Australian hard-rockers AC/DC will release their latest studio effort, Black Ice, on October 20. The album - their first in over eight years - will be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and through the band’s website. The Aussie-rockers have also announced the North American leg of their Rock ‘N Roll Train tour - their first world tour since ‘01. The ferocious live act will kick off the 21-date tour on October 28, with a notable two-night stand at NYC’s Madison Square Garden.

If some balls out arena rock isn’t for you, than maybe one of these recently announced tour will be…

• Looking for your moe. fix while they’re on hiatus? Then check out Al & The Transamericans (begins: 10/31)
• STP front man Scott Weiland heads out on his own for a three week solo trek (begins: 11/11)
• Former BtN artist Nada Surf line up a month long late fall tour (begins: 11/9)
• Psychedelic, freak-folk act Brightblack Morning Light hit the road (begins: 10/01)
• Punk pioneers The Misfits embark on a lengthy U.S. tour (begins: 10/08)
• The Duo will team up with Surprise Me Mr. Davis for a late-night NYE show at B.B. King’s
• Roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo keeps extremely busy through late November (begins: 09/12)

Finally, DIY indie-rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have lined up a brief Tuesday night mid-Atlantic tour which kicks off on September 16. Alex Ounsworth & Co. will hit the stage for seven consecutive Tuesdays at extremely intimate venues in Philly, D.C., Baltimore and Pittsburgh - where the band will presumably be road testing some much-needed new material for their fans.

After an incredibly long hiatus, Australia’s AC/DC plans to return to the road later this year to support their first new album, tentatively titled Black Ice. The new release, AC/DC’s first new album since 2000, will be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart Stores where Money truly Talks. Look for more details to be announced soon.

Here’s what else we found to help you get over the hump:

• Dave Schools of Widespread Panic responds to Lefsetz’s recent post
• Live Music Blog shares some photos and highlights from All Good
• Ben & Jerry’s unveils their latest flavor: Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road
• Our own Chad Berndtson interviews Tim Reynolds for Glide Magazine
• Blues Traveler signs with Verve Forecast, readies a brand new album
• Barenaked Lady Steven Page gets caught with cocaine in Central NY
• Mike Gordon jammed with Baltimore’s The Bridge at the All Good festie

And finally, Neil Young makes his return to The Late Show with David Letterman this evening for a rare appearance on US Network Television. Neil won’t be performing, but will probably discuss Farm Aid and how much he hates George Bush.

Everyone has been focusing on naming their favorite albums of 2007, but I’m more of a visually oriented guy. Each week I browse Amazon and Netflix to find out what rock-related concerts and documentaries are coming down the pike, and I do my best to check out any that seem worthwhile. There were many flicks both good and bad that made their way into either my DVD player or DVR this past year. This week’s B List focuses on the 10 Best Music DVDs of 2007:

10. The Other Side of the Mirror - Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival

Bob Dylan changed folk music forever when he took the stage at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival with some bona fide electrified rockers. The Other Side of the Mirror examines not only Dylan’s 1965 performance, but also his more straightforward turns at the ‘63 and ‘64 festivals. Murray Lerner’s fantastic documentary gives us 20 songs from Dylan’s three appearances, most of which haven’t been released before.

Read on after the jump for the remaining best music DVDs of the year…

It’s time for another edition of Digging Deep, our B List series that searches high and low for the best covers on YouTube. We’re gonna change it up a bit by finding the best bluegrass versions of some of our favorite songs. Pick on that.

Some of the tunes are done for comedic value, while others are actually pretty damn good covers. Read on after the jump for 10 great YouTubes featuring the music of Van Halen, Metallica, Outkast, Led Zeppelin and more…

It’s the middle of another long week and there’s more news to be digested. And don’t forget the glorious stuff we posted yesterday: Levon comes drawling back to NYC and Ozzfest may be free of charge. Onto today…

• There’s a soon-to-be-confirmed rumor that The Police plays Fenway Park on 7/28-29; we’re hearing Madison Square Garden will be the first weekend in August and that Wrigley Field is also a possibility
• Phish’s Headphones Jam hits the Internets for free: LivePhishRadio will begin broadcasting the track at 2 PM Eastern today
• The lineup for the recently announced Bruce Springsteen tribute concert at Carnegie Hall looks absolutely amazing
• Big news behind the scenes: Rick Rubin is making the move from producer to co-chairman of Columbia Records
• JamBase features a great review of Eric Clapton’s recent show from recent show from Australia
• Apple and The Beatles finally settled their long-standing copyright dispute
• We must admit we’re not the biggest fans of Gawker’s only underwhelming blog, Idolator. But this post about the dude that the RIAA sued for downloading five songs is both dead-on and hilarious
• Lifehacker’s third installment of a series on taming your MP3 collection
• The Lefsetz Letter suggests the NFL select AC/DC to perform at next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show (we suggest The Outfield)
• Danger Mouse discusses the success of Gnarls Barkley
• Deborah Koons Garcia sues for access to her husband’s unpublished tapes

What else youse all seeing out there? What are you saying this morning?

