Category : LATEST NEWS

FOUR STUDIO TRACKS FROM BLACK SABBATH’S LIMITED EDITION “THE END” CD POSTED ONLINE

As previously reported, Black Sabbath will be selling a special limited edition CD–The End–to be sold exclusively at shows on the legendary band’s massive worldwide final tour. The CD is comprised of eight previously unreleased tracks: four songs are outtakes from Black Sabbath’s worldwide number one, Grammy Award-winning album 13 and four live songs from the band’s critically acclaimed 13 World Tour.

The four studio songs, Season Of The Dead, Cry All Night, Take Me Home and Isolated Man, featuring Brad Wilk on the drums, can be streamed below.

To read more about this CD, please click here.

Black Sabbath’s 2016 Tour Dates are as follows:

North America:

January

20 Omaha, NE CenturyLink Center
22 Chicago, IL United Center
25 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
27 Winnipeg MN MTS Centre
30 Edmonton, AB Rexall Centre

February:
1 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
3 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
6 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
9 San Jose, CA SAP Pavilion
11 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
13 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay
15 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
17 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
19 Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
21 Hamilton, ON First Ontario Centre
23 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
25 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
27 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

Australia/New Zealand:

April:

15 Perth, AU Perth Arena
17 Adelaide, AU Entertainment Centre
19 Melbourne, AU Rod Laver Arena
23 Sydney, AU Allphones Arena
25 Brisbane, AU Entertainment Centre
28 Auckland, NZ Vector Arena
30 Dunedin, NZ Forsyth Barr Stadium

Europe:

June:

1 Budapest,Hungary Groupama Arena
8 Berlin, Germany Waldebuhne
11 Donington, UK Download**
13 Verona, IT Arena Di Verona
15 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadon
17 Dessel, Belgium Grasspop**
23 Halden, Norway Tons of Rock**
25 Copenhagen, DE Copenhell**
28 Vienna, Austria Stadthalle
30 Prague, Czech Rep. 02 Arena

July:

2 Krakow, Poland Tauron Arena
5 Riga, Latvia Riga Arena
7 Helsinki, Finland Monsters of Rock**
9 Stockholm, Sweden Monsters of Rock**
12 Moscow, Russia Olympisky Arena

**Denotes festival appearance

North America:

August:

17 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
19 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
21 Washington DC Jiffy Lube Live
23 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
25 Boston, MA Xfinity Center
27 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
29 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
31 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theater

September:

2 Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center
4 Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
7 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
9 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Ampitheater
11 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Ampitheater
13 Portland, OR Sunlight Supply Arena
15 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
17 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
19 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Bowl
21 Phoenix, AZ AK-Chin Pavilion

Details on Tickets,VIP packages and more for the North American shows can be found at Live Nation.

UFO TO RELEASE FOUR CD BOX SET “LIVE SIGHTINGS” ON FEBRUARY 5TH

UFO shot across the ’70s night sky, all flashing lights and roaring engines, streaking through Japan and Germany (where they abducted 18-year old Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker) before descending on the U.K. and eventually American shores with a series of brilliant hard rock singles, including Lights Out, Too Hot To Handle, Doctor Doctor, Only You Can Rock Me and many more now ubiquitous radio staples. Though Schenker would depart in 1978, the rest of the band, including founding members vocalist Phil Mogg, bassist Pete Way and drummer Andy Parker, alongside lead guitarist Paul Chapman, retooled their spaceship and carried on into the early ’80s dropping such influential classics as No Place To Run, The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent and Mechanix.

Now comes Live Sightings, a magnificent four-CD box set featuring vintage live performances from the early ’80s that finds Mogg and Co. blasting through highlights from those three crucial records such as No Place To RunLonely Heart and We Belong To The Night, and seamlessly blending them in with the group’s more well-known spawn. Boasting four CDs, each in its own mini jacket with printed inner sleeve, this extraordinary box set — due on February 5th through Cleopatra Records — also features a lavish 12″x12″ 16-page booklet with full color photos and extensive liner notes plus two carefully duplicated printings of vintage tour programs. There’s even a special bonus live LP from 1972 of the only known recordings of guitarist Larry Wallis. Fans of UFO and early hard rock will not want to miss this incredible piece of music history.

Track listing:

Disc 1: Chicago 1980

1. Lettin’ Go
2. Young Blood
3. No Place to Run
4. Cherry
5. Only You Can Rock Me
6. Love to Love
7. Mystery Train
8. Doctor Doctor
9. Too Hot to Handle
10. Lights Out
11. Rock Bottom
12. Shoot Shoot

Disc 2: Chicago 1981

1. The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent
2. Only You Can Rock Me
3. Long Gone
4. Lonely Heart
5. Cherry
6. No Place to Run
7. Love to Love
8. Making Moves
9. Mystery Train
10. Too Hot to Handle
11. Lights Out
12. Rock Bottom
13. Doctor Doctor

