Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Queensryche Release First Song With New Singer
(Classic Rock) The version of Queensryche fronted by Todd La Torre have released "Redemption," which is their first track with the new vocalist.
The prog metal veterans, who dramatically sacked Geoff Tate last year, will release their next album on June 10 via Century Media.

Bassist Jackson recently said: "Queensryche is excited to begin writing this next chapter in our career with Century Media. We are pleased to call them partners on this journey. We are also thankful for all of the fans who have supported us from day one and helped us to get where we are today."

Tate has formed his own version of Queensryche following a court ruling that allows both parties to use the name until a final decision in November. His band will play 1988 classic album Operation: Mindcrime in full on tour in April in the US, while La Torre's version of the band tour the UK. Listen to the new song here.




Jason Newsted's New Band Announces U.S. Club Tour
American fans will soon be able to see former Metallica bass player Jason Newsted's new band Newsted in action as they have announced a series of U.S. tour dates.

The band have mapped out a number of club dates across the U.S. that will be kicking off on April 19th in Walnut Creek, CA and wrapping up in Asbury Park, NJ.

The tour will visit several cities in California, as well as two cities in Nevada, play the KUPD Ufiesta in Mesa, Arizona, play two shows in Michigan, plus one-offs in Chicago, New York City and Cambridge, Ma.

Jason had this to say about the upcoming tour, "Can't wait to get out there and crush it for the fans around the world!"

As we reported last week, the band has added Staind's Mike Mushok to their lineup. The group is currently planning to release their debut full length album this summer. more on this story




Baroness Lose Members In Aftermath of Bus Crash
The wounds from the horrific bus crash that Baroness suffered last summer appear to run deep as the band has announced that two members are leaving the group in the aftermath of the crash.

The band was on tour last summer when their tour bus fell 30 feet off of a viaduct on a road outside of Bath, England and several members of the band and crew were hospitalized for their injuries.

The band says that they are all now healthy, but due to the effects of accident drummer Allen Blickle and bassist Matt Maggioni have left the band.

John Baizley offered fans these details when making the announcement on Monday: "Nothing can truly prepare you for a brush with death. The event is unique one, singular to the observer. Trust me, you don't want to invite the experience. Our bus accident left indelible marks, external and internal, physical and mental, you name it. Each of the nine of us went through and continues to go through an entirely different, yet common experience. We are tied to each other by a trauma, which, despite its damage, has been made individually easier through our shared ordeal. While I would never wish the incident on anyone, I cannot imagine going through that wreck alone.

"Thankfully, injury was not dealt out evenly; unfortunately it was dealt in great supply. Each of the nine of us now finds our self in a drastically different circumstance, and we each move forward accordingly. There are two important things to note. First, we are all healthy. We are recovering at different rates, and we'll all be fine in the end. Second, Baroness has made a commitment to pick up where we left off, and get back out on tour, where we belong. In fact, I am personally staking my recovery on this principle; it gives me direction and something to look forward to (finally).

"However, for some of us, the accident necessitated a change that would prevent them from performing music or touring. It is with sadness that we must announce that Matt Maggioni and Allen Blickle will not continue touring with Baroness. The details of their departure are not sensational; they do not come with hard feelings. Nor are the details going to be public; suffice it to say we'd like to keep to ourselves the finer points of this situation, to respect the privacy of all involved. more on this story




Alice In Chains Release New Song
(hennemusic) Alice In Chains have released "Stone" to radio as the second track from their forthcoming album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here."

The new song follows the lead single, "Hollow," which was issued last December. The new album "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones) and will be released on May 28.

The new album is the follow-up to 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue" and is the group's second effort with singer William DuVall. Check out the new song here.




Van Halen Picked Up The Fisti-Cuffs Right Away When Roth Returned
(hennemusic) Eddie and Alex Van Halen were interviewed by Australia's Triple M to promote the band's April 20 appearance at The Stone Music Festival at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

The event marks the first VH visit down under since 1998, and first ever with David Lee Roth. The Triple M team asked the guys what it was like to gave Roth back in the band after all these years.

"It's like you walk into the studio and we haven't been together for a while and there's this overwhelming sense of 'coming home'. That's the best way I can describe it," said Alex. "All the time we were apart was if it hadn't existed and we picked up the fisti-cuffs right away" (laughs).

"It's like a pair of jeans that just fit right," added Eddie.

Eddie's son Wolfgang has been playing bass in the band for the past seven years, after replacing original bassist Michael Anthony in 2006. "Of course it's exciting, and he keeps us young," laughed Eddie of having his son in the band.

"It's good to have a different perspective on the music we recorded 35 years ago," added Alex. "We're really happy the music has stood the test time and I think having a different generation being involved with it gives us a different perspective." Stream the full interview here.




