Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Pink Floyd Releasing First New Album In 20 Years
(hennemusic) Pink Floyd are set to release their first new album in 20 years this fall. Guitarist David Gilmour's wife and Floyd lyricist Polly Samson broke the news on Twitter on Saturday.

Samson posted the following tweet, "Btw Pink Floyd album out in October is called 'The Endless River'. Based on 1994 sessions is Rick Wright's swansong and very beautiful."

The project marks the group's first release since 1994's "The Division Bell." Keyboardist Wright died from cancer in 2008 at the age of 65. The news follows reports this spring that Gilmour was in the studio working on a new solo album, which backup singer Durga McBroom-Hudson now reveals was for the new Floyd album.

"The recording did start during The Division Bell sessions (and yes, it was the side project originally titled 'The Big Spliff' that [drummer] Nick Mason spoke about)," she wrote. "Which is why there are Richard Wright tracks on it. But David and Nick have gone in and done a lot more since then."

"It was originally to be a completely instrumental recording, but I came in last December and sang on a few tracks," she added. "David then expanded on my backing vocals and has done a lead on at least one of them." Read more and see a photo from that session here.




Slipknot Finish Recording New Album, Announce Knotfest
Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has revealed to Full Metal Jackie that the band has completed recording their new studio album, which will be their first release since 2008's "All Hope Is Gone" and the band announced the details for Knotfest.

Taylor said, "The album is done. Oh yes. I'd say 98 percent done. I'm in the process of heading to the studio to give a listen, see if there's anything we need to touch up. But yeah, it is very close.

"The next step is the mix, and we're going to try to get it out very soon. There will be big announcements soon. Big things to hear, soon. That's really all I can say about it.

"I know we're anything, if not diligent to our plan. The plan is to just slowly but surely get people to lose their minds for the next couple of months with just little stuff here and there leaked."

The band revealed that they will be staging Knotfest this fall in California and also in Japan. The U.S. festival will be taking place on October 24-26 in San Bernardino, Ca with Slipknot headlining Saturday and Sunday with different sets.

Slipknot will be joined by Danzig, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Killswitch Engage, Anthrax, Black Label Society, Tech N9ne, Testament, In This Moment, Hatebreed, Hellyeah, Atreyu, The Devil Wears Prada and more.

Knotfest Japan will be taking place on November 15th and 16th and will feature Korn, Limp Bizkit, Lamb of God, Five Finger Death Punch and more. More details here.

Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan had this to say, "Knotfest is a chance for Slipknot to bring the sensory-overload of a wild European festival - and now we're coming for you, California.

"Playing two different sets over two nights at one location is a new experience in the history of this band. This year's Knotfests in the U.S. and Japan are going to be on another level." See the full Knotfest California Lineup here.






Gregg Allman Biopic Filmmakers Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter
Three filmmakers that were involved in the Gregg Allman biopic, Midnight Rider, have been indicted for involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass, following the death of a crew member during filming in February.

Filmmakers Randall Miller, Jody Savin and Jay Sedrish were all charged in Georgia's Wayne County Superior Court on Thursday, July 3rd over an accident which left seven crew members injured and 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones dead.

Filming of a dream sequence for the movie was underway on train tracks in Doctortown Landing, Georgia when a train unexpectedly crossed a trestle bridge, causing the fatality and the injuries and the producers of the film reportedly had not secured permission to film on the tracks, according to media reports.

ABC reports that a grand jury impaneled last Wednesday returned an indictment against the married couple Miller and Savin, who own the company that was producing the film, and Sedrish, who was an executive producer and unit production manager.

Read the ABC report for more details here.





Machine Head and Former Member Settle Lawsuit
Machine Head revealed late last week that they have settled the lawsuit that was filed by their former bass player Adam Duce. The band issued a statement about the settlement but did not disclose the terms of the agreement.

The band issued the following message to fans on their Facebook page on Thursday (July 3rd), "A $1.8 million dollar litigation suit filed against heavy metal recording artist Machine Head, manager Joseph Huston, record label Nuclear Blast, and current-bassist Jared MacEachern by former-Machine Head bassist Adam Duce was settled yesterday in San Francisco, CA. The terms of the deal will remain confidential but both sides were able to reach a satisfactory agreement.

"All claims in the dispute have been dropped against all parties named including but not limited to the $800,000 dollar suit against the band for breach of fiduciary duty and interference with prospective economic advantage, as well as the bizarre $1,000,000 dollar defamation suit against singer / guitarist Robb Flynn regarding a blog the guitarist posted.

