Happy Friday! And Avenged Sevenfold fans will be even happier to see this!
A7X has released its cover version of “Malagueña Salerosa” — also known as “La Malagueña” — a well-known son huasteco or huapango song from Mexico, which has been covered more than two hundred times by various recording artists. The official video for A7X‘s version of “Malagueña Salerosa” was directed by Rafa Alcantara and produced by TWENTYFOURCORE.
“Malagueña Salerosa” is the first new A7X recording to arrive since the release of the band’s seventh album, The Stage, which was released Oct 27th with almost no promotion beforehand.
“We’ve said all along that we want The Stage to be a different and exciting listening experience,” says vocalist M. Shadows. “For us, the idea of turning an album into a living piece of art and adding new installations is really intriguing. It expands the journey.”
That journey begins by crossing the cultural divide with “Malagueña Salerosa,” which is Avenged Sevenfold’s first-ever Spanish-language release. Says guitarist Synyster Gates, “I’ve always loved that song. There have been a few interesting interpretations over the years, including Chingon’s version from the ‘Kill Bill Volume 2’ soundtrack. That’s a great example of how a timeless song can be made relevant with a creative modern take. The structure, arrangement and incredible vocal work of their rendition was inspiring.”
Though they originally planned to record the song in both Spanish and English, the band decided to forgo the latter in favor of the traditional version. The song’s lyrics were written about a man telling a woman (from Málaga, Spain) how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor.
“We wanted to do the song justice,” says M. Shadows, “and that meant singing in its original language. It was difficult, but I worked on it for weeks and had a Spanish-speaking friend come over daily to go over pronunciation. I also brought him to the studio to produce the vocals. It was important to me to get it right.”
Frontman M. Shadows also recently confirmed to our pal Kaytie of our hardDriveRadio affiliate Razor 94.7 in Green Bay that the band will embark on a full North American headlining tour in Jan and Feb 2018. The trek, which will be announced after the completion of Avenged‘s current stadium run as the support act for Metallica, was originally “supposed to happen this summer until we got that call from Metallica, so we decided to put it on hold,” the singer explained. Find A7X on the road through Aug 16th, so check the Road Rage page for all the deets! (Thanks Blabbermouth and band press release)
So happy the new Rise Against album is out today! From a press release, Wolves was recorded with GRAMMY®-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains, Deftones) and is the follow-up to 2014’s The Black Market, (my favorite album of that year, BTW) which hit No. 1 on the Alternative, Top Rock and Hard Rock albums charts in the U.S. and topped album charts in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Germany.
Tonight, the band kicks off its summer co-headline tour with Deftones with a sold-out show at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Rise Against‘s hometown of Chicago. The run, which features special guest Thrice, will include shows at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY (Jun 13), Starplex Pavilion in Dallas, TX (Jun 27) and Concord Pavilion in Concord, CA (Jul 6).
Rise Against will headline Los Angeles’ Shrine Exposition Hall on Jul 13 and 14 and launch a North American headline tour with special guests Pierce the Veil and White Lung on Sep 14. Tickets are on sale now. Every pair of tickets for the upcoming fall headline dates includes a physical copy of Wolves.
Kerrang awarded Wolves five out of five stars and noted, “The world may be getting worse, but Rise Against are still getting better.” Praising the album’s “fervent first single, Rolling Stone said, “‘The Violence’ is packed with jagged guitar riffs and rumbling drums that combine with Tim McIlrath punchy vocals to create a furious tension that finally bursts with a soaring chorus. ‘Are we not good enough?’ McIlrath howls. ‘Are we not brave enough?/ Is the violence in our nature just the image of our maker?’” View the lyric video for “The Violence” HERE.
Rise Against is Tim McIlrath (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Zach Blair (lead guitar), Joe Principe (bass) and Brandon Barnes (drums).Throughout its career, the band has kept its moral compass steady, using its international punk platform to speak out for social justice. With Wolves, the band challenges fans to join them in recognizing the power within and creating a bold new identity together.
So happy for my friends in Disturbed! Their cover version of Simon & Garfunkel‘s “The Sound Of Silence” was officially certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) on May 26th, commemorating more than two million sales and streams for the track. The video for the track, released in Dec 2015, has been seen more than 233 million times, a record number of views on YouTube for the group.
Frontman David Draiman told us a while back that he was intimidated at first by the idea of covering the song: “It’s very, very, daunting. You know, it’s one of those mega-songs that are so classic and so timeless and so huge that many would view it as being relatively untouchable, and I had hesitancies. And then, to take it even a step further, I thought we were going to do it in the typical Disturbed fashion — making it more upbeat, making it more aggressive. And it was actually Danny (Donegan, guitar) that made the strong suggestion to not do that.“
Paul Simon reached out to make contact with Draiman and compliment him for the band’s take on his song after seeing them perform it live on Conan. And David has performed this song recently at the World Science Festival in NYC and will be at the upcoming Creative Community For Peace concert in LA Jun 27th honoring the music of Paul Simon.
