Eagle Rock Entertainment has pushed back the release date of Def Leppard’s London To Vegas to May 29th from the previously announced April 24th.
Def Leppard write in a statement, “Due to the current situation regarding COVID-19, we have decided to postpone the release date of all the London To Vegas formats to May 29th. Stay safe, and keep on rockin’.”
The London To Vegas limited-edition 2Blu-ray+4CD, 2DVD+4CD, DVD/Blu-ray+2CD and digital format release features two spectacular concert films: Hysteria At The O2 and Hits Vegas, Live At Planet Hollywood.
To read more details about this release, and to view the trailer, please click here.
Lynch Mob — featuring guitarist George Lynch and lead vocalist Oni Logan — is in the process of re-recording its debut album, Wicked Sensation, for the its 30th anniversary.
The news of was revealed by current Lynch Mob drummer, Brian Tichy. Speaking about how the coronavirus pandemic affected his touring activities, he told MA Entertainment Global (as per blabbermouth.net), “I’ve been playing this year with George Lynch and his Lynch Mob band. And we had tour dates being added pretty consistently. We just started up in February. It’s like the 30th-anniversary tour of his first record, and [we’re] playing the record in its entirety. So we made up new merch with that — t-shirts — and the show is based around the first record. And we’re doing a re-record of the whole first record — sort of a revisioned, reimagined take on that first record, ‘Wicked Sensation. Which we’re doing now — now we’re just moving faster on that.
Luckily, between myself, and George Lynch, and the Foreigner bass player Jeff Pilson, who was also in Dokken with George back in the day, we all live up here in the same town, and we all have our own home studios,” he added. “Jeff’s 10 minutes down the road from me, and George is another 10-15 minutes away. So between our three studios, there’s about four projects between the two of them that I’m playing on. So we’re doing that all now. Instead of it being stuff that would happen throughout the year, we’re sticking it all in this chunk of time right now, and we’ll make the most of it.”
Wicked Sensation was originally released on October 29th, 1990 on Elektra Records. The album had two successful singles, with River Of Love climbing to the #19 spot on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart as well as Wicked Sensation reaching #31 on that chart.
The 1990 recording line-up was:
Vocals: Oni Logan Guitar: George Lynch Bass: Anthony Esposito Drums: “Wild” Mick Brown
The Mitch Perry Group today released its debut song and video Believe from their upcoming debut album, Music Box, scheduled to be released on April 6th.
Mitch Perry said “We chose this song to release because of its message in these difficult times. We hope this brings light into these dark times and reminds us we are all in this together.”
Believe features seasoned rock veterans guitarist Mitch Perry (The Sweet, Michael Schenker Group, Edgar Winter, Lita Ford), vocalist Keith England (The Gregg Allman Band, Montrose), bassist Dan McNay (Jack Russells Great White, Montrose), drummer Tal Bergman (Joe Bonamassa), keyboardist Ed Roth (Annie Lennox), keyboardist Dave Schulz (Goo Goo Dolls, Berlin), saxophonist Katja Rieckermann (Rod Stewart), violinist Eliza James (Burt Bacharach), Shelly Bonet (vocals), Kara Turner (vocals), Steve Aguilar (keys), Jt Thomas (keys), Doug Pettibone (slide guitar, pedal steel guitar), Anne King (trumpet), Kevin Torfe (cello) and Shaun Williamson (background vocals).
Vandenberg returns with a new lineup, and studio album titled 2020, which will be released on May 29th through Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group. Led by master guitarist Adrian Vandenberg, the Dutch foursome released three quality albums during the early to mid-’80s, namely, the self-titled 1982 debut (spawning the U.S. hit single Burning Heart), Heading For A Storm (1983) and Alibi (1985). They achieved commercial success and earned much acclaim. The band toured the U.S., Japan and Europe playing with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, KISS, Rush, Scorpions, Micheal Schenker and more.
Subsequently, the guitarist has had an impressive career. He was a member of Whitesnake for 13 years at the height of their fame, contributing the solo on their No. 1 hit Here I Go Again. He spent many years duelling with Steve Vai on guitar and has returned for many reunions. He was part of supergroup Manic Eden, and more recently released a number of albums with Vadenberg’s Moonkings.
The guitarist pulled a master stroke by bringing in Chilean-born Ronnie Romero on vocals, a singer who forged a formidable reputation over past years with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow.
“I needed an incredible singer in order to make the use of the Vandenberg name make sense and Ronnie more than fits the bill,” Adrian said. “We got chatting through Facebook, and I asked him if he’d be interested in being in the band. It turns out he is a big fan, as I am of him, so we met in Madrid, where he lives, to see if we could get along, and we really connected.