For this week’s B List, we’re honored to introduce our friend Stuart Hartstone. Stuart has worked many festivals with “oo” at the end of the title for Superfly Productions, and most recently he has helped promote concerts and manage artists under the Hartstone Productions banner (along side his brother Jarrett).

“I’ve never been a fan of Top 10 lists when it comes to music — to me, the premise is kind of silly. I’ve always believed that art was in the eye of the beholder, so who’s to say one person’s art is better than someone else’s? But I also generally tend to disagree with most Top 10 lists. I don’t know who writes these things, but with the exception of The B List’s recent Top 10 Side Projects, I often come away feeling like the author has his head firmly affixed up his ass.

Well, that didn’t stop me from taking this opportunity to put together a Top 10 list of my own. I was listening to the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers the other day, and Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ came on. I’ve always loved that song, especially the intro. For lack of a better word, it’s just so badass. So it got me thinking: What other songs have similar badass intros like that one? You know, an intro that is just so good it makes you want to pump your fist in the air and yell ‘Yeah!’

So while I know some of you probably won’t agree with me on all of this — I’m still not 100% convinced I do — here without further ado is my Top 10 Badass Guitar Riff Song Intros. While you might not agree with all my choices, I think you will find that for the most part, the intros to these songs are pretty fuckin’ badass!”

Read on below for Stuart Hartstone’s guest edition of The B List…

This ain’t no party…this ain’t no disco…this ain’t no crap filler post…

I can’t get enough Talking Heads. And if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy this brand new-to-YouTube clip of Byrne & Co. rocking British television on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1978. Take a look at Tina Weymouth laying it down and tell me Bisco’s Marc Brownstein didn’t steal his whole look and persona from her.

• Fuck the copyright shit — YouTube really is worth all that Google cash. I mean, where else can you randomly stumble upon a rare clip of Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner performing on television back in 1964? ‘Tube score is the new ground score. (Twelve years later Marvin treated an Amsterdam audience to this shining example of perfection.)
• I usually try to stay away from the easy stuff in this department, eschew from posting a bunch of Phish and Dead. But if you haven’t seen it, here’s a classic video of the popular rock band breaking down Max Creek’s Back Porch Boogie Blues at The Ranch on 5/20/87.
• When members of the Aquarium Rescue Unit aren’t bailing out the likes of Panic and Trey, they’re ripping it up all over these United States. Check out this cool JamCam Chronicles video of Col. Bruce Hampton & The Codetalkers with Jimmy Herring on Yield Not To Temptation. Sweetness.
• My buddy Hoobs recommended I check out this cool new cartoon called Frisky Dingo, and his recommendation is sound. Now I present you with this friendly prodding: The comedy is high, and the current charts can’t hold it. It’s off the charts: Part I and Part II of Episode 2.
• And lastly, our man Coach brought this clip to our attention — Celine Dion and some other chick (Trey Anastacia?) performing AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long at a Divas concert in Las Vegas. For the record, I’d probably rather watch Celine get eaten by Montecore the Tiger than have to see this live. But you should watch it, ‘cuz it’s really not that bad.

And even though this one ain’t quite music related, it’s a prelude to my upcoming week-long trip to Jolly Ol’ England for five soccer matches in one week. This Sunday’s 2-1 Arsenal victory over Premiership leader Manchester United was nothing short of extraordinary, a match that would’ve made a fan out of the biggest soccer haters. This thing was so frenetic and action-packed that I figured I’d post the entire four minutes of highlights: You can watch the whole clip here, which I recommend quite strenuously. Enjoy it all, people. Take it all in.

And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. About 20 minutes later He invented YouTube and sat in It for anywhere between 6,000 and 1,000 years.

The raw footage from An Acoustic Evening with David Byrne and Richard Thompson is slowly making its way onto YouTube. A user named Patzu this weekend uploaded a full clip of the famed songwriters playing Psycho Killer at the March 24, 1992 performance in Brooklyn, and today it leads off our heavy haul:

