Black Sabbath Reunion Delay- Limp Bizkit Walking Away- U2 Musical- My Chemical Romance Finish New Album- Alter Bridge in Sept- Pink Floyd- Megadeth- more

On this date in 1966, at a press conference held at The Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago, John Lennon apologized for his remarks that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Lennon told reporters, "Look, I wasn't saying The Beatles are better than God or Jesus, I said 'Beatles' because it's easy for me to talk about The Beatles. I could have said 'TV' or 'Cinema,' 'Motorcars' or anything popular and would have got away with it…" Find out what else happened on this date in music history here -

Drunken Pennywise Assault Fellow Warped Band?

Alesana claim that Pennywise allegedly got drunk and attacked their tour manager and trashed their tour bus on Sunday night in Denver. "Just to clear the air of any rumors...Upon returning to our bus after a night out with friends, both our band and our tour manager were attacked blindly by two very drunk members of Pennywise," Alesana's Shawn Milke told Alternative Press.

"Alesana is a non-violent band and always has been. We do not encourage or willingly participate in any violent activities.," he continues. "The two guys entered our bus and, without any instigating on our part, began punching us and trashing our bus.

"We are eternally sorry that this event took place and had it not been for the Denver police showing up and restraining our assailants, the night could have been tragic. Luckily, no one in our camp was injured."

Altpress tracked down Pennywise for their side of the story - here

Iron Maiden Deny Retirement Rumors

Steve Harris has set the record straight on Iron Maiden's future plans. Rock Radio reports that their fifteenth studio album, The Final Frontier, is not set to be their last studio release, the band have confirmed.

Speculation has been rife since they announced the record's title earlier this year – especially given mainman Steve Harris' frequent comments in previous years that they'd make 15 albums then stop.

"It's true that I've always said I wanted to do 15 studio albums. Well, I haven't always said that – I started saying it after the fourth or fifth album, but I didn't expect to do more than three when we first started.," Harris tells Metal Hammer. "There's probably a bit of mischief in the name, particularly on Bruce Dickinson's part. People are going to think it's either the last album or that we're Trekkies, or both. It's not like that really."
- Bruce speaks up about his mischief here

Avenged Sevenfold Explain Nightmare and Remember The Rev

Metalunderground recently spoke with Avenged Sevenfold's Johnny Christ about the death of James "The Rev" Sullivan, the theme of their new album, Nightmare, and other topics. Here are a couple excerpts:

Metalunderground: What does the new album "Nightmare" deal with and what can fans expect to hear this time around? This was written 100% with Jimmy. We started about a year ago and took about nine months to write. We were about a week away before his death and when he passed it kind of took the record to a darker place than it already was. It's definitely a heavier album than the previous ones. We had already planned on that, but obviously all of us are trying to make this more of a tribute to Jimmy. There are a lot of people out there who have lost somebody and we want to let them know they aren't alone. We wanted to pay a tribute to his legacy.

Metalunderground: The deaths in the music world recently have hit particularly close to home for Avenged Sevenfold with the passing of James "The Rev" Sullivan. How is the band doing after that loss? He's my brother. Jimmy's passing was a devastation to the rock world and even more so to us because we grew up together. His passing was more devastating to us as people than it was to us as a band. That guy was always there and the first one to get us together to hang out. Having him not here still doesn't feel real.

- Read the full interview here

Free Ozzy App

Ozzy Osbourne has joined the iApp world with a brand new FREE app that is simply called Ozzy and is available now at the iTunes app store. Here is the announcement with some details:

Users can experience music from Ozzy's 30-year solo career with access to a full discography featuring direct links to his iTunes page for a one-stop link to purchase any song or album from his catalog.

In addition, once downloaded, users can view music videos and photo galleries, access Ozzy's current concert dates and buy tickets for upcoming shows, or can instantly post comments and photos from shows they've just attended. - more on this story

Slipknot's Jordison Better Than Mike Portnoy, Neil Peart, Travis Barker and Nicko McBrain

Rock Radio has good news for maggots: Slipknot and Rob Zombie drummer Joey Jordison has been voted the best drummer of the past 25 years in a poll which received over 100,000 votes.

