Springsteen beats the Beatles

The Beatles may be top of the pops, but someone born in the USA has shown them who is the boss.

According to the Zagat Survey's Music Guide which hit stores on September 23, Bruce Springsteen has apparently made the most popular album of all time.

The new 332-page guide lists the top 1,000 albums of all time, based on ratings from over 10,500 music aficionados. Topping the guide's most popular list is Springsteen's Born To Run. The Beatles' Abbey Road and Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are in second and third places respectively. The guide sells for $14.95 and ranks the top 12 albums in 22 genres ranging from blues to classical to hip-hop.

Survey participants listed their five favourite albums and then rated other albums they were familiar with on a 30-point scale. They lauded Springsteen's 1975 breakthrough album for its 'cinematic vision of American teenage romanticism' and its 'promise of the endless Saturday night.'

Others on the Top 10 are U2's The Joshua Tree, the Beatles' The White Album and Revolver Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, Springsteen's Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon and U2's Achtung Baby.

Publisher Tim Zagat hopes the rankings will spark debate among readers. 'I hope there is some controversy,' he said in an interview. 'People can argue until the cows come home over whether Mozart was a better songwriter than Bob Dylan, but just that you are juxtaposing Dylan and Mozart catches you by surprise and makes you think.'

Springsteen, nicknamed The Boss, displayed high patriotism in his Grammy-nominated album The Rising, released last year in the aftermath of 9/11.

The formula seems to be working. So what's next -- a ballad for Iraq?

George W Bush may be a hero to many Americans, but a bunch of punk rock bands are going to take him to the cleaners.

Good Charlotte, Green Day and Sum 41 are only some of the bands working together on Rock Against Bush, a new album that will be released through the indie label Fat Wreck Chords next April or May.

'I think it's our responsibility as citizens and musicians to do so. He's wrecking the country and the world,' Fat Mike, president of the record label, who also sings for the punk band NOFX, told MTV. 'I'm planning on losing a lot of money, but I don't care. This is something I really believe in.'

Money from the album sales will go into print and television ads encouraging young people to vote Bush out of the White House.

Time to rock the White House, eh?

The Grammys are back, a week ahead of schedule.

February 8, 2004 is the date of the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, which will return to Los Angeles' Staples Center after a change of scene. Last year's event, held at New York for the first time since 1998, was all but swept away by Norah Jones and Co.

The date is a week ahead of the show's traditional late February slot. Organisers said the 'shuffling' followed after the Oscars advanced its broadcast schedule by a month to make elbow room in a crowded awards season. The Oscars will now be held on February 29.

Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band released his first solo album Some Devil, featuring all new releases except the live favourite Gravedigger. Joining Matthews are long-time collaborator Tim Reynolds and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio.

Grammy-winning rap duo OutKast released their fifth set, Speakerboxxx-The Love Below, on September 23. The double album consists of two solo discs -- one for each member.

Limp Bizkit's Results May Vary, which also released yesterday, is the group's first new album since Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000). The hiatus was caused by the departure of guitarist Wes Borland until he was replaced by Mike Smith.