"Towards the end of recording Magic, excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing," Springsteen says in a statement. "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. 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."

The album features two bonus tracks: "The Wrestler" and "A Night with the Jersey Devil." As promised, the NFL premiered a bit of the title track during last night's Cowboys-Redskins half-time (see above). Keep reading for the full track list:

1. "Outlaw Pete"
2. "My Lucky Day"
3. "Working on a Dream"
4. "Queen of the Supermarket"
5. "What Love Can Do"
6. "This Life"
7. "Good Eye"
8. "Tomorrow Never Knows"
9. "Life Itself"
10. "Kingdom of Days"
11. "Surprise, Surprise"
12. "The Last Carnival"

Even if Keith Richards did not vote for Mick Jagger in Rolling Stone magazine's recent poll of the 100 greatest singers of all time, all is apparently peace and love with rock's longest-wed couple.

The Rolling Stones guitarist was one of 179 high-profile voters in the survey. They had to choose their top 20 singers in order, and the magazine has published some of the ballots on its Web site (http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gall ery/24160218/the_100_greatest_singers_in side_t/photo/1).

Richards' top pick was Aretha Franklin, who ended up coming in at No. 1 overall. His ballot included the usual suspects: collaborators (George Jones, Toots Hibbert), people whose songs he has covered (Jimmy Cliff, Buddy Holly), and old buddies (Gram Parsons, Tom Waits). And of course, he voted for himself at No. 20.

One glaring omission: his former schoolmate and current bandmate of almost half a century, Mick Jagger, who came in at No. 16 on the overall list.

The so-called "Glimmer Twins" have had their issues in the past, breaking up the band in the 1980s, and even as recently as 2003 an infuriated Richards tried to push Jagger off the stage during a concert in Osaka for no apparent reason.

But Richards' manager Jane Rose -- each member has his own manager -- quickly doused any talk of a new rift.

"They are all getting on well," she wrote via email. "When Keith got the ballot he just thought his vote was for 'outside' the family. If Keith Richards did not think Mick was his favorite, they would not be the Glimmer Twins!"

So why the vote for himself? Richards sings two songs at every Stones show, an interlude that usually sends the uncultured masses to the beer stands. For the die-hards, it's the best thing about the show.

When Q magazine asked Jagger in 1989 if Richards' voice was one that only a mother could love, he diplomatically sidestepped the issue: "You said that, I didn't! Ask his mum! Ask Doris! That's it! I ain't saying any more!"

If there's any consolation for Mick, it's that Keith did not vote for a certain person with whom he has an even more complex relationship, Chuck Berry (No. 41 overall). But that's another can of worms...

Reporting by Dean Goodman

Photos by Reuters

Recent word from a spokesman for Jimmy Page said that the group has no intention of working together and using the name Led Zeppelin unless Robert Plant is involved. The latest word from Plant regarding any reunion tour is that he has no interest in touring at all for at least two years.

So it appears that all the rumors lately about Page, Jones and Bonham rehearsing with potential lead singers like Steven Tyler, Chris Cornell, Jack White, Dave Grohl and Myles Kennedy might be an indication that they have indeed decided to tour without Plant.

How fans will respond to a tour by "almost Zeppelin" will be interesting to see if it comes to pass. I certainly agree that their decision to avoid the use of the name Led Zeppelin is a wise choice, and lessens the possibility of diminishing the group's legendary status.

There are probably a lot of fans that refuse to accept the name Led Zeppelin ever being used again after the passing of original drummer John Bonham, so a potential backlash from fans as a result of using the name Led Zeppelin for a group with only two original members is a real possibility.

Whatever they are up to, it seems that Page, Jones and Bonham are serious about it, and we seem to be inching a bit closer to some type of announcement from the trio. Whatever it ends up being, it is sure to have the rock newswire buzzing with activity.

