Van Halen Make Top 20 Debut

The song arrives with 4.6 million first-week audience impressions on 78 stations, according to Nielsen BDS. more on this story

Aerosmith's Joe Perry and Steven Tyler To Rock Leno This Week

(hennemusic) Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has confirmed that he and Steven Tyler will play The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Friday, January 20.

The pair will be joined by bassist and American Idol judge Randy Jackson for the performance.

Perry confirmed the information via Twitter last Friday, in response to a fan inquiry. Joe also said he'll be on the Tonight Show again on Monday, January 30. more on this story

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder Fighting For His Domain

(hennemusic) This is what happens when you forget to renew your website domain. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder is fighting to regain control of the web domain eddievedder.com, according to Fusible.

A complaint (WIPO Case Number: D2012-0035) was filed last week with the World Intellectual Property Organization over the domain name.

According to WHOIS records, Fusible reports Pearl Jam owned the domain name back in the mid-2000s up through late 2010, when the name switched over to Whois privacy. more on this story

Head Open To Korn Reunion

(Gibson) Former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch said that enough time has passed that he would keep an "open mind" about reuniting with his former bandmates. Head recently spoke to Legendary Rock Interviews, about his feelings about Korn.

When asked about getting back together with Jonathan Davis and the gang, Head replied: "You mean like a big, classic rock, Motley Crue reunion tour thing? [laughs] It would have to be a situation where we all agree on things and be for a real purpose and some concrete, higher-power reason. I'm happy right now doing my stuff and I feel really content doing it and those guys are really busy and content doing their thing. I have no plans to do such a reunion, but if it were for the right reasons and we all felt the same way about it I would definitely keep an open mind about it."

Head went on to say that he's on good terms with the guys in Korn, on a personal level. "I am very happy for those guys and proud of that music and totally past the point of holding an ill will for any of them," he said. "I just hung out with Jonathan and his wife the whole night a few months back and hung out with Fieldy sometime after that when I was out on tour with my band. It is without a doubt all good. I have nothing but good vibes for them and I'm sure we will always stay in touch." more on this story

Five Finger Death Punch and Soulfly Tour

Soulfly let it unofficially slip that they are teaming up with Five Finger Death Punch for a North American tour this spring.

Loudwire has the details: Although no official word from Five Finger Death Punch just yet, Soulfly posted the dates on their website, listing Five Finger Death Punch as part of the tour.

The dates kick off in mid-March and run through April, with possibly more dates to come. More including the dates.

Soundgarden Accidentally Leak Download Festival Lineup

(Rock News Desk) Soundgarden have accidentally revealed more details about the 2012 Download Festival bill than they were supposed to when they confirmed their own appearance at the iconic UK event.

The Seattle outfit revealed Little Angels have reformed for the festival's tenth anniversary while Machine Head, Biffy Clyro, Anthrax, Trivium, Lamb of God, Devin Townsend Project, DevilDriver, Ugly Kid Joe and August Burns Red are already signed up.

When Soundgarden announced they'd be appearing at the three-day festival, a band representative uploaded a picture of an early-stages promo poster to their Facebook page, which gave away more than organisers Live Nation intended. more on this story

L.A. Guns Reteam With Andy Johns For New Album

(Gibson) The Phil Lewis-led L.A. Guns – not to be confused with the Tracii Gunns version – have signed with Cleopatra Records and will begin recording a new album with legendary producer Andy Johns.

In addition to his work with Led Zeppelin, Andy Johns co-produced Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Joe Satriani's The Extremist and Chickenfoot's debut. He also produced the last three L.A. Guns albums.

The album will be released on CD and vinyl as well as a digital version with iTunes-exclusive tracks. The band is planning a nine-month world tour to support the album.

The current L.A. Guns lineup is Lewis, Steve Riley, Stacey Blades and Scotty Griffin. "We've been waiting a long time to get back in and record," Lewis says. "Our last album, Tales From the Strip, was incredibly well-received and we're looking forward to putting out something even better! With today's uncertain musical landscape, it's great to have a label like Cleopatra Records behind us. We've been friends with Brian Perera (Cleopatra Records owner and founder) for a long time, and are really looking forward to working together on this and many more projects with him in the future." more on this story

Marilyn Manson Replaces Chris Vrenna

(Banana 101.5) Marilyn Manson recently waved goodbye to drummer Chris Vrenna, who left the band to focus on other projects.

The band has decided to move forward with veteran rock drummer Jason Sutter as the man behind the kit.

His first gig with the band will be during Manson's appearance at the Soundwave Festival next month. more on this story

Megadeth's Dave Ellefson to Release New Book

Megadeth co-founder Dave Ellefson has announced the Spring release of "Unsung," his brand new book featuring original lyrics and images never before published.