"It was mediated by Gail Migdal Title, with the litigation team for Machine Head handled by Kari Keidser, Dawn Coulson and Randall Rich of Epps & Coulson, along with long-time Machine Head entertainment lawyer Scott Harrington.

"Machine Head will hit the road in the U.S. July 8th with Anti Mortem on the Killers & Kings tour, and will release their as-yet untitled 8th album (their first with new-bassist Jared MacEachern) in November." Band's Facebook page.





Phil Collins' Son and Sound Of Contact Frontman Arrested
(Classic Rock) Sound Of Contact frontman Simon Collins has been arrested on suspicion of drug dealing, according to reports. The frontman - who is the son of Genesis star Phil Collins - was arrested by Wiltshire Police on suspicion of supplying class A drugs, although he denies any wrongdoing.

He was also questioned over allegedly being in possession of class B drugs, the Daily Mail reports. The 37-year-old was released on bail pending further inquiries.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police says: "A 37-year-old man from Devizes has been arrested for being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and for possession of a class B drug."

Collins denies the charges. Read his statement here.






Black Sabbath Play Final Concert Of 13 World Tour
(hennemusic) Black Sabbath played the final show of a world tour in support of "13" with a performance in London's Hyde Park on Friday, and fan-filmed video from the event is available.

The band opened with their 1970 classic, "War Pigs", before running through a 13-song hit-filled set that featured only two tracks from the latest project.

Black Sabbath were joined by a lineup that included Soundgarden, Faith No More, Motorhead, Soulfly and Wolfmother, among others. "Thank you to everyone for coming to see us on this tour," posted guitarist Tony Iommi after the concert. "It was a pleasure to play for you." Video footage from the show can be seen here.

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has posted a video message to fans on the eve of the performance. "Hello everybody. I wanna thank you for all your messages on Facebook. It's been great," says Iommi. "We've had a laugh, and some of them have been really great and very supportive. Thanks so much. I am at home at the moment, about to leave for Hyde Park, which we'll play tomorrow (July 4), and I'm really looking forward to that."

"The tour has been marvelous; we've had a great year, and you couldn't wish for better," he added. "It's been phenomenal ,and you've been phenomenal. And thanks for coming to the shows and being supportive. Thank you very much and we'll see you on the next tour. Thank you very much."

Check out the video here.





AC/DC's Brian Johnson To Receive Doctorate Degree
(Classic Rock) AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson is to be named a doctor by an English university next week The 66-year-old rocker will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Northumbria at a ceremony on Wednesday, July 9.

The uni's website says: "Brian Johnson, who was born down the river at Dunston, is the lead vocalist for AC/DC, one of the world's most successful rock bands.

"They have sold an estimated 150 million albums world-wide and their most recent tour, Black Ice, is claimed to be the third highest-grossing tour of all time." more on this story





Living Colour Releasing New Album And Reveal 30th Anniversary Tour
Living Colour have announced that they are not only celebrating their 30th anniversary with a new North American tour but they are also releasing a new studio album.

The band have not yet announced a release date for the new album, entitled "Shade", but they did reveal that it will be released sometime this fall. The new album follows 2009's "The Chair in the Doorway"

"Shade" reunited the band with Ron Saint Germain, who engineered their multi-platinum debut "Vivid." German produced the new album and he is currently mixing the effort with the band.

Guitarist Vernon Reid had this to say about the album, "Shade is the sound of a band coming to terms with its shadows and light."From the blue pulpit of Robert Johnson to the mean red streets of Brooklyn to the golden lure of Hollywood, Shade is the next chapter of a unique American journey."

The band has revealed the initial dates for their 30th Anniversary tour that will also be supporting the new album release. The announced tour dates begin on September 18th in Toronto, ON at The Opera House.

At press time the tour includes dates that span from the kick off in mid-September to the final announced date that takes place on December 7th in Hanover, MD at the Maryland Live Casino. Additional dates are still to be announced. more on this story





Iron Maiden Play Final Maiden England World tour Concert
(hennemusic) Iron Maiden played the final show of their Maiden England world tour with a headlining set at Sonisphere UK on Saturday, and fan-filmed video from the event is available.

The 16-song set opened with "Moonchild" from 1998's "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", and focused largely on their 1980s period. The Maiden England stage show closely mirrored, in terms of production and content, the original 1988 concert video of the same name - reissued on DVD last - originally shot on the "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son Tour."

The band played 100 shows to more than 2 million fans in 32 countries over the course of the 2-year tour, which began in June 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Check out video here.





Max Cavalera Reveals New Cavalera Conspiracy Album Details
(TeamRock Radio) Cavalera Conspiracy's upcoming third album will be called Pandemonium and is the band's heaviest work to date. Max Cavalera reveals the name of the record on the Metal Hammer Magazine Show - broadcast tonight at 9pm UK time on TeamRock Radio.

