Black Star Riders’ third album, Heavy Fire, will be released on Nuclear Blast records in February 3rd.
Watch a lyric video for the song, When The Night Comes In, below.
Heavy Fire track list:
1. Heavy Fire
2. When The Night Comes In
3. Dancing With The Wrong Girl
4. Who Rides The Tiger
5. Cold War Love
6. Testify Or Say Goodbye
7. Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed
8. True Blue Kid
9. Ticket To Rise
10. Letting Go Of Me
The limited-edition digibook CD will have above track listing plus the bonus track Fade.
Black Star Riders is:
Ricky Warwick (Vocals)
Scott Gorham (Guitar)
Damon Johnson (Guitar)
Robert Crane (Bass)
Jimmy DeGrasso (Drums)
Metallica made a guest appearance on last night’s (November 16th) episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. They joined the late night host, and his band the roots, for a special performance of Enter Sandman, using children’s musical instruments. Watch it below.
In other Metallica news, the band has released videos for every song on their forthcoming new album, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. Watch them all below.
Hardwired…To Self-Destruct will be released on November 18th. The deluxe version will feature live music and cover songs.
With Neil Peart likely hanging it up for good with Rush and Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson still interested in playing, there has been the question of whether or not the band will continue and if so, what would the lineup be. During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins was asked if he might be interested in the position if called upon, and he offered a rather humorous response.
“Dude, I’d get f–king crucified man,” responded Hawkins to Trunk’s query. “You know how many f–king dorks would wanna kick my ass if I tried to be in Rush? It’d be like a nation of dorks chasing me and trying to kill me. YOU’RE NOT NEIL PEART!!! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!”
Hawkins and his Foo Fighters cohort Dave Grohl inducted Rush into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years back and even joined the power trio onstage for performances of some of their standout tracks, but Hawkins appears quite happy to enjoy Rush as a fan rather than potentially stepping into a role behind the kit, even if it was hypothetical. Plus, the drummer already has a pretty good job with Foo Fighters that allows him to occasionally step out and do his own music as well.
Before Foo Fighters fire things up again in 2017, Hawkins is getting in a new solo disc titled K.O.T.A. During his appearance on Trunk’s show, he revealed that the title stands for “King of the A–holes.” You can pick up a copy of the six-song K.O.T.A. mini-album over at Hawkins’ website.
and in the last hour have released a new promo for the song Dream No More. Watch it below.
Further videos for Confusion, ManUNkind, Now That We’re Dead, Here Comes Revenge, Am I Savage, Halo On Fire, Murder One and Spit Out The Bone will follow in the coming hours.
And a bonus clip for non-album track Lords Of Summer will complete the collection.
Metallica say, “New songs and their videos will premiere right up to when the clock turns over at midnight in New Zealand, where the first official copy of the new album will be available worldwide.
The videos – shot around the globe – will give fans the opportunity to hear the long awaited Metallica album two days ahead of its official November 18th release via Blackened Recordings.”
Hardwired… To Self-Destruct is the band’s 10th album and will be launched with an intimate show in London that’s to be streamed live across the world.
Today, Napster announced Metallica’s entire catalogue is available on their subscription service 16 years after the world famous legal battle over copyright.
Metallica Hardwired… To Self-Destruct video release schedule
Wednesday, November 16
12pm EST: Dream No More (Directed by Tom Kirk) – Gshow Globo, Brazil
2pm EST: Confusion (Directed by Claire Marie Vogel) – Rolling Stone, USA
4pm EST: ManUNkind (Directed by Jonas Åkerlund) – Bravewords, Canada
6pm EST: Now That We’re Dead (Directed by Herring & Herring) – Pitchfork, USA
8pm EST: Here Comes Revenge (Directed by Jessica Cope) – Triple M, Australia
10pm EST: Am I Savage (Directed by Herring & Herring) – Ro69.JP (Rockin’ On), Japan
Thursday, November 17
12am EST: Halo On Fire (Directed by Herring & Herring) – BiLD/Metal Hammer, Germany
2am EST: Murder One (Directed by Robert Valley) – Le Parisian, France
4am EST: Spit Out The Bone (Directed by Phil Mucci) – NME, England
6am EST: Lords of Summer (Directed by Brett Murray) – Aftonbladet, Sweden
Metallica Hardwired… To Self Destruct tracklist:
Disc 1:
Hardwired
Atlas, Rise!