His site had these details: Dark, light, inquisitive and inspirational, "Unsung" expresses a uniquely diverse side to David's creativity. He enthuses that, "as a musician, my past lyrical work has always been set to music. But, with this new book I set out to explore a new medium using both words and images as the canvas for an exciting new mosaic of storytelling."

"Unsung" is also David's first venture into the realm of self-publishing. As a result, he encourages the reader to utilize these original lyrics under license from him for their own songs. In this manner, song-writers of all levels can actually become a co-writer with David. This is truly an innovative way for fans and musicians to co-create with one of Metal music's most iconic and inspirational artists! more on this story

Inside AC/DC's Bon Scott Era From Mark Evans

Former AC/DC bassist Mark Evans is sharing more insights from his new book Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside Of AC/DC.

On writing his book Dirty Deeds: "The band tends to be a little secretive. They're private sort of guys. And it's just paying back all the support from over the years and for people who ask me what it was like to be in the band. So yeah, I just wanted to put fans in the band like it was back in the Bon Scott days. We had a whole lot of fun, let me tell you."

On recording classic AC/DC albums like Let There Be Rock: "From the week I joined them, we'd be doing six, seven, eight gigs a week. So our scheduling was really tight, and we didn't have a lot of time. To record the albums, or at least the ones I was involved with, T.N.T., which was half of the international version of High Voltage, Dirty Deeds, and Let There Be Rock, all those albums, there was only two weeks put aside for each album to record." more on this story

Abigail Williams' New Album Streaming In Full

Abigail Williams are streaming their third album full-length album, Becoming, online in full ahead of the January 24th North American release.

The LP will be available for streaming from now until the album's release next week, you can check it out here.

Becoming was recorded in various warehouses throughout Los Angeles, with the lineup for the album including returning guitarist Ian Jekelis, studio drummer Zach Gibson (ex-The Black Dahlia Murder) and as always, vocalist/guitarist Ken Sorceron, who handled all mixing, mastering, production and engineering duties.

Alice in Chains & Friends Fantasy Football League Auction

(hennemusic) The Alice in Chains & Friends Fantasy Football League launched its 3rd annual charity auction on eBay last Friday morning.

The ten-day-long auction includes collectible items donated by league participants such as custom-made black denim pants, jacket, and studded belt worn by Jerry Cantrell during the Alice in Chains Blackdiamondskye Tour.

Plus a glove personally worn and autographed by Randy Wolf; a Mad Men script signed by the cast of the show, autographed items from Vinnie Paul, Duff McKagan, Heart's Ann Wilson and more. more on this story

Jeff Scott Soto To Deliver Damage Control in March

(Gibson) Vocalist Jeff Scott Soto's fifth studio album, Damage Control, will be released on March 23 in Europe and March 27 in North America.

Soto describes the album as heavy, AOR, hard rock with a focus on riffs and melodies. "I feel Damage Control is more of a return to what my fans would expect to hear from me," Soto says. "It's a perfect blend of my first two solo albums with Frontiers Records; Prism and Lost in the Translation, but also mixes in some of my favorite moments of my past bands such as Talisman and Soul SirkUS."

In addition to his current bandmates, the album features appearances and co-writing collaborations by guests including Jamie Borger and Nalley Påhlsson of Treat, Casey Grillo of Kamelot, Joel Hoekstra of Night Ranger and Y&T founder Dave Meniketti. On the latter, Soto says "Y&T drummer Mike Vanderhule played drums on a track and suggested I bring Dave on but, as he is a long time friend and one on the 'wish list' of people I would have loved to have, I didn't want to get an excuse that he was too busy or not interested, to my surprise I got neither... he was willing to do it and I was not only grateful but beyond pleased to work with another musical hero!" more on this story

KISS' Peter Criss Receives Drum Legend Award

(hennemusic) Original KISS drummer Peter Criss was honored Saturday night with the Drum Legend award during the grand finals of Guitar Center's annual Drum-Off event.

The Drum Legend induction, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, honors icons in the drum world that have paved the way for today's drummers. The award is given to those that have made significant contributions to the craft and have hugely influenced players by their style and illustrious musical career.

Past inductees include John Bonham, Billy Cobham, Nicko McBrain, Steve Smith, Dave Garibaldi, Alan White, and Greg Errico. Read Peter's reaction here.

Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman In The Studio for Yes Classic

Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are 'InTheStudio' for the 40th anniversary of YES' Fragile.

Of special note to fans, this interview contains a segment where Jon Anderson discusses how 'Roundabout' was written.

Jon Anderson also remembers, "Probably around Fragile was the time that I started to become a little bit more like a director. They use to call me 'Napoleon'. They never told me to my face (chuckles). It didn't matter, I didn't care, as long as it was happening. Later I learned the word 'catalyst'."

InTheStudio is syndicated on over 50 radio stations throughout North America. YES- Fragile/ InTheStudio show will air this week but you can stream it online here.

