Upcoming Slipknot Shows May Be Their Last

"This tour coming up is definitely going to be like baby steps... It's going to be a long time before I feel OK about it. I'm not saying that I'm not open to it. I'm just saying that I'm not there yet, and I don't know how long it's going to take me to get there. So we're just going to have to see what happens. Only time will tell." more on this story

Motley Crue Tour Opener A Disaster?

(RockAAA) The Motley Crue/Poison U.S. summer tour launched Tuesday night in Dallas. Along with openers the New York Dolls, the three bands rocked a sold-out Gexa Energy Pavilion.

The Dallas Observer's Laura Mann, a self-proclaimed Crüe-head, enjoyed the show but was critical of the band's performance, saying:

"The past 15 years have found the aging Crüe relying more and more on their stage set to mask the sloppiness of their live playing, and last night was no exception. Singer Vince Neil was a complete mess, forgetting lyrics left and right and getting so out of breath that he even stumbled over the lines he did remember. Nikki Sixx looked like he was going through the motions. more on this story

Megadeth Recording NeverDead Soundtrack

Roadrunner sent over word that Megadeth are recording a customized soundtrack for the forthcoming action-adventure franchise NeverDead.

"Never Dead," the official song sharing Konami's video game title, will appear on Megadeth's 13th album, which the band is currently recording.

"The members of Megadeth are speed-metal music pioneers with a world renowned reputation for producing song catalogs with original and progressive lyrics," said Shinji Hirano, President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "The NeverDead soundtrack is an example of pure imagination and it fully captures the essence of our game. We're proud to have such a distinctive band associated with our title." more on this story

Slash Beginning New Album

(Gibson) Slash has announced on his Facebook page that he's set to begin work on his new album next week alongside drummer Brent Fitz and bass player Todd Kerns. The reportedly guitar great wrote on Facebook that he is: "really looking forward to it."

Slash recently told Planet Rock's Nicky Horne that Myles Kennedy will tale care of all vocals on the new record.

"Myles and I have been writing all throughout the tour so we've got a lot of material, and at this point we're probably gonna start a little bit of pre-production in June and then do the tour in July. In September we're going to [do more] pre-production and the album is slated to come out in March or April." more on this story

Aerosmith's Joe Perry To Answer Fan's Questions Online

(hennemusic) Following recent Twitter sessions with fans by Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer, I guess Joe Perry's feeling a little left out, so he's decided to get in on the action.

Perry is offering up a little Facebook Q&A and fans are invited to submit questions. Check out Joe's official Facebook page here, "like" it, and look for this post:

"I want to do a Facebook Q&A with the fans next week so ask me a question in the comment part of this post and I will pick four to answer sometime next week!" more on this story

Paul McCartney Tour- Skid Row Porno- Ozzy Turns Into A Troll- Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza Cancel Tour- The Starting Line Return.. Sort of- Testament Reissues- more

(FMQB) Paul McCartney will play his first show at New York's Yankee Stadium on Friday, July 15 to kick off for his On The Run Tour, according to his website. more

(Lambgoat) The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza has cancelled the shows that they had scheduled next week with Whitechapel, Ultrageist, and Stray From The Path for an undisclosed reason. more

(BW&BK) ContactMusic.com reports that Ozzy Osbourne is to become an Earth Troll. The former Black Sabbath frontman - dubbed the 'Prince of Darkness' - will make a guest voiceover appearance in an episode of Disney Channel animation series Fish Hooks as the beastly sea creature. more

(MU) Limp Bizkit have posted a new and strange video trailer online to promote its forthcoming comeback album 'Gold Cobra.' The video features Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland interviewing a gold cobra. You can check out the footage here

