JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford was the featured guest on BBC's "The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker" during the "Rock God" segment. Halford picked Ronnie James Dio and stated about his choice: "Every singer will have a story about a fellow singer who was an inspiration to them. One of my main inspirations and someone that still is, to this very day, an inspiration in my life in metal, as a metal singer, is Ronnie James Dio.

"I can't remember exactly when I heard Ronnie's voice, but I do know that the first time I did hear it, it was just like an electric shock, a bolt of lightning, because this voice had so much power and so much character and so much energy and so much of everything that makes a great singer," he continued. "So from that moment on, I was a huge Ronnie James Dio fan. And I followed his career from pretty much when he first came to [be known] throughout the world of rock and roll. The great things that he did with ELF, and then, of course, with RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH [and] HEAVEN & HELL. What a great legacy Ronnie's left. It's all about the voice.

"Even now, I always blast some Ronnie before I go out on the stage, because he psyches me up — he gives me the essence of what a great singing performance should do. I just love listening to the man. Not only his voice, of course, but also his great work in helping other people.

"If ever a man was a rock god, for me, it will always be Ronnie James Dio."

Ronnie James Dio passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer, who was recording and touring with BLACK SABBATH offshoot HEAVEN & HELL prior to his illness, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Halford released his autobiography, "Confess", on September 29 via Hachette Books.

Shavo Odadjian says that he is still "optimistic" that SYSTEM OF A DOWN will one day record a follow-up to its "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize" LPs, which came out in 2005. The Serj Tankian-fronted outfit has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011 but has yet to record any new music.

Odadjian, who recently unveiled his new band NORTH KINGSLEY, discussed SYSTEM's inability to make a new album during an appearance on Ernie Ball's "Striking A Chord" podcast.

The bassist said (hear audio below): "I love SYSTEM. I love the guys. They're my friends, over anything. Even if I don't see them or talk to them for months, when we're on the phone, we're best friends. That's how I am with them. Nothing has gone down so terrible that we can never [make music together again].

"That's why I'm always optimistic, and whenever I say that, it becomes headlines. 'Oh, Shavo is optimistic,'" he continued. "Well, yeah, bro, I'm optimistic about a lot of things. It doesn't mean it's gonna happen. But the reason why I'm optimistic is because nothing has been done that can't be undone. It's not like someone said or did something that's 'end all.' It's not like, God forbid, anyone's passed away. We're still all here, we still can talk, we still can play, we're still alive."

Elaborating on the reason the members of SYSTEM OF A DOWN haven't been able to see eye-to-eye on how to proceed with a new record, Shavo said: "If we could just agree. If people weren't so adamant about their views. It would be nice to just back up a little and say, 'You know, let's just do it. And I'll listen to you if you listen to me,' instead of, like, 'I think it should be this way, 'I think it should be that way.' Okay, well, then that's not gonna work because if you both… I don't know."

He continued: "It's a mixture of a lot of stuff that's happened. And it just kind of grew to a point where, because of social media and because of all this demand for the record, it's become taboo; it's become this thing. It's, like, bigger than it should be. It's become this crazy thing: 'The new SYSTEM record isn't happening.' It's way too crazy, bro. Everyone is a little weird. Because Daron [Malakian, guitar] will post [something from his] SCARS [ON BROADWAY side project], and they'll rip him up about the new [SYSTEM] record. Serj will post something political. They'll rip him up about the new record. John [Dolmayan, drums] does something; 'Where's the new record?' I'm posting NORTH KINGSLEY. 'Where's the new record?' It's always there now. It became this thing [where] we're, like, 'Fuck this.' It's gonna make me say, 'Fuck the new record,' because there's so much [demand for it]. But the flipside is we should be fucking honored that people still care and want the new record."

In 2018, Malakian publicly accused Tankian of not wanting to record, with Tankian responding that creative and financial issues with Malakian led to the stalemate. In a message on Facebook, Tankian wrote that Malakian wanted to control SYSTEM's creative process, take more of the publishing money and be the only band member to speak to the press.

Back in May, Tankian revealed that he will put out a solo EP of what he described as "rock songs" later this year. Tankian told SPIN that they were first meant for SYSTEM OF A DOWN, saying: "Originally, I had these songs in mind for a SYSTEM record if we were to end up doing a SYSTEM record. But as we could not really see eye to eye on how to go forward with that, I decided to finish them off myself and release them as an EP."

Tankian said calling the EP "Elasticity", a play on SYSTEM's massive 2001 album "Toxicity".

Outspoken conservative rocker and Michigan native Ted Nugent played "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Saturday, October 17 at the Muskegon County Airport in Muskegon, Michigan prior to the arrival of President Donald Trump.

Before launching into a rendition of the U.S. national anthem, Nugent told the crowd (see video below): "God bless real Michigan. God bless real America. God bless the greatest president in our lifetime, Donald Trump. We will make America great again, and we will make Michigan great again, won't we?"

This past July, Nugent praised Trump in an interview with "America This Week With Eric Bolling", saying that the billionaire real estate mogul is not "an entrenched, status quo, power-abusing, criminal, punk-ass politician. He's a hellraiser, working-hard, playing-hard guy that got us back to God, family, country, work ethic, independence — you know, the man in the arena," he said. "You bust your ass to be in the asset column, earn your own way, live within your means, save for a rainy day — all that radical, extreme stuff. And he's my guy — I really love this guy. He came just in a nick of time. And I'm speaking for all my huntin' buddies, all my musicians, my band, my crew, my family, my neighbors, the cops that I train with, the military heroes that I hunt with — I'm speaking for the heart and soul of this country when I talk like this."

A board member of the National Rifle Association, Nugent has drawn intense criticism for his controversial past remarks, including telling then-president Barack Obama to "suck on my machine gun." He also made inflammatory remarks about Hillary Clinton, calling her a "devilbitch" who "hates everything good about America."

In a lengthy Facebook post in 2016, Nugent said Obama and Clinton should be tried for treason and hanged over their handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Last year, Nugent defended Donald Trump after the U.S. president was accused of making racist remarks about Democratic congresswomen from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Nugent and fellow Detroit-bred rocker Kid Rock got to spend some time in the Oval Office with Trump in April 2017. They were joined by Sarah Palin, the former Alaskan governor and GOP vice presidential nominee, who posted photos of the visit on social media the following morning. Nugent later told the Detroit Free Press that he and Kid Rock represent a salt-of-the-earth American demographic that helped Trump land the presidency.

Scorpions' official fan-club Crazyscorps recently conducted an interview with former Scorpions drummer James Kottak. In this exclusive interview, Kottak talks about his time with the Scorpions, how he felt integrated in the band, and memories from the road. He also talks about his alcohol addiction that forced his departure the band.

Kottak was with the Scorpions from 1996 – 2016. He was the band's longest serving drummer, surpassing Herman Rarebell, who spent 18 years in the band.

Kottak on alcoholism and going to rehab:

"I'm a rock drummer in a rock band, and you've got the green light to drink. It's like clockwork. Scorpions... we go out, play a show, we're gone before people know what's happening. We're back at our hotel before anybody has even left the building, and 45 minutes later we're having dinner. And everything is the right price: free. Flying first class: free. It's like 'I have the next two days off, I might as well have a drink....' and that's what triggered me to start drinking again. It's a typical alcoholic way of thing: 'I might as well have a drink.' I've been to hundreds of AA meetings, I spent 92 days in rehab; I was only supposed to stay there 30 days. It changed my entire life and my whole way of thinking."

Scorpions recently posted a live video from their set at Hellfest 2015; "In The Line Of Fire / Kottak Attack". Check it out below.




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Jon Bon Jovi recently spoke with Germany's Rock Antenne discussing Bon Jovi's new album, 2020, and commented on former guitarist Richie Sambora.

Q: Is there anything within this career where you would say, 'I should have done this differently'?

Jon: "Very few things - honest to god, very few things. Some things happened that were the catalyst for why other good things happened, you know? There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish that Richie had his life together and was still in the band, and you know, in a weird way it's because of his inability to get it together anymore that we went on and wrote This House Is Not For Sale. It was a very strong record, and that I'm able to write songs like this... Maybe we would've gotten lazy... I don't know where we would have gone, but through all that pain and heartbreak came this (new album)."

The UK's Daily Mail TV approached Sambora for feedback on Bon Jovi's comments, and he offered the following regarding his April 2013 departure from the band.

"I was in a situation and it was not easy to make that decision to leave the band and the fans. I was in a dire situation with my family and I had to make a tough decision and I did, and I'm sure people weren't happy about it. When people say I don't have my life together - are you kidding me? I'm the happiest dude on the block."

When asked about the possibility of reuniting with Bon Jovi, Sambora said "It would have to be a special situation for me to go back, but I'm certainly not counting it out."

Sambora joined Bon Jovi in the early '80s, replacing the band's original lead guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo, who went on to form Skid Row. He appeared on 12 Bon Jovi studio albums between 1984 and 2013.




