Queen Team Up With American Idol's Adam Lambert
The worst kept secret in rock and roll has been confirmed: Queen have tapped American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert to front the group. They along with KISS and Faith No More are all set to headline the 2012 Sonisphere Festival in England this summer.
The English Sonisphere festival will take place on July 6, 7, and 8th at Knebworth Park. Organizers put out the following information:
Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor have confirmed the band will headline the second day of Sonisphere appearing on the Apollo stage on Saturday July 7. Knebworth was the setting for Queen's final concert with Freddie Mercury in August 1986. more on this story
Guns N' Roses Add More Intimate Shows
(hennemusic) Guns N' Roses have added more shows to their current "Up Close And Personal" tour.
Dates have been added in Philadelphia (Feb 27), Miami (Feb 29) and Lake Buena Vista (Mar 3).
The three new shows make it 9 dates on the current trip – 10 if you include the private club show that wrapped up New York's Fashion Week recently. more on this story
Ryan Adams Unplugs for Dio Classic
(hennemusic) Ryan Adams has wrapped up his spring US dates in support of his latest effort, "Ashes & Fire."
Friday night, Adams played in Los Angeles, and he threw in another of his favorite metal songs in the set.
Ryan performed an acoustic version of Dio's "Holy Diver." Adams is a big fan of early 80s metal, and he also hosts a black metal talk show on youtube called "Night Sweats."
Check out his Holy Diver performance here.
After Party Van Crash
(ESM) The After Party sent out word that they were involved in a van accident after their Boston show on Saturday night with Allstar Weekend.
While traveling through Roxbury, CT en route to Staten Island, NY, the band's van veered off the road and over a guard rail. The van was totaled, but luckily no one was injured.
As guitarist Andy Bell explains, "We were pulling an all night drive after our show in Boston to Staten Island, NY. I was driving at the time, and already really low on sleep. We were only five miles away from where we were staying, and I was starting to get really drowsy, but since we were so close I wanted to just finish the drive. I fell asleep for a split second as we came up to a curve, and we ran off the road over a guard rail. We still made it to the show in Staten Island last night. We had to cram into three different cars and literally walked on stage 20 minutes after arriving at the venue, but we made it happen." more on this story
Slash and Lenny Kravitz Rock For Muhammad Ali's 70th Birthday
(hennemusic) Slash joined Lenny Kravitz to rock the 70th birthday celebration for boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
The pair were just two of the stars that came out for the 16th annual Power Of Love Gala in honor of Ali; others on hand included Stevie Wonder, Chris Cornell, LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg and more.
"Muhammad Ali is and always has been a role model & a hero to me," said Slash. "It's a huge privilege to be able to perform in his honor. He is one of the great icons of American culture and history." See video of the jam here.
DragonForce Deliver The 'Fastest Song Ever Recorded'
(Gibson) British shred metal heroes DragonForce have given fans a glimpse of their forthcoming album, The Power Within, in the form of what the band promises is the fastest song they've ever recorded.
The track, "Fallen World," is the first official release featuring the band's new vocalist, Marc Hudson, who stepped in after ZP Theart left the band in 2010. Guitarist Herman Li says the sessions for The Power Within have been the most fun the band has ever had in the studio. "Through writing, jamming and touring together, we have built this incredible energy and it has been fully captured on the new album," Li says. "This time around we've really brought our metal side to the surface and made some of the best music of our career. From the fastest song we've ever recorded to the slower songs, and some things you would never expect from us, this is by far the most diverse DragonForce album yet."
The Power Within will be released by Roadrunner Records on April 17 in the U.S. It will hit the U.K. two days earlier via the band's own label, Electric Generation Recordings, which is distributed by Essential Music. "This is an exciting new era for DragonForce with Marc joining the band, so we figured this was an ideal time to take full control of our own destiny and establish our own record label for Europe," Li said. "It's all hands on deck running it, but a great buzz!" more on this story
Metalocalype Creator Going Solo
(Gibson) Metalocalype creator Brendon Small has revealed the cover art for Brendon Small's Galaktikon, his forthcoming solo album which is due for release in April.
The album is produced by Ulrich Wild with cover art by Antonio Canobbio. In addition to producing Dethklok, the fictional-yet-real death metal band from the Metalocalypse series, Wild also has manned the desk for White Zombie, Static-X, Seether, Deftones, Pantera, Breaking Benjamin and many more.
