Megadeth’s new album Dystopia is due to be released on January 22nd, 2016. In the meantime, the band is streaming a new song from the album called, Fatal Illusion, which will be available as a digital single on October 16th through Universal Music Enterprises. Listen to it below.
Dystopia will feature the band’s new lineup, including founding members Mustaine (guitar, vocals) and David Ellefson (bass) alongside Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler and Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro (Angra).
Dystopia track listing:
1. The Threat Is Real
2. Dystopia
3. Fatal Illusion
4. Death From Within
5. Bullet To The Brain
6. Post American World
7. Poisonous Shadows
8. Look Who’s Talking
9. Conquer Or Die
10. Lying In State
11. The Emperor
12. Last Dying Wish
13. Foreign Policy (cover of a Fear song)
The band also recorded a cover version of Budgie’s Melt The Ice Away.
A founding member of the 1980s rock band Ratt is suing another original member, alleging he is bringing suits in the name of the group and falsely advertising his tribute band as the real thing.
“This case arises from the drummer of the rock band Ratt trying to take over the band and pawn himself and a cast of subordinates off as the genuine article,” lawyers for plaintiff Warren “Torch” DeMartini state in the lawsuit filed against Bobby Blotzer in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday, [September 29th].
The 52-year-old DeMartini is Ratt’s founding lead guitarist and Blotzer, the original drummer.
The suit alleges Blotzer, 56, is putting his interests ahead of those of the band. The complaint also seeks a court order directing Blotzer not to file further actions in the name of Ratt or its management company, WBS Inc., of which he and DeMartini are 50 percent shareholders.
A representative for Blotzer could not be immediately reached.
According to the suit, the four remaining members of Ratt disagree on whether the band should continue to tour together. Blotzer and some members have toured until recently in tribute bands, which do not violate any prior agreements, the suit states.
However, Blotzer is now promoting his tribute band as if it is the actual group, the suit alleges.
“In essence, Blotzer wants to hijack the name and tour under the name Ratt,” the suit states. “Defendant Blozter intends to fool Ratt’s fans by touring with himself, a drummer, and a group of imposters calling themselves Ratt.”
DeMartini believes that touring with “inferior substitutes” dilutes the value of the band and damages its credibility in the future, according to the lawsuit.
On Sept. 3, over the objections of DeMartini, Blotzer held an annual WBS shareholder meeting in which he elected himself chairman of the board and president in place of the plaintiff, the suit states.
Blotzer ignored a cease-and-desist letter from DeMartini’s lawyers and instead filed an unauthorized trademark infringement action against 56-year-old Ratt bassist, Juan Croucier, the suit alleges.
Both Blotzer and Croucier attended Torrance High School, according to Wikipedia. They played with the band Dokken in the late 1970s before joining Ratt.
Don Dokken was a guest on the September 28th broadcast of Eddie’s Sirius/XM show, Eddie Trunk Live. Portions of the interview appear below as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net.
Dokken confirmed to Eddie that there have been talks about a reunion with Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Mick Brown, but claimed that scheduling conflicts with Pilson’s main band, Foreigner, have derailed those pland
“I talked to George about the Dokken reunion,” Don said. “It’s been going on for two years. We were all up for it. But Jeff is busy with Foreigner until 2018. And he said, ‘Well, let’s do it in 2018.’ By then, ISIS might be running this country. So it’s off the books. It’s not happening.”
In an August 2015 interview with Glide Magazine, guitarist George Lynch said the possibility of a Dokken reunion, “comes and goes every couple of years [laughs], so who knows. But we’re talking again about that.”
Iron Maiden have announced some US tour dates to their 2016 The Book Of Souls world tour.
The dates follow previously-announced events in New Zealand and Australia, as the band add to their list of commitments in support of their 16th album, which was released last month.
Maiden will tour aboard the biggest-ever version of their Ed Force One plane – a converted Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet, which frontman Bruce Dickinson is currently learning to fly.
The singer says says, “When we play in Fort Lauderdale, it will be 19 months since our last show at Sonisphere in the UK – so we will be raring to go.
On previous tours we only had time to play New York, L.A. and Florida. Next year, we’ve made more time in order to take Ed Force One to our fans in many more parts of the country, like Tulsa, where we haven’t played since 1987, and Tacoma, where we haven’t played in 15 years.”
Further dates, including shows in Canada, are to be announced soon. US tickets go on sale on October 8th.
