On October 9th, Ace Frehley was guest on Eddie’s radio show. Quotes from the interview appear below (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net.
On whether he thinks his renewed friendship with Stanley and Simmons will eventually lead to his return to KISS:
“”Well, Paul and Gene haven’t really talked to me about that. So until I get the phone call, as far as I’m concerned, we’re just having fun and reconnecting for old times’ sake. And if that happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. I have my own career at this juncture, and those guys… well, they’re working with half a cover band, actually. [Laughs]” He added, that he would be willing to play a one off reunion, stating, “Yeah. I mean, I think it could be great. If it was handled correctly and presented in the right way, I think it could be really special for the fans. It’s a wait-and-see kind of situation, but I’m not holding my breath. I stay busy working on my new studio album in the studio, leaving for Australia this Friday. And we have some shows booked in Texas in December, which will be probably wrapped around some other shows, so I stay busy.”
Gene Simmons told the The Cassius Morris Show, a month ago, that a reunion is “not gonna happen.” He added, “Ace has been in and out of the band three different times. That’s enough…
Think twice before taking on the vintage band T-shirt trend — at least, if you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider.
The rocker took to Twitter earlier this week to vent about nonmetal fans wearing vintage metal band T-shirts.
For Snider, it’s “sickening” and disrespectful to wear band merch unless you’re a true fan of the group.
His tweets stated:
“Gotta say, this new trend of non-metal fans wearing vintage metal T’s if pretty sickening. Metal is not ironic! Dicks.”
“It’s not just the wearing of our metal T’s, it’s their cherry picking of our style #skulls #metalhorns These are OUR symbols; OUR image.”
“And does it? At least @ladygaga talks about being a fan of metal i n interviews – is seen at concerts. Does Kim & Kanyea?”
Evidently, Snider doesn’t appreciate how awesome vintage band tees look on fashion heavy hitters, including the likes of Kendall Jenner, Alessandra Ambrosio and Hailey Baldwin.
Rufus Stone Limited Editions has announced the publication of the first-ever official Whitesnake book, The Purple Tour-A Photographic Journey.
In 2015, Whitesnake took its newest release, The Purple Album, around the world on “The Purple Tour”. Featuring epic reworkings of David Coverdale’s Deep Purple songs and a raft of Whitesnake classics, the tour was one of the band’s most successful and talked about in years.
Now this new, official limited-edition release from Rufus Publications documents that groundbreaking tour. At three hundred pages long and packed with exclusive behind-the-scenes photos, notes from the band and a song-by-song breakdown of the tour’s epic setlist, this incredible tour is captured and documented with hundreds of amazing shots, taken mostly on the sold-out U.K. leg of the tour.
Printed and bound in the U.K., this LP-sized, casebound photographic book will be released in two amazing limited editions and is the first official Whitesnake book.
The deluxe signed edition is individually numbered and signed by all the band members and features a 3D lenticular image on the front of the slipcase.
The standard edition is the same size, softcover bound and comes in a slipcase.
Both editions will be unique, casebound coffee table books, perfect for fans and collectors.
Order before November 9th to get your name in the book and for free worldwide delivery before Christmas 2017.
Says Coverdale, “It’s a f–king huge coffee table book about the size of a f–king huge encyclopedia, a historical photographic journey from the beginning of The Purple Album to the end of the last show in the U.K. in Sheffield. The book’s f–king beautiful to have.”
Sons Of Apollo–former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force)—has just released the Vicente Cordero-directed video for Lost In Oblivion from their highly anticipated debut album, Psychotic Symphony. Watch it, below.
Released today via InsideOutMusic/Sony, Psychotic Symphony is available as a 2CD Mediabook (featuring a second disc of instrumental mixes and extended booklet with an exclusive Studio Diary), Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD (which comes with an etching on side D and the entire album on the CD), Standard Jewelcase CD & digital download. It was produced by the dynamic production duo of Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” which is the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater. Order it here.
As Portnoy exclaims, “I can’t believe it’s finally here. The Sons Of Apollo debut album is finally OUT TODAY. This album has a little bit of something for everybody…Classic Rock, Metal, Prog…it’s a musical feast for the ears! To prime everybody for the release, we’re excited to debut the video for Lost In Oblivion. This song is full-on energy, excitement and shred! From that crazy double bass drum pattern that took me forever to perfect, to the insane bass and guitar unisons throughout the song, to Jeff’s always-hooky chorus…this song is another great example of what this band is about.”
Stay tuned for news about Sons Of Apollo first worldwide tour in 2018.
As music fans begin to plan their 2018 vacations, Monsters Of Rock Cruise, the world’s premier hard rock/heavy metal experience at sea, has announced that its final public sale begins today (10/19). Limited cabins are available at MonstersOfRockCruise.com, with prices beginning at $1,299 per person, double occupancy. Government fees, taxes, and gratuities are additional and mandatory for all passengers, regardless of age.
Departing out of Miami, FL, the five-day/five-night full ship charter cruise will set sail February 11th-16th aboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas (a new ship for MOR) and visit two new ports: Falmouth, Jamaica and the private isle of Labadee. As in past years, the 2018 cruise will also feature two optional pre-cruise parties in Miami (complimentary to cruisers) on the evening of Friday, February 9th and Saturday, February 10th (details TBA).
