Guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal has premiered his video for Don’t Know Who To Pray To Anymore at Loudwire. Watch it below.
“This song speaks for those that feel lost, betrayed, disillusioned, when we question all we believe in,” says Bumblefoot. “When we start to lash out, and punish ourselves. This is a song about being in this place, in our own personal purgatory. We know we need to heal, but we’re not ready to let go.”
“This video needed to be filmed in locations that have a deep historic and spiritual presence,” adds Bumblefoot.
Don’t Know Who To Pray To Anymore is on Bumblefoot’s latest solo album, Little Brother Is Watching, which was released on February 24th, 2015. To watch the video for the title track, please click here
Little Brother Is Watching track listing:
1. Clots
2. Little Brother Is Watching
3. Argentina
4. Don’t Know Who To Pray To Anymore
5. Livin’ The Dream
6. Cuterebra
7. Higher
8. Women Rule The World
9. Sleepwalking
10. Eternity
11. Never Again
For more information, check out Bumblefoot’s web properties:
In 2016, Anthrax will celebrate its 35th anniversary as a band, and will release its much-anticipated new album, the aggressive and super-thrashy For All Kings, on February 26 (Megaforce). But just before that, the band will join Lamb of God for a four-week U.S. trek that starts on Friday, January 15, 2016 in Pittsburgh and wraps up at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on February 12. Tour dates are below.
Anthrax recently released, Evil Twin the first new track from For All Kings. The song’s lyrics were inspired by the terrorist attacks that took place at the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris in January, 2015, and the song is a full-on thrash-metal tune that blasts off with a raging guitar riff, accelerates expeditiously and is completely uncontrollable. The track’s accompanying video is a compelling barrage of places, victims, actions and some of the infamous zealots and others who have perpetrated violent extremism on innocents around the world, aptly exemplifying the song’s powerful message.
For the new release, Anthrax went into the studio with more songs than they ever had in their career and ended up recording twenty. This wealth of material was largely due to drummer Charlie Benante’s surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome that caused him to miss quite a number of the band’s 2011-2014 Worship Music tour dates. Benante put the down-time to good use and came up with a slew of foundation riffs and ideas for new songs that he took into writing sessions with fellow main songwriters Frank Bello and Scott Ian.
The unique chemistry of this dynamic trio is, in part, what sets Anthrax’s music apart from other bands’ in the same genre. Scott Ian has a very particular way of incorporating his intense lyrical ideas into the band’s music, while Bello, who writes the bulk of Anthrax’s melodies, crafts specifically for Joey Belladonna’s breathtaking voice. Add to that the searing guitar leads by newest member Jonathan Donais, and it’s no wonder the band is so excited for fans to hear what will be their 11th studio album.
Anthrax’s tour dates with Lamb of God are as follows:
January:
15 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
16 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
17 The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
19 Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
22 Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA
23 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY
24 Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, CT
28 Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI
29 Egyptian Room at Old National Center, Indianapolis, IN
30 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL
31 Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI
February:
2 Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland, Kansas City, MO
4 Revention Music Center, Houston, TX
5 Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
6 Concrete Street Pavilion, Corpus Christi, TX
8 ACL Live at the Moody Theatre, Austin, TX
9 Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City, OK
11 Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas, NV
12 Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA
For more information about Anthrax, visit the band’s official website.
Bassist Billy Sheehan picks ten live albums that he thinks broke the mold, but before we list his choices, Classic Rock Magazine spoke with him about his band with guitarist Richie Kotzen and drummer Mike Portony, The Winery Dogs.
Sheehan says, “To be honest, I didn’t have a molecule of a clue that this would work out so well…I think there’s an honesty to the band, and maybe that’s why people have picked up on us..”
When asked if the band may consider working with an outside producer in the future, he says, “I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I don’t know if it’s really necessary.”
Now for Billy Sheehan’s top ten live albums with edited commentary:
The Yardbirds – Having A Rave Up (1965):
“It’s a pretty interesting album, half studio and half live…This record made a huge impression on me because it really illustrated what a band can do in front of an audience. It was also my introduction to the Yardbirds; after this album, I went off and got everything else they did… was always amazed that the Yardbirds didn’t become a huge band in America. Their fans loved them, but they weren’t accepted by the masses like they deserved to be.”
