Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose Has World's Greatest Vocal Range
A new study finds that Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has the greatest vocal range among a host of popular singers including acclaimed pop stars Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Beyonce.

On the other end of the spectrum, some of today's most popular pop and country stars landed at the bottom of the vocal range chart, including Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift among the bottom five with Luke Bryan coming in dead last.

Concert Hotels published the results of the study in an interactive chart labeled "The Vocal Ranges of The World's Greatest Singers" with Rose capturing the top spot followed by Carey at no. 2 and Prince at no. 3.

The study measured the highest and lowest notes that the singers achieved in the recording studio and the interactive chart shows the songs where they hit specific notes. Axl Rose came out with the highest range, covering over five octaves. The highest was on the track "Ain't It Fun" from 'The Spaghetti Incident" and the lowest was on "There Was A Time" from 'Chinese Democracy'.

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler came in 4th place, followed by James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Christina Aguilera, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Radiohead's Thom Yorke and late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

Most of today's biggest pop stars didn't come close to the top of the chart with Beyonce coming in at No. 22, Miley Cyrus at no. 31, Justin Timberlake at no. 32, Rihanna at no. 43, Lady Gaga at no. 48, Lana Del Rey at no. 49, Lorde at no. 52, Bruno Mars at no. 56, Katy Perry at no. 68, Justin Bieber at no. 73, Taylor Swift at no. 76 and Luke Bryan concluding the list at no. 77.

Among rock singers Elvis was no. 12, John Lennon landed at no. 13, The Who's Roger Daltrey came in at no. 17, Bruce Springsteen was no. 19, Bono was no. 21, Jim Morrison was no. 23, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant was no. 24, Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger was no. 25, Bob Dylan was no. 33, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was no. 34, Bad Company's Paul Rodgers was no. 35, Lou Reed was no. 40, John Fogerty was no. 55, Chuck Berry was no. 64, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks was no. 71 followed by Jerry Lee Lewis at no. 72.

Check out the interactive chart here.




Rock Hall Sued by Snubbed Heart Members
(Classic Rock) Former Heart bassist Mark Andes and drummer Denny Carmassi have launched a lawsuit against the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. They were left out of the band's induction ceremony last year - but their photographs were used in promotional material.

And they say they were left "humiliated" when they had to respond to colleagues' congratulations by explaining that only members of the original line-up were being honored.

Andes and Carmassa spent nine years with Heart from 1982 and appeared on all their Grammy-nominated tracks and half their total of 20 hit singles. They say in legal papers: "Plaintiffs are not asking that defendant Rock Hall induct them into the Hall of Fame. Instead, this is an action to protect the rights, reputations, and likenesses of Mark Andes and Dennis Carmassi through the causes of actions false light invasion of privacy, misappropriation of name and likeness invasion of privacy, injurious falsehood, libel, slander, and right of attribution falsification of rock and roll history for Defendants' wilful and unauthorised use of Plaintiffs' images and likenesses." more on this story





Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Announce Album and Tour
After Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers teased fans on Facebook this past weekend with a photo of a map of North America, they have now confirmed a tour and the release of a new album.

The band's new studio album, entitled "Hypnotic Eye," will be released on July 23rd by Reprise Records and is the group's first new studio album in four years.

The album will be released in various formats including traditional CD, digitally, as a high-resolution Blu-Ray audio disc. It will also be offered in two different vinyl configurations; a traditional one LP version and 2-LP version featuring an exclusive bonus track.

The band will be supported on the late summer/early fall North American tour by Steve Winwood, and the trek features the group's very first performance at Fenway Park in Boston.

The tour will be kicking off on August 3rd at the Viejas Arena in San Diego and will conclude the trek on October 10th at the newly renovated Forum in Los Angeles. more on this story







Sammy Hagar Tour To Include Van Halen and Led Zeppelin Classics
(Classic Rock) Sammy Hagar's upcoming tour will include Van Halen and Led Zeppelin material according to bassist Michael Anthony - but don't count on it being particularly well rehearsed.

Anthony - who worked with Hagar in Van Halen and Chickenfoot - joked that he, Hagar, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson will likely meet up and goof around rather than rehearse for A Journey Through The History Of Rock tour of the US this summer.

