Van Halen Singer Audition Tape Leaks

Now, fans can hear a Malloy-led Van Halen run through the band's "1984" smash, "Panama," as the audition audio has surfaced online. Listen here.

Gene Simmons Rules Out Another KISS Reunion

(hennemusic) As KISS approach their 40th anniversary next year, the inevitable reunion question surfaced: Gene Simmons was asked if the band would ever consider performing with guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss again.

"No. Ace and Peter were great for the beginning of the band, but it would be the death of the band with Ace and Peter today," said Gene. "They were both equally as important as Paul [Stanley] and I for the beginnings of the band, but not everybody is designed in their DNA to be a marathon runner. They were short-distance runners and that was great for the beginning of the band. But we have to take it to the next level.

"We've been doing this for 40 years. Physically, neither of them could do what we do. It's very physically demanding, and also, the musicality. You've gotta be there with no dark clouds over your head, no drugs or alcohol in your system. They were fantastic for the beginning of the band, and that's the chapter they should be in." more on this story

Bret Michaels Lands New TV Series

(hennemusic) Poison frontman Bret Michaels is set to host a new TV series called "Rock My RV" with Bret Michaels.

The Travel Channel announced that the eight half-hour episode series will start production next month.

Michaels, a hands-on enthusiast, leads a hand-picked team of skilled, custom RV designers and fabricators who transform travelers' ordinary RVs into the most outrageous, badass, hooked-up mobile mansions on the road. more on this story

Aerosmith Streaming New Song Online

(hennemusic) Aerosmith have teamed up with RollingStone to premier tracks from the album, "Music From Another Dimension." First up is "Oh Yeah," a song the band played live on their summer tour.

"Oh Yeah" was written by guitarist Joe Perry at his Boneyard Studio in suburban Boston. The song began in a funkier groove than the churning, straight-ahead rocker it would later become, and singer Steven Tyler wasn't sold on it at first. He did know he wanted to sing the lyrics himself: "I would die for you baby/ I cry for you baby . . . Won't ya please give me some of your love?"

By the time album sessions began in Los Angeles, Perry brought it to the band and said, "Let's do it double-time and make it rock," he recalls, and Tyler kept telling him how much he liked the lyrics. "It didn't knock me out, but in the meantime Steven kept saying, 'It's really good this way.' Then we'd add more, and it got better and better." more on this story

Rush Guitarist Reacts To Rock Hall Nomination

(hennemusic) Rush were recently among the first-time nominees announced for possible induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame's Class of 2013.

Rush have been eligible for the Rock Hall since 1998; artists are considered for inclusion 25 years after the release of their first recording.

"I'm really happy for the Rush fans who feel that it is really important, and I hope we're inducted for their sake," guitarist Alex Lifeson tells NorthJersey.com. "Personally it never really mattered to me, but at the same time it's nice to be nominated." more on this story

Joe Bonamassa Speaks Out On Media Feud With Glenn Hughes

(hennemusic) Ahead of the October 30th release of their third album, "Afterglow," members of Black Country Communion continue to battle each other in the press.

Tensions went public early last month when bassist Glenn Hughes dropped a bombshell about the group's future, telling ABC News Radio, "This may be the [band's] last album. I hate to break it to you, but it just may be, because I need to be in a band that tours on a regular basis."

"A lot of this stuff I fell into second-hand – you know, I'd read a blog, or I'd read this or I'd read that. I was going, 'Why all of a sudden is it my fault?' Joe Bonamassa tells Music Radar about the situation. "That I'm doing what I said I was going to do for the last three years, and now because somebody changes his mind, that's now my fault? At first, it didn't really faze me. You know, journalists do like to take liberties; they do like to start sh*t. But then it's time and time again, and then I read the Classic Rock article, and it went from slightly annoying to supremely not cool."

"I never would have done that to my friend, Glenn Hughes, no matter how I felt about the situation," Joe continued. "If Glenn Hughes had been offered the Deep Purple reunion Mach III for a two-year world tour, he would've dropped Black Country Communion and put that on hiatus to go do that in a heartbeat. The fact that I tour religiously in the spring, religiously in the fall and do 125 shows – you can set your watch to that. And you could have set your watch to that in 2000 or 1999, and you can set your watch to it in 2012." He had a lot more to say.

