Today's Day in Rock
Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Slammed By Nick Menza
(hennemusic) Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza has called out Dave Mustaine over alleged wrongdoings with regards to publishing royalties from his days with the group.
"To: Dave Mustaine in regards to my publishing royalties," posted Menza on his social media sites. "I find it very unprofessional that you conduct business like a child, quit playing games! be a man and stop taking food from my kids mouths. It's my earned money, Not yours. quit ripping me off. WTF?"
At press time, there had been no reaction from Mustaine over his former drummer's remarks. Menza's comments are the second time recently he has chastised Mustaine publicly over his business practices: while revealing that a reunion of the band's classic 1990s lineup fell apart during negotiations when they were looking for a new drummer, he later shared the details of a contract offer put on the table by Mustaine.
Menza says Megadeth requested he record the group's 15th album without payment, with his earnings to be made from touring. "As soon as I got home and it was time to sit down and negotiate my terms in writing, I was offered a very unfair deal that was so wrong," revealed Menza. "They didn't feel I was worth anything to the band. Dave blocked my emails, changed his number and then, apparently, Ron Laffitte was fired as the band's manager. Here is one of my favorite bands and a huge part of my life achievements and I was shut out for wanting a fair deal." Read more here.
Stone Sour Streaming New EP Online
(TeamRock Radio) Stone Sour released their new covers EP Meanwhile In Burbank this week after releasing a limited edition on Record Store Day and they're also streaming it via YouTube.
At five tracks long it features covers from Metallica, Kiss and Alice In Chains. Recently frontman Corey Taylor confirmed the band were working on two more EPs titled Straight Outta Burbank and No Sleep 'Til Burbank, that will feature covers of Bad Brains and Rage Against The Machine.
Tracklist: We Die Young (Alice In Chains cover) - Heading Out To The Highway (Judas Priest cover) - Love Gun (Kiss cover) - Creeping Death (Metallica cover) - Children Of The Grave (Black Sabbath cover).
KISS Inspired Dave Grohl To Become Rock 'N' Roll Musician
Foo Fighters mainman Dave Grohl shared his love for KISS during an awards event in Hollywood on Wednesday and explains how they inspired him "to follow this unreasonable dream of becoming a professional rock 'n' roll musician."
Here is Grohl's speech: "Picture this: Springfield, Virginia, 1976. A skinny young boy with shaggy brown hair on a yellow yard sale bicycle brings home a copy of the album Destroyer, his first KISS record. Everybody remembers their first KISS record, and this is how I remember mine.
"Up until that point, it had been mainly Beatles and Carly Simon, maybe a little Phoebe Snow, f-in' 10cc. But the album cover alone was enough to make me break my old piggy bank into a thousand pieces and scrape up enough lawn-mowing money to give it straight to Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.
"With nuclear anticipation, I let the needle drop on that legendary intro to 'Detroit Rock City,' perhaps the greatest introduction to any rock 'n' roll album ever recorded. It filled my speakers and my imagination. Thirty-four minutes later and 27 seconds later, KISS had filled my soul. I was now a member of the infamous KISS army.
"Before long, my room had become a f-ing shrine. Posters of these four musical monsters lined my walls action figures filled my shelves and KISS albums overtook my once A.M,-friendly record collection. I was converted'
"Every morning, I would wake up in my tiny bedroom and take a good look at my superheroes before walking to school. They got me through those years and ultimately inspired me to follow this unreasonable dream of becoming a professional rock 'n' roll musician.
"One hundred million albums. One hundred million f-ing albums. Countless hit singles, record-breaking concert attendance. They even made f***in' disco look cool with 'I Was Made For Lovin You.' Raise your hand if you can say the same thing.
"I remember the KISS radio, which they just showed on screen - I'm so happy that they actually have remnants of this f-ing masterpiece of technology. I remember the KISS radios advertised on TV - 'Hear all of your favorite KISS songs on your official KISS radio!' I imagined it was futuristic piece of technology and my direct link to my musical gods, so I ordered one… C.O.D., without even asking for permission from my struggling schoolteacher mother.
"I'll never forget the day it arrived. The mailman knocked on the door, my mother took one look at this thing and said, I didn't f-ing order that. Then she sent it away.
"Forty years later, my love of KISS is still strong. And these days I still spend every morning before school with Paul Stanley' in the parking lot of our kids' f-in' elementary school, chatting about Zeppelin and Electric Lady and touring and school fundraisers. So I'd say that my unreasonable dream definitely came true. And I finally got my KISS radio - it's the cheapest f-ing A.M. radio I have eve seen in my life! With the KISS logo on it. Nice one, Gene.
"So without further adieu, it is my great honor to say: you wanted the best, and you got the best. The hottest band in the world - KISS!"
Steven Tyler To Debut Solo Song On American Idol Finale
(hennemusic) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has revealed that he will debut his new solo single, "Love Is Your Name", on the season 14 finale of American Idol on May 13.
Tyler revealed the news during an appearance on Wednesday's episode in a segment that saw series mentor Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records take the Top 5 contestants to Nashville for meetings with label staff.
The Aerosmith singer - an Idol judge on seasons 10 and 11 - also announced plans to perform on the finale with popular New Jersey-based contestant Jax, one of the four singers remaining in the competition.
Tyler has been in Nashville since January working with songwriters on material for his debut solo album on Big Machine Records' affiliated label Dot Records. Read more here.
Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx Reveals Surprising Proudest Moment
(Classic Rock) Nikki Sixx has recalled a 1997 fan stage invasion as one of the greatest moments of his career. The band were performing in Phoenix, Arizona, when frontman Vince Neil invited the audience to join them on the platform.
Sixx tells Pure Grain Audio: "Most of the audience ended up on stage and destroyed all the gear. We were playing Anarchy In The UK. It's on YouTube and it's amazing. It's one of my proudest moments - apart from the lawsuits that came after it."
He also recalls spending a night in the cells with drummer Tommy Lee, and enduring a walk of shame through an airport the following morning. Sixx says: "Me and Tommy had been arrested because we had been creating a riot or something. They put us in jail and the next morning they let us out at 6am or 7am because we had a 9.30am flight.
"So me and Tommy were walking through the airport and we were on the front page of every newspaper - 'Rock band creates riot'. It was my mugshot and Tommy's mugshot, and everybody was just looking at us." Read more and stream the full interview here.
Sammy Hagar Issues Warning To Young Fans
(Classic Rock) Sammy Hagar is fronting a campaign to warn teenagers about the dangers of hearing loss. The Red Rocker's been involved with the Starkey Hearing Foundation in the US for several years. And he's joined their Listen Carefully campaign to encourage teenagers to turn down the volume of their music to preserve their hearing.
He said this week on International Noise Awareness Day: "So many people are unaware of loud things: city traffic, buses, aeroplanes and you just ignore it. Kids don't care or don't think about it until it's gone."
The World Health Orginisation reported that 1.1billion people are at risk of permanent ear problems through listening to loud music, with 43 million people between the age of 12 and 35 currently living with hearing loss. Read more and watch Sammy's clip here.
Alice Cooper May Re-Record Songs From 'Blackout' Period
(Classic Rock) Alice Cooper says he'd consider re-recording some of the material from his 'blackout' period of the early 80s. The rock icon released Flush The Fashion, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, and DaDa between 1980 and 1983 - four albums recorded while he battled alcohol and drug problems. And while he's wary of altering history too much, he says revisiting certain tracks could be a possibility.
Cooper says on the first episode of Ask Alice: "Every one of those albums catches a different part of your life and is a portrait of where you were at that time. So in some ways it's kind of taking away from the history.
"I was insane during these four albums and I think the insanity shows up on the albums and the lyrics and I don't think I'd want to play with that. It was a certain insanity that was privately mine and everybody got to see it."
But he adds: "There are certain songs that I keep going, 'I want to redo that song - that song could be applicable today. It worked in 1981 but it would be really good today.' So possibly, yeah. That's something producer Bob Ezrin and I would talk about." Read more and stream the full video clip here.
The Who's Full 1982 Shea Stadium Show Coming To DVD and Blu-Ray
Eagle Rock have announced that they will be releasing The Who's Live At Shea Stadium 1982 on DVD, Blu-Ray and digitally on June 30th. This marks the first official release of the full concert.
The footage has been restored and the audio remixed for the new release which was captured live during the band's 1982 North American tour which was the final tour for drummer Kenney Jones.
The 25-song set featured performances of classics like "Substitute," "Baba O'Riley," "My Generation," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "I Can't Explain," "Who Are You," "See Me Feel Me," and more. Check out the full tracklisting here.
Journey Launch Las Vegas Residency
(hennemusic) Journey kicked off their first Las Vegas residency at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Wednesday and video from the show has been posted online.
The group delivered a 19-song set spanning materal from their lengthy career, opening with 1980's "Any Way You Want It" and closing the night with 1979's "Lovin', 'Touchin', Squeezin'".
"Journey Las Vegas" will see the band will perform 9 shows at the venue between April 29 and May 16. Clark County declared Wednesday as Journey Las Vegas Day in the city to mark the opening of the group's residency.
Paul McCartney Plays Beatles Song Live For The First Time
(Gibson) Paul McCartney performed at Japan's Nippon Budokan on Tuesday, marking his first appearance at the legendary venue since The Beatles performed there in 1966.
To commemorate the event, Sir Paul broke out The Beatles' classic tune "Another Girl," from the Help! album, in what is believed to be the first time the song has ever been played live by any member of the Fab Four.
Indeed, The Beatles themselves never performed the song on-stage. McCartney appeared to be genuinely moved by the significance of the occasion. "It was sensational and quite emotional remembering the first time and then experiencing this fantastic audience tonight," McCartney said, as reported by NME.com.
"It was thrilling for us and we think it was probably the best show we did in Japan and it was great to be doing the Budokan 49 years later. It was crazy. We loved it." Read more here.
Original Red Dragon Cartel Singer Explains Band Exit
(Classic Rock) Original Red Dragon Cartel singer Darren James Smith says he left the band due to a lack of guaranteed paid work. Smith, who split with Jake E Lee's group in March, says he couldn't count on making a living with RDC as there were no firm plans for future tours.
He tells Sleaze Roxx: "I just think it wasn't working enough for me and when the tour was cancelled and stuff, I just couldn't count on making a living. I've always made a living so for me going away, maybe possibly touring and not (laughs), I couldn't rely on it any longer.
"It's Jake's band -- he's the boss. He calls the shots and it was just odd for me to be in that situation. There are no bad feelings -- it's just my work ethics are a little bit more intense I guess, and I prefer to work and to know that I'm working." Read more here.
Monsters Of Rock Cruise Raised $48K For Ronnie James Dio Cancer Fund
(hennemusic) The recent 2015 Monsters Of Rock cruise raised $48,000 for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund. The cruise - which featured more than 30 acts including Extreme, Black Star Riders, Tesla, Night Ranger and others - held daily activities to help raise funds for the charity named after the late rocker, who passed away from gastric cancer in 2010 at the age of 67.
Activities included auctions, Rock 'N Roll Bingo and Dine and Donate for Dio. "I cannot thank Larry Morand, Mike London and the fantastic Monsters Of Rock Cruise Production Staff, as well as the very generous passengers, who dug deep into their pockets during our wonderful five days at sea," says Wendy Dio.
"I want them all to know that every penny raised will go to cancer research so that one day we will find a cure for this terrible disease that takes so many of our loved one's lives. Ronnie would be so proud." Read more here.
Kansas Inspired And May Make First New Music In 15 Years
(Classic Rock) Kansas guitarist Rich Williams says ex-frontman Steve Walsh's replacement Ronnie Platt has given them a new lease of life - and they could record for the first time in 15 years as a result.
Platt joined last year after original singer Walsh retired. They're currently touring the US. Williams tells the Cleveland Scene: "Let's go to South America, let's go to Europe, let's record an album," he says. "Let's just get together and work up material.
"Every little thing is followed by a 'let's do that' response. That inspires the crew and the fanbase, and the old dogs in the band get excited. It's contagious." Read more here.
Fogerty Rocks Creedence Clearwater Revival Medley On Letterman
(hennemusic) John Fogerty performed a medley of Creedence Clearwater Revival classics on The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday and video from the appearance has been posted online.
Fogerty's final appearance on the program saw him deliver powerful but brief snippets of "Travelin' Band", "Proud Mary" and "Fortunate Son" to the delight of the retiring host, who exits late night television next month after more than three decades.
The rocker will launch his "1969" summer tour at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, TN on May 2. Fogerty will perform music on the trek from the three albums he released in a single year with CCR, including "Bayou Country", "Green River" and "Willy And The Poor Boys."
