NEW YORK (Billboard) – The members of Atlanta-based Mastodon have a strange story to tell on their new seven-song, 50-minute heavy metal opus, "Crack the Skye." And the best way to hear the whole twisted tale will be live and direct: the band plans to perform the album, due March 24, in its entirety on their upcoming tour.

Hometown fans will get a preview Saturday night (February 28) when the band headlines a free, 40-band

On March 24th, Capitol Records will release The Decemberists' The Hazards Of Love, the follow-up to the group's 2006 breakthrough, The Crane Wife, which NPR listeners voted their favorite album of the year.

With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album

Homme and Hughes bring their two man, sex-drenched cabaret back with a mix of authentic 60s blues rock, and a generous sprinkling of glam-pomposity.

Having fulfilled his obligations to one musical family, Josh Homme returns to the bosom of the other, changing into his satirical hat on the way. The twoing and froing might have put obstacles in the way of the Eagles' touring potential but his creative double-life evidently provides

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - Sting drew cheers with an impromptu jam session at the Sundance Film Festival, but his real purpose was to bring attention to a film dealing with the singer's other passion: rainforest preservation.

Joe Berlinger's "Crude" traces 15 years of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Ecuador residents who claim that oil producer Chevron Corp. is liable for contaminating water supplies around the headwaters of the Amazon River.

Sting and wife

NEW YORK – Run-DMC once hailed themselves as the Kings of Rock, so it's fitting that the pioneering rappers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Run-DMC joins the heavy metal band Metallica, guitarist and former Yardbirds member Jeff Beck; soul singer and guitarist Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials as this year's inductee class.

Though Run-DMC wasn't among the first

NEW YORK (AP) -- Run-DMC once hailed themselves as the Kings of Rock, so it's fitting that the pioneering rappers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Run-DMC joins the heavy metal band Metallica, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials as this year's inductee class.

Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson gets a nod for the early influence category,

NEW YORK (AP) - Run-DMC once hailed themselves as the Kings of Rock, so it's fitting that the pioneering rappers have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Run-DMC joins the heavy metal band Metallica, guitarist Jeff Beck, soul singer Bobby Womack and doo-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials as this year's inductee class.

Though Run-DMC wasn't among the first rap acts, they were the first to achieve widespread mainstream success, and the first