WWE seems to be losing a lot of talent recently, both voluntarily (the 14 wrestlers fired recently) and not so voluntarily (both Ric Flair and Mick Foley leaving on their own terms). This is a great opportunity for WWE to both sign some new talent from either ROH, TNA or the indies, as well as a chance for guys to step up and take some mid-card spots with less competition in the locker room.

Is it a bad omen when your album opens with a prayer by… DMX? Well, it should be. And yet, throughout the course of "L.A.X.," a smorgasbord of top-shelf producers – Kanye West, Cool & Dre, DJ Hi-Tek and Scott Storch among them – provides The Game with a wide range of beats that have a lot of moves you just don’t see on the average mainsteam rap record

Stewart and company make a jazz trio with no bass player work well enough, and they can work a slightly strange groove like nobody's business; but when they try to push too far into the abstract, the water gets a little choppy (and cymbal-y).

Foreigner will raise money for the Mooseheart Child City and School at its Sunday, Aug. 24, concert at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

With the accolades of being the 2007 Youth Orchestra of the Year and being led by the 2008 Youth Orchestra Conductor of the Year, the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra still has a few instrument openings for the 33rd season. Famed violinist Midori will be a guest collaborator with the group and with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra this fall.
 

Rainn Wilson, 42, star of the new movie "The Rocker" (and one of the stars on "The Office") is all boyish charm with a sweet open face that bears no resemblance to the usually scowling Dwight.

Trent Tomlinson opens for Trace Adkins Sunday night at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand.

The guitar-playing, gruff-singing, harmonica-blowing Watermelon Slim and his crack band, the Workers – drummer Michael Newberry, guitarist Ronnie McMullen Jr. and bassist Cliff Belcher –   have an impressive body of work in contemporary blues music.

Three family deaths, a band member’s death and being diagnosed with hepatitis C haven’t kept Louisiana bluesman Kenny Neal down.

Few know the name of Dalton Trumbo, but  almost everyone has heard of his movies.

"Transsiberian" is a gripping excursion that thrusts Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer down a twisty track pocked with lies, deceit and murder.

Even when his musical backing wasn't the best, you could always count on the GZA to bring intelligence and heat on the mic. With "Pro Tools," the Wu-Tang Clan's best lyricist employs production from the RZA, a few Wu juniors and Black Milk  to create his best solo disc since "Liquid Swords."

Classic Ice Cube records mined the sounds of P-Funk and Roger & Zapp, and his work with Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad was a fascinating, frenetic look at disillusioned urban angst. Raw Footage just kind of sounds like throwaway G-Unit beats and a grown man trying to recapture his former gangsta glory between movie shoots (and without a gun).

Mixtrap.com and DJ Semi release a mixtape purported to be the Notorious B.I.G.'s "true" vision for his landmark 1994 classic, "Ready to D.I.E." But even with a few different verses, uncleared samples and alternate beats, it's not as good as the original.

If you didn’t get a chance to catch the Stone Temple Pilots back when you wore flannel, it’s a safe bet they sounded just as good on Wednesday. Maybe better.