Skid Row Wants Sebastian Bach For New Album

Loudwire reports: Shiels addresses Bach directly in his latest video, saying, "In my opinion, you're one of the greatest frontmen in American rock of all time." He continues to lays it on pretty thick, "For me, you're up there with Ozzy Osbourne, Jon Bon Jovi, Steve Tyler from Aerosmith. Man, you've got it all." He sweetens the deal. Find out how and check out the video here.

Hulk Hogan Almost Joined Metallica

(Gibson) Professional wrestling legend and reality TV star Hulk Hogan was nearly a member of Metallica. The Hulkster revealed in an interview with The Sun that he used to be a good buddy of drummer Lars Ulrich.

"I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler," he said. "I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn't work out."

In the interview, Hogan also discussed that he's a big fan of The Stone Roses. "I love the Stone Roses," he said. "They're getting back together, right? That's cool man. I used to work out to some of their songs." more on this story

Slipknot Clown and Five Finger Death Punch Singer In Hard Rock Musical

(Banana 101.5) Joining Slipknot percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan in the cast of 'The Devil's Carnival' — Darren Lynn Bousman's sequel to the hard rock/horror musical 'Repo: The Genetic Opera' — is Five Finger Death Punch vocalist Ivan Moody.

'The Devil's Carnival' may sound like a musical by way of Rob Zombie, but is actually from the man who wrote and directed 'Saw 2′ and directed the two following installments — Darren Lynn Bousman. His first outing in the musical genre was the 2006 10-minute short film 'Repo: The Genetic Opera,' which Bousman expanded to a full length feature two years later.

Given that the sequel is a hard rock musical, the producers have added some pedigree with the casting of well-known metal artists Shawn "Clown" Crahan (Slipknot) and Ivan Moody (Five Finger Death Punch). More including video

Full Tool Concert Online

(Banana 101.5) Miss Tool? Until they finally hit us with the long awaited follow-up to '10,000 Days,' we will have to make due by watching a surprisingly good quality fan-shot video of their recent performance in Reno, Nevada.

If your city wasn't among the lucky ones to have a stop on Tool's current tour, we have the next best thing — a recording of their January 14th gig in Reno, Nevada that actually has decent sound quality.

The band has yet to unveil any new songs but have been dusting off some older tracks for their set including 'Hooker With a Penis' and 'Ticks and Leeches.' Check out the live recording here.

Motley Crue To Surround Fans in Vegas

(hennemusic) Motley Crue kick off their Las Vegas residency at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on February 3. The Crue become the first hard rock group to play a residency in Sin City at this level, and singer Vince Neil talked to Vegas.com about how thrilled he is with the project.

"For me being a Vegas resident, it's a dream come true," says Vince. "For one thing, it's really cool to be able to put on a show that we've always dreamed about."

"It's just not going to be your regular show where the stage is set up on one end of the building, and the rest of it's seats," Neil explains. "We're going to pretty much encompass the whole venue. We could be playing in the back of the place, above you, on the side of you. We're using the latest technology in visuals. We really made the effort to do something that no one's ever really seen before." more on this story

Metallica Can Cure The Blues

(Gibson) Feeling blue? Crank up some Metallica, and you'll feel better in no time! In a her latest book, Your Playlist Can Change Your Life: 10 Proven Ways Your Favorite Music Can Revolutionize Your Health, Memory, Organization, Alertness and More, Columbia University professor Galina Mindlin asserts that rocking out to songs with a certain number of beats per minute can generate specific mental states, such as productivity and relaxation, according to DNAinfo.com. Lo and behold, Metallica's hard-rocking tunes fall into that category.

"It's [about] how music affects you – how it can improve your memory, how it can relieve anxiety, enhance your mood, how we can use playlists for specific tasks," Mindlin said. "Using music with certain frequencies, you really can create the desired state of mind."

As for other jams that might lift your mood, Your Playlist Can Change Your Life lists sample playlists, but Mindlin warns that selecting specific songs is a very personal experience. "What's right for you might not be right for someone else," she said. "Some people love the classical genre, but some people get excited by pop. The idea is to activate as many brain areas as you can." more on this story

Halcyon Way Lose Member

(Freeman) Halcyon Way announced that they have parted ways with rhythm guitarist Zane.

