Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


KISS Want Tim Tebow For Their New Pro Football Team
NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has been offered a new contract but it probably isn't one that he expected. Rock band KISS have offered the NFL star a job with their Arena Football League team.
Dubbed the L.A. KISS, the band recently announced the KISS themed expansion team that will be based out of Orange County, Ca. And they wouldn't be KISS without making headlines with big announcements.

The big announcement this time is that the band has offered Tebow a three-year contract to play for their new team after he was recently dropped by the New England Patriots.

"Tim Tebow is one of the most recognized and respected athletes in sport," said Paul Stanley. "His joining us would mean great things for his fans and for our team, especially from a business standpoint. His credibility within the sports arena is paramount. With our commitment to bringing football without compromise back to L.A., we're excited to see how this offer turns out."

"Acquiring Tebow would not only be a great investment for the team, but his exciting style of play would definitely send shockwaves through the League," added Gene Simmons. "We're excited for the opportunity to see him with an LA KISS uniform on, and for the LA KISS fans to be rockin' their Tebow shirts and jerseys."

Tebow taking the job is a long shot as he has turned down offers from Canadian Football League and USA Rugby and has his heart set on the position of starting NFL quarterback.




Machine Head's Flynn Slams Avenged Sevenfold
(TeamRock Radio) Machine Head mainman Robb Flynn has poked fun at Avenged Sevenfold after their new album Hail To The King reached number one in the UK and US charts.

In his online diary Flynn sends his congratulations to the band for the success of their "latest covers album" and adds: "Who knew that re-recording Metallica, Guns n'Roses and Megadeth songs could be a worldwide hit? Ba-dap psssss!"

He suggests the band – who already defended their musical direction on their latest release – should change their name to Sad But Two and that lead track Hail To The King is "actually that ugly AC/DC band's song Thunderstruck."

And he jokes that sales of Metallica black album "skyrocket as fans realise where the new songs came from." Read his number-one punchline about A7X here.




Metallica Album Work Was Started Before Their New Movie
(Classic Rock) A member of Metallica have revealed that the band started work on a new studio album before turning their attention to upcoming movie Through The Never.

Bassist Rob Trujillo has confirmed the follow-up to 2008′s Death Magnetic is due to appear next year – after the release of the cinema extravaganza and its associated soundtrack album.

Speaking exclusively to Classic Rock, Trujillo says: "Before all the film stuff, we were jamming these ideas and having a lot of fun. But we got sidetracked." He adds, "In 2014 it'll be all about getting new music – without any interruptions, hopefully."

He admits the band are nowhere near completing any songs, but they're sitting on a stockpile of jams that pick up where their previous record left off.

"It feels like Death Magnetic was the launch pad – it's the introduction to what we have now," says Trujillo. Read what else he had to say here.




Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Says Doctors Are Drug Dealers
(Classic Rock) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has slammed doctors for being the equivalent of drug dealers who make it difficult for addicts to straighten out.

The Aerosmith singer last fell off the wagon when he fell off stage in 2009, leading to a series of episodes which almost cost him his position in the band – before he managed to clean up his act once more. But he insists it wasn't all his fault.

Tyler says: "I had a bunch of operations and simply didn't follow my programme. I kept the drugs at the side of my bed; I did more instead of going what was prescribed. Remember, I'm a very good drug addict because I've done it for so many years."

The singer feels it was impossible not to fall back into the addiction cycle. "You know who the new dealers are? Doctors," he states. "I've gone to and said, 'I'm in a 12-step programme.' He goes, 'Ah, good for you!'

"On the way out he says, 'You need something to sleep tonight?' I'm trying to tell him I can't take anything that's mood-altering – because if I do, I like to ride it." He had more to say.




Jimi Hendrix Documentary Includes Home Movies
(Classic Rock) A new two-hour Jimi Hendrix documentary includes home videos made by the guitar icon himself along with footage shot during his last-ever show just 12 days before he died.

Hear My Train A Comin' is released in November and makes up part of the celebrations for what would have been his 70th birthday year. The film also features recently-discovered clips from Hendrix's appearance at the Miami Pop Festival in 1968, which will also go on sale in November.

His sister Janie says: "Hear my Train a Comin' is an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Jimi in his own words, as well as the words and memories of those that knew him well and were close to him. His impression on the world through his genius, music and talent continue to magically touch the lives of ensuing generations." more on this story




Halestorm Cover AC/DC, Judas Priest, Fleetwood Mac On New EP
Halestorm will once again be reinterpreting some of their favorite songs on a covers EP. The band announced that "ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP" will be released on October 15th.

