In a brand new interview with the QMI Agency, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's long-awaited new album, which is tentatively due later this year.
When asked about the sound of AEROSMITH's new material, Perry said, "It definitely has a feel like some of the early stuff. We've tried to bring that back. People are always asking for something that sounds like the old stuff, but you can't rewrite 'Mama Kin' or 'Same Old Song And Dance'. All you can do is go in and start from the same place you started when you made those records. So we just went in with (producer) Jack Douglas and we all worked on the record. There's a song or two that the band helped write, and Tom (Hamilton, bass) wrote and Brad (Whitford, guitar) has a track on there. So from that point of view, it's a lot more like an early AEROSMITH record. We were all in the room when we were pulling these songs together and recording them. Every way that we used to make our records, that's what we did to get this to where it is. Right down to what we're doing now, which is going over the tracks and bringing them up to speed. Steven [Tyler] is finishing up the lyrics and we're just going to put the finishing touches on it."
During a recent interview, Tyler stated about the new AEROSMITH album, "All of it's been written, but I gotta lay lyrics on it and I haven't had a lot of time," he said. "But what I've listened to so far just knocked me out. I know a good song, I know what's gonna get played on the radio, I'm not that pretentious to say I think we've got hits, but I think we've got something, and that's all that matters."
AEROSMITH began work on its first all-new album since 2001 last year, with the rest of the band working on music while Tyler made his "American Idol" debut.
The band has been working with producer Jack Douglas, who collaborated with them on classic early albums like "Toys In The Attic" and "Rocks".
Perry recently wrote on Twitter, "People have said when we play the rough tracks it sounds like it's from the '70s but for me, it's too early to tell."
Meanwhile, Tyler also said at the TCA press conference that sales of AEROSMITH's back catalog were up 260 percent since he began appearing on "Idol".
The 11th season of the series began with its two-night premiere on January 18.
When asked about the sound of AEROSMITH's new material, Perry said, "It definitely has a feel like some of the early stuff. We've tried to bring that back. People are always asking for something that sounds like the old stuff, but you can't rewrite 'Mama Kin' or 'Same Old Song And Dance'. All you can do is go in and start from the same place you started when you made those records. So we just went in with (producer) Jack Douglas and we all worked on the record. There's a song or two that the band helped write, and Tom (Hamilton, bass) wrote and Brad (Whitford, guitar) has a track on there. So from that point of view, it's a lot more like an early AEROSMITH record. We were all in the room when we were pulling these songs together and recording them. Every way that we used to make our records, that's what we did to get this to where it is. Right down to what we're doing now, which is going over the tracks and bringing them up to speed. Steven [Tyler] is finishing up the lyrics and we're just going to put the finishing touches on it."
During a recent interview, Tyler stated about the new AEROSMITH album, "All of it's been written, but I gotta lay lyrics on it and I haven't had a lot of time," he said. "But what I've listened to so far just knocked me out. I know a good song, I know what's gonna get played on the radio, I'm not that pretentious to say I think we've got hits, but I think we've got something, and that's all that matters."
AEROSMITH began work on its first all-new album since 2001 last year, with the rest of the band working on music while Tyler made his "American Idol" debut.
The band has been working with producer Jack Douglas, who collaborated with them on classic early albums like "Toys In The Attic" and "Rocks".
Perry recently wrote on Twitter, "People have said when we play the rough tracks it sounds like it's from the '70s but for me, it's too early to tell."
Meanwhile, Tyler also said at the TCA press conference that sales of AEROSMITH's back catalog were up 260 percent since he began appearing on "Idol".
The 11th season of the series began with its two-night premiere on January 18.
VELVET REVOLVER reunited with singer Scott Weiland for a one-off performance at the January 12 "Love You Madly: A Concert For John O'Brien" at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood, California. The band played a four-song set — including a cover version of the PINK FLOYD classic "Wish You Were Here" — at the event, which paid tribute to award-winning ASCAP composer John O'Brien, who was found dead in his Chicago hotel room last August.
Speaking to Frankie DiVita, radio personality for 96.7 KCAL Rocks, at the 2012 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show (see video below), VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum stated about the experience of playing with Weiland again, "It was cool, man. We hadn't played together in a long time. We soundchecked a few songs. We only played, like, three songs. But it was cool to be on stage and play music again. It was like riding a bike. Everyone had a good time and we raised some money for a really sad situation. John O'Brien passed away and left a pregnant wife and another child. And a lot of people turned out for the show… Amazing turnout."
He added, "We had a good time. Me and Scott worked out some stuff backstage and had talked, and that was nice. He came up to me and he was real humble and really cool. 'Cause stuff happens when you're out on the road and people are tired and you say shit. Everything is on the Internet now; you can't get away with anything.
"Being in the music business for as long as I have been, I'm still learning lessons. We were out on the road for 18 months. And we got tired and things happened. There's a lot of pressure. You think you'd always wanna do it differently, but stuff goes the way it's gonna go; I can't explain it.
"We made some good records [with Scott]. The second record [2007's 'Libertad'] didn't get as much action as the first one [2004's 'Contraband'], but I think it's a cool record, too. I liked a lot of that record, and working with [producer] Brendan O'Brien. The first record, obviously, was a huge success for us."
When asked about whether there is any change of VELVET REVOLVER working with Weiland again, Sorum said, "I don't know… We'll see what happens. [VELVET REVOLVER guitarist] Slash is booked up for about another year [touring in support of his upcoming solo album], so I don't know what's gonna go on with anything, to be honest. We haven't discussed it. . . I don't know… I can't say. It hasn't really been discussed, so I don't wanna speak out of turn."
On the topic of why it's been so hard for VELVET REVOLVER to find a replacement for Weiland, Sorum said, "We were trying [to find a new singer last year], but it didn't work out that way. . . We had Corey Taylor [from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR coming in and writing songs with us]; it's kind of well known. We did some songs, and it just didn't turn everybody on completely. So we, basically, put the brakes on that. I think I was a little bit excited to get going, but maybe that was more excitement than… I thought it was cool, but Slash wasn't into it. And if we're not all firing on the same cylinders, we don't usually… We respect that, you know."
VELVET REVOLVER's setlist for the January 12 performance with Scott Weiland at the "Love You Madly: A Concert For John O'Brien" event was as follows:
01. Sucker Train Blues
02. She Builds Quick Machines
03. Slither
04. Wish You Were Here (PINK FLOYD cover)
Speaking to Frankie DiVita, radio personality for 96.7 KCAL Rocks, at the 2012 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show (see video below), VELVET REVOLVER drummer Matt Sorum stated about the experience of playing with Weiland again, "It was cool, man. We hadn't played together in a long time. We soundchecked a few songs. We only played, like, three songs. But it was cool to be on stage and play music again. It was like riding a bike. Everyone had a good time and we raised some money for a really sad situation. John O'Brien passed away and left a pregnant wife and another child. And a lot of people turned out for the show… Amazing turnout."
He added, "We had a good time. Me and Scott worked out some stuff backstage and had talked, and that was nice. He came up to me and he was real humble and really cool. 'Cause stuff happens when you're out on the road and people are tired and you say shit. Everything is on the Internet now; you can't get away with anything.
"Being in the music business for as long as I have been, I'm still learning lessons. We were out on the road for 18 months. And we got tired and things happened. There's a lot of pressure. You think you'd always wanna do it differently, but stuff goes the way it's gonna go; I can't explain it.
"We made some good records [with Scott]. The second record [2007's 'Libertad'] didn't get as much action as the first one [2004's 'Contraband'], but I think it's a cool record, too. I liked a lot of that record, and working with [producer] Brendan O'Brien. The first record, obviously, was a huge success for us."
When asked about whether there is any change of VELVET REVOLVER working with Weiland again, Sorum said, "I don't know… We'll see what happens. [VELVET REVOLVER guitarist] Slash is booked up for about another year [touring in support of his upcoming solo album], so I don't know what's gonna go on with anything, to be honest. We haven't discussed it. . . I don't know… I can't say. It hasn't really been discussed, so I don't wanna speak out of turn."
On the topic of why it's been so hard for VELVET REVOLVER to find a replacement for Weiland, Sorum said, "We were trying [to find a new singer last year], but it didn't work out that way. . . We had Corey Taylor [from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR coming in and writing songs with us]; it's kind of well known. We did some songs, and it just didn't turn everybody on completely. So we, basically, put the brakes on that. I think I was a little bit excited to get going, but maybe that was more excitement than… I thought it was cool, but Slash wasn't into it. And if we're not all firing on the same cylinders, we don't usually… We respect that, you know."
VELVET REVOLVER's setlist for the January 12 performance with Scott Weiland at the "Love You Madly: A Concert For John O'Brien" event was as follows:
01. Sucker Train Blues
02. She Builds Quick Machines
03. Slither
04. Wish You Were Here (PINK FLOYD cover)
The bad ass in the top hat is busy. He is hunkered down in the Barefoot Recordings Studio playing guitar, as his crackerjack band-mates – Todd Kerns on bass, Brent Fitz on drums and Myles Kennedy on vocals – surround him as they record the old-fashioned way: on two-inch analog tape, a wet dream to those who love the pristine sound that comes from using this method over pro-tools modernity.
Last week, Kerns called in to give us a scoop on what has been happening inside that studio in the heart of Hollywood. The Dominator has been laying down some heavy duty bass lines for the boss and, as he notes, some damn good songs are coming to fruition. "We started demoing, just playing around with songs and things, riffs that Slash had brought in," Kerns explained about the tunes in their virginal stage. "We had started playing with those on the road last year at sound-checks and rehearsals, so those kind of started to morph and metamorphosize into songs". When Kennedy came in around mid-September while on a break from touring with Alter Bridge, "we went in and did three songs completely, with bass, drums, guitars and vocals."
They returned to the studio in December where they "managed to do about a song a day and most of it live off the floor, the four of us. We were trying to get all the drums and bass and guitars, including guitar solos, live in one pass. We recorded five or six different passes of the same song. Then Eric Valentine [producer] had some room to play with it and if there was anything glaring from one take, he could kind of find an alternate take."
Kerns has nothing but praise for Valentine, who produced Slash's previous CD which featured the guitar god playing alongside such top-notch vocalists as Chris Cornell, Lemmy and Kennedy. "He's a very, very talented man," Kerns reaffirms. "We went through an entire phase where the three of us – myself, Brent and Slash – were sitting around arranging and rearranging and tearing songs apart and putting them back together. Then Myles came in and we started that whole process again cause he's sort of putting in his two cents and then Eric comes in and we start doing that process again (laughs) … But it all came together really fantastic; like it's huge and aggressive and it's multi-colored at the same time. It's not sort of one vein or one flavor; it's sort of an array, a rainbow of rock (laughs)".
Having covered the Slash tour on several stops across the country, talking with fans along the way, there was one thing that I heard repeatedly: that they would love to see THIS band record an album. Well, their wish has come true as the band continues to lay down tracks for an anticipated April or May release. I asked Kerns if there was a song that was so good it gave him chills while they were creating it: "There is actually a few like that but there is one in particular that we kind of worked and worked and pulled it apart and rearranged it and took this section out and took that out and it was one of the first things we ever brought in," he said excitedly.
"The funny thing is, the main riff that Slash was playing on that song is no longer a part of the song, which is totally bizarre cause it was the kind of riff that made you go, damn that's great … but that particular song was written and rewritten so many times that we'd take a stab at it and the three of us – just Slash, myself and Brent – would stab at it and we'd come up with something and feel good about it and then Myles came in and, well, it doesn't work on top of that so let's change that and we kind of juggled it around," explains Kerns. "Then Eric came in (laughs). Just before we started recording, we were still kind of dealing with that song, to the point that it was almost abandoned. Then it sort of ended up being possibly the strongest song on the record in a lot of ways".
