INXS TO RE-RECORD CLASSICS WITH DIFFERENT SINGERS

Twenty-Four Bit reports that the surviving members of INXS are re-recording some of thier classics with different singers. Ben Harper, Rob Thomas, Nikka Costa, Tricky and that dude from The Killers are involved. Ben did "The Devil Inside," which should be awesome.

WHAT THE... SANTANA'S SUPERNATURAL TURNS 10!

Man, time does fly.  Next week, Sony Legacy is releasing the tenth anniversary edition of Santana's Supernatural. It isn't remastered, I don't think - it came out in 1999, I doubt they could improve the sound! Disc 1 is the entire original album, and disc 2 includes some tracks that didn't make the original (including a second collab with Dave Matthews and Carter Beauford, "Rain Down On Me," remixes of "Corazon Espinado" (the song that featured Mana, the Mexican rock band) and the huge hit "Maria Maria" (produced by Wyclef Jean and featuring his then-protegees The Product G&B), an extra jam with Eric Clapton and some other stuff.

The album was a pretty stunning comeback for Carlos Santana. At that point, he was pretty much an "oldies" classic rock type artist.  This not only made him a rock star, it made him a pop star and even saw him crossing over into hip-hop and R&B. Yes, people can bitch that a lot of it was contrived marketing on the part of co-producer and record mogul Clive Davis (who originally signed him to Columbia after Woodstock, and signed him to Arista thirty years later). But the fact is, these "all-star" type albums that are supposed to bring a legacy artist to a new generation hardly ever work, and I can't think of many, or any, that have worked this well (with the exception of Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company). It connected Carlos with the jam band scene that he had such a huge influence over via the Dave Matthews collab ("Love Of My Life" - the first single, although it didn't really become a hit), the alt-rock scene with "Put Your Lights On," featuring former House Of Pain MC turned singer/songwriter Everlast (and that song was a pretty huge hit), hip-hop and R&B with "Maria Maria" as well as "Do You Like The Way" produced by Lauryn Hill and featuring Cee-Lo Green (then with Goodie Mob, now more famous for Gnarls Barkley). The song with Mana reminded folks that he was the first big Latino rock star (or one of them), and the Clapton song was a nod towards classic rock. But it was his biggest pop hit ever, "Smooth," a collaboration with Rob Thomas of matchbox twenty that really made the album a monster. I've written about how people really hate on the guy, but this is a good song, and as far as I'm concerned, bringing Carlos Santana to new audiences is a great thing.

Anyway, the extras on the album are cool, but not essential. Amazon is selling the album for $13.99, which is good for two cds, but if you have the original, it may not be a totally necessary purchase.

ROB THOMAS? I AIN'T MAD AT HIM

When I read the writings of some of the more angry-seeming rock critics, I often wonder what inspires their anger. I mean, I don't like a lot of artist - but I don't hate them. As I like to say, no musician has ever "kicked my dog."

matchbox twenty singer and solo superstar Rob Thomas definitely hasn't kicked anyone's dog (and in fact is a friend to dogs everywhere) but you wouldn't know it by reading the venom aimed at him. Urban Dictionary suggests that he be thrown in a meat grinder! Stereogum, meanwhile, points out that you can download Rob's cover of Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" at iTunes before adding "but we don't recommend it." You know who doesn't hate Rob? Carlos Santana! You may recall that Rob co-wrote and sung Carlos' huge comeback hit "Smooth" ten years ago. Yeah, I got tired of that song too, but it is a great song. Carlos recently joined Rob on stage for "Smooth," as well as covers of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile." I would think that, no matter who was hating on you, if Carlos Santana joined you onstage, it would kind of counteract everything else. By the way, you can buy a wristband with a usb drive that has a live recording of the show here.

SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT ROB THOMAS, BUT HE PUTS HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS

A lot of people hate on Rob Thomas and matchbox twenty. I don't: I'm not a huge fan, but they have some good songs. I like that song "Disease," and also "Unwell," I like the song Rob did with Santana, "Smooth." I've interviewed Rob and he was always cool. But what I like about him most is the fact that he and his wife, Marisol, spend not just money but also time on helping animals and people in need. They established the Sidewalk Angels Foundation to help both people and animals (it's rare for a charity to concentrate on both), and they both donated time at the now-defunct Pets Alive animal shelter in upstate New York (defunct because the woman who ran it died last month - happily, a Utah organization Best Friends Animal Society has swooped in to help the animals that were living at Pets Alive - read about that here).

Anyway, recently an organization called SHARK educated matchbox twenty about the cruelty that rodeos profit from, and Rob and the band pulled out of some rodeo concert. SHARK convinced Carrie Underwood to pull out as well. Now SHARK is being sued by said festival. Well, Rob obviously cares a lot about animals, and I give him credit for publicly admitting his mistake in (at first) agreeing to play the rodeo. He's walking it like he talks it, and how can you not respect that.