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Vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva, who was with Cradle Of Filth for 14 years before leaving the band in 2009, has checked in with some words on her Angtoria album, God Has A Plan for Us All, released in 2006.

"I wanted to post this as still, many are unaware of this album. To my knowledge, we never recouped, but Listenable Records were the first record company to give me a chance. They were brilliant and always have been. Myself, Chris (Rehn) and Tommy (Rehn) worked so incredibly hard on this album. Dave Pybus played bass and the amazing Aaron from My Dying Bride did a track with me, which I can tell you was a dream come true for me. This album is over 10 years old and Chris and I did hope to do a follow up. We are still very good friends and talk regularly. Never say never. Once Covid has calmed, let's see.

If you haven't picked up the album and it's still in print, please go directly to Listenable.

Doing God Has A Plan For Us All was one of the greatest achievements of my career. It was the first time I could really write my feelings and experiences down on paper. Everyone involved in the making of this video bent over backwards for us, Toni Davey (nearly all of you know who this beauty is) played the adult abuse victim and Chris Rehn's daughter played the little girl who was abused. They represented past and present. It was not an attack on the church, it was to show how sexual abuse by someone you trust or society trusts can happen at any time and how people turn a blind eye. This video maybe old news, but if you are curious about Angtoria, please pick up a copy. If you don't like it, it can make a very useful beer mat.

Most of the songs on the album are concept based: 'Hell Have No Fury' is about my mother, her mental illness, abusive past and how it was passed down to us, 'Six Feets Under's Not Deep Enough' was written about a certain person who I worked with who has spent their whole life treating people as puppets on a string, and so on. I am, we are, so very proud of the album. A follow up of some kind will happen... I just don't know when. 

My reason for posting this is because of the constant mention and amazing response we still get for Angtoria."

Tracklist:

"The Awakening"
"I'm Calling"
"God Has A Plan For Us All"
"Suicide On My Mind"
"Deity Of Disgust" (with Martin Häggström of ZooL)
"The Addiction"
"Six Feet Under's Not Deep Enough"
"Do You See Me Now"
"Original Sin" (with Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride)
"Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned"
"Confide In Me" (Kylie Minogue cover)
"That's What The Wise Lady Said" 
"A Child That Walks In The Path Of A Man (limited edition bonus track)




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GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash is featured in a new trailer promoting National Independent Venue Association's first-ever #SOSFest in partnership with YouTube. The three-day festival, which kicked off on Friday (October 16), includes performances from 35 artists recorded live from more than 25 of the most storied independent concert venues across the United States.

In the three-minute "Folklore" video below, Slash is interviewed at The Troubadour, where he shares his recollections of seeing concerts at the legendary West Hollywood venue and of GUNS N' ROSES playing there, including the reunited partial classic lineup's first comeback performance in April 2016.

"Our first GUNS N' ROSES show proper, that I was involved in, was here at The Troubadour," Slash said. "We really got our start in this particular venue. I remember we had a show here at some point in 1985, where Tom Zutaut from Geffen came down, and that was who we ended up signing with. This is the gig that he saw us play. I remember that gig pretty well. At that point, we were selling out these venues and had a really big word of mouth going and had a really eclectic demographic coming to see us — from fucking hardcore punk rockers to metalheads and glam and fucking surfers. It was a very mixed up kind of audience, but it was great.

"GUNS came back and played here in 2016, on April Fool's, the first show back in 20 years, for me anyway," he continued. "Once we loaded in and started soundchecking, it was like going all the way back to 1984. Playing 'Welcome To The Jungle' here all those years later, it was something that… It's ineffable. It's hard to really put it into words what that felt like. The funny thing is we had way more gear that this club really holds. So we basically blew the fucking doors off this place. We just thought it would be fitting to get back together all these years later and start at The Troub."

"Folklore" is a series of short films sharing the unsung stories of America's independent venues. Venues take center stage as they are celebrated as living legends of culture, tradition, and community. In the spirit of folklore, our storytellers pass down the stories of years spent on stage and back stage in these sacred spaces.

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan says that he was never friends with the band's former lead singer, Sebastian Bach.

Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY.

In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of Bolan, Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger.

SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.

Asked in a new interview with "The Chuck Shute Podcast" if SKID ROW's original 1996 split came as a relief to him, Bolan said: "Things were pretty bad within the band — with all of us, actually. [We] never heard from each other when we were home, and most of us lived 15 minutes from each other's house. And it started to get not fun at one point, because it was just all bullshit that went along with preparing to do stuff, and and whatever it was. It was a relief in a way. It was melancholy. It was a relief, and good, I get to go home and just chill and and recharge my batteries, but where are we going from here? So it was kind of waiting out a storm, so to speak, and just seeing what's what's gonna be there when it goes by. And it was years — it was years — and then we decided to get the band back together in 2000, and here we are, 20 years later, still having fun and doing a lot of shows. Well, not now, but we were doing a lot of shows [before the pandemic] — 100 shows a year. And that's a lot for a bunch of old guys. [Laughs]"

Bolan went on to confirm that he and his bandmates "were entertaining the idea" of reuniting with Bach following Harnell's departure. Rachel also shot down the possibility of a rekindling of his friendship with Sebastian, explaining: "Well… Here's the soundbite for Blabbermouth. I wouldn't say we were friends [when we were in a band together]. We were bandmates. You know what I mean? We're two very different people." Bolan added that he hasn't seen Bach "in years."

Last year, Bach completed a U.S. tour during which he celebrated the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW's self-titled debut album.

In June 2019, Bach issued an "open invitation" to the other members of SKID ROW's classic lineup to "get onstage and jam" during the vocalist's tour. A few days later, during an interview with Finland's Kaaos TV, Sabo confirmed that he would not accept Bach's latest overture. "I'm working with my band," he said. "This is SKID ROW, and this is what I do."

Drummer Rob Affuso — who left SKID ROW in 1998 and claims to be "the only former member that keeps in contact with all former SKID ROW bandmates and is still good friends with them all" — subsequently joined Bach in September 2019 at Sony Hall in New York City to play the band's classic song "Makin' A Mess".

Asked by Rolling Stone if he thinks his former bandmates are offended that he put his invitation out there publicly, Bach said: "No. I think it's an ego thing. They don't like when I get attention, and they don't get attention. It's always been like that. I can already see them getting mad, because I'm selling out shows, and they're not part of the show, and blah, blah, blah."

In February 2019, Sabo told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that SKID ROW came "pretty close" to reuniting with Bach after Harnell's exit from the band. But then he clarified: "I said 'pretty close,' and that's actually not true. Because we didn't get beyond text messaging each other, to be quite honest. The same old stuff just seemed to exist where there was this confrontational sort of demeanor going back and forth between myself and Sebastian.

"I'm so proud of what we were able to create throughout the entire history of this band, and that will never change," he continued. "But some things just don't work anymore and people go their separate ways and you can't get that back together. And I'm fine with that.

"I play music to be happy," Sabo added. "I don't play music for a paycheck. It's great to get paid to do what you love. But I've never done it for the money. It's always been about my love of music, and that's what it still is. At my old crusty age, it's still because I love the guitar and I love creating. And I love the response. I love being able to connect in some way with an audience. That's why I started playing music — because I didn't know how to communicate, so it came out through music, through songs.

"Playing with [ZP] in the band has brought a real joyousness back to our lives. You can see it — it's not faked or phony. You can see it when we play. And that's what I live for — I live for those moments of just absolute joy.

"A reunion [with Sebastian] would have been great for a lot of other people who have wanted to see that happen," Snake said. "But for us, it would not have been pleasurable, to be quite honest."

Chris Jericho has fired back at Sebastian Bach after the former SKID ROW singer accused him of copying the name of a SKID ROW tour for his band FOZZY.

Back in September 2017, FOZZY announced the "Fozzy Across America" tour during which it planned to play three live shows in three separate cities and three different time zones in just one day, a feat that apparently had never been attempted before by any other act.

On Friday (October 16), Bach took a shot at Jericho over the tour's name, implying that "Fozzy Across America" was a little too close to "Skids Across America", SKID ROW's 1989 tour for which he designed the official t-shirt.

"Fozzy Across America? Really? Are you fucking serious?" Sebastian wrote. "As much as you wish rock and roll was wrestling, rock and roll is not wrestling. In rock and roll you're supposed to think up your own shit. I love VAN HALEN but I don't have a song called Running With the Devil. I love JUDAS PRIEST but I don't have a song called Judas. Or Priest.

"Skids Across America check out this t-shirt that I designed in the year 1989. I remember how proud I was when I thought of this branding and how happy I was that the band liked it too.

"It never ends with this prick".

On Saturday (October 17), Jericho retweeted Bach's "Fozzy Across America" comments, and he simply included a link to the Wikipedia page for German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, suggesting that Sebastian's stage name is also less than original. (The Canadian-born singer's real name is Sebastian Bierk.)

