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With their new release, ‘We Are Not Your Kind,’ Slipknot have joined the three in a row club. Meaning they’ve had three number one albums in a row. It’s also their fifth album in a row to crack the top three. Which is very impressive for a metal band of their nature. It’s not exactly melodic heavy metal. They tread on the heaviness of the 90’s greats: Pantera, Sepultura and Prong. The band’s self titled debut was released in 1999 after all. But I feel like Slipknot gets wrongfully put into the Nu Metal genre.

Continue reading Slipknot Join Three In A Row Club

In keeping with their tradition of releasing epic anniversary box sets of their albums, Whitesnake are due to release their biggest box set yet. The 30th anniversary of their 1989 killer album ‘Slip of the Tongue.’ It’s the latest in their gigantic anniversary collection. And this time around David Coverdale isn’t beating around the bush on material. Not that he did before. But the deluxe box set of the 30th anniversary of ‘Slip of the Tongue’ seems to be a true Whitesnake fan’s collectors item. Complete with a remastered version of the album, unreleased studio recordings, the 1990 Donnington show, music videos and a new interview with the man himself, David Coverdale.

Continue reading Whitesnake – ‘Slip of the Tongue’ 30th Anniversary Box Set Due Oct 4th

‘Black and White,’ ‘Jack and Jack,’ ‘J&B.’ Those are some possible names for the new Jack Black and Jack White collaboration. According to a new ‘Loudwire’ story, comedian Jack Black and Raconteurs front man Jack White have finally come together on a new song. The Tennessean confirmed the story since the collaboration was recorded in Nashville, calling the project ‘Jack Grey.’ Which I feel is the most appropriate name.

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Being in a band that’s gaining momentum, but is still playing the obscure bar and local joint shows can be an interesting challenge. It’s a struggle, however it’s full of rewards and benefits. Such as free booze, fellowship and pizza. And also the growth of gaining a fan base. Plus, you never know who you’re going to end up meeting. Good friends are acquired in the most unlikely of places. Which makes the adventure worth while.

Continue reading BREAK! Kicking It In L.A.

It’s official, TOOL have finally released their catalog on I- tunes. And the band have dominated the I-tunes charts since the release. All charting in top five spots, plus their EP. It’s a wild testament to a band that has defied all odds since their inception. The fact that they’ve remained as popular as they are, even after 13 years of no new material, throws the logic book out the door. Through all the trends, all the fads, TOOL have remained a major A-list hard rock band. Still selling out giant stadiums all around the world.

Continue reading TOOL Destroy I-Tunes Album Charts

After burners, fighter jets, unbridled passion and rock ‘n roll. Those are the main ingredients that make ‘Top Gun’ a bad ass rock ‘n roll film. Released at the peak of 80’s hard rock, ‘Top Gun’ captured everything that the decade stood for. Not to mention the killer soundtrack that went along with the movie. Although it’s a stellar soundtrack, there are some songs that were considered for it that didn’t make the cut. Due to contract disagreements or what not. Some bands took advantage, some fell through the cracks. Here’s a look at the timeless 80’s action drama. Fueled by the soon to be released ‘Top Gun’ sequel, ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’

Continue reading Rock ‘N Roll Movies – Top Gun

It’s certainly one of the most bittersweet releases of the year. Soundgarden’s new live album, recorded on the final night of their epic ‘King Animal’ tour. Entitled ‘Live From The Artists Den’ due to the fact that the Artists Den are responsible for capturing the set. The title can actually be misleading. The show was recorded at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. The concert captures the late Soundgarden at their finest.

Continue reading Soundgarden – ‘Live From The Artists Den’ Review

Recently, Loudwire, Ultimate Classic Rock and Billboard dropped a major story in ticket sales scandaling. According to the sources, Metallica ticket associate Tony DiCoiccio colluded with U.S. Live Nation ticket president Bob Roux; in a scheme to flood the U.S. market with secondary sale tickets for Metallica’s North American leg of the WorldWired Tour. According to Ultimate Classic Rock there are recordings of the conversations between the two that Billboard dropped a few days ago.

‘When this happens, 4,600 tickets into a single account, it might raise some eyebrows,’ Roux can be heard saying. ‘I’m trying to figure it out with Tony. You want to keep this quiet. There’s no good way for the light bulbs not to go off.’ The recording was acquired by a third party who was also on the phone with Roux and DiCoiccio. Vaughn Millette, an independent concert promoter, sent the recording to Live Nation executives. Ultimately, Roux lost money on the resale scandal.