(Jam!) Phil Varone of Skid Row fame has turned his alleged sex addiction into a money-spinning venture by bedding five girlfriends for a new x-rated movie. more BW&BK had this Phil Varone's Secret Sex Stash takes the viewer inside the raucous sex life of the drummer for Saigon Kick, Skid Row and Prunella Scales. "Granted, it's been pretty easy for me to meet many groupies along the way," says Varone, "but I still feel a charge each time with each new girl. It's a very personal, very explicit experience and never gets old," he added. "This was the first time for me with the incredible five girls in the movie and I loved every minute I had with each of them." more

(Lambgoat) Dark Castle, will release their second full-length "Surrender To All Life Beyond Form" this July as a deluxe gatefold 12" LP via Brutal Panda Records. more

(PNO) The Starting Line have effectively returned to action, at least as a semi-active band. The group had initially reunited for some shows in 2009 and performed at Australia's Soundwave festival in February of this year, but in a statement posted to AbsolutePunk guitarist Matt Watts offered some clarity on the band's future more

(Lambgoat) Scarlett O'Hara, We Are Defiance, Casino Madrid, and Wolves Among Men will hit the road together late this month for a five-week tour. more

Periphery and Tesseract will travel to Australia next month for a few shows more

(Lambgoat) Cannibal Corpse will once again be returning to Latin America! This time, they'll be bringing along label mates The Black Dahlia Murder as well as fellow underground heavyweights Suicide Silence to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela in December. more

Back On Black is reissuing Testament's legendary first four albums - The Legacy, The New Order, Practice What You Preach and Souls Of Black - on June 27th as deluxe limited edition 180 gram vinyl. Details can be found here

(PNO) Joey Cape recently announced on his twitter that due to the illness of a band member Joey Cape's Bad Loud have cancelled all of their upcoming U.S. tour. more

(BW&BK) Dragonforce have announced their only East Coast show for 2011. This intimate show will take place October 21st at New York's Gramercy Theater. more

A cheesy movie is ok but a tribute album with some proceeds going to charity obviously isn't. (AP) Joan Jett and 1970s bandmate Cherie Currie sued Thursday to try to stop the June 28 release of "Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise," an intended homage to the Runaways, the punk bank that launched their careers and helped light a path for other brash, hard-edged female rock groups. more

On this day in 2004, Singer-songwriter Ray Charles died at the age of 73. Glaucoma rendered Charles blind when he was six years old. Charles had the 1962 U.K. and U.S. #1 single, "I Can't Stop Loving You," plus over 30 other U.S. Top 40 singles. more

Arctic Monkeys Arena Tour

(Gibson) Arctic Monkeys have announced a fall arena tour across the pond, according to NME.com.

The Sheffield band recently released their fourth album, Suck It And See, and are set to play two shows in their hometown of Sheffield, England this weekend.

The band will then headline the V Festival in August before preparing for a major end of the year tour starting October 28 in Nottingham. more on this story

Why God Bless Ozzy Osbourne?

(Gibson) Talking to BBC Newsbeat, Jack Osbourne, son of rock's favorite wild man, explained his motives for making the documentary, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne.

"I did this mainly because I was fed up of the way the media was still portraying my dad as this bumbling, messed up character," said Jack Osbourne.

"He has changed so much and has become a new man who I respect." Ozzy admits in the film that he was a poor father and lucky to be alive after years of drug and alcohol abuse. Jack explains that the turning point came five years ago when they had a fierce argument. more on this story

Early Bob Dylan Lyrics Discovered

(Gibson) Early versions of Bob Dylan song lyrics will be auctioned this month, according to the Daily Express.

The recently discovered papers feature lyrics and notes, some in crayon, from the mid-'60s and include some of Dylan's most famous songs, including "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Visions of Johanna" and "Maggie's Farm."

Chris Coover of Christie's auction house said: "The mid-'60s, especially 1964-1966, were a true watershed for Dylan. In that period his lyrics became deeper and more personal, while his songs moved away from the acoustic, folk-inflected style, and he forged a unique personal style as poet and songwriter." more on this story

Judas Priest 20 CD Box Set Coming

(Gibson) Metal gods Judas Priest will release a comprehensive 20-CD box set in August.

