Black Sabbath Confirm Reunion Album Release

The series of shows kicks off April 25 in Brisbane and wraps up May 4 in Perth. Read more and check out the tour announcement video here.

Axl Rose Says Ex-Guns N' Roses Bandmates Damaged His Songwriting

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose gave a revealing interview with USA Today to promote the band's residency in Las Vegas.

During the chat he explained why Chinese Democracy was delayed and how original band members effected his writing ability. Here are the excerpts:

Songwriting slump: Supermodel girlfriend Stephanie Seymour and original Guns guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan "did more damage to my ability as a writer. To those three, it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the (Use Your Illusion) tours, Slash and Duff said, 'You're an idiot, you're a loser.' I didn't write for years. I felt I was hindered for a very long time. I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to say, when it's right to be venting and when you're digging a bigger hole. Lyrics on Chinese took a long time."

The long wait for Chinese Democracy: "I had to deal with so many other things that don't have to do with music but have to do with the industry. There's such a loss of time. It was more about survival. There wasn't anyone to work with or trust. Someone would come in to help produce and the reality was they just wanted to mix it and get it out the door. They had a different agenda. (The next album) will come out sooner."

Read the full interview here and here.

Sammy Hagar's Bar Damaged By Hurricane Sandy

(hennemusic) Sammy Hagar's Beach Bar & Grill in Atlantic City, New Jersey has suffered severe damage due to Hurricane Sandy.

Located at Bally's Atlantic City Hotel and Casino since May 2010, the restaurant is only open from May through Labor Day weekend.

"Hope all Redheads and BB&G staff are safe and dry!," said Hagar. "Here is a look at the damage - we will rebuild!" See the photo here.

A Metal Christmas & A Heavy New Year Tour

The 3rd annual 'A Metal Christmas & A Heavy New Year Tour' has been announced and will take part in three parts with three headliners.

The tour have recruited Texas In July, Close To Home and Sea of Treachery to headline legs of the tour and support acts will include Onward To Olympas, We Are Defiance, The Overseer, Creations, From Atlantis, Horizons, One Year Later, Serianna and Auburn.

The first leg will be kicking off December 1st with Sea of Treachery headlining and support from Onward To Olympas and Creations. Dates and lineup for all three legs

Aerosmith To Rock TV Shows Ahead Of New Album

Aerosmith have lined up a number of high profile TV appearances to promote next Tuesday's release of their new album, Music From Another Dimension.

The band's first album of all-new material in more than 11 years will be released November 6 on Columbia Records but they TV performances kick off today.

Things will kick tonight Thursday, November 1 with the band performing on "The Late Show with David Letterman," with Tyler and Perry sitting down to talk with Letterman as well. The next morning (Friday, November 2), Aerosmith will perform an outdoor concert on NBC's "The Today Show."

Then Tyler and Perry will join the ladies of "The View," and the band will also be interviewed on "VH1 Big Morning Buzz Live." There is more...

Black Sabbath and Slipknot Lead Ozzfest Lineup

(hennemusic) Black Sabbath and Slipknot are the first two acts confirmed to appear at Ozzfest Japan 2013.

The two-day event will take place on May 11th-12th, 2013 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City (outside Tokyo).

Slipknot will perform on May 11 while Sabbath will headline the May 12 show. more on this story

Nile Plan Special 20th Anniversary Tour

Nile have special plans for their upcoming 20th Anniversary tour of United States next Spring.

The tour will be spread over March and April with 28 shows supported by three of the best local bands in every market.

Nile will play two massive sets with music spanning their twenty year career. "In order to commemorate our 20th year as a band," states guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders, "we want to bring Nile and all metal fans an evening of Nile music that spans our entire career and play two full sets with only a brief intermission. After years of many package tours, the necessary set time restrictions have often meant that Nile's had to streamline our set. Fans didn't always get to hear the songs they came to hear. Thankfully, some of those classic Nile songs we have been itching to play for years will now get a chance to be heard live. We are extremely fired up." more on this story

Who Killed (or Saved) The Music Industry?

Adam Russell (Story of the Year, D.R.U.G.S.) and Ryan Phillips (Story of the Year, Greek Fire) have started a kickstarter campaign to fund their new documentary, "Who Killed (or Saved!) The Music Industry."

The film will explore the evolution of the music business over the last decade with interviews from musicians, producers, managers, record labels and more. "We really wanted to take a look at how the changes of the past decade or so have affected people in the industry - the artists, producers, engineers, label employees, managers, etc.," explains Phillips. "This is not about corporations or the faceless entities that the public often perceives the music business to be. This is about the creative, passionate people, both on stage and behind the scenes, that make their living in this industry."

Already in the works, Russell and Phillips have spoken to members from All Time Low, Deftones, The Used, Yellowcard, P.O.D., Myles Kennedy (Altar Bridge, Slash), Breathe Carolina, We The Kings, Four Year Strong, Anti-Flag and Dead Sara to name a few and are expected to interview many more in the coming months. more on this story

Bon Jovi To Offer Tour Tickets For Around $20

(Gibson) Bon Jovi continue to add new dates to their forthcoming 2013 world tour, dubbed, fittingly, "Because We Can – The Tour."