Now That We’re Dead
Moth Into Flame
Dream No More
Halo On Fire
Disc 2:
Confusion
ManUNkind
Here Comes Revenge
Am I Savage?
Murder One
Spit Out the Bone
“From the very beginning, we said I’m the frontman and you’re the guitarist with mystique. That’s the dynamic we agreed on: Page, Plant; Mick, Keith.” Actor Jason Lee delivered these lines while portraying Jeff Bebe, lead singer of fictional ’70s rock band Stillwater, during a memorable backstage scene in “Almost Famous.” Writer/director Cameron Crowe based the 2000 film on his own experiences as a teenage Rolling Stone reporter covering such bands as Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers.
Many rock fans immediately recognized the template Lee’s character referenced.
While The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards forged it and Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page furthered it, many other bands rode that template to stadium-sized success, including: Aerosmith (Steven Tyler and Joe Perry); Van Halen (David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen); and Guns N’ Roses (Axl Rose and Slash).
If a rock band is truly massive, chances are casual fans can’t just name one musician in that band. They can name two.
But now in 2016 those flashy frontman and dark guitar hero “dynamic duos” are a dying breed. The few newer rock bands able to make somewhat of a mainstream dent, like say critical and commercial faves Alabama Shakes, mostly only have one legitimate star in them, while the rest of the band, no matter how musically sharp, exude Bill Wyman-levels of onstage charisma. (No offense to Wyman, a tasteful bassist but a profoundly solemn performer.)
Which means fans have a significantly less chance of identifying with a member of the band. And thus, a significantly less chance of getting into the band at all.
The impact goes way beyond star power. Without these sort of dynamic duos, bands lose a creative and often volatile push-pull that’s often vital to making great rock music. And this is something rock critics, fans and even musicians tend to miss when trying to explain rock’s diminished mainstream cultural clout. Or if you’d prefer, why “rock is dead.” More common explanations for the “death of rock” range from young creative people who would’ve started rock bands in decades past now go into more commercially viable genres like pop, R&B, rap and electronic music or even into technology careers instead, to a perceived increase of careerism over musical passion, to dramatically reduced album sales.
Asked about the prominence of singer-and-guitarist star tandems in classic bands, influential rock radio and TV host Eddie Trunk says, “I think a lot of bands saw that model and went with it. From a public standpoint, I think a lot of it has to do with what they were sold. The record labels, the managers of the time they were very much about pushing those guys to the front, making sure all those guys did all the press. So, as a result, they were on the covers of all the magazines. If you’re an Aerosmith fan as I am, there were times you’d be hard pressed to think there were three other guys in that band besides Perry and Tyler…”
…Trunk adds, “You pull Steven Tyler out of Aerosmith and it’s not nearly the same thing. You pull Joe Perry out as on artist on his own and he’s basically playing clubs. As big a stars as these guys may be, if you take them out of the umbrella of the name of Aerosmith the same percentage of fans do not follow…”
After having witnessed three shows on Guns N’ Roses’ Not In This Lifetime Tour earlier this year, it’s difficult for me to believe rock is dead when fans are filling stadiums to hear powerful guitar music. “Rock is taking more naps than it used to” is probably a more accurate assessment of the genre’s state.
