Monday, September 17, 2012
Kathy Bates Recovering After Double Mastectomy
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Lady Gaga's ARTPOP: A History Of Album Title Oddities
From unpronounceable symbols to parentheses, Gaga's ALL-CAPS album title joins the ranks of the all-time weirdest.
By James Montgomery
<P>Over the weekend, <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml">Lady Gaga</a> struck a blow against copy editors everywhere when she announced that the title of her new album, <a href="/news/articles/1691226/lady-gaga-new-album-artpop.jhtml"><i>ARTPOP,</i></a> must <i>always</i> be written in ALL CAPS, because "it's all in the details."</P><P>And while we're not trying to downplay said details, we'd be like to point out that Gaga isn't exactly the <i>first</i> artist to demand orthographical satisfaction. Shoot, she's not even the first to go ALL CAPS: Earlier this year, Linkin Park did the same thing with their <a href="/news/articles/1688422/linkin-park-living-things.jhtml"><i>LIVING THINGS</i></a> album, only they one-upped Gaga by also requesting that all <i>songs</i> on the album also be written in all caps, bravely eschewing the lowercase for reasons apparent only to them.</P><P>In fact, the history of popular music is packed with <a href="/news/articles/1579620/panic-at-disco-know-punctuation-better-than-they-think.jhtml">affronts to punctuation</a> — from early pioneers like the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and James Brown's "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" to more recent torchbearers like Panic! at the Disco and Godspeed You! Black Emperor — though rarely have artists had the audacity to extend that mistreatment to the album title itself.</P><P>Of course, there are those who have bravely dared to throw logic (and roughly 300 years of letter-case tradition) out the window when it came time to name their new albums. So in honor of Gaga's <i>ARTPOP</i> demands, here's a look back at some of the greatest — and by that, we mean most nonsensical — album titles in history.</P><P><b>Led Zeppelin's <i>IV</i></b>: At the peak of their powers — both artistically and, it would seem, <i>mystically</i> — Zeppelin decided they didn't need to title their fourth album. Instead, they printed four hand-drawn symbols (each representing a band member) on its inner sleeve. The move has subsequently enthralled generations of bong-glazed dorm inhabitants and only added to the album's mystique. In the 40 years since it was released, the record has come to be known as <i>IV,</i> <i>Runes,</i> <i>Zoso</i> (after Jimmy Page's symbol) and "the one with 'Stairway to Heaven' on it."</P><P><b>Prince's <i>Love Symbol</i> album</b>: Released in the lead-up to the Purple One's "symbol" phase — when he changed his stage name to an unpronounceable hieroglyph that incorporated the symbols for both male and female — it understandably infuriated his label, Warner Bros., which was precisely what Prince intended. (Note to labels: Do not release greatest-hits packages without Prince's approval.) After the album didn't sell (he blamed this on Warner), Prince would eventually begin appearing in public with the phrase "Slave" written on his face. Shocking, to be sure, but at least you could <i>pronounce</i> it.</P><P><b>Ministry's <i>Psalm 69</i></b>: Its actual title is a collection of Greek symbols (that translate to "head") and the number "69" in Greek numerals. Not only that, but Ministry named their 1992 album in honor of occultist Aleister Crowley's "The Book of Lies," which was first published as "Which is also Falsely Called BREAKS. The Wanderings or Falsifications of the One Thought of Frater Perduarbo, which Thought is itself Untrue. Liber CCCXXXIII [Book 333]." And <i>that</i> would have been a ridiculous name for an album.</P><P><b>Sigur Ros' <i>( )</i></b>: The Icelandic art-rockers really outdid themselves on their third album, and we're not just talking about the decision to sing all the songs in a made-up language called "Hopelandic." Technically, <i>( )</i> has no actual title. Rather, the brackets are meant to represent its two halves or give the listener the opportunity to determine the title themselves. Oh, and officially, all of the tracks on the album are untitled too. Your move, Gaga.</P><P><b>Coldplay's <i>X&Y</i></b>: Sure, it's got a traditional title. But ever the <i>artistes,</i> Coldplay decided to print the name of their 2005 album in the <a href="/news/articles/1503742/coldplays-album-cover-decoded.jhtml">Baudot code</a>, an early forerunner of the Morse code that relied on a series of 1's and 0's to convey messages. Needless to say, the logic behind the decision was about as difficult to crack as the code itself.</P><P><b>M.I.A. <i>/\/\ /\ Y /\</i></b>: Yes, we know that technically, M.I.A.'s 2010 album is called <a href="/news/articles/1638991/mias-new-album-called-y.jhtml"><i>Maya</i></a> (she named it after herself, following in the tradition of her first two albums, which were named in honor of her mother and father), but let the record state that when she officially unveiled the title, she did so in tricky typographical fashion. No wonder <a href="/news/articles/1643219/mias-new-album-turd-diplo-tweets.jhtml">Diplo hated it</a> so much.</P><P><b>Liars' <i>WIXIW</i></b>: It's pronounced "Wish You," FYI. And for a band like Liars, who have spent their career giving albums titles like <i>They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top</i> and <i>They Were Wrong, So We Drowned,</i> we'd like to think it's actually an improvement.</P><P><i>Sound off on the latest album title trend in the comments, and FEEL FREE TO DO IT IN ALL-CAPS!</i></P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Lady Gaga Has The Title And Concept For Her Next Album" id="vid:717202" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P>
Related ArtistsSaturday, September 15, 2012
Beyonce To Direct And Star In Feature Documentary?