This was not the first time Bach had called out Jericho over something related to FOZZY. Three months ago, Bach accused Jericho of using pre-recorded vocal tracks during the band's live performances. On July 16, Jericho challenged Bach to a "singoff" with "no effects, no tuning, no bullshit" in response to Sebastian's allegation. "Bas is a great singer...but I'm better," Chris wrote on Twitter." The wrestler-turned-singer added: "I've never mimed anything ever! I will fucking sing in your face anytime, anyplace dude. I've been a fan & a defender of u since day one...but don't u ever question my rock abilities!" Bach fired back: " You're full of s*** bro. Every clip on the Internet is you miming to a tape. I will sing in your f****** face anytime. Wrestling is not rock and roll. I will show you f****** rock and roll. Check your texts set up The Sing-Off I am ready when you are".

When Bach first went public with his Jericho accusation, FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward called Sebastian "universally disliked" and said that seeing Bach "publicly go after the only guy that I have ever witness utter a nice word about him is sad."

Sebastian, who has been outspoken about rock bands using pre-recorded backing tracks during live shows, later tried to explain his outburst, writing: "I'm not trying to beat anybody at anything. I'm actually trying to say hey Chris maybe you're right maybe I'll stop singing live and prance around while the tape is playing just like you do Chris. I'm tired of trying so hard it's like beating my head against the wall."

After a self-proclaimed Bach fan called Sebastian "an asshat" on Twitter for firing "the first shots" in his war of words with Jericho, Bach came back with: "Hey man f*** you. I have spent my life learning how to sing live on stage. When someone comes along and mimes to a tape it sucks for all of the rest of us that don't. You want to go see a wrestling match good. Don't call it rock and roll".




https://t.co/D0RwstfE7D https://t.co/DSYBf1v7fr

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) October 18, 2020




























View this post on Instagram


































Fozzy Across America? Really? Are you fucking serious? As much as you wish rock and roll was wrestling, rock and roll is not wrestling. In rock and roll you're supposed to think up your own shit. I love Van Halen but I don't have a song called Running With the Devil. I love Judas Priest but I don't have a song called Judas. Or Priest. Skids Across America check out this t-shirt that I designed in the year 1989. I remember how proud I was when I thought of this branding and how happy I was that the band liked it too. It never ends with this prick

A post shared by sebastianbach (@sebastianbach) on Oct 16, 2020 at 1:29pm PDT

Sebastian Bach has blasted Chris Jericho over the name of FOZZY's 2017 tour, apparently implying that he came up with the moniker first.

Back in September 2017, FOZZY announced the "Fozzy Across America" tour during which it planned to play three live shows in three separate cities and three different time zones in just one day, a feat that apparently had never been attempted before by any other act.

Earlier today (Friday, October 16), Bach shared a couple of t-shirt designs from his former band, SKID ROW, and he included the following message: "Fozzy Across America? Really? Are you fucking serious? As much as you wish rock and roll was wrestling, rock and roll is not wrestling. In rock and roll you're supposed to think up your own shit. I love VAN HALEN but I don't have a song called Running With the Devil. I love JUDAS PRIEST but I don't have a song called Judas. Or Priest.

"Skids Across America check out this t-shirt that I designed in the year 1989. I remember how proud I was when I thought of this branding and how happy I was that the band liked it too.

"It never ends with this prick".

This is not the first time Bach has called out Jericho over something related to FOZZY. Three months ago, Bach accused Jericho of using pre-recorded vocal tracks during the band's live performances. On July 16, Jericho challenged Bach to a "singoff" with "no effects, no tuning, no bullshit" in response to Sebastian's allegation. "Bas is a great singer...but I'm better," Chris wrote on Twitter." The wrestler-turned-singer added: "I've never mimed anything ever! I will fucking sing in your face anytime, anyplace dude. I've been a fan & a defender of u since day one...but don't u ever question my rock abilities!" Bach fired back: " You're full of s*** bro. Every clip on the Internet is you miming to a tape. I will sing in your f****** face anytime. Wrestling is not rock and roll. I will show you f****** rock and roll. Check your texts set up The Sing-Off I am ready when you are".

When Bach first went public with his Jericho accusation, FOZZY guitarist Rich Ward called Sebastian "universally disliked" and said that seeing Bach "publicly go after the only guy that I have ever witness utter a nice word about him is sad."

Sebastian, who has been outspoken about rock bands using pre-recorded backing tracks during live shows, later tried to explain his outburst, writing: "I'm not trying to beat anybody at anything. I'm actually trying to say hey Chris maybe you're right maybe I'll stop singing live and prance around while the tape is playing just like you do Chris. I'm tired of trying so hard it's like beating my head against the wall."

After a self-proclaimed Bach fan called Sebastian "an asshat" on Twitter for firing "the first shots" in his war of words with Jericho, Bach came back with: "Hey man f*** you. I have spent my life learning how to sing live on stage. When someone comes along and mimes to a tape it sucks for all of the rest of us that don't. You want to go see a wrestling match good. Don't call it rock and roll".
























View this post on Instagram


































Fozzy Across America? Really? Are you fucking serious? As much as you wish rock and roll was wrestling, rock and roll is not wrestling. In rock and roll you're supposed to think up your own shit. I love Van Halen but I don't have a song called Running With the Devil. I love Judas Priest but I don't have a song called Judas. Or Priest. Skids Across America check out this t-shirt that I designed in the year 1989. I remember how proud I was when I thought of this branding and how happy I was that the band liked it too. It never ends with this prick

A post shared by sebastianbach (@sebastianbach) on Oct 16, 2020 at 1:29pm PDT










To be fair, Hands Across American happened in 1986. Definitely not as metal, though. ? pic.twitter.com/fxYQjVG5Wf

— Nina Osegueda ? (@DuchessODork) October 16, 2020








I saw The Outfield open for Night Ranger in Nashville in 1987. I never forgot this shirt! ? pic.twitter.com/uOt2uGUfUP

— jasonnorris (@wkn4lo) October 16, 2020

KISS frontman Paul Stanley has defended former Vice President Joe Biden after a top staffer with President Donald Trump's campaign compared the feel of former Biden's ABC News town hall to that of an episode of the beloved children's show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood".

"Well @JoeBiden @ABCPolitics townhall feels like I am watching an episode of Mister Rodgers Neighborhood," Mercedes Schlapp, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a tweet, misspelling the late Fred Rogers's last name.

On Friday (October 16), one day after the televised event, Stanley took to his Twitter to write: "In these times to be mockingly compared to Mr Rogers shows just how much we need to push the reset button. When did we start looking down our noses at kindness and empathy? To be compared to Mr Rogers should be a badge of honor. Let's rethink what we emulate & what is truly cool."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, who frequently tweets in support of Biden, concurred, writing: "Mr. Rogers for president would be a lot better than the one we got now".

This is not the first time Stanley has spoken out on political issues. Back in August, he blasted Trump for claiming his opponents may steal November's election. A month earlier, he encouraged his social media followers to vote in November, saying that "we have a responsibility to our past and to our future." In April, Stanley blamed a shifting media environment for sharpening partisan divides, saying that Fox News and CNN viewers and live in "different realities."

"Any conversation I've had with somebody who feels contrary to [a particular point of view], they stick to their guns because their reality is based on information that they're getting from a source that has their own agenda," Stanley said during an appearance on Richard Marx's "Social Distancing" talk show. "I'm not saying that CNN is guiltless. It's really become the network of the Democrats versus the network of the Republicans, and your reality and what you see as the truth, not coincidentally, is based upon which network you watch. And that's terrible. We're living in separate universes. If you go from one channel to the other, you think you're in a different time.

"If I were to watch whatever network I watch that's called 'The News,' it's going to feed me what I believe to be reality," he added. "That's the basic truth of it. And, unfortunately, there seems to be different realities, alternate realities… There's gotta be a truth."

Last month, Stanley dismissed misinformation about voting by mail, some prompted by the president, including false claims it will lead to widespread fraud — despite evidence showing such fraud is extremely rare. Experts say mail voting has proven remarkably secure.




In these times to be mockingly compared to Mr Rogers shows just how much we need to push the reset button. When did we start looking down our noses at kindness and empathy? To be compared to Mr Rogers should be a badge of honor. Let’s rethink what we emulate & what is truly cool. https://t.co/mDyoZt72By

— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) October 16, 2020








Mr. Rogers for president would be a lot better than the one we got now https://t.co/WibOw7gp0B

— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) October 16, 2020

Two weeks ago, AC/DC released "Shot In The Dark", the first single from the band's long-awaited comeback album, "Power Up", which is due on November 13. The follow-up to 2014's "Rock Or Bust" features AC/DC's reunited lineup of Brian Johnson (vocals), Phil Rudd (drums), Cliff Williams (bass), Angus Young (guitar) and Stevie Young (guitar). Johnson and Williams both left in 2016 for health reasons; and Rudd was sidelined in 2015 with various legal issues.

