Tim Abrigg Jr.'s Rock and Roll News Of The Day!: This Week's Top Stories In Rock!

Tim Abrigg Jr.'s Rock and Roll News Of The Day!: This Week's Top Stories In Rock!: This Week's Top Stories Here are the top stories from this past week's Day in Rock report Scott Weiland Tells His Side...

This Week's Top Stories In Rock!

This Week's Top Stories

Here are the top stories from this past week's Day in Rock report

Scott Weiland Tells His Side Of Stone Temple Pilots Breakup
As Scott Weiland released his new album "Blaster" from his new solo band Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts, he revealed his side of his departure from Stone Temple Pilots.

"It's just a shame how it happened," Weiland says about the breakup with Stone Temple Pilots in a new interview with QMI Agency. "I said I needed six months off. I felt we needed six months off in order to do a 20th year anniversary tour and that 20th anniversary tour didn't end up happening and I said, 'Okay, then we need to make a new record because we can't go on just playing the greatest hits set. It's not going to work. We're losing fanbase. Our guarantees are starting to go down.'

"So I assumed we were all on the same page when we left tour and it turned out not so and they got different management and things just soured. (I've known them) since I was a teenager.

"Crazy things happen especially when you end up getting different management. People see things one way and a lot of times how things are portrayed to the band members are through the goggles of the management and filtered through that and that's what you end up hearing."

Weiland also discussed the musical direction of the new Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts album. "I think we fit in somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and any Jack White sort of project, but with my melodies. Rock 'n' roll, but garage indie rock 'n' roll..."Read more here.



Video of Van Halen's David Lee Roth Stage Injury Goes Online
(hennemusic) Video of Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth injuring himself during the opening number of the band's performance on ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday has been posted online.

Hitting the stage to perform their 1984 hit, "Panama", Roth cut his nose with the microphone sometime during the song's first verse. The singer could be seen wiping blood away as the song continued, with Roth eventually going sidestage to grab a towel in an attempt to clean it up and prevent further bleeding.

The singer left the stage during the track before returning to advise the crowd of his injury and apologized as the group took a short break before restarting the performance after Roth was outfitted with a bandage across his nose.

Van Halen then ran through a greatest hits set that included "Panama", "Runnin' With The Devil", "Hot For Teacher", "Eruption", "You Really Got Me", "Dance The Night Away", Unchained" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love.." Watch the video here. Led Zeppelin Release Interactive Video






Rolling Stones Including Unreleased Music On Sticky Fingers Reissue
The Rolling Stones long awaited North American tour wasn't the only news that the band revealed this week. They also announced that their classic 1971 album "Sticky Fingers" is being reissued.

The classic album, featuring the hits 'Brown Sugar,' and 'Wild Horses,' will be reissued by Universal Music on May 26th in a variety of formats with a deluxe and box set editions featuring previously unreleased studio outtakes and live recordings from the time period.

The band is giving fans an early taste of the bonus material with the release of a lyric video for an acoustic version of their classic ballad "Wild Horses". Watch it here.

As we reported yesterday, the band will be hitting the road this summer for the Zip Code tour which will be kicking off on May 24th in San Diego, Ca and concluding on July 15th in Quebec. See the tour dates and details for the various editions of the reissue here.



Marilyn Manson and The Smashing Pumpkins Announce Summer Tour
Marilyn Manson and The Smashing Pumpkins have announced that they will be hitting the road together this summer for a North American co-headlining tour.

The End Times Tour will be kicking off on July 7th in Concord, CA at the Concord Pavilion and concluding on August 8th in Cincinnati, OH at the Riverbend Music Center.

Manson will be embarking on the tour in support of his latest album "The Pale Emperor" and The Smashing Pumpkins will be supporting their latest "Monuments To An Elegy." See the dates here.




Gov't Mule Streaming 'Dub Side Of The Mule' Album
(The Blues) Gov't Mule have released a stream of their live album Dub Side Of The Mule, featuring Toots Hibbert of Toots And The Maytals. The album is released on April 6 via Mascot Label Group in 3CD+DVD, standard CD and double-vinyl editions.

Mainman Warren Haynes' hopes the release will demonstrate another facet to his band's musical output, after recent title Dark Side Of The Mule and Stoned Side Of The Mule saw them covering Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones respectively.

Haynes said recently: "Each song on our 2013 album Shout! has its own personality - it sounds like Gov't Mule but doesn't sound like anything we'd ever done. These archive releases further that concept. They allow us to highlight some of our influences as well as how far we've come since the first album." Check out the album stream here.




Failure Releasing First Album in 19 Years, Streaming New Song
(Classic Rock) Failure have announced that their first album since 1996's Fantastic Planet will be released in June. They've have also released a stream of the song "Hot Traveler" from the record.

Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards and Kellii Scott split in 1997 amid drug issues, but reformed in 2013. They'll launch fourth record The Heart Is A Monster on June 30 after a successful PledgeMusic campaign.

Frontman Andrews tells Noisey: "One thing Greg and I agreed on early is that we didn't want to reform for nostalgia tours. We wanted to come back as a full-functioning musical force, and creatively pick up where we left off with Fantastic Planet.

"That meant we needed to start experimenting in the studio, which we did in late 2013. The results were definitely Failure - we've been chipping away at a new album this whole time." Read more and stream the new song here.




Iron Maiden and King Crimson Stars Lead Prog Orchestra Album
(Classic Rock) Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and King Crimson's Gavin Harrison are among the big-name musicians who appear on an orchestral prog album released this week.

The guitarist and drummer are joined by ex-Yes and Moody Blues keyboardist Patrick Moraz, guitarist Guthrie Govan and late Three Dog Night keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The album, entitled The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Prog Rock Classics, features tracks by Pink Floyd, Crimson, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull and others. Read more and check out a video here.



Neurosis Frontman's Wife Hospitalized With Undiagnosed Illness
(TeamRock Radio) The friends of Neurosis frontman Scott Kelly have launched a donation appeal after his wife Sarah lost the ability to see and move as a result of an undiagnosed illness.

She's been in hospital since March 24 after waking up with the symptoms. While her vision has returned, she's still not able to walk, and tests are continuing.

Over $35,000 have been donated via the Kellys' GoFundMe page to assist with medical bills. Karrie Morton, who's running the campaign, says: "Doctors are still not able to identify an exact diagnosis. She has begun rehabbing in the hospital, but it's slow going." Read more here.




Tesla's Jeff Keith Recovering From Hip Replacement Surgery
(Classic Rock) Tesla mainman Jeff Keith has undergone successful hip replacement surgery and is resting at home, it's been confirmed. And the band say he'll rejoin them for rehearsals for their upcoming live commitments next week.

They say in a statement: "JK has made a full recovery from his hip replacement surgery and is enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation at this time.

"The band will resume rehearsals for the Monsters Of Rock cruise next week and run through a set of songs from their latest album Simplicity." Read more here.




Van Halen Rock Classics On Jimmy Kimmel
(hennemusic) Van Halen delivered a trio of classic tracks - "Hot For Teacher", "Eruption" and their supercharged cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" - on the second of two nights of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday.

The band shut down Hollywood Boulevard on Monday to perform an 8-song greatest hits set for the late night program as they launched their latest album, "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert."

During the band's opening number, "Panama", frontman David Lee Roth injured himself when his martial arts stick/baton cut his nose, forcing the singer to stop the event while he was treated. The injury was originally believed to have been caused when Roth bumped his nose on a microphone.

On Tuesday, Kimmel revealed slo-motion footage of the incident and that Roth received 14 stitches at hospital following the performance. Watch all of the videos here.




Global Record Release Day To Begin In July
(Classic Rock) The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has confirmed that singles and albums will be released on Fridays across the globe starting from July 10.

Fridays are currently the day when music is issued in countries including Australia and Germany, with Monday being the day in the UK and Tuesday in the US.

It was previously reported that the IFPI were looking to secure a global release day as a result of trade being busier at the start of the weekend. Now Music Week have confirmed an international agreement has been reached.

And while the move has been welcomed by retailers, distributors and digital services, some have expressed their concerns. Read more here.




AJ Pero Was Twisted Sisters' John Bonham Says Bandmate
(Classic Rock) Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has described late drummer AJ Pero as the band's John Bonham or Keith Moon. He passed away earlier this month at the age of 55, while on tour with Adrenaline Mob. It's suspected he suffered a heart attack.

In an emotional interview with Eddie Trunk, French says: "What John Bonham was to Zeppelin, what Keith Moon was to The Who, AJ was to us. I just mentioned two legends - and AJ's up there with them."

He continues: "We've been together longer and spent more time together than we do with our own families. I think metal's the only genre where that happens." Read more here.




Billy Joel Celebrates 'Glass Houses' 35th anniversary In The Studio
The latest episode of the syndicated radio show In The Studio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands celebrates the 35th anniversary of Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" album. The show sent over these details:

Billy Joel took a big risk in March 1980 by following blockbusters The Stranger and 52nd Street with the surprisingly stripped down garage rock arrangements of Glass Houses. But lest you get the wrong idea, it was the approach that was lean, not the material. Some of Joel's best songs are here including "You May Be Right", "Sometimes a Fantasy", "Don't Ask Me Why", "Close to the Borderline", the under-appreciated "All for Leyna" and the timeless "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me".

In a rare conversation, Billy opens up to InTheStudio host Redbeard about his musical influences, seeing the Beatles perform on TV's Ed Sullivan Show, the British Invasion bands that followed, garage rock, and the New York City punk scene which inspired his approach to the making of Glass Houses.

"I think what I was doing with the Glass Houses record in the studio when it came time to get together with the band was becoming a garage band all over again. I wanted to have fun ,and I wanted to make music that all the musicians enjoyed playing, as if we were in a bar." - Billy Joel






Vince Neil Sings Anthem at Las Vegas Outlaws First Game
(hennemusic) Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil performed the National Anthem at the Las Vegas Outlaws first game on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center as the team hosted the San Jose SaberCats in Arena Football League action.

The SaberCats spoiled the Outlaws debut by winning the game 59-41. Neil and his company, Rockstar Sports Group, were awarded the new AFL franchise last September.

The ownership group includes former Florida Gator and Tampa Bay Buccaneer's quarterback Bob Hewko, aviation businessman Mark Daniels, and technology businessman Sohrob Farudi.

Neil and Motley Crue recently completed a 5-date tour of Japan and announced a series of Australian concert dates in May. Watch Neil's anthem performance here.




Bernie Marsden Wrote Some Shine Songs For Whitesnake Reunion
(Classic Rock) Bernie Marsden has revealed some of the material on solo album Shine was written with a Whitesnake reunion in mind. The co-founding guitarist wrote the band's early material with David Coverdale, and brought his former colleague back to guest on Shine, which was released last year.

Marsden tells UCR: "I'd written a bunch of songs - not everything on the album, but certainly half a dozen. In the back of my mind I thought there might be a Whitesnake reunion or something.

"David and I had reconnected and I'd been playing with Whitesnake in 2011 and 2012. So that's where songs like Walk Away come from, and a couple of other things."

A reunion did take place of a form when Coverdale recorded lead vocals for Marsden's track Trouble. "I thought, 'If you're going to ask people to sing, go for the top of the mountain,' says the guitarist. Read more here.




Tool Play April Fool's Prank On Fans
(Prog) Tool have played an April Fool's joke on fans by pretending that a track from their long-awaited fifth album has leaked online. The band - who are currently working on the follow-up to 2006's 10,000 Days - claim to be furious in a Facebook post, and link to a YouTube track that's really by Mexican folk-pop outfit Hechizeros Band. Then they suggest that Hechizeros Band actually ripped them off.

Tool say: "This music leak is unsettling on many levels. First off, it truly sucks to have your unfinished music available on the interweb without your consent. And second, to have it immediately picked up by someone and released as their own work is infuriating.