Cavalera Conspiracy features former Sepultura and current Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera, as well as his brother Igor. Max tells presenter Alexander Milas that Pandemonium could have had a very different title.

He says: "It's called Pandemonium and it's very, very heavy - the heaviest of all the three. I was really possessed to get Igor back to his Arise era of drumming, everything fast.

"We Almost Called the album F*** The Groove as a joke, like every time we went into the groove 'F*** the groove, get back to the fast.' It's really full energy stuff."

On tonight's show, Cavalera also discusses Sepultura's influence on the current crop of metal bands emerging from countries across the globe and recalls the band's poverty-stricken beginnings.

Read about that and grab the link to listen live here.





Prog Supergroup Escape The Cult Release New Video
(Classic Rock) Escape The Cult have released a video for their debut single I'm Absolute. The prog supergroup - which features former and current members of Primus, A Perfect Circle and King Diamond - have created a unique take on the 'lyric video' format, with words from the song appearing as part of the background and scenery throughout.

Escape The Cult is the brainchild of Kamlath bass player Peter G Shallmin. He is joined by drummer Tim Alexander, formerly of Primus and A Perfect Circle. Mike Wead of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate is on guitar duties while French singer Matthieu Romarin, from Uneven Structure, completes the line-up.

Escape The Cult's debut album All You Want is released on Monday, August 18. Single I'm Absolute is out now. Watch the new music video for the debut single here.




P.O.D. Launching Crowdfunded Acoustic Album
(Radio.com) Probably best known for their 2001 modern rock hit "Alive," San Diego's P.O.D. is looking to fans to fund their latest album, which will claims two firsts for the band: first to be crowdfunded and first all-acoustic album.

"We're excited to announce our brand new acoustic album available for pre-order exclusively on PledgeMusic," the band wrote on the crowd-funding site. "It's going to be a little bit of old and a little bit of new - favorites including "Youth of the Nation" and "Alive" will be alongside some brand new songs."

The band explains that they got the idea after doing a number of radio shows and being asked to perform acoustic. "We were a bit hesitant at first, but after great fan reaction, we wanted to do a whole acoustic album."

P.O.D. will offer a number of autographed, limited edition and one-of-a-kind items available to include pre-ordered albums. Notable exclusives includes a Facetime call with the entire band, a bass lesson from Mark "Traa" Daniels, drum lesson from Noah "Wuv" Bernardo Jr. and guitar lesson from Marcos Curiel via Skype. more on this story





Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell Gets Married
(hennemusic) Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell married his longtime girlfriend Caitlin Phaneuf on Friday and also explained to fans why he received a "buzz" haircut.

"My girl and I got married yesterday," posted Campbell on Saturday. "We had a great ceremony featuring family and friends and the Leppard band and crew. So happy! Pictures to follow."

He also shared an update on his ongoing battle with the return of his Hodgkin's lymphoma. "In other news, I have to buzz cut my hair as I'm leaving most of it on my pillow due to the new chemo I just started," he wrote. "I'll be sporting a new 'do' tonight in Irvine [California]."

Campbell and Def Leppard are currently on a summer tour of North America with KISS, which wraps up August 31; he'll then be able to refocus his energies on more treatment.

"I'm actually doing this new high-tech chemo treatment, I'm about halfway through it already, and it's really kind of easy going," he recently told The Daily Herald. "It's the first new drug that's been discovered for Hodgkin's since 1977 and they made this discovery in 2011, and it's actually being pioneered here at City of Hope, so I'm part of this research clinical trial that's going on." More including a photo.






Dave Kerzner Asks Fans To Kickstart Debut Solo Album
(TeamRock Radio) Dave Kerzner has joined the ever-growing list of artists to adopt the idea of crowd funding after putting his debut solo album on pre-order via Kickstarter.

A deluxe double disc version of the New World, which clocks at more than 140-minutes, is available to order on the website and it is stacked with special guest contributors and collaborators including Steve Hackett of Genesis, Durga McBroom from Pink Floyd, Francis Dunnery of It Bites, Nick D'Virgilio of Tears for Fears and Big Big Train, Colin Edwin of Porcupine Tree and other iconic artists.

Kerzner, who is a co-founder of award-winning progressive rock band Sound of Contact, describes the record as bringing together classic rock elements of the 60s and 70s into a modern musical soundscape. more on this story





Incite Frontman Promises Real Metal On New Album
(TeamRock Radio) Incite frontman Richie Cavalera insists his band's forthcoming record will see his band continue their tradition of keeping it real. The hardcore group's third studio album is primed for a September release.