Roger Waters Was Stunned First Hearing Beatles Sgt Pepper's
(Classic Rock) Roger Waters has recalled the important lesson he learned from the Beatles - and his shocked reaction to hearing Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the first time.
Pink Floyd recorded debut album Piper At The Gates Of Dawn in London's Abbey Road Studios, while the Fab Four worked on their iconic 1967 album in the next room.
But Floyd didn't hear it until they were touring the UK as part of a package tour headed by Jimi Hendrix and also featuring The Move, The Nice, Amen Corner and Eire Apparent.
Waters tells KLCS: "I remember pulling the car over into a lay-by, and we sat and listened. Somebody played the whole thing on the radio. I remember sitting in this old beat-up Zephyr 4, just completely stunned.
"I learned a lot from protest music when I was a young teenager. But I learned from John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison that it was okay for us to write about our lives, what we felt, to express ourselves." Read more here.
Oceano Release 'The Taken' Video
(TeamRock Radio) Oceano have premiered their new video for The Taken exclusively through TeamRock's Metal Hammer. The track comes from Oceano's latest album Ascendants, out now via Earache Records.
Having just finished a headline tour of America with Martyr Defiled, The Last Ten Seconds Of Life and more, it's the ideal time to unleash more deathcore brutality onto the world.
Speaking about the track, frontman Adam Warren says "There are numerous accounts of The Taken across the globe. Some enlightening, some frightening, and others blurry images never to be retold. Skeptic or not they must be heard - the true Gods have greater purpose for us all."
Dommin Return With New Song 'Rise'
(TeamRock Radio) Five years after the release of their debut album, Dommin have returned with a new single entitled "Rise", which is taken from the forthcoming album of the same name.
Frontman Kristofer Dommin says of the new album: "It's more raw, more rock and higher energy. Lyrically it's empowering and maybe a little pissed off - pain played a big role in the last record, this one is all about resolve."
The band spent half a decade working on the follow up to debut Love Is Gone, but what took them so long? "Sometimes when you get knocked down really hard, it takes a moment to get back up.
"There were powers outside and within that kept us tied up for a while, from legal issues to financial issues to plain old self-doubt. But we're back on our feet and ready for round two." Read more and check out the video here.
Blind Melon Documentary Footage Goes Online
(Radio.com) This October will mark the 20-year anniversary of Blind Melon lead singer Shannon Hoon's death, and GRAMMY nominated filmmaker Danny Clinch is attempting to make an in-depth documentary film on Hoon's life. The project is attempting to fund via Kickstarter, and with five days to go, have only reached 60% of its goal and still needs about $40,000 more dollars.
The film aims at something unique: telling the story through the eyes of Hoon, using clips from 200 hours of personal, never-before-seen home videos. As a result, Hoon will receive a co-director credit on the doc.
In an attempt to jump start donations, Rolling Stone offers a couple of exclusive clips from the potential film. In addition, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and The Avett Brothers' Seth Avett have both shared covers of a couple of Blind Melon favorites, "St. Andrews' Fall" and "Sleepyhouse" respectively. Watch all of the clips here.
Classic Rolling Stones Ron Wood Interview Animated
(Radio.com) On the latest Minimation, where Radio.com animates classic interviews from the CBS Radio interview archives, they go back to a 1977 interview with Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones where recalls joining the band a few years earlier.
It's been about 40 years since Ron Wood joined the Rolling Stones, and he's still "the new guy." But in this interview, he explains that, after Mick Taylor quit the band, Mick Jagger had asked Wood to join the band. At that point, of course, the guitarist was still in the soon-to-be-defunct Faces.
Wood told Jagger, "If you really get desperate, and you need me, find me wherever I am in the world and tell me you want me to do it. And I'll do it." And he did, joining in '75. He's been with them ever since.
Wood also claims in this interview that the Stones were interested in him years earlier, when original guitarist Brian Jones was given his pink slip. When Jagger asked Wood's then-current Faces bandmate Ronnie Lane about Wood's availability, Lane shut it down.
Megadeth Check In From The Recording Studio
(hennemusic) Megadeth are sharing a series of photos from the recording studio as the band works on its 15th album with new guitarist Kiko Loureiro and guest drummer Chris Adler from Lamb Of God.
