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Post by Pete on Feb 6, 2012 12:49:50 GMT -5
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Post by Pete on Feb 6, 2012 12:43:10 GMT -5
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Post by Pete on Feb 6, 2012 12:33:22 GMT -5
Black Sabbath made headlines this week when drummer Bill Ward issued a public statement advising fans that he will not participate in the band’s reunion unless he is presented with an agreement that reflects his contributions to the group’s success and longevity.
Ward basically told fans that he’s not getting what he feels is fair share of the Sabbath financial pie and that he deserves better than what band management have put on the table for him.
Now, the other three original Sabbath members – Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler – have responded to Ward’s public news with a statement of their own.
"We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans,” said the trio. “We have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open... We are still in the U.K. with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll... See you at Download!!!"
Sabbath are currently working with producer Rick Rubin on a new album, and have a world tour scheduled to start May 18 in Moscow.
The band recently revealed they were planning to finish writing their new album in Birmingham, while guitarist Iommi is also battling cancer.
Stay tuned.
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Post by Pete on Feb 3, 2012 20:40:56 GMT -5
Here's the full statement:
Dear Sabbath Fans, Fellow Musicians and Interested Parties, At this time, I would love nothing more than to be able to proceed with the Black Sabbath album and tour. However, I am unable to continue unless a "signable" contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band.
Last year, I worked diligently in good faith with Tony, Ozzy and Geezer. And on 11/11/11, again in good faith, I participated in the L.A. press conference. Several days ago, after nearly a year of trying to negotiate, another "unsignable" contract was handed to me.
Let me say that although this has put me in some kind of holding pattern, I am packed and ready to leave the U.S. for England. More importantly, I definitely want to play on the album, and I definitely want to tour with Black Sabbath.
Since the news of Tony's illness, and the understanding that the band would move production to the U.K., I've spent everyday getting to or living in a place of readiness to leave. That involves something of a task, and as I've tried to find out what's going on with the U.K. sessions, I've realized that I've been getting "the cold shoulder" (and, I might add, not for the first time). Feeling somewhat ostracized, my guess is as of today, I will know nothing of what's happening unless I sign "the unsignable contract."
The place I'm in feels lousy and lonely because as much as I want to play and participate, I also have to stand for something and not sign on. If I sign as-is, I stand to lose my rights, dignity and respectability as a rock musician. I believe in freedom and freedom of speech. I grew up in a hard rock/metal band. We stood for something then, and we played from the heart with honesty and sincerity. I am in the spirit of integrity, far from the corporate malady, I am real and honest, fair and compassionate.
If I'm replaced, I have to face you, the beloved Sabbath fans. I hope you will not hold me responsible for the failure of an original Black Sabbath lineup as promoted. Without fault finding, I want to assure everyone that my loyalty to Sabbath is intact. So here I am. I lay my truth down before you. I'm good to go IF I get a "signable" contract. I don't want to let anyone down, especially Black Sabbath and all the Sabbath fans. You know I love you. It would be a sad day in Rock if this current situation fell to the desires of a few.
My position is not greed-driven. I'm not holding out for a "big piece" of the action (money) like some kind of blackmail deal. I'd like something that recognizes and is reflective of my contributions to the band, including the reunions that started fourteen years ago. After the last tour I vowed to never again sign on to an unreasonable contract. I want a contract that shows some respect to me and my family, a contract that will honor all that I've brought to Black Sabbath since its beginning.
That's the story so far. Stay safe and stay strong. I love every single one of you. –Bill Ward
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Post by Pete on Feb 2, 2012 11:34:11 GMT -5
Van Halen’s first new album with David Lee Roth on the mic in nearly 30 years arrives February 7 on Interscope, and the results are disarmingly good. A Different Kind Of Truth is a true return of the ’80s c*ck-rock overlords, a screaming triumph for the feathered-hair dreamers who held on through a cinematically epic series of lineup changes, band implosions and shifting tides of musical fashion. That old familiar feeling has returned, the unique flare of excitement that comes from a muscle car rhythm section led by a six-string wizard and a singing sexual megalodon with an ego that made Kanye look like a kid flaunting his new Spider-Man underoos – and the pipes to back up the strut.
Yes, Van Halen is back, and we’re not faced with a group of veterans simply trying to make sounds that their old selves would respect; A Different Kind of Truth is almost entirely culled from unpolished, unfinished and unreleased work the band had written in their heyday. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen has said several times over the years that he has over half a dozen albums’ worth of unreleased material in his archives from the band’s career, and former singer Sammy Hagar told Rolling Stone not long ago, “I heard this record is old outtakes from the old days. I mean, stuff from before I even joined the band. Because from what I heard, they aren’t working with new material. Ed and Dave didn’t actually write new songs.”
It’s an arguable copout, but a genius insulation nonetheless – pulling from a song sketchbook more than three decades old provides guidepoints to safeguard against the worn pathways of aging acts molesting their own legacy. Thankfully, these songs do not sound like old men putting on the smelly old spandex and combing over the strays. Fresh is the operative word here, a supremely confident swing for the fences in an understandable progression from the obsessively romanticized pre-Hagar era.
