By Rya Backer

Fellow Beastie Boys superfans, have you had an extra spring in your step lately? Noticed the birds are chirping a little louder, a little more melodically? Is there silver lining on everything that comes in your path? That's because it's lead-up season: the all-encompassing promotional blitz (remember the infomercials and paper cups for Hello Nasty?) that takes effect before the drop of a new, long-awaited album by our favorite band.

And no, I'm not talking about their next re-release (but that's happening, too — 1994's Ill Communication will receive the same deluxe, remastered treatment on July 14 that 1988's Paul's Boutique and 1992's Check Your Head got earlier this year).

Rather, the trio announced last night on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" that their new album will be titled Hot Sauce Committee, refuting initial reports (likely the byproduct of a joke gone too far) that it would be called Tadlock's Glasses. They also mentioned that the album is completely finished and awaiting a September release.

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By Melanie Wolfson

Monday afternoon, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Rutgers University. And then I booked it to Webster Hall.

See, Green Day were playing a (semi) secret show there, and luckily, my family understood that seeing Green Day could not wait ... and a celebratory post-grad dinner could.

Having had the opportunity to meet the guys just last Friday when I tagged along to an interview, I was extremely excited to see Green Day put their words into action as they played a good chunk of 21st Century Breakdown, which I have had on constant rotation since it came out five days ago.

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By Melanie Wolfson

Last night, I sacrificed a night of sleep in the name of Green Day. And with only a few hours to go before I get my chance to meet them, I am shaking in my seat and trying to think of what I will possibly say to them in the event that I don’t pass out.

After hearing that the guys would be doing an album signing at the Best Buy in Midtown Manhattan on the day their 21st Century Breakdown album hit stores, and that wristbands to a meet-and-greet with the band would be handed out to the first 500 people to buy that album, well, I knew I would be there dark and early.

I began my adventure at 1:30 am when I took the last train of the night from my Jersey town into the city and grabbed my spot on the line at exactly 3am. As I got closer to Best Buy, I could already see people crowded around the corner of the store. I later learned that I was the 99th person in line. At first, I thought it was crazy that there had been nearly 100 people on the line by 3 am, but it's Green Day, and Green Day fans are crazy.

Take Rich for instance, the guy who nabbed the first place on line. He’s been waiting since 9am yesterday morning. That’s right ... he's been in line 24 hours and counting. Mad props to that dude. He was prepared ... me? Not so much. And you can read about my night on the mean streets of NYC after the jump. Read more...

... And they want us to give it away to one lucky fan.

It all started last month, when Wentz revealed to us that he and Hoppus were collaborating on a ultra-limited flash-drive that would contain remixes and other cool stuff. He said the drives would be distributed one at a time, in mysterious and creative ways. And, then on Friday, that flash drive arrived in my mailbox.

There are only 100 of these things made -- Hoppus and Wentz have distributed them to their favorite people across the world, with the instructions that they must be given away -- and so far, they've been handed out via Twitter scavenger hunts, won in raffles and, um, dug up from beneath lifeguard stands in Santa Monica.

(You can follow all the action over on the Friends Or Enemies "Octo-Drive" blog.)

And now, it's our turn to give one away. And while we're not going to make you follow a bunch of 140-character clues or break out the sand shovel, we are gonna do something that requires both smarts and strength (though no actual digging): We're having a video essay contest!

Here, watch me explain the details in this video:

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Forget Friday's three-song warm-up on the "Today" show; this was the real return of No Doubt: Saturday night at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the O.C. hitmakers blasted back with full force, skanking and strutting their way through a ridiculously tight, upbeat, 90-something-minute workout in front of a raucous, fist-pumping crowd.

It was full-speed ahead, all hits, no misses. Gwen and the guys looking (and sounding) like they hadn't missed a beat, despite the fact -- as Stefani pointed out -- that it was their "first show in five f---ing years."

Taking the stage to a super-heroic instrumental track (DUNNN-DAAA-DUNNNNNN!) and the delighted squeals of long-waiting No Doubt fanatics, the band made up for their half-decade hiatus. Wasting nary a word (aside from Stefani’s shouted instructions for the crowd to "put your hands in the air!"), they launched headlong into "Spiderwebs," all breezy horns and ska-stroked guitars, Stefani bobbing and weaving across the stage, bassist Tony Kanal and guitarist Tom Dumont popping in place and grinning like kids.

And the energy didn't let up for a second.

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As you probably know by now, earlier this week, Paramore invited MTV News into the studio, where they're working with producer Rob Cavallo on their third album, tentatively due in September.

Now, while we're not allowed to write about everything we saw (and heard) just yet, we'd be remiss if we didn't share one bit of top-secret studio story with you: Paramore are pretty terrible at basketball.

