Pearl Jam Counting Down To Major Announcement

Rumors have been swirling for days that a new Pearl Jam single called "Mind Your Manners" will be issued this month. more on this story

Motorhead Forced To Cancel Tour Due to Lemmy's Health

(hennemusic) Motorhead have cancelled the remaining eight shows on their summer European festival tour following doctor's orders as Lemmy continues to battle some health issues.

The legendary frontman recently suffered a haematoma (where blood collects outside of a blood vessel), which caused Motorhead to pull out of three earlier dates; this came on the heels of news that the bassist had been fitted with a defibrillator because of heart problems.

"Things are improving with Lemmy, but the doctors in Berlin are recommending that he rests for another couple of weeks," drummer Mikkey Dee told Swedish newspaper GT.se. "We can't keep canceling show after show, it's too costly. Therefore we unfortunately have to cancel the entire tour." more on this story

Boston's Tom Scholz Order To Pay $132,000 In Court Fees

(Classic Rock) Boston founder Tom Scholz has been ordered to pay a newspaper $132,000 in court costs after he sued for defamation and lost. He launched legal action against the Boston Herald, accusing the paper and two of its journalists of suggested he was responsible for the suicide of singer Brad Delp in 2007.

Delp took his own life by lighting two charcoal grills in his sealed bathroom, leading to death by carbon monoxide poisoning. In one of four notes he wrote: "I have had bouts of depression and thoughts of suicide since I was a teenager."

The Herald later reported he'd been "beaten down by the years of dealing with Tom Scholz," which the bandleader said amounted to blaming him for the singer's death. The paper successfully defended itself in the case, with a court ruling their story did not amount to defamation since it was not possible to know why Delp had taken his own life.

Sholz's representatives argued that he should not have to pay costs. But a judge has now decided that it's a matter of freedom of speech. Read more about the judge's reasoning.

Pixies Announce World Tour and Kim Deal Replacement

The Pixies have followed up last week's surprise release of their new song "Bagboy," with the announcement of a world tour and the initial dates for the trek.

The band will be kicking off their first tour in almost two years on September 29th in Paris, France and have announced dates through November 24th where they will play the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

The band also announced that Kim Shattuck will be taking over bass duties for the trek, following the recent news that Kim Deal has parted ways with the group.

Shattuck had previously played bass for The Pandoras and played guitar for The Muffs. She will join the lineup that includes Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering and the band plan a diverse set list for the trek, according to Francis.

"Along with everyone's favorites, we'll be playing songs that we haven't played in ages or never played live before," said Black Francis. "Songs like 'Brick is Red,' 'Havalina,' 'Tony's Theme.' and 'Sad Punk.' We've probably rehearsed some 80 songs, so we'll be able to change up the set at the last minute if we feel like it. We're all really looking forward to this tour." more on this story

Richie Sambora May Return To Bon Jovi In September

(Classic Rock) Richie Sambora says his feud with Jon Bon Jovi will be resolved soon and thinks he could be back in the band by September. He dropped off the band's world tour just hours before the current leg was supposed to kick off in April.

Sambora tells The Sun he definitely won't be on stage when the band appear at Hyde Park on July 12. "I truly want to be there, and I feel very sad for the fans that I won't be performing," he reports.

"It's just not happening right now. Jon and I have been tight for, like, 30 years. All this is very sad and it affects so many people around us."

Sambora calls the situation "a family drama" and insists "it will be resolved."

He adds: "I'll be in Paris with my daughter while the band rock the UK. But let's see what happened at the end of summer. September's looking good. So, maybe September." more on this story

Zakk Wylde Has Strong Reaction to Tim Lambesis Murder For Hire Arrest

Zakk Wylde had a strong reaction to As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis' arrest for the alleged murder-for-hire plot against his estranged wife.

Wylde was asked about the arrest and if he has ever played with Lambesis in a recent interview with Under the Gun Review and had this to say, "Yeah, we did gigs with those guys out on Ozzfest.

"That's just a massive, massive mess over there. It's just like any of our friends, if any of our buddies were gonna do something like that, we'd be like, 'What are you talking about man?!' I get it if he's pissed off saying, 'I swear to God I want to rip her f**king head off,' but that's okay, you can dump your feelings out, go to the bar and get tanked and spill your guts, but you're not f**king killing anyone dude. Let's just chock it up as a loss.

''See what happened to OJ, so why would you want to go there? She's gonna get the f**king house, she's gonna take half the money. Now, me and Derek, as your managers [Nice, now I'm working with Zakk!], we're gonna be booking As I Lay Dying till the f**king cow comes home. The band is doing great, you're gonna be fine and you just keep moving forward. Think about it, one f**king dumb decision like that, and his life is over dude.

"And the band was doing really well; he had everything to be thankful for. Everything was kicking ass. Yeah this was a hiccup, it's a road bump, I get it. I understand him being pissed, but you're not killing anyone. You can't go there. Just like a manager says, 'you can't be knocking people out in bars.' That's why you have security guards. It's dumb, dumb, stupid sh*t. What a waste.

