Category : LATEST NEWS

THE CULT TO PERFORM THE ENTIRE ‘ELECTRIC’ ALBUM ON THEIR UPCOMING TOUR

The Cult will perform its 1987 album Electric, raw and unfiltered, on tour in 2013, an event branded as Electric 13. Until now, The Cult have never performed the album in its entirety. The live show will also include a second set pulling from the band’s eight other studio albums.

Commented The Cult vocalist Ian Astbury, “The Cult’s lifeblood has always been playing live. We are between albums and decided to continue the momentum created by Choice Of Weapon, stay in people’s hearts and minds. As Love Live was such an incredible experience, we have decided that performing the Electric album, an event that has been demanded by our fans and followers as the perfect live set to play in 2013.”

Born out of the ashes of the U.K. post-punk scene, The Cult evolved to become one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the late 20th century, selling millions of albums, headlining venues worldwide, infusing innovative possibilities into the worlds of music, art and fashion and quickly ascending through the ranks of the indie music world to achieve global status.

In 1987, The Cult released Electric, an album of stylistic change that aimed the band straight at the heart of the rock market. Recorded in New York City at the legendary Electric Ladyland studios and filled with the energy of the dirty NYC streets, together with a young producer named Rick Rubin, who resonated more with the hip hop world of The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, and Public Enemy; the band delivered an recording that has gone on to become one of The Cult’s most successful and influential albums, and as a follow-up to Love, kicked the door wide open to a passionate new audience.

Electric went on to become the band’s first platinum album. They quickly captured media attention featuring heavily in music and fashion magazines as well as becoming an MTV staple after dark and where spun heavily on radio coast to coast.
Electric was supported by an incident filled world tour with Guns N’ Roses as the opener in North America. Beginning in January of that year, The Cult headlined in the U.K., Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Australia, opened select dates for Iggy Pop and David Bowie, returning at the end of the year to sell out Wembley Arena and Brixton Academy in London.

Share :

JUDAS PRIEST’S ROB HALFORD AND RICHIE FAULKNER DISCUSS THE “EPITAPH” DVD AND NEW MUSIC

Greg Prato of Rolling Stone spoke with the Metal God Rob Halford and Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner about the band’s Epitaph DVD and new music. Portions of the interview appear below.

RS: When did the idea come up to document the Epitaph tour with a DVD?

Rob Halford: Pretty much when we were in rehearsals, before the big world tour kicked off, the rehearsals . . . it was different. It was different musically, because we were going through the decades of Priest metal. And along with the production, all these great things that were being shown to us that we wanted to include, and to some extent, carry on the experience we had with some of the Nostradamus moments. We thought, “The time is right again to put this all down on film.” It just felt like a natural idea to follow up the British Steel DVD.

So as soon as we talked it through, we started to put things into motion and waited until the end, which when you think about it now, we waited until the very last show – it was kind of a ballsy thing to do, because there could have been a technical breakdown, and then, “What are we going to do now?” But thankfully everything ran like clockwork, and it was just great to have that experience captured. It’s a defining moment. It’s a very unusual thing for Priest to do, in that everything we tried to do has had an original attitude to it. And most certainly, the Epitaph tour carried that significance.

RS: How would you say this DVD differs from previous Priest DVDs?

Halford: Just in the musical side of it, as well as the great production all these wonderfully talented people committed to getting for us, to go through pretty much four decades of metal is exceptional for Priest. We’ve never done anything like that before. To go from Rock Rolla all the way through to Nostradamus, to make that kind of statement was, again, an exciting experience for us. You could feel it as you were playing. The musical jump from a song that was written in the Seventies to something that was written in 2008 . . . that’s a jump. And you can hear the music developing through the decades. Turbo Lover is separate from Painkiller, as Painkiller is from Breaking the Law, or as Victim of Changes. For metal aficionados, it’s a real treat. And that definitely was the most unusual aspect of this whole project.

RS: How was it playing such rarely performed tunes as Never Satisfied, Starbreaker, and Beyond the Realms of Death again?

