Back in early October, a bunch of us here at MTV News were sitting around a table in some conference room, discussing rock's upcoming releases. We decided that, because they're beloved by countless millions, we'd do something special around the release of Nickelback's new one, Dark Horse, which hit stores today.

What, oh what, could we do with Nickelback that hadn't been done already? We wanted to stay away from doing a standard interview about the album, what inspired it and what it was like to work on it. So we decided we wanted to do something a little more unique, and a lot more amusing, with our favorite Canadian rockers, who are signed to Roadrunner Records. Read more...

By Christopher "CJ" Smith

Yesterday we ran a story about this fall's slate of superstar releases, but there are plenty more albums due out this leaf-changing season.

October 7

Rise Against's Appeal to Reason: Will these punkers be able to follow up on the success and critical acclaim of 2006's The Sufferer & the Witness?

Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul: The Brit rockers cling to legitimacy on their seventh album, which (surprisingly) has been getting favorable reviews. Can they stage a comeback to relevancy? Read more...

· Powerhouse Canadian rockers Nickelback are the latest act to sign a mega-deal with promotions giant Live Nation for their recording, touring and merchandising rights. Though the deal was not as rich as recent ones inked by Madonna, U2 and Jay-Z, it was reportedly worth $50-$70 million. 

· Kanye West's management team is reportedly trying to get the keyboard-thrashing, blog-bashing rapper to attend anger-management classes for his own good — and to help him score some lucrative endorsement deals.
  
· New York rapper William Troy McCune is suing the producers of the 2007 documentary "Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life" for $5 million, alleging that they included footage of him battling Biggie without his permission.

· Rap trio Onyx are prepping a comeback with a pair of albums. The first disc, Cold Case Files: Unsolved Murders, due August 19, features lost studio sessions from the group's most recent albums and cameos from Method Man and late group member X-1. It will be followed in 2009 by the group's new studio album Black Rock.
 
· Bruce Springsteen will release a live digital EP, Magic Tour Highlights, on July 15 that will feature four songs and four videos, including late E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici's final performance with the group. Guests on the tracks include Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Byrds legend Roger McGuinn.

· It's no secret that Spike Lee loves the rock musical "Passing Strange." He even wrote a glowing open letter a few months back, urging folks to "go see 'Passing Strange' and tell them Spike sent you." Now, the director has scheduled a press conference on Wednesday, in which he'll unveil plans to shoot the stage production, concert-film style, for a movie that will most likely air on cable.

· Celebrity blogger - and quite frankly, one of the Newsroom's obsessions - Perez Hilton has declared that Justin Timberlake, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, The Gossip and a number of others are "dead" to him. Oh, and Britney, too. He's refusing to cover those and other artists on Sony BMG because of the major label's lawsuit against Hilton for streaming unreleased Britney Spears songs before the release of her album Blackout.

· Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger (real name: Chad Turton) was convicted of drunk driving in a British Columbia court yesterday, stemming from an incident in June 2006. Kroeger could face a fine or a driving ban but sadly, they will let him keep the band.

· Unlikely new star, Kimya Dawson, has just finished an album of children's songs, called "Alphabutt," that she hopes to put out in August. AND, she hopes to do some work with the creators of Sesame Street. Seriously, we can't figure out if this is an April Fool's remainder or not. Oh, also, a second soundtrack for Juno - "inspired" by the movie - is due out digitally next Tuesday, on iTunes, and Kimya has two new songs on that as well. We forgot to tell you that last week.

· Lily Allen's had enough of the paparazzi. In her blog, she claims some overzealous photogs smashed a window in her car, while trying to snap her picture. "There were so many of them hassling us that it is difficult to say which one of them did it but i had to leap in a taxi to get away from them, my friend Emily had to get into the car which was covered in broken glass and drive it away," she writes. "It was a scary situation and I want people to know that it was totally their fault and that the whole situation has angered and upset me."

· Britney Spears popped up again at the Millennium Dance Complex on Tuesday to serve as a guest instructor to a group of 15 kids. In February, the troubled pop tart first visited the California studio and now has become somewhat of a regular (at least that's some sort of consistency in her life). "I like Britney," a 5-year-old student said, doting on her teacher. Clearly, this is where the comeback starts.

· Given her new boyfriend, I guess this qualifies as music news? Yeah, probably not. But Paris Hilton is set to appear on the sitcom, "My Name Is Earl," which returns to TV on April 3, the first episode for the series since the end of the writer's strike. She'll be playing - wait for it - herself.

· Canadian metallers Kittie are down a member, following the departure of bassist Trish Doan, who has been diagnosed with the eating disorder anorexia-athletica-nervosa; she developed the disorder during the recording of the band’s 2007 LP Funeral For Yesterday. "It breaks my heart to say goodbye to this family that has given me the best two years of my life," Doan said in a statement. "I wish my time with Kittie did not have to end, but this decision was made based on doctors' orders. Unfortunately this is the only option that will allow for my full recovery."

· According to the Canadian Press, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger had a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit when he was pulled over two years ago on suspicion of driving drunk by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In a ruling Monday, the judge in Kroeger’s impaired driving trial ruled the results of his breathalyzer test admissible. The rocker was stopped by police back in June of 2006, after an officer saw a Lamborghini going "well over" the speed limit. An officer noted Kroeger had red, glossy eyes and a red, flushed face, and the singer allegedly handed over his credit card when asked for his driver’s license. Awesome.

· We don't even really know what to say about this. Korn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer has announced plans to release music by a new side-project, called Fear and the Nervous System; the band’s debut will be in stores August 8. In addition to Shaffer, the band also features Faith No More’s Billy Gould on bass, Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland on guitar, and Bad Religion’s Brooks Wackerman on drums.