Metallica Perform The Most Unique Show They Have Ever Done

Check out the set list and photos here.

Eddie Van Halen Surprises School Kids

Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen made a surprise visit to music students at LA Unified School District's Foshay Learning Center on Thursday, December 5th. Eddie's camp sent over these details:

Twenty seven aspiring musicians, under the tutelage of Music Director Vincent Womack, were transfixed as Van Halen inspired them to pursue their passion for music by sharing stories about the importance of music in his own life. "I wasn't born 'Eddie Van Halen,' successful or famous, it took years of dedication and practice, practice, practice," said Van Halen.

To help better benefit students in their quest to master music, Eddie and the Fender Musical Instruments Company donated one of his signature EVH 5150lll amplifiers to the class. Eddie also presented each guitar student with a gift bag filled with EVH brand picks, guitar straps, cables, electric guitar strings and a Frankenstein key chain. Fender also contributed acoustic guitar strings to the gift bags.

After scoring a gift bag of his own, Mr. Womack said, "I am so grateful to you for fueling and inspiring us and raising the ceiling of possibilities for the kids. We will never forget today."

Van Halen's visit to the music students was inspired after he attended a fundraising event a few weeks ago for the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation where he was first introduced to Foshay's Musical Director.

Last year, Van Halen donated 75 electric guitars from his personal collection to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation who distributed the guitars to nine schools throughout Los Angeles County. One of the lucky recipients of a guitar, a student named Jose, who was on hand Thursday received a hands on one-on-one lesson from the rock legend who took time to personally teach him the intro to the Van Halen classic "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love".

"The gift of music is yours, no one can take that away no matter what," Van Halen said to Mr. Womack's class. He added, "It is not a rich/poor thing nor does it discriminate. If you have a love or even a like for music, go after it, pursue it. Music helps lift your self-esteem, it gave me an identity, kept me out of trouble, gave me goals and the desire to improve. It gave me a life. I am an example of what music can do for someone. What it did for me, it can do for you all. Anything is possible".

Stevie Nicks Reacts To Christine McVie's Possible Fleetwood Mac Return

(hennemusic) Former Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie made headlines last month when she said she would like to rejoin the group after a 15-year absence, and now Stevie Nicks has offered her comments on the situation.

"I think she's probably been asked 5 million times to come back to the band," Nicks tells Billboard. "By all of us. By every one one of us. And she has said, in no uncertain terms, 'No. No. Absolutely not. No way.'"

"If Chris wants to come back to the band," Stevie continued, "I said to her, 'It's your band. I don't really think you have to ask. Because it's your band. McVie. Fleetwood Mac-vie? So, it all depends, Chris, on you. How you feel. Do you want to take this on again?'" more on this story

Black Sabbath Nominated For Multiple Grammy Awards

(Classic Rock) Black Sabbath's reunion studio album 13 has been nominated for a Grammy in the annual awards event, while their track God Is Dead? has been shortlisted for two more.

They're named in the categories of Best Rock Album, Best Metal Performance and Best Rock Song for the 56th ceremony, which takes place on January 26 in Los Angeles. The metal veterans have previously won just one Grammy, for their live rendition of Iron Man on 1999 album Reunion.

David Bowie and the Rolling Stones both have three nominations while Led Zeppelin and Queens Of The Stone Age have two, and Paul McCartney is named in four categories. Other nominees include Anthrax, Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage, Volbeat, Gary Clark Jr, Muse, Kings of Leon, Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails and Metallica.

Check out who Sabbath will be going up against and other rock related nominations here.

Caravan's Richard Coughlan Dies

(Prog) Caravan drummer Richard Coughlan has died at the age of 66, the band have confirmed. He'd been suffering ill health for several years and had been unable to take part in the band's live performances on a regular basis since 2005. Mark Walker had been playing in his place.

The band had the following to say in a statement: "It is with a very heavy heart that we announce that Richard Coughlan passed away on Sunday 1st December.

"Richard was a founder member and drummer for Caravan for over forty three years. He has played on all of the band's releases to date and was one of the early birds in the history of the Canterbury bands, having sessioned with The Wilde Flowers and predecessors."

Read the rest of their statement here.

Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day Earns Two Grammy Nominations

(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin's live set, "Celebration Day", has earned the band two 2014 Grammy Award nominations. "Celebration Day" captures a reunited Led Zeppelin in concert at London's O2 Arena on December 10, 2007, when they headlined a tribute concert for friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.

