Metallica Release New EP

This week, we're releasing those four tracks through iTunes exclusively in North America and on iTunes and additional digital retailers in other parts of the world as the Beyond Magnetic EP. All four studio versions of these songs were sent to Met Club members for free immediately following their live debut on stage at the Fillmore and [they are now] available to everyone via the magic of digital downloading. They are the rough mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March of 2008, and those of you with very keen senses of sound might recognize bits and pieces from the 'Mission Metallica' videos posted in the summer of 2008. more on this story

X Rated Christmas Song

(hennemusic) Steel Panther are feeling the holiday spirit these days, and they have recorded their own unique version of the 12 Days Of Christmas, which they bill as their X Rated Christmas song.

Steel Panther are currently rocking a UK tour with Def Leppard and Motley Crue in support of their new album, "Balls Out."

On December 16, Panther return to play shows across North America through the remainder of the month and into 2012.

Check out the "X Rated" Xmas Song here.

Suspected Gene Simmons Hacker Busted

(hennemusic) A computer hacker who allegedly attempted to shut down KISS bassist Gene Simmons website last fall has been arrested.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the alleged hacker Kevin Poe, of Manchester, CT, was arrested by FBI agents at the federal courthouse in Hartford.

The FBI alleges that during a five-day period in October 2010, Poe and others linked to the hacking group Anonymous allegedly conducted a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against Simmons' computer systems, sending tens of thousands of electronic requests designed to overload the computer server and render the website useless. more on this story

Duff N' Roses Shows This Weekend

(hennemusic) Duff McKagan is opening two shows for his former group, Guns N' Roses, this weekend. McKagan's band, Loaded, will open for GNR at the Key Arena in Seattle on Friday and at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum on Saturday.

These shows mark the first time that founding GNR bassist McKagan will open for the current version of the group, fronted by Axl Rose, the sole remaining member of the band's classic lineup.

Duff actually joined GNR last fall in London for four songs: "You Could Be Mine," "Nice Boys, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Patience." more on this story

Pearl Jam Announce 2012 Tour Dates

(hennemusic) Pearl Jam are looking ahead to the New Year and have announced dates for their 2012 UK and European tour.

The band will headline three European festivals and six of their own shows between June 20th and July 10th, 2012.

Los Angeles punk rockers X will serve as the support act for all Pearl Jam's own headlining shows. more on this story

Tool 2012 Tour Plans Confirmed

(Audio Ink Radio) Audio Ink Radio dug a little into the recent disappearing Tool tour dates mystery and confirmed the band's plans to rock next year. AIR report: Last week, Ticketmaster posted two mysterious Tool shows for 2012, without a peep from the band.

Fans flocked to check out the Arizona and New Mexico event details, but a few hours after appearing, the dates vanished from Ticketmaster's site, leaving the band's fans heartbroken. But, there is a happy ending to this story.

Today (Dec. 12), the tour dates reappeared on Ticketmaster's site, and just to make sure, Audio Ink Radio has confirmed with Tool's management that, yes, the 2012 dates are correct. Grab the dates here!

Lost David Bowie Footage Discovered

(hennemusic) Some lost David Bowie footage has been found. The BBC reports a retired cameraman has unearthed footage of Bowie performing "Jean Genie" on Top Of The Pops in January of 1973.

John Henshall unveiled the video on Sunday at the annual "Missing Believed Wiped" event held by the British Film Institute, marking the first time it had been seen since originally broadcast almost 40 years ago.

The footage had been "wiped," or erased, by the BBC and presumed lost forever. After the original recording, Henshall asked producers for a personal copy on 2in (5cm) broadcast videotape because he wanted it for his show reel. more on this story

Radiohead Releasing New Music Next Week

(Audio Ink Radio) Radiohead fans should set their alarm clocks to get up early this coming Monday (Dec. 19), as the band have announced they will release two fresh songs that morning: "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase."

As reported by At Ease , the tracks, which were taped during studio sessions for the group's latest album, The King of Limbs, will be available via the music streaming service Deezer starting next Monday. Let the countdown begin.

