Van Halen Rumored For Super Bowl

On Monday, NBC Sports made more references to Van Halen's involvement in the 2013 event. more on this story

Rolling Stones Open To Jack White Producing Next Album

(Gibson) Keith Richards and Jack White go back a few years. The two worked on a few (unreleased) recordings in 2009 and the former White Stripe joined The Rolling Stones on stage in 2006 (as seen in Martin Scorsese's Shine a Light).

When asked by Rolling Stone magazine if Jack might be in consideration to produce his band's next album, Keef seemed into the idea. "That's always a possibility," Richards said. "The door is wide open."

It wouldn't be the first time White has worked his magic on a music legend's album, having produced LPs for Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson. more on this story

Geoff Tate Moving Forward Following Queensryche Departure

Last week Queensryche surprised fans by naming Todd La Torre their new frontman and now it looks like the band's original singer Geoff Tate is happy to move ahead with his solo career.

Geoff Tate has signed a worldwide multi-album deal with Insideout Music and is currently finishing production on his first album under the agreement which is expected to be released this fall.

"I'm very excited to join forces with InsideOut Music," says Tate. "They are very committed to progressive music and care deeply for their artists, working together with them to bring music lovers worldwide some of the most compelling rock music available."

Staind Live Album, DVD and Blu-Ray Coming This Summer

Staind will be releasing their very first live album next month, followed by a DVD and Blu-Ray.

Live From Mohegan Sun, will be released on CD by Eagle Rock Entertainment on July 10 and will be followed by the DVD and Blu-ray release on August 14.

This concert was recorded and filmed in high definition at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Montville, Connecticut on November 25, 2011, and the chords must still be echoing somewhere deep within the bowels of the building. more on this story

Slipknot Stars Start Horror Movie Co

(Classic Rock) Corey Taylor and Shawn 'Clown' Crahan of Slipknot have formed a horror movie production firm.

Living Breathing Films aims to create TV and cinema releases. Taylor says: "We want to do psychological thrillers, dramas.

"We don't want our company to be a machine to create bad horror films. We're really big fans of the movies and art." More rock news

Blur To Debut Two New Songs On Twitter

(Gibson) Blur will play two new songs on Monday, July 2 during a live performance to be streamed on Twitter.

The reactivated Britpop legends will play "The Puritan" and "Under the Westway." The tracks were written for their August 12 show at Hyde Park in London. The concert, coinciding with the closing ceremony of the London Olympics, will also feature New Order and The Specials.

To tune in to next week's performance, visit Twitter.com/blurofficial at 6:15 p.m. London time on Monday, July 2. The band will perform one of the two songs, with an interview taking place immediately afterwards. The second track will be played at 7:15, and then both will be made available for download. Fans who would like a physical copy of the songs can pick up a limited edition double A-side 7-inch single via Parlophone from August 6. more on this story

Car Ad Sparked Breakup of Bowie's Spiders From Mars

(Gibson) A chance conversation over a Lamborghini led to the dissolution of David Bowie and the Spiders From Mars, according to drummer Woody Woodmansey.

In an interview with the BBC for the Jarvis Cocker-narrated TV special David Bowie and the Story of Ziggy Stardust, Woodmansey says an offhand comment over a magazine advertisement for the sports car led to a discussion with Spiders keyboard player Mike Garson about wages, and uncovered a startling discrepancy between pay packets.

"…Mike said, 'Well, why don't you buy one?' I said, 'I wish,'" Woodmansey recalled. The two then discussed their earnings: "I went, 'What do you think I get?' He went, 'Well, I know what I get,' and he told me – and it was three times what I got."

Garson added, "I was getting a salary that seemed fair, and I just assumed the other guys were getting more because they'd been there several years." more on this story

Rush's Geddy Lee Receives Royal Honor

(hennemusic) Rush legend Geddy Lee has received another honor in his Canadian homeland.

Cashbox Canada reports Lee was among 600 Ontario residents to receive a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee commemorative medal on Monday, June 18 at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall.

The special medal was created to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne. more on this story

Metallica Play Escape Live For the First Time

(hennemusic) There were at least a couple of firsts for Metallica as they rocked Day 1 of their Orion Music + More festival on Saturday.