The Rolling Stones – Got Live If You Want It! (1966):
“This was the Rolling Stones’ first live record, when Brian Jones was still their guitar player…This record made me more of a Stones fan than I was before. I preferred the Beatles, but hearing the Stones do their stuff in front of an audience notched them up a bit…”
Jimi Hendrix – Bang of Gypsys (1970):
“Jimi Hendrix was the first concert I ever saw, and Band of Gypsys is the first fully live album he did with Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on bass. Even though it’s Hendrix’s record, it taught me how important it was to have a great, great drummer behind you…I must have listened to this record a thousand times. The automatic arm on the turntable would reach the end, and then it would come up and go back down and start all over again. This went on for weeks at a time – it was a huge part of my life.”
Various Artists: Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More (1970):
“One of the greatest live albums of all time. There’s so much to choose from here, but what’s interesting is all the stuff that didn’t get on the record. Mountain played a whole set, but they weren’t on the album. Through the years, I’ve discovered a lot of those other bands that played Woodstock, and I wish they would have been on the record…”
AC/DC – If You Want Blood You’ve Got It (1978):
This is the album that turned me on to AC/DC. A super-exciting live record. I even love the way it starts: There’s a problem with an amp, and you hear something buzzing; the crowd roars, and then the band launches into Riff Raff. Holy cow! The crowd is going crazy like they’re at a soccer match. From hearing this record, I went out and got all of their other stuff. Soon after, they put out Highway to Hell and all hell broke loose – literally…This record captures them in rare form live, and Bon Scott was at the top of his game. What a showman. And he was a great writer, too – he had such a unique way of describing things. The scenery he set up in your mind was very vivid.”
Les McCann and Eddie Harris – Swiss Movement (1969):
“I’m going to take a real left turn here. This is Les McCann and Eddie Harris live at the Montreux Jazz Festival. It’s an iconic jazz record…In my youth, I had a couple of jazzy friends, and this was one of our favorite records. There’s so many fantastic cuts and performances on the album. It’s not wild, wacky jazz with lots of notes – like you don’t know how they got there or why they got there. It’s more straight-up, with beautiful playing and brilliant solos…It’s an incredible live record that I heartily recommend.”
Humble Pie – Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore (1971):
“One of the greatest, most iconic bands ever – everybody in the group is astonishing. I absolutely love Humble Pie…They were kind of always a live band, because in the studio they played as they would on stage, just like they did on the Fillmore record… Hearing them play I Don’t Need No Doctor – I mean, how do you top that? The rest of the record is totally riotous and raucous. It’s all brilliant.”
Judas Priest – Unleashed in the East (1979):
“They’re another one of my favorite bands, and their live record really pushed them over the top for me. They did a lot of things that set them apart, like doing Joan Baez’s Diamonds and Rust…. I think it set the stage for them to have global success very soon after.”
King Crimson – USA (1975):
“King Crimson is another favorite. I remember having a bootleg of them doing Larks’ Tongues in Aspic that was remarkable. I lost the bootleg, but when I heard the live version of it here, it was pretty close to the bootleg. It’s just out of control. When you hear the studio version and compare it to this one, it almost seems tame…”
The Mothers – Just Another Band from L.A. (1972):
“This album had a big influence on me. Back in my apartment in Buffalo, we would play this one all the time. The automatic arm on the turntable would go back and forth, and the record would just play and play and play. Then we’d flip the record over, and it would play ad infinitum. I’m sure we drove our neighbors crazy with it. When I got together with Steve Vai to do David Lee Roth’s Eat ‘Em and Smile, we had a lot of common ground because we could both recite the first four or five Zappa records from beginning to end. We had a great starting point because of our love of Frank Zappa… got so much from Frank Zappa musically, socially, personally. He changed my whole attitude about so many things.”
Ultimate Jam Night will celebrate the 30th anniversary of David Lee Roth’s Eat ‘Em And Smile album with a special performance by Steve Vai (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Gregg Bissonette (drums), along with guest vocalist Ralph Saenz (a.k.a. Michael Starr of Steel Panther), this Wednesday, November 25th at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, California in a free show beginning at 8:30 p.m. The performance will mark the first time in 30 years that Vai, Sheehan and Bissonette have played together, and they — along with Saenz — will re-create some of the music from the 1986 LP and tour.
Eat ‘Em And Smile” was the first of two Roth albums to feature the duo of Steve Vai and Billy Sheehan on guitar and bass. Throughout the LP, the two would often sync complicated bass lines together with the lead guitar parts, as on tracks such as Shyboy and Elephant Gun.