"We don't encourage anyone to listen to this leaked clip because it's far from finished and it will spoil what's to come. But if you absolutely must, then listen to both clips. These are practically identical. It's a clear cut case of copyright infringement and plagiarism." Read more here.




The Tangent Reveal New Song 'San Francisco'
(Prog) The Tangent have released a lyric video for their track San Francisco, taken from eighth album A Spark In The Aether - The Music That Died Alone Volume Two.

The promo, shot in the style of a 1970s TV show credits, follows the launch of the title track earlier this month. The album is released on April 20 via InsideOut and sees mainman Andy Tillison joined by Jonas Reingold, Theo Travis, Luke Machin and Morgan Agren.

Tillison says of San Francisco: "It's part of a long piece about the way we view America from other parts of the world. Inspired by theme tunes shows like Kojak and films such as Shaft and Bullit, the song takes an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek look at the sheer number of times San Francisco has been destroyed on screen."

He adds of the musical style: "Funk and prog are like two estranged sisters. They existed side by side in the early 70s. Both forms relied on precision musicianship and embraced the emerging synthesiser technology. Anyone who's into 70s progressive rock bands must have experienced the funk stuff as part of their musical soundtrack.

"Where there was a Zappa there was a Bootsy. Where there was a Daevid there was a George Clinton. If it had all happened now the forms might have been closer to one another." Check out the video here.




Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe Set For U.S. Release
Music journalist and former Black Sabbath publicist Mick Wall's new book "Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe" is scheduled to be released in North America by St. Martin's Press on April 14th.

Here is the synopsis: Decades before his MTV reality show The Osbournes, Ozzy Osbourne was the dark, subversive lead singer in Black Sabbath, the band often credited with creating heavy metal.

Selling more than 75 million albums worldwide, an induction into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2013, Black Sabbath has had lasting effect on music, influencing many bands along the way.

But their journey wasn't always easy. BLACK SABBATH takes us through the height of their fame, when the band discovered they'd been so badly ripped off by their managers that they didn't even own their own songs and they looked for salvation from Don Arden-a notorious gangster figure and father of Ozzy's wife Sharon- who resurrected their career but left them indebted to him, financially and personally. And into the 15 year war after the group broke up between the post-Ozzy Sabbath and Ozzy himself, whose solo career overshadowed Sabbath so much that a reunion was entirely on his terms.







Magenta's Christina Booth Releases Video For Solo Album Title Track
(Prog) Magenta vocalist Christina Booth has premiered her video for The Light with Prog. It's taken from her solo album of the same name, which is available now via the band website.

Released under the name Christina, it features guest appearances by Andy Tillison, John Mitchell, Theo Travis, Andy Edwards and Dan Nelson, along with Magenta bandmates Robert Reed and Chris Fry.

Booth tells Prog: "The Light is a song about man's constant search for enlightenment - how we seem to need to know that there is something else after we are gone from this life. The video represents our search for the truth and the idea that we all have a 'guardian angel' leading us through dark times into the light."

She adds that the album explores the concept of coming to terms with mortality and continues: "On a personal level, it's letting out the last few years of frustration, guilt and anger at losing those closest to me.

"But ultimately it represents our capacity to carry on - no matter what life throws at us." Watch the video here.




Slipknot Guest Edit New Issue Of Metal Hammer
(TeamRock Radio) Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has taken over the new issue of Metal Hammer as Editor and he's enlisted the Walking Dead's Charlie Adlard to help him.

The Slipknot frontman is now in charge and he's brought a load of the Knot with him to help out, including Chris Fehn who reveals why he loves Venom and Mick Thomson who goes through his Discs Of Doom - from Electric Six to Deicide.

But that's not all, Charlie Adlard - acclaimed illustrator from the Walking Dead comics - has designed our special gatefold front cover with EXCLUSIVE artwork of every member of Slipknot. Check it out and more previews and details here.




Lesoir Release 'Single-Eyed' Video
(Prog) Lesoir have premiered their video for Single-Eyed with Prog. It's taken from the Dutch quintet's third album Luctor Et Emergo ("I Struggle And Emerge"), which was released this week.

They say of the promo: "We put all the creativity of a few crazy souls in the blender and shot in a most awesome church in Maastricht. We borrowed some wooden beams, and put five frames together, bought some white sheets, and this is the result."

Lesoir - who cite Anathema, Tool and Karnivool among their influences - tour Europe with Evergrey in May, including three UK shows. See the dates and watch the video here.




Minimation: Ron Wood Recalls Mick Taylor Quitting the Rolling Stones
(Radio.com) On Radio.com's latest Minimation, where they animate classic interviews with legendary artists, they look back at an interview from 1977 where Ron Wood talks about a party that he attended with future bandmate Mick Jagger, and Mick's soon-to-be-ex-Rolling Stones bandmate, Mick Taylor.

One of the highlights of the most recent Rolling Stones tour was the nightly jam with former guitarist Mick Taylor. Taylor, of course, replaced founding member Brian Jones in 1969, and was with the Stones for some of their greatest albums, including Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street.

Taylor decided to leave in 1974, informing Mick Jagger of this en route to a party that they were attending for Eric Clapton at mogul Robert Stigwood's house. Taylor went to the party with Jagger, Marshall Chess (who ran Rolling Stones Records at the time) and Ron Wood. Wood recalls Taylor was acting like something was up on the ride to the party, but it wasn't until later that he found out that Taylor was vacating his pretty sweet gig, and setting up Wood to be a Stone for the next four decades or so.

Elsewhere in this segment, Wood gets distracted and tells the origin of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Glimmer Twins" handle. Check out the video here.



Van Halen Wanted To Release Lost Early Recordings
(hennemusic) Eddie Van Halen has revealed that the group's newly-released album, "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert", wasn't the band's original plan for the follow-up to 2012's "A Different Kind Of Truth."

"We were trying to figure out what to do since we didn't have time to put a studio record together," the guitarist tells the Washington Times. "My son Wolfgang is working on his own project. Dave is off doing his thing.

"What I originally wanted to do was remix the original 25 song demos. That would have been really cool. But the tapes are lost. They are gone. So that was out the window."

The demos Eddie refers to were recorded for Warner Brothers Records in 1977 - prior to the release of their groundbreaking self-titled debut in February of 1978.

Material from those sessions has been re-recorded for inclusion on a number of Van Halen albums over the years, including the group's reunion record with original frontman David Lee Roth, "A Different Kind Of Truth."

"Then we started digging through bootlegs from the club days," Eddie continues. "We tried our best to make those sound good, but ultimately it wasn't good enough to put out." Read more here.




Megadeth Announce Their New Guitarist
(hennemusic) Megadeth have officially announced the addition of guitarist Kiko Loureiro to the band. Formerly with Brazilian band Angra, Louriero replaces outgoing member Chris Broderick after he left the group last November.

"I first met Kiko around 8 years ago for a cover shoot for Burrn! Magazine," says Dave Mustaine. "I had no idea who he was, other than the fact he was tremendously talented and that the staff from Burrn! held him in high regard.

"Since then I've come to see what a guitar virtuoso he is, and I'm deeply encouraged by his depth and talent. Very few Megadeth alumni have had the same feel and ability as Kiko. As Frank Sinatra says, 'the best is yet to come!'" Read more here.




Rolling Stones May Play Entire 'Sticky Fingers' Album On Tour
(Gibson) Fast on the heels of news that the Rolling Stones are touring this summer comes word that the band is considering performing their classic 1971 album, Sticky Fingers, in its entirety.

"We're floating the idea of playing the whole album," frontman Mick Jagger tells Rolling Stone. "At the very least, we'll play the songs we don't normally play."

A deluxe version of the album hits stores on May 26, which will no doubt figure into the decision. One concern of Jagger's is that the disc contains a preponderance of slow-tempo songs-"Normally we just [perform] one or two ballads," he says-but the band plans to explore the idea in rehearsals nonetheless.

"I'm sure we'll have a go at it," he says. "We play a lot of the tunes and know them pretty well. I think we've played them all at least once. It's not like trying to do [the 1967 psych-rock album] Their Satanic Majesties Request." Read the Gibson report here.



Metallica's New Music Is Unique But Still Heavy
(TeamRock Radio) Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo says in a new interview that the band is "having a blast" as they write their 10th album - but he can't define how the work sounds yet.

There's no completion date for the follow-up to 2008's Death Magnetic, although drummer Lars Ulrich recently said they were aiming to include some of the material in this year's summer shows.

Trujillo tells Rolling Stone: "We're working on these songs, we are being productive and having fun." Asked whether the music feels like an extension of Death Magnetic, he replies: "I can't say that yet. I can't relate it to any album - I think every Metallica album is unique."

He continues: "What we're doing is special and unique, but still heavy. For me as a listener, there's a certain edge that needs to be there." Read more here.



Tom DeLonge Releases 'New World' Video
(Radio.com) Tom DeLonge forges his way solo in his latest music video for "New World." The first song released off his upcoming debut solo album To the Stars ' Demos, Odds and Ends, the Blink-182 founding member shows his aggression in the new video.

The video itself has DeLonge standing alone in a black leather jacket and cuts to clips of him lashing out and breaking everything he sees in sight at the studio, including a TV, computer, drum kit and lamps with his electric guitar.

'My head will ache, I brave the fire/ Yeah, I found a new world/ My heart awaits, the grand design/ I found a new door," he sings. To the Stars ' Demos, Odds and Ends will be available on April 21. The album will include tracks from DeLonge's "personal stash" including new songs written by DeLonge and demos originally intended and written for Blink-182. Watch the video here.




AC/DC Add New North American Tour Date
(hennemusic) AC/DC have expanded the North American leg of their Rock Or Bust world tour with a September 17 show at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

AC/DC will launch their 2015 live dates when they headline the 2015 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on Friday April 10 and Friday April 17; the band will then kick off a European tour May 5 in Arnhem, Netherlands.

The legendary hardrockers will be kicking off the late summer/early fall tour of North America on August 22 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Read more here.




INXS's Tim Farriss Out Of Action For A Year After Accident
(TeamRock Radio) INXS guitarist Tim Farriss says he'll be out of action for at least a year after severing his finger in a freak accident. His ring finger was ripped off after he caught it on a winch on board his boat in Sydney, Australia in February - leading to fears he might never play again.

Now he tells the Herald Sun about his recovery: "It's going as well as can be expected. I will be strapped for another year. The whole finger came off pretty much, so the recovery was never going to be fast."

Farriss adds he's facing his rehabilitation "one day at a time" after two rounds of surgery and reveals he's been undertaking work at his farm in Kangaroo Valley in New South Wales. Read more here.



David Bowie Co-Writes The Man Who Fell To Earth Inspired Musical
(hennemusic) David Bowie's new stage musical, "Lazarus", will see its world premiere this fall in New York and include new songs written by the singer, according to reports.

Co-written by Bowie and Enda Walsh, the production - directed by Ivo van Hove (Hedda Gabler, More Stately Mansions, Obie Awards) - is inspired by the 1963 novel, "The Man Who Fell To Earth" by Walter Tevis, and centers on the character of Thomas Newton, previously portrayed by Bowie in the 1976 sci-fi screen adaptation directed by Nicolas Roeg.

"Lazarus" will features songs specially composed by Bowie for the stage production as well as new arrangements of previously recorded songs. Read more here.




Chester Bennington Taking New Approach In Stone Temple Pilots
(Classic Rock) Chester Bennington says he's stepping out of his comfort zone for the upcoming Stone Temple Pilots album. And the vocalist, who suffered a serious ankle injury in January which forced the cancellation of a run of Linkin Park shows, says he's getting the chance to express himself in new ways with STP.