Drumming magazine Rhythm ran the popularity contest, which also features Mike Portnoy, Neil Peart, Dave Grohl, Travis Barker and Nicko McBrain in the top ten.

Rhythm says of Jordison: "Lightning fast yet supremely technical, Joey has proved himself equally adept outside Slipknot, having worked with Korn, Zombie, Murderdolls and more, as well as stepping in to save the day when depping for Metallica's Lars Ulrich at Download 2004. - more on this story

The Allman Brothers Ready To Rock Again

(Gibson.com) The Allman Brothers Band have announced they will stage three shows at Boston's Orpheum Theatre in November, as part of "an East Coast intimate theater tour of 'Evening With' shows." The performances, which will take place Nov. 18-20, are the first of several select shows the band is expected to announce soon.

Gregg Allman, who underwent a liver transplant on June 23, issued an accompanying statement, saying: "I'm ready. I've been itching to play since I got the operation and am glad to be back. Can't thank everyone enough for their help and support."

Speaking to Billboard.com, guitarist Warren Haynes indicated he's cautiously optimistic about The Allman Brothers Band's long-term future. "I know [Allman] personally feels like he's got a new lease on life. He's healing up and feeling better. Depending on the day you talk to him, he's already talking about getting back on the road. I think he has a lot of things that he wants to pursue himself, with his own band and projects and stuff. And even before this situation, the band was looking forward to winding down the schedule a little bit. So we'll see." - more on this story

Ratt, Love/Hate and Black N Blue Stars Form The HardRock AllStars

What else would you call a new supergroup comprised of members of 80s hard rock groups but The HardRock AllStars? Here is the official 411:

Jaime St. James (Black N Blue), Juan Croucier (Ex-Ratt), Jon E. Love (Love/Hate) and Pete Holmes (Black N Blue) unite to form a new Super Group called The HardRock AllStars.

The band plays a refreshing mix of hard rock, pop and metal from the 70's and 80's. They have paid meticulous attention to the detail of the songs, and have a "take no prisoners" attitude to their live performances. "We have taken our time in selecting classic hard rock songs that have not been over played by other bands and also mixed in some of the biggest hits from our personal bands; current and past. This is an authentic line up of seasoned veterans, the kind of band that you would have seen in the early 80's playing the Hollywood clubs of the day and we perform on stage like everything depends on it," Croucier says. - more on this story

The Gaslight Anthem Expand Fall Tour

The Gaslight Anthem have mapped out more tour dates on their Fall North American headline tour.

The tour features support from Fake Problems as well as The Menzingers, Rival Schools and Bridge and Tunnel on select dates

The tour kicks off September 4 in Lincoln, NE, and will continue through the first half of October, including a headline appearance in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on September 30, before culminating with The Gaslight Anthem's October 9 appearance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas. - more on this story

Johnny Marr Scores TV Theme

(Gibson.com) Johnny Marr has written the theme tune for a new Channel 4 sitcom. BBC News reports that The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret will star David Cross as an American office temp who talks his way into a senior position in the company.

Marr's theme tune, "Life is Sweet," comes on the back of his soundtrack work on the blockbuster movie Inception at the invitation of composer Hans Zimmer. Zimmer told MTV News: "What happened was I kept writing this tune, and I kept hearing Johnny Marr play it. Finally, I said to Chris [Nolan], 'What do you think of this idea? I'm like channeling Johnny Marr by now.' And he said it was a great idea."

The guitarist has also composed the incidental music for the six-episode comedy series, which will debut in the U.K. on October 1. - more on this story

Singled Out: Eldebrock's Release Me

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Jay Wegenast from Eldebrock tells us about "Release Me" the first single from their forthcoming self-titled album. We now turn it over to Jay for the story:

We were in the process of recording a song called "Bad Decisions," but it just wasn't sounding right, so we left it for the day and moved on. It was bugging me and I knew it wasn't going to come out how we wanted it to. I went to bed that night thinking of different melodies when one stuck in my head. I didn't want to forget it, so I got up and played it on guitar over and over. I wanted to record it, but didn't have anything to record it with. So I got out my cell phone and recorded it using the "voice memo" tool and went to bed.