As soon as I knew Ronnie was on board, I wrote the songs to suit Ronnie’s amazing vocal capabilities,” he continued. “We then met up again in Madrid to demo songs using my iPad, which is the way I do things.”
Romero himself recalls the importance of Adrian Vandenberg on his career, “The reason why I started singing when I was in my teens is when I heard the live acoustic album ‘Starkers In Tokyo’ by David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg. So, you can imagine that I am very excited and honored to be the vocalist for the band Vandenberg.”
The rhythm section for the new lineup features bassist Randy Van Der Elsen (of NWOBHM heroes TANK) and drummer Koen Herfst (Bobby Kimball Epica and Doro). Vandenberg says, “Koen has been voted Holland’s best hard rock drummer now for several years. He has the sort of fire in his belly that would make any greats such as John Bonhamand Ian Paice smile. Randy was highly recommended to me and has a lot of experience. Like Koen, he is a brilliant musician.” There are also two celebrated guests on the album, namely bassist Rudy Sarzo (Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Dio) and drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Foreigner, Billy Idol).
2020 was produced by Bob Marlette (Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie). Vandenberg explains the choice, “I went to Los Angeles to meet a few potential producers. Bob was one of these, and his melodic-yet-hard-rocking approach fitted in well with what I was after and we had a great connection right away. We spent three weeks working at Bob’s own studio in L.A., and then I spent a little more time finishing things at my home studio.”
The complete track listing includes Shadows of the Night, Freight Train, Hell And High Water, Let It Rain, Ride Like The Wind, Shout, Sh-tstorm, Light Up The Sky, Burning Heart – 2020 and Skyfall. The album will be available as a limited CD box set, on LP, and via digital alongside all streaming services.
While nine of the songs here were freshly written by Vandenberg himself, there’s one track that will be familiar to all fans. This is a new rendering of Burning Heart, perhaps the band’s most famous anthem. What Vandenberg offer throughout the album is melody, drive, power and class. “Fasten your seat belts, just when you thought all was safe, Vandenberg are back!'” the guitarist explains. “I can’t wait to take our band to the stages everywhere!” says Romero excitedly.
“I believe the vibe we have with this turbo charged line-up is wonderful,” concludes Vandenberg. “We are not at all a nostalgia act, trying to recreate what happened all those years back. This is a brand-new dynamic band with a name that has a legacy and I couldn’t be happier with the way it’s turned out.”
2020 track listing:
1. Shadows of the Night 2. Freight Train 3. Hell and High Water 4. Let It Rain 5. Ride Like The Wind 6. Shout 7. Sh-tstorm 8. Light Up The Sky 9. Burning Heart – 2020 10. Skyfall
BPMD — the new heavy metal juggernaut featuring vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth(Overkill), drummer Mike Portnoy (The Winery Digs, Sons Of Apollo), bassist Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance) and guitarist Phil Demmel (Vio-lence, ex-Machine Head) — has signed a worldwide contract with Napalm Records.
The members of BPMD first came together in the summer of 2019 with one goal in mind: to pay homage to some of their favorite classic rock tunes, give them their own heavy twist, and to have a blast doing it. We all could use a bit of fun, and that’s what BPMD is here to provide — a party on wax performed by some of the greatest musical talents in the world.
Menghi says, “We’re super excited about our first BPMD record. Last summer, I was inspired and came up with this crazy idea and here we are, not even a year later, and it’ll see the light of day in these very trying times. The planet needs something to feel good about, and I 100% whole-heartedly believe these tunes will do the trick. Buckle up and make way for BPMD…”
Blitz adds: “The BPMD sessions were very fun. They took us all back to our roots and even pre-roots. As it developed, we all realized it was something special, as did Napalm Records, with one listen.”
BPMD will make its live debut at Bulldozer Bash 5 in Old Bridge, New Jersey on Saturday, May 30th. The event, which will take place at Old Bridge Elks Lodge, is a benefit show to raise funds for the Old Bridge Militia Foundation, a 100% non-profit 501 C3 charity foundation. Show details will be announced soon.
During the question-and-answer portion of An Evening With Tommy Thayer on February 23rd at the Outtakes Bar & Grill in New Hope, Minnesota, KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer was asked what his plans are for after the band completes its End Of The Road farewell tour in July 2021.
He responded (as per blabbermouth.net), “I get asked that question a lot in interviews these days. I don’t really know. We’ve got about another year and a half to go on this tour…The last show’s gonna be July 17, 2021 in New York City. So I don’t really know exactly what my plans are at the end of this. KISS is not gonna go away, though, either. The band is not gonna tour, but the KISS music, the identities and the characters and the brand and the merchandise, that will all continue on. I think that KISS will continue on in some way. I can’t imagine it not.”
