System Of A Down and Deftones Tour

Deftones are currently in Los Angeles, CA recording their seventh studio full-length with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters, Rush) who also produced Diamond Eyes. The album will be released via Reprise Records later this year. more on this story

Adler Gives Up Guns N' Roses Reunion Hopes

(Banana 101.5) Ex-Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler is done talking about Axl Rose aka 'the redhead,' saying the singer's letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exposed the singer's "true colors." Even though Adler spoke at length about Axl and the current incarnation to Loudwire, after all the drama, mudslinging and the ensuing media firestorm, he has given his final interview where Rose's name will be mentioned.

He likened the Hall of Fame event and playing with Slash and Duff McKagan once again to "letting go" and that it felt "a huge weight was lifted off my body." He considers all hopes of a GN'R original lineup reunion to be squashed for good, too. "That's done," Adler told Rolling Stone. "That's totally out of my system. I was hoping that the five of us would have been there to play and show our respect to the fans."

He continued, "If it was going to happen, that's when it was going to happen, and in Axl's letter, he showed his true colors to the world," he said, referring to the induction. When pressed to clarify what he meant about "true colors," the kit minder said, "I think it's disrespect. He's not for the fans, which is everybody in the world. Basically, he told everybody in the world, 'F— you, I don't give a s— what you think.'" more on this story

Gene Simmons, Joe Elliott, Sebastian Bach's Rock 'N' Roll All Stars Video

(hennemusic) The Rock 'N' Roll All Stars are currently touring South American and the 11-piece supergroup treated fans to an intimate club show in Buenos Aires Sunday night.

The All Stars are made up KISS' Gene Simmons, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Sebastian Bach, three former members of Guns N' Roses, and players from The Cult, Alice In Chains, Collective Soul and Black Country Communion.

Sunday's club gig delivered an abbreviated 10-song set that featured the biggest hits from all the musicians involved. Check out video from the show here.

Rick Rubin Is Why ZZ Top's New Album Is Delayed

(Gibson) ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons says the delay in releasing the band's new album is not the fault of him and his cohorts: producer Rick Rubin is behind the long gap between releases.

Speaking to Noise11's Paul Cashmere, Gibbons said everything is still "buzzing" in ZZ Top land. "I guess the irony of the whole picture is that the band is wondering. Where is this thing?" Gibbons said. "When do we hear it? Rick's funny. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. Triple decades and this is the first time we have broken the mold as business pals."

Gibbons admits that fellow beard icon Rubin has an unorthodox approach to working but, "has a sense of intuition that can't be beat. …The only real directive was 'don't change much' and I said 'okay' and he said 'listen, if we stumble into something that's really insane and it works I'm going to keep it' and I said 'that's good.'" more on this story

Croucier Reunites With Ratt

(Classic Rock) Juan Croucier has rehearsed with Ratt ahead of hitting the stage with the band he left in 1992, singer Stephen Pearcy has confirmed.

The "other voice of Ratt" will appear with Pearcy, Warren DeMartini, Bobby Blotzer and Carlos Cavazo at the M3 festival on May 11-12 in Columbia, Maryland.

The only thing to prevent a full-on Ratt reunion is the absence of guitarist Robbin Crosby, who died from a heroin overdose in 2002. more on this story

Metallica Bringing Back The Snake Pit

Metallica plan to bring back their famous Snake Pit for their upcoming summer trek where they will celebrate the Black Album's 20th anniversary. They tells fans:

As you may have heard, the theme of our summer trek through Europe is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of the Black Album by playing it in its entirety at all 16 shows. And what would a tour of the Black Album be without a snake pit????

For those of you who were with us almost 20 years ago for the summer of '92-'93 tours, you might recall that diamond shaped pit extending from the middle of the stage, well it's baccccckkkk for our little summer vacation! more on this story

Guns N' Roses, Bad Brains, Ours, Alberta Cross Stars To Play Lucinda's Kids Benefit

Members of Guns N' Roses, Bad Brains, Ours, and Alberta Cross are just a few of the musicians who will be coming together later this week for a special benefit concert.

antiMusic's Tony K had these details on his site The Screen Door: Last December, our close community of friends, musicians, and music lovers lost one of its own when Lucinda Gallagher took her own life. Lucinda was kind and generous, and would give anything she had to anyone in need. She loved music, her friends and family, but more than anything in this world, her two amazing children. The children, now in the care of Lucinda's dear friend Jamie, both have their mother's rock and roll spirit. Like her, they are bright and soulful, and have a deep appreciation for music. Young teenagers, both are gifted budding musicians.