He tells Artists Direct: "With Linkin Park, things are pretty literal. Writing for STP, I get to be a lot more poetic - I get to be a lot more clever with my wording. It makes it fun because I get to be more colorful.

"With this new record, the music is pretty insane. With the melodies, I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. It's definitely something I enjoy doing because it helps me think differently in terms of how to get a point across." Read more here.





Panic! At the Disco Lose Founding Member
Panic! At the Disco have announced that Spencer Smith has officially left the group. Smith, who was a founding member of the band, went on hiatus from group in 2013 to treat his addictions.

Smith released the following statement to fans via the group's official website: "To our fans…After 10 years of being a part of this unbelievable journey it saddens me to say that I will be leaving Panic. This was not an easy decision to come to, but after a lot of thinking it became clear that this is what's right for me and the band. I love this band with all my heart, and getting to see it grow from 4 kids in my parents garage to what it is now has been incredible. I loved it all. But, at a certain point, I realized that I wasn't able to be there for the band the way I wanted to be, and more importantly, the way they needed me to be.

"I consider myself extremely lucky to have been surrounded by the people I have been all these years. They truly are my best friends. A few years ago, when my addiction grabbed hold, and wouldn't let go, they could have easily kicked me out, and never looked back, but they didn't. Instead, they encouraged me to seek treatment, and gave me the time I needed to get my life back in order. They helped me through those rough times, and now, on the other side, with two years sobriety from prescription medication, and working on a year sobriety from alcohol, I am nothing but grateful for all they have done. It's things like that that always made this band feel more like a family to me than anything else.

"When we were together in the studio or on stage I wasn't with co workers at a job, I felt at home with my brothers. Looking back over the past decade I still have to pinch myself to believe it was all real. I still remember waiting all day to get out of school so we could go write songs, and record demos on a drum machine and a 30 dollar keyboard. I remember being so nervous when Pete came to town to watch us play the only 3 songs we had, and then going to Del Taco where he treated us to a well deserved meal (as any self respecting AnR guy should). I remember pulling all night triple shifts driving around the country in a conversion van with a single axle trailer on our first tour.

"Im going to miss it all. Staying up all night writing songs, and recording them over and over until my hands would bleed. Catching red eye flights to get to a photo shoot or video shoot, and being so delirious on set we never thought we'd stop laughing. Explaining to our manager that I wanted to perform on top of a ten foot tall carousel and have a caged tiger on stage, and being surprised when that didn't seem 'totally reasonable' to everyone else. I'm going to miss the good interviews, the bad interviews, and the interview in Germany when we were asked 'your new album doesn't seem to be as good as your last…why?'. Or being in rural China where I'm almost positive we were served horse, but we ate it anyway so we wouldn't offend the women who spent all day cooking for us, and you know what, it was pretty good. Or the time we were stranded in a Russian airport for 20 hours, and the only thing that kept us sane were the funny pictures or videos of encouragement you would send us. All of those moments that made me want to say, 'I've had enough, this is crazy, I quit!' those are some of my favorite memories now. But what will stick with me the most is showing up in city after city and finding more and more of you who had learned the lyrics to all our songs, or had made home made t-shirts with our faces surrounded in puff paint, or baked us cookies from your grandmas secret recipe and put a single hair in each one (ok, that one was a little creepy…creepy, but delicious). For me, that's what made it all so surreal. Yes, getting to travel around the world with my friends was no doubt some of the best memories of my life, but it was what happened during that hour and a half on stage each night that was truly magic.

"And none of it was possible without you. Whether it was in front of 15 people at Brendon's church social or 15,000 people in a field somewhere in England. What we created, the four of us onstage, and you in the audience, that was something special. It was on those nights I'd say to myself 'If I could be anywhere in the world tonight, with anyone I wanted, it would be right here with you'. It's what I'll miss the most. So, thank you. I truly cannot wait to see what's next for Panic, whatever it is, it's going to be great. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me the life I only dreamed of 10 short years ago."




Killswitch Engage Frontman Discusses Direction Of New Music
(TeamRock Radio) Killswitch Engage are taking liberties when it comes to writing their next album, frontman Jessie Leach reports. He's gearing up to add vocals to their demos, before recording the follow-up to 2013's 'Disarm The Descent' begins.

Leach tells TeamRock: "They've finished demoing - I'm just getting started myself. It sounds amazing. I'm really stoked." He adds: "Every guy has brought their own style to it and there's some different stuff going on.

"It's definitely a Killswitch record, but I'm excited that some of the guys took a little liberty to go in slightly different directions." But Leach admits he's feeling pressure to deliver top-quality work. Read more here.




Nickelback Frontman Chad Kroger On The Rigors Of The Road
(TeamRock Radio) Nickelback frontman Chad Kroger says life on the road is hard work but it's still something he loves to do. He tells Sweden's Radio Nova: "It's exhausting, but there's nothing like it. People think it's easy and one big luxury event, but it's a lot of hard work.

"It's like camping. You've got a nice tour bus, so it's glamorous camping, but it's hard travelling all the time. It's a lot of work, and you really have to get used to it. You've really got to love it. If you're a homebody and like being in your own bed every night, seeing your dog and having your favorite food, this is not the job for you."

He continues: "I've seen a lot of people who've tried that I knew were going to struggle with it - bands that I've produced, and bands I've signed. You're looking at him, going, 'You're not going to last six months.'" Read more here.




Magnum Recording New Album
(Classic Rock) Magnum's Bob Catley has confirmed the band are in studio sessions for their 18th album. Bassist Al Barrow revealed early work had begun in August last year.

Now the vocalist reports they the band is back at Mad Hat Studios, Staffordshire, to record the follow-up to 2014's Escape From The Shadow Garden.

Catley says on Facebook: "It's sounding pretty good so far. Tony Clarkin is doing some guitar parts and I'll be doing some singing pretty soon when he's got some lyrics for me. I think it's going to be a really strong, rocking album as usual.

"The album will be coming out early next year, maybe February - and then we'll be on tour straight away." Read more here.



Crowbar's Kirk Windstein On Ghosts Of The Road
(TeamRock Radio) Crowbar mainman Kirk Windstein says interacting with fans around the world helps him focus on giving the best performances he can. The singer/guitarist has overcome long-standing problems with alcohol abuse and says he realizes how important it is for fans to see a good show and for it not to be ruined by drunken mistakes.

He says in the latest episode of FreqsTV's Ghosts Of The Road series: "It's important for me - not to sound like Bono from U2 - but it's important to see how excited these people are that we came to their country to play, how long they've been waiting and how crazy they go at the show.

"A kid gave me a postcard from the town he was from, it was 330 kilometres from Sofia in Bulgaria and he had to work the next day. He's like, 'You can read it later, it's kind of a cliche but I wanted to give it to you.' I read it the next morning and I'm like, 'This is great.'

"He was just saying how, even though he had to take a train at 12.30am for a few hours and get up early to go to work, being able to go to the show was what was keeping him going. He had been waiting so long to see the band. That means a lot to me. That the music I make can change somebody from across the world's life in a positive way."

He continues: "I'm just as excited to hit the stage tonight as I was when I was 19-years-old doing Judas Priest cover songs. If you don't still have that same good, nervous, butterfly feeling when you're getting ready to play, then you're just going through the motions.

"It's about the desire to get up and give 110% regardless of what equipment you're working with or how many people are there. None of that sh*t matters." Watch the episode here.




Deicide Leads The Metal Alliance Tour 2015 Lineup
Deicide have been named as the headliner for this year's installment of The Metal Alliance Tour this spring which will be celebrating its 5th anniversary this year.

Organizers have revealed most of the lineup and the initial dates for the trek which will also feature Entombed AD, Hate Eternal, Black Crown Initiate and Svart Crown.

The announced dates will be kicking off on May 26th in Montreal, Canada at the Theatre Corona and so far dates have been announced through June 20th in Charlotte, NC at the Tremont Music Hall. See the announced dates here.




Gallows No Longer Cut and Paste
(TeamRock Radio) Gallows guitarist Laurent Barnard says the band's fourth record marks a major change from their previous "cut and paste" style of songwriting. They'll release Desolation Sounds on April 13 via Play It Again Sam.

And in the third and final part of a documentary series on the making of the album, 'Lags' says more thought has gone into the writing this time. He adds: "We're writing songs now. I feel like throughout Gallows' career there used to be a lot of cut and paste riffs going on.

"On the first album, very little thought went into the songwriting there. I literally just showed the guys the riffs and that was it. We never really thought about which verse fits into which chorus and all that.

"Hopefully it's going to be all worthwhile, but we're pretty happy with what we've got so far." Read more and watch the episode here.



Van Halen Rock Classic Songs For Ellen
(hennemusic) Van Halen performed their 1984 US No. 1 hit, "Jump", on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday. The group also performed their first US top 40 hit, 1979's "Dance The Night Away", as an online exclusive.

The band appeared on the daytime talk show to promote this week's release of "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert", the band's first live album with David Lee Roth.

On Monday, Van Halen shut down Hollywood Boulevard to perform an 8-song greatest hits set for ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live. The group will launch a North American tour in support of the live album in Seattle on July 5. Watch the Ellen videos here.




Supergroup The Rides Complete New Album
(Classic Rock) Blues-rock supergroup The Rides have completed recording, mixing and mastering their second album, guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd has confirmed.

He teamed up with Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg for 2013 debut Can't Get Enough after a one-off charity appearance proved fruitful. They'd previously said another studio release would take place.

Now Shepherd tells BluesMatters: "We just finished mastering and now we're working on the artwork and release date. The record is great. It's almost all new original songs that we've worked on, and I definitely think it's an improvement on the last record. It defines the sound of the band." Read more here.




Genesis's Anthony Phillips Fears Formal Study Robbed Originality
(Prog) Genesis co-founder Anthony Phillips fears his study of classical music and guitar may have had a negative effect on his natural creativity. He launched himself into an education programme after leaving the band in 1970, following the recording of second album Trespass.

And in a Facebook Q&A session he accepts there might he a downside to his learning. Asked whether he feels more accomplished as an artist, Phillips says: "Very good question. Definitely more accomplished and have more technique - but worry that some of the formal study may have robbed me of my albeit clumsy originality!"

He believes that he and his former bandmates all carried their teenage experiences at Surrey's Charterhouse School into their music. "We were all quite influenced by the English choral tradition. Tony Banks was influenced by his piano teacher but the rest of us were self-taught at that stage."

Phillips says of the establishment's strict rules: "Poor Mike Rutherford had a very difficult sadistic housemaster, which made it worse for him. Our housemaster - Pete, Tony and I - was a kinder man." Read more here.



Eschar Streaming New Album 'Nova' Online
(Prog) Post-rock instrumentalists Eschar are streaming their second album Nova in full with Prog. The nine-track follow-up to 2012 debut Elements was released today April 3.

The Woking-based quartet say: "Nova is about progression - we mean that in every sense of the word. When compared with Elements, we all believe this is a serious step up. It's bigger, more expansive, and has care and attention lavished on it at every point."

Eschar have played alongside 65daysofstatic, Maybeshewill and others. They'll appear at the ArcTanGent festival in Somerst on August 20 after a short run of UK shows, with more to be added. See the dates and stream the album here.




New Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck Preview Goes Online
(hennemusic) A new preview clip from the forthcoming documentary, "Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck", has surfaced. The footage reveals notes from Cobain's diaries that include a selection of possible band names for consideration before the group eventually decided on Nirvana.

"Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck" director Brett Morgen recently announced the new documentary about the late Nirvana frontman will debut in three US cities in advance of its premiere on cable channel HBO on May 4.

"4/24 Montage of Heck will open in Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York City," tweeted Morgen, who oversaw the project with executive producer - and Cobain's daughter - Frances Bean.

