Dunno about you, but I ate waaaayyyyy too much yesterday. Happy Easter, indeed!
Our friend Don Kaye of The Pulse Of Radio spoke with Soundgarden‘s Chris Cornell, who is out promoting his new solo song “The Promise,” the theme to the movie of the same name, but he also had a chance to ask him about the status of Soundgarden’s next studio album: “Not really sure. I mean, I think we’re kind of halfway through. We haven’t really recorded anything, so we’re just sort of working on ideas. I think we have about half the songs we need for an album. But you never know. We tend to make pretty long albums. At some point when we feel like we’re done, five more songs show up at the doorstep.”
Guitarist Kim Thayil was also asked about the new Soundgarden album by Philadelphia radio station WMMR, to which he replied, “There’s some things that have been documented in rehearsal, there’s some things that are at the demo stage, there are some that are still in the developmental stage, ideas that we jammed on that we’re kind of working out arrangements for. Every different stage within the process of songwriting is being addressed at this point.”
Cornell said that the band should get into the studio “sometime” this year. Work on Soundgarden’s seventh studio effort started in 2015, but the band took breaks while Cornell toured his Higher Truth solo set and drummer Matt Cameron hit the road with Pearl Jam.
Soundgarden reunited in 2010 after a 13-year hiatus, first touring and then writing and recording King Animal, its first new studio album in 16 years. The band will kick off a North American tour on May 3rd in Atlanta, winding down on May 27th at the Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, OK. Support on selected dates will come from The Pretty Reckless and The Dillinger Escape Plan. This will be Soundgarden’s first trek since a summer 2014 co-headlining run with Nine Inch Nails.
The Pulse Of Radio reporting Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has once again come inexplicably to the defense of Lulu, the band’s controversial 2011 collaborative disc with the late Lou Reed, calling it “one of the most important albums” he has ever been a part of. Hammett told Chile’s HumoNegro.com, “I think it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. I mean, you can kind of call it a Metallica album, but it’s not really a Metallica album. I think that’s part of the reason why it’s so misunderstood.“
Hammett continued, “The fact that it turned out so unique was, I think, a huge success. And I love it. I still listen to it. I miss Lou; it’s a shame that he’s not with us anymore. But in retrospect, that’s one of the most important albums, I think, I’ve been a part of in my life. So that’s how I feel about it.”
Metallica frontman James Hetfield told us after Lulu was released that the marriage of Reed’s lyrics with Metallica’s riffs worked well: “There was some music that Lou had behind his lyrics before, and then we went out and played some stuff, and what they had done is they laid those two together, and without even knowing what the other stuff really sounded like, or timewise or when things would change, it lined up unbelievably perfect. It sounded really, really like they were meant to be.”
Lulu turned fans off around the world and earned Metallica the most scathing reviews of its career. To date the disc has sold less than 50,000 copies in the U.S., easily the lowest-selling release in the band’s entire catalog. The collaboration between Metallica and Reed was sparked by their performance together of Reed’s “Sweet Jane” and “White Light/White Heat” at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Oct of 2009. Reed died in Oct 2013 at the age of 71.
According to Blabbermouth, Disturbed bassist John Moyer spoke to Metal Wani about the band’s plan to release a new acoustic record which will include brand new material as well as reworked versions of songs from the group’s catalog. According to John, an acoustic EP now could capitalize on the success Disturbed has had with its cover of Simon & Garfunkel‘s “The Sound Of Silence,” which has been a massive hit that has introduced the band to new audiences. “With the success of ‘The Sound Of Silence’, it seems like now is a good time to kind of… We’ve always talked about it, but now seems like the best time to go down that road and explore it,” he said.
Singer David Draiman revealed in Feb Disturbed’s acoustic EP will be released before the band begins work on the follow-up to 2015’s Immortalized album.
Prior to the arrival of Immortalized, Disturbed had been on hiatus since the fall of 2011, after completing the touring cycle for its previous studio effort, Asylum, and issuing a rarities collection called The Lost Children. Immortalized became Disturbed’s fifth album to enter The Billboard 200 chart at No. 1 — a feat shared only with Metallica and Dave Matthews Band.
Asked if it will take Disturbed another four years to release its next studio album, Moyer told Metal Wani: “No, no. I’m not really sure what the time [frame] is, but I’m sure it will be less than four years. Disturbed will be back out with a new record probably by 2019, but who knows? There’s no plans to take a hiatus like we did previously.”
Moyer also said Disturbed’s next album will likely contain similar musical elements to the band’s first six efforts while dipping into some new territory. “Even the last album had a lot of moments of aggression and melody,” he explained. “The band’s always gonna have that vibe. I expect Disturbed to explore new avenues and always push themselves and evolve, but at its core, you’re gonna have a band that plays heavy riffs with heavy emotion.”
Moyer is currently on the road with Art Of Anarchy, which also features Creed singer Scott Stapp, ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and brothers Jon and Vince Votta on guitar and drums. Art Of Anarchy issued its sophomore album, The Madness, on Mar 24.
I love this on so many levels! My friend Carlota Gonzalez of KOMP/Las Vegas has a killer video series called Kilpop. She interviewed Corey Taylor recently and Blabbermouth reports how he met his current fabulous wife, Stephanie Luby. Asked if it was “love at first sight” for him, Corey said (per video here): “I knew that there was something… I knew that she… It wasn’t ’till we really started talking… Okay, let’s put it this way: When I saw her, I was knocked out, and I knew that I wanted to pursue her, and it took a little time. I had to gently tell her that I was flirting with her, ’cause she just wasn’t getting it. I was, like, ‘You realize I’m flirting with you like crazy?’ And she was, like, ‘Ahhhh…’ [But] I knew. Absolutely. And the more we talked, the more we really connected. And then it was… I found that I had about four days before the beginning of a tour — this was in 2008 — so I flew out to L.A. just to see her, and by the time I landed, we both had actually said ‘I love you’ to each other. And it was on. And we’ve been together ever since.”
Corey and Stephanie were married in Nov 2009 in Las Vegas inside the Palms hotel’s Pearl concert theater. The wedding party marched down the aisle to Metallica‘s “For Whom The Bell Tolls” before more than 350 guests, including Jane’s Addiction‘s Dave Navarro and Sugar Ray‘s Mark McGrath.
Taylor, 43, has three children: a daughter named Angie, born in 1992, and a son named Griffin, born in 2002, whom he had with his first wife, Scarlett. And a baby girl with Stef.
Taylor divorced Scarlett — whom he married on Mar 11, 2004 in a small ceremony at the Botanical center in Des Moines, IA — in early 2007. In the Nov 2008 issue of Revolver magazine, he was quoted as saying, “After I got sober, I realized my relationship wasn’t right for me. My wife and I had damaged each other too much.”
Taylor is currently working on his third book and gearing up to take the Stone Sour machine back out on tour. Their first day is May 18th in Columbus, OH the night before the start of the three day Rock On The Range festival.
AFI have revealed new tour dates and I’ve got ’em for ya in Road Rage!
Happy 53rd today to writer, musician, vintner, martial arts enthusiast, romantic & entrepreneur Maynard James Keenan of Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Wines, Merkin Esoterica, Tool, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle.