THE EYES OF A SOLDIER

Queensrÿche Salutes The Troops With American Soldier

Concept Album Inspired By Veterans’ Stories Examines The
Consequences Of War From The Soldiers’ Perspective

Album Available March 31 From Atco/Rhino;
U.S. Tour To Begin April 16 In Seattle

LOS ANGELES — Queensrÿche envisions war through the eyes of a soldier with the band’s twelfth studio release, the epic concept album AMERICAN SOLDIER. The ambitious album encompasses a dozen songs inspired by numerous interviews with veterans conducted by Geoff Tate, the group’s singer and chief songwriter, who was intent on telling their story using their words. After speaking with soldiers who served in various conflicts—from World War II to Iraq—Tate turned their firsthand experiences from the frontlines into an unflinching musical examination of war from the soldier’s perspective. AMERICAN SOLDIER will be available from Atco/Rhino on March 31 for a suggested list price of $18.98 (CD) and $9.99 (digital).

Tate, Michael Wilton (guitar), Ed Jackson (bass) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) recorded the album in 2008 over the course of nine months. The idea for AMERICAN SOLDIER, Tate says, came from hearing stories from fans that are veterans, as well as his own father, who served in both Korea and Vietnam. “My father was a career military man, but until very recently he never spoke about what he went through. I think that reticence is true of a lot of veterans, which means most people never truly understand what it means to be a soldier at war. Hearing what he and some of our fans have endured made me want to share their stories with the world. This is an album about the soldiers, for the soldiers, as told by the soldiers themselves.”

Those stories resonate at the heart of AMERICAN SOLDIER, imbuing each song with vivid details about both the emotional and physical impacts of war, evoking war zone battles (“Middle Of Hell”), sacrifice (“The Killer”), loss (“If I Were King”), the longing for home (“Remember Me”), and adjusting to society after returning from war (“Man Down!”).

Tate recorded many of his interviews with the soldiers, and some dialogue from these discussions is mixed into several of tracks, allowing the soldiers’ own words to help tell their compelling stories. The band also brought a few of the soldiers into the studio with them to record vocals. The verses of the track “Unafraid” feature the voices of Chris Devine, a Vietnam veteran, and Sean Lenahan, a veteran of Somalia, recalling their war experiences while Tate provides the anthemic

chorus. Also making a guest vocal appearance is Tate’s 10-year-old daughter Emily on the gripping duet “Home Again,” which examines the emotional toll of war from two perspectives, with Geoff singing from the soldier’s point of view and his daughter singing from the viewpoint of the child left behind.

Making the album, Tate says, was an enlightening process. “I was surprised to learn how little has changed through the generations. I spoke with a Vietnam vet whose experience wasn’t all that different from a soldier who fought in Somalia almost 30 years later. But what surprised me the most was how antiwar most soldiers are. To me, that makes their sacrifices even more moving.”

Soon after the release of AMERICAN SOLDIER, Queensrÿche will launch an extensive spring tour of the U.S., with international dates to follow later in 2009. The shows will be presented in three suites, with the band performing sets from AMERICAN SOLDIER, Rage For Order, and Empire. The first date of the tour will be April 16 at Snoqualmie Casino in the band’s hometown of Seattle.

AMERICAN SOLDIER
Track Listing

1. “Sliver”
2. “Unafraid”
3. “Hundred Mile Stare”
4. “At 30,000 ft.”
5. “A Dead Man’s Words”
6. “The Killer”
7. “Middle Of Hell”
8. “If I Were King”
9. “Man Down!”
10. “Remember Me”
11. “Home Again”
12. “The Voice”

Queensrÿche U.S. Tour Dates

APRIL
16 Snoqualmie, WA Snoqualmie Casino
17 Snoqualmie, WA Snoqualmie Casino
18 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
19 Chico, CA Senator Theatre
22 Anaheim, CA House Of Blues
23 San Diego, CA House Of Blues
24 Los Angeles, CA House Of Blues
25 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
26 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
28 Denver, CO Paramount Theater
29 Kansas City, MO Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah's
30 Milwaukee, WI Northern Lights Theater

