Judas Priest have released live video versions of Metal Gods and Breaking The Law from the band’s forthcoming Battle Cry film, recorded at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany last August on the Redeemer Of Souls tour.
The set is available as a 15-track live CD or a 17-track DVD/Blu-ray, accompanied by three bonus tracks recorded in December at the The Ergo Arena, Gdansk, Poland.
Battle Cry is released on March 25th. To view a track list from this release, and to read more about it, please click here.
To view a track list and to read more about Battle Cry, please click here.
A wildly differing account of the deadly 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire has flared up long-simmering tensions among the former members of Great White.
Original guitarist Mark Kendall, performing at the time of the fire that left 100 dead, told TMZ Tuesday that the band that played that night wasn’t the “official” lineup of Great White, but singer Jack Russell’s solo act.
“I sat in with his band because his solo tour wasn’t doing very well,” Kendall told a TMZ videographer.
“Then that tragedy happened and CNN just ran out and said it was Great White like it was the original band.”
As proof he pointed to Jack Russell Touring as the defendant in the lawsuits that resulted in the aftermath.
But several sources, including Russell himself, debunked that claim to the Daily News.
They all said Great White was the official name of the band that hit the stage of The Station in Warwick, R.I., on Feb. 20, 2003.
“I just wanted to throw up when I heard he said that,” says Russell. “I’m not saying it’s anyone’s fault. But to not acknowledge that he was there, and trying to distance himself from the event … why even bring it up now?”
An insider close to the band also told the News that Kendall toured with Russell as Great White for two years after The Station tragedy to raise money for the families of the victim.
“Ridiculous,” the source said. “It was a Great White tour. Nobody else was touring as Great White. Jack was the lead singer, and was the only one who had not quit the group at one time or another.”
Russell, who formed the band with his childhood friend Kendall when they were teens, believes the recent salvo stems from the discord over the use of the Great White name.
The singer tours as Jack Russell’s Great White and Kendall plays with the band’s first drummer, Audie Desbrow, in Great White.
All of the hard rockers have also had been haunted by the horrific blaze that killed 100 people and injuring 200 others when pyrotechnics engulfed the foam lining the club’s walls and ceiling.
…A rep for Kendall’s Great White declined to elaborate on the guitarist’s comments further.
“It’s sad,” says Russell. “I started the band with him when I was 17 years old…”
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has been openly discussing his hearing loss since at least 2014, when he told Howard Stern that rock n’ roll wasn’t entirely to blame.
“I’ve obviously had some hearing loss,” Johnson told Stern. “I’ve got hearing loss in me left ear. I didn’t get it from music. I got it from sitting in a race car too long without ear plugs. I heard my ear drum burst, because I forgot to put me plugs in under my helmet. That’s how it happened. Music had nothing to do with it.”
AC/DC have postponed the remaining dates of their U.S. tour after doctors pulled Johnson off the road, saying he risked total hearing loss if he continued to perform. The band has committed to making up those dates, mentioning the possible use of a replacement singer. Johnson has been the band’s singer since 1980.
It’s unclear when the racing mishap happened to Johnson. He noted that he got very dizzy because of the inner-ear damage, and when he removed his racing helmet, he found blood. “It’s just like a tininess, like tinnitus or something,” said Johnson, who said to Stern that it didn’t slow him down. “You forget about it after a week.”
AC/DC have already lost both guitarist Malcolm Young and drummer Phil Rudd to health and legal issues, respectively, since 2014. Young was replaced by his nephew Stevie after a diagnosis of dementia. Former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade stepped in for Rudd, who was facing a series of charges. The band started this run of U.S. dates on Feb. 2 in Tacoma, Wash.
When Rush wrapped their R40 tour last summer, the group issued a press release stating that the jaunt would “most likely be their last major tour of this magnitude.” Drummer Neil Peart had been ambivalent about hitting the road for a long trek as early as January 2015, saying he felt upset about leaving his then-5-year-old daughter at home. “Should I be excited about leaving my family?” he posited at the time. “No, and no one should.”
Now, guitarist Alex Lifeson confirms to Rolling Stone that Peart won’t be entertaining the idea of another lengthy run in the future, even though R40 went well.
“We had such a great time on the tour,” Lifeson tells Rolling Stone. “And it was really nice to go through all the material in reverse chronology, and I think our fans really enjoyed it. I think that no matter how long it would have been, it would have been too short. Neil was prepared to commit to 30 dates and he told us that right from the very beginning. He didn’t even want to do the tour, to be honest with you. It’s been increasingly difficult for him, but he committed to the tour and we got through it. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of touring.”
In addition to wanting to stay home with his family more, Peart struggled with the physicality of touring on R40. “His shoulders were hurting, his arms were hurting, his elbows, his feet, everything,” Lifeson says. “He didn’t want to play anything less than 100 percent. He was finding it increasingly difficult to hit that mark on this last tour. So, all those things combined, I get it. I’m disappointed and I think Geddy [Lee] is very disappointed and we’d love to continue this tour a little bit longer, but we’re off now.”
The trio has not discussed the state of the band beyond that tour. They could still play one-off shows or short runs in the future and could still record music. It’s a prospect Lifeson has yet to discuss with his bandmates.
…[However], Lifeson is optimistic about the future. “You never know,” he says. “Maybe next fall or something like that, we’ll plan something. We took a year off before the last tour and we didn’t discuss anything about the band or work, and everybody had a great time, and we came back from that.” He laughs. “We’re getting older and it’s getting tougher, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Is there a scenario where Lifeson and Lee would tour together without Peart? Lifeson’s reply is perfectly sarcastic: “Well, we have been saying that every 40 years, we fire our drummer and get a new one,” he says with a big laugh.
JAPAN – DECEMBER 01: Photo of DEEP PURPLE and David COVERDALE and Tommy BOLIN and Jon LORD and Ian PAICE and Glenn HUGHES; L-R (back): David Coverdale, Ian Paice, (front): Glenn Hughes, Tommy Bolin, Jon Lord – posed, studio, group shot, (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns)
Glenn Hughes is still hoping he and David Coverdale will be allowed to perform with Deep Purple at the band’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next month.
The pair were part of the band’s Mark III lineup alongside Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and Jon Lord, then the Mark IV version with Tommy Bolin in Blackmore’s place.
Current frontman Ian Gillan recently said that only the 21st-century “living, breathing” lineup of the band would perform, as a response to present members Steve Morse and Don Airey being left out of the induction.
Blackmore reported he’d been “banned” from attending, although Deep Purple’s management said he’d only been advised that he wouldn’t get to play.
Now Hughes tells Billboard, “There’s a lot of gossip and innuendo about who’s saying what. I’d love to play. I’d love to sing. And so would David.
A month ago David said to me, ‘Shall I reach out to Ian to figure out what we’re gonna do?’ He came back and told me that there’s a problem that Don and Steve aren’t getting inducted and there’s all sorts of scenarios with that. I said, ‘Well, I’m just going to stay out of the way,’ and Coverdale is as well.
If Ian wants to run the show on behalf of his Deep Purple, that’s his business. My business is to show up and gracefully accept my award.”
But he adds, “We’re really hoping that we will be invited to sing. I’d like to think that Deep Purple can be just one big happy family on the night, you know? Egos outside the door and be graceful in what we do.”
He’s also not giving up on Blackmore’s attendance. “You just never know with him, but I’d love it if he showed up. He bloody wrote those songs – he wrote Smoke On The Water.
“Whatever happened, the eccentricities, the name-calling and all that stuff, I say let it all go. Blackmore should be there accepting his award. I’d be very upset if he didn’t.”
The annual Hall Of Fame induction ceremony takes place on April 8 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
After spending most of 2015 off the road, multi-platinum rock band Stryper will hit the road this spring in support of their new album, FALLEN. Released in October through Frontiers Music SRL and produced by frontman Michael Sweet, FALLEN is the band’s ninth studio album and their most critically acclaimed release to date, impressively landing near the top of the charts in three separate genres: Rock, Hard Music and Christian/Gospel.
Select dates have been announced, with more dates being added in the coming weeks:
April 15 Osaka Club Quattro Osaka, Japan
April 16 Kawasaki Club Citta Tokyo, Japan
April 17 Kawasaki Club Citta Tokyo, Japan
April 23 Cannery Casino Las Vegas, NV
April 24 Whisky a Go Go West Hollywood, CA
May 21 Coushatta Casino Kinder, LA
June 8 EXIT/IN Nashville, TN
June 10 MIXX 360 Nightlife Malden, MA
June 11 The Chance Poughkeepsie, NY
June 12 Stage 48 New York, NY
June 14 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
June 16 Altar Bar Pittsburgh, PA
June 17 The Forum, Hal Rogers Center Hazard, KY
June 18 BMI Speedway Versailles, OH
June 20 Skully’s Music Diner Columbus, OH
June 21 Plaza Theatre Glasgow, KY
June 23 The Rockpile West Toronto, Ontario, Canada
June 24 The Token Lounge Westland, MI
June 25 The Music Factory Battle Creek, MI
June 30 Diamond Ballroom Oklahoma City, OK
July 2 The Rock Box San Antonio, TX
July 30 Hard Rock Live Biloxi, MS
August 12 Marquee Theatre Mesa, AZ
August 13 Avi Resort & Casino Laughlin, NV
September 9 Grand Rocktember IV Music Festival Hinckley, MN
September 23 Arcada Theatre St. Charles, IL
October 30 The Tree of Joliet Joliet, IL
For additional dates and exclusive VIP Meet & Greet packages, visit stryper.com/tour.
2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the band’s historic album release, To Hell With The Devil. Plans are in the works to celebrate with a special tour in late 2016. Details will be announced at a later date.
Unlike many of their counterparts, Stryper is comprised of all four original members with Michael Sweet on vocals and guitar, Robert Sweet on drums, Tim Gaines on bass and Oz Fox on guitar.
