David Lynch launches solo blues album, "Crazy Clown Time" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – David Lynch...bluesman?

The director premiered "Crazy Clown Time" -- his first solo album -- for three dozen guests seated in the Soho House's penthouse theater on Monday night. You can just imagine the early reviews:

"Damn good cacophony!"

"That hum you like is going to come back in style!"

"Fire, rock with me!"

Well, "rocking" isn't really the order of the day, of course, in Lynch's lugubriously dreamy yet dangerous-sounding universe.

Actually, Lynch's description of the album as a "modern blues" record wasn't terribly far off the mark -- if your definition of the blues stretches to include, say, Tom Waits' most experimental recordings.

Lynch made only a brief appearance to introduce the hour-plus album. The rest was left to two leggy models, ushered in through a side door between songs so that one could hold up the track number -- boxing match-style -- while the other would sweetly intone, into a reverb-laden microphone, "The title is, 'The Night Bell With Lightning.'"

The auteur has taken a great interest in music before, from the song he co-wrote for "Eraserhead" in 1977 through a recent album-length collaboration with Danger Mouse. But this is the first time we've heard him croon through an entire album -- excepting one lead vocal here by Karen O.

You won't hear anything too closely resembling his Jimmy Stewart speaking voice: Lynch is usually either singing through electronic enhancements or adopting a high-pitched character voice that sounds like Neil Young on a sick day.

The most comical song -- not to preclude the possibility he might be serious -- is the orally fixated "Strange and Unproductive Thinking," a stream of consciousness about how dental health is connected to our collective mental health, read through a Vocoder-type filter.

Against an electronic beat, Lynch recites a manifesto about "dark and evil forces which would have us living forever in confusion refusing even to acknowledge that we even existed or that there was such a thing as a bad tooth or a toothache.

Bringing our discussion to the reality of practical considerations, it is interesting to note the possibilities of dental hygiene and the remarkable idea of a world free of tooth decay and all other problems associated with the teeth, tongue, or oral cavity." He describes how "once beautiful mental images" and the "primary building blocks of happiness" can be brought down by, you know, plaque.

If anyone was destined to put the dental in transcendental meditation, it's Lynch.

Wordy as that tune is, he gets radically minimalist on other numbers. Take the title track, in which Lynch pitches his voice as high as a boy's while describing a kids' party:

"Suzy, she ripped her shirt off completely/Kimmy jumped all around, so high/Buddy screamed so loud, he spit/We all ran around the back yard/It was crazy clown time/It was real fun," he sings, and it's all innocent fun -- except for the musical bed, laden with disturbing guitar effects that make the party sound like a descent into hell, or Laura Palmer's last bacchanal.

Most often, the album produces slow shuffles that rely on Lynch's tremolo guitar fixation. That musical love once resulted in an actual hit, you'll recall, when the "Wild at Heart" soundtrack launched Chris Isaak's career-making "Wicked Game." On his own distinctly uncommercial musical turf, Lynch loves the uncertainty that whammy bar produces, as if that sweet surf-guitar sound could suddenly veer off into an aural nightmare with just the touch of a pinky.

Typical of the album's vaguely spooky laments is "Speed Roadster," an anthem of obsession. It's not Sting, but you wouldn't expect anything less peculiar when Gordon Cole gets the blues.

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McBride to launch album with cross-country train (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Country star Martina McBride is on track to release her new album, "Eleven," next month with a cross-country train ride.

The four-day, exclusive trip will take her from Los Angeles to New York and make 11 stops along the way. She'll perform intimate concerts for fans in Albuquerque, N.M., Chicago and New York.

The tour is called, "'Eleven' Across America Powered By Amtrak." It begins Oct. 10.

The Grammy-winning singer says she's excited for this journey.

"Eleven" is McBride's 11th studio album. She was recently named the most played female artist on country radio for the past 11 years by Mediabase and Broadcast Data Systems.

McBride has sold more than 18 million albums. She's had six No. 1 hits including, "Wild Angels" and "A Broken Wing."

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Review: Lady Antebellum too lady-like on third album (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Lady Antebellum was never, ever going to be the most testosterone-driven band in music. But the multi-platinum country-pop trio is still a little too lady-like for its own good on the group's third album, "We Own the Night," which mostly aims for ownership of the market for old-fashioned adult-contemporary balladry.

The act's last album was a hard hat trick to top. The title track of "Need You Now" quickly established itself as one of the greatest pop singles of our still-young century, and went on to sell 5 million downloads, not to mention scoring Record and Song of the Year wins at the Grammys.

The craving for an ex in that song (which also got its inevitable "Glee" cover) translated to a craving for the bravura tune itself, and proved America to be one very needy nation.

No one would blame Lady A for taking stabs at repeating that triumph here, but it's as if the threesome figured what we loved most about that breakout smash was the plodding tempo and production slickness, not the emotional rawness and relatable references to drunk-dialing that cut right through the sheen.