MAY
1 Milwaukee, WI Northern Lights Theater
2 Maplewood, MN Myth
3 Walker, MN Northern Lights Casino
5 Grand Rapids, MI Intersection
6 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues
7 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
8 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
9 Mt. Clemens, MI Emerald Theatre
10 Greensburg, PA Palace Theatre
12 Verona, NY Turning Stone Casino
13 Stamford, CT The Palace Theater
14 Sayerville, NJ Starland Ballroom
15 New York, NY Nokia Theatre
16 Atlantic City, NJ House Of Blues
17 N. Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
19 Tampa, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
20 Lake Buena Vista, FL House Of Blues
21 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues
22 Houston, TX House Of Blues
23 San Antonio, TX Hemisfair Park
24 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
27 Fayetteville, AR Arkansas Music Pavilion
28 Oklahoma City, OK Bricktown Events Center
29 Albuquerque, NM Kiva Auditorium
30 Phoenix, AZ Dodge
31 Flagstaff, AZ Pine Mountain Amphitheater

JUNE
3 Agoura Hills, CA Canyon Club
4 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
5 Kelseyville, CA Konocti Harbor

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PHISH RETURNS TO THE CLIFFORD BALL

RHINO’S 7-DVD BOXED SET FEATURES THE BAND’S ENTIRE TWO-DAY PERFORMANCE AT THIS LANDMARK FESTIVAL IN 1996
INCLUDING A DVD FILLED WITH BONUS FOOTAGE

DVD BOXED SET AVAILABLE FROM RHINO/JEMP MARCH 3

Last fall, when members of Phish—guitarist Trey Anastasio, drummer Jon Fishman, bassist Mike Gordon, and keyboardist Page McConnell—announced the band would take the stage again for the first time in four years, tickets for the three-night stand at Hampton Coliseum in Virginia sold out immediately. This month, the band announced additional dates, marking a return to the road for one of the most successful touring bands of all time.
Rhino starts the celebration a few days before Phish’s highly anticipated shows with a 7-DVD collection documenting The Clifford Ball, a landmark concert event that drew more than 70,000 fans to upstate New York in August 1996. It was the largest concert event of 1996 in North America and set the tone for festivals including Bonnaroo and Coachella. Ray Waddell summed it up in Billboard: “Bonnaroo is a direct descendant of Phish’s one-band festival extravaganzas like Clifford Ball…Bonnaroo launched with—and maintains—the same self-contained, immersive experience as the Phish events, as well as its laissez-faire treatment of fans and spirit of community.” The Clifford Ball will be available from Rhino Records March 3 for a suggested list price of $99.99.
The Clifford Ball was the first of six two-day spectacles the band staged, which included The Great Went a year later, followed by Lemonwheel in 1998 and culminating in Big Cypress—the largest ticketed event in the world for the millennium celebrations, drawing over 90,000. The Clifford Ball was held in Plattsburgh, New York, at a decommissioned air force base, during which Phish played two marathon concerts including multiple guests.
The DVDs contain all three sets and encores the band played each night, along with bonus footage—more than 9 hours of live improvisation. The bonus DVD presents choice rarities including a soundcheck from August 15, their “Flatbed Jam” performed in the wee hours of the morning on the back of a truck, an interview with longtime Phish artist Jim Pollock, interviews with Phish and more.
The first night provided fans with a preview of several tracks that would appear a few months later on Billy Breathes, the band’s eighth studio album. During the show, the foursome convened on a small stage, where they performed acoustic versions of then-unreleased tracks: “Waste,” “Talk” and “Train Song.”
On the second night, nearly half of the songs featured have never appeared on a studio album, including “Runaway Jim,” “Wilson,” “Punch You In The Eye” and “Harpua.” Between the first and second set, an orchestra played selections by Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky as a glider plane flew over in synch with the music as the sun set.
over…

PETE YORN & SCARLETT JOHANSSON
DUET ON BREAK UP

Available September 15 On Atco Records

Free Stream Of “Relator” Now Available At www.thebreakupalbum.com

LOS ANGELES – In 2006, critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Pete Yorn contacted actress and Atco recording artist Scarlett Johansson with the idea to record a duets album in the spirit of Serge Gainsbourg’s 1960s recordings with Brigitte Bardot. “I was having a strange week of insomnia and when I finally passed out, it came to me in a dream,” says Yorn. “I woke up and the whole thing was in my head, fully formed.” Johansson was intrigued by Yorn’s out-of-the-blue invitation. “It sounded like an interesting little adventure,” she explains. “The idea of two people vocalizing their relationship through duets.”

