In a new interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 spoke about his involvement with the soundtrack to MÖTLEY CRÜE's biopic "The Dirt", based on CRÜE's 2001 New York Times bestselling autobiography. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm so proud [of being part of that]. Me and Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] wrote on that. And dude, I fucking MÖTLEY CRÜE, and it was so cool for it to come to fruition. And to hear Vince [Neil, vocals] and Tommy [Lee, drums] and Mick [Mars, guitar] and, of course, Nikki doing that… I think that song really gave me a real excitement of collaborating with someone. And seeing the video and the history of it, it was really pretty incredible."

John 5 previously discussed his contribution to "The Dirt" soundtrack in a December 2019 interview with Milwaukee's 102.9 The Hog radio station. At the time, he said: "Me and Nikki are like two 15-year-olds who are just on the phone twenty thousand times a day and we hang out all the time. We'll go to the mall and we'll go ride bikes and we'll do ridiculous stuff like that. And so, of course, we like to play music together, and yeah, that's how that came about — writing music for 'The Dirt'. And those songs are killer."

He continued: "I'm so proud to be a part of MÖTLEY CRÜE history… And also, I wanna say, those guys — Mick and Nikki and Tommy and Vince — they just killed it in the studio too; it was, like, one or two takes. It's pretty incredible, it's pretty astounding what true professionals they are. It was really incredible."

Three years ago, John 5 was full of praise for Sixx, whom he called his "best friend." The guitarist told Outburn: "We love each other. He has inspired me and taught me so much about life in general. He's a phenomenal songwriter, lyricist, author, everything. He's always telling me to listen to this audio book or see this movie. He has a happy marriage, a happy life, a successful band he started from the ground up. He's one of the most inspiring people. He'll text me all the time to read something or try something. It's wonderful. He's a phenomenal photographer as well. I remember him telling me that he's going to take bass lessons again and get into playing with his fingers. He was so dedicated."

"The Dirt Soundtrack" featured four new MÖTLEY CRÜE songs, including the single "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (feat. Machine Gun Kelly)", and CRÜE's unlikely cover of Madonna's "Like A Virgin".

"The Dirt", which debuted in March 2019 on Netflix, remains one of the highest-rated music films as voted by the audience on Rotten Tomatoes, the online review aggregation service that allows both critics and the public to rate movies. Movie critics were far less impressed by the film, which currently has a 36% critic score from 74 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.





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SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan spoke to Rodrigo Altaf of Sonic Perspectives about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting.

"When a musical genre becomes just a point of sale, that's kind of the beginning of the end for the genre, 'cause they'll sign a million bands that kind of sound like a band, and then it just dilutes everything," Rachel said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "So that's what was kind of happening right around when grunge came out. And then when grunge came out, it was the next big thing, and then it happened to them too. Every band that kind of resembled NIRVANA got signed, and they were nowhere near as good as NIRVANA. So it dilutes the market and eventually just poisons it."

Back in 2014, Bolan admitted to the Dallas Observer that "grunge put a lot of bands like us out of business. You just have to wait it out. We came back because people wanted to have fun again. There were some grunge bands that I liked, but it was such a different vibe and a different scene. People started to miss bands from our era. There was a certain nostalgia involved."

In recent years, other 1980s hard rock musicians have weighed in on grunge's impact on the glam-rock scene, including Bolan's onetime bandmate Sebastian Bach. Asked when he realized that there was a "shift" taking place and how he felt about it, Bach told the Fox Business program "Kennedy" in a 2016 interview: "I think I realized it when I saw the video for [NIRVANA's] 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. And there was never any video or song like that before; it was a new sound, and people were responding to it. But what goes around comes around. I mean, now the biggest tour in town is GUNS N' ROSES or AC/DC, who have the same singer. [Laughs] So, you know, music is cyclical, and people will always love rock and roll, 'cause it gets passed down through the generations. IRON MAIDEN has never been bigger than right now. It's kind of crazy."

Upon release in September 1991, NIRVANA's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" wreaked confusion upon the hair metal vanguard, putting an end to an era dominated by glamorous, androgynous and sparkly rock stars who absolutely saturated the radio waves and were almost exclusively what aired on MTV.

Earlier this year, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider told told Armchair MBA that "no one saw" the rise of grunge coming, but he admitted that he "was already dead and semi-buried before grunge hit. TWISTED arrived in the early '80s and then we hit our stride in the mid-'80s and by the late '80s, the band had broken up. I had a band called DESPERADO [with former IRON MAIDEN drummer Clive Burr and ex-GILLAN guitarist Bernie Tormé] that got shelved by Elektra Records; a lot of money we spent on that record. So I was sort of already removed as a featured artist by that point, and I was struggling trying to find my footing with DESPERADO and then WIDOWMAKER. And then I got the letter in the mail, certified letter, 'We have decided we're no longer doing what you do — look like you, sound like you, sing like you, write like you, perform like you. We actually don't want anything to do with anything you ever did. Sincerely, the music-buying public.' [Laughs] And that's when the bottom really fell out. I mean, imagine being a doctor who studied a form of medicine, and they found a cure for it. You're a cancer specialist — a specialist; it's what you dedicated your life to — and you get a pill that cures [cancer]. You're out of work. Grunge cured hair metal. So I was out of work."