Chickenfoot Release New Video

(hennemusic) Chickenfoot re-released their debut album this week and have issued a live video for "Something Going Wrong" from the new reissue.

The deluxe double-disc version features live tracks recorded on the band's "Different Devil" tour this past spring while supporting its sophomore album, "Chickenfoot III."

"'Chickenfoot' will always be special to me for exactly what it is," says singer Sammy Hagar. "Our former label went out of business and the album had been discontinued. You could not find the album anywhere, which is crazy! We got the masters back and our new label will re-release the first album and we thought we should include some live tracks from 'Chickenfoot lll'." Check out the new video here.

A Life Once Lost Streaming New Album Online

(APR) A Life Once Lost are giving fans an advance listen to their new album, Ecstatic Trance, with a full album stream.

The album is set to be released in North American next Tuesday (Oct 22nd) and internationally on November 16th but you can listen to it right now, right here.

A Life Once Lost recently announced a full U.S. tour with Revocation. Support will come from KEN mode. more on this story

Gilby Clarke To Perform National Anthem At NFL Game

(hennemusic) This Sunday, October 21st, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke will be playing the American national anthem at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the visiting New Orleans Saints.

Clarke is best known for a three-year stint as the rhythm guitarist of GNR. He joined the band in November 1991, replacing Izzy Stradlin, who quit the group in the middle of the band's "Use Your Illusion" world tour.

Following GNR, Clarke went on to forge a solo career as well playing guitar with Slash's Snakepit, Heart, Nancy Sinatra, Kathy Valentine (of the Go-Go's), MC5 and forming his own group Rock Star Supernova with members of Metallica and Mötley Crüe. more on this story

Steve Hackett Previewing New Album In Full Online

Genesis star Steve Hackett is giving fans a full listen to his new album, Genesis Revisited II, ahead of its release next week.

The double album is set to hit stores next Tuesday, October 22nd, but you can listen to it in full online here.

We were sent these details about the album: The set features reinterpreted Genesis classics from the period dearest to Hackett, the "golden era" 1971-1977, with a stellar array of guest performers. more on this story

Boris and Asobi Seksu Plan Record Store Day Release

Boris is teaming up with recent tour mates Asobi Seksu to released a limited edition split 7" as a Record Store Day exclusive release on Black Friday, November 23, 2012.

The forthcoming split single features each band covering a song by the other. Asobi Seksu takes on Boris' majestic "Farewell" off of their Pink album, while Boris reworks "New Years" from Asobi Seksu's Citrus album here as "Neu Years", a churning dream pop gem. The vinyl edition includes a download card with 4 additional classic songs from both bands.

Boris have also announced new headlining tour dates in the UK and EU, as well as appearances at All Tomorrow's Parties in the UK and State-X New Forms Festival in Holland. more on this story

Dark Tranquillity Releasing Digital EP Next Week

Next Tuesday, Dark Tranquillity will digitally release their Zero Distance EP in North America.

The five track EP features songs taken from the European tour edition of We Are The Void (2010).

Zero Distance track-listing: Zero Distance - Out Of Gravity - Star Of Nothingness - To Where Fires Cannot Feed - The Bow And The Arrow

Dark Tranquillity had this to say about the EP and the immediate future of the band: "We are excited to offer the 'Zero Distance' EP to our US fans who missed out on being able to pick up the limited tour edition of 'We Are The Void.' We would also like to inform our fans that we're are already working on songs for the new album and we plan to enter the studio after the 'Metal Attack Over Europe' tour with our label mates WARBRINGER! We expect to see a summer 2013 release of this new opus and we look forward to seeing everyone in the U.S. as we tour in support of this new release..."

You can watch the video for the track "Zero Distance," here.

New Book Takes Philosophical Look At Black Sabbath

(hennemusic) A new Black Sabbath book is now available. "Black Sabbath And Philosophy: Mastering Reality" - a philosophical look at heavy metal's dark masters of reality, Black Sabbath - has just been published worldwide via The Blackwell Philosophy And Pop Culture Series.

This new book explores the wide range of profound ideas in the band's music and lyrics as never before.

It discusses and debates essential Black Sabbath topics and themes, such as the problem of evil, "War Pigs" and the nature of just war theory, whether or not Sabbath is still Sabbath without Ozzy, and whether "evil is in the ear of the beholder" more on this story

10 Year Old Girl Scores Web Hit With Black Sabbath Cover

(hennemusic) Black Sabbath is getting the cover treatment by Ontario, Canada's Motion Device.