In a new interview with El Pirata of Spain's RockFM classic rock radio station, Angus spoke about the contribution to "Power Up" of his late brother, founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64. Malcolm is credited as a writer on all 12 tracks on "Power Up".

Angus said: "I know a lot of people have been saying, did Malcolm actually play, is it his instrument on the new album? I chose not to do that because I felt Malcolm himself wouldn't like me trying to splice his guitar work.

"Malcolm and myself, a lot of what we had done through the years, we'd make notes with the tracks," he continued. "Some might be a little bit rough here and there, and I polished them up. In other cases, Malcolm might have done just a small bit and then I would do the next verse. The bulk of the contribution of Mal is mainly musical."

Angus also expressed his gratitude to GUNS N' ROSES vocalist Axl Rose, who filled in for Johnson on tours in Europe and North America in 2016 after doctors told Brian he faced a total loss of hearing if he did not stop touring immediately.

"On our last tour, when Brian had his hearing problem, with the deafness in his ears, for us at the time, we had some dates and shows that we were committed to doing," Angus told RockFM. "And it was a case of, 'We'll get through those shows. But how do we go about that?' And Axl Rose, he had said to us, he had got a message to us, if he could help us in any way finish those commitments, if it didn't interfere with what his own project was, he would help us get through that. So with Axl, he participated with helping us get through that tour, and that's something we'll always be grateful for, 'cause he'd done a really good job. So everyone appreciates that he did that."

"Power Up" will be available in multiple configurations, including digital, CD, and deluxe versions. The limited edition, one-of-a-kind deluxe "Power Up" box is the ultimate fan package. Hit the button on the side of the box and watch the flashing neon AC/DC logo light up while the opening bars of "Shot In The Dark" blast out of the built-in speaker. Inside the box is the full CD package in a soft-pack with a 20-page booklet that features exclusive photos and USB charging cable allowing the box to remain powered up and on display. The vinyl LP will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket. Limited-edition variants of the LP will be available at select retailers nationwide, as well as the band's online store. The album will be available on all digital platforms.

Malcolm, who co-founded AC/DC with Angus in 1973, died three years ago after suffering from failing health for several years. His condition forced him to leave the band in 2014, with his nephew Stevie Young stepping into Malcolm's position.

During an October 14 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", STYX guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw spoke about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for the follow-up to "The Mission". Released in June 2017, that disc marked STYX's first new LP in 14 years. It was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, co-produced and co-written with Will Evankovich, a longtime collaborator of Shaw's in the SHAW/BLADES band and who also plays with THE GUESS WHO.

Shaw said: "The mixes are done. Unfortunately, we're gonna have to wait [to release the LP] until we can go out and perform and help to promote the album. 'Cause otherwise, we're just handing it to Spotify. We put a lot of time, energy and resources into doing this and would like an opportunity to be able to sell some albums and that sort of thing, and not come back with a 15-cent check at the end of the year."

Asked if he thinks STYX fans can expect to hear some new music and see the band play live shows next year, Tommy said: "We're constantly looking and planning ahead to when we do finally get to perform again. We have our protocols together. We already have one of our crew who's taking a course to become a certified COVID guy, who's like a COVID cop, who will run all of those kind of protocols at the gig. So it's all gonna change the way the day runs there. It'll be simplified to the people who have contact with the band and our crew. We're looking at dates a couple of months from now — two or three months [from now]. And it just depends on how the country progresses. If there is indeed people wanting to be on the solution side of it, and let's keep each other safe and not politicize all this stuff, and we can get together and be safe with each other in a venue, then we'll start playing shows again. But people are people, and I'm not saying anybody's right or wrong. It will just have to get to that place where we can all be safe and take care of each other."

Drummer Todd Sucherman told Audio Ink Radio that the new STYX material "definitely leans to a progressive side with always a big, heavy emphasis on melody and lyrics."

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, four straight STYX albums sold at least two million copies — "The Grand Illusion" (1977), "Pieces Of Eight" (1978), "Cornerstone" (1979) and "Paradise Theatre" (1981). The band eventually replaced original singer/keyboardist/songwriter Dennis DeYoung in 1999 with Lawrence Gowan.

During an October 7 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", PEARL JAM guitarist Mike McCready discussed the passing of Eddie Van Halen. The legendary VAN HALEN axeman died on Tuesday (October 6) at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer.

"I started playing guitar a year after that first [VAN HALEN] record came out, and he was just the most untouchable, unreachable guitar player I've ever heard — besides [Jimi] Hendrix," Mike said. "But it was even more, in a way, because it was right then I was becoming a new guitar player. And Eddie Van Halen kind of turned everything upside down. And he was the most exciting thing to come out. And they had cool songs. It always felt like the summer was coming on. It was a great party band. They also were amazing musicians and great songwriters."

Asked what his first exposure to VAN HALEN's music was, Mike said: "I heard the first record [through] my guitar teacher. He played me 'Eruption'. And when you're a kid learning about Ritchie Blackmore and Ace Frehley and things like that… He played that for me, and it sounded like it was from another planet. Subsuquently, VAN HALEN came [to Seattle] about a year, on the second record, and I saw them for that tour, and then three more times after that with David Lee Roth. So seeing them live on the second tour was unbelievable. Eddie did 'Eruption' live, and he ran into his amps and they almost fell over, and they came back. Everything about them was perfect as a rock band. Seeing them live on the second tour was one of the best shows I've ever seen. And it changed my life, for sure. And because of Eddie's playing, for sure."

According to McCready, he is not the only member of PEARL JAM who has a deep appreciation for VAN HALEN's music.

"Everybody in PEARL JAM has a VAN HALEN thing," he said. "I think Eddie [Vedder, vocals] saw 'em open for [BLACK] SABBATH in San Diego, as I think Matt [Cameron, drums] did. And Jeff [Ament, bass] saw 'em on the first tour in Montana. So there's a VAN HALEN connection throughout PEARL JAM — it's there. I mean, I do 'Eruption' sometimes, because I wanna learn how he did that. And it's such an amazing thing, I had to learn it note by note. And I still don't have it down, but it's one of those things that was just always this high-water mark, and it still continues to be for me. 'Cause when he does that, he has such a feeling behind his playing that no one else can really get when you try to tap and all that kind of stuff — at least in my mind."

Eddie died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with his son, Wolfgang, and Alex, Eddie's brother and VAN HALEN drummer.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman passed away from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.




pic.twitter.com/mX38E8xrNP

— Pearl Jam (@PearlJam) October 6, 2020

Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone fronted Van Halen from 1996 and 1999, recording only one album with the band, Van Halen III. Rolling Stone caught up with Cherone in the wake of Eddie Van Halen's passing on October 6th due to throat cancer. Following is an excerpt from the interview, with Cherone discussing how he became a member of Van Halen and what it was like working with Eddie.

Q: Did Eddie ever articulate why he felt you and he clicked?

Cherone: "When I did the audition, I had just gotten off the plane and I hadn’t eaten. I was like, 'Fuck, man. I just want to have a good showing.' Not in a million years did I think I would be in the band. I had a good audition. I sang the Dave stuff, and I was a little worried about the Sammy stuff, because his range was higher than mine. I wonder if it was the nerves, but I remember pulling Michael Anthony over and saying, 'Man, you’ve got to help me with this song.' But I had a good audition. We broke for lunch, he was working on a song, and I started writing with him immediately. I think it was 'Without You', which was the first song on VHIII. I sang on a SM57 (microphone) with Eddie smoking in my face (laughs) and little did I know some of those tracks would be on the record. We just clicked as writers. It was a process over a week or two where we just hit it off as collaborators. And as people, I think we were both maybe socially awkward. When we were alone writing, we could be fine."

Q: Did he ask you for input on his guitar playing?

Cherone: "When we were working on 'A Year To The Day', he was doing his solos, and he was working on his third or fourth solo. He was playing them all back. And he was like, 'Which one do you like?' And Mike Post and I were at a loss. 'I don’t know, the first one you played was great and nothing I’d never heard in my life before.' And then he played the second one, and I said, 'Eddie, you can’t ask that. This is above our paygrade.' But he was that way. He would ask, 'What do you think? Do you like it?' And if we did say the second one, he’d go, 'OK,' and he would trust you. But nobody wanted that responsibility. I didn’t want that, not that you could go wrong."

Q: How was it touring with Eddie?

Cherone: "He was great, and the band was great. If I were to do it all over again, I wish we toured with them before we did the record. Doing the record was a learning experience, but you bond when you’re on a bus or a plane and you’re seeing each other every day. That’s when the band really bonded. Eddie was happy. He and Alex had a dressing room; I had one with Michael. Eddie would always run in and bring his guitar and warm up. The shows were great.