You may hesitate to look a gift horse in the mouth, when Lady A is one of the few country acts around offering such gentlemanly counterpoint to the genre's redneck strains.

It's still a pleasure hearing a group whose very foundation is neatly balanced male/female duets. When it comes to audience demographics, though, the band is inviting inequity, as there won't be an overabundance of dudes crawling over one another to hear a succession of orchestrated ballads idealizing past and present perfect loves.

You certainly won't find any odes to one-night-stands (like the debut album's rascally "Lookin' for a Good Time") making their way into the current material.

The not terribly rowdy "Friday Night" represents the album's token attempt at an up-tempo, good-time anthem, as if they suddenly remembered they needed something new that wouldn't drag their usually robust concerts to a halt.

Coming off an album that had three singles as great as "Need You Now," "American Honey," and "Hello World" (last heard stirring TV fans at the climax of an "NCIS"), Lady A's new weepers can't help but suffer by comparison.

"Just a Kiss," the album's first single, has front-people Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley treating the beginning of a relationship with kid gloves and agreeing: "I don't want to mess this thing up/I don't want to push too far."

Those words could serve as the mantra for "We Own the Night," which is all about not messing with monstrous expectations.

Occasionally, the songs speak in something more than chick-flick cliches. Hillary Scott has said the starkest number, "As You Turn Away," was written about an ex abruptly breaking up with her (presumably not the fellow to whom she's now happily engaged).

Even if you haven't read that, you'll recognize the real-life hurt when she informs the guy nonchalantly dumping her that staying friends will not be in the cards.

In most of the other songs, though, it's hard to tell if the threesome and their songwriting collaborators are writing out of personal passion or just a passionate need to avoid the junior jinx.

On "Dancin' Away With My Heart" -- which you can guess, given the predominance of down-tempo material, will reference a slow dance -- Kelley and Scott remember romantic glories past and muse, "I can still feel you lean in to kiss me/I can't help but wonder if you ever miss me."

But "losing all control"? Not gonna happen, this time. Better that they'd waited to wonder such things until it was a quarter after one and they'd had another shot of the previous album's miracle-working whiskey.

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Luke Bryan's star exploding with 3rd album (AP)

By CAITLIN R. KING, Associated Press Caitlin R. King, Associated Press – Tue Sep 13, 5:48 am ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If Luke Bryan had a different birthday, he might have been a star athlete instead of a music star.

He was born on July 17th. That meant he made the Georgia age cut-off to start kindergarten barely a month after his fifth birthday and was grouped in with other kids who were sometimes a year ahead of him developmentally.

"I was the youngest kid in my grade," said Bryan. "If I would've been held back a year, I don't even know if I would even be doing what I'm doing, because I think I would've been further down the road athletically," Bryan said in a recent interview. "I think because I wasn't the best baseball player at the time or whatever, I kind of focused more on music and it took me down a whole `nother path."

Bryan, 35, is thankful for how things turned out.  Last month, he released his third studio album, "Tailgates and Tanlines" and it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's country albums chart with more than 145,000 copies sold in its first week. He is also launching his first major headlining tour this week, and last week, he garnered a CMA nomination in the new artist category.

"I think he is one of the most on-fire artists right now," said Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood, who co-wrote Bryan's first No. 1 hit, "Do I," with Bryan and Lady A's Charles Kelley. "I think he's our next big superstar. He's such an entertainer."

Bryan has built on the success of his sophomore album, "Doin' My Thing," which produced three back-to-back No. 1 singles. He co-wrote eight of the 13 songs on the new album, including the lead-off single, "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)." The song was a top five hit and has registered over 1 million downloads.

"I think with this one, I've just been able to put together a more well-rounded album than I guess than the previous two," said Bryan. "This one, I just felt like it's got a little bit of everything that people may want on there. I've got a couple songs on there that are a lot more serious than I've ever done, and then I've got some fun and light stuff. Case in point, `Country Girl (Shake It For Me)' being about as fun and as light as you can get."

Bryan penned the tune with Dallas Davidson, his long-time friend and one of Nashville's most sought-after songwriters, thanks to hits written for acts like Blake Shelton and Keith Urban. Davidson and Bryan grew up in the same area of Georgia and went to college together.

"Luke is at the top of his game right now," said Davidson. "I've always told my publisher, `Luke Bryan gets first shot at any of my songs.' That's the law."

Bryan's music has always attracted a young crowd. He puts out a "Spring Break" EP each year filled with uptempo, party songs and performs at spring break destinations. He wanted "Tailgates and Tanlines" to reflect that spirit but also reveal a new depth.

"I always want my music to be fun and young first of all, but then when you hear a great song like `I Knew You That Way," and you know that people are going to hear that and really apply it in their lives, I don't think you can let that song slip away," Bryan said. "A song like `You Don't Know Jack' is kind of the same deal, a real song that gets you thinking about life."

After a summer opening for Tim McGraw, the married father of two is ready to headline his own shows. Bryan kicks off CMT on Tour Thursday in Huntington, W. Va., with special guests Lee Brice and Josh Thompson.