Hear’s the thing about a ticket scandal like this, it’s not illegal. That doesn’t mean it’s not shady as hell or in general, a shitty thing to do. Buy, tickets, re-sell them independently and reap the benefits. But what’s so shitty about it, is that it waves a huge middle finger to those who paid full price for their tickets with their hard earned money. Usually resale tickets are sold a lower price, so the guy you’re sitting next to in the front on the floor section might have spent a fraction of what you spent through the proper channels. Which, of course, is shitty. Not that it’s not a great deal for fans who take advantage. But there certainly should be some law written about secondary ticket sales. This isn’t anything new. It just so happens that these guys got busted in the middle of doing it and they represented Metallica.

But this practice has been going on for decades. It’s essentially scalping. But now it’s on a major online market. The big question I think is, is did Metallica know about this or not? It’s really hard to say. All we know from the report is that Roux is apparently close to the band. With that being said I don’t think Metallica really knew what was going on. They have a history of fighting ticket scandals so I have a hard time thinking that they had anything to do with this scandal. The only positive conclusion to this is that Roux lost money on the deal. Which is what people deserve when they engage in ripping the people off.

KXM are roaring back hard with yet another killer new single. ‘War of Words’ is a perfect teaser for what’s sure to be a great third outing from the supergroup. Consisting of: Doug Pinnick (bass, lead vocals), George Lynch (Guitar, Lynch Mob & Dokken) and Ray Luzier (Drums, Korn). The new track sounds like an appropriate expansion of 2017’s ‘Scatterbrain.’ Which was one of the strongest albums of that year.

The song opens with an amniotic echo of what’s to come. The the riff drips with 12 megaton heaviness coupled with a classic thrash element. It’s immediately established that this is a headbanger. The thrash melody switches back and fourth from the verse melody. The chorus brings in a progressive drum thom beat. Accompanied with prominent lyrics about our divisive nature in the United States.

After the chorus is a short guitar break full of accidentals. Similar to the main riff of ‘Scatterbrain.’ The title track to the bands amazing 2017 album. But what makes the song really pop is the stellar guitar solo. It’s perfectly crafted. Starting with a passionate, George Lynch wail. Then the jam builds up to the perfect shredding moment. The song finishes out with the chorus and a heavy attitude.

If this track is any indicator of how good the new KXM album will be, then sign me up. Some supergroups don’t live up to the hype. But KXM lives up to the hype and then some.

Earlier this year Black Sabbath were honored by the Recording Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Iommi, Butler and even original drummer Bill Ward showed up. But there was a prominent absence at the ceremony, original frontman Ozzy Osbourne. The absence left the band and attendants bewildered. Well, finally Ozzy’s wife Sharon shed some light on the subject on Celebrity access. Basically she wouldn’t let Ozzy attend because the Recording Academy refused to air the award. While still showing other lifetime awards during the televised ceremony. In fact, Sabbath weren’t even honored on sight. They had some side space reserved for the band. They couldn’t even give Sabbath, a band that created a genre, the dignity of being on site. So, the academy then doesn’t get the pleasure of having Ozzy there.

Honestly, I completely agree with Sharon Osbourne on this one. It’s ridiculous that they couldn’t give the band air time during the televised ceremony. But not only that, they couldn’t even provide the space on the site of the Grammy’s for the creators of an entire genre. It’s just another prime example of how heavy music gets swept under the rug by mainstream validators. And, for the most part, it’s always been that way. Which is crazy because most of the artists in the hard rock and metal genre are the most talented ones playing modern music. It’s the only form of current, popular music that still requires some degree of classical music theory training. You don’t have to be like Beethoven or anything. But the genre does require discipline and practice much more so than any other genre out there right now. Particularly TRAP and electronic music. And while those get worshipped in spades, heavy music still has to take a back seat. Despite all the hard work the musicians do for the love of their craft. It really pisses me off. And Black Sabbath’s snub from the Grammy’s might be the prime example of how hard rock and metal are simply looked down upon.

Well, fuck ’em, if they can’t honor a band that literally created a genre then they don’t get Ozzy. I get it, there’s other bands out there in other genres that deserve recognition. That’s not what this is about. This is about the continuous bias against heavy music in all its forms. There’s plenty of other artists in other genres that deserve recognition. And that recognition is honored. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we’re talking about a band that had a number one album in several countries just six years ago. But as long as quality hard rock music is still looked down upon, there’s going to be a backlash from the base. And that’s totally understandable.