Although he wouldn't reveal the title of that song, he did admit that many of the tunes were still in coded names, waiting for Kennedy to put the lyrics into place. When I talked with him for my column in September, Kennedy admitted to sometimes overthinking about the worthiness of what he writes. "He's incredibly hard on himself," agreed Kerns. "We've had this conversation a few times where he'll sort of bounce something off me and I go, 'It's great' and he'll go 'Well, I've been doing this and I've been doing that'. And it sort of changes and he'll come back around to the very first thing he came up with".
Continued Kerns, "He's a very talented guy. He sort of cordons himself off in the green room in the studio and is hiding up there by himself, scribbling and writing, and he's like 'I didn't sleep at all last night cause I was up all night writing lyrics'. And I'm like, 'You're still writing lyrics? I thought you were done' (laughs) But that attention to detail is probably why he's so successful".
Slash is also very involved with the recording of his new CD. Although some may see him as the poster boy for rock & roll's wild side, this is not 1991 anymore and the monster guitar player is a clean and sober father of two boys. "Slash is one of the most intelligent guys I know," Kerns told me when I asked what Slash was really like. "I don't think people think he's not smart but I think they have this kind of image of him as this sort of rock & roll, smoking, drugs, rock & roll guy, like he's some sort of a rock & roll animal. I think that's the impression people have of him and that is somewhat true, although all those things I just mentioned he doesn't do anymore. I'm always kind of terrified that I'm spoiling his image somehow by saying that he's a very thoughtful guy."
But how is Slash in the studio? Is he very vocal about how he wants things or is he more on the quiet side, contentedly playing his guitar? Kerns explained that he was actually a little of both. "A lot of what Slash is all about is he just wants to play guitar. When you know Slash, it's weird to see him WITHOUT a guitar in his hands. You see him all day long sitting somewhere with a guitar in his hands playing and then you see him onstage playing and then you see him later on playing guitar sitting in the bus (laughs). In the studio, it's a lot more focus and a command to making it the best it can be and he's absolutely tireless. We all kind of joke how like we're all getting hungry or have to go pee and he's still going, 'Hey, let's try this one'. He's so very focused and very sort of driven. He is a very laid back guy but he also knows what he wants."
Kerns has called the recording of this CD "magical" and is excited to be a part of it. "Slash has been nothing but awesome to me", he explains. "He's been very good to me. I didn't expect us to have our photos in the live album, Made In Stoke. I didn't expect us to have our photos in the DVD. I kind of thought, this is Slash's band, it's Slash featuring Myles Kennedy; that's just the way it is. Over the duration of that I've watched my own profile get raised a giant percentage. So to me, it's whatever Slash wants to do. If he decides tomorrow he's going to get Paul McCartney to play bass, that's just the way it goes (laughs). Initially, the whole thing about recording an album with Myles didn't have to be that we're going to record an album with Myles and Brent and Todd; we're going to use some session guys in LA and it's going to be Myles and Slash. But he was awesome about it and let us be on the record."
So while there are still some overdubs and background vocals and Myles' lead vocals left to lay down, Kerns believes they will be all done in February. And then "we'll be out in the spring for sure. I haven't heard anything official but that's the plan. I'm assuming Europe and all will be the initial thing cause there's all the festivals in the summertime and then after that, I haven't heard anything concrete yet. But I know Slash well enough and he said the other day, 'I want to be out on the road for at least a year' and I was like, 'cool'. I'm sure 2012 will be busy and then probably a chunk of 2013 as well".
A date in Toronto for March 23 sold out in twenty minutes, proving that the fans are hungry for a new dose of Slash with his stellar band. Get ready, folks, they're on their way.
Last week, Kerns called in to give us a scoop on what has been happening inside that studio in the heart of Hollywood. The Dominator has been laying down some heavy duty bass lines for the boss and, as he notes, some damn good songs are coming to fruition. "We started demoing, just playing around with songs and things, riffs that Slash had brought in," Kerns explained about the tunes in their virginal stage. "We had started playing with those on the road last year at sound-checks and rehearsals, so those kind of started to morph and metamorphosize into songs". When Kennedy came in around mid-September while on a break from touring with Alter Bridge, "we went in and did three songs completely, with bass, drums, guitars and vocals."
They returned to the studio in December where they "managed to do about a song a day and most of it live off the floor, the four of us. We were trying to get all the drums and bass and guitars, including guitar solos, live in one pass. We recorded five or six different passes of the same song. Then Eric Valentine [producer] had some room to play with it and if there was anything glaring from one take, he could kind of find an alternate take."
Kerns has nothing but praise for Valentine, who produced Slash's previous CD which featured the guitar god playing alongside such top-notch vocalists as Chris Cornell, Lemmy and Kennedy. "He's a very, very talented man," Kerns reaffirms. "We went through an entire phase where the three of us – myself, Brent and Slash – were sitting around arranging and rearranging and tearing songs apart and putting them back together. Then Myles came in and we started that whole process again cause he's sort of putting in his two cents and then Eric comes in and we start doing that process again (laughs) … But it all came together really fantastic; like it's huge and aggressive and it's multi-colored at the same time. It's not sort of one vein or one flavor; it's sort of an array, a rainbow of rock (laughs)".
Having covered the Slash tour on several stops across the country, talking with fans along the way, there was one thing that I heard repeatedly: that they would love to see THIS band record an album. Well, their wish has come true as the band continues to lay down tracks for an anticipated April or May release. I asked Kerns if there was a song that was so good it gave him chills while they were creating it: "There is actually a few like that but there is one in particular that we kind of worked and worked and pulled it apart and rearranged it and took this section out and took that out and it was one of the first things we ever brought in," he said excitedly.
"The funny thing is, the main riff that Slash was playing on that song is no longer a part of the song, which is totally bizarre cause it was the kind of riff that made you go, damn that's great … but that particular song was written and rewritten so many times that we'd take a stab at it and the three of us – just Slash, myself and Brent – would stab at it and we'd come up with something and feel good about it and then Myles came in and, well, it doesn't work on top of that so let's change that and we kind of juggled it around," explains Kerns. "Then Eric came in (laughs). Just before we started recording, we were still kind of dealing with that song, to the point that it was almost abandoned. Then it sort of ended up being possibly the strongest song on the record in a lot of ways".
Although he wouldn't reveal the title of that song, he did admit that many of the tunes were still in coded names, waiting for Kennedy to put the lyrics into place. When I talked with him for my column in September, Kennedy admitted to sometimes overthinking about the worthiness of what he writes. "He's incredibly hard on himself," agreed Kerns. "We've had this conversation a few times where he'll sort of bounce something off me and I go, 'It's great' and he'll go 'Well, I've been doing this and I've been doing that'. And it sort of changes and he'll come back around to the very first thing he came up with".
Continued Kerns, "He's a very talented guy. He sort of cordons himself off in the green room in the studio and is hiding up there by himself, scribbling and writing, and he's like 'I didn't sleep at all last night cause I was up all night writing lyrics'. And I'm like, 'You're still writing lyrics? I thought you were done' (laughs) But that attention to detail is probably why he's so successful".
Slash is also very involved with the recording of his new CD. Although some may see him as the poster boy for rock & roll's wild side, this is not 1991 anymore and the monster guitar player is a clean and sober father of two boys. "Slash is one of the most intelligent guys I know," Kerns told me when I asked what Slash was really like. "I don't think people think he's not smart but I think they have this kind of image of him as this sort of rock & roll, smoking, drugs, rock & roll guy, like he's some sort of a rock & roll animal. I think that's the impression people have of him and that is somewhat true, although all those things I just mentioned he doesn't do anymore. I'm always kind of terrified that I'm spoiling his image somehow by saying that he's a very thoughtful guy."
But how is Slash in the studio? Is he very vocal about how he wants things or is he more on the quiet side, contentedly playing his guitar? Kerns explained that he was actually a little of both. "A lot of what Slash is all about is he just wants to play guitar. When you know Slash, it's weird to see him WITHOUT a guitar in his hands. You see him all day long sitting somewhere with a guitar in his hands playing and then you see him onstage playing and then you see him later on playing guitar sitting in the bus (laughs). In the studio, it's a lot more focus and a command to making it the best it can be and he's absolutely tireless. We all kind of joke how like we're all getting hungry or have to go pee and he's still going, 'Hey, let's try this one'. He's so very focused and very sort of driven. He is a very laid back guy but he also knows what he wants."
Kerns has called the recording of this CD "magical" and is excited to be a part of it. "Slash has been nothing but awesome to me", he explains. "He's been very good to me. I didn't expect us to have our photos in the live album, Made In Stoke. I didn't expect us to have our photos in the DVD. I kind of thought, this is Slash's band, it's Slash featuring Myles Kennedy; that's just the way it is. Over the duration of that I've watched my own profile get raised a giant percentage. So to me, it's whatever Slash wants to do. If he decides tomorrow he's going to get Paul McCartney to play bass, that's just the way it goes (laughs). Initially, the whole thing about recording an album with Myles didn't have to be that we're going to record an album with Myles and Brent and Todd; we're going to use some session guys in LA and it's going to be Myles and Slash. But he was awesome about it and let us be on the record."
So while there are still some overdubs and background vocals and Myles' lead vocals left to lay down, Kerns believes they will be all done in February. And then "we'll be out in the spring for sure. I haven't heard anything official but that's the plan. I'm assuming Europe and all will be the initial thing cause there's all the festivals in the summertime and then after that, I haven't heard anything concrete yet. But I know Slash well enough and he said the other day, 'I want to be out on the road for at least a year' and I was like, 'cool'. I'm sure 2012 will be busy and then probably a chunk of 2013 as well".
A date in Toronto for March 23 sold out in twenty minutes, proving that the fans are hungry for a new dose of Slash with his stellar band. Get ready, folks, they're on their way.
It's an old joke, but when David Lee Roth delivers the punch line it sounds more like a mission statement: "How many lead singers does it take to put in a lightbulb? One. You hold the bulb and wait for the world to revolve around you."
Missing from the joke is how the singer is left standing there in the dark waiting for his proper wattage.
On Feb. 7, Interscope Records will release "A Different Kind of Truth" and, as the world turns, it will represent the first Van Halen studio album featuring Roth as lead singer since "1984" — which was released 28 years ago this month, right before Ronald Reagan announced plans to run for a second term.
Time flies — or does it drag? Earlier this month, on a crisp, sunny morning in Pasadena, Roth, now 57, welcomed a visitor to his 20-room, Italianate mansion to talk about Van Halen past, present and future.
Roth actually rejoined the band "five summers and a million years ago" for the 2007-08 reunion tour, but it's taken this long for the still-volatile collective to finish an album that satisfies all of their agendas. The amazing thing is that they finished at all; like the Beach Boys, Eagles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N' Roses and Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen is part of the Southern California history of world-class soap operas disguised as platinum-selling bands.
Van Halen's brawny brand of music has sold more than 80 million albums, but offstage the group has been a fragile alliance that has fallen apart again and again because of creative clashes, drug torpor, grudges and, more recently, health issues.
"We accused each other of betrayal and thievery and lies and treachery," said the upbeat and chatty Roth. "And it was all true. We were all guilty. Dig up the past, and it's going to get all over everybody. And, man, do we have a past…"
Photos: Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth
The history traces back to 1972, when the Van Halen brothers, guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex — a pair of classically trained teen musicians born in the Netherlands but raised in Pasadena — auditioned singers for a planned band. Roth didn't make much of an impression at his tryout, but the brothers wanted to use his sound system and letting him in the band was better than renting the gear.
Fame and fortune would follow, but again and again it was the brothers Van Halen deciding who should hold the microphone. They could do that because of the stature of Eddie Van Halen, who is revered by rock fans as a sort of mad-genius guitar god, the heir of Jimi Hendrix. He might also be viewed as the Elizabeth Taylor of rock considering the way he divorces lead singers, including Sammy Hagar — and, if so, Roth is forever his Richard Burton. Roth, meanwhile, passed time touring with an Eddie Van Halen soundalike and at one point did a double bill with his rival Hagar to pique attention.
