Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Doctors Tell Lemmy From Motorhead It's Time To Quit
(TeamRock Radio) Motorhead icon Lemmy Kilmister told fans at Wacken that doctors had told him it was time to retire just minuted before he cut their festival appearance short.
The veteran frontman disappeared 35 minutes into what was supposed to be a 70-minute show, still suffering after-effects from a haematoma which forced the band to cancel several European gigs last month.

BraveWords say Lemmy admitted to the fans at the music festival that the experts had advised him to quit, but he added: "We'll have to see about that."

His friend Slash visited him yesterday and later tweeted: "He's doing well. There's been a lot of rumours but he's in good shape, and finishing Motorhead record now." Black Sabbath Tony Iommi also addressed Lemmy's health.



No News Is Guns N' Roses News
(TeamRock Radio) What's happening with Guns N' Roses' promises to release an album sooner rather than later? Nothing, according to an official statement from Axl Rose's outfit.

Responding to frequent fan requests for news, GnR have released a comment saying: "Generally speaking, at this time we have no information on tours, albums, or DVDs. When things get confirmed we will let you know. Thank you for your patience."

Just three months ago guitarist Richard Fortus said the follow-up to Chinese Democracy was nearly finished. But the story seems to have dried up, leaving fans wondering if it's possible Rose could beat his record of 14 years between releases. Find out what Guns N' Roses milestone occurred this week.




Def Leppard's VIVA! Hysteria Hitting Movie Theaters and DVD
(hennemusic) Def Leppard's 2013 Las Vegas residency, "VIVA! Hysteria", is coming to theaters for a series of special screenings before being released in multiple formats in October.

The UK rockers played 11 shows at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino this past spring, following in the footsteps of Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses.

The Las Vegas dates featured two sets from the band: the first, a wild card collection of songs that changed from night to night – performed under the name "Ded Flatbird"; the second presented the band's iconic 1987 album, "Hysteria", from start to finish.

In October, "VIVA! Hysteria" will be released in multiple formats: 2CD+DVD digipak, Blu-ray, DVD and digital album download. The theatrical event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 2 and Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 8:00 p.m. More details and release dates here.




Jason Newsted Doubts Metallica Jam With Mustaine Will Happen
(TeamRock Radio) Former Metallica bass player Jason Newsted is beginning to doubt his much-vaunted jam with fellow ex-Metallica man Dave Mustaine will take place as hoped.

The pair are currently touring the US together on the Gigantour travelling festival – Newsted with his self-titled new band and Mustaine with Megadeth.

Newsted says: "We're at the end of Gigantour now. But the way that this tour is going, it's just kind of crazy and we haven't gotten to that point yet.

"We've traded lyric sheets. We've traded down-tuned versions of Phantom Lord and Metal Militia to try to figure out what song we're gonna play. But it has never come to fruition, and we only have a few shows left. So I'm not sure if it actually ever is." He had more to say.





Five Finger Death Punch's New Album Debuts At No. 2
(Radio.com) L.A. metal band Five Finger Death Punch have debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with their fifth album, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell: Volume 1.

The new album sold 112,000 copies its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's an improvement over the group's last full-length, 2011′s American Capitalist, which opened at No. 3 with 90,000 sold.

Time will reveal if they finally grab a No. 1 spot when The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2 is released later this year. Find how the rest of the top 10 came out.




Arcade Fire Scores New Spike Jonze Film
(Radio.com) Arcade Fire have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. They nonchalantly announced an October 29th release date for their upcoming album last month in an at-reply with a fan on Twitter, they announced they were going to tour through an at-reply to a fan on Twitter, and now Indie Wire is reporting that they created music for Spike Jonze's upcoming film, Her. This news was not sourced from a Twitter at-reply.

The movie, out November 20, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a man who falls in love with a highly intelligent computer (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). The film also stars Amy Adams, Parks and Recreation's Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde and Rooney Mara.

This is not the first time the Canadian band has teamed up with Jonze. They lent an acoustic version of "Wake Up" for one of the Where The Wild Things Are trailers. The director also shot their short film for "Scenes From The Suburbs" off their 2011 album, The Suburbs.