"Celebration Day" is up for "Best Rock Album" alongside David Bowie's "The Next Day", Black Sabbath's "13", "Mechanical Bull" by Kings Of Leon, "…Like Clockwork" by Queens Of The Stone Age, and "Psychedelic Pill" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

"Kashmir" from "Celebration Day" received a nod for "Best Rock Performance" along with David Bowie's "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)", and songs by Jack White ("I'm Shakin'"), Queens Of The Stone Age ("My God Is The Sun"), Imagaine Dragons ("Radioactive"), and Alabama Shakes ("Always Alright"). more on this story

Machine Head's Robb Flynn Updates Fans On New Album

(Gibson) Robb Flynn has posted an update on the new Machine Head album. But he is not rushing anything. In fact, any album could be a while. Flynn posted, "As you may have noticed, there aren't any, 'Hey, we're in the recording studio' updates happening. That's because we're not! A few journals ago, I said we'd hit the studio at end of October, and while we tried our damnedest to make that deadline, the fact is, we weren't ready.

"We started writing in January of this year, but between the bassist auditions, teaching [new bassist] Jared [MacEachern] all the old tunes, rehearsing for headline dates, doing [Rockstar Energy Drink] Mayhem [Festival], getting Jared up to speed on the new tunes, and back into writing mode in September, we just didn't have the songs yet. We probably only wrote music for 4 out of those 9 months. If we went in [back in October], it would have been rushed.

"This is an important record for us. With a new label, a new member, and this being the follow-up to Unto The Locust, all eyes are on us. This record cannot be rushed or hurried, it needs to be great. It needs to be classic Machine Head. It needs to be a timeless album.

"Our new label, Nuclear Blast, agreed and said, 'Hey, if it comes out in April or August, who cares? In 5 years, they're only going to remember if it's great or not. It was refreshing and we were grateful that's how they felt. We are now going in the studio the first week of February 2014.

'We already have 5 or 6 song demoed. Some are in more finished stages than others, so we'll continue demoing through the New Year. Sh*t, who am I kidding? We'll probably be demoing up until the day before we hit the studio, LOL!

"Thanks for the patience, my friends." more on this story

David Bowie Up For Three Grammys

(hennemusic) David Bowie's 2013 comeback album, "The Next Day", has received three Grammy Awards nominations ahead of next month's event in Los Angeles. Upon its release in March, "The Next Day" debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 album chart with opening week sales of 85,000.

"The Next Day" picked up nods for "Best Rock Album" and "Best Recording Package", while the project's second single, "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)", earned a nomination for "Best Rock Performance."

Bowie's first album in 10 years earned the singer his largest sales week for an album since SoundScan started tracking data in 1991 (Bowie's previous best SoundScan-era sales frame came when 2002's "Heathen" started with 55,000 at No. 14.). more on this story

Deep Purple Stream Song From NOW What?! Gold Edition

(hennemusic) Deep Purple released the Gold Edition of their 2013 album, "NOW What?!", in Europe this past week, and the group has issued an instrumental version of "Hell To Pay" to help promote the project.

The 2-disc set includes an expanded version of the band's latest studio album along with two bonus tracks ("It'll Be Me" and "First Sign Of Madness"), and the "NOW What?! Live Tapes", a collection of 12 live songs that have been recorded in Rome, Milan, Gaevle and Aalborg on the band's current tour.

Fans who have purchased "NOW What?!" will have the chance to buy the double pack, paying less than a newly released live album. Fans of vinyl will have the chance to purchase the live album as a limited heavy vinyl double LP. Check out the stream here.

Rolling Stones Receive Three Grammy Nominations

(hennemusic) The Rolling Stones have picked up three nominations for the 2014 Grammy Awards ceremony, which will be held January 26, 2014 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS.

"Doom And Gloom" is a finalist for Best Rock Song, which honors songwriters. Other tracks on the list are Black Sabbath's "God Is Dead?", Gary Clark Jr.'s "Ain't Messin' Around", the Paul McCartney/Nirvana collaboration "Cut Me Some Slack", and "Panic Station" by Muse.

In the Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package category, the Stones' release of "The Brussels Affair" – documenting a 1973 concert in Belgium – earned a nod, along with sets by Mayer Hawthorne ("How Do You Do [Limited Edition Box Set])," Mumford & Sons ("The Road to Red Rocks (Special Edition)," Paul McCartney & Wings ("Wings Over America (Deluxe Edition)," and a various artists collection, "The Smith Tapes."

The Stones received a third nomination in the Best Historical Album category for "Charlie Is My Darling — Ireland 1965". That release will go up against projects featuring the works of Bill Withers ("The Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums"), the New York Art Quartet ("Call It Art 1964-1965"), Sir George Solti ("Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Deluxe Edition)", and a various artists project, "Pictures of Sound: One Thousand Years of Educed Audio: 980–1980." more on this story

Jack White Earns Two Grammy Nominations

(hennemusic) "I'm Shakin'", the fourth single from Jack White's 2012 solo debut, "Blunderbuss", has picked up two 2014 Grammy Award nominations. Originally released by Little Willie John, White's cover received nominations for "Best Rock Performance" and "Best Music Video."

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards will be held January 26, 2014 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

"Blunderbuss" previously received nominations for "Album of the Year" and "Best Rock Album" at the 2013 Grammy Awards, while the single "Freedom At 21" was up for "Best Rock Song"; all three categories were swept by The Black Keys. more on this story

The Story Behind The Eagles' Hotel California Album Cover

(Classic Rock) According to Eagles lynchpin Don Henley, the sleeve of 1976's Hotel California was intended to convey an atmosphere of "faded glory, loss of innocence and decadence".

There was no shortage of locations that fitted the bill in the band's home town of Los Angeles, but Henley looked further afield for his creatives, turning to the British art director Kosh, who had made his reputation with The Beatles (most notably 1969's Abbey Road) and consolidated it with work for The Who (1971's Who's Next).

Having moved to the US West Coast a few months earlier, Kosh was brought in by Eagles management to meet the band and hear a rough cut of the title track from their next album – a hummable but hollow-eyed tale of LA burnouts populating a hotel from which you 'can check out any time you like, but you can never leave'. Then, with the vibe established, it was down to business.

In a 2007 interview with The Rock And Roll Report, Kosh recalled that "Don wanted me to find and portray the fictional Hotel California hostelry – a hotel which would exemplify a classic California hotel – and to portray it with a slightly sinister edge".

Setting out with photographer David Alexander, the designer shot a shortlist of three locations. Henley chose a dusk shot of the Beverly Hills Hotel at 9641 Sunset Boulevard. Choosing the shot of the Beverly Hills Hotel was the easy part. more.

Augustines Streaming New Single Online

(Classic Rock) Seattle-based trio Augustines (formerly We Are Augustines) have announced the release of their new single Nothing To Lose But Your Head on Caroline Records UK on February 3, 2014.

Co-produced by Peter Katis (The National, Frightened Rabbit, Interpol) this epic track follows the release of the band's acclaimed debut album Rise Ye Sunken Ships.

"Augustines are a very lucky bunch. We are only here because of our fans, " explains vocalist/guitarist Billy McCarthy. "There's a great saying in America: 'Dance with who brung ya.' To me it means stick with who got you where you are. This song is about the realisation that now is the time. Gone are the days of wandering around waiting for that right time. There is no right time, so go – ya got nothing to lose but your head." Stream the new song here.

In This Moment Release 'Whore' Video

(Classic Rock) In This Moment have unveiled a promo video for their hot-selling US single Whore. The video has a stark voyeuristic feel, combining the theatrical approach that marks IIn This Moment's live performances with visuals that are as compelling as they are disturbing.

Directed by Robert Kley – who was also at the helm for the band's Adrenalize and Blood videos – Whore co-stars Motionless In White frontman Chris Motionless.

"His look is so perfect for the dirty vintage feel of the video, and he was a perfect gentleman while being violated by me," says In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink.

"I knew how amazing placing the visual arts to Whore would be when we wrote it, and I have been waiting to release this video since we recorded the song," Brink continues. "I am so passionate about the concepts and every single detail that goes into shooting a music video, and I created my own stimulating visual metaphor to make this – I am grateful to have worked with Robert Kley again, he always seems to help me bring what I see in my mind to life."

Read more and watch the video here.

Rockapalooza Will Not Return After Promoter Charged With Felonies

(Banana 101.5) Rockapalooza, the Jackson, MI rock festival that had its sixth outing in 2013, is officially a thing of the past. The news comes after promoter Tim Corser was charged with felonies related to the festival itself.

Rockapalooza maestro Tim Corser has been accused of writing multiple bad checks to vendors for the festival. According to MLive, Corser is charged with three counts of issuing checks for $500 or more without sufficient funds with intent to defraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison and $2,000 (or three times the amount payable, whichever is greater) in fines.

It was stated on the Rockapalooza Facebook page on Tuesday (December 3rd) that the fest is officially done. Corser later told MLive via email that the charges had no bearing on the decision. You can see the full statement here.

