Former TNT vocalist, Tony Harnell, has returned to Norwegian rock band.
A year-and-a-half since Harnell’s third departure from the lineup, he reveals that he’ll work with guitarist Ronni Le Tekro on their new material for the first time in 10 years.
Harnell says, “We’re happy to be working together creatively again and hope our fans are are as excited as we are.
We’re already booking shows in the US and across the world in 2017 and also hope to play in as many countries as possible over the next couple of years. Hopefully many countries that we haven’t been to in a long time or perhaps ever.”
Previous singer Tony Mills, who replaced Harnell in 2006, left the group in 2013 due to “lack of activity” after recording three albums with them – 2007’s The New Territory, 2008’s Atlantis and 2010’s A Farewell To Arms. They then went back on the road with Harnell on vocal duties in 2014 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1989 classic album Intuition.
Harnell previously claimed he left after clashing with the band over its touring schedule, calling it a “volatile little beast.” Three months after his exit, the singer joined Skid Row – before he left in December.
Album release details will be revealed in due course.
Dokken’s classic lineup of Don Dokken, George Lynch, Jeff Pilson and Mick Brown are to play together live again later this year.
Brown confirmed the news that they would take to the stage for six shows in Japan “at the end of this year” and says further live dates could be possible, but they don’t want to plan too far ahead.
Brown tells One On One With Mitch Lafon, “There’s talk of us doing something in Japan at the end of this year and if that happens and we make it through, then there could be talk about something. Let’s just get through six shows and if we can do that, then maybe we can go ahead. It’s just up in the air.”
Frontman Don Dokken and guitarist George Lynch have a volatile relationship, with both sides trading barbed comments in the past. And when asked how he sees the pair getting on when they’re reunited, Brown says, “It was something that was there since day one and it’s never going to go away – and that’s what’s making me feel hesitant about getting together again.
I haven’t see a change in either one of them, so I don’t know what to expect. But I’m willing to find out. In spite of ourselves, we always seem to do well. It’s never very easy and I’m sure it’s not going to be this time either.”
Brown admits the reunion was brought about for purely financial reasons, and realizes it’s not an ideal situation.
He adds, “It’s the money we’re doing it for and I think that’s the wrong reason. The reason should be we want to play together – and I don’t think anyone wants to play together – but the money we’re being offered to do it, you just can’t say no.”
Last year, Dokken appeared to pour cold water on any hopes of a reunion, despite Lynch revealing he’d been in talks with Pilson about getting the lineup back together.
Former Megadeth drummer, Nick Menza, died on May 21st, after collapsing onstage during a concert in Studio City, California. He was 51.
The drummer’s management confirmed the death in a statement writing, “Nick collapsed during the third song into a set with his band OHM. Earliest reports indicate he suffered a massive heart attack and was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.”
Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman, who performed with Menza both in that band and as a solo artist, paid tribute to the drummer on Facebook, “We all know the great and unique drummer that Nick Menza was, but he was also a trustworthy friend, a hilarious bandmate, as well as a very loving dad. I’m beyond sad, did not see this coming at all. RIP Brother.”
“TELL ME THIS ISN’T TRUE! I woke at 4 AM to hear Nick Menza passed away on 5/21 playing his drums w/Ohm at the Baked Potato,” Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine tweeted Sunday, adding in a follow-up tweet, “I am gutted.”
The son of Buddy Rich’s longtime jazz saxophonist Don Menza, Nick Menza began his career as a session musician before he was recruited by then-Megadeth drummer Chuck Behler to serve as drum tech; after Behler left the band, Mustaine asked Menza to join Megadeth in 1989.
Menza provided drums on four Megadeth studio albums, including their classic 1990 LP Rust in Peace and 1992’s Countdown to Extinction; Menza co-wrote lyrics on the latter’s title track. Live, Menza had a notable presence onstage for the way he attacked his double bass drum kit.
Menza’s tenure in Megadeth ended in 1998, when knee problems and a benign tumor forced him to leave the band’s tour in support of Cryptic Writings; Menza was abruptly replaced on a permanent basis by drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, the former Suicidal Tendencies member who also performed alongside Mustaine in his MD.45 side project.