The choice of Tattoo as the lead single may have more to do with its peac*cking pop factor than anything else, because despite being the opener it’s the low point for an otherwise fantastic album. Immediately, She’s The Woman taps into the ebullient ’80s spirit, a strong connection to a nostalgia-free strut and sexy, slick riffage – complete with a classic VH solo. A gem from the archives, the track appeared on a 1976 demo the band cut with Gene Simmons on production.
“I wanna be your knight in shining pickup truck,” Roth juts over a mean little chugging guitar line, and it’s all there – the grunts, the little wailing asides, the random background “Whooo!” and “Yeayaa!” accents peppered around Eddie’s volleying squeals. The rev-up to the chorus is short and, like pulling into neutral before slamming into the next gear. It doesn’t really matter that Dave’s not singing “swamp meat salad” in Tattoo – the song just doesn’t connect with the energy found here, the knockout drive that pulled us in so long ago. Woman’s hot groove catches fire and spins out as Wolfgang (who holds his own plenty fine throughout) rises in the mix, punching along to the beat before Dad rips loose with a solo that races the frantic rhythm back into the final verse.
But You And Your Blues creeps up dangerously amid chopping guitar, Roth’s hushed finger-wagging giving way to an echo chorus, casting out the demons with a had-enough-of-you backhand. There’s a sick little changeup at the two-minute mark, a serpentine acceleration before another screaming solo. Truly, the six-string snobs will have their hands full here, as Eddie brings an airtight assault of fretwork that runs flush with the original glory days.
Van Halen’s legendary tapping channels Beethoven for just a flash to kick off a furiously sprinting China Town, and the neckbreaker’s not alone in its frantic pace or celebratory energy; the fast-funk Bullethead blasts through with enough intensity to make the two-and-a-half minutes pass like a heartbeat, while Eddie’s skittering riff carries us through the labyrinthian As Is with a tenacious confidence – we’re fully in the red, the speedometer’s buried, machine gun heartbeat adding internal percussion while fishtailing down the freeway at impossible speeds. But a Thorogood blues-lick breakdown elbows its way in through a vicious dime-stopping halt, Roth dropping into a smooth-talking Satan-bass tone for just a moment… then we’re off again at a spastic gallop, punctuated by bursts of choral screams.
Known for their dramatic opening flare, the band open several tracks with decorative introductions, often led by experimental stringwork. The back-alley acoustic groove of Stay Frosty explodes into a bar-brawl swagger jam (with Diamond Dave seemingly possessed by the spirit of Dr. Seuss), and the medieval harkening of the onset of Big River sparks a curiosity on what would come of further exploration down that path. A somber plucked intro to Blood and Fire turns into a rollerskating-down-the-boardwalk jam right out of 1984, flashing million dollar crocodile grins at the Aqua-Net queens popping gum and swooning.
“Told ya I was coming back,” Roth deadpans in the breakdown, and you can almost see his told-you-so smirk as the beast breaks through the clouds and into a brief clearing. Then it’s back down into the fray, Van Halen losing his shit in what’s arguably the album’s most exhilarating solo.
Anything less would’ve been eviscerated by all but the blind devoted, but A Different Kind of Truth will be remembered as evidence that a band can endure every cliche in the book and return, with the right focus, obsessed dedication and mojo, to a sweet spot of rejuvenation – one that holds the hand of nostalgia but doesn’t go for the full embrace, leaning instead, wisely, toward evolution.
Welcome back, boys.
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Post by Pete on Feb 1, 2012 8:02:16 GMT -5
A Different Kind of Truth, released next week, marks Van Halen’s first release since 1998 and the first with founding member Roth since 1984.
Speculation began mounting after former singer Sammy Hagar suggested Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen were reworking old demos for the album. Now the Roth has provided more details.
He tells the LA Times: “It’s material that Eddie and I generated in 1975, 1976 and 1977. Usually fellas in our weight division will kind of gamely – or ironically, wink-wink – try to hail back to it, but keep a safe, mature distance from it.”
The band’s reasoning, says the singer, is they know they’re not the men they used to be. “Are there second chances?” he asks. “I’m tending to ‘no.’ We’ve managed to stretch our adolescence like a chiclet to the moon, and maintained the respectful dignities along the way that got us on that turnpike up in the first place.”
Addressing Van Halen’s celebrated public and private brawls, Roth says: “We accused each other of betrayal and thievery and lies and treachery – and it was all true. We were all guilty. Dig up the past and it’s going to get all over everybody. And, man, do we have a past.”
But he has a defence: “Nobody well-adjusted ever got my job, much less kept it this long.”
Meanwhile, former VH bassist Michael Anthony says he has no plans to pursue the band for his share of royalties from the new album.
The tracks were written at a time when the band credited all four members with co-writing credits, meaning Anthony, who was sacked in 2006 by Eddie Van Halen, could have a legitimate claim for proceeds.
But he tells Planet Rock: “I don’t want to do anything. I just let it be. It’ll be nice to hear some of those old songs again that I haven’t played in a long time.”