"Even if he wasn't in a band, if he just worked at a construction job, I understand him talking about it. It's fine and dandy — you can say that all day long but you're not getting a f**king gun and blowing her brains out. I understand him getting it out of his system, but like I said, once we get back out of that bar, we move forward. That's the only way to do it, you've got to move forward." You can read the full interview here.

Rob Zombie Announces Great American Nightmare Lineup

Rob Zombie has announced artist lineup that will be taking part in his Halloween music and horror event, Rob Zombie's Great American Nightmare.

Of course, Zombie will be headlining the final night of the 15-night event which will take place Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from October 10th-November 2nd at FEARPlex in Pomona, just outside Los Angeles.

Zombie won't be the only one rocking the event. He has announced performances from 3OH!3, 45 Grave, Beware Of Darkness, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Butcher Babies, Duane Peters, Eagles Of Death Metal, Ghost Town, Mod Sun, Motionless In White, Powerman 5000, TSOL, The Dickies, The Vandals, and Wallpaper.

The different nights of the event each week will focus on different genres of music. Thursday nights will feature rock alternative music, Fridays will focus on EDM, most Saturdays will have a hard rock/metal focus, and most Sundays will feature Latin music.

His camp sent over the full lineup plus these details about the haunted house and other features of the unique event: "A creative collaboration between masters of the macabre Rob Zombie and preeminent haunted house producer Steve Kopelman, the fully immersive haunted house experience will feature three attractions based on Zombie's own horror films: Lords Of Salem Total Black Out, The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto 3D, and Haunt Of 1,000 Corpses.

"The Great American Nightmare's Bloody Boulevard will offer outdoor screenings of classic horror films, a DJ, food vendors, beer, wine and spirits, and much more, with freak show characters roaming throughout the grounds each night." more on this story

Eyes Set To Kill Reveals New Album Details

Eyes Set To Kill and Century Media Records have set a September 17th North American release date for the band's new studio album, which is entitled "Masks".

The label sent over the tracklisting as well as these comments from singer, songwriter, and guitarist Alexia Rodriguez, "I felt like we were wearing a bunch of masks to impress people," he said.

"At one point, I had a bit of a revelation. We have gone through so many changes over the years, but it wasn't about anybody else. It was about us - we've really found the band's face at this point. We aren't wearing masks anymore." more on this story

Aerosmith Concert Movie Hitting Theaters

(Classic Rock) Aerosmith's concert movie Rock For The Rising Sun will be shown at ten cinemas across the UK on July 16, ahead of the movie's home video release.

It was shot in 2011 after Steven Tyler's outfit ignored advice to avoid playing in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of the country.

Their first live release since 2004′s You Gotta Move will be available on DVD, blu-ray and digital formats via Eagle Rock Entertainment from July 22 – but you can see it on big screens a week earlier. More including the trailer.

Homme Explains Queens of the Stone Age's Special Guests

(Radio.com) In the lead-up to the release of Queens of the Stone Age's …Like Clockwork last month, much ado was made about the album's abundance of high-profile guest stars.

Following the sudden firing of drummer Joey Castillo, Foo Fighters frontman (and former QOTSA drummer) Dave Grohl handled percussion duties on a number of songs. The album also boasts appearances from Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, the band's former bassist Nick Oliveri, and Sir Elton John, who plays piano on the song "Fairweather Friends."

The collaborations, many of them with familiar faces, start to take on a different meaning when one knows the back story: Frontman Josh Homme had a near-death experience during routine knee surgery before the band went to work on the album. When asked if the cameos were a way of surrounding himself with friends, Homme replied, "Yes, absolutely."

"It dawned on me after we did the first interview [for the new album], people were so kind of like entranced by the marquee value of all these [guest artists]," Homme told Radio.com. "I didn't think about that, you know? We forget that for you it's Dave Grohl, Nick Oliveri, Alex Turner, but for us it's just Dave, Nick and Alex. There comes a time when you need your friends, and so you call them. You don't really know somebody until everything around you goes wrong. So what was great was to realize in these tougher moments who is really there."

"We're not trying to dry-hump someone's name," Homme continued. "It was really casual. I like to think that's the way you're supposed to do it. At the end of the day, it's gotta sound like Queens of the Stone Age. It's not America's Got Talent or something, which is cool TV but not good music." more on this story

Alt-J Concert Film To Premiere Online Next Week

Warner Bros Records will be premiering a new concert from Alt-J entitled "An American Wave" on Friday, July 12th at 9PM EST on their special Youtube channel The Warner Sound.

The film will include the band's full sold out concert from the Midland Theater in Kansas City. Kansas City, as well as interviews with critics and fans.

Alt-J tapped Julian Acosta to direct An American Wave. Acosta has directed music films and music videos for The Shins, Passion Pit, Band of Horses, and Foster The People.

A preview trailer has been posted online which you can watch here and the film premiere will happen on The Warner Sound which you can find here.