This benefit will include live shows on April 29th and 30th at the Bowery Electric, as well as an auction and raffle that will raise money to be put in trust for Lucinda's children. All artists and persons involved have generously donated their time and talents, as well as items for auction and raffle. With the advisement of Bob Benjamin of the Light of Day charity, we will ensure that 100% of the proceeds are placed into a trust for the children. Read more and see the full lineup.

Iggy Pop Releasing Covers Album

(Gibson) The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Edith Piaf all get the Iggy Pop treatment on the veteran rocker's new album, Apres, to be released May 9.

Tracks includes Pop's take on Sinatra's "Only the Lonely," The Beatles' "Michelle" and a version of Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose."

"All popular music forms of today get their strength from the beat. Rap, hip-hop, metal, pop, and rock producers will tell you that the beats they use imitate the human heartbeat and that is where the power lies," Iggy said. "I wanted to sing some of these songs myself, hoping to bring the feeling I felt as a listener to my listeners through my voice. Many of these songs are in French, probably because it is French culture which has most stubbornly resisted the mortal attacks of the Anglo-American music machine." more on this story

Dream Theater's Petrucci and Steve Morse For Satriani's G3 Tour

(Gibson) Joe Satriani has confirmed that Dream Theater's John Petrucci and Deep Purple's Steve Morse will join him on a South American edition of the G3 tour.

In addition to Petrucci, who has appeared on several G3 tours, previous participants include Steve Lukather, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Yngwie Malmsteen, Robert Fripp, Paul Gilbert, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Adrian Legg, and special guests, including Tony MacAlpine, Johnny Hiland, Morse, Keith More, Chris Duarte, Andy Timmons, Neal Schon, Gary Hoey, Brian May, Billy Gibbons, Johnny A, George Lynch, Patrick Rondat, Herman Li, Alejandro Silva and Eric Sardinas.

The most recent G3 tour was an Australia/New Zealand run featuring Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather, including a massive set as part of the four-day Bluesfest festival at Byron Bay. more on this story

Ian Anderson Releases Thick as a Brick 2 Widget

(Gibson) Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson has made available a special web widget containing musical selections from his new Thick as a Brick 2 album, as well as interview footage.

The widget is available now courtesy of EMI Records and North American syndicated rock radio show In The Studio: The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands.

"We snack on music these days," Anderson says. "We don't sit down to a banquet and take two hours of it, we tend to snack and so I think it's a change in culture that I have to recognize. It's gonna have about a 50 percent chance of getting approval, and that, in this day and age, is just fine by me. If I can please half of the people, all of the time, I'd be a happy man." more on this story

Journey Documentary Premiered at Tribeca

(hennemusic) A new Journey documentary has premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival. "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey" debuted last Thursday. It's the story of how the band found singer Arnel Pineda online and into the group.

In 2007, Arnel's friend began uploading videos of the aspiring Filipino singer covering classic rock songs onto YouTube. One of them was seen by Neal Schon, guitarist for Journey. Blown away by Pineda's talent and uncanny vocal similarity to former Journey front man Steve Perry, Neal flew Arnel from Manila to San Francisco to audition for the band, and the rest is history.

But Arnel's personal journey had just begun. Having lived life on the street since age 13 with no classical music training, he was anything but prepared for the grueling physical and emotional strains that come from fronting a rock band on a whirlwind world tour. more on this story

Cannibal Corpse, Between The Buried and Me and More For Summer Slaughter

The 6th annual Summer Slaughter Tour will feature Cannibal Corpse, Between The Buried and Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil of Maya, Job For A Cowboy, Goatwhore, Exhumed and Cerebral Bore.

The trek which is slated to run from July 20th through August 25th, will also feature special guests TBA in each city such as The Contortionist, Rings of Saturn, Fallujah and more.