Watch the trailer for Her here.





Bob Dylan's Unheard, 43-Year-Old Song 'Pretty Saro' Goes Online
(Radio.com) In 1970, Bob Dylan recorded "Pretty Saro" six times for his Self Portrait sessions, but the song never made the album. After four decades, his rendition of the 18th century English folk song will finally see the light of day.

On August 27, "Pretty Saro" will be featured on Dylan's Another Self-Portrait. The box set will include 35 tracks cut for Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait and New Morning.

The stripped down track features Dylan's familiar quivering vocals and light finger picked acoustic guitar. But that's not all. Filmmaker Jennifer Lebeau has created a video for the song. Using photos from the Farm Security Administration, which is stored at the Library of Congress, her video transports the viewer back in time. Having gone through 1,200 photos from the 1940s, '50s and '60s, she created a specific tale to fit Dylan's vocals.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lebeau opened up about what she wanted to capture in the video. "His vocal delivery is so haunting. I wanted to be able to visually represent that sort of unrequited love in a world that seems like it should be sad, but the people are always happy and fine," she said.

She added: "It literally goes from women on farms with wagons to Rosie the Riveter. They were doing laundry and tilling the land, and at the end, they're building planes and really in charge of everything at the work place. We wanted to include as many of these magnificent faces as we could, and tell this story across the years."

Watch the video for "Pretty Saro" here.





Rob Zombie Addresses Skate Park Controversy
(hennemusic) Rob Zombie and his wife, Sheri, have been making headlines over their noise complaint against a skate park next door to their Woodbury, Connecticut home, and now the rocker is stepping up to comment on the alleged controversy.

In a posting on Facebook Monday night, Rob lamented the potential for finding a simple solution, saying the issue "has already become a [expletive] witch hunt. No one is crushing little people. Just trying to fix the sound of metal ramps crashing in my backyard. Not trying to [expletive] with anyone, just trying to find a solution. Trust me, if this was in your backyard you would agree."

Zombie then commented on the controversy created by the headlines. "It seems nuts to even have to address this, but I guess I will," he posted. "Some really crazy articles have popped up making claims about 'hating skaters' and 'hating children.'

"None of this is true and it makes me sick that someone would print such lies. There is a simple matter going on in which we are trying to find a solution that will make EVERYBODY happy. Unfortunately, someone decided to turn it into a whole ugly event. What a bummer." Details about the controversy.





Queens Of The Stone Age Streaming Their Entire Lollapalooza Set
(Classic Rock) Queens Of The Stone Age have released a streaming video of their entire performances from last weekend's Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.

Josh Homme and co appeared at the Chicago event on August 2 and delivered a 70-minute set consisting of classic tracks alongside material from latest album …Like Clockwork.

The band have announced that they will be touring the UK and Ireland in November with the tour kicking off in Glasgow on November 16th. Check out the Lollapalooza video here.





Saving Abel's Jared Weeks Singing For Hinder On Tour With Candlebox
Hinder (with guest lead vocals from Saving Abel's Jared Weeks) are teaming up with Candlebox to launch a North American co-headlining tour next month.

Hinder sent over the initial dates for the trek which will kick off on September 20th in Portland, ME and explained that frontman Austin Winkler is continuing his hiatus from the group for "personal reasons".

"With Jared filling in, it's like getting two shows at once," says Cody Hanson of Hinder. "It's energetic, fun and unlike anything I've ever seen from a rock band. You won't want to miss this!"

"I'm stoked to be touring with our friends Hinder," says Candlebox lead vocalist, Kevin Martin. "We've been talking about it for years and glad it's finally happening!" more on this story




Fred Armisen Directs Kings of Leon
(Gibson) On Friday (August 9) Kings of Leon will take the stage at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. The entire show will be streamed live through YouTube and Vevo.

A teaser for the show has been released in which comedian Fred Armisen show up as the band is rehearsing, and takes on the role of director. Armisen says he wants to figure out which member of Kings of Leon is the best, by having them play individually.

The comedian has a real hard time deciding who should go first, and you can actually see Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill trying so hard not to start laughing, having to turn away from the camera repeatedly. Check out the video here.