The set will be called Singles Cuts and will feature all of the band's U.K singles released on the Columbia label from 1977 to 1992.

Track listing: CD 1 – 1977 "Diamonds and Rust" - "Dissident Aggressor" - CD 2 – 1978 "Better by You, Better by Me" - "Invader" CD 3 – 1978 "Evening Star"- "Starbreaker" CD 4 – 1978 - "Before the Dawn" - "Rock Forever" more

Live Bon Jovi Webcast This Weekend

(Gibson) Bon Jovi will be streaming the first 30 minutes of their Sunday show live from the Olympic Stadium, Munich, in front of an 80,000-strong crowd and millions watching via the Internet, courtesy of Ustream.

Just click here to watch the webcast on Sunday – the live stream will start at 1 p.m. (EST).

The Munich show will act as a special preview for Bon Jovi's U.K. dates, with Bon Jovi visiting Edinburgh, Manchester, London and Bristol. more on this story

Red Hot Chili Peppers Promise Good Stuff With New Album

(Rock News Desk) Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis admits the band have done poor work in the past – but upcoming album I'm With You isn't in that category.

The band are poised to release their follow-up to 2006′s Stadium Arcadium, featuring new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who replaced John Frusciante when he refused to return after their two-year hiatus.

Work began in November 2009 and the finished album is due out on August 30. The band are planning to tour for an extended period once it's released. Kiedis tells Rolling Stone: "I know when we write mediocre stuff and when we write good stuff. I can't wait to go out and play this." more on this story

Rush Time Machine for DVD and Blu-Ray

(hennemusic) The new Rush live DVD now has a title: Time Machine. Due September 27, the set captures the band's April 15 performance at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for release on DVD and Blu-Ray.

RushIsABand.com reports Time Machine will be distributed by Concord Records, the company that bought Rounder Records last year, and the last 3 Rush live DVDs were put out by Rounder.

The fan site goes on to speculate that, although the release date is currently given as September 27th, judging by past experience it's very likely that it will end up being pushed back into October or even November. But it looks like we will most certainly have a new Rush live DVD by Christmas of this year. more on this story

My Morning Jacket, Neko Case, and Phosphorescent Tornado Relief Concert

(Girlie) My Morning Jacket, Neko Case, and Phosphorescent are teaming up for a tornado relief benefit concert on August 19th at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater for the United Way of West Alabama.

The money raised will go towards tornado relief in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which is still in recovery after being struck by a devastating twister less than two months ago.

On April 27th, an astonishing 53 tornadoes tore through Alabama, including a massive EF-4 tornado that was nearly a mile wide. In a span of merely five minutes, the EF-4 destroyed and/or damaged over 7,000 homes in Tuscaloosa and tragically took the lives of 41 citizens on a six-mile track of destruction. Thousands upon thousands of local citizens have been affected by the damage and the city is still in the process of rebuilding. more on this story

Paul McCartney Releases Video For Lost Song

(Concord) Paul McCartney has enlisted surf filmmaker Jack McCoy to create a music video for his previously unreleased song "Blue Sway."

Written nearly 20 years ago, McCartney's never-before released song, "Blue Sway," will be available for the first time on the bonus audio disc of the special edition of McCartney II.

The music video created by McCoy will also be featured on the bonus DVD included in the set. McCartney II will be released on June 14th by MPL and Concord Music Group. more on this story

Slipknot's Corey Taylor Anguished on TV Show Over Paul Gray

(Rock News Desk) Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor finally released his anguish over the loss of bassist Paul Gray while as he had a commemorative tattoo inked on his leg.

The scene appeared in last night's episode of reality show NY Ink, showing Taylor in tears as he talked about his bandmate, who died of an accidental overdose in May 2010. "I miss that laugh. I miss that so much," said the singer before bursting into heartfelt sobs. "I miss him so much. I just want to see him again."