Less than two years ago, Snider told Ultimate Guitar that he "loved" NIRVANA and other grunge bands when they emerged. "When they first came out, it wasn't even called grunge," he explained. "And this is the thing about titles — even heavy metal, punk, hair metal, those are not titles chosen by the artists; they're titles chosen by the writers. And usually as a negative connotation. Usually as a form of a putdown. And the artists that they called grunge, called punk, called heavy metal — they hated it. This is a fact, dude. I'm old. I know this, a fact: if you mentioned grunge to SOUNDGARDEN or PEARL JAM, they got physically violent with you. They were just a rock band. And if anything, SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, they were metal bands. They were touring with Ozzy [Osbourne]. It just became defined by some writers; they pigeonholed it and called it a new sound."

Dee continued: "When it first came out, I was, again, doing metal radio, and I was playing ALICE IN CHAINS, SOUNDGARDEN, NIRVANA on my show, and I was like, 'This is great, heavy new stuff.' So then it became defined as grunge, and then it was the hair metal killer, and that was awful. But I don't blame it on the music; hair metal did it to itself. It became too commercialized, and then it got unplugged and became nothing but power ballads and acoustic songs, and it wasn't metal anymore. It had to go; it had to change."

Snider's TWISTED SISTER bandmate Jay Jay French told Daniel Sarkissian of the "Rock Is Dead?" documentary about the death of hair metal and arrival of grunge: "The only band that leapfrogged and saved themselves was GUNS N' ROSES. And my theory is that GUNS N' ROSES was not perceived as a joke. They came out of L.A., but I think that Axl [Rose], first of all, had a great voice. I think that they were perceived as real, not fake. Like, they were real junkies, not pretend junkies. So there's an authenticity. It's all about authenticity, and grunge is all about authenticity. People wanted authenticity, so they got it with grunge. It wiped out the perceived frivolousness of hair metal, which is, 'Hey, man. Let's party. Let's get the girls and drink.' I think people just got sick of that, and they wanted [something more] authentic."

Former MÖTLEY CRÜE singer John Corabi told Newsday in a 2014 interview that the CRÜE album he sang on was a commercial disappointment because the music scene had changed, with hair metal brushed aside for grunge. "Everybody was listening to ALICE IN CHAINS and SOUNDGARDEN," Corabi said. "At that point, we were considered passé."

According to Corabi, CRÜE's ill-fated 1994 American tour " was a nightmare. We weren't selling tickets. It was just horrible," he said.

In 2019, former TNT singer Tony Harnell said that the rise of the grunge movement, which symbolized the working-class spirit and focused on music over image, was ultimately a positive thing for the rock genre because it "shined a really harsh light on how boring and repetitive" the '80s glam metal scene had become. He explained: "It was the same look, the same songwriters, the same producers, and it just started to be… Nobody was offering anything… Don't get me wrong, there were a few that got in there that were interesting and different, but, for the most part, they were all just sort of rehashes, slightly, of other bands."

METALLICA was nominated for the very first "Hard Rock/Metal Performance" Grammy in 1989, but famously lost to JETHRO TULL, a band distinguished mainly by its heavy use of flute. Fans — and even some audience members — were rightly outraged, though TULL's record label tried to make light of the faux pas by placing a Billboard ad that read, "The flute is a heavy, metal instrument."

In a new interview with Goldmine magazine, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett claimed to have forgotten about JETHRO TULL and their music until recently.

"I just really got into prog about five years ago," Hammett said. "I wasn't into prog. Just accidentally I heard JETHRO TULL 'Stand Up' and I went, 'Wow.' I never ever had paid much attention to JETHRO TULL; I just never did. And it didn't help losing to them in 1989 for that Grammy," he said, laughing. "But that's really not the reason why I wasn't into JETHRO TULL, believe me," he continued. "I just never got around to it. Sometimes you just don't get around to certain things. So, I ended up checking out their entire catalog and now I'm a full-on JETHRO TULL fan."

Two months ago, JETHRO TULL leader Ian Anderson was asked in a new interview with the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95 if he ever got a chance to "to rub in the face of METALLICA" the fact that his band won a "Hard Rock/Metal Performance" Grammy over the San Francisco Bay Area heavy metal giants. He said: "Well, I think METALLICA were actually very gentlemanly. At the time, they did say, when they did win the Grammy next year, as I predicted they would, they took out a page in Billboard thanking the record company, their friends and family for supporting them, the dog — I mean, they thanked everybody, including JETHRO TULL for not releasing a new album that year. They had a sense of humor about it. They took it on the chin even though everybody was busy telling them they were gonna win a Grammy and then, unfortunately, that year they didn't. But they were the hot new act, and surely they were gonna win it the following year, and, of course, they did."

