Def Leppard have revealed the track listing and album cover for their forthcoming self titled album tentatively scheduled for release on October 30th.
Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott explained the reasoning behind releasing a self-titled album at this point in the band’s career, saying, “It’s just called ‘Def Leppard’ because that’s what it sounds like. It doesn’t sounds like any one specific era of Def Leppard. It’s got everything.”
That “everything,” Elliott argued, includes bits of Def Leppard’s many influences. “You’ll listen and you go ‘Oh, that sounds like Def Leppard’ or you’ll go ‘That is Leppard, but sounds a bit like Led Zeppelin or Queen but you can hear the AC/DC or the Crosby, Stills and Nash coming through,” he predicted. “We have not shied away from anything that’s influenced us in our growing up periods of our life. Just because we’ve made the kind of music we’ve made doesn’t mean to say we don’t like all of this other stuff.”
Def Leppard Track Listing:
Let’s Go
Dangerous
Man Enough
We Belong
Invincible
Sea of Love
Energized
All Time High
Battle of My Own
Broke N’ Brokenhearted
Forever Young
Last Dance
Wings of an Angel
Blind Faith
Guitarist Tony MacAlpine’s team has released the following message:
“It is with regret that we announce the cancellation of Tony’s European tour which was slated for October/November.
Tony’s condition has not improved since the surgery to remove a tumor from his intestine, and he will need further treatment.
We are incredibly disappointed that the world tour dates are being postponed indefinitely, but Tony needs to focus completely on his recovery at this time.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out to provide words of love, encouragement and support to Tony. It’s deeply appreciated. We will post further updates soon.”
On August 24th, MacAlpine posted on his Facebook page that his doctors discovered a large mass in his intestine and that they suspected it was malignant forcing him to cancel his Australian tour. At the time of the posting, Tony was hoping that he would be able to keep his European commitment. Read more here.
During tonight’s Yahoo live stream from Barclays in Brooklyn, you may have noticed legendary rockers Scorpions were joined by a very special guest– 12 year old guitarist Brandon Niederauer. The third generation Scorpions fan accompanied his favorite band for a rousing performance of No One Like You.
As Niederauer headed to the stage, he shared, “Rock You Like A Hurricane was the first song, and solo, I ever learned and played in my first performance at age 8. The Scorpions’ music is a big influence on my playing.”
Niederauer hails from Long Island where he spent his formative years playing his Gibson Les Paul – he became a fan of Scorpions while playing video games. The prodigal guitarist will grace the Broadway stage this fall in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock launching November 9th.
To watch a video of this performance, please click here.
Iron Maiden scored the best Billboard 200 performance of their career, and their best sales week since Nielsen Music began measuring in 1991, as the heavy metal group’s 16th studio album The Book of Souls debuted at Number Four with 75,000 total copies sold. Iron Maiden’s 2010 LP The Final Frontier also bowed in at Number Four, Billboard reports, but Book of Souls outsold that album’s debut week by over 12,000 copies. In an era of declining album sales, the legendary metal act have somehow mounted ascending first week sales for their past six studio albums.
Iron Maiden’s Book Of Souls was released on September 4th.
Rob Tannenbaum of Billbaord spoke with singer Alice Cooper and guitarist Joe Perry about their Hollywood Vampires project. The interview appear in its entirety below.
Billboard: Who coined the nickname Hollywood Vampires?
Alice Cooper: The Hollywood Vampires was a drinking club at the Rainbow [Bar & Grill] in Los Angeles, and it was the guys we are honoring: Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Keith Moon, plus me, Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees and Bernie Taupin. We were vampires because we never saw daylight — we drank all night. Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, the guys we learned from, were guys we drank with. I had never done a covers album, and I said, “Why don’t we pay tribute to our dead, drunk friends?” They would have gotten the joke — trust me.
Billboard: The name that doesn’t seem to fit in that list is Mickey Dolenz.
Cooper: Mickey was there every night. Think of the bands that had real drug problems: The Mamas & The Papas, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac. All the commercial bands. The Monkees had some pretty serious problems — as did The Partridge Family! The bands with the heavy images were not necessarily the heavy users. I didn’t see heroin until I was in New York, living at the Chelsea Hotel. You had the Lou Reed gang there, so you would see people with their keys in the door, sitting outside, because they couldn’t turn the key. (Laughs.)
Joe Perry: I was a drug snob. I loved heroin so much that if I mixed it with anything else, it would wreck the high. So when I was strung out on heroin, I didn’t do anything else.
Billboard: What was your closest brush with death?