Queens Of The Stone Age Reveal New Album Name and Song Samples
(Gibson) Queens Of The Stone Age's new album is called ...Like Clockwork. Small snippets of tracks from the album are available right now at the band's website, QOTSA.com.

Refresh the page and click on the 'Q' to hear different clips, but don't expect to get much of a feel for what the record will ultimately sound like: the clips are rather abstract and ambient, and Josh Homme and co are obviously playing their hand pretty close to their chests on this one.

…Like Clockwork features guest appearances from, well … everyone! Or at least, Elton John, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Dave Grohl (who returns to the QOTSA drum seat), Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, Scissor Sisters vocalist Jake Shears, and even former QOTSA bass player Nick Oliveri.

Grohl won't be joining the band on the road though, so they'll announce their new live drummer shortly. more on this story






Pussy Riot's Plight Spotlighted on 60 Minutes
(Radio.com) It's been over a year since members of Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot were detained for speaking out against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but don't think the band is feeling remorse for its actions.

"I'm here to say you shouldn't give up," said the band's drummer, referred to only as "Kot," in Pussy Riot's interview Sunday night (March 24) with CBS's 60 Minutes. "What happened to us is unacceptable."

"Kot" was not one of the three members of Pussy Riot arrested in March 2012 following the band's February protest, and thus, hid her identity with one of the balaclavas the group is known for wearing.

However, Yekaterina Samutsevich, one of members arrested (and now freed), was also interviewed during the 60 Minutes segment. She maintained Pussy Riot's innocence from the charges they faced (hooliganism motivated by religious hatred) and stressed that they "want the government to leave power, because we consider it illegitimate. But we're advocating for a peaceful overthrow."

The protest was conducted at the Moscow cathedral, an imposing structure located next to the Kremlin, on February 21, 2012, to bring attention to the repressive Russian government led by Putin. By that night, the collective had taken footage shot during the protest and made it into a music video titled "Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!". Samutsevich, along with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were arrested in the protest's wake. Though all three were convicted in an August trial, Samutsevich was freed on probation in October after an appeal, but her two bandmates remain imprisoned until March 2014. more on this story




Mastodon To Rock Sturgis
Mastodon will be rocking this year's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as they have been tapped to kick off the Sturgis Buffalo Chip music festival's Wednesday August 7th lineup.

The Wednesday night show is set to feature rock with organizers teasing that they will be announcing two additional bands that will perform that night in the coming weeks.

This year's Sturgis Buffalo Chip music festival will be taking placing from August 2nd through August 11th and will include sets from Kid Rock, Toby Keith, ZZ Top, Halestorm, Brantley Gilbert, Queensrÿche and Sublime with Rome.

"Known worldwide, Mastodon is considered to be one of the greatest metal bands of their generation," says Rod Woodruff of the Sturgis Buffalo Chip. "Their powerful shows are the exact reason fans are excited to see them at the Chip for the first time this summer." More info on the festival




Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx To Sell Fans His Guitars
(hennemusic) Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx announced to fans that he plans to launch a new campaign where he will be selling his stage-played bass guitars.

"I have been asked 1000's of times to sell my basses I play onstage but have never found a way to do it and feel that that special collector would be getting more than just the instrument," Sixx writes. "Starting in Canada, I will be giving it a try to fulfill the years of fans requests."

"I know if I could of had this chance to meet a Keith Richards or a Joe Perry and have them play my guitar onstage I bought and give it to me after words, I would've jumped at the chance," he continues. "I think the thing that convinced me was the massive amount of emails I got about this and saying since you guy are gonna be doing a farewell tour soon,we will never get this chance again...Thanks guys......I will update you with a link in a week or so..." more on this story





The Beatles' Debut Album Turns 50
(Radio.com) In Not Fade Away, we take a look at the legacy of some of the greatest albums of the past few decades – some iconic, some lesser known – as they celebrate significant anniversaries. Here, we take a look at The Beatles' debut LP, Please Please Me.

"The Beatles adopt a do-it-yourself approach from the very beginning. They write their own lyrics, design and eventually build their own instrumental backdrops and work out their own vocal arrangements. Their music is wild, pungent, hard-hitting, uinhibited… and personal."

The above gem comes from the liner notes to The Beatles' Please Please Me, which turned 50 this past weekend. There are so many things that The Beatles are remembered for, chief among them an unmatched catalog of songs. There have been way too many bands to count that started in The Beatles' wake, and it's likely that most of them write their own lyrics, as well as "design their own instrumental backdrops" (i.e. compose their own music) and work out their own vocal arrangements. But before the Fab Four, this wasn't the norm.