Three years ago, on the 30th anniversary of that fateful day, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich took to his Instagram to reflect on his band's first Grammy loss, writing: "Today 30 years ago, February 22 '89, we played the Grammys for the first time and that was quite a mindfuck!!

"First time we were in front of a mainstream TV audience. First time mainstream America was exposed to whatever the hell it is we do. First time they had a hard rock/metal category on the Grammys. First time we were Grammy losers, since JETHRO TULL, somewhat unexpectedly to most people, walked away with the win.

"But all was not lost. The expressions of disgust from most members of the audience (other than Iggy!) is something I will treasure for the rest of my life. And I was rocking some pretty crazy hair that was edging dangerously close to a mullet! Happy days indeed!!"

After METALLICA lost the 1989 "Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Recording" Grammy to JETHRO TULL, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS),parent company of the Grammys, separated the two genres in 1990 by creating categories for "Best Hard Rock Performance" and "Best Metal Performance". METALLICA won the "Best Metal Performance" award the next year, for "One", and has earned nearly a dozen so far.

When METALLICA's "Black" album won another "Best Metal Performance" Grammy in 1992, Ulrich "thanked" JETHRO TULL for not releasing an album in that year.

In a 2012 interview with Powerline, Anderson recounted that historic day when his band was given the award for best hard rock/metal performer.

"I probably get [the question] a lot more when I'm talking to American writers than I do [at home in England]," Anderson said. "It's not really a big deal over here. It was in a year where it was a new category for 'hard rock' forward slash 'metal' and that category still exists today … and we were, for some strange reason, nominated. And at the time, no one paid any attention to the fact that we were nominated. There was not a peep out of anyone. Because they thought there's no way JETHRO TULL are gonna win it. Nor IGGY POP, nor JANE'S ADDICTION. It's going to be METALLICA because they were the huge, new, straight-out-of-the-box, enormous, hit talent that year and everybody took it for granted that METALLICA were gonna win the Grammy, including METALLICA themselves. And when it was ordered to JETHRO TULL, to a barrage of boos and hisses and gasps of disbelief, I'd like to think that it wasn't that the six thousand voting members of the National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences were voting for JETHRO TULL as a heavy rock band or a heavy metal band. They gave us the award because we were a bunch of nice guys who never won a Grammy before. And sad to relate, even after all these years, there is still no category for best one-legged flute player. Otherwise, I'd be winning it every year."

Sao Paulo, Brazil-based metal band, Warred, have released their new single, "Controlling My Head", to be featured on the band's upcoming album, The Siren, out May 19. A video for the track can be found below.





"Controlling My Head" portrays the way people behave when facing the impositions made by society, so they can act like they agree with that. The lyrics show "the anguish of these people for trying to show what others want. It can be on their appearance, their ideology, but the important thing is to show others what they don't necessarily like, feel or think, as long as it goes with those impositions", according to singer Pedro Mion.




With a southern rock intro, a heavy - but cadenced pace, and with one of the strongest choruses on the album, "Controlling My Head" brings more examples of different influences of the band's members.


The single was recorded at Dual Noise Studios in Sao Paulo with renowned Brazilian metal producer Rogerio Wecko, and the video was shot at the theater inside the Morumbi Stadium, in Sao Paulo, featuring the actress Fernanda Santos, filmed, directed and edited by Jorge Torres and Raul Jacomini from Riff Filmes.





Warred was founded in 2012 by young band members and long time friends Arthur and Rodrigo. They both shared the same passion for old school metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Judas Priest and more. After a few changes in the band formation, since 2020, the band stablished their identity, mixing the old school metal with modern metal influences.

Gene Simmons has invited Ace Frehley to take part in KISS's "End Of The Road" tour, saying "the fans would love" to see the band reunited with its original guitarist.

Earlier today, Simmons took to his Twitter to wish Frehley a happy 71st birthday, and he added: "The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it."

Three years ago, Frehley said that he was up playing with KISS again, but only if the price is right. Speaking to Rock Candy magazine, he said: "It would be nice to go back out again with them. But it's not my call. I think we have a really good relationship now. I text Paul [Stanley, KISS frontman] back and forth and we've worked together, as I have with Gene. I would seriously consider it, but the money would have to be right. I'm not gonna take [current KISS guitarist] Tommy Thayer's salary.

"It would certainly sell more tickets with me involved," Ace added. "I have a gut feeling it will happen."

At the time, Ace acknowledged that he wasn't always the easiest to work with in KISS, given his acknowledged problems with drink and drugs.

