Death Cab for Cutie want to take over the airwaves with its next album. Although frontman Ben Gibbard hasn't even begun writing the follow up to last year's 'Narrow Stairs,' the band's producer/guitarist Chris Walla hopes to make a bigger, bolder musical statement with Death Cab's next disc.

"I have no interest in doing anything that's mild and meek," Walla tells Alternative Press. "I want to make a radio record this next time out. There's no reason for us to keep doing what we're doing if we're making meeker, smaller records." He explains, "I don't particularly have any real connection to a lot of the mellower stuff that Ben writes. I really feel like he's getting his best stuff when he's being assertive and forward."

The transition to a major label in 2004 contributed to the band's shifting sounds, Walla says. "In a way, when we signed to Atlantic, 'Plans' was a sort of partial, half-hearted step into an attempt to make something that is more appealing on a broader scale." He adds, "I think that 'Narrow Stairs' was really sort of a reactionary move -- like very much the opposite of that. Maybe it's just a phase, but I'm really interested in making something that is appealing on a really broad level and something we can be really satisfied with. But I think that there's a way to bridge those two gaps."

Prince plans to release three new albums in 2009. The Purple One is now final negotiations with "a major retailer" to distribute physical CDs and is readying an interactive website where fans can buy the music.

"The gatekeepers have to change," he told the Los Angeles Times this week, explaining his decision to sidestep the major labels. The new discs are tentatively titled 'MPLSOUND', 'Elixir' (his collaboration with new protégé Bria Valente) and 'Lotus Flower.'

'MPLSOUND' is "an electro-flavored solo effort" of "trippy, experimental pop songs" according to music scribe Ann Powers, who was invited to Prince's Los Angeles compound. It was recorded at Paisley Park Studios and includes a rap from one-time A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip.

Coldplay is treating fans to a pair of Christmas gifts. As a special thanks to the band's loyal following, the group is making a free download available via their official website Dec. 24 through January 5. The band is also serving up a new film clip of their performance of a Christmas staple.

"As a special thanks for all your support this year, we've just unveiled a couple of Christmas treats," the band writes. In addition to a Thin White Duke remix of its worldwide smash 'Viva La Vida,' Chris Martin and Co. can be seen performing 'Jingle Bells' with Simon Pegg at one of Coldplay's London 02 shows shot just last week.

The group is also running a contest where one lucky fan can win a signed vinyl promotional copy of their latest album, 'Viva La Vida.' Details on all of these items can be had at Coldplay.com.

Four new guitar-heavy Prince songs debuted yesterday afternoon on L.A. radio station Indie 103.1. The tunes -- 'Colonized Mind,' 'Wall of Berlin,' '4ever' and a blistering cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' 'Crimson and Clover' -- revealed a number of lengthy solos in the vein of classic rock heroes Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Sly & the Family Stone and Santana.

The songs were unveiled on 'Jonesy's Jukebox,', the radio show hosted by Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones. Earlier in the week, Mr. Shovel, a representative of the station, says he was summoned to preview the new material at the Purple One's home.

"He played a lot of tracks," said Shovel, who joined Jones to introduce the songs. "More than what we brought, an album's worth." Shovel also said that Prince was done with traditional record labels and was trying to figure out the best way to release the record, and explained Prince is planning "a series of shows to coincide with the release."

Perhaps Prince puts it best on 'Colonized Mind,' when he sings, "Did you know your record deal was another way for 'The Man' to steal?"

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn says his band was flattered when Bruce Springsteen asked if it would cover one of his songs for the forthcoming charity album 'Heroes,' due for release on Feb. 16. The album will benefit War Child, an organization that aids children affected by war worldwide.

We'd already done 'Atlantic City' at a charity benefit, so we kind of had an arrangement worked up, so we decided to record that," the Brooklyn-based frontman told XFM radio. "It's a pretty fun song, and I'm pretty happy with our version of it.

"We've been compared to Bruce Springsteen a lot, and he is a hero to all of us" Finn added. "It's flattering that he'd think of us, given the choice. We hope our version of the song conveys the respect we have for him as an artist."

In an unexpected move, Billy Joel has released his first original rock song since 1993. The Piano Man's new holiday anthem, 'Christmas In Fallujah,' was recorded at his final Australian show in Sydney on Dec. 11 and was quickly made available for download the following day.

'We wanted to do something to commemorate our tour," Joel said in a statement. "There are no other recordings of this song with me singing available. We thought it would be a nice way to say thank you on our last night in Oz, Merry Christmas."

For those who thought 'American Idiot' to be Green Day's masterpiece, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong says you ain't seen nothin' yet. The band, who are currently in the throes of recording the follow-up, are looking to write the most powerful songs of the band's 20-year career.

"I really like f---ing with arrangements, and I always try to look at the possibilities of how you write power-pop music," Armstrong tells Alternative Press. "I'm pushing myself to be progressive in songwriting and being a songwriter. I come from a culture where I'm into great albums, and I still believe in that. I'm not saying I can go for it this hard every time -- there might be times when I want to have something that's a little bit more spontaneous and off the cuff -- but with this record, the feeling's been that you've got to just go for it."

Motley Crue and Guitar Center are on a mission to discover the next big thing. After sorting through thousands of submissions as a part of Guitar Center On-Stage, they chose one band to open for them on tour and to grant a record deal to: The Last Vegas, a five-piece hard rock band from Chicago. In addition to getting the supporting slot on the 'Saints of Los Angeles' tour and a deal with Eleven Seven Music, the winners also took home a load of cash and Gibson gear. Not bad, eh?

"The overall talent and energy of the Last Vegas surpassed our expectations," Motley Crue's Vince Neil told Spinner. Check out the first single from the winners below, and read exclusive interviews with Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx and the Last Vegas after the jump.

Listen to 'I'm Bad' and buy it on iTunes.

If Paul McCartney has his way, a 41-year old Beatles song will see its release. The avant garde, 14-minute jam, 'Carnival of Light,' was recorded in one take on January 5, 1967, around the time the Fab Four perfected 'Penny Lane.'

"I like it because it's the Beatles free, going off piste," McCartney told BBC Radio host John Wilson. "We were set up in the studio and would just go in every day and record."

"I said to the guys, 'This is a bit indulgent but would you mind giving me 10 minutes?'" McCartney explained. "I've been asked to do this thing. All I want you to do is just wander round all of the stuff and bang it, shout, play it. It doesn't need to make any sense. Hit a drum, wander to the piano, hit a few notes ... and then we put a bit of echo on it. It's very free."

Just hours after debuting a new song, titled 'Working on a Dream,' during Sunday Night Football, Bruce Springsteen announced the release of his 24th album of the same name, due January 27. Recorded with the E Street Band at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, GA, with additional recording in New York City, Los Angeles and New Jersey, the follow-up to 2007's 'Magic' marks Springsteen's fourth collaboration with producer Brendan O'Brien.

"Towards the end of recording 'Magic,' excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing," Springsteen said. "When my friend producer Brendan O'Brien heard the new songs, he said, 'Let's keep going.' Over the course of the next year, that's just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year's tour."

"I hope 'Working on a Dream' has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we've ever done," he added. "All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end."

See the full track list after the jump.