US tour dates:
Feb 24: Fort Lauderdale BB&T Center, FL
Feb 26: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Feb 28: Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center, NV
Mar 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Apr 5: Detroit Palace of Auburn Hills, MI
Apr 6: Chicago United Center, IL
Apr 11: Tacoma Dome, WA
Apr 13: Denver Pepsi Center, CO
Apr 15: Los Angeles Forum, CA
Previously announced dates:
Apr 29: Christchurch Horncastle Arena, New Zealand
May 01: Aucklane Vector Arena, New Zealand
May 04: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Australia
May 06: Sydney Allphones Arena, Australia
May 09: Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, Australia
May 12: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Australia
May 14: Perth Arena, Australia
Ratt drummer Bobby Blozter was a guest on the September 28th broadcast of Eddie’s Sirius/XM show, Eddie Trunk Live. Highlights from the interview appear below as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net.
Blotzer stated about his decision to tour under the Ratt name, “I wanna tour. Me and Warren own 50/50 of the name. He does not wanna tour. The other guys aren’t gonna tour [under that band name]. So it leaves me sitting here — the one guy who never quit, out of the whole band, and who’s always been pushing the other guys to get back together. ’97, [and] continued in 2000 when Stephen quit again, etc. [I’m the one who who tries to] keep things motivating… that’s me all the time. And maybe not always in the best way. But my 50/50 partner doesn’t wanna tour as a member, [and] he becomes a non-touring member, and that leaves me open to go out and bring the songs that people wanna hear on the road.”
He continued, “If you have a company that you’ve been with for 34 years, and you and one other person own that company, and one guy doesn’t wanna work and you do, what’s…? You know what I mean? If I wanted to stay home and Warren wanted to go out, I’d be, like, ‘Okay, just have the check here by Friday.’ Because I will get dividends, and he will get dividends.”
Blotzer added, “I wanna work. I wanna play our tunes. I’ve done a lot of outside projects. I get it; it’s fun. But my body of music that I’m associated with and most accepted with is Ratt.”
Blotzer also spoke about Warren’s apparent threat of legal action if the drummer continues to book shows under the Ratt name.
“I can’t really talk a lot about the specifics, because he’s now [saying that he will try to stop me from using the name]… which is amazing to me,” Bobby said. “He’s really the one who prevented [the original band from] being together right now, by and large. Because in owning this name and this stock that he and I own 50/50… The other guys wanted 25 percent. I’m, like, ‘I don’t care. Whatever it takes.’ Safety nets below. Everybody has safety and job stability and we all tour every year, like a normal job, normal people. He wouldn’t give it up. So he’s not willing to tour, and he’s not willing to give up the stock in the name. So he puts us in a position where… I don’t know. He’s up in Candyland in the hills here.”
Bobby went on to speculate as to why guitarist Warren DeMartini is against Blozter touring as Ratt without the original lineup. He said, “My guess is, him and I both have pretty substantial hearing loss from so many years of doing this. I think that maybe his ears are bugging him a bit, and he’s just not saying anything. That’s just a guess, obviously. But I wanna take it out, and I have the right, by law, to do it.”
He continued, “[Warren’s] reasoning for not wanting to tour Ratt was not giving [the other original members] the [rights to] the name, in case Stephen took the name and toured as Ratt, and then we’d be back in court. So I’m saying to him on the phone… I’m, like, ‘So he’s not coming back and you would rather me not do that and are threatening to sue me, who you’ll make money from if I go out and you don’t go.’ That makes a lot of sense. To who? Not me.”
According to Blotzer, the recent disagreements between the members of the original lineup have likely caused irreparable harm to their relationships.
“I’m gonna say something right here that I’ve never said, ever,” he said. “I don’t ever see Ratt getting back together. There is just right now, at this point, four corners, and no one’s leaving that corner. I’m leaving it, because the guy that chose not to go — the other member; there’s two members of Ratt: me and Warren, and Warren doesn’t wanna tour. Legally, that left me allowed to go put a band together, go out, tour. He makes money. When the bills are all paid and the dust clears, here’s your check, bud.”
Blotzer also believes that there is another layer to Warren’s motivation to try to keep the drummer from touring under the Ratt name
“Let’s just say, if you were to talk to anybody else in the band, or that’s worked for the band, or in the band — any of the members, not just the originals — there’s a lot of issues with control that came from his area of the world, and complete and utter… He wants to control this until his dying days,” Blotzer explained. “Why would he not want me to go out…? If he doesn’t wanna tour. We make great money residually. Everybody can stay home and not work; I mean, that’s not a problem. I wanna get the fuck out of the house. I played enough golf. Mind you, five years we’ve been off. You can’t do that legally. It’s against corporate law in California. I don’t know what everybody does outside this state, but you cannot be an officer an a shareholder and not work your company. It’s called breach of fiduciary duty. That I know. And I’m surprised he’s not knowing that.”
Blotzer also addressed DiMartini’s September 25th statement in which the guitarist said that he was “totally against” Blotzer’s decision to use the Ratt name for the drummer’s “tribute band” and was taking steps “to prevent any further misuse” of the brand.
