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ALTER BRIDGE’S FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM “THE LAST HERO” NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER AND SLATED FOR WORLDWIDE RELEASE ON OCTOBER 7TH

Alter Bridge has been a band known for blurring the line between hard rock and heavy metal. As assets in both musical genres, the band returns with their fifth studio album, The Last Hero. The album is scheduled for worldwide release on October 7th by Caroline Records in the United States/Canada and Napalm Records throughout the rest of the globe. The thirteen track opus marks a creative highpoint for the quartet comprised of Myles Kennedy on vocals/guitars, Mark Tremonti on guitars/vocals, Brian Marshall on bass and Scott Phillips on drums.

The album is now available for pre-order through iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Fans who order the album will receive an instant download of the debut single Show Me A Leader. The album will be available in various fan bundles at alterbridge.com/store and fans can get exclusive early access to the band’s ticket pre-sale by pre-ordering any item in the store. Show Me A Leader is also streaming on Spotify.

From the first notes of album opener Show Me A Leader to the final notes of the epic title track The Last Hero, it is clear that Alter Bridge are back with their most complete musical work to date. While exploring musical influences and styles from throughout the band’s twelve-year history, The Last Hero has a unifying thread starting with the idea of timeless heroism. Songs like Poison In Your Veins and Losing Patience capture the signature sound that have recruited Alter Bridge fans around the world. The band also explores their softer side with the heartfelt rocker My Champion and the emotional ballad You Will Be Remembered. The first single Show Me A Leader premiered on Sirius/XM’s Octane yesterday and a lyric video can be viewed below.

“Lyrically, it reflects the frustrations that a lot of people are feeling with the current state of the world,” admits Myles Kennedy about the new single. “The world is looking for trustworthy effective leadership and not this undignified dog and pony show that’s really made a mockery of our system.”

“It’s indicative of our process,” Mark Tremonti adds. “Myles had this guitar intro that I loved, and I had the chorus. We put them together. The words call out for a proper leader.”

Alter Bridge is heading out on select U.S. headline dates in support of The Last Hero this coming September. The headline run begins September 22nd in Destin, FL. The tour will make stops in San Antonio, TX; Minneapolis, MN; Lincoln, NE; Charlotte, NC; and Nashville, TN. The band will also perform at a few festival dates this Fall including the inaugural Houston Open Air Festival, Sonic Boom, Louder Than Life and the Tulsa State Fair. Tickets for their U.S headline dates will go on-sale July 29th and fans can get exclusive early access to the band’s ticket pre-sale by pre-ordering any item from their official U.S store. The band is currently on tour through the end of August playing with Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin and Saint Asonia.

The track listing for The Last Hero is:

1) Show Me A Leader
2) The Writing On The Wall
3) The Other Side
4) My Champion
5) Poison In Your Veins
6) Cradle To The Grave
7) Losing Patience
8) This Side Of Fate
9) You Will Be Remembered
10) Crows On A Wire
11) Twilight
12) Island Of Fools
13) The Last Hero

Alter Bridge Tour Dates:

July:

26th* Detroit, MI DTE Energy Amphitheater
27th* Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
29th Scranton, PA The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
30th* Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach
31st* Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center

August:

2nd* Virginia Beach, VA Farm Bureau Live
4th* Gilford, NH Bank of NH Pavilion
6th Bangor, ME Rise Above Festival
7th Montreal, QC Heavy MTL Festival
8th* Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
11th* Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre
12th* Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Amphitheater
13th* Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
15th* Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheater
17th* Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
19th* Concord, CA Concord Pavilion
21st Seattle, WA Pain In The Grass – White River Amphitheater
23rd# Portland, OR Roseland Theater
24th* Post Falls, ID Greyhound Park

September:

22nd# Destin, FL Club LA
24th Houston, TX Houston Open Air Festival
25th# San Antonio, TX Aztec Theater
28th# Minneapolis, MN Skyway Theatre
29th# Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theatre

October:

1st Janesville, WI Sonic Boom
2nd Louisville, KY Louder Than Life
4th# Charlotte, NC Fillmore
5th# Nashville, TN War Memorial Auditorium
8th Tulsa, OK Tulsa State Fair – Oklahoma Stage

* Playing with Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Saint Asonia
# Headline show

Alter Bridge on the web

Official Website
Facebook
Twitter

METAL MELTDOWN CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF EXTREME’S “PORNOGRAFFITTI” WITH “PORNOGRAFFITTI LIVE 25/METAL MELTDOWN” BLU-RAY/DVD/CD SEPTEMBER 23RD

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Extreme’s classic multi-Platinum, Grammy® nominated Pornograffitti, the definitive album of the band’s career. To mark the anniversary, Pornograffitti Live 25/Metal Meltdown will be released September 23rd by the award-winning production company Rock Fuel Media in association with Loud & Proud Records as part of their four-part “Metal Meltdown” DVD series. The concert film captures the Boston band performing the album Pornograffitti in its entirety.

