If the only way you could join your favorite band was by costing one of its members their job, would you still want to do it? Bassist Billy Sheehan had to answer that question the hard way after getting an enticing invitation from Van Halen.
Sheehan, whose early band Talas opened for Van Halen in 1981, recalled his brush with joining the band during a recent appearance on Eddie Trunk’s podcast. Noting that he found himself on their radar after their shared dates, Sheehan says he’s always had seriously mixed emotions about the prospect.
“For many years I never said anything about it, because I thought it was a little bit denigrating to Michael Anthony,” Sheehan admits. “But they did ask me to join Van Halen a couple of times. It never panned out, and in a way I’m glad it didn’t pan out, because I love Michael Anthony and I hate it when a band changes members. But then again,” he laughs, “in the back of my mind, Van Halen was my favorite band in the world. It would have been amazing.”
According to Sheehan, the question of whether to join became moot after “they passed on me; they decided they didn’t want to make a change,” but things still turned out pretty well for him — he was a member of David Lee Roth‘s solo band after Roth split from Van Halen, and has managed to remain cordial with all of its members, past and present. In fact, as he told Eddie, “I believe I’m the only person in the world who’s played with every member of Van Halen.”
Of course, later in his career, Sheehan became personally acquainted with the difficult decision a band faces when personality or professional conflicts arise between members, and they’re forced to make membership changes or break up entirely. Noting that he and the other members of Mr. Big felt an outpouring of fan affection after their recent reunion, he drew parallels to the portion of the VH fanbase that was disgruntled after Wolfgang Van Halen replaced Anthony in the lineup.
“You see that to some degree with Van Halen,” muses Sheehan toward the end of the episode. “I wish Wolfie well, and he’s doing a great job, but it’s not the original band. It’s a tough call. I wish him well, but as a fan, I kinda wanted to see Michael in there, you know? As a fan, it tears you up.”
Listen to Eddie’s entire podcast with Billy Sheehan podcast below.
Metal fans reportedly grow up to be happier and better adjusted adults than many fans of other genres, a study has suggested.
The research published by Taylor & Francis Online sought to test the validity of studies carried out in the 1980s which claimed fans of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath were at risk of “poor developmental outcomes.”
And, Pacific Standard reports, the new research finds that most of the metal fans who took part in the study “were significantly happier in their youth, and better adjusted currently” compared to peers who were into other music.
The team was led by Humboldt State University psychologist Tasha Howe, who says, “Metal enthusiasts did often experience traumatic and risky ‘sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll’ lives. However, the metalhead identity also served as a protective factor against negative outcomes. Despite the challenges of adverse childhood events, and other stressful and risky events in their youth, they reported higher levels of youthful happiness. They were also less likely to have any regrets about things they had done in their youth.”
The study also reports that those who focused on types of music outside of heavy metal “sought psychological counselling for emotional problems more than any other group, indicating a less happy and fulfilling perspective on their 1980s adolescence.”
The research would appear to make a mockery of high-profile 1980s campaigns against the metal lifestyle, run by organizations such as Tipper Gore’s Parents Music Resource Centre. Metal in the 80s was often frivolously linked to devil worship, drug abuse and suicide.
Spotify recently named metal fans as the most loyal of all listeners.
Guitarist Jake E. Lee’s band Red Dragon Cartel have named former Jones Street singer Shawn Crosby as their latest vocalist. He is the band’s fifth singer in just four months.
Darren James Smith appeared on the band’s 2014 self-titled debut album, but left in March over concerns regarding touring plans. His replacement Michael Beck lasted just a few short weeks before former Lynch Mob and Jason Bonham man Chas West signed on – only to replaced by Paul D’Eath, who’s now out of the picture.
Crosby says, “I will be singing for Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel for the month of July and, hopefully, for many months and years after. That is, if we can all play nice in the sandbox together! I’m sure we will. I couldn’t be playing with a cooler bunch of guys.”
Crosby will make his debut on July 9th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joining a lineup that also includes third bassist Anthony Esposito and drummer Jonas Fairley.
Red Dragon Cartel’s album was Lee’s first after more than two decades away from the music business. Last year he said he was resisting calls to record a follow-up – and he’d consider shutting the band down if the pressure became too much.
Red Dragon Cartel tour dates:
Jul 9: Philadelphia Legendary Dobbs, PA
Jul 10: Poughkeepsie Chance Theater, NY
Jul 11: Elmhurst Blackthorn 51, NY
Jul 14: Old Orchard Beach Mr Goodbars, ME
Jul 16: Londonderry Tupelo Music Hall, NH
Jul 17: Binghamton Eclipse, NY
Jul 18: Newton Theatre, NJ
Jul 22: Asbury Park Stone Pony, NJ
Jul 23: Halethorpe Fish Head Cantina, MD
Jul 24: Johns Creek 37 Main, GA
Jul 27: Nashville Basement East, TN
Jul 28: Little Rock Rev Room, AR
Sep 15: Tokyo Shibuya Club Quattro, Japan
Sep 16: Tokyo Shibuya Club Quattro, Japan
Sep 17: Osaka Umeda Club Quattro, Japan
On September 18th, Geoff Tate’s new band, Operation: Mindcrime, will be releasing its long-awaited debut album, The Key, on Frontiers Music Srl.