Sebastian Bach Working On New Album With Producer Bob Marlette
(hennemusic) Sebastian Bach is in the studio working on a new album with producer Bob Marlette, and has posted his latest studio update on the progress of the project.

"Today we are ‪#‎bachinthestudio‬ crafting riffs & working on melody lines," wrote Bach. "Bob Marlette is working his magic & helping me out with the upcoming opus of epic-ness. Expect high energy music.... perfect for driving quickly, or jackhammering concrete."

"Working on lyrics," he continues, "but don't want to beat you over the head with sobriety, or ex wives, or ex band members, or any of the other constant bullsh*t that I seem to be personally dealing with.

"So I am choosing my words carefully.....because this music is straight up balls to the wall kick you in the nuts rock n' roll. & I need the words to reflect that." more on this story





Nine Inch Nails and Fall Out Boy Announce Surprise Shows
(TeamRock Radio) Nine Inch Nails and Fall Out Boy have both revealed plans to play surprise shows at short notice while they are in the UK this month.

Both of the surprise shows are connected to each act's appearances at this year's Reading and Leeds festival which will be taking place later this month.

NIN will play London's Scala and Fall Out Boy will appear at Glasgow's Academy. You can find more show and ticket details for each surprise gig here.





Marillion Cancel Guest Appearance With Mott The Hoople
(Classic Rock) Marillion broke some bad news to fans that they have cancelled their planned special guest appearance at Mott The Hoople's show in London in November.

The band say: "Following a breach of our original agreement with the concert promoter, we have no choice but to pull out. It is therefore with great regret and apology to Marillion's fans and to Mott The Hoople (who we respect enormously) that we must cease involvement in this event."

Those who purchased tickets to see Steve Hogarth and co are advised to seek a refund at their point of sale. more rock news here.




Queensryche Member's Role Expands Following Tate's Exit
(Classic Rock) Queensryche drummer Scott Rockenfield says guitarist Parker Lundgren has finally been able to contribute to the band's songwriting process now his ex-father-in-law Geoff Tate is out of the band.

"He's been in the band with us now for six years," says Rockenfield, "But we have a great new thing where Parker was allowed to write.

"We wanted that, but it was not happening in the past, if you know what I mean. Parker is a great addition and a great musician." More rock news here.





Steve Vai Expands Story Of Light World Tour
(Classic Rock) Steve Vai will return to the UK at the end of August for seven more shows, as a result of the success he had with earlier legs of his Story Of Light world tour.

Released last year, it's was first studio outing since 2005′s Real Illusions: Reflections, and he's delighted with the response it's achieved. The storyline follows the journey of a man "driven mad by grief, intertwining tragedy, revelation, enlightenment and redemption."

Although largely instrumental, the album does feature guest vocalists. Aimee Mann duets with Vai on No More Amsterdam, which she also cowrote. Beverly McClellan, a season one finalist on The Voice (USA) appears on on John the Revelator, a track inspired by a vintage recording of blues singer Blind Willie Johnson. Other highlights include the title track which opens the album, Gravity!Storm plus The Moon and I and Velorum. more on this story





Black Sabbath Inspire Poster Series
(Classic Rock) London's Flood Gallery recently commissioned a series of posters inspired by the music of Black Sabbath, and presented them to the world at a launch night in their London gallery on July 25.

The exhibition celebrates the band's reunion with Ozzy Osbourne for latest album 13, which topped charts across the world. Classic Rock said of the band's 19th studio outing: "13 isn't as good as their first six albums – what is? – but it's a million times better than most of what followed, and way more than you could ever expect from a three men of pensionable age who proved all they had to prove 40 years ago."

Artwork by New York tattoo artist John Reardon plus designers Godmachine, Richey Beckett, Glyn Smith, Michael Cowell, Matt Valentine and Scott Move can currently be seen in the gallery, located at Greenwich Market. View some of the results here





Shinedown and Skillets Carnival of Madness Tour Starts This Week
(Gibson) It's almost time for the 2013 Carnival of Madness Tour. The annual hard rock music trek sets off Aug. 11 in Asbury, N.J., and will travel through over two dozen cities before wrapping up Sept. 18 in Puyallup, Wash.

