According to Epic Records, Shakira penned more than 60 songs over the last two years. The bulk of "Vol. 2" is new material, but it also features English renditions of two songs from "Vol. 1": "Dia Especial" and "Make Me Believe." Among the other tracks on "Vol. 2" is "Illegal," which features Carlos Santana.

New York rockers The Strokes [ tickets ] will release their third album, "First Impressions of Earth," on Jan. 3. A U.S. tour is in the works for early 2006, according to RCA Records.

The concert DVD "Rush [ tickets ] - R30," which was filmed in Frankfurt, Germany in 2004, during the band's 30th anniversary world tour, is set for release in the U.S. on Nov. 22, and internationally on Nov. 28.

Two different versions will be issued. The first is a two-DVD package that will contain the Frankfurt concert on disc one, and "rare and classic performance footage from the late seventies to the Tsunami relief benefit concert in 2005 along with interview footage culled from the last three decades" on a disc two, according to Sanctuary Visual Entertainment. The Deluxe Edition will house the two DVDs, plus two bonus CDs that feature the Frankfurt concert-DVD's soundtrack.

Bette Midler [ tickets ] will release the new album "Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook" on Oct. 25 as a traditional CD and as a DualDisc.

The tribute to jazz vocalist Lee includes Midler's takes on "Fever," "Is That All There Is" and "Alright, Okay, You Win," among many other songs. Special features on the DVD side of the DualDisc include an enhanced PCM-stereo version of the album, five songs that Midler recorded live in the studio; archival footage of Lee; and an interview with Midler.

The album reunites Midler with producer Barry Manilow, who was her original piano accompanist and musical director. In 2003, Manilow turned the knobs on Midler's Grammy-nominated album "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook."