Jake E Lee admits he’d welcome the money associated with rejoining Ozzy Osbourne’s band, but he doesn’t think it would be possible to agree on artistic terms.
The guitarist, who appeared on the Black Sabbath frontman’s albums Bark At The Moon and The Ultimate Sin in the mid-80s, spent the past two decades out of the limelight before returning last year with new band Red Dragon Cartel.
He’s been invited to take up his old position with Ozzy a number of times. Asked whether he would finally accept, Lee first tells Metalshrine, “I don’t think so. I did that for four years and it was a great time in my life. I played the first Rock In Rio in front of, like, 500,000 people. I played the US festival which was 300,000 people. I played all over the world. It was a wonderful time for me – but I did that. It would be like trying to relive my glory days, and I don’t feel the need to do that. Musically, I just wanna go where I feel I need to go. It would be like taking a step backwards.”
However, Lee goes on to reconsider his position, stating, “I would think about it. Obviously the money would be good. Although I never ever preface any decision I make musically on money, I’m not opposed to it – as long as I can do it with some integrity.”
But he continues, “I don’t think it would ever happen, because artistically I don’t think we could ever come to terms.”
Red Dragon Cartel’s self-titled debut album is released on January 27th through Frontiers Records. The band will play this year’s Download festival at Donington in June.
Little Caesar have confirmed the departure of guitarist Joey Brasier as a result of scheduling problems. He has been replaced by Joey Malone ahead of the band’s UK tour in April.
In a statement, Little Caesar says “Due to conflicts and complications in our upcoming tour schedule, Joey Brasler will no longer be a member of Little Caesar. We will be eternally grateful for his contributions over the last four years in creating great music. Replacing Joey Brasler will be Joey Malone, who has made music with the likes of Steven Tyler, Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp. The four original members are excited about him joining our family for our UK and Europe tours, as well as future recordings.”
Little Caesar’s most recent album was 2012′s American Dream, including lead track Dirty Water (see below). The band return to the UK in April:
Apr 4: Swansea Sin City
Apr 8: Wolverhampton Slade Rooms
Apr 9: Newcastle Cluny
Apr 10: Glasgow Stereo
Apr 11: Sheffield Corporation
Apr 12: London Underworld
Manowar have revealed the front cover of their upcoming double album Kings Of Metal MMXIV, an evolution of the original 1988 cover by Ken Kelly (see below).
“Ken has always been able to perfectly capture the essence of Manowar in his art. These covers, the two new ones and the one he created in 1988, visualize what Manowar, our music and our fans stand for! Just look at these paintings and the story they tell: People have tried to
keep this warrior down, attacked him and attempted to destroy him. But he stood tall, no matter what! He fought for true metal in country
after country. And he will continue the march and fight for his brothers and sisters all over the world, until all enemies of true metal have been crushed!” explained Joey DeMaio.
“This collaboration has been an incredible experience once again,”said Ken Kelly. “We didn’t know where the journey would lead us. The art literally takes over and the music and the lyrics guide us. I truly believe the Manowar fans are going to love this series.”
Kings of Metal MMXIV is a completely new recording, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of Kings Of Metal.
The Kings of Metal release in 1988 and the following world tour in 1989 catapulted Manowar into a new sphere. Songs like Heart of Steel, Kings of Metal, Hail and Kill, and Blood of the Kings became instant classics, celebrated since by metal fans all over the world.
For Kings Of Metal MMXIV, Manowar have recorded these timeless metal anthems with new arrangements and their signature “larger than life” sound that sealed their place in heavy metal history.
The album will feature nine main songs, plus 10 bonus tracks with over 45 minutes of additional music.
The spoken word track The Warrior’s Prayer MMXIV features celebrated British actor Brian Blessed, a renowned Shakespeare and
character actor who has starred, among others, in Kenneth Brannagh’s Henry V, in King Lear, and as Prince Vultan in the cult movie Flash Gordon.
Kings Of Metal MMXIV will be released in retail on February 28th as a two Disc CD with two 24-page booklets and new cover art by legendary fantasy artist and longtime collaborator Ken Kelly, and will also be available as a digital double album.
The Kings Of Metal MMXIV world tour, featuring the complete new album and many other classics in a completely new stage production starts on February 7th with a long-anticipated U.S. tour and will then resume on March 18th in Europe. All tour dates can be found at manowar.com/tour.
