07/17/2013

• Asked about SLIPKNOT's plans to get back into the studio and make a new album following the 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray, Corey Taylor said: "We are talking about getting together next year and putting some new music together. Everybody's kind of getting some demos together right now. I've got about four or five songs that I'm working on. Joey's [Jordison, drums] got a ton of stuff. Clown's [Shawn Crahan, percussion] got a bunch of stuff. Jim's [Root, guitar] got some stuff, Mick [Thomson, guitar]… I mean, we all write so it's gonna take a lot of time to kind of get the madness under control. But right now that's the plan — to get together early next year and start throwing ideas at each other."
  
  SLIPKNOT has performed live over the past two years but has not recorded a new album since 2008's "All Hope Is Gone".
  
  SLIPKNOT mastermind/percussionist M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan spoke with Kerrang! magazine about the band's continued delay in recording a new studio CD. The SLIPKNOT co-founder explained: "We haven't written an album in five years because we wrote one, we toured it for two years, and Paul died, and it's been three years. What do you want from me? Nothing. When I come back, when we come back, it will be time, you will understand, we will understand, and it will be right. We'll be the first band that could be off for five years and come back like we never were gone. So that's what it's all about."

• TOOL drummer Danny Carey was interviewed this week by Loudwire and naturally the subject of a new album came up. Carey explained: "It's still the three of us [Carey, guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor] right now and [we will be joined by singer Maynard James Keenan] soon, you know, just working on all our parts and working on our compositions together. Stylistically, we're trying to push things in different ways, but it always comes out sounding like TOOL no matter what we're trying to do. We're working everyday on it and it's going really well, so I'm hoping we'll get into the studio by the end of the year."
  
  Asked about a possible 2013 release date for the new TOOL CD, Careysaid: "I doubt it. Right now, since we haven't started tracking stuff at this point, it'll be hard. We could have the record finished by the end of the year — that's a possibility, but the logistics of getting it manufactured and getting the record company in line and all this stuff, I doubt we'll be able to get it out before Christmas. We'll see how it goes. Most likely, it'll be early 2014."
  
  TOOL has not released a new album since 2006's "10,000 Days".
  
  Jones recently told Revolver magazine, "It's unfortunate that we haven't put anything out in a while, but you know, we've changed as a band . . . We've become even more eclectic and distant, so getting things done and getting together is very hard."

  
  

5/3/2013

• SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman passed away at about 11 a.m. today (Thursday, May 2) near his Southern California home. He was 49.Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael andLarry, and will be sorely missed. 
  
  Hanneman — who in January 2011 contracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and has been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since — spoke to U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine in the fall of 2011 about his recovery which has seen him sit out an entire two years' worth of touring with the band.
  
  Hanneman was kicking back in a hot tub with a couple of beers when noticed a spider bite him on the arm.
  
  "Didn't even feel it," he said. "But an hour later, I knew that I was ill." On his way to the hospital, "I could see the flesh corrupting," he recalled. "The arm was real hot. I got to the emergency room, and thank god the nurse knew straight away what it was. By chance, although it's pretty rare, she had seen a case a little while before. At that point, I was an hour away from death."
  
  Although the spider bite itself was not serious, it had caused bacterial infection in the deeper layers of the skin and tissues of the arm. 
  
  "Unbelievably, the doctor was a SLAYER fan," said Hanneman, "First thing he said to me was: 'First I am going to save your life. Then I am going to save your arm. Then I am going to save your career.'"
  
  Hanneman underwent emergency surgery to remove the dead and dying tissue. The doctor was able to save the muscles and the tendons, but the guitarist had a large open wound on his arm. He spent the next two months in hospital, having extensive skin grafts and heavy doses of antibiotics to suppress the infection.
  
  "I had to learn to walk again," Hanneman said: "I hadn't stood up for a month, apart from anything else. The skin grafts were very painful and all the muscles and tendons in the arm where very weak. That was OK, though. I count myself lucky that the nurse and doctor knew right away what had happened to me, because things could have been a whole lot worse."

4/10/2013

• "Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury", a new digital book by photographer Neal Preston, will be published on April 15.
  The in-depth, illustrated digital coffee-table book is created and designed especially for iBooks, providing an unprecedented and comprehensive glimpse into the world of LED ZEPPELIN through the lens of the famed photographer. 
  Blending images, interviews, and information to allow readers inside access into some of the greatest moments in rock history, "Sound and Fury"features hundreds of photos of the band from throughout their career (including over 100 that have never been seen before), audio introductions, written pieces, hi-definition video interviews, ephemera, commentary from contemporary artists, technical camera info, band discography, and more. 
  "Sound And Fury" includes a written introduction by Stevie Nicks.
  Features include: 
  * Over 250 photographs of LED ZEPPELIN onstage and behind the scenes (over 100 previously unpublished) 
  * 80 expandable contact sheets 
  * 25 audio commentaries 
  * 11 video interviews 
  * 44 samples of ephemera and memorabilia 
  * 24 LED ZEPPELIN setlists 
  "Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury" is available for pre-order now at iTunes.

3/13/2013

• Legendary rocker Alice Cooper recently spoke to RollingStone.com about his upcoming covers album, which he plans to start recording in December for a 2014 release.
  "We do a thing in our show, which is a tribute to Hollywood Vampires, my drinking club," Cooper explained. "And it was Keith Moon, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Micky Dolenz — a very eclectic bunch of drunks. Half of them are dead, so we do four songs in the show in tribute to them. We do 'Break On Through', 'Revolution', 'My Generation' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxey Lady'. I just kind of said, 'We've never done a covers album, let's think about that.' So [producer Bob] Ezrin and I are kind of bouncing it around right now."
  Asked what some of the wish-list songs are, Cooper said: "I would keep it right to about '73, '74. I don't want to just go anywhere. I want to keep it right in that sort of drunk era, so it's specific. I would say 'Break On Through', that's a really good rock track there. The other ones, think of it — Harry Nilsson, there's a lot of good stuff there that could be rocked out. I think of songs as being clay. Take a song like 'Jump Into the Fire' and take that to a harder level, and that'll work."
  

  British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN have released the following statement:
  
  "We are deeply saddened to report that Clive Burr passed away last night. He had suffered poor health for many years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and died peacefully in his sleep at home."
  
  IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris said: "This is terribly sad news. Clive was a very old friend of all of us. He was a wonderful person and an amazing drummer who made a valuable contribution to MAIDEN in the early days when we were starting out. This is a sad day for everyone in the band and those around him and our thoughts and condolences are with his partner Mimi and family at this time."
  
  Added MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson: "I first met Clive when he was leaving SAMSON and joining IRON MAIDEN. He was a great guy and a man who really lived his life to the full. Even during the darkest days of his M.S., Clive never lost his sense of humour or irreverence. This is a terribly sad day and all our thoughts are with Mimi and the family."
  
  Clive joined MAIDEN in 1979 and performed on the first three albums — "Iron Maiden" (1980), "Killers" (1981) and "The Number Of The Beast" (1982). Prior to that, he was a member of SAMSON, the band Bruce fronted before he, too, joined MAIDEN.
  
  IRON MAIDEN established the Clive Burr MS Trust Fund in 2002 to benefit Clive Burr.

3/10/2013

• MÖTLEY CRÜE was forced to play an abbreviated set earlier today (Sunday, March 10) at Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia during the band's tour with KISS and THIN LIZZY. CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx writes on Twitter: "Sorry, Sydney, for a short set tonight but Vince [Neil, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer] had to be rushed to the hospital for internal pain. Will update you on his progress." Guitarist Mick Mars added: "Sydney, my apologies for a short set this evening. Vince had an attack of kidney stones. He went straight from the stage to the hospital."
  
