Sundown today marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the first of the High Holidays and the celebration of the new year in the Jewish community. According to the Hebrew calendar, the Jewish people will celebrate the year 5770. Rosh Hashanah parties tend not to have any specific soundtrack, which is unacceptable. After all, the mark of a good holiday is its rock music crossover appeal (which is why Arbor Day remains a third-tier spot on the calendar, even if you bring Pulp's "The Trees" into the conversation). While there aren't many songs specifically about the Jewish New Year, there are plenty of rockers out there who celebrate. So cue up any of the tunes below as you eat your challah and apples for maximum effect.

» Kiss - "God Gave Rock and Roll To You"
With or without the war paint, Gene Simmons is only the stage name of Chaim Witz, the legendary bass player for Queens' favorite sons. And hey, this song even praises God!

» The Ramones - "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?"
Just like Simmons, Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman) was another Queens resident born to a Jewish family who ended up writing fantastically catchy songs about rock and roll.
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Kiss haven't released a new album since 1998's Psycho Circus, but the band is back in the makeup for their upcoming record Sonic Boom. The band has returned with 11 news songs produced by guitarist Paul Stanley. Not all of the original members are on board, though. In addition to original members Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons, the group is fleshed out by guitarist Tommy Thayer (who has played with the band for years, used to be in Deep Purple and wears the Ace Frehley "Spaceman" makeup) and drummer Eric Singer (who has also joined the band on-and-off over two decades and wears original drummer Peter Criss' "Catman" face). They recently revealed the album cover, which is built with classic Kiss iconography in mind: The band name is on top with each of the four members in a corner of the cover (not surprisingly, the art was designed by Michael Doret, who also created the similar-looking Rock and Roll Over sleeve).

The group also announced that the record would be released on October 6th and be available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores (a deal that several classic artists have struck in the past few years, including the Eagles and AC/DC). Despite not having any new material in 11 years, the members of the group have remained pretty active. Simmons became a reality TV personality, starring on both his own show and on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice." Stanley put out the solo album Live to Win in 2006 and has shown several of his paintings at art shows. Even former Kiss members remain active, as Ace Frehley has spent time becoming Twitter friends with Taylor Swift.

Recognize anybody in that photo? Notice that the person dressed up as Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley (second from left) looks a little too foxy to be in a Kiss cover band? Your feelings are not irrational, as the person behind the makeup is none other than pop-country megastar Taylor Swift, who joined her band members in a dress-up prank earlier this week. On the final night of her tour with Keith Urban, Swift and her cohorts donned full Kiss regalia and rushed the stage during Urban's set in Kansas City. Who knew that Swift was such a "Rock and Roll All Nite" enthusiast?

But the story doesn't end there. As Swift revealed on her Twitter page, none other than Ace Frehley himself contacted her about the prank. "Ace Frehley tweeted me," she wrote. "Oh. My god." On his own Twitter, the guitarist wrote to Swift, "Saw your prank on YouTube, you looked great in my outfit. ROCK N ROLL!"

Having wrapped her tour with Keith Urban, Swift is currently enjoying some down time in Nashville (earlier this week, she tweeted about riding a jet ski with Demi Lovato). Next week she'll cross the ocean for a pair of festival shows in the U.K. before kicking off the latest leg of her North American tour at Madison Square Garden in New York. And of course she'll be performing at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, where she'll join performers like Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and Green Day. Here's hoping that her new Twitter pal Frehley will reach out for a possible collaboration. But in the meantime, what other famous rockers should Swift dress up as?

Is there any band in history better than Kiss? The answer is, "Yeah, probably." But has any group ever been less subtle in their symbolism and message? The answer there is, "Unless you count Ween, it seems unlikely." For a group so unflappably goofy, it's amazing how polarizing they have been for their over 30-year career. Sure, you can probably blame them for softening up hard rock and ushering in the '80s hair metal era, but then "Detroit Rock City" comes on the radio and you forget all about those Warrant videos you had to sit through.

Anyway, today marks the anniversary of the first Kiss comic book, distributed by Marvel beginning in 1977. The comic is pretty silly, although it was considered a big deal because the ink used contained bits of each band member's blood. It wasn't the last time Ace, Peter, Gene and Paul would be immortalized in superhero form, as another Marvel comic came in 1979 and Dark Horse published a series based around their Psycho Circus album in 1997.

To celebrate Kiss' comic book legends status, here's "Heaven's on Fire," from 1984's Animalize. It was probably a mistake for the band to take off their makeup, but the lack of horror imagery forced them to focus on nothing but cheeky sex songs — until they put the makeup back on in the '90s.

Here's one question that has always confounded the viewing audience of this clip: When Gene Simmons points towards his crotch during the chorus, is he suggesting that he has some sort of social disease? Because that seems like a mixed message for a guy trying to bed as many groupies as there are people in Ecuador.

FROM BUZZWORTHY: We don't even need to specify which kiss! In 2003, shortly after the kiss that rocked the globe, MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago had the chance to find out the details. All the important questions were asked: who slipped who the tongue? Britney, even playing coy, didn't hold much back. Yet, Gideon managed to get a few surprises in there to shock even the great Britney Spears.

Check out all the details on Britney's big kiss on Buzzworthy.

For more on Brit's history with the Video Music Awards, watch Pieces of Me: Britney's Best VMA Moments, premiering Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on MTV.

· In a quick change-up from those hardly-mentioned VF pics, Miley Cyrus has posed for a milk campaign.

· Howard Stern aired a segment in which he’d altered Dolly Parton’s voice to make her say racist and sexually not-so-nice comments (go figure!). Well, Dolly’s having none of it.

· Gene Simmons is publishing a book on “the inception and legacy of prostitution,” and it’s going to be classy. Oh yes, it is.

· The Hold Steady’s next album is out really soon, and it’s got James Montgomery way too excited. Just so you know.