Sabbath's Iommi To Undergo Major Surgery

"The cartilage has gone from the thumb in my fingering hand. It's been like that for a year, to be honest. I've been taking anti-inflammatories and all sorts of stuff to try and calm it down. But it's inevitable I have to have the operation - the bone is rubbing on the bone." - more on this story

Pearl Jam Documentary Now Online

PR reports: MySpace Music is exclusively debuting a 10-minute documentary on the making of Pearl Jam's new record, "Backspacer," out September 20.

The "Backspacer Short" was directed by famed photographer/videographer Danny Clinch and produced by Three on the Tree, who beautifully captures the energy behind the creation of this album.

The video uncovers two new songs through live performance cuts as well as the band's current single, "The Fixer," which MySpace Music premiered on July 20. - watch it here

KISS Set Exclusive 3-Disc Set

PR reports: KISS and Walmart announced today that Sonic Boom--the band's [overused cliche removed] CD, and its first new material in 11 years--will be sold in the U.S. and Canada exclusively at Walmart, Walmart.com and Sam's Club retail locations beginning October 6.

SONIC BOOM, produced by the band's Paul Stanley in Los Angeles, is the centerpiece of a three-disc set that also features a completely re-recorded greatest hits CD as well as a live DVD shot in Argentina during the band's recent, record-breaking KISS ALIVE 35 South American tour. The set will retail for $12, with pre-orders starting in September on Walmart.com.

KISS' Gene Simmons says, "SONIC BOOM may be the best new record we've done since Destroyer! It is Rock And Roll Over meets Love Gun. [Doesn't that second sentence contradict the first? -ed] The world's biggest retailer had better get ready for the hottest band in the world and hire more cashiers before October 6th!" - more on this story

Radiohead Release Free New Song Online

Billboard reports: Radiohead offered a new song for free download Monday, "These Are My Twisted Words," which is available from the band's official Web site.

"We've been recording for a while, and this was one of the first we finished. We're pretty proud of it," multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood writes on the site. "There's other stuff in various states of completion, but this is one we've been practicing, and which we'll probably play at this summer's concerts. Hope you like it."

There was, however, no full EP on offer, contrary to speculation online about such a release after "These Are My Twisted Words" was leaked to fan site At Ease's message board last week and then appeared on YouTube. - more on this story

Placebo Singer Collapses On Stage, Band Cancels Tour

NME reports: Placebo have announced the cancellation of their entire North American tour [after their singer collapsed on stage at a recent music festival].

The band were set to kick off the US leg of the jaunt on September 12 in Portland, but have been forced to postpone all of the gigs so that singer Brian Molko can recover from a virus he contracted while touring in Asia.

Molko recently collapsed on stage at the Summer Sonic Festival in Osaka, Japan, as as previously reported. He is now home in London recovering, and has been ordered by his doctor to rest for six weeks. - more on this story

Uncovered Beatles Footage To Air

BBC reports: A documentary featuring previously unheard conversation between the four members of The Beatles will debut on BBC Two next month.

The programme is the centrepiece of BBC Two and BBC Four's Beatles Week, which runs from 5 September.

The Beatles on Record focuses on a history of The Beatles in the studio. Other programmes include The Beatles: The First US Visit and Storyville: How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin, about the band's impact in the former USSR. - more on this story

Judge Gives Mixed Ruling In Slash Lawsuit

contracostatimes.com reports: Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash and his wife had mixed results in court Monday in their bid to recover more than $500,000 they say they lost in a transaction involving a Hollywood Hills home.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana said he is leaning toward allowing a jury to decide whether Slash -- whose real name is Saul Hudson -- and his wife Perla deserve punitive damages from real estate agent Gregory Holcomb and Sotheby's International Realty.

However, the judge said he wanted to consider the matter further before making a final decision. On a second issue, Recana said the couple's lawyers cannot begin collecting information on the defendants' financial worth unless a jury finds they acted with malice, oppression or fraud. - more on this story

Led Zeppelin Ironically Top Rolling Stone List

antiMusic reports: What's a magazine to do when their original review of a new group wrote them off as unoriginal with unimaginative songs and despite said magazine's slagging of said group, the group goes on to be one of the most successful bands in rock history? Ask Rolling Stone and Led Zeppelin. Apparently the current generation of RS readers don't agree with the mag's past low opinion of the mighty Zeppelin.

In 1969 Rolling Stone wrote of Zeppelin's debut: "Unfortunately, [Jimmy Page] is also a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs, and the Zeppelin album suffers from his having both produced it and written most of it (alone or in combination with his accomplices in the group)... In their willingness to waste their considerable talent on unworthy material the Zeppelin has produced an album which is sadly reminiscent of Truth. " He goes on to say that if they are to help fill the void created by the demise of Cream, they will need better music and a better producer. Good thing Zep [didn't] take that advise!

Nobody is perfect and reviews are the definition of subjective and a critic can make the wrong call but sadly this review really set the tone of the mag's coverage of Led Zeppelin in the years that followed. But here we are forty years later and they have this to say (which may or may not be taken as another slagging where they praise everyone else even though those perky readers picked Led Zeppelin): "Last week, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock and a landmark year in rock history, we asked for readers' favorite LPs from 1969. We had our money on the Beatles' Abbey Road, but in the end Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II nabbed the most votes, finishing atop a masterpiece-filled list that includes legendary albums by the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and Captain Beefheart. "

- Check out the full list of the reader-selected best albums from 1969

Religious Group Blocks Alice Cooper Concert

yle.fi reports: Veteran American singer Alice Cooper's concert scheduled for Tampere [Finland] in December has been shifted to Espoo because of concerns over his shock-rock image.

Tampere Arena, which was to have hosted the December 11 show, cancelled it because a perceived conflict with the venue's "Christian-based policies".

"The [Lutheran-based charismatic revivalist] group Nokia Mission and others use Tampere Arena for their events, so the venue's management did not want Alice Cooper appearing in the same hall. The contract which we received from Tampere Arena specifies that no artists may perform there who 'incite evil and the power of darkness'," promoter Kalle Keskinen told YLE. [Ironically, Cooper is a born again Christian. Then again, Lutherans are not dispensationalists like most American born again sects] - more on this story

New Flyleaf in Rocktober

PR reports: A&M/Octone recording group Flyleaf has announced the October 27th release of Memento Mori, the follow-up to the band's hit 2005 self-titled debut. The album makes its introduction with the debut single "Again," set to impact at multiple formats nationwide on August 25th.

To record Memento Mori, the Belton, Texas-based quintet again teamed with producer Howard Benson, who- in addition to Flyleaf's debut - is known for his work with Papa Roach, My Chemical Romance and The All-American Rejects.

A compelling blend of powerful guitars and soaring melodies, MEMENTO MORI is highlighted by the stirring, melodic "Arise," the thunderous, riff-fueled "Beautiful Bride," the high-flying "Missing," and the dynamic, urgent "Set Apart this Dream." Though song contributions come from every member of the band, MEMENTO MORI features a lyrical theme that started out as a kind of urgent and hopeful personal message from Flyleaf vocalist Lacey to her teenaged sister. "I feel like the new songs began as a kind of open letter to my little sister, saying, 'Please don't make the mistakes that I have made,'" explains the thoughtful and reflective Lacey. "When I'm on stage and look out into the crowd, I see my sister in so many faces. With the title MEMENTO MORI we took that feeling a step further so that it now encompasses meaning for the rest of the band as well; essentially to make the most of the time we've all been given. MEMENTO MORI is universal. - more on this story

Trail of Dead Across America

PR reports: …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead announce a North American headlining tour and tap fellow Texans The Secret Machines to join them on the road as main support for the first half, kicking off September 12th at the Warehouse in Houston, TX.