The reunited frenemies are a source of fascination, and fans are eager to see them share a spotlight when the reconstituted band (with Eddie's son, 20-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced longtime member Michael Anthony on bass) starts a 46-date arena tour in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 18. The music industry, meanwhile, is watching the whole enterprise and wondering if the wheels will fly off; more than squabbles, the worry is also about the state of Eddie Van Halen, a rehab veteran who has also lost a third of his tongue to cancer and undergone hip replacement. There were postponed shows on the last tour (2007-08), which were explained only by vague promoter statements about medical procedures.
"He's doing really well," Roth said. "He's lucid, he's sober, he's playing. You know, I don't know if Ed has ever felt good. There's a thin line between rage and great work. He really never enjoyed his fame or success, and that might be part of what compels him."
(All Van Halen family members, through their representatives, declined to be interviewed for this story.) Despite all the squealing guitar thunder, Eddie Van Halen seems like a man surrounded by his own silence.
A holistic talker
Roth, meanwhile, hides behind the sound of his own voice; the man never stops talking, but most of it is a jibber-jabber jive, a Cartoon Network version of classic-rock kung fu and spitball metaphysics.
In a relentless two-hour synaptic strobe display, Roth cited the deep meanings he sees in Motown, matzo, state fairs, Roy Lichtenstein, Airedale terriers, reggaeton, Neil Young, clambakes, Brazilian jiu jitsu, Plato, Johnny Mercer and the unchanging nature of the sea anemone.
The most consistent message amid the barrage was the magical legacy of Van Halen and the urgent need to live up to it with the new album and tour.
"Are there second chances? I don't know, Mr. Faulkner, I'm tending to agree with you: No. We've managed to stretch our adolescence like a Chiclet to the moon and maintained the respectful dignities along the way that got us on that turnpike up in the first place. We love what we do for a living. Even in our wildest, most beer-soaked days we never missed rehearsal."
In their youth, Roth and the Van Halens were clearly bonded by their love of hard rock, but Roth says they were also connected by the "immigrant energy" of their families, who were "desperate people seeking desperate fortune — with a smile."
Roth was born in Bloomington, Ind., as the son, grandson and nephew of Jewish doctors, but the north-star figure in his youth turned out to be Manny Roth, the uncle who owned the Café Wha? in New York.
It's one of the more illustrious dives in Greenwich Village — Bob Dylan played there, so did the Velvet Underground and Lenny Bruce — and despite the peeling paint and low ceilings it was a palace of possibility for young Roth. "I was 7 years old when I decided very specifically what I was going to be, and it was there in that room," he said.
On Jan. 5, Roth was back in the club; the "secret show" by Van Halen was meant to stir press, rock radio and fan interest, and it did all of the above. The New York Times covered it enthusiastically, with Jon Pareles writing that Van Halen is "still one of the most limber bands in hard rock, with a higher center of gravity than most." Even better, there was old Manny Roth, now 92, beaming at his nephew from the audience.
During the show the band played a vamping, boogie-propelled song called "She's the Woman" that will be on the new album. The song has considerable history; a version of it was on the demo record (produced by Gene Simmons of KISS) that landed Van Halen a deal with Warner Bros. in the 1970s.
Throughout the album, the band has gone back and excavated pieces of unrecorded songs, lyrics from old notebooks and half-pursued concepts to build the 13-track collection.
"It's material that Eddie and I generated, literally, in 1975, 1976 and 1977," Roth said. "Usually fellas in our weight division will kind of gamely — or ironically, wink, wink — try to hail back to it [but] keep a safe, mature distance from it."
Instead, Roth said, he and the band have tried to do a sort of collaboration with their past. They can't be the same people — too much has changed — but Roth said there's interesting experimentation in the era-spanning synthesis of self.
The process started with Eddie Van Halen and producer John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Keith Urban) sifting through archival material, looking for the nuggets that could be mined.
"Some of it was recorded in Dave's basement when these guys were kids, and, sitting there next to Eddie, it was pretty cool just to go through that journey," Shanks said last week by phone from New York. "And then when the sessions started just seeing how Eddie and Alex play together — there's such a synchronicity in their feel and rhythm and their playing. There were times, honestly, I was just moved by it, not just as a musician but as a human being. The nuances of the way they communicate is staggering."
The fan reaction to the album's first single, "Tattoo," has been mixed, but Roth and company know that the tour (which includes shows in Los Angeles (June 1) and Anaheim (June 12) will be the true proving ground for them.
Roth, who has short hair now and a lean physique earned with decades of martial arts training, displayed a few of the dance moves he's been working on for the show. In his earth-tone overalls and cap he looked more like a Venice Beach mime than a rock star, but he still has a shark smile. What exactly drives him isn't easy to glean — does he have the same dark engines as Eddie Van Halen?
"You're asking for a lot of introspection here," Roth said. "Nobody well adjusted ever got my job, much less kept it this long. There's some grasping drive, and it precludes self-satisfaction.... You're always questioning."
As for his old friend and rival, Roth smiled and gave the world a bit of fair warning about the reclusive guitar hero. "There's an old Russian saying: 'There's no more lines in that guy's stomach.' It means somebody got fat and slow. There are still a lot of lines in Eddie's stomach."
Missing from the joke is how the singer is left standing there in the dark waiting for his proper wattage.
On Feb. 7, Interscope Records will release "A Different Kind of Truth" and, as the world turns, it will represent the first Van Halen studio album featuring Roth as lead singer since "1984" — which was released 28 years ago this month, right before Ronald Reagan announced plans to run for a second term.
Time flies — or does it drag? Earlier this month, on a crisp, sunny morning in Pasadena, Roth, now 57, welcomed a visitor to his 20-room, Italianate mansion to talk about Van Halen past, present and future.
Roth actually rejoined the band "five summers and a million years ago" for the 2007-08 reunion tour, but it's taken this long for the still-volatile collective to finish an album that satisfies all of their agendas. The amazing thing is that they finished at all; like the Beach Boys, Eagles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N' Roses and Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen is part of the Southern California history of world-class soap operas disguised as platinum-selling bands.
Van Halen's brawny brand of music has sold more than 80 million albums, but offstage the group has been a fragile alliance that has fallen apart again and again because of creative clashes, drug torpor, grudges and, more recently, health issues.
"We accused each other of betrayal and thievery and lies and treachery," said the upbeat and chatty Roth. "And it was all true. We were all guilty. Dig up the past, and it's going to get all over everybody. And, man, do we have a past…"
Photos: Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth
The history traces back to 1972, when the Van Halen brothers, guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex — a pair of classically trained teen musicians born in the Netherlands but raised in Pasadena — auditioned singers for a planned band. Roth didn't make much of an impression at his tryout, but the brothers wanted to use his sound system and letting him in the band was better than renting the gear.
Fame and fortune would follow, but again and again it was the brothers Van Halen deciding who should hold the microphone. They could do that because of the stature of Eddie Van Halen, who is revered by rock fans as a sort of mad-genius guitar god, the heir of Jimi Hendrix. He might also be viewed as the Elizabeth Taylor of rock considering the way he divorces lead singers, including Sammy Hagar — and, if so, Roth is forever his Richard Burton. Roth, meanwhile, passed time touring with an Eddie Van Halen soundalike and at one point did a double bill with his rival Hagar to pique attention.
The reunited frenemies are a source of fascination, and fans are eager to see them share a spotlight when the reconstituted band (with Eddie's son, 20-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced longtime member Michael Anthony on bass) starts a 46-date arena tour in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 18. The music industry, meanwhile, is watching the whole enterprise and wondering if the wheels will fly off; more than squabbles, the worry is also about the state of Eddie Van Halen, a rehab veteran who has also lost a third of his tongue to cancer and undergone hip replacement. There were postponed shows on the last tour (2007-08), which were explained only by vague promoter statements about medical procedures.
"He's doing really well," Roth said. "He's lucid, he's sober, he's playing. You know, I don't know if Ed has ever felt good. There's a thin line between rage and great work. He really never enjoyed his fame or success, and that might be part of what compels him."
(All Van Halen family members, through their representatives, declined to be interviewed for this story.) Despite all the squealing guitar thunder, Eddie Van Halen seems like a man surrounded by his own silence.
A holistic talker
Roth, meanwhile, hides behind the sound of his own voice; the man never stops talking, but most of it is a jibber-jabber jive, a Cartoon Network version of classic-rock kung fu and spitball metaphysics.
In a relentless two-hour synaptic strobe display, Roth cited the deep meanings he sees in Motown, matzo, state fairs, Roy Lichtenstein, Airedale terriers, reggaeton, Neil Young, clambakes, Brazilian jiu jitsu, Plato, Johnny Mercer and the unchanging nature of the sea anemone.
The most consistent message amid the barrage was the magical legacy of Van Halen and the urgent need to live up to it with the new album and tour.
"Are there second chances? I don't know, Mr. Faulkner, I'm tending to agree with you: No. We've managed to stretch our adolescence like a Chiclet to the moon and maintained the respectful dignities along the way that got us on that turnpike up in the first place. We love what we do for a living. Even in our wildest, most beer-soaked days we never missed rehearsal."
In their youth, Roth and the Van Halens were clearly bonded by their love of hard rock, but Roth says they were also connected by the "immigrant energy" of their families, who were "desperate people seeking desperate fortune — with a smile."
Roth was born in Bloomington, Ind., as the son, grandson and nephew of Jewish doctors, but the north-star figure in his youth turned out to be Manny Roth, the uncle who owned the Café Wha? in New York.
It's one of the more illustrious dives in Greenwich Village — Bob Dylan played there, so did the Velvet Underground and Lenny Bruce — and despite the peeling paint and low ceilings it was a palace of possibility for young Roth. "I was 7 years old when I decided very specifically what I was going to be, and it was there in that room," he said.
On Jan. 5, Roth was back in the club; the "secret show" by Van Halen was meant to stir press, rock radio and fan interest, and it did all of the above. The New York Times covered it enthusiastically, with Jon Pareles writing that Van Halen is "still one of the most limber bands in hard rock, with a higher center of gravity than most." Even better, there was old Manny Roth, now 92, beaming at his nephew from the audience.
During the show the band played a vamping, boogie-propelled song called "She's the Woman" that will be on the new album. The song has considerable history; a version of it was on the demo record (produced by Gene Simmons of KISS) that landed Van Halen a deal with Warner Bros. in the 1970s.
Throughout the album, the band has gone back and excavated pieces of unrecorded songs, lyrics from old notebooks and half-pursued concepts to build the 13-track collection.
"It's material that Eddie and I generated, literally, in 1975, 1976 and 1977," Roth said. "Usually fellas in our weight division will kind of gamely — or ironically, wink, wink — try to hail back to it [but] keep a safe, mature distance from it."
Instead, Roth said, he and the band have tried to do a sort of collaboration with their past. They can't be the same people — too much has changed — but Roth said there's interesting experimentation in the era-spanning synthesis of self.
The process started with Eddie Van Halen and producer John Shanks (Bon Jovi, Keith Urban) sifting through archival material, looking for the nuggets that could be mined.
"Some of it was recorded in Dave's basement when these guys were kids, and, sitting there next to Eddie, it was pretty cool just to go through that journey," Shanks said last week by phone from New York. "And then when the sessions started just seeing how Eddie and Alex play together — there's such a synchronicity in their feel and rhythm and their playing. There were times, honestly, I was just moved by it, not just as a musician but as a human being. The nuances of the way they communicate is staggering."
The fan reaction to the album's first single, "Tattoo," has been mixed, but Roth and company know that the tour (which includes shows in Los Angeles (June 1) and Anaheim (June 12) will be the true proving ground for them.
