The second Kiss Kruise is setting sail October 31 - November 4, 2012 from Miami, Florida to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas onboard the Norwegian Pearl. Prices start at $750 per person for a double-occupancy cabin, $600 per person for a triple-occupancy cabin and $525 per person for a quadruple-occupancy cabin. Taxes and fees are an additional $200 per person. Only $149 per person is required to book your cabin. (*$298 per person for balconies & suites) Interior cabins range from $750 per person to $1000 per person plus $200 taxes and fees per person. Ocean-view cabins range from $1100 per person to $1250 per person plus $200 taxes and fees per person. Balcony cabins range from $1400 per person to $1600 per person plus $200 taxes and fees per person. Mini-suites are $1700 per person with suites starting at $2500 per person plus $200 taxes and fees per person.
For more information, visit www.thekisskruise.com.
In an interview with Wallace Immen of AvidCruiser.com, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons stated about the first-ever Kiss Kruise (which was held in October), "The Kiss Kruise is a chance for all of us — the band and the fans — to have a ball. Just let your hair down and not worry about it at all. KISS has always been about breaking the rules. We've never liked that moat — the stage — separating the band from the fans. So whenever we do a show, we try to take the action right to your face. A cruise will let the fans get up close. We try to take it inside you, we want you to smell it and taste it and feel it."
When asked if the fans were going to get to interact with the band on the cruise, Gene said, "We're going to have a deck up top to ourselves and we will certainly want to bring up fans. It may to a little difficult to get down to the lower levels and hang out a lot, because you've got 3,000 people on board, who are basically going to shred you to pieces. It's all appreciated, of course, and I say all this with tongue in cheek — I don't mean my tongue in your cheek, but you know what I mean. The real idea of this cruise is to have fun. Everything about KISS is over the top. Everything about it is meant to really make every day we have above ground a fun day."
For more information, visit www.thekisskruise.com.
In an interview with Wallace Immen of AvidCruiser.com, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons stated about the first-ever Kiss Kruise (which was held in October), "The Kiss Kruise is a chance for all of us — the band and the fans — to have a ball. Just let your hair down and not worry about it at all. KISS has always been about breaking the rules. We've never liked that moat — the stage — separating the band from the fans. So whenever we do a show, we try to take the action right to your face. A cruise will let the fans get up close. We try to take it inside you, we want you to smell it and taste it and feel it."
When asked if the fans were going to get to interact with the band on the cruise, Gene said, "We're going to have a deck up top to ourselves and we will certainly want to bring up fans. It may to a little difficult to get down to the lower levels and hang out a lot, because you've got 3,000 people on board, who are basically going to shred you to pieces. It's all appreciated, of course, and I say all this with tongue in cheek — I don't mean my tongue in your cheek, but you know what I mean. The real idea of this cruise is to have fun. Everything about KISS is over the top. Everything about it is meant to really make every day we have above ground a fun day."
METALLICA's four-song digital EP called "Beyond Magnetic" sold 36,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort consists of the quartet of previously unheard tracks that the band unveiled in concert earlier in the month during its 30th-anniversary celebration. All four tunes — "Hate Train", "Just A Bullet Away", "Hell And Back" and "Rebel Of Babylon" — were recorded during the sessions for the band's 2008 "Death Magnetic" album but left off the final track list.
The tracks were released exclusively through iTunes in North America, and through iTunes and other digital retailers internationally.
The studio versions of all four songs — all rough mixes — were sent to METALLICA fan club members one at a time, after each song was performed live during each of the band's four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
Commented METALLICA: "During the 'Death Magnetic' album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs. When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you've all come to know over the last three years. Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on 'Mission Metallica' (remember 'Mission Metallica'?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, 'What ever happened to those other four songs???.' We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the 'Death Magnetic' sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March '08. These four songs were released as gift to our closest fans, the members of our fan club, to enjoy. Now they're being made available to you."
"Beyond Magnetic" track listing:
01. Hate Train
02. Just A Bullet Away
03. Hell And Back
04. Rebel Of Babylon
The 30th-anniversary shows featured METALLICA playing songs from deep in their catalog, while welcoming guests like BLACK SABBATH's Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford, ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell, former bassist Jason Newsted and many others to the stage.
The final show on December 10 featured a performance by the very earliest lineup of the group.
Drummer Lars Ulrich also hinted that the band will make an announcement in January about a special interactive fan event in June of 2012.
"Death Magnetic" was officially certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 28, 2010 for shipments in the United States in excess of two million copies.
The tracks were released exclusively through iTunes in North America, and through iTunes and other digital retailers internationally.
The studio versions of all four songs — all rough mixes — were sent to METALLICA fan club members one at a time, after each song was performed live during each of the band's four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
Commented METALLICA: "During the 'Death Magnetic' album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs. When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you've all come to know over the last three years. Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on 'Mission Metallica' (remember 'Mission Metallica'?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, 'What ever happened to those other four songs???.' We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the 'Death Magnetic' sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March '08. These four songs were released as gift to our closest fans, the members of our fan club, to enjoy. Now they're being made available to you."
"Beyond Magnetic" track listing:
01. Hate Train
02. Just A Bullet Away
03. Hell And Back
04. Rebel Of Babylon
The 30th-anniversary shows featured METALLICA playing songs from deep in their catalog, while welcoming guests like BLACK SABBATH's Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford, ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell, former bassist Jason Newsted and many others to the stage.
The final show on December 10 featured a performance by the very earliest lineup of the group.
Drummer Lars Ulrich also hinted that the band will make an announcement in January about a special interactive fan event in June of 2012.
"Death Magnetic" was officially certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 28, 2010 for shipments in the United States in excess of two million copies.
iClips has announced a live broadcast with legendary Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers GUNS N' ROSES from the Forum in Los Angeles, California on December 21, 2011. The following week iClips will broadcast GUNS N' ROSES from The Joint in Las Vegas, Nevada on the night before New Year's Eve.
Presale for the event will start at $7.99. On the day of the show prices will increase to $9.99. There will also be a two-show package available for $14.99.
The shows will be available to stream for a 24-hour period following each show.
GUNS N' ROSES kicked off its first U.S. tour since 2006 on October 28 in Orlando, Florida.
In addition to sole original member Axl Rose (vocals), the current lineup of GUNS N' ROSES includes guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
"Chinese Democracy", the 2008 album released by the current edition of GUNS N' ROSES after a 15-year wait, was officially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 3, 2009 for shipments in the United States in excess of one million copies. The long-in-the-making, 14-song CD finally arrived 17 years after the last full-length collections of original GUNS material, "Use Your Illusion I" and "II", were released, and nine years after the non-album track "Oh My God" surfaced on the soundtrack of the movie "End Of Days".
"Chinese Democracy" was made available exclusively through Best Buy.
Presale for the event will start at $7.99. On the day of the show prices will increase to $9.99. There will also be a two-show package available for $14.99.
The shows will be available to stream for a 24-hour period following each show.
GUNS N' ROSES kicked off its first U.S. tour since 2006 on October 28 in Orlando, Florida.
In addition to sole original member Axl Rose (vocals), the current lineup of GUNS N' ROSES includes guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.
"Chinese Democracy", the 2008 album released by the current edition of GUNS N' ROSES after a 15-year wait, was officially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 3, 2009 for shipments in the United States in excess of one million copies. The long-in-the-making, 14-song CD finally arrived 17 years after the last full-length collections of original GUNS material, "Use Your Illusion I" and "II", were released, and nine years after the non-album track "Oh My God" surfaced on the soundtrack of the movie "End Of Days".
"Chinese Democracy" was made available exclusively through Best Buy.
Reporting from Seattle ——
Axl Rose is wearing a white cotton bathrobe and white tube socks, relaxing on a couch backstage Friday night after a three-hour concert at Seattle's Key Arena, where he'd snaked his way through 34 songs with a version of the band he co-founded a quarter-century ago, Guns N' Roses. It's 3 a.m., and the singer, the sole remaining original member, has shed the bad-ass sunglasses and flat-brimmed Stetson-style hat he wore onstage, pulled off the snakeskin boots and changed out of his faded bell bottoms.
It's been a whirlwind year for the notoriously unpredictable and polarizing Rose. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently announced Guns N' Roses' induction, 25 years after he and former core members Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler set the Sunset Strip, and then the world, on fire. The announcement prompted speculation that at the April 14 rock hall ceremony in Cleveland, the original "Appetite for Destruction" lineup — a historically acrimonious lot with the opinionated Rose at the center — might perform together for the first time in two decades.
But this positive ray comes amid a stormy 2011 that has seen Rose, 49, fire two managers in the last year, the most recent of which, Peter Katsis, was let go in early December. Since the dissolution of that first lineup, the iconic singer has released just one album, "Chinese Democracy," which he spent 13 years and millions of dollars making. And his current tour is part of a settlement agreement with former GNR manager (and Live Nation Entertainment executive chairman) Irving Azoff that dictated the band do a number of performances with Live Nation as the promoter, and Rose is worried that it's not being properly marketed. He and Guns N' Roses bring this tour to the Forum on Wednesday night.
It's the kind of negative energy that can sap a person's creativity, says Rose, sipping on a beer, his auburn hair hanging over his shoulders pretty much the same way it did in the old days, a horseshoe-shaped red mustache complementing it. "Once I get the next things sorted out with the label, then I feel I can get to that creative place that I've been fighting to get to, and to use Guns N' Roses to do so," he says.
The problem is that while he believes that he and his GNR — some of whom, like bassist Tommy Stinson and guitarist Richard Fortus, have been with him for more than a decade — is hitting on all cylinders now, potential business partners are looking at other factors. "Every manager comes in and wants me to make things smaller," says Rose. Guns N' Roses, for example, requires twice as many tour trucks as the budget calls for, he says. Why no one else can understand the band's needs is an obvious frustration for Rose.
More important, he adds, most managers want the same thing that nearly every rock 'n' roll fan of the past quarter-century wants, and the one thing he stubbornly refuses to do: reunite with Slash, Izzy, Duff and the rest of the classic GNR group for a tour. The constant question is an albatross and leaves Rose not only tired but wary of anyone in the business looking to work with him. "All these managers, they all believe in one thing: sell a reunion tour and get their commission. It's just a phone call. It's a half a day's … work, or however long they want to keep the bidding war going. They get their commission and they don't care if it falls on its face."
This mistrust is partially the reason why Rose's current management team is more family than business partner. It's headed by Beta Lebeis, a Brazilian woman Rose met when she was his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour's assistant; she began working for him after his tempestuous relationship with Seymour ended in 1993. Lebeis' two adult children, Fernando and Vanessa, round out the management group. Lebeis says that this arrangement is the result of an ultimatum she gave Rose after Guns N' Roses' most recent manager, Katsis, left the fold after less than a month on the job.
"We decided, 'No more managers,'" said Lebeis a few days after the Seattle concert. "Between me and Fernando and my daughter, we're dealing with the management." Lebeis added that she characterizes Rose as "more than a son to me," and that after Katsis' departure, "I told [Rose] if he hires another manager, I quit." One of the Lebeis three is almost always at Rose's side, be it in paparazzi photos or side stage during concerts, near the little makeshift dressing room that Rose frequently races into during guitar solos, or on that rare occasion when he actually sits down with a journalist.
As the clock pushes toward 4 a.m., Rose's tone has shifted. He still has to do his regular hour-long vocal exercises before retiring for the night, and the venom of earlier in the evening he'd directed against various players in the music industry seems to have left his system.
Asked if music was still the driving factor in his life that it once was, Rose pauses. "Well, it wasn't for a long time. It was hard to make myself want to do the old songs again. It was like, I wasn't going around my house dancing to 'Jungle.' To even figure out how to even make myself move to those songs — and how I was going to move to them — that was a big thing to figure out in '06."
Based on the show earlier in the night, he's figured it out. Rose is proud of the big rock concert he and his band have created. Over the three hours, Rose (though a few pounds heavier than the lithe young rock star of "Appetite" days), moved quickly and deftly, sprinting from stage left to stage right, yowling with delight during "Shackler's Revenge" and "Sweet Child O' Mine," sitting at the piano for "November Rain." He offered classic cover versions of songs by AC/DC, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, and a solo piano rendition of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." And at points, he turned the stage over to his band members for solos and extended riffs. If his voice carried less grace and more heft at 49 than when he was gliding through the intro to "Civil War" two decades ago, he made up for it with sheer determination.
The enthusiasm he feels for this band is evident on his face, which lights up when talking about working with former Replacements bassist Stinson, guitarists Fortus, DJ Ashba, and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and the rest of the '11 Roses.
It's a far contrast to his demeanor when Slash's name comes up. Despite requests from Rose's publicist that he not be asked questions about the former GNR guitarist, Rose himself mentions his ex-bandmate's name minutes into the conversation and locks onto the subject.
Slash was a late arrival into the Guns N' Roses fold, Rose loves reminding people, and apart from a few key riffs, says Rose, the guitarist was much less involved in the songs than Rose and Stradlin.