"I'm kind of out here trying to put the songs out there that make me a bigger artist, an artist that can hopefully headline big arenas one day and provide for a better life for my immediate family, and all this extended family I'm kind of coming to learn (about)," he said with a laugh.

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"Buddy Holly" tribute album lacks spark (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Buddy Holly never lived to see his 23rd birthday, but that isn't stopping anyone from celebrating his 75th this week, with the rather belated installation of a star on Hollywood Boulevard and the release of yet another all-star tribute. Maybe now he'll finally be recognized by the youth of America for something other than stealing Elvis Costello's look, right?

"Listen to Me: Buddy Holly" is the second Holly tribute to come out in two and a half months, so you'll be forgiven if you need someone to sort out the confusion -- especially since each one features a Beatle. The first was "Rave On Buddy Holly," released in late June and leaning toward indie-rock types like the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, and Modest Mouse, though Paul McCartney put in a screaming appearance.

This week's unrelated follow-up sticks almost entirely to mainstream elder statesmen, with Ringo Starr as the requisite Fab on duty. Peter Asher served as executive producer, which is significant, since he set the first real posthumous Holly renaissance in motion in the mid-'70s by recording Linda Ronstadt's reputation-reviving versions of "That'll Be the Day" and "It's So Easy."

Ironically, perhaps, the two albums suffer from opposite problems. The alterative artists on "Rave On" were apparently encouraged to retool Holly's songs so considerably that the melodic life sometimes got snuffed out of them. As for the new "Listen to Me," Asher's sensibility isn't exactly what anyone would call edgy, and there's stodginess to a lot of the contributions that could have benefited from a bit of the other album's adventurous approach.

Two highlights come early: Jackson Browne was born to sing the ballad "True Love Ways," and British rockabilly queen Imelda May finds the fire in "I'm Looking for Someone to Love." Most everything else counts as either boomer-safe or in the bizarre curio category.

A couple of newish groups make their way into the mix. The Fray do an outright U2 impersonation on "Take Your Time," so if you ever wanted to hear Bono sing Buddy, here's your chance (sort of). The weirdest choice is Cobra Starship, whose mixed-gender lead singers do a sort of contempo-Human-League take on "Peggy Sue" that almost clicks, in the corniest possible way.

But Brian Wilson's "Listen to Me" and Ringo's "Think It Over" are just the kind of passable, going-through-the-motions efforts you might expect from their latest recordings. Ronstadt reunites with Asher to remake their remake of "That'll Be the Day," sans the spark of their 1976 recording.

Shorn of her usual studio tricks, and letting her voice go nearly punk-rock-ragged, Stevie Nicks sounds unrecognizable on "Not Fade Away" -- almost like a distaff Billy Corgan! -- which might have been rewarding if the slick backup track were half as rough as she is. Sticking closer to vocal type, Train's Pat Monahan gives "Maybe Baby" an overly sweetened modern spin that isn't just maybe but definitely dullsville.

The album ends with a couple of wan contributions from actors, including an "It's So Easy" that has Zooey Deschanel playing it overly straight. That's followed by Eric Idle doing "Raining in My Heart" in a variety of comic voices -- complete with goofy sound effects -- that not even the most hardcore Python fan could find funny.

Even with all-star friends like these, Holly still needs better buddies.

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"House" star Hugh Laurie releases first album (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – If Dr. Gregory House, M.D. got put to work figuring out what doesn't quite gel about actor Hugh Laurie's debut album, "Let Them Talk," he'd run through a checklist trying to get at the core malady.

Could it be the musical genre, or choice of backup? No -- the album's jazzy New Orleans blues could hardly be more delectable in the hands of the great players assembled by producer Joe Henry. Could it be the guest stars? Hardly, when Dr. John, Irma Thomas, and Allen Toussaint all make prominent contributions.

How about Laurie, himself? Bingo, Dr. House. The British actor pretty much sticks to one method of singing throughout "Let Them Talk," and it's a vocal style best described as... "cranky."

But these are the blues he's singing, so if the curmudgeon-liness he cultivates on the TV screen seems to have translated a bit to his singing, better this than having him try his voice at sensitive pop balladry.

And in fact, his vocal limitations -- which you suspect he might be the first to admit, in the presence of the New Orleans legends he's surrounded himself with -- aren't a fatal affliction for "Let Them Talk." Compared to recent musical efforts by fellow thespians Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins, the album comes off as far less artistically ambitious, but, on its own terms, and far more unpretentiously enjoyable.

Laurie proves a capable enough pianist in the three and a half minutes of instrumental overture that open the album, and when the vocals kick in on Louis Armstrong's "Saint James Infirmary," his unabashed cockiness in delivering boasts like, "She may search this world over, she won't ever find another man like me," just about compensates for the missing nuance.