Roth, who has short hair now and a lean physique earned with decades of martial arts training, displayed a few of the dance moves he's been working on for the show. In his earth-tone overalls and cap he looked more like a Venice Beach mime than a rock star, but he still has a shark smile. What exactly drives him isn't easy to glean — does he have the same dark engines as Eddie Van Halen?
"You're asking for a lot of introspection here," Roth said. "Nobody well adjusted ever got my job, much less kept it this long. There's some grasping drive, and it precludes self-satisfaction.... You're always questioning."
As for his old friend and rival, Roth smiled and gave the world a bit of fair warning about the reclusive guitar hero. "There's an old Russian saying: 'There's no more lines in that guy's stomach.' It means somebody got fat and slow. There are still a lot of lines in Eddie's stomach."
MÖTLEY CRÜE recently became the first hard rock band to sign a short-term residency at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The CRÜE will play a three-week series of four-night concerts a week at the off-Strip casino starting on February 3 and running through February 19.
2012's Mötley Crüe In Sin City show is sure to leave the loud impression that what happens in Vegas will be heard around the world. Vocalist Vince Neil, guitarist Mick Mars, bassist Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee have big plans for Mötley Crüe In Sin City to create a never-been-done-before and incredibly interactive Vegas experience.
In a new online posting, Sixx writes, "Band is tight. Show is coming together fast. The mix of vintage CRÜE and hits is really cool to play while keeping it fresh for all Crüeheads. There are so many pieces of this puzzle being put together by so many people. It's like a giant creative think tank for everybody. Kinda hard, as much work as it is, to imagine this as WORK. We are having a BLAST. Can't wait for opening night here in Vegas. You guys getting excited?"
A photo of the giant billboard situatued high above Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California and advertising MÖTLEY CRÜE's upcoming Las Vegas shows can be seen below.
Exact details about the show — expected to supersede the band's high standard of production — are being kept under wraps for now to keep an element of surprise for fans. The engagement falls during a holiday-packed time in the calendar year: Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day and President's Day.
Said Vince Neil: "We're the first hard rock band ever to have a residency [in Las Vegas]. There's been bands like SANTANA and ELTON JOHN and these kinds of acts, but for us… MÖTLEY CRÜE, we're all about theater and about over-the-top stage show, so it's a perfect fit for us. So we're really, really excited."
"It's not a traditional concert," Neil said in a recent teleconference with journalists. "There's going to be stuff around the whole venue that's going to come up behind you, the side of you, above you and below you. This is a whole different thing."
Added Tommy Lee, "When you think of The Joint, you see the stage and there's the chairs, and we're really going to change the appearance of that and perform from different areas. We really want the audience to be in the show, not watching the show."
He continued, "We've gone to a lot of the big Vegas shows, and we've all talked about it many times, going, 'Could you imagine if we could only get our hands on this kind of opportunity? What we could with it?' This has been something that we've talked about for a long time."
Neil said that if the run of shows is a success, the CRÜE could return for more dates in the future.
"We are very excited to announce our upcoming partnership with legendary rockers MÖTLEY CRÜE," said Paul Davis, vice president of entertainment at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. "The one-of-a-kind production will be the most unique, interactive, fan-driven concert experience the band has ever created. MÖTLEY CRÜE is a perfect fit for the Hard Rock and we can't wait for this unforgettable residency to begin!"
Added Bobby Reynolds, Vice President of Booking for AEG Live Las Vegas, "We're thrilled that MÖTLEY CRÜE is creating their most notorious show ever and bringing it to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in notorious Las Vegas. This concert experience is going to represent what the fans love most about MÖTLEY CRÜE, the Hard Rock and Las Vegas: good times, rock n' roll and a stage show like no one has ever seen before!"
"I think it'd be nice for it to be as long as possible," he said. "It's easy on everybody, and the production part of it is just going to be so much more fun than the stuff that we have to haul around and build and tear down every single night (on tour). There's much cooler stuff that we can do. I'd hate for it to go by quick."
To purchase tickets, go to Ticketmaster.com.
The CRÜE will play a three-week series of four-night concerts a week at the off-Strip casino starting on February 3 and running through February 19.
2012's Mötley Crüe In Sin City show is sure to leave the loud impression that what happens in Vegas will be heard around the world. Vocalist Vince Neil, guitarist Mick Mars, bassist Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee have big plans for Mötley Crüe In Sin City to create a never-been-done-before and incredibly interactive Vegas experience.
In a new online posting, Sixx writes, "Band is tight. Show is coming together fast. The mix of vintage CRÜE and hits is really cool to play while keeping it fresh for all Crüeheads. There are so many pieces of this puzzle being put together by so many people. It's like a giant creative think tank for everybody. Kinda hard, as much work as it is, to imagine this as WORK. We are having a BLAST. Can't wait for opening night here in Vegas. You guys getting excited?"
A photo of the giant billboard situatued high above Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California and advertising MÖTLEY CRÜE's upcoming Las Vegas shows can be seen below.
Exact details about the show — expected to supersede the band's high standard of production — are being kept under wraps for now to keep an element of surprise for fans. The engagement falls during a holiday-packed time in the calendar year: Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day and President's Day.
Said Vince Neil: "We're the first hard rock band ever to have a residency [in Las Vegas]. There's been bands like SANTANA and ELTON JOHN and these kinds of acts, but for us… MÖTLEY CRÜE, we're all about theater and about over-the-top stage show, so it's a perfect fit for us. So we're really, really excited."
"It's not a traditional concert," Neil said in a recent teleconference with journalists. "There's going to be stuff around the whole venue that's going to come up behind you, the side of you, above you and below you. This is a whole different thing."
Added Tommy Lee, "When you think of The Joint, you see the stage and there's the chairs, and we're really going to change the appearance of that and perform from different areas. We really want the audience to be in the show, not watching the show."
He continued, "We've gone to a lot of the big Vegas shows, and we've all talked about it many times, going, 'Could you imagine if we could only get our hands on this kind of opportunity? What we could with it?' This has been something that we've talked about for a long time."
Neil said that if the run of shows is a success, the CRÜE could return for more dates in the future.
"We are very excited to announce our upcoming partnership with legendary rockers MÖTLEY CRÜE," said Paul Davis, vice president of entertainment at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. "The one-of-a-kind production will be the most unique, interactive, fan-driven concert experience the band has ever created. MÖTLEY CRÜE is a perfect fit for the Hard Rock and we can't wait for this unforgettable residency to begin!"
Added Bobby Reynolds, Vice President of Booking for AEG Live Las Vegas, "We're thrilled that MÖTLEY CRÜE is creating their most notorious show ever and bringing it to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in notorious Las Vegas. This concert experience is going to represent what the fans love most about MÖTLEY CRÜE, the Hard Rock and Las Vegas: good times, rock n' roll and a stage show like no one has ever seen before!"
"I think it'd be nice for it to be as long as possible," he said. "It's easy on everybody, and the production part of it is just going to be so much more fun than the stuff that we have to haul around and build and tear down every single night (on tour). There's much cooler stuff that we can do. I'd hate for it to go by quick."
To purchase tickets, go to Ticketmaster.com.
Current TESTAMENT touring drummer Gene ''The Atomic Clock'' Hoglan is pulling double duty on band's U.S. tour with ANTHRAX and DEATH ANGEL, filling in for ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante who is taking a short leave from the band's concert tour to be with his terminally ill mother.
Commented Hoglan: "I am honored to have been asked by Charlie to fill in for ANTHRAX in his time of need. We are all metal brethren, and this is what we do. Unite for the cause, unite for the fans, and unite for metal. Everybody on this tour has pulled together to keep this tour rollin', everybody is kicking ass. And everyone on this tour is sending our love and respect to the Benante and Bello families. [ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello is Benante's nephew. — Ed.] And Charlie, we can't wait to have ya back where you belong, my man. I'm just keeping your throne warm for ya bro."
Hoglan last year laid down the drum tracks on TESTAMENT's new album, "The Dark Roots Of Earth", which is tentatively due in late April/early May 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Gene Hoglan recently released his long-awaited instructional DVD, "The Atomic Clock". Available on Hoglan Industries in the U.S. and on Reversed Records in Canada, the disc showcases Hoglan's three decades of experience of performing and recording with the world's most well-known metal bands such as DEVIN TOWNSEND, DARK ANGEL, DEATH, DETHKLOK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, TESTAMENT, ZIMMER'S HOLE, and most recently FEAR FACTORY, along with many others on his resume.
Commented Hoglan: "I am honored to have been asked by Charlie to fill in for ANTHRAX in his time of need. We are all metal brethren, and this is what we do. Unite for the cause, unite for the fans, and unite for metal. Everybody on this tour has pulled together to keep this tour rollin', everybody is kicking ass. And everyone on this tour is sending our love and respect to the Benante and Bello families. [ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello is Benante's nephew. — Ed.] And Charlie, we can't wait to have ya back where you belong, my man. I'm just keeping your throne warm for ya bro."
Hoglan last year laid down the drum tracks on TESTAMENT's new album, "The Dark Roots Of Earth", which is tentatively due in late April/early May 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Gene Hoglan recently released his long-awaited instructional DVD, "The Atomic Clock". Available on Hoglan Industries in the U.S. and on Reversed Records in Canada, the disc showcases Hoglan's three decades of experience of performing and recording with the world's most well-known metal bands such as DEVIN TOWNSEND, DARK ANGEL, DEATH, DETHKLOK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, TESTAMENT, ZIMMER'S HOLE, and most recently FEAR FACTORY, along with many others on his resume.
ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell is among the Northwest artists who have recorded overhead safety and informational announcements that will be heard at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as part of The Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative, Experience The City Of Music — a cooperative effort by the Port Of Seattle, Seattle Music Commission and PlayNetwork.
The Cantrell PSA alerts travellers to the airport's no-smoking policy: "This is Jerry Cantrell of ALICE IN CHAINS reminding you that smoking is allowed on the lower drive outside the building and only in designated areas … Bummer, dude."
For the Sea-Tac program, the Port Of Seattle turned to Redmond, Washington-based PlayNetwork, a creator of "original vibes" for more than 15,000 clients around the world. Working with the Seattle Music Commission and other groups, the company came up with a four-pronged program which also features overhead music from Jimi Hendrix.
The Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative, Experience The City Of Music will launch this week to showcase the northwest region's music culture and enhance the experience of millions of passengers who pass through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport each year.
The Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative, Experience The City Of Music is a comprehensive program that enhances the traveler's experience by utilizing speakers and screens airport-wide to feature a diverse variety of northwest music from the soulful sounds of Quincy Jones to the poignant lyrics of Eddie Vedder. Travelers will also hear artist-read public announcements, enjoy curated videos on terminal and baggage claim monitors, and listen to a multi-channel web radio player available through the free airport Wi-Fi network.
"The Port is pleased to be a leader in this effort to promote the region's music industry and to increase the visibility of local musicians at the airport," said John Creighton, Port Of Seattle Commissioner. "From Jimi Hendrix to the Wilson sisters, Chris Cornell and many others, the Seattle area has a strong music heritage. Over 32 million passengers pass through Sea-Tac Airport each year, giving us a unique opportunity to introduce a new generation of local musicians to travelers and tourists."
The Cantrell PSA alerts travellers to the airport's no-smoking policy: "This is Jerry Cantrell of ALICE IN CHAINS reminding you that smoking is allowed on the lower drive outside the building and only in designated areas … Bummer, dude."
For the Sea-Tac program, the Port Of Seattle turned to Redmond, Washington-based PlayNetwork, a creator of "original vibes" for more than 15,000 clients around the world. Working with the Seattle Music Commission and other groups, the company came up with a four-pronged program which also features overhead music from Jimi Hendrix.
The Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative, Experience The City Of Music will launch this week to showcase the northwest region's music culture and enhance the experience of millions of passengers who pass through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport each year.
