Unmasked Slipknot Address Paul Gray's Death- Alice In Gold Chains- Ozzy Preview- Alice Cooper on American Idol?- New NIN- Mew, Coldplay, A-Ha Supergroup- more

This week's "Happenin" at the Aqua Lounge in Beverly Hills will feature an all-star tribute to Ronnie James Dio where the Haptones will perform songs from Dio's entire career. Grab all of the details here. -

Jimmy Page Doesn't Rule Out Led Zeppelin Reunion Gig

In today's far fetched wishful thinking department, we bring you the hopes that Led Zeppelin will reunite to replace U2 at the Glastonbury festival next month. An idea that Jimmy Page hasn't ruled out, thus giving fans a small shred of hope that it may happen. (But don't hold your breath.)

As we reported yesterday, U2 have postponed their 2010 tour plans after frontman Bono had emergency back surgery in Germany (see report here). That leaves a big hole in the headlining slot on June 25th at the famed Glastonbury festival and one name being mentioned as a possible replacement is Led Zeppelin.

Nightwatcher reports that Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page has hinted to BBC 6 Music that the band wouldn't say no to playing the show. Jimmy simply said: "I never rule anything out." - more on this story

Slipknot's Paul Gray Autopsy Results Inconclusive

The cause of death for Slipknot bassist Paul Gray remains a mystery after an autopsy was completed on Wednesday.

AP reports that Urbandale police released a statement that said an autopsy was completed Tuesday, but the death remained under investigation. It could be four to six weeks before toxicology results are available.

While the autopsy was inconclusive about the cause of death, police said it did confirm there was no evidence of foul play or trauma, and that Gray had been dead for several hours when a hotel worker found his body.

Read the AP report here along with coverage of Slipknot's press conference - here

AC/DC Ignite NASCAR

The TNT cable network announced that it has joined forces with AC/DC to feature the band's single "T.N.T" as the network's theme song for its 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series coverage.

The song will serve as the primary musical bed for all six of TNT's races, which begin with the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 presented by Target on Sunday, June 6 in Pocono, Pa., as well as for the network's multi-platform marketing campaign surrounding its exclusive race coverage, which includes a presence on social media, print outlets, national television, local radio and print. The song has been re-released on the band's latest album, AC/DC: Iron Man 2 which features 15 of the band's classic songs.

"It was a natural fit to incorporate AC/DC's legendary 'T.N.T.' to our on-air product and marketing campaign, given how much the music reflects the same excitement and intensity as the sport of NASCAR and the NASCAR on TNT telecasts," said Christina Miller, senior vice president of Turner Sports strategy/marketing/promotions. - more on this story

Rush Releasing New Song, DVD and Album

(Rock Radio) Rush have confirmed they'll release a new album next year, to be called Clockwork Angels.

Caravan, their next single, will be released along with album track BU2B on June 1. The songs were recorded together before the band began work on their retrospective Time Machine Tour.

Meanwhile, the acclaimed documentary movie Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage will be released on DVD on June 29 after it's appeared at selected cinemas on June 7. - more on this story

Mastodon Still Hope To Take Part in Alice In Chains and Deftones Tour Despite Medical Issues

We told you about this in yesterday's Day in Rock quicks but here is the official announcement with a bit of news about the BlackDiamondSkye Tour: Mastodon regret to inform their fans that their upcoming Summer tour of Europe originally set to begin June 5, in Germany and ending July 3, in Finland has been cancelled.

Guitarist Bill Kelliher who has been diagnosed with Pancreatitis has been advised by doctors to continue further medical treatment.

Bill's medical team are optimistic and expect a full recovery in the weeks ahead as the band looks forward to being part of BlackDiamondSkye also featuring Alice In Chains, Deftones, slated to begin Sep. 16, in Chicago. - more on this story

Former W.A.S.P. Members Form W.A.S.

Three former members of W.A.S.P. have reunited to form a new band called W.A.S. (short for Where Angels Suffer) according to Classic Rock and Blabbermouth.

The former W.A.S.P. members, Chris Holmes, Randy Piper and Stet Howland are joined by former Metal Church bass player Steve Unger and Animal frontman Rich Lewis.

The group will release their debut album, Purgatory, later this year. Blabbermouth reports that it is already complete and the site quoted Stet Howland as describing their live plans, "We will play all the hits, as well as ALL the dangerous music the current [lineup of] W.A.S.P. is skipping. 'F*ck Like A Beast'? 'Mean Man'? Huhh? HUH?" - Read the Blabbermouth report

Is Rock Dead? Slash Thinks So

(Nightwatcher) Slash admits he is unhappy about the lack of "spirit" in the current guitar-based music scene and doesn't know where the next big thing will come from.