  
  

  Original KISS drummer Peter Criss will receive the first "Man Of Courage" award from The Beauty Foundation For Cancer Care, a non-profit organization that serves to alleviate the physical, financial and emotional burdens patients and their families face while coping with cancer. The new honor will be named "The Peter Criss Man Of Courage Award" after this year.
  "I think it's wonderful that The Beauty Foundation is giving exposure to male breast cancer," Criss said. "The more aware that men become that this is not just a woman's disease, the more lives that will be saved."
  Now in its seventh year, The Beauty Ball is The Beauty Foundation For Cancer Care's largest annual fundraising initiative. The Beauty Ball will take place on Saturday, April 13 at Trump National Golf Club in Colts Neck, N.J., at 7:00 p.m. The event will include an evening of dancing and casino action, with cocktails and food served throughout the night. Tickets are $275 each and can be purchased online at this location.
  While some men feel embarrassed because of "this macho crap," Criss told CNN surviving breast cancer was actually a blessing. He was treated before the tumor could spread and said he was speaking about male breast cancer to raise the profile of this rare disease.
  Criss, who played drums for KISS and was known as "Catman," offered this advice to men who spot lumps in their breast: "Don't sit around playing Mr. Tough Guy. Don't say 'It's going to go away.' It might not and you might not see life anymore and how beautiful that is."
  Criss, who is currently working on a new rock album, told Reuters his bout with cancer had affected his songwriting.
  "My lyrics are not so deep and dismal," he said.

1/29/2013

• ATTENTION WILLOW WISP FANS AND FUTURE CORPSES ALIKE!! We are urging you to help spread the word about our February 2013 tour.Please share the links below with your Friends and tell anyone you know about this MONSTER METAL EVENT!!
  Santa Ana:
  www.facebook.com/events/556877400994110

  Los Angeles:
  www.facebook.com/events/189670451170130

  Las Vegas (Cheyenne Saloon):
  www.facebook.com/events/293469374102841

  Reno (Knitting Factory):
  www.facebook.com/events/503106399713510

  San Francisco:
  www.facebook.com/events/490218827677788

  
  
  

11/03/2012

• Original KISS drummer Peter Criss' memoir, "Makeup to Breakup: My Life In And Out Of Kiss", landed at position No. 7 on the New York Times "Hardcover Nonfiction" best-sellers list. The book arrived on October 23 via the Simon & Schuster imprint Scribner. 
  
  An excerpt from "Makeup to Breakup: My Life In And Out Of Kiss", can be found at RollingStone.com. 
  Criss wrote the 320-page hardcover book with the help of Larry "Ratso" Sloman. 
  
  In a recent interview with "The Opie & Anthony Show", Criss revealed that a power struggle, with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on one side, and Peter and Ace Frehley on the other, led to his departure from KISS. "I could start feeling [Stanley and Simmons] wanting the power," he said. "The more we were going up the ladder of future and fame, the more it was kind of swaying to Mr. Simmons and Stanley. Ace and I were kind of not getting our musical [ideas] in. It's funny — I wrote the biggest hit the band [ever had] [the 1976 ballad 'Beth'], and meanwhile, I was kind of always getting put down for this stuff. So it was always a battle."
  
  According to Criss, he and Frehley were extremely close, which is why it was especially hurtful for the drummer to learn that Frehley was making more money when the farewell tour ended in 2000. "[It] broke my heart when [Ace] broke my heart," he said. "In the book, I tell the story, but towards the reunion, towards the end, I was devastated, man. I couldn't believe what went on. And it was again about the old M-O-N-E-Y. Money, money, money. Power, power, power. It never was enough for those guys."
  
  As previously reported, Criss will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, December 19 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with Criss by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). The show will be streamed on the "Rockline" web site for two weeks beginning the afternoon after the live broadcast. 
  
  For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.
  

• Legendary rocker Alice Cooper recently launched a new audio blog, "Me, Alice", at the web site of his radio show, "Nights with Alice Cooper".
  In a recent interview with the U.K.'s Independent, Cooper insisted that he and his band are "doing better tours now than we ever did." He added, "When I was 30, I was a mess. I was drinking a bottle of whisky a day. I did shows that weren't anywhere near as good as the shows I do now."
  Cooper, who calls himself a born-again Christian, also said that he believed the Bible was the literal word of God. "Yes, true each word," he said. "[God] has a plan for everybody. I look at my life and I think, 'How is it possible that I didn't die?'"
  The rocker also spoke about his live performance, saying, "I treat Alice in the third person, because I can't take him anywhere. He belongs on stage. But there was a gray area for quite a long time when I didn't know where I began and where Alice ended."
  He continued, "If you take the image away. I'm still in a bar band, because I've never grown out of it. I'll be the last guy who ever looks at the band and says, 'Turn it down'. But I love the character. I always say Alice Cooper's my favorite rock star. [My fans] don't want him to be human. They want him to be this otherworldly character."

  
  
• According to The Pulse of Radio, Jimmy Page confirmed that he's re-mastering all nine LED ZEPPELIN albums, with each set being readied as deluxe, expanded editions featuring, "extra music and bonus material." Page, who produced all of LED ZEPPELIN's live and studio albums, has served as the band's chief archivist and personally oversaw the re-mastering of the band's catalogue back in the nearly '90s.
  In Page's new interview with Mojo magazine, he explained, "There are a number of LED ZEPPELIN projects that will come out next year because there are different versions of tracks that we have that can be added to the album so there will be box sets of material that will come out, starting next year. There will be one box set per album with extra music that will surface."
  There has been no release date set for the box sets and it's not known whether the albums will be released at once or staggered, as was done by PINK FLOYD for their deluxe "Immersion" collections.
  Coming on November 19 will be LED ZEPPELIN's new live collection, "Celebration Day", which was recorded and filmed at ZEPPELIN's December 10, 2007 reunion show at London's O2 Arena. The concert film will be released on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc through Swan Song/Atlantic Records.

10/12/2012

• METALLICA — one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold 110 million albums worldwide and playing to millions of fans the world over — has just been confirmed as the Saturday (October 27) headliner for the 2012 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience. This marks the multi-platinum act's first local performance since 2008 and their first New Orleans festival appearance. 
  METALLICA will fill the slot previously held by GREEN DAY. The band joins a lineup that includes previously announced headliners NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE and Jack White, along with JUSTICE, Skrillex, AWOLNATION,Nas, KASKADE, THE AVETT BROTHERS, DIE ANTWOORD, SILVERSUN PICKUPS, Gary Clark Jr. and many more. 
  
  "We are excited to be part of our first ever Voodoo Music + Arts Experience," said METALLICA's Lars Ulrich. "Our good friends and fellow Bay Area residents GREEN DAY had to unfortunately cancel their plans to be there, so we are more than happy to fill in for them in our own unique way. We're hoping we can fill those very large shoes and do them proud." 
  
  Celebrated as the final musical event of the U.S. music festival season, this year's Voodoo — Friday, October 26, Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28 — will mark its 14th consecutive year. The Voodoo lineup annually features a variety of musical genres, which also reflects the cultural gumbo that defines this historic and beloved American city. 
  
  "After a hectic few days — and sleepless nights — having METALLICA, one of the world's greatest bands agree to perform at Voodoo in the place of GREEN DAY, only two weeks before the festival, feels pretty surreal at the moment — like being part of rock and roll history in the making… something you will tell your grandkids about years from now," says Stephen Rehage, the founder/producer of Voodoo. "We are incredibly grateful to METALLICA and their management team for supporting us in this unprecedented manner. I am sure METALLICA's performance at Voodoo will be remembered for many years to come."
  
  Tickets, camping passes, and more information on the 2012 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience is available at this location.

  
  
  
• According to The Pulse Of Radio, Jason Bonham says that he was able to live out all of his LED ZEPPELIN fantasies when he performed as part of the band on December 10, 2007 at London's O2 Arena. Bonham, who's currently on tour with his critically acclaimed LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE production, explained to the press earlier this week that after years of repeat viewing of the band's "The Song Remains The Same" movie featuring his father, the late John Bonham, it seemed to actually be coming true in the flesh.
  