The new "ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP" will feature the band's interpretations of songs from AC/DC, Judas Priest, Fleetwood Mac, Marilyn Manson, Daft Punk and Pat Benatar.

"Like our first 'ReAniMate' EP, the songs included here are a collection of both our favorite songs and songs to challenge ourselves," said Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale.

"We decided to go more 'bare bones' with this EP, meaning minimal production with live, gritty performances. We recorded this EP the week of the Grammys, so the excitement and debauchery you hear through your speakers is very real. We hope all our fans have as much fun with 'ReAniMate: 2.0' as we did!"

Halestorm is currently on a North American tour that hits the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City, OK tonight and have announced dates that conclude on December 15th in Chicago, IL at the House of Blues. more on this story




Slayer Expand North American Tour
Less than a week after thrash metal legends Slayer announced their upcoming North American headline tour, the band have already expanded the trek.

The band has added seven dates in Canada and a new show in Seattle to the previously announced seventeen dates for the tour that will feature support from Gojira and 4ARM.

The tour is still scheduled to kick off on October 22nd in Anchorage, Alaska at the Sullivan Sports Arena and will wrap up on November 30th at the Tsongas Arena in Boston, MA.

As we previously reported, Slayer's lineup for the tour includes founders Tom Araya and Kerry King along with drummer Paul Bostaph and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, who has been filling in for the late Jeff Hanneman who died on May 2nd from alcohol related cirrhosis.

The band have vowed to carry on in the face of Hanneman's death and have began to work on new music and said in a statement that they "hope to spend some time in the studio prior to this tour." more on this story





Pearl Jam Producer Brendan O'Brien Discusses New Album
(Classic Rock) Brendan O'Brien has produced six Pearl Jam albums, starting with their second, Vs., in 1993 and continuing with their upcoming tenth, Lightning Bolt. Ahead of Lightning Bolt's release on October 14, O'Brien was in London recently to talk about his relationship with the band.

Classic Rock: Brendan, you've worked with Pearl Jam over a period of 20 years now. What are the pros and cons of having such a well-established relationship with a band?

Brendan: I think the first cons of making four albums together was that they got tired of being told what to do, which happens to all good artists. Some time after we did Yield, I just think they wanted to do it themselves for a while. The pros are, when they're ready to do something a little more outgoing, significant – whatever you want to call it, that's what I call it, I can't help myself! – they call me again.

Classic Rock: And when they arrive in the studio, do they know what the songs are going to sound like, or is there a lot of sitting around thinking?

Brendan: There's very little sitting around thinking, I can promise you that. Because you can't pre-determine what you're doing. Except that if you do a record with Pearl Jam, you'd better have Eddie [Vedder] good and loud! And a groove going. If I do anything I've got to get that right. Most songs we still start by recording live, in the room, with everybody playing at once, even though we don't keep as much of that stuff as we used to.

Classic Rock: You've said that some Pearl Jam records are more difficult to make than others. How would you place this one on that spectrum?

Brendan: The difficulty for me was trying to get them back into the studio. I think that's probably my value to them, I'm going: "Let's keep going on, let's stop f**king around, let's go." Thinking of some of their earlier records, Vs. was hard for me to make because I didn't know any of the guys really. Especially Eddie, and Eddie was very stand-offish in those days. He was just very protective. He would tell me: "You're Stone and Jeff's friend" [laughs], when we would get into discussion. That was his defence mechanism. "Alright, man, whatever…" Read the rest of the interview here.




Alter Bridge Wanted Unpredictable Album
(TeamRock Radio) Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti says that the band did everything that they could to make their new studio album "Fortress" as unpredictable as possible.

"The last thing we wanted was verse-chorus, verse-chorus and all that. We messed with time signatures, tones, key changes," Tremonti tells MusicRadar. "Everything we could throw at these songs, we did. They have you never knowing what you're getting next."

Part of the process was refusing to take any arrangement for granted. "We didn't want to be easily satisfied," Tremonti says. "It's so tempting to say, 'That's it – it's perfect' the first time you have something.

"But you never really know it's as good as it can be until you exhaust every possibility. That's what we did." Read more and check out the video for the album's first single here.