"It was really a fight with me and Slash," says Rose of the forces that took down the band. "Izzy was doing the same thing, but the fight with me and Slash started the day I met him. He came in, popped my tape out and put his in and wanted me in his band. And I didn't want to join his band. We've had that war since Day 1."
When he's asked the inevitable question — who will perform onstage as Guns N' Roses at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony? — Rose is circumspect. These kinds of honors, while special to him, are also complicated. "I've got mixed emotions about what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually really is, but at the same time, there's a lot of people — the fans — that it just means something to them, and they're happy. It's like you won the Heisman or something."
The last thing Rose wants to do, he stresses, is ruin it for others. He refers to Marlon Brando sending an American Indian activist to accept his Oscar and give a protest speech "and everybody getting … off, or when Michael Moore got up at the Academy Awards and said whatever about George Bush. People don't want that associated with their awards shows, even if you have a big audience. In one way it might be right, but it usually backfires on whoever does it. So I really don't want to spoil it for everybody else — or take the beating."
Then he said curtly of the induction performance: "There is no plan yet. There really is no plan. We're still busy with this lineup. We're gonna be busy — we're gonna be busy all next year. We'll be putting out new stuff as soon as we can figure out what our deal is with labels, blah blah blah."
As to whether he feels that he bears any responsibility for the state of limbo he's in, Rose says: "You can say it's my fault, but to me it's like if you're on a plane and somebody trips you and the air marshal arrests you for falling — like it's my fault for allowing somebody to trip me?"
It's been a whirlwind year for the notoriously unpredictable and polarizing Rose. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently announced Guns N' Roses' induction, 25 years after he and former core members Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler set the Sunset Strip, and then the world, on fire. The announcement prompted speculation that at the April 14 rock hall ceremony in Cleveland, the original "Appetite for Destruction" lineup — a historically acrimonious lot with the opinionated Rose at the center — might perform together for the first time in two decades.
But this positive ray comes amid a stormy 2011 that has seen Rose, 49, fire two managers in the last year, the most recent of which, Peter Katsis, was let go in early December. Since the dissolution of that first lineup, the iconic singer has released just one album, "Chinese Democracy," which he spent 13 years and millions of dollars making. And his current tour is part of a settlement agreement with former GNR manager (and Live Nation Entertainment executive chairman) Irving Azoff that dictated the band do a number of performances with Live Nation as the promoter, and Rose is worried that it's not being properly marketed. He and Guns N' Roses bring this tour to the Forum on Wednesday night.
It's the kind of negative energy that can sap a person's creativity, says Rose, sipping on a beer, his auburn hair hanging over his shoulders pretty much the same way it did in the old days, a horseshoe-shaped red mustache complementing it. "Once I get the next things sorted out with the label, then I feel I can get to that creative place that I've been fighting to get to, and to use Guns N' Roses to do so," he says.
The problem is that while he believes that he and his GNR — some of whom, like bassist Tommy Stinson and guitarist Richard Fortus, have been with him for more than a decade — is hitting on all cylinders now, potential business partners are looking at other factors. "Every manager comes in and wants me to make things smaller," says Rose. Guns N' Roses, for example, requires twice as many tour trucks as the budget calls for, he says. Why no one else can understand the band's needs is an obvious frustration for Rose.
More important, he adds, most managers want the same thing that nearly every rock 'n' roll fan of the past quarter-century wants, and the one thing he stubbornly refuses to do: reunite with Slash, Izzy, Duff and the rest of the classic GNR group for a tour. The constant question is an albatross and leaves Rose not only tired but wary of anyone in the business looking to work with him. "All these managers, they all believe in one thing: sell a reunion tour and get their commission. It's just a phone call. It's a half a day's … work, or however long they want to keep the bidding war going. They get their commission and they don't care if it falls on its face."
This mistrust is partially the reason why Rose's current management team is more family than business partner. It's headed by Beta Lebeis, a Brazilian woman Rose met when she was his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour's assistant; she began working for him after his tempestuous relationship with Seymour ended in 1993. Lebeis' two adult children, Fernando and Vanessa, round out the management group. Lebeis says that this arrangement is the result of an ultimatum she gave Rose after Guns N' Roses' most recent manager, Katsis, left the fold after less than a month on the job.
"We decided, 'No more managers,'" said Lebeis a few days after the Seattle concert. "Between me and Fernando and my daughter, we're dealing with the management." Lebeis added that she characterizes Rose as "more than a son to me," and that after Katsis' departure, "I told [Rose] if he hires another manager, I quit." One of the Lebeis three is almost always at Rose's side, be it in paparazzi photos or side stage during concerts, near the little makeshift dressing room that Rose frequently races into during guitar solos, or on that rare occasion when he actually sits down with a journalist.
As the clock pushes toward 4 a.m., Rose's tone has shifted. He still has to do his regular hour-long vocal exercises before retiring for the night, and the venom of earlier in the evening he'd directed against various players in the music industry seems to have left his system.
Asked if music was still the driving factor in his life that it once was, Rose pauses. "Well, it wasn't for a long time. It was hard to make myself want to do the old songs again. It was like, I wasn't going around my house dancing to 'Jungle.' To even figure out how to even make myself move to those songs — and how I was going to move to them — that was a big thing to figure out in '06."
Based on the show earlier in the night, he's figured it out. Rose is proud of the big rock concert he and his band have created. Over the three hours, Rose (though a few pounds heavier than the lithe young rock star of "Appetite" days), moved quickly and deftly, sprinting from stage left to stage right, yowling with delight during "Shackler's Revenge" and "Sweet Child O' Mine," sitting at the piano for "November Rain." He offered classic cover versions of songs by AC/DC, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, and a solo piano rendition of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." And at points, he turned the stage over to his band members for solos and extended riffs. If his voice carried less grace and more heft at 49 than when he was gliding through the intro to "Civil War" two decades ago, he made up for it with sheer determination.
The enthusiasm he feels for this band is evident on his face, which lights up when talking about working with former Replacements bassist Stinson, guitarists Fortus, DJ Ashba, and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and the rest of the '11 Roses.
It's a far contrast to his demeanor when Slash's name comes up. Despite requests from Rose's publicist that he not be asked questions about the former GNR guitarist, Rose himself mentions his ex-bandmate's name minutes into the conversation and locks onto the subject.
Slash was a late arrival into the Guns N' Roses fold, Rose loves reminding people, and apart from a few key riffs, says Rose, the guitarist was much less involved in the songs than Rose and Stradlin.
"It was really a fight with me and Slash," says Rose of the forces that took down the band. "Izzy was doing the same thing, but the fight with me and Slash started the day I met him. He came in, popped my tape out and put his in and wanted me in his band. And I didn't want to join his band. We've had that war since Day 1."
When he's asked the inevitable question — who will perform onstage as Guns N' Roses at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony? — Rose is circumspect. These kinds of honors, while special to him, are also complicated. "I've got mixed emotions about what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually really is, but at the same time, there's a lot of people — the fans — that it just means something to them, and they're happy. It's like you won the Heisman or something."
The last thing Rose wants to do, he stresses, is ruin it for others. He refers to Marlon Brando sending an American Indian activist to accept his Oscar and give a protest speech "and everybody getting … off, or when Michael Moore got up at the Academy Awards and said whatever about George Bush. People don't want that associated with their awards shows, even if you have a big audience. In one way it might be right, but it usually backfires on whoever does it. So I really don't want to spoil it for everybody else — or take the beating."
Then he said curtly of the induction performance: "There is no plan yet. There really is no plan. We're still busy with this lineup. We're gonna be busy — we're gonna be busy all next year. We'll be putting out new stuff as soon as we can figure out what our deal is with labels, blah blah blah."
As to whether he feels that he bears any responsibility for the state of limbo he's in, Rose says: "You can say it's my fault, but to me it's like if you're on a plane and somebody trips you and the air marshal arrests you for falling — like it's my fault for allowing somebody to trip me?"
Axl Rose talks playing the Forum, Hall of Fame gig, reunion
Early Saturday morning in Seattle, Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose sat down for a long, freewheeling interview after his band's three-hour concert Friday night at Key Arena. You can read a story about the exchange here, but left on the cutting-room floor was an hour-and-a-half of fascinating conversation in which a sharp, well-spoken Rose tackled many topics that fans have been discussing for years.
Over the course of the interview, which took place from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. in his dimly lit dressing room, Rose talked about the past, present, and future without pulling any punches. (So much so that we edited out some of the more potentially libelous business-industry accusations Rose leveled.)
Pop & Hiss will have a few more excerpts of the conversation in the days to come. Check back.
Los Angeles Times: Can you talk about the L.A. show at the Forum on Wednesday night?
Axl Rose: Well, LA will be interesting. I'm looking forward to it. We had a great time in '06. We did three nights at the Gibson. But this year was very weird because the industry was trying to force us into a smaller show — just one, and then make it two. But the real thing about it is that the sound's not that good at the Palladium — and why are we going down, when we can draw more? So we're doing the Forum, but it really wasn't done right. We had to fight for that. [Rose goes into a long tirade about specific industry executives.]
This whole tour is part of — it's not like there's a lot of money going to Live Nation or anything, but it's part of how we worked out the settlement [with former manager and Live Nation exec Irving Azoff]. And I could have gone on to court, but that was going to block other things, so Live Nation's not getting paid, we're not getting paid, but we're putting it out of the way, so we did this tour. Then we get on the tour and find out that everything that was supposed to be done wasn't done, and managers and agents are selling a show that was supposed to go on at 8 o'clock. They knew I was never going to do that.
And this lack of promotion is one reason I'm here? [Laughter]
Yeah, well, the show's already what it is, so it's not really about that. The show's already basically sold, so ...
Well, we were talking about it, but I got different numbers at different times from different people, and some of those came from our latest former manager, and they were ..., so we basically decided that we're going to wait until later to do it right and deal with L.A., because I want to deal with L.A. There's places I want to play. I want to play some of the clubs, some of the nightclubs, different places for fun, and I want to play different venues like we've done in New York.
And I know we can do it in L.A., but what happens is people are really good at saying what you want to hear. So you go, yes, yes, yes, yes, and then they do something completely different. "That's awesome. That's a great idea!" And then they do everything they can to block it and make sure it doesn't happen. That really happens. To me, they can't ... do anything and they don't want to do anything unless they feel that they're getting away with a scam. They can't feel they're doing something that's legitimate, and feel that kind of pride, they have to feel like, I got it, I ... them over, da da da. And that's their victory.
All these managers, they know one thing. They know that they can at least ... sell a reunion tour and get their commission. It's just a phone call. It's a half a day's ... work, or however long they want to keep the bidding war going. They get their commission and they don't care if it falls on its face.
Because, really, you can get guys from the "Illusion" thing, but the only thing that would make it would be Duff and Slash, really. It's nothing against Izzy and it's nothing against Steven, or anything like that. Steven may want it, but these guys I'm working with right now, they work really hard and it's hard work. I've toured with the other guys and I've also seen what they've done since, and I just know the difficulties.
I don't have an excitement to work with people that joined in the "Illusion" time. There's behind the scenes that was really, really difficult there with different ones. So it's not really even a full reunion. And these guys have been here a long time, whether the public knows it or not because we haven't done the media like that. Tommy's been on 14 years, Richard's going on 11. That's as long as Duff was in the band. Chris has been in going on 11, Dizzy's on since "Illusion," Frank's going on six, and so's Bumble. These guys have been here. And DJ's going on three.
Plus, we can have our differences, and everybody in the band can be like, 'I don't understand that guy' and point at one of us, you know? But at the same time, we get along. I don't have to tell these guys what to do onstage. I can suggest something at times, but that's very little.
But it's also that you're clearly the boss in this band — it's your band. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that wouldn't necessarily be the case with the original lineup.
With live, it's not really any different, because there was never really a fight about leading it live, because for whatever reason they were fine with whatever song I was going to do next, singing.
Congrats on the rock hall of fame.
Yeah, that's a trip.
It's a trip that it's 25 years.
Yeah, it's a trip that it's 25 years, that I'm here and alive.
Congratulations on that too. Can you talk about how you found out?
[Rolling Stone co-founder publisher and rock hall co-founder] Jann Wenner was excited about it 11 years ago. So I was pretty sure he wanted it, because he was very excited in — when did I do the Elton John thing, was that '93 or '94? He was excited then. And he's always been a fan, and at the same time Rolling Stone has done some of the worst damage ever.
I've got mixed emotions about what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually really is, but at the same time, there's a lot of people — the fans — that it just means something to them, and they're happy. It's like you won the Heisman or something. I have people of all ages — in Indiana, I hadn't been there in 18 years, and you've got elderly TSA guys, a hundred pounds overweight, come up and they're happy. So I don't want to take that away from them.