When he last spoke with Gibson.com to introduce the Gibson Dethklok Thunderhose Explorer, Small described the album like this: "I wanted to be able to do things I couldn't do with Dethklok: make a rock album with melodic vocals. And it also has elements of metal and one big song where I can show off on guitar. I got Gene Hoglan from Dethklok to do all the drums, and I brought my old friend Bryan Beller to play bass. I'm really excited by it. It's a totally different record that blends all my different influences, from black metal to Queen to ELO to Foo Fighters. It's a rock album and it takes itself desperately seriously, in a really fun way!" more on this story
Corrosion Of Conformity Streaming New Album
Corrosion Of Conformity's new self-titled album is streaming online in its entirety a week ahead of it's release.
Set for North American release on February 28, 2012 via Candlelight Records, Corrosion Of Conformity was recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Los Angeles, the 11-track offering was produced by the band in cooperation with long-time collaborator John Custer, mixed by John Lousteau (Foo Fighters) and features artwork by Seldon Hunt (Melvins, High On Fire).
Featuring the Animosity line-up of vocalist/bassist Mike Dean, guitarist Woody Weatherman, and drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin, the album's release closes a six year recording gap and completes over a year of concentrated writing and recording for the band. Listen here
In conjunction with the record release, the Raleigh, North Carolina legends will embark on a full U.S. headlining tour this March. more on this story
Dire Straits Members Touring As The Straits
(Noble) The Straits, comprised of former Dire Straits members Alan Clark (keyboards) and Chris White (sax, vocals), plus world-class musicians Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty's drummer), Terence Reis (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Feat (bass), Adam Phillips (guitar) and Jamie Squire (keyboards, vocals), will be heading out on an 18-date European tour during March 2012.
Dubbed as The Sound of Dire Straits, The Straits kick off the European tour at Belfast's Ulster Hall on 5th March, with concerts in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands, wrapping up with two UK dates at London's indigO2 on 29th March and Guernsey's Sir John Loveridge Hall on 1st April.
The Straits will perform songs from the classic albums Dire Straits (1978), Communiqué (1979), Making Movies (1980), Love Over Gold (1982), Brothers In Arms (1985) and On Every Street (1991). Expect to hear all the classics including Money For Nothing, Sultans of Swing, Walk of Life, Romeo and Juliet, Brothers in Arms, Private Investigations, Solid Rock, Tunnel of Love, and many more. more on this story
Santana and Journey's Gregg Rolie Plans Story Tellers Acoustic Shows
(Glass Onyon) Gregg Rolie, co-founder of Santana and Journey, will make two unique solo appearances on March 2 & 3, 2012 at the famed Iridium in NYC.
The Iridium has a dual history as both a jazz institution and the home of Les Paul, who performed at the venue regularly from 1996-2009. Les Paul Mondays were always an event with such iconic guitarists as Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, Todd Rundgren and Ted Nugent sitting in with the Les Paul Trio. Gregg Rolie's two-day performances at the Iridium come on the heals of his new solo EP, "Five Days".
Gregg, along with his special guest, blues guitarist Alan Haynes, will be playing selections from the new EP along with many old favorites. He'll share stories from his 40-plus year career and answer questions from the audience during the show. After his performance, there will be a meet and greet with the audience and Gregg will be on hand for pictures and autographs. more on this story
TV's House Hugh Laurie To Rock Fans On Tour
(Gibson) Hit TV show House will be airing its last new episode this spring and now the actor that plays the show's title character Hugh Laurie has announced a U.K. tour this summer, beginning at the end of June.
Laurie and his Copper Bottom Band will play the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on June 29, the Lowry in Salford on July 1 and the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London on July 2.
Hugh Laurie's album, Let Them Talk, which was recorded in New Orleans, picked up good reviews last summer. The bluesy album debuted at #2 on the U.K. album chart and made the Top 20 on the U.S. Billboard album chart. more on this story
Phil Collen Unplugs Def Leppard Classic
(hennemusic) With some down time in the Def Leppard camp, guitarist Phil Collen continues to work on promoting his side band, Manraze.
Manraze is a rock trio made up of Collen, the Sex Pistols' drummer Paul Cook, and Collen's former Girl band bassist Simon Laffy.
Collen spoke about Manraze and Leppard while in New York for a radio interview with Q104.3. The guitarist also pulled out the acoustic for live performances of the Manraze track "All I Wanna Do," and the Leppard classic, "Hysteria." Check it out here.