In 2015, Mustaine revealed to Rolling Stone that Megadeth’s classic Rust in Peace era lineup – with Friedman, Menza and bassist David Ellefson – nearly reunited in the early 2000s, “but it just wasn’t meant to happen. I think there was so much bitterness because of the people that were managing us at the time. If you poison the well you can’t expect there to be an area of clean water anywhere.”
Following Megadeth, Menza performed in acts like Memorain, Orphaned to Hatred and his own Deltanaut. In 2002, Menza released a solo album titled Life After Deth.
Apparently rumors have been circulating that Aerosmith were in the market for a new singer.
So, to put all the hearsay to rest, guitarist Joe Perry has released the following statement:
“Any rumor out there about us looking for another singer is completely untrue. All five of us were just on the phone together talking about how excited we are to go to South America and Mexico City.”
Those Aerosmith tour dates run from September 29th-October 27th.
Rock Revolt spoke with former Cinderella frontman, Tom Keifer. Excerpts from the interview appear below.
Rock Revolt: Why did you decide to re-release a deluxe version of your solo record?
Tom Keifer: I remember looking at it and thinking that a lot of cool things have happened since the release of this record. And a lot of special people have come into my life, starting with the band…So, my wheels started turning, and there have been a lot of things that we have wanted to do in the course of the years we have been touring: we want to record the new band; there are a couple songs we want to record, and we’ve been wanting to do a documentary of the band. And, Tammy Vega, who travels with us a lot, was sitting next to me when I opened this gift. I thought, “Now we can do that documentary because she had so much great footage of us. So, we decided to do a commemorative special deluxe edition, including all of those elements. This new amazing artist whose done a twenty page book, completely different from the original package, with unique illustrations to bring each song to life; it’s very cool stuff. And, we hired Vance Powell, a producer who has worked with Jack White and Chris Stapleton. He’s worked with Ebb King, so he’s a very versatile producer. So, we brought him in about a month ago to Nashville, and we went to Southern Ground Studio and recorded some new tracks with the new band and with Vance producing. And we brought Tammy in, and she had cameras sitting all around the studio. So, part of the documentary is going to be a very inside look at the creation of those tracks as we are recording them. Literally, Tammy was in the vocal booth with me; it was all very cool. So, the package will include the new artwork, the new tracks recorded with the new band, the documentary, and that DVD will also include all of the music videos and a bunch of extra footage that Tammy shot along the way. She’s considered the eighth member of our band because she’s with us so much on the road. So, that’s what the deluxe set is all about. And it will be above and beyond what most deluxe sets are, since we’re including a lot more things that normally aren’t, and we’re going to lengths that are not normally gone to. But, we feel that it’s been a very special couple of years that this group of people has come through together. The songs we recorded – we are not announcing what they are yet. It’s kind of the same way that the band, with the release of the record, brought the band into our world, brought Tammy into our world. The songs are kind of the same thing. They have been inspired by and been a part of the release of The Way Life Goes. We will be announcing what those are soon.
Rock Revolt: What do you think of the current state of rock music today?