I think about it in terms of ... when Michael Moore got up at the Academy Awards and said whatever about George Bush. People don't want that associated with their awards shows, even if you have a big audience. In one way it might be right, but it usually backfires on whoever does it. So I really don't want to spoil it for everybody else — and take the beating. [Laughs]
It is kind of a mixed blessing.
It's a lot of people making money. Why do they get to decide? But it's the same with Grammys or Academy Awards, who wins.
SLAYER guitarist Kerry King tells Classic Rock magazine that he doubts there will be any more shows featuring the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX.
"If you look at how much work went into making it all happen in the first place, then I really doubt we can do the same thing again," King says. "You had four headlining bands touring together and that takes so much organizing."
He adds, "I know there are some parts where they're angry not to have gotten the chance to see it. The Bay Area will probably never forgive us. And we could go on and on doing it for ages. But I honestly doubt we can get our schedules to coincide like that again."
The "Big Four" played the seventh concert of this year's tour on September 14 at Yankee Stadium in New York City (The bands played together a number of times last year in Europe as the "Big Four" and at large festivals.)
The idea for the "Big Four" tour first came up in 2009 and METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio he was glad to finally see it happen. "It's pretty amazing, if you think about it, that it's the first time basically in 25 years or 30 or whatever that the four of us have actually played shows together," he said. "So it was a lot of fun, a lot of memories, a lot of fun times — new fun times, and fun times talking about the old fun times. So it sort of was a, it was a winner on every front."
This past spring, METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX were presented with double-platinum plaques for the two-disc DVD release of "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria", containing footage of the June 22, 2010 Sonisphere cinecast from the Sofia, Bulgaria leg of the touring rock festival featuring all four groups. The presentation took place on April 23, 2010 at the first-ever "Big Four" concert on American soil at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" was certified double platinum on December 17, 2010 by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies. (Note: Due to the fact that the set consists of two discs, it was eligible for platinum certification after shipping 50,000 copies; platinum certification for a single-disc release is 100,000 copies.)
According to Nielsen SoundScan, "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" has sold 134,000 copies in the United States since its November 2010 release.
"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard "Top Music Videos" sales chart in November with first-week sales of 22,000 copies. The set also debuted at No. 1 in Canada, the U.K. and Austria, while entering at No. 4 in Germany.
"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" set features full shows from all four bands along with behind-the-scenes and interview footage.
"If you look at how much work went into making it all happen in the first place, then I really doubt we can do the same thing again," King says. "You had four headlining bands touring together and that takes so much organizing."
He adds, "I know there are some parts where they're angry not to have gotten the chance to see it. The Bay Area will probably never forgive us. And we could go on and on doing it for ages. But I honestly doubt we can get our schedules to coincide like that again."
The "Big Four" played the seventh concert of this year's tour on September 14 at Yankee Stadium in New York City (The bands played together a number of times last year in Europe as the "Big Four" and at large festivals.)
The idea for the "Big Four" tour first came up in 2009 and METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio he was glad to finally see it happen. "It's pretty amazing, if you think about it, that it's the first time basically in 25 years or 30 or whatever that the four of us have actually played shows together," he said. "So it was a lot of fun, a lot of memories, a lot of fun times — new fun times, and fun times talking about the old fun times. So it sort of was a, it was a winner on every front."
This past spring, METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX were presented with double-platinum plaques for the two-disc DVD release of "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria", containing footage of the June 22, 2010 Sonisphere cinecast from the Sofia, Bulgaria leg of the touring rock festival featuring all four groups. The presentation took place on April 23, 2010 at the first-ever "Big Four" concert on American soil at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" was certified double platinum on December 17, 2010 by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) for shipments in excess of 100,000 copies. (Note: Due to the fact that the set consists of two discs, it was eligible for platinum certification after shipping 50,000 copies; platinum certification for a single-disc release is 100,000 copies.)
According to Nielsen SoundScan, "The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" has sold 134,000 copies in the United States since its November 2010 release.
"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard "Top Music Videos" sales chart in November with first-week sales of 22,000 copies. The set also debuted at No. 1 in Canada, the U.K. and Austria, while entering at No. 4 in Germany.
"The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria" set features full shows from all four bands along with behind-the-scenes and interview footage.
Mötley Crüe's much ballyhooed Vegas residency this coming February only lasts three weeks, but bassist Nikki Sixx tells Rolling Stone it's just the start of what will be a crazy schedule for the band. "This is the beginning of what will be the biggest probably four to five years of the band's career," he says. "We're negotiating with a couple of other extremely huge bands on doing a co-headline tour, something that's never happened before. There's new music in the future."
New music isn't the only project in the pipeline."The other thing to look at is the wheels are in motion for getting the Mötley Crüe movie made now," Sixx says. "We finally got everything in order the way it needs to be done, and that's gonna happen."
The movie has been discussed for some time, and while Sixx can't give specifics yet, he promises the film, based on the group's memoir The Dirt, will happen. "We have sort of an agreement with a production company, directors, etc, to right now just keep it amongst ourselves," he says. "So once we have everything really together, we're gonna let everybody know. But trust me, when I say the wheels are in motion they're definitely in motion."
This could be a last hurrah for the iconic metal group. "The band sat down and had a powwow as brothers and friends and guys who've been doing this for over 30 years, and we said, 'When is it time?'" Sixx says. "We've always said since we were kids we didn't want to hobble in to the sunset. So after the movie, at some point – whether it's within a year or a few years – we're probably gonna have that conversation about maybe it's time, maybe it's time to go out on top."
Sixx has an idea of how he wants Crüe to call it a day "If I'm watching my favorite boxer and he's just won the heavyweight championship of the world and he retires it kind of makes the guy a legend," he says. "I always respected Led Zeppelin, and I'd rather Mötley Crüe be thought of as that type of band rather than a band that's just going through the motions."
For the moment though Sixx says everybody in Crüe is very focused. "We're a hundred percent engaged," he says. "We're sounding better than we've ever sounded musically."
If and when when the end does come, Sixx can look back on a very successful run. "We're really proud of what we've done, whether critics like us or not, whether we've won Grammys or not, whether any of that stuff," he says. "We're proud that we did it on our own terms."
Vince Neil says he is seriously contemplating a split from Motley Crue after their run of concerts at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel from Feb. 3-19. "It's not definite, but I am thinking seriously about it," the Las Vegas resident said.
The news that Vince might be calling it quits comes on the heels of his 50th birthday this year, obtaining final divorce papers from his ex-wife Lia this past weekend and a long year of international touring with both Motley Crue and his solo band.
Vince and Motley Crue have just wrapped their most successful touring year yet of their careers coinciding with the band's 30th anniversary, closing with a sold-out U.K. tour. Vince then jetted to his yacht in the Bahamas for a vacation, where he told me exclusively that he might not continue with the group after Las Vegas.
Vince had just returned from a fishing trip where he hauled in a 350-pound bull shark off Bimini and then let it go back into the Atlantic waters, saying, "I'm having a great time here -- I could stay a year! I'm sitting on my yacht, contemplating my future, and I'm not sure it will be with Motley Crue after Las Vegas. Great things are coming up and pushing me in another direction.
"This is all about me thinking about the second half of my life, thinking about my future, and that future might not include Motley Crue after Vegas. There are so many opportunities that are in front of me that I'm really excited about. I just don't want to look back later in life and regret that I didn't pursue them.
"I'm just not sure I can give these opportunities the time and effort I'll need to and continue with the band. It's been a great ride, and I've enjoyed every second of it, but being out here relaxing in this beautiful place has given me the chance to reflect on what direction I want the rest of my life to take. I'm really giving it a lot of thought."
This wouldn't be the first time Vince has exited the Crue. In 1992, when the band was at its chart-topping heights, Vince left Motley Crue and was replaced, but the combination of a new singer and a changing musical climate proved disastrous for the band's next album. By 1997, the original band members were back together.
There have been other personnel changes in the band, notably drummer Tommy Lee leaving in 1999 to pursue a solo career. However, with the band's return to the charts in 2005 with "Red, White & Crue," Motley Crue has again become one of the nation's most successful touring acts.
Vince says he's in a comfortable and contented place in life and that he'll make a final decision about what's next in his life after the Hard Rock concerts have ended. Vegas DeLuxe will follow this developing story and keep you posted first with his final plans.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world's premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
"7", the new EP from SIXX: A.M. — the band consisting of Nikki Sixx (also of MÖTLEY CRÜE), DJ Ashba (also of GUNS N' ROSES) and James Michael — sold around 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The effort contains acoustic versions of songs from the group's first two albums — 2007's "The Heroin Diaries" soundtrack and 2011's "This Is Gonna Hurt".
"7" track listing:
01. Lies Of The Beautiful People (acoustic)
02. This Is Gonna Hurt (acoustic)
03. Life Is Beautiful (acoustic)
04. Help Is On The Way (acoustic)
05. Sure Feels Right (acoustic)
06. Pray For Me (acoustic)
07. Accidents Can Happen (acoustic)
Commented Michael: "A couple of months ago, I asked all of you what songs from [the first two SIXX: A.M. albums] 'The Heroin Diaries' soundtrack and 'This Is Gonna Hurt' you would want to hear stripped down, pulled apart and reconstructed from a different perspective... your response was amazing and passionate... as a result, '7' was born.
"This was an incredible experience for the three of us because it caused us to explore way beyond the initial creations and rediscover the songs in a light that you helped us find. "
SIXX: A.M. recently revealed plans to film a video for the song "Skin" in the Los Angeles area. The band put out a casting call for people whom the song has affected personally because of their own scars — whether physical or under the surface.
"Skin" comes off SIXX: A.M.'s sophomore album, "This Is Gonna Hurt", which has sold 92,000 copies since its May 2011 release. Released on May 3, the 11-track CD is a companion piece to Sixx's "This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx" book, a follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, "The Heroin Diaries".
"This Is Gonna Hurt" is part photo, part journal — but all Nikki Sixx. It is a collection of compelling snapshots and stories that capture the rage, love, optimism, darkness, and determination that shape his work. Told with the raw authenticity that defined his New York Times bestseller "The Heroin Diaries", "This Is Gonna Hurt" chronicles Sixx's experience, from references to his early years filled with toxic waste to his success with MÖTLEY CRÜE, his death from an OD and rebirth to his addictions to music, photography, and love along with the journey of photographing these images over the past couple of years.
The "This Is Gonna Hurt" album as a whole deals with many raw, human issues. Nikki talks about the CD as "pulling back the veil on your internal truth," saying, "We are who we are… Either poisonous and evil or honest and willing… Willing to make a difference… I haven't led the life of a saint nor do I intend on it now." The album — produced entirely by James Michael with writing credits going to Sixx, Michael, Ashba and band friends John William Lowrey and Blair Daly — dives deep into meandering emotions through epic melodies. The resulting work is a deep, dark and intoxicatingly addictive mix of sounds and passion.
"7" track listing:
01. Lies Of The Beautiful People (acoustic)
02. This Is Gonna Hurt (acoustic)
03. Life Is Beautiful (acoustic)
04. Help Is On The Way (acoustic)
05. Sure Feels Right (acoustic)
06. Pray For Me (acoustic)
07. Accidents Can Happen (acoustic)
Commented Michael: "A couple of months ago, I asked all of you what songs from [the first two SIXX: A.M. albums] 'The Heroin Diaries' soundtrack and 'This Is Gonna Hurt' you would want to hear stripped down, pulled apart and reconstructed from a different perspective... your response was amazing and passionate... as a result, '7' was born.
"This was an incredible experience for the three of us because it caused us to explore way beyond the initial creations and rediscover the songs in a light that you helped us find. "
SIXX: A.M. recently revealed plans to film a video for the song "Skin" in the Los Angeles area. The band put out a casting call for people whom the song has affected personally because of their own scars — whether physical or under the surface.
"Skin" comes off SIXX: A.M.'s sophomore album, "This Is Gonna Hurt", which has sold 92,000 copies since its May 2011 release. Released on May 3, the 11-track CD is a companion piece to Sixx's "This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx" book, a follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, "The Heroin Diaries".
"This Is Gonna Hurt" is part photo, part journal — but all Nikki Sixx. It is a collection of compelling snapshots and stories that capture the rage, love, optimism, darkness, and determination that shape his work. Told with the raw authenticity that defined his New York Times bestseller "The Heroin Diaries", "This Is Gonna Hurt" chronicles Sixx's experience, from references to his early years filled with toxic waste to his success with MÖTLEY CRÜE, his death from an OD and rebirth to his addictions to music, photography, and love along with the journey of photographing these images over the past couple of years.
The "This Is Gonna Hurt" album as a whole deals with many raw, human issues. Nikki talks about the CD as "pulling back the veil on your internal truth," saying, "We are who we are… Either poisonous and evil or honest and willing… Willing to make a difference… I haven't led the life of a saint nor do I intend on it now." The album — produced entirely by James Michael with writing credits going to Sixx, Michael, Ashba and band friends John William Lowrey and Blair Daly — dives deep into meandering emotions through epic melodies. The resulting work is a deep, dark and intoxicatingly addictive mix of sounds and passion.