See, the "studio" they're working in is actually attached to Cavallo's house, and right next to it is a regulation hoop, which means that after laying down a vocal track, Hayley Williams can wander outside and shoot some free throws. Josh Farro can record a guitar solo, then drain some threes. This is theraputic ... a break from the monotony and minutiae of making an album.

And since they've been doing this for more than a month now, you would think they'd be getting pretty good at basketball. Well, you'd be wrong. And we have photographic proof of this, which you can see after the jump Read more...

By Rya Backer

This past weekend, MTV premiered "Camp'd Out: I'm Going to Performing Arts Camp," which featured three young hopefuls vying for stardom ... in an Upstate New York summer-camp performance of "Carousel." And it looks like Debbie — sorry, Deborah — Gibson has followed suit with her own haven on the other side of the country, called Deborah Gibson's Electric Youth. According to its Web site, the camp is "committed to offering the highest level of performing arts camp for serious young performers available in the industry."

Last night, Gibson and Ryan Black's 88's Cabaret hosted an Evening of Electric Youth with Deborah Gibson. It was described as "a benefit event for the Gibson Girl Foundation," which offers scholarships to her various performance clinics. Many a performer showed up, including other teen idols of past and present: Jonathan Knight of New Kids on the Block (who also sang alongside Gibson), Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys and Nolan Gerard Funk of "Spectacular."

But the star of the show appeared to be Gibson's stylist. According to photos of the event, Deborah Gibson's evening saw four costume changes.

On Monday, MTV News headed into the winding hills of Calabasas, California, to producer Rob Cavallo's palatial estate (seriously, he's got a regulation basketball hoop and a soft-serve machine in the garage), where Paramore are hard at work on their new album.

At first, it seemed like a rather odd place — a suburb in the middle of nowhere — for a platinum-plus rock act to be hammering away on their new album, but it seems like the surroundings have only brought out the best in the guys (and gal), judging from their sunny demeanors, lack of haggard studio beards, and, well the six brand-new songs we heard.

And while we can't say anything about the new tunes just yet (but know that they do, in fact, rock pretty hard), we do have one rather HUGE bit of news that we can break to you: a release date for the record!

When? Well, read on to find out!

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By Steven Roberts

I'm quick to pat myself on the back. Each of the new MCs I said that you guys should watch out for in 2009 have been carving their own lane in hip-hop. Sure, two of them almost retired, Asher Roth put his foot in his mouth and Charles Hamilton is kinda eccentric, but they're all on their way to becoming household names.

Wale is working with just about everybody considered good in music, from Lady Gaga to TV on the Radio, Asher released a solid debut album, and Kid Cudi is releasing phenomenal music. While I hate to say it — and stop patting myself on the back — I definitely missed the brightest star of the bunch.

Drake's buzz had been building on the Internet for a while, but I honestly wasn't that big a fan of his singing and rapping. But the more I hear his mixtape, So Far Gone — and the fact that DJs play a selection of Drake songs every hour here in New York — the more I find myself singing along.

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By Melanie Wolfson

I've been a fan of Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim for a couple of years now, so when I heard the band's song "Lessons Learned," from their recent Grand LP, blaring on mtvU from the television above my desk, I got very excited. And when I looked up and watched the video, I saw the duo stripping as they walk through Times Square (coincidentally achieving full nudity right outside of MTV headquarters!).

If you haven't seen it yet, well, you need to: When the two are down to just their underwear and you think they won't go all the way, they do. And in light of such a proud display of the human body, I decided to look back at a few other artists who have been brave enough to bare it all for the world to see.

Blink-182, "What's My Age Again?"
We all remember when Mark, Tom and Travis ran through the streets in nothing but thongs in this video, which is now a decade old. But they did remove the thongs for some scenes, like the one where they go streaking through a taping of a talk show. Hot stuff, boys!

No Doubt, "Hey Baby"
No, you haven't missed a shot at catching Gwen in the flesh. In this video, drummer Adrian Young strips down as he performs a gymnastics routine, mid-video — guess the other members weren't as keen to let it all hang out!

Britney Spears, "Womanizer"
Britney knows how to get a reaction, so starting and ending her comeback video with scenes of the pop princess completely naked in a steamy room wasn't that much of a shock, really (and she'd done it years earlier in "Toxic").

Robbie Williams, "Rock DJ"
Then of course, there was Robbie Williams, who took the whole concept waaay off the charts. In this clip, Williams goes from removing his clothes to removing his skin (well, thanks to special effects anyway), followed by muscles, tendons and all, until he is a skeleton. Sexy? Not for long!

Did we miss any? Tell us your favorite naked videos below!