Directed by Brian Lockwood (Bon Jovi, Metallica, Motley Crue), the Pornograffitti Live 25/Metal Meltdown package includes a Blu-ray, DVD, and audio CD of the complete concert that was filmed on May 30th, 2015 at The Joint at the world famous Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. It also features Rockshow, a bonus documentary that takes fans through Extreme’s story, with exclusive interviews, ‘80s archive footage, and an exclusive photo gallery. Mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound, it’s set for release September 23. A trailer can be seen below.

“It was a great thrill to perform Pornograffitti in its entirety,” says singer Gary Cherone. “Some of these songs were never played live before so we had to go back and relearn them for the tour. The album was a watershed moment in the bands career…it’s when we came in to our own and it will always be special.”

As guitar virtuoso Nuno Bettencourt continues, “The band always prided itself on its live performance. Over the years, some of these songs have evolved where the band actually plays them better now than when we had recorded them. Hope you enjoy it.“

Award-winning producer Barry Summers of Rock Fuel Media commented, “It was a real privilege to produce Pornograffitti Live 25/Metal Meltdown in celebration of Pornograffitti, to have the opportunity to work first-hand with such high caliber musicians and audio purists. Over 25 years after this iconic album was released, we captured the band at their very best. Watching Nuno Bettencourt’s off-the-charts guitar solos is simply mind-blowing, as confirmed by Queen’s Brian May and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, whom we filmed paying homage to the Guitar God himself in the RockShow documentary. One of the highlights of the documentary is a moment where Gary and Nuno are sitting on the doorstep of Gary’s childhood home, and they perform a spontaneous version of More Than Words.”

Here’s the complete song listing of Pornograffitti Live 25/Metal Meltdown:

1. Decadence Dance
2. Li’l Jack Horny
3. When I’m President
4. Get the Funk Out
5. More Than Words
6. Money (In God We Trust)
7. It (‘s a Monster)
8. Pornograffitti
9. When I First Kissed You
10. Suzi (Wants Her All Day What?)
11. Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee
12. He-Man Woman Hater
13. Song For Love
14. Hole Hearted
15. Play With Me*
16. Cupid’s Dead*

* Songs do not appear on the audio CD.

Extreme online:

extreme-band.com
facebook.com/extremeband
twitter.com/ExtremeBand
instagram.com/extreme_band
youtube.com/user/OfficiallyExtreme

BASSIST JASON NEWSTED SWITCHES FROM METAL TO ACOUSTIC, SAYS “I CAN’T PLAY LIKE SLIPKNOT NOW”

Jason Newsted says one of the reasons he’s pursuing his acoustic project is because he achieved everything he could in heavy music while he was with Metallica.

He’s happy for bands like Slipknot to take up the mantle – and admits he can’t play “heavier and faster” the way he used to.

He last week unveiled Would And Steal, a duo featuring Rob Tucker, which focuses on classic Americana.

Newsted says in a video, “After 30 years of playing heavy music, I’ve been around the globe about five times. I’ve already climbed that mountain. We got Grammy awards, the Hall Of Fame and all those different things. That’s as far as you can go in that kind of music. It’s someone else’s turn to have fun in that music now.”

He adds, “I can’t play like Slipknot now. Those guys are heavier and faster than I could ever dream of playing now. This is how I can play, and this is what I’ll do for the rest of time.”

Newsted – who’s also worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Voivod, Flotsam And Jetsam, Echobrain and the recent self-titled solo project he shut down in 2014 – says he still plays metal “all the time.”

He adds, “This project happens to be the thing that I want to share with everybody. There’s not a big deal about making money, or competing with anybody else. Whatever happens in our studio now is what we’re trying to share with anybody that gives a crap. If they want to share it, that’s cool. If they don’t, and they only like metal, then peace and more power to you. I’m doing this and that’s what’s good for me. I hope everybody else decides what’s good for them.”

Reflecting on his chosen genre of music, he says, “As I play this, I find myself being able to expose myself to more people. I’d say age four to 94 can listen to this music and enjoy it. How can’t you like Johnny Cash? You have to like those songs, American music like that.”

Newsted will front two acoustic benefit shows for the Little Kids Rock music education charity on August 5th and 6th at Mighty Fine Guitars in California.

additional source: Metal Hammer via teamrock.com

GUITARIST JOE PERRY RETURNS TO LIVE PERFORMANCES, AFTER COLLAPSING TWO WEEKS PRIOR ONSTAGE

After missing nearly two weeks worth of shows due to “a combination of dehydration and exhaustion,” Aerosmith guitarist, Joe Perry, returned to the stage with Hollywood Vampires on July 22nd. The concert took place at Weill Hall in Rohnert Park, California.

Perry collapsed after walking backstage only one song into the Hollywood Vampires’ concert at the Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, N.Y. The band, which also includes Robert DiLeo (Stone Temple Pilots) and Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver), decided to continue with their tour as Perry recovered, although they did cancel an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

The Hollywood Vampires have shows booked every night between now and the closing night on July 25th at the Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, California. From there, Perry will have a bit more time to recuperate before Aerosmith begin their South American and Mexico tour starting on September 29th.

The group have talked about doing a farewell tour, with Steven Tyler suggesting it may happen next year, but Perry isn’t so sure.