RMN Hey man, I want to start off by saying thanks for taking the time to do this interview. The Rock Allegiance tour is a new package this year. How have things been so far?
It's been going great! We've been touring for our record All Night Long since July of last year, so this is just a small leg of our tour for that album. We're about 200 shows deep. We're a little tired, but other than that, the shows have been going awesome.
RMN You guys are like a touring machine after you put an album out. You seem to have that old school mentality of hitting the road and staying on it seemingly forever after you have a new album drop
Yeah, that's how we built our fan base and our reputation off of the live show. That's how real rock bands do it; you go out and play live.
RMN So, after this tour end, you guys will be taking part in the Ship Rocked cruise. What can you tell us about that?
We're doing like three shows or maybe more. I really don't know that much about it other than it goes on annually and they have been doing it for a while now. They have been after us to participate, but this is the first time that it actually worked out with our schedule. It's going to be a mess; people just hammered 24-7
RMN How did signing with 11-7 Music change you guys? Did it free you up and give you more creative control? What was behind the decision to go with them?
11-7 was actually created for Buckcherry. We were the first band to be on it so that we could put an album out. Our manager created it because at the time, nobody would sign our record 15, which was our highest selling record of all that we have put out. It's a great story because since we couldn't get a proper record deal in the states, he started a record label for us. We were the first record and the rest is history. Now, there are all sorts of great bands on the label. It's just so good to be independent. Basically, a major record label is really just a bank. If you are just starting out and don't really have a fan base built up yet, a major label can get you on a bill and get tour support. Once you've established that base, the way to go is independent. You have more control over everything.
RMN You mentioned All Night Long, which came out in 2010. Are you guys writing or working on any new material yet? With all of your touring, have you even had any time to do so?
We're thinking about doing a concept record, so we have some ideas in the works. We've been writing some songs, but we have to see how it's all going to come out. I think it's going to be really cool.
RMN Wow, a concept record? That definitely has my curiosity peaked. I can't wait to hear that. Speaking of curious, I wanted to ask how it was opening up for KISS back in 2009
It was amazing! That was actually the second KISS tour that we got to go on. We got to open up for them in Europe on our first record. We did a whole tour with them, 24 dates, when they decided to put their makeup back on. We were a brand new band, we had never been on arena stages and we had never been to Europe. It was very intimidating, but we had such a good time on that tour. KISS is really cool because they support real rock and roll bands and they were very cool to us. They took us under their wing back then and we really appreciated it. Then, we got the privilege to do it again on here in the States.
RMN I know you guys caught a lot grief for the language that you use during your shows on that tour. I mean, it's a Buckcherry show and it's expected. You guys stayed true to yourselves and didn't change
Yeah, we did have a lot of problems with the profanity issue on that tour. I mean, I get it because a KISS show now is a family affair. We did our best to clean it up some, but some of our songs do have profanity in them. I guess it's just not acceptable for us to be using it.
RMN You have an hour to play tonight. How tough is it to trim your set list down to fit that time frame?
It is pretty tough because we just finished up doing headlining shows in July and August. Now, we have to condense it down quite a bit because we can't play as long as we would like to. The first week or so it takes some getting used to, but now we're having a blast out there.
RMN A fan sent me a question to ask you. Are you listening to anything music that may surprise your fans?
I listen to all sorts of stuff. I just like good songs. I like music that will motivate me. I like Neil Diamond. I just went through a major 70s Bruce Springsteen phase. I am addicted to his song "Rosalita" right now. I'm really into Rival Suns. They have two or three records out and they sound like a young Led Zeppelin and they are awesome.
RMN Here are a few other questions for the fans; best 80s metal/rock album?
AC/DC's Back in Black; that album changed my life!
RMN Most underrated band?
Do you mean right now or ever? There was a band that came out called Love/Hate and they were amazing, but they never really got a shot. They put out a record called Blackout in the Red Room. For me that record is right up there with Back in Black and Appetite for Destruction for me. That's one if you really love rock, then you should really visit that record. They deliver that stuff live perfectly. Jizzy Pearl, the singer, was such an influence on me early on. I would go to LA and see shows when I was like 16 and I had never seen a rock band. I mean, I never really go the glam bands like Poison and all those kind of glammy hair bands I never really got. Then, I saw Love/Hate and I thought this stuff is amazing. Jizzy was rad and he still is.
RMN Favorite food while you're out on the road?
I really love fried chicken and I know that it's probably going to kill me at some point, but if I can find some good fried chicken, I'm going to go get it. I ate at Bojangles because it was close to here and I just had to do it. After I'm done, I'm like man I shouldn't have done that.
Favorite drink?
Jack and coke.
RMN I can't think of a better way to wrap up this interview than with a great drink! Thanks for the chance to talk with you and I can't wait to see you guys out on the stage tonight putting on a show like only Buckcherry can do.
Johnny Price
Joe Lynn Turner's popular AOR side project with German/American producer Dennis Ward, SUNSTORM, will release its third album, entitled "Emotional Fire", on February 24, 2012 in Europe (February 28 in North America) via Frontiers Records.
Born after Turner met with Frontiers Records' president Serafino Perugino, the SUNSTORM project was a way to dig up some old gems, written by the former RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN singer during the mid-'80s. The task was to create an ultimate Joe Lynn Turner melodic rock "dream collection." This brought on the release of the first SUNSTORM album in 2006 — which was met with much critical acclaim — and the follow-up, "House Of Dreams", three years later.
While the first two albums' basic inspiration came from the melodic rock catalogue of songs that Turner penned for himself or other artists of the genre, for this third album, Frontiers and Joe Lynn Turner decided to look at Turner's numerous vocal sessions he did in the '80s as a background vocalist for other artists. This brought on a resurrection of some of Michael Bolton's melodic rock gems such as "Gina", (originally included on "The Hunger" album, where Turner contributed background vocals), "You Wouldn't Know Love" and "Emotional Fire", which Bolton penned for the "Heart Of Stone" album by Cher (in which Turner also appeared as background vocalist).
"I sang background on the original 'Gina'," says Joe, "Michael and I did all of the parts but I tried to rock it up a bit more than the original… not so pop! Good song though! It's funny…I heard 'Emotional Fire' from Desmond Child during a writing session and then he asked me to sing background vocals on it! Crazy! It's like one big circle!"
With production and mixing once again under the expert hands of Dennis Ward (PINK CREAM 69, PLACE VENDOME, ANGRA) and a track listing rounded out by some amazing songs written by the likes of Soren Kronkvist (CRASH THE SYSTEM, ISSA), Tom and James Martin (VEGA, SUNSTORM, KHYMERA) and Daniel Palmqvist (XORIGIN, THE MURDER OF MY SWEET), the third SUNSTORM album, "Emotional Fire", is destined to reignite the melodic rock passion in every fan.
"I think this record has a good mix of songs," concludes Joe, "Just what SUNSTORM is supposed to be! Dennis Ward is a great producer and the players are amazing. I have to say I am pleased with the work we did and hope that everyone else will be pleased as well… Enjoy!"
"Emotional Fire" track listing:
01. Never Give Up
02. Emotional Fire
03. Lay Down Your Arms
04. You Wouldn't Know Love
05. Wish You Were Here
06. Torn In Half
07. Gina
08. The Higher You Rise
09. Emily
10. Follow Your Heart
11. All I Am
Born after Turner met with Frontiers Records' president Serafino Perugino, the SUNSTORM project was a way to dig up some old gems, written by the former RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN singer during the mid-'80s. The task was to create an ultimate Joe Lynn Turner melodic rock "dream collection." This brought on the release of the first SUNSTORM album in 2006 — which was met with much critical acclaim — and the follow-up, "House Of Dreams", three years later.
While the first two albums' basic inspiration came from the melodic rock catalogue of songs that Turner penned for himself or other artists of the genre, for this third album, Frontiers and Joe Lynn Turner decided to look at Turner's numerous vocal sessions he did in the '80s as a background vocalist for other artists. This brought on a resurrection of some of Michael Bolton's melodic rock gems such as "Gina", (originally included on "The Hunger" album, where Turner contributed background vocals), "You Wouldn't Know Love" and "Emotional Fire", which Bolton penned for the "Heart Of Stone" album by Cher (in which Turner also appeared as background vocalist).
"I sang background on the original 'Gina'," says Joe, "Michael and I did all of the parts but I tried to rock it up a bit more than the original… not so pop! Good song though! It's funny…I heard 'Emotional Fire' from Desmond Child during a writing session and then he asked me to sing background vocals on it! Crazy! It's like one big circle!"
With production and mixing once again under the expert hands of Dennis Ward (PINK CREAM 69, PLACE VENDOME, ANGRA) and a track listing rounded out by some amazing songs written by the likes of Soren Kronkvist (CRASH THE SYSTEM, ISSA), Tom and James Martin (VEGA, SUNSTORM, KHYMERA) and Daniel Palmqvist (XORIGIN, THE MURDER OF MY SWEET), the third SUNSTORM album, "Emotional Fire", is destined to reignite the melodic rock passion in every fan.
"I think this record has a good mix of songs," concludes Joe, "Just what SUNSTORM is supposed to be! Dennis Ward is a great producer and the players are amazing. I have to say I am pleased with the work we did and hope that everyone else will be pleased as well… Enjoy!"
"Emotional Fire" track listing:
01. Never Give Up
02. Emotional Fire
03. Lay Down Your Arms
04. You Wouldn't Know Love
05. Wish You Were Here
06. Torn In Half
07. Gina
08. The Higher You Rise
09. Emily
10. Follow Your Heart
11. All I Am
Industrial veterans MINISTRY inked a worldwide deal with AFM Records. The band's first album of original material since 2007's "The Last Sucker", "Relapse", will be released on March 30, 2012.
In support of the "occupy movement," MINISTRY will release the new song "99 Percenters" via iTunes on December 23 and stream the track on their Facebook site starting Christmas day.
Commented MINISTRY mastermind Al Jourgensen: "Our 13th Planet Records releases have been distributed in Europe via AFM through our partner Soulfood Music in Germany for several years now, and we have established a solid business relationship, so it made perfect sense to take the next step and have AFM Records come on board and be involved with the new MINISTRY release for worldwide and digital distribution. I'm pretty psyched about the collaboration, based on the response and enthusiasm I've received from AFM so far…"
According to Revolver magazine, "99 Percenters" is a rally cry for all of the protesters that have gathered across the country to demonstrate against corporate greed, cutthoat capitalism, and the one percent of Americans who earn millions of dollars a year, but receive substantial tax cuts on their income. Jourgensen said the chorus for the track, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 99 percent" was inspired by COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH's Vietnam protest song "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag".
"Putting out this song is the least I could do," Jourgensen told Revolver. "We wanted to fly to New York and protest and get arrested and pepper sprayed. But we can't do it because I got a Christmas deadline on this album. But I'm with 'em in spirit so the least I could do is give them a chant-along song. I'm going, 'Hey man, here's your song. All you gotta do is chant the chorus.'"
Jourgensen spoke to U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine in August about his band's decision to reform for a new album and tour, including an appearance at next year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.
When asked how the resurrection of MINISTRY came about, Jourgensen said, "While I was working on [the BUCK SATAN record], me and Mike Scaccia from RIGOR MORTIS fucked around to pass the time and we had like, 5,6,7 songs and I didn't really want to do anything with them but Mikey was like, 'Dude, these songs are awesome.' They weren't country, they were more like MINISTRY. So he's coming by in September and Tommy Victor's [PRONG; guitar] coming by in October with Tony Campos [SOULFLY, ex-STATIC-X; bass] and we're gonna finish up another MINISTRY album by Christmas called 'Relapse'."
Regarding the sound of the new MINISTRY material, Al said, "I think this is actually gonna wind up being the fastest and heaviest record I've ever done. Just because we did it as anti-therapy therapy against the country music we would just take days off and thrash faster than I've done in a long time, faster than Mikey's done in a long time. He did a RIGOR MORTIS tour and said it was easy compared to this MINISTRY stuff so it's gonna be brutal and it's gonna freak a lot of people out."
MINISTRY's upcoming tour will feature the lineup of Al Jourgensen, Mike Scaccia and Tommy Victor on guitar, Tony Campos on bass, Aaron Rossi on drums, and John Bechdel on keyboards.
In support of the "occupy movement," MINISTRY will release the new song "99 Percenters" via iTunes on December 23 and stream the track on their Facebook site starting Christmas day.
Commented MINISTRY mastermind Al Jourgensen: "Our 13th Planet Records releases have been distributed in Europe via AFM through our partner Soulfood Music in Germany for several years now, and we have established a solid business relationship, so it made perfect sense to take the next step and have AFM Records come on board and be involved with the new MINISTRY release for worldwide and digital distribution. I'm pretty psyched about the collaboration, based on the response and enthusiasm I've received from AFM so far…"
According to Revolver magazine, "99 Percenters" is a rally cry for all of the protesters that have gathered across the country to demonstrate against corporate greed, cutthoat capitalism, and the one percent of Americans who earn millions of dollars a year, but receive substantial tax cuts on their income. Jourgensen said the chorus for the track, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 99 percent" was inspired by COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH's Vietnam protest song "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag".