The band's headline set at Bader Field in Atlantic City featured the very first performance of their "Ride The Lightning" album in its entirety. Saturday's set also included the very first performance of "Escape" from the 1984 release.

Frontman James Hetfield recently explained the album's significance to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "'Ride the Lightning' started to splinter us off from your Slayers and other thrash bands," explained Hetfield. "A song called 'Fade to Black' was an instant thorn in the side of the metal community. It was the first veering off the studded path." Watch the jam here.

London Olympics Trying To Not Pay Musicians?

(Classic Rock) Organisers of the London Olympics are trying to make professional musicians perform for free, using the tired old excuse they should "do it for the exposure."

Management committee Locog are already a laughing stock in rock music quarters after asking whether long-dead Who drummer Keith Moon was available to appear at the event. And they recently drew the ire of live music fans by confirming all acts that play at the opening and closing events in London will be miming.

Corporate Watch say they've seen an email which instructs Locog staff not to spend money on music "across the board." more on this story

Warrant's Cherry Pie Video Girl Bobbie Brown Writing Autobiography

(Gibson) Model Bobbie Brown (immortalized as "The Cherry Pie Girl" thanks to her involvement in the video for the Warrant classic) is wrapping up work on an autobiography.

Titled Sex, Drugs and Cherry Pie, the book is scheduled for release early in 2013. Meanwhile, Brown has just finished filming a new reality television series titled Ex Wives Rock, which begins airing on August 29 on the Slice network.

The program is co-produced by Loraine Lewis with narration by Shannon Tweed-Simmons – of course, the co-star of her own reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels. more on this story

Atheist Reunite With Tony Choy

Atheist have reunited with bassist Tony Choy ahead of a hometown headline show and Death To All tour date.

The show will be June 29th in the band's hometown of Sarasota, Florida at Jake's Tavern and will mark the return of Choy to the band.

Atheist founder Kelly Shaefer commented: "We're very excited to announce that Tony Choy will be appearing on our upcoming dates; a headlining club gig and the Orlando date of the Death To All Tour 2012. It's been more than two years since Tony has played live with us. Just having him along will make this Death To All show with the Cynic guys, Gene Hoglan, Steve DiGiorgio, and everyone else a night to remember." more on this story

Green Day Releasing New Song Next Month

Green Day have set a July 16th release date for "Oh Love," the debut single from their upcoming album trilogy ¡UNO! ¡DOS! ¡TRÉ!

Produced by Rob Cavallo and being released by Reprise Records, ¡UNO! will street September 25th, ¡DOS! November 23rd, and ¡TRÉ! January 15, 2013.

Look for Green Day this summer headlining music festivals this summer and fall including headlining at Summer Sonic in Japan and Voodoo Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana this October. more on this story

Slash Scores His First No. 1 Hit

Slash has scored his very first no. 1 hit at rock radio as "You're A Lie" vaults to the top spot this week at Active Rock.

The song is the first track from Slash's second solo album Apocalyptic Love, which was released May 22 and entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart at #4, marking the top rock debut that week. Watch the video for "You're A Lie" here.

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators will launch a summer headlining tour July 12 in Portland, OR and on July 10 Slash will receive his own star on the Hollywood Blvd Walk of Fame. more on this story

The All-American Rejects and Eve 6 Summer Tour

The All-American Rejects will be hitting the road for a North American summer headlining tour with support from Eve 6.

The tour is set to kick off on August 8th in Costa Mesa at the OC Fair and wraps August 30th in Louisiana.

The All-American Rejects have been busy performing at European festivals as well as accompanying Blink-182 on their International tour. "After spending the summer overseas, we're looking forward to coming home and having a little fun this August playing... Couldn't ask for a better summer vacation," said Nick Wheeler. more on this story

12 Stones, Digital Summer, Blameshift and Throwing Gravity Tour

Blameshift will be hitting the road with 12 Stones, Digital Summer and Throwing Gravity next month for a North American tour.

The trek is set to kick off on July 6th in Merriam, KS and will come to a close a month later on August 7th in Marietta, GA.