On September 15, Atco Records, an imprint of Rhino Entertainment, presents the resulting work, Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson BREAK UP, a deeply emotive yet hook-filled song cycle about a tempestuous relationship. The collection will be available at all retail outlets, including www.rhino.com, for $13.98 (CD), $7.99 (digital) and $13.98 (vinyl). A free stream of “Relator” is available now at www.thebreakupalbum.com and for purchase at all digital service providers for $.99 beginning May 26. Prior to the release of BREAK UP, Yorn will release his fourth studio album, Back And Fourth, on Columbia Records June 23.

Break Up includes eight original compositions by Yorn, ranging in tone from the lilting opener “Relator” to the disarming, retro/futuristic “I Don’t Know What To Do” to the climactic “Someday.” Completing the collection is a powerful interpretation of the art-rock classic “I Am The Cosmos” by the late Chris Bell, co-founder of quintessential cult band Big Star. Produced by Sunny Levine, with Yorn and Max Goldblatt as executive producers, the album features contributions from guitarist Robert Francis; bassist Giuseppe Patane; and violinist Amir Yaghmai, with Goldblatt on banjo, synth bass and backing vocals, and Levine handling programming and mixing.

Predating Johansson’s debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, by nearly two years; Break Up was conceived and recorded in 2006, in Levine’s garage studio. “I always thought of it as just a small project between friends,” explains Johansson. “I’ve loved the album ever since I heard it completed. It perfectly captured where I was in my life at the time.” Yorn was as protective of Break Up as a father of his daughter, playing it for no one until last year.
When those close to him finally heard Break Up, the overwhelming response convinced Yorn that it was simply too strong a work to remain under lock and key.

BREAK UP
Track Listing

1. Relator
2. Wear And Tear
3. I Don’t Know What To Do
4. Search Your Heart
5. Blackie’s Dead
6. I Am The Cosmos
7. Shampoo
8. Clean
9. Someday

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LEGENDARY NEW YORK DOLLS TO RELEASE
’CAUSE I SEZ SO MAY 5 ON ATCO RECORDS

Iconic Band Reunites With Famed Producer Todd Rundgren For
Fourth Studio Album; Set Includes New Version of “Trash”

U.S. Tour Begins In May

LOS ANGELES — After working together on the New York Dolls’ influential debut in 1973, the group reunited with producer Todd Rundgren this winter to record their fourth studio album, ’Cause I Sez So, set for a May 5 release on Atco Records.

Recorded at Utopia Sound Studio in Kauai, Hawaii, with David Johansen (vocals); Sylvain Sylvain (guitar); Steve Conte (guitar); Brian Delaney (drums); and Sami Yaffa (bass), the album features 11 original compositions and a new version of “Trash,” which was on their 1973 debut album. “It was amazing working with Todd again, and I think we were able to evoke the special sound of our first album and drag it by the hair into the present,” says frontman Johansen.

The New York Dolls swaggered onto the New York music scene in the early ’70s, influencing a generation with its subversive mix of high-decibel rock and high-heeled androgyny. The original band recorded a pair of milestone records—New York Dolls (1973) and Too Much Too Soon (1974)—before breaking up in 1977. The surviving members reformed the group in 2004 to much acclaim, but soon lost bassist Arthur Kane to leukemia. Two years later, Johansen and Sylvain reunited again to record the New York Dolls’ third studio album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This.