"Putting out this song is the least I could do," Jourgensen told Revolver. "We wanted to fly to New York and protest and get arrested and pepper sprayed. But we can't do it because I got a Christmas deadline on this album. But I'm with 'em in spirit so the least I could do is give them a chant-along song. I'm going, 'Hey man, here's your song. All you gotta do is chant the chorus.'"
Jourgensen spoke to U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine in August about his band's decision to reform for a new album and tour, including an appearance at next year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.
When asked how the resurrection of MINISTRY came about, Jourgensen said, "While I was working on [the BUCK SATAN record], me and Mike Scaccia from RIGOR MORTIS fucked around to pass the time and we had like, 5,6,7 songs and I didn't really want to do anything with them but Mikey was like, 'Dude, these songs are awesome.' They weren't country, they were more like MINISTRY. So he's coming by in September and Tommy Victor's [PRONG; guitar] coming by in October with Tony Campos [SOULFLY, ex-STATIC-X; bass] and we're gonna finish up another MINISTRY album by Christmas called 'Relapse'."
Regarding the sound of the new MINISTRY material, Al said, "I think this is actually gonna wind up being the fastest and heaviest record I've ever done. Just because we did it as anti-therapy therapy against the country music we would just take days off and thrash faster than I've done in a long time, faster than Mikey's done in a long time. He did a RIGOR MORTIS tour and said it was easy compared to this MINISTRY stuff so it's gonna be brutal and it's gonna freak a lot of people out."
MINISTRY's upcoming tour will feature the lineup of Al Jourgensen, Mike Scaccia and Tommy Victor on guitar, Tony Campos on bass, Aaron Rossi on drums, and John Bechdel on keyboards.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows revealed to Kerrang! magazine that he underwent surgery earlier this year to correct a joint problem that left him in agony during the band's live performances. He said, "I had knee surgery because I was in pain all the time; I was wearing knee braces onstage. But finally it's fixed."
AVENGED SEVENFOLD's headlining "Buried Alive" tour launched in Ft. Meyers, Florida on November 23 and concluded this past weeked in California. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, and BLACK VEIL BRIDES were also on the bill, offering fans an incredible value with four of the hottest bands in rock today.
The tour took its name from "Buried Alive", the fourth single from the Huntington Beach, California rock band's gold album "Nightmare". All three previous singles from "Nightmare" — the title track, "Welcome to the Family" and "So Far Away" — have peaked at No. 1 on the Active Rock chart. Released worldwide in July 2010, "Nightmare" earned AVENGED SEVENFOLD its highest-ever debut on the Billboard album chart when it bowed at No. 1 and topped Billboard's Rock, Hard Rock, and Digital charts. The title track was the most played song at Media Base Active Rock for 2010.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD's headlining "Buried Alive" tour launched in Ft. Meyers, Florida on November 23 and concluded this past weeked in California. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, and BLACK VEIL BRIDES were also on the bill, offering fans an incredible value with four of the hottest bands in rock today.
The tour took its name from "Buried Alive", the fourth single from the Huntington Beach, California rock band's gold album "Nightmare". All three previous singles from "Nightmare" — the title track, "Welcome to the Family" and "So Far Away" — have peaked at No. 1 on the Active Rock chart. Released worldwide in July 2010, "Nightmare" earned AVENGED SEVENFOLD its highest-ever debut on the Billboard album chart when it bowed at No. 1 and topped Billboard's Rock, Hard Rock, and Digital charts. The title track was the most played song at Media Base Active Rock for 2010.
Guitar maker and luthier Ed Roman — who has worked with a number of influential artists during his career, including Ted Nugent, George Lynch, Billy Gibbons, Keith Urban and Rick Derringer — has passed away. A posting on Ed's web site reads, "We understand that many people have questions regarding the circumstances surrounding his passing. His death, however, is still very recent, and is a heartbreaking shock to the family. We ask that you please be respectful of the sensitive nature involved with losing a loved one, and the mourning process that follows."
A more formal announcement from Lindsey Star Roman is forthcoming.
According to KissFAQ.com, Roman worked with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley as far back as 1989, performing some modifications to one of Ace's Les Pauls. He also built a replica of Ace Frehley's Washburn AF 40 guitar. Roman once described Frehley as "probably the most influential guitarist in the history of the world."
A more formal announcement from Lindsey Star Roman is forthcoming.
According to KissFAQ.com, Roman worked with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley as far back as 1989, performing some modifications to one of Ace's Les Pauls. He also built a replica of Ace Frehley's Washburn AF 40 guitar. Roman once described Frehley as "probably the most influential guitarist in the history of the world."
Oakland, California hard rock band HIGH ON FIRE has entered Salem, Massachusetts' GodCity Studios with producer and CONVERGE guitarist Kurt Ballou to begin tracking its as-yet-untitled new album. Tentative songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Serums of Liao", "Madness Of An Architect", "De Vermis Mysteriis", "Spiritual Rites" and "Warhorn". A press release describes the new material as "direct, eye-opening and powerfully supernatural."
"We are really stoked about recording this album," said bassist Jeff Matz. "The new songs are turning out absolutely punishing; there are some seriously sledgehammer riffs on this one! Working with Kurt has been awesome as well. He's super easy to work with and is full of good ideas. The sounds that the guy gets are ridiculous and raw as fuck but also clear and HUGE. I think this album will capture the essence of the band really well. It's still early in the process, but so far it's sounding amazing."
HIGH ON FIRE's last album, "Snakes for the Divine", sold around 8,600 copies in its first week of release in the United States to debut at position No. 63 on The Billboard 200 chart. The follow-up to 2007's "Death is this Communion" was made available in North America on February 23 via E1 Music. The album was recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman and was described in a press release as "HIGH ON FIRE's magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band's ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music's all-time greats."
"We are really stoked about recording this album," said bassist Jeff Matz. "The new songs are turning out absolutely punishing; there are some seriously sledgehammer riffs on this one! Working with Kurt has been awesome as well. He's super easy to work with and is full of good ideas. The sounds that the guy gets are ridiculous and raw as fuck but also clear and HUGE. I think this album will capture the essence of the band really well. It's still early in the process, but so far it's sounding amazing."
HIGH ON FIRE's last album, "Snakes for the Divine", sold around 8,600 copies in its first week of release in the United States to debut at position No. 63 on The Billboard 200 chart. The follow-up to 2007's "Death is this Communion" was made available in North America on February 23 via E1 Music. The album was recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman and was described in a press release as "HIGH ON FIRE's magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band's ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music's all-time greats."
During the intro and outro of the song "Who We Are" on the recently completed "The Eighth Plague" European tour, San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD displayed fan testimonials on their projection screens that had been captured at that nights' show. The shots featured die-hard fans that had stood in line for up to 10 hours before the doors opened, who, for their their dedication and passion, had their faces and messages shown on the three on-stage screens. They became known as "The Faces Of The Eighth Plague." MACHINE HEAD plans to continue doing this on its upcoming U.S. run, so be on the lookout!
MACHINE HEAD's new album, "Unto The Locust", sold more than 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart — putting MACHINE HEAD in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's 17-year history. Even more impressively, this is the third consecutive album to show at least a 20 percent increase in sales over its predecessor, a virtually unprecedented feat for any band or artist, let alone a metal band in 2011. Add to that the fact that MACHINE HEAD's last CD came out four and a half years ago, a period of time that has seen the music market drop by more than 45 percent, and you're looking at something amazing.
MACHINE HEAD has consistently averaged more than 100,000 copies sold in the U.S. for each of its seven albums and has shifted double that overseas (accruing several silver records in the U.K.), resulting in cumulative worldwide sales of more than 2.4 million.
MACHINE HEAD's previous CD, "The Blackening", opened with just under 15,000 units back in April 2007 to debut at No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's 2004 effort, "Through The Ashes Of Empires", premiered with less than 12,000 copies to land at No. 88.
MACHINE HEAD will embark on a North American headlining tour in January/Febraury with support from SUICIDE SILENCE, DARKEST HOUR and RISE TO REMAIN.
MACHINE HEAD's new album, "Unto The Locust", sold more than 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart — putting MACHINE HEAD in the Top 25 for the first time in the band's 17-year history. Even more impressively, this is the third consecutive album to show at least a 20 percent increase in sales over its predecessor, a virtually unprecedented feat for any band or artist, let alone a metal band in 2011. Add to that the fact that MACHINE HEAD's last CD came out four and a half years ago, a period of time that has seen the music market drop by more than 45 percent, and you're looking at something amazing.
MACHINE HEAD has consistently averaged more than 100,000 copies sold in the U.S. for each of its seven albums and has shifted double that overseas (accruing several silver records in the U.K.), resulting in cumulative worldwide sales of more than 2.4 million.
MACHINE HEAD's previous CD, "The Blackening", opened with just under 15,000 units back in April 2007 to debut at No. 54 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's 2004 effort, "Through The Ashes Of Empires", premiered with less than 12,000 copies to land at No. 88.
MACHINE HEAD will embark on a North American headlining tour in January/Febraury with support from SUICIDE SILENCE, DARKEST HOUR and RISE TO REMAIN.
DARK DAY SUNDAY, the old-school thrash band featuring FATES WARNING guitarist Frank Aresti and SHADOWS FALL drummer Jason Bittner, has released the first four songs from its forthcoming debut album. You can now check out the tracks "Halfway To Gods", "Conversation With The Dead", "Halo Of Decay" and "One Bullet Away" below.
Inspired by Bay Area thrash bands like METALLICA, EXODUS, and MEGADETH, DARK DAY SUNDAY brings together old and new elements to create a brand new sound. The result: pure, raw energy.
DARK DAY SUNDAY is composed of four guys with a common love for headbanging fury, wailing guitar solos, melodic vocals that simply won't quit, and a rhythm section so in tune with one another you'd swear they were born of the same insanity.
Frank Aresti started his career with seminal prog-metal band FATES WARNING. As inspiration to many later bands, from DREAM THEATER to SLIPKNOT, Frank's guitar playing helped propel the band to commercial success and critical acclaim.
"I love playing with FATES," comments Frank, "but DARK DAY SUNDAY has a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to late '70s British punk and hardcore, then to early American thrash. I absolutely love this music."
In the drummer's seat is one of the most highly regarded metal drummers today, Jason Bittner of SHADOWS FALL. A Berklee College Of Music alum, "Jason brings a great energy to this band," says Aresti. "He lends an aggressive approach, pushing the beat while completely locking up with the rhythm section. It's a powerful feeling when you hear us live."
Rounding out the rhythm section on bass is Ed Lanouette. Ed earned his bachelor's degree at Berklee College Of Music and graduated with a master's degree in jazz performance from the Boston Conservatory. He cites his main influences as Jaco Pastorius and BLACK SABBATH's Geezer Butler.
Soaring above the ferocious riffs and pounding rhythm section is vocalist Marc Lopes. Marc cites his main influence as Bruce Dickinson of IRON MAIDEN. "Bruce has the ability to be melodic and aggressive at the same time," says Marc. "I love that, and that's what I go for in my singing."
When asked about the future of DARK DAY SUNDAY, Frank replies, "I want to take this band on the road, across the world. I want to continue making and recording music as long as we can. And judging how all four of us love doing this, that's going to be a long time."
DARK DAY SUNDAY is:
Marc Lopes - Vocals
Frank Aresti (FATES WARNING) - Guitar
Ed Lanouette - Bass
Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL) - Drums
Inspired by Bay Area thrash bands like METALLICA, EXODUS, and MEGADETH, DARK DAY SUNDAY brings together old and new elements to create a brand new sound. The result: pure, raw energy.
DARK DAY SUNDAY is composed of four guys with a common love for headbanging fury, wailing guitar solos, melodic vocals that simply won't quit, and a rhythm section so in tune with one another you'd swear they were born of the same insanity.
Frank Aresti started his career with seminal prog-metal band FATES WARNING. As inspiration to many later bands, from DREAM THEATER to SLIPKNOT, Frank's guitar playing helped propel the band to commercial success and critical acclaim.
"I love playing with FATES," comments Frank, "but DARK DAY SUNDAY has a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to late '70s British punk and hardcore, then to early American thrash. I absolutely love this music."
In the drummer's seat is one of the most highly regarded metal drummers today, Jason Bittner of SHADOWS FALL. A Berklee College Of Music alum, "Jason brings a great energy to this band," says Aresti. "He lends an aggressive approach, pushing the beat while completely locking up with the rhythm section. It's a powerful feeling when you hear us live."
Rounding out the rhythm section on bass is Ed Lanouette. Ed earned his bachelor's degree at Berklee College Of Music and graduated with a master's degree in jazz performance from the Boston Conservatory. He cites his main influences as Jaco Pastorius and BLACK SABBATH's Geezer Butler.