Morgen has also announced a series of international cinema debuts, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland (April 9), the UK (April 10), Sweden (April 27), Italy, Australia and New Zealand (April 30). Watch the preview here.




Keith Emerson's Three Fates Project Part Of Moog Event
(Classic Rock) A performance by Keith Emerson's Three Fates Project will bring the curtain down on a celebration of the life of Dr. Robert Moog. The Moog Concordance event - to mark the 10th anniversary of Moog's passing - will be held at London's Barbican Centre from July 8-10 and will also include a performance from The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, featuring Portishead's Adrian Utley and composer Graham Fitkin.

Dr. Moog unveiled the Moog modular synthesizer more than 50 years ago and it had a massive impact on music and instrument design. The Three Fates Project show sees Emerson and his band appear alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra. It features Emerson's Moog solos and is billed as more than just a rock-meets-orchestra performance.

The project's title is taken from a track from the 1970 debut album of prog rock ensemble Emerson, Lake & Palmer who were a favourite band of Bob Moog and who brought his synthesiser sound to some of the largest live audiences of the 70s. Read more here.



Mick Jagger Interviewed On WTF Podcast
(Radio.com) Marc Maron is having the best week ever: The man behind the WTF Podcast finally interviewed living legend and his personal hero Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones icon phoned in to the show shared on everything from the band's Sticky Fingers reissue to their upcoming Zip Code stadium tour and his current relationship with Keith Richards.

On the topic of the band's impending tour, Jagger said that he would try to diversify the group's setlist and play some surprises like "Sister Morphine, which the band hasn't performed live in almost 10 years.

Jagger also revealed that they've thought about just playing Sticky Fingers in full. 'It might work, and it might not," Jagger said. 'It's got quite a few slow songs on it. Maybe it'll work; you gotta see." Read more and listen here.




Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Confirms Solo Album Plans
(Radio.com) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler made an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry Monday night (March 31) and confirmed some major news: Tyler be releasing a solo country album.

According to Rolling Stone Country, during Eric Paslay's set at the famed country music venue, Tyler walked onstage in a floor-length white coat and announced the big news.

Rumors of the Aerosmith star going country have been circulating for months. According to Billboard, Big Machine Label Group is in the process of signing Tyler. This news came shortly after Tyler was featured in an American Idol segment devoted to the label's CEO Scott Borchetta. Read more here.




John Lennon's First Wife Cynthia Lennon Dead at 75
(Radio.com) Cynthia Lennon, the first wife of John Lennon, has died. She was 75. According to a press release, Lennon died after a "short but brave battle with cancer."

The news of her death was shared via a press release mentioning that her son, Julian Lennon, was with her. "Cynthia Lennon passed away today at her home in Mallorca, Spain following a short but brave battle with cancer," the release reads. "Her son Julian Lennon was at her bedside throughout. The family are thankful for your prayers. Please respect their privacy at this difficult time."

Cynthia met the future Beatle while both attended Liverpool College of Art in a calligraphy class. They married in 1962 and had one child, Julian, the next year. Read more here.




Rolling Stones Unplug For Classic Song
(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones have released an unreleased acoustic version of "Wild Horses" as a preview to the upcoming reissue of their classic 1971 album, "Sticky Fingers."

Due May 25 (May 26 in North America), the remastered album will be available on CD, 2CD, LP, 2LP, a Deluxe Edition Boxet, Super Deluxe Edition Boxset and via digital download.

The acoustic take on "Wild Horses" will be featured on the Deluxe and Super Deluxe Editions of the package, which feature previously unreleased material and alternative takes of a selection of album tracks.

Included are an alternative version of "Brown Sugar" featuring Eric Clapton; unreleased versions of "Bitch", "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "Dead Flowers"; and five tracks recorded live at The Roundhouse in 1971 including "Honky Tonk Women" and "Midnight Rambler." Check out the video here.



Lynyrd Skynyrd To Release All-Star Concert On CD and DVD
Lynyrd Skynyrd have revealed their plans to release a live album and DVD of their concert where they celebrated their classic live album "One More For the Road" with a list of all-star special guests.

The band have yet to reveal the release date and track details for the "Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More For The Fans!" which was captured during their special show at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA on November 12, 2014. We were sent these details:

The show featured performances by Lynyrd Skynyrd, along with special guests Trace Adkins, Alabama, Gregg Allman, Blackberry Smoke, Cheap Trick, Charlie Daniels, Peter Frampton, Gov't Mule, Warren Haynes, John Hiatt, Randy Houser, Jason Isbell, Jamey Johnson, Aaron Lewis, moe., O.A.R., Robert Randolph and Donnie Van Zant.




Twisted Sister To Move Ahead With Live Plans Despite AJ Pero's Death
(hennemusic) Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has confirmed the group will perform its scheduled concert dates in 2015 with the help of a professional drummer following the March 20 death of bandmate A.J. Pero.

The drummer died of a heart attack in his sleep in Poughkeepsie, NY at the age of 55 while on tour with Adrenaline Mob; he was just days away from meeting with French to discuss Twisted Sister's upcoming summer schedule.

"We will honor AJ during our shows this year," French writes on his blog at inc.com "A professional drummer who is a friend will be filling in shortly. This will allow us to fulfill our touring obligations and, most important, give us some space to make some very hard decisions about our future."

Pero was a member of Twisted Sister from 1982-1986, 1997 and from 2001 forward. The drummer joined Adrenaline Mob in 2013 following a split with Mike Portnoy. Read more here.




Josh Freese and Gavin Harrison Supergroup Exovex Release Album
(Prog) Exovex - the prog ensemble featuring King Crimson and Porcupine Tree's Gavin Harrison and Josh Freese of Devo, Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle - have released their debut album.

Titled Radio Silence, the project is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Dale Simmons and also includes contributions from Keith Carlock (Sting, John Myer, Steely Dan) and Richard Barbieri (Porcupine Tree).

Simmons says: "The central theme focuses on the downward spiral and ultimate demise of a man due to the psychological and physical effects of a long-term, self-imposed isolation.

"The songs are a sequence of events, which document his thought processes and eventual deterioration. They are snapshots in time that speak to personal circumstances that drive us to make life-changing decisions, both good and bad." Read more here.




Ace Frehley Wants Gene Simmons On All-Star Covers Album
(hennemusic) Ace Frehley is sharing an update on plans for an all-star covers album as the follow-up to his 2014 effort, "Space Invader." Frehley originally revealed last summer that the project was in the works and would include guests like Slash, Lita Ford, and Mike McCready from Pearl Jam.

"The album's going to be about my influences," Frehley tells Billboard. "I'm probably going to do a Rolling Stones song, a Who song, possibly a Led Zeppelin song, maybe a Beatles song. Stuff from bands that I grew up on and greatly influenced me. Those are the songs I'd redo, besides vintage Kiss stuff and a Frehley's Comet track."

The guitarist says he has done some overdubs and intends to track another six to eight songs, then pick the best 12 to focus on. The album's track list isn't solidified, but he says he's "probably going to redo both 'Cold Gin' and 'Parasite.' On Kiss records, I'm not singing lead. So I'm going to sing lead on them like I do live so there's studio tracks out there with me."

"I was actually going to ask Gene Simmons to play bass on a track and sing with me," he adds. "I haven't gotten to that stage yet." Read more here.




Mick Abrahams Reveals New Solo Album Details
(Classic Rock) Mick Abrahams has revealed details on his upcoming solo album titled Revived. The Blodwyn Pig and former Jethro Tull guitarist will release the record and DVD on April 28 - a few weeks after his 72nd birthday.

He's joined on the 17-track blues recording by a host of musicians including Bill Wyman, Martin Barre, Bernie Marsden, Paul Jones, Mark Feltham, Beverley Skeete, Josh Philips, Jim Rodford and Graham Walker.

Abrahams says: "There are some lovely old songs which I've just taken with no rhyme or reason other than the fact that I like them and have always wanted to play them." Read more here.




Bumblefoot Tried To Get All-Star Guests For New Album
(Classic Rock) Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal tried to secure some big-name guests for his latest solo album - but ran out of patience with the process. Instead, he did everything on Little Brother Is Watching himself, except the drums.

The guitarist - whose position in Guns N' Roses remains unclear - tells MusicRadar: "I would have liked to have done the star-studded thing, but I was on such a roll that I didn't want to stop.

"Initially I put out some feelers, but it turned into, 'You've got to talk to the manager, the agent, this person and that.' After a while I just said, 'I don't have time for this. I've got to keep moving.'"

But Bumblefoot says it means that, asides from sticksman Dennis Leeflang's contribution, the album is "the full me." Read more here.




Tommy Bolin 'Teaser' Reissue Preview Video Released
(Classic Rock) A video has been released giving fans a closer look at the upcoming reissue of Tommy Bolin's debut solo album. Teaser is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its 1975 release and will be issued as a 3-disc collection on May 18 via UDR.

The one-time Zephyr and James Gang guitarist originally released the work while he was a member of Deep Purple. He died of a drug overdose the following year, at the age of 25.

Teaser 40th Anniversary Vinyl Edition Box Set includes the album accompanied by two live CDs featuring long-lost outtakes and alternative mixes. The live CDs are made up of performances from Ebbets Field, The Northern Lights, My Father's Place and Albany. Watch the video here.




Robert Plant's Solo Career Special In The Studio
Legendary Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant's solo career is the focus of a new web exclusive episode of the syndicated radio show In The Studio. The show sent over these details about the Plant solo career retrospective.

Quite coincidentally, two of Robert Plant's post-Led Zeppelin solo albums, Spring 1985's Shaken'n'Stirred and March 1990's Manic Nirvana, are each marking significant anniversaries, so no better time to examine them via the impressive Nine Lives box set which chronicles Plant's prolific solo output.

It was Robert's second solo album, 1983's The Principle of Moments, which convinced us that Plant could sustain a viable solo career outside of the legendary Led Zeppelin, with whom he fronted for twelve fabled years. Angular extended songs "In the Mood" and the cryptic "Big Log" became rock radio staples in the States, followed by "Little by Little" from Shaken and Stirred in 1985.

Not until 1988's Now and Zen, however, did Plant shed the self-conscious shadow of Zeppelin by exorcising his ghosts with the song "Tall Cool One", brilliantly sampling the "thunder of the gods" iconic Led licks and employing Zeppelin mastermind Jimmy Page on guitar. "Heaven Knows" and "Ship of Fools" made Now and Zen a blockbuster, with "Hurting Kind" in 1990 from Manic Nirvana twenty-five years ago and the tender heartfelt "29 Palms" on Fate of Nations.

Robert shares with InTheStudio host Redbeard how Plant views himself and how he continues to evolve as an artist. "I can't really stand in middle ground and be showered with confetti and compliments. The most important thing to me is to expand what I'm doing and take people with me… or not."





Five Finger Death Punch Star Launching Tattoo Removal Business
(TeamRock Radio) Five Finger Death Punch drummer Jeremy Spencer's own tattoo regret has inspired him to start a laser removal business which will be opening in Las Vegas on April 3 (Friday).

His experience of having cartoon character Yosemite Sam burned off at the age of 26 - a decade after he'd had it done - has motivated him to launch Phase Tattoo Removal.

Spencer recalls his procedure as "tedious and painful" and wants to spare others from going through the same thing. He says: "People sometimes regret having a tattoo with a former lover's name, or one that was poorly executed. Like me, they may want the old one faded enough to have new ink covering it, or have it removed completely." Read more here.




Robert Fripp Inspired Gavin Harrison's New Solo Album
(Prog) Gavin Harrison credits King Crimson bandmate Robert Fripp with lighting the way for the drummer's solo album Cheating The Polygraph. The eight-track title, to be launched via Kscope on April 13, sees Harrison revisiting songs from his Porcupine Tree years in a big band style.