"I know that I put those guys through hell in the past," he conceded. "Sometimes I was too drunk at soundchecks, but sobriety has made me more dependable and reliable." Frehley said that he had been sober since 2006 and would be fighting fit to rejoin the self-styled "Hottest Band In The World" for what would be an unforgettable experience, especially if original drummer Peter Criss were to come back into the fold.

"It would be really exciting," he said. "Not just for me, but also for the fans. I'm ready. I feel reborn."

In the months after KISS announced "End Of The Road", fans wondered openly if Frehley and Criss would be involved in the tour, especially considering the apparent recent goodwill between Paul and Gene and Ace. Frehley's latest album "Spaceman" — a title suggested by Simmons himself — features two songs the pair wrote together, and the duo completed a joint summer tour of Australia, after which Frehley fired his solo backing band and hired Simmons's.

Four years ago, Frehley told VintageRock.com that "the only way" he would "seriously consider" taking part in "End Of The Road" is "if I took back my make-up and costume and my character — which I designed." He added that Thayer "is not a bad guitar player, but he basically just mimics everything I wrote, and tries to imitate my persona. He's been doing it for [20] years," he said. "But the reality is I'm the original guy. And nobody can really copy the way I play guitar."

Asked if he would still consider participating in the tour if Criss was not involved, Ace said: "I think it would be great if Peter was involved. Obviously, at this point in his life, he wouldn’t be able to do a two-hour show. But I can see if we worked out a situation where Peter came out at the end and did three or four songs — sang 'Beth', did 'Black Diamond' and a couple of others, I think that would be fun."

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Simmons and Stanley, alongside later band additions, Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Criss and Frehley, KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.
Happy Birthday Ace @ace_frehley. And many more…The invitations still stand. Jump up on stage with us for encores. The fans would love it.

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) April 27, 2022

FuZZrd has issued a live video for “Monster Carnival”, which can be seen below. The audio recording is currently available on all streaming platforms. Singer and guitarist Brett Petrusek shares, “It was such a great feeling to release Near Life Experience and play our first handful of shows to close 2021. I've always visualized 2022 as the beginning for us and felt fortunate that we were afforded a really nice head start to craft our sound, our vibe and our content.  We're fired up to bring it live in the year ahead as we continue to build on the foundation we've created as a group." 


Guitarist Eric Fairchild offers, “It has been thrilling to finally be in a room playing music for people again. To feel that energy, and reignite that fire in all of us. As the 2022 show schedule takes shape, I can't wait to raise the bar and show people what FuZZrd is all about."







The band filmed their performance at the Southern Theater on December 11th 2021, staged the week Near Life Experience was released. As the studio debut hit the street, Petrusek reflected, “I'm so very proud of what we have accomplished this past year. It's gratifying to see and hear the album in its completed form. It's a powerhouse and definitely fits in the category of ‘album I've always wanted to make.’  The chemistry with our producer Jeremy Tappero continued to flourish and we all grew as musicians. I love the songs and sound we've created.  It's fresh, and new, and noticeably doesn't chase trends.  It stays true to its heavy rock roots. It's so awesome to be a part of FuZZrd coming to life, playing live shows, and sharing our music. The whole of what we have created is truly rewarding. I'm totally grateful to have this group." 





Upcoming FuZZrd shows include:


May
20 - Fridley, MN - Route 47 – Lakes Jam Pre-Party


June
23 - Brainerd, MN - Lakes Jam Festival (with Warrant, Tesla)


For further details, visit FuZZrd on Facebook.


 

CHEVELLE has canceled one concert and postponed another after the band's drummer, Sam Loeffler, tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

On Wednesday (April 27),CHEVELLE issued the following statement: "We are really bummed to announce that we have made the unavoidable decisions to reschedule the Visit New Orleans show on Fri, April 29th at the The Fillmore New Orleans to Thurs, Sept 22nd and cancel the Beale Street Music Festival on Sat, April 30th in Memphis Travel due to Sam testing positive for Covid.

"Ticket holders from either show can obtain refunds from their original point of sale and all rescheduled tickets are still valid."

CHEVELLE has been touring in support of its ninth album, "Niratias", out now via Epic Records.

"Niratias" is one of CHEVELLE's most provocative records to date. Teaming with longtime producer Joe Barresi (AVENGED SEVENFOLD, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE),CHEVELLE recorded throughout 2019 and 2020 and ultimately pieced together an inimitable body of work. The album artwork was designed by Boris Vallejo — the famed and award-winning artist is responsible for the posters used for films like "Knightriders" and "National Lampoon's Vacation", as well as iconic '70s and '80s science fiction novel covers and magazines (such as Heavy Metal).

Over the course of its career, the Chicago rockers have generated nearly half a billion streams, notched seven No. 1 hits, and sold out shows worldwide. Their catalog spans the double-platinum "Wonder What's Next", which boasts the double-platinum smash "The Red" and the platinum hit "Send The Pain Below". "This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In)" attained platinum status, while "Vena Sera" was certified gold. CHEVELLE has landed four Top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200, including "Sci-Fi Crimes" (2009),"Hats Off To The Bull" (2011),"La Gárgola" (2014) and "The North Corridor" (2016). The latter two each captured the No. 1 slot on the Top Rock Albums chart.