As reported by RayGigs.com, Wood and  Rod Stewart were scheduled to meet Monday in the studio for their first rehearsal to see how their memory of their material has held up through the years. Rod Stewart's current bassist was set to join them for rehearsal due to the passing of Faces bass player Ronnie Lane last year.

All the remaining original members of the group were also set to show up for the rehearsal.

The Faces formed during 1969 and went on to release a total of four studio albums and toured until 1975 when Ron Wood left the group to join on full-time with the Rolling Stones.

"I have not been approached so far to fill in for Robert Plant on the upcoming Zeppelin tour, but that isn't to say I won't be," Chris Cornell coyly told MTV News. And in an even cheekier response: "I think I should actually fill in for Jimmy Page on the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss tour," the former Soundgarden and Audioslave singer said.

Cornell (whose upcoming Timbaland-produced solo LP, Scream, is due in the coming months) is just one of a slew of names -- including Dave Grohl, Sammy Hagar, Jack White, Steven Tyler, and Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy -- churning through the rumor mill as possible replacements for Plant, who has said he won't participate in a full-fledged Zeppelin reunion

The newly debuted song "Workin' on a Dream" is likely to be included among the tracks on the new album. Springsteen played it publicly for the first time at an Obama rally in Cleveland, Ohio recently.

It has been reported that a wealth of material was left over after Springsteen's most recent album, Magic, was completed, and there is speculation that some of that material may be included on the new album.

Springsteen also made a showing at the "Stand Up For Heroes" charity event last night, where he contributed to the cause by auctioning off a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and accompanying leather jacket for a reported $75,000. He also auctioned off the guitar he had played three songs on during the event to entertain the attendees. The guitar is said to have fetched $50,000.

This was the second "Stand Up For Heroes" event, something that was organized by ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff and his wife Lee to raise money for injured soldiers returning from duty in Iraq. Woodruff himself was seriously injured in 2006 while covering the war in Iraq.

A crowd of 125,000 people jammed Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama addressed the nation for the first time as its president-elect at midnight ET. Hundreds of thousands more -- Mayor Richard Daley said he would not be surprised if a million Chicagoans jammed the streets -- watched on a large television screen outside the park.

"If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer," Obama declared.

The decade produced countless songs that are identifiable simply by one part, a part so recognizable that you know everyone has heard it, whether or not they know the name of the song, or who wrote and played it. That riff may overshadow that musician's work, standing higher than that musician's decades-worth of contributions to music.

In 1972, Edgar Winter wrote the song "Frankenstein," an instrumental with a melody that has gone on to solidify its place in classic rock play lists. That, along with the song "Free Ride," was released on the record "They Only Come Out at Night"; both became classic rock staples, helping the record sell millions.

The instrumental hit "Frankenstein" wasn't originally going to be on the record.

"We had no intention of recording the instrumental. We didn't even have a name for it," said Winter on the phone this week from his Los Angeles home. "We happened to have two or three 20-minute versions of it, long jamming versions we used to warm up with in the studio, and we thought maybe we could edit it and put it on the record."

Recording in those days was done with tape, and tape was always rolling.

"We had the tapes of the song laying all over the studio, trying to edit a shorter version together, and drummer Chuck Ruff said 'It's like Frankenstein,' referencing building a monster. And a monster was born."

The multi-instrumentalist Winter, who plays guitar, bass, saxophone and keyboards, is also the first person credited with playing a synthesizer as a lead instrument, which is what he did for "Frankenstein."

He was also the first to play a keyboard attached to a guitar strap, a possibility he discovered while shopping in a music store.

"I was looking for a vehicle to feature the synth, I had gotten the idea of putting a strap on a keyboard," Winter said. "It seemed simple and obvious."

Besides its long-term fame, "Frankenstein" has seen some new popularity by being one of the harder songs to play on the video game "Guitar Hero."

Winter, who hasn't recently had hits as big as "Free Ride" or "Frankenstein," has remained successful in the music business, now going on 40 years.