Amidst the tour, Blameshift will break off for two dates in Pecatonica, IL at Rock'n the Valley 2012 at the Winnebago Fairgrounds. These two festival dates also feature Skid Row, Warrant, Trixter, and more. more on this story

Exhumed Frontman Matt Harvey Added To Death To All Tour 2012

Exhumed frontman Matt Harvey will be replacing Obscura vocalist Steffen Kummerer as a lead vocalist to the Death To All Tour 2012 after Kummerer had to drop of the all-star tour due to visa issues.

Matt Harvey will be joining drummers Gene Hoglan (Individual Thought Patterns/Symbolic) and Sean Reinert (Human), bassists Steve DiGiorgio (Human/Individual Thought Patterns) and Scott Clendenin (The Sound of Perseverance), guitarists Paul Masvidal (Human), Shannon Hamm (The Sound of Perseverance) and Bobby Koelble (Symbolic), and vocalist/label-mate Charles Elliott of Abysmal Dawn/Bereft.

Harvey only 9 days to learn his entire set. Matt Harvey elaborates on the opportunity: "To say that I'm excited about hitting the stage with such amazing musicians would be a massive understatement. To say that I'm overwhelmed standing in Chuck's spot singing his songs would be the understatement of the century. Phrases like 'it's an honor' get tossed around pretty casually, but taking part in this unique celebration is truly exhilarating, humbling and magical for me. Even though the name of the band is Death, this event is a celebration of Chuck's life and the vitality and staying power of his work. To be able to share what Death's music has meant to me this way is a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I am incredibly grateful to have." more on this story

Success Sunk The Eagles

(Gibson) The archetypal west coast band of the '70s, the Eagles reached a creative and commercial peak in 1976 with their Hotel California album.

Looking back, Glenn Frey, according to the Daily Express, feels the magnitude of their success brought too much pressure on the group.

He told BBC News: "If I had known what I know now, I would have just had the Eagles have a vacation for a while, we're getting on each other's nerves, that's what the Stones used to do... It's not really ego, it's the pressure to follow 'Hotel California.' Trying to get better every time out, and you just can't be better every time out, every record can't be 'Hotel California,' every song you write can't be 'Desperado.'" more on this story

This Or The Apocalypse Ink New Deal

This Or The Apocalypse will be releasing their next album under a new deal eOne Music in North and South America.

"On behalf of This Or The Apocalypse Enterprises, I'm proud to let everyone know that our new American home is located at eOne Music. Please make a note on all outgoing packages. Honestly, I couldn't believe we would be making one signing announcement, so the third feels pretty surreal. It's humbling and a reminder that hard work pays off," says vocalist Ricky Armellino.

The band is on tour with Norma Jean and will head over to China for a short batch of dates.

B Sides

Singled Out: Ninth Moon Black's Animus Lumino

Today Eric from Ninth Moon Black tells us about the song "Animus Lumino" from their new album "Chronophage". Here is the story:

"Animus Lumino" is the longest track on Chronophage, and bits and pieces of it came together in a number of different ways over a period of time. It would seem a track like that would be difficult to record, and I certainly thought it would take a lot of time however we ended up getting it on the first take. At almost 16 minutes, we were pretty happy with that, and I think it was the complexity of it that actually helped track that quickly, we were all pretty focused. I did have to overdub the Wurlitzer part, and I think Atom did his solo over later, but everything else was there.

I remember writing the guitar part for the longest section, towards the end, that starts with my just my guitar. It had morphed out of something completely different. I had been working on an acoustic part, kind of a minor country blues finger picking thing, on a slow day at the music store I worked at. The melody that's in the song now came really quick, with the four different parts and a tormenting flatted 5th at the turn-around. I was having trouble fitting the bass part in with the fingering, so I put it in a drop-d, which forced me to change the key. It was pretty cool, but nothing Ninth Moon Black would use. It was dark, but had almost a waltzy groove.