North American fans will also have the opportunity to see the band live and in person this summer and fall when they launch a new tour on August 2nd in Montreal. more on this story

The Transplants Album Was Not An Easy Undertaking

(Radio.com) Despite the ease with which they appear to create the music that thousands of fans go crazy for, punk-rock supergroup the Transplants didn't just whip out their new album In A War Zone over a few days in the studio. Coordinating the schedules of Travis Barker, Tim Armstrong and "Skinhead Rob" Aston is a bit akin to air traffic control.

"The process of recording this album, it fell over a three-year span. We definitely weren't recording every single day," explained Aston to Radio.com. "Sometimes we'd just be working one day a week or one day a month or one day every couple months, because people were out of town.

"We just worked when we could. We did almost the whole album over at Travis' studio. We'd just get in there and write stuff from scratch every day, and it was nice because we all worked together on this album, beginning to end, every song."

The Transplants were formed in 1999 when Aston, a roadie for Rancid, was asked to contribute lyrics to a series of synthetic beats laid down by Armstrong, the Bay-area punk band's frontman. As the all-star group took shape, Barker was asked sign on as drummer. Since then, the band reformed and took breaks several times as a result of having to navigate the hiatuses of Blink-182 and Rancid.

"We've always had really good chemistry together, especially when it comes to creating music," said Aston. "We're all kinda on the same page. Sometimes it's kinda like a dysfunctional marriage but a marriage nonetheless."

In the band's early days, many of the Transplants' songs were simple odes to partying and having a good time. But as Aston confessed, the band has matured lyrically.

"I'll be the first person to admit I've written some pretty f***ing stupid songs that are kind of pointless. They were good soundtracks to get drunk to, but there's more important things to me in my life than just partying. I like to write about things that matter, that can impact someone's life in a good way." more.

In The Studio Post Part 2 of Bad Company 40th Anniversary Special

(hennemusic) Part 2 of the 40th anniversary of the debut album by Bad Company is featured on this week's edition of the syndicated radio program In The Studio.

Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simon Kirke join host Redbeard in the second of a 2-part program to look back at the band's beginnings and the debut release that started it all.

Recorded at Headley Grange with Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio in November 1973, "Bad Company" featured instant rock classics like "Can't Get Enough," "Movin' On," "Rock Steady" and the signature title track. more on this story

Singled Out: Message To Venus' Stripped

Today Jandre Nadal from Puerto Rican rockers Message To Venus tells us about their new single, the cover of the Depeche Mode classic "Stripped" which comes from their EP "The Envelope". Here is the story:

During 'The Envelope' sessions in the mountains of San Sebastin, Puerto Rico near the waterfalls of Gozalandia, where we would go to decompress and seek inspiration, we recorded "Stripped" just for the fun of it. This is song we've always imagined with powerful guitar arrangements behind it.

By the end of the session the final result was like a sonic boom of pleasurable melodies and heavy riffage in honor of Depeche Mode. We are not trying to make this song better, we just enjoy playing this song and want to share this experience with all our fans.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and watch the video here and grab their summer tour dates right here!

Metallica Release Golden Gods Video Footage

(hennemusic) Metallica have released soundcheck and rehearsal footage from their appearance at the 5th annual Revolver Golden Gods awards event, held May 2 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

The band has issued video of their collaboration with Judas Priest singer Rob Halford on that group's "Rapid Fire" – both at soundcheck and in the tuning room – as well as soundcheck footage of "Disposable Heroes."

Metallica were honored with the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award and headlined the event, performing a 4-song set that included "Disposable Heroes," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Rapid Fire" (with Halford) and "Seek And Destroy." Check it out here.

Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpline Sherinian Release DVD Trailer

(Classic Rock) Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpline Sherinian have released a trailer for their upcoming Live In Tokyo release, which will be launched on September 2nd (UK) and 3rd (North America) in DVD, Blu-ray, double-CD and digital formats.

It's the first recorded output by the supergroup consisting of Mike Portnoy (Winery Dogs, Dream Theater), Billy Sheehan (Br Big, David Lee Roth), Tony MacAlpine and Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion, Dream Theater).

The 95-minute show features music from across the members' careers, including Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Talas, Billy Cobham and Jeff Beck material. Check out the trailer and tracklisting here.

Airbourne Release No One Fits Me (Better Than You) Lyric Video

(Classic Rock) Airbourne have released a lyric video for their track No One Fits Me (Better Than You). It's taken from the group's latest album studio album "Black Dog Barking."

Airbourne frontman Joel O'Keeffe says "Black Dog Barking" is a better product than the group's previous outing "No Guts No Glory." He said:

"We might have rushed a few things here and there, because we had two world tours back to back up against each other. We recorded the music just in the middle of all that. We even had some shows between recording. This time, we spaced it out." Check out the lyric video here.

Mars Attacks Udo Dirkschneider

The latest episode of the Mars Attacks podcast features an exclusive interview with legendary U.D.O. and Accept lead singer Udo Dirkschneider. The show sent over these details:

The interview covers (among other things) U.D.O.'s new album Steelhammer, the band's recent lineup change, his expectations on touring the states.

Dirkschneider also discusses the uniqueness of his voice, and what it was like to come over to the US and open for Kiss on Accept's first tour of the states. Check it out here.