"I usually hate talking about the state of rock music, because there's nothing positive to say about it. The whole vibe of new, exciting hard rock bands seems non-existent right now," He said. "I always say that the heavy metal spirit is alive and well and holding its own, but the broader rock 'n' roll thing of bands like AC/DC or Guns N' Roses seems pretty slim. The rock 'n' roll spirit is extremely diminished.

"There's no shortage of bands out there trying to make it, but they're hard pressed to get a foot in the door. There's no movement on the streets." - more on this story

Dio / Heaven and Hell's Scott Warren Remembers Ronnie James Dio

Ronnie James Dio's longtime friend and bandmate Scott Warren has issued a statement about the loss of his Dio/Heaven & Hell comrade.

"How can I express what 17 years next to Ronnie now means to me? He has led me on an incredible journey. I have been blessed by his presence, and his voice.

"He was my surrogate father, my brother, my friend, my teacher AND my loyal advocate. Our fearless leader. He never let us down. He was never not out to prove it. Because he 'WAS' it. Just a class act. Life without him will never be the same. Yet it is not because of these things that I know he IS in Heaven. But that's another story." -

Lordi Set New Album Release

Lordi will release their fifth studio album on September 14, 2010 in the US on The End Records.

The new album is titled Babez For Breakfast and will be released simultaneously in Europe, Japan and the USA. The first single, "This Is Heavy Metal," will be released on August 6, 2010.

The new album was recorded in early 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee with highly regarded producer Michael Wagener, who has produced albums for artists as varied as Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and Janet Jackson and mixed Metallica's classic Master of Puppets. - more on this story

Three Days Grace's The Good Life Tops Radio Chart

Three Days Grace scores their second No.1 radio hit with "The Good Life." The song claims the No. 1 spot on the Active Rock radio chart for the second week in a row and No. 5 on the Alternative Rock radio chart.

The single follows the success of their previous No.1 hit, "Break" the lead single from their current effort Life Starts Now. "The Good Life" marks the seventh No. 1 song at Active Rock for the Toronto-based foursome comprised of Adam Gontier (vocals, guitar), Neil Sanderson (drums, piano), Brad Walst (bass), and Barry Stock (lead guitar).

Three Days Grace is currently on the road and is slated to perform at various music festivals - more on this story

L.A. Guns Shrinking Violet Revamped and Reissued

L.A. Guns' "Shrinking Violet" was released this week and features Tracii Guns' version of veteran band. It is the debut signing of guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai's Favored Nation's newest Hard Rock/Metal division, Favored Nations/Jibboom.

This "Shrinking Violet" Deluxe Reissue also includes live, never before heard bonus tracks, featuring some of the bands biggest hits including "Rip And Tear," "Never Enough," "One More Reason" and "The Ballad of Jayne", completely repackaged with smokin' new artwork.

L.A. Guns will kick off their world tour in support of the Deluxe Reissue of Shrinking Violet at the Key Club in Los Angeles, on June 10th. - more on this story

Robbers On High Street Announce Electric Eye Single and Tour Dates

Robbers On High Street will release the "Electric Eye" vinyl single on June 8 with b-side "Face The Fog"via Engine Room Recordings.

The single will release digitally on June 22. The two tunes are pulled from a collection of songs comprising the band's forthcoming still untitled third album, a new sound that harkens back to the brash, instantaneous pop appeal of their debut Tree City.

The Robbers on High Street will be taking their vinyl on the road for four Northeast shows to celebrate the 7-inch "Electric Eye" single release with their Engine Room label-mates The Bloodsugars. - more on this story

Singled Out: Sun Domingo's A Song In Your Name

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Sun Domingo frontman Jason Pomar tells us about "A Song In Your Name" from their new album "Live In Montreal, Marillion Weekend 2009". We now turn it over to Jason for the story:

"A Song in Your Name" is the result of a very brief "love" (for lack of a better word) triangle and the emotional fallout that followed. The song is about a girl named Roxanne in South Carolina. We covered (and still do) the Police song by the same name; she was always tickled when we played it and I was happy to sing it as she smiled back from the audience. At the time we met her, she was living in an extended-stay hotel (perhaps had just transferred to town for work?) and this was where we first hung out with her in an after-show sense. She was fairly young, having probably just finished college, and this hotel room probably signified a number of things - one of which being her budding life as an independent adult. At the time, I still approached random relationships with some greenness, some naivete, and so my feelings waxed toward romantic well sooner than they should have. The song paints the picture of a girl who wants to be treated well but, perhaps in spite of herself, chooses the more adult option for a fast-track to deflowering. The motto here is one of "nice guys finish last" - and the song is written from the perspective of that nice guy looking back and lamenting the harsh reality of relationships. After things went south between us, she would still come out to shows now and again for a year or so - but I never wanted to sing "Roxanne" in her presence ever again. The magic was gone, my feelings trampled, my outlook hardened, and I was irrevocably changed. In retrospect I'm certain I missed any and all deflowering in Roxanne's department, but as they say, "hindsight is 20/20." I ran into her a couple of years ago at a restaurant in Charleston; I went up and told her that she has a song - for which she was decidedly unimpressed - and the look on her face said that she was more excited about returning to her clam chowder.