"The Daily Mail" and "Staircase" aren't completely new to fans' ears, in that both of the unreleased songs were played on the band's From the Basement live session with longstanding producer and collaborator Nigel Godrich. A lot more details here.

Tracii Guns Speaks Out on Dilana Leaving L.A. Guns

(superLOUD) A little over 2 months ago, Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns announced a new lead singer to replace Jizzy Pearl (Love/Hate, ex-Ratt), who had recently quit. Tracii's interesting choice of a replacement was the female singer Dilana, most well known as the runner-up contestant from the Rockstar: Supernova T.V. show.

Rumors of Dilana being out of the band started to surface this weekend on the superLOUD message boards. Today, Tracii has addressed these rumors with the following message on our forums:

"I think it's pretty clear why she is gone. It speaks for itself. I don't dislike her or hate her , although she did piss me off to the point where I did tell her I hate her guts and I probably really did at that moment. I also asked her if she wanted to finish out the tour and the reply from here manager was " She wants to do Atlanta and New Years eve" I said its all or nothing, and she said no. I think it's safe to say she quit lol!. Btw her manager is still working with us to get the tour finished out so, it's also safe to say that no one is freaking out except one person. I will say this though, what a bitchen band it was for a few minutes! Smile new year comin, time for a change. "

Read the forums here.

Queens of the Stone Age Top Secret Album Coming

(Banana 101.5) Not much is known about the current status of Queens of the Stone Age's first new album since 2007′s 'Era Vulgaris,' but there have been a few mentions of the currently in-the-works project. While the band initially said the album would be further in the direction of 'Era Vulgaris,' Homme later told The Guardian that rehearsing the debut album had influenced the writing process:

"Doing the rehearsals for the first record is really defining the new one. It's been turning the new record into something else. What we were doing was kind of bluesy, and now it's turned into this trancey, broken thing. The robots are back!"

Outside of that there has not been much said of the album that was believed to be out by the end of 2011. According to frequent collaborator Alain Johannes, the band is keeping a pretty tight lid on the "super top secret" album — which he is involved with in at least a production capacity. more on this story

Mumford and Sons Aim For Black Sabbath Meets Nick Drake

(Gibson) Although Mumford and Sons are busy touring the West Coast, the band's primary focus is working on their new album. The record will be the follow-up to 2010's Sigh No More.

"We're trying to stay as not stress-y and hectic as we can to write the best record we can," keyboardist Ben Lovett told Rolling Stone. Bassist Ted Dwane said that the album is almost done.

"[It's] certainly more mature, I'd say," Dwane said. "The second record is just a reflection of our mindsets, where we're all at. It's doom folk, kind of like Black Sabbath meets Nick Drake." more on this story

Sublime with Rome Address Drummer Drama

(Banana 101.5) Saying that Sublime with Rome's recent onstage drama and abrupt announcement of drummer Bud Gaugh's departure sent some mixed signals would be an understatement. After the media ran the news of Gaugh being replaced by Josh Freese — the band released a statement to properly address the situation.

Sublime with Rome were apparently not happy with the picture that the media and the band themselves had painted regarding their current status — so they sent out an official statement to let their fans know exactly what is going on. Not a bad idea considering their recent string of misleading and contradicting statements and actions.

"Hey Everyone – it's definitely been a crazy weekend. There have been some misunderstandings and miscommunication on what exactly is going down with us so we wanted to set the record straight. First off, rest assured that Sublime with Rome is NOT breaking up. Our brother Bud is about to have a baby and, understandingly, taking some time off to be with his family. We couldn't be happier for him and welcome him back out on the road with us as soon as he needs a break from the diapers and baby bottles. We already have some major touring plans for 2012 that we'll be announcing very soon so we've started talking to a few drummer friends." Read the rest of their statement here.

Megadeth Release Guitar App

Megadeth have released the "Dave Mustaine: Guitar Prodigy," an iPad application where Mustaine teaches fans to play hits like Tornado of Souls or Public Enemy No. 1 from the band's new album, TH1RT3EN.