Of course, the big appeal of the GNR tour was seeing Axl and Slash perform live together for the first time since 1993. It’s literally something many fans – and Rose himself, hence the tour’s name – never thought would happen again…
With these frontman/guitarist duos, there’s an appeal beyond the singing and playing. During one of the encores at Guns N’ Roses’ second of two homecoming Dodger Stadium concerts, Axl Rose leaned up against Slash’s shoulder. It was just a small but appealing moment of onstage chemistry. Kind of like when Jagger and Richards used to sometimes share a single mic to sing ragged-but-right harmonies at a Stones show. It just looks cool…
Another reason classic singer-guitarist star tandems are so effective is because they bring in two different listeners groups: fans primarily attracted to melody, hooks and vocals and fans drawn in by musical flair. Those fan groups often overlap. But other times they do not. As Greg Renoff, author of the excellent 2015 biography Van Halen Rising, puts it, “My sister wasn’t going to go pick up (the Deep Purple album) Machine Head and listen to it but she was going to listen to (Aerosmith’s) Permanent Vacation.” Renoff adds, “Jagger, Roth, Tyler, Axl all had this sex appeal that got people interested. There’s a great story. Rodney Bingenheimer, who was a DJ for (Los Angeles radio station) KROQ and was around the Sunset Strip, (notorious Runaways manager) Kim Fowley had brought him to see Van Halen (during the band’s club days) and (Bingenheimer) said he immediately knew the band was going to be huge because the girls were all crazy for this band. There was like this army of girls. Even though (Van Halen) were playing cover songs he knew they were going to be huge because girls set the trends…”
“If they didn’t end up with a singer like Roth, the Van Halen brothers could have done a more conventional (rock) thing,” Renoff says, “but I can also see a record company going, ‘We’re going to make Eddie the next Jeff Beck.’ They could’ve had a nice career like that. But, then what we would have gotten? I’m guessing, would have been much more of the improvisational, out-there song structures that Eddie and Alex were actually really into when they met Dave.
“For all of Roth’s limitations and all of his goofy ways of doing things, he knew how to bring the party to a show. He knew how to get people interested and focused. He knew how to bring attention to the band. And the other thing I think Roth brought to the table was he understood that the best vehicle for delivering those (Eddie Van Halen) licks and riffs was more of a pop format…”
Of course, a frontman/guitar-hero duo isn’t mandatory for becoming an iconic rock band. The Beatles, Eagles and Pink Floyd are just a few of the many groups who followed different band-chemistry routes to superstardom. And there are plenty of bands like Rush where the sum musicality and catalog strength has been the engine, not stars. The ’70s and ’80s also produced notable acts that straddled Elvis Presley-type solo artist and Beatles-style band archetypes, all those “and the” bands: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band; Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Elvis Costello and the Attractions; etc. The “and the” band format is an interesting configuration because it still exudes somewhat of the “gang vibe” that appeals to rock fans while simultaneously establishing one person is at the controls.
Which begs the question: Could it be professionally advantageous for newer acts presented as a full-on group (and not merely a solo artist with backing musicians) to have just one “face of the band” instead of two or more? After all, that way, if band members come and go, as band members often do, it’s less impactful to the “brand.”
“Listen,” Trunk says, “that guy if he can get that over and sell it he’s going to run with it because he’s going to control the name, he’s going to control the money, he’s going to control everything and basically pay a salary to everyone else. I just interviewed (Jon) Bon Jovi for my show, and for the longest time people bought into this whole brotherhood of Bon Jovi – it’s this band from Jersey and it’s this gang of guys and blood brothers and all of that. Well, honestly, Jon Bon Jovi was the only guy ever signed to that record deal. And Richie Sambora was an enormous part – and going into your dynamic of the lead singer/guitar player star tandem, Bon Jovi is a band that certainly would fit that mold with Richie and Jon. But shockingly since Richie has been gone a few years, I talked to some guys in that band off-the-record and I said, ‘Hey how’s it been without Richie? I imagine there’s been some dip, some change in the interest level or whatever’ and they said, ‘Nope. Not one less ticket sold…’
So why did singer-and-guitarist dynamic duos die off in rock? Popular culture seems to have generally devalued guitar solos since Nirvana rose to prominence in the early-90s…For the all great songs – and great guitar playing! – and millions of records sold, I highly doubt most people you stop on the street could name another person from Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots or Smashing Pumpkins besides Eddie Vedder, Scott Weiland or Billy Corgan.