  Bonham, who received raves for his 2007 performance, recalled the thrill of sitting behind the drums for his dad and playing the one-off gig. "I kept saying, 'I really am playing drums for LED ZEPPELIN!'" he said. "This really is something special, something I dreamed about all my life in a very strange way, But on the night, yeah, I remember there was one incident — and probably John [Paul Jones] won't remember it like I do, but I watched 'The Song Remains The Same' so many times that there was a look that I did with John in 'No Quarter', and I remember [thinking] 'I know! That was just like 'The Song Remains The Same'! He gave me the look!' And it probably wasn't for the same reason you did dad, but that was very, very special for me, honestly." "That was the 'Where are we' look," laughed John Paul Jones. "Yeah," replied Jason.


• POISON's Bret Michaels and TWISTED SISTER's Dee Snider will appear in the first-ever "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice", it was announced earlier today (Friday, October 12) on NBC's "Today" show. The new series will start shooting on Monday for a March 2013 premiere.
  One month after suffering a brain hemorrhage and just days after being re-admitted to the hospital for a warning stroke, Michaels won the title of"The Celebrity Apprentice" in May 2010, beating out actress Holly Robinson Peete. 
  Michaels recently told CBSNews.com that he was honored to be a part of the NBC show.
  "It's such an amazing addition to my life and where it's gone," he said.
  "I think that winning 'Apprentice' was such an amazing amazing feeling,"Michaels added. "At the very end of ours, it came down to three people...Sharon Osbourne, myself and Holly Robinson Peete. And all three were fighting for three very personal causes. Holly's son with autism, Sharonfighting for colon cancer, which has affected her, and me with my diabetes... Passion supersedes everything. You can have as much arguing and fighting as you want but when people are actually fighting for a real cause close to their heart, then that makes it the best emotion to watch."
  Snider was fired from "The Celebrity Apprentice" in April but only after raising $325,000 for the March Of Dimes by winning a challenge.
  The TWISTED SISTER singer told Parade that he went out of his way to avoid arguing with the likes of Debbie Gibson and Arsenio Hall while vying for the "Apprentice" title.
  "I was terrible in [TWISTED SISTER]. I was the lead singer, so I was selfish and self-absorbed," Snider said. "I tried to learn from that and be a team player. I worked hard to play nice since I didn't in the past."

8/28/2012

• The Rolling Stones
   will play four dates in November, two at London's O2 Arena and two at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a source tells Billboard.

  Richard Branson and Australian promoter Paul Dainty will promote, and the source says the STONES will be paid $25 million for the four shows.

   

  Earlier this year, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards said the ROLLING STONES wouldn't go on tour in 2012 to celebrate the band's 50th golden anniversary. But in July, Richards dropped hints to the BBC
   about possible live shows.

  "We're playing around with the idea and had a couple of rehearsals," he said. "We've got together, and it feels so good." The 68-year-old guitarist added: "There's things in the works; I think it's definitely happening. But when? I can't say yet."

  Michael Cohl -- who's produced Rolling Stones tours from 1989's Steel Wheels through their last, the $558 million-grossing (according to Boxscore) Bigger Bang tour of 2005-2007 -- told Billboard.biz
   in late June that he didn't have any current information about a 50th Anniversary tour for the band.

  "Nothing I know of," he said. "Not even off the record. On the record, off the record, it's all the same. I got nothin' today."

  Don Was, who produced several STONES albums including "Voodoo Lounge" and "Bridges to Babylon," told Billboard
   in July that plans were being formulated, just nothing set in stone.

  "They're getting together, and there's a number of plans on the table, but what they'll do is still coming together," he said.




• A series of special limited-edition IRON MAIDEN vinyl picture-disc albums are due to be released by EMI starting in October. Comprised of the first eight albums of MAIDEN's career, all released in the 1980s, each picture disc will be packaged in a gatefold sleeve with full-color printed inner bags and the heavyweight vinyl will be cut from the original album master tapes. 
  
  The albums will be released chronologically between October and February, starting with "Iron Maiden" and "Killers" on October 15, followed by "The Number Of The Beast" and "Piece Of Mind" in November.
  
  To open the New Year, "Powerslave" and the double album "Live After Death" will be released in January, with the final two titles, "Somewhere In Time" and "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son", coming out in February. 
  
  These vinyl picture discs are being released to commemorate IRON MAIDEN's current "Maiden England" tour, which comprises largely '80s material, in particular focusing on the "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son"album. 
  
  

• According to Metal Sucks, Philip Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA, ARSON ANTHEM, SUPERJOINT RITUAL) and BloodyDisgusting.com writer Corey Mitchell have secured a deal with Jeremie Ruby-Strauss, senior editor at Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books imprint, for Anselmo's autobiography, which will tentatively be titled "Mouth For War: Pantera, Pain, & Pride - Heavy Metal Highs, Drugged Out Lows, & The Battle For My Life".Corey will co-author the book, which is described as "a no-holds-barred look inside of Philip's brain, his history with PANTERA, the loss of his best-friend,Dimebag Darrell, and an unflinching examination into the downward spiral of pain and drug addiction that nearly cost him his life." A 2014 release is expected.
  
  Anselmo's former PANTERA and DOWN bandmate Rex Brown last year signed a deal with Da Capo Press to write a memoir. Due in 2013, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera" is described as a "starkly honest and revealing" book about Rex's time in one of the most influential and enduringly popular bands in heavy metal history, offering Brown's shocking personal insight into a band that had swapped the grimy clubs of Texas for arenas around the world but whose story would ultimately be touched by tragedy.  

  
  
  
• Frontiers Records has set a September 25 North American release date for"Broken Bones", the 11th studio album from melodic hard rockers DOKKEN. The effort will be released in two configurations: standard CD and limited-edition CD in digipak with a bonus DVD, which features a comprehensive "Making Of The Album" documentary. 
  
  "Broken Bones" was produced by DOKKEN frontman and namesake Don Dokken and was mixed by Bob St. John (EXTREME, DURAN DURAN,COLLECTIVE SOUL) and Wyn Davis (BLACK SABBATH, DIO,WHITESNAKE) and mastered by famed engineer Maor Appelbaum(HALFORD, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, SEPULTURA). The new set features a return to the band's signature sound of catchy melodies, hot riffs and monster production. 
  
  Don Dokken stated in a recent interview about the "Broken Bones" album title, "[It] is a metaphor that we all have broken bones, be it from an accident, failed relationship, or a broken heart. Everybody gets wounded as we go through life, but, as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." 
  
  Dokken previously described the band's new material as "very up tempo and heavy." He added, "We know our fans like the classic DOKKEN sound, and this is where our new music is headed. It's been a band of brothers doing what we love: 'music.'"  

   

• Coming this October is "Slash: An Intimate Portrait", a new 144-page hardcover book by Richard Bienstock, with photography by Robert Knight.
  
  GUNS N' ROSES' 1987 debut, "Appetite For Destruction", is eighteen times platinum, has sold over twenty-eight million copies, and launched the career of modern guitar god Slash. Over the past twenty-five years,Slash's cool stage presence, gloriously unkempt hair, iconic top hat, and soulful guitar virtuosity has been the epitome of contemporary hard rock."Slash: An Intimate Portrait" takes you beyond the glitz and mystique, to reveal the warmth, charm, and humility of one of popular music's most revered rockers. 
  
  In addition to his cherished work with GN'R, Slash's journey spans working with Michael Jackson, Fergie, Iggy Pop, Lenny Kravitz, the supergroupVELVET REVOLVER, and releasing two critically acclaimed solo albums.Robert Knight's photographs in "Slash: An Intimate Portrait" trace significant milestones over twenty years in Slash's career, showing him onstage, in the studio, and at home. Knight's talent for capturing the true essence of his subject is on full display: candid, dramatic, and often funny. These photos take us beyond the big hair, the big hat, and the huge guitar riffs to underscore the larger-than-life personality and genuine enthusiasm that have made Slash one of rock's most recognizable figures for more than three decades. With over one hundred arresting and never-before-published color and black-and-white photos, and warmly candid insights from Slashhimself, this fascinating book frames a real and complete perspective of today's most iconic guitarist. 
  
  "Slash: An Intimate Portrait" features an entertaining and insightful foreword by close friend and legend in his own right, THE ROLLING STONESguitarist Ronnie Wood, and a witty and thoughtful preface fromAEROSMITH's Joe Perry. The book also has revelatory text by noted rock scribe Richard Bienstock. 
  
  "Slash: An Intimate Portrait" is a treat for guitar heads, rock buffs, and pop music fans. Plus, it will be released just in time to visually complement an upcoming special edition of Slash's highly regarded sophomore solo record, "Apocalyptic Love".  

• MÖTLEY CRÜE recently released a brand new song called "Sex" to coincide with the launch of the band's North American co-headlining tour with KISS. But CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx tells Billboard.com that there are currently no plans for the group to record a full album's worth of material.
  
  "It takes time to put together music," Sixx said. "Right now we're just writing music. There's tons of material always there — there's riffs for days, ideas, choruses here, verses there. For us, it's how many songs have we written (and) how many do we love and what do we want to do with them? It's about finding the time to go home, be off the road, get everybody in a room and start riffing and see where it does."
  
  Written when the band was together during their residency in Las Vegas last February, "Sex" was the first studio track from the CRÜE since their June 2008 release of "Saints Of Los Angeles". 
  
  "We happened to have this song everyone was really excited about, so instead of saying, 'Let's add it to the pile of songs we have and we'll sort 'em out later,' we were, 'Hey, let's finish this one up,'" Sixx toldBillboard.com. "We got it out there for the fans, for the tour, and it's exciting for the band to play something new. We love the classics and the hits, and I know the fans love that, too, but to be able to play something new is great.
  
  "We wanted to save that big push for when we do (an album)," he added, "but the way the song is connecting with people feels like the way the music used to connect with people when we were a baby band and just had our first record out. The song really seems to work." 

• The self-titled debut album from CHICKENFOOT will be re-released as a deluxe double-disc version on October 16. The set will feature live tracks recorded on the band's "Different Devil" tour this past spring while supporting its sophomore album, "Chickenfoot III". 
  
  Commented CHICKENFOOT front man Sammy Hagar: "'Chickenfoot' will always be special to me for exactly what it is. 
  
  "Our former label went out of business and the album had been discontinued. You could not find the album anywhere, which is crazy! We got the masters back and our new label will re-release the first album and we thought we should include some live tracks from 'Chickenfoot lll'."
  
  "Chickenfoot" deluxe version track listing:
  
  Disc 1
  
  01. Avienda Revolution
  02. Soap On A Rope
  03. Sexy Little Thing
  04. Oh Yeah
  05. Runnin Out
  06. Get It Up
  07. Down The Drain
  08. My Kinda Girl
  09. Learning To Fall
  10. Turnin Left
  11. Future Is The Past
  
  Disc 2
  
  01. Bitten By The Wolf
  02. Lighten Up (live in Chicago May 12, 2012)
  03. Big Foot (live in Seattle June 6, 2012)
  04. Last Temptation (live in Seattle June 6, 2012)
  05. Something Going Wrong (live in Boston May 16, 2012) 

  
  

8/04/2012

• JUDAS PRIEST front man Rob Halford says that LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe's five-week incarceration in the Czech Republic will result in a "colossal" new album from the Richmond, Virginia metal band. 
  
  Blythe returned to the United States yesterday (Friday, August 3) after spending more than a month in a Prague prison in connection with the 2010 death of a fan at one of LAMB OF GOD's shows. The singer was accused of shoving a local fan off the stage during the group's May 2010 concert in the city. The man, who is said to have stormed the stage three times during the show, reportedly suffered a brain hemorrhage that resulted in his death nearly a month later. 
  
  "I don't think anybody has the full story, only Randy does, and I'm sure he'll be bombarded by press soon to talk about what exactly happened," Halford told Loudwire. "My heart was with him, just like everyone else. It's very hard to be in a jail, especially in a foreign country. He was in there for over a month, right? It's very difficult. I'm just happy he's out now."
  
  Halford added, "I can't wait to hear him channel this into the music. Man that next LAMB OF GOD record is going to be like a nuclear bomb, because he's going to be venting. He needs to get this out of his system."
  
  The JUDAS PRIEST front man, who is currently on a break while the band prepares to return to the studio to resume work on a new album, also offered the following suggestion to Randy: "Go home, see all your loved ones and your family, do all the hugging and kissing and crying, and then get on the fucking road and just explode. Vent. Vent it all out. I know that as musicians that's what we do. I have a feeling that the next LAMB OF GOD album is going to be colossal from an emotional point of view."
  
  In 1990, JUDAS PRIEST became the focus of a high-profile lawsuit that charged the band with hiding subliminal messages in its music that led to the deaths of two fans.
  
  According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, other lawsuits at that time sought damages because of violent lyrics in music, but the JUDAS PRIEST case was one of the first to claim that subliminal messages hidden behind those lyrics caused the deaths of two young men.  

  
  
  
• Guitarist Jeremy "Jinxx" Ferguson and bassist Ashley Purdy of Los Angeles theatrical rockers BLACK VEIL BRIDES joined Sebastian Bach on stage during his August 2 concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles to perform a couple of songs. 
  
  Commented Bach: "Words cannot describe how thankful and appreciative I am to the band BLACK VEIL BRIDES for helping me out in Los Angeles the other night. Jinxx came up on stage and kicked ass on a couple of tunes and looked incredible in his full stage regalia. Ashley came up on 'Youth Gone Wild'; it was totally great. These guys are such an awesome band and such true rockers and very good friends, too. Thank you so much Jinxx, Ashley and CC for coming to the show. I am proud to call you freaks my true rockin' brothers!" 
  
  In an August 2011 interview, Bach said that BLACK VEIL BRIDES was one of several new bands that he enjoyed listening to, describing them as "like early MÖTLEY CRÜE wearing black leather, studs and teased up hair." He added in a separate interview, "I love the new record by BLACK VEIL BRIDES, 'Set The World On Fire'. I listen to it from the first song right to the last song and I love it! That's a great new album!" 

7/30/2012

• MINISTRY's management has released the following statement:
  
  "[On Saturday] July 28, 2012 [in] Paris [France at] 9:05 p.m. MINISTRY frontman Al Jourgensen collapsed onstage during the live MINISTRY performance and was rushed to hospital via ambulance where he was examined by numerous physicians and diagnosed to have had a full-system collapse due to extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion intensified by the lack of ventilation on stage at the venue. Doctors confirm via blood tests conducted that Jourgensen's alcohol blood levels were well below normal and no narcotics were found in his system. 
  
  "As a result, MINISTRY has cancelled today's appearance at the L'Etaples, France Rock En Stock festival in order to allow Mr. Jourgensen a few days rest to recuperate and receive additional medical attention in Switzerland. Jourgensen fully intends to complete the remaining shows on the MINISTRY 'DeFiBriLlaTouR' European leg.
  
  "Jourgensen extends his most sincere apologies to his devoted Parisian fans who displayed so much love, respect and concern for him before and after the MINISTRY show." 
  
  Said Jourgensen: "I will make it up to you, somehow. I love Paris, I love the Parisian people. I'm so sorry… but shit happens and the shit hit the fan for me last night."
  
  Jourgensen officially reformed MINISTRY last year after a three-year hiatus and released a new studio album, "Relapse", in March. 

  
  
• KISS will release its 20th studio album, "Monster", on October 16 throughUniversal Music Enterprises. Described in a press release as a "12-track, straight-ahead rock 'n' roll album," the CD features collaborations among all four members — including co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and longtime members guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer — in an album that shows the band at the top of its game. 
  
  "Monster" is the group's first studio album since the band's 2009 smash success, "Sonic Boom", and was also produced by Paul Stanley with Greg Collins at Conway Studios in Hollywood, California, and The Nook in Studio City, California. 
  
  "Monster" represents KISS' nod to the music that first inspired them to pick up their guitars and flame-throwers and don makeup to entertain millions. The group goes back to their own beginnings with THE WHO-like "Freak", while Gene lives up to the title track's declaration on the raucous rock of"Back To The Stone Age" and the bludgeoning "The Devil is Me". Even guitarist Thayer takes a turn on his own with "Outta This World". a tribute to his KISS "spaceman" character, while drummer Singer provides the vocals (and the back story) for the arena anthem "All For The Love Of Rock & Roll". 
  