Steven Tyler To Appear on Jimmy Kimmel
(hennemusic) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is keeping busy these days juggling his work with the band and his American Idol duties.
Tyler will be out promoting Idol as he appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this Monday, February 27 (which will actually air the morning of Tuesday, February 28).
Idol is still in the audition process as it whittles down its numbers to the top 12 for the upcoming live broadcast portions of the series. more on this story
Dave Alvin's Eleven Eleven Expanded To Nearly Three Hours
Yep Roc Records have set an April 17th release date for an expanded edition of Americana star Dave Alvin's album Eleven Eleven.
The expanded edition of Eleven Eleven boasts nearly three hours of music and will include three previously unreleased bonus tracks, "Signal Hill," "Never Trust A Woman," and "Beautiful City 'Cross the River," a live performance DVD, a live recording of Eleven Eleven, and a repackaging of the original full-length album.
Alvin will also be hitting the road this spring for tours in both North America and the U.K.
The Sheds and Trey The Ruler Hard As Puck Tour
The Sheds are hitting the road with Trey The Ruler for the 'The Hard As Puck Tour', which is set to kick off on March 4th in Canoga Park, CA.
The tour will lead the band into their run with I Call Fives, which is set to begin on March 25th.
The Sheds' new EP 'Self/Doubt' is currently available as a free download from Alternative Press, here. A physical verson of the EP will be available on CD and vinyl beginning April 10th from Rite of Passage Records. more on this story
Warped Tour Kick-Off Party Announced
The Warped Tour annual kick-off party will take place Thursday, March 29 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.
The show willfeature live performances from an eclectic array of artists including rockers Falling In Reverse and Matt Toka, as well as a special record release celebration and performance by Dead Sara, followed by two iconic surprise guests, to be revealed the night of the show.
Kick-off party attendees will also be treated to a special screening of the documentary film titled No Room For Rockstars (from Stacy Peralta and the producers of Dogtown & Z-boys) before the party and concert begins. The live music will be kicked off by a set from Forever Came Calling, the group featured in the documentary, which will be available on iTunes April 2 and on DVD May 15. more on this story
Heart Set New Album Release
(Gibson) Heart will release a new studio album titled Fanatic in October. Guitarist Nancy Wilson revealed the news during an interview on The Eighties Experience radio show with JJ Buchanan on FM 88.5 KSBR in Southern California on Sunday, February 19.
It looks like 2012 will be a big year for the band. A box set and biography are in the works, and the band is booking live dates well into the year.
The box set is expected to contain classic songs as well as tracks that weren't represented on the band's major label albums. more on this story
Rise To Fall Defying The Gods in April
Rise To Fall have set a April 9, 2012 release date for their new album "Defying The Gods".
You can listen to a preview of "Whispers Of Hope" included in the forthcoming "Defying The Gods" here
The album, which includes 11 tracks, was produced, mixed and mastered by Ettore Rigotti at The Metal House Studio (Disarmonia Mundi, Destrage, Blood Stain Child, Slowmotion Apocalypse, etc...). more on this story
Green Day Go Behind The Scenes Of Their New Album
(hennemusic) Green Day hit the studio last week to start recording their next album. The band recently shared video of their first day and have now offered up two more clips featuring behind the scenes footage.
In between sessions, we see the guys at play, riding motorcycles and hanging out.
The project marks the follow-up to 2009's "21st Century Breakdown," a record that achieved Green Day's best chart performance to date by reaching number one on the album charts of various countries, including the United States Billboard 200, the European Top 100 Albums, and the United Kingdom Albums Chart. Check out the new footage here.
Downspirit Plan Next Album
(Freeman) Downspirit will enter the studios in mid-march to record their second album.
A release is expected for late summer via Metalville Records, followed by a tour in fall/winter.
The band states on their official facebook site: "We can't wait to let you hear what our second album will sound like. Being on the road a lot and having so much fun together as a band certainly made it's inspiration to the songwriting process. We're gonna have a lot of killer tunes on that album, that's for sure!! We're looking forward to get to the studio in mid-march!" more on this story
Descendents' Milo Releasing New Limited Edition Throbblehead
(Sub) The Descendents frontman Milo is once again available in Throbblehead form.
Milo V2 is limited to 2000 numbered units, stands at 7 inches tall, and is made of a lightweight polyresin. Accurately sculpted right down to the signature glasses, and new Descendents tee with bitchin' pant-grabbin' stage stance, Milo V2 is no joke.