The confirmed line-up for the 2018 Monsters Of Rock Cruise features over 35 artists, including: Tesla, Queensrÿche, Thunder, Lita Ford, Winger, British Lion featuring Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, LA Guns, KIX, Y&T, Lynch Mob, Great White, Beasto Blanco, Doro, Pretty Maids, Vixen, Firehouse, Loudness, Michael Sweet (of Stryper), The Quireboys, Tyketto, Dangerous Toys, Junkyard, Keel, Raven, Madam X, Rhino Bucket, John Corabi, Autograph, Lillian Axe, Rough Cutt, Mitch Malloy, The Iron Maidens, Kickin’ Valentina, Jared James Nichols, Thee Rock ‘N Roll Residency, and Atomic Punks.
New lineup additions include Joel Hoekstra (guitarist for Whitesnake and Trans Siberian Orchestra), Faster Pussycat, and Paradise Kitty, plus a special appearance by Rick Allen of Def Leppard. Beyond his amazing career with Def Leppard, Rick is also an accomplished artist and will be showcasing his extraordinary talent in a special art gallery designed especially for the cruise. Finally, fans can look forward to a surprise performance by Rick during the cruise!
In addition to the band performances, the cruise will feature over-the-top, customized activities, including: Monster Artist/Fan Photo Experiences, Gong Show Karaoke, Star Wars Theme Night, My RockNRoll Valentine Ball, “So You Think You Can Shred?” and Cooking with Rock Stars hosted by Lisa Tirone of Chef it up!. Also, the cruise will feature the first Monsters of Rock shipboard Surfing Competition, dubbed “MOR North Shore”. The event will be part of the evening’s themed event, “Hawaii in the Caribbean,” where fans celebrate a night of Aloha festivities and music.
Plus, Eddie Trunk and comedian Don Jamieson (VH1’s “That Metal Show”), San Francisco bay area radio host Nikki Blakk, and Luc Carl (SiriusXM’s “Hair Nation”) are the official cruise hosts and will moderate Q&A’s and many other specially designed events crafted especially for this voyage. Just announced, former That Metal Show alumni and comedian, Jim Florentine, will join his VH1 mates for a special reunion aboard the cruise with fan events to be announced.
On December 1st, Rush will release a lavish, new and expanded edition of the landmark album A Farewell to Kings — the fifth studio album originally released in 1977, which introduced the radio hit Closer To The Heart, album tracks A Farewell To Kings, Madrigal, Cinderella Man, as well as enduring fan favorites with Xanadu and Cygnus X-1.
A Farewell to Kings—40th Anniversary will be available to fans in four distinct configurations including (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) three-CD Deluxe Edition, (3) four-LP Deluxe Edition, and (4) the Deluxe Digital Edition.
The Super Deluxe Edition includes three CDs, one Blu-ray Audio disc and four high-quality 180-gram vinyl LPs. The set encompasses the Abbey Road Mastering Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album for the first time on CD; a complete Rush concert recorded in February 1978 at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, newly mixed by longtime Rush engineer and original A Farewell to Kings producer Terry Brown from the multi-track live tapes; four newly-recorded cover versions of songs from the original album by Dream Theater, Big Wreck, The Trews and Alain Johannes; and an instrumental studio outtake of the spacey sound effects the band has creatively titled Cygnus X-2 Eh. The Hammersmith show features, for the first-time ever, over 34 minutes of unreleased performances including a complete 2112 suite, Lakeside Park, a drum solo and Closer To The Heart. The Super Deluxe Edition’s audio content on its CDs is duplicated on its vinyl discs. Meanwhile, the Blu-ray Audio disc contains a brand new 5.1 surround mix of the album by four-time Grammy® nominated surround sound producer Steven Wilson, along with three original 1977 promo videos from a newly found 2-inch quad video master significantly improving the video quality for Closer To The Heart. The Super Deluxe package also includes an elaborate new 40th anniversary cover treatment by longtime Rush creative director Hugh Syme, who has also created a new piece of artwork for each of the album’s six songs, and an extensive 12,000-word liner notes by Grammy®-winning rock historian Rob Bowman.
The Super Deluxe Edition of A Farewell to Kings—40th Anniversary will also include several exclusive items, including a unique King’s Ring, with custom velvet pouch and neck chain; two lithographs with original artwork by Hugh Syme; a special 12-inch turntable mat featuring distinctive artwork by Hugh Syme; and a reproduction of Rush’s original 1978 A Farewell To Kings tour program.
A Farewell to Kings—40th Anniversary second configuration will be released in a three-CD Deluxe Edition, with the newly reasserted A Farewell to Kings album, the Hammersmith Odeon show, the four new cover songs, Cygnus X-2 Eh outtake, Hugh Syme’s song-specific artwork and Rob Bowman’s liner notes.
The third configuration will be offered as an audiophile 180-gram four-LP Deluxe Edition featuring the same audio content as the three-CD edition with double-gatefold packaging, 32-page vinyl-size booklet, the special 12-inch turntable mat, along with Syme’s artwork and Bowman’s liner notes.
The fourth configuration, the Deluxe Digital Edition, will feature the original album as disc 1, the complete Hammersmith concert unedited as disc 2, and the four covers songs plus the Cygnus X-2 Eh outtake as disc 3.
A Farewell To Kings 40th Anniversary is available for pre-order now at rushbackstage.com.
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