  
• SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya recently spoke to Gary Graff of Billboard.com about the band's plans for the remainder of the year after it wraps its run on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in early August. "We'll probably get together and start writing together and start making a new album," he said. "I think after [Mayhem] we'll just go back to the drawing board and take a look at what we've got and start putting it together. These days we're a bit more like, 'Let's see what comes out.' We don't chomp at the bit like we did in the early days. You just sort of have to let it happen and see what the end result is, and hopefully we'll like it...Everything we've done as a band has been like that — 'Wow, let's do it.' We know the outcome is going to be good." 
  
  Regarding the status of guitarist Jeff Hanneman — who in January 2011 contracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and has been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since — Araya said, "Jeff's had a long ordeal. He's working on his playing ability, and that's something that's gonna take some time. He's working on strengthening his arm and his ability to play. He can play, but it's not for an extended period of time. Like anything else when you have some kind of not only muscle damage but nerve damage, it takes a bit for a lot of your functions to come back. They're not going to come back and easy and quick."
  
  He added, "On this [latest tour] more than others it's dawned on me that he's not there. The audiences have been very favorable, capacity crowds, really good. I just kind of look out and think, 'Jeff, God, where are you? You worked 30 years for this. You should be here.' He should be enjoying this part of his career. I can't wait for him to (be back)."
  
  EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt is filling in for Hanneman on SLAYER's summer tour, which kicked off at the end of May at All Tomorrow's Parties in England.  
  

7/26/2012

• DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Jon Lord has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at age 71. 
  
  A message at his web site states: 
  
  "It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Jon Lord, who suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism today, Monday, July 16th at the London Clinic, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jon was surrounded by his loving family. 
  
  "Jon Lord, the legendary keyboard player with DEEP PURPLE co-wrote many of the bands legendary songs including 'Smoke On The Water' and played with many bands and musicians throughout his career. 
  
  "Best known for his orchestral work Concerto For Group & Orchestra first performed at Royal Albert Hall with DEEP PURPLE and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969 and conducted by the renowned Malcolm Arnold, a feat repeated in 1999 when it was again performed at the Royal Albert Hall by the London Symphony Orchestra and DEEP PURPLE. 
  
  "Jon's solo work was universally acclaimed when he eventually retired from  DEEP PURPLE in 2002."
  
  In addition to DEEP PURPLE, Lord played in WHITESNAKE — the band led by ex-PURPLE singer David Coverdale — from 1978 to 1984, having appeared on the albums "Trouble", "Lovehunter", "Ready An' Willing","Come An' Get It", "Saints & Sinners" and "Slide It In". 
  
  Jon Lord is survived by his wife Vickie and two daughters — Amy and Sara. 

  
  

6/29/2012

• Adrenaline PR, which handles publicity for Richmond, Virginia metallersLAMB OF GOD, has released the following statement regarding the reports that the band's vocalist Randy Blythe was arrested yesterday (Thursday, June 28) in the Czech Republic and charged with manslaughter over an incident that happened more than two years ago:
  
  "LAMB OF GOD management will be issuing an official statement on Monday regarding the charges made against singer Randy Blythe. As no formal charges have yet been made and the case is only in the investigation stages, it would be premature to make an official statement filled with false truths or innuendos. 
  
  "Having said that, management wished to address today one false piece of information that has been included in many of the news stories released so far. Under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved. This incident deals with a fan that three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance. It is alleged that the third time, security was not able to reach him and that Randy pushed him back into the audience where supposedly he fell and hit his head. 
  
  "Again, until the investigation is concluded this weekend, nothing more will be released, but clarity and the facts needed to be addressed on this one reported point which is totally inaccurate."
  
  The incident in question took place during the band's show at the Prague club Abaton in May 2010.
  
  When LAMB OF GOD arrived on Thursday to play a show at the Rock Café in Prague with SKELETONWITCH and ALL SHALL PERISH, the local police brought Blythe in for questioning. LAMB OF GOD's appearance at the venue was canceled later in the day.
  
  Randy's brother, Mark Blythe, told CBS-6 that he's awaiting further details and said the charge is "bogus and outrageous and will be dropped immediately." 

6/24/2012

• Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) recently answered a number of fan-submitted questions via his official YouTube channel.
  
  When asked about former PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott's recent comment that if PANTERA ever reformed, Zakk would be the man to replace the band's late guitarist — and Vinnie's brother — "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Zakk said. "My thoughts on the PANTERA thing… Everybody's been asking me about it now, too. Which is cool. I love [Vinnie Paul]. Rex [Brown, PANTERA bassist] I saw at my roast [in January]. It was great seeing Rex again. And Phil [Anselmo, PANTERA singer], I know. . . Put it this way, if the guys were ever to do that and they asked me to… Obviously, it would be to honor Dimebag's greatness and the band's amazing achievements. I mean, to me, as far as I'm concerned, if the guys were to do it, it would just be a celebration of everything they achieved and a celebration of Dime's life and Dime's greatness. So, of course, I'd be honored to play my fallen brother's stuff, without a doubt. And I know he'd be getting a kick out if it, too. That's for sure; he'd be laughing his ass off. But that's all up to the guys. So whatever… I'd always be there for them. Without a doubt."
  
  Speaking to Cindy Scull of the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas radio station 97.1 The Eagle Rocks back in March, Vinnie Paul stated about the possibility of a PANTERA "reunion" with Wylde filling in for Dimebag. "[Zakk] and my brother were so tight. If [a PANTERA reformation] ever were to happen, [Zakk] would be the guy [to step in for Dimebag]. But I honestly think, out of respect for my brother, we should just leave the 14 amazing years PANTERA had be. We're all happy doing our own thing. We have to continue living and do other things."
  
  Last month, former PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo was asked by Ned of the WGRD 97.9 FM radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan about the likelihood of a PANTERA reformation with Wylde, "That's an interesting question," he said. "Well, look, before anything like that could possibly happen, Vince and I would have to actually be in the same room, we'd have to sit down, hash out whatever differences, demons… whatever… we'd have to hash it all out. And as far as Zakk Wylde goes, I'm not so sold on all that, because I think he and I have to sit down and hash some crap out. That day has not come yet, and [when] that day comes, I can comment further on it. As of right now, it's just talk."
  
  Former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown also addressed the possibility of Wylde taking Dimebag's place in a reformed PANTERA. He told the San Antonio Metal Music Examiner last month, "You know, we keep hearing rumors about a reunion with Zakk Wylde on guitar, and that is such bullshit. You can't replace my brother."

  6/08/2012

• According to The Pulse Of Radio, former Warner Bros. Records executive Ted Cohen alleges in a new LA Weekly interview that VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen's first wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, was at least partly responsible for the group's 1985 split with singer David Lee Roth. Cohen, who was an artist development director at the label during the band's early years, said that the arrival of Bertinelli in Eddie's life around 1980 began to drive a wedge between the guitarist and his band mates.

  Cohen said that Bertinelli believed that Eddie should receive the bulk of the credit for the band's success, with Roth being replaceable. Cohen disagreed, saying, "David was an integral part of the band's success. He was brilliant." Cohen added that Eddie began to distance himself from the rest of the band, although he claims that Eddie finally admitted to Cohen one night at a bar that marrying Bertinelli was a "terrible mistake."

  Although the couple stayed together for more than two decades, Cohen said it was no surprise that Roth returned to the group in 2007, two years after Eddie and Bertinelli divorced. Cohen said, "If Valerie had never appeared on the scene, David would probably have never been kicked out in the first place."

  Reps for both VAN HALEN and Bertinelli did not respond to L.A. Weekly's requests for a comment.

• Las Vegas metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH have announced a suicide prevention initiative promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In cooperation with the Lifeline, the band has filmed a public-service announcement, which will be placed on all broadcast, cable and web outlets interested in supporting the initiative. The PSA can be screened below. In addition, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has independently filmed a visually arresting video that accompanies the single release of "Coming Down", which will premiere on VEVO on June 12 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific. The final screen of the music video offers a call to action in sharing, "Don't ignore the chance to get help for you or someone you know who might be in crisis. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline now at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), suicidepreventionlifeline.org." 