I thought the tour was great because it was a combination of the Dave and Sammy era that they had never done. I thought that was special. I remember being in rehearsal and them asking me what I wanted to do, and at the time they were doing just a handful of old tunes with Sammy. Trust me when I say, I didn’t care if we did any of the new record. One or two songs is fine by me — 'Without You' or something. So when Alex asked me, I said, 'I’ll do anything.' 'Well, pick.' So I went into the catalogue and I wanted to do stuff that they hadn’t played. The fans have heard 'Jump' and 'Panama' forever, so to pull out 'Romeo’s Delight', 'I’m The One', 'Mean Street', 'Unchained', for the first time in a decade, this was gonna be fun. And they loved it. We opened up with 'Unchained' and you could see it on the crowd’s faces, they loved it. It didn’t matter who was singing. The fans were blown away by those guys."

Q: What was it like watching Eddie play his extended solo every night?

Cherone: "He’d go through some of his old stuff, but it would expand. It was almost like watching a jazz musician, his head and his fingers. That was the brilliance of Eddie. He would always surprise you. I’ve got an image in my head: when you see the 'Jump' video and you see that smile, that was Eddie. He was one with the guitar, and it was pure joy for him. It just came out of him. I feel blessed to have been there."

Read the complete in-depth interview here.




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Lenny Kravitz has paid tribute to Eddie Van Halen, calling him "a pioneer and "an original" who made his mark on the electric guitar.

Kravitz discussed the legendary VAN HALEN axeman during an appearance on Bravo's late-night, interactive talk show "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen".

Asked if he had a chance to work with Eddie and if he had an appreciation for the VAN HALEN guitarist, Lenny said (see video below): "Absolutely. I had a major appreciation. We never got to work together, but I got to meet him. I watched him play in concert on the side of the stage. We respected each other."

He continued: "[Eddie] is a pioneer. He is an original. And just as people like Jimi Hendrix made their mark on the electric guitar, Eddie Van Halen did the same. He has his own style that no one else could emulate and that he invented, and he will always be remembered for that — as well as the group."

Eddie died on October 6 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with his son Wolfgang, and Alex, Eddie's brother and VAN HALEN drummer.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

BUCKCHERRY frontman Josh Todd says that he is "all for" using herd immunity through widespread infection as a means of controlling the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that "we've gotta get on with" life.

Herd immunity happens when enough of the population is immune to a disease, making it unlikely to spread and protecting the rest of the community.

Todd discussed his views on how to best deal with the COVID-19 crisis during a new interview with Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3.

Asked what he thinks it will take for large gatherings to once again be safe for attendees and their families, Todd replied (hear audio below): "It's hard to even comment about this, because so many people are so riled up. And it's really tough. And I don't wanna be judged. We live in a super-judgmental society now, with social media.

"I'm all for herd immunity — I always was, way back," he continued. "I think the Swedish community has really — they've handled it well. Their numbers are not any more than our numbers, and they've just gone on with life.

"If this was a different type of disease — if it was Ebola or something like that — then it's a whole different ballgame, because the death rate is a lot more severe.

"I'm not saying this… Because I know a lot of people have lost loved ones. And I am totally compassionate about all that. I just think herd immunity, but just following safety protocols — just everybody wearing masks and people getting temperature tested before they go into work, and if they have a high temperature, they get sent home.

"We've gotta get on with it or we're gonna come back to some serious problems, and it's gonna be way worse than the fallout from all this that has nothing to do with coronavirus," Josh added. "That's a whole argument, of course, and debate that people will wanna argue with, but I'm all for herd immunity."

This past week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert, cautioned against using herd immunity, arguing that "you're going to wind up with a lot of dead people."

Fauci, who is a member of the White House's COVID-19 task force, told PBS's "Firing Line" that the idea of "building up herd immunity" by widespread infection "has a lot of danger to it" and "isn't a surefire way" of prolonged protection, as the rate of reinfection isn't yet known.

When asked by Yahoo! News whether herd immunity is a viable strategy for the U.S. to adopt, Fauci said: "I'll tell you exactly how I feel about that. If you let infections rip as it were and say, 'Let everybody get infected that's going to be able to get infected and then we'll have herd immunity,' quite frankly, that is nonsense, and anybody who knows anything about epidemiology will tell you that that is nonsense and very dangerous."

The Swedish government never ordered a "shutdown" during the pandemic and kept day care centers and primary schools open.

As of October 13, Sweden's per capita coronavirus death rate was 590 per million — on par with 591 per million in the United States and 600 in Italy, but many times the 50 per million in Norway, 108 in Denmark, and 113 in Germany.

Earlier today, it was reported that Swedish authorities want to bring in local lockdowns to stem the rapid spread of coronavirus in the country. The new rules will give regional health authorities the power to strongly recommend people to avoid busy public places like shopping centers, museums, gyms, concerts, and sports matches.

BUCKCHERRY has played "a handful of shows" this year "very quietly" amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to Todd, and they were all done by "following the safety protocols."

Ace Frehley spoke to "That Jamieson Show" about Bruce Kulick's guest appearance on "Origins Vol. 2", the sequel to Ace's 2016 collection of cover songs that inspired the ex-KISS guitarist.

"A lot of think I might not be friends with Bruce Kulick," Ace said (see video below). I've been friends with Bruce for 20 years. I played a solo on ESP, their album, when he still had a band with Karl Cochran, my old guitar player, bass player.

"Of all the guitar players that have taken my place in KISS, Bruce by far blows them all away, as far as I'm concerned. He's definitely the best guitar player.

"When Tommy [Thayer, current KISS guitarist] gets up there and does my solos, he tries to play 'em note for note, but he doesn't have the swagger or the attitude," Ace explained. "Bruce used to play my solos, but he'd kind of make 'em his own, and he'd switch notes a little, and he had some originality. Tommy is just going through the motions. Bruce, by far, blows Tommy off the stage. It is what it is."

Two years ago, Frehley told Yahoo! Entertainment that he had "nothing bad to say about Tommy… You know, it'd be one thing if Tommy would have invented his own character, invented his own guitar solos," he said. "But unfortunately, he's copying everything I do, note for note. There's not much leeway for anybody to say what he's doing is original. I don't know how I could handle that, you know? I don't think I could step into a situation and be somebody else. It's almost like being a robot. Poor Tommy. My heart bleeds for him."

In March 2019, Thayer admitted to Argus Leader in an interview that his addition to KISS in 2003 as the replacement for Frehley was met with some backlash from the band's fans. However, now that he has been in KISS even longer than Frehley's combined years, he says that he has become more comfortable in the lead guitar role.

"I have to be honest, when I first came into the band, there was some pressure," Thayer said. "It was kind of a no-win situation when you're replacing somebody like that. There's a lot of fans who are unhappy with this and I understand. They followed the band for a long time and it's hard to see things like that change sometimes. After a few years went by, I got more confident and more comfortable in the situation, as time goes on, it continues to be a growing experience and something that I get more used to."

Thayer told Rolling Stone magazine that he had no discomfort about wearing Frehley's makeup. He explained: "First of all, I didn't have any input on that. That was a decision that those guys made. There was not even a conversation about it, because I think it was so obvious, that they weren't going to introduce new characters 30 years into the band. I never thought that there should be some new designs or something. I thought that would have been ridiculous. And the only thing is, you've got a lot of push-back from some of the diehards. And that's understandable. Hey, you know, if you lived in the seventies and KISS was your favorite band, and that's what you grew up with, and suddenly there's another guy wearing that makeup, I can understand how some people, it might not have appealed to them as much. But as time as gone by, a lot of people have changed their mind."

Back in 2015, Thayer refused to criticize Frehley after Ace spoke out against Tommy in an interview, describing him as "just a guy up there copying me and trying to move like me and trying to sing like me and trying to play like me."

Thayer told Australia's The Herald: "I don't want to get into a back-and-forth, but I'm sure you can kind of assess what you think when you hear all that.

"I think [Ace] had every opportunity in the world to continue in KISS and be in KISS as long as he did the right thing, but it worked out better for me and he has to lead his life," he continued.

"As far as the jabs and all that, he can say that stuff and I'm not going to say anything bad about him. I just wish all the best to everybody in whatever they're doing."

Danish heavy metal legend King Diamond has confirmed to Knotfest.com that he is hard at work not only on the new album from his namesake band, but the first LP in the 21st century from the reformed MERCYFUL FATE as well.

King stated: "I've recently moved into a new house with a studio upstairs which is the best-sounding room I have ever been in. I have very high expectations for what we are doing now. You can hear on the new [KING DIAMOND] song 'Masquerade Of Madness' as well that it is back to the old vocal style where anything goes. All vocals are lead vocals in my mind. That's how it was in the old days. Sometimes you can be talked into leaving the choirs as backing vocals or whatever but that is not how I feel. I will sing a lead and then the next part of that lyric will be sung by a choir to the right, then a choir to the left takes over the next line, where it is always moving around taking on different effects. That is what I love, that craziness, because that makes it even more theatrical to listen to. We are back into that, full blast."

