Wind-Up Records

Thou shalt always rock in the Wide Stance.

​These days, any old band can come out as Christian (even ICP) but the title used to come with a heavier dose of Savior swagger. And maybe more guilt. Because Creed recently announced its plan to grace the Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard, 314-726-6161) with its divine presence May 26, we decided to harken back to the lessons Scott Stapp and company have taught us since their early '90s heyday -- and the lessons they should have learned. If being a Creed fan isn't technically a sin, being in Creed seems to include a heavy handful of them, packed in there with religious gestures, overbearing sanctity and deep, guttural growls. But in the beginning, there was God. Below is a list of the top five lessons we wish the band had learned from its man upstairs.

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Go to hell, you old Bastard.

​The sheer longevity of The Simpsons would be impressive if it wasn't so frightening. Consider: A person born on the day of the first non-Tracey Ullman Show episode is now 22 years old. And if characters from the show actually aged, Bart Simpson would be three years away from being able to assume the presidency.

Scary stuff. And individuals born in the 1980s may have felt a shiver of mortality Sunday when The Simpsons aired its 500th episode. With so many hours in the hopper, culling out particularly notable moments in its history without causing a flurry of angry debate is difficult.

Fear not: RFT Music waded through the murky yellow waters of the show's history in search of musicians and music that stand the test of time. Feel free to comment with other moments from Our Favorite Family that deserve recognition:

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metalinsider.net

Megadeth rocker Dave Mustaine is backing former Sen. Rick Santorum's presidential bid.

​Megadeth rocker Dave Mustaine raised a few collective eyebrows this week when he endorsed former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's bourgeoning presidential bid. The former Pennsylvania senator has been gaining steam as of late after prevailing in a trio of February contests, including Missouri's non-binding primary.

After noting to musicradar.com that he hopes "whatever is in the White House next year is a Republican," Mustaine listed off the negatives of the last candidates standing in the GOP field. He expressed concern about how former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made so much money and called former House Speaker Newt Gingrich an "angry little man." He also voiced some skepticism about some of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's political positions.

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Homer Simpson proudly displays his Grammy Award for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word or Barbershop Album.

​Adele could soon become a Grammy paper champion. Oh sure. 21 is a worthy entrant for the coveted Grammy for Album of the Year. "Rolling in the Deep," after all, topped the 2011 Pazz and Jop Poll by a pretty substantial margin. And in an era where physical releases don't sell particularly well, 21 is a remarkable outlier. The album -- which has spent an astounding nineteen non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart -- sold at least 17 million copies across the globe.

Those are impressive attributes for any contender for the Grammy's biggest award. And there's little question that Adele deserves praise if she ends up winning big during Sunday's award show. But there's just one problem: For some reason, the hoosiers who control the Grammys forgot to include Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in the Album of the Year category. Instead, Adele's masterwork got grouped in with Rihanna's Loud, Foo Fighters' Wasting Light, Bruno Mars' Doo-Woops & Hooligans and Lady Gaga's Born This Way.

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Wale, Gandmaster of the sports reference.

​Wale is Grandmaster of the sports reference. No musical artist brings as much wit, depth and knowledge to the craft. For instance, in the recently released ode to the former St. Louis baseball hero, "Albert Pujols," Wale slangs this gem:

"John Rocker, Atlanta Bravest knows that I'm awesome/ Better be like Fenway out in Boston, my green is a monster/ We don't speak to informants, they just look for a way out/ They just hating on the game, they just way too Canseco."

Of course, it's completely reasonable for a St. Louis hip-hop head to boycott this song, on the same grounds Alex Rodriguez probably avoids Super Bowl halftime shows starring Madonna. Too many memories, too much pain.

Not to worry. Wale, who played running back at Robert Morris University and Virginia State University, has produced plenty more fantastic sports references for the world to appreciate. He doesn't just drop names and lazy metaphors-- none of that "I'm the greatest like Jordan" shit. He weaves the references tightly around his lyrical narrative. Sometimes he builds an entire song around a sports reference. Sometimes he peppers them so subtly as to be nearly imperceptible.