Disc 3: St. Louis 1982

1. We Belong to the Night
2. Let It Rain
3. Long Gone
4. No Place to Run
5. The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent
6. Only You Can Rock Me
7. Terri
8. Making Moves
9. Doing It All For You
10. Too Hot To Handle
11. Lights Out
12. Mystery Train

Disc 4: Cleveland 1982

1. We Belong To The Night
2. Let It Rain
3. Long Gone
4. The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent
5. Only You Can Rock Me
6. Terri
7. Doing It All For You
8. Too Hot to Handle
9. Lights Out

LP 1: Early Flight – 1972

Side A:

1. Silver Bird
2. Galactic Love
3. C’mon Everybody
4. Boogie For George

Side B:

1. Back In The USA
2. Mean Woman Blues
3. Stop Breakin’ Down Blues
4. Johnny B. Goode

DEE SNIDER WORKING ON HIS THIRD SOLO ALBUM TITLED, “NOW”

Dee Snider has revealed he’ll finish recording his third solo album in February.

Now sees the Twisted Sister frontman performing tracks written by Grammy-winning songwriter Damon Ranger-who has previously worked with Katy Perry and Kanye West. Snider will put the finishing touches to the recording next month.

He tells One On One With Mitch Lafon, “They came to me. These are people who write for Kanye, they write for Katy Perry, they write for Pink, they write for Taylor Swift. They’re top pop songwriters. Damon Ranger says, ‘You’re iconic. You’re the voice of rebellion. And I think with the right songs, you could reach a whole new audience – a mainstream rock audience.’

“So we demoed one song called We Are The Ones, which is a real active rock. It’s hard, but it’s not metal. And it came out great. So we went into the studio and recorded four more songs. And I just signed two record deals, and we’re going back into the studio to finish the album at the end of February. And I’m not sure when we’re gonna release it.”

He added, “I said, ‘I don’t know how to write new music. I don’t want anything to do with the writing process. Create some songs, and if I could feel inspired by them, I will sing them.’

And the stuff is really great. It’s not thrashy, it’s not metal. But it’s got attitude; it’s got my attitude. It’s anthemic.”

Last year, Snider made his first new song for 20 years available as a free download. He described To Hell And Back as “a bold middle finger to those who whine and complain about the difficulties of life – but have no real clue what difficult is.”

His first solo album was 2000’s Never Let the Bastards Wear You Down, with Dee Does Broadway following in 2012.

additional source: classicrock.teamrock.com

ALICE COOPER ANNOUNCES SPRING TOUR DATES FOR NORTH AMERICA

Alice Cooper has announced a 14-date North American tour for April and May.

The iconic rockstar supported Motley Crue on their farewell run of shows and launches his Spend The Night With Alice Cooper tour in Biloxi, Missouri, on April 29th.

Spend The Night With Alice Cooper tour dates:

April:

29: Biloxi Beau Rivage Resort And Casino, MS

May:

2: Nashville TPAC’s Jackson Hall, TN
4: Peoria Peoria Civic Center, IL
5: Merrillville Star Plaza Theatre, IN
6: Columbus LC Pavilion, OH
8: Concord Carolina Rebellion, NC
May 10: New Brunswick State Theatre, NJ
May 12: Port Chester Capitol Theatre, NY
May 13: Wilkes-Barre FM Kirby Center, PA
May 14: Lynn Lynn Memorial Auditorium, MA
May 15: Morristown Mayo Performing Arts Center, NJ
May 17: Warren Packard Music Hall, OH
May 20: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
May 21: Rama Entertainment Centre, ON

additional source: classicrock.teamrock.com

GUITARIST EDDIE VAN HALEN RELEASES THE WOLFGANG USA TOUR RELIC REPLICA

For the legion of fans who attended the 2015 Van Halen Tour, it’s unlikely they failed to notice the striking, aged-looking Ivory Wolfgang USA guitar that Eddie Van Halen played onstage.

In exciting news, EVH Gear has announced that it will make available an exact replica of this very instrument for consumers with the release of a limited 20-piece run of custom-built EVH Wolfgang USA Tour Relic Replica guitars.

Van Halen originally planned on using the same Wolfgang USA in Stealth Black that he played during the band’s 2012 tour, but he also asked Master Builder Chip Ellis to build him this guitar with a detailed relic treatment so that the original coat of black paint showed through the Ivory top coat.

“Chip built that for me and did a wonderful job,” Van Halen said in a recent interview. “I compared it to my trusty old Stealth, and the white guitar sounded better, so it immediately became my main guitar for rehearsals and the tour.”

Famous for tinkering with his guitars, Van Halen decided to sand down the back of the neck since he felt it was a little thicker than what he typically prefers from his neck profiles.

“It’s still a little fatter than the Stealth’s neck, but I’m happy with it, so it stuck,” he said.

The custom-built instrument also features an ebony fingerboard, block fretboard inlays, custom kill switch, EVH Custom High Friction (Tone) Pot and an EVH “HPU” or High Performance Upgrade, custom-made Low Friction (Volume) Pot.

“It’s the only volume pot I’ve found where I can play ‘Cathedral’ without any crackle or pop,” he said.