Later in the liner notes, Beatles press officer Tony Barrow writes, "Their own built-in tune-smith team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney has already tucked away enough self-penned numbers to maintain a steady output of all-original singles from now until 1975!" It's hard to read that bit without a feeling pang of regret.

Another thing that wasn't the norm back then: Spending years, months or even weeks in the studio making a pop album. Please Please Me was famously recorded in a 10-hour session. These days, it could take exponentially longer than 10 hours just to get a drum sound. So credit producer George Martin – these days, that's Sir George Martin to you – for producing a world-changing bit of music in less than half a day. Indeed, BBC Four recently shot 12 Hours To Please Me, a TV documentary in which a number of British acts (including Joss Stone, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, Paul Carrack and Mick Hucknall of Simply Red) attempted to re-record all the songs on the album in 12 hours (they succeeded in this). Today, it's the premise for a reality show, but back then, it was simply what the budget allowed for. more on this story




More A World With Heroes KISS Charity Tribute Details
(Gibson) Want to contribute to a 40th anniversary tribute to KISS and to help raise funds for a worthy cause too? Music journalist Mitch Lafon is the mastermind behind A World With Heroes, a KISS tribute album featuring a bunch of well-known artists paying tribute to their favorite fire-breathing, blood-spitting, cherrypicker-riding, zip-lining, flame-throwing rock band.

A PledgeMusic campaign is under way to help fund the project, with proceeds also benefiting a cancer care hospice. All basic tracks were recorded by Eric Brittingham (bass, Cinderella), Jeff LaBar (guitar, Cinderella) and Troy Lucketta (drums, Tesla).

The vocalists and other artists that will contribute to the CD include: Don Dokken, Mark Tornillo (Accept), Terry Ilous (Great White), Bumblefoot (GNR), Mark Slaughter (Slaughter), Russ Dwarf (The Killer Dwarfs), Ron Young (Little Caesar), Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake), Rex Brown (Pantera, Kill Devil Hill), Dery Grehan (Honeymoon Suite), Bill Leverty (Firehouse), Phil Lewis (LA GUNS), Doro, Tommy Denander, Slaves on Dope (w/Jason Rockman), Phil Naro (ex-Talas & Peter Criss), Ron Keel, Sean Kelly (Nelly Furtado, Helix) and more to be announced shortly. more on this story






Hunter Hunted Announce Dates With Fitz and the Tantrums
Hunter Hunted will be hitting the road next month for a short run of North American tour dates with Fitz and the Tantrums.

The tour is set to kick off on April 12th in Athens, GA at 40 Watt and will wrap up on April 24th in Columbia, MO at Blue Note.

Prior to the tour, Hunter Hunted will be playing a one-off headline show at New York City's Mercury Lounge on April 1st and will then play two shows with Family of the Year. more on this story





Eisley Releasing New Album in May
Equal Vision Records have set a May 28th release date for Eisley's forth studio album, which will be called "Currents."

The band self-produced and self-recorded the album in their home studio in Tyler, Tx. Vocalist/guitarist Sherri DuPree-Bemis had this to say about the album, "Currents is honestly the first time we've had total and complete free reign over the making of one of our records and it felt so liberating."

"We were able to dig deeper musically; There are lusher arrangements and more abstract themes. I feel like we really were able to experiment this time in the studio while still enjoying doing what we love...which is essentially writing pop songs."

"I think our fans have always appreciated that Eisley doesn't sound exactly like every other band and I think we've succeeded in taking that element a bit further on this record.

"We're more confident as a band than we have ever been. I think the people that have always loved the darker, whimsical side of our sound will be very pleased with the songs on this record while the people who have enjoyed what's melodic, simple and sweet about Eisley will be quite pleased as well. more on this story




Rush Have No Plans To Retire Anytime Soon
(Classic Rock) Rush frontman Geddy Lee says the band aren't even close to thinking about retirement and in fact they're enjoying a new lease of life.

The Canadian giants, who next month will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, broke the habit of a lifetime when they hired a string section to join them on stage for their Clockwork Angels world tour.

The results have even surprised the band although they were initially concerned that fans might not welcome the move.

With a renewed energy alongside fans' excitement over their Rock Hall induction, Lee says it would be futile for Rush to consider winding down any time soon.

He says: "I think it's foolish to look too far into the future with a band like us. We really dig each other as friends and writing partners. I don't think I've ever seen Neil as happy as he is on this tour. It demeans the whole thing to try to predict the end. Let's say we're happy right now and we'll see how it all goes." more on this story





Download Festival Lineup Expands
(Classic Rock) Download festival organisers have added 17 more bands to the 2013 festival bill, headlined by Slipknot, Iron Maiden and Rammstein.