He recently revealed how the concept came about after a 2009 tribute event for late drummer Buddy Rich. Now Harrison tells the Kscope Podcast: "If I've learned anything from Robert Fripp, it's that you need a good big idea."

The drummer, along with arranger Laurence Cottle, came up with the concept of adding to their chosen tracks with material from other Porcupine Tree material.

"It's good practice, especially when you have a great arranger, to bring in themes from other songs," Harrison says. "I had a whole list of really good riffs in other songs that we could steal. Laurence could work in any riff from any other song, in any other key in any other time signature, into any song we were working on." Read more here.



Blind Guardian Recruit Orphaned Land For Upcoming Tour
(Prog) Orphaned Land have revealed that they will be hitting the road with Blind Guardian once again, this time supporting them on their upcoming European tour.

The Israeli outfit opened for the German group last year and will once again join them for the latest run of shows, which sees them take in one UK date at London's Forum on April 12.

Vocalist Kobi Farhi says: "We're super excited to support the amazing Blind Guardian on their European tour. This is a great chance for us to expose our music to many new potential fans and a chance for our fans to see us play at killer venues." Read more here.




Heights Release 'Centrifuge' Video
(Prog) Heights have premiered their live video for Centrifuge with Prog. The track appears on the trio's third album, Phantasia On The High Processions Of Sun, Moon And Countless Stars Above, to be released on April 27.

The video was shot by Small Pond Recordings and its launch comes ahead of the Heights' appearance at The Hope, Brighton, on April 4 (Saturday). Guitarist Al Heslop tells Prog: "Centrifuge has a cyclic riff that re-occurs in various forms.

"It was partially inspired by Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey - it features a space station with a centrifugal design that simulates gravity, shot to mind-bending effect.

"We've had the song in our live set for a few years now, so we were able to have some fun with it." Watch the video here.



Tarja Turunen Releases 'Until My Last Breath' Video
(Prog) Former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen has released a music video for her track Until My Last Breath. It comes from her upcoming live album Luna Park Ride.

The new live release was recorded by fans in Buenos Aires in 2011. It'll be released on 2CD, 2LP, DVD, Blu-ray and on digital formats via earMusic on June 1.

The CD, DVD and Blu-ray editions come with over 70 minutes of bonus material taken from her shows between 2010-2014, including her Summer Breeze festival performance last year in Germany. Watch the video here.




Cradle Of Filth Reveal New Album's Inspiration
(TeamRock Radio) Cradle Of Filth have revealed the inspiration behind upcoming album Hammer Of The Witches. It's released on June 26 via Nuclear Blast and will be the follow-up to 2012's The Manticore And Other Horrors.

The band say in a statement: "The album is inspired by the 1486 treatise on the prosecution of witches by Heinrich Kramer and subtitled Goetic Justice, as the theme is one of violent revenge for violent persecution.

"The album - fingers crossed and hopefully not by torture - will be delivered up to the proper authorities on April 20. You have been warned." Read more here.



Paradise Lost Tried New Approach On Forthcoming Album
(TeamRock Radio) Paradise Lost guitarist Greg Mackintosh has described 14th release The Plague Within as a "marmite album." The follow-up to 2012's Tragic Idol will be released on June 1 via Century Media - and it sees the Yorkshire outfit once again pushing musical boundaries.

Mackintosh tells Total Guitar: "Sometimes it's nice to do albums that are expected, in a way. But for a career like ours it's important to do certain records and songs where you try something else."

The band aimed to "blur lines" between harmonies and rhythms during recording sessions, with the aim of achieving a more blended sound. The guitarist says: "It was an interesting way of working that we hadn't done before - more constructive."

Tim Abrigg Jr.'s Rock and Roll News Of The Day!: Today's Day in Rock News!

Tim Abrigg Jr.'s Rock and Roll News Of The Day!: Today's Day in Rock News!: Today's Day in Rock Scott Weiland Tells His Side Of Stone Temple Pilots Breakup As Scott Weiland released his new album &quot...

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Scott Weiland Tells His Side Of Stone Temple Pilots Breakup
As Scott Weiland released his new album "Blaster" from his new solo band Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts, he revealed his side of his departure from Stone Temple Pilots.

"It's just a shame how it happened," Weiland says about the breakup with Stone Temple Pilots in a new interview with QMI Agency. "I said I needed six months off. I felt we needed six months off in order to do a 20th year anniversary tour and that 20th anniversary tour didn't end up happening and I said, 'Okay, then we need to make a new record because we can't go on just playing the greatest hits set. It's not going to work. We're losing fanbase. Our guarantees are starting to go down.'

"So I assumed we were all on the same page when we left tour and it turned out not so and they got different management and things just soured. (I've known them) since I was a teenager.

"Crazy things happen especially when you end up getting different management. People see things one way and a lot of times how things are portrayed to the band members are through the goggles of the management and filtered through that and that's what you end up hearing."

Weiland also discussed the musical direction of the new Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts album. "I think we fit in somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and any Jack White sort of project, but with my melodies. Rock 'n' roll, but garage indie rock 'n' roll..."Read more here.



Video of Van Halen's David Lee Roth Stage Injury Goes Online
(hennemusic) Video of Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth injuring himself during the opening number of the band's performance on ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday has been posted online.

Hitting the stage to perform their 1984 hit, "Panama", Roth cut his nose with the microphone sometime during the song's first verse. The singer could be seen wiping blood away as the song continued, with Roth eventually going sidestage to grab a towel in an attempt to clean it up and prevent further bleeding.

The singer left the stage during the track before returning to advise the crowd of his injury and apologized as the group took a short break before restarting the performance after Roth was outfitted with a bandage across his nose.

Van Halen then ran through a greatest hits set that included "Panama", "Runnin' With The Devil", "Hot For Teacher", "Eruption", "You Really Got Me", "Dance The Night Away", Unchained" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love.." Watch the video here.




Led Zeppelin Release Interactive Video
(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin have released an interactive video for the previously unreleased rough mix of "Trampled Under Foot", as featured on the recent expanded reissue of their 1975 release, "Physical Graffiti."

The band hooked up with media and technology company Interlude for the project, which allows users to click on any of the album cover's 16 windows to unlock footage of events that pay homage to the window illustrations on the original artwork.

Billed as "Brandy & Coke (Trampled Under Foot - Initial Rough Mix)", the track is included on the companion disc of bonus material - which also includes a recently-debuted rough mix of "Houses Of The Holy."

The expanded reissue "Physical Graffiti" debuted at No. 11 on the US Billboard 200 and at No. 6 on the UK charts. Check out the video here.




Rolling Stones Including Unreleased Music On Sticky Fingers Reissue
The Rolling Stones long awaited North American tour wasn't the only news that the band revealed this week. They also announced that their classic 1971 album "Sticky Fingers" is being reissued.

The classic album, featuring the hits 'Brown Sugar,' and 'Wild Horses,' will be reissued by Universal Music on May 26th in a variety of formats with a deluxe and box set editions featuring previously unreleased studio outtakes and live recordings from the time period.

The band is giving fans an early taste of the bonus material with the release of a lyric video for an acoustic version of their classic ballad "Wild Horses". Watch it here.

As we reported yesterday, the band will be hitting the road this summer for the Zip Code tour which will be kicking off on May 24th in San Diego, Ca and concluding on July 15th in Quebec. See the tour dates and details for the various editions of the reissue here.




Marilyn Manson and The Smashing Pumpkins Announce Summer Tour
Marilyn Manson and The Smashing Pumpkins have announced that they will be hitting the road together this summer for a North American co-headlining tour.

The End Times Tour will be kicking off on July 7th in Concord, CA at the Concord Pavilion and concluding on August 8th in Cincinnati, OH at the Riverbend Music Center.

Manson will be embarking on the tour in support of his latest album "The Pale Emperor" and The Smashing Pumpkins will be supporting their latest "Monuments To An Elegy." See the dates here.




Gov't Mule Streaming 'Dub Side Of The Mule' Album
(The Blues Gov't Mule have released a stream of their live album Dub Side Of The Mule, featuring Toots Hibbert of Toots And The Maytals. The album is released on April 6 via Mascot Label Group in 3CD+DVD, standard CD and double-vinyl editions.

Mainman Warren Haynes' hopes the release will demonstrate another facet to his band's musical output, after recent title Dark Side Of The Mule and Stoned Side Of The Mule saw them covering Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones respectively.

Haynes said recently: "Each song on our 2013 album Shout! has its own personality - it sounds like Gov't Mule but doesn't sound like anything we'd ever done. These archive releases further that concept. They allow us to highlight some of our influences as well as how far we've come since the first album." Check out the album stream here.




Failure Releasing First Album in 19 Years, Streaming New Song
(Classic Rock) Failure have announced that their first album since 1996's Fantastic Planet will be released in June. They've have also released a stream of the song "Hot Traveler" from the record.

Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards and Kellii Scott split in 1997 amid drug issues, but reformed in 2013. They'll launch fourth record The Heart Is A Monster on June 30 after a successful PledgeMusic campaign.

Frontman Andrews tells Noisey: "One thing Greg and I agreed on early is that we didn't want to reform for nostalgia tours. We wanted to come back as a full-functioning musical force, and creatively pick up where we left off with Fantastic Planet.

"That meant we needed to start experimenting in the studio, which we did in late 2013. The results were definitely Failure - we've been chipping away at a new album this whole time." Read more and stream the new song here.



Iron Maiden and King Crimson Stars Lead Prog Orchestra Album
(Classic Rock) Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and King Crimson's Gavin Harrison are among the big-name musicians who appear on an orchestral prog album released this week.

The guitarist and drummer are joined by ex-Yes and Moody Blues keyboardist Patrick Moraz, guitarist Guthrie Govan and late Three Dog Night keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The album, entitled The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Prog Rock Classics, features tracks by Pink Floyd, Crimson, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull and others. Read more and check out a video here.




Neurosis Frontman's Wife Hospitalized With Undiagnosed Illness
(TeamRock Radio) The friends of Neurosis frontman Scott Kelly have launched a donation appeal after his wife Sarah lost the ability to see and move as a result of an undiagnosed illness.

She's been in hospital since March 24 after waking up with the symptoms. While her vision has returned, she's still not able to walk, and tests are continuing.

Over $35,000 have been donated via the Kellys' GoFundMe page to assist with medical bills. Karrie Morton, who's running the campaign, says: "Doctors are still not able to identify an exact diagnosis. She has begun rehabbing in the hospital, but it's slow going." Read more here.



Tesla's Jeff Keith Recovering From Hip Replacement Surgery
(Classic Rock) Tesla mainman Jeff Keith has undergone successful hip replacement surgery and is resting at home, it's been confirmed. And the band say he'll rejoin them for rehearsals for their upcoming live commitments next week.

They say in a statement: "JK has made a full recovery from his hip replacement surgery and is enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation at this time.

"The band will resume rehearsals for the Monsters Of Rock cruise next week and run through a set of songs from their latest album Simplicity." Read more here.




Global Record Release Day To Begin In July
(Classic Rock) The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has confirmed that singles and albums will be released on Fridays across the globe starting from July 10.

Fridays are currently the day when music is issued in countries including Australia and Germany, with Monday being the day in the UK and Tuesday in the US.

It was previously reported that the IFPI were looking to secure a global release day as a result of trade being busier at the start of the weekend. Now Music Week have confirmed an international agreement has been reached.

And while the move has been welcomed by retailers, distributors and digital services, some have expressed their concerns. Read more here.


Van Halen Rock Classics On Jimmy Kimmel
(hennemusic) Van Halen delivered a trio of classic tracks - "Hot For Teacher", "Eruption" and their supercharged cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" - on the second of two nights of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday.

The band shut down Hollywood Boulevard on Monday to perform an 8-song greatest hits set for the late night program as they launched their latest album, "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert."