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GUNS N' ROSES' "Sweet Child O' Mine" has topped Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, just days after it was included in the new trailer for the upcoming movie "Thor: Love And Thunder". The track also re-entered the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart at No. 9.

According to Billboard, "Child" earned 4.7 million official U.S. streams, an 8% boost, and sold 1,600 downloads, up 181%, in the April 15-21 tracking week.

"Thor: Love And Thunder" finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced — a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr The God Butcher (Christian Bale),who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson),Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman),who — to Thor's surprise — inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher's vengeance and stop him before it's too late.

Directed by Waititi ("Thor: Ragnarok", "Jojo Rabbit") and produced by Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum, "Thor: Love And Thunder" opens in theaters on July 8.

In a 2014 interview, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash said that he wasn't fond of "Sweet Child O' Mine" when it was first written. He explained: "GUNS N' ROSES was always a real hardcore, sort of, AC/DC kind of hard rock band with a lot of attitude. If we did any kind of ballads, it was bluesy. This was an uptempo ballad. That's one of the gayest things you can write. But at the same time, it's a great song — I'm not knocking it — but at the time, it just did not fit in with the rest of our, sot of, schtick. And, of course, it would be the biggest hit we ever had."

Slash told Metro nearly a decade ago that "Sweet Child O' Mine" was the most lucrative song he has composed. He said: "It's the most covered [song I have ever written]. There are some really good instrumental versions for the piano or violin, but I've been horrified by some muzak versions. I've been sitting in a doctor's office thinking, 'That sounds familiar,' and then realizing it's someone's interpretation of what I've written. That can be a creepy feeling."

Former Slik Toxik drummer Neal Busby has shared an official video for the song "Back Alley Rat" from his new project, Toxyk Chyld. Check it out below.


Busby: "Good old school hard rock in the style of L.A. bands from the early '80s. The band features myself, Todd Lefever - formerly of EMI artists Alpha Galates - on guitar, Robb Rocket of Manic Mouth on lead vocals, and my wife Huguette (Twirl) on bass guitar."


Watch for updates via the band's official Facebook page here.







After more than 30 years, Toronto-based Chyld - who were part of the scene that gave us Slik Toxik, Sven Gali, Winter Rose and Slash Puppet - made a comeback in 2019 with a new single, "Burning Alive". The band released a new single, "In The Field of Fire" in March 2021; the official lyric video is available below.


Chyld: "World War One was the first war of the industrial revolution age and it delivered new weapons of mass destruction never seen before. From mechanized killing machines like tanks and planes to poisonous gas, with one of the most deadly and menacing being the flame thrower."





Line-up:


Nick Walsh - lead vocals
Pete Dove - bass 
Todd Lefever - guitars
Neal Busby - drums


Chyld recently released an official video for new song "Ride Out". The song features Famous Underground / ex-Slik Toxik frontman Nick Walsh on vocals. Check it out below.


Walsh: "After a hang with my old friend and Slik Toxik band mate Neal Busby, catching up and sharing stories, Neal talked about how he and another old friend of mine, Pete Dove (Slash Puppet), were resurrecting their traditional heavy metal band from the '80s, Chyld. That day and conversation led to what you are about to hear and see. A song that I believe was written in 1983 at the height of that 'new' sound called heavy metal is now primed up for 2020. When I had the opportunity to take part, I couldn't pass up feeling 16 yrs old again."





From that era Chyld was born after guitarist Glen Cunningham met singer Rob Villemaire and joined forces with drummer Neal Busby. After a lengthy search bassist Pete Dove joined the ranks after his departure from another band. Chyld began rehearsals in Toronto with a diligent schedule that produced results very quickly, and with an arsenal of original songs they were ready to take on the Toronto metal club scene centered around the infamous venue, Larry's Hideaway.


In 1986 they recorded three songs, which resulted in the debut 7 inch single "Lite The Nite / Ye Morlok" being released on their own independent label Chyldysh Records. Sadly, it never got the attention it deserved at the time, but later achieved legendary status in the European metal world and sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Sadly, Chyld packed it in sometime in 1986 for reasons even the band cannot remember.


In 2012, inspired by the surge of interest in the old 7" single, Chyld reformed and recorded one old song, "Burning Alive". Tragically, it was the last song that singer Rob sang, as he passed away in 2017. His vocals sat in a computer for 7 years until drummer Neal Busby took the reins and decided the song had to be finished and recruited super fret demon Todd Lefever to record the guitars and get the song ready to be released to the world.

After releasing their introspective seventh album Mea Culpa, where it was already possible to perceive how the environment has influenced their music and what the world was living, Secret Rule, talented players of modern rock-metal, have prepared their new album The Resilient and present the first single - video "One More", out via 7HARD Records.