The next morning, I wrote some lyrics and came up with some chords on the acoustic. I took the song to the studio and played an acoustic version for everyone. That was it, we scrapped "Bad Decisions" and started recording "Release Me. " The actual recording on the cell phone became the intro and outro to "Release Me."

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

My Morning Jacket Working On New Album

(Gibson.com) It's been a long two years since My Morning Jacket dropped the brilliant Evil Urges, but frontman Jim James told Rolling Stone this week that his band already had five songs in the can for their sixth LP.

"We've worked a couple weeks," James told the rag backstage after his solo set at the Newport Folk Festival this past weekend. "We're going to do another month [of recording]. It'll probably be out mid-next year — probably May."

James also revealed that he'd co-produce the album, as he has with all prior MMJ releases. MMJ's forthcoming album heralds a first for the band: their first time recording in their Louisville, KY, hometown. - more on this story

Looking Back: Led Zeppelin's Last Stand

On this date in 1979 Led Zeppelin played their last-ever U.K. show when they appeared at Knebworth Park, England. Also on the bill, The New Barbarians, Todd Rundgren, Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Dukes, Chas and Dave, and Fairport Convention.

Gibson has a look back at this historic gig: To think that Led Zeppelin ever had a lot riding on a single show seems ridiculous. They were the biggest band in the world for a decade. More than that, Jimmy Page and company held that title with a confidence and swagger that few other performers could ever muster. And yet, the band had good reason for nerves as they ventured out to Knebworth Park in the heart of England in August, 1979.

Outside of two low-key, warm-up gigs in Denmark, the band had not played a single show since their 1977 North American tour was cut short after the tragic death of Robert Plant's son. And they hadn't played in England since 1975, when they played five, dazzling shows at Earls Court in London. In the meantime, punk had landed and threatened to render everything that came before it – particularly those things which were big and showy – moot. And if ever a band was big and showy, it was Led Zeppelin. As they were poised to reintroduce themselves to English audiences, the band could have chosen to tour modest venues across the country. But manager Peter Grant decided that modest just didn't suit the group, and so a massive show was booked at Knebworth Park, the enormous grounds adjoining a historic 15th century mansion which has seen landmark concerts, over the years, from the likes of Pink Floyd, Queen and Oasis. - more on this story

Free Primus

Primus are offering fans free downloads of their rehearsal tapes. Here is the official word from the Primus camp:

Now that Primus' first headlining tour in four years is well underway, playing to rapturous fans across the country, the band is pleased to offer a handful of tracks from tour rehearsals at Primus HQ in San Rafael, CA, earlier this summer. Turns out the tapes came out great and Les, Ler and Jay thought it would be fun to share them with their fans. The band plans to head into the studio soon to record their first album since 1999.

Les Claypool said, "I haven't rehearsed a band this hard since Frog Brigade decided to perform Pink Floyd's epic Animals album. Having Jay back in the band has rejuvenated our excitement for Primus and being that he is one of my favorite drummers in the world, the music that is coming out of us is beyond anything we've ever done before. It's like 'sultry-acid-space-rock'."

Fans can download the rehearsals at the band's - website

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Announce Live Album Release

Kenny Wayne Shepherd has set a September 28th release date for Live in Chicago.

Recorded in Chicago's House of Blues during the 10 Days Out: Blues From The Backroads tour, Live in Chicago showcases Kenny and his band, Noah Hunt, Chris Layton, Scott Nelson and Riley Osbourn, along with special guests, Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee and Tommy Shannon (of Double Trouble).

Though an illness nearly kept Kenny from performing that night, his heartfelt commitment to the music (and quite a lot of adrenaline) ensured that he took the stage, sharing with the audience one of the most spectacular performances of his career, and one that fans can now hear on Live in Chicago. - more on this story

Semisonic's Dan Wilson Releases Live Album, Pens New Weezer Song

Semisonic's Dan Wilson has released a new digital live album and also co-wrote "Ruling Me," a song that will appear on Weezer's forthcoming album, Hurley. Here is the announcement about the live album release:

Live at the Pantages, a 27-track document of singer-songwriter Dan Wilson's concert at his hometown of Minneapolis' legendary Pantages Theater, is available digitally and via www.danwilsonmusic.com.

