ALAN SCULLEY

12 - 12:01am

Evanescence headlines Carnival of Madness tour Friday When Evanescence came off of the road in December 2007 from its extensive tour behind its second CD, “The Open Door,” it was understandable the band’s singer and primary songwriter Amy Lee was ready to step away for a time.

To Casting Crowns, lyrics more important than the music 05/04/12 - 12:09am

Ask Mark Hall, frontman and songwriter for the highly popular Christian band Casting Crowns, about his music, and chances are you won’t get the kind of elaborate answers or insights about the subject that are common with many songwriters. The fact is that Hall is a lyric guy. And while he writes (or co-writes) the music to Casting Crowns songs, it’s clear that he doesn’t get overly analytical about what he’s doing musically.

Korn collaborated with electronic and dubstep on album 04/20/12 - 12:03am

Korn collaborated with electronic and dubstep on album Korn’s current CD, “The Path Of Totality,” may be the album that stands out as taking the biggest step in a different direction from the other records in the Korn catalog. For “The Path Of Totality,” the band collaborated with a variety of electronic and dubstep artists, and the electronic rhythms and other elements give the new songs a notably different sound from most of Korn’s other music.

Texas In July slated to perform Wednesday at Jake's in Lubbock 04/03/12 - 12:22am

The band, which will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Jake's, is writing material for a third CD, to be recorded this summer.

The second Texas In July CD “One Reality,” caught the band in transition. In the very early stages of writing that CD, released in April 2011, guitarist Logan Maurer left the group. Maurer had been the main music writer since the band’s inception in 2007, and with guitarist Christian Royer joining drummer Adam Gray as the main music writers, “One Reality” ended up being a departure from the group’s independently released 2009 debut CD, “I Am.”

A glance at some of the best overlooked CDs of 2011 01/06/12 - 1:06am

Not that this is much of a news flash, but while mainstream radio and the album charts were populated by plenty of fluffy (albeit fun) dance-pop, R&B and hip hop, much of the best music of 2011 was pretty much off the grid — being released almost without exception on an ever-ballooning number of independent labels. So as we say goodbye to 2011, here are my picks for the year’s best CDs that stayed off the mainstream grid, flew under the radar and didn’t get nearly the attention or popularity they deserved.

Adele's '21' tops list of best CDs of 2011 12/30/11 - 1:08am

Adele deservedly takes top billing on my list of best CDs released this year, but the other story line is 2011 was a very good year for rock.

Adele deservedly takes top billing on my list of best CDs released this year, but the other story line is 2011 was a very good year for rock. Five of my top 10 CDs rocked convincingly. And that’s not counting Radiohead, the Tedeschi-Trucks Band or Wilco, which would also be considered rock bands, albeit with a slightly lighter touch. Here are the CDs that rocked me in 2011. 1. Adele: ‘21’ (Columbia Records)

Give the gift of music this holiday season 12/23/11 - 1:03am

Music always makes a great holiday gift, and this year, the record industry worked hard to put together a wide selection of box sets and other collections to please fans of just about any style of music. Here are some excellent options:

Hardcore band Chariot to perform at Jake's on Wednesday 12/02/11 - 1:01am

Vocalist Josh Scogin caught a lot of hardcore music fans by surprise when he left the band Norma Jean after that band's first CD, "Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child."

Hardcore band Chariot to perform at Jake’s on Wednesday Vocalist Josh Scogin caught a lot of hardcore music fans by surprise when he left the band Norma Jean after that band’s first CD, “Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child.” In a recent phone interview, Scogin said he has never felt like there was a backlash over him leaving what at the time was a fast-rising new group on the scene.

Third Day: Looking to break the ceiling on Christian music scene 11/17/11 - 1:24am

It's no secret that Third Day has long harbored ambitions of breaking beyond the Christian music scene and into the mainstream rock market.

It’s no secret that Third Day has long harbored ambitions of breaking beyond the Christian music scene and into the mainstream rock market. That sort of crossover has happened from time to time since the group came on the national scene in 1997 — but never on the kind of scale to make Third Day a household name beyond its core Christian audience.

Every note tells a story: Trans-Siberian Orchestra 11/11/11 - 1:09am

With Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Paul O'Neill has already achieved several notable firsts for a touring musical act.

With Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Paul O’Neill has already achieved several notable firsts for a touring musical act. To O’Neill’s knowledge, Trans-Siberian Orchestra is the first rock act to never have an opening act or open a show for any other act. It’s the first band to have more than 80 members and the first act to go straight to arenas for its first tour. He has also set new standards for visual spectacle in a live show, launching more fireworks, fire, lasers and other special effects for each performance than any other rock band in history.