Def Leppard's new album, Songs From the Sparkle Lounge, debuted at Number Five this week, marking the band's 11th consecutive Top 20 album. It has been catching some buzz thanks to the single "Nine Lives," featuring country singer Tim McGraw. The set was recorded last year at vocalist Joe Elliot's Dublin studio. But the material was mostly written in 2006 while Def Leppard was on tour and dubbed their backstage area "The Sparkle Lounge." Elliot tells us how the most recent tracks came about: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "What we tend to do with in this one is like 'Alright, let's sit down and try write some songs.' If we were out buying records these are kind of songs we want to buy. We just sat down and wrote songs that we thought were meaningful songs. That's why there are songs on the album that are individually written by people because they just took the song and rolled with it, which we've never really done much in the past."

All songs from the new album can be requested online.

After finishing the European dates, Def Leppard kicks off a U.S. summer tour August 1st in Nashville.
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R.E.M. guitarist and founding member Peter Buck took a swipe at U.S. President George W. Bush in the current issue of Uncut magazine, saying that his competence level is perfect for a management position at McDonald's.

In the magazine Buck answered fans' questions on a wide range of subjects and when asked what career he would give President Bush if he could have him switch professions, Buck answered, "Well, since he's failed at everything else he's done, he needs to step down the management level a little. There's probably a McDonald's that could use management, and he seems like the kind of purse-mouthed snot nose who'd be great at terrifying 13-year-olds."

Buck went on to say, "A lot of what he's done is betray the working people. I mean, I'm a rich white guy, and as much as I disagree philosophically with everything they do -- it's only been good for me -- on a personal level, if you don't count the environment and the deaths."

Last month R.E.M. released their latest album called Accelerate.

They will appear on the PBS show Austin City Limits on May 24th. The band's tour kicks off on May 23rd and continues in North America, before traveling to Europe in July.
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Pink Floyd's David Gilmour has a new live set on the way. In September, he'll release Live In Gdansk, the last show of his 2006 summer tour. The gig, which was recorded in front of 50,000 people at the shipyards in Gdansk, Poland, find Gilmore backed by the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra featuring a 40-strong string section. Highlights include the performance of "A Great Day for Freedom" with the orchestral arrangement of the late Michael Kamen, and a guest appearance by prominent Polish pianist Leszek Mozdzer, who reprised his piano part from On an Island's "A Pocketful Of Stones."

Last fall, Gilmour released a DVD called Remember That Night - Live From The Royal Albert Hall.

Glimour's most recent solo album, On an Island, came out in 2006.
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