Halford: I love Never Satisfied. There’s something just very essential. It starts in an unusual way musically. How does it start . . . it’s like [sings opening], that’s like a fanfare. And I love the breakdown section. The timing of that is very unusual, if you really break that song down. And then it roars back out of that middle section. I love that breakdown section because of what Richie was doing. Guitar-wise, his phrasing, what he was doing in that part – I don’t know how he did it, because it was pure Seventies. And then the other big challenge was Blood Red Skies – that’s just a big opus. But Starbreaker . . . I’m the world’s biggest Priest fan.

RS: And how is the new Priest studio album coming along?

Faulkner: It’s coming along really well. We’re not saying too much about it at the moment –it’s kind of early to say. But it’s shaping up really well. The great thing from a writing point of view is that Priest’s brand of music is so broad, there’s a lot to take from. One extreme from the other. You can put stuff on the table and nothing is discounted. You might get some bands that are like, “Oh, we can’t do that, it sounds a bit like this or that.” With Priest, you can put anything on the table and you’ve got the flexibility from the scope of the sound, creatively. And then you’ve got people like Halford and Glenn, they put their stamp on it. Songs like Green Manalishi and Diamonds and Rust – when a band like Priest, with that sort of musical voice gets on something, it becomes a whole different monster. And the same thing with the new stuff. So it’s exciting. And from my point of view, to be a part of that is ridiculous. It’s fantastic.

RS: Are you involved in the songwriting process, Richie?

Faulkner: Yes. I put some stuff on the table. It’s always been a writing team. And to even be given the chance to put stuff forward is amazing. It could have been a bit awkward if it didn’t fit in or whatever, but it fit in, and it’s all working really well. And from a fan’s point of view, I’ve been in bands before [where they said], “Oh, you can’t play that, it sounds like Priest.” Now you can. I can’t wait to hear the finished thing.

RS: Any idea when the album will come out?

Halford: Ready when it’s ready. No rush. We don’t want to drop the ball – we’ve never dropped the ball, anyway. We’re certainly not in a “luxury moment.” When you think about it, any band that was in the Eighties that was having success, you were literally making a record a year. The demand was so strong . . . I mean, in those days, you were popping out platinum albums all the time. To get remotely close to gold in today’s world is a massive achievement. It’s a different world altogether. We’ve never slacked off – we’ve always enjoyed writing, we’ve always enjoyed being in the studio. There’s never been like, “Oh, God, we’ve got to make another record.” There’s always been this genuine desire. The hunger has never left us. When you wake up, it’s like, “Another heavy metal day. What are we going to do today?” It’s great. As a 62-year-old man, I’m just really pleased that I’m still feeling that way about my metal. I’m a metal head – I’m sixty-fucking-two, it’s incredible. That side of Priest is just solid as ever. We’re eager to keep going down the metal coalmine and seeing if we can hack up some diamonds.

Read more at Rolling Stone.

source: rollingstone.com

Share :

THE WINERY DOGS POST THE VIDEO FOR “DESIRE” ONLINE, VIEW IT HERE

The Winery Dogs, a new project featuring drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Adrenaline Mob), bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Talas) and guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen (Mr. Big, Poison) have posted a video for their second song Desire which can be viewed below.

To watch the video for the band’s other song, Elevate, please click here.

The band’s self-titled debut album, which will be released in Japan on May 15th through Victor Entertainment.

The Winery Dogs track listing:

1. Elevate
2. Desire
3. We Are One
4. I’m No Angel
5. The Other Side
6. You Saved Me
7. Not Hopeless
8. One More Time
9. Damaged
10. Six Feet Deeper
11. Criminal
12. The Dying
13. Regret

Share :

KING KOBRA TO RELEASE “II” IN JULY

Frontiers Records will be releasing King Kobra’s new studio album II on July 5th in Europe and July 9th in North America.