After the session he explained: "I didn't realise how much I was sitting on until it was almost over. I lost it hard and I just let it go. more on this story

Simple Minds Frontman Jim Kerr Set For American Solo Debut

(Rocket Science) Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr has set a August 2nd North American release date for his solo debut album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr.

The album, available since last May only in the UK and Europe, entered the UK charts at #94 and the UK Independent Chart at #8. The U.S. deluxe edition release will feature three additional bonus tracks (Mr. Silversmith, Karma to this Rain, Sad Stone Child), as well as feature a specially enhanced package.

Produced by Jez Coad (responsible for production on the last two Simple Minds albums), the album also features Coad on guitars and keyboards. In addition, Lostboy features Charlie Jones on bass (player with Robert Plant, Page/Plant, Goldfrapp) and longtime Simple Mind drummer, Mel Gaynor. more on this story

Saxon Decide Not To Avoid Iron Maiden Similarity

(Rock News Desk) Saxon's Biff Byford came close to changing the name of a song on upcoming album Call to Arms – because he was concerned about its similarity to what he thinks is the best track on Iron Maiden's 2010 record The Final Frontier.

Saxon had already written Mists of Avalon when Bruce Dickinson's outfit released their LP containing the track Isle of Avalon. And Byford took a little persuasion not to change his plans.

He says: "It's a song about Excalibur. We had the idea months ago when we were rehearsing. Then the Iron Maiden album came out and it's got Isle of Avalon – and it's probably the best track on the album." Find out what happened next

The New Regime Release Documentary and Tour Plans

(Press Here) The New Regime has released a 24 minute documentary on the making of the new album "Speak Through The White Noise" (Released 4/26/11 via Command! Music).

The piece chronicles 22-year-old Ilan Rubin's journey from being in Lostprophets to joining Nine Inch Nails, all the while recording his second album in various studios, garages and hotel rooms around the world. Rubin wrote, played and sang everything on "Speak Through the White Noise" and the complexity and intensity of that process is highlighted in this incredible short film. Check it out here

The New Regime will be on tour this summer supporting Taking Back Sunday. The tour also features Thursday and The Colour Revolt. more on this story

Ginger Splits With Michael Monroe

(Rock News Desk) Ginger has quit the Michael Monroe band, and he'll play his last show with them next weekend.

The Wildhearts mainman, who plays guitar for the former Hanoi Rocks singer, says one of the reasons for his move is lack of faith in manager Virpi Immonen for his departure – but she also represents his own outfit.

Ginger comments: "I left for a lot of reasons, mainly the management. I didn't agree with the management of the band, but I didn't have enough of a position to change anything. more on this story

A Pale Horse Named Death Streaming New Album Online

(Freeman) A Pale Horse Named Death are streaming their new album "And Hell Will Follow Me" in full online ahead of next week's release.

A Pale Horse Named Death is the brainchild of Brooklyn, NY native Sal Abruscato, and sounds like Alice in Chains mysteriously sneaking up behind Type O Negative with a butcher knife while being filmed for a future episode of "Law & Order". Critical acclaim has been quick upon the announcement of the album's June release.

Sal's partner in crime on "And Hell Will Follow Me" is Matt Brown, sound engineer extraordinaire and guitarist of fellow NY band Seventh Void. "The chemistry between me and Matt is unique and flawless very rare in today's music. We are the murdering evil version of Lennon and McCartney." says Abruscato. more on this story

Steve Morse Explains Deep Purple Orchestra Tour

(hennemusic) Last week, Deep Purple kicked off its first North American tour in four years. For the first time on these shores, Purple are performing with a symphony orchestra in each city. Used to touring as a five-piece, the band must accommodate about 41 more musicians.

"That's a lot of empty (instrument) cases in the dressing room," laughs Purple guitarist Steve Morse as he talks to the Star-Ledger.