Experimental Jon Lord Concert Launched Online
(Classic Rock) The family and friends of the late Jon Lord have launched a website offering 11 videos shot during a previously-unreleased chamber orchestra concert in 2010.

The Trondheim Experiment includes a performance of Deep Purple classic Child In Time, complete with children's choir, and the evening's finale dedicated to Ronnie James Dio, who'd died the previous week.

The clips were shot at Nidaros Cathedral in Norway on May 24 that year and have been pieced together using audience recordings. The website include behind-the-scenes sections and an interview with the keyboard icon, who passed away last year.

Billed as "a celebration of good friends and music," the concert took place in a location that Lord admired highly and referred to as "the venue of the gig that changed his life in 2003."

Introducing Child In Time Lord says: "This is a big number in my life, this one. I love doing it in a slightly more Lordy way than the Purple way – but it's pretty much the same." A lot more.




Paramore Plan Larger Than Life Shows On Upcoming Tour
(Gibson) Billboard recently caught up with Paramore singer Hayley Williams and talked about the band's upcoming U.S. tour. The band, who are currently touring Europe behind their hugely successful self-titled album, promise a show unlike any they've done on previous tours.

Hayley said: "We just put a lot of forethought and a lot of elbow grease into this. We want to show the longtime fans how far they've brought us, and we want to show all the new fans what they might have missed out on had they not caught on. So bigger production, bigger stages, obviously. We want to be a band that puts on a larger than life show."

Williams and band mates Taylor York and Jeremy Davis are riding high on the success of their number one album. It means a lot to the trio that they were able to produce hits such as "Now" and "Still Into You" after parting ways with original members Josh and Zac Farro in 2010. "I think knowing that we got through the hard time and made this record showed us there is a future and there are even brighter spots to get to and more exciting opportunities and more fun to be had," Williams said.

Paramore kick off the US leg of their tour on October 15 in Seattle. more on this story






Former Kyuss Members Couldn't Afford To Fight Josh Homme Over Name
(Classic Rock) Former Kyuss men Brant Bjork and John Garcia changed their band name to Vista Chino after concluding they couldn't afford to fight former member Josh Homme in court.

The Queens Of The Stone Age mainman had previously offered no objection to the title Kyuss Lives when the pair reunited in 2010, but became unhappy when plans to record new music moved forward. The result is that new album Peace has been released under the Vista Chino's title – but Garcia says the entire process was "unnecessary."

Garcia tells Antiquiet: "Brant and I put up a pretty good fight. But in the United States, sometimes those with the most money win. We decided it was worth the initial fight; but it got to the point where we thought it would be much better to stop.

"The lawyers, the bills, took a little bit too much of a toll on us, and we said, 'Look, we're going to change our name.'" more on this story




Dillinger Escape Plan Aim For Honesty Not Perfection
(TeamRock Radio) The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman admits they know they're not the best band in the world. But every time they go on stage, he says, they aim to be.

"This tour is full of virtuosos. Every band on this tour is shredding all day – they're backstage shredding all day," Weinman tells The Circle Pit in the video interview. "I don't pick up my guitar until five minutes before I go on stage.

"We know we're not the best band in the world; we know we're not the best played in the world. It's more about getting in the zone, really feeling it. We just have to be good enough players to translate those ideas.

"It's more about free expression than premeditated. We want to make sure the energy comes across honestly on stage." Stream the full interview here.




Mott The Hoople To Play First Shows Without Dale Giffin
(Classic Rock) Mott The Hoople keyboardist Verden Allen says the band aim to take drummer Dale 'Buffin' Giffin out for a pint because they can't have him on stage when they tour the UK in November.

It will be the first-ever shows performed by Mott without Griffin, whose Alzheimer's disease was already a problem when he appeared for part of the set during their 2009 reunion shows.

And Allen admits it was a shock seeing his old bandmate for the first time in 39 years. He tells Wales Online: "I remember him not really recognising me at first, and thinking to myself, 'Has time really been that harsh? Have I really changed that much?'"

Griffin was able to perform the band's songs "flawlessly" – but Allen says: "He'd go from laying down these note-perfect renditions to not knowing where he was. Then I noticed he was struggling to assemble his drumkit each time, as though he was seeing it for the first time in his life.

"When I asked him about the first time he noticed something was wrong, he told me he didn't really know – just that people were getting annoyed at him for doing odd things and he had no idea why." more on this story




Korn Release Reconciliation Trailer
(TeamRock Radio) Korn have released a trailer for Reconciliation, the documentary detailing how Head returned to the band in time to appear on upcoming album The Paradigm Shift.

