In a new interview with producer and YouTuber Rick Beato, PANTERA members Rex Brown (bass),Zakk Wylde (guitar) and Charlie Benante (drums) reflected on the reformed band's first live performance in over 20 years, which took place last December at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest.

"Dude, I was a nervous wreck," Charlie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And it was like 53 degrees [Fahrenheit]; it was freezing.. And I remember taking two shots that night, of Black Tooth, just to calm myself down because I was so anxious. And we got up there, intro started, first song kicked in, and it was, like, 'Wow, there it is.'"

Added Rex: "That's what I call the shot across the world right there. That one little moment of time, and I remember it, because I just felt this huge relief come on. Because we had been in a hangar, with these two guys, for two weeks, getting this thing down with the lights and the production on this thing for nine, 10 hours a day playing the songs."

Zakk chimed in: "But I remember the funny thing was, 'cause there was no warm-up shows; we didn't do any club shows. So the first show was the one in front of forty thousand people or whatever it was… For me, I felt there's... Like the adrenaline, kind of like my first Ozzy [Osbourne] show, that I did in an arena when I was, like, 20 years old. So for me, I was just, like, 'Wow, this is pretty insane.'"

Charlie continued: "This is the first time people are gonna see it. And then it's gonna be everywhere after tonight. So if we don't bring it, it's gonna be like, 'Oh, I saw it. It wasn't so good.' And like I said, I had a hundred things going through my head: 'I don't wanna play this too fast. I wanna catch that groove as if I'm riding a surfboard.'"

Rex said: "And we did. And it paid off. And it was great."

Charlie added: "After that show, it was, like, 'Phew.'"

PANTERA's 2023 lineup includes two surviving members from the band's classic formation, Brown and Philip Anselmo (vocals).

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They are also supporting METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

This past March, PANTERA headlined the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event took place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

In December, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America.

Brown was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at some of the shows was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

PANTERA recently completed a U.S. headlining tour with support from LAMB OF GOD.

In a new interview with Shaggy of the KPKY / KZKY Classic Rock 94.9 / 104.5 FM radio stations, guitarist Erik Turner of veteran California rockers WARRANT was asked at what point in his life he started to notice that the rock and roll backstage party scene was starting to fizzle out. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, probably 15, 20 years ago, I would say. We look forward to the after-show meal and then getting back to the hotel. A lot of times we only have a few hours to sleep before we've gotta get up and catch a flight or run to an airport. But it's not crazy like the old days, I can tell you that. We still like to have a little wine, maybe a little tequila, some good food, good camaraderie, but none of the craziness that we used to do in our 20s exist anymore. And I don't think we would survive if we acted like that, quite honestly."

Shaggy then noted that "even with a lot of these younger bands, it's not like the backstage scene of the '80s anymore." Asked what he thinks happened to change the younger bands' focus away from the debauchery that existed four decades ago, Erik replied: "I don't know. I first noticed that a long time ago. I went to see some friends of ours. I won't say the name of the band, but they were extremely popular in the early 2000s. And we went backstage, and then we went and hung out on the bus. And quite frankly, they were just drinking sodas, smoking a little weed and playing video games. And they were in their early 20s at the time. And I'm just, like, 'What's going on?' It was very different than the '80s, when we were rockin' and rollin'. It was a decade of decadence."

Asked if people have definitely calmed down over the years, Turner said: "From what I've seen, yeah, my limited viewing. I don't hang around a lot of bands from the new guys, but everybody's definitely mellowed out. I think everybody's playing better than ever, after playing for so long and going on stage sober and all that good stuff. You play better, you sound better. The band [WARRANT] right now, we've been touring all year long and the band, in my humble opinion, is sounding really tight."

In a recent interview with Mankato, Minnesota's "The Five Count" radio show, WARRANT guitarist Joey Allen was asked if there has been any talk of a follow-up to 2017's "Louder Harder Faster" album. He responded: "We are actually writing right now for a record. So people are sending riffs around. You can do it on the Internet nowadays. We just have a cloud-based files system where we just upload ideas. And somebody will take an idea, a music idea, and put some lyrics to it, and we'll start to craft our songs. So maybe by this fall we'll dig into the studio again and [record] the follow-up to 'Louder Harder Faster', which came out, I think, six years ago this year. The recording process takes about four or five weeks, so maybe early next year we'll have something new out for everybody to listen to and back on the road we will go to support that."

Two years ago, WARRANT singer Robert Mason told the "Thunder Underground" podcast that there wasn't "a defined schedule" for the group's next studio album, but he added that he and his bandmates are "always writing."

In 2020, Turner told the "Talking Metal" podcast that WARRANT was "throwing some ideas around" for a new LP. He said: "I've been sending Robert some riffs, and Robert's been working on songs. I've got a song going with Jerry [Dixon, bass]. So it's a slow, long process for us, but the seed of a new record has been started. Now, that doesn't mean the seed will grow into a record. We've got a long way to go. We don't have one finished song. We've got a couple of things cooking, and we're actually sending ideas around back and forth to each other."

"Louder Harder Faster" was released in May 2017. The disc was recorded with producer Jeff Pilson — a veteran bassist who has played with DIO, FOREIGNER, DOKKEN and T&N, among others — and was mixed by Pat Regan, except for the song "I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink", which was mixed by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, PRONG, LAST IN LINE).