With a dark-cinematic opening, the first single "One More" cuts sharp like a razor blade without making any compromises. With distorted guitars, rumbly drums, and a really angry voice, Secret Rule express their position on the war speaking directly to the guilty who keep pursuing their interests for their dirty power games.







"One More" will be included in the upcoming album The Resilient out on June 17.


The pre-order will be open until May 25 on fundrazr.com.


Secret Rule will promote the new album on tour in May and July.

Final Light, a one-time only project featuring Perturbator and Cult of Luna’s Johannes Persson, release their self-titled album on June 24 via Red Creek.


The project is the result of both a recently discovered kinship and the opportunity for Perturbator, at the request of Roadburn’s Walter Hoeijmakers, to do a commissioned piece with a musician of his choice for the festival’s 2020 iteration, which of course did not happen.


“It was an honour,” James Kent (Perturbator) recalls. “I immediately thought of Cult Of Luna. Even though my music is mostly electronic and synth-based, we both have a knack for creating atmospheres, so I thought it would be a very interesting match.”







Kent and Johannes first met only months beforehand, when Johannes attended one of the Frenchman’s shows in Stockholm. “I’ve been a fan for a long, long time,” Johannes says. “We had this creative discussion back and forth and we hit it off.”


As soon as the pair began work on their boundary-decimating songs, they knew that they had to be immortalized as an album. “It was immediate,” states Kent. “We had almost an hour of interesting music, so it would’ve been a shame to simply perform it and not do anything with it afterwards. It’s a project that I really want to share; it’s not only the fruit of a collaboration between me and one of my favourite musicians, but also very unique and once-in-a-lifetime.”


The pair unveiled the live version of Final Light last week, as the performed on Friday at Roadburn 2022.


A preview of Final Light arrives today with the release of “In The Void”, a nine-minute song that incorporates the best of the two forward-thinking musicians. All-consuming, electrified bass notes are answered by creeping six-string melodies, before alien synth lines dance beneath anguished screams.


Final Light physical and digital preorders are available now with the album available on a variety of limited-edition, color vinyl variants via Red Creek’s webstore with digital preorders available here.





Tracklisting:


“Nothing Will Bear Your Name”
“In The Void”
“It Came With The Water”
“Final Light”
“The Fall Of A Giant”
“Ruin To Decay”


“In The Void”:





(Photo credits: Andy Julia & Chad Michael Ward)

Following pandemic restrictions, Italian death metallers, Gory Blister, recently played their first gig in two years, which saw the live debut of new drummer, Gianluca D'Andria, who replaced drummer and original band member Joe Laviola, who left the band permanently in July 2020.


The concert took place at Centrale Rock Pub in Como on April 2, and the band filmed some songs. Watch the band perform "Shining Hades", from the album Graveyard Of Angels, below.


Raff Sangiorgio (guitar) states: "It was great and exciting! Lot of people came to see the show, and seeing from the stage their reaction during our live performance. It looks like they all had a blast. The pandemic restrictions were very strong in Italy, but slowly things are coming to normal or "new" normal let's say! We usually try to shoot our live shows with the means at our disposal, we did it this time too, so we decided to share on the Net a clip of this show."







Gory Blister are now completing work on their new album, and are preparing their next gigs. Stay tuned.

Sammy Hagar has shared another video from the vault. Below you can watch Van Halen perform "Why Can't This Be Love?" in Tokyo, Japan in February, 1989.





Watch Van Halen perform "5150" at the same show:







Sammy and Michael Anthony are celebrating the Van Hagar years of Van Halen... follow along at the Van Hagar Other Half Instagram, here.

Now available for pre-order, a lavish, fully illustrated book in which family, friends, colleagues, and fans talk to author Chris Welch about the life, work, and legacy of Keith Emerson from before The Nice and ELP through 3 to The Keith Emerson Band.


Illustrated throughout with previously unseen photos from family, friends, and professional photographers, this official celebration tells the remarkable tale of Keith’s musical evolution, his personal relationships, and the creation of his astounding musical legacy. Includes new interviews with Keith’s children, ex-wife, close personal friends, Mari Kawaguchi, Carl Palmer, Rick Wakeman, Lee Jackson, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Alan White, Dave Kilminster, Marc Bonilla, Rachel Flowers, Darius Brubeck, Geoff Downes and others.







The book draws on the private Emerson family archives for photographs of Keith at home, at work and play. Close family and friends share memories and stories from throughout his life, revealing the true man, while fellow musicians from the worlds of prog, rock and classical attest to Keith’s talent and dedication, while others who worked with him tell of his spirit, generosity and sense of humor.


Keith Emerson celebrates the life and legacy of the man who first played the Hammond organ like a lead guitarist, introduced the European classical music tradition to rock fans with The Nice and helped create the template for prog rock with the very first Moog synthesizers with ELP. He also wrote movie soundtracks, performed with world-renowned jazz musicians and toured the world as a solo artist. All of that and more is explored in this deluxe book.