Anthony tells Ultimate Classic Rock: "Don't let the title mislead you, because it's not like we're the historians and we're going to take you through a journey of the whole rock and roll spectrum. Most of it is just kind of the history as we've lived it. We might throw some stuff in from bands that we grew up listening to, but of course we're going to cover all of the snippets from Montrose, Sammy's solo stuff, Van Halen and with Jason in the mix, we're throwing in some really cool Zep stuff too that I'm really enjoying playing." more on this story






Pink Floyd Releasing Division Bell Anniversary Box Set
(hennemusic) Pink Floyd will release a 20th anniversary box set edition of their 1994 album, "The Division Bell", on June 30 (July 1 in North America). The release was was Pink Floyd's 14th and final studio album.

The 6-disc box set features a new double-LP vinyl gatefold edition of the album remastered from the original analog tapes, a red 7-inch vinyl replica of the single "Take It Back," a clear 7-inch vinyl replica of "High Hopes," a 12-inch blue vinyl replica of "High Hopes" a with reverse laser etched design, the 2011 Discovery remaster of "The Division Bell" and a Blu-ray disc including "The Division Bell" album in HD Audio, a previously unreleased 5.1 surround sound audio mix of the album by Andy Jackson, and a new music video for the Grammy-winning track "Marooned."

The package also includes a set of art prints designed by Pink Floyd collaborators Hipgnosis and Storm Studios, in addition to a companion booklet. more on this story






Historic Beatles Guitar Fetches More Than Expected At Auction
(Classic Rock) The Rickenbacker 425 guitar played by George Harrison on Beatles hit I Want To Hold Your Hand has sold at auction for $657,000. The sale beat the estimated price of between $400,000 and $600,000 when it went under the hammer in New York at the weekend.

Harrison bought the instrument in the US while visiting his sister, then used it on the other side of the Atlantic as the Fab Four recorded the 1963 single that would break them in the States.

He later gave it to his friend George Peckham of the Fourmost, who sold it in 1999. Confirming the guitar was genuine ahead of an auction 15 years ago, the Beatle's wife Olivia said: "Mr Harrison was disappointed that George decided to sell it. It discourages him from giving away anything in the future." more on this story






Judas Priest Announce U.S. Festival Appearance
(hennemusic) Judas Priest have announced their first US concert date of 2014. In support of their forthcoming new album, "Redeemer Of Souls", the UK metal legends will perform at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas this fall.

Set for November 7-9 at the city's Auditorium Shores and Butler Park, the 9th annual festival features dozens of acts, including Death Cab For Cutie, Gary Numan, Death From Above 1979 and Dinosaur Jr.

Due July 15 in North America, "Redeemer Of Souls" will be issued in a standard version and a deluxe edition with five bonus tracks. The project marks guitarist Richie Faulkner's studio debut with Priest; he replaced founding member K.K. Downing following his retirement in 2011. more on this story






Jimmy Page Amused By Early Led Zeppelin Critics
(Radio.com) In 2012, Jimmy Page told Rolling Stone that his primary job these days is guardian of Led Zeppelin's legacy. The job, it turns out, has taken up much of his time in recent years, as Page has been remastering the band's entire studio catalog, from 1969′s Led Zeppelin through the posthumous outtakes collection Coda.

"I was the authoritative one," Page explained to Radio.com about his role as Zeppelin's chief archivist. "I was there before the group started, and I know exactly what was recorded."

The remastered albums are part of a massive reissue program that pairs each original Led Zeppelin album with a second disc of extra material. The discs will also come in "super-deluxe" editions packaged with lavish coffee-table books, including era-appropriate photos and other archival material. The reissue versions of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III hit retailers on June 3.

During his conversation with Radio.com, Page spoke about the critical slamming Led Zeppelin got during the band's formative years, particularly from Rolling Stone. Every negative review aimed at Zep still stings and annoys him, seemingly more now than in 1969.

"If they only had a short time to review the album, along with three or four other albums, and this is their allotted [time] because they have to get their copy to print, well, of course they would have great difficulty" with an album like Led Zeppelin, Page seethed. "And because we weren't in the singles market, where there's an immediate point of reference all the time, by the time the third album comes out they're going, 'Well, they've gone acoustic, because Crosby, Stills and Nash are acoustic,' or whatever. It's just nonsense. But it's quite amusing!"

Page laughs as he says this, but you get the distinct impression he still doesn't actually find it amusing. He's a serious man. Read the full interview with Page here.





Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Box Set Finally Coming?
(Classic Rock) The long-awaited Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live box set CSNY 1974 has appeared on Amazon's UK site without announcement - and it's set for release on July 7.

Rhino Records have revealed the 48 songs that make up the collection, all of which were recorded during the band's notorious 1974 US tour. David Crosby last year told Rolling Stone: "If you're listening you would think we were really, for a moment, the best band in the world."