Images include shots of Louriero at work on his own ("Practicing! Never enough...") and with leader Dave Mustaine, a look at the former Angra axeman's guitars, and a pile of shredded drumsticks ("Ya think Chris Adler is working hard enough on the new album?").
Loureiro joined the group following last fall's departure of Chris Broderick, while Shawn Drover has been replaced by Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler as a guest player on the follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider."
Megadeth recently launched a PledgeMusic campaign to provide the opportunity to bring fans into the recording process with a list of incentive packages.
"Pre-order the album digitally, on CD or on vinyl plus tons of other unique offerings like signed CDs, signed vinyl, gear from the studio and much more," says the group. "No matter what you order, you will get access to a variety of behind-the-scenes content such as photos and videos from the writing and recording sessions. You'll get full access to the process in real time."
Check out the new studio photos here.
Green Day Working On New Music
(hennemusic) Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong says the band have begun writing material for their next album. He spoke to Rolling Stone about the band's headspace and plans.
"There's definitely a great spirit going on," Armstrong explains. "We've always been pretty charged up. Before we found any of this out, I had already written a few songs and everybody was really excited by them. And then we heard about the Hall of Fame, and we were just blown away."
"Yeah, I mean, we're going to take our time," he continues. "We're not going to try and pull off some, like, victory lap over this because I definitely want the music to come from a real place and be inspired, not just because we got honored or anything like that, but because we're honoring music. We want to work on them, and we want to make a great album." Read more here.
Singled Out: Legs Electric's Wanna Riot
Today Legs Electric singer Ama Quinsee and guitarist Laura McCormack tell us the story behind their brand new hard rockin' single "Wanna Riot" as they prepare to rock with KISS legend Ace Frehley next week. Here is the story:
Ama Quinsee (vocals): The title of the song Wanna Riot was inspired by a denim jacket that I saw hanging in a rock 'n' roll store in downtown Perth. The phrase "Wanna Riot" was stitched on the back and I immediately thought that it would make for a great chorus to a song, such striking words and a call to action. I purchased the jacket and was reminded of my partner in crime Trease Riot, and that spawned the idea to write a song about our crazy nights out on the town running riot. We went through a period where we would get ready to go out together at my place, and we had a ritual of pre-drinks and listening to some killer tunes to get us in the mood. It would then be off to a show or club to let down our hair and forget the week's frustrations that always involved the usual suspects: work, not having any money, relationships with boys and the stresses of life in general. The concept for Wanna Riot was based on my adventures with Trease and our wanting to rebel against all our frustrations with our lives at the time.
From there it didn't take me long to finish the lyrics to the song, and a week later I took my lyrics to a jam with guitarist Laura McCormack - who had just written the perfect riff for the song while she was away on holiday in the UK.
After Laura and I came up with a basic musical framework for the song, we brought in the rhythm sisters Kylie and Abby Soanes to complete the song's arrangement. This is the first song that we've written where my vocals start the song - I have to remember that when we play it live and I'm still getting used to that!
I think Wanna Riot has almost become the Legs Electric anthem; with its hard hitting riffs and lyrics that hopefully motivate and inspire people to take control of their lives. I think this song really speaks to people these days, with the ever-growing pressures of life and the constant need to let it out and riot!
Laura McCormack (guitar): It was a cold and rainy afternoon on New Years Day 2014 in England, and I was staying at the house where my dad had grown up. I hadn't been back there in 18 years; and I was sitting there in his old bedroom where he first learned how to play guitar. I was feeling inspired, and I picked up a Gibson SG that my uncle had loaned me for the trip and I started to play. There was a dust-covered amp in the corner of the room that hadn't been used since my dad left home, so I turned it on and plugged in the guitar and continued to play. I had an idea for a riff that had been in my head since I arrived at the house that week for Christmas, and I started to work with it a bit. I played through it a few times, and it wasn't long before I came up with the rest of the music around the riff.
When I arrived back in Australia after the holidays, I took the music to a jam with Ama to get her thoughts on it. It just so happened that she had recently seen the jacket with "Wanna Riot" on it and she had been inspired to use the phrase in lyrics for a song. Within an hour of playing her the riff and music, the song was pretty much written and Wanna Riot was born!