Spanning the Grammy-winning artist's entire career, this recording contains both solo and full band sets, Wilson's recent collaborations with other musicians, and some of the most beloved songs from his recent solo album Free Life. - more on this story

Mark Ronson Goes from Amy Winehouse Producer To Vocalist

(Gibson.com) British record producer Mark Ronson turns vocalist in the fall with the release of his third album, Record Collection, due September 28 on RCA Records. Billed as Mark Ronson and The Business Intl., Ronson will make his debut as a vocalist on the song "Lose It (in the End)" and the title track (written by Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs), alongside Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes.

The album features over 30 collaborators in total, including contributions from Boy George on "Somebody to Love Me" and R&B singer D'Angelo on "Glass Mountain Trust."

Mark Ronson, stepson of Foreigner's Mick Jones, is best known as a producer for Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera and Lily Allen. Ronson will play a series of six U.K. shows the week of the album's release. -

More Details about John Mellencamp's Fall Tour

(Gibson.com) John Mellencamp has announced ambitious plans for his fall theater tour, which kicks off October 29 in Mellencamp's hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Speaking to Billboard.com, the veteran rocker said the show will feature three distinct musical formats, each with a different on-stage setup. The performances will also include a screening of It's About You, a documentary film about the making of Mellencamp's new album, No Better Than This.

"It'll be like Alan Freed, like the old Moondog shows," Mellencamp told Billboard. "When you went to see his shows, there was a movie, like The Girl Can't Help It or something, and then three or four bands played."

Instead of featuring multiple bands, however, Mellencamp will stage his own performances in three distinct parts. "I'm gonna come out and play with upright bass and cocktail [drum] kits and a lot of acoustic instruments," he explained. "I'll play for, like, 40 minutes that way. Then the band will leave and it'll just be me with an acoustic guitar for 40 minutes, and then there'll be 40 minutes of rock 'n' roll. You'll get three different types of John Mellencamp, and you'll get a movie." - more on this story

Queensryche Expand Empire for 20th Anniversary

We told you a little bit about Queensryche's 20th anniversary reissue of Empire in Tuesday's digest but here is the full announcement with all of the details:

Queensryche has partnered with Capitol/EMI for the September 14 release of an expanded 20th Anniversary Edition of the band's triple platinum-certified breakout album, Empire. The new 2-CD and digital packages both include the remastered album, featuring six hit singles, including the #1 smash "Silent Lucidity," as well as 13 bonus tracks, among them 10 previously unreleased live performances recorded in 1990 at London's Hammersmith Odeon. The 2-CD package is presented in a lift-top box with five postcards, a fold-out poster and a booklet featuring rare photos from the band's personal archive.

After building a devoted fan base with album and EP releases throughout the 1980s, including 1988's critically acclaimed Operation: Mindcrime, Queensrÿche broke into the mainstream across North America and abroad with the 1990 release of Empire. In the U.S., the album peaked at #7 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and its hit ballad "Silent Lucidity" quickly became a heavy rotation staple at rock radio and on MTV, topping Billboard's Modern Rock singles chart and earning Queensrÿche the coveted MTV Viewers Choice Award for the song's music video. Empire also made the U.K.'s Top 10, and the album's international success led to Queensrÿche's 18-month headlining "Building Empires" world tour, the band's longest trek to date. - more on this story

Get Intimate With Aimee Mann This Fall

Aimee Mann has announced an intimate fall tour which will kick off on September 13th with three nights at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis.

Aimee and her three piece band, made up of long time collaborators Paul Bryan and Jamie Edwards, will play a select series of dates stopping in Chicago for two nights at the Old Town School of Folk, on through to Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh, with several shows in the South including Atlanta and Nashville.

Aimee will make an appearance at her hometown venue the Largo at the Coronet on October 1st, capping off the tour in Northern California with three nights at Yoshi's in San Francisco and a final date at the Uptown Theatre in Napa. - more on this story

Against Me! Release Live Albums

Yesterday Against Me! released a digital download collections of two of their live shows via the official website, http://live.againstme.net.