His American accent may strike some as unbearably affected, but it's the most obvious choice for the material, even if it might have made for a more interesting experiment to hear "Tipitina" sung with "Blackadder" inflections.

"Let Them Talk" fares worst when Laurie tackles straight 12-bar blues, as he does in "Six Cold Feet." He doesn't invest old-school lyrics like "Remember me baby when I'm in six feet of cold, cold ground" with enough interesting vocal quality the first time around, so you're not really that eager to hear him repeat the same line a moment later.

Fortunately, he's fine when things get livelier, especially when Laurie adopts a barrelhouse feel that gives "Swanee River" just the right rolling motion.

While you expect the appearances by Thomas, Dr. John, and Tom Jones to all be duets with the actor, he's modest and/or smart enough to let these vets take over for the entire tune while he restricts himself to piano accompaniment.

That risks making Laurie's voice sound more inadequate by comparison when he returns on the tracks that follow, yet he's built up so much good will in surrendering the mic that you stop noticing the inequity.

Enjoyment of "Let Them Talk" will be predicated on predisposition toward Laurie as a personality, since nobody (probably least of all him) would argue he'd be getting a recording contract to cut uncommercial regional material as a non-celebrity.

But if you've already fallen for him -- as Wooster, House, or almost equally crusty Hugh -- there's little reason not to further surrender to an album that has its heart and collaborators in the right place. It's a vanity project oddly riddled with humility.

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PJ Harvey wins UK's Mercury Prize for best album (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – English musician PJ Harvey won the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for best album on Tuesday with "Let England Shake," becoming the first artist in the award's 20-year history to win it twice, organizers said.

Harvey, who also won in 2001 with "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea," beat out 11 other nominees including chart queen Adele and another previous winner Elbow.

The winning album was partly inspired by Harvey's reaction to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the 41-year-old had long been the bookmakers' favorite to scoop the annual trophy.

Harvey, who is now on tour with her live band, recorded the album in a 19th century church in Dorset, Britain, her representatives said in a statement.

The prize, which has gone to a wide range of musical genres since it began in 1992, honors music by British or Irish artists and is based solely on the music on the album.

Electronic band the xx won the 2010 Mercury Prize for their debut album, "The xx."

The shortlist for this year's award was as follows:

Adele - 21

Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi

Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!

Everything Everything - Man Alive

Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam

Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau

James Blake - James Blake

Katy B - On A Mission

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine

Metronomy - The English Riviera

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Kristin Chenoweth comes home for country album (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – She has played a witch in "Wicked," a lush on "Glee" and a deputy press secretary on "The West Wing," but actress Kristin Chenoweth's latest project is nowhere near a Broadway stage or TV screen. She is returning to her Oklahoma roots, singing country songs.

Due September 13, "Some Lessons Learned," is comprised of 13 songs that cast the pint-sized blonde into a musical genre that makes perfect sense for her signature high pitch voice. Country music, she told Reuters, fits her "naturally."

"It's the closest to home that I could get," she said. "Someone asked me 'why a country record, why now? ' Well, it's because it's been going on since I was about five."

Born in and raised in the Tulsa, Okla. suburb of Broken Arrow, Chenoweth's earliest experiences with country music came from watching her great uncle play bluegrass. From there, she sang country songs in church and at rodeos. She idolized Dolly Parton and even spent a summer when she was 19 years-old at Opryland in Nashville.

Prior to "Some Lessons Learned," Chenoweth dabbled in other genres, including a Christmas album, a Christian album and logically for the Broadway star, a collection of show tunes. But here, she shows more of a variety and flare for the country music's long history.

In doing so, she teamed with veteran songwriter Diane Warren for a handful of songs that show off a pop-country approach. She tackles a Dolly Parton song, "Change," as well pays homage to her idol in the tongue-and-cheek "What Would Dolly Do" -- one of two songs she co-wrote.

DOLLY, MADONNA, JULIE ANDREWS

Anchoring the set is Chenoweth's high-pitched voice, which flows through different country factions effortlessly. Her stage training lends itself to the ballads "Fathers and Daughters" and the folk-leaning "God and Me."

Her quirky side comes through on "I Didn't," about a break-up stemming from a guy's God complex, as well as the album's first single, "I Want Somebody (Bitch About)" -- a song recalling the country pop of Shania Twain or Trisha Yearwood.

"Growing up in the '80s, I loved Dolly, Madonna, Julie Andrews," she said. "If we had iPods, that would've been on mine. In picking the material, you show who you are. I hope that's what I've done."

Country musicians whose careers start in Nashville and its environs have it easy compared to Chenoweth, who is trying to break into a genre without alienating her fan base.

That is something she experienced firsthand last year, when she took a dramatic role on Broadway in "Promises, Promises," versus the numerous lighthearted and comedic musicals such as "Wicked" that had come before.

"A lot of people didn't want to see me in that role, because it wouldn't make them laugh," she said. "But there's no growth" as an artist.

