Ya know, I found it bittersweet James Taylor, an artist who’s been recording for 45+ years, finally got his first Niumber 1 album. Isn’t that hard to believe? Congrats to his label and their team!
Well, this is not surprising! Pulse Of Radio reports Disturbed‘s comeback is off to a roaring start. Guitarist Dan Donegan posted online the video for the group’s new single, “The Vengeful One,” had racked up more than one million views in 24 hours, adding, “Thanks everyone for your support. It’s good to be back.” The song is taken from Disturbed’s first new album since 2011, Immortalized, which is due out Aug 21st.
The band announced its return on Tuesday (June 23rd) and Donegan told us they kept the creation of the new album a secret for the better part of a year: “It’s been tough because we haven’t even told like some of our family and friends, so I mean for us to go away for almost four months, it was tricky. I mean, there was some family that I didn’t even tell what I was doing. It was tricky to kind of keep that secret ’cause I’m very bad at lying. I’m not a good liar at all, so to kind of withhold that information from our friends and family, it was tough.“
Immortalized is available for pre-order everywhere and follows 2010’s gold-certified Asylum, Disturbed’s fourth consecutive Number One on the Billboard 200 album chart. In addition to 15 new songs — including 12 on the album and three more on the deluxe edition — Immortalized contains a cover of Simon & Garfunkel‘s “The Sound Of Silence.” (I can’t wait to hear David’s vocals on that one!) Disturbed has yet to announce tour plans behind the new record, but you can be sure it will be MAJOR! Welcome back, DIsturbed!
And thank you to our many online fans! Seems like since we started streaming hardDrive and hardDrive XL with Lou Brutus on the APP, we have over 1.5 MILLION listens! Man, you guys are ravenous! Love it! And thank you for supporting new rock! Please continue to do so. And remember, rock is changing all the time. Continue to be open to new sounds and new bands!
Speaking of new bands, I will be on the hotLine today with the frontman of a new band out of England called The Struts. They remind me of Queen in their new single, “Could Have Been Me.” It’s definitely catchy. Check it out here. I think it could be a big hit!
Pulse Of Radio also reporting Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody has spoken publicly for the first time about the band’s show on May 1st in Memphis during which the band abandoned the stage after six songs, leaving Moody wandering the stage and rambling into his mic. Moody admitted that he and drummer Jeremy Spencer had been arguing beforehand, saying, “We were both being human. It just sucked that I had my microphone in my hand. The saying is that you should wash your clothes at home. Unfortunately, there were 20,000 people watching while he and I had an argument. I really f**ked up and I was so embarrassed. The fans didn’t have to see that.”
Moody added: “I’ll be honest, it hurt. I love the guy. He’s one of my best friends, and, yeah, we f**ked up. It’s humiliating.” Spencer chimed in as well, recalling, “Our wireless packs were having all kinds of interference and we started getting a little frustrated with that. Then Ivan lost his cool completely and just started taking it out on everyone, including me. He and I got into a little scrap and it just wasn’t cool. We got through it, but it was pretty ugly and it was unprofessional.” Both musicians insisted that the band was in no danger of splitting u, with Spencer saying, “We’ve been together 10 years now, so it’s like a marriage — some days are better than others, but we love and respect each other.”
Guitarist Jason Hook said in a recent interview alcohol played a role in the incident as well, revealing, “For whatever reason Ivan decided to get s**tfaced drunk — I’m probably not supposed to be talking about this — but he started to lose his temper onstage towards, basically, the rest of us, being the band . . . Jeremy decided that he had enough and he got up and left. Well, it’s pretty hard to play a concert without the drummer.”
Five Finger Death Punch is currently on the road in Europe and will kick off a North American tour with Papa Roach, In This Moment and From Ashes To New on Sep 4th in Lexington, Kentucky. The group’s sixth album, Got Your Six, comes out Aug 28th.
Wow! I always knew these guys were smart cookies, but THIS proves it! After recently consulting with Harvard business experts and professional investors, Linkin Park has launched its very own venture capital firm called Machine Shop Ventures. According to Consequence Of Sound, the company was quietly founded earlier this year after the band spent time studying the work of entrepreneurs and brands such as Jay Z, Pharrell Williams, Vice, and Red Bull.
Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda told Mashable, “We did a lot of homework so far. We are trying to make sure that we do our due diligence and we understand the landscape to the best of our ability.”
Machine Shop, which started as the band’s boutique label, is described by the band as an “innovation company” that is focused on engaging with “non-traditional business partnerships” in the worlds of fashion, design, technology and music. The startup has invested so far in companies like Lyft, Shyp and Blue Bottle Coffee. A marketing consultant to the band explained, “It kind of makes sense at this point in their careers to diversify. When they get a little older and they all have kids now and the touring is probably going to get a little less, having other forms of business and income (is good) and also just things to stimulate their creative outlets.”
Linkin Park is not quitting music, but Machine Shop executive VP Kiel Berry admitted, “Creating and selling music now plays more of a supporting role in our overall business mix . . .today’s Linkin Park is now better positioned to operate in the ever-evolving cultural and business landscape.” Linkin Park performs in Mexico tonight (Thu, Jun 25th) and has a string of U.S. and European festival dates on its schedule for the summer, along with a five-city tour of China.
I love Bullet For My Valentine. They just are great guys who play some pretty powerful rock. Recently, we heard they were taking ashes from a fan who died out on the road (contained in specially designed jewelry) and now this! Pulse reporting the band has released a new single called “You Want A Battle? (Here’s A War),” from the band’s upcoming album Venom, due out on Aug 14th. Frontman Matt Tuck revealed the song is about being bullied, something he says he and the band had a lot of experience with: “Me and the boys used to be kind of bullied back in school because we had long hair and we smoked cigarettes and we were into rock music and stuff. So all the rugby boys and everyone who were into sports used to give us a real hard time.“
Tuck added he wrote the track to reassure fans that bullying “happens to everybody, and it’s not a nice place to be when that happens. It took me a long time to actually pluck up the courage mentally and physically to stand up for myself, so it was kind of momentous moment for me . . . That’s what that song’s about, really. It’s about going through hard times and coming through the other side.”
Tuck recently told Billboard.com Venom is the direct result of fans saying they wanted to hear a more ‘angry, aggressive’ sound from the group. He explained, “People were wanting a pissed-off band, and it’s hard to write stuff like that when I don’t feel like that on a personal level . . . It was just taking that onboard and making a conscious effort to do something that wasn’t very nice.” Venom is the band’s fifth album and follows up 2013’s Temper, Temper. Bullet For My Valentine will join Slipknot‘s Summer’s Last Stand tour this summer, along with Lamb Of God and Motionless In White. The trek kicks off on Jul 24th in West Palm Beach, FL.
Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins told NME he’s neighbors with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian — and almost drove West from the neighborhood before he moved in. Hawkins explained he rides his bike regularly past the “big gnarly mansion where Kanye and his chick live,” adding, “This estate agent told me that he was showing him the house and he looks round and says, ‘Is this place secure? Can anybody get in or out?’ And then right at that time I came flying down the hill (on my bike) into the neighborhood.” Hawkins said West complained at first but backtracked when he realized who Hawkins was.
The second in a series of webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the self-titled debut album from Saint Asonia, the new act featuring ex-Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and Staind guitarist Mike Mushok, is now online. The album is due out on Jul 31st and features the single “Better Place,” which reached the Top 20 at Active Rock radio merely two weeks after its release. (Blabbermouth)
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was asked at the Cannes Lion Festival for his opinion on Apple Music, the new streaming service launched by the tech giant. Ulrich, whose one-time battles with Napster were well-documented, said, “You don’t want to necessarily say yes to (every business partnership) that comes your way. Obviously, in the case of Apple, they’re a bigger brand or company than anybody and they have some very smart people running it. So we’d call (Apple Music) a no-brainer.” (NME)
And finally today, Smashing Pumpkins‘ fans are rejoicing as original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has rejoined the band for their summer tour with Marilyn Manson. He replaces Brad Wilk, who did their last run of plugged in dates. Pumpkins are currently on an acoustic run, ending tonight in LA.
Happy 43rd today to Nickelback’s Mike Koreger! Happy 59th to Parts Unknown star and chef Anthony Bourdain.