Hello folks! Sorry I missed you yesterday! I took the train down to NYC for the day to hang with my company peeps and to talk to Tom Morello of Prophets of Rage. Had a great time in the city on a gorgeous sunny day!
Tom called in from a taxi cab on a day off with co-singer/rapper B-Real in Amsterdam, NL. They were on their way to the Green House (one of my favorite coffee shops in Amsterdam.) (No, Tom doesn’t get high, but he did say he does get a contact once in a while hanging out with his homie!) We discussed the new record, Prophets of Rage, due Sep 15th. The record was produced by Brendan O’Brien (again.)
Personally speaking, I believe the music on the new album surpasses their fEP. So far we’ve heard “Unfuck The World” and “Living on the 110,” which will be heard on hardDrive XL after Jul 12 and on the weekend edition of hardDrive weekend Jul 15-16. Having had the time to perform live and refine their sound and develop the chemistry was the perfect storm for making this debut album.
Be checking into the interview on the hardDriveRadio YouTube Channel in the coming weeks. (My ineptitude in the studio missed recording my side of the call, so when you see it on the video, the questions will be in text. DUH!)
We told you, don’t mess with him! The Pulse Of Radio says Stone Sour and
Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has doubled down on his war of words with Nickelback singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger, following remarks by Kroeger in which he called Stone Sour “Nickelback lite.” Asked about the issue on Seattle radio station KISW, Taylor said, “Why do I give a s**t what Chad Kroeger says? I’ll tell you what. This is how I figured it out. Chad Kroeger is to rock what KFC is to chicken. Is that wrong? I feel like I’m not wrong. I’ll still eat it, but I’m not gonna feel good about it. It tastes like the same thing.”
The beef started last week when Kroeger said in an interview that Stone Sour was “trying to be Nickelback,” adding, “(Corey Taylor) talks about how easy it is to write a hit song. Well, show me. Show me. Write one. I have yet to hear one. They’re okay. But they’re not as good as Nickelback. They sound like ‘Nickelback Lite.’”
Taylor initially responded in an interview with Arizona’s KUPD, saying, “I’ve never said it was easy to write a hit song. I don’t know what the hell planet he’s living on. Apparently it’s Planet Kroeger, and there must be good weed there, ’cause he’s an idiot.”
Taylor also blasted Kroeger for saying that Slipknot “had to put on masks and jump around” to sell records and concert tickets, responding, “All I know is I’ve been voted ‘Sexiest Dude In Rock’ wearing a mask. You’ve been voted ‘Ugliest Dude In Rock’ twice without one.” Nickelback just released its ninth album, Feed The Machine, last Friday (Jun 16th), while Stone Sour’s new LP, Hydrograd, arrives on Friday (Jun 30th).
Meanwhile, Corey told RollingStone what his favorite metal albums are. Here’s the list:
* Anthrax – “Worship Music” (2011)
* Iron Maiden – “Somewhere In Time” (1986)
* Judas Priest – “Screaming For Vengeance” (1982)
* Korn – “Korn” (1994) m–m/
* Megadeth – “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” (1986)
* Metal Church – “The Dark” (1986)
* Metallica – “Master Of Puppets” (1986)
* Pantera – “Far Beyond Driven” (1994)
* Sepultura – “Roots” (1996)
* White Zombie – “Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs Of Love, Destruction And Other Synthetic Delusions Of The Electric Head” (1995)
Getting Corey on the horn today. Be listening for new interview soon!
Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has hinted at a 2018 reunion of the band’s original lineup. In an interview on Chicago radio station WGN, Chamberlin said, “We were talking about playing next year with the band and somebody asked me, you know, ‘What’s it like trying to coordinate that?’ I said it’s like Grumpy Old Men 3, only there’s four grumpy old men and one’s a woman.’ (laughs) So that’s how it’s gotten to be.”
Chamberlin, who has been in and out of the Pumpkins over the years, was asked about his complicated relationship with Billy Corgan. He answered, “The two hours that we spend playing music together is the greatest thing in the world. It’s the other 22 hours of the day that him and I are . . . He’s got opinions, I’ve got opinions; we’re both grown men, right?”
Although frontman and founder Billy Corgan has been touring for several years with a rotating cast of musicians under the Smashing Pumpkins banner, he confirmed last summer he had repaired his friendship with original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky, after not speaking for nearly two decades. With Chamberlin rejoining two years ago and guitarist James Iha joining them onstage for the first time in 16 years in early 2016, a reunion of the original lineup seemed inevitable.
