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We were pretty sure Kurt Cobain had rolled over in his grave enough a few weeks ago when just-booted "American Idol" finalist Casey "Wolfman" Abrams performed his tortured, crazy-eyed stare cover of Nirvana's breakthrough hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Yes, it was awful, hard-to-watch and just kind of offensive to lovers of music. But when we saw footage of Miley Cyrus doing her studded leather and Crest White Strips shimmy to the song during a recent concert and, well, a new bar was set. Cyrus, of course, has more vocal chops, but her karaoke party blitz through the tune effectively stripped it of every ounce of angst or aggression, replacing the original's intent with peppy cheerleader charm.
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Tags Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit

By Zach Swickey

It has been a while since Kid Rock was considered "controversial" by the music world, but that changed with his acceptance of the Detroit NAACP's Great Expectations Award. At Sunday night's annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, a small group of about 50 people took to picketing outside the Cobo Center — not due to Rock's questionable lyrics or the hard-partying lifestyle he promotes, but rather due to his common use of the Confederate flag, which the protesters promptly set on fire to further illustrate their frustrations. Attended by nearly 10,000 people, the annual fundraiser was an opportunity for the Michigan-native to defend himself.

"I love America. I love Detroit, and I love black people," Rock said on Sunday night, according to The Associated Press.

Rock's selection as an honoree had been criticized from the beginning by some who feel the Confederate flag remains a symbol of oppression and racism, which conflicts with the ideology of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

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Tags Kid-Rock

It was the heavy metal throwdown nobody thought would ever happen. Until it did. And in light of the rapturous reviews for the recent Big 4 gig in Indio, California, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax and poised to give East Coast metal heads a good thrashing.

As promised, the badass quartet will do it all over again with a September 14 gig at Yankee Stadium in New York.. Tickets go on sale this Friday (May 6), and though we're super-stoked for another shot to see the one-of-a-kind meeting of the metal minds, it got us thinking about other awesome "Big Four" combos that could fill stadiums.
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Tags Anthrax, britney spears, Justin Bieber, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, The Big Four