Like the narrator in "The Changingman," one of his best-known songs, Paul Weller's career is built on shifting sands. He's been a punk rock frontman at the vanguard of the late-'70s mod revival movement, a soul/R&B singer, guitar hero and the "Mod Father," hero to the protagonists and antagonists of the drama-filled Britpop scene of the mid-'90s.

Former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher -- now the frontman of Beady Eye -- told Live Magazine that he'd rather still be in Oasis. Gallagher, who is working on a new Beady Eye album at the moment, says people have the wrong idea if they think he's anti-Oasis.

As an editor at GuitarWorld.com, I listen to tons o' music -- all sorts of weird stuff. One day in the summer, I even found myself listening to an album made by a bunch of nuns chanting in Latin. I'm still not sure why that happened. Anyway, the point is, amid the beatings my ear drums withstand on a daily basis, it's easy to choose my favorite albums of the year; they're the ones I found myself listening to over and over again.

Thirty-five years after the release of The Jam's punk-rock classic In The City, The Jam's former frontman, Paul Weller, will release a new album, Sonik Kicks, in early 2012. The album, which will feature guest appearances by Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Graham Coxon of Blur, is scheduled to be released in the US March 27 on Yep Roc Records. It will be his 11th solo album.