The band features 10-year old female singer Sara Menoudakis, along with her 13 year old brother David, 15 year old sister Andrea, 18 year old cousin Josh and 18 year old family friend Alex.

Motion Device covers the Sabbath classic "War Pigs" in a new video shot a couple weeks before Halloween, so the members decided to dress up for the occasion. Watch it here.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse Release New Video

(hennemusic) Neil Young and Crazy Horse will release their second album this year, "Psychedelic Pill," on October 30 and have released a video for the 17-minute track, "Ramada Inn."

The album follows the June release of "Americana," the group's first album together since 2003's "Greendale," and their first with the full Crazy Horse line-up of Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and Frank "Poncho" Sampedro since "Broken Arrow" in 1996.

A double-CD and triple-vinyl will be released due to the lengths of many of the songs, some of which were previewed in Crazy Horse's live performances this summer. Check out the new song.

Insomnium Release One For Sorrow Video

(CM) Insomnium have released a new music video for the title track of their latest album, One for Sorrow.

Vocalist/bassist Niilo Sevänen comments: "'One for Sorrow' is one of the best songs INSOMNIUM has ever done. It stands out as a unique kind of track and it clearly deserves a video of its own. It's not your typical melodic death metal song but something else: the essence of the song is not its pace or brutality, but its haunting and melancholic atmosphere. And that mood might be much heavier than any blast-beat onslaught you can create...The video for 'One for Sorrow' was filmed at Wacken Open Air and Tuska Open Air this summer. The atmosphere at both these shows was absolutely amazing, and I hope this live video conveys the feeling that we were really enjoying our time on stage." Watch the video here

Insomnium kick off a North America tour next week with Epica, Alestorm, and System Divide. Sevänen had this to say about that: "...After a busy summer and a short break, it now feels good to get touring again. We've been waiting for five years since our last North American tour and finally we have the chance to keep conquering America. We'll be all around the continent, and it will surely be a great tour for everyone. See you soon!" more on this story

Sharks Release Luck Video

(BBG) Sharks have released new music video for the song "Luck" from their debut full length album, No Gods.

The video was shot in Northampton and directed by Ryan Macktfall. Said the band's James Mattock, "The video for Luck was shot in Northampton at my friend's art studio where I currently reside with my fiancée. It's an old victorian factory building, and with all the space and the taxidermy on the walls, it just made for an irresistible location to shoot a video. It also ties in with Sharks' history as Aasen Stephenson (deathhouse), who works here, did a lot of artwork for our records in the past.

"The concept for the video is the most simple and direct idea we've had, but the actual process of filming was extremely difficult. The studio is above a funeral home, and since we filmed through the hours of midnight to 4am, within the first or second take the police were banging down the door and were having shut the whole thing down. Subsequently, Sam had to play the drums without practically making any noise, and with having to mime along to the track and everything, he did a good job. The projections on the walls are just a couple of movies I love including 'The Man Who Laughs' and a personal favourite, 'The Penalty'. Neither of which bared any particular relevance to the song. The video was made by our good buddy, Ryan Mackfall." Watch it here.

Singled Out: Jets Overhead

Today Jets Overhead vocalist Antonia Freybe-Smith tells us about the title track from their brand new album "Boredom and Joy". Here is the story:

It feels like a delicate luxury to realize that something in your life can evoke both boredom and joy; or to realize that experiencing boredom can be joyful, and experiencing joy can be boring. And thank heavens. If it was simpler, it would probably feel wrong.

We wrote this song together as a band in our basement rehearsal space in the spring of 2011. It bubbled with energy right away and felt a bit like it wrote itself. I think we all walked around with the verse's bass and guitar riff thumping around in our heads for weeks, and that felt wonderful.

The lyrics morphed together afterwards – inspired from both Adam's memories of the joy of having all the time in the world to be bored outside as a kid, following the river through the woods to see where it goes and from a Leonard Cohen poem about the slow, tender, tedious, tenuous love between two married people: the boredom and joy found in the long story of love.

Under the guidance of our fearless producer, Emery Dobyns, and his electric New York City command center, the simmering energy of the song blossomed into a strange pulsating rock jam that also felt wonderful and unlike anything we had ever recorded.

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