Soaring above the ferocious riffs and pounding rhythm section is vocalist Marc Lopes. Marc cites his main influence as Bruce Dickinson of IRON MAIDEN. "Bruce has the ability to be melodic and aggressive at the same time," says Marc. "I love that, and that's what I go for in my singing."
When asked about the future of DARK DAY SUNDAY, Frank replies, "I want to take this band on the road, across the world. I want to continue making and recording music as long as we can. And judging how all four of us love doing this, that's going to be a long time."
DARK DAY SUNDAY is:
Marc Lopes - Vocals
Frank Aresti (FATES WARNING) - Guitar
Ed Lanouette - Bass
Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL) - Drums
HATRIOT — the new thrash metal project led by veteran San Francisco Bay Area vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza (TENET, DUBLIN DEATH PATROL, EXODUS, LEGACY) — will perform at a charity show this coming Friday, December 23 at The Avalon in Santa Clara, California. The concert will mark HATRIOT's first live performance with new guitarist Miguel Esparza and will see the band debut three brand new songs as well as two EXODUS songs from Souza's tenure with the legendary thrash metal act. This is an all-ages event and admission is free if you bring one unwrapped toy for Toys For Tots.
If you are unable to bring a toy, admission is just a $5 donation to the United States Marines Toys For Tots fund. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. and doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Scheduled performers:
SKINNER 11:15-12:15
HATRIOT 10:15-11:00
THE VENTING MACHINE 9:30-10:00
SILENT SINNER 8:45-9:15
DEMENSION 13 8:00-8:30
HATRIOT is:
Steve "Zetro" Souza - Vocals
Kosta Varvatakis - Guitar
Cody Souza (Zetro's son) - Bass
Alex Bent - Drums
Miguel Esparza - Guitar
HATRIOT has made its entire four-song demo available for free download at Megaupload.
Featured tracks:
01. The Fear Within
02. Weapons Of Class Destruction
03. Globacidal
04. The Mechanics Of Annihilation
If you are unable to bring a toy, admission is just a $5 donation to the United States Marines Toys For Tots fund. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. and doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Scheduled performers:
SKINNER 11:15-12:15
HATRIOT 10:15-11:00
THE VENTING MACHINE 9:30-10:00
SILENT SINNER 8:45-9:15
DEMENSION 13 8:00-8:30
HATRIOT is:
Steve "Zetro" Souza - Vocals
Kosta Varvatakis - Guitar
Cody Souza (Zetro's son) - Bass
Alex Bent - Drums
Miguel Esparza - Guitar
HATRIOT has made its entire four-song demo available for free download at Megaupload.
Featured tracks:
01. The Fear Within
02. Weapons Of Class Destruction
03. Globacidal
04. The Mechanics Of Annihilation
According to The Pulse Of Radio, ALTER BRIDGE drummer Scott Phillips told Stereoboard that it's unlikely fans will hear from the band again until 2013, but that they shouldn't take that as a bad sign. Phillips explained, "We'll certainly be visible next year, but it'll be on various projects and then probably 2013 will be the reunion there of ALTER BRIDGE and we'll diligently get to work on a new record and tour as soon as we can."
ALTER BRIDGE spent much of 2011 on the road behind its last album, "AB III", but 2012 will see singer Myles Kennedy return to work as the lead singer in Slash's band, while the other three members of the group will reunite with vocalist Scott Stapp for a new CREED tour and album.
Phillips said, "Each of us have our own thing. I think we've got a lot of different paths we're heading on in 2012," adding that in addition to working with CREED, guitarist Mark Tremonti is prepping his first solo album for release.
Meanwhile, "AB III" was probably ALTER BRIDGE's most acclaimed effort so far and Tremonti told The Pulse Of Radio why he thought it worked so well. "I think we figured out what our sound was from the 'Blackbird' record, and we, I guess we were just more prepared to build on that sound and to make it more dynamic and that's all we really set out to do, is just make the best record we could, make it a dynamic record, and make it something that was uncompromised by record labels and singles and all that stuff," he said.
Earlier this fall, ALTER BRIDGE released a special edition of "AB III" featuring three previously unheard songs and an hour-long documentary on the group's career.
The band also filmed a concert last month in London's Wembley Arena for release on DVD sometime in 2012.
CREED will be playing its first two albums, "My Own Prison" and "Human Clay", in their entirety at a series of intimate shows next April, while also prepping a new studio album.
ALTER BRIDGE spent much of 2011 on the road behind its last album, "AB III", but 2012 will see singer Myles Kennedy return to work as the lead singer in Slash's band, while the other three members of the group will reunite with vocalist Scott Stapp for a new CREED tour and album.
Phillips said, "Each of us have our own thing. I think we've got a lot of different paths we're heading on in 2012," adding that in addition to working with CREED, guitarist Mark Tremonti is prepping his first solo album for release.
Meanwhile, "AB III" was probably ALTER BRIDGE's most acclaimed effort so far and Tremonti told The Pulse Of Radio why he thought it worked so well. "I think we figured out what our sound was from the 'Blackbird' record, and we, I guess we were just more prepared to build on that sound and to make it more dynamic and that's all we really set out to do, is just make the best record we could, make it a dynamic record, and make it something that was uncompromised by record labels and singles and all that stuff," he said.
Earlier this fall, ALTER BRIDGE released a special edition of "AB III" featuring three previously unheard songs and an hour-long documentary on the group's career.
The band also filmed a concert last month in London's Wembley Arena for release on DVD sometime in 2012.
CREED will be playing its first two albums, "My Own Prison" and "Human Clay", in their entirety at a series of intimate shows next April, while also prepping a new studio album.
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN has begun writing material for its fifth studio album and follow-up to 2010's "Option Paralysis" (Party Smasher Inc./Season of Mist).
Commented guitarist Ben Weinman: "Billy [Rymer, drums] and I have been locked up in the DILLINGER compound and things are starting to boil." He adds, "There is nothing like that feeling when you realize... Yep, just when I thought I was drained, the juices are back in full force! The neighbors are definitely getting pissed, but we couldn't be more excited."
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN will take a break from the writing process in order to rejoin its beloved tourmates MASTODON and RED FANG on a string of U.K. dates in February, followed by a stop down under for Australia's annual Soundwave Festival.
In other news, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN will release a limited-edition "Gold Teeth On A Bum" shirt online, just in time for the holidays. The limited-time offer, which will be made available for 24 hours only, will launch via the band's web site beginning at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST on Thursday, December 22, with a quarter of the proceeds going to a charity chosen by those who make a purchase.
Commented guitarist Ben Weinman: "Billy [Rymer, drums] and I have been locked up in the DILLINGER compound and things are starting to boil." He adds, "There is nothing like that feeling when you realize... Yep, just when I thought I was drained, the juices are back in full force! The neighbors are definitely getting pissed, but we couldn't be more excited."
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN will take a break from the writing process in order to rejoin its beloved tourmates MASTODON and RED FANG on a string of U.K. dates in February, followed by a stop down under for Australia's annual Soundwave Festival.
In other news, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN will release a limited-edition "Gold Teeth On A Bum" shirt online, just in time for the holidays. The limited-time offer, which will be made available for 24 hours only, will launch via the band's web site beginning at 12 p.m. EST/9 a.m. PST on Thursday, December 22, with a quarter of the proceeds going to a charity chosen by those who make a purchase.
Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to their new album, "Imaginaerum", but also planning a movie of the same name.
"Imaginaerum" is one of the projects which recently received grants from the Finnish government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation. The movie, directed by Stobe Harju, about an old man on his deathbed who glimpses a childhood dream in which he refuses to grow old, and fights aging with his imagination, reportedly got $575,000 toward its $3.7 million budget.
During a September interview with Petri Silas of Finland's Soundi magazine, NIGHTWISH mainman/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen revealed that all the filming for the "Imaginaerum" movie was done in Canada with mostly Canadian actors/actresses. Post-production is taking place in Canada and Finland. He aso revealed the names of the actors who have two of the main roles in the film: Marianne Farley and Quinn Lord.
Stobe Harju has now issued the following update on the "Imaginaerum" film:
"As most of you may know, we finished the director's cut for the film. Everyone involved in the screening sessions were very happy and gave precious feedback that made the director's cut.
"I can say this now, we are very, very, very happy with the cut.
"There are many people who deserve our appreciation, they are fellow directors, co-writers, actors and producers.
"There is still editing required for the visual effects to make us stay in the budget. This phase eventually makes the film and is crucial to the success of the final movie. Again, we are living exciting times.
"Now, filmmaking is mostly about letting go. Besides the editing, I had to say farewell to my very good friend and the editor of the film, Mathieu Bélanger, and his fantastic family who joined me in Finland for couple months. The heart and soul Mathieu put into this film cannot be described by words and I'm sure, our paths will cross in the future and in another project.
"Now, the film is in the good hands of another friend of mine Joshua Sherrett, his Workshop and the great team of Vision Global in Montreal. Their visual effects and their early concept sketches have blown us away several times already, and finally, they get to show us the meaning of the word 'magic.' Believe me when I say we've seen some pretty exciting stuff so far.
"As my work continues with them, it also continues with Petri Alanko and the soundtrack he's producing with Tuomas. It's miraculous how these guys can pull off something completely different but at the same time similar with the 'Imaginaerum' album songs. Well, it must be the 350 tracks per song on the album that give that possibility for the variations. Those crazy bastards.
"It's just a matter of time when we have got something new and special to show you. We hope it's quick because we can't wait either."
"Imaginaerum" film cast:
* Francis X. McCarthy
* Quinn Lord
* Marianne Farley
* Joanna Noyes
* Ilkka Villi
* Keyanna Fielding
* Ron Lea
* Victoria Jung
* Hélène Robitaille
* Stefan Demers
* Anette Olzon
* Marco Hietala
* Tuomas Holopainen
* Emppu Vuorinen
"Imaginaerum" is one of the projects which recently received grants from the Finnish government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation. The movie, directed by Stobe Harju, about an old man on his deathbed who glimpses a childhood dream in which he refuses to grow old, and fights aging with his imagination, reportedly got $575,000 toward its $3.7 million budget.
During a September interview with Petri Silas of Finland's Soundi magazine, NIGHTWISH mainman/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen revealed that all the filming for the "Imaginaerum" movie was done in Canada with mostly Canadian actors/actresses. Post-production is taking place in Canada and Finland. He aso revealed the names of the actors who have two of the main roles in the film: Marianne Farley and Quinn Lord.
Stobe Harju has now issued the following update on the "Imaginaerum" film:
"As most of you may know, we finished the director's cut for the film. Everyone involved in the screening sessions were very happy and gave precious feedback that made the director's cut.
"I can say this now, we are very, very, very happy with the cut.
"There are many people who deserve our appreciation, they are fellow directors, co-writers, actors and producers.
"There is still editing required for the visual effects to make us stay in the budget. This phase eventually makes the film and is crucial to the success of the final movie. Again, we are living exciting times.
"Now, filmmaking is mostly about letting go. Besides the editing, I had to say farewell to my very good friend and the editor of the film, Mathieu Bélanger, and his fantastic family who joined me in Finland for couple months. The heart and soul Mathieu put into this film cannot be described by words and I'm sure, our paths will cross in the future and in another project.
"Now, the film is in the good hands of another friend of mine Joshua Sherrett, his Workshop and the great team of Vision Global in Montreal. Their visual effects and their early concept sketches have blown us away several times already, and finally, they get to show us the meaning of the word 'magic.' Believe me when I say we've seen some pretty exciting stuff so far.
"As my work continues with them, it also continues with Petri Alanko and the soundtrack he's producing with Tuomas. It's miraculous how these guys can pull off something completely different but at the same time similar with the 'Imaginaerum' album songs. Well, it must be the 350 tracks per song on the album that give that possibility for the variations. Those crazy bastards.
"It's just a matter of time when we have got something new and special to show you. We hope it's quick because we can't wait either."
"Imaginaerum" film cast:
* Francis X. McCarthy
* Quinn Lord
* Marianne Farley
* Joanna Noyes
* Ilkka Villi
* Keyanna Fielding
* Ron Lea
* Victoria Jung
* Hélène Robitaille
* Stefan Demers
* Anette Olzon
* Marco Hietala
* Tuomas Holopainen
* Emppu Vuorinen
Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA will release their fifth full-length album, "Requiem For The Indifferent", on March 9, 2012 in Europe and four days later in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Gate Studio in Wolfsburg, Germany under the watchful eye of Sascha Paeth.
"Requiem For The Indifferent" track listing:
01. Karma
02. Monopoly On Truth
03. Storm The Sorrow
04. Delirium
05. Internal Warfare
06. Requiem For The Indifferent
07. Anima
08. Guilty Demeanor
09. Deep Water Horizon
10. Stay The Course
11. Deter The Tyrant
12. Avalanche
13. Serenade Of Self-Destruction
North American bonus tracks:
14. Twin Flames (Soundtrack Version)
15. Nostalgia
The artwork for the CD was created by Stephan Heilemann and can be seen below.