Michael Lee's Death Sparks Little Angels Reunion

(Rock News Desk) The seeds for Little Angels' reunion were sown at the funeral of former drummer Michael Lee, say the band. The Scarborough outfit last night confirmed they'd got back together and will play at this year's Download festival in Donington, UK, in June.

They split after a farewell tour in 1994, and didn't gather again until Lee's memorial service. He'd left the Angels in bad blood in 1991 after his bandmates discovered he'd secretly auditioned for the Cult. He toured the world with Ian Astbury's outfit and went on to play with Page and Plant, among many others. He died of an epileptic seizure in November 2008 at the age of 39.

Now Jepson, Bruce and Jimmy Dickinson, Mark Plunkett and Mark Richardson are raring to go once again – although they haven't said how far their plans have progressed. more on this story

Murder Death Kill and Hammerfist Tour

Murder Death Kill are teaming up with Hammerfist for a tour of the West Coast of the U.S. next month.

The tour is set to kick off on February 5th in Fresno, Ca and will wrap up on February 13th in San Francisco.

Murder Death Kill's music video for their track "Abomination", which was directed by Scott Hansen (Whitechapel, Evergreen Terrace), is set to debut later this week. more on this story

Gibson Announce Donovan NAMM Appearance

(Gibson) Folk-rock legend Donovan will be making an appearance at the Gibson Guitar booth at the 2012 NAMM Show. Donovan is planning to stop by the booth (#303AB) at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

Donovan is teaming up with Gibson to locate his prized J-45 guitar (seen in the photo), which was stolen from him. It's the instrument that the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee used to write many of his hits, which include "Sunshine Superman," "Mellow Yellow" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man."

Donovan will join many other world-renown artists, including Joe Bonamassa, Dave Navarro and Brian Wilson, who are making appearances at the Gibson booth during the NAMM show. For a full schedule of events, click here.

Exhumed and Anaal Nathrakh Tour

Exhumed are teaming up with Anaal Nathrakh for a short tour of the UK this March.

The trek follows Exhumed's tour of Brazil with Aborted and the Grind Over Europe Tour 2012 with label-mates Rotten Sound and Magrudergrind.

Exhumed are touring in support of their latest album, All Guts, No Glory, which was issued last year by Relapse Records. more on this story

Cannibal Corpse Set New Album Release

Metal Blade have set a March 13th North American release date for Cannibal Corpse's twelfth studio album, Torture.

Torture was again produced by Hate Eternal's Erik Rutan at his own Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida as well as Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and features the maniacal cover art by longtime Cannibal Corpse artist, Vincent Locke.

While Torture marks the latest progression in the band's sound, it also witnesses a return to what drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz accurately terms "the frenzied attack of Butchered At Birth (1991) or Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992)," infusing the band's advanced musicianship with the raw savagery that haunted their earlier releases, and in the process conceiving the definitive Cannibal Corpse record. Adds bassist Alex Webster on the outcome of the record: "We're extremely happy with how Torture turned out. Erik Rutan did an amazing job with the production, and the songwriting and performances may be our strongest yet. We can't wait until our fans get to hear the whole thing!" more on this story

Evergrey Release A Decade And A Half of Music Today

SPV/Steamhammer have released Evergrey's long awaited two disc greatest hits collection, "A Decade And A Half".

The exclusive deluxe package features previously unreleased songs, live tracks and an extensive booklet.

Since The Band Arrived On The Scene With Their First Album In 1998, Progressive Melodic Metallersevergrey Have Brought Out Eight Studio Albums And One Live Release. more on this story

Riot Guitarist Remains Hospitalized

Riot have issued this health update about Mark Reale: Due to complications arising from treatment for Mark's illness, he remains hospitalized in San Antonio and will not be healthy enough to appear as scheduled. Mike, Tony, Bobby and Don have, at the strong urging of Mark's family, decided to perform the shows without Mark on guitar.

We are receiving updates on his condition several times daily, and Mark is currently undergoing procedures to stabilize him. His father, in addition to several dedicated friends of the band and the family, are at Mark's side constantly as doctors work to restore him to health. In accordance with the family's wishes, no further details are being released at this time.

While we are saddened by these developments, Riot's music has been Mark's lifeblood for over 30 years. We have struggled with idea of performing without him, and we are continuing to prepare with heavy hearts, but the entire Riot organization has agreed on the importance of bringing our music to the fans who have supported us for so long. more on this story

Warbringer To Tour With Iced Earth and Symphony X

(CM) Warbringer will hit the road later this month with Iced Earth and Symphony X for a North American tour.

In regards to this upcoming trek, the band comments: "It's a new year and we're looking forward to getting back out there and touring the US and Canada, especially getting back to some of the markets we didn't hit on the headline tour.

"These will be big shows and a long tour and we're excited to share the stage with Iced Earth and Symphony X, and performing for some of their fans who may have not seen Warbringer yet." more on this story