Despite their debauched behaviour on the road 40 years ago, he insisted: "The only reason the tour wasn't great is because we were ripped off. It made, like, $12 million - and we each got less than half a million." more on this story





Adrian Vandenberg Open To Reuniting With Whitesnake
(Classic Rock) Adrian Vandenberg says he's open to the idea of returning to Whitesnake - but there would be one important condition attached. The Dutch guitarist became David Coverdale's right-hand man in the mid-80s and left when the band split in 1997. He was replaced by Doug Aldrich when Whitesnake regrouped in 2002 - but Aldrich announced his departure earlier this month.

Vandenberg recently returned to action with his new band Vandenberg's Moonkings. "David and I will do something in the future, whether it's with the two of us acoustically, or whether it's a blues album, a rock album or a tour," He tells Radio Fireball. "We're too good friends not to do it, and we have much fun working together."

He describes his time with Whitesnake as "a great period of time," adding: "We were really successful - but the most important thing for me is enjoying making music in a great band. That's what we did." more on this story






Rotten Little Things On The Way
Former Wonderlove and Johnny Jones and the Suffering Halos guitarist Bryan McIntyre now wants to take fans on a journey to the land of Rotten Little Things.

McIntyre, who aside from being a guitarist, has also worked at the stop-motion animation studio Laika (including their upcoming feature film "The Boxtrolls"), is now using his unique talents to produce a "book unlike anything that you have ever seen."

Instead of using illustrations, McIntyre will be making the book's images by creating the characters and scenes by hand, similar to what you find in films like "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

McIntyre says that the story will be "about what happens when a creepy old codger moves in to a little town and turns its pint sized citizens into adorable candy staved zombies!!!"

He expects the project to take a year to complete due to the time involved in hand crafting the artwork. He is inviting fans that pledge support through his Kickstarter campaign to gain exclusive access to the project as it unfolds.

The Kickstarter campaign was launched earlier this month and so far has reached 10% of its goal, but it has also attracted some attention in the rock world with Rival Sons posting about it on their Facebook page.

Fans can get a feel for what the final product will look like with photos of some proof of concept figures and background scenes along with the introduction video for the project and a lot more details here.





Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight Coming To Blu-Ray
(hennemusic) "Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight" will be issued for the first time on Blu-ray on June 17. Originally released in 2002, the film documents the guitar icon's August 1970 performance before an audience of 600,000, the largest show attendance-wise he would ever play … just 18 days before his untimely death in London.

England's Isle of Wight Festival, which had its original run from 1968 to 1970, could be considered the Woodstock of Europe, and it provided the perfect setting for Hendrix's return to the country that birthed his career, after an 18-month hiatus. This was the first time his new band, consisting of bassist Billy Cox and original drummer Mitch Mitchell, performed on UK soil.

In depth interviews with Cox, Mitchell, and others set the stage for the concert footage that follows. The Blu-ray version of "Blue Wild Angel" contains all of the outstanding extra features included in the DVD, such as footage of "Hey Joe," which was not in the original release, a behind the scenes interview with Murray Lerner, rare artifacts and memorabilia, including reproductions of original tickets, festival posters, and even Hendrix's own handwritten directions to the festival site. more on this story





Yes Reveal Details About New Album 'Heaven & Earth'
(hennemusic) Yes have unveiled details of their forthcoming new album, "Heaven & Earth." Due July 8, the prog-rock legends have revealed the track listing and cover artwork for the project.

The 8-song release was produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, Foreigner, Alice Cooper.) Longtime Yes associate Roger Dean handled the cover art for the band's first record with singer Jon Davison, who joined the lineup in 2012.

Yes are currently playing shows across Europe, and the group will kick off a US tour on July 5 in Nichols, New York. The US dates will see the band performing two albums in their entirety - 1971's "Fragile" (for the first-time ever) and a repeat performance from last year's tour of 1972's "Close To The Edge" - followed by an encore of their greatest hits.

See the cover art and tracklisting here.





Queen's Roger Taylor Says Freddie Would Love Adam Lambert
(Classic Rock) Queen's Roger Taylor says Freddie Mercury would approve of the man who is filling in for him on the band's US tour. Drummer Taylor and guitarist Brian May are in America for a series of Queen dates, with Adam Lambert on vocal duties.

And while Taylor insists they could never replace Mercury - who died from Aids-related complications in 1991 - he is certain Queen's legendary frontman would love American Idol runner-up Lambert's style.

