WANNA DISCUSS 'THE SOPRANOS'?
Last night's episode wasn't really a cliffhanger, but since we have to wait until 2007 for more Sopranos eps, I figured some folks may want to talk about it. Here's a recap, and here is HBO.com's list of last night's music. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section.


TOOL SAYS MAKING ALBUMS NO MYSTERY
How does Tool go about making its albums, with their complex musical content and elaborate artwork and packaging? While it may seem like a vast, mysterious process, guitarist Adam Jones told LAUNCH that it's just a matter of "connecting the dots." "We write this song, and then we write the next song -- we don't really, like, you know, go, 'Okay, well, now we're gonna write the radio song,' or 'Now, we're gonna write this song.' You know, we just write and then put 'em in an order that we like after we've recorded them and then get a feeling from all the songs in the group and then try to attack the propaganda of selling the record."

• Tool's fourth full-length result of "connecting the dots," 10,000 Days, debuted at Number One on the Billboard Top 200 and has sold nearly one million copies in the month since its release.
• Tool is currently touring Europe and will mount an extensive U.S. tour this fall. The band is already confirmed to headline the 22nd annual San Diego Street Scene festival, scheduled for August 4th and 5th in downtown San Diego.
• The group will also play in Seoul, South Korea on August 15th.
  
  

ALICE IN CHAINS JOINED BY METALLICA FRONTMAN
Metallica frontman James Hetfield joined Alice In Chains onstage for a performance of the latter band's "Would?" at the Rock am Ring festival in Germany on Friday (June 2nd), according to Blabbermouth.net. Hetfield is the latest guest musician to jam with the reunited group on its current tour. Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan and Velvet Revolver bassist Duff are two of the stars who appeared with Alice In Chains on its recently completed U.S. dates.

• Both Metallica and Alice In Chains are currently doing the rounds of the European festival circuit, with Alice In Chains returning for more U.S. shows this summer.
• Metallica is taking a break from working on its ninth studio album, while Alice In Chains, with Comes With The Fall singer William DuVall on lead vocals, is playing its first live shows in ten years.
• Alice In Chains members Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney joined Hetfield and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo for a three-song set at a fundraiser last month for the MusiCares MAP Fund, which helps musicians dealing with addiction and recovery. Hetfield was honored at the event.
  
  

INCUBUS SINGER HOSTING CELEBRITY SURF JAM
Incubus singer Brandon Boyd will host the Surfrider Foundation's Celebrity Surf Jam, scheduled for June 10th in Huntington Beach, California, according to MTV.com. Boyd said in a statement, "My friends and I have grown up surfing in California and we try to do everything we can to preserve the beaches and oceans that have afforded us the opportunity to surf...Celebrity Surf Jam is just one more way I can help raise awareness for the need to protect our coastal environments."

• Boyd, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and bassist Ben Kenney participated in the first Surf Jam last September. The band has also donated money to the Surfrider Foundation through its own Make Yourself Foundation.
• The Surf Jam, which features actors, musicians and professional surfers, is designed to raise awareness and support for beach and coastal environments.
• The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the world's oceans, waves and beaches. For more info, go to surfrider.org.
  Incubus has been in the studio in recent months writing and recording its next album.
  
  

WHY THOM DECIDED TO GO IT ALONE ON NEW ALBUM
Thom Yorke will release his first solo album next month, and the singer recently revealed to Rolling Stone his reasons for making the record. He talked about The Eraser saying that he just wanted to see what it would be like to work on his own. He also revealed that certain songs on the album were Radiohead tracks that never made albums, like the track ?Harrowdown Hill,? which was being kicked around during the making of their last album Hail to the Thief. Radiohead play Boston tonight.


TAKING OVER THE WORLD
When the New York band Taking Back Sunday blew onto the Billboard chart at number two a few weeks back with their third album, it certainly expanded the group?s professional horizons, or at least those of guitarist Matt Rubano and frontman Adam Lazzara. ?(Matt Rubano) Well, we?re not supposed to tell anybody but world domination is in the works. (Adam Lazzara) Lots of mind blowing stuff but if we told you now your mind would be blown and you wouldn?t be ready for it then. (Matt Rubano) Yeah, ?cause how can you re-blow your mind? (Adam Lazzara) We?re gonna tour a lot though, we?re gonna tour as much as we possibly can and try to tour with a bunch of our friends and some great bands and go to Japan at some point.? Taking Back Sunday and Angels and Airwaves will both be playing a Six Flags Great Adventure gig in Jackson, New Jersey, on June 22nd.


QUICK HITS
Look for the second season of The Office to arrive on DVD in September.

Want to hear an unreleased Counting Crows song (in Windows or Real Player)? They appear on New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall 2003, out June 20. This summer the band tours with the Goo Goo Dolls.

Remember Faith No More? Former frontman Mike Patton leads Peeping Tom. His CD came out this week, and last week he performed on Conan while wearing a hairnet.

If you're an Oz fan, the looooong wait for the final season to come out on DVD is almost over. According to TVShowsonDVD.com, a release date has finally been announced for the last eight episodes: Sept. 5.

You can hear the new Sonic Youth CD online Rather Ripped hits stores June 13. Check out What a Waste and/or Pink Steam.

Third Eye Blind is still around, in case you were wondering. I saw them a couple of years ago in Tahoe and other than the high school bleacher seats, the show was excellent.


THIS WEEKEND'S TOP TEN MOVIES - JUNE 2-4
1. The Break-Up, $38.1 million
2. X-Men: The Last Stand, $34.35 million
3. Over the Hedge, $20.6 million
4. The Da Vinci Code, $19.3 million
5. Mission: Impossible III, $4.67 million
6. Poseidon, $3.4 million
7. RV, $3.3 million
8. See No Evil, $2 million
9. An Inconvenient Truth, $1.33 million
10. Just My Luck, $825,000


LATE NIGHT TALK SHOWS for MONDAY, JUNE 5
DAVID LETTERMAN (CBS) - (repeat) Lindsay Lohan, Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish, Jr.
JAY LENO (NBC) - (repeat) Jessica Alba, Ludacris, Bruce Springsteen
LATE LATE SHOW (CBS) - (repeat) Jon Favreau, Shooter Jennings, Lee Child
CONAN O'BRIEN (NBC) - (repeat) David Spade, Neil Young
CARSON DALY (NBC) - (repeat) Sir Ben Kingsley, Juvenile
JIMMY KIMMEL (ABC) - (repeat) Sarah Silverman, Artie Lange, Hoobastank