’CAUSE I SEZ SO
Track Listing:

1. ’Cause I Sez So
2. Muddy Bones
3. Better Than
4. Lonely So Long
5. My World
6. This Is Ridiculous
7. Temptation To Exist
8. Making Rain
9. Drowning
10. Nobody Got No Bizness
11.Trash
12. Exorcism Of Despair

# # #

MORPHINE IS AT YOUR SERVICE

Two-Disc Set of Unreleased Studio and Live Recordings Captures the Band’s
Inimitable Sound on the 10-Year Anniversary of Lead Singer’s Untimely Death

Surviving Members to Play Tribute Show on September 27 in Cambridge

Album Available From Rhino/Ryko on October 6

LOS ANGELES — Singer Mark Sandman coined the phrase “low rock” to describe the sonorous, languid groove he created with the acclaimed Boston band Morphine. Sadly, the band’s time together was cut short in 1999 when Sandman suffered a heart attack in Italy while onstage with Morphine and died on the way to the hospital. A decade later, Rhino pays tribute to Sandman’s ferocious creativity and Morphine’s instantly recognizable sound with a two-disc collection of unreleased studio tracks, alternate takes, and live performances. AT YOUR SERVICE will be available October 6 from Rhino/Ryko at all retail outlets, including rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $24.98 (CD) and $16.99 (digital).

The 35-song compilation takes its name from the line Sandman used to kick off most shows, “We are Morphine at your service.” The music spans the group’s entire career and features founding member Dana Colley (saxophone), original drummer Jerome Deupree and his successor, Billy Conway. To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Sandman’s passing, the surviving members will play a memorial concert in Pacific Park in Cambridge on September 27.

AT YOUR SERVICE is the result of the group’s habit of recording everything. In fact, Conway estimates there are at least 60 unreleased Morphine songs, including those featured in this set. The first disc (subtitled “Shadows”) contains unreleased diamonds such as “It’s Not Like That Anymore,” “Women R Dogs,” “Bye Bye Johnny,” and “Come Along,” which mixes hard-swinging jazz with a New Orleans second-line beat. Both discs include parts four and five of “I Know You,” a song that began on the group’s 1992 debut, Good, and continued on 1997’s Like Swimming.

The final disc (subtitled “Shade”) opens with a performance recorded during the tour for Good at WMBR-FM in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the band performed five songs, including “Claire,” “Shoot ‘Em Down,” and “Saddest Song.” Morphine returned to the radio station a year later during their tour for the album Yes, performing five more songs, including “Super Sex” and “Radar.” Among the alternate versions of album tracks on the second disc are such standouts as “Buena,” “Empty Box,” and “The Night,” the title track from their final studio album.

AT YOUR SERVICE
Track Listing
All songs previously unreleased

Disc 1 - Shadows
1. “At Your Service”
2. “Come Over”
3. “Come Along”
4. “It’s Not Like That Anymore”
5. “Patience” (Alternate Version)
6. “Call Back”
7. “Bye Bye Johnny”
8. “Hello Baby”
9. “Women R Dogs”
10. “You’re An Artist” (Alternate Version)
11. “5:09”
12. “Lilah II”
13. “Moons Of Jupiter”
14. “Lunch In Hell”
15. “Imaginary Song” (Alternate Version)
16. “Shadow (I Know You Part V)”

Disc 2 - Shade
1. “Good” (Live – WMBR ’92)
2. “Only One” (Live – WMBR ’92)
3. “Shoot ’Em Down” (Live – WMBR ’92)
4. “Saddest Song” (Live – WMBR ’92)
5. “Claire” (Live – WMBR ’92)
6. “I Had My Chance” (Alternate Version)
7. “Buena” (Alternate Version)
8. “Empty Box” (Alternate Version)
9. “All Wrong” (Alternate Version)
10. “Put It Down (Wo-Oh)” (Live – WMBR ’93)
11. “Free Love” (Live – WMBR ’93)
12. “Sexy Christmas Baby Mine” (Live – WMBR ’93)
13. “Scratch” (Live – WMBR ’93)
14. “Super Sex” (Live – WMBR ’93)
15. “Radar” (Live – WMBR ’93)
16. “I’d Catch You”
17. “The Night” (Alternate Version)
18. “Take Me With You” (Alternate Version)
19. “Shade (I Know You Part IV)”

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