  
  
• According to Ticketmaster.com, SLIPKNOT will headline the inaugural installment of their own festival, Knotfest, on Friday, August 17 at Mid America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa.
  Scheduled performers:
  SLIPKNOT
  
  DEFTONES
  
  LAMB OF GOD
  
  DETHKLOK
  
  SERJ TANKIAN
  
  THE URGE
  
  PRONG
  
  Tickets go on sale on Friday, June 8 at 10:00 a.m. CDT.
  As previously announced, SLIPKNOT's greatest-hits album, "Antennas To Hell", is scheduled for release on July 17 via Roadrunner Records.
  
  There is no word yet on which tracks will be included on "Antennas To Hell", and if it will contain any previously unheard music or other bonus content.
  
  SLIPKNOT will headline the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour this summer in the U.S., starting on June 30 in Devore, California.
  

5/28/2012

• 5 new atrocities in musical form from Hollywood's Hybrid Metal freaks Willow Wisp.....
  Please listen and comment and spread the news like evil butter!! (link below)
  
  
  

  http://soundcloud.com/willow-wisp-official

5/18/2012

• VAN HALEN has abruptly postponed all tour dates after their June 26th show in New Orleans with no explanation. The band yanked more than 30 long-planned dates, including shows in Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Salt Lake City and El Paso. Local promoters United Concerts and AEG issued statements regarding some postponed shows to local media, including the Salt Lake Tribune and Las Cruces Sun-News, but no details have been offered yet about rescheduled dates or refunds.
  Most of the tour is promoted by Live Nation, whose reps wouldn't comment. The band's rep also had no comment. A source with knowledge of the tour tells Rolling Stone that VAN HALEN'S members "hate each other." Adds the source, "The band is arguing like mad. They are fighting."
  
  
• Scott Weiland has confirmed that he will reunite with VELVET REVOLVER and that the band is going to hit the road next fall. In an interview with ABC News, Weiland revealed that he is already writing with his old band mates and that they have moved past their petty differences. "They gave me a couple of songs and myself and Dave (guitarist Dave Kushner) and Duff (bassist Duff McKagan) are gonna be getting together for a song writing session next week," he explained.



• MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE guitarist Frank Iero has confirmed that the band is likely to commence recording on a new album next month. During an interview with The Aquarian, Iero said the band has written most of the songs for the album and is thrilled to put them down on tape. "It's going really well, actually. I'm really excited. I can't wait to start tracking. I think we're maybe a month away from the record button lighting up," he said of pre-production for the album. 

• A concert DVD filmed on Alice Cooper's 1979 Madhouse Rock Tour, The Strange Case of Alice Cooper, is set to hit retailers on May 22. Cooper, in full shock-schlock garb, prowls the stage on several tracks from his 1978 album From the Inside including "School's Out," "No More Mr. Nice Guy," "I'm Eighteen" and "I Never Cry." The DVD "is a must watch for any Cooper fan. Taken from his tour in 1979, the DVD showcases Alice in his heyday,



• AC/DC are reportedly still at least a "year or two" away from releasing a new album, says guitarist Malcolm Young. In an interview with Classic Rock, Young says that singer Brian Johnson may have been too optimistic when he claimed that they would be finished sooner. "You know what Brian's like. He just says things and then walks away. It'll be a little while - a year or two anyway. I've been doing some jamming on some song ideas but I do that all the time, as do the rest of the band," Young explained. The band's last album was 2008's Black Ice and they released a live DVD AC/DC: Live At River Plate last year. He continued: "We are still working. But we had a long rest between Stiff Upper and Black Ice, so I think we need a couple of years to recuperate and work on it a bit more."

4/27/2012

• A long lost unreleased duet between the late Kurt Cobain and wife Courtney Love entitled "Stinking of You" is now seeing the light of day.
  Fans can hear the song during rare footage of grunge's first couple which has been excerpted from the documentary Hit So Hard, a documentary about the life of former HOLE drummer Patty Schemel.
  In addition, Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson told Fuse TV that Cobain had been working on a solo album in the months before his death.
  "He was headed in a direction that was really cool," Erlandson said. "It would have been his White Album. That's really what he was going towards, a solo album but working with different people . . . I was really excited about some of the stuff he was working on. I got to see him play it in front of me. That's why I was really sad when he died. He was cut short. Who knows where this music would have gone?
  
  
• METALLICA will be part of a tribute to Ronnie James Dio and DEEP PURPLE on an upcoming compilation organized by Dio's widow, Wendy. Ronnie died of cancer in 2010 after a protracted battle.
  "We reached out to Wendy Dio about wanting to be a part of the Dio tribute that's getting put together," said METALLICA's James Hetfield in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine.
  Others mentioned for the project include Rob Halford, Sebastian Bach, Dave Grohl, Ian Gillan and Lemmy Kilmister.
  "I'm letting them pick what songs they wanna do in the way they wanna do it," Wendy told Artisan News.
  "We're circling the DIO and PURPLE catalogues and hopefully we'll come up with something that is worthy of these wonderful men," added drummer Lars Ulrich.
  The tribute is slated for a late 2012 release.
  
  
• Jack White will write, produce and perform the soundtrack to Disney's upcoming adaptation of The Lone Ranger, according to producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The new project serves as White's first film soundtrack. "Jack's an amazing songwriter with a unique style," Bruckheimer told Variety. "We're all very excited to have him on board." Johnny Depp is said to be "thrilled" that White will write the soundtrack.
  
  
• The release date for AEROSMITH's upcoming album has been pushed back from the spring to the fall. This means that the album will not be out in time for the launch of their "Global Warming" tour which begins June 16 in Minneapolis. AEROSMITH bassist Tom Hamilton, speaking with a radio station in St. John's, Newfoundland, said the album should be "just about done" in time for their Freshwater Suzuki Salmon Festival in Grand Falls Windsor on July 14.



• The release of ZZ TOP's first new album in nine years is being pushed back. ZZ TOP member Billy Gibbons explained that the delay was not the doing of the band, but instead was due to the insistence of producer Rick Rubin.
  "I guess the irony of the whole picture is that the band is wondering. Where is this thing?" Gibbons said to Noise11's Paul Cashmere.
  "When do we hear it? Rick's funny. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. Triple decades and this is the first time we have broken the mold as business pals."
  Gibbons did defend the producer, though, saying that the final product would probably justify the delay. Gibbons explained that Rubin "has a sense of intuition that can't be beat."
  "The only real directive was 'don't change much' and I said 'okay' and he said 'listen, if we stumble into something that's really insane and it works I'm going to keep it' and I said 'that's good.'"
  Meanwhile Gibbons is keeping himself busy with the launch of his new BBQ sauce.

4/13/2012

• One of the most legendary, influential and enduring names in the history of rock music, SWEET will release a brand new studio album — their first since "Sweetlife" — on April 27.
  
  With worldwide album sales of more than 55 million copies, SWEET have notched 34 No. 1 smashes across the globe as part of a run of timeless hits that includes "Blockbuster!", "Hell Raiser", "The Ballroom Blitz", "The Six Teens", "Action", "Fox On The Run" and "Love Is Like Oxygen". Seen on "Top Of The Pops" on what felt like a weekly basis throughout the 1970s, their über-harmonious, multi-tracked guitar work and layered production was to provide inspiration to other acts such as QUEEN, the ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA and, in later decades, DEF LEPPARD,MÖTLEY CRÜE and THE DARKNESS.
  
  Now comes "New York Connection". Recorded by original member Andy Scott (guitar and vocals) and his current lineup of Pete Lincoln (lead vocals and bass guitar), Tony O'Hora (guitar, keyboards and vocals) and Bruce Bisland (drums and vocals), the new album is a selection of material originally penned by other artists awarded the band's instantly recognizable thumb-print.
  
