Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Nine Inch Nails Streaming New Album and Plan Release Show
Nine Inch Nails fans will not have to wait until the band's new album, "Hesitation Marks," is released next week to hear the effort as a full album stream has been launched online and the band has announced a special album release show.
The band teamed up with the iTunes Store in the U.S. to provide fans with an advance stream of "Hesitation Marks," ahead of its official release next Tuesday, September 3rd. You can listen to it here.

The online music retailer is also taking preorders for the album and they will be offering a deluxe edition that will feature the three bonus tracks: "Find My Way (Oneohtrix Point Never Remix)," "All Time Low (Todd Rundgren remix)" and "While I'm Still Here (Breyer P-Orridge 'Howler' Remix)".

The album features guest appearances from Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, Adrian Belew of King Crimson, Eugene Goreshter of Autolux, bass legend Pino Palladino, and NIN regulars Alessandro Cortini, Ilan Rubin and Joshua Eustis.

Next Tuesday, Nine Inch Nails will be celebrating the album's release with a special intimate show at the famed Troubadour club in Los Angeles. The group will kick off their North American tour on September 28th. more on this story




Chickenfoot Committed To Making New Album
(Classic Rock) Chickenfoot guitarist Joe Satriani admits the supergroup just can't find time in their schedules to record their next album but he vows they'll manage it eventually. He believes there are at least two more records to follow their 2009 self-titled debut and 2011 follow-up Chickenfoot III.

They toured that album with drummer Kenny Aronoff in place of Chad Smith, who was tied up with his Red Hot Chili Peppers duties. But the four-piece, which also includes former Van Halen men Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, intend to stick to the original lineup when it comes to studio work.

"We had a pretty tasty dinner the other night, Chad, Sammy and myself," Satriani tells Guitar World. "We came to the realisation that it would be really hard to find some time in the next nine months to do a record. But we're committed to figuring it out." more on this story





Avenged Sevenfold Defend The Direction of New Album
(TeamRock Radio) Avenged Sevenfold defend the direction of their latest album "Hail To The King" in the fourth exclusive video in their interview series with TeamRock.

In this latest video the band go on to explain exactly who they consider to be sell-outs and why they went in the direction they did for their latest album.

You can also watch parts one to three of the series where the band talk about creating the album, what the writing process was like without The Rev and how Hail to the King stacks up against their previous albums (in their opinion). Check out the interviews here.




Kings Of Leon Never Gave Up
(Classic Rock) Kings Of Leon never doubted for a moment they'd return from their year of hell in 2011. The band faced serious personal issues, with brothers Caleb and Nathan Followill coming to blows, frontman Caleb walking off stage after an incomprehensible rant, and bassist Jared Followill's admission they were suffering from "internal sickness."

Two years later KOL return with sixth album Mechanical Bull, due out next month. And drummer Nathan insists a permanent split was never on the cards.

He tells Rolling Stone: "People ask us that, and if you ask any of us we'd say, 'No way.' Being a family band, we were bound to have that awkward first-time hangout at a show, or at Christmas or Thanksgiving. There's no avoiding it.

"If the band stopped, we're still a family and we'd see each other. So that wasn't a thought on our minds – we all knew we needed a break, but we knew it wasn't over." more on this story



Bob Seger Joins Kid Rock for Record Performance
(Gibson) In 1977 Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band sold out the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Detroit for 8 consecutive nights. It would take 36 years for an artist to match that, when Motor City native Kid Rock managed the same feet earlier this month.

As a surprise to his fans, Rock brought up Seger as a special guest for the encore. Rock and Seeger did "Old Time Rock And Roll," and "All Summer Long" to the cheers of an ecstatic crowd.

Rock and Seger have shared the stage on a couple of occasions earlier in the year, and they've made guest appearances on each other's albums. Speaking to Classic Rock after the show Kid Rock said he's open to future collaborations with Seger: "I'm sure there's more for us to do. Those shows went so great. It was beyond mind-blowing. There's definitely something there."