The Sea-Tac Airport Music Initiative, Experience The City Of Music is a comprehensive program that enhances the traveler's experience by utilizing speakers and screens airport-wide to feature a diverse variety of northwest music from the soulful sounds of Quincy Jones to the poignant lyrics of Eddie Vedder. Travelers will also hear artist-read public announcements, enjoy curated videos on terminal and baggage claim monitors, and listen to a multi-channel web radio player available through the free airport Wi-Fi network.
"The Port is pleased to be a leader in this effort to promote the region's music industry and to increase the visibility of local musicians at the airport," said John Creighton, Port Of Seattle Commissioner. "From Jimi Hendrix to the Wilson sisters, Chris Cornell and many others, the Seattle area has a strong music heritage. Over 32 million passengers pass through Sea-Tac Airport each year, giving us a unique opportunity to introduce a new generation of local musicians to travelers and tourists."
Legendary Rock Interviews recently conducted an interview with former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Legendary Rock Interviews: I'm not going to ask you about recording "Wasted Time" or "Big Guns" but I want to clear up a misconception which is amazingly still reported as fact all these years later and that's the fact that some people still say you left SKID ROW. That pisses me off because I am a huge fan of KISS and SKID ROW and have heard the story of how you got into it with them over Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] not wanting to do the KISS Alive/worldwide tour in 1996. Then they turned around, of course, and did the Farewell tour with KISS, which had to be even more frustrating.
Bach: It was. Of course it was, and the reason they did that tour without me is because Doc [McGhee] works for KISS and Snake [SKID ROW guitarist] works for Doc and that's their whole scene. But I was 100% fired from the band. They sent me some new music and I told them straight up that I didn't like it and I wanted us to write some more because I wasn't going to sing those songs. They got all mad and Doc called me and said, "Well, you have to sing it because you're the singer in the band, Sebastian," to which I said, "Well, if you like it, then YOU sing it. I didn't get into this business to sing music that I don't like just to put something out." I told those guys, "I don't know about you, Mr. Rock Band Guitarist and Bassist, but I didn't get into this rock and roll band to play songs that suck."
Legendary Rock Interviews: Some of the material they have done without you has been okay and some not okay…
Bach: That's just it, though, dude. I didn't get into this to be "okay." [laughs] I know what you're saying, but I got into this to do stuff that moves me. I thought we should be doing material that stands next to "Youth Gone Wild" or "In A Darkened Room", not stuff that was "okay." "Monkey Business" and "Youth Gone Wild" are not just okay, they're great songs, amazing songs, and that's why people respond to them. I didn't want to put out a record with them that was just okay. I'm not saying it to brag, but I love my new album, "Kicking & Screaming", I listen to it all the time because I love it. It's got that same energy and spirit as anything I have ever sung on, and I am really proud of it.
Legendary Rock Interviews: I think that the new material and new band you have is plenty strong, and with one more studio album, you've basically equalled your output with SKID ROW. Paul Stanley once said, "There's a reason your ex-girlfriend is your ex-girlfriend. If there wasn't, you'd still be with her." I know you field all these questions about SKID ROW reuniting and I want to know if you ever hear from people like me who are happy with the way things are right now.
Bach: Well, first of all, thank you for saying that about being one studio album away, I totally thank you and I agree with that. "Angel Down" debuted at 190 on the Billboard charts, which was very disappointing but then "Kicking & Screaming" debuted at No. 68, which was like "OK, I can deal with that, because if I keep working and take another jump like that on the next record, I would be up in the top 20, which would be incredible." All I can do is keep working and keep my head down and make the music I love and hopefully some day people will be able to see me and my solo career the way that they saw someone like Ozzy as a solo artist; that's the gold standard. It's not always easy, but nothing worth having is.
Legendary Rock Interviews: One of the biggest gripes about you is one that I hear over and over. It goes something like this: "Sebastian always talks about how he's grown and is moving forward and wants to get past SKID ROW and everything, but then he continues to go out and play all those songs night after night and blah, blah, blah." Last time I checked, James Hetfield, Chris Cornell, Axl Rose and Paul Stanley all sang songs from their catalog every single night. No one gives them shit for wanting to put out new stuff and move on while still playing their catalog, but for some reason people perpetually single you out. [laughs]
Bach: Right. [laughs] Dude, of course I will play those songs, but if I only went up there and played "Youth Gone Wild", "I Remember You" and "18 And Life", that would be a pretty short fuckin set, wouldn't it? I think sometimes people who say things like that are forgetting the fact that SKID ROW wasn't THE BEATLES or METALLICA or GUNS N' ROSES. We had three hit songs. Three. If those three hit songs are the only songs a fan knows, or wants, then that's not the kind of rock I want to cater to. I need to appeal to the fan who's looking for a bit more rock than that. [laughs] I have a lot of tunes under my belt and a lot more on the way. I want to have a long career with hundreds and hundreds of songs.
Legendary Rock Interviews: You said you were initially disappointed by the reception or chart action of "Angel Down", but I think you did the right thing by continuing to tour it and keep it out there for so long because it's now taken on a tremendous amount of life. I don't think I've read very many bad reviews of it and still to this day people really appreciate that album and the heaviness of it. So much so that I think a few of them overlooked "By Your Side" which is about the best number one ballad ever written that didn't go to number one. I think it's way better than "I Remember You" and on par with "In A Darkened Room" as one of the best songs you've ever recorded.
Bach: Wow. that's really cool. I love that song. It's hard for me to listen to because it's such an emotional song. I can't hear it and not think of my dad because I wrote that about him. I think a lot of people can relate to that song if they've lost someone so important in their life and it really was just written totally and completely from my heart. If that song hits you or stays with you, that's why.
Legendary Rock Interviews: I'm not going to ask you about recording "Wasted Time" or "Big Guns" but I want to clear up a misconception which is amazingly still reported as fact all these years later and that's the fact that some people still say you left SKID ROW. That pisses me off because I am a huge fan of KISS and SKID ROW and have heard the story of how you got into it with them over Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] not wanting to do the KISS Alive/worldwide tour in 1996. Then they turned around, of course, and did the Farewell tour with KISS, which had to be even more frustrating.
Bach: It was. Of course it was, and the reason they did that tour without me is because Doc [McGhee] works for KISS and Snake [SKID ROW guitarist] works for Doc and that's their whole scene. But I was 100% fired from the band. They sent me some new music and I told them straight up that I didn't like it and I wanted us to write some more because I wasn't going to sing those songs. They got all mad and Doc called me and said, "Well, you have to sing it because you're the singer in the band, Sebastian," to which I said, "Well, if you like it, then YOU sing it. I didn't get into this business to sing music that I don't like just to put something out." I told those guys, "I don't know about you, Mr. Rock Band Guitarist and Bassist, but I didn't get into this rock and roll band to play songs that suck."
Legendary Rock Interviews: Some of the material they have done without you has been okay and some not okay…
Bach: That's just it, though, dude. I didn't get into this to be "okay." [laughs] I know what you're saying, but I got into this to do stuff that moves me. I thought we should be doing material that stands next to "Youth Gone Wild" or "In A Darkened Room", not stuff that was "okay." "Monkey Business" and "Youth Gone Wild" are not just okay, they're great songs, amazing songs, and that's why people respond to them. I didn't want to put out a record with them that was just okay. I'm not saying it to brag, but I love my new album, "Kicking & Screaming", I listen to it all the time because I love it. It's got that same energy and spirit as anything I have ever sung on, and I am really proud of it.
Legendary Rock Interviews: I think that the new material and new band you have is plenty strong, and with one more studio album, you've basically equalled your output with SKID ROW. Paul Stanley once said, "There's a reason your ex-girlfriend is your ex-girlfriend. If there wasn't, you'd still be with her." I know you field all these questions about SKID ROW reuniting and I want to know if you ever hear from people like me who are happy with the way things are right now.
Bach: Well, first of all, thank you for saying that about being one studio album away, I totally thank you and I agree with that. "Angel Down" debuted at 190 on the Billboard charts, which was very disappointing but then "Kicking & Screaming" debuted at No. 68, which was like "OK, I can deal with that, because if I keep working and take another jump like that on the next record, I would be up in the top 20, which would be incredible." All I can do is keep working and keep my head down and make the music I love and hopefully some day people will be able to see me and my solo career the way that they saw someone like Ozzy as a solo artist; that's the gold standard. It's not always easy, but nothing worth having is.
Legendary Rock Interviews: One of the biggest gripes about you is one that I hear over and over. It goes something like this: "Sebastian always talks about how he's grown and is moving forward and wants to get past SKID ROW and everything, but then he continues to go out and play all those songs night after night and blah, blah, blah." Last time I checked, James Hetfield, Chris Cornell, Axl Rose and Paul Stanley all sang songs from their catalog every single night. No one gives them shit for wanting to put out new stuff and move on while still playing their catalog, but for some reason people perpetually single you out. [laughs]
Bach: Right. [laughs] Dude, of course I will play those songs, but if I only went up there and played "Youth Gone Wild", "I Remember You" and "18 And Life", that would be a pretty short fuckin set, wouldn't it? I think sometimes people who say things like that are forgetting the fact that SKID ROW wasn't THE BEATLES or METALLICA or GUNS N' ROSES. We had three hit songs. Three. If those three hit songs are the only songs a fan knows, or wants, then that's not the kind of rock I want to cater to. I need to appeal to the fan who's looking for a bit more rock than that. [laughs] I have a lot of tunes under my belt and a lot more on the way. I want to have a long career with hundreds and hundreds of songs.
Legendary Rock Interviews: You said you were initially disappointed by the reception or chart action of "Angel Down", but I think you did the right thing by continuing to tour it and keep it out there for so long because it's now taken on a tremendous amount of life. I don't think I've read very many bad reviews of it and still to this day people really appreciate that album and the heaviness of it. So much so that I think a few of them overlooked "By Your Side" which is about the best number one ballad ever written that didn't go to number one. I think it's way better than "I Remember You" and on par with "In A Darkened Room" as one of the best songs you've ever recorded.
Bach: Wow. that's really cool. I love that song. It's hard for me to listen to because it's such an emotional song. I can't hear it and not think of my dad because I wrote that about him. I think a lot of people can relate to that song if they've lost someone so important in their life and it really was just written totally and completely from my heart. If that song hits you or stays with you, that's why.
Mascot Label Group has announced the release of the eponymous debut album from FLYING COLORS — the spectacular new virtuoso prog/pop/metal rock band formed by drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-DREAM THEATER) and guitarist Steve Morse (DEEP PURPLE). The CD will be made available via Music Theories Recordings in the U.K. on Monday, March 26, followed by a U.S. release on Tuesday, March 27.
FLYING COLORS is Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), and Steve Morse (lead guitar).
"This album has bits and pieces of what you'd expect from each of us," says Portnoy. ""The sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for everyone involved."
"Flying Colors" track listing:
01. Blue Ocean
02. Shoulda Coulda Woulda
03. Love Is What I'm Waiting For
04. The Storm
05. Kayla
06. Forever In A Daze
07. Everything Changes
08. Better Than Walking
09. All Falls Down
10. Fool In My Heart
11. Infinite Fire
The formation of FLYING COLORS began with a simple idea: virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining together to make new-fashioned music the old-fashioned way. Refreshing, classic, old and new, the recordings are saturated with the many styles, tones and hues of the players who in becoming a band have delivered a unique fusion of vintage craftsmanship and contemporary music.
In 2008, executive producer Bill Evans brought the idea to the world-renowned musicians and producer Peter Collins. Intrigued by the idea and the prospect of working together, the four musicians signed on to form a band and record a first album.
Steve Morse and Dave LaRue have developed magical music chemistry over the years that began early in their careers as partners in DIXIE DREGS. In 1995, Morse subsequently became a member of DEEP PURPLE, while LaRue's ongoing musical adventures include Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, Steve Vai, and the aforementioned Portnoy.
Multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Neal Morse is one of the leading figures in progressive rock, whose notoriety follows his co-founding of the seminal band, SPOCK'S BEARD in 1995, recordings as a solo artist, and contributions to the super-group TRANSATLANTIC.
Mike Portnoy is one of the most popular and respected drummers in both metal and rock, and an accomplished writer and producer. He is the recipient of numerous industry accolades, including 26 Modern Drummer awards, Revolver magazine's Golden God award for "Best Drummer" and Drum magazine's "Drummer Of The Year". He rose to prominence as the leader, drummer, producer, and co-writer for metal/prog juggernaut DREAM THEATER, before moving on in 2010. That same year, he worked on AVENGED SEVENFOLD's #1 album "Nightmare" and their subsequent tour.
It was Portnoy who recommended ALPHA REV's emotive singer Casey McPherson as a contender to join FLYING COLORS. McPherson, whose 2010 Hollywood/Disney album "New Morning" debuted in the Top 5 on two Billboard charts, enjoyed major success at radio with multiple hits. The track "New Morning" spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 on Triple A Radio, and enjoyed a run on VH1's Top 20 Countdown for months. Steve Morse offers, "Casey was a glorious find, because he could make anything sound fantastic, and is a multitalented like the others."
FLYING COLORS convened for just nine days in early 2011, and composed and recorded this album during a short and intense session.
"It was quite an experience," recalls Dave LaRue. "The band moved at a fast pace, ideas flying around the room at all times. Sections of tunes were arranged, and then re-arranged. Ideas were tried every which way until we made them work, or, in some cases, discarded them altogether. Just keeping track of everything was a challenge!" The album is filled with trial and triumph. It's been an inspiring challenge melding folk, prog, pop, and metal all into one big recording."
Touring plans for FLYING COLORS will be announced in the coming months.
FLYING COLORS is Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Dave LaRue (bass), Neal Morse (keyboards, vocals), Casey McPherson (lead vocals, guitar), and Steve Morse (lead guitar).
"This album has bits and pieces of what you'd expect from each of us," says Portnoy. ""The sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for everyone involved."
"Flying Colors" track listing:
01. Blue Ocean
02. Shoulda Coulda Woulda
03. Love Is What I'm Waiting For
04. The Storm
05. Kayla
06. Forever In A Daze
07. Everything Changes
08. Better Than Walking
09. All Falls Down
10. Fool In My Heart
11. Infinite Fire
The formation of FLYING COLORS began with a simple idea: virtuoso musicians and a pop singer joining together to make new-fashioned music the old-fashioned way. Refreshing, classic, old and new, the recordings are saturated with the many styles, tones and hues of the players who in becoming a band have delivered a unique fusion of vintage craftsmanship and contemporary music.
In 2008, executive producer Bill Evans brought the idea to the world-renowned musicians and producer Peter Collins. Intrigued by the idea and the prospect of working together, the four musicians signed on to form a band and record a first album.
Steve Morse and Dave LaRue have developed magical music chemistry over the years that began early in their careers as partners in DIXIE DREGS. In 1995, Morse subsequently became a member of DEEP PURPLE, while LaRue's ongoing musical adventures include Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, Steve Vai, and the aforementioned Portnoy.
Multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Neal Morse is one of the leading figures in progressive rock, whose notoriety follows his co-founding of the seminal band, SPOCK'S BEARD in 1995, recordings as a solo artist, and contributions to the super-group TRANSATLANTIC.
Mike Portnoy is one of the most popular and respected drummers in both metal and rock, and an accomplished writer and producer. He is the recipient of numerous industry accolades, including 26 Modern Drummer awards, Revolver magazine's Golden God award for "Best Drummer" and Drum magazine's "Drummer Of The Year". He rose to prominence as the leader, drummer, producer, and co-writer for metal/prog juggernaut DREAM THEATER, before moving on in 2010. That same year, he worked on AVENGED SEVENFOLD's #1 album "Nightmare" and their subsequent tour.
It was Portnoy who recommended ALPHA REV's emotive singer Casey McPherson as a contender to join FLYING COLORS. McPherson, whose 2010 Hollywood/Disney album "New Morning" debuted in the Top 5 on two Billboard charts, enjoyed major success at radio with multiple hits. The track "New Morning" spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 on Triple A Radio, and enjoyed a run on VH1's Top 20 Countdown for months. Steve Morse offers, "Casey was a glorious find, because he could make anything sound fantastic, and is a multitalented like the others."
FLYING COLORS convened for just nine days in early 2011, and composed and recorded this album during a short and intense session.
"It was quite an experience," recalls Dave LaRue. "The band moved at a fast pace, ideas flying around the room at all times. Sections of tunes were arranged, and then re-arranged. Ideas were tried every which way until we made them work, or, in some cases, discarded them altogether. Just keeping track of everything was a challenge!" The album is filled with trial and triumph. It's been an inspiring challenge melding folk, prog, pop, and metal all into one big recording."
Touring plans for FLYING COLORS will be announced in the coming months.
Washington D.C.-based female-fronted heavy metallers A SOUND OF THUNDER will release their second full-length album, "Out Of The Darkness", on March 27 via Nightmare Records. The follow-up to last year's "Metal Renaissance" was produced by Kevin "131" Gutierrez (SHINEDOWN, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT, DECEASED) at Assembly Line Studios in Virginia. According to a press release, "the 10-track album plays like a love letter to all that is metal, encompassing traditional heavy metal, modern power metal, prog and classic rock, with timeless songs that could have been written in 1971, 1991 or 2011."
The material on "Out Of The Darkness" was composed by Josh Schwartz and the rest of A SOUND OF THUNDER, with lyrics written by Nina Osegueda and Chris Haren. Legendary RAVEN frontman John Gallagher makes an appearance on the album, performing a duet with Nina on the CD's title track.
"John Gallagher was so awesome to work with," says Nina. "I learned a lot from him in the short time we were in the studio together, and I really respect his skills and experience which shine through on this track."
"Out Of The Darkness" track listing:
01. The Day I Die
02. The Night Witch
03. Kill That Bitch
04. Murderous Horde
05. A Sound of Thunder
06. Out of the Darkness
07. Calat Alhambra
08. Fight Until the End
09. This Too Shall Pass
10. Discovery
For more information, visit www.asoundofthunderband.com.
The material on "Out Of The Darkness" was composed by Josh Schwartz and the rest of A SOUND OF THUNDER, with lyrics written by Nina Osegueda and Chris Haren. Legendary RAVEN frontman John Gallagher makes an appearance on the album, performing a duet with Nina on the CD's title track.
"John Gallagher was so awesome to work with," says Nina. "I learned a lot from him in the short time we were in the studio together, and I really respect his skills and experience which shine through on this track."
"Out Of The Darkness" track listing:
01. The Day I Die
02. The Night Witch
03. Kill That Bitch
04. Murderous Horde
05. A Sound of Thunder
06. Out of the Darkness
07. Calat Alhambra
08. Fight Until the End
09. This Too Shall Pass
10. Discovery
For more information, visit www.asoundofthunderband.com.
RIOT guitarist Mike Flyntz has issued the following statement regarding the passing of his bandmate, RIOT's founding guitarist Mark Reale:
"I would like to thank everyone for the support and love regarding the passing of my dear friend Mark Reale. I have had the honor to stand next to him on the stage and in the studio for over 22 years. Mark gave me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of recording and writing records, and also touring in support of those records. I was a fan first, getting his autograph after a RIOT show at L'Amour [in Brooklyn, New York] when I was in college. Mark was a shy man who didn't talk much unless he was being interviewed or on the phone. Lord knows he could talk on the phone. Mark also loved to laugh. One part of our special relationship was that we could laugh until we were crying, and he would be lying on the floor yelling 'please stop' and after five minutes of silence, all I had to do was look at him and it would start all over. I will forever cherish those moments. As far as a musician, he is the most underrated guitarist, songwriter, riff-creator, visionary in rock music. He should be in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for his vibrato alone. Listen to his vibrato. His sense of melody was incredible. He taught me so much.
"There is so much more I need to say about my friend, but I have been at a loss of words since his passing. The only comfort I have is that he is out of pain."
Reale died Wednesday (January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he had battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old.
Reale had reportedly been in a coma for the past two weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.
Mark is survived by his father, Anthony Reale, and was preceded in death by his mother, Frances Reale.
Mark spent most of his life working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for Crohn's disease. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn's symptoms, leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility. Mark was struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of RIOT's new album, "Immortal Soul", and guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the LP with Mark's creative direction while Reale was unable to perform.
"I would like to thank everyone for the support and love regarding the passing of my dear friend Mark Reale. I have had the honor to stand next to him on the stage and in the studio for over 22 years. Mark gave me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of recording and writing records, and also touring in support of those records. I was a fan first, getting his autograph after a RIOT show at L'Amour [in Brooklyn, New York] when I was in college. Mark was a shy man who didn't talk much unless he was being interviewed or on the phone. Lord knows he could talk on the phone. Mark also loved to laugh. One part of our special relationship was that we could laugh until we were crying, and he would be lying on the floor yelling 'please stop' and after five minutes of silence, all I had to do was look at him and it would start all over. I will forever cherish those moments. As far as a musician, he is the most underrated guitarist, songwriter, riff-creator, visionary in rock music. He should be in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for his vibrato alone. Listen to his vibrato. His sense of melody was incredible. He taught me so much.
"There is so much more I need to say about my friend, but I have been at a loss of words since his passing. The only comfort I have is that he is out of pain."
Reale died Wednesday (January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he had battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old.
Reale had reportedly been in a coma for the past two weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.
Mark is survived by his father, Anthony Reale, and was preceded in death by his mother, Frances Reale.
Mark spent most of his life working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for Crohn's disease. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn's symptoms, leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility. Mark was struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of RIOT's new album, "Immortal Soul", and guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the LP with Mark's creative direction while Reale was unable to perform.
The family of late RIOT guitarist Mark Reale will receive friends on Tuesday, January 31 from 6:00 ot 8:00 p.m. at Porter Loring Mortuary North in San Antonio, Texas. A mass will be held on Wednesday, February 1 at 12 p.m. at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church. A processional will follow to Holy Cross Cemetery for interment.
A guestbook can be found at this location.
Reale died Wednesday (January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he had battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old.
Reale had reportedly been in a coma for the past two weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.
Mark is survived by his father, Anthony Reale, and was preceded in death by his mother, Frances Reale.
Mark spent most of his life working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for Crohn's disease. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn's symptoms, leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility. Mark was struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of RIOT's new album, "Immortal Soul", and guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the LP with Mark's creative direction while Reale was unable to perform.
A guestbook can be found at this location.
Reale died Wednesday (January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he had battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old.
Reale had reportedly been in a coma for the past two weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.
Mark is survived by his father, Anthony Reale, and was preceded in death by his mother, Frances Reale.
Mark spent most of his life working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for Crohn's disease. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn's symptoms, leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility. Mark was struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of RIOT's new album, "Immortal Soul", and guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the LP with Mark's creative direction while Reale was unable to perform.
"Resolution", the new album from Richmond, Virginia metallers LAMB OF GOD, has entered the official Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) chart at position No. 3.
As previously reported, "Resolution" is likely to sell between 50,000 and 55,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on January 24 via Epic.
LAMB OF GOD's previous CD, "Wrath", opened with around 68,000 units back in March 2009 to land at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. This figure was roughly in line with the first-week tally registered by 2006's "Sacrament", which shifted around 63,000 units to enter the chart at No. 8. It also represented almost double the amount of records sold by its predecessor, "Ashes Of The Wake", which premiered with 35,000 copies in September 2004.
"Resolution" was released internationally through Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at various studios in Virginia and New York with producer Josh Wilbur, who worked on the band's last effort, 2009's "Wrath".