Mason replaced original WARRANT frontman Jani Lane in 2008 and has brought a degree of stability to the band after Lane's unceremonious departure and subsequent 2011 death.

WARRANT is rounded out by original drummer Steven Sweet.

In a new interview with Riff X's "Metal XS", MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine spoke about the acrimonious relationship that exists between him and some of the former members of the band, including musicians who have not played with him for decades. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think you've gotta look at the whole story. People that get fired are very rarely happy that they got fired. Sometimes they're happy they got fired because they didn't want to have to quit but they don't wanna work there anymore and they needed a reason to quit.

"We've had a lot of people that have been playing with us over the years and we've maintained our friendships, and there are a couple that are very bitter, and usually the story has been played out in the press from when it happens in reality and then how long a person will keep bringing up those old stories," he continued. "Usually, they bring up stuff about me or about MEGADETH whenever they've got a new project or they've got some concerts coming up or a new record, they'll try and pick a fight with me. And I just figure, a dog with no teeth barks the loudest. So, I don't really let people that complain about us or talk shit about our performance abilities or the songs that we write matter.

"The guys that we've been able to maintain friendships with, and there's a lot of them, we've been able to discuss why things happened the way that they did. I miss Gar [Samuelson], I miss Nick [Menza]. Chris Poland and I, we settled things and there's no problems there. The second lineup with Jeff [Young] and Chuck [Behler], Chuck and I are really close, and I've always said I thought that Jeff Young was a good performer. The ultimate lineup that everybody likes is the 'Rust In Peace' lineup with Nick and Marty [Friedman]. And you see how Marty and I [are]; we just played together. So, you have to look at the guys that are talking badly about me and say, 'Okay, there's more to this story.' 'Cause if you go up to Jimmy DeGrasso or to Al Pitrelli or any of those guys, I'm sure they'd say the same thing, that we had a good run together. I got a get-well message from Shawn Drover when I had made the announcement that I had cancer. I only know of maybe one or two people from our past that have any problems with our band. And usually they won't say anything about the other guys; they'll say it about me. And believe it or not, there are more people in the press that have a problem with me than any bands out there.

"We just did a show recently, and I just got done saying that I had bronchitis," Mustaine added. "And we got a review, and the guy did a pretty fair review; I think that he gave us three and a half stars, and I think I probably should have got less for how my voice sounded because I was sick. Now, that wasn't fair to the band, 'cause the band, they played great. And I think that was kind of one of the sheep that follows the other band, that just don't like me because of who I played with before MEGADETH, you know? And that's sad sometimes because I don't think it's fair for the band guys to have to experience other people's bitterness because they follow the other band. 'Cause there's a lot of people that don't like MEGADETH or don't like me, and they don't even know me. And that's kind of funny to me, but it's also sad 'cause I would hate to miss out on really great music.

"I heard a band today on TV, and it was on a French channel. I would not normally have ever watched it, and I'd seen their name a lot. And I never realized how fucking cool they were. I'm not gonna say their name because I wanna make sure it's more than just one song, because I'd hate for them to have a song about, you know, going out and killing baby seals or something. [Laughs]"

MEGADETH has already played more than half a dozen concerts with new touring guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari (WINTERSUN, SMACKBOUND). Teemu is filling in for the band's longtime axeman Kiko Loureiro, who announced earlier this month that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland.

MEGADETH played its first show with Mäntysaari on September 6 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 36-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

In April 2015, it was announced that Loureiro had joined MEGADETH, replacing Chris Broderick, who had left the band five months earlier.

In addition to Mustaine andLoureiro, MEGADETH's current lineup includes former SOILWORK drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.

Drummer Artimus Pyle — currently the oldest remaining member of the Lynyrd Skynyrd legacy — is releasing Anthems: Honoring The Music Of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a 13-track album, on February 2, 2024. It intends to celebrate the memory of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band that, with Gary Rossington’s passing in March 2023, lost all of its original members.


The Get Joe Records studio album will be released and distributed by BFD/Orchard and is entirely comprised of duets between the Artimus Pyle Band and acts including Billy Ray Cyrus, Ronnie Dunn, Sammy Hagar and Dolly Parton. Pre-orders can be placed here.


A track from the album will be released digitally on October 20, 2023, to coincide with the 46th anniversary of the tragic plane crash that killed six people, including band members Steve and Cassie Gaines, plus the band’s original frontman, Ronnie Van Zant.




“This project has been a year in the making, but when the fans hear it they will understand why it took so long,” says Len Snow, Get Joe Records president. “Artimus is legendary within the Southern Rock space. The music that Lynyrd Skynyrd made will always live as a part of rock history. This album honors that music and gives Artimus a way to honor his former bandmates.”





Tracklisting:


"I Know A Little" – Micheal Ray
"Sweet Home Alabama" – Ronnie Dunn
"Simple Man" – Sammy Hagar
"Needle And The Spoon" – Lindsey Ell
"The Ballad Of Curtis Loew" – Chris Janson
"Workin’ For MCA" – Lee Brice
"That Smell" – Jerrod Niemann
"Gimme Three Steps" – Marty Raybon
"Call Me The Breeze" – Billy Ray Cyrus
"Saturday Night Special" – Warren Haynes
"The Hunt" – Artimus Pyle Band
"What’s Your Name" – LoCash
"Freebird" – Dolly Parton


Charlie Daniels recommended Pyle to join Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1974, following the release of the group’s second album, Second Helping, after the departure of Bob Burns, the band’s original drummer. Pyle performed both live and with the band on Skynyrd’s subsequent four live and studio albums: Nuthin’ Fancy, Gimme Back My Bullets, Street Survivors and their live album, One More For The Road.