Even has a lifelong rock fan, I can’t name a non-frontman member from most the biggest bands of the last 15 years…
Trunk believes the demise of MTV as a musical force contributed to a reduction of Axls and Slashes. “The singer/guitar player dynamic was completely reinforced by MTV and turning on those videos in the ’80s and seeing those guys, that’s what made them stars, for sure. There was no bigger radio station in the world than MTV. In the beginning, MTV followed radio. And a year or two after it launched it became a complete 180 where radio followed MTV and there was nothing bigger for driving records and creating stars…”
…Trunk is encouraged about the future of rock music because he feels there are a lot of “really good” new bands, like the aforementioned Rival Sons, who served as opening act for Black Sabbath’s recently concluded final U.S. tour. “What I’m concerned about though is how much these bands are somewhat considered to be off the radar and don’t get the attention that they should,” Trunk says. Asked for his thoughts on why that’s the case Trunk says, “I think there’s a lot of things going on. I think rock radio in general is extremely conservative. They don’t want to lead. And the media world has changed. There’s so much information coming at people and it’s so oversaturated. There really aren’t those gate-keepers anymore to say, ‘This is the band you should pay attention to.’ How do you get someone to stand out of the pack?”
A charismatic lead-singer and “guitarist with mystique” would be a good start.
Greg Prato for Classic Rock Magazine, asked our very own Eddie Trunk which eleven records changed his life? Here is his list:
Raspberries – Raspberries (1972):
“I’m a young kid at this point – eight or nine years old – and all I ever really knew about music was pop music that I saw on TV. The Partridge Family, cartoon music. One day, I got into the backseat of my parents’ car, and the AM radio was on. The DJ introduced a song by a band called the Raspberries, Go All the Way. The song opens with these really heavy, distorted, power chords, and then jumps into this other riff, that is just this big, grinding, heavy riff. Then it drops into this really beautiful melody. I got goosebumps. It was instantly a whole different world.”
KISS – Destroyer (1976):
“I was walking home from school, and my friend said to me, “I’m going to go into this record store and buy a record by this band called KISS. Their new album is called Rock and Roll Over.” I said, “Maybe I will check out KISS.” He said, “You should buy the one that came out before it,” which was Destroyer. I went home that day, put the record on my turntable, heard the opening of Detroit Rock City, stared at the album cover, and I was done. It was instant KISS mania for me for most of my life.”
Aerosmith – Live! Bootleg (1978):
“The great thing about live records at the time was if you didn’t have any other records by the band, you could get a good cross section of their material all on one album. I remember getting Live! Bootleg, putting the poster up on my wall, and to this day, I think it is an unbelievably underrated live record. And it is actually a true live record. It just reeks of the ‘70s – it really puts you into the space of when the songs were recorded.”
Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell (1980):
“Heaven and Hell was my first Sabbath record. I got it in a way that I got a lot of records – by winning it at the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. There would be these stands, and you would put a quarter on a number, and if the wheel landed on the number, you got to pick any record. I picked a lot of bands based on what the cover looked like, and for Black Sabbath, I saw the cover of angels smoking cigarettes, and was like, “That will piss off my mom…I’m going to take that!” I heard Neon Knights and I heard Ronnie James Dio, and said, “This is unbelievable.”
UFO – The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent (1981):
“I had a friend who was really into Cheap Trick. He was driving at the time and I was not, and he had gotten us tickets to see Cheap Trick, and the other band on the bill was UFO. They were touring on The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent. I got that record, and immediately fell in love with the band. I was just like, ‘This is amazing music. This is heavy, but it’s melodic. It’s exactly what I love.’ And then I saw them – it was a snow storm – they came out and were so loud and so great.