In the video, which accompanies deluxe editions of the record, Head explains why he'd left the band in 2005 and how he ran into them again at a festival in the US last year.

He says: "My daughter wanted to go, so I was like, 'Alright, I'll sneak in there, maybe say hi to a couple of the guys.'"

Munky adds: "The day before, I found out he was going to be there and I kinda had a lump in my throat. When the moment happened it was complete relief to see the clarity in his eyes."

The shock came moments before Korn hit the stage. Head recalls: "Fieldy said, 'Hey man, I'm just saying, there's an amp and guitar set up for you.' I was like, 'What!'"

After what was supposed to be nothing more than a one-off guest spot, Munky admits: "Everyone had the same kind of hope..." Check out the trailer here.




Motorhead Announce First Single From New Album
(hennemusic) Motorhead has announced that "Heartbreaker" will be the first single from their forthcoming album, "Aftershock" – a release date for the track has yet to be revealed.

Aftershock was produced by Cameron Webb and is the band's 21st studio album and will be released on October 22nd in North America. The band recorded the album at RG Studios in North.

Motorhead plan to launch a fall tour in support of the new album starting November 7 in Zurich, Switzerland. For release dates in other parts of the world, go here.




Megadeth's Mustaine Doubted Iron Maiden Gift
(TeamRock Radio) Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine says he wasn't sure Iron Maiden's gift of champagne was really for his band. Bruce Dickinson's outfit left bottles of Moet in a bucket of ice to welcome Megadeth on board as US tour support starting earlier this month.

Mustaine tells Do512 light-heartedly: "It was a nice gesture. I looked at the sign and I was like, 'Are you sure it's me? Am I in the right dressing room?'"

He first opened for Maiden in the late 1980s and reflects: "We're all friends and it's great to see them. Plus they are such a great band. Megadeth and Iron Maiden is a no-brainer." Read more and see of a photo of the gift here.




Black Sabbath's Bill Ward Announces Free Art Event
(hennemusic) Original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward will host an evening discussing his collection of fine art created from rhythm, "Absence Of Corners", at the Annapolis Collection Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland on October 26.

Open to the public, the free event is being held at the first U.S. gallery to showcase Ward's collection. If you plan to attend this special evening, the drummer asks that you RSVP by providing the information requested at BillWardDrumArt.com.

"When I'm playing, it's almost like opening Pandora's Box," says Ward. "All of the pictures came from me literally playing drums. I feel that I was actually going through a lot of emotions and it feels like my emotions are just splattered all over these pictures." more on this story




Rob Zombie Releases Great American Nightmare Halloween Preview
(hennemusic) Rob Zombie is sharing a video preview of his Great American Nightmare Halloween music and horror event, set to begin next month in Pomona, California just outside of Los Angeles.

According to the press release, the event will be held from Thursday through Sunday from October 10 to November 2 at FEARPlex in Pomona. The event will include 15 nights of music with Rob Zombie performing on the final night.

Musical guests will include 3OH!3, 45 Grave, Andrew W.K., Duane Peters, Eagles Of Death Metal, Goldfinger, Kottonmouth Kings, One More Time (Daft Punk Tribute), Ozomatli, Powerman 5000, Reel Big Fish, TSOL, The Dickies, The Used, The Vandals, Vampires Everywhere and more. Check out the preview here.




Eddie Van Halen Featured in Esquire
(hennemusic) Eddie Van Halen is among the personalities featured in "The Life Of Man," a new piece in Esquire as the magazine commemorates their 80th anniversary.

Van Halen is included in the photo gallery and in an online video he had the following to say about the best advice he's received. "The best piece of advice I've ever been given was probably from my father at an early age when we were making music and I would make mistakes," he said.

"I would ask him, 'What do you do?' And he'd say, in Dutch, 'Gewoon door blijven gaan,' which means 'Don't stop and don't let the audience know you made a mistake. Or, smile and do it twice…then people think you meant it.'" more on this story





Singled Out: Amber Sweeny's Hit & Run
In an age of auto-tuned so-called singers, a truly gifted singer like roots rocker Amber Sweeny is a breath of much needed fresh air. Today she tells us about the song "Hit & Run" from her "Starting Line EP." Here is the story:

Hit & Run started off as a joke between me and a friend of mine as we were waiting for a few of our friends to show up for rehearsal. There is a large population of deer and possums in the part of Washington, where I live, and the joke was about nearly hitting one of these creatures, as they tend to pop up out of no where when you least expect it. It was one of those moments where we were laughing hard as we sang out the refrain "it was a hit & run."