Tom Keifer: Well, you know, I get asked this from time to time, and it’s always the infamous question of, “Well, is rock dead?” and that sort of thing. And I don’t think rock will ever be dead as long as there are kids in a garage playing rock and roll, ya know, rock and roll is a spirit. It’s a rebellion thing that you can’t stop people from wanting to play or listen to. I think that, sadly, from the industry standpoint, you don’t hear a lot of diversity in rock anymore. I think that rock formats are very narrow in sonics and dynamics. I remember when we put our records out in the 80s, and with Cinderella, you could take a song like Coming Home to rock radio, and it would be a ballad. Or you could take a screaming rock song, and it would play. It was more diverse. Now it seems more like it has to be this sound, and I don’t like the narrowness of it. I grew up in the 70s, and rock stations in Philadelphia that I grew up listening to played all kinds of rock: country rock, like Linda Rondstadt and the Eagles next to Black Sabbath and everything in between on the same station. And I just think that’s a healthier place for music and radio and formats to be so that people get more diversity and turned on to things. As a result of that, I had a lot of ingredients to put into my soup when I became a writer and an artist, because I had everything to listen to and was exposed to. I love all of the bands from the 70s, like Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, and all of them. It was an incredible time in music. We had progressive bands like Kansas, Rush, and Yes. You’d hear all of them on the same station, and I don’t think it’s a healthy state right now that rock is in. It’s too narrow. I listen to Top 40 radio because I don’t like everything I hear on Top 40, but I like the diversity on Top 40. You’ll go from Mumford and Sons to Taylor Swift to Bruno Mars, so you hear more of a variety, which to me, is more inspiring, and then I get hit from left field with a band like Imagine Dragons, who I love. Elle King is another one I love, and on Exes and Oh’s, her voice is so great, and Vance actually mixed that track for her. So, when we were talking about working with him, I listened to some of the tracks he had worked on, and I put on the headphones and was like, “Oh, man, I love this track.” I like diversity. I don’t think rock is dead, I think that some of the formats and components of the industry are trying real hard to kill it, but they’ll never stop people from writing it, playing it, and wanting to listen to it.
Rock Revolt: Are you a Prince fan?
Tom Keifer: Prince? Loved Prince. I feel Prince, to me, we’re about the same age, and so I considered him the King of my generation. We grew up at the same time in the 80s, around the same age, and of all the artists, hard rock to pop, to me, he was ten steps above everybody. He was the King of that generation, and nobody touched him. It was a very sad day to me, particularly him being so young. We’ve lost a lot of greats lately, but I don’t think anyone saw that coming, and it’s hard to imagine a world without Prince for me, personally, because I just loved him. I really did.
Rock Revolt: Anything coming new with Cinderella? I’ve got to ask that. Do you guys still communicate?
Tom Keifer: No, no. Not at the moment. We are on extended hiatus, my friend.
Rock Revolt: Do you guys talk at all?
Tom Keifer: Not a whole lot, no.
Rock Revolt: …Is Cinderella done?
Tom Keifer: Well, the truth of the matter is, there have been some issues with Cinderella within the ranks of Cinderella for years now. Going back decades. They came to a head in 2012. We took some pretty extreme measures to right the ship and fix things, and we made a pact as a band in 2012 that we would not do anything as a band until the issues were resolved. That’s how much it came to a head. The issues are unresolved, so that’s all I can say about that.
Steve Vai will launch his 25th anniversary collection containing his two albums Modern Primitive and Passion And Warfare on June 24th.
The 2CD pack is a collection of classic songs and previously unreleased material. Modern Primitive includes works-in-progress the guitar virtuoso penned following the release of his debut album Flex-Able in 1984 – which he has completed especially for the release.
The pack includes a bonus remastering of his 1990 record Passion And Warfare. Vai will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of this release with a world tour later this month, in which he’ll perform the album in full.
Vai says, “Performing this record from top to bottom, with some very special surprises in the works, is something I’ve always dreamed of doing. There are songs here I’ve never performed before, and I’m delighted that 25 years after its release, I feel as though my guitar chops are as much up to the task as ever before.”
Modern Primitive and Passion And Warfare can be pre-ordered at Amazon.
Modern Primitive tracklist:
1. Bop!
2. Dark Matter
3. Mighty Messengers
4. The Lost Chord
5. Upanishads
6. Fast Note People
7. And We Are One
8. Never Forever
9. Lights Are On
10. No Pockets
11. Pink and Blows Over: Part 1
12. Pink and Blows Over: Part 2 (Mars Attack)
13. Pink and Blows Over: Part 3 (Jazzbo Paddle-foot)
Steve Vai Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary Edition tracklist:
1. Liberty
2. Erotic Nightmares
3. The Animal
4. Answers
5. The Riddle
6. Ballerina 12/24
7. For Love Of God
8. The Audience ls Listening
9. I Would Love To
10. Blue Powder
11. Greasy Kid’s Stuff
12. Alien Water Kiss
13. Sisters
14. Love Secrets
15. Lovely Elixir (Bonus)
16. And We Are One (Bonus)
17. As Above (Bonus)
18. So Below (Bonus)