Bob Seger is getting ready to head back in the studio to work on a follow-up to 2006's Face The Promise. Although no release date has been set, Seger has been playing the song "All of the Roads" during his latest tour, which is supposed to be included on the new album. more on this story






Alice Cooper Answers His Critics
(TeamRock Radio) Alice Cooper says that anyone who thinks he's past his prime should catch one of his shows – because they won't see a higher-energy performance all year.

The veteran shock-rocker may be 65, but he insists his onstage character is more evil than ever, and fans of all ages will get what they want. Cooper says: "I think people come in with the pre-thinking of, 'He must be 65, so this must be Alice walking through this and kinda doing his hits and talking to us.' They get just the opposite.

"It's the highest-energy show they're gonna see all year. Alice is more of a villain now than he's ever been. He's more pronounced than he's ever been.

"Then they're wondering, 'How did I get confetti in my hair? Why do I have stage blood on me? Look – I caught a necklace, a cane, a riding crop.' Everyone goes home with souvenirs that get thrown from the stage to the audience." more on this story





Why Black Sabbath Rejected Ginger Baker Idea
(Classic Rock) Tony Iommi has offered a little more insight into how Black Sabbath went about replacing Bill Ward for the making of 13 – their first album with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978.

They chose Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk to take the stool for recording sessions after Iommi's concerns over time, dictated by his cancer treatment, prevented him from continuing talks with Ward over his contract.

Before Wilk was chosen, producer Rick Rubin put Cream icon Ginger Baker forward for the role. But Iommi tells WWeek.com: "We put a stop on. We didn't think Ginger would have been… we didn't want to go into the studio and have, um, problems.

"We did try some big name drummers – some very big name drummers. They were great, but Rick particularly suggested Brad. He did work hard; he was thrown into the deep end and he was very nervous. He got used to us, our jokes, the way we prank around." more on this story





Scorpions Crazy World Deluxe Reissue Delayed
(hennemusic) The release of deluxe reissue of The Scorpions 1990 album, "Crazy World", has been delayed to October 7. The band's 11th studio album, "Crazy World" featured the international hit, "Wind Of Change."

The two-disc set will feature the original album plus a disc of 12 live tracks from their Live Crazy world tour, along with the album's four promotional videos.

On January 24, 2010, after 45 years of performing, The Scorpions announced that they would be retiring after touring in support of their new album at the time, "Sting In The Tail", although this decision was eventually retracted and the band will continue. more on this story




Iron Maiden Release Behind The Scenes Video
(hennemusic) Iron Maiden have filed their latest European road report online video, which features a behind the scenes look at the band's Maiden England world tour.

Last month, the metal icons topped music industry magazine Billboard's Hot Tours list, ahead of Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, with $19 million (US$) in box office revenue reported from the European trek.

Currently on a break from their "Maiden England" tour, the band will return to the road for a series of US dates starting September 3 in Raleigh, North Carolina, before playing Latin American stadiums and the Rock In Rio festival in September. Check out the video here.




Fish Teases New Album 'A Feast Of Consequences'
(Prog) Former Marillion frontman Fish has released a teaser video containing clips from his upcoming album A Feast Of Consequences. His first record in five years will be available only via his website, and the deluxe edition comes with a bonus DVD, hardback book and download token. Pre-orders placed before August 31 will come with a limited-edition print signed by Fish and artist Mark Wilkinson.

Fish reports: "The units will be here in the studio 'on or as close to 2 September.' My friend's son and two of his friends have been sticking address labels, customs labels and airfreight labels in preparation for filling with deluxe editions.

"They haven't complained once – apart from asking for biscuits and I have been entertained by their jukebox selection, which has taken in early Genesis, Springsteen, Yes, Floyd, Billy Joel, the Beatles, Jethro Tull, Tenacious D and the Police, to name a few. Check out the tease here.





Chi Cheng Will Always Be A Part of the Deftones
(TeamRock Radio) Deftones keyboardist and DJ Frank Delgano believes late bassist Chi Cheng will always be a part of the band, because of their approach to songwriting.

