This Week's Top 10

Here are the top 10 stories from this week's Day in Rock and the top Day in Rock digest stories

Ozzy Blames Sharon

Don't blame Ozzy Osbourne for the strange and controversial decision to have Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake's tracks replaced on the 2002 reissues of his seminal 'Blizzard of Ozz' and "Diary of a Madman' albums.

While this crime against music is being corrected with new remastered reissues that are reported to be out later this year to mark their 30th Anniversary, Ozzy has spoken out against that controversial decision.

Classic Rock reports that Osbourne says in a new interview, "Believe me, it wasn't my doing. I mean, I didn't know that was being done, 'cause Sharon (Osbourne) was fighting all the legal things that were going down at the time. I said, 'What did you do that for?' And she said, 'The only way I could stop everything was if it went to that level.' And I said, 'You know what, whatever the circumstances were, I want the original thing back.' I mean, I wouldn't have done that." - Read the Classic Rock report here

Aerosmith Plan New Album

Forget those earlier reports with Joe Perry's doubt about a new Aerosmith album, Rock Radio reports that Steven Tyler's return to Aerosmith means that fans can expect a new album soon.

Tyler himself feels that playing live "rekindles the fire for song writing" and that new material is "coming down the pike."

Perry and Tyler have already started the process and the guitarist adds: "The bottom line is we haven't done our best record yet, and we feel like first of all we owe it to ourselves, and second of all we owe it to our fans." - more on this story

Metallica Going Old School Club Style In Christchurch

Metallica had big news over the holiday weekend for fans in New Zealand. We'll let them tell you about it: You asked (okay, demanded!) and we heard ya. When we got wind of the massive petitions for us to come to Christchurch, New Zealand we just had to check it out . . . and wow, the number of requests were overwhelming! So, the moral of the story is to be careful what you wish for . . . because 'Tallica is coming to your town on September 22 at CBS Canterbury Arena!

Now here's the catch - our production team scoped it out over the last couple of weeks and no matter how hard we tried to re-configure it, the bottom line is the CBS Canterbury Arena is just not equipped to handle the in the round "Death Magnetic" show that we've been carting around the world on this tour. That's not going to stop us, but we wanted to let you know that we will not be able to bring the full set up that you may have seen in photos on the site or will see if you happen to hit another show in New Zealand or Australia. It's gonna be us and YOU old-school "club style" in an arena making a whole lot of noise together, and that's what counts.

Tickets go on sale July 15 at 9:00 AM with the MyTKT pre-sale starting July 13 at noon. Fan Club members should check www.metclub.com for information about a special pre-sale for them starting on July 9. Thanks for all the love and support . . . see you in September! - metallica.com

Arrest For Vicious Madina Lake Attack

Rock Radio reports that Chicago Police have charged a man with the assault of Madina Lake bassist Matthew Leone last week. Leone went the rescue of a woman who was being attacked herself, but the aggressor turned on him instead and left him with serious injuries.

His brother Nathan reports that although a third of his skull has been removed to deal with swelling of his brain, Matthew is responding well to treatment.

Justin Pivec, a 33-year-old Ohio man, who was charged on Tuesday with the attack on the woman, has now also been charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to Leone. - A lot more from Nathan on Matthew's condition here

Mustaine Equates Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth Shows With A Car Crash

While that headline is true, his meaning was actually positive. Rock Radio has the report: Dave Mustaine of Megadeth says the historic Big Four shows – which saw thrash giants Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and his own band share a stage for the first time – felt like one big car crash to him.

And he believes the most memorable moment for the metal community at the Sonisphere festivals and cinema showing wasn't the music or the all-star jams, but the moment he and Metallica frontman James Hetfield hugged at the end.

"Standing on stage flanked by so much tremendous talent was great. It's one of those things where in the moment it doesn't seem as enormous as it really is," Mustaine says. "It's like when you survive a car crash. You don't think it's such a big deal until you watch it in slow motion. Then you're thinking, 'I can't believe I survived.' - more on this story

Bret Michaels' Doctors Deny Rumors That Singer Faked Medical Emergencies

Some people were amazed at Bret Michaels' Lazarus like recovery from a series of very serious medical emergencies. Others took it further and became skeptical and some cynical enough to started suggesting that the Poison frontman and reality TV star was faking it for PR purposes. Now Bret's camp has issues a strong statement, including the debunking of such rumors by Bret's neurosurgeon and a doctor who operated on the singer. Here is what they had to say:

Recently there have been a few erroneous, false and irresponsible statements spread on the internet and one news station that Bret Michaels medical condition wasn't serious, real or life threatening.