Taylor tells Germany's Bluewin: "When Brian and I give concerts as a Queen, we don't want anyone to imitate Freddie - because no one can replace him for us.

"That would be the wrong message. Adam Lambert is an independent artist. It fits us perfectly, because he is so theatrical, a true diva. Freddie would love him." more on this story





Neal Schon Discusses Journey's New Album Plans
(hennemusic) Journey guitarist Neal Schon says the band is planning to make a new album, their first since 2011's "Eclipse" release. "We are talking about doing another record," Schon told KLOS 95.5 FM Los Angeles on Monday.

"One of the main reasons that we haven't done a record is we go, like, 'How do you get it out anymore?' It's very difficult. If you make a new record today, it's basically because it's something that you need to do and wanna do. And we certainly wanna do that, but pooling us all together… I mean, Arnel [Pineda, vocals] is in the Philippines and everybody is all over the place, and it's not as easy if we all lived in San Francisco, like we used to. But we are talking about doing another record before next year, and definitely I'm doing a record with the Santana guys; we've been in the studio already. And I wanna come out with a new Journey record as well."

"I think it's all challenging, you know what I mean?!," the guitarist continued. "You have to think about when you go in and make a record, I don't think you're ever gonna see the money back, ever. It's kind of, like, out of pocket, but you've gotta do it just for the art. Otherwise you've got attorneys sitting on duty all day long and all night long just taking down links of everybody downloading it for free. And that's been happening forever. I mean, it's, like, you've gotta just say, 'Well, I want new music out there.' And we've got some new ideas of getting it out there and making sure we get a little residual from it. So I think we're ready to check it out again." more on this story





Ethan Brosh Added Carmine and Vinny Appice's Drum Wars
Carmine and Vinny Appice have recruited metal guitarist Ethan Brosh to join them at upcoming Drum Wars events in New York City and Poughkeepsie next month.

The Drum Wars appearances will be taking place shortly after Brosh hosts his own CD release event for his new instrumental album, "Live The Dream", on May 31 at The Hard Rock Cafe in Boston.

"I am honored to be joining two of the biggest drumming legends for a few shows!" says Brosh. "Carmine and Vinny Appice have been in some of rock's biggest groups. Both have influenced generations of drummers. I've been to one Drum Wars concert and loved the intensity and craziness that goes on throughout the whole show!"

"It is all backed up by a never-ending amount of talent on stage," adds Brosh. "Lots of my favorite songs by Ozzy, Dio and more are played in a very cool way! I will be joining Carmine and Vinny in New York City and Poughkeepsie, NY, close to where I was born. To me, these shows will be very special. I can't wait to play these songs onstage with two of the greatest drummers in the world! I would urge anyone in the New York area not to miss these awesome shows!"

Carmine Appice is excited to get a chance to play with Brosh. "Ethan is one of the best young guitar slingers of today," says Carmine. "His style techniques are awesome. Not many can play like him!"

Brosh also had this to say about his record release show, "Finally, on May 31st, the CD release show for 'Live the Dream' will take place at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston!" he said "I'm very much looking forward to having such a special show in my home town of Boston!

"It's been five years since my last album. I can't wait to be back on stage with my instrumental band at the Hard Rock and play this new material to some of my fans and friends so close to home!

"This will be a real fun night to everyone who will show up. My instrumental band is the most powerful band I've ever been in. People can expect a very intense show on the 31st! Bringing HARD ROCK back to the HARD ROCK!!!"

Drum Wars dates:
June 20, 2014 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance
June 21, 2014 - New York City - The Iridium (two shows)

Check out Brosh's Space Invaders video here.





California Breed Release 'The Way' Video
(hennemusic) California Breed have issued a video for "The Way", a track from the band's just-released self-titled debut album. It's the second video from the project, following the lead single, "Sweet Tea."

California Breed is the new band formed by Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham - with guitarist Andrew Watt - from the ashes of supergroup Black Country Communion.

Hughes was introduced to Watt through mutual friend Julian Lennon. "This kid is amazing," says Bonham. "The first time we met, I thought he looked like the white Jimi Hendrix. And he plays in the studio like he's on stage!"

Check out the video here.





Bon Jovi Plan 30th Anniversary Deluxe Reissues
(Classic Rock) Bon Jovi are to release deluxe special editions of some of their back catalogue as part of the band's 30th anniversary celebrations. Further 30th anniversary releases are promised for later in the year.