Perhaps one of Tate’s most ambitious recordings to date, The Key examines what one might do if they discovered “the key” to changing the way we view the world, the way we look at time, the way we travel, and could essentially change the human condition… for better or for worse.
Fresh from the creative mind of Geoff Tate, The Key features a dozen songs (see entire track listing below) and marks part one of an epic musical trilogy that initiates that very question within a web of international politics, the world economy and social ethos.
A trailer featuring snippets of four songs from the album (Burn, Re-Inventing the Future, Life Or Death? and The Fall) can be heard by clicking here. Pre-orders of the album now being taken here and here.
The Key is the debut album under Tate’s new Operation: Mindcrime banner, a creative platform that continues in the spirit of the historic album of the same name, spawning concepts as grand as the music, and intertwining the intensity of the former Queensryche vocalist’s iconic past with the provocative, progressive mindset that has made him one of music’s most resolute forces and frontmen.
Geoff Tate has sold more than 25 million records at the helm of Queensryche, the band he fronted for 30 years from their inception through 2012, earning three Grammy nominations, five MTV Music Video Award nomimations, and one MTV Music Video Award along the way.
The landmark concept album Operation: Mindcrime thrust Tate’s unique social consciousness, style and expertly crafted lyrics into the national spotlight in 1988, and was followed by Empire in 1990, the album that delivered Queensryche to arena-headlining status and sold more than three million albums on the back of hit singles and radio staples Silent Lucidity and Jet City Woman.
By the time the band released Promised Land in 1994, Geoff Tate was universally acknowledged as one of the greatest frontmen in rock and metal, and a driving force behind one of the most innovative bands in mainstream music.
From Mindcrime and Promised Land through 2009’s overlooked gem American Soldier – Tate’s ambitious concept album that explores the consequences of war as told through the voices of veterans – Tate’s 13-album tenure with Queensryche was marked by exploration, intrigue, bold risks and gratifying results. The Key continues in that fine tradition.
“Musically, this album is quite adventurous,” says Tate of his first release in a new worldwide deal with Frontiers Music SRL. “Of course there are key elements in the music, melody and phrasings that are really identifiable, but throughout my career I’ve opened my eyes and ears to new standards and arrangements, and that’s what keeps things fresh and exciting as an artist – we’ve thrown out the rules for this record, and it’s been really liberating. I’m a fan of old prog, and that music didn’t stick to rules. It’s inspiring and enjoyable to be able to explore, and it’s great being in a position to write without constraints.”
The results are a series of albums that don’t languish in nostalgia, instead offering listeners an opportunity to delve into a world of ideas and inspiration that Tate has been nurturing for the better portion of the last decade. Instead of asking, “Who killed Mary?,” Operation: Mindcrime now asks, “What are the implications of changing the world?”
“Like every album I’ve ever done, people will hear and experience it differently, and that is something that I look forward to,” continues Tate. “Music is an intimate experience – your inspirations are unique to you, and will be heard differently through every set of ears and experiences – but isn’t that really what makes art exciting? It inspires us all in different ways and for different reasons, and this album is no different. There are quite a few sections of this album that help propel the story with segues and dialogue, but the lyrics don’t lay out a breadcrumb trail and tell the story in a linear fashion, there’s a puzzle. We have several characters, and three other people singing lead vocals on the first album. That made it even more fun for me and helps give the album its own special character.
“Musically, there’s quite a smorgasbord, we’ve played with sound and established a sound palate – heavy guitar, obviously, cool drumming… all the music is very sophisticated, and there are interesting time changes, the band is playing with different countings and we switch throughout each piece. We can perform the verse in one feel, the bridge in another, and transition to a new chorus, very challenging stuff and lots of different sounds that people probably haven’t heard on one of my albums before – new and different guitar sounds and vocal treatments, very dynamic stuff.”
Joining Tate on The Key are a hard-hitting cast of familiar faces and new collaborators: bass players Dave Ellefson (Metal Allegiance) and John Moyer (Disturbed, Adrenaline Mob), drummers Simon Wright (AC/DC), Scott Mercado (Candlebox) and Brian Tichy (Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne), guitarists Kelly Gray (Queensryche) and Scott Moughton (Geoff Tate), keyboardist Randy Gane (Myth) and vocalist Mark Daly (The Voodoos).
Tate makes one point exceptionally clear – Operation: Mindcrime isn’t a band, it is a musical project of like-minded people uniting to achieve a common goal. While the songwriting rests predominantly on the shoulders of Tate, Gray and Gane, it’s up to every contributor to add their influence and help color the landscape.
“The songs on these records tell a story, and each song is a scene or chapter – every scene is different. The words tell the story, the musical bed, the chord progressions and melodies, they set the pace. That’s how I envisioned this album in total, very theatrical and definitely cinematic.