Zane spoke about his decision to leave the band: "After 6 years in one of the greatest metal bands ever, I have decided to leave for the sake of family and personal health. I have enjoyed my time in Halcyon Way and it has been a life defining tenure. Me and the guys all remain brothers and I look forward to everything Halcyon Way has to offer the metal world in the years to come. It was a true privilege to write and contribute to the band, and to hear what was in my head fleshed out on the albums was a joy all its own. See all of you guys in the front row at the next HW show! I'm currently working on a project called "Bishop Lake" with an EP due out in Spring 2012. I also have a horror punk/metal band called School For Morticians slated to break wind sometime in mid 2012."

Guitarist Jon Bodan shared his thoughts on Zane leaving: "As much as it pains us that our brother Zane has had to step away from Halcyon Way, we have nothing but respect for his decision and wish him nothing but the best. We've gone to war with him for a long time, and he will truly be missed. Keep an eye out for his new projects as I'm sure they're going to be killer! We would also like to thank Eric Roberts, Rob Fisher from Void Of Reason, and Mike Perrone for filling in with us on several live dates when Zane's situation was a little unclear - you guys were a big help to us and we appreciate it." wanna take his place?

Another Taste of New Van Halen Online

(hennemusic) Van Halen have offered up a new preview of a track from their forthcoming album, "A Different Kind Of Truth," due February 7.

The 90-second "Blood And Fire" clip presents a portion of the new song, the basis of which comes from "Ripley" - an unreleased track from the soundtrack to the 1984 movie "The Wild Life" - composed and performed by Eddie Van Halen.

"Ripley" was originally a leftover song from the "1984" sessions; it was written on a Ripley guitar, designed by Steve Ripley. Each string on the guitar can be sent to different sides of the speaker through the use of its individual string pan pots. Check it out here.

The Ronnie Wood Show Comes To America This Weekend

Attention American Rolling Stones fans, The Ronnie Wood Show in North America will launch this weekend, January 29 on Q104.3/WAXQ-FM in New York.

Premiere Networks sent over these details: The one-hour, U.K.-based radio program is available to rock music stations on weekends from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Produced by Somethin' Else, the critically-acclaimed radio show features Ronnie Wood -- who is best known as a member of The Birds, The Jeff Beck Group, The Faces and The Rolling Stones -- as he plays a variety of music from his favorite new and established artists, while sharing personal stories from his legendary music career. From living with Jimi Hendrix to partying with Janis Joplin, listeners are treated to Wood's inside view of the world of rock & roll, which he often illustrates by playing his guitar. In addition, he welcomes friends, music artists, celebrities and others such as Slash, Kenney Jones and Mary Wilson. more on this story

Rory Gallagher Revisited

Sony Music and Capo Records and Legacy celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rory Gallagher's solo career with an extensive reissue campaign.

They have reissued the first six original Rory Gallagher albums "Rory Gallagher" (1971), "Deuce" (1971), "Live! In Europe" (1972), "Blueprint" (1973), "Tattoo" (1973) and "Irish Tour '74" (1974). The reissues have been released digitally and on CD and will be issued on vinyl on February 20th.

Daniel Gallagher, Rory's Nephew and producer of the re-issues states, "It's fantastic that 40 years since the original release of these albums the interest in Rory's music is still so strong and vibrant that we can celebrate the man's music by re-issuing his first six classic solo albums. We've aimed to release them in the spirit of the original release by going back to the vinyl artwork and original 1/4" tapes so that they look and sound exactly as Rory intended. It's also great to see in a digital world that the demand for a physical copy of Rory's music means we can release these albums on vinyl for the first time in over 30 years." More details here.

Rival Sons' New Album Being Reissued

Rival Sons are joining the "let's rerelease our new album with some bonus features" club as Earache have announce the release of a "special redux version" of their 2011 album, Pressure & Time, on March 12th.