This year's lineup is spearheaded by Shinedown, who headlined the inaugural Carnival of Madness tour in 2010, as well as Papa Roach, Skillet, In This Moment and We as Human.

"Carnival of Madness is more than a show— it's an experience," Shinedown frontman Brent Smith said in a statement. "This year, it's all about reinvention. The culmination of five powerful and dynamic bands joining together to prove to the world that rock-n-roll is alive and well…"

"I can hardly wait for the Carnival of Madness," said John Cooper, frontman for Christian rockers Skillet. ". . . It'll be our first tour playing songs from our new album, Rise, so Skillet will be doing our best to bring the pain every night!" more on this story






Biffy Clyro Appalled At Costly Meet-and-Greet Rip-Offs
(Gibson) Have you ever wanted to meet one of your favorite bands only to find out that it's going to cost a ton? The guys of Biffy Clyro don't think that's right.

In a recent interview with NME, Ben Johnston of the Scottish group expressed his distaste for bands that charge fans to get into meet-and-greets.

"Having artists charge for meet and greets is absolutely appalling…" the drummer said in the video interview. "I think that you can pay to perform, and that makes sense, but meeting somebody is just part of the job… So, I'm very much against that!" more on this story







Simon McBride Giving Away Free Song Download
(The Blues Simon McBride has made a 2009 live recording of his performance of the Buddy Miles/Jimi Hendrix classic "We Got To Live Together" available for free download.

His performance of the Buddy Miles piece, first laid down with Jimi Hendrix on the Band Of Gypsys album, was recorded in the Netherlands in 2009, at which time it was a staple in his concert set.

"I always put at least one song associated with Hendrix in my set. This is a great one for getting the audience fired up," McBride says."It was available a while ago, but I thought there might be a lot of people who don't have it. I have to say: it has a pretty epic live sound." More including the song download link here.





Moon Safari Expand Upcoming Tour
(Prog) Swedish melodic prog rockers Moon Safari have added another UK date to their forthcoming European tour. They will now play The Loft in Brighton on September 12.

The band, who release their latest album, Himlabacken Vol. 1 through Blomljud Records on August 31 also play in Kingston, Rotherham and Wolverhampton.

The entire European tour sees the band take in Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium as well as the UK dates. More including the dates.




Roll Wyn James Back With New Album Despite Member's Stroke
(The Blues Scottish blues outfit Roll Wyn James have just released their fifth album "Unfinished Business" in spite of harpist Alwyn James' debilitating stroke.

The record's title stems from the fact that some of the music was composed just before James was rendered unable to walk, read or use his right hand.

The former schoolteacher has learned to play with just his left hand, and completed the album with assistance from bandmates Chris Agnew (bass and vocals), Paul Henderson (guitar and vocals) and Kevin Smith (drums).

Unfinished Business is the band's second album since James suffered his stroke, and the first to feature Agnew – son of Nazareth bassist Pete – on the microphone. more on this story




Steve Hillage Explains Why YouTube Pulled 'Hinotori' Video
(Noble) Steve Hillage premiered the cutting edge promo video for Rovo and System 7's new single "Hinotori" on Friday but several hours later the video was mysteriously removed from YouTube.

Hillage, one of the original members of the British prog rock band Gong, has released a statement explaining why the video was removed from the streaming site.

"The video was initially taken down in connection with the use of original Hinotori images from the Manga animation pioneer Osamu Tezuka, who has been a huge influence on the Phoenix Rising project," says Hillage.

"Tezuka Productions, the Japanese company that manages the Tezuka creative legacy, demanded a change in the precise wording of the copyright notice after the end of the video. This has now been resolved. Our Japanese video production company wish to apologise for the temporary YouTube removal."

The Hinotori promo video is a taster from a collaboration between System 7 and Japan's leading progressive rock band, Rovo, culminating in the new studio album Phoenix Rising (released in the UK on 23 September).

The album, produced by Steve Hillage and Rovo, is followed by concerts at Manchester Ritz (March 7) and London o2 Shepherd's Bush Empire (March 8).