Guitar Prodigy shows you how to play a real guitar just like Mustaine. The app uses his master tracks and listens to the notes you play, giving you instant feedback on your performance.

Mustaine digs into rhythm, technique and theory. It's the next best thing to taking private lessons with Dave. more on this story

Ultra Rare Sex Pistols Up For Grabs

(Gibson) The Sex Pistols' incredibly rare "God Save the Queen" single is up for sale for £10,000 ($15,000).

According to the Daily Express, the single is valuable because the Sex Pistols were dropped by their label, A&M, before it could be released and most copies were destroyed.

The record can be purchased at www.991.com, which describes it as a "mint, unplayed copy... obtained from an ex-industry source with impeccable credentials." The description states, "This is not only one of the rarest records in existence but is certainly the most sought after and no serious record collection is complete without it." more on this story

Rod Stewart Over The Moon About Faces Rock Hall Induction

(hennemusic) Rod Stewart is headed back to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame for a second time and is over the moon about it.

In 1994, Stewart was inducted as a solo artist, and will now re-enter the Hall in 2012 as a member of The Faces, who are being inducted alongside the band's original version, The Small Faces.

Rolling Stone caught up with Rod to get his reaction to the news. "I was absolutely over the moon, as one should be," says Stewart. "I never thought that would happen. I was a little disappointed with Ian McLagan's remarks about how the two bands shouldn't be lumped in together. I think that was a little out of order. I think Mac should think himself lucky that he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I know that Woody [Ronnie Wood] and I talked about it and we're over the moon. I'm in as a solo artist and now as a group member, and he being a Stone and a Face. I'll knock him into shape when I see him, McLagan. It's great. It's wonderful. Hopefully the band is going to get together. I said that I'd do it if we can get the rest of the band together. I was with Ronnie a couple of weeks ago. He came up to Las Vegas with me and he said, 'I'd love to do it.'" more on this story

Red Hot Chili Peppers Expand Tour Plans

Red Hot Chili Peppers have mapped out even more dates for the North American leg of their I'm With You World tour.

The 2012 arena tour is the band's first full-scale tour of the U.S. since 2007 when they hit the road in support of 2006's Stadium Arcadium.

Red Hot Chili Peppers were also recently announced as 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. more on this story

Guns N' Roses Second Longest Serving Member Talks Axl

(hennemusic) It's hard to believe, but keyboardist Dizzy Reed has spent the most time in Guns N' Roses, besides Axl Rose, that is. As the Journal And Courier points out, Reed has been on board GNR since 1990 – that's 21 years of service.

Dizzy knew Axl before he joined GNR, and the paper asked him what his impression of the singer is after all these years. "We've always got along pretty well," says Reed. "I remember the first time I ever met him: He walked into this studio that they were moving into. My band at the time was moving into the studio next door. I was sort of entertaining this young lady on this mattress on the floor of the studio. There was garbage everywhere because we just moved out. He walked in and saw us and he said, 'I like that dude.' That was the first thing I remember him saying. And I was like 'All right, well ... .' Then I saw them play for the first time and I thought, 'I have to join that band. Those guys are amazing.'"

It wasn't long before the band and band offer was extended to Reed by Rose. "He heard me play and he said, 'You're going to be the guy. When we add a keyboard player, it's going to be you.' That all kind of worked out in a weird way," admits Dizzy. "I'm just happy I'm still here, man, and being able to make music has always been awesome. He's one of a kind, man. Always has been, always will be." more on this story

Celestial Season and The Howling Void Reissues Coming

Metalhit.com have announced Valentine's Day reissues from Celestial Season and The Howling Void. Here is the official word:

Long out-of-print, hard-to-find, and a classic...Metalhit.com will reissue Celestial Season's debut 1993 album, "Forever Scarlet Passion," on Digipak CD, under license from France's Adipocere Records.