Corgan told Chicago radio station WLUP earlier this year that a reunion of the original lineup seemed more and more likely, saying, “I just talked to guitarist James Iha the other day, things look good for us getting together to play. We’re talking about it, we’ll see.” But Corgan added: “My whole thing is if we’re going to do it, I think we do it to make people happy, and not go against the tide of what people would want to hear and that type of stuff, but my interest in it is sort of limited. I’m not going to do it for 14 years of my life.” An “industry source” told Consequence Of Sound last August that Corgan had begun shopping an reunion of the original quartet for headlining shows and festival slots. Hmmm, 2018 Rock On The Range?????
The End Of The End, a new documentary chronicling the farewell tour by heavy rock legends Black Sabbath, will be screened for one night only in over 1,500 theaters worldwide on Sep 28th, 2017. This specially edited theatrical version of the film will include the band’s final concert on Feb 4th, 2017 in its hometown of Birmingham, England, as well as behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and more. The End Of The End is directed by Dick Carruthers, whose other concert film credits include Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day and Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live.
The band said: “To bring it all back home after all these years was pretty special. It was so hard to say goodbye to the fans, who’ve been incredibly loyal to us through the years. We never dreamed in the early days that we’d be here 49 years later doing our last show on our home turf.”
Guitarist Tony Iommi spoke a while back about the respect and status Sabbath earned over the years: “For a while, nobody would take us seriously. But as we went on, the more we carried on, the more we proved, the more we stayed there, you know? And I think we got the respect from that.”
The End Of The End will be released in various home video formats later this year. Tickets are now on sale worldwide for the Sep 28th screenings. If the film is not screening in a specific area, fans can request it by filling out a form on the web site http://www.blacksabbathfilmtickets.com/. (Thanks Blabbermouth/The Pulse Of Radio)
Blabbermouth reports Alex Stojanovic of Metal Master Kingdom conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Matt Tuck of Welsh metallers Bullet For My Valentine on Jun 22 at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You can now watch the chat above.
When asked about the status of the songwriting sessions for BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE‘s upcoming follow-up to 2015’s “Venom” album, Tuck said: “it’s very early days. I wouldn’t really like to say any more about what it sounds like, ’cause it’s just instrumental stuff at the minute and we’re still finding our feet. We’ve only got six instrumentals; two of them we’ve kind of demoed vocals on. So it’s very early days, but early signs are good. We’re very excited. And, yeah, I don’t know. I can’t say any more about it because there isn’t anything yet. We’re just working our asses off trying to [come up] with something special, as we always do.”
Tuck also addressed the absence from the road of longtime Bullet For My Valentine drummer Michael “Moose” Thomas, who has not played with the group since early last year when he stepped away to spend time with his wife as they awaited the birth of his first child. He has since been replaced on tour by Jason Bowld (Pitchshifter, Axewound).
Regarding what it’s like playing with Bowld, who previously backed Tuck in the Axewound project, Matt said: “It’s amazing. He’s up there with the best of the world. So to have someone of that caliber behind you, I can’t tell you how it feels. It’s weird. It’s a band thing. He’s just an animal.”
On the subject of how Moose is doing nowadays, Matt said: “He’s doing good, I think. I haven’t spoken to him for a while, but I think he’s doing good.” When asked if he expects Moose to return to the band anytime soon, Matt answered simply: “That’s a Moose question.”
Bullet For My Valentine‘s next album will be released through the band’s new label home, Search And Destroy, the imprint launched in 2014 by Spinefarm and international artist management company (and one of my favs!) Raw Power Management.
The band’s latest song, “Don’t Need You,” was released as a standalone single last November. Meanwhile, Venom came out in Aug 2015. The CD marked BFMV‘s first release since the departure of longtime bassist Jason James and addition of Jamie Mathias (formerly of Revoker).
Finally today, Blabbermouth reporting This past Saturday (Jun 24), fifty thousand people attended the first annual Firenze Rocks festival in Florence, Italy to witness an unforgettable concert, the largest of Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder‘s solo career. Evening at the Visarno Arena was the backdrop, where Vedder played as the headliner for his biggest crowd as a solo artist. Fireworks for the celebration of Saint John, patron saint of the city, served as a prelude to the start of the memorable concert that lasted over two hours.
Vedder was cheered on by thousands of fans at the show, which he pointed out in Italian before performing was his “most important.” On the stage, the set was simple with only the help of his guitars, a ukulele, a banjo and most notably his voice, a hypnotic instrument, to charm the audience at Firenze Rocks. Vedder showcased an irresistible set list from Pearl Jam classics, acoustic songs from the Into The Wild soundtrack, covers by Pink Floyd and Neil Young, and even a touching rendition of “Imagine” by John Lennon for a concert of a lifetime.
Have a great day!