Congrats to Marilyn Manson! Rolling Stone gave The Pale Emperor 3.5 stars (out of 4) and said “All Hail The Goth Lord’s Return!” That’s pretty huge, kids! I listened again to the album and I have to agree. My two favorite tracks are “Killing Strangers” and “The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles.” Tyler Bates, who is mostly a tv, film and game music composer and producer (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Watchemen”, “300,” “Sons of Anarchy” and more), was enlisted to produce this album and he also plays guitar. Songs like “Odds of Even” really show the depth of Bates’ influence. The music is so cinematic. Seems like bassist/long time member Twiggy Ramirez does not play on the album, but gets an “extra special thanks” in the credits. The touring band is Bates, Ramirez, Paul Wiley on guitar and Gil Sharone on drums. And someone in our audience is gonna win a trip for two to Las Vegas to see the final show on the “Hell Not Halleluah Tour”! Be sure to register as a hardDriveRadio Radical in order to enter! Lou Brutus is on the hotLine with Manson today that will be taped for an upcoming feature on both hardDrive and hardDrive XL! If you have a question, get it in now!…..This is huge. The Pretty Reckless, Rise Against and others are among the artists added to the lineup of the first Rock In Rio USA Festival, scheduled to take place on the weekends of May 8th and 9th and May 15th and 16th in Las Vegas. Also joining the lineup are Foster The People, Gary Clark, Jr., Bleachers, Hollywood Undead, Of Mice & Men, Sam Smith and others. Metallica and Linkin Park were unveiled as headliners when the event was announced last September, along with Deftones, No Doubt, Taylor Swift and John Legend. The first weekend’s emphasis will be on rock, while the second weekend will have a more pop flavor. The festival was announced in New York City’s Times Square last September 26th, with John Mayer and Brazilian metal act Sepultura on hand to perform and the members of No Doubt in attendance. General admission weekend passes are available for $298 and VIP daily passes are available for $498 at the festival website, along with more ticketing and show info….Happy 50th today to Adam Jones of Tool! Hope to hear some new TOOL music this year!