Asked when fans might be able to hear some of the new material he is working on, King said: "Everything has been thrown around by how things have happened obviously. MERCYFUL FATE will be playing live first, doing these European festivals that were supposed to be being played now. We're in Denmark for rehearsals first and then there are eight or so festivals in Europe, then we have to fly all the gear over to the U.S. to play Las Vegas. There will be a couple of new songs from the MERCYFUL FATE album in the set next summer, which otherwise will just be from the EP, 'Melissa' and 'Don't Break the Oath'. Totally old, with a couple new songs added to it. The other side of New Year's should be the new KING DIAMOND coming out, and then touring, touring, touring till we don't tour anymore. The virus decides more than we do ourselves, but it's not a wasted year for us as we can do the albums in our own time without having to book time in someone else's studio which really I am so glad for. I can get in here at three in the morning and start recording with no one bothering me."

KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the band's last album, 2007's "Give Me Your Soul … Please".

KING DIAMOND released a DVD/Blu-ray, "Songs For The Dead Live", in January 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The set captures 1987's seminal "Abigail" album in its entirety, twice, and in very different locales: Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015. The performances feature KING DIAMOND's current band, comprising of guitarists La Rocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and drummer Matt Thompson.

MERCYFUL FATE's last studio album, "9", was released in 1999.

Former EUROPE guitarist Kee Marcello has credited Eddie Van Halen for "introducing" keyboards into heavy metal.

VAN HALEN scored its first number one single in 1984 with "Jump", which featured Eddie playing the synthesizer, a move which was seen as controversial among fans because Eddie was best known for his dazzling guitar solos. According to Billboard, the track debuted at No. 47 on the Hot 100 chart in January 1984 and reached No. 1 just six weeks later, an unusually quick ascent for the time, holding at the top spot for five weeks.

Marcello spoke about Eddie's influence during an appearance on the Van Halen tribute episode of "80's Glam Metalcast". He said (hear audio below): "[Eddie] introduced keyboards into metal, which was almost not allowed at the time. I remember I saw 'Monsters Of Rock' in Stockholm. It was VAN HALEN, AC/DC and MÖTLEY CRÜE. And when they played 'Jump' from '1984', Eddie played the synth solo — he actually made the choice to play the synth solo, not the guitar solo — and the people were actually booing. That's how sensitive keyboards were in hard rock back in the days. And they totally changed that. Now it's really hard to imagine hard rock bands of that style without keyboards… I would go as far as to say that without 'Jump', there wouldn't have been [EUROPE's smash hit] 'The Final Countdown' — I don't think so. I mean, people didn't experiment with keyboards that way. Actually, when people used keyboards, they used to hide the keyboard player behind a blanket on stage sometimes. It was crazy. It was like if you were using keyboards, you had to be ashamed of it in in some way. But he totally changed that."

Earlier this year, Sammy Hagar shot down the widespread belief that he was responsible for the increased reliance on keyboards during his time with VAN HALEN.

Even though Hagar's years with VAN HALEN were the band's most successful in terms of chart success, MTV exposure and Grammy Awards, the group's music became a little more commercial while still maintaining that classic VAN HALEN sound thanks to Eddie Van Halen's guitar work and the blazing Michael Anthony/Alex Van Halen rhythm section.

During an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", Hagar and Anthony both denied that Sammy was to blame for VAN HALEN pursuing a more keyboard-heavy sound that incorporated emerging pop trends at the expense of the rawer, more muscular sound that the band was previously known for.

"Finally I get my soapbox here," Hagar said. "Everyone blamed me for the freakin' keyboard playing on the 'Van Hagar' era, starting with [1986's] '5150'. On [1988's] 'OU812', we went very keyboard-oriented. I didn't do any of that. That's what Eddie did. Eddie wanted to do that. He liked playing keyboards, and he was freakin' good at it. He wrote these beautiful songs like 'When It's Love' and 'Why Can't This Be Love', it's such a cool lick…"

"One Ed really got into the keyboard thing, he [didn't] pick up his guitar for a long time, I remember," Anthony interjected. "He was just playing keyboards all the time."

"So it wasn't like I was sitting here saying, 'Hey, man. Let's do some more keyboards,'" Hagar continued. "I'm sitting here saying, 'What have you got, Ed?' And he goes, 'I've got this.' And I'm going, 'Wow, that's great. I could sing to it,' 'cause I could sing to any damn thing. So I'd start singing. Ed would go, 'Oh, man, this is so cool.' And, of course, Valerie [Bertinelli, Eddie's then-wife] would come in and validate it. When she heard 'Love Walks In', she just [said], 'Oh my God.' And Eddie's going, 'Oh, man. My wife's happy, so I'm happy.' And I'm going, 'Well, I'm happy.' And we had success and all that.

"I kind of always got blamed for the keyboard songs and it was not me whatsoever. I'm a damn guitar player. Every time I would pick up — like for 'Finish What Ya Started' or something like that — when I would instigate a song, it was a guitar song, 'cause I don't play keyboards. So it wasn't me. I just went along with what we had, and if it wouldn't have been good, I wouldn't have went along with it. I would have said, 'This sucks.' But it didn't.

"The part that's most impressive to me is what a good keyboard player Eddie Van Halen is. He's got a left hand on the freakin' keyboard that's as good as freakin' Bootsy Collins on the bass, man. He's funky with that left hand. Listen to 'When It's Love', man."

Hagar replaced David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — "5150", "OU812", "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" and "Balance" — all of which topped the U.S. chart. The highest-charting Roth-led VAN HALEN album was a No. 2, and it took until "1984" to achieve that. (2012's "A Different Kind Of Truth" also landed at No. 2.)

STITCHED UP HEART singer Alecia "Mixi" Demner spoke to Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio about her experience as a woman fronting a metal band.

"It's hard to explain where I stand on it, because I wouldn't know what it would be like to be a guy, but I do think that there's a lot of work that needs to be done in the rock community for females," she said (see video below). "There's a lot of growth that's happened. But just like everything in the world — there's a lot of growth, but still a lot of work that needs to be done."

She continued: "There's definitely more judgment, I feel like, for women. If it's a bunch of guys in the band, they go up, they play the show. There isn't so much critique and you don't have to prove yourself as much, I feel like, when you're male.

"The female vocal has a different sound than the male vocal, so over rock music, it can sometimes sound more poppy and sometimes deter the listener, but also there's people that like the female vocal over the male vocal, because the male is always gonna sound stronger and harder, because that's the voice that they have," Demner added. "But I do feel like being a woman, you do capture a little more attention. But that attention also comes with a lot more judgment and critique, I think, as well."

Mixi went on to say that she and her bandmates have been using the coronavirus downtime to get creative on new music.

"Merritt [Goodwin, guitar] has written seven instrumental tracks," she said. "I haven't tracked all the vocals on 'em all yet, because we've been so busy with the whole Twitch streaming stuff. I'm sure that a lot of lyrics are coming out somewhat… I sing from the present moment and what's happening, and I think a lot of the new music that's coming out is gonna have the elements of what we're all going through in it. So, I think there's just gonna be — in this, there's gonna be a lot of that. And then there's a couple of other things in the works with some other producers that we've been collaborating with, and some other artists as well. I love the whole collaboration aspect of things. I really like working with other singers, especially, on stuff. I think it adds another dynamic — especially a male vocal with a female vocal. I really like the contrast, personally. So, we're working on some collaborations and stuff, as well as just writing some new stuff, and getting started a little early for the next record."

STITCHED UP HEART's latest album, "Darkness", was released in March via Another Century. The LP was produced by FROM FIRST TO LAST singer/guitarist Matt Good (producer of ASKING ALEXANDRIA and HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD).

In a new interview with Ricky Aarons from Australia's Wall Of Sound, BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler spoke about how he has been spending his downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said: "This is the longest I have been home in fifty years. My dogs and cats are loving it — not so much my wife. Based here in Los Angeles, I have ventured out on some amazing road trips, mainly in Utah, my favorite state in the USA, but apart from that I've read [a lot] of books, watched a lot of TV, eaten too much, and dabbled with various new basses — mainly five-, six- and even seven-string basses."

As for what's next for the legendary musician, Butler said: "I'm currently putting together a book about growing up in Aston, Birmingham and how SABBATH came about… but I'm really enjoying semi-retirement and not having to do anything or be anywhere, especially after being away from home for most of the last fifty years."

Butler's three solo albums — "Plastic Planet" (1995), "Black Science" (1997), and "Ohmwork" (2005) — will be made available for the first time ever on vinyl, with both CD and LP using newly updated cover artwork, via BMG on October 30.

A founding member of BLACK SABBATH, Butler is also the lyricist of such SABBATH classics as "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "Paranoid" and others.

Butler, singer Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi reunited in late 2011 and released a comeback album, "13", in June 2013.

In February 2017, SABBATH finished "The End" tour in Birmingham, closing out the quartet's groundbreaking 49-year career.