While TV shows like NBC's "The Voice" have recently shown the crossover potential of country music with other genres like R&B and pop, Chenoweth's ties to acting might have lumped her into a category of actors who just want to make record.

But the Broadway star's long-established voice gives her the bona fides to deflect any criticism and "Some Lessons Learned" holds its own against other country albums.

Chenoweth is cautiously optimistic about her future in the genre, She hopes her fans connect with the music and that she also collects a few new followers along the way.

"I just want more than anything for people to listen to the record and be moved by it or surprised by it in some way," she said. "I think challenging yourself and changing up is what's fun about this business."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Review: Strait still going strong on new album (AP)

George Strait, "Here for a Good Time" (MCA Nashville)

Thirty years after his MCA Records debut, George Strait is making the most adventurous music of his career.

He still serves up the breadwinners — western swing, honky-tonk and smooth country ballads — that have made him one of the most enduring stars of all time. Yet, at age 59, he stretches out in his arrangements and themes in ways that challenge his remarkably pliant voice and that make statements he didn't dare in the past.

He's also writing more songs, a trend that started with his previous album "Twang." This time, Strait contributes seven songs, nearly doubling the number he's written in his career. He co-writes all of them, including the current hit — the wonderfully swinging "Here For A Good Time" — with his son Bubba Strait; six of them include assistance from Strait's favorite writer, Dean Dillon.

The Texan assumes the role of an alcoholic on two moving ballads, "Poison" and "Drinkin' Man"; he also takes on gospel ("Three Nails And A Cross") and old-time rock `n' roll ("Blue Marlin Blues"), and he tackles two daring covers (Delbert McClinton's classic "Lone Star Blues" and Jesse Winchester's introspective "A Showman's Life").

Strait has spent his career defying music industry conventions; as he starts his fourth decade as a star, he's proving that Nashville's focus on youth still has to make room for an old-timer who's making music as undeniably strong as ever.

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: "I'll Always Remember You," written by Strait, his son and Dillon, is the most autobiographical song the veteran has recorded. A love letter to his fans, the traditional country ballad includes a recitation reflecting on how he never expected to enjoy the career he has _and as grateful as he is, he's not done yet.

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Madonna aims for new album release in Spring, 2012 (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Madonna's latest cinematic effort, "W.E.," isn't exactly wowing the critics, but maybe the singer will have better luck with her return to music.

The "Material Girl" songbird announced during a recent interview that her next album -- the first since 2008's "Hard Candy" -- will be released in spring 2012.

Madonna made the reveal while promoting "W.E." during an interview with Sweden's Sveriges Television in Venice, Italy. The singer noted that she's done "a little bit of work" on the new collection in the studio, but will pick the project back up in earnest when she returns to New York, recording "until the end of the year."

According to the singer, the first single for the album will be released in February or March 2012, with the full album due in the spring.

As reported by Billboard, this will be Madonna's first album since parting ways with Warner Bros. in favor of a deal with Live Nation.

"Hard Candy" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart; its single "4 Minutes," featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

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Winehouse album sets UK chart record after death (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – The late Amy Winehouse's acclaimed second and final album "Back to Black" has become the UK's biggest seller of the 21st century, according to data from the Official Charts Company.

The company said the 2006 record, which included such hits as "Rehab," "Back to Black" and "Love Is a Losing Game" and netted Winehouse five Grammys, had sold 3.26 million copies, surpassing James Blunt's "Back to Bedlam" (3.25 million).

Winehouse's album shot back to the top of the British charts following her death aged 27 on July 23.

Dido's "No Angel" -- released in the UK in February 2001 -- is the third best-selling album of the century with sales of 3.07 million in the UK.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)

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Charts: Jay-Z & Kanye album on top for second week (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – In a week that saw other worldwide rulers being run out of their palaces, it was pretty clear that Jay-Z and Kanye West would be keeping their jointly held throne. And, sure enough, the rappers' collaborative album dominated the Billboard/SoundScan album chart for a second week, even with a 59 percent decline in sales.

"Watch the Throne" sold 177,000 units in its second week, after moving 436,000 the week before. The album probably would have sold even more the first week - and fewer the second week - if not for an odd release pattern that had the long-awaited set available only at iTunes for the first four days of its release.

The latest numbers reflect the first full seven-day frame where "Throne" could be found in retail stores as well as online.

Jay-Z and West certainly weren't facing any opposition from well-armed rebel forces. It could hardly have been a slower week for new album releases, with the only top 10 entries being a No. 6 bow for country's Eli Young Band, whose "Life at Best" entered with a career-best 35,000 copies, and a No. 8 debut for Blue October, which represented 27,000 in sales for the independent art-rockers' "Any Man in America."

Even less threateningly, a greatest-hits set from the band Breaking Benjamin came in at No. 22 with 14,000 units. Oscar winner Jeff Bridges' first post-"Crazy Heart" musical effort, produced by T Bone Burnett, came out of the box with a mountain of media attention but just 13,000 in sales to debut at No. 25.