All of these features will be found on the EVH Wolfgang USA Tour Relic Replica, which also comes with a Custom Anvil white case (with black interior) featuring the Van Halen logo, Certificate of Authenticity autographed by Eddie Van Halen, EVH instrument cable, EVH strings .009-.042 and an EVH leather strap with dog leash.

BLACK SABBATH’S GEEZER BUTLER DISCUSSES “THE END,” THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW ALBUM AND BILL WARD

Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited spoke with Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler. Excerpts from the interview appear below.

Jeb: Black Sabbath is about to do their final tour. A lot of band’s say it is the end Geezer, but then it isn’t the end. Is THIS tour really the end of Black Sabbath?

Geezer: It is one hundred percent the end. We’ve all agreed that this is it.

Jeb: How did you come to decide to call it quits? Was it Tony’s illness?

Geezer: It was our decision. Tony’s condition was an influence on it, but we all felt the same. The 13 tour went great. We just felt we’d do one more tour… to make it official, we called it The End. We are all in agreement that this can’t go on forever, so we should go out on the top.

Jeb: Are you looking ahead to the date where you are playing that last gig? Or is that just too much to think about right now?

Geezer: No, I have not thought about it yet. I won’t think about it until that last date is confirmed. We don’t know where and when it will be. We are still going to finalize where the last gig is going to be. It is better not to think about it yet. We are just taking it one day at a time at the moment. We are always looking forward to the gig that comes next. We take it one gig at a time.

Jeb: There have been rumors there will be one more studio album, but lately I’ve heard that is not the case.

Geezer: If there is then fine… but I don’t think there will be. It would be nice if there was another album. We had some songs left over from the 13 album, but we’re putting it out as a sort of EP that can only be bought at the gigs from this tour.

Jeb: I have to ask this question: I’ve heard that you were in a band with Ozzy Osbourne before he was with Black Sabbath. You were called Rare Breed.

Geezer: That is true, yeah. We only did a few gigs, locally, in Birmingham. That is how we got together. Ozzy lived literally two streets away from me and I used to see him around. He went to the same school as Tony Iommi. We lived so close together that we would see each other in the streets. I heard that he was looking for a band in the music shop… I didn’t even know it was him. I went to his house and it was Ozzy. He was a skinhead at the time. I thought, “This isn’t going to work out.” Skinheads at that time were into soul music and reggae. He liked Robert Johnson and blues so we got together and formed the Rare Breed. When that finished we were looking for a drummer and we went around to Tony’s house to see if he knew of any drummers and Bill Ward was there. Bill said he would join the band if Tony would come along and that is the way we got together.

Jeb: [On The End tour], will this be the greatest hits or will you throw in some rare songs?

Geezer: It is mainly… we are doing practically the whole of the Paranoid album. We’re doing everything but Planet Caravan. We tried that but it didn’t really work live. We’re playing mainly older stuff. We’re doing Hand of Doom. We have not played that for god knows how many years. It will be mainly old stuff.

Jeb: As thrilled as I am for Tommy to do this tour, the elephant in the room with every Sabbath fan is that Bill Ward is not present. I will be blunt… why not just give Bill the money?

Geezer: It’s beyond the money thing. It is not really anything to do with that. It is whether he’s capable of touring or not. On the 13 tour, he was not on that tour. About a week after we started he had to go into the hospital for major surgery. We would have had to cancel the tour if Bill was still with us. He hasn’t been well for a long time. He’s had a couple of heart attacks. You have to face facts when you get to our age and you’re not in great, great health rather you can go out on the road for two years, or whatever. It is a hard life to do. The easy part is when you’re on stage playing. It is all of the traveling and everything else that comes with it that is the hard part. I think Ozzy, in particular, didn’t think Bill would get through it. He certainly wouldn’t have got through the first part as he was in the hospital. We can’t keep cancelling tours just because the drummer can’t play.

Jeb: It is nice to hear you say it was not an easy thing to do.

Geezer: We started out with Bill on the 13 tour. That is the way we all thought it was going to be, that Bill was going to be part of this whole thing. It just turned out that is wasn’t to be. His health has to come first before anything.

Jeb: Are there any songs from a bass standpoint that you’re looking forward to playing?

Geezer: I am looking forward to doing Hand of Doom again as it is very bass orientated. I think 1972 is the last time we played Hand of Doom. We are always asked if we can do it, but for some reason we’ve never included it in the set. We have a lot of old classic Sabbath songs; to do that, it is hard to drop stuff to put songs like that in. This time we decided to put Hand of Doom in.

Jeb: Were you ever happy and satisfied to be the lyricist in Black Sabbath?

Geezer: [long pause] No.

Jeb: Last one: Geezer what do you want to say to the fans of Black Sabbath that have stuck with you all these years?

Geezer: Thanks for keeping us here. Thanks for being with us for all of these years. It has been great. They really are the best fans that anyone could ever wish for. They’ve been with us since day one. They have been fighting for us and they are so loyal. It is incredible. We are so blessed to have them.

Read more at Classic Rock Revisted.

source: classicrockrevisited.com