Pyle was injured but survived the band’s previously-mentioned and tragic 1977 plane crash.


Both in 1979 (as the Rossington Collins Band) and from 1987-1991 (as Lynyrd Skynyrd), Pyle returned to the road with various iterations of the act. During that time, as a press statement notes, he also created the Artimus Pyle Band to “honor the music and legacy of Ronnie Van Zant.”


The Artimus Pyle Band is currently comprised of Pyle (drums), Scott Raines (guitar/vocals), Jerry Lyda (guitar), Brad Durden (keyboards/vocals), and Dave Fowler (bass). Catch them live at the following venues:


October
6 - The Historic State Theater Complex - Elizabethtown, KY
7 - Hazzard Fest - Newport, TN
13 - The Granada Theatre - Mount Vernon, IL
21 - Sugar Creek Casino - Hinton, OK


November
9 - Bank Of New Hampshire Stage - Concord, NH
11 - The Newton Theatre - Newton, NJ


December
7 - Amaturo Theater at Broward Center For The Performing Arts - Fort Lauderdale, FL
8 - Capitol Theatre - Clearwater, FL
9 - Capitol Theatre - Clearwater, FL
10 - Ponte Vedra Concert Hall - Ponte Vedra, FL


(Photo courtesy of ArtimusPyleBand.com)


 


 

Australian deathcore masters THY ART IS MURDER kicked off their European tour Wednesday night (September 27) at the Turbinenhalle 2 in Oberhausen, Germany. The show marked the band's first appearance with new singer Tyler Miller, who is also a member of fellow Australian metallers AVERSIONS CROWN.

Fan-filmed video of the Oberhausen concert can be found below. Photos are available at Impericon.com.

The news of Miller's addition to THY ART IS MURDER comes less than a week after the band parted ways with longtime vocalist Chris "CJ" McMahon. THY ART IS MURDER also revealed in a statement that McMahon's vocals do not appear on the group's newly released album "Godlike", which came out on September 22 via Human Warfare, with CJ's replacement having "finished re-recording vocals on the new album" earlier last week.

AVERSIONS CROWN released its latest album, "Hell Will Come For Us All", in 2020 via Nuclear Blast.

The band has been inactive on social media since a year ago when AVERSIONS CROWN announced the cancelation of a U.S. tour after being unable to secure "the appropriate work visas required to enter" the country.

The split between THY ART IS MURDER and McMahon happened a month after he deleted (and subsequently reinstated) his social media due to the backlash he received for posting a transphobic comment on Instagram. The following day, the other members of THY ART IS MURDER posted a trans flag on Instagram in solidarity with the community. "Setting the record straight, we stand with you," the band wrote.

On September 22, THY ART IS MURDER shared a statement on social media confirming that McMahon had been fired from the band, and that his contributions to "Godlike" album had been removed.

"We understand that this may come as a surprise and we want to assure you that this decision was made to preserve the band's integrity and direction," THY ART IS MURDER said in the statement.

"What transpired over the past month was not the cause of this action, but just another symptom of the drawn out breakdown in [McMahon's] character and judgement," the group added. "The straw that broke the camel's back if you will. Long story short, the fallout has been immense. We were lobbed with threats to destroy THY ART IS MURDER from the inside if we did not capitulate to various ideologies that he holds."

A few hours later, McMahon posted a short message on Instagram in which he said: "I just woke up and saw the news. Yes this is how I found out. And yes it's not the whole story."

Days after he shared his original transphobic comment on social media, McMahon posted a video to the band's Instagram in which he said he wanted to "apologize to everybody that's been upset and offended by the video that I shared and commented horribly on Instagram. My intentions weren't to be transphobic in any way, shape or form. And now it's gotten to the point that it really doesn't matter what my intentions were. I apologize to the LGBTQ+ community and their allies and the people that support them. And I thought I did support them, but obviously my video that I shared and commented horribly on has proved otherwise."

McMahon joined THY ART IS MURDER back in 2009 after the band's previous vocalist, Brendan Van Ryn, quit the previous year.

In a new interview with Grammy.com, Corey Taylor talked about the need for him to transition into exploring other things, such as recording and touring with his solo project, after spending more than two decades fronting SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR. He said: "As a performer, you physically want to rise to that occasion. The only thing that holds us back in performance is age, and I'm lucky that I'm healthy enough that I can still go at a certain level. But I know I can't continue that forever. The guys in SLIPKNOT also know that, and that's something that we're talking about very honestly. 'What do we do?' 'What does the next level of SLIPKNOT look like?' We're looking at it from an artistic point of view. How do we make it still seem frenetic and off the chain, but also something that we can deal with from a strength point of view? It'll be interesting to see where that challenge takes us. It also allows me to be able to do stuff like this solo thing. It's high-energy right now, but when it gets to the point where I want to tame it down a little bit, I have songs that I can lean into and let them do the heavy lifting for me."