“It’s one of many things we’ve talked about as a band, but I don’t know if it’s the end,” Perry said. “We take it from album to tour and day to day. It’s the same philosophy we’ve always had.”

additional source: ultimateclassicrock.com

TESLA STREAM NEW SINGLE “SAVE THAT GOODNESS”

More than 30 years after sharing the stage with Def Leppard in the late ‘80s, Tesla hit the road again last summer with the British hard rock group, a move that provided the spark for a new collaboration.

Ultimate Classic Rock presents the exclusive premiere of Save That Goodness, a brand new song by Tesla that was written by Leppard guitarist Phil Collen. The studio track appears as a bonus cut on the band’s upcoming Mechanical Resonance Live! album, which will be released on August 26th. You can listen to the song by clicking here

“I first met the Tesla boys when [we] jammed with the band onstage at the infamous Paradiso Theater in Amsterdam 30 years ago,” Collen tells Ultimate Classic Rock. “From then on we’ve been connected in one way or another.”

According to Collen, Tesla bassist Brian Wheat heard “Save That Goodness” and told the veteran guitarist, “We should record this song and you should produce it.”

“We listened to it and immediately loved it,” Tesla singer Jeff Keith says. “He completely wrote it, but when we went in to record it, he let us put our own Tesla stamp on it, which was very nice. It’s not a cover song, but you know, [similarly], we’ve played lots of cover songs that work well for us, that we just kind of put our little Tesla stamp on it.”

“From that moment, we’ve been writing, recording and getting totally inspired about making new Tesla music,” Collen adds, calling Save That Goodness “an explosive precursor to the dynamic new Tesla studio album due out in 2017.”

Tesla are back on the road this summer with Def Leppard, but they plan to use that time to complete their next album. A half-dozen songs are already in various forms of progress; they hope to add six more over the next couple of months. Throughout summer, they’re recording those songs with a plan to wind up the tour in October with a completed album.

source: teslatheband.com

ON THE EVE OF MIKE PIAZZA’S INDUCTION INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME, EDDIE TRUNK REFLECTS ON THE PAIR’S FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE OF HEAVY METAL

Evan Grossman of the New York Daily News wrote a feature article on Eddie’s friendship with baseball player, and soon to be Hall of Famer, Mike Piazza. Excerpts from the story appear below.

The night of the legendary 9/11 home run, when Mike Piazza lifted the Mets to victory and a city in mourning with a towering blast to center field, he left Shea Stadium and made the familiar trip into the city to sit in on radio host Eddie Trunk’s late-night heavy metal music show on WNEW. It’s something he did often when he played for the Mets, and that night was no different.

“That’s never going to be forgotten, man,” Trunk said when Piazza walked in the door the evening of September 21st, 2001. “That’s as big as it gets.”

Piazza made semi-regular appearances on Trunk’s shows on WNEW and Q104.3 during his eight years with the Mets. Even after some of the biggest moments of his Mets career, like that home run against the Braves that allowed the city to breathe again, he made it a point to hang with Trunk and spin records on the air.

“I knew it was a massive moment in the history of sports and New York and all of that. But we didn’t really talk too much about that,” Trunk told the Daily News of the 9/11 homer. “We certainly acknowledged it, but he came to do my show very much as an escape from baseball.”

“This was his way to blow off some steam and have some fun. So the last thing he wanted was to come on a radio show and do a dissection of that night’s game. He’d just play music with me and we’d talk…”

…What other athletes can you name who would regularly leave the ballpark and play co-host of a heavy metal show late into the night, sometimes before a day game, just because he liked the music so much?

“My Yankees fans would always complain we didn’t have any Yankees and I said any time Derek Jeter wants to come in at midnight and play Metallica records with me, the door’s wide open,” Trunk said.

Like a Cameron Crowe movie, Trunk, a heavy metal institution, formed a fast friendship with Piazza over the music. They connected through a mutual friend and “a year or two into his Mets run,” Trunk said, Piazza asked if he could come in and check out Trunk’s radio show. Piazza was a fan.

“He said he would come in and hang out, but he wanted to keep it low key,” Trunk said. “He wanted to come in, be a fly on the wall and didn’t want a lot of fanfare about it…”

“…He came in and said he was only going to stay for a few minutes and say hello and we ended up leaving the studio at like 4 o’clock in the morning. We just had the best time…”

…In his life, [Piazza] had two loves: baseball and music. As far back as high school, former teammates recall Piazza only tearing himself away from the batting cage to attend local rock concerts.

“He’d walk into my studio and here would be sitting someone from AC/DC or somebody from Iron Maiden and he’d turn into the fan,” Trunk said. “It was complete role reversal…”

“…Hard rock and metal music is fairly marginalized and people think that only a small amount of people like it and it’s niche and not mainstream.”

“We’d play requests, we’d take calls and it went on through his entire time with the Mets and I’m proud to say all these years later, we’re best friends.”

Read more at the New York Daily News.

all photos used in this story, courtesy of Ron Akiyama

source: nydailynews.com