“The Sound Of Silence” appeared on Disturbed’s sixth album, Immortalized, which ended a four-year hiatus for the quartet and was its fifth album to enter the Billboard 200 chart at Number One. The group was planning to record and release an acoustic EP this year before starting work on its next full-length studio album.
Prophets Of Rage: Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk, Chuck D, B-Real and DJ Lord will release their self-titled, debut album Sep 15th, 2017 on Fantasy Records. The album’s bold cover art was designed by iconic street artist Shepard Fairey.
Today, the groundbreaking musicians shared the LP’s politically charged lead track “Unfuck The World,” with a blistering Michael Moore directed video via VEVO. “I am thrilled to once again be working with my old friends and comrades in the struggle for a just world,” said Moore.” “Prophets Of Rage is the right band, saying the right shit, at this very critical moment. This music video is our collective battle cry against those who seek to harm the innocent and the powerless. I am proud to have directed this video and I ask all who see it do their part to unfuck this world. ALL HANDS ON DECK!” Watch the video here.
For those who don’t know, Prophets Of Rage came together during 2016’s tumultuous election to combat the coming storm, wherever it may lead. Fresh off the road and riled up following last summer’s highly successful MAKE AMERICA RAGE AGAIN tour, the group knew it could evolve from protest performance art with a tactical mission, to a stand-alone entity with creative ideas all its own. Holed up with longtime Rage collaborator, producer Brendan O’Brien, the band fused the diverse styles, sonic firepower and hard-hitting social consciousness of their previous work, into an inventive and compelling new musical statement, completing the album’s twelve tracks in just over a month of recording. Prophets Of Rage quickly became as much a shared experience between its members as it was a call-to-action for the world at large.
The sessions created a new space for growth and progression, whether with the incorporation of DJ Lord’s turntablist elements or B-Real tackling broader subjects, such as homelessness on the song “Living On The 110.” “When we first got together, we were playing songs from our catalogue, but we were also playing new grooves, with everyone improvising. And that felt really good,” Wilk remembers. “Soon there was a language that all of us speak.” “We went on tour and got good as a band,” Commerford added. “We’re making music in the way that bands made music back in the day.”
At its core, Prophets Of Rage functions not only on a love of music, but a deep belief in its power as a tool, and a weapon. “There were rhythms before there were words,” Morello observes. “Music has both the ability to reflect and transform the times. There’s a long history of that, from slave spirituals, to ‘We Shall Overcome,’ to the Sex Pistols.” Woven into the bands DNA are influences as varied as The Clash, KRS-One, and Johnny Cash, as well as the undeniable ideals and aesthetics of its predecessors: Public Enemy’s frenzied, racing textures, Rage’s jaw-melting riffs, Cypress Hill’s manically playful party energy. “The music is the passport to the world,” Chuck D says, describing the unique bond the group shares. “It’s not always a given to have members who want to go where few have gone.”
As the band states clearly at the end of the thought provoking and compelling new video, “The world’s not going to change itself, that’s up to you.” Prophets Of Rage will take their message of activism and grass-roots change across the world this year with dates internationally and in the U.S. More dates will be announced soon.
Royal Blood, that curious duo from England with Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher, has released a new video for their grat track “I Only Lie When I Love You,” which fans can get when they pre-order the new album, How Did We Get So Dark? The album is out a week from today, Jun 16. The band also performed “Lights Out” on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Grammy® Award-winning UK rock band Muse today announced they would stream their Austin, TX concert live from the Austin 360 Amphitheatre tomorrow night, Sat, Jun 10th at 9:10PM CST via Facebook Live HERE. During the concert, Muse will allow Facebook viewers to vote on three songs they will perform within their set.
Muse is nearing the halfway point of their summer amphitheater tour with Thirty Seconds to Mars and PVRIS. The tour which kicked off May 20th will wind down Sep 20th in Salt Lake City, UT. Praise for the tour includes: TAMPA BAY TIMES: “British festival titans Muse, especially, are dazzlingly talented, with statuesque bassist Chris Wolstenholme and rock-steady drummer Dominic Howard meeting the unstoppable cyclone known as Bellamy at every turn.” BILLBOARD: the continuously impressive musicianship of Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme, once again cements Muse’s standing as today’s great arena rock band.”
On May 18th, MUSE released their latest single “Dig Down.” The track focuses on themes of unity and survival – fighting for what’s right when your back’s against the wall. “Dig Down” was co-produced by Mike Elizondo and Muse and mixed by Spike Stent. Frontman Matt Bellamy said about the song, “When I was writing this song, I was looking to counteract the current negativity in the world and give inspiration, optimism and hope to people to fight for the causes they believe in; that as individuals we can choose to change the world if we want to.” Stream it HERE.
And finally today, THIS from our friend Alice Cooper. He’s reunited with his original band and producer Bob Ezrin on a new album. Check it out!
Speaking of Muse, Matt Bellamy turns 39 today! Johnny Depp is 54. Sat: Jimmy Chamberlain of Smashing Pumpkins (former drummer) is 53 and Sun: Frank Beard of ZZ Top is 69 and feelin’ fine! Have a great weekend, all!