Pre-order here and choose to have a name printed in the book and be a part of this unique project.

Brook Haven Farm, the custom home of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is back in the news this spring, reports American Luxury. The fleet-finger Les Paul slinger initially listed the Massachusetts property in the late summer of last year, asking $4.5 million. The estate went to a new owner in the first week of the month, closing at $4.1 million.





The property is located in Duxbury, a bucolic corner of the state, and is located down the road from the Duxbury Yacht Club. The 7.18-acre estate’s two houses combine for a total of five bedrooms and six baths across 7,181 sq. ft. of interior space.




An idyllic spot with salt marsh in the distance, the property served as a quiet home base for the rocker. The unhurried atmosphere of the place is given ample expression in the water feature that distinguishes the entry to the main house. Interiors include a barn-like, pine plank-clad great room with a soaring ceiling and a stacked stone fireplace. Artisanal touches from its build era — it dates to 1974 — include stained glass.


Read more, and see more photos, at American Luxury.

Ted Nugent has released the official music video for "Born In The Motor City", the third single from his new album called "Detroit Muscle", which arrived today (Friday, April 29) via Pavement Music. The follow-up to 2018's "The Music Made Me Do It" was recorded with Ted's current band, which includes bassist Greg Smith and drummer Jason Hartless.

"Born In The Motor City" is an homage to Ted's beloved hometown, featuring iconic visuals set to Nugent power soundtrack.

Nugent says: "Born in the mighty Motor City in 1948, I was engulfed in authoritative dynamic grinding musicality that imprinted on my very soul, and this record maximizes the accumulation and lifetime celebration of that energy. Propelled by the animal grooves of rhythmgodz Greg Smith and Jason Hartless, my guitar remains fully erect every time I fondle her! I have never had so much fun celebrating Chuck Berry's vision!"

Produced by Michael Lutz and Nugent, "Detroit Muscle" features the following track listing:

01. Detroit Muscle
02. Come And Take It
03. Born In The Motor City
04. American Campfire
05. Drivin' Blind
06. Just Leave Me Alone
07. Alaska
08. Winterspring Summerfall
09. Leave The Lights On
10. Feedback Grindfire
11. Starspangled Banner

Last November, Nugent released the LP's first single, "Come And Take It". At the time, he stated about the inspiration for the track: "Being the all-time gonzo progenitor of love songs that I am, it is only fitting that I unleash the All-American defiant battle hymn from we the people to punks who dare tread on us. Do you feel the love! Come and take it at your own risk."

In recent months, Nugent has been selling hats emblazoned with the words "Come And Take It", a slogan which originated in the Texas Revolution in 1835 and is now used as a symbol of gun-rights advocates and the NRA.

Nugent has repeatedly said that he is "very proud" of his new album as well as the LP's "musical integrity and the spirit and the attitude."

In December, Ted told Digital Journal about "Detroit Muscle": "What Greg Smith and Jason Hartless did was great. They put their heart and soul on every song, every lick, and every performance. I am just the luckiest guitar player in the world.

"I don't write songs," he explained. "I play my guitar every day and I escape the music so thoroughly with my hunting, fishing, my farming, and other activities. I plunge my fists into the good Earth each day, so I return to such a pure, primal connection with God's miraculous creation. Quite honestly, I immerse myself in my outdoor lifestyle. It's a martial art.

"You have to dedicate your entire being to the mystical flight of the arrow so music is really the ultimate escape for me," Nugent added. "When I get done with my outdoor activities each morning, I come in and I wash my hands and the next guitar lick is coming from such purity and such a cleansed life that it literally is just primal. All of my songs that I have ever composed are an instinctual ejaculation of my guitar riff dreams."

See Ted Nugent live this summer on the "Detroit Muscle" 2022 tour:

