Sorry to our newsletter subscribers. Some of these stories are duplicates from yesterday. We’ll be back on the regular schedule tomorrow. Those on the site, this is all new =)

Napster Returns
NME Reports: NAPSTER is to relaunch before Christmas after signing agreements with the five major record labels and top independents. 

The new service, Napster 2.0 , will allow users to access up to 500,000 tracks by paying for individual downloads or a monthly subscription. 

Chris Corog , chairman and CEO of Roxio Inc , the new owners of the service, said, "Napster 2.0 is being built from the ground up to reflect the essence of independence and innovation that the brand is known for. Consumers want flexibility, and for the first time they will not have to choose between downloads or subscriptions." - Click Here for the Full Story

System of a Dodger?
Blabbermouth Reports: SYSTEM OF A DOWN guitarist Daron Malakian will be part of The Dodgers baseball team for the Los Angeles Dodgers 45th Annual Hollywood Stars baseball game on August 9.

"I've been going to Dodgers games since I was a kid," said Malakian. "I can't believe I'm going to take batting practice and play baseball on the field at Dodger Stadium. This really is a dream come true for me." - Click Here for the Full Story

Complete Bizkit
Hey here is another Limp Bizkit story. Seems that old Fred has completed work on the new Limp Bizkit album… again. Maybe this one won’t be scraped and will see the light of day. The album is still untitled but the favorite title here at antiMUSIC is “Out of the Closet?”  We turn to Rolling Stone for the full story: "It's done," insists Fred Durst about Limp Bizkit's much-delayed, still-untitled fourth album, now expected in September or October.  "There's eighteen songs, and I'd like to get them all on there." 

New guitarist Mike Smith co-wrote some of the material after the band decided to can old tracks in favor of starting fresh this spring. "It's heavy," Smith says, "but it also has some spacier, psychedelic moments, like Jane's Addiction."

"There are so many ups and downs," Durst explains. "The saddest song is called 'Drown.' It's about realizing it's getting close to the end. Things are getting crazy. It's my cry for someone  to save me before I drown."

As for the heavy stuff, Durst expects one track, "Stick 'Em," to be "legally pursued and banned." "It's about fighting," he says. "You've got a chamber inside your brain, and it's locked up, and you've got chains on it. You just hope nobody sets it loose, because if they do, you know . . . that's when things turn for the worse." - Click Here for the Full Story

KISS / Aerosmith Extended To Fall
Billboard Reports: Veteran rock bands Kiss and  Aerosmith are finalizing plans to follow their summer tour of outdoor venues with a run of arena dates this fall. 

The acts stand to gross up to $46 million this summer from about 35 dates beginning Aug. 2 at ctnow.com Meadows Music Theater in Hartford, Conn. 

The new arena leg -- which will include about 20 dates starting Oct. 24-25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas -- could add another $25 million to the year's tally. The tour could also move into international markets next year, according to Kiss manager Doc McGhee. - Click Here for the Full Story

Enuff Z’nuff Reunion
It was a surreal night at the Viper Room in Hollywood on Monday, where fans got to see two different Enuff Z’nuff’s perform. 

The current incarnation of Enuff Z’nuff featuring original bassist Chip Z’nuff, drummer Ricky Parent (joined in 1992) and lead guitarist turned lead vocalist John Monaco (joined in 1996) was set to play to the sold out crowd. 

The Viper Room was the last scheduled gig on the band’s current tour. The band had just completed over 40 dates on the Metal Sludge tour as a trio. Lead vocalist and the group’s chief songwriter Donnie Vie decided for personal reasons to not join the band on the outing. 

With the band playing in Donnie’s new backyard (he moved to L.A. from Chicago a little over a year ago) he wanted to pull a special surprise with the fans and the band. He got together with original guitarist Derek Frigo and original drummer Vik Fox and they planned to attend the show and hopefully jump up on stage for an encore with the band. Since they hadn’t played together on the same stage in over a decade they thought it would have been something special for the fans. And with original members discussing a one or two off reunion tour to coincide with the release of a greatest hits package later this year, they thought a surprise jam at the Viper Room would be the perfect way to kick start a reunion. 

The only problem, Donnie Vie was bared from the building. It’s not clear who gave the order; it appeared to come from the promoter who wanted to avoid a possible scene. John, Chip and Ricky went on as planned and performed a 45 minute set in front of the cheering fans. Meanwhile, Donnie Vie was stuck outside hearing the band perform the songs he had written.

Once members of the Viper Room’s Monday night headlining house band Metal Shop heard what happened, they intervened and got Donnie into the venue. A few songs into their set after inviting Jani Lane and Billy Morris from Warrant up on the stage to jam “Cherry Pie”, Metal Shop surprised the crowd by announcing another appearance from Enuff Z’nuff, except this time it was with the original members Donnie Vie, Vik Fox and Derek Frigo. They only performed one number, their 1989 hit single “New Thing,” but Donnie, Derek and Vik were all smiles as they hit the stage together for the first time since 1992 and the audience loved it.  

Its unclear where this will lead Enuff Z’nuff, whether a full blown reunion including Chip Z’nuff will be in the making or not, or perhaps Donnie, Derek and Vik might put together a reunion project. Regardless of what happens, one thing is sure the die hard Enuff Z’nuff fans who were at the Viper Room got to witness one of their dreams come true. And the magic was still there. 

Iron Butterfly Guitarist Erik Braunn Dead at 52

We are sad to report the death of a pioneer of heavy rock; Erik Braunn.  

Los Angeles Times reports: Erik Braunn, 52, the lead guitarist on Iron Butterfly's classic heavy metal anthem of 1968 "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," died of cardiac arrest Friday in Los Angeles.

Born in 1950 in Pekin, Ill., and brought up in Los Angeles, Braunn began his musical career at age 4 and was considered a violin prodigy. 

He was 16 when he joined Iron Butterfly, and spent only two years with the rock band — from 1967 to 1969, the two years of its greatest success. The teenager said he had not been prepared for the frenetic pace of working 365 days a year in such venues as the Hollywood Bowl.

But Braunn and colleagues Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy and Lee Dorman, left their mark on musical history with the 17-minute "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." The album went platinum and stayed on the national sales chart 2½ years, and a three-minute version also became a Top 40 radio hit. - Click Here for the Full Story

More Live Pearl Jam 
Reuters/Billboard reports: Pearl Jam recently wrapped its Riot Act world  tour, but a host of live releases are on tap for the coming months. 

On Sept. 16, the band will release complete concerts from July 8-9 at New York's Madison Square Garden and a two-set, 45-song blowout taped July 11 outside of Boston. 

As previously reported, Pearl Jam released CDs of each show from the tour  exclusively via its Ten Club fan organization, though three performances were later made available through traditional retailers. The deadline to order individual shows from the Ten Club is Aug. 20; afterward, the CDs will only be sold in complete sets from the tour's three legs. - Click Here for the Full Story

Read Day In Rock Reports From Other Days

more on Napster, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit, Enuff Z'nuff, Pearl Jam, KISS and Aerosmith

Preview and purchase music from System of a Down, Limp Bizkit, Enuff Z'nuff, Pearl Jam, KISS and Aerosmith 

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