Ash Avildsen (Summer Slaughter Founder) states: "Without a doubt, this is the biggest year in the history of the tour. We are honored to have such an incredible, diverse group of musicians all on the same bill. It's brutal, classic, progressive, fresh and still the most extreme tour of the year. Drink lots of water before you show up and get ready to rage!" more on this story

Puscifer Plan North American Tour

Puscifer will be hitting the road in June for the third time in support of their sophomore album Conditions of My Parole.

The trek will kick off on June 9 at Bonnaroo with a three week tour to follow including a stop at the River's Edge Music Festival in St. Paul, Minn.

An ever-evolving performance troupe, Puscifer performances mix music, sketch comedy and video elements to create what The Boston Globe referred to as "musical theater," the San Francisco Chronicle called "a free for all comedy rock extravaganza." more on this story

Nightwish and Kamelot North American Tour

Nightwish have announced plans for a rare North American tour that is set to take place this fall and will feature support from Kamelot.

The band will hitting the road in support of their recently released album Imaginaerum, and Roadrunner advises that this is the band's only planned North American tour.

The tour will be kicking off on Sept. 12 in Atlanta before snaking through the rest of the country and wrapping in Florida on Oct. 14. more on this story

TSOL's Jack Grisham Going Pop

TSOL's Jack Grisham returns with his new group, the Manic Low, who will be releasing their debut album on June 12th.

The Manic Low's debut release, Songs For An Up Day, shows punk legend Grisham's pop sensibilities with guitar-driven tunes.

MediaLab sent over these details: Drawing heavily from Grisham's 60's & 70's musical upbringing, combined with an infectious guitar-driven, garage rock pulse, the Manic Low offer up 14 warm and undeniably catchy tracks that will leave listeners craving more. the Manic Low's "Songs for an Up Day," features several notable punk rock veterans including Sean Greaves (The Joykiller, Mike Ness Band), Paul Roessler (The Screamers, 45 Grave, and Nina Hagen) and Rob MiLucky (Devil's Brigade). Also appearing on the record is Steve Soto (Agent Orange, Adolescents, Manic Hispanic). more on this story

Melvins Lite Release and Tour Coming

Melvins Lite will be hitting the road in July in support of their debut release, Freak Puke, which is set for release on June 5th.

Melvins Lite is billed as the additional incarnation of the Melvins which features Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantômas).

The upcoming trek kicks off on July 1st in Rochester, NY and has been dubbed Melvins Lite Canada +. more on this story

Peter Gabriel's New Blood Live in London Double Album Out Today

Today Eagle rock will release Peter Gabriel's newly remixed and re-mastered live 2-CD of New Blood Live in London.

The release follows the release of New Blood Live in London DVD, Blu-Ray and 3D Disc which was recorded at London's iconic Hammersmith Apollo on March 23rd last year.

Dispensing with the usual rock armory of guitars and drums, Peter Gabriel and the 46-piece New Blood Orchestra re-imagine some of Peter's best known songs with breathtaking orchestral arrangements that include "In Your Eyes" "Red Rain" "Rhythm of The Heat" and "Biko" - written in honor of anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko (1946-1977). In addition, there are interpretations of Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble" and Lou Reed's "The Power of the Heart". more on this story

The Zombies Plan Summer Tour

The Zombies will be hitting the road this summer for a North American tour and have announced the initial dates.

The initial dates start on July 28th in Fayetteville, GA and hit Oshkosh, WI, New York City, Uncasville, CT and Washington D.C. with the promise of more dates to come.

Last year the band, helmed by founding members Rod Argent and singer Colin Blunstone, celebrated their 50th anniversary with a tour and the new album, Breathe Out, Breathe In. more on this story

Bachman & Turner Live Album Coming

Eagle Records have set a May 29, 2012 release date for Bachman & Turner's new 2CD live album, Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC. Kayos sent over these details:

Bachman & Turner features Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, the musicians at the heart of legendary band Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC includes songs from their recent self-titled album along with their rock n' roll anthems including "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" "Takin' Care Of Business" "Hey You" "Blue Collar" "Roll On Down The Highway" "Let It Ride" and "Lookin' Out For #1" plus a hit-laden throwback to Bachman's early days with The Guess Who including their take on Johnny Kidd's "Shakin' All Over" and the band's US No.1 hit "American Woman."