Jul. 15 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
Jul. 16 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
Jul. 17 - Fort Myers, FL - Barbara Mann Performing Arts Hall
Jul. 19 - Orlando, FL - Plaza Live
Jul. 22 - Waukesha, WI - Waukesha County Fair
Jul. 23 - St. Charles, IL - Arcada Theatre
Jul. 24 - St. Charles, IL - Arcada Theatre
Jul. 25 - Des Plaines, IL - Des Plaines Theatre
Jul. 27 - Ardmore, OK - Heritage Hall
Jul. 28 - Tulsa, OK - Skyline Event Center at Osage Casino
Jul. 29 - Fort Worth, TX - Billy Bob’s Texas
Jul. 30 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
Jul. 31 - Mobile, AL - Soul Kitchen Music Hall
Aug. 02 - Huntsville, AL - Mars Music Hall
Aug. 04 - Albert Lea, MN - Freeborn County Fair
Aug. 05 - Wichita, KS - Kansas Star Casino (Arena)
Aug. 06 - Kansas City, MO - Star Pavilion at Ameristar Casino
Aug. 09 - Pittsburgh, PA - Palace Theatre
Aug. 10 - Owensboro, KY - River Park Center
Aug. 11 - Huber Heights, OH - Rose Music Center
Aug. 12 - Columbus, OH - Express Live
Aug. 13 - Detroit (Sterling Heights),MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
Aug. 14 - North Tonawanda, NY - Riviera Theatre
Aug. 15 - North Tonawanda, NY - Riviera Theatre
Aug. 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Keswick Theatre
Aug. 18 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn’s Peak
Aug. 19 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount
Aug. 20 - Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Aug. 21 - Reading, PA - Santander Performing Arts Center
Aug. 23 - Lexington, MI - Lexington Village Theatre
Aug. 25 - Memphis, TN - Soundstage at Graceland
Aug. 26 - Forney, TX - Spellman Amphitheater
Aug. 27 - Fredericksburg, TX - Backyard Amphitheater

HALESTORM has released an acoustic version of "The Steeple", the second single from its upcoming fifth studio album album, "Back From The Dead". "The Steeple" follows the album's title track, "Back From The Dead", which arrived last summer. That track marked HALESTORM's sixth No. 1 at rock radio, and met rave reviews: Rolling Stone called it "a biting, cathartic howler about overcoming obstacles — even death," and Consequence praised frontwoman Lzzy Hale's "powerhouse pipes" and lead guitarist Joe Hottinger's "blistering solo." Revolver declared it a "raucous, hard-rock rager about staying strong in the face of crushing adversity."

"Back From The Dead" is due out May 6 via Atlantic. The follow-up to 2018's "Vicious" was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, MASTODON, ALICE IN CHAINS) with co-production by Scott Stevens (SHINEDOWN, DAUGHTRY, NEW YEARS DAY).

According to a press release, "Back From The Dead" quickly evolved from songwriting exercises into a matter of survival for HALESTORM. Lead singer Lzzy Hale says: "We started writing this album about three months B.C. (Before COVID). Once we went into lockdown and were unable to perform and tour, I fell into a dark place and something of an identity crisis. This album is the story of me carving myself out of that abyss. It is a journey of navigating mental health, debauchery, survival, redemption, rediscovery, and still maintaining faith in humanity."

"Back From The Dead" track listing:

01. Back From The Dead
02. Wicked Ways
03. Strange Girl
04. Brightside
05. The Steeple
06. Terrible Things
07. My Redemption
08. Bombshell
09. I Come First
10. Psycho Crazy
11. Raise Your Horns

Last November, Lzzy told the 105.7 The Point radio station about the musical direction of the new HALESTORM material: "This album is absolutely a banger. It's on eleven. We have really just kind of exceeded all of the energy that has come before on these albums, both technically, music-wise, vocally, drum, lyric-wise. I think because of the roller-coaster ride when we were making this record, and just through the pandemic and all the different phases of that, we just kind of looked at each other, like, if the future is unknown and we don't know whether we're actually going to be out and playing these things, everything has to be, like I said, at eleven. It's HALESTORM elevated."

According to Lzzy, she and her bandmates recorded the new HALESTORM album in a different way. "This is the first time that we've ever had dual producers," she explained. "We went back with Nick Raskulinecz [who helmed 'Vicious']. And then I ended up doing my vocals with Scott Stevens from THE EXIES. He's like a brother from another mother with me. We've written together before, and we've known each other for probably just shy of a decade now. He and I, we produced and did all the vocals for [HALESTORM's recently released single] 'Back From The Dead' with each other, because I went out to L.A. And then we ended up sending it to Nick, and Nick's, like, 'This is just absolutely amazing. We have to do every song this way.' So we kind of did it differently. We ended up with the bare bones of a demo. I ended up finishing all of my vocals — like dunzo — before we ended up building the track musically. So it's kind of like building a pyramid upside down. But it ended up really just having this different energy, because what we were able to do with the lyrics and melody and all the vocals being done would really accentuate all of that — matching the theme to whatever I was singing about, but also just kind of really supporting the vocals musically when we went in to do the guitars and drums and bass. It's so crazy — it definitely has this very forward, very aggressive nature to it because of the way that we did that."

The "Back From The Dead" title track was released in August. The official music video for the song, directed by Dustin Haney (Noah Cyrus, Luke Combs) and produced by Revolution Pictures, features Lzzy and the rest of the band in a morgue and cemetery somewhere between life and death.

Lzzy and her brother Arejay formed the band in 1998 while in middle school. Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by bassist Josh Smith in 2004.

In December 2018, HALESTORM was nominated for a "Best Rock Performance" Grammy Award for its song "Uncomfortable". Six years earlier, the band won its first Grammy in the category of "Best Hard Rock/ Metal Performance" for "Love Bites (So Do I)".