At the same time, my friends and I were all going through some pretty intense heartbreak as a group. I've been through a few rough break-ups and the song started to make more sense as a serious story. I went home and spent time working out the details of what it feels like to break-up with someone. It's a strange feeling to pour out so much of yourself into someone and then have it suddenly come to an end. There's a flood of emotions that most of us do little more with beyond shouting at the other person, or send them angry messages, but there are the odd characters that simply break down and give into those emotions. It's like a rage that burns deep within that can't be quenched unless or until the complete destruction of the one who hurt them.

So, the story is about someone who gives in to the urge to destroy. At first, there is a satisfaction, like one imagines in Thelma & Louise. It even appears to be justified for a moment. By the end of the song, the character realizes that they threw their life away. They could have walked away, healed, and built a new life. Instead, the rage, the anger, the wounding became the driving force and now they'll never know true freedom.

It's a heavy subject for such a boppy surfer-rock sound. My engineer/producer for this song wanted to make it more jazzy and night club in feeling, and as amazing as that turned out, I felt the grit of the story completely got lost in the smoothness. It was the only song I pushed to become what it was. He graciously conceded and we went back to the drawing board to re-track the song.

The result was a slight homage to my Southern California roots, but maintains that blues rock undertone that feels so much like home to me. All in all, this became one of my favorite songs on the record, as well as outside of the record. It reminds me to press on to get over the heartbreaks, rather than to give in to them.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, check out an acoustic version of the song here listen for yourself and learn more about the EP right here!




Kings of Leon Transform Robyn's Dancing On My Own
(Radio.com) Kings of Leon managed to turn Robyn's dancefloor hit "Dancing On My Own" into a heartbreaking ballad with just a few moody guitar licks.

The guys covered the Swedish pop star's hit on BBC Radio One Live Lounge, pumping up the guitars and letting Caleb Followill's sad drawl do the rest of the work.

You haven't understood heartbreak until you hear Followill belt out the line, "So far away, but still so near/ The lights go on the music dies/You don't see me standing here/ I just came to say goodbye."

While the original forces you to dance away your pain, KOL makes it clear there's no shame in shedding a tear or two. Kings Of Leon's new album, Mechanical Bull, is out September 24. Check it out here.




Dream Theater Streaming New Song 'Along For The Ride'
(TeamRock Radio) Dream Theater have released an online stream of their new track "Along For The Ride" which comes from their upcoming self-titled album that is set to be released on September 24th.

Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci says of the song: "It has a different vibe to the rest of the album. It's like an anthem – it's singalong, you can see it live.

"The message is that, with all the crazy stuff that happens, we don't have a lot of control, so we're along for the ride." You can listen to the stream of the song here.




Escape The Fate Release 'One For The Money' Video
(TeamRock Radio) Escape The Fate have released a video for their track "One For The Money." It's taken from the band's most recent album Ungrateful, which is on sale now.

Drummer Robert Ortiz recently admitted he wasn't a fan of the song when he first heard it. He explained: "It was clear that no matter what, it was really catchy. It was blowing all the other ones away.

"We had so many different ideas for the video, but what it comes down to is that this song is really just a pump-up song. So what better than our show? Because that's where we thrive." Check out the video here.




Empress Release 'Blurred Perceptions' Video
(TeamRock Radio) Up-and-coming prog metal outfit Empress have released a new music video for their track "Blurred Perceptions". It's taken from the English band's debut album.

They've been going from strength to strength since realizing they'd spent too long playing "music we didn't love" and changing direction to produce the new album.

Meanwhile, you can see them on tour later this month across the UK when they open for Bury Tomorrow, Feed The Rhino and Heart In Hand. Grab the dates and check out the video here.




Metallica Release Video From Singapore
(hennemusic) Metallica's recent Asian tour featured an August 24th show in Singapore, and now the band is sharing video from the event at Changi Exhibition Centre.

The footage features the band in a photo shoot with legendary photographer Ross Halfin, the Tuning Room, and a performance of "Broken, Beat & Scarred" from the concert.

Up next, Metallica will play the Rock In Rio festival on September 19. The Rio show comes a week before the launch of Metallica's 3D film, "Through The Never."