The rapidly expanding trek is set to coincide with the spring 2013 release of the band's latest album, What About Now. I

In addition, the veteran rockers have announced that ticket prices for their U.K. shows will start at a fan-friendly 12.50 pounds (roughly the equivalent of twenty U.S. dollars). Rob Hallett, Bon Jovi's U.K. tour promoter, told London's The Mirror, "The band insisted on ticket prices for the Because We Can Tour that enabled all to attend. Ordinary fans have been priced out of live music in recent years and we hope this goes some way toward redressing the balance. After all, rock and roll always was and always should be the music of the people. And that means everyone." more on this story

Soundgarden To Webcast Letterman Concert

(CBS Local) After being separated for nearly 13 years, Soundgarden is reunited and set to unveil a new album on November 13th.

Just hours before the band drops their new album, the Seattle foursome will take the stage to treat online viewers worldwide to a webcast featuring fan favorites as well as tracks from King Animal.

Watch Soundgarden's performance Monday, November 12th at 8PM ET/5PM PT, live from the historic Ed Sullivan theater in New York City. more on this story

Classic Gregg Allman Concert Coming To DVD

MVD have set a December 11th North America DVD release date for Gregg Allman "I'm No Angel: Live On Stage."

The DVD features a full length concert from Gregg Allman and his band at The Cannery, Nashville, USA in November 1988.

Amongst the songs featured are Billboard chart hit single 'I'm No Angel' and a version of Blind Willie McTell's 'Statesboro Blues' (a famous part of The Allman Brothers Band's live sets). Tracklisting

3 Inches Of Blood, Huntress and Hookers Tour

3 Inches Of Blood will be turning to the road this winter for a newly announced headlining West Coast tour.

The two-week trek will feature special guest Huntress as main support, and Hookers as the tour opener.

Vocalist Cam Pipe adds, "We're closing out the year strong with some US headlining shows of our own. The West Coast has long been a 3IOB stronghold, so naturally we're excited to be returning to play a full show to our loyal fans. Long Live West Coast Heavy Metal." more on this story

Hurricane Sandy Disrupts Smashing Pumpkins Tour

The Smashing Pumpkins have been forced to postpone several of their concerts in the North East due to Hurricane Sandy.

Last night the band was set to perform in New York City at Brooklyn's new Barclay's Arena for a Halloween show, but due to the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the show was postponed. Details of the new date to be announced soon.

Having heavily disrupted the Northeast, Hurricane Sandy has also forced the band to reschedule their shows in Camden, NJ for December 8 and Fairfax, VA for December 9. The Smashing Pumpkins show in Uncasville, CT is also being rescheduled with the date to be announced very soon. more on this story

Europe Plan Bag of Bones Tour and Explain Final Countdown on TV

Europe will hit the road later this month for their "Bag of Bones" UK tour which will feature special guests StoneRider.

The tour kicks off at the Birmingham o2 Academy on Wednesday November 21st and will span 8 dates.

Ahead of the tour, the band was interviewed on BBC 1 Television's "The One Show" about the making of The Final Countdown. more on this story

Hollywood Undead Release New Song From Dostoyevsky Inspired Album

Hollywood Undead have released the new single "We Are" from their forthcoming album Notes From The Underground and sent over these details about the track.

The song is being serviced to Modern and Active Rock Radio. "We Are" reunites the band with producer Danny Lohner [Nine Inch Nails, Puscifer], Johnny 3 Tears explains, "The song is about collective resistance. It's the silent majority, but we're using Los Angeles as the backdrop. Every time we work with Danny, he takes our music to the next level. He's willing to go as far outside the box as we are. As a whole, it's a good introduction to Notes From The Underground because it encompasses the band idealistically. Think of it as an ode to our misled youth."

The album title is an homage to the Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel—a Johnny 3 Tears personal favorite—the moniker alludes to what's really under the mask. "We've maintained an underground identity," Johnny 3 Tears remarked. "When we write songs, we're coming from a place people don't like to look at or talk about openly. As people get older, they get used to lying. We have a bond with so many kids because they have a trace of that honesty. They don't know how bad some things get yet. We tell them the truth." Watch the lyric video for the song here.

Singled Out: Hey Now, Morris Fader

Today Brooks Milgate from Hey Now, Morris Fader tells us about the song "The Blues and Alcohol" from their new album "Good Times Ne'er Forgot," which features guest appearances from members of Morphine, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kingsley Flood, Reverse and more. Here is the story:

So, I had been trying to write material for the new record and was coming up with songs, but it all sounded the same to me. Like I just kept rewriting the same songs over and over, and the songs weren't all that great to begin with. I mentioned something to my wife about it and she came up with this idea – step away from the piano (which is typically where I write most of my music) and try to write something on the guitar. That was all it took. I started with the chorus progression and then the verses came, and the lyrics pretty much wrote themselves. I remember it was a Sunday and I was really bummed that I had to go back to work the next day – as most people are on Sunday evenings! So the lyrics took on a sarcastic look at having to spend so much time doing something you really couldn't care less about. The song title is implied in the second verse by suggesting that the blues and alcohol are how we cope with this reality – like I said, very sarcastic!