Vai, recognized as one of the world’s greatest guitarists, continues with his own projects. Sheehan, a modern bass legend, is part of the highly successful bands The Winery Dogs and Mr. Big. Bissonette is playing with the Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band.
Now entering its 44th week, Ultimate Jam Night is a free weekly show held each Wednesday at Lucky Strike Live, located at the Hollywood/Highland center. Founded by Chuck Wright of Quiet Riot, the show features up to 60 world-class musicians rotating in and out of various musical numbers.
As previously reported, due to the terrorist attacks in Paris, and subsequent threats elsewhere, Lamb of God decided to cancel the remainder of their European tour dates over safety concerns. Frontman Randy Blythe has posted an in-depth statement regarding the band’s decision on his official blog page, Randonesia. Excerpts from the statement below:
“At the request of management, I have agreed to write a post concerning our recently cancelled tour of Europe. I wouldn’t have bothered to do this on my own, since a rather self-explanatory general statement has already been made explaining our reasons for leaving and that seems more than sufficient to me. The basic gist of the post was that something specific occurred that made some of us in the band feel that it was unwise to continue on with the tour, potentially putting ourselves, our crew, and large numbers of defenseless people in harm’s way. Simple enough. And I won’t elaborate on the details of that occurrence here, since I have no wish to add to the atmosphere of speculation and fear that currently surrounds terrorist activities in Europe. There are way too many ill-informed running mouths across the globe making an already tense, highly complex, and extremely fluid situation on that continent even worse. I feel pretty ridiculous even writing this (who knew deciding to cancel a tour after venues you have played start getting blown up would require any sort of explanation to anyone?), but since I have been asked nicely to do so by the people I employ to manage my band, I will. And as one of the band members who said, ‘I am done here,’ I will speak solely for myself, not my band as a whole…
…So here is what I have to say, and it’s all I’m going to say on this matter, PERIOD….
Obviously, no working band wants to cancel a tour, especially once it is underway — fans get disappointed, a lot of money gets lost by several different groups of people, a massive amount of time is wasted by all parties involved, it’s generally an all-around bad business move, and (trust me) it’s just a huge pain in the ass.
My band is not in the habit of cancelling tours, so unless there is a family emergency, we carry on regardless of almost anything. And lots of ‘interesting’ things have occurred in our 21 years of existence as a band. We have taken the stage five minutes after martial law has been declared (Bangkok, Thailand), we have been stuck in airports for multiple days unable to enter a country because the armed forces and the police force of that country have decided to go to war with each other (Ecuador), we have narrowly missed, driven through, or managed to maneuver around deadly natural catastrophes (earthquakes in China, floods in Poland, hurricanes here in America, and more). Personally, I’ve gone onstage with a broken arm, broken ribs, various broken toes, a broken nose, staples in my forehead due to a stagedive gone wrong. Hell, I’ve even been to prison in a foreign country, gotten out after a month, and played massive gigs a little over a week later. In fact, before the first night of this very tour had even gotten underway, I met a group of particularly unpleasant young people on a dark street and consequently played the first few shows with a banging headache.
My band and I aren’t even strangers to touring in an environment of terror. Just over a month after September 11th, 2001, we played in Times Square, downtown Manhattan, New York City (a lot of bands, especially European bands, cancelled tours of the States around that time, and I didn’t blame them — it was a seriously heavy time to be in America). But such is the life of a touring musician, so something really, really serious has to occur to make us cancel. And something really, really serious (and utterly heartbreaking) did occur in Paris, prompting several bands to go home early or cancel upcoming tours. I couldn’t blame them. But my band didn’t leave — we paid attention to what was going on, evaluated the situation the best we could, and decided to continue on with the tour. Despite some obvious concerns, it felt like the right thing to do.
Sitting in a hotel room in London, as I followed along in real time during the tragic massacre in Paris at Bataclan I could see the layout of the club in my mind, and I thought, ‘That is a terrible spot to be trapped in like that (which, of course, is exactly why the gunmen chose it). God help those people inside.’ It was sickening to me that people were dying just because they wanted to see a rock show, and what made it worse was that I could clearly envision it happening as it went down; I’d played that club several times before.