Kings Of Metal MMXIV Track List (not final):
Disc 1:
Blood Of The Kings MMXIV
Hail And Kill MMXIV
Heart Of Steel MMXIV
Kingdom Come MMXIV
Kings Of Metal MMXIV
Sting Of The Bumblebee MMXIV
The Crown And The Ring MMXIV (Orchestral Version)
The Warrior’s Prayer MMXIV
Wheels Of Fire MMXIV
Bonus Tracks:
Heart Of Steel MMXIV (Guitar Instrumental)
The Crown And The Ring MMXIV (Metal Version)
Disc 2:
Bonus Tracks:
Blood Of The Kings MMXIV (Instrumental)
Hail And Kill MMXIV (Instrumental)
Heart Of Steel MMXIV (Acoustic Intro)
Heart Of Steel MMXIV (Orchestral Intro)
Heart Of Steel MMXIV (Instrumental)
Kingdom Come MMXIV (Instrumental)
Kings Of Metal MMXIV (Instrumental)
Wheels Of Fire MMXIV (Instrumental)
Kings Of Metal MMXIV World Tour – Confirmed Tour Dates:
Fri, February 7, 2014 – Royal Oak Theatre – Royal Oak, MI, USA
Sat, February 8, 2014 – Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL, USA
Sun, February 9, 2014 – Mill City – Minneapolis, MN, USA
Thur, February 13, 2014 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA, USA
Sat, February 15, 2014 – House Of Blues – Houston, TX, USA
Sun, February 16, 2014 – House Of Blues – Dallas, TX, USA
Tue, February 18, 2014 – Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO, USA
Thur, February 20, 2014 – Regency Theatre – San Francisco, CA, USA
Sat, February 22, 2014 – Fox Theatre – Pomona, CA, USA
Tue, March 18, 2014 – Olymp Palace of Sports – Krasnodar, Russia
Fri, March 21, 2014 – Luzhniki Palace of Sports – Moscow, Russia
Sun, March 23, 2014 – Yubileyny Sports Palace – St. Petersburg,
Russia
Tue, March 25, 2014 – Rock Café – Tallinn, Estonia – SOLD OUT
Thur, March 27, 2014 – Rock Café – Tallinn, Estonia – SOLD OUT
Sat, March 29, 2014 – Teatro Arena – Vilnius, Lithuania
Sat, May 17, 2014 – Spodek – Katowice, Poland
Wed, May 21, 2014 – Hangar 11 – Tel Aviv, Israel
Sat, May 24, 2014 – Metal Summer Festival – Istanbul, Turkey
Fri-Sun, June 13-15, 2014 – Legacy Open Air – Weismain, Germany
Fri-Sat, July 25-26, 2014 – Magic Circle Festival – Helsinki, Finland
Wed, January 14, 2015 – Grugahalle – Essen, Germany
Fri, January 16, 2015 – Zenith – Munich, Germany
Sat, January 17, 2015 – Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett tells Billboard that the quartet will start working on the follow-up to 2008’s Death Magnetic “in a couple of weeks. When we start, that’s going to be our main priority, and we’re pretty excited about it because we’ve been saying we need to start working on this album, but we’ve been procrastinating greatly with it. We’ve pretty much come up with every sort of excuse we can not to start work on the album, but we’ve run out of excuses, so we pretty much have to start work on it now.”
Some of the foot-dragging, Hammett says, is the idea of facing a plethora of musical ideas the group has assembled. “We’re a band that never has a shortage of ideas,” he notes. “You hear about these bands that are sitting in the studio and they don’t have any songs, what are they gonna do? That’s not Metallica. Metallica’s problem is the total opposite. We have too many ideas. James (Hetfield) has, like, 800 ideas. I have 400. Those number alone are just crazy. That’s formidable.”
Hammett is also preparing for Metallica’s Grammy appearance, during which the group will perform its 1988 single One with Lang Lang on January 26th. “That’s going to be really interesting,” Hammett says. “It’s going to be an arrangement that highlights some of Lang Lang’s playing, but we’re not lightening up the song just for him. We’re still hanging onto all the heavy parts. He’s just an amazing pianist; at one point he’s going to be, like, weaving in and out of my guitar solo and playing parts of my guitar solo with me. I’ve never, ever experienced that before with anyone we’ve ever played with, so I’m going to be pretty psyched to be playing with him, to say the least. It’s gonna be amazing.”