Rolling Stone -- Walking into the opening night of a new AC/DC tour one expects few surprises. Based on past experience, Angus Young is going to do a strip-tease during "The Jack," Brian Johnson will swing from a giant bell before "Hells Bells" and the whole thing will conclude with "For Those About To Rock, We Salute You," complete with massive firing cannons. Last night's opening gig of their 2008 world tour in Wiles-Barre, Pennsylvania -- their first American tour since 2001 -- was everything fans expected, which is precisely what made it so amazing. AC/DC perfected the rock concert around 1981. Why change it now?

The show began with a cartoon showing demonic, sexy women tying up Angus and hijacking a train. Needless to say, he foiled their plot seconds before the real Angus burst onstage in a maroon schoolboy outfit. They opened with their new single "Rock And Roll Train." From there they went back three decades to the Bon Scott era gem "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be." Brian Johnson quickly assuaged fears that the sixty-one year old chain-smoker's voice had deteriorated during the group's long hiatus. It was as wonderfully grizzled as ever, though it was often hard to make out some of the words, even when he talked to the crowd. Angus, who spent much of the evening shirtless, ran around the stage like a wind-up toy all night. During "Let There Be Rock," a giant hydraulic lift in the middle of the floor carried him far above the crowd for his solo, which concluded with him twirling around on the ground like a dog chasing his tail.

For a group who refuses to release a greatest hits album, they've always been quite keen to play a greatest hits set. "Thunderstruck" was the only song in the set released between 1981 and 2008. While this practice is irritating for groups like the Who (who consistently skip over deep cuts in favor of the upteenth rendition of "Behind Blue Eyes"), many of AC/DC's best songs are their hits. Regardless, nobody was complaining. Five songs off their new album Black Ice -- which came out last week -- were included in the set. They fit in seamlessly with "Back In Black" and "Highway To Hell," even as they (somewhat predictably) inspired mass bathroom breaks.

During "TNT" huge flames shot out of devilish train in the back of the stage, which was surprisingly chintzy by AC/DC standards. Before the next song, "Whole Lotta Rosie," Johnson gave the crowd some bad news: the group's gigantic blow-up, Rosie, had recently bit the dust. "The flames you just saw melted her." He wasn't kidding -- she was on stage for Sunday's rehearsal gig. "We're getting a new one," he said reassuringly. The church-like ritual of an AC/DC concert cannot be disturbed, even when flames destroy an obese inflatable woman. When the group launched their last American tour in the summer of 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush were neck and neck in the polls. A lot's changed since then, but AC/DC are exactly how we left them.

Set List:
"Rock and Roll Train"
"Hell Ain't a Bad Place To Be"
"Back in Black"
"Big Jack"
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap"
"Thunderstruck"
"Black Ice"
"The Jack"
"Hell's Bells"
"War Machine"
"Anything Goes"
"You Shook Me All Night Long"
"TNT"
"Whole Lotta Rosie"
"Let There Be Rock"

Encore:
"Highway to Hell"
"For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

Memorabilia from some of punk rock's biggest acts and seminal moments - including a scrawled flier for one of the Clash's first shows and publicity photos signed by the Sex Pistols - is headed for a Nov. 24 Christie's auction.

The event, announced Tuesday, includes more than 120 records, photos and promotional pieces for such punk, garage rock and new wave legends as the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, David Bowie, Blondie, the Cure and the Smiths.

The auction is Christie's first to focus on punk mementos, signaling the collectible status of a brash, anti-authoritarian rock movement that largely thumbed its nose at posterity.

Tyler reportedly spent several days in a U.K. studio with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham, and although it was said that they had a great time, it was also reported that Tyler kept, "...fluffing his lines. He got quite flustered about it," a source was quoted as saying.

What do YOU think of that?  Would you be willing to accept

Steven Tyler singing "Stairway to Heaven?"