"You can blame me for the V1 selling out," said Milo. "I told Aggronautix to only make 1000, and that they'd be lucky to unload a few hundred." See it here.
The Day Simon and Garfunkel Took The Bridge Over Troubled Water To The Top
(Gibson) On this day in 1970, Simon and Garfunkel went to no. 1 on the U.K. chart with Bridge Over Troubled Water. The album went on to stay on the chart for over 300 weeks, returning to the top of the charts on eight separate occasions and spending a total of 41 weeks at no. 1. Gibson take a look back: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up just a few blocks from each other in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, and they met in 1953 when they both had roles in their elementary school's production of Alice in Wonderland (Paul portrayed the White Rabbit, Art the Cheshire Cat). The good friends then matriculated to Parsons Junior High followed by Forest Hills High School. It was during their junior year of high school that they began performing together, under the name Tom and Jerry (Paul was "Jerry Landis", the last name coming from a girl he'd been dating at the time, while Art was "Tom Graph" – one of Art's hobbies at the time was "graphing" or charting song rankings on the music charts.)
The duo began writing their own material in 1955, and just two years later they went into the studio to record their song, "Hey, Schoolgirl," on Big Records. The song did well, selling over 100,000 copies and climbing to #49 in the U.S. Both were huge fans of the Everly Brothers, it's easy to hear that influence in "Hey, Schoolgirl." The success of the song led to Tom and Jerry appearing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and though they didn't have the most enviable of slots on the show – following Jerry Lee Lewis and his incendiary performance of "Great Balls of Fire" – they performed well.
Tom and Jerry's success, however, proved short-lived as follow-up efforts failed to match the success of "Hey, Schoolgirl." After high school, Simon attended Queens College, while Garfunkel went to Columbia University. A few years later, in 1963, the pair were making quite a name for themselves in the Greenwich Village folk music scene. Simon was proving quite a talented and prodigious songwriter, penning such early Simon & Garfunkel classics as "Sparrow," "Bleecker Street" and "He Was My Brother" (a song dedicated to a mutual friend and classmate of the duo, Andrew Goodman, who became a civil rights leader and was killed in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in 1964). Those songs would appear on the duo's 1964 debut album for Columbia Records, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
The album initially tanked, and Simon and Garfunkel went their separate ways. But a funny thing happened in the summer of '65 when a number of Florida radio stations began playing a song from Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. – "The Sound of Silence." Their producer, Tom Wilson, dubbed – without permission – electric guitar, bass and drums into the original mix of the song, thereby transforming it from folk into folk-rock, and released it. "The Sound of Silence" (part deux) shot into the Top 40 in the U.S. and eventually climbed to #1 by New Year's Day of 1966. more on this story
Singled Out: Twin Berlin (Travis Barker)
Today Twin Berlin's Matt Lopez tells us about their new single "Can't Take, Take, Take," from their new EP, " There Goes My Virtue," which was produced by Blink-182's Travis Barker. Here is the story:
Unfortunately, I think I write the best when life is the worst. Around the time I wrote "Can't Take, Take, Take", I was feeling stuck in a rut. I was going to college just to keep everyone off my case, since most of the people around me thought that the only way to any manner of success or happiness was through school. During that time, I isolated myself, going straight from work to home. I'd work on songs for a few hours, drive myself to a low-key bar named Snapper Magee's, drink by myself, then go home again and continue to work on songs until I was tired enough to sleep. I was totally fed up with the way things were going.
One night, I came home from the bar and started playing the opening riff to "Can't Take, Take, Take". I recorded it on my 8-track, plugged in my mic, and started singing over it. After three vocal takes, I had the majority of the melody pieced together along with a handful of lines. In hindsight, it was probably awful to listen to, since when I sit down to write a song, I don't have a specific idea in mind - it's mostly limited to me mumbling over guitar parts, trying to establish a melody. But, inevitably, a few lyrics stick and I can expand on those. Once I'm done it comes together into a representation of my life at that moment in time.
A major theme in this song is isolation from girlfriends and friends, stemming from my attitude that things normally don't work out, so why even bother? My living situation definitely played a role in shaping that belief. I was unhappy with my situation, hated a lot of people around me, and just wanted to get out. Since I couldn't, the next best option, as I saw it, was to avoid everyone, drink, and write songs alone in my room. This sentiment eventually evolved into "Can't Take, Take, Take", and I hope people are pleased with the result, and can identify with it, despite its somewhat lonely origins.
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