Lynch Mob will rock the west coast in February, delivering classic favorites and tracks from the latest record while introducing a new vocalist for the diversely-pedigreed band.
The current version of Lynch Mob is an unusual combination of rock backgrounds. Bassist Kevin Baldes is an original member of the Orange County alternative rock band Lit. Lit’s platinum album A Place In The Sun spawned three top ten hits including My Own Worst Enemy. He’s also played with Sugarcult, Mest and Good Man Down. Jimmy D’Anda is on drums, with L.A. based rock band BulletBoys and their hit Smooth Up In Ya he earned a Gold album and toured the world with rock’s biggest acts.
Being introduced on this tour is new vocalist Thadeus Gonzalez. With Oakland-based Electric Sister, Gonzalez enjoyed critical acclaim from not only the release of The Lost Art Of Rock & Roll, but also supporting gigs with KISS/Motley Crue, Slash, Black Label Society, and Danko Jones. He’s been called “a frontman to watch” and “a definitive rock ‘n’ roll voice”.
For twelve years with Dokken, George Lynch was able to develop a groundbreaking brand of guitar virtuoso that would also earn a Grammy nomination. In the early 1990s Lynch launched his own project, Lynch Mob, which harnessed the talent of rock’s best players and released several well-received records, from 1990s Wicked Sensation to the most recent Unplugged: Live From Sugarhill Studios. Songs like Wicked Sensation, River of Love and Tangled In The Web have solidified George Lynch’s position on Guitar World’s list of Greatest Guitarists Of All Time. Live, Lynch Mob is described as desert-infused blues-based rock with a penchant for extended improvising, harkening back to the glorious jam days of the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Lynch’s current work also includes the film Shadow Nation, which explores a hybrid way of life, merging modern society with the ancient practices of people who have lived in harmony with the land for thousands of years — native American Indians. The film reveals its message through the journey of a group of renowned musical artists as they share their rock music on a road trip through Indian reservations of the southwest. He has also teamed with Arcane Inc. to create a new signature series of Mr. Scary guitar pickups.
Lynch Mob Wynter 2014 tour dates:
02/13 Vamp’d – Las Vegas, NV
02/14 Whisky A Go Go – Hollywood CA
02/15 Brick By Brick – San Diego CA
02/19 El Corazon – Seattle WA
02/20 Tonic Lounge – Portland OR
02/21 The Boardwalk – Orangevale CA
02/22 M15 Concert Bar – Corona CA
02/23 910 Live – Tempe AZ
In its eighth year, Columbus, Ohio’s Rock on the Range festival has expanded to a full three-day lineup, with Guns N’ Roses, Avenged Sevenfold and Kid Rock serving as the 2014 headliners. The festival will be taking place from May 16th-18th at Columbus Crew Stadium.
“We are so honored to be headlining Rock on the Range,” says Avenged Sevenfold leader M. Shadows in a statement. “We take pride in our show and always try to outdo ourselves from the time before. Rock on the Range will be the perfect place to celebrate with our fans from all over the world and put on the killer show that they have come to expect from us. We are pulling out all the stops.”
Tickets for Rock on the Range go on sale on Friday, Jan. 24th at 10:00 am ET.
Rock on the Range 2014 lineup:
Guns N’ Roses
Avenged Sevenfold
Kid Rock
Five Finger Death Punch
Slayer
Staind
Motorhead
Seether
Chevelle
Alter Bridge
Mastodon
Black Label Society
Killswitch Engage
Bring Me The Horizon
Theory of a Deadman
Down
Black Stone Cherry
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience
Pop Evil
Of Mice & Men
Adelitas Way
Trivium
Gojira
Suicidal Tendencies
The Pretty Reckless
We Came as Romans
Fuel
Redlight King
Miss May I
Reignwolf
Thousand Foot Krutch
Texas Hippie Coalition
Rev Theory
Skindred
Kyng
Fozzy
Heaven’s Basement
Butcher Babies
Nothing More
Exodus
King 810
Devour the Day
We As Human
We Are Harlot
Kvelertak
Jim Breuer Band
One OK Rock
Twelve Foot Ninja
Avatar
WERM
Monster Truck
Wilson
Crobot
Truckfighters
Jake E Lee admits he’d welcome the money associated with rejoining Ozzy Osbourne’s band, but he doesn’t think it would be possible to agree on artistic terms.
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