The song took shape over the next couple of rehearsals. I did a demo that I sent to the rest of the band of me playing it on guitar – power chords and distortion. It wasn't until we started rehearsing it with me on the piano where I started getting the idea for the horns. The horn lines basically wrote themselves. We did another demo of it as the trio and I took that and sequenced the horn parts (it sounded ridiculous!) and wrote some charts which I sent to our horn section to study for the recording. We knew we wanted guitar on the tune as well. My friend Troy Gonyea is probably the best guitarist you could ever meet, and we were honored to get him to play on our record. I sent him all the demos that I had – the one with distortion and power chords and the one without guitar. We never rehearsed the song with him, he just showed up at the studio to lay down his parts. I was expecting something similar to the versions I had sent him, but he pulls out his slide and says that he wants to try something. So we start rolling and he lays down this slide track like he's been playing the song for 10 years. Upon hearing his slide and the horn parts, it suddenly sounded drastically different, but way better. We were thrilled. There's so much going on in the song that the piano part ended up being extremely simple. My goal was to stay out of everything's way!

And one last funny story I remember about this specific tune was that there's two separate lyric parts going on in the chorus. I remember driving to the studio with Pez discussing what we should do in the chorus – up to that point, we only had the background part established and we felt that the chorus should be a bit more distinct. So then we just started coming up with different rhymes that we could involve with lyrics about booze, and ultimately the line "So fill my glass up, I'm pretty hard up". The line in the final chorus – "High balls are back and better than ever" – is an inside joke with Pez and some friends of ours. We were pumped that it fit into one of the choruses!

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

Led Zeppelin Release Kashmir Video

(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin have released the full-length video of "Kashmir" from their forthcoming live package, "Celebration Day."

The set captures the reunited band in concert at London's O2 Arena on December 10, 2007, when they headlined a tribute concert for dear friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.

Due November 19, "Celebration Day" will be available in multiple video and audio formats. Watch the video here.

Delta Rae Release Day Of The Dead Inspired Music Video

Delta Rae celebrated Halloween with the release of their Day Of The Dead inspired music video for their new single, "Dance In The Graveyards."

It's a song that celebrates death, which has deep meaning to the band, "These past few years have been the first of my life when I've lost people who were really close to me" explains Ian Holljes. "The death of one of my closest friends as well as a mentor with whom I lived with left a really strong impression with me and inspired this song. These people were wonderful parts of my life. For me, they're not resting in peace. They remain vivid, important influences in my life. They still move me, and in so many ways I'm still dancing with their spirits and the memories they left behind. The song reflects both my personal attitude towards dying, but also how I want to remember the people I love who have passed on."

"When it came time to shoot a video for the song, we wanted to pay homage to Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday whose rituals treat death with a similar celebratory feeling as the song -- remembering the dead as vibrant and real -- and create a story where the dead and the living are reunited to dance together once more." Watch it here.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Release Homegrown Lyric Video

(hennemusic) Lynyrd Skynyrd have released a lyric video for "Homegrown," the latest single from the band's newly-released album, "Last Of A Dyin' Breed."

The project debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart, the highest charting for a Skynyrd album since 1977.

This week, Skynyrd rocked The Simple Man Cruise, along with The Doobie Brothers, The Outlaws and many other acts. The trip ran October 27th – 31st on the Pearl, Norwegian's newest and luxurious rockin' party ship, which headed out of Miami to Key West and Great Stirrup Cay. Check out the video here.

Soundgarden Release New Song: Non-State Actor

(hennemusic) Soundgarden have released "Non-State Actor," a track from the band's forthcoming new album, "King Animal." The project is the reunited band's first studio album in 16 years.

"'Non-State Actor' is a song that [bassist] Ben [Shepherd] brought in and I wrote lyrics for," explains guitarist Kim Thayil. "We haven't done that songwriting combination before."

The group recently released "Been Away Too Long," the first single from the project; earlier this year, Soundgarden issued another tune, "Live To Rise," as part of the soundtrack for the film, "Marvel's The Avengers." Listen to the new song here.

David Coverdale Answers More Fan Questions on Whitesnake TV

(hennemusic) Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale continues to answer fan-submitted questions about his life, music and career in part 4 of a series produced for Whitesnake TV.

"I want my...I want my...I want my Snake TV!!!!" wrote Coverdale - with a nod to the opening of "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits - when he announced the new online channel on the band's website.

The fan Q&A sessions have been fleshed out with additional interview sessions featuring the singer and his guitarist, Doug Aldrich. Check out the new video here.

The Rolling Stones Release Halloween Photo

(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones shared the spirit of Halloween yesterday by posting a photo of themselves dressed fully in black and wearing huge witch hats.

The Stones have played two secret shows in Paris in the past week as they continue rehearsing for their initial 50th Anniversary concerts.

The band will perform at London's O2 Arena on November 25 and 29, and then the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on December 13 and 15. Check out the photo here.