"This one isn't going to be orchestra-based so much as: It's the rock band Deep Purple playing, with strings and horns being added for some color textures," explains Morse, who joined the lineup in 1993. "We're not going to change the songs — I mean, there'll be a few little cameos and features — but the basic idea of the show is: We're doing what we do, and having more texture where it's appropriate." more on this story

Children Of Bodom's Roundtrip to Hell and Back

Children Of Bodom have premiered new music video for "Roundtrip to Hell and Back," the second single their new album Relentless Reckless Forever

The clip was filmed live at both the Tampere Ice Hall and Pakkahuone Hall in Finland and directed by Jussi Hyttinen for FLC415 (MTV3, The Finnish National Lottery, etc.). Check it out here

On June 24 in Los Angeles, Children Of Bodom will launch a North American headlining tour in support of Relentless Reckless Forever. more on this story

Stone Roses Won't Reunite For The Wrong Reasons

(Gibson) Stone Roses guitarist John Squire has voiced his opinion on rock band reunions. Speaking to Shortlist, he talked about reunions in general and Stone Roses reforming rumors in particular.

"I went to see what's left of Led Zeppelin recently and I really enjoyed that," he said. "But as I'm not interested in Britpop, I'd suggest that those bands don't bother. When it's just a get-together for a big payday and everyone gets their old clothes out, that seems tragic to me."

As for the constant talk of a Stone Roses reunion, Squire said: "It's never got that far. I hear rumors, but no one ever phones me and says 'Will you do it for this amount?' more on this story

A Lot Like Birds Hitting The Road

A Lot Like Birds are hitting the road this summer for a string of West Coast tour dates in July.

Joining them on these dates will be I The Mighty (Equal Vision Records). All tour dates are listed below.

The band is currently working on their new full-length, the first to feature vocalist Kurt Travis (ex Dance Gavin Dance). The album is scheduled to be released in the fall and is being produced by Kris Crummet (Breathe Carolina, Decoder, Alesana) in California. more on this story

Watch Rush's Neil Peart Rock Letterman

(hennemusic) A solo Neil Peart performance on TV may be rarer than an eclipse, but it sure is more exciting to watch. The Rush legend was featured on the finale of Drum Solo Week on The Late Show with David Letterman Thursday night.

Peart delivered an edited version of his solo on the band's current Time Machine tour, much to the delight of the studio audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater. "My regular live drum solo is about eight and a half minutes, so I decided I'd have to do a mental edit, accelerate the changes and minimize the improvisational parts and so on," Neil told MusicRadar. "At the rehearsal, during my first attempt, I had it down to about four minutes and 50 seconds, and the producers were giving me these worrisome looks." Peart's second run-through was more acceptable: "I got it down to about four minutes and two seconds."

Peart admits that when he was approached to be part of the Letterman experience, his initial reaction was, "I don't know…it's not really my thing. But then I thought, Hey, a drum solo on TV - sounds great! I'd be very honored to be the ambassador to drum solos." see it here

Piano Metal Band In Legend Streaming New Album Online

Piano metal band In Legend are giving fans a full stream of their new album "Ballads 'N' Bullets" ahead of the June 14th release on SPV/Synthetic Symphony.

Traditionally, most rock bands are dominated by guitars. Not so the case with In Legend, where the mother of all instruments is the "key" component: The piano. With an uncompromising feeling for hard and flowing melodies, the ivories are hammered by Bastian Emig to an unexplored extreme.

In the process he has come to understand the unique, symbiotic union of the percussive and melodic instrument in order to create rousing and sweeping songs. In Legend is the essence of an artistic process that has been pulsating in the heart and maturing in the soul of Bastian during the last 10 years. And piece by piece it has been forged and hammered into the evoking sound which now characterizes it: The perfect blend of hard, soft, and uncompromising passion! Stream it here

Landmine Marathon Recording New Album

Prosthetic sent over word that Landmine Marathon are recording the follow-up to 2010's "Sovereign Descent."