Megadeth Heading South In Spring

(hennemusic) Megadeth have announced a series of South American tour dates for spring 2014. The band will play five shows starting April 26 at The Metal Fest 2014 in Santiago, Chile, running to May 4 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Megadeth have been on the road since the late spring release of their latest album, "Super Collider." The project debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart in June with opening week sales of 29,000 copies.

The band are currently playing dates on their Super Collider US tour with openers Fear Factory and Nonpoint; shows wrap December 19 in Reno, Nevada. more on this story

Soundgarden Announce More Festival Appearances

(hennemusic) Soundgarden have confirmed two more festival appearances in Europe next summer. The band will join headliners Black Sabbath at the Nova Rock Festival in Vienna, Austria on June 15, and they'll play the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium on June 29, 2014.

The 2014 concerts will not feature drummer Matt Cameron, who will be touring throughout the year with Pearl Jam; Soundgarden have yet to announce a replacement for Cameron.

The Seattle rockers recently reissued their debut Sub Pop EPs – 1987's "Screaming Life" and 1988's "Fopp." Remastered by producer Jack Endino, the reissue marks the first time these tracks will be available digitally, and their first appearance on vinyl since the original, late-80s pressings (notwithstanding a long-gone, late-'90s repress of "Screaming Life"). more on this story

ZZ Top Announce Tour Dates

(hennemusic) ZZ Top have announced dates for a 2014 tour of Western Canada. Shows begin March 12 in Brandon, Manitoba and run to March 22 in Vancouver, BC.

Earlier this year, the band released a new box set, "ZZ Top: The Complete Studio Albums (1970-1990)." The set includes the original mixes for the group's first ten albums, spanning over 100 tracks.

The set follow ZZ Top's journey from the honky tonks of Texas to the stages of the world, starting with the earthy blues and electrifying boogie that defined their '70s sound — "Just Got Paid," "La Grange," "Tush" and "Cheap Sunglasses." more on this story

Rare Keith Richards Painting Surfaces

(hennemusic) A rare painting by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has surfaced in New Zealand after being forgotten in a drawer of a bed and breakfast.

The New Zealand Herald reports a watercolour by the guitar legend has been stashed in a drawer in a swanky Auckland bed and breakfast for the past seven years.Richards painted it while recuperating at Auckland's Cotter House in 2006 after falling out of a tree in Fiji.

He gave it to owner Gloria Poupard-Walbridge as a parting gift - but she has kept if off the walls at her five-star Remuera lodge because she says Richards' signature, penned in a thick black marker, has ruined the picture. more on this story

John Mellencamp Working On Next Album

(hennemusic) John Mellencamp is in the early stages of work on his first new album in three years and is once again teaming up with T Bone Burnett who also worked on 2008's "Live, Death, Love and Freedom" and 2010's "No Better Than This".

"I've got a notebook with 85 new songs that I've written for my next record," he tells Rolling Stone. "T Bone Burnett is going to come out to Indiana sometime in early January and we're gonna go into the studio for however long it takes to make a new album. I haven't done one in five years."

A few months ago, Mellencamp brought his touring band out to Indiana to run through some of the new tracks. "I don't know if any of those songs will make the record," he says. "But we arranged them and recorded them on a small digital recorder. And this month I'm bringing out the core of the band, not the violinist, but the guitar players and bass player, and we're gonna go over the new stuff." More from John here.

FM Pay Tribute To Nelson Mandela In New Video

(Classic Rock) Following the death of Nelson Mandela, FM have brought forward the release of a video that features footage of the great man and other global icons.

The UK melodic rock veterans explain: "We shot this video for Wake Up The World several months ago and planned to release it in January 2014. Upon hearing the sad news we decided to post the video in tribute to the great man. Nelson Mandela RIP."

Wake Up the World comes from FM's Rockville album which was released in March this year. You can watch the new music video in full here.

Fluffy Jackets Premiere New Song Recorded at Sun Studio

(Classic Rock) Classic Rock has premiered "Why Don't You Smile" from the Fluffy Jackets' upcoming debut album Fighting Demons, recorded at the historic 1950s Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

On the single Fluffy Jackets' mainman Helge Rognstad is joined by bassist Neil Murray (Whitesnake/Black Sabbath/Snakecharmer), drummer Robert Hall (Jerry Lee Lewis' Killer Band) and guitarist Manny Charlton of Nazareth renown.

Fighting Demons features nine tracks, four of which were recorded at Sun Studio and produced by Manny Charlton. Five additional tracks were recorded at the Cowshed Recording Studio in North London. The London line-up features Fluffy Jackets regulars Jerry Bessent (bass), Nick Rhodes (drums) plus Neil Murray who is present on all but two tracks on the album.