“How do we describe passion?” Tate asks in conclusion, cautiously answering his own question: “Music is a personal journey, and all you can do is write what moves you. That’s what passion is – it’s so difficult, yet it’s such an important human emotion. There are moments on this record that really impact me, the questions raised and the music those questions are set to… I don’t know if it will have that same effect on everyone else, but that’s where my passion and their passion meet. I do this because I love doing it. I love touring and I love playing live, performing with like-minded people in front of like-minded audiences, and being there in the moment together when all of our passions collide.”
And if, in the process, Geoff Tate can tell a story that turns people on end and keeps them talking long after the music has stopped playing? That’s not just icing on the cake, that’s what it’s all about…
That is Operation: Mindcrime..And come this September, fans will have The Key.
With music videos currently in production and a first single that’s expected to be released by the end of this month, further mind expansion is yet to come.
Operation Mindcrime’s The Key track listing:
Choices
Burn
Re-Inventing The Future
Ready To Fly
Discussions In A Smoke Filled Room
Life or Death?
The Stranger
Hearing Voice
On Queue
An Ambush Of Sadness
Kicking In The Door
The Fall
In March of this year, Dee Snider and his Twisted Sister bandmates mourned the loss of their drummer, AJ Pero, and announced that the 2016 touring season (the 40th anniversary of the band’s formation) will be the end of the road for the world-dominating force of nature that is Twisted Sister. While perhaps he is best known as the lead singer of the ‘80s sensation, there is so much more to Dee Snider.
Dee Snider is continuing to make music on his own, releasing To Hell and Back exclusively via his website, deesnider.com as a free download. He co-wrote the song with Silvertide founder/guitarist Nick Perri. This track will be included in a new album that Dee is currently working on with Grammy®, Emmy® and Oscar® winning writer/producer Damon Ranger (Life Of Pi). The new project will also feature material from Dee’s past including his worldwide hits with Twisted Sister.
Later this summer, Dee and his band–Nick Perri (lead guitars), Dan McCafferty (rhythm/lead guitar), Nicolai Nifoussi (bass), Joe Franco (drums)—will launch a solo tour which will take him to Europe and South America for festival shows including Rock In Rio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Rock Of Ages Festival in Baliingen, Germany. He’ll also be performing a number of headlining shows in the U.S. starting with the Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD on August 3.
He has starred in several reality TV shows including appearances in three seasons of Celebrity Apprentice, Gone Country with John Rich, MTV’s Rock The Cradle with his son Jesse Blaze, Growing Up Twisted, an A&E series featuring the entire Snider family and their Long Island lifestyle, ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap, and Celebrity Holiday Homes. He has also been a frequent host on the MTV Networks and, with more than 20 years on the air in radio, his own long-running, nationally syndicated radio show House Of Hair can be heard on over 200 stations in North America and at Houseofhaironline.com.
Dee also recently launched a much-heralded podcast Snider Comments on the PodcastOne network. His career as a voiceover artist has resulted in Dee being heard in many radio and TV commercials, animated shows, documentaries and a yearlong stint as the voice on MSNBC.
In 2014, Dee was the recipient of the prestigious Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award for his charitable work spanning several decades. Most notably, he spent twelve years as the national spokesman and Grand Marshal of the March of Dimes Bikers for Babies initiative (for whom he raised $325,000 with his Celebrity Apprentice win), established his annual Ride to Fight Hunger for Long Island Cares, and donated his Gold and Platinum album awards to Broadway Cares for auction.
Dee Snider tour dates:
7/10 Haapsalu, Estonia American Beauty Car Show
7/26 Wales, U.K. Steelhouse Festival
7/31 Baliingen, Germany Rock Of Ages Festival
8/1 Wacken, Germany Wacken Open Air Festival
8/3 Sturgis, SD Buffalo Chip Campgrounds (with Godsmack)
8/7 Three Forks, MT Rockin’ The Rivers
8/15 Milwaukee, WI Wisconsin State Fair
8/21 Manistee, MI Little River Casino Resort Event Center (with Lita Ford)
8/22 Sterling Heights, MI Freedom Hill Amphitheater
8/23 Des Moines, IA Iowa State Fair
8/19 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rock In Rio (with Angra and Doro Pesch)
Nearly two decades after a switch to medieval music, former Deep Purple and Rainbow co-founder Ritchie Blackmore says he might play rock again – but not for long.
“Just for a few days, next June,” Blackmore reveals, in a new interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien.. “But for now, I’m not decided on the persons I want to work with. I’ve got a good idea about the ideal candidates, but it wouldn’t be fair to say anything now. I will know exactly in one month who I want to have in this band to play Deep Purple and Rainbow songs. We will probably play three or four shows in June; that’s all.”
“I think that [former Rainbow singer] Joe [Lynn Turner] will not be part of the adventure, and he doesn’t know it yet,” Blackmore counters. “He does his thing, I like him, and I made good albums and good songs with him, like Street of Dreams. But I’m thinking about doing a mixture in the band, with famous people and not so famous ones. That’s my state of mind at the moment, and you’re the first person I talk to about it.”
When the journalist thanked Blackmore for the scoop, he stated “there should be about three or four people who might be interested.”