Cheng died in April after having been in a coma since a car crash in 2008. And he's very much in the band's thoughts as they continue touring 2012's Koi No Yokan and consider a follow-up album.

Delgano says: "We all know Chi would have wanted us to keep on going. We all overtly feel he's part of everything we do anyway – his legacy lives on. For us, the creative process and our music are organic. When we get into the studio we do what we do best." more on this story




Biffy Clyro Blow Up Big At Reading Festival
(Gibson) Scottish trio Biffy Clyro had the honor of headlining the last night of this year's Reading Festival on August 25. It was the first time the band appeared at the festival as headliners on the Main Stage, and they seemed very excited by the honor, thanking the crowd throughout the set.

The band certainly didn't spare any expenses, putting on a show that was full of pyrotechnics from start to finish. The 21 song set, which is a lot for a festival gig, contained songs from all of the band's 6 albums, starting with "Different People" from this year's Opposites album, and wrapping up with the song "Mountains" from 2009's Only Revolutions.

The set slowed down for a bit with Clyro singer Simon Neil playing "Machines" with just an acoustic guitar. The main set ended in true Jimi Hendrix fashion, with Neil setting fire to his guitar at the end of the song using a flare. more on this story






Magenta, Touchstone and The Reasoning Team Up For Tour
(Prog) Magenta, Touchstone and The Reasoning will team up for a touring festival entitled Trinity (sponsored by Prog Magazine) with the first shows confirmed for May next year.

Each band will deliver an entire album from their back catalogues. Magenta are to perform Seven, Touchstone will play Discordant Dreams and The Reasoning revive Awakening. But that's just the start.

The bands explain: "The initial shows will take place in London and the Midlands. For an affordable price of just £20, these fantastic larger-scale venues will enable each band to perform more spectacular shows.

"The festival is part of a long-term project that's intended to develop in subsequent months, including different artists but always based on the three-bands-three-albums model." Check out the dates and ticket info.




Coney Hatch Return With First New Album In Over Two Decades
(hennemusic) Reunited Toronto rockers Coney Hatch have announced the forthcoming release of a new album, "Four", and have issued the project's lead single, "Blown Away."

Once dubbed "The Loudest Band In Toronto", Coney Hatch returns with their first record of new material in over two decades. "Four" will be released on September 24th in North America and September 27th in Europe.

Formed in the early '80s, original members Andy Curran, Carl Dixon, Dave Ketchum and Steve Shelski released three records on Anthem Records in Canada and Polygram for the rest of the world.

The band played support slots on tour with the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, Ted Nugent and Cheap Trick, to name a few. more on this story





Thirty Seconds To Mars Release 'City Of Angels' Lyric Video
(TeamRock Radio) Thirty Seconds To Mars have released a new lyric video for their track "City Of Angels" and the group's frontman Jared Leto admits they only just made it in time.

The clip shows Leto himself, in silhouette for most of the track, in the Hollywood Hills near his native Los Angeles. He explains: "So there we were: deadline city once again. A lyric video was needed, without any real options in sight. We were getting desperate.

"So I said, 'F**k it,' grabbed my camera, went up to the hills and shot. We came back with this. Very simple, and sometimes that's for the best." Leto adds he was accompanied by an owl for most of the shooting session, and he left it in one scene. Check it out here.




Alice In Chains Preview The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here Video
(hennemusic) Alice In Chains have released an online preview of the forthcoming music video for the title track to their latest album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here."

Alice In Chains' fifth studio album, "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones).

The record sold 62,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. You can check out the new video preview here.




Spin Doctors Premiere 'If The River Was Whiskey' Video
(Classic Rock) Classic Rock have proudly premiered the latest music video from the Spin Doctors. The new music video is for the track "If The River Was Whiskey."

It's taken from the blues-tinged album of the same name, which was released in April – and it's the record they almost made before exploding into the big time with 1991′s Pocket Full Of Kryptonite.