Yesterday, the video, directed by Tokyo's Mood Magic, has been re-uploaded on YouTube. Watch the video here.






Singled Out: Ghosts of Eden's In Motion
Today Tom from velvet grunge pioneers Ghosts of Eden tells us about the song "In Motion" which is featured in their just premiered debut music video and comes from their EP "Something (Kinetic)". Here is the story:

So "In Motion" is a song that has really evolved over time. I feel like we were writing and perfecting it forever. Most of our songs take one rehearsal to write, arrange and complete. This one took months, if not years. It all stemmed from our friend Gomez playing the this goofy 2 note riff on a keyboard during one of our rehearsals. It sounded really cheesey but Rich jokingly created a heavier guitar equivalent and that's the main riff that the song opens with.

We didn't really take it too seriously but I started singing the verses and it clicked. It was in limbo for a while so I took it home and added the bridge guitar riff and the choruses. Collectively we wrote the whole outro but it never really came to fruition like it did until Benny joined the band. We added a lot of little things, i.e. more dynamics, backing vocals, some keyboards. These proved to be missing pieces that had a major impact on the live energy that we put into the song which led it to be our #1 fan favorite song that we close all our sets with.

We know we could have picked one of our more radio friendly songs for our first music video, but this song is the song that fans have latched on to. This video is for all of the believers of Ghosts of Eden and Velvet Grunge out there. While the lyrics may not be very literal, what it's truly about is following your dreams and never letting anyone tell you it's stupid or that you can't do it. At the end of the day, whether you succeed or fail, you went for it, you're still here...alive.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and check out the brand new video here learn more about the EP right here!





CBGB Movie Trailer Released
(Radio.com) Punk rock fans and historians alike have been anxiously awaiting the upcoming movie CBGB, a star-studded bio-pic based on the legendary New York City club that served as the breeding ground for such legendary acts as the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith and many more. Yesterday (August 7), the film's first trailer was released online (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Opening with the tagline "the greatest rock club ever," the trailer reveals actor Alan Rickman (best known for portraying Snape in the Harry Potter movies) as the movie's central character, CBGB's club owner Hilly Kristal, who opened the bar in 1973 (Kristal died in 2007 at the age of 75). Also among the marquee cast includes Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins as Iggy Pop and Malin Akerman (Watchmen, The Heartbreak Kid) as Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry. While the club was shuttered in 2006 over a rent dispute, the name lives on with an annual festival.

The movie, which is scheduled to open nationwide on October 11, will come with a soundtrack featuring music from such acts as Television ("Careful"), New York Dolls ("Chatterbox"), MC5 ("Kick Out the Jams") and the Police ("Roxanne"). Watch the trailer here.





Alter Bridge Premiere New Song 'Addicted To Pain'
(hennemusic) Alter Bridge have premiered the song "Addicted To Pain", which is the lead single from their forthcoming new album, "Fortress" (due out on October 8th).

"When we started pre-production on this album, we pushed ourselves harder and further than we ever have previously in order to make the most out of every individual arrangement," says guitarist Mark Tremonti.

"We wanted this album to be our most unpredictable and exciting one yet. From the early feedback we have received, it looks like we have achieved what we set out to do." Check out the song here.





Avenged Sevenfold Discuss New Album Details In New Video
(TeamRock Radio) Avenged Sevenfold discuss the details of their latest album "Hail To The King" (out August 27th in North America) in their third exclusive video with Metal Hammer.

They discuss how they realized they sometimes "weren't going for it fully," why so many things were cut out of the album – and much more besides.

Avenged Sevenfold are the cover stars of the current edition of Metal Hammer magazine, which is on sale now. You can check out the latest video segment here.




The Strypes Release 'What A Shame' Video
(The Blues Young Irish R&B outfit The Strypes have launched a video for their track What A Shame. You can also see them live in the coming weeks ahead of their sold-out supporting role on the road with Arctic Monkeys.

Ross Farrelly (vocals, harmonica), Josh McClorey (guitar, vocals), Pete O'Hanlon (bass) and Evan Walsh (drums) cite influences including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter.

The four-piece have been battering down doors across Ireland, the UK and Europe since forming two years ago.