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

Delta Spirit To Celebrate Album Release With Amoeba Instore

Delta Spirit has confirmed an in-store appearance at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles on June 7th to celebrate the release of their new album History From Below.

The new record, which hits stores on June 8th, was produced by My Morning Jacket's keyboardist Bo Koster and Eli Thomson.

The Amoeba appearance will officially kick off the tour dates in support of History From Below. You don't have to wait to hear some of the new music as the first single, "Bushwick Blues," is now available on itunes. - tour dates

Broken Teeth Announce New Tour Dates

Broken Teeth has announced upcoming shows in support of their latest record Viva La Rock, Fantastico!

On the subject of what the album's success has done for the band so far this year, front man Jason McMaster sums it up best: 2010 has been kick ass for Broken Teeth so far. The new record has been doing well at Perris Records, the new videos for both "Blackheart" and the title track, "Viva La Rock, Fantastico" (featuring Danko Jones) - were both swarmed the first weeks they went up on Youtube.

Our involvement and friendship with Danko Jones has been awesome and it has been truely exciting to have him sing with me on the new Teeth stuff! - more on this story

Desultory Complete First New Album in Over A Decade

Desultory recently completed work on their comeback album, Counting Our Scars, which will be released via Pulverised Records later this year. Official street date TBA.

The full-length -- their first since 1996's Swallow The Snake -- was recorded, mixed and mastered by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Unanimated, Deströyer 666 etc) in Alvik, Sweden. Song titles include: "Counting Our Scars," "In A Cage," "Ready To Bleed," "This Broken Halo" and "Uneven Numbers." Full track listing and cover art to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Said the band of the new record: "What gets inside always stays inside. This music once shaped us and the marks it left will forever keep itching. DESULTORY never died; it just went down deep below and beneath the surface and it slowly kept growing. Throughout the years, there are many of you out there who never stopped waiting, asking the same question over and over. Now when we finally meet again, Counting Our Scars feels like liberation; the bleeding is over. This album is for all of us who never stopped waiting." - Myspace link

Virgin Steele Plan New Album Release in October

Virgin Steele has inked a new worldwide deal with Steamhammer/SPV that includes a new studio album which will be released at the end of October 2010 and the whole back-catalog from "Noble Savage" onward. The back-catalog will be released throughout 2011 with faithfully restored covers and booklets, bonus tracks and liner notes.

Olly Hahn, A&R at Steamhammer: "It´s an honor for me and the label that David DeFeis decided to join the Steamhammer/SPV family. The band deserves to stay on top of the metal genre and we are more than willing to pave the way together with the band!"

David DeFeis, front man of Virgin Steele commented on the bands signing with Steamhammer/SPV: "We are honored & proud to announce that we have just signed a new recording contract with the Hannover, Germany based label Steamhammer/SPV. The incredible dedication and commitment to our genre and the understanding of what Virgin Steele is really all about, convinced us that this was the true home for the band", said the group's vocalist David DeFeis. - more on this story

Talking Metal With Accept

The latest episode of Talking Metal features an interview that hosts Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy conducted with Peter Baltes of Accept.

Topics include Accepts forthcoming album "Blood of the Nations," Wolf Hoffman, Mark Tornillo, and Udo.

Additional podcast topics include Ronnie James Dio and John 5. The podcast can be downloaded at this - location

Chief Celebrate Tour Kick Off With Free Download

Chief will release their debut album, entitled Modern Rituals, on August 17, 2010.

The band will set out on a run of select U.S. tour dates that begins this Friday, May 28th, but first they are proud to offer their lead single "Night & Day" as a free download, available more

Prior to the album's August release date Chief will release a 3 song 10" on June 22nd both digitally and on vinyl. The tracks include "Night & Day", b/w "Your Direction" and "My Love Is Gone." - more on this story

Sony Opens Their Rare Photo Archive for Vintage T-Shirt Line

Sony Music just launched a new t-shirt line which uses rare photos from their archive.

The shirts use exclusive and rare photos and other images from the Sony Archive - photos of artists like David Bowie, Miles Davis and Iggy Pop taken by photographers like Jim Marshall, Don Hunstein and Mick Rock.