He continued: "This is probably the closest to the real me as a performer that I've been in my whole career. Because obviously with SLIPKNOT, it's really one side of the genre. With STONE SOUR, I was being held back because of certain people in the band. But with this, there are no limitations, and I can do music carte blanche as far as genre goes and performance goes. I have a band that can play anything, which is just criminal. It's really, really cool. I'm just really fortunate to be in the place where I am right now."

Earlier this month, Corey told Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of Paste magazine about his decision to put STONE SOUR "on indefinite hiatus" and launch his solo career by releasing 2020's "CMFT" and 2023's "CMF2" albums: "When STONE SOUR first started, not only was I playing guitar constantly, but I was also the lead guitarist and main writer. Honestly, one of the reasons why I was very adamant about starting my solo thing is that there was a weird misconception around who was writing what for what band. Maybe this is where my ego comes into play, but I felt like I wasn't getting the credit for the things I was actually writing. With STONE SOUR, it was fairly obvious, but there were a lot of songs that I wrote that people thought [guitarists] Jim [Root] or Josh [Rand] wrote where that wasn't the case at all. And then, with SLIPKNOT, there was a lot of stuff that either wouldn't have been written without me, or that I wrote that other people gave [themselves] credit [for]. As someone who takes great pride in sitting down and creating something from nothing — just from my imagination — that stuck in my craw."

He continued: "I've never shied away from giving credit to the people who deserve it. I've never taken credit for anything that I didn't do, and I've always been the first to shine the spotlight on anybody else. I don't necessarily get that in return. So this, for me, is setting the record straight and changing the narrative. Showing people that, 'Oh yeah, he does write heavy shit. And country shit. And acoustic shit. And piano shit. And rock shit. Hardcore shit' — the gamut."

This past June, Taylor told Germany's Rock Antenne that it is easier for him to make solo records than it is to work with a band. But he clarified: "It's not that I don't miss some of the guys in STONE SOUR; I still talk to them. But at this stage, I refuse to compromise my vision and my art because of certain people's hindrances. And that's all I'll say."

In August 2022, Corey told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that "nothing" had changed with regard to STONE SOUR months after he said in a previous interview that the band was on hiatus. Pressed about whether STONE SOUR is something he still might revisit at some point in the future, Corey said: "I don't know. The solo thing's more where my heart is, to be honest."

Corey, who was actually in STONE SOUR before he joined SLIPKNOT, continued: "To me, I've done the time doing stuff in a — for lack of a better term — band situation. And the reason I stick with SLIPKNOT is because that, to me, is the one that kind of started everything. But STONE SOUR, there's still so much drama and issues [between the members]. To me, it's just not something I desire to do. And songs in STONE SOUR that I want to play are the ones that I wrote in the first place. So to me, I would rather go out with a group of dudes who I've known forever and have a great time playing these songs and have the audience enjoy it because they see a bunch of dudes up there enjoying it than try to force issues on an audience that nobody really wants to be a part of, let's put it that way."

Asked it has been difficult for him to shelf STONE SOUR considering the amount of work he put into the band, Corey said: "It's been a bitter pill to swallow, but I've also reached an age where I refuse to waste any time with people who I don't enjoy being with, let's put it that way. And that's saying more than I actually should be saying.

"When it comes to my bands, I know in the past I've been very open to talking about it," Taylor continued. "But I'm very reticent about talking about things that deal with people who I care about. And whether there are issues or not, I still care about them. So it's tough. I have to rein myself in 'cause I'm not gonna throw anybody under the bus because nine times out of 10 I could be the problem too.

"I just know that at this point in my life I have more reason to love the solo thing than I do to try and do something with STONE SOUR," Corey added. "Now, am I saying that it'll never happen? No, because you never know. Something might come up and we could get an opportunity, and we could get an opportunity to do something for charity, and we all get together and we do something really, really cool. But my immediate plans right now — there's no STONE SOUR in the future."

STONE SOUR has been off the road and out of sight since completing the touring cycle for its last studio album, 2017's "Hydrograd". Taylor has been working with SLIPKNOT since then, as well as making his debut solo album, "CMFT", and a follow-up effort, "CMF2", which arrived earlier this month. A STONE SOUR live album, "Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno", came out in December 2019.

In a new interview with David Spuria of The Real Music Observer, former JOURNEY singer Jeff Scott Soto was asked if he would accept the invitation to jam with Neal Schon if the JOURNEY founder and guitarist called him up and wanted to play together again. "In a heartbeat. In a heartbeat," Jeff responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I have the most, the ultimate respect for Neal as a musician, as a writer, as a producer. The things that he's done have literally put a stamp in music — they put a stamp in my life, musically and influence-wise. I look at Neal, I look at what I did with Yngwie [Malmsteen], I look at the talent and the talent pool that they come from, and that, to me, is more exciting than the personality side or the differences in personality."

He continued: "I don't care whatever else you have or think that's different from me, I care more about what we have together in terms of the conversation and in terms of on a musical side, jamming and having fun. Music is about joy and smiling and just having fun. I would do it in a heartbeat because I know I would get all of that from Neal."

Soto was also asked if there was ever any talk of him recording a full album with JOURNEY before he was booted from the band and replaced with current JOURNEY vocalist Arnel Pineda. He said: "Absolutely. The whole Walmart deal was already in place when I was in the band. And even before I was dubbed the official singer, permanent singer, they were talking about that: 'We've gotta work out who's gonna be singing on this.' So when I was actually inducted as the permanent guy, there were a few discussions that I would have been on that record where we were doing the remake of all the earlier stuff and the brand new stuff. So that definitely was on the table. But we, unfortunately, didn't get to that. It would have been nice to be able to walk away with at least a block of something that my contribution to and with the band, but unfortunately we didn't get that far. And it's not sour grapes anymore, it's not spilled milk — it's none of that."