  
• As correctly predicted by BLABBERMOUTH.NET on April 11, Philip Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA, ARSON ANTHEM, SUPERJOINT RITUAL) and legendary BLACK SABBATH/HEAVEN & HELL bassist Geezer Butler made special guest appearances at the third installment of Samson's "Metal Masters" series, which was held last night (Thursday, April 12) at the Key Club on the famed Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California.
  
  Anselmo joined David Ellefson (MEGADETH), Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER), Frank Bello (ANTHRAX), Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX), Kerry King (SLAYER) and Chris Broderick (MEGADETH) to perform SLAYER's "Raining Blood" and "Angel Of Death" as well as the PANTERA classics "A New Level", "Mouth For War", "Walk" and "This Love". Butler then got up on stage with all the other musicians to close out the night with a cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Hole In The Sky" — complete with Anselmo on lead vocals.
  
  
• A new book spanning the career of legendary rocker Alice Cooper will be published on June 13 in the U.K., and September 1 in the USA via Omnibus Press. Titled "Welcome To My Nightmare: The Story Of Alice Cooper", it is written by Dave Thompson, who has many rock books under his belt.
  
  The book's official description: "Drawing from exclusive and unpublished interviews with a variety of names and faces from throughout Alice's career, the book follows Cooper's tale from his life growing up as a preacher's son in Arizona, through the early years of struggle in Phoenix and then Los Angeles, and then onto the roller coaster ride that has been the years since then. Includes interviews with original band mates Michael Bruce and the late Glenn Buxton, drummer Neal Smith, the late Frank Zappa, manager Shep Gordon and producer Bob Ezrin. Includes tributes and recollections from many of the artists who call Alice an influence — from THE DAMNED and THE CRAMPS, to WHITE ZOMBIE and GWAR. Session players and songwriters who have made their own contributions to the Alice story recall their days spent with this Prince of Hell-raisers. The result is a story that alternately thrills, shocks, surprises and delights. Includes full discography and bibliography."
  

3/29/2012

• Original GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler says that the band's lead singer, Axl Rose, is driving the GN'R name "into the freakin' ground" by continuing to tour with a bunch of "hacks" that "shouldn't even be [called]GUNS N' ROSES." Although Slash recently confirmed that the original lineup of GUNS N' ROSES would not perform at its upcoming induction into Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the guitarist and Adler have both made it clear that they are not to blame — and in fact would like to see it happen.
  
  "[Slash is] my brother. I know he's up to it," Adler told Loudwire in an interview conducted earlier today. "He wants to do it. I want to do it. Just from what I hear, Izzy [Stradlin]'s not gonna show up and Axl will probably want to play with his hack band — his band of hacks. 'Axl and His Hacks' — it shouldn't even be GUNS N' ROSES. He's just driving that name into the freakin' ground. 'Axl and His Hacks.'"
  
  Rose was ambivalent in a recent interview about the Hall Of Fame, and told Billboard.com in 2009 that he could never see himself playing with Slash again, saying, "One of the two of us will die before a reunion. However sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is."
  
  Adler told Loudwire, "My grandmother always said, 'Time heals all wounds.' Slash and Axl are one to each other. It's not like one of them slept with one of them's wives or anything — and even that's forgivable after a while. There is no reason to be upset."
  
  The 27th annual Hall Of Fame ceremony will be held on April 14. In addition to GUNS N' ROSES, other artists being inducted include the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, the BEASTIE BOYS, the FACES/SMALL FACES, DONOVAN and LAURA NYRO.
  
  The ceremony will be taped for broadcast by HBO, which plans to air it in early May.
  
  
• The storage facility in Los Angeles which houses the Alice Cooper archives was broken into on March 27, along with three other storage units. A police report has been filed. Items missing include a large quantity of original vinyl records, a jacket, and the original sculpture which was used for the cover of the "Hey Stoopid" album.
  With multiple units broken into, it is not believed that Alice's archives were specifically targeted. If anyone sees anything suspicious or hears anything about these stolen items — especially on the Internet or in Los Angeles —contact archives@alicecooper.com
  .
• The organizers of the U.K. edition of the Sonisphere festival have confirmed the cancelation of this year's event, which was due to take place July 6-8 at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. The news first broke online last night when headliners QUEEN posted a message on their web site that their much-anticipated performance with"American Idol" alum Adam Lambert was being called off. By yesterday afternoon, however, all mention of the Knebworth show had disappeared from QUEEN's web site. Aside from QUEEN and Lambert's performance, the festival's bill also included KISS — who has also performed with Lambert during the "Idol" Season 8 finale — INCUBUS, THE DARKNESS and EVANESCENCE. Sonisphere was reportedly struggling to sell tickets for this year's edition of the festival, despite being one of the U.K.'s few remaining true rock events. Commented the organizers: "It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012.
  
  
• Australia rock band JET has announced that they are breaking up after 11 years together. The band released three studio albums during their career and sold over 6.5 million records.
  "After many successful years of writing, recording and touring we wish to announce our discontinuation as a group," the band said in a statement.
  
  They continued: "From the many pubs, theatres, stadiums and festivals all across the world it was the fans that made our amazing story possible and we wish to thank them all. Thank you, and good night."
  
  The group, which consisted of brothers Nic and Chris Cester, Cameron Muncey and Mark Wilson, have promised that they will attempt to keep "their music, legacy and brand alive through new licensing, publishing, merchandise, re-records and releases".
  
  Their 2003 debut album Get Born, which contained the hit singles "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?," "Cold Hard B*itch" and "Rollover DJ," sold over 3.5 million copies alone. Their last album Shaka Rock was released in 2009.
  
  
• THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have announced that their seventh studio album, entitled Oceania, will see a release this summer, on June 18. The new album was produced by front man Billy Corgan.
  It has also been announced that the album will be put out by EMI, after they inked a deal to release the record with Corgan's label Martha's Music.
  Last December, Corgan described Oceania as the band's best album in over 15 years and their strongest work since their landmark 1995 release Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness.
  
  
• Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi says he has had his last dose of chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma.
  Iommi broke the news in an update to his official website, telling fans he's happy for the milestone but still has a long way to go.
  "I've had the last dose of chemotherapy so hopefully my body will start to get back to normal soon," he wrote. "The steroids were the worst. I've now got three weeks of radiotherapy coming up which I'm told can be very tiring, so we'll see."
  Sabbath is currently working on a reunion album, and the band was planning to hit the road this year until news came of Iommi's diagnosis. The legendary rockers were recording in Los Angeles and moved tracking to the UK so that Iommi could continue to record while receiving treatment.
  "A big thanks to Ozzy and Geezer [Butler] for coming over to England, it was a big incentive for me, we managed to work most days and have some great new tracks," Tony
  

3/4/2012

• Gene Simmons in a jam band?
  
  That’s right. For the first time in the legendary KISS icon’s long career, he’s operating not just without the makeup but without his KISS mates in a new all-star project FEATURING DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliot and former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, former GUNS N’ ROSES stars Duff McKagan (bass), Matt Sorum (drums) and Gilby Clarke (guitar) and former DEEP PURPLE singer Glenn Hughes, among others.
  Plans were unveiled Thursday at a special afternoon press conference at the legendary Roxy club on Sunset Strip, and the great man with the long tongue was pumped up.
  “This is going to be a great time, a time for us to pay tribute to the fans,” Simmons said. “This is an important honor to step on sacred holy ground with a project like this, and all of it is for the fans. It harkens back to the old days of rock and roll, the Legends of Rock when Chuck Berry, Little Richard, all of them got together to put on the best show possible for the fans.”
  The only firm dates are ten scheduled concerts in South America and Central American in places like Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and Columbia, but the plan is to expand with more shows in Europe, then perhaps America, though details have not been finalized.
  “We’re trying to follow a great trend in rock and roll, and we’re going to have a great time,” Simmons said. “So stay tuned.”
  Sorum, one of the main organizers, said the plan is to shuffle musicians, particularly singers, and the plan is for a two-hour show featuring the biggest hits from everyone involved, including DEF LEPPARD’S “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Animal”, KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Nite”, SKID ROW’S I Remember You along with several GUNS N’ ROSES hits such as “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child O Mine” with Bach singing.
  “We’ll play all the biggest hits from each band,” Sorum said. “It’s going to be a good time. The hits will keep coming.”
  It’s a plum gig for Bach, who says he’s been “listening to KISS songs since I was 7 years old.”
  “It’s going to be one of the greatest rock and roll tours,” Bach said. “These are the best musicians in rock and roll, and I’ve known them all for a long time. The fans in South America are very passionate about rock and roll, and it’s going to be great.”
  McKagan conceded that most of players have been around a long time – maybe a little too long for some of them – but that’s a good thing.
  “If you look at who’s been doing something a long time, if you look at who is still around, they’re usually the best guys to hang with,” McKagan said. “I wasn’t the easiest one to get into the camp, but this is going to be great.”
  Hughes plans to sing the DEEP PURPLE classic “Burn”, among others, and the British singer said he is really looking forward to the tour.
  “It’s going to be quite a spectacle,” Hughes said. “For me, this collective of rockers is a fan’s dream come true. It’s a great lineup with players from a lot of great bands.”
  Others involved are: singer Ed Roland from COLLECTIVE SOUL, guitarists Steve Stevens from Billy Idol and Billy Duffy from the CULT and bassist Mike Inez from ALICE IN CHAINS
  