Though hailing from The Netherlands, Celestial Season was often considered the perennial "fourth wheel" of the early UK tricycle of doom, ala My Dying Bride, Anathema and Paradise Lost. Prior to the band's departure into psychedelic stoner doom, "Forever Scarlet Passion," remains a solid work of early 90's doom as the genre began taking its grip on the hearts of metal audiences worldwide. more on this story

After The Burial and Whitechapel Recorruptour

After The Burial will be hitting the road with Whitechapel for the "Recorruptour," which kicks off on March 10th.

The trek will also feature Miss May I and The Plot In You with Structures and Within The Ruins on certain dates.

Justin Lowe (guitars) states: "We're all super happy to announce that we are going to quit drinking for a couple days and write a new album. There is no telling what it is going to sound like, because it is hasn't been recorded yet. However, one thing we can say, is that it will be an After The Burial album because we will be the ones performing on the record, and that is the name of our band. Ok, now seriously! We are really excited to have the opportunity to get back into the studio to complete a new album by early next spring. It will be just in time for us to hit the road with our friends in Whitechapel. more on this story

Singled Out: Jonny Lives! - Parking Lot

Today Jonny Dubowsky from Jonny Lives! tells us about " Parking Lot " from their new album "Revolution For Free". Here is the story:

The most interesting factoid about "Parking Lot", the new single off the album "Revolution For Free" is that the recording uses an unheard of technique of data transfer that is probably a one-of-a-kind technique for how to get a super analog sound when mixing a track.

We recorded "Parking Lot" as part of a two song session at Dangerous Music in NYC. The A room at Dangerous has been home to recordings for The Rolling Stones, Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambatta, Don Was and many other incredible bands. The equipment, A 19th century Steinway , a mint original AKG C12 next to a Neumann U47 fet, ELUX251, KM86s and the latest Royer stereo ribbons, create am environment of pure audio bliss. So it's pretty funny when you end up forgetting to calibrate the right tape speed when you move the session from one Studer tape machine to another for mastering.

It's even funnier when this mistake winds up making the song 1/2 pitch lower and slower then it's supposed to be!

This is what happened during the production of Parking Lot and fortunately for us, it was only after pressing 300 cd's that we figured this out.

We had a really great vibe going on in the studio during the tracking of this song, and I remember finishing a guitar part and walking into the control room to find Jon Weber, who plays drums on this song, with an electric guitar, playing along with the track and auditioning a part for Albert Hammond Jr. who had stopped in to check out the mixes. Jon has a tendency to get what he wants musically and he is also usually right in the end, if ever there's a difference of opinion. He had been lobbying to play guitar on this song and I was pretty against it, as I thought I had all the parts worked out on my own.
While I was tracking my parts he was in the control room playing along and convincing everyone to let him play on the record.

I walked in and saw everyone rocking out to his part and I gave in, proclaiming, "ok Jon, you can record the guitar part". Then everyone started laughing because it turns out that the entire last playback of the song when I thought we were just listening back, they were actually recording Jon already and just left it out of my headphones. It's the guitar part that sounds like Cheap Trick's Rick Nielson, and it comes in after the 2nd chorus and then it really wails over the end.

It was actually Jon Weber who saved this song in many ways. It was ultimately him who discovered that we had mixed the song down with an incorrect sample rate, which wound up slowing down the pitch. We had just received back the 300 cd's that we were planning on selling as singles, and giving away to radio, and we were listening at Jons apartment and he grabbed a guitar to play along with his now epic guitar part and it was out of tune. He had just tuned his guitar, so we were extremely puzzled. Then it hit us! We realized it was a 1/2 step lower then it should be. To fix this, we sped up the tape machine to adjust the track to its correct speed and then bounced the track back to digital for the manufacturing of the C.d. We got to run this mix through the famous Dangerous 2 Bus to add in even more warmth and the ultimate end product was much warmer sounding then it would've been without the mistake. In hindsight it is pretty noticeable with my voice sounding like Al Green on the mistake c.d, and by the way, I still have 300 of those lying around if anyone wants a "collectors item"...

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