He continued: "I'm so happy for what they've been able to do. I'm happy for what I've been able to do because of it. I wouldn't have my TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA history. This is my 16th year with them, but my 15th tour in a row. I wouldn't have W.E.T. I wouldn't have SONS OF APOLLO. I wouldn't have some of these things that have become so important to me in my life. Even ART OF ANARCHY. I wouldn't have any of these things had I remained just the singer for JOURNEY. And not that it would have been a bad thing. Everything happens for a reason. Everything takes its course in life. They moved on. Arnel is a wonderful singer. I loved a lot of what they have done together. I've listened to a lot of the original stuff and I champion him as much as I champion the band. This band was one of my favorite bands of all time growing up and they will always remain that. Steve Perry is one of my biggest influences. And I've gotta tell you, when I was in my twenties and thirties, I was a dead ringer for Perry. I could do his vowel sounds [and] grammatically I could sing like him. But obviously, as I got into my forties, everything's kind of dropping — the old sack below starts dropping and everything starts dropping with it and it becomes tougher. I wanna say when I got into JOURNEY, I was a fake tenor where it used to be a real tenor. A fake tenor, meaning I could still do it but it's more of a struggle to get there than it used to be. And now I would consider myself a strong baritone with tenor tendencies."

Last fall, Soto said that he was "on good" and "positive terms" again with Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain — more than a decade and a half after he was fired from the band.

Soto, who previously sang with Yngwie Malmsteen, joined JOURNEY about a week and half into a six-week summer 2006 tour with DEF LEPPARD, after Steve Augeri began having vocal issues. Soto had earlier worked with Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo in the short-lived side project SOUL SIRKUS. JOURNEY named Soto its permanent lead singer in December 2016 before firing him just five months later.

Soto touched upon his current relationship with JOURNEY during an October 2022 appearance on the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS). He said: "We were a bit estranged for a decade and a half and just recently I reached out… We're basically, I wouldn't say pals again, but there's a narrative, there's a dialogue now between us. I stayed really good friends with, of course, Deen Castronovo and some of the other guys in the band, but I was a bit estranged from Neal and Jon, and I'm just happy to say at least now we have a narrative — we're on good terms and on positive terms. And this is all I want out of the situation. I don't want any bad blood; I don't want any negative energies out there in the world, especially at our age. Now is the time to embrace the things that we've done and to really look back and reflect on them and not have all this bad water under the bridge."

Asked if he had done any recording with JOURNEY in the five months that he was in the band, Soto said: "We did one song [called 'Winds Of Freedom', which can be heard below]. It was a song that Jonathan wrote for… It was a private gig that we did for — it was a polo match, actually. They were celebrating America's birthday and Jon basically wrote a song… It was kind of like a history. It was talking about Jamestown and the ships came over and they settled in the new land and colonized. It didn't sound like a traditional JOURNEY song, but it wasn't supposed to be; it was specifically for that event, and it was only supposed to be performed at that event. And we did that song, we demoed it, and that was the end of it. That was the only original song I got to do with them. But, man, I just remember when I was singing it, I 'Perry-ed' the fuck out of it — if that's even the word: 'Perry-ed'. I went into Perry mode. I did a lot of his inflections, a lot of his grammatical vowel sounds — just the way Perry sang — 'cause he's such a massive influence in me, his phrasing. Sam Cooke was his mentor, and before that, Nat King Cole was Sam Cooke's mentor. So I basically learned from all of the masters, including, down the line, from Steve. And I wanted to pay homage to what he brought to the band, what he left with that band, because it's such an identifiable signature sound. But when you hear it, you can hear the inflections, but you still hear it's me."

In 2021, Soto told Argentinian journalist Lucas Gordon that the "problem" was that he didn't know what caused his split with JOURNEY. "If I knew what the problem was, if I knew the reason why I got fired, then at least I could be at peace with it; I could find a way to discuss it or talk about it," he said. "If I was told why I was fired, if I was told 'your voice sucks,' if I was told I killed one of the guys' dogs, if I made somebody in their family angry, if I was told the reason why I was fired, I could make peace with it. But to this day, 14 years later — whatever it is — I don't know. I don't have the answers. I was never given a proper reason. The only thing I was told was they had a change of heart. It didn't make sense to me. If you have a change of heart, call me up and we can say goodbye, we can hug and say, 'Hey, hopefully I can get a couple of tickets to the show with the new singer.' That kind of stuff. You can leave as friends. I came in as friends; I wanna leave as friends."

Within hours of BLABBERMOUTH.NET publishing Soto's comments, Schon issued a response via the BLABBERMOUTH.NET Facebook page, writing: "It was unfortunate but Steve Augeri's voice gave out. We were in the middle of DEF LEPPARD tour so I was working with Jeff on side project and suggested he come in and help Finnish the tour. It went well but all were not sold on him being the lead singer after writing a tune and listening. Both Jon and I agreed it didn't sound right- or better put what we wanted. I hope this satisfies this on going drama. It didn't work out."