Regarding the "Requiem For The Indifferent" album title, the band previously said, "This title refers to the end of an era. Mankind can no longer stick their head in the sand for the things that are happening around us. We are facing many challenges. There is an enormous tension between different religions and cultures, wars, natural disasters and a huge financial crisis, which is getting out of control. More than ever we will need each other to overcome these problems. As we are all connected; the universe, earth, nature, animals and human beings, this period in time will be the prelude to the end for those who still don't want to, or simply won't see it. 'A Requiem For The Indifferent', but also a possibility for a new beginning with great new chances!"
A CD-release party for the new EPICA album will be held on March 16, 2012 at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands.
EPICA will play the new album in its entirety, along with some older tracks, during the more-than-two-hour event. Pyrotechnics and special show elements will be added as well.
EPICA's last album, "Design Your Universe", landed at position No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"This Is The Time", the latest single from EPICA, was released digitally on October 15, 2010. A video for the song, which was written for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was filmed in March 2010 was in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
"Requiem For The Indifferent" track listing:
01. Karma
02. Monopoly On Truth
03. Storm The Sorrow
04. Delirium
05. Internal Warfare
06. Requiem For The Indifferent
07. Anima
08. Guilty Demeanor
09. Deep Water Horizon
10. Stay The Course
11. Deter The Tyrant
12. Avalanche
13. Serenade Of Self-Destruction
North American bonus tracks:
14. Twin Flames (Soundtrack Version)
15. Nostalgia
The artwork for the CD was created by Stephan Heilemann and can be seen below.
Regarding the "Requiem For The Indifferent" album title, the band previously said, "This title refers to the end of an era. Mankind can no longer stick their head in the sand for the things that are happening around us. We are facing many challenges. There is an enormous tension between different religions and cultures, wars, natural disasters and a huge financial crisis, which is getting out of control. More than ever we will need each other to overcome these problems. As we are all connected; the universe, earth, nature, animals and human beings, this period in time will be the prelude to the end for those who still don't want to, or simply won't see it. 'A Requiem For The Indifferent', but also a possibility for a new beginning with great new chances!"
A CD-release party for the new EPICA album will be held on March 16, 2012 at 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands.
EPICA will play the new album in its entirety, along with some older tracks, during the more-than-two-hour event. Pyrotechnics and special show elements will be added as well.
EPICA's last album, "Design Your Universe", landed at position No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
"This Is The Time", the latest single from EPICA, was released digitally on October 15, 2010. A video for the song, which was written for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was filmed in March 2010 was in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe will perform with CANNABIS CORPSE at the upcoming Cory Smoot (GWAR) memorial concert, set to take place on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at The Canal Club in Richmond, Virginia.
Blythe's appearance with CANNABIS CORPSE will be a one-off event following the recent departures of the band's vocalist Andy "Weedgrinder" Horn and guitarist Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos.
Commented Blythe: "Cory was the guitarist in GWAR who passed away recently and was a friend of mine who recorded my guest vocals on the JASTA CD. He leaves a pregnant wife behind (their first child) and a mortgage.
"Cory didn't have life insurance and his wife is going to need every penny she can get with a kid on the way and bills to pay.
"Although GWAR is a relatively large band and are doing all they can for Mrs. Smoot, the fact of the matter nobody is rich and times will be hard.
"My friends in CANNABIS CORPSE were scheduled to play the benefit show, but suddenly are having lineup difficulties (lost the singer). So what the fuck and why not?
"On January 7, CANNABIS CORPSE WILL play — but I will be singing!
"Come check out some brutal death metal for a good cause! I'll be working on my death metal voice 'till then, pretending to smoke weed and getting deeper than fuck.
"I'm quite confident I can properly do the CANNABIS CORPSE tunes justice AND add something new. Now I need a 'weed metal' name!"
Smoot, a.k.a. Flattus Maximus, was found dead as GWAR was about to enter Canada on November 3. He was 34 years old.
CANNABIS CORPSE is currently seeking replacements for Horn and Poulos. Interested parties can contact the group at Landphilbass@hotmail.com.
Scheduled performers at Cory Smoot memorial concert:
MENSREA
CANNABIS CORPSE
ANTIETAM 1862
DAVE BROCKIE EXPERIENCE
THRONE FROM ROYALTY
MAKE LIKE MURDER
Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the music will start immediately.
For more information, go to this location.
Blythe's appearance with CANNABIS CORPSE will be a one-off event following the recent departures of the band's vocalist Andy "Weedgrinder" Horn and guitarist Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos.
Commented Blythe: "Cory was the guitarist in GWAR who passed away recently and was a friend of mine who recorded my guest vocals on the JASTA CD. He leaves a pregnant wife behind (their first child) and a mortgage.
"Cory didn't have life insurance and his wife is going to need every penny she can get with a kid on the way and bills to pay.
"Although GWAR is a relatively large band and are doing all they can for Mrs. Smoot, the fact of the matter nobody is rich and times will be hard.
"My friends in CANNABIS CORPSE were scheduled to play the benefit show, but suddenly are having lineup difficulties (lost the singer). So what the fuck and why not?
"On January 7, CANNABIS CORPSE WILL play — but I will be singing!
"Come check out some brutal death metal for a good cause! I'll be working on my death metal voice 'till then, pretending to smoke weed and getting deeper than fuck.
"I'm quite confident I can properly do the CANNABIS CORPSE tunes justice AND add something new. Now I need a 'weed metal' name!"
Smoot, a.k.a. Flattus Maximus, was found dead as GWAR was about to enter Canada on November 3. He was 34 years old.
CANNABIS CORPSE is currently seeking replacements for Horn and Poulos. Interested parties can contact the group at Landphilbass@hotmail.com.
Scheduled performers at Cory Smoot memorial concert:
MENSREA
CANNABIS CORPSE
ANTIETAM 1862
DAVE BROCKIE EXPERIENCE
THRONE FROM ROYALTY
MAKE LIKE MURDER
Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the music will start immediately.
For more information, go to this location.
Folk metalers TURISAS will be heading back to North America this spring for "PaganFest: America Part III", their first-ever U.S. headlining run! Joining the Finnish sextet on their triumphant return to the States is a gathering of bands from across the world: Scotland's ALESTORM, Rome's EX DEO, Russia's ARKONA, and the U.S.'s very own HUNTRESS.
"PaganFest: America Part III" tour dates:
Mar. 29 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
Mar. 30 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Mar. 31 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
Apr. 01 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
Apr. 02 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
Apr. 03 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's
Apr. 04 - Detroit, MI @ Blondie's
Apr. 05 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club
Apr. 06 - Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
Apr. 07 - Louisville, KY @ Vernon Club
Apr. 08 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
Apr. 09 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Apr. 11 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
Apr. 12 - Lubbock, TX @ Jake's
Apr. 13 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
Apr. 15 - Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
Apr. 16 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
Apr. 17 - San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
Apr. 18 - West Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
"Stand Up And Fight", the latest video from TURISAS, was filmed on February 7 in the California desert with director Iain Sclater. Influenced by the film "Mad Max" and the band's own image, the video is sure to provide a thrilling new look at TURISAS in the band's first-ever U.S.-shot music video.
"Stand Up And Fight" is the title track of TURISAS's third album, which entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 5. The CD was released in North America on March 8 via Century Media Records.
"'Stand Up And Fight' is a loose continuation of the story from 'The Varangian Way', and picks up where the previous one left us, in Constantinople," explained mainman Mathias Nygård. "However, it is not a sequel as such. In general, the songs are much more universal and deal with topics that can be placed just as tightly into the modern world as in the 11th century Byzantine Empire. 'Stand Up And Fight' has much more to offer the contemporary listener."
"PaganFest: America Part III" tour dates:
Mar. 29 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
Mar. 30 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Mar. 31 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
Apr. 01 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
Apr. 02 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
Apr. 03 - Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's
Apr. 04 - Detroit, MI @ Blondie's
Apr. 05 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club
Apr. 06 - Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
Apr. 07 - Louisville, KY @ Vernon Club
Apr. 08 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
Apr. 09 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Apr. 11 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
Apr. 12 - Lubbock, TX @ Jake's
Apr. 13 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
Apr. 15 - Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
Apr. 16 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
Apr. 17 - San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
Apr. 18 - West Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
"Stand Up And Fight", the latest video from TURISAS, was filmed on February 7 in the California desert with director Iain Sclater. Influenced by the film "Mad Max" and the band's own image, the video is sure to provide a thrilling new look at TURISAS in the band's first-ever U.S.-shot music video.
"Stand Up And Fight" is the title track of TURISAS's third album, which entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 5. The CD was released in North America on March 8 via Century Media Records.
"'Stand Up And Fight' is a loose continuation of the story from 'The Varangian Way', and picks up where the previous one left us, in Constantinople," explained mainman Mathias Nygård. "However, it is not a sequel as such. In general, the songs are much more universal and deal with topics that can be placed just as tightly into the modern world as in the 11th century Byzantine Empire. 'Stand Up And Fight' has much more to offer the contemporary listener."
Danish melodic doom metal masters SATURNUS have inked a deal with Cyclone Empire Records. The band's fourth album will be released in the spring.
Commented the group: "We are extremely happy and excited about having signed with Cyclone Empire to release our new album. Cyclone Empire were one of the interested labels from back in June who received a demo of some new songs. In time we formed relationship via our management, Lugga Music, who helped co-ordinate things until we arrived to where we are today.
"The deal is for two albums, with the first CD to be released in the spring of 2012.
"The studio has not been decided yet, but we have already contacted and lined up our longtime collaborator Flemming Rasmussen to begin recording in December.
"The album title has not been decided yet but we have 5 finished songs with the working titles 'Litany Of Rain', 'Between Worm And Woeful Star', 'A Father's Providence', 'Wind Torn' and 'Forest Of Insomnia'. These five songs and some other new tracks are currently undergoing their final touches."
SATURNUS is:
Thomas A.G. - Vocals
Henrik Glass - Drums
Mattias Svensson - Guitar
Rune Stiassny - Guitar, Keyboards
Brian Pomykala Hansen - Bass
SATURNUS completed a four-song demo between October 2010 and February 2011 containing the tracks "The Litany Of Rain", "A Father's Providence", "Wind Torn" and "Between" (working title). The recording was mixed and mastered by Flemming Rasmussen, who has previously worked with METALLICA, MORBID ANGEL and BLIND GUARDIAN, among others.
A performance clip of a new SATURNUS song, "Wind Torn", recorded in 2009 in Madrid, Spain, can be viewed below.
SATURNUS's latest album, "Veronika Decides To Die", was released in 2006. The CD was produced by Flemming Rasmussen and featured a guest appearance by MERCYFUL FATE guitar legend Michael Denner. The album was nominated in four categories ("Best Metal Album", "Best Metal Track", "Best Metal Production" and "Best Metal Artwork") at the 2006 Danish Metal Awards event.
Commented the group: "We are extremely happy and excited about having signed with Cyclone Empire to release our new album. Cyclone Empire were one of the interested labels from back in June who received a demo of some new songs. In time we formed relationship via our management, Lugga Music, who helped co-ordinate things until we arrived to where we are today.
"The deal is for two albums, with the first CD to be released in the spring of 2012.
"The studio has not been decided yet, but we have already contacted and lined up our longtime collaborator Flemming Rasmussen to begin recording in December.
"The album title has not been decided yet but we have 5 finished songs with the working titles 'Litany Of Rain', 'Between Worm And Woeful Star', 'A Father's Providence', 'Wind Torn' and 'Forest Of Insomnia'. These five songs and some other new tracks are currently undergoing their final touches."
SATURNUS is:
Thomas A.G. - Vocals
Henrik Glass - Drums
Mattias Svensson - Guitar
Rune Stiassny - Guitar, Keyboards
Brian Pomykala Hansen - Bass
SATURNUS completed a four-song demo between October 2010 and February 2011 containing the tracks "The Litany Of Rain", "A Father's Providence", "Wind Torn" and "Between" (working title). The recording was mixed and mastered by Flemming Rasmussen, who has previously worked with METALLICA, MORBID ANGEL and BLIND GUARDIAN, among others.
A performance clip of a new SATURNUS song, "Wind Torn", recorded in 2009 in Madrid, Spain, can be viewed below.
SATURNUS's latest album, "Veronika Decides To Die", was released in 2006. The CD was produced by Flemming Rasmussen and featured a guest appearance by MERCYFUL FATE guitar legend Michael Denner. The album was nominated in four categories ("Best Metal Album", "Best Metal Track", "Best Metal Production" and "Best Metal Artwork") at the 2006 Danish Metal Awards event.
POISON singer Bret Michaels is among the artists who will perform in free concerts during the week leading up to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis. The musicians will perform on stages along Georgia Street beginning January 27. A specific schedule was not announced.
NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis will be available on NFL and NBC web sites and on NFL Verizon's NFL Mobile app.
Last year's Super Bowl, in which the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, drew 111 million viewers. The game is traditionally the most-watched TV show.
NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis will be available on NFL and NBC web sites and on NFL Verizon's NFL Mobile app.
Last year's Super Bowl, in which the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, drew 111 million viewers. The game is traditionally the most-watched TV show.
Bobbie Brown, an actress and model and probably best known as the video vixen in WARRANT's "Cherry Pie" video, spoke to the Legendary Rock Interviews web site about the passing of ex-husband, former WARRANT singer Jani Lane.
Brown, who met Lane on the set of the "Cherry Pie" video, married the singer in 1990 and had one daughter with Jani, Taylar Jayne Lane, before the couple divorced in 1993.
Lane suffered from "acute ethanol poisoning" when he died at a Comfort Inn motel room in Woodland Hills, California on August 11.
The singer had battled alcoholism for years and also had a history of alcohol-related arrests.
According to TMZ.com, a note saying "I am Jani Lane" was found in the former WARRANT singer's pocket on the day he died. However, Jani, who had no official ID on him when his body was discovered, isn't believed to have written the note himself.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ.com that the note contained a phone number for a person close to Jani, and police contacted that person after Jani's body was discovered.
Investigators confirmed to TMZ.com that the note was written by one of Jani's friends who had placed a similar note on Jani in the past.
Although a bottle of pills was reportedly found near Lane's body, toxicology reports don't list any drugs other than alcohol in his system. "There were reports that someone had brought him food but there was no food in his system for the last two days," Brown told Legendary Rock Interviews. "His [third] wife [Kimberly] tells me that he died with a smile on his face and the coroner tells me that it looked like he had to have been screaming at the top of his lungs."
During the Legendary Rock interview, Brown revealed that Jani called her three weeks before his death while he was separated from his third wife. "Unfortunately, that was also at the same time as his two daughters were deciding to do the 'tough-love' thing with him," she said. "I sorta understood because they had tried every other way they could think of to get through to him so they tried the whole tough-love thing and said, 'Don't call me, I fuckin' hate you. I'm mad at you,' trick but that's just fucked up. He was trying to call them and reach them and tell them he loved them and get my number and they'd be, like, yelling at me like, 'Don't call him back!!' but I did, and when he asked me to move in, I said no. But then felt like I had fucked up, maybe I should have let him come stay with me and this [his death] wouldn't have happened."
When asked for her opinion on how Lani's former WARRANT bandmates publicly handled Jani's death, Bobbie said, "They were very close in the early days and all that, but you have to understand that their bitterness comes from all the years that came after that.
"First of all, everyone knows that Jani wrote everything — Jani was WARRANT — and when he decided to leave the band and do his own solo thing, or started pulling out of tours and that shit, that's where that resentment started on the part of the other guys. He would commit and then pull out, commit and pull out and they would really be stuck by Jani's constant torment about what he wanted to do musically or artistically or how he wanted to be seen which would fuck with WARRANT really bad. These guys really relied on him for being the face of WARRANT and the songs and so on and they got Jaime St. James [BLACK 'N BLUE] to sing for them when Jani left, but it was never quite the same and it never will be. Then, finally, finally, FINALLY, they tried so hard to make all of these amends and get it right for that last attempt at a reunion in 2008 and Jani just fucked the whole entire thing up with his alcoholism — not intentionally, but just because of his disease — and WARRANT had a lot riding on that so they just fuckin HAD it with him and his shit and replaced him. That was like a really big moment for them — to do like MÖTLEY [CRÜE] and capitalize on the original lineup 'reunion' thing and tour and keep it going and Jani just fucked the whole thing up. The first show in, he was fuckin up and it was all over the Internet and that's those guys' livelihood now and they all have families and people relying on them, so they really invested a lot in the hope that Jani would get it together and follow through, but he just couldn't. He crashed and burned and ruined it with his alcoholism, publicity-wise, finance-wise, and that's why they are still carrying that chip on their shoulder about it."
Regarding the fact Lani's former WARRANT bandmates failed to make an appearance at Jani's memorial concert in Hollywood, Brown said, "I was upset that they didn't show up or do anything for him and that they did these interviews where they were kind of shit-talking him. It was like, C'mon, dude, he wasn't trying to fuck your life up intentionally, it wasn't something he set out to do.' If anything, he was the one that gave you a career and a life because without those songs, nobody would have ever even heard of WARRANT. They would not exist today, so they should be more grateful to Jani than anyone. I know that they had a lot invested in Jani's return and his disease fucked everything up for them, but to be honest with you, they didn't care about ANY of that. They only cared about the band's career and were in it to win it and pull it off for themselves. They could give a fuck less about Jani's problems, they just wanted that sweet reunion tour glory and payday. The fact that none of them showed up was very hurtful to us."
Brown, who met Lane on the set of the "Cherry Pie" video, married the singer in 1990 and had one daughter with Jani, Taylar Jayne Lane, before the couple divorced in 1993.
Lane suffered from "acute ethanol poisoning" when he died at a Comfort Inn motel room in Woodland Hills, California on August 11.
The singer had battled alcoholism for years and also had a history of alcohol-related arrests.
According to TMZ.com, a note saying "I am Jani Lane" was found in the former WARRANT singer's pocket on the day he died. However, Jani, who had no official ID on him when his body was discovered, isn't believed to have written the note himself.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ.com that the note contained a phone number for a person close to Jani, and police contacted that person after Jani's body was discovered.
Investigators confirmed to TMZ.com that the note was written by one of Jani's friends who had placed a similar note on Jani in the past.
Although a bottle of pills was reportedly found near Lane's body, toxicology reports don't list any drugs other than alcohol in his system. "There were reports that someone had brought him food but there was no food in his system for the last two days," Brown told Legendary Rock Interviews. "His [third] wife [Kimberly] tells me that he died with a smile on his face and the coroner tells me that it looked like he had to have been screaming at the top of his lungs."
During the Legendary Rock interview, Brown revealed that Jani called her three weeks before his death while he was separated from his third wife. "Unfortunately, that was also at the same time as his two daughters were deciding to do the 'tough-love' thing with him," she said. "I sorta understood because they had tried every other way they could think of to get through to him so they tried the whole tough-love thing and said, 'Don't call me, I fuckin' hate you. I'm mad at you,' trick but that's just fucked up. He was trying to call them and reach them and tell them he loved them and get my number and they'd be, like, yelling at me like, 'Don't call him back!!' but I did, and when he asked me to move in, I said no. But then felt like I had fucked up, maybe I should have let him come stay with me and this [his death] wouldn't have happened."
When asked for her opinion on how Lani's former WARRANT bandmates publicly handled Jani's death, Bobbie said, "They were very close in the early days and all that, but you have to understand that their bitterness comes from all the years that came after that.
"First of all, everyone knows that Jani wrote everything — Jani was WARRANT — and when he decided to leave the band and do his own solo thing, or started pulling out of tours and that shit, that's where that resentment started on the part of the other guys. He would commit and then pull out, commit and pull out and they would really be stuck by Jani's constant torment about what he wanted to do musically or artistically or how he wanted to be seen which would fuck with WARRANT really bad. These guys really relied on him for being the face of WARRANT and the songs and so on and they got Jaime St. James [BLACK 'N BLUE] to sing for them when Jani left, but it was never quite the same and it never will be. Then, finally, finally, FINALLY, they tried so hard to make all of these amends and get it right for that last attempt at a reunion in 2008 and Jani just fucked the whole entire thing up with his alcoholism — not intentionally, but just because of his disease — and WARRANT had a lot riding on that so they just fuckin HAD it with him and his shit and replaced him. That was like a really big moment for them — to do like MÖTLEY [CRÜE] and capitalize on the original lineup 'reunion' thing and tour and keep it going and Jani just fucked the whole thing up. The first show in, he was fuckin up and it was all over the Internet and that's those guys' livelihood now and they all have families and people relying on them, so they really invested a lot in the hope that Jani would get it together and follow through, but he just couldn't. He crashed and burned and ruined it with his alcoholism, publicity-wise, finance-wise, and that's why they are still carrying that chip on their shoulder about it."
Regarding the fact Lani's former WARRANT bandmates failed to make an appearance at Jani's memorial concert in Hollywood, Brown said, "I was upset that they didn't show up or do anything for him and that they did these interviews where they were kind of shit-talking him. It was like, C'mon, dude, he wasn't trying to fuck your life up intentionally, it wasn't something he set out to do.' If anything, he was the one that gave you a career and a life because without those songs, nobody would have ever even heard of WARRANT. They would not exist today, so they should be more grateful to Jani than anyone. I know that they had a lot invested in Jani's return and his disease fucked everything up for them, but to be honest with you, they didn't care about ANY of that. They only cared about the band's career and were in it to win it and pull it off for themselves. They could give a fuck less about Jani's problems, they just wanted that sweet reunion tour glory and payday. The fact that none of them showed up was very hurtful to us."
Norwegian black metallers 1349 have worked with Anti Denim designer Karoline Bakken Lund to create exclusive handmade denim jeans as part of the Custom Made collection. The jeans are available through Anti Denim's online store, where every denim ordered will be made the exact way it was made. The jeans are sold numbered and each comes with a signed autograph from 1349. Prices start at 4666 NOK or 590 euros.
In a recent interview with Lemonade magazine, Kjetil Wold of the Norwegian design group Anti stated about about his black metal-inspired clothing company, "We are a denim brand who aim to put rebellion back into jeans. As Norwegians, we are heavily influenced by the true Norwegian black metal sub culture. Coming from Norway, we find it natural to build our philosophy around something truly Norwegian."
When asked if he has received any feedback from any remaining members of the early '90s wave of Norwegian black metal, Kjetil said, "We have had good feedback and are proud to say that artists like SATYRICON, 1349 and RUNHILD GAMMELSÆTER are not only using our denims but are or have been involved in several projects with us."
In a recent interview with Lemonade magazine, Kjetil Wold of the Norwegian design group Anti stated about about his black metal-inspired clothing company, "We are a denim brand who aim to put rebellion back into jeans. As Norwegians, we are heavily influenced by the true Norwegian black metal sub culture. Coming from Norway, we find it natural to build our philosophy around something truly Norwegian."
When asked if he has received any feedback from any remaining members of the early '90s wave of Norwegian black metal, Kjetil said, "We have had good feedback and are proud to say that artists like SATYRICON, 1349 and RUNHILD GAMMELSÆTER are not only using our denims but are or have been involved in several projects with us."
Marseille, France-based female-fronted metalcore band ETHS will release its third album, "III", on March 12, 2012 in North America (March 2 in Europe) via Season Of Mist. The CD was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden with producer Fredrik Nordström, who has previously worked with AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILLITY, ARCH ENEMY, SOILWORK and BRING ME THE HORIZON, among others.
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Voragine
02. Harmaguedon
03. Adonaï
04. Gravis Venter
05. Inanis Venter
06. Sidus
07. Proserpina
08. Hercolubus
09. Praedator
10. Anatemnein
On February 24, ETHS fans living in the south of France will have the opportunity to meet the band and purchase "III" before everybody else during a special evening at the Maison Hantée in Marseilles, France.
The band is currently filming a video for one of the songs from the new CD.
ETHS has announced the first leg of its upcoming tour in support of "III". Joining the band on most of the dates inMarch, April and May 2012 will be fellow French metallers KELLS, who will release their new album, "Anachromie", on January 20.
As previously reported, ETHS was recently rejoined by the band's original drummer, Guillaume Dupré.
ETHS' sophomore album, "Tératologie", was released in France in October 2007 and was made available in other parts of Europe in April 2008 via Season of Mist. The band's sound is described in a press release as "dark and powerful metal with tortured atmospheres, led by charismatic female singer Candice Clot, who with her amazing voice sings, talks, whispers and growls."
The track listing for the CD is as follows:
01. Voragine
02. Harmaguedon
03. Adonaï
04. Gravis Venter
05. Inanis Venter
06. Sidus
07. Proserpina
08. Hercolubus
09. Praedator
10. Anatemnein
On February 24, ETHS fans living in the south of France will have the opportunity to meet the band and purchase "III" before everybody else during a special evening at the Maison Hantée in Marseilles, France.
The band is currently filming a video for one of the songs from the new CD.
ETHS has announced the first leg of its upcoming tour in support of "III". Joining the band on most of the dates inMarch, April and May 2012 will be fellow French metallers KELLS, who will release their new album, "Anachromie", on January 20.
As previously reported, ETHS was recently rejoined by the band's original drummer, Guillaume Dupré.
ETHS' sophomore album, "Tératologie", was released in France in October 2007 and was made available in other parts of Europe in April 2008 via Season of Mist. The band's sound is described in a press release as "dark and powerful metal with tortured atmospheres, led by charismatic female singer Candice Clot, who with her amazing voice sings, talks, whispers and growls."
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/eths3.jpg
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