New Jersey's Gaslight Anthem can cover a song like it's their job: Live, the emo-goes-classic-rock four-piece have been known to take a shot at Pearl Jam's Singles soundtrack classic, "State Of Love And Trust," and Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire," capturing the soul of the original while leaving an indelible stamp of their own making.

On a recent trip to England, as they tirelessly promote their phenomenal 2008 release, The '59 Sound, Gaslight Anthem stopped by BBC Radio One to do an acoustic session. The performance has been trickling out online, and the highlight, by far, is singer/guitarist Brian Fallon's solo take on Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up."

Flipping the gender roles of the Kara DioGuardi co-penned song, Fallon finds the Springsteen-ian soul of Clarkson's girl-power jam. The way he delivers "Oh, sweetheart, put the bottle down/You've got too much talent/I see you through those bloodshot eyes/There's a cure, you've found it" sounds like it could've been ripped from The Boss' classic Nebraska album.

Check out the cover and Kelly Clarkson's original below.

+ Listen to Gaslight Anthem's cover of Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" here.

Lately Katy Perry's joined Rihanna at Fashion Week in Paris and made waves on the gossip trail by dating Russell Brand. But first and foremost, Katy Perry is a keep-em-guessing performer, and she's joining the honored ranks of performers like Mariah Carey, Nirvana, Paramore, Pearl Jam, and Jay-Z who've all had their own legendary MTV Unplugged performances.

And, with just one breakthrough debut album, One Of The Boys, under her belt (in this case, probably a belted bustier onesie), you'll get a brand-new look at Katy Perry when her MTV Unplugged performance airs on November 16. And on November 17, she'll release MTV Unplugged: Katy Perry, a CD/DVD set with a jazzy, cabaret-style take on "I Kissed a Girl," as well as her smash hits, "Waking Up In Vegas," "Thinking of You." The DVD will also feature an unreleased original song, "Brick by Brick," and a cover of the Fountains of Wayne's "Hackensack."

November 17 is more than a month away, and it's a pretty unfair amount of time to wait, so check out this  inside look at Katy Perry's MTV Unplugged performance, and get a sneak peek at her songs and what she calls her "Stevie Nicks-meets-fairy" concert look.

You may have seen P.O.S. pull off an astounding one-man-band take on Pearl Jam's "Why Go" earlier this year. It's an interesting look for the Minneapolis producer/MC. At once ingenious and virtuosic, it shows P.O.S. as a dude who owes as much to the god known as Eddie Vedder as he does to the god of Rakim.

P.O.S.'s music is largely a self-produced hodgepodge of abrasive noise and block-rocking beats wrapped up in a thoughtful, idiosyncratic flow that betrays his roots in the backpack/indie rap scene that thrived in the early '00s: P.O.S. releases music through one of that scene's cornerstone labels, Rhymesayers, the home to Atmosphere).

In the video below, P.O.S. declares there's no AutoTune in grunge, but for him, there seem to be no rules, period. He's a beat-juggling, sampler-punching, mic-rocking dynamo. His album, Never Better was released in February, and his video of the same name is coming soon, so be ready. Follow P.O.S. on Twitter at @YEAHRIGHTPOS and check out his Pearl Jam cover and his video for the track, "Purexed" below.

(Credit: Scott Gries)

Are you old enough to remember what a game-changer it was when Nirvana played Unplugged? I am. I swear to you I took s--- from my mother for four years after that, for wearing this moth-eaten mohair cardigan (just like Kurt's!) I found at Salvation Army (after months of looking!). "Daniel!" She'd squawk. "Some poor old lady died in that thing! Pleeease let me throw it out?" No mom. No way.

Watching Pearl Jam Unplugged, I didn't take my shirt off and write "PRO-CHOICE" all over my bare body, even though Eddie did. And I didn't break down and cry in public after Lauryn Hill's performance. But I'll admit that I was tempted on both occasions.

I've seen a few preliminary clips of the new season of MTV Unplugged, and I can promise you that its emotional pull is still very much intact. The series launches Monday with a smoking set by Adele. Have you heard this bad mother belt it yet? Oh my god. She can sing like you wouldn't believe. She gives her smoky set of old soul torch songs the acoustic treatment in a performance that's actually kind of reminiscent of Lauryn Hill's!

Because I know I'm totally incapable of waiting until Monday, I'm gonna go ahead and pop a playlist of classic Unplugged performances in the bottom of this post. Relive the show's finest moments and come back Monday to see it reborn!

+ Exclusive photos of Adele's Unplugged performance

+ Classic MTV Unplugged photo flipbook

Most bands come loaded with so many cultural references and spawn so many spin-offs, that they may as well become genres of their own. Think about it. How many Pearl Jams have there been since the '90s (I'm looking at you, Staind)? How many Led Zeppelins have there been since the '70s (ask Jack White)? Can you even count?