• Sunday night I threw an old standby, The Thomas Crown Affair, into the DVD player, and I remembered again how awesome a job they did incorporating Nina Simone’s Sinnerman with Bill Conti’s original score into the film. That flick started The Ace Cowboy Affair with the High Priestess of Soul, and today I pass some Nina onto youse: House of the Rising Sun.
• “Dude, did I take way too much of that shit or do the Allman Brothers look really freakin’ Japanese tonight?” Take a gander at the big-in-Japan Natto Brothers Band absolutely nailing the ABB’s Black Hearted Woman. Out of 10, I’d say musically it’s an 8.5; comedically it’s an 11.
• Many MVP debates in professional sports center around one simple premise: Switch Player A with Player B from their respective teams and try to imagine which team would fare better. With this in mind, I’m retroactively and posthumously awarding Jerry Garcia the 1989 Guitar MVP. Not only did he propel the Dead to a great year, but as we see in this video, he also stepped into bands that sounded like the Miami Sound Machine and made them better. Check out this clip of Jerry and Ruben Blades on Muevete from Latino Session (Jerome takes over at about 5:45).
• This song is either called For Those About To Rock or For Those About To Strut the Stage Shirtless and In Boy Shorts. I’m never sure which is which. Either way, it’s always cool to see AC/DC live: We salute you.
• Umphrey’s McGee has a surprising amount of haters. Maybe this contingent doesn’t like the band’s structured jams or proggy rock, or maybe they’re all self-loathing pedophiles that don’t want to put themselves in a small, sweaty room with that many 15-year-olds. But even the haters have to admit that Umphrey’s plays some of the best and most inspired covers of any touring band. When they’re not ripping Hot for Teacher or King Crimson’s Red or Baba O’Riley a new arsehole, they’re tackling humorous covers to add a little technical levity to the show. UM broke out a rousing rendition of the SNL Dick In a Box sketch on New Year’s Eve at the Aragon, and it’s as well-performed as you’d expect. And if you’re in the anti-UM camp, just remember, if Phish did this it’d be fucking epic.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. That man was Stan Zbornak from the Golden Girls.

Sometimes a band needs to shake things up before it can make it to the top. Today, I take a look at the significant changes in personnel that actually have benefited the bands. I don’t usually explain my choices, but this week I’m saying, “Why not?” You’ve all been good to me, it’s the least I can do.

1. Neil Peart replaces John Rutsey in Rush: I’m guessing you didn’t even know Rush had a drummer before Neil Peart. Seems ridiculous to me, too. 
 
2. Andy Summers replaces Henry Padovani in The Police: Of course, Sting, Andy and Stewart Copeland went on to become one of the best trios of all-time.

3. Vinny Amico replaces Chris Mazur in moe.: After Mike Strazza quit the band, moe. was in a rut and needed a drummer fast. It blows me away that moe. hired Chris Mazur, a drummer who strained just to keep up with the band. Ten months later the band cut their losses and hired Amico, who not only keeps up but also propels the band. 
 
4. Jeff Holdsworth finds God and Page McConnell becomes a full member of Phish: The early tapes are fun to listen to, but not because of Holdsworth. With Jeff gone, Page’s role expanded and the band went on for 18 successful years. 

5. Jimmy Herring replaces George McConnell in Widespread Panic: Say what you want about Michael Houser, but the man had a style all his own. McConnell, partly hamstrung by the expectations of playing Mikey’s leads, sounded overly generic. Herring, who can play all of Houser’s leads behind his head with his eyes closed, has thrived so far since taking McConnell’s role in the band.

6. Brian Johnson replaces Bon Scott in AC/DC: Hey, Bon Scott is a legend, and sadly the guy died. But Brian Johnson sold records like nobody’s business and allowed the band to continue their upward trajectory.  
 
7. Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes take the Allmans torch from Dickey Betts and Jack Pearson: Ignoring Herring’s brief tour of duty with the Brothers, Derek and Warren have revitalized a band that had become stagnant. It’s kind of hard to call a band “a nostalgia act” when they come out and tear the shit out of a 30-minute Mountain Jam. As cool as it was to see a Whipping Post and One Way Out encore EVERY NIGHT, the band now changes it up more than it ever has.  

8. Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks replace Bob Welch in Fleetwood Mac: Are you familiar with Future Games or Bare Trees? Well, I bet you remember both the Tusk and Rumours albums.  

 
9. Kris Myers replaces Mike Mirro in Umphrey’s McGee: Mike Mirro is a solid drummer. But Kris Myers is a fucking machine with potential to be one of the best drummers in rock ‘n roll. It’s truly no coincidence that Umphrey’s McGee has a fanbase that has grown exponentially over the past three years. 
 
10. Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best in The Beatles: I couldn’t ignore the most famous “just missed” story in rock history. Ringo had an overwhelming personality that sold millions of dollars worth of merchandise in the mid ’60s. People often overlook his contributions to drumming, but songs like Tomorrow Never Knows, Taxman, The Abbey Road medley and Sgt. Peppers Reprise had distinctive drum parts that were way ahead of their time. 

What do you think? Should I listen to Ace, who thinks that Brent Mydland should have made the cut? Did I miss anyone else? Sound off below…