"Resolution" track listing:
01. Straight For The Sun
02. Desolation
03. Ghost Walking
04. Guilty
05. The Undertow
06. The Number Six
07. Barbarosa
08. Invictus
09. Cheated
10. Insurrection
11. Terminally Unique
12. To The End
13. Visitation
14. King Me
As previously reported, "Resolution" is likely to sell between 50,000 and 55,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on January 24 via Epic.
LAMB OF GOD's previous CD, "Wrath", opened with around 68,000 units back in March 2009 to land at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. This figure was roughly in line with the first-week tally registered by 2006's "Sacrament", which shifted around 63,000 units to enter the chart at No. 8. It also represented almost double the amount of records sold by its predecessor, "Ashes Of The Wake", which premiered with 35,000 copies in September 2004.
"Resolution" was released internationally through Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at various studios in Virginia and New York with producer Josh Wilbur, who worked on the band's last effort, 2009's "Wrath".
"Resolution" track listing:
01. Straight For The Sun
02. Desolation
03. Ghost Walking
04. Guilty
05. The Undertow
06. The Number Six
07. Barbarosa
08. Invictus
09. Cheated
10. Insurrection
11. Terminally Unique
12. To The End
13. Visitation
14. King Me
Swedish/American rockers VAINS OF JENNA have released the following statement:
"After seven years, we have amicably and mutually decided to end VAINS OF JENNA. There's no drama behind the decision. We simply feel like it is time to move on in our lives and close this chapter. It has been a truly amazing journey for us over the years and we are grateful for the opportunity to do what we've done with this band. A huge thanks to everyone involved, all of our supporters, and, of course, all of our fans from around the world. We love you."
VAINS OF JENNA singer Jesse Forte, who joined the band in 2010, recently replaced Oni Logan in LYNCH MOB, the group led by legendary former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch.
Original VAINS OF JENNA vocalist Lizzy DeVine gave an interview to Neon Lights in December 2011 in which he revealed that he exited the group because he didn't want to move back to Sweden along with his bandmates after spending several years in California.
After recruiting Forte as the band's new singer, VAINS OF JENNA's main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicki Kin stated about the group's decision to carry on, "It's not in my blood to stop doing what I started. I love music, I live music, and this is what I do."
VAINS OF JENNA's first release with Forte was the "We Can Never Die" EP, which came out in 2010. A full-length album, "Reverse Tripped", followed in April 2011 via Deadline (a division of Cleopatra Records).
"After seven years, we have amicably and mutually decided to end VAINS OF JENNA. There's no drama behind the decision. We simply feel like it is time to move on in our lives and close this chapter. It has been a truly amazing journey for us over the years and we are grateful for the opportunity to do what we've done with this band. A huge thanks to everyone involved, all of our supporters, and, of course, all of our fans from around the world. We love you."
VAINS OF JENNA singer Jesse Forte, who joined the band in 2010, recently replaced Oni Logan in LYNCH MOB, the group led by legendary former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch.
Original VAINS OF JENNA vocalist Lizzy DeVine gave an interview to Neon Lights in December 2011 in which he revealed that he exited the group because he didn't want to move back to Sweden along with his bandmates after spending several years in California.
After recruiting Forte as the band's new singer, VAINS OF JENNA's main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nicki Kin stated about the group's decision to carry on, "It's not in my blood to stop doing what I started. I love music, I live music, and this is what I do."
VAINS OF JENNA's first release with Forte was the "We Can Never Die" EP, which came out in 2010. A full-length album, "Reverse Tripped", followed in April 2011 via Deadline (a division of Cleopatra Records).
Classic Swedish heavy metal band OVERDRIVE formed in 1980 and recorded two albums, "Metal Attack" and "Swords And Axes", before splitting up in 1985. A shortlived reformation took place in 1992, at the time featuring original drummer Kenta Svensson, guitarist Janne Stark and singer Pelle Thuresson now handling the bass. In 2003 the band played, what was to be a one-off reunion show, but it became permanent as more concerts were booked and a new deal with Lion Music was signed. The band continued with new singer Per "Perilo" Lengstedt (formerly Karlsson) and has since released an EP and three albums. The group's latest CD, "Angelmaker" (2011), received rave reviews and the band played a number of shows.
In December 2011, internal communication problems caused the group to break up for a short time. Not willing to let go of a great band, the members reformed with Thuresson once again handling the bass.
After leaving OVERDRIVE in 1985, Pelle switched to playing bass and has since played with such bands as OVERHEAT, CROSSEYED MARY and the AC/DC cover band AC/DC JAM.
"It's truly sad it had to come to this, but it was impossible to continue under previous circumstances," OVERDRIVE said in a statement. "It, however, feels really great to have Pelle back in the band, both on a personal and a musical level. We've stayed friends through the years and Pelle even made a guest appearance on one of our shows in 2010. This also opens up possibilities for some more interesting things for OVERDRIVE on a live show level. We are really exited to get this sucker on the road."
Added Pelle: "I didn't expect this at all, but I immediately jumped at it when I was asked. Now I just have to relearn all the old songs on bass instead."
OVERDRIVE's new single, "Short Moments", is in heavy rotation on the Swedish radio channel P4 and a digital release will follow soon. The band will also support NAZARETH in Sweden.
Pictured below is OVERDRIVE's current lineup (left to right): Kjell Jacobsson (guitar), Pelle Thuresson (bass), Per "Periloz" Karlsson (vocals), Janne Stark (guitar) and Kenta Svensson (drums).
In December 2011, internal communication problems caused the group to break up for a short time. Not willing to let go of a great band, the members reformed with Thuresson once again handling the bass.
After leaving OVERDRIVE in 1985, Pelle switched to playing bass and has since played with such bands as OVERHEAT, CROSSEYED MARY and the AC/DC cover band AC/DC JAM.
"It's truly sad it had to come to this, but it was impossible to continue under previous circumstances," OVERDRIVE said in a statement. "It, however, feels really great to have Pelle back in the band, both on a personal and a musical level. We've stayed friends through the years and Pelle even made a guest appearance on one of our shows in 2010. This also opens up possibilities for some more interesting things for OVERDRIVE on a live show level. We are really exited to get this sucker on the road."
Added Pelle: "I didn't expect this at all, but I immediately jumped at it when I was asked. Now I just have to relearn all the old songs on bass instead."
OVERDRIVE's new single, "Short Moments", is in heavy rotation on the Swedish radio channel P4 and a digital release will follow soon. The band will also support NAZARETH in Sweden.
Pictured below is OVERDRIVE's current lineup (left to right): Kjell Jacobsson (guitar), Pelle Thuresson (bass), Per "Periloz" Karlsson (vocals), Janne Stark (guitar) and Kenta Svensson (drums).
TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, the new project featuring Dani "Filth" Davey (vocals; CRADLE OF FILTH), Rob Caggiano (guitar; ANTHRAX, THE DAMNED THINGS), Tom Cato Visnes (bass; a.k.a. King ov Hell; OV HELL, GOD SEED, GORGOROTH), John Tempesta (drums; formerly of WHITE ZOMBIE and now drumming with THE CULT) and Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal (guitar; ENSLAVED) spent time in Bergen, Norway earlier this month fine-tuning the material that is set to appear on the band's forthcoming debut album.
Dani has released the following update via the official TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON Facebok page:
"Long time dead, my dear friends.
"Welcome to the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, wherein all your desires and deepest darkest fantasies become terrifying reality at the press of a stereo button.
"I'm writing to you now to let you in on exactly what is brewing with this band and the bunch of hellish reprobates contained therein.
"I, Dani Filth, third in line to the Baronet of Hades, have just returned from a week in Bergen, Norway, where TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON have been ensconced in a studio (which is simultaneously working on the new GOD SEED album, I hasten to add), putting the spit and polish to the album's worth of music we've written.
"Thus far we have the following titles to confirm, with a further couple of corkers steaming down the pipeline soon...
* Beautifully Perverse
* Into The Void
* Don't Call Up What You Can't Put Down
* Infernal Desire Machine
* Alchemy, Myself And I
* Dark Eyes For Trouble
* C.N.T (All That's Missing Is You)
* Persephone
* Last Of The Vampire Playboys
* Another Dead Thing Between Us
* Catch
"Everything is sounding great and we are hoping to secure management (we're in the midst of discussions) and then a record deal in the foreseeable future, though no names can be uttered yet… I'm an absolute bugger when it comes to jinxes!
"My time in Bergen was a riot. I was lodging at Tom's with Geir and Rob as well as Tom's American girlfriend Stefanie, which proved a bit of a pileup when it came to using the bathroom every morning! Actually, that's bearing in mind that we didn't actually see the morning all week, save for the very last day when we had to pack down the gear early before Rob's flight.
"After long stretches in the studio analysing music, playing music or reading old copies of European metal mags (plus the nights spent downstairs from the studio at The Garage rock bar, or at various people's apartments partying), the mornings became obsolete almost overnight! Still, we managed to squeeze in some national press, including radio and a double spread in a national daily newspaper, plus we also managed a studio report with Metal Hammer Germany, playing the journalist Gunnar six demo tracks to whet his salubrious appetite.
"Highlights of the trip had to be the Friday night bar crawl (Rob getting locked outside the flat and not waking anyone until 10 in the morning, so okay, he got to see the dreadful hours), hearing Tom's demons for real, the marathon wine drinking evening Saturday night, hanging out with a famous Norwegian actor called Helge Jordal and hooking up with friends from GOD SEED, DIMMU, ENSLAVED, SUSPERIA, TAAKE, BATTALION, IMMORTAL and SAHG, to name but a smattering. Oh, and watching the other guys (Geir, Rob, Tom and Ice Dale) handling backing vocal duties to proper comedic effect! They actually sound great, though….
"So that's it for the time being fellow night owls. As up to date as it can possibly be. And hopefully next time I put gob to paper I will hopefully have news of an impending studio date, sample lyrics and even perhaps some demo material to air.
"How incredibly exciting!"
"Pyro", the weekly hard rock/metal heavy metal show which airs on the national radio station NRK in Norway, recently conducted an interview with Filth, Caggiano and King. The five-minute chat, which includes audio snippets of songs that will appear on TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON's forthcoming debut album, can be streamed at this location.
When asked about how the idea for the project came about, Caggiano said, "Years ago, I was in the U.K. working with CRADLE OF FILTH on the 'Nymphetamine' record. And I think it was at the end of the session, I was just about to go back to New York, I decided to stay in London for a couple of days. And GORGOROTH was actually playing. So I went to the show, and that's when Tom and I met; it was back in 2005, I think. We got really drunk and we started talking about working on music together, doing something different. Prior to that, Dani and I were talking about possibly doing something. One thing led to another, Tom and I started working on music, and we realized that we worked really well together and it just came naturally. . . But the whole thing is, we're all super busy with our other projects, so just scheduling has been a nightmare for a long time."
Regarding the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON sound, Dani said, "A lot of people have speculated, 'Wow, it's got a guy from CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX and [GORGOROTH].' It's got a real rock base to it; and I know it sounds strange [to say]. It's heavy, but it's not too extreme. It's not [all] blast beats or anything like that, although we do have a couple of songs a bit like that — really fast. But it's catchy. I don't like using the word 'commercial,' because will think it's watered down, sort of, power pop, or pop rock. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people. It's really hard to put it into context and say, it's a bit of CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX, GORGOROTH and THE CULT [laughs] . . . which sounds ridiculous." Caggiano added, "I don't think it sounds like any of our other bands. If it did, what would be the point?"
Dani has released the following update via the official TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON Facebok page:
"Long time dead, my dear friends.
"Welcome to the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON, wherein all your desires and deepest darkest fantasies become terrifying reality at the press of a stereo button.
"I'm writing to you now to let you in on exactly what is brewing with this band and the bunch of hellish reprobates contained therein.
"I, Dani Filth, third in line to the Baronet of Hades, have just returned from a week in Bergen, Norway, where TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON have been ensconced in a studio (which is simultaneously working on the new GOD SEED album, I hasten to add), putting the spit and polish to the album's worth of music we've written.