First up, in June, comes a reissue of the band's fourth album New Jersey. A remastered CD, a double deluxe CD and and a three-disc super deluxe version with DVD will be available.

Five singles were pulled from New Jersey, including Bad Medicine and Living In Sin. It has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Bon Jovi originally envisioned it as a double-LP, using the working title Sons Of Beaches. But Mercury Records released the album as a 12-track single LP and the band renamed it New Jersey, after their home state. According to the band, with the new deluxe and super deluxe editions, "the New Jersey originally imagined by Bon Jovi can finally be shared with fans." more on this story





Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell Discusses New Album Jitters
(Classic Rock) Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell admits he's scared as he begins to think about their next album - but it's nothing new to him. He says he's felt the same way about their five records to date, including last year's The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here - and he's taking confidence from the fact that they've all seemed to work out.

Cantrell tells the Lansing State Journal: "We approach all our albums the same way. I like to think that's why you get what you get with this band. We take our time; we're lucky enough to work at our own pace and make music we care about and how we want to make it. That's why you get quality music from this band."

But he continues: "It's always scary - you don't know if people are going to go along with you. All you can do is make the best record you can for yourself, and hopefully other people like it. We're fortunate that we've been doing that for a long time and had quite a lot of people dig our tunes." more on this story





Singled Out: Tempt's Under My Skin
Tempt will be performing at the Rocklahoma festival this weekend and the celebrate we asked the band's principle songwriters Harrison Marcello and Zach Allen to tell us about the song "Under My Skin". Here is the story:

Zach: I remember Harrison originally playing me the chorus for Under My Skin in the key of E minor. The verse riff that he had come up with was cool, but both of us felt like it didn't really explode like we knew it should.

Harrison: Under My Skin was one of the first songs that Zach and I wrote together. I had come up with the chorus lyric and hook. I showed it to him during one of our writing sessions. Originally the song was in e minor, but there were a few issues with how high that sat in Zach's voice. We decided that it would be best to drop it a half step, and in order for us to preserve the pedaled tonic on the low E string in the verse riff we decided it would be cool to have a song in drop D.

Zach: Harrison had a catchy melody and lyric for the chorus. We wanted a song that people could easily sing and chant with us at our shows. The chorus lyrics are easy to remember even after the very first time hearing them; people really seem to catch on by the second chorus at our shows and sing along!

Harrison: In our first draft of Under My Skin we opened with the verse riff as the intro accompanied by a cool almost tribal like drum pattern. However, when we transposed the song to drop D the verse riff in the beginning came off as too heavy. The song is an upbeat rocker and we needed to convey that right from the start. We decided that we would lead with the chorus progression so the song would start off with a bang and draw you in.

Zach: The concept for the verse lyrics came to me when I was thinking about a girl I met during my freshman year of high school. I vividly remember seeing her for the first time and being blown away not only by her physical attractiveness, but the cool, "not-giving-a-sh*t" attitude she possessed. I knew right then that it was going to be extremely difficult to get her off of my mind,. She stood out in a sea of new faces: "Stopping, starting many years ago, you was a looker that I got to know"

This chick crawled "under my skin" and stayed there for way too long. Her playful teasing drove me to my knees! I refer to her in the bridge as "Miss Agony". I wanted everything and nothing to do with her at the same time. "Under My Skin" is a way for me to share my experience through a fun, catchy song. I wanted to write something that people could relate to, and I know tons of people who have gone through what I did. Oh, and I hope she hears the song.

Harrison: When it comes to writing lyrics Zach and I take a similar approach. One of us will usually have a concept for the song that often takes shape as a chorus first, We will then write the verse melody and lyrics together around that concept. We demo the songs in my home studio and this allows us to work on the instrumental and vocal arrangements. We then play the demo and show the song to Jimmi and Zak so that they can add their flavor to it.

Zach: When I was recording the vocals in the studio, I originally sang the verses an octave lower than I do now. Our producer Tag suggested that I double the melody with a high octave as well, and I'm really glad he did. It definitely gave the verses the energy they needed to get the message of the song across. In the recording, you will hear both the high and low octaves!

Harrison: We cut this track live at an amazing studio in Vermont called Guilford sound. Everything is live with no Pro Tools trickery. I used my Suhr Modern guitar and Friedman Amplification and a Fractal Audio Axefx II for all of the guitar sounds

Zach: The song was a blast to write and record, and I could not be more proud of the final product!

Harrison: Under My Skin is one of our favorite songs, and we hope you enjoy it!