It sounds like KID ROCK wants to be taken a little more seriously on his upcoming album, “Born Free”, which he says is about the crapification of his hometown.

–He says, quote, “The catalyst for this record was Detroit, and my thoughts on the world through the lens of Detroit.  Watching everything go downhill over the past few years, the economy, the loss of jobs everywhere . . .

–”I wanted to make a record that reflected the times but that still had soul.”

–A press release for the album says that it’ll be, quote, “transformational.”  It insists that Kid will still be his edgy self, but that he’s not doing the “rap-metal” thing on this disc.  In fact, it even notes, quote:  “There isn’t even a parental warning sticker.”

–“Born Free” features collaborations with Bob Seger, T.I., Sheryl Crow . . . plus country stars Martina McBride, Zac Brown and Trace Adkins.

–And the guest musicians include Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Los Lobos guitarist and singer David Hidalgo, and Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney.

–“Born Free” is scheduled to hit stores on November 16th.

Guns N’ Roses Were Late For A Festival Gig In Britain . . . And Had The Power Turned Off On Them

GUNS ‘N ROSES are irritating Britain with their tardiness.

–On Friday night, Guns showed up an hour late to their gig at Britain’s Reading Festival.  Before they went on, the promoters warned them that they were dealing with a curfew, but apparently the band just ignored them.

–Guns were allowed to play 30 minutes past the curfew . . . but during their encore, when they were playing “Paradise City” . . . they had the power shut off on them.

–At that point, AXL ROSE pulled out a megaphone and blasted the promoters . . . and said that they would be canceling a gig that was scheduled for last night at Britain’s Leeds festival, because it was being promoted by the same people.

(–Here’s a video of the aftermath.  Some fans booed . . . others wanted to ROCK.  ***WARNING***:  This clip contains a lot of UNCENSORED PROFANITY.)

–But as it turned out, Guns DID show at Leeds . . . a half-hour late, of course.

–When they came out for the encore at that show, Axl said, quote, “We would like to play a few more songs for you tonight.  But someone is telling us the show’s over.  This war ain’t over yet.”

–Axl wrapped up his set, and told the crowd, quote, “Be safe getting out of here.  And for the problems with the promoters, (eff) you.”

ROLLING STONES guitarist RON WOOD has a new album called “I Feel Like Playing” coming out on September 28th . . . and it’ll feature some high profile guests.

–They include:  Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, Slash, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, country singer Kris Kristofferson, soul singer Bobby Womack and Ian McLagan, who was in The Faces with Ron in the early ’70s.

WEEZER is thinking about doing a RETRO tour, which would highlight their first two albums, “(The Blue Album)” and “Pinkerton”.

–Singer RIVERS CUOMO explains, quote, “We have this really exciting idea to do a tour where we spend two nights in each city, and the first night, we play the entire ‘Blue Album’, and the second night, we play the entirety of ‘Pinkerton’.

–”We’re just running it by promoters right now to see if there’s sufficient interest in the markets to do something like that, and if they’re on board, it’s gonna happen.”

(–We’ll let you know if it gets off the ground.)

BRET MICHAELS is suing some concert promoters for $5 MILLION.

–Bret is ticked because the promoters postponed a gig . . . scheduled for August 5th in Syracuse, New York . . . without any warning. He also says they failed to pay him his guaranteed deposits.

–He’s accusing them of, quote, “breaching his contract and exposing him to public contempt and ridicule with allegedly defamatory statements about his schedule.”

–See, the promoters went around blaming the cancellation on Bret’s appearance on “America’s Got Talent”.

–But Bret says the appearance was taped before the concert, and he showed up to play, on time, as scheduled. But when he got there, the stage was bare and there wasn’t any sound or lighting equipment.

–Bret believes the promoters used him as a scapegoat, because they were having financial problems. He says, quote, “You don’t just go: ‘Hey I don’t feel like paying anybody.’ I think . . . [they] bit off more than [they] could chew.”

BLONDIE have announced plans to release their first album in SEVEN years. Their last disc, “The Curse of Blondie”, came out in 2003.

–The new album will be called “Panic of Girls”. There’s not a firm release date yet, but the band is hoping to have it out in Australia before the end of the year.

–In November, Blondie will kick off an Australian tour with THE PRETENDERS.

–The album is expected to be released everywhere else . . . including the U.S. . . . sometime early next year. Why the delay? Drummer Clem Burke says, quote, “There’s a lot of politics involved.”

Someone hacked into AXL ROSE’S Twitter account on Sunday night . . . and “announced” that all upcoming GUNS N’ ROSES shows had been CANCELED.  It instructed all ticket holders to, quote, “contact your place of purchase for refunds.”

–Obviously, that’s not true.  (–Although it probably will be.  Given Axl’s history, this hacker was really just Tweeting the inevitable.)

–Guns N’ Roses is scheduled to play at two U.K. music festivals later this month . . . and then begin a 24-date European tour, which will run through October.

–Those albums . . . and other post-“Dark Side of the Moon” releases . . . have been pulled from places like iTunes and Amazon’s MP3 store, over a contract issue.

–Basically, it boils down to this:  EMI’s contract to distribute that portion of the Pink Floyd catalog expired on June 30th.  (–Their earlier releases . . . from “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” through “Dark Side of the Moon” . . . are still available.)

–For now, the pulled titles are still available on CD, but that’s only because EMI has some existing backstock to blow through.  According to reports, they will not be able to press new CD copies of those albums until a new contract is in place.

–The likelihood of that happening is unclear.  Pink Floyd’s management has been shopping the entire catalog to major labels for over a year.  Right now, it sounds like their asking price is pretty ridiculous.

–Negotiations are still ongoing.  (–You’d think Pink Floyd would work out something soon with EMI . . . or another label . . . because ROGER WATERS’ new “Wall” tour kicks off on September 15th.)

(–It would benefit everyone involved to have “The Wall . . . and other Floyd albums . . . available during that tour.  Especially with all the press that will come when DAVID GILMOUR makes his appearance on the tour.)

OZZY OSBOURNE is considering reuniting the original BLACK SABBATH lineup . . . but he says, quote, “It’s not going to happen for at least a year or two . . . because I’ve got my tour and an album to do.”

–The other original members . . . guitarist TONY IOMMI, bassist GEEZER BUTLER, and drummer BILL WARD . . . last played with Ozzy at Black Sabbath’s rock and roll hall of fame induction in early 2006.

–And they haven’t released a studio album together since “Never Say Die!” in 1978.

–Ozzy and the rest of the band have had an up and down relationship recently, but Ozzy says he’s spoken to all three of them recently . . . and thinks a reunion could happen.

–He says, quote, “I would absolutely love to do a [new,] really great, monumental Black Sabbath album. Whether we can, I don’t know.

–”I won’t do it without the other three. Black Sabbath is four guys as far as I’m concerned. We all depend on each other.”

(–Iommi and Butler had been playing with one-time Sabbath singer RONNIE JAMES DIO in HEAVEN AND HELL . . . but he died of stomach cancer back in May. One-time Sabbath drummer VINNY APPICE was their drummer.)

–It’ll be their first studio album since “Van Halen 3″, which came out in 1998 and featured GARY CHERONE on vocals. The last studio album with DAVID LEE ROTH singing was “1984″, which came out 26 years ago . . . in 1984, obviously.

–A tour may also be in the works. According to Billboard.com, a Live Nation executive has penciled a Van Halen tour into their plans for next year. (–Van Halen’s reunion tour with Roth ended in 2008. It grossed more than $93 million.)