During the band's opening number, "Panama", frontman David Lee Roth injured himself when his martial arts stick/baton cut his nose, forcing the singer to stop the event while he was treated. The injury was originally believed to have been caused when Roth bumped his nose on a microphone.

On Tuesday, Kimmel revealed slo-motion footage of the incident and that Roth received 14 stitches at hospital following the performance. Watch all of the videos here.




AJ Pero Was Twisted Sisters' John Bonham Says Bandmate
(Classic Rock) Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has described late drummer AJ Pero as the band's John Bonham or Keith Moon. He passed away earlier this month at the age of 55, while on tour with Adrenaline Mob. It's suspected he suffered a heart attack.

In an emotional interview with Eddie Trunk, French says: "What John Bonham was to Zeppelin, what Keith Moon was to The Who, AJ was to us. I just mentioned two legends - and AJ's up there with them."

He continues: "We've been together longer and spent more time together than we do with our own families. I think metal's the only genre where that happens." Read more here.




Billy Joel Celebrates 'Glass Houses' 35th anniversary In The Studio
The latest episode of the syndicated radio show In The Studio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands celebrates the 35th anniversary of Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" album. The show sent over these details:

Billy Joel took a big risk in March 1980 by following blockbusters The Stranger and 52nd Street with the surprisingly stripped down garage rock arrangements of Glass Houses. But lest you get the wrong idea, it was the approach that was lean, not the material. Some of Joel's best songs are here including "You May Be Right", "Sometimes a Fantasy", "Don't Ask Me Why", "Close to the Borderline", the under-appreciated "All for Leyna" and the timeless "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me".

In a rare conversation, Billy opens up to InTheStudio host Redbeard about his musical influences, seeing the Beatles perform on TV's Ed Sullivan Show, the British Invasion bands that followed, garage rock, and the New York City punk scene which inspired his approach to the making of Glass Houses.

"I think what I was doing with the Glass Houses record in the studio when it came time to get together with the band was becoming a garage band all over again. I wanted to have fun ,and I wanted to make music that all the musicians enjoyed playing, as if we were in a bar." - Billy Joel





Vince Neil Sings Anthem at Las Vegas Outlaws First Game
(hennemusic) Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil performed the National Anthem at the Las Vegas Outlaws first game on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center as the team hosted the San Jose SaberCats in Arena Football League action.

The SaberCats spoiled the Outlaws debut by winning the game 59-41. Neil and his company, Rockstar Sports Group, were awarded the new AFL franchise last September.

The ownership group includes former Florida Gator and Tampa Bay Buccaneer's quarterback Bob Hewko, aviation businessman Mark Daniels, and technology businessman Sohrob Farudi.

Neil and Motley Crue recently completed a 5-date tour of Japan and announced a series of Australian concert dates in May. Watch Neil's anthem performance here.




Bernie Marsden Wrote Some Shine Songs For Whitesnake Reunion
(Classic Rock) Bernie Marsden has revealed some of the material on solo album Shine was written with a Whitesnake reunion in mind. The co-founding guitarist wrote the band's early material with David Coverdale, and brought his former colleague back to guest on Shine, which was released last year.

Marsden tells UCR: "I'd written a bunch of songs - not everything on the album, but certainly half a dozen. In the back of my mind I thought there might be a Whitesnake reunion or something.

"David and I had reconnected and I'd been playing with Whitesnake in 2011 and 2012. So that's where songs like Walk Away come from, and a couple of other things."

A reunion did take place of a form when Coverdale recorded lead vocals for Marsden's track Trouble. "I thought, 'If you're going to ask people to sing, go for the top of the mountain,' says the guitarist. Read more here.




Tool Play April Fool's Prank On Fans
(Prog) Tool have played an April Fool's joke on fans by pretending that a track from their long-awaited fifth album has leaked online. The band - who are currently working on the follow-up to 2006's 10,000 Days - claim to be furious in a Facebook post, and link to a YouTube track that's really by Mexican folk-pop outfit Hechizeros Band. Then they suggest that Hechizeros Band actually ripped them off.

Tool say: "This music leak is unsettling on many levels. First off, it truly sucks to have your unfinished music available on the interweb without your consent. And second, to have it immediately picked up by someone and released as their own work is infuriating.

"We don't encourage anyone to listen to this leaked clip because it's far from finished and it will spoil what's to come. But if you absolutely must, then listen to both clips. These are practically identical. It's a clear cut case of copyright infringement and plagiarism." Read more here.




The Tangent Reveal New Song 'San Francisco'
(Prog) The Tangent have released a lyric video for their track San Francisco, taken from eighth album A Spark In The Aether - The Music That Died Alone Volume Two.

The promo, shot in the style of a 1970s TV show credits, follows the launch of the title track earlier this month. The album is released on April 20 via InsideOut and sees mainman Andy Tillison joined by Jonas Reingold, Theo Travis, Luke Machin and Morgan Agren.

Tillison says of San Francisco: "It's part of a long piece about the way we view America from other parts of the world. Inspired by theme tunes shows like Kojak and films such as Shaft and Bullit, the song takes an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek look at the sheer number of times San Francisco has been destroyed on screen."

He adds of the musical style: "Funk and prog are like two estranged sisters. They existed side by side in the early 70s. Both forms relied on precision musicianship and embraced the emerging synthesiser technology. Anyone who's into 70s progressive rock bands must have experienced the funk stuff as part of their musical soundtrack.

"Where there was a Zappa there was a Bootsy. Where there was a Daevid there was a George Clinton. If it had all happened now the forms might have been closer to one another." Check out the video here.




Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe Set For U.S. Release
Music journalist and former Black Sabbath publicist Mick Wall's new book "Black Sabbath: Symptoms of the Universe" is scheduled to be released in North America by St. Martin's Press on April 14th.

Here is the synopsis: Decades before his MTV reality show The Osbournes, Ozzy Osbourne was the dark, subversive lead singer in Black Sabbath, the band often credited with creating heavy metal.

Selling more than 75 million albums worldwide, an induction into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and hitting #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2013, Black Sabbath has had lasting effect on music, influencing many bands along the way.

But their journey wasn't always easy. BLACK SABBATH takes us through the height of their fame, when the band discovered they'd been so badly ripped off by their managers that they didn't even own their own songs and they looked for salvation from Don Arden-a notorious gangster figure and father of Ozzy's wife Sharon- who resurrected their career but left them indebted to him, financially and personally. And into the 15 year war after the group broke up between the post-Ozzy Sabbath and Ozzy himself, whose solo career overshadowed Sabbath so much that a reunion was entirely on his terms.





Magenta's Christina Booth Releases Video For Solo Album Title Track
(Prog) Magenta vocalist Christina Booth has premiered her video for The Light with Prog. It's taken from her solo album of the same name, which is available now via the band website.

Released under the name Christina, it features guest appearances by Andy Tillison, John Mitchell, Theo Travis, Andy Edwards and Dan Nelson, along with Magenta bandmates Robert Reed and Chris Fry.

Booth tells Prog: "The Light is a song about man's constant search for enlightenment - how we seem to need to know that there is something else after we are gone from this life. The video represents our search for the truth and the idea that we all have a 'guardian angel' leading us through dark times into the light."

She adds that the album explores the concept of coming to terms with mortality and continues: "On a personal level, it's letting out the last few years of frustration, guilt and anger at losing those closest to me.

"But ultimately it represents our capacity to carry on - no matter what life throws at us." Watch the video here.




Slipknot Guest Edit New Issue Of Metal Hammer
(TeamRock Radio) Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has taken over the new issue of Metal Hammer as Editor and he's enlisted the Walking Dead's Charlie Adlard to help him.

The Slipknot frontman is now in charge and he's brought a load of the Knot with him to help out, including Chris Fehn who reveals why he loves Venom and Mick Thomson who goes through his Discs Of Doom - from Electric Six to Deicide.

But that's not all, Charlie Adlard - acclaimed illustrator from the Walking Dead comics - has designed our special gatefold front cover with EXCLUSIVE artwork of every member of Slipknot. Check it out and more previews and details here.




Lesoir Release 'Single-Eyed' Video
(Prog) Lesoir have premiered their video for Single-Eyed with Prog. It's taken from the Dutch quintet's third album Luctor Et Emergo ("I Struggle And Emerge"), which was released this week.

They say of the promo: "We put all the creativity of a few crazy souls in the blender and shot in a most awesome church in Maastricht. We borrowed some wooden beams, and put five frames together, bought some white sheets, and this is the result."

Lesoir - who cite Anathema, Tool and Karnivool among their influences - tour Europe with Evergrey in May, including three UK shows. See the dates and watch the video here.



Minimation: Ron Wood Recalls Mick Taylor Quitting the Rolling Stones
(Radio.com) On Radio.com's latest Minimation, where they animate classic interviews with legendary artists, they look back at an interview from 1977 where Ron Wood talks about a party that he attended with future bandmate Mick Jagger, and Mick's soon-to-be-ex-Rolling Stones bandmate, Mick Taylor.

One of the highlights of the most recent Rolling Stones tour was the nightly jam with former guitarist Mick Taylor. Taylor, of course, replaced founding member Brian Jones in 1969, and was with the Stones for some of their greatest albums, including Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street.

Taylor decided to leave in 1974, informing Mick Jagger of this en route to a party that they were attending for Eric Clapton at mogul Robert Stigwood's house. Taylor went to the party with Jagger, Marshall Chess (who ran Rolling Stones Records at the time) and Ron Wood. Wood recalls Taylor was acting like something was up on the ride to the party, but it wasn't until later that he found out that Taylor was vacating his pretty sweet gig, and setting up Wood to be a Stone for the next four decades or so.

Elsewhere in this segment, Wood gets distracted and tells the origin of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Glimmer Twins" handle. Check out the video here.




Singled Out: Gentlemen Rogues' Mocking Love Out Of Nothing At All
Today Gentlemen Rogues' Danny Dunlop (vocals, guitar) tells us about the song "Mocking Love Out Of Nothing At All" from their forthcoming EP "A History So Repeating," which comes out next week. Here is the story:

I like to think of "Mocking Love Out of Nothing At All" as an "anti-love song," coming from the perspective that love only ends in failure, tragedy, and despair, but also with a longing for a different outcome. It's a declaration to wipe your hands clean of any future involvement in romantic endeavors, but deep down, knowing that this hard stance is only temporary. "I can't commence to live with no risk to life and limb, but at present tense, I won't let my heart be stolen again." I like that closing line of the chorus, as it says: For now, I'm done, but I know I won't always feel this way. There's a little bit of hope in there.

The title of the song is a play on the Air Supply power ballad, "Making Love Out of Nothing At All." Air Supply only seemed to write songs that included the word "love" in the title. I wanted our song to be the antithesis to that...high energy, slightly tongue-in-cheek, but not a "joke song."

The music to "Mocking Love Out of Nothing At All" was written right around the time of the release of Gentlemen Rogues' debut EP, but the lyrics weren't finalized until much later. I wrote a few different versions of the lyrics before I really figured out what I wanted the song to say. Initially, the song was called "Thermal Wars." I'd had a conversation with a friend, and he was talking about how he and his wife were always "battling each other" with the thermostat - she liked the apartment warmer, and he liked it cooler. When she got her way, he was sweating his ass off, and when he got his way, she was a Popsicle. This couple got along swimmingly in every other regard, so I thought it was funny how something so trivial (temperature) would make one person legitimately aggravated with the other. The original pre-chorus lyric said, "So, this is what we call war?" Once I figured out what I wanted the song to be about, this lyric was changed to "Didn't your mama say there'd be days like this?" The final lyric is a paraphrased play on The Shirelles 1961 hit, "Mama Said." Lyrically speaking, this Shirelles' tune and "Mocking Love..." share a similar theme...at least that's my interpretation. I just thought it "worked." Still do.

