Las Vegas hard rockers Generation Landslide have released the second single from their upcoming Ruling the Street Scene album due later this year on the Weapon / Vanity Music Group label.





"Sometimes even the smallest decisions can have an impact on a person’s life,” says frontman Anthony White. “You may think you have made the correct choice, whether it's a relationship or any other life decision but you need to be prepared for the results."







The quartet's debut album, Ruling the Street Scene is a whirlwind of ‘80s and early ‘90s influenced melodic rock, complete with ocean wide hooks, sing-a-long choruses and a "feel good" vibe that continues throughout the entire album.  “The whole idea was to try and bring back all the elements of listening to an album from front to back that took you on some sort of a musical panache. I think it's a combination of catchy riffs, catchy songs with a bit of a modern feel mixed in,” related White. 


Generation Landslide is: 
Anthony White – Lead vocals, lead guitars (Cold Sweat drummer)
Sandy Stein – Guitars, vocals
Jonathon Swanson – Bass, vocals
Ken Koudelka – Drums, percussion, vocals (ex-Lillian Axe)


(Photo – Jennifer Swanson)

VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth has responded to a recent controversial article on Rolling Stone, "Inside A Superfan's Secret Friendship With Eddie Van Halen", in which a former music journalist opened up about his supposed clandestine five-year correspondence with the late rock icon. In the article, Blair R. Fischer claims that the legendary VAN HALEN guitarist took the opportunity in one e-mail to eviscerate Roth over the fact that VAN HALEN couldn't agree on a way to make new music.

"The reason it took that long for [VAN HALEN's 2012 album 'A Different Kind Of Truth' to come out] is Roth, including all the rehashed demos," the purported Eddie Van Halen wrote. He also blamed the singer for VAN HALEN having "nothing but a live record [2015's 'Tokyo Dome Live In Concert'] to show for three years downtime." The purported Eddie went on to say that Roth only wants to be onstage doing his "Vaudeville shtick!!", adding that "Roth is out of his mind" and not at all interested in rock and roll. The purported Eddie then said Roth only likes "dance music" and "hates bands like AC/DC," claiming that Roth calls that band's fans "culturally illiterate."

A representative for VAN HALEN said the band and Eddie's family declined to comment on the Rolling Stone article, as did a representative for Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen, who replaced bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony for VAN HALEN's 2007 reunion tour with Roth and remained in the band for the recording of "A Different Kind Of Truth". However, Roth decided to break his silence on the matter, issuing a brief statement to the Van Halen News Desk web site. He wrote: "1. I've always loved AC/DC. 2. I've never said that anyone's audience was culturally illiterate. I said that Ed was culturally illiterate." He added: "God Bless our Troops.."

Eddie died in October 2020 at the age of 65. The legendary VAN HALEN guitarist passed away at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

Eddie was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2000 and had tongue surgery. He later battled lung cancer and had been receiving radiation treatment in Germany. Things took a turn for the worse in early 2019 when Eddie got in a motorcycle accident. He was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumor, and received gamma knife radiosurgery to treat the illness.

VAN HALEN had been inactive since it completed its U.S. tour in October 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Just three months before Eddie's passing, Roth said that he didn't know if Van Halen would ever tour again. He told The New York Times at the time: "I don't even want to say I've waited — I've supported for five years. Because what I do is physical as well as musical and spiritual — you can't take five years off from the ring. But I did. And I do not regret a second of it. He's a bandmate. We had a colleague down. And he's down now for enough time that I don't know that he's going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You're talking to him."

Roth canceled a series of Las Vegas residency shows in January because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Three months earlier, he had announced in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was planning to retire after the residency.

Earlier this month, Roth released a new solo song titled "Pointing At The Moon". The acoustic-based, Americana-flavored tune was accompanied by a new abstract painting from Roth.
That's a thinker... 🤔 https://t.co/8owF25tBhj#VanHalen#EddieVanHalen

— Blair Fischer (@WriteBlair) July 16, 2022


Thank you for everything @eddievanhalen. Portion of my fee will donated to cancer research in EVH's name. 🧡🤘 https://t.co/fvX0AczJNn

— Blair Fischer (@WriteBlair) July 3, 2022

During an appearance on the red carpet at the Nordoff Robbins O2 Silver Clef Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, England on July 1, former BON JOVI guitarist Richie Sambora revealed that he has been working on new music in the last couple of years. "I have a new record that's ready to go and I've been kind of holding it through the pandemic," he told Red Carpet News TV (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And I'd say in the fall we're gonna put it out."