They've combined with classic album artwork, posters, and other relics to create the line called ARCHIVE 1887. Check it out - here

Want Your Song As Frank Turner's B-Side?

Frank Turner has announced a unique contest in which fans are invited to submit self-written songs for a chance to be featured as the B-Side to Turner's upcoming vinyl 7" single for his song "Try This At Home," which is featured on his album Poetry of the Deed. Listen to "Try This At Home" streaming now at www.myspace.com/frankturner

"So quick, turn off your stereo, pick up that pen and paper, you could do much better than some skinny half-arsed English country singer." - Frank Turner ("Try This At Home")

Beginning today, fans are encouraged to submit MP3's of original songs for a chance to be featured as the B-Side on Turner's vinyl 7" single for "Try This At Home." The winner will be selected by a panel of judges consisting of Turner, Alternative Press magazine and Epitaph Staff and announced on June 18. - more on this story

Joe Bonamassa Kicks Off UK Tour on Friday

Joe Bonamassa will kick off his UK tour at the London HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Friday May 28th.

The forthcoming UK tour follows the release of Bonamassa's critically acclaimed new studio album "Black Rock," which entered the UK Album Chart at #14 and number #1 in the Independent Album Chart. The album includes the track "Night Life" featuring an unforgettable duet with blues guitar legend B.B. King.

Voted "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" at 2009's Classic Rock Awards, Bonamassa's UK tour dates include - London HMV Hammersmith Apollo (Friday May 28), Rotherham Magna Centre, South Yorkshire (Saturday May 29), Bournemouth BIC (Sun May 30) and Birmingham NIA (Mon May 31). Special guest is Sandi Thom. -

Max Weinberg To Kick Off The Newport Jazz Series

Max Weinberg will open this year's Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Summer Jazz Series. The longest running jazz series in the country at Hyatt Regency Newport Beach debuts on June 25 with Weinberg, the long-time drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and Conan O'Brien's lead/band drummer since 1993.

Following Weinberg's performance are 14 revered jazz acts embodying exceptionally talented vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists.

"This year's outstanding group of performers showcase a range of jazz sonance from traditional to contemporary and smooth jazz, to R&B and big band," said Event Producer and Promoter Jim "Fitz" Fitzgerald of Wendy Jayne Productions, Inc. "Max will open the series performing swinging arrangements of material from Bruce Springsteen, Beatles, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, and more." - more on this story

Keller Williams' Thief Has Arrived

Yesterday, Keller Williams released Thief, his first-ever all-covers collection. Recorded with the Keels—husband and wife duo Larry and Jenny Keel—Thief includes songs originally written and recorded by as wildly diverse an assemblage as anyone's ever likely to dream up.

Thief offers up Keller-versions of songs by an [almost] unthinkable collection of artists: from Amy Winehouse ("Rehab") to the Grateful Dead ("Mountains of the Moon"), the Butthole Surfers ("Pepper") to Kris Kristofferson ("Don't Cuss That Fiddle," which opens the album, and "The Year 2003 Minus 25," which closes the album). The set is filled out with tunes by Ryan Adams, the Presidents of the United States of America, the Raconteurs, Patterson Hood, Danny Barnes, Cracker, the Yonder Mountain String Band and Marcy Playground. All over the place, indeed, but that's the way Williams likes it. And in his hands it all makes sense—like everything he's ever touched, whether from his own pen or someone else's, it all becomes Keller Williams' music. - more on this story

Ian Dury Rare and Unseen DVD Announced

MVD Visual and Wienerworld announce the release of Ian Dury "Rare and Unseen" DVD in North America on July 27.

In this edition, the British rock-n-roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor Ian Dury - the man who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music.

Best known as the founder and lead singer of his band Ian Dury and the Blockheads, he released a host of seminal songs - most notably "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", "What A Waste" and the UK chart-topping single "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick". - more on this story

Mars Attacks Nonpoint

Mars Attacks host Victor M. Ruiz interviews Zach Broderick from Nonpoint in the latest episode of the podcast series.

During this episode they touch upon him being the new guy in the band, how he got the gig, what it's been like to work with Chad Gray and Gregg Tibbett from Mudvayne on Mircacle as opposed to Dan Donegan from Disturbed.
He previously worked with Dan on a previous project.

They also discuss touring with Nonpoint, the making of the Miracle video, his gear etc.More info regarding the episode can be found on the Talking Metal Wire, along with a mini-review of Nonpoint's Miracle - here

Mychildren Mybride Preview Another New Song

Mychildren Mybride are previewing another new track, 'Crimson Grim', off of their upcoming Solid State Records release, Lost Boy.

The band plans to unveil a new track every Monday for the next 3 weeks, including this week.

The record hits stores June 8th, 2010, and the new track can be found at the band's MySpace page - here