A short time later, Schon added in a separate comment on the BLABBERMOUTH.NET Facebook page: "This is all boring and overly redundant whining of 14 years ago. PR stunt at best. Zzzzzz Jeff tried to sue us after we let him go and playing with us live for only 1 tour. This did not sit well with myself and could easily see personality clashes way too early. Good night".

In April 2021, Jeff discussed his time with JOURNEY in an interview with "The Bay Ragni Show". Asked if Schon's comments gave him the closure that he was looking for, Soto responded in part: "Not really. It wasn't really so much closure as it was… It was more of, 'You're still talking about this, dude?' And I wasn't really talking about it. I was answering a question in an interview. I gave an honest reply in an interview based on what the question was about. And it turned into a whole, 'Jeff is just looking for attention. Jeff is just looking for press.' It was none of the above.

"To be honest with you, I've had closure with this — my personal closure — for a long time in terms of not to expect any further reasonings, any other explanations," he continued. "But of course, naturally, I wanted to be able to be friends with the people that I worked with or that I no longer work with; I don't want enemies in the world. So it was more along those terms that I was even talking about it, is that I was extending that olive branch of wanting to make sure that before I leave this earth I leave with everybody knowing that I'm a good person, that I was a genuine person, that my best interests were only in being good for these people, not necessarily what I can get from them or what they can get from me, et cetera.

"So, to be honest with you, as I said, I am absolutely at peace with the whole JOURNEY situation," Jeff added. "I went to go see them recently. I wrote up how exciting it was, how it was emotional to be there watching as opposed to be on stage doing it with them after 15 years, but how happy I was for everybody. It worked out for everybody in question here — it worked out for [current JOURNEY singer] Arnel, it worked out for them, and it even worked out for me because I ended up doing a lot more things in my life and my career that I wouldn't have done had I been just with that band."

The day after he went to see JOURNEY perform in April 2022, Jeff took to his social media to write: "Last night, I went to see my 1st JOURNEY show in 15 years….yes, I was invited but no, because of covid protocols still within touring contracts, I could not see anyone in the band before or after.

"The band was sheer fire…Arnel rose above my expectations vocally and could quite possibly be the best I have heard him since he joined the band, Neal's fingers were flying all night as expected, Deen's playing and singing soared beyond my memory of being onstage with him and the rest just kept it locked and loaded! I found myself singing, cheering and feeling proud that I once graced that stage with my childhood favorite band. It was emotional at times but I mean that in a positive way, so many great memories of my 11 months with them stacked with the 40+ years of what I got as a fan!"

Speaking exclusively to Rock Candy magazine as part of an in-depth 16-page cover story, legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper told writer Andrew Daly that he's determined to buck the current trend of rock stars retiring.

"A farewell tour hasn't crossed my mind at all," said Alice, who turned 75 this year. "And it's weird, because all my friends are retiring. Gene Simmons [of KISS] said to me recently, 'Look, I'm done. Come December, it's over.' And I go, 'Well, you know, these farewell tours go on for years and years now, right?' But Gene was very serious and said, 'Not this time. I promise you that come December, KISS as we know it is absolutely done.' The guys in AEROSMITH are saying the same thing, as are many other bands from my era. But none of that occurs to me. It's never been a thought that I'd retire. I feel great, and the band sounds great. I'm 75, but I'll be up there at 90 if I'm still in good enough shape."

Alice went on to cite THE ROLLING STONES, who are still active and as relevant today as ever they have been, as his inspiration. "I'm looking at Mick Jagger as the prototype," he says. "Mick still does three-hour shows and the soundcheck. So if Mick can do it, so can I."

You can read Rock Candy's 16-page Alice Cooper special, together with many other fascinating stories about DEEP PURPLE, Paul Rodgers, Ronnie James Dio, EUROPE and more in the magazine's issue 40.

For more details, visit www.rockcandymag.com.

Alice previously discussed the possibility of retirement during a September 7 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Asked how long he thinks he can keep touring before it will be time for him to retire, the legendary rocker responded: "It's all in your head. I really think so. And also if you're physically well. I would not wanna play Alice Cooper if I didn't look like Alice, the same way I looked like Alice in the '70s. I still look like that Alice. If I couldn't sing like Alice, if I lost my interest in it, if I didn't really love doing it. And the main thing is if nobody shows up. You can go out on tour and if nobody buys tickets, you're done. That's not happened; in fact, it's kind of doubled for us.

"I think people come to see Alice and they're expecting to see this relic, and they see the highest-energy show they've seen all year," Alice continued. "I've never been in better shape."

Cooper went on to say that he "can't explain" why his stage delivery hasn't diminished in recent years, like it has with so many other aging rockers. "Physically, I can [explain it]," he clarified. "I never smoked cigarettes. And that is a big — that's one of the big things that ends bands. And you think, 'Well, that's legal. Okay.' Cigarettes, you know, are gonna kill your lungs; it's gonna kill your energy — everything. I quit drinking 40 years ago. I married exactly the right woman. I mean, all of the ducks are in a row. I think stress kills more guys than anything else. I don't worry about anything. I mean, Shep [Gordon] being my manager, Bob [Ezrin] being my producer, I really don't have to worry about anything. So I'm just having fun out there. I could have retired 30 years ago, but, man, that's no fun. I wanna be up there on stage playing Alice."