Asked if it was difficult not being able to perform music during the pandemic, Richie said: "It was interesting for me because it was probably one of the first times there I had a chance to — forcibly — slow it down. So what that did for me is I just practiced a lot and wrote every day, wrote songs and just kind of sharpened the pencil. And I played a lot of piano too. So it was actually a decent time for me because it slowed me down on purpose."

Regarding what fans can expect from his new music, Sambora said: "I'm very proud of it. I don't write bad songs anymore; I just don't; it just doesn't happen. And the people I work with would be, like, 'That's bollocks.' But it's not hard for me. I'm just lucky that way. And plus, I just write all the time, so it's like a daily exercise for me. I try to come up with something every day. It's like having a journal. It's like keeping a journal of your thoughts, keeping a journal of what's going on in your life, how you're feeling."

Sambora left BON JOVI in 2013, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his daughter Ava, now 24.

Richie, who joined BON JOVI in 1983 and co-wrote most of the group's iconic hits over the following three decades, hasn't performed a full show with the band since he left the "Because We Can" tour seven years ago.

Sambora rejoined BON JOVI on stage in April 2018 at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, marking his first performance with the band in five years. Also appearing with the group was bassist Alec John Such, who hadn't played with BON JOVI since a one-off performance in 2001. They performed several crowd favorites, including "Livin' On A Prayer", "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "It's My Life".

Sambora and guitarist Orianthi, as RSO, released the album "Radio Free America" in May of 2018.

Former NIGHTWISH bassist/vocalist Marko "Marco" Hietala says that he doesn't expect to be asked to return to the band any time soon.

The bassist/vocalist announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January 2021, explaining in a statement that he hadn't "been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now." He has since been replaced by session bassist Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN),who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences.

In a new interview with Finland's Iltalehti, Hietala revealed that he went through a dark period in his life, which included depression, insomnia and anxiety.

“Sometimes I thought I would walk from my backyard to the icy lake and just disappear," Hietala said, according to Chaoszine, which translated his comments from Finnish.

Marko added that the canceled tours during the pandemic of 2020 brought peace to his life, which the musician was no longer ready to give up when it was time for NIGHTWISH to prepare to go on tour again.

"My head had gone to the point where I could no longer bear the thought of having to go out into the world for a month or a month and a half with the same conditions and troubles," Hietala recalled.

Hietala was also asked about a possible return to NIGHTWISH. However, he said that he does not believe that he will be approached about coming back to the band. "I’m not waiting for a call asking me to return or a meeting invitation," he said. "For many years, I would get pissed off practically every day at some point. Black thoughts would pop up as soon as there was an empty moment. Even though the gang knows there’s depression and medication and therapy, I can’t help being tired. I saw leaving as necessary for both me and them."

Hietala went on to say that he has not kept in touch with NIGHTWISH since his departure or followed the activities of his former band.

In May 2021, NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen said that Hietala's decision to leave the band "came as a bit of a surprise." He told Finland's Kaaos TV: "Marko informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow. And for a few days, I was actually quite confident that there's no coming back, that this is it. I remember talking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitar player, and we were, like, 'You think this is it?' 'Yeah, I think this is it.' I mean, enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel's back, as they say. Then, after some time had passed — a few days — we started to think that it's been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups also, that this is not the way to end it."

Tuomas elaborated on NIGHTWISH's reasons for carrying on, saying: "I think we still have something to give, and that's the main point. The music is still there. We felt that there's still so much music that needs to come out from this band that, 'Okay, let's give it one more shot.' And then finding the new bass player was really easy."

He added: "It's not like we do this just because we need to do it and there's nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel that there's still so many stories and melodies that I want to share with the world with one lineup or another, so that's why you want to continue and keep on going.

