Author Archives : Dana

GUITARIST DOUG ALDRICH JOINS GLENN HUGHES’ SOLO BAND

Glenn Hughes says Doug Aldrich was the only man for the job when he needed to recruit a guitar player for his solo band.

The former Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Country Communion and California Breed singer hits the road for a UK tour in October, starting at Norwich Waterfront on the 19th. It comes at the tail end of a wider European run.

Hughes’ longstanding drummer Pontus Engborg is onboard for the tour, and the vocalist was thrilled to secure ex-Whitesnake axeman Aldrich to replace Soren Andersen.

As he releases the first image of the lineup, Hughes tells TeamRock, “I felt it was time for me to start touring with my solo band. I called Pontus and Soren, but Soren had made a contractual commitment to do an autumn tour in Scandinavia, so I had to find a replacement.

There was only one man on my mind – Doug Aldrich. I’ve known Doug from his time with Ronnie Dio, and of course Whitesnake. Doug played with me on a couple of Purple songs at a festival the night before Ronnie passed away. We had great chemistry and talked about playing together again.

Doug is a welcome addition to my band, is a dear friend, both loving and nurturing, and is a rock phenomenon. I’m beyond grateful to return to a solo band touring cycle that will see me travel across many continents these next 12 months. See you down the front.”

source: classicrock.teamrock.com

MOTORHEAD TO RECEIVE L.A. CITY COUNCIL HONOR AUGUST 26TH NEW ALBUM “BAD MAGIC” COMING AUGUST 28TH

Grammy Award winning iconic rock band Motörhead, will be honored by the Los Angeles City Council on August 26th in celebration of their 40 year anniversary and the upcoming release of their new album Bad Magic. Councilmember José Huizar will be conducting the honor which will take place at 10:00am at the council chambers at city hall.

Bad Magic is the band’s 22nd studio album and is slated to be released August 28th via UDR Music/Motörhead Music. The album was recorded at NRG Studios in Los Angeles, CA with long-time producer Cameron Webb. Bad Magic is the follow up to the band’s highly successful album Aftershock which saw Motörhead enjoy their most successful year yet, including a fourth Grammy nomination.

To read more about Bad Magic, click here.

ORIGINAL BLACK SABBATH DRUMMER BILL WARD SAYS HE’S “VERY SAD” ABOUT HIS RIFT WITH HIS FORMER BANDMATES

Bill Ward has described his estrangement from Black Sabbath as “very sad” and repeated his demands for an apology from Ozzy Osbourne.

The drummer is locked in a war of words with Osbourne which seems unlikely to be resolved. Ward says he still needs a “signable contract” and a full, public apology before he’ll consider a return to the band. He also adds that the impasse is leaving him sad and frustrated.

When asked if he could play with Sabbath again, Ward tells 106.5 WSFL, “If everybody could get on the same page – my page. I’ve been quite pronounced about my page, which is a signable contract and an apology over certain issues that Ozzy said about me that weren’t true.

He said these things at the public level, so I’d like him to publicly apologize. He’s already responded to that, saying that’ll never happen. So, as long as that’ll never happen, then I probably won’t be joining the band in 2016.”

He adds “I’m very, very sad by all the fan reactions and the way that things have split and gone different ways and everything else. It’s not nice at all to be in this position, and it’s not an easy responsibility for me to maintain when uncountable amounts of people are angry with my decision-making process.”

Ward insists he’d love to get back behind the kit for Sabbath should they go back on the road.

He says, “It’s very sad, but I would love to. If we could get past everything, and everything else, I would love to be a part of it. You know, I love the guys. I mean, I still love Ozzy. Just because we have a disagreement, or there’s a disagreement on the table, I still love him very much.”

additional source: classicrock.teamrock.com

FORMER RAINBOW FRONTMAN JOE LYNN TURNER SAYS “I HAVE NO LOVE ANYMORE FOR THE UNITED STATES”

Former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner was interviewed at a press conference in Russian-annexed Crimea, where he was performing. At the conference, the singer praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and said he has “no love anymore for the United States.” Read select quotes from the conference below as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net.

Turner said he that he might settle down in another country ruled by an authoritarian leader — Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. He said he was considering moving to Belarus “if Lukashenka lets me in.”