The Phoenix-based band will release Up In Hell on September 1 and Cavalera says the album is "what real metal should sound like." He says: "We're a real band. We've busted our asses.

We've never tried to do anything fake or bullsh*t. We've done this from the ground up. We want to carry the flag for metal "Up In Hell is the result of four artists' views on what real metal should sound like now and in the future."

The new album sees the band team up with super-producer Matt Hyde who is excited about the forthcoming record. Read what he had to say here.





King Crimson Tease New Music
(Classic Rock) The first new music from the reformed King Crimson line-up has appeared online. The DGM website unleashed a one minute fourteen second segment of the track Venturing Unto Joy Pt. 1, recorded at rehearsal at Elstree Studios by four of the new seven man King Crimson line-up. Featured are Robert Fripp (guitar), Tony Levin (bass) and drummers Bill Rieflin and Gavin Harrison.

On the site, DGM say: "Well, here we are. A bit of King Crimson 2014. One should always be wary of coming to judgement about anything based upon a clip that lasts less than a minute and a half but, but, but... Taken from the rehearsals in Elstree Studios, this snippet has four of the seven-piece Crimso clearly enjoying themselves.

"There's a wealth of back and forth interplay detail between Reiflin and Harrison and of course Levin and Fripp not only grab the lapels but go straight for the jugular. Oh, never mind about the rush to judgement: this is King Crimson and they're on fiery form!"

The clip prompted Prog writer and King Crimson biographer Sid Smith to state on Facebook: "Loving this excerpt of Crimso 2014 rearranging the paint work!" Watch it here.






Marillion Release Video From Upcoming Live Release
(TeamRock Radio) Marillion have released a new online music video taken from their brand new live release. The band is now streaming a performance of "Lucky Man" online.

It is taken from the live pack A Sunday Night Above The Rain, which was recorded on March 10 last year at their bi-annual fan Weekender in the Netherlands.

The live pack features every song from 2012 album Sounds That Can't Be Made and is out now on double CD, DVD and Blu-ray. Watch the Lucky Man performance here.






Supertramp's Carl Verheyen Release New Solo Album
(Classic Rock) Supertramp guitarist Carl Verheyen has released a new instrumental solo album, entitled "Mustang Run". The widely respected session musician says he wanted to break free of "the mould of the Carl Verheyen Band and do a progressive instrumental album."

Verheyen says: "I wanted the opportunity to weave thick textures of sound using dozens of instruments and tones. My motivation was the sheer joy of hearing those sounds in the air."

As well as his prolific recording career, Verheyen has released a number of guitar teaching CDs and DVDs. Mustang Run features guest performances by Simon Phillips, Chad Wackerman, Jerry Goodman, Bill Evans, Jimmy Johnson, Stuart Hamm and Gregg Bissonette. Verheyen says: "My previous CD called Trading 8s was a collaboration with some of my guitar player friends. I had Robben Ford, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson, Albert Lee and Rick Vito trading solos with me. more on this story





Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page Receives 02 Silver Clef Awards Honor
(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was honored at the 02 Silver Clef Awards in London on Friday. Other artists honored at the 02 Silver Clef Awards included Black Sabbath, Sir Tom Jones and Giorgio Moroder.

The July 4 event at the London Hilton saw music therapy charity Nordoff-Robbins present Page with the 02 Silver Clef Award for his outstanding contribution to UK music.

"It's a real honor and a privilege to get an award," said Page on the event's red carpet, "especially from Nordoff-Robbins because that is actively about music - that's exactly what it's about. It's about the power of music; about the communication through music and the healing process of music. It's a profound program that they have."

More including photo and video here.



Rob Reed Teases New Album
(Classic Rock) Rob Reed has released a video featuring music from his upcoming album Sanctuary. The video shows Rob performing an array of instruments in the studio as he runs through a performance of Sanctuary Excerpt 1.

The Magenta and Kompendium mastermind releases the album on Monday, July 21, and has described it as his own tribute to Mike Oldfield's classic album Tubular Bells.

Inspired by Oldfield's work when he was just seven-years-old, Reed set out to learn how to play every instrument on the album and launched an impressive career.

On Sanctuary, he set out to pay tribute to Tubular Bells, but not make a pastiche of it. He says: "I worked hard to make the melodies stand on their own. I wanted to capture the emotion that Mike Oldfield managed to communicate through his playing."

More including the video here.





Pixies Frontman Explains Leon Russell Influence
(Classic Rock) Pixies frontman Black Francis says crooner Leon Russell is the biggest influence on his singing style. Francis - AKA Frank Black - is known for his impressive screams, but it is Russell's "free and loose" style that shapes his voice for the most part.