  
• Ronnie Montrose, who is best known as the guitarist of his self-named band MONTROSE, died Saturday. It is believed that the cause of death was prostate cancer, which he had been battling for the past few years, reports Greg Prato of Rolling Stone.
  "A few months ago, we held a surprise party for Ronnie Montrose's 64th birthday," a statement said on Montrose's official website. "He gave an impromptu speech, and told us that after a long life, filled with joy and hardship, he didn't take any of our love for granted. He passed today. He'd battled cancer, and staved off old age for long enough. And true to form, he chose his own exit the way he chose his own life. We miss him already, but we're glad to have shared with him while we could."
  Born in Denver, Colorado, Montrose got his first break when he was invited to play on Van Morrison's 1971 album, Tupelo Honey. Additional appearances on recordings by Herbie Hancock, Boz Scaggs, and the EDGAR WINTER GROUP soon followed before he formed his own band, MONTROSE, in 1973. In addition to the guitarist, the band consisted of a then-unknown Sammy Hagar on vocals, as well as bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi.
  The band released one of rock's all-time great debuts that year, MONTROSE, which spawned hit songs like Rock the Nation, Bad Motor Scooter, Space Station #5,Rock Candy and Make It Last." Hagar, however, would only remain with the band for one more release (1974's Paper Money) before leaving the group.
  The band (with singer Bob James filling Hagar's spot) would put out a few more releases in the 70's before the guitarist put out an all-instrumental solo album, 1978'sOpen Fire. He went on to form GAMMA, which issued three albums between 1980 and 1983. From the Eighties onward, Montrose would alternate between issuing additional recordings from MONTROSE, GAMMA, and as a solo artist.
  Ronnie Montrose and Sammy Hagar appeared to eventually bury the hatchet, as the original MONTROSE line-up appeared on the singer's 1997 solo effort, Marching to Mars, for the song Leaving the Warmth of the Womb, and even played together again on stage several times afterwards. For the past few years, Montrose had played solo shows throughout the U.S.
  

3/3/2012

• According to The Pulse Of Radio, GODSMACK front man Sully Erna will hit the road on a new run of solo dates starting in late March. Just four shows have been announced so far, with more to be confirmed shortly. Erna will tour to promote the release of "Avalon Live", his upcoming live DVD/Blu-ray that features the singer and an eight-piece band performing songs from his 2010 solo debut, "Avalon". A late April release for the disc is planned, although an exact arrival date has yet to be confirmed.
  
  Many fans feared when Erna announced his solo project a couple of years ago that it would mean the end of GODSMACK. But Erna told The Pulse Of Radio that nothing could be further from the truth. "For me, I didn't go off and do a solo thing because I was angry at my band," he said. "As an artist, I need both for balance. It's just creative, you know, juices that need to come out and I can't write some of the stuff I wrote for the solo record and fit it into GODSMACK's world. It doesn't work, it's not the same texture."
  
  The limited edition of "Avalon Live" will include the show, a documentary and behind-the-scenes footage on three DVDs, two CDs, a book, T-shirt, guitar pick, poster, incense, and a custom Sully Erna engraved metal box with a suede lining. There will only be 5,000 of the box sets produced.
  
  GODSMACK is currently recording an EP of cover songs that will accompany the release of the band's first live album later this spring. The group will hit the road on a co-headlining run with STAIND in April.
  
  
• Acclaimed extreme-metal drummer Tim Yeung (MORBID ANGEL, DIVINE HERESY, VITAL REMAINS, HATE ETERNAL) is available for private drum lessons within the Los Angeles area as well as studio work throughout the year, schedule permitting. He can also offer lessons while he is on the road. Interested parties can contact Tim at mailto:info@timyeung.com.
  
  With the inspiration of a songwriting mother and artistic father, Tim began playing drums in 1990 at the age of eleven. Within a few short years he was recording demos and playing live shows within the local music scene in upstate New York. He attended Hochstein School Of Music in Rochester and got his first big break in 1997 when he joined the death metal band HATE ETERNAL.
  
  Now based in Los Angeles, Yeung has performed and worked with such national acts as ALL THAT REMAINS, HANK WILLIAMS III, NILE, VITAL REMAINS and DECREPIT BIRTH. His straddling of the extreme and mainstream is perhaps best reflected in his work with his band DIVINE HERESY, whose music features elements of extreme death metal as well as more mainstream genres.
  
  For more information, visit Tim's new official web site at TimYeung.com.
  
  
• According to the New York Post, FOREIGNER guitarist Mick Jones underwent aortoiliac bypass surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida on Monday and "already up and walking around." The procedure involves using a shunt to unite the aorta and iliac artery to relieve obstruction. "The surgery was more urgent because Mick had needed it for some time," a source said.
  
  Jones, 67, missed some of the shows on FOREIGNER's 2011 tour with JOURNEY and NIGHT RANGER due to illness. He was temporarily replaced at various shows by NIGHT RANGER guitarist Joel Joekstra and former ROD STEWART axe-man Bruce Watson.
  
  FOREIGNER's last studio album, "Can't Slow Down", came out in 2009.
  
  The band is scheduled to hit the road for another round of U.S. dates on March 1.
  
  Even though FOREIGNER has never fallen into the category of "critics' darlings," Mick Jones told The Pulse Of Radio that the band's album sales and ticket receipts prove that FOREIGNER has always struck the right chord with fans. "How can you complain about people listening, and hearing, and your music reaching so many people?" he said. "I think it's wonderful. It's a great achievement to have these songs having stood the test of time like this, you know, and getting the amount of play they still do."
  
  
• Samson, Hartke, Zoom, and Best Buy are pleased to announce the third installment of Samson’s Metal Masters series of instrument clinics, which will be held on Thursday, April 12th, at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, CA. Doors will open at 7:00pm.
  Having surprised the audience at Metal Master 2 in New York City with surprise appearances by Philip Anselmo (PANTERA / DOWN) and Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), as well as a full ANTHRAX performance, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello (ANTHRAX), David Ellefson (MEGADETH), Mike Portnoy (ex–DREAM THEATER/ADRENALINE MOB), Kerry King and now Dave Lombardo (both of SLAYER) are back on the West Coast with an exclusive metal experience that’s bigger than ever. Artists will perform both individually and collectively, demonstrating their personal techniques and how they all come together to create the music that millions bang their heads to every day.
  “We’re extremely excited to be bringing the Metal Masters series back to the West Coast where it originated,” says Mark Menghi, Samson’s Director of Marketing. “And with the artists we have participating and the surprises we have planned, Metal Masters 3 is going to be the best one yet.”
  Tickets are available for $20 (first come, first served) at the Key Club’s box office, located at 9039 Sunset Boulevard, or at www.keyclub.com. With door giveaways and surprise guests, all should purchase their tickets early for this all ages event to witness the return of the Metal Masters.