"The End" was SABBATH's last tour because Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.

BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show With Daniel P. Carter" recently brought together Corey Taylor from SLIPKNOT and Caleb Shomo from BEARTOOTH to share their experiences as frontmen. Speaking about what it is like to tour with "dick headliners," Corey said: "It's the worst. Sticking clocks in your face. That's why Clown [SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn Crahan] breaks 'em — just because of that. When we were first starting out" — apparently referring to the 1999 U.S. tour with COAL CHAMBER and MACHINE HEAD — "they would stick clocks right in the front of our stage, even though three-fourths of the crowd was there to see us. They were sticking that clock in our face, basically letting us know, 'You're not the top of the heap yet.' And, honestly, that's why we started headlining. We were forced into that. For real. We were just, like, 'Really? All right. Let's see.' And then all of those bands opened for us."

Asked what inspires him to keep performing with the same kind of passion and fervor as he had in SLIPKNOT's early days, Taylor said: "I get positive competition and negative competition from a lot of the acts that are out there. Especially when we're on tour with great bands. When we were on tour with you guys" — referring to BEARTOOTH — "watching you guys got me stoked to play. So, for me, that inspiration comes from friends, it comes from enemies, it comes from everybody. And there's no limit to that. To have that after this many years feels good. It makes me feel like I'm still doing it for the right reasons."

SLIPKNOT is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "We Are Not Your Kind", which came out in August. The disc sold 118,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In a brand new interview with "Offstage With DWP", GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke about how he has been spending his coronavirus downtime. He said: "I haven't done any [shows] since last November when we ended the 'When Legends Rise' record cycle. But for me, life really hasn't changed much, because in order to write music, you have to kind of isolate for that anyways. You don't really write music in the middle of a nightclub or with a house full of people — most of the time. You're just kind of isolating and doing your own thing and working out melodies and lyrics and riffs and whatever. So we were just at that stage anyways, coming off of an album cycle, to have to go in and start writing again. And then COVID hit, and the world has been spinning upside down for a little while. But it's been kind of life fairly as normal for me, just working on new material and stuff like that.

"I don't really even think we're gonna do anything next year, because I think it's still gonna be a big mystery on how tours are gonna go, how concerts are gonna go, how promoters are gonna treat artists, how insurance companies are gonna treat venues," he continued. "I think it's still a bit of a mystery to figure out, so I think we're gonna kick back and watch everyone else kind of scramble and figure it out and see how it works out and probably dip our toe back in in the beginning of '22."

Last month, Erna told the "Appetite For Distortion" podcast that GODSMACK will "try to maybe even do two albums next year" — an acoustic EP as well as a "full-length rock record."

Last year, GODSMACK landed three No. 1 singles from 2018's "When Legends Rise" album. The group's latest track, "Under Your Scars", topped the rock radio chart in July 2019, joining previous chart-toppers "Bulletproof" and the title cut. "Bulletproof" was also the most-played song at rock radio in 2018.

This past June, GODSMACK's music publishing catalog and master royalty stream was acquired by Primary Wave Music Publishing. The deal includes the Grammy nominee's publishing and master income stream for its compositions and masters across its entire career to date. Titles include their debut album "Godsmack", "When Legends Rise", "Awake" and "1000hp", as well as their Billboard No. 1 albums "The Oracle", "IV" and "Faceless", which features the Grammy-nominated single "I Stand Alone". Erna, who formed GODSMACK in 1995, wrote the single, which shot to No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart upon release. It went on to sell over a half million copies, helping "Faceless" to quickly go platinum. Also included in the deal are EPs and compilations, including "The Other Side" and "Good Times, Bad Times".

In a new interview with Australia's Music Feeds, Chino Moreno was asked if the challenge of finding new ways to present the new DEFTONES album, "Ohms", has been "oddly refreshing" for him and his bandmates because of the current climate. He responded: "I don't know if refreshing would be the best word, but it is a different experience, that's for sure. The whole thing with us, when we're making records, is that we're always trying to find different angles or ways of approaching what we do. We're never looking to completely reinvent ourselves, but at the same time, we are always looking to expand on what we've done before, both musically and in the way that we approach it. The thing that we did a little differently on this record is we took a bit of a different approach to the guitars. We wanted to record this one pretty much live as a band. We didn't record to a click track or anything. It's just us, much like we were when we were younger, playing together in a garage without all this technical stuff — basically just us playing off of each other and trying to feed off the energy in the room. I think that really helped capture that exciting vibe for us, made it feel like it used to when we were kids."

Asked how "Ohms" compares to DEFTONES' previous album, 2016's "Gore", Moreno said: "The vibe in the band is a lot different from what went on with 'Gore', and that was our goal when we set out to make this record. We learned a lot when we were making that record. It was a little bit fragmented due to some reasons. This time we really wanted to get back to pulling that organic energy from all five guys in the band, firing on all pistons. That's not something that you can just turn on either; it has to happen organically.

"We've been friends for so long and been through so much stuff, so we took our time to cultivate that energy, whereas on 'Gore', we went in for these writing sessions and just tried to bash out songs, and the first songs that we made got kept, and that was the record. On this one, we stretched it out over a year and a half, so we wrote, then we'd step back and reflect on what we'd done, and then work on it some more. We really let the songs and the record grow without the weight or pressure of having to have it done at a certain time. I really feel that contributed positively to the way that 'Ohms' sounds."

"Ohms" will arrive on September 25 via Warner. The disc was recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles, California and Trainwreck Studios in Woodinville, Washington and boasts a familiar collaborator in veteran producer and engineer Terry Date, who worked on 1995's "Adrenaline", 1997's "Around The Fur" and 2000's "White Pony".

DEFTONES includes Moreno, Frank Delgado, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham and Sergio Vega.

DEVILDRIVER's recent co-headlining tour with STATIC-X saw the Dez Fafara-fronted outfit performing material from COAL CHAMBER, the band that put him on the musical map and gave him his first and only gold-certified album in the shape of the group's 1997 debut.

COAL CHAMBER existed for ten years before disbanding in 2003 to pursue other musical projects. They reunited in 2011 for touring purposes but it wasn't until 2014 that the band began work on a new studio album of original material, 2015's critically acclaimed "Rivals". Several months of touring activity followed before Dez returned to DEVILDRIVER to make a new record, 2016's "Trust No One".

Speaking to KCAL 96.7's "Wired In The Empire" radio show about his decision to perform COAL CHAMBER songs with DEVILDRIVER, Dez said (hear audio below): "[On this first tour, we're playing] 'Loco' and 'Fiend', and on the next tour, you're gonna hear a few more. I've kept those things separate for so many years, man. It's just time for me to embrace everything that I've done."

He continued: "COAL CHAMBER's not coming back. It is what it is. And I'm not gonna wait another 15-20 years to sing the songs that gave me gold records and allowed me a career. And I say it every night, 'Look, this song gave me gold records on my walls and you people out here gave me a career. Thank you for both of them. Let's get loco.'"

According to Fafara, the COAL CHAMBER songs are elevated far beyond their original form when they are performed by his current bandmates.

"When you hear 'em done by DEVILDRIVER, it's a whole new world," he said. "Two guitars and double kick — it's incredible."

Fafara painted a bleak picture of COAL CHAMBER's future during a 2016 interview with Revolver magazine. He stated at the time: "I had a lot of fun doing that record and playing shows with them again. But there were some circumstances that were not ideal and that's why that thing is not continuing as of right now. If something comes up and I have time and want to make a record and the members have their shit together, I'll do it. But as of now, there's some deep-seated shit that certain dudes in the band still need to work out. And if they work it out and want to tour or make another record, they can come back and give me a call. But right now, everyone in DEVILDRIVER is stoked. No one's fighting. And I feel lucky to be where I am."

Dez had stated in previous interviews that COAL CHAMBER's original split happened because "I did not want to be around the band's hard drug use and I realized that going onstage every night that the money was feeding their habit, so I walked to save my friends." He added that his COAL CHAMBER bandmates were "clean" as of 2012, which made him realize that "it was the right thing to walk [away from the group back in 2003]."

ESCAPE THE FATE has released the new song "Invincible" to herald the start of the pre-order campaign for the band's upcoming album, "Chemical Warfare". The new single features critically acclaimed fan-favorite American violinist, songwriter, and dancer Lindsey Stirling.

"Invincible" will appear on the soundtrack to "The Retaliators", a high-octane horror/thriller due out in 2021. Vocalist Craig Mabbit also makes an appearance as an undercover cop in the film alongside some of rock's biggest names, including the members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, Jacoby Shaddix of PAPA ROACH and Tommy Lee, among others.

With the addition of Sterling's expert musicianship which is brought to the forefront at the end of the song, ESCAPE THE FATE was able to create a softer touch to a high-intensity track. Ortiz speaks about having Stirling on the song: "She is an angel – she has so much light in her. But the primary reason I wanted to work with her… strictly speaking musically, she is gnarly — her music is epic." Lindsey is a multi-faceted artist who has billions of views on her popular YouTube channel.