Eighty-nine people died in Bataclan that night, including one individual known to several crew members of our tour. The next day, the mood was serious before the gig, but all the bands got up and played their hearts out. It felt like the right thing to do, to try and raise people’s spirits. From the stage, I told the audience to try not to be consumed by hatred or to live in fear….
Then the band and crew flew to Stuttgart, Germany. We had originally planned to ride the ferry from Dover, England to Calais, France and from there make our way to Germany, but after the bombings and shootings in Paris, the French government shut the borders, and we figured either the ferry wouldn’t be available or it would just be a complete security nightmare, so we spent money on flights. Imagine my surprise when I talked to our bus driver the day of our gig in Stuttgart, asking him how crowded and hectic the ferry ride was. ‘Oh, no, it was almost empty,’ he said. ‘And when we got to France, we were just waved in — there were no cops there at the border or anywhere in sight.’ Umm… okay. That seemed just a little loose to me, given that just three days previously men who had traveled from a nearby different country had blown themselves up in Paris after massacring over 100 human beings, but I’m no security expert, so what do I know, right?
Right before I walked onstage in Stuttgart, I saw on the news that they evacuated a soccer stadium north of us in Hannover, Germany due to threat of explosives. I didn’t exactly feel relaxed going onstage that night, but it turned out to be a great gig, despite once again me having to stop the show so another injured crowd member could get wheeled out to an ambulance..And so we continued on through mainland Europe to Tilburg, Netherlands. Once again, it felt like the right thing to do.
I woke up in a great mood around 1 or 2 p.m. on the day of the Tilburg show (I like Holland, and always enjoy my time there), went into the venue, ate lunch and began looking online to see if there was a camera store nearby. Sometime later that afternoon, soon before the band was scheduled to soundcheck, our tour manager called us together, closed the dressing room door, and said, ‘I’ve got some news, and it’s not good.’ He then informed us of a specific occurrence that made me immediately say, ‘F–k this, I’m not going on that stage tonight.’ At that moment, it no longer felt like the right thing to do anymore, not at all. It did not feel like the right thing to still stand on stage and tell people, ‘Don’t worry about it. Come on in and enjoy yourselves. There’s no need for concern.’ It did not feel like the right thing — not for myself, not for the people I employ, and not for our fans. Things had quickly changed — it felt foolish, it felt irresponsible, and it felt potentially very, very dangerous.
As I mentioned earlier, I do not wish to add more rumors or speculation to an already tense and constantly shifting situation in Europe, so I won’t go into details. Suffice it to say, this new specific piece of information (not some nebulous news story about the generally pensive atmosphere pervading Europe at the time) gave me enough to pause to think, ‘I am not going to chance endangering the lives of myself, my crew, and the 1,800 or so fans expected to show up this evening by going on with this show. I can’t tell these people they are safe in here. It does not feel right, screw this, I’m out of here.’ Furthermore, what I had just been told made me think, ‘Even if it’s nothing tonight, I’m not going to go through this every day. Our job is done here for now. It’s time to go home…That was my judgment call. I stand by it…
Shortly after our tour manager told the club manager we had decided not to play, the venue put a press release saying the gig was cancelled, and our crew began to pack up everything onstage. The doors never opened to the general public, and I feel very, very good about being part of the decision that caused that. Why? Because, aside from some grumpy fans’s feelings, no one got hurt that night…Maybe cancelling the gig was all for nothing. But maybe not. And if things had gone badly, afterwards while I sat talking to the cops (because in all probability, once guns started going off, I would have made it out the nearby back exit while the fans and maybe some of my crew got stuck inside and gunned downed or blown to bits like those poor people in Paris), I would have said to myself, ‘You got some specific information. You knew there was something potentially sketchy. You didn’t feel right about this. Why didn’t you just cancel the show, you stupid, selfish, idiot?’
…I hope that the situation in Europe and everywhere else calms down, posthaste (and yes, I know that an attack could occur in America — obviously, I’d feel better about being at home to help deal with it the best I could, or at the very least die on my native soil). I hope no one else dies anywhere on the planet (and this is a global problem) because some misguided maniacs with suicide vests and Kalashnikovs decide to martyr themselves over their twisted interpretation of divine will. But yesterday at least 21 people died in Mali during a hostage situation at the hands of terrorists, and as I write this, Milan, Italy (where we were booked in three days) is on high alert. And the city of Brussels (where we were scheduled to play next week) has been placed on the highest possible alert, with governmental officials telling people to avoid high concentration areas like sporting events, train depots, airports, and… concerts. Downtown is basically shut down, and I’m more than happy we won’t be filling a concert venue there (or any other place at the moment) for something to potentially go terribly, terribly wrong. The way I feel, to do so at this particular time seems not only risky to myself, but irresponsible to our crew and fans…
…one typical and very widespread online reaction I saw (and was completely baffled by) was, ‘ISIS wins! By not playing, they are letting ISIS win!’