Over the course of a four-year run, Bachman-Turner Overdrive sold in excess of 30 million records, earning a staggering 120 platinum, gold and silver discs, and notching up hits in more than 20 countries. The iconic duo shared duties on the lead vocals with Bachman contributing lead guitar and Turner the bass. Reuniting at the end of 2009 they released an eponymous album in 2010 and in November of that year they performed at the famous Roseland Ballroom in New York City as part of their North American tour. more on this story

Ephel Duath Set New EP Release

Agonia Records will release Ephel Duath's new EP, On Death and Cosmos, on June 21 in Europe and August 14th in the United States.

According to the label, On Death and Cosmos is a 20 minute mini concept EP that develops through three songs: Black Prism, Raqia and Stardust Rain, creating some of the most intense and mournful music Ephel Duath has ever offered.

The main lyrics line is about death and abandonment, loss and self- transforming will: a dive into the darkness, that can reveal a new birth in light.

Hot Head Show Release Live EP and Kicking Off European Tour

Hot Head Show will be kicking off their European tour with a run of UK shows starting tomorrow (April 25th).

To give fans a taste of what they can expect, the band is offering out a live EP recorded in Rome last year whilst touring Europe with Primus.

The first track (Payload) is available as a free download and you grab that and the rest of the EP here. more on this story

Singled Out: Smash Palace's Do It Again

Today Steve Butler from Smash Palace tells us about the title track from their brand new album "Do It Again," which was released today! Here is the story:

The inspiration for the song "Do It Again" from the new Smash Palace CD "Do It Again" had to do with reminiscing about the past and those musical events in your life that shape who you are and the music you play and write.

I wrote all the songs on the new CD with my brother Brian. Our usual routine is, he's playing drums and I'm playing guitar and we just jam around and come up something that we like musically. No lyrics, just a hummable tune. When we start creating lyrics, we'll just open up and let the words come. Back and forth we'll go till one of us comes up with a line that we both like and we'll take it from there.

On "Do It Again", I kept singing the line " That was back in '64" and we liked the way it sounded. Then we talked a bit about the year 1964 and all the Beatles and remembering the first time we heard them on the radio. We're brothers, Brian and I, and I remember getting up for school in the morning and our transistor radio was playing, and Brian telling me about these guys from England with long hair and the song " I Want To Hold Your Hand" sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before.
After seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, I was relentless about wanting a guitar and bugging my mom to buy me one. The first verse of "Do It Again" was about that experience.
Once we had that done, we plotted out the rest of the song: why not write it about those big musical moments in our life. The next verse was about The Stones and Mick in '69 and how he really became the first big arena size rock star. At least to me he was. The top hat, the strutting and jumping around on the stage and how rock n roll had changed. It wasn't about pop music so much anymore. It was changing with the Vietnam War and politics. It was a scary time worrying about getting drafted and sent to some war in a far off land.

The last verse is about our CBGB days in NYC. When our first band Quincy, went to NYC ( we're a New Jersey band) and how the music we heard knocked us out. Music was pretty bland in the mid to late 70's. Disco was king and most rock bands were so corporate and laid back that I had little interest in their music. I felt so out of it musically till I went to NYC and saw all those New Wave and Punk bands. Changed my musical world.

I guess we could have kept on writing verse after verse because lots of great music has come along since then but I wanted to write a 3 minute rock n roll song, not a 10 verse Bob Dylan song.

It's a different type of song for Smash Palace. More groove oriented and more bluesy than our other stuff. It's all part of my DNA. Cut my musical teeth playing all that white English blues stuff so it all comes from that I suppose.

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

B Sides

Original Asia Lineup Return With New Video

(hennemusic) The original Asia lineup of Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton will be releasing their new album XXX in July. The first single is entitled "Face On The Bridge"; the group issued a new video for it on Monday, and the single will be released digitally worldwide on Monday, May 14.