Legions of Adele supporters should relish the news that her "21" album crossed the 3 million mark this week, one of the few times in recent memory that's been achieved by someone not named Taylor Swift. The disc registered yet another uptick in sales for the week, increasing 10 percent to move another 80,000 units and nudge the album back up two spots to No. 2.

For any serious debut action, you had to look over to the digital songs chart, where Lil Wayne had an instant No. 1 with "She Will," which sold 255,000 singles, knocking Maroon 5 to second place.

It didn't exactly own the chart, but the only other song to debut in the digital top 30 was Lady Antebellum's "We Owned the Night." The second single the country trio has released to tease their upcoming album came in at No. 22 on sales of 59,000.

Next week's album chart should be a little more interesting, with Twitter wiseguy The Game squaring off against Barbra Streisand, who has not been igniting any emergency-line flash mobs to publicize her new album, but taking the QVC route instead.

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Winehouse album becomes century's bestseller (AP)

LONDON – Amy Winehouse is still hitting music milestones after her untimely death last month.

Britain's Official Charts Company says Winehouse's Grammy-award winning "Back to Black" has become the best-selling album in the U.K. in the 21st century.

The company, which tracks music sales in the U.K., said Wednesday that "Back to Black" overtook James Blunt's 2005 debut album to claim the title this week.

Winehouse's second album had jumped to the No. 1 spot on the charts shortly after the soul singer was found dead in her London town house on July 23. An initial post-mortem failed to determine cause of death, and Winehouse's family said Tuesday that toxicology tests showed she had no illegal drugs in her system when she died.

An inquest into Winehouse's death begins in October.

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Nero knocks Amy Winehouse off top of UK album chart (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – The late soul singer Amy Winehouse, whose album "Back to Black" spent three weeks at number one on the UK charts after her unexpected death last month, lost the top spot to the debut album from dance music act Nero on Sunday.

Nero's dubstep-influenced album "Welcome Reality" also overtook chart staple Adele's "21", which held the second spot, pushing Winehouse's "Back to Black" to number three, the Official UK Charts Company said. U.S. rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West slipped to fourth place with "Watch the Throne".

Former Busted and Fightstar band member Charlie Simpson's solo debut "Young Pilgrim", and "The Ultimate Collection" from country singer John Denver were the only new entries apart from Nero's in the album top 20.

On the singles chart, Nero was unable to sustain last week's number one spot for "Promises," slipping to number five. The top three positions were all taken by new entries. London rapper Wretch 32 achieved his first UK number one with "Don't Go," featuring singer-songwriter Josh Kumra.

In second place was Scottish soul singer Emeli Sande's debut solo single, "Heaven", while U.S. band Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" featuring Christina Aguilera was the third new entry.

(Reporting by David Milliken)

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Composer changes album cover of attacked towers (AP)

NEW YORK – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steve Reich (ryk) is picking another image for his album dedicated to 9/11 after the original photo — of the twin towers under attack — was met with protest.

Reich's "WTC 9/11" is out Sept. 20, nine days after the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The Kronos Quartet performs the music, and the piece includes prerecorded voices from air traffic controllers, firefighters and others.

The initial image shows one tower in flames after the first plane hit and another jet about to hit the second tower. Since the music included documentary material from the attacks, Reich says he wanted the album art to do the same. But after some criticism, he agreed to choose another image, though he hasn't selected one yet.

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Review: Jeff Bridges is country solid on new album (AP)

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen, Ap Entertainment Writer – Mon Aug 15, 2:45 pm ET

Jeff Bridges, "Jeff Bridges" (Blue Note)

If Bad Blake, the boozy country singer Jeff Bridges played in 2009's "Crazy Heart," could make albums, he may have made something like "Jeff Bridges." The actor's self-titled album is decidedly country, at once sad and hopeful, laced with heartfelt harmonies and slide guitars.

Perhaps inspired by the movie and certainly made possible by his Oscar win, Bridges sought out his longtime friend (and "Crazy Heart" songwriter and producer) T Bone Burnett to produce the 10-song collection, which features tracks penned by other contributors to the film. Bridges wrote two of the songs himself and co-wrote another with Burnett.

The actor's two self-penned tracks, "Falling Short" and Tumbling Vine," are among the album's most haunting and contemplative, as the 61-year-old sings about what it means to be alive. He continues that theme on "Slow Boat," the song he wrote with Burnett, and throughout the CD. "If it's as bad or good as it can get, well, you ain't seen nothing yet," he sings on one track. "I wasn't born to be standing still long," he sings on another. "You know one day my tombstone will say born to be gone."

The Dude is a deep guy, but Bridges is at his best when he's singing about love. He's earnest on "Either Way," and downright heart-wrenching on "Everything But Love," singing, "The moon cries on the mountains/When it looks down from above/and it sees everything but love."

Bridges, Burnett and Bad Blake should be proud of the actor's eponymous CD. Its 10 songs are solid, if sometimes sad, establishing Bridges as a bonafide musician, not just a guy who plays one on screen.