The B-52s are a rare exception. By all counts a major mainstream success, they carved their names indelibly into pop culture's skin with off-beat hits like "Rock Lobster" and "Love Shack."

They were also a bunch of middle-aged (bang, bang, bang), Pee Wee's Playhouse-lookin', new wave Athens art weirdos (on the door, BABY!), with a style that's damn hard to identify in any other living band.

Who are the new B-52s? Katy Perry? Never Shout Never? Lady Gaga? Nope. Not at all. What's the modern equivalent of "Love Shack?" Does it even exist? Screw on your thinking caps (hurry up!), watch the classic 1989 Club MTV performance of "Love Shack" below (and bring your!), and do your best to come up with today's popular descendants of The B-52's (jukebox money!). I dare you to find one.

In the same way that it's understood that soap operas will have absurd story lines, people expect music videos to be over-the-top dramatic. Bands are generally in the business of communicating really big feelings, and super evocative music videos certainly help to accomplish that goal. And while a person can only handle so much slo-mo and so many sunset mountainsides, it's those unchecked melodramas that really stick in our minds, spawning everything from torrid one-night stands to Scott Stapp's career.

Last week Cage's "I Never Knew You" reminded us just how much a well-executed video can quicken the pulse. As usual, that got us to thinking... Which other videos reach down your throat, grab you by the heart and hand pump it until you think you're gonna pass out? What are the most compelling videos of all-time? In Buzzworthy's slightly comprehensive list below, you'll find the gut-wrenchingest, unflinchingest (and sometimes cheesiest) videos in recent history, so get close to the Kleenex. This list is not recommended for the infirm or the elderly.

The Cheesiest
+ Creed, "With Arms Wide Open" -- It's hard to believe that this video is actually for real. Watching it again now, I keep expecting a "Wipe that s$#* up" overdub to kick in and relieve the insane self-indulgence. Notoriously wack frontman Scott Stapp literally dodges asteroids at sunset and stands on a mountain with his arms spread, as the cameras circle, as if carried by slow motion eagles.

+ Chicago, "You're The Inspiration" -- Can I get away with describing this video as "difficult to watch?" Handily out-sapping those inscrutable Japanese karaoke videos, it's easier to eat a whole brick of cream cheese than it is to watch this video all the way through. That being said, definitely watch it.

The Saddest
+ Soul Asylum, "Runaway Train" -- The '90s invented that thing where tough-looking dudes enjoy music by standing around looking really sad and tuned out. It's no Toni Braxton "Un-Break My Heart," but this Soul Asylum video does help the grungers get into character with a sad slideshow of missing children.

+ R.E.M., "Everybody Hurts" -- Hold on! Stop! Everybody hit your breaks! Get up! Get out of your cars! Come on! Put on your little hats! Come on, do it! Dooo it! Come onnn! Little hats! Put your hands over your hearts! Sad break! Saaad break! Awww! (See also: Radiohead's amazing "Just").

The Scariest
+ Depeche Mode, "Wrong" -- Chicago will clog your arteries, but Depeche Mode will stop your heart. This terrifying video combines the edgy uncertainty of Radiohead's "Karma Police" with the supernatural creepiness of UNKLE's "Rabbit In Your Headlights," and comes out with one of the most disturbing videos I've ever seen.

+ The Fray, "Never Say Never" -- An everyday urban cityscape becomes a furious war-zone in The Fray's metaphorical new video. The violence of the uprising represents -- wait for it, wait for it -- the pain of a break-up! DRAMA!

The Darkest
+ Pearl Jam, "Jeremy" -- If you've been taking your MTV regularly like you're supposed to, you know that Pearl Jam recently released a never-before-seen director's cut of "Jeremy," with a much more explicit finish. See what all of Eddie Vedder's diabolical glares were really leading up to in one of grunge's darkest anthems.

+ Kanye West, "Flashing Lights" -- Don't be fooled by the muscle car, the thong-clad bikini girl or the Miami sunset. Don't be fooled by the cheery title, either. In this dead-serious drama, former Playboy playmate, Rita G, isn't stroking Kanye's ego... She's dispatching it to hell.

The Sexiest / Most Cinematic
Read more...

Is it possible that, despite what history and everyday logic would tell you, that Soul Asylum invented the Seattle sound... in Minneapolis? Dave Pirner and co started seasoning Neil Young loner folk with country twang and punk aggression back in 1981, the same year  Kurt Cobain was picking out Cars covers on his first guitar at 14.