The latest additions for the Donington Park event on June 14-16 are Black Stone Cherry – who headline the second stage on Friday – plus Chthonic, Dragonforce, Fearless Vampire Killers, Fidlar, Ghost, Hammer Of The Gods, Idiom, Krokodil, Little Caeser, Masters Of Reality, Palm Reader, Patent Pending, Red White & Blues, Rival Sons, Satyricon and Voodoo Six.

Little Caesar, who debuted latest single Dirty Water on Classic Rock recently, make their first Donington appearance after a two-decade wait.

Frontman Ron Young explains: "20 years ago we were offered to play the festival when it was called Monsters Of Rock. We had to turn it down because our label would not give us the funds to get there.

"Today, with no label, manager or big-money supporters, we finally made it." Read more and see the current lineup for the festival here.





Lou Diamond Phillips Helps Imagine Dragons Go Radioactive
(Radio.com) If the comical, puppet-laden music video for Imagine Dragons breakout hit "Radioactive" featuring actor Lou Diamond Phillips came as something of a surprise for the intense tune, that reaction was exactly the band's intention.

"We got probably a hundred (video) treatments from different directors. We sifted through them and a lot of them were sort of what you'd expect for a video like that," explained the band's guitarist Wayne Sermon during an exclusive interview with Radio.com.

"Gas masks, tanks, a post-apocalyptic world and all that stuff. We sort of wanted to do something different. Being fans of Foo Fighters and a lot of their videos, they don't take themselves all too seriously. We kind of wanted to follow that vein. We feel like it still captured the intensity of the song, but in a way that's sort of different."

Indeed, as the surreal clip features Lou Diamond Phillips presiding over an underground puppet-fighting ring that's challenged by a young girl and her unassuming pink teddy bear.

"Lou Diamond Phillips was amazing and he was hilarious. He actually reached out to us. I guess his daughters were fans, and he became a fan that way," Sermon said of the fortuitous casting. "He reached out and said, 'hey, if you guys are doing a video, you know, I'd love to be a part of it.' We were like, 'Okay get on a plane right now, we'll make a role for you.'"

"I think he had to fly out by Southwest, you know, like red eye," injected the band's bassist, Ben McKee. A lot more.




Soundgarden Preview Artist's Den TV Appearance
(hennemusic) Soundgarden are sharing a preview of their upcoming appearance on the hit PBS series Live From The Artist's Den.

The series filmed the final date of the first leg of Soundgarden's North American tour in support of "King Animal." The band were captured at The Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on February 17. PBS has yet to announce a broadcast date for the show.

Soundgarden return to the road to launch the second leg of the tour on May 3rd in Atlantic City, NJ. Watch the preview here.




Fall Out Boy Kidnapped And Dismembered In New Video
(Radio.com) Fall Out Boy's upcoming album is titled Save Rock and Roll, but if the music videos for the album's first two singles are any indication, it might be Fall Out Boy itself that needs saving.

Sunday night (March 24), the band released the video for "The Phoenix," the album's second single, and it's a doozy. "The Phoenix" continues the vibe that first single "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" established: grandiosity. Strings and keyboards back the band with a growing intensity as singer/guitarist Patrick Stump lays down a take-no-prisoners vocal.

"I'm gonna change you like a remix / Then I'll raise you like a phoenix," he sings over a flurry of guitars, drums and strings. Like the single before it, "The Phoenix" marks a change in direction musically for the band, straying from its pop-punk roots. But that's the route Fall Out Boy has been planning to follow since first announcing the record: "Obvious and safe doesn't seem that rock and roll to me," said Stump in early February.

The video serves as the prequel to the "Light Em Up" video, which featured what appeared to be the band bound in the back of a van after rapper 2 Chainz and two scantily-clad women set band equipment on fire. Here, Fall Out Boy has come into possessing a briefcase, the contents of which aren't exactly revealed, but are apparently incredibly important (and bright). more on this story




Queenryche and Saxon Are Talking Metal
Members of Queenryche and Saxon's Biff Byford were the featured guests on the latest episode of the Talking Metal podcast.

Talking Metal caught up with Queensryche's Todd La Torre, Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Parker Lundgren for the show.

They discuss the band's current relationship with Chris Degarmo, the current set list, how Todd ended up in the band, gear and the current legal battle for the band name.

Biff Byford discussed Saxon's new album and documentary. You can listen to the new episode here.




Deep Purple Release Video of New Album Photo Shoot
(hennemusic) Deep Purple are sharing some behind the scenes video as they gear up to release their new album, "NOW What?!"

The band have issued footage of their November 2012 photo shoot in Berlin, Germany with photographer Jim Rakete.

"NOW What?!" was produced by Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss and many others); it is the group's 19th studio album and first since 2005's "Rapture Of The Deep."