The recording of the track was done very quickly, and with the exception of the vocals, it was done completely live, all in a room together. We recorded it with Kevin Butler, at Orb Studios, on the outskirts of Austin, TX. I think we recorded the song in three takes, if memory serves me correctly? Overall, we are happy with the way it turned out, and are proud of the song. It's fun, a little challenging to play live (in a good way), and is a good representation of what Gentlemen Rogues do as a band.

Tim Abrigg Jr.'s Rock and Roll News Of The Day!: Today's Day in Rock News!

Tim Abrigg Jr.'s Rock and Roll News Of The Day!: Today's Day in Rock News!: Today's Day in Rock Megadeth Confirm Lamb Of God's Chris Adler On New Album (hennemusic) After months of rumors and spe...

Today's Day in Rock News!

Today's Day in Rock


Megadeth Confirm Lamb Of God's Chris Adler On New Album
(hennemusic) After months of rumors and speculation, Megadeth have officially confirmed Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler will join the band as a guest player on their new studio album.

"Chris is a tremendous talent, and an amazing person," says leader Dave Mustaine. "He is going to bring a new level of excitement and energy to Megadeth that the fans are going to lose their minds over. I have nothing but respect for my previous drummers, but this is going to absolutely KILL!

"Back in 1989, Megadeth originally worked as a three piece - guitar, bass and drums - when we laid down the framework to our Grammy-nominated platinum album 'Rust In Peace'. I want to thank the other members of Lamb Of God for allowing this opportunity to take place for all of us in the metal community."

Bassist David Ellefson adds, "Chris has been an endearing friend to us in Megadeth for many years now, and he truly appreciates our music and its legacy. His drumming has forged such an innovative and ferocious path for metal music and I'm very proud that he is anchoring our rhythm section with us on this new album. I can clearly see a new dawn of 'utmost heaviness' unfolding in Megadeth's next chapter."

Adler expressed his excitement about working with a group that inspired his own musical direction. "Megadeth was the game changer for me," he explains. "Growing up, there was no other band that meant as much to my musical interest and direction. There is no doubt I would not be doing what I have been doing for the past three decades had I not stumbled across 'Killing Is My Business' and the bible of all metal, 'Peace Sells' in my formative years. About 10 years ago, Lamb Of God toured with Megadeth and I was able to share that story with Dave and David, and we have kept in touch ever since.

"When Dave called me a while ago and asked if I was interested in making a thrash metal album with him, I felt like I must've been on a hidden camera show. I was trying to play it cool, but I was speechless other than YES! Once I called my wife and my band guys to let everyone know, I had some time to really think about it and how I can best fit into this situation. I'm coming into this on fire." Read more here.



Gene Simmons Teams With WWE To Make Horror Movies
(TeamRock Radio) KISS star Gene Simmons has signed a deal with WWE Studios to co-produce three horror movies. And he's vowed the films will be "elevated" works - starting with Temple, which begins shooting later this year.

WWE Studios was launched in 2002 for WWE wrestlers and personnel. The company has produced more than 30 movies to date including The Scorpion King, Walking Tall and The Condemned. They'll work under the banner Erebus Pictures for the upcoming releases.

Simmons says: "The horror genre continues to fascinate me, as it proves to be endlessly thrilling and engaging for audiences. I'm so thrilled to be working with the masterminds from WWE Studios in launching Erebus Pictures." Read more here.




The Who May Make New Album
(Radio.com) The Who are reportedly in talks to make a new record. Roger Daltrey revealed that his bandmate Pete Townshend is already at work in the studio, in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

"I know that Pete wants to make another record," he said. "He's just talking about it. I've heard a couple of tracks, which are great." Daltrey isn't ruling it out, especially since he and Townshend have rekindled their friendship over the years, leading up to their recent 50th anniversary tour.

"After all the testosterone of youth, all of the problems and middle age and drugs and losing people we love, in the end you suddenly realize you deeply love each other," Daltrey said. 'We are like brothers. Family is like that, aren't they? One minute you love them, the next minute you can't stand them. But as soon as it looks like they're not going to be around, they're knocking on the door."

While Daltrey revealed that the band's anniversary tour will likely be their last string of shows on that level, he talked about the future of the band's live performance, saying that perhaps they'd embark on an acoustic tour. Read more here.




Sevendust Finish Recording New Album
(TeamRock Radio) Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose has confirmed the band have finished recording their tenth studio album, the follow-up to 2013's Black Out The Sun.

Last month, he revealed the band were heading into a New Jersey studio to work on the album without having written any songs in advance. Now Rose has tweeted: "10th studio record done! On my way home! Ready to squeeze my babies and smack my woman's bootay!"

He'd previously described the sessions as "heavy as f***" and "the most challenging record I've ever been a part of," adding: "Extremely excited for everyone to hear it." Read more including the tweet here.




Carcass React To 'Laughable And Embarrassing' Country Ban
(TeamRock Radio) Carcass have been forced to cancel a trip to Malaysia after government officials banned them from entering the country. The move affects a planned appearance in May - and comes a year after the band performed in the country without incident or intervention.

Carcass say in a statement: "Sorry, Malaysia. Seems like your government haven't updated their calendars to the 21st century. We've had our visas declined on the basis of our 'lyrical content'. Laughable and embarrassing."

Bill Steer and co add a note for officials: "If you're reading this you're too late, we already 'corrupted' your youth and played Kuching last year." Read more here.




Mudvayne and Skrape Members Form New Group Audiotopsy
(TeamRock Radio) Members of Mudvayne and Skrape have joined forces to form the band Audiotopsy, it's been announced. Guitarist Gregg Tribbett and drummer Matt McDonough, both of Mudvayne, along with frontman Billy Keeton of Skrape and bassist Perry Stern have completed recording their debut album and are aiming for a summer release once they've secured a deal with a label.

Tribbett says: "I'm extremely excited about Audiotopsy. The music is everything you want in a record - heavy, melodic, atmospheric, big hooky riffs and sing-alongs as well.

"The guys in the band are great and we all feel as if this was meant to happen. We all felt an energy from our first meeting and we can't wait for the world to hear Audiotopsy." Read more here.




Queen Manager's Freddie Mercury Movie Joke Taken Seriously
(Classic Rock) Reports that Queen's Freddie Mercury biopic was back on track with Sacha Baron Cohen leading the production are the result of a joke, guitarist Brian May has reported.

The band's manager Jim Beach did say Cohen had returned to the project after departing in 2013. But his quotes at a manager's convention on Thursday were meant in jest.

May says via his website: "Jim said that, in response to enquiries about progress on the Freddie film, that Sacha Baron Cohen had been re-engaged to write, produce and direct - as well as starring in all four major roles!

"I'm afraid some folks might have taken it seriously." Read more here.




Slayer's Tom Araya Reflects On Making Album Without Hanneman
(Classic Rock) Slayer frontman Tom Araya still can't get used to working without late guitarist Jeff Hanneman, he's admitted. The band are in the process of mixing and mastering their 11th album - their first without the co-founding guitarist, who died in 2013 after a two-year absence with health issues.

It was previously revealed that one track on the follow-up to 2009's World Painted Blood was written before Hanneman's death, and features his playing.

Araya tells Revolver: "The whole process of his album started three years ago, when Jeff was still a part of it. The track was completely done, except we hadn't finalised the vocals for it. So we're fortunate to have something he had participated in."

A total of 13 songs have been laid down by Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and Paul Bostaph, although it's likely only 10 will appear. Slayer have still to decide on the album title, artwork and other details.

Araya reflects: "Ever since Jeff's passing it's been just odd and strange - because he's never going to be there again, you know? Even when we were doing stuff without him while he was still alive, that felt strange. I missed him during the process. But the way things turned out, I think he was definitely a part of it, even if he wasn't there physically." Read more here.





Van Halen Sitting Out Tremonti Tour
(hennemusic) Tremonti bassist Wolfgang Van Halen will miss the band's upcoming tour in support of their forthcoming second album, "Cauterize", due to a scheduling conflict with Van Halen.

"I am still part of Tremonti and very excited for the release of Cauterize," explains Wolfgang, "but unfortunately am unable to participate in the upcoming dates due to my prior commitment with Van Halen for the summer tour in support of the Tokyo Dome Live In Concert album. Look forward to seeing all of the Tremonti fans on the road as soon as my schedule permits!"

Tremonti - led by Alter Bridge/Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti - will hit the road for a spring US tour starting April 25 in Orlando, Florida, while "Cauterize" will be released on June 9. Read more here.




Motley Crue's Vince Neil To Sing Anthem At Las Vegas Outlaws Debut
(hennemusic) Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil will perform the National Anthem at the Las Vegas Outlaws first game on Monday, March 30 at the Thomas & Mack Center as the team host the San Jose SaberCats in Arena Football League action.

Neil and his company, Rockstar Sports Group, were awarded the new AFL franchise last September. The ownership group includes former Florida Gator and Tampa Bay Buccaneer's quarterback Bob Hewko, aviation businessman Mark Daniels and technology businessman Sohrob Farudi.

"I'm going to perform the National Anthem in honor of the Outlaws first game, for the fans and families in attendance, and for our veterans and service men and women everywhere," says Neil. "The players and coaches are ready to get this season rockin' and to make Las Vegas proud of its awesome Arena Football team." Read more here.




Amoral Reunite With Original Singer Niko Kalliojarvi
(TeamRock Radio) Amoral have reunited with original vocalist Niko Kalliojarvi for the band's seventh album. He left in 2008 following the release of third record Reptile Ride, and was replaced by Ari Koivunen. The pair will now share vocal duties.

Kalliojarvi says: "The cameos at during the last few years have been fun. When I was asked to come back to the group I was both surprised and excited for musical reasons, but also since I've always been comfortable in said company."

Amoral are now working on the follow-up to 2014's Fallen Leaves & Dead Sparrows, expected next year. Guitarist Ben Varon reports: "Niko's company felt natural both on stage and backstage. Hearing his voice on those songs after a long time felt good." Read more here.





Photo Of Kim Fowley's Corpse On Magazine Cover
(TeamRock Radio) Fetish magazine Girls And Corpses have granted eccentric rock icon Kim Fowley his dying wish to be a cover star. The former manager of The Runaways who also wrote co-wrote songs with Kiss and Alice Cooper died aged 75 in January after a long battle with cancer.

It was reported after his death that Fowley had expressed an interest in appearing on the cover and indicated he wanted former girlfriend Snow Mercy to be involved in the photoshoot. However, publishers were unable to contact her and now claim they've gone ahead and given the icon his final wish.

They say in a statement: "This is a truly historic moment in publishing because it is the first time a corpse has been photographed in a body bag with a fetish model and put on a magazine cover.

"We also have the last mad writings of Kim Fowley which we have exclusively published in this diseased issue and it will make your head spin and pop off." See the cover here.




Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Black Star Riders Announce UK Tour
(hennemusic) Def Leppard and Whitesnake have announced a co-headline UK tour this winter. The pair will be joined by openers Black Star Riders for a triple bill for a 10-show run in December.

"I am very excited to be working with Whitesnake again, we had such a wonderful time when we did it back in 2008," says Leppard frontman Joe Elliott. "It's a great experience for rock fans to be able to see two great live bands on the same stage on the same night."

"Ohh, have you got trouble…Brother Joe & The Lepps?…D.C. & The Snakes?... Them Black Star Riders?…On the same night???…I can't wait!!...SEE YOU THERE!!!" added Whitesnake's David Coverdale. See the dates here.




Van Halen Preview Eddie's Solo From New Live Album
(hennemusic) Van Halen have released an audio preview of guitarist Eddie Van Halen's solo as they approach the March 31 release of "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert."