Alice Cooper's new album "Road", came out on August 25 via earMUSIC. Produced by longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, "Road" was written, composed and recorded with Alice's trusted, longtime bandmates — Ryan Roxie (guitar),Chuck Garric (bass),Tommy Henrikson (guitar),Glen Sobel (drums) and Nita Strauss (guitar).

No stranger to doing things his own way, Alice has cast a long shadow over rock music with an unrivaled live show and timeless anthems like "School's Out", "No Mr. Nice Guy" and "Poison". Selling over 50 million albums worldwide, he earned a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2003, and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inducted him as part of its class of 2011.

Boasting one of the most influential catalogs in history, Rolling Stone cited 1971's platinum-certified "Love It To Death" among the "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time", while other platinum releases spanned the seminal "Killer" (1971),"School's Out" (1972),the Billboard 200 No. 1 "Billion Dollar Babies" (1973),"Welcome To My Nightmare" (1975) and "Trash" (1989),to name a few. The latter even graced Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums Of All Time." He's so embedded in generations of popular culture that he not only made a cult-classic cameo in "Wayne's World" during 1992, but he also starred alongside EGOT winner John Legend and Sara Bareilles in NBC's 2018 production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert" — not to mention, who else appeared on "The Muppets" in seventies and "That 70s Show" in the early aughts?!

Beyond hundreds of syncs, everyone from Etta James, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS, MEGADETH and THE FLAMING LIPS has covered his tunes. THE BEASTIE BOYS, DISTURBED, and countless others have sampled him. His collaborators have notably included the late Vincent Price, AEROSMITH, GUNS N' ROSES and Jon Bon Jovi, to name a few. Plus, he co-founded HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES alongside AEROSMITH's Joe Perry and Johnny Depp.

More recently, 2021's "Detroit Stories" garnered widespread critical acclaim with Classic Rock grading it "4- out-of-5 stars" and hailing it as "his most concise bolt of precision-tooled heavy rock in 50 years." It bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard Album Sales chart, hit No. 1 in Germany, and garnered nine Top 10 debuts worldwide.

Longtime and esteemed rock journalist Steve Rosen, who recently released a book about his unique friendship with Edward Van Halen, "Tonechaser - Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen", was a guest on Ted Nugent's "Real America Voice" podcast on September 22. During the chat, which can be seen below, Ted stated about his love of VAN HALEN (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When I first saw VAN HALEN, they opened up for me. I think the first gig was either Omaha or Des Moines, Iowa. But I heard that guitar, and I was aware of the 'You Really Got Me' guitar solo. But let me tell you, Eddie Van Halen stood out because he hit such heretofore uncharted frequencies and patterns. He obliterated the predictable scales. He went places that no one had ever gone in the noises, in the use of the flanger and the tone of this amplifier that he made in his basement and a guitar that he made in his basement.'

He continued: "But let me show you, as a music lover, as frontal and as apparent as Eddie's guitar impact was, I give equal power and virtuosity to David Lee Roth as a vocal adventurer and vocal stylist and a frontman, energized leader of the pack. But I also give equal props to Michael Anthony as a foundational inescapable groove, rhythm bass player, and I believe unequaled background and harmony vocalist.

"So I give Eddie Van Halen 10, David Lee Roth 10, Michael Anthony 10, Alex Van Halen 11," Ted added. "I mean, these guys —I know what it takes. And here's the term that is not properly applied to the musical world: work ethic. Those guys practiced like addicted animals. My band, we practiced every day, 'cause we wanted to deliver a tight, authoritative beast of song after song. And then David Lee Roth put the frosting on the cake and the cherry on top with his showmanship and his virility, dare I say, his effervescent masculinity.

"In hindsight, now that Eddie is gone and that band will never appear on stage again, I'm right, aren't I? There would not have been that VAN HALEN impact without those four monsters of dedication, gifted virtuosos that laid the groundwork for Eddie's uncharted histrionics."

Back in August 2022, Nugent reflected on his friendship with Eddie Van Halen during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He said: "What a great man he was. What a force to reckon with, how he enriched our lives with his musical genius.

"And let me clarify, in case Howard Stern, his lying punks are listening, because they made up a dirty fucking lie on 'The Howard Stern Show', that I was jealous of Eddie and that we had a contention because of the way we played guitar. What a bunch of fucking liars.

"Eddie and I were dear friends," Ted continued. "When Eddie became clean and sober, guess who his first phone call was. To me. Because I lovingly prodded him to get the drugs and alcohol and tobacco out of his life. I did it in a loving way, and he was resistant, as most people are, but we had a wonderful relationship."

Nugent also recalled a conversation he had with Van Halen when VAN HALEN first opened for Ted 46 years ago.

"On that stage, I was fascinated to see what this guy was doing with a handmade guitar, back in '77," Nugent said. "And I went up and I said, 'Hi, Eddie. I'm Ted. What is this rig? It's awesome.' And he whipped out those unbelievable, unique licks of his. And he handed me his guitar. And even though it was this unique rig and the amplification and all these effects and just one of a kid, as soon as I started playing his bastard Stratocaster, it sounded like me, because of the way I touch the instrument. But not quite like a [Gibson] Birdland, because a Birdland just feeds back uncontrollably [laughs] — it's like an angry, pissed off beast. And I handed him the Birdland and it fed back and fed back.