Fans can purchase these complete live sets: Live at Higher Ground, Burlington VT, which took place on April 25th, and Live At Toad's Place, New Haven, CT, which took place on April 26th, for $9.99 each. Both track-listings are below:

Live at Higher Ground, Burlington, VT, April 25th, 2010: 01 High Pressure Low -- 02 Don't Lose Touch -- 03 New Wave -- 04 White Crosses -- 05 Pints of Guinness Make You Strong -- 06 I Still Love You Julie -- 07 Up The Cuts -- 08 Ache With Me -- 09 Amputations -- 10 I Was a Teenage Anarchist -- 11 Miami -- 12 Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart -- 13 Sink, Florida, Sink -- 14 Suffocation -- 15 Stop! -- 16 White People for Peace -- 17 Thrash Unreal -- 18 Rapid Decompression -- 19 Cliché Guevara -- 20 Walking Is Honest -- 21 Baby, I'm An Anarchist! - more on this story

Phelps Catfish Collins RIP

(Gibson.com) Legendary funk guitarist Phelps "Catfish" Collins Died Friday, following a battle with cancer, according to RollingStone.com. The musician who played with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic was 66.

"Catfish" and his more famous brother Bootsy, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was Phelps who convinced his younger brother (born William Earl Collins) to fit an old guitar with bass strings – helping to create his signature funk sound. Of course, "Catfish" would create a sound of his own, too. After the Collins brothers were recruited by James Brown in the late '60s to join the J.B.'s, "Catfish" Collins brought the famous funky strumming to songs like "Super Bad," "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "Soul Power."

When the original J.B.'s and Brown parted company in 1971, the Collins boys joined Parliament-Funkadelic. He remained with the group through 1983. His most recent project of note was contributing his famous funk guitar licks to the soundtrack of the movie "Superbad." - more on this story

Triptykon Set New EP Release

Tom Gabriel Warrior's (Hellhammer/Celtic Frost) latest group, Triptykon, has announced the release of a new 5-track EP.

The EP, entitled Shatter, is set for release on October 25th in Europe and October 26th in North America.

At a playing time of approximately 28 minutes, Shatter will consist almost entirely of previously unreleased music. - more on this story

New Hawkwind Album Hits Stores

Hawkwind's brand new album Blood of the Earth,, hit North American stores this week. The release comes amid already amazing sales and media support throughout Europe.

Blood of the Earth is the first new studio recording from the band in five years. It features special appearances from violinist Jon Sevink (The Levellers), BBC personality Matthew Wright, and a posthumous performance from the band's late keyboardist Jason Stuart.

The Obelisk notes, "Blood of the Earth proves to be of considerable depth and complexity on repeated outings. HAWKWIND'S colors come across as luminescent as ever, and the canvas on which they're painted seems to be permanently expanding." ProgArchives calls it, "a perfect mix of their best historical moments." Progressive rock radio program The Gagliarchives premiered the first selections from the album during a broadcast last month. Band mastermind Dave Brock joined the program to talk about the album and the band's upcoming European festival tour. - more on this story

Dinner with Andrew W.K.

Wanna have dinner with Andrew W.K.? At least the current Andrew W.K., read on for details: Andrew W.K. is proud to announce a new contest for members of his PARTY CREW (the street team run by Andrew and his friends). – The contest allows one lucky winner to live out their party fantasies and enjoy DINNER WITH ANDREW IN NYC!

Only the hardest-partying street team members are eligible for this grand prize, and the only way to enter is by joining Andrew's crusade to spread partying throughout the universe. The winner and one guest will be flown from anywhere in the world to the Big Apple to have dinner with Andrew W.K. at one of his favorite Manhattan restaurants. The package also includes one night's hotel accommodations in the city that never sleeps, so the party can continue all night long! - more on this story

Gwar's Bloody Tour of Horror

Gwar have announced their "Bloody Tour of Horror" in support of their newest and sickest album yet, "Bloody Pit of Horror", on Metal Blade Records.