Pressure & Time is being released as a limited edition CD version with two bonus tracks - "Company Man" and "This Life on the Road" - plus a bonus DVD featuring the following videos: * "Gypsy Heart", "Pressure and Time" and "Soul" live from High Voltage festival 2011 * "Pressure and Time" live backstage at Werchter festival 2011 * "Pressure and Time", "All Over the Road" and "Get What's Coming" official music videos * Pressure & Time promotional trailer

Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday comments: "After a year of solid touring all over the UK, Europe and the States for Pressure & Time, we ended up amassing a bunch of new stuff to share. We thought it would be cool to compile a handful of live and promo videos, plus a cool limited repackaging and offer it up to fans. We've also been able to throw a couple more studio tracks on there! How can any Sons fan resist?! Super limited... super awesome. Go get it." more on this story

Suicide Silence's Mitch Lucker Guest on The Devastated's New Album

Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker is a guest vocalist on the The Devastated's new album.

The Devastated new album Devil's Messenger , will hit stores on February 14th and feature Lucker on the song "Spit Vitriol."

Mitch Lucker had this to say about his guest appearance on the album: "Greg, the vocalist, has been a close friend for years. When he reached out to me for the part I was ecstatic! His band is amazing and I can't wait for this record to drop. It's the best s*** I've heard in a long f***ing time; super original and crushing from start to finish." more on this story

Preview Joe Satriani's Movie

(hennemusic) Joe Satriani continues to juggle his Chickenfoot gig with his solo work. Joe will be releasing his concert film, "Satchurated," in select US theatres in March.

"Satchurated" was filmed live on "The Wormhole Tour" in support of Satriani's new album "Black Swans An Wormhole Wizards," at the Metropolis in Montreal on December 12, 2010.

"Satchurated" will be the first 3D theatrical concert film release with 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound for the ultimate cinematic experience.

A preview clip from the film has been released. Watch it here. more on this story

America Getting Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

On Monday, February 6th the legendary rock band America will receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

We were sent these details: The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor America with the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grammy Award-winning duo is celebrating Grammy Week in big style. First off, they'll be inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, February 6, just outside the Musician's Institute at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard, in the company of the Walk of Fame stars of Al Jolson, Hal David, Rush, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne and Journey.

The next evening, Tuesday, February 7, the Best New Artist Grammy winners of 1972--known for iconic hits like "Ventura Highway," "Sister Golden Hair," "Horse With No Name" and "Tin Man," among many others--will perform downtown at Los Angeles' Grammy Museum, where they'll treat the crowd to classic hits and have a Q&A session with the intimate audience. more on this story

Styx Grand Illusion & Pieces Of Eight Live Next Week

Next week Eagle Rock will release Styx 'The Grand Illusion & Pieces Of Eight Live' on DVD/2 CD Set and we have a little taste for you.

Filmed on November 9th, 2010 at the historical Orpheum Theater in Memphis, TN, this show captures Styx performing their classic multi-platinum seventies albums "The Grand Illusion and "Pieces Of Eight" live in their entirety for the first time. These iconic albums established Styx as a globally successful rock band and defined the AOR genre for a generation of Americans. Check out a video of "Blue Collar Man" here.

Bonus Features: "Putting On The Show" - an in-depth look at the people and equipment required to stage this epic concert. You can also catch Styx on the road this winter in markets across North America. more on this story

Wilco Get Animated With Popeye

(Gibson) Wilco are going Gorillaz. Kind of. In the alt-rock band's latest music video for "Dawned on Me," the Chicago gents joined up with King Features to get animated beside Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto and the whole Popeye crew. Watch the Darren Romanelli-directed video at the bottom of the page.

Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche recently checked in with the Los Angeles Times blog to talk about his experience replacing Wilco's original drummer, Ken Coomer, in 2001. "Those guys at that point would be in the studio at 5 a.m., and then I had my first drum lesson at 7 a.m. out in the suburbs, so I was getting no sleep," he explained. "When they asked me to join, I had no expectations of anything. I thought, 'Here's this band, and I don't even know if I'm the right fit.'