Stirling said: "I loved working with the guys! I originally started out by playing with rock bands, so this took me back to some fond memories from my past times. As I've learned more about their stories as individuals and as a band, it's cool that they truly represent fighting through darkness to find and chose light."

"Invincible", is the perfect word to use in describing ESCAPE THE FATE, which has survived personnel changes and the cancelation of tours due to the pandemic. The band has been consistently releasing new music for well over a decade to its audience of over four million dedicated social media followers.

On November 20, ESCAPE THE FATE will do a streaming concert, live worldwide, performing their greatest hits and songs from their forthcoming album. Tickets can be purchased on www.escapethefate.com now.

ESCAPE THE FATE is a three-word phrase synonymous with heavy rock 'n' roll and hooks, post-hardcore with weight, and unrelenting genre-redefining anthems built for diverse audiences. Over a decade into their young career, they have proven to move crowds equally at major rock radio festivals, the legendary Vans Warped Tour, or on the road with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. Craig Mabbitt, Kevin Thrasher, TJ Bell and Robert Ortiz have each been making music, and on the road, before they were old enough to drive. It's what has made the band's message transcend any sense of "difference" in genre, all around the world, touring with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GODSMACK, PAPA ROACH, I PREVAIL, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, HELLYEAH, ALL THAT REMAINS, and on multiple Vans Warped Tours.

With "Invincible" and "Chemical Warfare", ESCAPE THE FATE has created some of its best music to date. Made together with A-list producer John Feldmann (5 SECONDS OF SUMMER, THE USED), "Chemical Warfare" delivers an arsenal of driving bangers and melodic ballads that are among the best of the hard rock world. It's still about a good time, but with a deeper meaning. Each member of the band has grown as a musician over the years, from Craig's powerful vocals to Kevin "Thrasher" Gruft's production prowess,

"Invincible" as a song points to all of that and sends the message to the listener to stand up, move forward, and keep going. The new single follows the release of "Walk On", which was featured in the recently released "Sno Babies", made available via Better Noise Films.

Fans of classic hard rock will be delighted to hear that Voodoo Circle, the band lead by guitar wizard Alex Beyrodt, is rejoined by vocalist David Readman and drummer Markus Kullmann. Beside Alex and bassist/songwriter Mat Sinner (who is a constant in the band since day one), David and Markus returning to Voodoo Circle now sees the original lineup back together again!

The group has already finished work on the successor to 2018’s Raised On Rock. The new album, titled Locked & Loaded, will be released on January 15 via AFM Records. Once again, Voodoo Circle were able to secure the services of Jacob Hansen for mix and mastering. "Devil With An Angel Smile", the first single off Locked & Loaded, is expected to arrive on October 30.

David Readman comments: "After 5 long years, and always watching the guys from a distance, it feels great to be back and a part of the circle again! We got my favourite lineup, a new album that I'm very proud to be a part of. Looking forward to getting back out there on the road! See you soon!"

Also band leader Beyrodt is more than happy about the return of Readman and Kullmann: "It all fell into place the way it was supposed to be. The chemistry was there again right away and I can’t hide the big grin on my face."

Voodoo Circle lineup:

Alex Beyrodt - guitar
David Readmann - vocals
Mat Sinner - bass
Markus Kullmann - drums




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At the beginning of July, BraveWords confirmed that Norwegian doom / goth metal pioneers Theatre Of Tragedy, who called it quits in 2010 and played their final show on October 2nd of that year, are gearing up to release a special 25th anniversary vinyl edition of the band's self-titled debut through Cosmic Key Creations. Pre-order kicked of last Friday here.

Details are below.

"Cosmic Key Creations proudly presents the 25th anniversary deluxe double LP edition for the classic and cult debut album from gothic doom pioneers Theatre of Tragedy! This one comes on 180 gram vinyl in a deluxe gatefold, printed on the reverse side of the jacket, enriched with champagne gold hotfoil stamping and black flood inside. Additionally, this release comes with an 8 panel booklet on LP size and printed on raw recycled paper stock, containing exclusive liner notes by Dan Swanö and others, previously unpublished pictures, a recent and extensive interview with the band, plus the lyrics and artwork of the 'Demo 1994' and 'Promo Tape 1994' cassettes. The release comes with 8 (!) bonus tracks of which 4 tracks are completely unreleased! The ultimate edition for a very special and unique album that has stood the test of time. The entire release is mastered for vinyl by Andy Horn in 2012 and the D side is mastered for vinyl by Freek De Greef in 2020."

Check out the Cosmic Key Creations facebook page here.

Tracklist (original release)

"A Hamlet For A Slothful Vassal"
"Cheerful Dirge"
"To These Words I Beheld No Tongue"
"Hollow-Heartèd, Heart-Departèd"
"...A Distance There Is..."
"Sweet Art Thou"
"Mïre"
"Dying - I Only Feel Apathy"
"Monotonë"

Line-up:

Raymond I. Rohonyi - vocals, lyrics
Liv Kristine - vocals
Pål Bjåstad - guitar
Tommy Lindal - guitar
Eirik T. Saltrø - bass guitar
Lorentz Aspen - keyboards
Hein Frode Hansen - drums

The album was engineered  by Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, Nightingale) at Unisound Studios.




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Vocalist Liv Kristine (ex-Leaves' Eyes, ex-Theatre of Tragedy) recently revealed that her forthcoming EP, which is currently in the works, will feature four brand new songs written with Theatre Of Tragedy bandmate Tommy Olsson, and five live tracks from her 2019 performance in Nagold, Germany. She has now confirmed it will be released in April 2021 and the tracklist is as follows:

"Serenity" 
"Have Courage Dear Heart" 
"Skylight" 
"Gravity" 
"Skylight Cathedral"  
"Panic" (live Nagold 2019)
"Siren" (live Nagold 2019)
"Skylight" (live Nagold 2019)
"Gravity" (live Nagold 2019)
"Ave Maria" (live Nagold 2019) 

On April 15th, 2016, fans of Leaves’ Eyes were shocked to learn the band had parted ways with vocalist and namesake Liv Kristine Espenæs. In the same breath, the band announced that Finnish singer Elina Siirala of the band EnkElination would take Liv’s place. Given that Leaves’ Eyes had centered around Liv Kristine and her husband / Atrocity frontman Alexander Krull since the band’s inception in 2003 – in the wake of Liv being fired from Theater of Tragedy – it was clear the issues leading to the split were personal as well as professional. It would take some time for the dust to settle, as both sides shared different accounts of what led to the split, but Leaves’ Eyes forged onward with Siirala up front and a significant wave of fan discontent on their tails. For her part, Liv gradually went quiet, making guest appearances on Cradle Of Filth’s “Vengeful Spirit”, Orden Ogan’s “Come With Me To The Other Side” in 2017, and Midnattsol’s album The Aftermath in 2018, but otherwise stayed away from putting out new music. In December 2019, however, she released a new solo single, “Skylight”, which was reminiscent of her Vervain solo record from 2014 and Theatre of Tragedy’s classic third album, Aegis.

“After a few ups and down – a few roller-coaster rides to put it mildly, since I moved to Germany 20 years ago – I decided to start all anew,” Liv says of her comeback. “I practically left everything, cleared all relationships, situations, or ended them. In 2019, I felt the spirit again to continue working on my own music. It was Tommy Olsson (guitarist / ex-Theatre of Tragedy) who reached out in 2016 with a handful of songs that really blew me away. He’s been very patient and supportive throughout my journey, and I have the best composer by my side. I just want to do the music which I love, which I am fully in alignment with. My upcoming solo album is a collaboration with Tommy. It’s in the veins of Vervain, but not at all like it. It is inspired by Tommy’s masterpiece, Aegis.”

Liv has always been a live performer and she makes it clear she will continue to do so as things get back on track. This begs the question as to whether any Leaves’ Eyes material will make it into her set. It’s a painful subject to be sure, but she left behind a legacy of six studio albums that would not exist without her vision.

“My setlist consists of two thirds solo songs, one third Theatre of Tragedy songs,” Liv reveals. “I could play Leaves’ Eyes songs since the band carries my name, but it feels strange, like a loss, which I feel really sorry about. I was thrown out of my own band, period, and that is just not right, especially because I never received any compensation, nor did anybody ask me about name rights. I wish the remaining two members would change the band’s name and do their own thing. None of them ever created a concept and wrote lyrics based on their personal history and birthplace, passion for Norway, and Norse writings. That part was mine, and it was passion, heritage and so much of me in there. The latest brilliant idea the band’s manager had was sending my family a bill of thousands of euros for Christmas. Well, I wish them good luck. Karma is great, by the way. What you give is what will return to you. But, I can’t tell you how endlessly happy I am with what I have today. Everything was and is meant to be.”

Read the complete story here.




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