Dr. Joseph Zabramski, MD, Bret's neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute states, "The fact is, the subarachnoid hemorrhage that Mr. Michaels suffered was very real, and very serious as was the T.I.A (warning stroke) and P.F.O., which will be operated on later this year. A subarachnoid hemorrhage is a life-threatening, neurosurgical emergency that requires an extensive work up and management in the ICU to prevent re-bleeding and manage the complications associated with the initial hemorrhage. For anyone to speculate that this was not a life threatening medical emergency is absolutely incorrect. Between 15 and 20 percent of patients die as a result of the initial hemorrhage, and only approximately 50 percent of those that survive have a good outcome. Recovery from subarachnoid hemorrhage is determined primarily by the size of the initial bleeding episode. Mr. Michaels quick reaction to the hemorrhage and immediate medical attention that followed aided in his ability to make a strong recovery and stop the brain hemorrhage before it caused severe and permanent brain damage. Mr. Michaels is fortunate to be alive after all that he has been through. Bret is truly one of the most determined individuals I have ever met when it comes to an attempt at making a full recovery. - more on this story

Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd Unleashes The Wild Trapeze

We received some more info on the new solo album from Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd, which was released this week. Here is the announcement:

Epic Records are pleased to announce the July 6th release of Brandon's first solo album entitled, The Wild Trapeze. Fans can purchase a limited edition CD that ships with a personal letter and T-shirt featuring hand drawn artwork by Brandon at www.thewildtrapeze.com. The album is also exclusively available digitally on the iTunes Store.

"This group of songs was born of a very different process than the many my band and I have been employing for our almost two decades at work now. The Wild Trapeze began as pot induced meanderings on my dusty acoustic guitar while Incubus was off of the road, and has slowly been morphing into things that I originally could never have imagined , " says Brandon Boyd. "So much of my identity, both personally and creatively has been attached to and related to Incubus. For better or worse! And I do believe that every person in every corner of the world asks themselves at some point on their ride, 'Who am I…today?'The Wild Trapeze is an exercise in self reliance." - more on this story

Nickelback and Three Days Grace Fall Tour

Nickelback have extended their Dark Horse World Tour with a new leg featuring support from Three Days Grace that will kick off on September 14 in Nashville and will run through October 30 in Las Vegas.

According to the announcement, "The Dark Horse World Tour" has been a smashing success, as all previous legs have been completely sold out. Since 2009, Nickelback have sold more than 1.6 million tickets and have played more than 120 global shows.

"Our fans have been amazing all over the world from Japan to New Zealand, Australia, Dubai, the UK and North America," said Nickelback's Chad Kroeger. "Our fans keep us going and we are excited to play 25 more dates in the US with Three Days Grace..." - more on this story

Duff To Get Loaded Again

Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan is keeping extra busy while Velvet Revolver is on hold without a frontman. McKagan is not only a current member of Jane's Addiction but he is planning to head back into the studio with his name sake band, Duff McKagan's Loaded, next month.

Here is the announcement from the band's Myspace: Hey everyone! Sorry that things have been quiet here for awhile, we have all been busy doing what we all do between making records, touring,etc. BUT.....! The time has come!

We have been writing for lasy few months and next week we start pre-production on the new LOADED record! We couldn't be happier and we think you f**kers will be too! As it is looking, we will be recording it in August and thus begins LOADED MACH III! - more on this story

Linkin Park Set New Release

After three years, the wait is almost over for Linkin Park fans that have been waiting for a new album from the band. They announced this week that their new studio album, A Thousand Suns, will be released on September 14th.

The album is co-produced by Rick Rubin (U2, Johnny Cash) and Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda, who last joined forces to produce Linkin Park's 2007 release, Minutes To Midnight.

The band also announced that the first single from the new album will be "The Catalyst," which debuts on radio worldwide on August 2 and will also be featured on the band's MySpace Music profile (http://www.myspace.com/linkinpark). Prior to the song's release, the band and MySpace are teaming up for "Linkin Park, Featuring You," a unique promotion that gives fans a first-of-its-kind opportunity to collaborate with Linkin Park to produce their own song based on some of the tracks from the forthcoming single - more on this story