NOISE

You have a tribute to slain Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell on your new album. Were you guys close?

Yeah. I used to save his messages all the time when he would call me because they were so funny. ... It's incredible that one of the leading heavy metal bands of all time, the guitar player you would think is going to be this aggro, f--k you kind of attitude individual, and he was probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met in my entire life.

What was it like working with Tommy Lee on his solo album?

He's a three-ring circus all in himself. He called me right around Christmas and told me he was doing this thing and if I had anything kicking around or something in the vault that he could use, and I told him I'd be on the next plane. I came down and actually gave him two songs from another artist that I have signed to my record label that just weren't getting used. He literally just karaoked over them and it worked really well. And then party, party, party. There is an amazing incentive to work quickly when you're in LA and you're hanging out with Tommy.

Do you think you guys have to work a little harder now that your style of melodic hard rock is less dominant in music?

You still have to work harder on every record. And the minute you stop doing that, the minute you stop putting more effort into the next record than the last, that's when you're going to start to fail and people are going to be less interested. ... And when you just start kind of, eh, you can hear it. You can hear it with bands today. Great bands that have put out tons of fabulous records and have made millions of fans all over the world. You can just tell that they're getting far too comfortable in their lifestyle, and that they're not interested in trying as hard. I definitely don't want to be there yet.

We could've run a photo of Rob Zombie instead of his wife, Sheri Moon, but even with fake blood on her face and neck, she's still prettier.

Rob Zombie

w/Mastodon


Where: House of Blues, Mandalay Bay


When: 7 p.m., August 19


Price: $30-$35


Info: 632-7600

At the Weekly, we can't see Kelly Clarkson's name now without imaging scenes involving Eric the Midget and High-Pitched Erik from The Howard Stern Show. More serious American Idol fans take the show, well, more seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they've broken up into Lord of the Flies-like tribes, each with their own name. Piggy was unavailable for comment.

Bo Bice: The Bice Squad

Anthony Fedorov: The Fedoration. Canadians are the Fedians

Constantine Maroulis: The Greek God Groupies

Anwar Robinson: The Anwarriors

Scott Savol: The Dawg Pound

Jessica Sierra: The Sierra Mists

Nikko Smith: The Nikkoholics

Vonzell Solomon: The Vonzies

Nadia Turner: The Turnettes

Carrie Underwood: The CareBears

—Rickey.org/blog

Shooter Jennings


Put the O Back in Country (3.5 stars)

Waylon's son turns in a debut that's more Southern rock than country, influenced as much by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Black Crowes as by his dad and George Jones, who makes a pair of guest appearances. Lead single "4th of July" is like a lost John Mellencamp anthem, and "Steady at the Wheel" channels early Aerosmith. Along with twangier numbers like "Solid Country Gold" and "Manifesto No. 1," it makes for an album worthy of the family name.

Arch Enemy


Doomsday Machine (2.5 stars)

The biggest selling point for Swedish metal act Arch Enemy is singer Angela Gossow, who tackles her brutal, guttural vocals with the same ferocity as any male death-metal growler. But once you get past the novelty of Gossow's gender, Arch Enemy have little to add to the genre. The band's sixth album (and third with Gossow), Doomsday Machine, is a perfectly competent slab of metal with some top-notch playing from guitarist Michael Amott, but it doesn't offer anything their last release didn't.

Al Green


Everything's OK (4 stars)

Al Green retains one of the most beauteous falsettos ever gifted to a human voice. After his hits of the '70s ("Let's Stay Together," "Love and Happiness" and "Tired of Being Alone"), Green retreated into religious music with only periodic returns to R&B. But Everything's OK rebirths his classic sound, with cohort Willie Mitchell again behind the board to offer a set so fervent that you would never know that Green is now approaching 60.