Perry: Around 1975, Aerosmith was in a Learjet at 14,000 feet and the air pressure valve blew out. The pilot did the panic drop — lowered the landing gear, put up the flaps and put the jet almost upside down. All the lights went out. They have to get down to 3,000 feet so you can get some air. Steven [Tyler] and I were hugging each other — that’s how close it was. From then on, he used to carry a cassette recorder and keep it on “record” for every takeoff, because he wanted to record his last words.
Cooper: I almost drank myself to death. I woke up one morning and threw up blood. Throwing up blood onstage is cool. But throwing up blood in front of your Holiday Inn maid is not cool.
Perry: I remember seeing pictures of you on the golf course, with a golf cart. You were riding in front, and you had another golf cart full of Budweiser. That was my classic image of you. I probably laughed for 20 minutes at that picture.
Cooper: Yeah. When I quit drinking Budweiser, their stock plummeted. Our band proved you could live on nothing but beer for three years — then it catches up with you. Joe and I got to the crossroads and realized: You can either die, or you can make 20 more records.
To read more about this project, go here, and to listen to the Hollywood Vampire’s covering The Who’s, My Generation, please click here.
Manowar have confirmed two additional dates for their Gods And Kings World Tour 2016:
Friday, February 19, 2016 @ Sala Polivalentă – Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sunday, February 21, 2016 @ Romexpo – Bucharest, Romania
These dates not only mark Manowar’s triumphant return to Romania, but also their first ever performance in Cluj-Napoca (commonly known as Cluj), located in the northwestern part of the country, in the historical region of Transylvania.
“The Army of Romanian Manowarriors is growing!” said Joey DeMaio. “It is no secret that Romanian Manowarriors are the most powerful fans in Romania. Anyone who has seen them knows it’s a fact; so our return to Bucharest is like returning home to our Romanian metal family. And for the first time ever we’ll be performing in Transylvania! I’ve personally been to Transylvania many times and I have also been to Cluj several times. You can be sure these shows are going to be very special. Not only for the Manowarriors but for us as well.”
Manowar have revealed the name of their upcoming tour: Their new metal onslaught is titled “Gods And Kings World Tour 2016”.
“In the Manowar universe bigger is better!” said Joey DeMaio. “If you think the Kings Of Metal tour was massive, just imagine what is going to happen when we join forces with the earth-cracking Gods Of War!”
The tour will celebrate Kings Of Metal MMXIV, which many fans haven’t had a chance to experience live yet, as well as the upcoming anniversary of Gods Of War, which was unleashed on the world in 2007.
Along with this announcement Manowar have confirmed a series of additional dates for the first leg of the Gods And Kings World Tour 2016:
Mon, February 08, 2016 Tallinn, Estonia – Rock Cafe
Tue, February 09, 2016 Riga, Latvia – Palladium
Wed, February 10, 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania – Compensa Koncertų Salė
Fri, February 12, 2016 Tampere, Finland – Pakkahuone
Sat, February 13, 2016 Helsinki, Finland – The Circus
We will once again push man, machine and metal beyond all standards.” said MANOWAR. “This tour will be devastating! If you have metal in your veins, you don’t want to miss it!”
Gods And Kings World Tour 2016 – Confirmed Tour Dates:
Thu, January 14, 2016 – ČEZ Aréna – Ostrava, Czech Republic
Fri, January 15, 2016 – Kajot Arena – Brno, Czech Republic
Sat, January 16, 2016 – Torwar Hall – Warsaw, Poland
Mon, January 18, 2016 – Aegon Arena Bratislava, Slovakia
Tue, January 19, 2016 – Forum Karlín – Prague, Czech Republic
Wed, January 20, 2016 – Forum Karlín – Prague, Czech Republic
Fri, January 22, 2016 – Zenith – Munich, Germany
Sat, January 23, 2016 – Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
Sun, January 24, 2016 – Thüringenhalle – Erfurt, Germany
Wed, January 27, 2016 – Tempodrom – Berlin, Germany
Fri, January 29, 2016 – Porsche Arena – Stuttgart, Germany
Sat, January 30, 2016 – ISS Dome – Düsseldorf, Germany
Sun, January 31, 2016 – SCC – Aarhus, Denmark
Tue, February 2, 2016 – Konserthus – Stavanger, Norway
Fri, February 5, 2016 – Älvhögsborg – Trollhättan, Sweden
Sat, February 6, 2016 – Fryshuset Arenan – Stockholm, Sweden
Mon, February 8, 2016 – Rock Café – Tallinn, Estonia
Tue, February 9, 2016 – Palladium – Riga, Latvia
Wed, February 10, 2016 – Compensa Koncertų Salė – Vilnius, Lithuania
Fri, February 12, 2016 – Pakkahuone – Tampere, Finland
Sat, February 13, 2016 – The Circus – Helsinki, Finland
Fri, February 19, 2016 – Sala Polivalentă – Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sun, February 21, 2016 – Romexpo – Bucharest, Romania
