you can sell abums without iTunes that means you have a loyal fanbase. It means that you’re more than a singles act unlike Katy Perry. New artists on the scene should approach music like Angus Young. Don’t think singles, think songs – or make albums instead of singles. In other words, you want your entire album to be a single. This is how real artists approach their creation, maybe then you will sell 100,000 records a week for an entire year.

The Becoming who hails from Nashville will release their debut album titled
‘Vol 1’ on September 20th via Tooth and Nail Records. The band’s dark gothic sound is drawn from artists like HIM, NIN, The Ramones, and Depeche Mode. The Becoming is also a track that comes from NIN’s The Downward Spiral. The Becoming comes to the scene with a bold attitude as they urge us to remember what gave us chills the first time we heard really great music and hint they may have perfected the blend of melody, mood and mystique. Listen to the tracks We’re Already Dead and The One To Hurt You.

Another new artist following in the same path as HIM and NIN is Dommin. The band won All Access Mag ‘Best Overall Music Video of The Year‘ and is currently recording their debut in Hollywood. Listen to the tracks Without End and Tonight.

Here are some of our favorite doom and gloom videos:

The Ramones – ‘Pet Cemetery‘ and ‘Poison Heart‘

HIM – ‘Killing Loneliness‘

NIN – ‘The Becoming‘

Lords Of The New Church – ‘Dance With Me‘

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRyIACDCc1I

The Wall Street Journal posted a column titled ‘Even Heavy-Metal Fans Complain That Today’s Music Is Too Loud!!!‘. It’s about time the loudness in modern day recordings is creating legitimate noise.

“Some fans are complaining that “Death Magnetic” has a thin, brittle sound that’s the result of the band’s attempts in the studio to make it as loud as possible”

“Metallica and the album’s producer, Rick Rubin, declined to comment. Cliff Burnstein, Metallica’s co-manager, says the complainers are a tiny minority. He says 98% of listeners are “overwhelmingly positive,” adding: “There’s something exciting about the sound of this record that people are responding to.”

Ted Jenson who mastered ‘Death Magnetic’ agrees with the fans by claiming, “Believe me, I’m not proud to be associated with this one.”

Unfortunately, many today’s music executives believe a louder record will generate more sales. “Nobody really wants to have a record that’s not as loud as everybody else’s” in an iTunes playlist, says Mr. Jensen’s business partner and a fellow engineer.

I think it’s important that we learn from this situation. Music lovers are finally aware that many albums lack dynamics caused by engineers abusing technology. “Digital technology made it possible to squeeze all of the sound into a narrow, high-volume range,” says Bob Ludwig, a veteran mastering engineer. Hence, ending the loudness war is vital.