Once again, the album is being recorded at guitarist Ryan Butler's Arcane Digital Recording Studios, where he's recorded past efforts from the band, as well as Misery Index, Phobia, The Funeral Pyre and many more.

The band are about to enter the mixing stage and are shooting for a late fall release of their as-yet-untitled fourth album. Look for the band to announce summer tour dates in the coming days. more on this story

Dave Stewart's Sons New Band Nightmare & the Cat Preview New EP With Live Video

Nightmare & the Cat (Sam & Django Stewart, sons of the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart) are releasing their debut self-titled EP on July 12.

In anticipation of the EP the band have released a live video of the b-side track "Girl in a Glass Dress" (performed at SIR Studios/Hollywood on 5/13/11), check it out here

Nightmare and the Cat is the new project from London-bred Sam Stewart (formerly of British rockers Blondelle), brother Django (ex-Midnight Squires). more on this story

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground Announces Dates With The Dear Hunter

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground have announced a summer tour in support of The Dear Hunter and alongside O'Brother.

The tour launches July 15th at Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco, CA, and wraps up August 27th at the Glass House in Pomona, CA.

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground premiered "World's Entire," the first song off their upcoming sophomore album Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, on Consequence Of Sound. Grab it here Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground will be released July 26th on Suburban Home. more on this story

Beatles Family Reunion This Week

There was a Beatles family reunion on Wednesday in Las Vegas to celebrate the 5th Anniversary celebration of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. Here is the official recap:

Sir Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon, Olivia & Dhani Harrison, Sir George & Giles Martin, along with Cirque du Soleil President & CEO Daniel Lamarre, LOVE Director Dominic Champagne and Artistic Guide Gilles St-Croix, joined celebrity friends and family at The Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for the 5th Anniversary celebration of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. Ringo Starr is currently on tour in Europe and sent a video message that was played at the top of the show for more than 2,000 attendees.

Ringo Starr said, "George Harrison and Guy Laliberte had a chat at a party and it's still rolling on. I feel like it's one of those magic moments. George, who brought the idea to Apple, would have been pleased with the results and I truly think John would have, too. I mean, what's not to like, it's a really cool show."

Celebrities including Slash, T-Pain, Rosanna Arquette, Patricia Arquette, Gayle King, Criss Angel, The Killers, Marcia Gay Harden and Mark McGrath also were in attendance. more on this story

Singled Out: Simplified's Shall We Begin

Today Chris Sheridan from Simplified tells us about "Shall We Begin" from their brand new album "Brighter Days". Here is the story:

When Clee and I sat down to write "Shall We Begin" as a band we were facing some challenging transitions within the band and personally. Clee and his wife just recently split up, our original drummer recently left the band, and overall we were just feeling burned out.

Last summer Clee and I spent a lot more time performing acoustic as we continued looking for a new drummer. During our summer shows at The Rusty Rudder in Lake Norman, NC we rediscovered that spark we felt when we first started playing together. The Rudder shows are always a great time because it's a more intimate setting with our fans which are mostly our friends that have been around since the beginning. Even though we were in this kind of melancholy state…the music, the good times at The Rudder were extremely therapeutic.

It was around this time that a bunch of new ideas began to gel. In essence, those hot, summer shows at The Rusty Rudder served as a launching pad for what would eventually become the bulk of material on Brighter Days. Shall We Begin is symbolic of the beginning of a new chapter of Simplified. It kind of turns out to be a party song geared towards crowds and it is becoming a very good live song to perform! It's a "pick me up" tune!

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

. Blackwater James Interview

Blackwater James isnt your little sisters rock band. They take a pinch of soul from the blues, steal a bit of raunchiness from rock, toss down it with a dollop of hardcore metal and twist the concoction into something that is their very own sound. - Read the full Blackwater James