UFO – Strangers in the Night (1979):
“Strangers in the Night definitely has to be in there, as well. I got into UFO because of The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent, but Strangers, to this day, to me, is the greatest live album of all time. And also, probably my favorite album of all time. Strangers to me is just as good as it gets in terms of performance, songs, energy – it’s the ultimate melodic hard rock. I have introduced so many people to that record in the last 15-20 years.”
Van Halen – Van Halen (1978):
“I remember getting that in a record club, where you paid ten cents and got ten albums. I checked that off the list, and I’ll never forget dropping the needle and hearing Runnin’ with the Devil, and being like, ‘OK, this is a complete game changer.’ To this day, the album still holds up remarkably well. So definitely, Van Halen I.
Metallica – Kill ‘Em All (1983):
“That album came out at a time that I was just starting to work in radio. I started doing a metal show, and Jonny Z [Jon Zazula], I was a customer of his at his record store in the flea market. One day, he came up to my radio station, and said, ‘I’ve got this band, and I can’t get anybody to play it. Can you play it on the air?’ He pulled out of the bag Kill ‘Em All. Just to get him out of there, I played a song from it, and he scribbled on the cover of the album, ‘Eddie, you were the first. Thank you, Johnny Z.’
He said, ‘If I can ever get this band to take off, I’m going to hire you to work for my record company.’ A couple of years later, Metallica blows up, and he calls me and says, ‘I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I’m starting my record company and I’m going to hire you. The bad news is Metallica is leaving me.’ [Laughs] Kill ‘Em All was not only a game changer in terms of not only introducing a new genre of metal, but it was a personal game changer for me, because it indirectly got me into the music business.”
Ace Frehley – Frehley’s Comet (1987):
“Another one that is extremely important to me is the Ace Frehley solo album, Frehley’s Comet. It was the first artist I ever signed to a record deal and was the first album I ever worked on as a record company rep – being in the studio with the guys, helping working in an A&R capacity, and really championing the record. Jonny Z was not a KISS fan. But when I first started working for Megaforce, I said to him, ‘I think it’s great we’re putting out all this heavy music. But it would be really cool if we could get a band that could cross over and get some radio play, as well.’
There was a risk in that, because there were so many stories about Ace being a degenerate and a drunk that no one wanted to take a chance on him. He was considered damaged goods. But Jonny said, ‘Track him down and see what you can do.’ We tracked him down, had lunch with him, Jonny ended up signing him, and I ended up working on four albums with him. To this day, Ace and I are close friends.”
Buckcherry – 15 (2005):
“I was a fan of Buckcherry when the first album came out. The first album did well, the second album flopped, and they were dropped. I became friends with their guitarist, Keith Nelson, and I got an email from Keith, saying he [and singer Josh Todd] was going to reform Buckcherry with a new line-up. They had no record deal, no management, no budget. But they were going to go in the studio and bang out a record.
I told Keith I would help him out however I could, so Keith literally started sending me mp3 files of the songs. He was like, ‘If you can, just play it. Put it on the radio, just to see if we can get anybody to bite.’ The next thing I know, the record gets released in Japan, then they get an indie deal in America, then that leads to a deal with Atlantic, and the next thing you know, I’m getting a gold and platinum record sent to my house.”
White Lion: Pride:
“White Lion came to me when they first formed and only had a Japanese import available called Fight To Survive. I was one of their first radio interviews and became quick friends with the band and loved the album. As a new A&R guy for Megaforce I wanted to sign the band. But I couldn’t get the company to go for it. They thought it wasn’t a fit for the heavier style of music the label was known for.
White Lion ended up signing to Atlantic, which was our distributor. But we remained friends and they never forgot my support. When Pride came out and went Gold I went to see them at the legendary club L’Amour. I was stunned when they called me on stage and presented me with my first gold album award in front of the sold out crowd. It was a great moment and I took great pride hanging it in my office at Megaforce!”
 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. They joined the late night host, and his band the roots, for a special performance ... )
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