To illustrate the depth of Wale's sack of sports references, here are names from lyrics that didn't make the cut: Tommy LaSorda, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, A-Rod, Jeff Gordon, Sean Taylor, Michael Strahan, Tony Romo, Joe Louis, David Carr, Ben Roethlisberger, Mars Blackmon, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Eric Mangini, Randy Moss, Adam "Pac Man" Jones, JaMarcus Russell, Troy Aikman, Bo Jackson, Dikimbe Mutumbo, Willie Beamon, Sacramento Kings, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Tony Dungy, and so on.

Here's the list of his 25 best, along with some honorable mentions:

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The Darkness saved Samsung's ad from spiraling down into forgettable territory.

​Let's be blunt. This year's Super Bowl was dismal for Midwesterners.

Sure, there were exceptions. Transplants from Boston, New York City or New Jersey may have enjoyed the game. Some may have had a rooting interest in Chad Ochocinco's David Carr's quest for a pity Super Bowl ring. And who knows? Maybe some people just watched to see the artist who made this video dress up in a cheerleader uniform and flick off America.

In any case, this year's slate of commercials attempted to fill a void. And like every year, many of the ads incorporated popular music to snag the attention of the masses.

Which spots succeeded? And which fell flatter than Rex Grossman's performance in Super Bowl XLI? Here's an unscientific take on some of Sunday's most memorable advertisements:

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theurbandaily.com

Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius made an expansive impact on popular culture.

​Music fans are still reeling from the death of Don Cornelius, the unmistakable and irreplaceable host and creator of Soul Train.

Cornelius was found dead on Wednesday in Los Angeles of what police believe to be a self-inflicted wound. The Chicago native and Korean War veteran was 75.

With the sadness emanating from Cornelius' death is increased focus on his expansive legacy. He created and hosted a show that became a revolutionary outlet for black musicians and unrepresented genres. Soul Train was a venue that brought extremely talented artists -- from powerhouses like Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye to rap superheroes Run DMC -- to a wider audience.

Cornelius himself was an attraction, delivering an utterly smooth delivery and championing an array of outstanding catchphrases. No matter how turbulent the day, Cornelius would wish America nothing more than "peace, love and soul."

Given the Soul Train's longevity, it is not terribly surprising that a number of musicians closely associated with St. Louis made appearances on the show. In honor of Cornelius, here's a sampling of St. Louis natives that appeared on Soul Train:

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Ed Murawinski via Wikimedia Commons

Newt reacts to the call from Survivor's lawyers. Originally from a 1995 New York Daily News cover.

​It's a time-honored tradition: A candidate for political office starts walking out for stump speeches to the strains of a hit by a band that doesn't agree with his views. Cease-and-desist letters follow. This week's episode stars one Newt Leroy Gingrich, who has been using "Eye of the Tiger" dating back to 2009. Frank M. Sullivan III, who co-wrote the song for his band Survivor, has sued the most rotund playboy this side of Ron Jeremy, and now the latter will have to choose a new tune.

He might as well stick with 1982, the year "Eye of the Tiger" was released -- the GOP was riding high on Ronald Reagan's first term, and awesomely cheesy pop songs rained like wealth trickling down to the common folk. Here, then, are the ten most appropriate theme-tune replacements.

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free-extras.com

Donnie Darko fans, rejoice! "Head over Heels" is coming to Rock Band 3 as DLC.

​Donnie Darko is one of those films with much more staying power than anybody expected, especially to folks who are constantly followed around by giant rabbits.

The movie isn't exactly everybody's cup of tea, but there's no question that the 2001 Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle managed to develop a cult following. The same could be said for the film's soundtrack, which features a raft of seminal tunes from the 1980s.

For the very special people that enjoyed the film's soundtrack and are obsessed with the Rock Band video game series, take heart. Today marks the release of "Head over Heels" by Tears for Fears as downloadable content for Rock Band 3.

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This FBI notice is all the content that remains on the now-shuttered Megaupload.com domain.

​SOPA and PIPA have been the talk of the internet for weeks, if not months now. Several major websites blacked out their content in opposition to the controversial bills this past Wednesday. On Thursday, a Federal raid took down the file-sharing giant Megaupload.com. In retaliation, the Guy-Fawkes-mask-wearing online "hactivist" collective known as "Anonymous" launched website-disabling attacks on the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America. Despite the overall weirdness of these facts in and of themselves, scratching past the surface a bit reveals even further oddities within this story. Without further ado, we bring you the top eight most eyebrow-raising elements of the Megaupload shutdown.

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