"Thus far we have the following titles to confirm, with a further couple of corkers steaming down the pipeline soon...
* Beautifully Perverse
* Into The Void
* Don't Call Up What You Can't Put Down
* Infernal Desire Machine
* Alchemy, Myself And I
* Dark Eyes For Trouble
* C.N.T (All That's Missing Is You)
* Persephone
* Last Of The Vampire Playboys
* Another Dead Thing Between Us
* Catch
"Everything is sounding great and we are hoping to secure management (we're in the midst of discussions) and then a record deal in the foreseeable future, though no names can be uttered yet… I'm an absolute bugger when it comes to jinxes!
"My time in Bergen was a riot. I was lodging at Tom's with Geir and Rob as well as Tom's American girlfriend Stefanie, which proved a bit of a pileup when it came to using the bathroom every morning! Actually, that's bearing in mind that we didn't actually see the morning all week, save for the very last day when we had to pack down the gear early before Rob's flight.
"After long stretches in the studio analysing music, playing music or reading old copies of European metal mags (plus the nights spent downstairs from the studio at The Garage rock bar, or at various people's apartments partying), the mornings became obsolete almost overnight! Still, we managed to squeeze in some national press, including radio and a double spread in a national daily newspaper, plus we also managed a studio report with Metal Hammer Germany, playing the journalist Gunnar six demo tracks to whet his salubrious appetite.
"Highlights of the trip had to be the Friday night bar crawl (Rob getting locked outside the flat and not waking anyone until 10 in the morning, so okay, he got to see the dreadful hours), hearing Tom's demons for real, the marathon wine drinking evening Saturday night, hanging out with a famous Norwegian actor called Helge Jordal and hooking up with friends from GOD SEED, DIMMU, ENSLAVED, SUSPERIA, TAAKE, BATTALION, IMMORTAL and SAHG, to name but a smattering. Oh, and watching the other guys (Geir, Rob, Tom and Ice Dale) handling backing vocal duties to proper comedic effect! They actually sound great, though….
"So that's it for the time being fellow night owls. As up to date as it can possibly be. And hopefully next time I put gob to paper I will hopefully have news of an impending studio date, sample lyrics and even perhaps some demo material to air.
"How incredibly exciting!"
"Pyro", the weekly hard rock/metal heavy metal show which airs on the national radio station NRK in Norway, recently conducted an interview with Filth, Caggiano and King. The five-minute chat, which includes audio snippets of songs that will appear on TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON's forthcoming debut album, can be streamed at this location.
When asked about how the idea for the project came about, Caggiano said, "Years ago, I was in the U.K. working with CRADLE OF FILTH on the 'Nymphetamine' record. And I think it was at the end of the session, I was just about to go back to New York, I decided to stay in London for a couple of days. And GORGOROTH was actually playing. So I went to the show, and that's when Tom and I met; it was back in 2005, I think. We got really drunk and we started talking about working on music together, doing something different. Prior to that, Dani and I were talking about possibly doing something. One thing led to another, Tom and I started working on music, and we realized that we worked really well together and it just came naturally. . . But the whole thing is, we're all super busy with our other projects, so just scheduling has been a nightmare for a long time."
Regarding the TEMPLE OF THE BLACK MOON sound, Dani said, "A lot of people have speculated, 'Wow, it's got a guy from CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX and [GORGOROTH].' It's got a real rock base to it; and I know it sounds strange [to say]. It's heavy, but it's not too extreme. It's not [all] blast beats or anything like that, although we do have a couple of songs a bit like that — really fast. But it's catchy. I don't like using the word 'commercial,' because will think it's watered down, sort of, power pop, or pop rock. I think it's gonna surprise a lot of people. It's really hard to put it into context and say, it's a bit of CRADLE OF FILTH, ANTHRAX, GORGOROTH and THE CULT [laughs] . . . which sounds ridiculous." Caggiano added, "I don't think it sounds like any of our other bands. If it did, what would be the point?"
Former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young has joined forces with acclaimed 26-year-old female extreme metal drummer Lux Drummerette (SACRED STORM, NEKROMANTIX) in an as-yet-unnamed new project.
Young stated about his collaboration with Lux, "I'm over the band concept. It's a dinosaur... put a fork in it. We're approaching this as a duo incoporating loops, DJs, soundscapes and assorted players per song/show/tour as needed. We sound full enough, we don't need much else."
Lux's signature drumming combines heavy metal double-bass with complex rhythms and dynamics, all while playing in stilettos. She also has the creative mind to incorporate elements of progressive and experimental rock rhythms. Music Connection magazine describes her drumming as "unique, off kilter, Keith Moon-inspired."
When asked in a 2010 interview with The Metal Pit if it's true that she plays in stiletto heels, Lux replied, "Of course! When I first started playing I was wearing regular shoes, and as I started getting into my high school years, I think I was drumming in sandals. And then I started drumming barefoot, and after a while I was getting sick of that and started leaving my shoes on again except by then I was wearing cute little pumps, and as I grew older, the heels on my shoes would get taller. And that's how that all started. I just started leaving my heels on. Plus it looks super cool and super bad astronaut." She added, "I never practice in heels, but when I'm on stage and play that first show in a while with SACRED STORM, my shin muscles are killing me after the first song or two with consistent double bass! [laughs] After that, it starts to feel okay and the next show isn't that bad."
Jeff's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"
Young stated about his collaboration with Lux, "I'm over the band concept. It's a dinosaur... put a fork in it. We're approaching this as a duo incoporating loops, DJs, soundscapes and assorted players per song/show/tour as needed. We sound full enough, we don't need much else."
Lux's signature drumming combines heavy metal double-bass with complex rhythms and dynamics, all while playing in stilettos. She also has the creative mind to incorporate elements of progressive and experimental rock rhythms. Music Connection magazine describes her drumming as "unique, off kilter, Keith Moon-inspired."
When asked in a 2010 interview with The Metal Pit if it's true that she plays in stiletto heels, Lux replied, "Of course! When I first started playing I was wearing regular shoes, and as I started getting into my high school years, I think I was drumming in sandals. And then I started drumming barefoot, and after a while I was getting sick of that and started leaving my shoes on again except by then I was wearing cute little pumps, and as I grew older, the heels on my shoes would get taller. And that's how that all started. I just started leaving my heels on. Plus it looks super cool and super bad astronaut." She added, "I never practice in heels, but when I'm on stage and play that first show in a while with SACRED STORM, my shin muscles are killing me after the first song or two with consistent double bass! [laughs] After that, it starts to feel okay and the next show isn't that bad."
Jeff's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"
Progressive atmospheric death metallers 7 HORNS 7 EYES will release their debut full-length album, "Throes Of Absolution", in North America on April 24 via Century Media Records. The CD, which features a guest appearance by guitarist Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE), has been many months in the making.
Commented 7 HORNS 7 EYES guitarist Aaron Smith: "7 HORNS 7 EYES has been on quite a journey since we embarked on recording this album, full of some big ups and downs — not the least of which being signed to Century Media/Basick Records, enduring a frontman change, re-recording all the album vocals, and sharing the stage with some great bands... and let me tell you — it feels amazing for us to know that we finally get to release this thing out into the world. Many of our fans have waited patiently for years for this record to drop, likely wondering at times if it ever even will, and we can't thank them enough for sticking by us. Here's to our fans and to 2012 being a great new year for 7 HORNS 7 EYES! See you on the road!"
A teaser trailer for "Throes Of Absolution" can be seen below..
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Divine Amnesty
02. Phumis: The Falsehood of Affliction
03. The Hill Difficulty
04. Cycle of Self
05. Delusions
06. A Finite Grasp of Infinite Disillusion
07. Vindicator
08. The Winnowing
09. Regeneration
7 HORNS 7 EYES previously released a digital single, entitled "Convalescence", which can be purchased on iTunes. In addition to the title track, the single also features two tracks from "Throes Of Absolution" ("Vindicator", "The Winnowing").
Commented 7 HORNS 7 EYES guitarist Aaron Smith: "7 HORNS 7 EYES has been on quite a journey since we embarked on recording this album, full of some big ups and downs — not the least of which being signed to Century Media/Basick Records, enduring a frontman change, re-recording all the album vocals, and sharing the stage with some great bands... and let me tell you — it feels amazing for us to know that we finally get to release this thing out into the world. Many of our fans have waited patiently for years for this record to drop, likely wondering at times if it ever even will, and we can't thank them enough for sticking by us. Here's to our fans and to 2012 being a great new year for 7 HORNS 7 EYES! See you on the road!"
A teaser trailer for "Throes Of Absolution" can be seen below..
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Divine Amnesty
02. Phumis: The Falsehood of Affliction
03. The Hill Difficulty
04. Cycle of Self
05. Delusions
06. A Finite Grasp of Infinite Disillusion
07. Vindicator
08. The Winnowing
09. Regeneration
7 HORNS 7 EYES previously released a digital single, entitled "Convalescence", which can be purchased on iTunes. In addition to the title track, the single also features two tracks from "Throes Of Absolution" ("Vindicator", "The Winnowing").
Jeremy Deacon, the former bassist of South Florida-based female-fronted extreme metallers WYKKED WYTCH, has died of lymphoma at age 33. The band's vocalist Ipek Warnock said, "[Jeremy] was a great friend and kind/gentle soul with great talent. I'm very saddened with heavy heart and shock!! This is the second member we lost from that era. Timur, [former] WYKKED WYTCH drummer, was the other member died from suicide few years back.
"[It's] very sad to lose a band members and friends who have made an impact in my life personally and for the band!
"Thanks for the great memories, Jeremy, hope you find Timur wherever you are and jam WYKKED WYTCH tunes! RIP, brother!!"
WYKKED WYTCH's fifth full-length album, "The Ultimate Deception", will be released on February 14 via Goomba Music. The follow-up to 2008's "Memories Of A Dying Whore" "continues where its predecessor left off and pushes the boundaries of extreme music as well as the legacy of WYKKED WYTCH," according to a press release.
"[It's] very sad to lose a band members and friends who have made an impact in my life personally and for the band!
"Thanks for the great memories, Jeremy, hope you find Timur wherever you are and jam WYKKED WYTCH tunes! RIP, brother!!"
WYKKED WYTCH's fifth full-length album, "The Ultimate Deception", will be released on February 14 via Goomba Music. The follow-up to 2008's "Memories Of A Dying Whore" "continues where its predecessor left off and pushes the boundaries of extreme music as well as the legacy of WYKKED WYTCH," according to a press release.
Dutch death metal veterans HOUWITSER have been rejoined by their original singer Mike van Mastrigt. In addition, the group has recruited Marten van Kruijssen (DICTATED, NIBIRUS) as its new drummer.
The new HOUWITSER lineup is currently writing songs for its sixth full-length album.
Vocalist Stan Blonk left HOUWITSER at the end of last year for personal reasons.
HOUWITSER's fifth album, "Bestial Atrocity", was released in 2010 via Sevared Records.
HOUWITSER 2012 is:
Mike van Mastrigt: Vocals
Michel Alderliefsten: Guitar
Richard Gielen: Guitar
Marten van Kruijssen: Drums
Ramon Ploeg: Bass
The band will travel to Russia in February to play some shows.
For more information, visit www.houwitser.nl.
The new HOUWITSER lineup is currently writing songs for its sixth full-length album.
Vocalist Stan Blonk left HOUWITSER at the end of last year for personal reasons.
HOUWITSER's fifth album, "Bestial Atrocity", was released in 2010 via Sevared Records.
HOUWITSER 2012 is:
Mike van Mastrigt: Vocals
Michel Alderliefsten: Guitar
Richard Gielen: Guitar
Marten van Kruijssen: Drums
Ramon Ploeg: Bass
The band will travel to Russia in February to play some shows.
For more information, visit www.houwitser.nl.
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