Singer Chris Barron says: "Every note feels dangerous. It's like this ramshackle, broken carried running down a cobblestone hill with pots and pans – and a screaming baby…"

The Spin Doctors return to the UK for a show in London's Garage on Wednesday, September 25, with special guests Dodgy. Until then, check out the new video here.




How Nightwish and Revamp's Floor Jansen Discovered Metal
(TeamRock Radio) Revamp's Floor Jansen, who's currently singing for Nightwish, reveals how she discovered female-fronted metal in the exclusive video with TeamRock Radio.

The former After Forever vocalist explains it's down to Dutch band The Gathering and their 1995 album Mandylion, their first to feature then-singer Anneke Van Giersbergen.

Jansen says: "Her crystal-clear voice, her power, combined with those heavy guitars made me want to do that as well." Check out the interview video with Floor here.





Don Broco Release 'You Wanna Know' Video
(TeamRock Radio) Don Broco have released a new music video for the new track You Wanna Know, which is their first new music in almost two years and will be released as a single in the UK on October 2nd.

Frontman Rob Damiani says: "It's the first music we've written since finishing off our debut album almost two years ago now, so we're very excited about getting it out and playing it at our shows.

"It's about telling someone something they don't want to hear. They think they might want to know – but it turns out they don't.

"It's something that happened to me. I thought I was being a great guy by being honest and everything, but it didn't work out too well!" Check out the video here.




Omb Release New Song These Walls
(Prog) Prog Magazine is proud to premiere "These Walls" by Israeli prog metal outfit Omb. It's taken from their debut album SwineSong, due out on September 1 on their own label Word7 via Prog Sphere Promotions.

Omb was formed by members of Amaseffer, Reign Of The Architect and Dark Serpent: drummer Yuval Tamir, vocalist Davidavi Dolev, bassist Or Rozenfeld and guitarist Yuval Kramer. The album was recorded with assistance from 10 other musicians.

They say: "Long gone promises, frustration, sex, ADHD and personality disorders, low self-esteem versus delusions of grandeur, love, failures, and the constant need for self-expression – these are the things dreams are really made of." Check out the song here.





A Look at Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon 40 Years Later
(Gibson) Yes, the album does synch astonishingly well with The Wizard of Oz, but that's just one of the remarkable things about Pink Floyd's historic Dark Side of the Moon, which was released 40 years ago. The disc also pushed the envelope on multi-tracking and tape looping, as well as mixing, making Dark Side as much an accomplishment of engineering as musicianship and ushering in the era of the studio engineer as star.

In the case of Dark Side engineer Alan Parsons — who was also responsible for inviting powerhouse singer Clare Torry to wail on the LP's "The Great Gig In the Sky" — that was literal. He became a cult artist and then a hit-maker with the studio group he led between 1975 and 1990 under the name the Alan Parsons Project.

But in the long run what's even more remarkable than the sonic beauty and innovation of Dark Side of the Moon is that it froze one of the greatest rock bands at their creative peak in a confluence of imagination, virtuosity and poetic lyricism that is now forever trapped in amber — becoming a permanent benchmark of excellence and humanity for future generations of listeners and musicians.

Of course, the concept album was well-established by the time Dark Side of the Moon reached record shops, but the recording's perfect weave of storytelling and sound still make it a truly exceptional member of that camp. Bassist-singer Roger Waters' lyrics achieved a poetic high in experimental rock, comparable to Dylan and to Hendrix's most emotionally rich lyrics, like "Drifting" and "Castles Made of Sand." Also contributing to the disc's humanity is a variety of voices — recordings of the band's road crew, the studio doorman and even Wings' guitarist Henry McCullough ("I don't know. I was really drunk at the time.") — responding to questions Waters had written on flash cards. The cards were lost partway in the recording process, leading to interesting ad libs like "When was the last time you were violent?"

Ultimately, the disc's sides tell an open-ended story about the trials and joys experienced over the arc of a lifetime, with the surging tides of the music sustaining the tales of yearning, fear, satisfaction, doubt, vision and transcendence.