"I was wary of touring that much, and I thought the fans would hate me because I replaced Ken. Then the label dropped us. The future was pretty uncertain. People always say, 'That must have been so crazy,' but you know what? Not really. It was a functional situation. It was business as usual. This is how bands are. There's usually a couple freaks and there's a lot of drama and things don't always go the way you want them to go. Worst-case scenario, we would have been on an indie label." more on this story

Etta James Music Sales Jump Following Her Death

(Gibson) Sometimes you don't know what you have until it slips away. That seems to be the case with the late Etta James' soulful songs. As reported by Billboard, James scored her highest-charting album ever on the Billboard 200 chart this past week with The Best of Etta James – 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection, which rose from #162 to #46 with 8,000 copies sold, as reported by Nielsen SoundScan. That's up 149% over the preceding week. Until now, the R&B/blues crooner had never surpassed #68 on the pop album charts, when At Last hit that spot in 1961.

According to Billboard, for the week ending Sunday (January 22), James' total catalog of albums moved 30,000 units. That's a 378% increase over the week before, when her albums sold just over 6,000. James also entered the Billboard 200 chart at #59 with her 1997 greatest hits set, Her Best, selling 7,000 copies, which is up 4,226% from the week before. At Last! the album hit #96 on the chart with 5,000 units sold, up 907%.

"At Last" is likely James' signature tune, although she wasn't the original singer. That song was James' highest-charting of the week, pushing 63,000 downloads, with a weekly gain of 1,361%. For the week, James' catalog of songs sold a total of 118,000 downloads – with over half of those "At Last's" numbers – for an overall gain of 1,091%. more on this story

Flaming Lips and Wilco Star o Heavy Beatles Cover

(Gibson) It's no secret that the Flaming Lips are big Beatles fans. If you recall, late last year the alternative group posted a psychedelic cover of The Beatles' track "I Am the Walrus" on YouTube, and the patterned rendition has scored over 100,000 hits to date.

Now, the Lips are getting into Beatles-mania all over again and putting their stamp on the Beatles' nugget "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which they played live during their New Year's Eve 2012 show in Oklahoma City.

George Salisbury – director and graphic designer for the Flaming Lips – recently tweeted a link to the fresh Lips cover. Coupled with Wilco guitarist Nels Cline on stage, the Flaming Lips serve up an authentic interpretation of The Beatles' landmark, except for the small fact the song is a whopping 17-plus minutes long. more on this story

Tribute To Riot's Mark Reale

The founding member and guitarist for legendary hard rock band Riot, Mark Reale, died Wednesday after a long battle and complications from Crohns disease, according to MarkReale.com.

The site had this biography/tribute to Mark: Mark was born June 7th 1955 in Brooklyn New York at a time when rock and roll was flourishing with many new sounds. Early in his life, his first interest had been the movies. ever so curiously, he had shown an interest in films. But then, songs he heard on the radio began to change that. He quickly began to love music from the Beatles and Cream. Mark lists George Harrison and Eric Clapton as great influences. When he was 7 years old his grandfather bought him his first basic guitar to practice on and later his father bought him a new guitar and amp, his passion had begun.

In the early to mid 70's his influences included the likes of Edgar Winter, Ronnie Montrose and Rick Derringer. He also loved a range of bands and artists from Al Di Meola to Deep Purple. In 1975 Mark formed his band RIOT, then at a block party Mark's father found vocalist Guy Speranza. Read the rest of the tribute here

Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Black Lips For Austin Psych Fest

The initial lineup for the Austin Psych Fest 2012 has been announced for the event which will take place on April 27-29, 2012.

Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels and The Black Lips lead the lineup. e were sent the lineup details and this: The 5th annual festival will be held at Emo's East & Beauty Ballroom.

After last years setting, the Seaholm Powerplant, started redevelopment, the search began for a new home for the fest. After the Black Angels / Wooden Shjips show at Emo's East & Beauty Ballroom on New Years Eve, it was immediately obvious that the perfect location for the festival had been found. lineup

Jeff Beck Helped Stevie Wonder Hit The Top

(Gibson) On this day in 1973, "Superstition" gave Stevie Wonder had his second no 1 single in the U.S., 10 years after his first #1. Gibson looks back: Although the multi-talented Wonder wrote, produced, played and sang on the single, he wasn't responsible for one key detail – the song's distinctive beat.