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: On the opening track, "What a Little Bit of Love Can Do," Bridges sounds like the cheery-eyed uncle everyone wishes they had. Written by his close friend who died in 2009, Bridges played the song informally for years before leading off his album with it. Upbeat and sweet, the song offers a taste of Bridges' country style and big-hearted vocals.

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Review: Jeff Bridges plays it cool and safe on album (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Jeff Bridges has said he worried for a while about being typecast as the smart but zonked-out character he played in "The Big Lebowski." So maybe it's not surprising that some early reviews of the actor's T Bone Burnett-produced new album have suggested that it carries certain Dude-like qualities.

Certainly it's low-key enough that you could say it doesn't strive to do much more than abide.

But the "Big Lebowski" character Bridges really most resembles on record is the Stranger, the narrator played by Sam Neil who, you may recall, showed up just long enough to talk about "the way the whole durned human comedy keeps perpetuatin' itself," among other homespun-philosophical nuggets.

Along those same lines, "Jeff Bridges," the album -- possibly much like Jeff Bridges, the person -- is all about the cowboy Zen.

By keeping both his voice and his ambitions low, Bridges avoids a lot of the traps that have befallen other actors-turned-singers. He doesn't take the artistic chances Tim Robbins did on his recently released album debut, and so avoids any of the vocal and thematic embarrassments that the well-intentioned Robbins croaked his way into.

He's neither as pretentious a singer/songwriter as Billy Bob Thornton was in his early country-rock career, nor as silly a genre revivalist as Thornton eventually turned himself into. Cooler than Costner? That goes without saying.

But, utterly listenable as the album is, you may come away from it admiring T Bone Burnett's talent for framing modesty more than the innate likability and unassuming musical charms Bridges brings to the table.

Curiously, Bridges wrote or co-wrote only three of the 10 tracks -- curious because, when he made his indie-label bow in 2000 with a little-remembered album called "Be Here Soon," he wrote a full six of the tunes on that recording. Maybe he's gotten humbler in the intervening 11 years, feeling that his own compositions can't compete with those of Texas music stalwarts like John Goodwin and the late Stephen Bruton, both of whom worked on the film "Crazy Heart" and make multiple writing contributions here.

The opening number, Bruton's "What a Little Bit of Love Can Do," works up a shiny, catchy, Buddy Holly-like feel and it's the last time the album rises to anything so much as a mid-tempo. Most everything else sounds designed for driving into the remnants of a West Texas sunset and musing on life as a slow drive into the unknown. Or "Slow Boat," the simile in one of his original songs. He's a journeyman on "Jeff Bridges" in every sense of the word. "Lookin' down that highway as far as I can see/Where I left so much of me " "Well, it's a good old car/But the clutch is a little loose/And the brakes are screaming/A song called 'What's the Use'/But it's good for one more trip to you " "Are we headed upstream?/The fog's too thick to really see " You get the metaphoric-transit picture.

Familiarity is almost everything here. If you feel like you've been on this highway with Bridges since first-picture-shows like "The Last Picture Show," you may forgive the repetition of some of the imagery and settle into the passenger seat for this very comfortable midlife chat.

Burnett makes that easy enough, by putting to use the trademark sounds he's turned into Americana institutions over the last 30-plus years -- the tremelo and baritone electric guitars, the standup bass, brushes on snares, and Marc Ribot going a little crazy for a few seconds here and there -- and throwing in Rosanne Cash and Sam Phillips as harmony sweeteners.

Bridges stays so well within his limited vocal range that you occasionally wish he'd work up a slight sweat and at least test it, but there's something to be said for an actor knowing his limitations.

The two best tracks do come from the writing hand of John Goodwin, a friend of Bridges' since the fourth grade: "Maybe I Missed the Point," a pointedly self-searching eulogy for good deeds undone, and the closing "The Quest," which transcends its journeying symbolism with a wise message about learning to know when you've replenished your spirit enough to do some hard work.

The most quotable moment comes when Bridges, in an original verse, sings, "Here is my seat/I do not pay rent/I'm delighted/I'm Buddhistly bent." Critics may cock their eyebrows at that one, but both The Stranger would surely approve, and probably The Dude, too.

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Coldplay's new "Mylo Xyloto" album gets October release (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – British rock band Coldplay announced on Friday they will release their fifth studio album on October 25 in the United States and a day earlier elsewhere

The group unveiled the new album's graffiti pop art reversible cover and its title "Mylo Xyloto," on its website, but did not explain what the album title meant.

The album's new single, "September," will be released on September 12, following the June release of "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall".

Lead vocalist Chris Martin told Billboard the album, co-produced by Brian Eno, does not fit into "any musical kind of box".

"I think we have a lot to prove to ourselves. There's no point in not going for it," he said in an interview published on Friday.