"But here's the takeaway: it's in the hands and in the heart. It's in the spirit of the musician," Ted continued. "And when Eddie played my Birdland, and I was able to back it down a little bit so it wasn't so out-of-control feedback, on my Gibson Birdland through my Fender amps, it sounded like Eddie fucking Van Halen, because he is it. And even with his rig — I would play some of my licks; I played the 'Cat Scratch' lick and I played the 'Free-For-All' lick — it sounded like Ted fucking Nugent.

"But my point is: Eddie Van Halen, we all worship the gift he gave us," Nugent added. "There was never a negative moment between Eddie and I. He and I got along just great. And we loved the same kind of music. And he had a miraculous touch on the guitar, and I had my own touch. And that moment, with those two different guitars and two different rigs, it proves that it really is in the hands of the individual. And it was a great, great moment. I cherish that moment."

In May 2022, Nugent named Van Halen the best guitar player he has ever seen. "He was so diverse in not only his histrionics but his groove," he said about Eddie. "He had an unbelievable organic sense of rhythm in his delivery of not just exciting lead guitar parts but his grind of a grooving rhythm as a white kid. He really defied the history of who can groove like that. 'Cause I come from the world of the Funk Brothers of Motown, so I know what the gods of groove look and sound like. And Eddie Van Halen, the times I jammed with him, and just listening to the records, you can tell he had an unbelievable, uncannySuperman sense of rhythm beyond just his outrageous athleticism on the guitar neck."

In a new interview with Ernest Skinner of Canada's Border City Rock Talk, DOKKEN frontman Don Dokken offered his views on the current political situation in America, particularly as it pertains to the upcoming presidential election. The 70-year-old singer, who moved to New Mexico several years ago after living in Los Angeles much of his life, said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I used to watch our local [television] station. And, of course, there was always the battle between Fox News and CNN. Fox News was, like, 'Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.' And then CNN was more liberal. And now I can't turn it on. Every five minutes, 'Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.' Trump must be laughing his ass off 'cause he's getting millions and millions of dollars in free press. This guy's got, like — what? — 29 felonies against him, and he's running for president. But if one of those he gets convicted of, you can't be a president with a felony. He's trying to push it all back till after the election. But then I look and it says that there's eight people running [for president] in America. [Their support is] 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, Trump 49 [percent], Biden 50 [percent]. So it looks like it's going to come down to our senile president or Trump. And if Trump wins, I'm moving. I'm going to France… And I'm serious. I've been looking. I'm gonna buy a home in France and get the hell out of here."

Don also addressed the fact that Congress is steadily getting older, with the average age of lawmakers steadily increasing over the last four decades in particular.

"Our laws should be changed," he said. "When you see the Congress and senators and congressmen, they're all 80 years old. No — there should be a term limit of four years or something like that.

"We have a channel here in America, and you can watch the Congress and you can see all these people. And you see the camera pan around. It looks like they're all ready to drop dead any minute, and they can't talk without a teleprompter.

"We have to amend our Constitution and amend the laws," he continued. "I don't think anybody 80 years old should be passing laws about abortion — pro life, against life, it's not right. Everybody should have their own decision, not some geezer that's suffering from Alzheimer's."

Dokken went on to speak in more detail about access to the procedure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. "I said, well, what happens if a woman gets raped by five guys and she's 18? She is forced to have that baby and raise that baby the rest of… Her life is ruined — ruined," Don said. "She's raped. She doesn't know what the father is. And now we've all banned it in America and over 40 states that no more abortion. And I'm, like, who would have thought that would happen? And they have to drive to another state that's still legal or to go into an alley and get an underground doctor. It's not right… But you have the Bible thumpers and the hardcore right and the Christians saying, 'God decides. You can't terminate a baby.' And I'm, like, 'She was raped. And she's 16. Her life is ruined. She has the right to get an abortion.'"

Don added: "These are the things that upset me. But I realize maybe I am to blame somewhat because I just dropped out and moved out of L.A. I live up in the mountain in the middle of nowhere and no neighbors. I'm just watching the world unravel."

Dokken also discussed his need to use his voice to speak out on political issues in a polarized society where a political stance can alienate half the fanbase.

"I have a half million followers on Facebook," he said. "So what I say some people take the heart. But I'm not trying to change the world. Everybody has to make up their own mind. And then [when I say something] political, I get attacked because you've got half the United States [that] love Donald Trump. So if I say anything negative against him, then I've got half a million of people to say, 'Screw you.' I don't know what to say."

He added: "We talked about it on the road. I say, sometimes I feel like I'm overeducated because I know what's going on."

Back in June 2020, Don told Myglobalmind that DOKKEN's upcoming follow-up to 2012's "Broken Bones" album would include a song he wrote about Trump.

"We are about halfway done with the record, and a lot of my lyrics are about what is going on now," he said at the time. "Whether you are a fan of Trump or not, I see him as a little unhinged and trying to take over the planet, so I wrote a song called 'Hail To The King' about him. He has a king mentality.

"I'm not a political person at all — I don't get involved in politics — but when you see the craziness of the government and the guy firing his people daily, like the attorney general and the prosecutor, it's bizarre," he laughed. "I wrote a tongue-in-cheek song about a guy who is running the country and feels he has no limitations or rules. That he can do whatever he wants like a king."

DOKKEN will release its 13th studio album, "Heaven Comes Down", on October 27 via Silver Lining Music. The LP was produced by Bill Palmer and Don Dokken and was mixed by Kevin Shirley (AEROSMITH, IRON MAIDEN).