Dark Side of the Moon was embraced by both listeners and the music industry upon its release, climbing quickly to number one. The album continues to sell thousands of copies a week and has reached a total of more than 34-million sold around the world. Staring with its March 1973 release, Dark Side spent more than 11 consecutive years on the Billboard album charts. more on this story







Perry Farrell Looks Back at Jane's Addiction's 'Nothing's Shocking'
(Radio.com) Radio.com and Perry Farrell look back at the Jane's Addiction album that introduced them to radio and MTV, and tore down the walls between what was then called "alternative" music and heavy metal. The record turned 25 this past week.

Decades after its release, it routinely pops up on "Best Albums Of All Time" charts. But if anyone ever puts together a "Most Deceptively Titled Albums Of All Time," Nothing's Shocking may top that one.

First off, there's the obvious: that album cover. We can't show it here, but you know it: the black and white sculpture of two nude women conjoined at the shoulder and hips sitting on a chair with their hair on fire.

And speaking of sex and violence, there was the song whose lyrics gave the album its name, "Ted, Just Admit It," which featured a sample of an interview clip with murderer Ted Bundy. The lyrics "Showed me everybody naked and disfigured/ Nothing's shocking/ Now sister's not a virgin anymore/ er sex is violent…" led to a chanting of "Sex! Is! Violent!" Yes, Jane's was a quintessentially L.A. band, but this wasn't what Sunset Strippers Mötley Crüe, Ratt and Poison were singing about.

And the frontman, Perry Farrell: a white, dreadlocked banshee who didn't sing, at least in the conventional sense. He was like Jim Morrison, David Bowie, David Johansen, Iggy Pop and Michael Stipe rolled into one wild-eyed, bursting-with-energy, surfer-dude. He was a hippie, he was a punk, he was a shaman and he was a huckster.

Also shocking: no one seemed to be able to put a label on the band in an era where most bands were fairly easy to categorize. They had the power of Led Zeppelin, but Farrell hardly resembled Robert Plant. Everyone he wrote about seemed like a real person darker side of L.A, not some cloudy, Tolkien fantasy. Similarly, Navarro's playing was dynamic like Jimmy Page's, but unlike many other L.A. players, he didn't sound like Jimmy Page. While much of L.A. was aping Zeppelin's style, Jane's came off as more of the heir apparent to that band's throne by not cloning the original.

And like Zeppelin, they had great acoustic songs as well. Case in point: "Jane Says," which at first listen is a bit Zeppelin III, but Page/Plant never wrote lyrics that cut like these. Propelled by acoustic guitar and steel drums, it was a moving tribute to Farrell and Avery's one-time housemate Jane Bainter, who's "gonna kick tomorrow" when she "gets her money saved." She doesn't know what love is like "I only know they want me." There's no judging, just an observation of a tragic figure.

That song got played on "alternative rock" radio alongside the likes of Depeche Mode and the Cure, but Jane's pulled a metal audience, and appealed to punks as well. This was in the days before Farrell invented the Lollapalooza tour, and those clans didn't often meet at concerts, or really anywhere else.

The album changed a lot of things in the music business and could be pointed to as the record that led to alternative's rushing of the mainstream. But Perry Farrell told Radio.com how it changed his life.

"Prior to that, I was a kid in Los Angeles, I guess you could call me a street urchin, I was hanging out with a lot of other musicians in the city, it was a very different scene back then. It was built around music. Today, there's a lot of other things for young people to do. We didn't have computer games and social media."

Conversations with Farrell tend to be wide-ranging and protracted; the pithy soundbite answer is not for him. "When Nothing's Shocking came out, I became much more of a worldly human being. That took me a while, thirty years. Now, I am able to relate to the man standing next to me in the elevator. Back then, he might be scared of me. Today, he might find me to be a refreshing conversationalist. I was always a good person, but back then, I just didn't look like it. Now, after all this time, and having children and aging, but aging–like a wine would–I enjoy my life more than ever. I meet people who are tremendous and valuable, valuable to the world, they invite me to places. Back then, I was f***ed up, I don't think they were able to relate to me."