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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

JOEL HOEKSTRA’S 13 RELEASES LYRIC VIDEO FOR “ANYMORE” FROM THE FORTHCOMING ALBUM, “DYING TO LIVE”

As previously reported, current Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra will be releasing a new studio album Dying To Live from his electrifying new side project, Joel Hoekstra’s 13, on October 16th. Hoekstra had released a lyric video for the song, Anymore, which you can be viewed below.

Hoekstra told Ultimate Classic Rock, “I was born on the 13th and I got married on the 13th — it’s always been a number that’s appealed to me,” he says. “It has the lucky and unlucky connotations, and a lot of this album is about that type of stuff, just life and struggles within life. It just seemed appropriate for the title of the side project. I’ve had three solo albums out already that were all instrumental and focused more on my guitar playing. So this was an interesting thing for me.”

“I wanted to write a record that just sounded like a band,” he continues. “But the reality of it, it was like, Well, okay, I’m [still] doing all of the writing and producing this, so it seemed appropriate to give it a new side project name, so Joel Hoekstra’s 13 is essentially the name of my rock side project.”

To read more about this release, see a track listing and to view an electronic press kit, please click here.

IRON MAIDEN RELEASE A VIDEO FOR “SPEED OF LIGHT” FROM “BOOK OF SOULS,” WATCH IT HERE

Iron Maiden have released a video for the song Speed Of Light from their forthcoming double-length album, The Book Of Souls, out September 4th.

The video is a “homage” to four decades of video gaming juxta-posed alongside Iron Maiden’s 40 years of incredible visual canon centering on their talisman, Eddie as he travels through space & time to complete his Herculean task. Watch it below.

Dickinson says, “We recorded it at Guillame Tell Studios in Paris, where we’d done the Brave New World album in 2000, so the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there. By the time we’d finished we all agreed that each track was such an integral part of the whole body of work that if it needed to be a double album, then double it was going to be.”

Bassist Steve Harris adds, “We approached this album in a different way to how we’ve recorded previously. A lot of the songs were actually written while we were there in the studio. We rehearsed and recorded them straight away while they were still fresh – and I think that immediacy really shows. They have almost a live feel to them, I think. I’m very proud of The Book Of Souls. We all are, and we can’t wait for our fans to hear it when we take it out on the road next year.”

The album will be available in standard 2CD, deluxe hardbound 2CD, heavyweight triple-vinyl, standard and hi-res audio. Tour details will be confirmed in due course. Harris hits the road with solo band British Lion in July.

The Book Of Souls tracklist:

Disc 1:

If Eternity Should Fail (Dickinson) 8:28
Speed Of Light (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:01
The Great Unknown (Smith/ Harris) 6:37
The Red And The Black (Harris) 13:33
When The River Runs Deep (Smith/ Harris) 5:52
The Book Of Souls (Gers/ Harris) 10:27

Disc 2:

Death Or Glory (Smith/ Dickinson) 5:13
Shadows Of The Valley (Gers/ Harris) 7:32
Tears Of A Clown (Smith/ Harris) 4:59
The Man Of Sorrows (Murray/ Harris) 6:28
Empire Of The Clouds (Dickinson) 18:01