"I've said this a million times, that a lineup change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that's how it really felt and still feels."

In June 2021, NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen spoke about Hietala's exit from the band in an episode of her "Storytime" YouTube video series. She said: "That was a very sudden surprise that, of course, was not fun at all. But we understand — I understand — it was a necessary thing for him to do. And from there, we had to think of how to continue without him, and that also, in preparations towards the virtual show, that was a huge challenge."

She continued: "I'm very happy we found Jukka to play with us. And it was wonderful to get together, even though miss Marko, in April to start rehearsing for these virtual shows. Fortunately, we had a lot of time together, and it was very nice to go through the process of really not just knowing how to sing or play the songs but actually really feeling them, really communicating them, as you do with a show. We did that together. And then, of course, came the relatively unnatural setting of standing in a green bathroom [laughs] called the green screens all around us and cameras and people going for coffee instead of a real live audience. But that was really great. We had so much time that we could rehearse all of that and had a lot of fun doing that in the process."

NIGHTWISH is continuing to tour in support of its "Human. :II: Nature." album, which was released in April 2020. The follow-up to 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful", "Human. :II: Nature." is a double album containing nine tracks on the main CD and one long track, divided into eight chapters, on CD 2.

In December 2020, Hietala was crowned the winner of the fall 2020 season of "Masked Singer Suomi" — the Finnish edition of the popular masked singing contest. He was disguised as Tohtori — the Doctor.

THE HALO EFFECT, the new project featuring five former members of the Swedish metal band IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar), Daniel Svensson (drums), Peter Iwers (bass), Niclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — will release its debut album, "Days Of The Lost", on August 12 via Nuclear Blast.

THE HALO EFFECT was officially launched last year, more than a decade after Strömblad quit IN FLAMES in order to continue receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction.

Asked in a brand new interview with Australia's "Scars And Guitars" podcast how Jesper's health is nowadays, Niclas said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's an ongoing battle — it is. He has his demons to fight with. We're with him in this fight. We are supportive, and it's all about love. He is in the band, and he's a bandmember, but it's from day to day, I think — but mostly way better than it has been… It's full-on support and love. And he's in a better place now today than he has been, as I mentioned. So he will be on stage [with] us, as much as he can do it, feel strong about it. No pressure from us. It has to feel good for him."

As for how THE HALO EFFECT will handle future touring activities if Jesper is unable to go on the road, Niclas said: "Yeah, we have some ideas behind that. It's nothing I can talk about right here and now. We are solving that. But the main goal is to have Jesper on board as much as he can do and feel strong about it. And then if he can't make it somehow, we support him and we are with him all the way. And we will find solutions to that because we are… This is a collective of friends. This is just a Gothenburg scene death metal, and we are among friends here, as it was back in the '90s, early '90s. And we'll solve the things in a positive way."

After leaving IN FLAMES, Strömblad formed THE RESISTANCE with Marco Aro (vocals, THE HAUNTED) and Glenn Ljungström (guitar, ex-IN FLAMES). Strömblad announced his departure from that group in March 2016, with the band's bassist, Rob Hakemo, saying in an interview that Jesper "saved" THE RESISTANCE by quitting and explaining that the guitarist is "an alcoholic" and "drug addict" who "doesn't want to [get] sober." Rob added: "[Jesper] thinks that two weeks [sober] is good, and then he can drink some. And then he's gone for a month, and then he's back and he's not drinking [for a short while]. It's a sad thing, and we really tried to help him and wanted the best [for him]. So when he told us that 'I'm leaving the band,' we were relieved. We were really relieved."

THE HALO EFFECT made its live debut on June 11 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.

Engelin has been sitting out IN FLAMES' tour dates for the past three and a half years but has never officially confirmed his departure from the band. Engelin's replacement for IN FLAMES' live shows since then has been former MEGADETH and current ACT OF DEFIANCE guitarist Chris Broderick.

THE HALO EFFECT's first-ever tour will be as the support act for Swedish death metal giants AMON AMARTH and U.S. metallers MACHINE HEAD on 31 dates throughout Europe in the summer and fall of 2022.