"We're very pleased with, and confident about, XXX," says Wetton. "It encapsulates, lyrically and instrumentally, the essence of the band today. However, it is the very same four people that gave you the original, iconic album 30 years ago. If you loved it then, you will love it now."

"We wanted to recapture the energy of the first album," added guitarist Steve Howe. "Asia has always been about great songs, fantastic musicianship and I am sure fans of the first album, will fall in love with XXX." Check out the video here.

Kataklysm Deliver Iron Will Video

Kataklysm have released their new music video for "Iron Will" from their upcoming 2CD + 2DVD, The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined, which will now be released on July 3rd in North America and July 6th in Europe via Nuclear Blast.

The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined will feature a documentary and bonus CD materials, depicting the ups and downs of the band's long, turbulent career, as well as footage of Kataklysm's performance at last year's Summer Breeze festival. Check out the new video here.

Kataklysm has also announced a North American summer headlining tour, Kataklysm "The Iron Will Tour 2012." The run will kick off in mid-August, and features Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Rose Funeral, Vital Remains and more in support. more on this story

Agnostic Front Add More 30 Years of NYHC Shows

(Fresno) Agnostic Front has announced two additional '30 Years of NYHC' shows this June.

The show are designed for the band to celebrate three decades of New York hardcore by performing the classic Live At CBGB set in its entirety.

New dates have been added in Clifton, N.J. and Peekskill, N.Y. in addition to the recently announced Frederick, M.D., Reading, P.A. and Rochester, N.Y. shows. more on this story

The Day Beatles John and Paul Almost Reunited On Saturday Night Live

(Gibson) On this day in 1976, Paul and Linda McCartney spent the evening with John Lennon at his New York Dakota apartment and watched Saturday Night Live on TV. Producer of the show, Lorne Michaels, made an offer on air asking The Beatles to turn up and play three songs live. Lennon and McCartney thought about taking a cab to the studio, but decided they were too tired. Gibson looks back:

From the time The Beatles broke up in 1970, promoters from all corners tried to entice them into reuniting. The most famous of these was New York impresario Sid Bernstein, who tried to convince the former Fab Four to reunite for one benefit concert to end world hunger. Ironically, for all the legitimate promoters (admittedly, an oxymoron), the man who came the closest to reuniting The Beatles—or at least, John and Paul—wasn't a concert promoter at all, but instead the producer of a late-night, counter-culture phenomenon.

The Canadian-born Lorne Michaels broke into TV as a comedy writer for Laugh-In and The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show in the late '60s. In 1975, Michaels developed a sketch show to run on NBC-TV in the barren television wasteland of late Saturday night. Michaels' Saturday Night Live was a surprise hit when it aired in October of that year (originally titled, NBC's Saturday Night). The show's early cast, featuring Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd and Gilda Radner, among others, were counter-culture heroes, thumbing their noses at authority and good taste. Within months, they were the coolest thing on TV.

On April 24, 1976, Michaels appeared on the program with an offer that drew plenty of laughs in the Rockefeller Center studio audience: "The National Broadcasting Company has authorized me to offer [The Beatles] this check to be on our show: a certified check for $3,000. Here it is, right here. A check made out to you, The Beatles, for $3,000. All you have to do is sing three Beatles songs. "She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." That's $1,000 right there. You know the words—it'll be easy. Like I said, this is made out to The Beatles— you divide it up any way you want. If you want to give less to Ringo, that's up to you. I'd rather not get involved. I'm sincere about this. If this helps you to reach a decision to reunite, it's well worth the investment. You have agents—you know where I can be reached. Just think about it, okay? Thank you."

Fans laughed at the camera zooms on the $3000 check and the Ringo barb, but on the far side of Central Park, two very famous men took notice. By 1976, John Lennon and Paul McCartney weren't the hostile antagonists the public generally believed. Years had passed since the "How Do You Sleep?" days. In the meantime, the two had hung out, particularly while Lennon was on his "Lost Weekend" in Los Angeles. By this time, John was back in New York, living with Yoko in The Dakota on Manhattan's Upper West Side. On the night of April 24, Paul McCartney had popped in to hang out with his old friend—and they decided to kick back and watch a certain Saturday night comedy show.
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