Metallica's James Hetfield Throws Rocks At Photographers?

Hetfield reportedly confronted a few, and even threw some rocks at some out of frustration. more on this story

Van Halen Mystery Solved: Album, Tour Dates and Video Release Dates

One of the most solid sources for Van Halen information, Van Halen News Desk, has solved the mystery surrounding the February 7, 2012 date on a promotional graphic from the band.

The site confirmed that the February 7, 2012 date is indeed the release date for the band's new album, their first with David Lee Roth since 1984.

VHND also reports that the band's 2012 tour itinerary will be announced next week on January 3rd followed on January 10th by the premiere of the first single from the new album along with the video and the initial tickets go on sale for the tour.

VHND also have the first official photos from the band. These are from their video shoot at the Roxy and they will be posting one each day until the new single drops on Jan. 10th. more at VHND

Coldplay's Chris Martin Has Unusual Encounter With Intruder

(Gibson) Coldplay's Chris Martin was forced to defend his property when an intruder decided to stage an impromptu performance of Coldplay material at Martin's residence. As reported by London's Daily Mirror, Martin first gave singing tips to the aspiring vocalist before asking him to leave the premises.

"I had a guy the other day who climbed over the gate of our house and started singing Coldplay songs to his friends on the street," Martin said.

The Coldplay frontman told the uninvited visitor, who had climbed a garden wall at the residence, that he wasn't singing the songs correctly. "Listen, you're just not doing that right," he said. The trespasser complied without argument when Martin asked him to leave. "He politely left," Martin said. "It was bordering on intrusion. Still, it's nice that people like the songs." more on this story

Red Hot Chili Peppers To Rock World's Most Expensive New Year's Eve Bash

(Gibson) The Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to perform at perhaps the world's most expensive New Year's Eve bash, London's The Telegraph has reported.

Roman Abramovich, the billionaire Russian oligarch known for throwing extravagant parties, has hired the veteran rockers to entertain at the exclusive event, which will be held at Abramovich's estate on the Caribbean island of St Barts. The 45-year-old Abramovich, who owns the Chelsea football club, is spending more than 5 million pounds (approximately $7,850,000) to entertain the 300 guests expected to attend. Those invited have been told to wear "island chic" to the celebration, which will run from 10 pm to 4 am.

The Chili Peppers take-home pay for the performance has not been revealed. In other news, however, the New York Post has reported that Stevie Wonder will be compensated $1 million to sing at this year's New Year's Eve celebration at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. more on this story

Alice in Chains Hope To Release New Album in 2012

(Banana 101.5) Last we heard, Alice in Chains were hard at work on material for their second album since the death of original vocalist Layne Staley. There's no doubt the album will be one of the year's best — the only question we have is will we hear the album in 2012?

Last July, Heart vocalist and longtime friend of the band, Ann Wilson said she had heard some "amazing" new Alice in Chains material and added they were at work on their next album. The reports were later confirmed at one of Alice in Chains only 2011 gigs when guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell ended their set by saying, "Time to head back to the studio and finish that record." Earlier this month Cantrell was asked by ESPN (via Grunge Report) when the new album would be finished, he replied:

"Whenever we're done. Schedules in music, I know people have done it and say you need an album out by this date and you're talking about album tour, it can burn you out quickly. It did with our band. We've been fortunate to be partnered up with companies that respect the process. We're never really forced to make music. If it doesn't happen, then it doesn't. We've been writing a lot. I also had shoulder surgery earlier this year. I'm at the tail end of rehabbing that. That put us back a little bit. But we have some stuff. We'll do some writing. Hopefully we'll have it out next year. We'll put it out when we feel that it's worth putting out." more on this story

Peter Frampton Launches Digital Battle

(hennemusic) Peter Frampton is suing his record label over unpaid digital music royalties.

The Tennessean reports Frampton has filed suit against Universal Music Group for a half-million dollars in unpaid digital music royalties and for unspecified damages, making him the latest artist to take a label to court on such claims.

Rapper Eminem's producers prevailed on similar claims earlier this year. Frampton filed suit Friday afternoon in a Los Angeles federal court. more on this story

The Doors Five Disc Box Set Shelved

Ultimate Classic Rock has bad news for fans of The Doors: The 'L.A. Woman' five-disc Super Edition is no longer on tap for release.

Bumped from its initial release date of Nov. 24, 2011 and despite the hundreds of pre-paid advance orders, Rhino Records has decided that it's not a commercially viable project.

Doors' Manager Jeff Jampol explains that "there are concerns at [Rhino's] end" and "they want to be sure that not only is the market there, but do we have a place to distribute them?" The two-disc 'L.A. Woman' 40th Anniversary special edition remains on schedule with a Jan. 24 date, but now it appears that a three-disc set (previously unreleased alternates/outtakes/chatter) will later accompany it. more on this story

Lou Reed Says Working With Metallica Was Like Getting A Free Ferrari

(Gibson) Lou Reed says that making Lulu, his collaborative album with Metallica, wasn't as odd as it appears from the outside.

In a just-published interview with M – Music & Musicians, the legendary rocker revealed that the disc, which is based on two century-old German plays, also involved a lot of improvisation. "[Working with Metallica] was all instinctual," Reed said. "Nobody thought about anything. It was just a great opportunity to play together. I had a certain sound in my head that I wanted to try to get, and I got it. The way we did this is that if everybody didn't agree, we didn't do it. It wasn't majority rules—it was all together or nothing."

Reed was also asked if Metallica pushed him into musical terrain that was different from his usual style. "They're into heavy metal, I'm into heavy guitar, so it was no big stretch," he replied. "They were so ready to go, it was thrilling. It's like someone gave you a Ferrari for free." more on this story

Behind The Scenes With Aerosmith

(hennemusic) Hot on the heels of their South and Central American shows, Aerosmith rocked Japan for 7 dates this fall.

Aerosmith are now sharing some videos of their Japanese trip. Bassist Tom Hamilton plays tour guide through Osaka, Tokyo and Fukouka, wandering the streets to show off some interesting sights.

There's also some backstage and pre-show footage, giving fans some private access and views most wouldn't otherwise get to see. Check out the video here.

Me Talk Pretty, Hawthorne Heights, Madina Lake, and The Young Electric Tour

Me Talk Pretty have announced details for the second leg of their first national headline tour.

The second part of The Wake Up Tour is set to feature support from Hawthorne Heights, Madina Lake, and The Young Electric.

According to the initial dates that have been announced, he tour gets underway on January 19th in Virginia Beach and will wrap up on February 13th in Amityville, NY. However, more date are expected to be announced soon.
more on this story

Sam Rivers RIP

(Gibson) Jazz saxophonist Sam Rivers, a leading figure during the strikingly innovative post-World War II jazz period, died on Monday from pneumonia, the New York Times has reported.

Rivers was 88. A multi-instrumentalist, Rivers zeroed in on the tenor saxophone in the mid '40s, and soon became an integral part of the then-thriving Boston jazz scene. During the '60s he played with such seminal artists as Miles Davis, T-Bone Walker and Billie Holiday.

In the '70s, working out of his loft-apartment studio in New York's East Village, he made a series of albums that solidified his reputation as a central figure in New York's avant-garde jazz "loft scene." Later Rivers work extensively with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, who had been an early influence. more on this story

The Trews Announce U.S. Dates

(TGS) The Trews completed their US Residency Tour in the tail end of 2011 as they continue touring behind Hope & Ruin, their fourth full-length studio album.

Feedback was amazing and the quartet doubled the crowd every week in each room they played.

Now they're coming back Stateside in January to hit the markets they missed. more on this story

Disturbed Guitarist Recalls Most Important Christmas Gift

(Gibson) 'Tis the season to charm little ones with gifts of Christmas cheer, and Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan clearly remembers the most important Christmas gift of his life: his first guitar.

"My first electric guitar, it was like from Sears – it was a [Gibson] SG…" he said. "My parents just didn't really seem too supportive of it in the beginning, because they figured it's either gonna sit in the closet and collect dust, or 'he's gonna play it and it's gonna be loud and annoying.' It was kind of a difficult thing to convince them that I was gonna be serious about it, and I wanted this…" He added that, yes, he still has that guitar!

Donegan earlier this year told Gibson.com that classic metal guitarists inspired him to delve into guitar playing in the first place: "I can't really single out any player, but I liked going to concerts and the idea of being in a band where you see the impact four or five guys on stage have over thousands of people. So, that power and the scenario of the lead guitar just pummeling through the speakers were two things that caught my attention. Early on, I got into a lot of the classic metal players: Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath; the guitarists in Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Queensryche, Pantera. These bands all had great guitar players, so it definitely inspired me to go down that road."

Read his full interview with Gibson here

Red Fang Announce Mastodon Off Dates

(Freeman) Red Fang have confirmed a string of European headlining dates to coincide with their tour of Europe with Mastodon.

Red Fang are hitting the road in support of their album 'Murder The Mountains' which was recorded The Decemberists' Chris Funk and the album was mixed by three-time Grammy Award winner Vance Powell (White Stripes, The Raconteurs).

Red Fang will also be taking the stage again in their hometown of Portland, OR this New Year's Eve at Star Theater. more on this story

Steven Tyler Shocked Aerosmith Only Had One No 1

(hennemusic) Given all the amazing songs they've produced over their career, it's hard to believe Aerosmith have only had one #1 hit single.

The Boston band's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 5, 1998, and stayed there for four weeks. Ironically, the tune wasn't written by anyone in the band; the songwriter was Diane Warren.

Steven Tyler talks about the song's success as part of Billboard's 1000 No. 1's series: "It was a shock, not because we had our first No. 1," said Tyler. "But because it was our only No. 1. I thought that [of] all those other Aerosmith songs, at least one or two did." more on this story

Decrepit Birth's Samus Guests on New Neologist Project

This bit of news was sent over to us: The Neologist have announced their "mystery drummer" on the upcoming first track of the bands new Soilwork cover album as none other than the multi-faceted Samus (Decrepit Birth, ex-Mutiny Within, ex-Abigail Williams, ex-Suspyre).

The Neologist have collaborated with Samus for their first release, "Shadowchild".

Coming off the heels of their debut album, The 26 Letters of Your Universe, The Neologist also released a full length In Flames cover album titled In Flames We Trust: Volume I. more on this story