The band's fifth album, which will be released in digital, CD and vinyl formats, follows their 2008 album "Viva La Vida", which sold 2.8 million units in the United States.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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3 Doors Down gets introspective on new album (AP)

By CAITLIN R. KING, Associated Press Caitlin R. King, Associated Press – Fri Aug 12, 11:16 am ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Multi-platinum rock band 3 Doors Down is moving forward by looking back.

"The title of this album really kind of hits it on the head, `Time of My Life.' It talks about a lot of things that went on in the past," lead singer Brad Arnold said in a recent interview. "But it talks about a lot of more lighthearted things as well, and (there's) a lot of fun songs on this record, too."

The band had a long history to pull from for this effort. Most of them have known each other for more than 20 years, having grown up together in Mississippi and officially forming in 1995. Their debut album, 2000's "The Better Life", featured the song "Kryptonite" and sold six million copies.

In many ways the group (comprised of Arnold, lead guitarist Matt Roberts, bassist Todd Harrell, guitarist Chris Henderson and drummer Greg Upchurch) wanted to get back to that initial feeling from their early years.

"This being our fifth record, it is really similar to our first record in a lot of ways in that we really approached it with kind of new eyes. ... with a good heart and hungry hearts and ready to do something new," Arnold said of the album, released last month.

"We did things that we normally wouldn't do in the past, and it shows," said Harrell. "You know how every band in their career has that one record, like Rush has `Moving Pictures,' and Def Leppard has `Hysteria'? I think this is our record. I think this is it, because it's by far, to me, the best record we've ever done."

The album's leadoff song, "When You're Young," became the band's 10th top 10 single on the mainstream rock chart.

"I think this song strikes a chord with fans, because everybody can relate to how hard it is to be young, whether you're presently young or whether you're just looking back on how hard it really was," said Arnold. "This song in a way is a mockery of how easy people think it is sometimes and how easy people talk about how it is to be young."

At age 32, Arnold said he thinks of his band mates as brothers. Harrell, 39, agreed and said he feels that 3 Doors Down is finally coming into its own.

"I think the band right now as a whole is probably better than it's been ever. I think we're all a lot tighter," Harrell said. "If you do something as long as we've done it, you can't help but get better at it, you know?"

"As far as where we're at in our lives, I think the band's all great. Everybody's in a good spot right now, and we're just having fun. We're ready to go out and have a lot of fun with the fans," he added.

3 Doors Down are currently on a U.S. tour through October. They just released a new single, "Every Time You Go," and the music video features footage from their European tour earlier this summer.

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Online:

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Review: TV's "The Voice" album is a listenable experience (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – It may be that we don't need another line of pop hits remade by barely identifiable reality-show contestants or actors, when we already have more "American Idol" and "Glee" albums than America's shrinking music-retail shelves can hold.

Actually, it's certain that we don't. But if the gods have decreed we have to have another cover-tune franchise, thank God it's "The Voice," whose credible coaches know first-hand that individuality of interpretation counts.

The breakout series' first full-length soundtrack, "The Voice: Season 1 The Highlights," turns out to be an altogether listenable experience on its own "reality"-free terms. Part of the reason is that, on the surface, several of the 11 singers seem wrong for the material they're singing -- which is why things sometimes go so intriguingly right.

Do we really want to hear anyone other than Dolly Parton sing "Jolene?" (Besides the White Stripes?) Hardly, but the case is easier to make with someone whose voice is the opposite of crystalline Dolly's -- that being, in this case, Vicci Martinez's slightly cracked, more R&B-rooted tones.

Usually the singers on "Idol" are trying to out-brass the originals, so it's a delight to hear Xenia offering a sweeter, more relaxed take on "Price Tag" than Jessie J, the originating British diva, did. (In this case, it may help not to have watched the show; Xenia's live performing skills, or the alleged lack thereof, were supposedly what got her voted off early, but on record, her contribution may be the album's most instantly appealing.)

Nirvana's "Come as You Are" wasn't made for as wistful and free-range a warbler as Rebecca Loebe, but even if you believe all too well that she "don't have a gun," she's packing an alternative approach that suits Kurt Cobain's former surliness just fine.

Of course, when it comes to Kanye West's "Heartless," any interpreter who isn't blatantly singing through Autotune's electronic filtering would be radically breaking from form. It's a bit of a stunt to turn his electro-lament into a more traditional ballad, but runner-up Dia Frampton finds the heart in West's seething.

While series winner Javier Colon doesn't take many chances with the tune that introduced him, "Time After Time," you'd be hard-pressed to argue that even Cyndi Lauper's iconic version has anything in loveliness on his tender vocal or, especially, its bare-bones arrangement.

The album isn't all about departure: Frenchie Davis' "When Love Takes Over" couldn't skew much closer to the minor David Guetta original. But Davis arguably brings more vocal character to the dance track than Guetta's guest, Kelly Rowland, did, which is merit enough for its inclusion.

If you didn't watch the series and weren't invested in the cast, listening to the "Voice Highlights" album won't change your musical life, but it should at least change your viewing habits next season.

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