Francis tells the Guardian: "As a teenager in the late 70s I wasn't really interested in contemporary pop music or punk-rock, I was listening to stuff from 10 years earlier. This was a big record for me. Sometimes when I'm singing, I realise there's a certain kind of vocalising I do that takes its cue from Leon Russell.

"He sang in a southern accent but it was very blown-out and exaggerated, very free and loose. I got this record as a gift for playing in the baseball team at junior high. I loathed sports but there weren't enough people to complete the team. So the coach said, 'Have as many records as you want, just please be on the baseball team.' I was like, 'All right I'll do it'." more on this story




Thunder Promise Their New Album Will Be Worth The Wait
(Classic Rock) Thunder, fresh from their performance at the Calling Festival on London's Clapham Common, have promised that their upcoming tenth studio album will be worth a wait of six years.

"We're chuffed to pieces with how things are proceeding in the studio but the songs have to be absolutely fantastic," reveals singer Danny Bowes. "If they're not, we know that a whole bunch of people will be waiting to stab us in the back. But if everything goes according to plan, the results will be out early next year."

The band had said on several occasions that they would never make a new album. "You can call it a U-Turn if you want," says Bowes responding patiently to Classic Rock's question, "but so far I haven't heard much in the way of complaint. It's what our fans seem to want and there hasn't been a single negative post on our Facebook page." A lot more.





The Cars' Ric Ocasek In The Studio For Candy-O 35th Anniversary
The latest episode of the syndicated radio show InTheStudio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands celebrates the 35th anniversary of The Cars hit sophomore album "Candy-O." The show sent over these details:

The Cars first album accelarated slowly from its Spring 1978 release. The Boston based band was quickly tagged as a New Wave group, a kinda catch-all description of modern rock music that owed little to the Blues, Elvis, the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. The Cars instead sited influences like the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed, plus Iggy Pop as prototypes for The Cars angular alternative sound. But unlike the Velvets or Iggy, The Cars were mainstream.

By the July 4th 1979 holiday, a scant fourteen months after The Cars' debut album all eyes and ears were trained upon the quintet's next model, Candy-O. "Let's Go", "Since I Held You", "It's All I Can Do", "Dangerous Type" "Got a Lot on My Head" and the title track "Candy-O" would send sparks to the cylinders, resulting in two Top 40 hits and four million albums sold.

Cars frontman Ric Ocasek shares with InTheStudio host Redbeard his belief about the movement of music. "I think you should be able to dance to every song. I always thought moving to a song was part of the mental attitude one should have. Not necessarily prescribed sorta dance steps, but basically movement. I always thought things were rhythmic in a way you could dance to, even if they were ballads."

Stream the episode here.





The Defiled's Sonisphere Set Almost Sidelined By Onstage Rampage
(Classic Rock) The excitement of playing the main stage at Sonisphere proved too much for The Defiled's Vincent Hyde as he smashed his only bass, leaving him to play the rest of the show with the damaged instrument.

The bassist got a bit carried away as he demolished his guitar on stage - but with no back up bass he had to limp through the set with a damaged guitar - much to the amusement of his band mates.

Keyboard player The AvD told TeamRock Radio: "He thought he was a rock 'n' roll hero and there were probably more bass' back stage, but no there weren't.

"Three songs in we just heard this smashing and thought he was stomping his feet, but there's a £2000 bass in shatters." More including a stream of the interview here.





Def Leppard's Phil Collen Dresses Up In Gene Simmons' KISS Costume
(hennemusic) KISS are sharing photos of Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen wearing Gene Simmons' costume and bass during soundcheck at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, California on Sunday.

KISS recently launched a summer tour of North America with Def Leppard that will see the pair of classic rock acts hit more than 40 cities before wrapping up in Houston, Texas on August 31.

The band's latest greatest hits package, "KISS 40", recently debuted at No. 30 on the US Billboard 200. The 40-track collection presents one song from every major album release by the group, live selections and "Reputation", an unreleased demo from 1977.

See the photos of Collen in Gene's gear here.


Video of Motley Crue Of Performing New Song Goes Online
(hennemusic) Motley Crue wrote a new song, "All Bad Things Must End", for their farewell tour and video of a performance of the forthcoming single at Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 4 has surfaced.

In May, drummer Tommy Lee revealed the tune will be released as part of a new greatest hits package that will surface in sync with the group's final trek.

"It's pretty heavy, but it's really melodic," Lee told Billboard. "It's definitely about this time right now with the band and what the feeling is and kind of all that wrapped into a song. I hate to say it's like a goodbye, but it definitely references our time here."