Download Bon Jov app - For free :)

For a limited time only, download the Bon Jovi World Tour app for the special holiday price of just $3.99. Join Jon Bon Jovi and select members of the crew as they narrate an exclusive audio tour of the band's sold-out world tour. Never before have fans had this level of access to the Bon Jovi live experience!

Download the app and you get:
A special collection of Jon Bon Jovi's favorite photographs from the road
Audio commentary by Jon and acclaimed action photographer David Bergman
Customizable music player
Behind-the-scenes facts and figures

Download today to take advantage of this special holiday price!

Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher has tipped new boys The Smokin' Barrels for big things. He said: "They've got something. They are a bit like Kasabian and a bit like Oasis. What's not to like? They just need to put in a bit of hard graft."

Noel should have taken that X Factor job.

Lou Red and Metallica - Good?

et's be honest: ever since Lou Reed brought out his Tai Chi master for some muscle flexing as part of his live act, alarm bells have been ringing. Granted, he's always been a contrary bugger but watching someone stretch their legs over their head while Reed croaked his way through 'Perfect Day' was only going to induce uncontrollable guffaws rather than gasps of amazement. Similarly, Reed's decision to trample over his own 'Sweet Jane' and 'White Light/White Heat' with the aid of Metallica at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary Concert was met with incredulity and a sense that we all really were going to hell in a handcart. But surely things couldn't get any worse, right?

Wrong.

Rarely has one record induced such feelings of anger and utter revulsion. This isn't the decadence of chopping a few lines out, getting the nipple clamps on and kissing boots of shiny leather but an exercise in the worst kind of self-indulgence. Lulu's existence is offensive in the extreme. Not because of its sensibilities or mores – Lou's beseeching in 'Mistress Dread' to "Tie me with a scarf and jewels / Put a bloody gag to my teeth / I beg you to degrade me / Is there waste that I could eat?" is more chortlesome than shocking – but because it wastes so much of life's most precious commodity: time. We have but a short period on this earth and Lulu, spread over 95 – yes, 95! – tedious and excruciating minutes simply eats into time that could be more constructively spent watching the grass grow or perhaps wanking into a sock.

For the majority of this ghastly, tuneless work, the protagonists rarely sound in tandem. Over great swathes of the album, the effect is that of Lou Reed ranting over some Metallica demos that were never intended for human consumption. At its best, the effect is that of two records being played over each other.

New Song The Killers

The Killers have announced their return with new Christmas single 'The Cowboy's Christmas Ball', which you can hear by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking. 

The track will be released tomorrow (December 1) for purchase via download. The track is being released to coincide with World Aids Day with proceeds going towards the (RED) campaign which helps fight HIV/Aids in Africa.

2011 is the fifth year in a row in which The Killers have released a Christmas single and 'The Cowboy's Christmas Ball' will be available to be purchased as part of an EP which will contain all their previous Christmas releases. 

The Killers are currently working on their fourth studio album and are strongly rumoured to be headlining at least one of the UK's major festivals next summer. 

To read a new interview with The Killers' Ronnie Vannucci about 'The Cowboy's Christmas Ball', pick up this week's issue of NME, which is on UK newsstands now andavailable digitally.