Another Brick in the Wall

Pink Floyd received the 2008 Polar Prize worth $157, 700 from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in honor of their contribution to popular music.


The Polar Prize, founded by Stig Anderson, (a.k.a. the manager of ABBA) is Sweden’s highest and biggest music prize and is usually given to pop artists and classical musicians. Some past winners were Paul McCartney, Pierre Boulez and Bruce Springsteen, just to name a few, all successful artists in their own right.

The Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt cited Pink Floyd who was represented by Nick Mason and Roger Waters for "a monumental contribution ... and captured the mood and spirit of a whole generation in their reflections and attitudes."

Various Swedish artists performed their songs during the ceremony which were capped by the singing of their monstrous hit “Another Brick in the Wall.”

They shared the honors with soprano Renee Fleming who was also honored for her contribution to opera.

Neil Young's back in the saddle

The Old Man is back on the road again in North America. The short journey commences on October 14 in St. Paul, Minnesota and will end at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 15, 2008.

There will be a one night stop- over in Motown on December 7 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Wilco and Everest will be the front act.

Tickets go on sale for the Detroit date on Sept. 12. Tickets will be $45, $75 and $250. For more information, go to www.neilyoung.com or www.livenation.com.

Dave Matthews Band's LeRoi Moore, 46

Leroi Moore
September 7, 1961- August 19, 2008

"LeRoi Moore, the versatile saxophonist whose signature staccato fused jazz and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band, died Tuesday of complications from injuries he suffered in an all-terrain vehicle accident, the band said. He was 46." --AP

Metallica's Death Magnetic in store September 12, 2008

Yes, per posting on the band's website entitled "The Last Piece of the Puzzle"-- "Death Magnetic" their first album in five years, will be released worldwide on September 12, 2008.

By scheduling the release of the said album on a Friday, Metallica is once again defying the norms for albums are usually released in North America on a Tuesday. But knowing their history and peculiarity, this is not surprising since they did the same thing with their ill- fated album (read: commercial failure) "St. Anger" where it was released a day earlier than planned in their attempt to combat piracy.

Metallica by the way will be back on the concert scene this Saturday at Ozzfest in Dallas, Texas wherein guitarist Kirk Hammett will join Slayer's Kerry King, Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrel and Anthrax's Scott Ian in a tribute to late Pantera guitarist Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, who was murdered on stage in Columbus, Ohio, in 2004.