“I just might apply for citizenship, because I have no — truth be told — I have no love anymore for the United States, really,” Joe said. “I don’t like the administrations, I don’t like what’s going on, I don’t like the lies to the people… I don’t like anything. It’s not the country… my father’s country. When there was opportunity, when there was truth — some truth anyway — I think…”

He continued, “You might see this. This is a pin of Putin. [points to his pin] Why? Why? I don’t wear this to placate you. The word [placate] means to impress you. I don’t. I wear it, because I believe it.

I’ve listened to every leader in the world. The only one who’s telling the truth is Putin. So I think there’s a very good question for me personally, because, as I have said already, there’s a house being built in Belarus and perhaps an apartment in Moscow. I’m thinking about it. I have some very, very important friends there who I love very much, and I think I have found a new life and a new home. And that is ‘pravda’ [Russian word for ‘truth’]; that is the truth.”

Turner is married to Maya Kozyreva, a lawyer from Minsk, the capital of Belarus. “She is my greatest asset in life. She’s my angel,” he told Guitar World in 2012.

A video from the press conference appears below.

KING’S X REISSUE “GRETCHEN GOES TO NEBRASKA” AND “FAITH HOPE LOVE” ON CD AND VINYL

Progressive masters King’s X have re-released two of their classic albums. Gretchen Goes to Nebraska and Faith Hope Love are both available now through Metal Blade Records on indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords.

The band’s second studio album, 1989’s Gretchen Goes to Nebraska, is based loosely on a short story by drummer Jerry Gaskill and is considered a landmark album. The album contains many fan favorites such as the power ballad Summerland, Mission, and The Burning Down. The song Pleiades is credited by Ty Tabor as being the genesis of the King’s X sound when he presented the demo to the other band members a few years earlier. Significantly, the song Over My Head received considerable play on MTV and radio, and ultimately set the band up for broader success on subsequent albums.

In 1990, King’s X released Faith Hope Love. At the time, it was band’s highest charting release and it broke into the Billboard Top 100. Led by the radio hit It’s Love, King’s X garnered well deserved success on the U.S. singles chart hitting #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their highest chart position. Faith Hope Love proved to be King’s X’s most commercially successful album, reaching gold status in the U.S.

For more information about King’s X, visit their official website at, kingsxrocks.com.

SEVEN WITCHES ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM, “THE WAY OF THE WICKED”

Led by guitarist Jack Frost, Seven Witches has been one of America’s best classic 80’s-inspired metal bands – specializing in American traditional power metal, reminiscent of bands such as Helstar, Manowar, and Metal Church. And on September 18th, the group will be issuing their latest album, The Way of the Wicked, through the ILS Group (and mixed and mastered by Joey Vera of Armored Saint and Fates Warning), which has been preceded by a video for a standout album track, Better Days. Watch the video below.

Comprised of Frost on guitar (Savatage, Belladonna, The Bronx Casket Co. Metalium, Speeed), Anthony Cross on vocals (Livesay, Shadow Image, Fischel’s Beast, Attacker), Ronnie Parkes on bass (Farcry, Cleavage, Tango Down, Reece, Bonfire), and Johnny Kelly on drums (Type O Negative, Danzig, Pale Horse Named Death, Seventh Void, Kill Devil Hill), Seven Witches certainly possesses one of the most impressive pedigrees of any metal band past or present.

And the metal community is taking notice of the band, as evidenced by over 3,000 “likes” on the band’s Facebook page, while the metal-archives.com praised the group’s earlier album, Call Upon the Wicked, by saying, “This is a must-own in all facets, and if the true meaning of power metal is ever in question during your moments of introspection this will shut tight any doors leading you astray, that I can guarantee.”

Soon, the rest of the world will get to experience the mighty metal of Seven Witches.

“Hey everybody, so pumped on our new release. I’m so proud of the way the guys just killed it on this album. Our first single and video is a fresh start for us. A true classic heavy rock feel with the rhythm section of the ’70s and a throaty vocal feel. Hope you all like this I’m so happy with our new vibe.” –J Frost

The Way of the Wicked track listing:

The Way Of The Wicked
Better Days
Among Us
Soul Searching
Dreams
Without Man
When I Flew
Angel Of Salvation
Rise Up