When asked about the bands brutal touring and release schedule, which would put a lesser band into the ground, Oderus said, "Nothing less than the utmost display of blatant aggression will suffice to appease the lust of our fans, especially in this, our extra violent 25th Anniversary. It is patently unfair to compare our exploits with that of other bands...they are, after all, only human..." - more on this story

SongCircle 5th Annual Songwriting Contest

Independent music development and A&R community SongCircle Music have announced that it is accepting entries for its fifth annual songwriting contest.

The SongCircle's contest has quickly become a hotbed for discovering aspiring artists and has helped launch the careers of previous grand prize winners Kate Voegele (Interscope), Company of Thieves (Wind-Up/Sony), Mieka Pauley, and Reed Waddle.

In 2010, contestants will compete for over $25,000 in cash and prizes for the best original songs which includes a recording, publishing and full label services joint venture agreement with SongCircle Music distributed by EMI, cash awards up to $10,000, guitars from Gibson and Martin, studio sessions with a top record producers, and more. The songs will be judged based on structure, melody, lyrics, uniqueness and performance/presentation. - more on this story

The Influence Eye Fall Album Release

The Influence are planning to release their brand new album, Falling Objects, in early fall via BDG/RED. But you can catch them on tour right now.

With more than 20,000 self-released units sold and nearly 200 self-booked tour dates played annually for the past four years, The Influence takes the DIY ethic to the next level.

True road dogs, the quintet has amassed a solid fanbase up and down the Eastern seaboard winning audience and press members over one-by-one with their electric live show and instantly-catchy modern rock songs. - tour dates

Where The Ocean Meets The Sky Set October Album Release

Where The Ocean Meets The Sky will release their CI Records debut, Empires, October 12th 2010.

Empires, the debut full-length from the musically adventurous six-piece, is an audio assault that is just as smart as it is heavy – an unfortunately rare combination in today's current alt music scene.

"Our goal with this album was to create something lasting, something with depth, and something that pushes the boundaries of our music scene," explains vocalist Blake Martin. "Now with CI, we have a label behind us that's confident in us and is going to do everything in their power to get us where we need to be and we couldn't be more excited for people to hear this album!" - Myspace link

Landing On The Moon's California Really About Omaha

Landing On The Moon released their debut album We Make History Now this week via the Young Love Records label, also home to popular indie artists Quitzow and Setting Sun.

With a completely working-class and honest approach, the members of Landing On The Moon combine decades of musical experience and education and true friendship. The resulting chemistry of which produces love and loss, humor and contempt, melancholy and triumph, despair and hope, joy and fear.

The band's profile has been increasing lately, having recently won a competition to appear at Omaha's Maha Festival on the same stage as such indie rock luminaries as Spoon, Old 97's and Superchunk. One of the songs Landing On The Moon performed at Maha was "California," (MP3) a brand-new song introduced as "a song called 'California,' but it's about Omaha." - want the song?

Trixter for Fat Chicks

Trixter guitarist Steve Brown has been added to the upcoming tribute album "Whole Lotta LovE: An All-Star Salute To Fat Chicks." Steve puts a rock spin on the hit single "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)," made famous by current pop sensation Mika.

A celebratory affirmation of plus-sized women, it was written as the theme for the Butterfly Lounge, a California nightclub catering to larger ladies and their admirers. The song was an international Top 40 hit in 2007 and has been featured on such TV shows as ABC's "Ugly Betty" and "Good Morning America." Brown took the dance beat of the original and infused it with his own patented guitar stylings, adding a hard rock coating around its pop center.

"Women make the world go 'round," states an enthusiastic Steve Brown. "All shapes and sizes, I love 'em all! As such, this is the perfect song for me. I stuck with the dance groove and added some big guitars and huge vocals to take this tune to the next level. It rocks and it (jelly) rolls!" - more on this story

. Newsboys - Born Again

In a very real sense, Newsboys have been both spiritually and artistically born again with its newest album. This is because Born Again features Michael Tait, who was famously one-third of dc Talk not too long ago (3 stars) - Read the full Newsboys - Born Again review