“I saw that thing that he put out on Blabbermouth, or wherever it came from — somebody sent it to me,” Blotzer said. “[Warren wrote], like, ‘I’m against this and [Blotzer] called to ask me if he could do this. And I said, ‘Be Bob’S Cellat.” It’s, like, I didn’t call you to ask you anything. I called to ask him if he saw the video… I’ve asked him a hundred times in the last five years when the guys didn’t wanna play, ‘Do you wanna get a band together?’ We had a very famous singer that wanted to join this band, and he wouldn’t even have a part of it, or talk about it. He’s, like, ‘If it’s the original band, I’m in.’ Even though he knows Stephen’s condition in the last few tours weren’t very productive, to put it lightly. So why aren’t you ready to switch gears and go? We did it for seven and a half years without the original guys — just him and I. So whatever his reasons are, I don’t know. But him stopping me is a direct aggressive move to stop me from earning a living with my company — that’s also his company too, but if he chooses to sit it out, that’s his choice. But I’m bringing it to the fans. When people come to the gig, they are so excited, they love it. They have a great time.”
Bobby Blotzer’s version of Ratt is made up of Josh Alan (Sin City Sinners), Scotty Griffin (ex-L.A. Guns), Doc Ellis (Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate) and 22-year-old guitar hero Blaze.
On a related note, original Ratt bassist Juan Croucier is also performing songs from the band’s catalog under the name Ratt’s Juan Croucier. Some fan filmed footage of their debut show Michigan was posted online and can be seen here.
Original Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler was Eddie’s guest on the September 28th broadcast of Sirius/XM show, Eddie Trunk Live. Excerpts from the interview appear below, transcription courtesy of Blabbermouth.net.
When asked if he knows anything about a rumored reunion of Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction lineup, Adler told Eddie Trunk, “Nothing. Even if it was happening, I don’t think Slash would tell me, because he knows how excited I get and that I would probably say something before I should. I would be the last one to know.”
He later continued, “I love those guys, and I always will, but Duff, he doesn’t think I’m cool..He doesn’t think I’m a cool guy. This is what people tell me. And he doesn’t think I’m cool and that I’m not that great of a drummer. And Slash, he doesn’t believe that I have 21 months and 21 days sober. He doesn’t believe it. I don’t know why, but they forget that at one time in their life, they were doing drugs and drinking and they were f–king up. They forget that they were like that too. Duff has got 20 years sober or more, Slash has got, like, 11 or 12 years sober, and I’ve got a year, nine months and 21 days. So everybody gets it at a different time. I’m just thankful I got it.”
“….”They don’t think I’m cool and they don’t think I can play drums that great and they don’t think I’m sober. Duff, he has a right, in a way, but, like I said, he forgets where he came from too. But we did do some shows [together] in Japan [in 2013], and Duff invited [Steven’s current band] Adler to come down, and I was still drinking then. And the second I got to the airport, I made a beeline for the bar, and I just started doing shots of Jäger. And the whole trip I was sick and I was just a mess. And, you know, Duff’s sober and he’s very judgmental and forgetful of where he came from. And he was just so bummed and pissed at me. I mean, the playing part, the shows when we actually were performing, that went all right, but everything else… So I kind of ruined it and gave him the excuse to be able to say, ‘Well, he’s not cool and he’s not that good.’ But I stopped doing that. They stopped doing that. Just because they stopped doing it before I did doesn’t make them any better. We’re all people who have addiction problems. I was just able to get a grip on it later on in life than they did.”
Adler stated that he is still in touch with Slash but that it is difficult to get him to meet up. “I’m always trying to get [Slash] to go to Crossroads, this vegan restaurant. I [tell him], ‘Get your girlfriend and come meet me and my wife over… And John 5. I say, meet me and John 5 and Rita over at Crossroads for brunch or dinner.’ [And he writes back] ‘Ehh, I can’t. I’m working.’ I’m going, ‘You’ve gotta be home way more than that. Just come meet with me. Let’s go have a cup of coffee.’
Adler also expressed frustration over the fact that so many world-famous musicians, including Guns N’ Roses, cannot seem to overcome personal differences and reunite for the sake of their fans.
“I don’t understand what the problem is,” he said. “We’re just rock bands. We all started practicing in our garage or our bedroom. We met each other, and we started playing in our garage, then we worked on songs. This is what we wanted to do. Our dreams came true. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people that have been successful and still can moderately successful…Of course, nobody’s gonna be like they were in the ’80s; that was our generation. It’s a new generation now of music and people and kids. But there are bands like Bon Jovi and Metallica and the Guns N’ Roses reunion; [if that were to happen] that would be huge.”
Adler added: “I don’t get it. We just play music. We’re living our dream. Why does everybody have to be such a dick and so fucking crazy? It’s, like, hey, we play music. When we’re together, we play it really great. Let’s just do it. What’s the problem?”