Joining the band as main support on the second leg of the US trek will be UK up-and-comers Future of the Left. During this two month coast to coast tour …Trail of Dead will play at renowned venues including the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, Webster Hall in New York City, Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH, and Neumos in Seattle, WA among others before coming to a close at the Conservatory in Oklahoma City, OK on October 23rd. In addition, the band will perform at the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival in their hometown of Austin, TX on October 3rd.

2009 has already proven to be a very successful year for …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead who most recently performed to packed crowds at All Points West in Liberty State Park, NJ on August 1st and at the internationally acclaimed Roskilde Festival in Denmark on July 4th. The band released their sixth-full length album The Century of Self on their Richter Scale Records imprint via Justice Records this past February. Fader proclaimed the album as "something so well-crafted that it seems like it's existed for a thousand years" and The Associated Press raved "…a complete album in the purest sense…." After touring the US in support of the album's release in early 2009, the band ended the trek with a series of high profile and much talked about shows on their home turf in Austin, TX at the annual SXSW Music Conference in March. Directly following this incredible run Stateside, …Trail of Dead headed abroad to amaze crowds across Europe, Asia and Australia. - more on this story

$10 No Fee Tickets Extended

Live Nation reports: Live Nation dropped prices lower than ever last week on amphitheater tickets across the country and fans responded by buying tickets in record numbers. So for the second week in a row, Live Nation's No Service Fee Wednesday promotion will continue to offer the deepest discounts of the summer bringing fans $10 All-In lawn tickets and $15 reserved seats with absolutely no service fees.

It's fans' final chance to get in to see a concert by some of the world's biggest performers for a price that can't be beat. For 24 hours only, on August 19th at 12:01 a.m., live music fans can purchase tickets with absolutely no fees, saving up to 60% on summer concert tickets for artists such as Creed, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode and Lil' Wayne. - more on this story

Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, OTEP, and 2 Cents Announce More Shock and Raw

PR reports: After an incredible on-sale weekend for the first leg of the Shock And Raw tour, Five Finger Death Punch proudly announce the second leg today.

Shadows Fall, OTEP, and 2 Cents join the bill to make this one of the biggest heavy metal events this autumn. Tickets for the second leg go on sale this weekend, August 21st- 23rd.

After the US dates, Death Punch will embark on a UK & European tour with Shadows Fall in November to support the worldwide release of the album, War Is The Answer, out September 22. - more on this story

Singled Out: Candiria

antiMusic reports: Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today John Lamacchia, guitarist for Candiria tells us about "Conjuring Spirits" from their album "Toying With The Insanities Volume I". We now turn it over to for John the story:

The track "Conjuring Spirits," on Toying With The Insanities Volume I, was performed by Ghosts Of The Canal which is a Candiria Side project featuring myself on guitar, Michael MacIvor on bass, Kenneth Schalk on keys, rhodes and percussion with guest, Troy Young on drums.

The track was fully improvised and recorded and mixed on the fly by recording engineer Michael Barile. When Ghosts Of The Canal records, we go into it with no preconceived idea of what we will be playing. We just go for it and let the magic happen. For the most part, these recordings have been extremely successful with a few exceptions.

I feel "Conjuring Spirits" is one of the most successful pieces we have ever recorded. There is an energy in the track that we captured, it's a very somber feel at first, but it's a beautiful vibe. When I go into the first solo I just felt at home with the key (E minor) we were playing in, and the guitar sort of just came alive. Later on in the track there is this Santana feel to it, like a 70's rock fusion vibe that all the Candiria members grew up really digging on. Michael Barile was having a lot of fun with this track using delays and reverbs to enhance the mood quite a bit. I really can go on about this track all day because I can honestly say that I think this song is a great representation of the style of music that I really enjoy playing and listening to. I feel the song is a great addition to the Toying With The Insanities releases and I look forward to hear what folks think about it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album - right here!

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