It was none other than guitar legend Jeff Beck who created the drumbeat while working with Wonder on the R&B star's album, Talking Book. After finishing writing "Superstition," Wonder actually offered it to Beck. Sensing a hit, Wonder's manager requested that his artist should record it first. Instead, Wonder offered Beck an alternate classic, "Cause We've Ended as Lovers," which the guitarist recorded on 1975's Blow by Blow.

When recording "Superstition" at Electric Lady Studios in New York, Wonder played drums, clavinet, bass and sang, with the horns being performed by other players. The song was released in the fall of 1972 as the lead single off Talking Book, the second album in Wonder's so-called "classic period" (during which Wonder gained complete artistic control as a Motown artist).

"Superstition" rocketed up the charts, eventually landing the #1 spot on the Billboard charts. The single marked his second #1 hit and first chart-topper in nearly 10 years, following "Fingertips – Pt. 2" in 1963. Although Wonder had been popular throughout the '60s, with classic hit singles such as "Uptight," "For Once in My Life" and "My Cherie Amour," he hadn't replicated the blockbuster success of his debut single until then. more on this story

American Idol Helping Aerosmith Reach New Fans

(hennemusic) Steven Tyler continues to make the rounds promoting the new season of American Idol.

Steven sat down with Access Hollywood this week to talk about all things Idol, including what it means to his expanding fan base.

"It's about getting our music heard by people," explains Tyler. "We write the songs because we want the people to sing it…and, so, the younger the better. And because of the internet and TV now, it's like 'forget about it' – I can't go anywhere – and I kinda like that." Check out the interview here.

Talking Ace Frehley

Ace Frehley band guitarist Todd Youth is the featured guest on episode of the Talking Metal podcast.

Todd is currently in the Ace Frehley band and is an ex-member of Danzig, Murphy's Law, Glen Campbell's band, D'Generation and Chrome Locust. He has also been a touring member of Motorhead.

The interview with Todd starts 56 minutes into the podcast (episode 376), you can logon and check it out here.

Singled Out Classic: Norman Greenbaum's Spirit In The Sky

Today Norman Greenbaum tells us about his classic rock hit from 1970 "Spirit In The Sky" which has sold two million copies has been featured in 47 movies and dozens of commercial ads and TV series during the past four decades. Here is the story:

When asked why does 'Spirit In The Sky' still resonate with the music listener today? Norman explains, "A few reasons: It's just a great song, with a terrific production that has stood the test of time, still sounding as vibrant today as 40 years ago. It also sounds great in the car, yep, car radio. When we mixed it, we made sure it sounded as great on car stereos as it did on home systems. It has an unforgettable opening musical riff, at times referred to as 'the heavy duty industrial fuzz tone'. It gives people chills listening to it. Plus, when it was included on Rock Band 2 it brought a new generation into the mix. Now that the song is aging in years, but not excellence, many fans have aged with it and now recognize it not only as a great song that reminds them of their life back then, such as taking their first date to my concert, 'Spirit' being the first album they ever bought, their parents screaming to turn the volume down, love making in the back seat to it and my favorite, naming their car 'the green-bomb', and as a song to take with them as we near the time to go up to the Spirit In The Sky. Because I answer my own e-mail, many people relate to me the circumstances of a loved one passing and how my song has brought them solace and each time they hear my song, either on the radio, in a movie or on TV, they are reminded that their loved ones are OK and looking down on them."

The story behind the song "Spirit In The Sky" is an interesting one. The original idea for the song came from Norman watching a performance on TV one night by country legend Porter Wagoner, who was singing about a preacher. This inspired Greenbaum to write a religious rock song. Although many have believed through the years that Norman, born of Jewish heritage, was a 'born again Christian', in truth, this is not the case. He made the decision to challenge himself to writing a gospel lyric, hoping he wouldn't flub it and meticulously crafted music that went on to surpass everyone's expectations. The guitar riff to 'Spirit In The Sky' undoubtedly is just as important to the song's success as the words and music. "My riff is a take on old blues riffs, common in the '20s and '30s," Norman explains. "Although a few other songs have similar riffs, my riff really stands out, as I infused a few original notes and changes the others do not have. Plus, the fuzz just ripples your mind. It is a sound that has never been reproduced, another reason the song stands so well."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, check out Norman's new website and find out about a rare live appearance he is making next month right here!