One of the featured spotlights in the band's live set sees Eddie showcase a montage of riffs and signature solos from his career, including the groundbreaking 1978 track "Eruption", "Cathedral", "316", the opening to "Mean Street" and more.

Van Halen recently announced dates for an extensive North American tour in support of the album, which was recorded in Japan in 2013 on the group's "A Different Kind Of Truth" tour.

The band will launch the project with a special concert tonight, March 30 for ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live on Hollywood Boulevard. Check out the solo preview here.




Genesis: 1983-1998 Box Set Coming In May
(Classic Rock) Genesis will release the third and final installment in their vinyl box set series with Genesis: 1983-1998, due on May 11 via Universal. The six-disc package includes the band's final four studio albums: Genesis (1983), Invisible Touch (1986), We Can't Dance (1991) and Calling All Stations (1997).

Genesis: 1983-1998 ("The Red Box") completes the vinyl box set trio that began with Genesis: 1970-1975 ("The Green Box") and Genesis: 1976-1982 ("The Blue Box").

The first two records in the latest set are single LPs while the others are presented in double-disc gatefold format, with Calling All Stations featuring music on three sides and an etching on side four. Read more here.




Porcupine Tree's Gavin Harrison Tried To Avoid Cheese On New Album
(Prog) Porcupine Tree and King Crimson drummer Gavin Harrison says he was careful to avoid sounding cheesy on his upcoming solo album. Harrison issues Cheating The Polygraph on April 13 via Kscope. It features reimagined, big band versions of eight classic Porcupine Tree songs.

The idea first came about in 2009 when he was asked to take part in a memorial concert for the late drum icon Buddy Rich. Rich's daughter Cathy planted the seed for what eventually became Cheating The Polygraph.

Harrison tells MusicRadar: "Cathy said to me, 'You're welcome to play any of Buddy's tunes, of course, but what would be really fun is if you did a song from your band.'

"My band's music isn't anything like Buddy's, obviously, so I thought about it, and then I got together with Laurence Cottle, a big band arranger, to see what might work.

"I told Laurence, 'I don't want this to be funny. It couldn't be comedy, cheesy, 'rock does swing' or anything like that. I thought it should be serious music. We went with that approach, and it came out great." Read more here.




Royal Thunder Streaming New Song 'Wake Up'
(Classic Rock) Royal Thunder have released an audio stream of Wake Up. It's taken from forthcoming album Crooked Doors, the follow-up to 2012's CVI. So what's Wake Up about?

"What do you want to change?" asks vocalist Mel Parsons in explaining the new song. "Then change it! Wake up and move forward. Looking back will hold you back."

The band will be joining Rival Sons and Halestorm for a brief Western United States tour in June. Check out the dates and listen to the stream of "Wake Up" here.




Tommy Bolin's Teaser Getting Deluxe 40th Anniversary Reissue
(Classic Rock) Tommy Bolin's debut solo album Teaser is being reissued in a deluxe vinyl package to celebrate its 40th anniversary. UDR will issue Teaser 40th Anniversary Vinyl Edition Box Set on May 18.

The one-time Zephyr and James Gang guitarist originally released the work in 1975 while he was a member of Deep Purple. He died of a drug overdose the following year, at the age of 25.

The 3-disc collection is accompanied by two live CDs featuring long-lost outtakes and alternative mixes. The live CDs are made up of performances from Ebbets Field, The Northern Lights, My Father's Place and Albany. More details here.




Purson Ink Deal For New Album Release
(Classic Rock) Purson have signed to Spinefarm Records for the launch of second album Desire's Magic Theatre, they've confirmed. The follow-up to 2013's The Circle And The Blue Door will be launched later this year, following a UK tour and an appearance at Download.

Vocalist Rosalie Cunningham says: "Our second album has turned out to be everything I'd imagined - and more. It's become a technicolour variety show; a playful display of the musical whims only briefly hinted at in our previous work; a psychedelic rock opera dedicated to Sarge Pepper and Zig Stardust.

"I give thanks to everyone who's bought a Purson record or been to our shows - and you have our promise that the best is yet to come." Check out the tour dates here.




The Graveltones Releasing New Album In May
(Classic Rock) The Graveltones will release their second album Love Lies Dying on May 31, they've confirmed. Before the May launch they will release album opener World On A String as a single on April 12.

It's the UK-based duo's follow-up to their 2013 full-length debut Don't Wait Down and will launch via Lagoon Dog Records. It was produced by Jaime Gomez Arellano at Orgone Studios, London.

Vocalist and guitarist Jimmy O says of the record: "When you record a bunch of songs and send them out there to play ball, you hope you've raised them up good enough to take care of themselves. All these songs seem to get along with each other real well." Read more here.





Steve Hackett Releases Wolflight Video
(Classic Rock) Steve Hackett has released a music video for the title track from his upcoming album Wolflight. The former Genesis man releases the album on March 30. It's his first original solo work since 2011's Beyond The Shrouded Horizon.

Wolflight sees him joined by guest musicians and longtime collaborators, including keyboardist Roger King, drummers Gary O'Toole and Hugo Dagenhardt, saxophonist Rob Townsend, bassist Nick Beggs and singer Amanda Lehmann.

Also joining Hackett on the project is Yes bassist Chris Squire, who plays on the track Love Song To A Vampire. Check out the track details and watch the new video here.



Nelson Reveal New Album Details
(Classic Rock) Nelson have detailed their upcoming album Peace Out to be released on May 15. The twin brothers will issue the record via Frontiers Music and they say they've pushed themselves to make the best album they possibly could.

Gunnar Nelson says: "We set a pretty high standard with our previous release with Frontiers - Lightning Strikes Twice. That record received by far the most critical acclaim of any Nelson record to date. Peace Out was expected to be even better, so the goal was to push ourselves to the very limit - past what we believed we could do.

"We wanted to write and record the most exciting, authentic, uplifting, and rocking Nelson record ever made. The mission - to make a classic." Read more here.




Archive's Dave Pen Releases Video From We Are Bodies Project
(TeamRock Radio) Archive vocalist Dave Pen has teamed up with French-based composer Robin Foster to create We Are Bodies, and they'll launch their self-titled debut album next month.

In the meantime, they've released a video for their track Capsize, which illustrates their take on music in the vein of Radiohead, Talk Talk and Tears For Fears.

Their work is is described as a "a true reflection of modern society, narrating the numb monotony of living in the unconscious conformity of the 21st century."

The duo previously worked together on Foster's second album Where Do We Go From Here? and on the award-winning soundtrack to feature film Metro Manila. Watch the video here.




Toto's Steve Lukather Explains Angry 'Holy War' Solo
(TeamRock Radio) Toto guitarist Steve Lukather has described a solo on latest album XIV as a "f*** you" to bandmate Dave Paich - but adds that it's all done with love. They recently launched a stream of their track Holy War, taken from the follow-up to 2006's Falling In Between, released this week.

Lukather tells MusicRadar: "Making the album was blood, sweat, tears, love, pain, laughter - it was all that. We had fun, but we kept pushing each other. We had a couple of times when we almost killed each other. But without any tension you make pussy music."

He adds of Holy War: "I was really pissed off at Dave. He kept messing with me, and I got pissed off and played that solo. You can hear it's like, 'F*** you, Dave!'" Read more and listen to the track here.




Marillion Frontman Steve Hogarth Announces Special Show
(Prog) Marillion frontman Steve 'h' Hogarth will appear on stage with his son for the first time in Gibraltar in May, he's confirmed. Entitled h Super Natural - A Special Evening With Steve Hogarth & Friends, the performance at St Michael's Cave also features Dave Gregory, formerly of XTC and now with Tin Spirits - and also a member of The h Band.

Hogarth says: "This will be my fourth time performing in my beloved Gibraltar. Last year's Literary Festival gig in the King's Chapel was truly special for me and I came home with that rare feeling that I had 'nailed it.' Must be something in the water...

"I immediately began hustling to return, so the chance to play once again in the unique space that is St Michael's Cave is, well, icing on the cake." Read more here.




Adimiron Release Animated 'Ayahuasca' Video
Adimiron have released an animated music video for the song "Ayahuasca." the track comes from their fourth studio album, "Timelapse," which was released in November of last year. We were sent these details about the new video:

Named after the hallucinogenic brew used by indigenous tribes of South America that allows them to commune with the 'spirits' and even to travel to different dimensions, the band describes ayahuasca as "the perfect concept for the final track of Timelapse, which was born with the desire to gradually carry the listener on a mystical and visual journey to the end of the album."

Czech artist Monika Janouchova, responsible for the "Ayahuasca" video animations, states: "'Ayahuasca is an inspiring song. It has the power to take us to unreal places, and I just wanted to transform its potential into images.

"Each scene and situation brings us, together with the music, to a long surreal trip. Our mind opens and we are enabled to see more...It's like a vivid dream in which we cannot tell whether it is real or not and if everything will be normal once woken up."

Watch the video here.




Ozzy Osbourne's Infamous Haircut Minimation Video Released
(Radio.com) In Radio.com's Minimation, where they comb through the archives of legendary New York radio station WNEW-FM and animate interviews with legendary rock artists, they revisit a 1987 interview where Ozzy Osbourne explains why he'd gotten a crew cut a few years earlier.

In the 1980s, being shocking was part of Ozzy Osbourne's bag of tricks. There was the bats, the doves, not to mention lots of drugs and alcohol. But one of the most shocking things he did, at least as far as the metal community was concerned, was to cut his hair. And he was asked about that in this interview (by which point, his long locks had returned).

"At the end of the tour, I was so down and miserable," he said, and he decided to go on a road trip across America. Of course, that's easier said than done if you're the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne.

He, quite reasonably, figured that if he cut his hair, no one would recognize him. And to hear him tell it, his trip - which took him to Toronto, Minneapolis, Seattle and Los Angeles, undisturbed by fans.





Singled Out: The Breton Sound's Illuminate
Today The Breton Sound singer and guitarist Jonathan Pretus tells us about the song "Illuminate" from their forthcoming EP "Don't Be Afraid of Rock & Roll, Vol. 1." Here is the story:

"Illuminate" is one of those songs that just kind of fell out of the sky and into our laps one day during a rehearsal. Just playing with melody and different feels, it just appeared. Within about 15 minutes, the bones of everything was there, melody, arrangement moods. Some of my favorite songs happen like that, just a lightening quick moment of inspiration.

We've been playing it live for a while and it's always gotten a great response. Our bassist Joe [Bourgeois] was kind of a hero on this record. He joined the band a week before we went to Ardent Studios to start working on the record. He learned the song as we'd been doing it, but once we got working in the studio, he really rebuilt the part completely and put a great groove into it that wasn't there before.

The lyric of the song is about feeling trapped, frustrated, and beat down where you are, and looking to that person next to you that you love and saying "wouldn't it be great to just run away and get the hell out of here together?" There's a real tension in the verses musically, especially in the 2nd verse where the drums, bass and guitar lock in a driving, pushing groove, and then as it gets to the chorus (the escape), the playing opens up, it's a really neat movement we put together that we're really proud of.

This was the first song we did for this EP, and the first thing we recorded in Studio A at Ardent. It's the room where all the Big Star records were done, which are some of my favorite albums. I actually ended up using the old Hi Watt amp and cabinet that was used on "Radio City" and "Third", which was a thrill in and of itself, but it's one of the best sounding guitar tones I've ever had. That room has an amazing vibe and sound, and we tracked live in there, so the energy really comes out in the recording. It's one of the best things we've ever done, and we're so proud of how it came out.

As a side note, playing this song live taught me a great lesson. A few people had come up to me and said how much they liked our song "Lemonade." The first time I heard that, I had to stop and think about what they were talking about it. Then I realized that maybe I ought to annunciate better when I sing.