‘By not playing, they are letting ISIS win’? People, do you have any idea of how colossally stupid this sounds? Please crawl out of the hive mind echo chamber for a second and try to use your own head for a change. These are ROCK BANDS trying to play a gig without being gunned down onstage, not Navy SEALS assaulting a mountain stronghold in the Hindu Kush. You aren’t going to stop a bullet with a ripping guitar solo — Jimi f–king Hendrix couldn’t do that, even if he resurrected and came back to rock Europe one more time…Almost 100 people died horrific deaths just over a week ago, screaming with terror as they were gunned down like fish in a barrel simply because they were crammed into a club trying to have a good time at a rock show. These were real human beings, not blips in a Twitter feed. Tragically, more people might die before it’s over. I hope not, but overall the situation in Europe doesn’t look good at this second.
I encourage those of you who don’t agree with my assessment of the situation to immediately book a ticket to Belgium, walk around with picket signs in front of Ancienne Belgique (the club we were booked to play in Brussels) and yell at them about how they aren’t properly fighting terrorism by closing their doors. I’m sure your presence there will do the people of Brussels a ton of good…
…Right now, several of my friends remain in Europe on tour. I hope they have good gigs, I hope they stay safe over there, and I hope (most importantly) that they return home safely to their loved ones. It is their decision to stay, and I respect that.
…I honestly hope we cancelled a tour for absolutely nothing, so that people can point their fat little fingers at this later and laugh their heads off at my unwarranted concerns. I would rather be ridiculed by the entire online virtual peanut gallery of pinheads than take chances on myself or anyone else getting hurt or killed (and yes, I include even the dummies who are mad and still can’t understand why we cancelled) because I ignored what I felt was the smartest move given our circumstances.
I can deal with people disagreeing with me and my actions, no problem. I could not deal with a news story that reads, ‘Hundreds die at LAMB OF GOD concert; authorities say potential warning signs were ignored by band.’ Then people would have something of actual consequence to bitch about, not a few cancelled heavy metal concerts. ‘How could those fucking American morons play a show when they thought something might happen? Why didn’t they cancel? Now there are dead people everywhere. What a bunch of ASSHOLES.’ No thanks. Better safe than on CNN.
Y’all stay safe, and let’s hope this mess gets sorted out soon.
Anthrax have released a live stream of their classic tack Madhouse. It was recorded at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza in 1987 and features on their Spreading The Disease: 30th Anniversary Remastered Edition, out now. Listen to it below.
Drummer Charlie Benante said, “We wanted to do something special for our fans to celebrate the anniversary of Spreading the Disease. We took the idea to Universal a couple of years ago and have been very hands-on with them, creating this special, deluxe edition that we think our fans will really like.”
Anthrax will release their 11th studio album entitled For All Kings on February 26th. The band will also be hitting the road briefly in October, and will then tour the States with Lamb of God, beginning in January. Click here to view band’s itinerary.
Spreading The Disease: 30th Anniversary Remasted Edition tracklist:
Disc 1:
1. A.I.R.
2. Lone Justice
3. Madhouse
4. S.S.D./Stand Or Fall
5. The Enemy
6. Aftershock
7. Armed And Dangerous
8. Medusa
9. Gung-Ho
10. Medusa (Joey Belladonna demo)
Disc 2:
1. A.I.R. (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
2. Metal Thrashing Mad (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
3. The Enemy (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
4. Madhouse (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
5. Howling Furies (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
6. Armed And Dangerous (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
7. Gung-Ho (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
8. Soldiers of Metal (Live at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza, 1987)
9. Lone Justice (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
10. Gung-Ho (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
11. Metal Thrashing Mad (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
12. Raise Hell (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
13. Stand Or Fall (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
14. Aftershock (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
15. Armed And Dangerous (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
16. Madhouse (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
17. The Enemy (Rhythm track tape, 1984)
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