I played with it like that for a couple of weeks and was at home one day when my roommate, Jamie Hartley of Parade of Storms, came in and wanted to play along. We moved to the studio and I was playing it on an electric guitar for the first time, a little delay and reverb. I ended up dropping the bass parts I was playing and let him do his thing on the bass, which was a lot different. As we played, the waltz swing disappeared, and I found myself playing the low D throughout, underneath the melody. It was awesome. It became this hypnotic, sweeping part. The turnaround had to go as well, but the flatted 5th stayed right there at the end of the last riff, giving this sense of interruption, which sounded great.

When I brought the part to the band, it went really smooth. I had this idea of guitars swimming on top of the riff, interlacing with each other and building, but I expected nothing close to what those guys came up with; really epic sounding. That first practice I just played the part over and over and everyone did their thing until it started to take shape. I remember the first few times we played that song live the part was almost twice as long as it is on the record, waaaay too long; but we liked the build and just kept going. By the time we had everything really dialed, we could follow the patterns Kasey was building with her drums, and we shortened it.

It's really cool to look back at what the part was and then listen to the recording now. I remember sitting in the studio for the mix, in disbelief of how epic it had become. And then when we named the track, "Animus Lumino", which means luminous mind, I couldn't have written a part more fitting to the feel and spirit of the song after the fact, it was just baffling at how perfect it all came together. Maybe sometime, as a joke, we should jab at where this part came from: Ninth Moon Black, "Blackened Country Blues!" Seriously though, I think the forging of this part speaks to our process as a whole; that somehow we're able to take our wide swath of influences as individuals, and work them into a cohesive but diverse sound. It makes me hopeful, like it might be impossible for us to run out of good ideas.

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

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder Jams With Tom Petty

(Banana 101.5) While in the midst of their summer European tour, Pearl Jam crossed paths with classic rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Amsterdam on Sunday (June 24).

Vocalist Eddie Vedder stepped onstage during Petty's show at the Heineken Music Hall, lending his pipes to the band on 'The Waiting' and 'American Girl'

While Eddie handled a majority of the vocals on their first song of the night — Petty added backup vocals on the hook and sang the song's bridge — the same was not the case when he reappeared to split vocal duties on the set closing tune, 'American Girl.' Vedder's second verse added vitality to the 1976 track and totally redeemed his drunken rendition of the song from the infamous 'Birdman Sessions' bootleg. Check it out here.

Rush's Geddy Lee Explains How He Sings Neil's Lyrics

(hennemusic) Rush's new album, "Clockwork Angels," debuted at the top of the Canadian charts and at #2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart last week.

Lyrically, the album chronicles a young man's quest across a lavish and colourful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.

In a new video session, bassist Geddy Lee discusses the dynamics involved for him singing lyrics written by drummer Neil Peart. "It's an interesting dynamic because it's a relationship we've had for over 30 years," explains Geddy. "Obviously, me being the spokesperson for his lyrics is an intimate and difficult relationship just in the sense that I have to really believe what I'm singing – because if I don't, you can tell. You can't fake something like that."

"So, for me," continues Lee, "I have to try and get into his headspace and I have to try and understand the lyrics from a point of view that's meaningful to me even if it's not always the same as the writer's intent." Watch the video here.

Sebastian Bach Joins Guns N' Roses at Gods of Metal Fest

(hennemusic) Guns N' Roses continued their European tour with an appearance at Italy's Gods Of Metal festival.

GNR headlined the second night of the three-day event; among the artists joining them was Axl Rose's pal Sebastian Bach, who is touring in support of his latest album, "Kicking & Screaming."

Sebastian joined GNR during their set for a performance of "My Michelle." Watch video of the jam here.

Devin Townsend Project Release Planet Of The Apes Video

Devin Townsend Project has released a new video clip of "Planet Of The Apes" from the new DVD box-set, By A Thread - Live in London 2011.

By A Thread - Live in London 2011 contains a 4-DVD set with footage from the unique, sold-out UK shows from last fall where Devin performed all four DTP albums (Ki, Addicted, Ghost, Deconstruction), along with a 5-CD set with the four DTP albums and one disc of encores.

In addition to the 4 DVDs and 5 CDs, the deluxe edition of By A Thread - Live in London 2011 also includes an exclusive 7" with take 2 of the track "Coast" (Devin's hand-drawn etching is on the B-side), plus an autographed and numbered collector's certificate of authenticity. Watch the clip here.