The sound they came up with was definitely grunge. Whether or not Soul Asylum was the first band to play it doesn't really matter. It's usually impossible to attribute the origins of musical styles to single artists, anyway.

But the fact that Soul Asylum didn't come out of the '90s as notorious as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins did, is a little bit surprising -- I mean come on. Look at Dave Pirner! He was like Meg Ryan with dreadlocks! And that scratchy crybaby voice... Man. Sweetest dude ever. No wonder Winona Ryder was so wild for him. Now you can't even find a decent photo of him on the internet. WEIRD.

In the Unplugged performance below, Soul Asylum go easy on their classic Grave Dancers Union opener, "Somebody To Shove," fleshing it out with an orchestra. Watch the video, and tell me that song's not just as good as "Bullet With Butterfly Wings."

+ Former Danity Kane member D. Woods provides some terribly blunt revelations about Making The Band and just exactly how real "reality" television is. We applaud her candor. We do not, however, support her new haircut. (Singersroom)

+ Now that Pete Doherty is a Sober Sally, the absolute LAST thing he needs is to be infected with the Swine Flu. NOW GO OUT AND BUY SOME HOG! THE INDUSTRY'S A SUFF'RIN! (Holy Moly)

+ You need to see the trailer for Eminem's new video "3 A.M." It looks like Silent Hill meets a Rob Zombie movie. Pretty creepy (and of course, Em is shirtless). (Rap-Up)

+ As if you needed another reason to head to Austin, TX this year, Pearl Jam and Beastie Boys (along with Dave Matthews Band - meh) are headlining the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October (tix are only $185 for three days.. pretty good for a recesh budgie). Other notables include Lily Allen and John Legend.

+ And here you have it, "the face of digital energy," the official album cover for Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." It's supposed to be a blend of all four band members' faces, but I think it just looks like Fergie after a hard night of drinking, which could explain where her wig went. (Rap-Up)

+ If you're in the market for a creepy Patrick Swayze wax figure (that looks nothing like him but claims to "sport his famous flowing 1980's hairstyle" from Road House), then you have come to the right place! (Live Auctioneers)

Pearl Jam is one of those bands that is so distinct -- with a sound so defined -- that, while it doesn't take a huge amount of courage to cover them, it does take a huge amount of talent to do it well. In fact, being able to approximate Pearl Jam without sounding like a loser is a legitimate basis for starting a new band. Look at Staind. Stone Temple Pilots. The list goes on.

William Beckett doesn't sound like Eddie Vedder, and he doesn't try to either. He doesn't make evil faces or scary hands or pantomime pottery with his eyes closed as he sings. He just sings "Jeremy" plainly, "Clearly I remember, picking on the boy," like earnest karaoke on an overnight choir trip. And I actually mean that as a huge compliment. He sings it as himself and sings it well, just like any deep down fan would. Only William Beckett's actually got a great voice.

P.O.S. isn't trying to do any impersonations either, although he is in flannel. The Minneapolis hardcore-kid-turned-Rhymesayer howls the lyrics to "Why Go," punctuated by the occasional hypeman's "Wooo," over a programmed beat, adding keyboard flourishes when appropriate. It's more a metamorphosis than it is a cover. Aside from the melody (P.O.S. apologizes for lack of auto-tuner -- ha!), the old "Why Go" is all but unrecognizable in the new.

Something tells me Pearl Jam would be way into that. Something tells me you will be, too. Watch William Beckett covering "Jeremy" below, and P.O.S. covering "Why Go," after the jump.

+ Watch the Ultimate Pearl Jam Playlist

Read more...

For the ultimate primer on aging gracefully, just take a good long look at Eddie Vedder. Over the past 18 years since Ten, Pearl Jam has weathered every fashion trend, every political climate, and every step of mainstream music's wild evolution with their heads up and their integrity completely intact. They're classy, and they are classic. And they still put out consistently interesting and entertaining albums on a fairly regular basis.

Unfortunately this is not a post announcing a new album or a new single. But they are re-releasing Ten and sweetening the deal by offering up all of the master tracks up for download at the "Rock Band" music store. We're celebrating all that big news with the launch of the Ultimate Pearl Jam Playlist. MTV has assembled 15 of Pearl Jam's finest clips into a single playlist, and it all kicks off with a never-before-aired uncensored version of "Jeremy."

Don't expect to finally get a peek at that recess lady's breast. It doesn't go that way. But the ambiguous ending that Pearl Jam left us with 18 years ago is about to be wrapped up in unblinkingly gruesome fashion. A fashion that resonates far louder today than it ever thought of doing when Pearl Jam was still just a fresh face in the Buzz bin. Here they are -- 15 videos from a band that saw the future 18 years ago and owned every day of the present, ever since. I give you Pearl Jam.