“We chose to name this album II because it is both the second album of our reformation with Frontiers Records as well as the second generation of the band with Paul Shortino as lead vocalist,” says guitarist David Michael-Philips. “Paul’s unique style gives the band a new feel apart from what we were in the ’80s with original singer Mark/Marcie Free. I think the “re-boot” naming gives Paul the credit he deserves while paying homage to our original singer and sound.”

The thick, soulful vocals of Paul Shortino, dual guitarists Mick Sweda and David Michael-Philips, and the thundering bass and drums of Johnny Rod and Carmine Appice delivered an album that, while easily carrying on the tradition of the first two releases, brought a contemporary twist to a signature melodic, hard rock style. “The ’70s flavour of this new album was a conscious move to incorporate our influences into the music,” continues Michael-Philips, while Carmine Appice adds, “King Kobra was a band in the ’80s with great players… and had roots in the ’70s also. We tried to make a cool combination of both, which I think we achieved with this new album.”

Produced by David Henzerling with Carmine Appice and Paul Shortino, II digs into King Kobra’s hard rock roots to create an album that has all the swagger and swing of the classic ’70s albums (think Montrose, Bad Company, Deep Purple and even Carmine’s own legendary Cactus) with a crystal clear sound that combines the best of both analogue and digital recording techniques. From the tight and punchy Have A Good Time to the 8-minute epic Deep River, II shows a more mature band confident of its songwriting ability performing with the technical prowess garnered over years of experience.

II tracklisting includes:

Hell On Wheels
Knock ‘Em Dead
Have A Good Time
The Ballad Of Johnny Rod
Take Me Back
When The Hammer Comes Down
Running Wild
The Crunch
Got It Comin’
Deep River
Don’t Keep Me Waiting
We Go Round

Share :

JEFF HANNEMAN UPDATE: CAUSE OF DEATH, CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER

While the details are being worked out now, Slayer wants its fans to know that there will be a celebration of Jeff Hanneman’s life sometime later this month, along with Jeff’s family and friends, the public will be invited to attend. More information will be posted here soon.

Hanneman’s official cause of death was alcohol related cirrhosis. While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent Necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life. Contrary to some reports, Jeff was not on a transplant list at the time of his passing, or at any time prior to that. In fact, by all accounts, it appeared that he had been improving – he was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.

Kerry King and Tom Araya are trying to deal with the loss of their brother by remembering some the good times they shared.

Kerry: “I had so many great times with Jeff…in the early days when we were out on the road, he and I were the night owls, we would stay up all night on the bus, just hanging out, talking, watching movies…World War II movies, horror movies, we watched Full Metal Jacket so many times, we could practically recite all of the dialogue.”

Tom: “When we first formed Slayer, we used to rehearse all the time, religiously, 24/7. Jeff and I spent a lot of time hanging out together, he lived in my father’s garage which was also our rehearsal space. When he got his own apartment, he had an 8-track and I would go there to record songs I’d written, not Slayer songs, other stuff I’d written. At a certain point, you still have the band but you start your own lives outside of the band, so that 24/7 falls to the side, you don’t spend as much time together as you once did. I miss those early days.”

Kerry: “He was a gigantic World War II buff, his father served in that war, so when Slayer played Russia for the first time – I think it was 1998 – Jeff and I went to one of Moscow’s military museums. I’ll never forget him walking around that place, looking at all of the tanks, weapons and other exhibits. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. But that was Jeff’s thing, he knew so much about WW II history, he could have taught it in school.”

Tom: “We were in New York recording South of Heaven. Jeff and I were at the hotel and we had to get to the studio – I think it was called Chung King, a real rundown place. So we left the hotel and decided to walk, but then it started raining. We walked maybe five blocks, and it was raining so hard, we were totally soaked, so we decided to get a cab. Here we are, two dudes with long hair and leather jackets, absolutely soaked, thumbing to the studio. No one would stop. We had to walk the entire way.”

Tom: “Jeff was a lifeline of Slayer, he wrote so many of the songs that the band will always be known for. He had a good heart, he was a good guy.”

Photo credit: Andrew Stuart

Share :