Doc will reportedly take fans inside the superstar's life and career with blend of concert footage and confessional interviews.
By John Mitchell
<P><a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/knowles_beyonce/artist.jhtml/">Beyoncé</a> is one of the most thrilling multi-hyphenate superstars in the game, and now she's looking to pad her already-stacked résumé with another title: director. The pop diva is reportedly shopping a documentary feature about her life and career that she will star in, direct and produce.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Beyoncé - "Love on Top"" isvevo="true" isrc="USSM21101548" id="vid:702484" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-beyonce-to-direct-star-in-a-documentary-20120801,0,1760231.story" target="_blank"><i>Los Angeles Times</i></a> reports that Beyoncé's agents at ICM are looking for distribution for a documentary focusing on her life and career that would blend performance footage with confessional interviews. A source close to the film, who was not authorized to talk about it publicly, revealed that 20 minutes of footage has been shown to prospective distributors.</P><P>Beyoncé previously starred in, but did not direct, <a href="http://www.mtv.com/videos/beyonce-year-of-4/1666691/playlist.jhtml">"Beyoncé: Year of <i>4,</i>"</a> a reflective MTV documentary that chronicled the star's return to the studio to make her hit 2011 album <i>4</i> after taking a year off. "My life was award shows and tour buses and hotels, and it kind of goes by so fast. I couldn't even hear it anymore," <a href="/news/articles/1666569/beyonce-year-of-4.jhtml">she says</a> in the film. "It was very risky for me to set out on my own. Sometimes we don't reach for the stars, sometimes we are satisfied with what people tell us we're supposed to be satisfied with, and I'm just not going for it."</P><P>Much has happened in the year-plus since "Year of <i>4</i>" was produced for the star to explore in a feature-length film. Behind the scenes, she took control of her career, <a href="/news/articles/1660837/beyonce-mathew-knowles.jhtml">parting ways professionally</a> with her longtime manager, father Mathew Knowles, in March 2011. A few months later, in June, she released her hit album <i>4.</i></P><P>In August 2011, Beyoncé revealed at the MTV Video Music Awards that she was <a href="/news/articles/1669849/beyonce-pregnant-vmas.jhtml">expecting her first child</a> with husband Jay-Z. The couple <a href="/news/articles/1676906/beyonce-jay-z-baby-born-ivy-blue.jhtml">welcomed a daughter</a>, Blue Ivy Carter, in January. She made her <a href="/news/articles/1685932/beyonce-michelle-obama-atlantic-city.jhtml">return to the stage</a> in May with a series of concerts at the Revel resort in Atlantic City, and rumors abound that she is <a href="http://rapfix.mtv.com/2012/02/14/beyonce-prepping-two-new-albums/">hard at work on new material</a>. In February, songwriter-producer and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder revealed, "The conversations about her next album literally just started and there [are] two projects happening."</P><P>Tedder previously produced the <i>4</i> track "I Was Here" and co-wrote and produced the <i>I Am ... Sasha Fierce</i> global smash "Halo."</P><P>Beyoncé recently received three nominations for the <a href="/news/articles/1690827/video-music-awards-nominees-list-2012.jhtml">2012 MTV Video Music Awards</a>, including <a href="/news/articles/1690891/2012-video-music-awards-best-female-video.jhtml">Best Female Video</a> for "Love on Top."</P>
Related Photos Related ArtistsJoanna Krupa Bikini Photos: THG Hot Bodies Countdown #85!
THG is counting down the 100 Hottest Bikini Bodies of 2012!
From now until the end of the year, we'll be paying tribute to the hottest of the hot with bikini photos galore. The competition is guaranteed to be sweltering.
Keeley Hazell bikini pictures were honored yesterday as this very smoldering countdown continued. Keeping the hotness rolling today at #85: Joanna Krupa!
If you tuned in to last night's Real Housewives of Miami season premiere, you saw new cast member, model Joanna Krupa, at her gorgeous, unabashed best.
She goes hard, and doesn't give a $h!t what anyone thinks.
Outspoken as she is striking, the 33-year-old Polish-American beauty has stripped down for Playboy, Maxim and PETA, and appeared clothed on DWTS.
Long story short, she's hot. But don't get on her bad side.
Click to enlarge more Joanna Krupa photos below (some pretty NSFW ones after the jump, be forewarned), and check back for THG's bikini babe #84 ...