Read more and stream the song here.

Boston Rockline Appearance Goes Online

(hennemusic) Boston guitarists Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl were the featured guests on North American rock radio series Rockline on December 4, and a replay of the broadcast is available here.

The pair were on hand to promote the band's newly-released album, "Life Love & Hope." "I intentionally stayed close to the early Boston style on some of the songs, even using the same amps and instruments," says Scholz, "on others I let my imagination run wild."

"These are songs from the heart, each of them taking many months of effort to write, arrange, perform and record, always up to the demands of Boston's harshest critic, me," added Scholz. "They have all been meticulously recorded to analogue tape on the same machines and equipment used for Boston's hits for the past 35 years."

How 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' Made The Beatles Superstars

(Gibson) The Beatles were a hard-working, scrappy rock band for little more than a year when their tuneful sensibility and gift for hooks led Paul McCartney and John Lennon to write "Love Me Do." Their first single, the song propelled them to the forefront of the British pop scene. But it was "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which was first released in the U.K. on November 29, 1963, that created the initial wave of international "Beatlemania" and made them superstars, changing the field of rock songwriting in the process.

The tune was their first #1 hit on Billboard's pop chart and marked the beginning of the British Invasion with its 15-week stay in the Top 50. It was also an innovative recording for Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – their first cut on four-track gear.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was not only a success, it was a calculated one. The band's manger Brian Epstein – troubled by the group's lack of presence in America – asked Lennon and McCartney to write a song that would appeal to the U.S. market. Anticipation on both sides of the Atlantic was high when the disc's imminent arrival was announced. One million copies were ordered by retailers in advance.

The harmonized vocal chord that opens the song – as sweet a hook as was ever written – came first as Lennon and McCartney sat laboring at the piano in the London home of McCartney's girlfriend Jane Asher. The rest was pure Tin Pan Alley, or maybe Leiber and Stoller: a slick song about innocent love written with two bridges and a single verse to connect them. And like many early Beatles tunes it had no lead singer per se, instead putting McCartney and Lennon's twined harmony voices to the fore, with Lennon having a slight edge in the mix.

Although Lennon and McCartney were still several years away from their mutual romance with Epiphone Casinos, multi-tracking helped The Beatles and their producer George Martin create a dense guitar sound that was unlike anything previously recorded in the UK.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" also differed from most early rock hits – like "Hound Dog" or "Rock Around the Clock" – in that the tune wasn't written by the kind of non-performing professional songwriters who labored in the Brill Building and wrote most of the popular songs of the day. Together with Bob Dylan, The Beatles changed the image of rockers as mere performers to that of complete artists who could not only play but also write and record their own material.

The sessions for "I Want to Hold Your Hand" began on October 17, 1963 at London's EMI Studio 2, which was equipped with a new four-track tape machine. The tune took 17 passes to complete. In an odd twist of marketing, a second version was cut in January 1964 with a vocal performance in German. The group had built up a sizeable following in Hamburg and elsewhere in Germany during their club apprenticeship, and Odeon, the German arm of their label EMI, insisted the single be cut in that tongue.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was one of two singles The Beatles were compelled to re-record in German. The other is "She Loves You." Both were done against their wishes, and history has proven The Beatles' resistance correct, since the English language versions of the tunes have remained the most durable everywhere in the world.

When "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was released on November 29, 1963 in the U.K., it rocketed straight up the British charts. On December 14 it bumped another Beatles song, "She Loves You," out of the #1 spot.

Despite that chart performance, EMI Record and Epstein had to battle the group's American label Capitol Records to release "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as The Beatles' first U.S. single. When Capitol caved, the song was paired with "I Saw Her Standing There" as the B-side and hit America on December 26. Epstein further insisted the label spend $40,000 to promote the single to DJs and retailers with advertising in trade magazines and on the airwaves.

Initially Capitol planned a January release, but a canny Washington, D.C., disc jockey got a copy a few weeks earlier via British Airways and began spinning the song, which generated so much listener excitement that the label was forced to jump into action with the late December date. Capitol's first reaction was unprecedented: the label threatened to seek a court injunction to prevent airplay, which rapidly spread to Chicago and St. Louis. Ultimately, they decided to co-opt the anticipation that the media reporting about the airplay flap generated into the single's promotional campaign.

By December 29, after just three days of sales, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had sold more than 750,000 copies, averaging 10,000 a day in New York City alone. Overall the song sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. on its initial release.

With the floodgates open, American teenagers developed an insatiable interest in British rock that propelled The Kinks, the Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits and others onto the U.S. concert circuit, television and, of course, the pop charts.