If you're anything like me, you'll be spending the better part of the next four or five months of your life playing all the different variations available on the new watershed video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." The sequel to the wildly successful "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" (which pulled the military shooter series from historical skirmishes to the current day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan), "Modern Warfare 2" has not only established itself as the best of a great set of titles but also immediately enters the discussion of the greatest video games of all time, right alongside "Super Mario Bros.," "Halo," "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Madden '95." (For the complete take on "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," check out Multiplayer editor Russ Frushtick's in-depth review.)

The cinematic qualities of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" are overwhelming, including a lush score by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer ("Gladiator," "The Dark Knight," "Pirates of the Caribbean"). But though the score is great, it's also awesome to crank up your own tunes while working through warzones and taking out terror cells. That's why we've put together the "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" playlist, featuring battle-ready anthems from Slayer, Dropkick Murphys, 30 Seconds to Mars and Drowning Pool. But it's not all headbanging metal — there are also switch-ups from Eric B & Rakim, Nelly Furtado and the Specials. Check out the video playlist below, including a raucous classic from Destiny's Child. Because if your status ain't hood, you'll never survive "Call of Duty."

Even though we're just on the other side of Halloween, the public has already shifted its focus to Christmas. Store displays have shifted, Starbucks has drinks that are eggnog flavored and a handful of lunatics are already considering their Christmas trees. Today marks the first big film release of the holiday season in "A Christmas Carol," the Robert Zemeckis-directed animated feature that stars Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. (For more on "A Christmas Carol," be sure to check out all the in-depth coverage over at MTV Movies.) There are plenty more holiday-themed platters on the way, but "A Christmas Carol" is the biggest Christmas-related film to hit theaters this season.

But let's face it: Today is November 6, a full 49 days before Santa Claus comes down the chimney. There's no shame in not feeling any yuletide cheer yet, as we're still a few weeks from Thanksgiving. But maybe you never miss a Jim Carrey movie, or perhaps you want to support Zemeckis so that he has enough success to make a "Roger Rabbit" sequel. If that's the case, then we've got you covered, because there's plenty of Christmas music from some of your favorite stars.

Holiday music has crossed over into pop since the invention of radio, but now just about any pop star worth his or her salt puts out a holiday album at some point. This season, David Archuleta and Bob Dylan have both dropped Christmas albums, and there's a whole heaping back catalog of stuff you could work through no matter what your musical preference is. A fan of Beyoncé? Check out Destiny's Child's "8 Days of Christmas." Do you prefer psychedelic indie rock? The Flaming Lips' "Christmas at the Zoo" is probably for you. Want a little gallows humor with your gingerbread? Enjoy Weird Al" Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero." Or if you just want to rock out, check out the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl blasting out "Fairytale of New York," probably the best Christmas song ever written.

But if you want to start simple, star with Mariah Carey, whose "All I Want for Christmas is You" has quickly become a holiday standard. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of the video playlist for a treat at the end!

You know what the most amazing thing about Beyoncé Knowles is? She's had the sort of record-breaking, chart-topping success of a career diva, and she's only 27 years old. She's just getting warmed up! But every diva has to start somewhere, and for Beyoncé that was as a member of Destiny's Child. The group had already scored some hits by July 17, 1999, but they had never hit the top of the pop chart until this day ten years ago when "Bills, Bills, Bills" became the #1 song in the country. It was only the beginning — later that year, "Say My Name" hit the same spot, and many more group and solo songs followed. She's got five chart-toppers as a solo artist — well short of Mariah Carey's record 18, but Beyoncé's got plenty of time to catch up.

But it's important to remember where you came from, so enjoy B's first trip to the top.

This past Sunday's Essence Festival not only included a number of Michael Jackson tributes and a reunited Commodores, it also marked the return of one of R&B's definitive groups. The four original members of En Vogue are back together. The group performed a set of hits at the New Orleans festival and plan to record a new album in the coming year. There was also talk of a group-related reality show, though everything is still in the planning stages.

En Vogue set the template for girl groups in modern R&B, peaking with 1992's Funky Divas album, which yielded the hits "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" and "Free Your Mind." Their combination of sweet, powerful vocals with hip-hop swagger (check their Salt-N-Pepa collaboration "Whatta Man") paved the way for groups like TLC, Destiny's Child and Pussycat Dolls. The group's shifting lineup has always hinged on Dawn Robinson, the unofficial frontwoman of the group who left and came back twice in the past over contract disputes. Hopefully the business issues have been ironed out so that their unique blend of hip-hop soul will return to the radio.

Need proof of their electricity? Check out their performance of "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

I had mixed feelings when I read in the Los Angeles Times this morning that two-time music industry washout Carly Smithson (you remember her — she was the tattooed Irish lass from the seventh season of "American Idol" whose husband looked like The Enigma) has formed a band with three former members of mope rockers Evanescence. They call themselves Fallen. Some think Smithson's ejection from "Idol" came too early, but clearly Rocky Gray, John Lecompt and Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody think the timing was just perfect.

Visual resemblance to Evanescence singer Amy Lee aside, Smithson is up for the gig if only because she sang the band's smash "Bring Me To Life" on last year's "Idol" tour (she also has the same vampire tan as Lee). And lord knows guitarist/songwriter Moody has finesse with crafting poppy tunes, thanks to his post-Evanescence work with Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Chris Daughtry and Kelly Clarkson.

Smithson's genius move got us thinking: What other "Idol" flameouts might have a second shot fronting lead-singerless bands?

Velvet Revolver: The hard rock act featuring ex-members of Guns N' Roses had some success, but more than their share of headaches with Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland. Hello Constantine Maroulis! He's got the Broadway chops, the hair and is — most importantly — drama-free.
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Some of you may have seen Fergie launch into a series of jawdropping, one-handed flips across the stage on "Idol" last night. This has us thinking of the more impressive acrobatics by musical talent we've seen. I mean, how many of you out there can land in a split? Or, more awesomely, handle a 360-spin while drumming suspended three stories in the air? And honestly, for all the talk of the...wuss that word..."indulgence" in this industry, how messed up can someone be and still handle that kind of a workout?

See if you can name everybody who appears in the quick clip above. The who, what, when, and where after the jump. Read more...

Those sneaky kids, going and tying the knot over the weekend in a cellphone-free ceremony at Jay’s Manhattan pad, catered by the Spotted Pig (we guess? whatever). So what do you give the couple that can buy and sell you a few hundred times over?

Guests Gwyneth totally hooked them up with a live-in raw-food guru, while hubby Chris Martin wrapped up something surprisingly cheap.

Kelly Rowland snagged B this rare musical find, and Shaheem Reid and his date Oprah ponied up for a lifetime of jacuzzi service, because all that Dom Perignon can create buildup in the jets.

Or we’re just flat-out lying.

What would you give the man who gave you 99 problems? And the bride who gave you all that jelly-shakin’? Seriously, this may be the time to give back...