Anthony is a member of supergroup Chickenfoot with ex-VH singer Sammy Hagar.
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Post by Pete on Jan 31, 2012 14:09:06 GMT -5
“Oh, I’m okay with those guys doing whatever they want to do,” says Sammy. “What I’ve heard so far, I wasn’t impressed with at all, personally. I think in Chickenfoot, we’ve raised the bar a little bit on what a four-piece rock band can do, and I think they chose to take the easy route and take some of their old stuff and and re-record it instead of writing new songs. Who is Van Halen today? I don’t know, I don’t think the fans are going to be happy with it. I couldn’t care less if it’s the biggest album of the year, that wouldn’t be important to me, what is important to me is that, as artists, why would you do that? They haven’t released an album since my last album in something like 1991 or ’92, (Ed. note: "VHIII" was issued in 1998) and then they just go back. To me it makes a strange statement, it kind of says ‘We don’t have anything, we’re not a band anymore, we’re not creative.’ Isn’t it a strange statement to you?”
Radio Metal: Do you think this was intentional? I mean, as a band it’s normal to have some habits, some patterns, some ways of composing that come back, so do you think it really was intentional?
Hagar: I don’t know. To be honest with you, the last time I was around those guys was in 2004 on the reunion. It was a disaster, it was horrible, Eddie was in a really bad shape, I wrote about it a lot in my book. And I don’t know what they’re thinking to be honest with you. Because if they were thinking at all, they would certainly have Mikey in there playing bass. So I don’t know what they’re thinking. I believe it was probably intentional because I don’t think they had any choice. If they had had a choice they would’ve done all new stuff. From today. They would’ve written together like a band.
Radio Metal: So you think they don’t have any inspiration today?
Hagar: I don’t think so. I think there’s zero inspiration and zero creativity. If there was any, they would write new songs. What does the band do? When Chickenfoot got together for our first album, we were four new guys and we got together and wrote ten, twelve songs and made an album. When we decided to do our second album, we didn’t go back and take the two songs that were left over from the first album, we wrote all brand new songs. Because we’re new people, we’re inspired. Here’s what we have to say, here’s what we want to play now, here’s who we’ve become since then. And you present yourself to the fans as who you are and what you’ve become. And if you don’t have any idea of who you are or what you are and what you’ve become [laughs], then I guess you have to go back and show them what you used to be. I don’t know, does that make sense?
Radio Metal: Michael told us that he was totally open to have Chickenfoot going on tour or at least making a couple of shows with Van Halen. What about you?
Hagar: Hell yes! [laughs] Are you kidding? Right now, for free. They wouldn’t even have to pay me.
Radio Metal: Anyway, does that bother you when you hear people comparing Chickenfoot and Van Halen?
Hagar: Oh no, I think it’s fantastic. Really, it’s fantastic, are you kidding me? If you take Joe versus Eddie, you take Dave versus me, Wolfie versus Mikey, Chad or Kenny versus Al… I mean, come on! You know what I mean? Man for man, who can sing the best? Dave or I, today? Who can play the best? Joe or Eddie, today? Who could play or sing the best? Wolfie or Mikey? I think it’s a joke, sure I love the comparison as long as it’s fair. Not because you’re a big Eddie Van Halen fan, you think that he’s God therefore you think that he’s better than Joe, you have to be bipartisan and just listen and watch both of them play. Listen, I played with them both, I can tell you right now: there is no comparison today. Never mind the innovator that Eddie was. I’m talking about what they can play today.
Radio Metal: So in other words, Chickenfoot is way better than Van Halen?
Hagar: As individuals, absolutely! I’ve been in both bands, I can tell you right now. Take the new albums and compare them track-by-track and then tell me.
Contrast Sammy’s comments to something the Red Rocker mentioned earlier in the interview….when asked about lead singers being the loud mouths in bands…
Hagar: [Laughs] I’m trying to calm down in my old age. I used to shoot my mouth off a lot, before Van Halen, and in Van Halen I’d shoot my mouth off a lot, and after Van Halen I’d shoot my mouth off a lot. But now what I want to do is, since I wrote my book, now I just want to concentrate on being a positive person and have the attitude that if you don’t have something good to say about someone, just don’t say anything. I’m trying to be like that in my life now.
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Post by Pete on Jan 26, 2012 11:16:30 GMT -5
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Post by Pete on Jan 26, 2012 11:06:09 GMT -5
DLR explains Tattoo
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Post by Pete on Jan 26, 2012 11:04:39 GMT -5
Van Halen's new single, "Tattoo," has hit #1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Singles chart.
The track also earns the title of #1 Most Played Song at Classic Rock Radio in its first week and the #1 Most Added song at Mainstream and Active Rock Radio.
Since its January 10 release, “Tattoo” has been played on more than 160 stations across the States.
The song is the lead track from “A Different Kind Of Truth,” due February 7; it’s Van Halen's first original studio album with singer David Lee Roth since the band's diamond certified album “1984.”
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Post by Pete on Jan 26, 2012 11:02:35 GMT -5
He has a long standing visceral hate of "The Wall"
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Post by Pete on Jan 26, 2012 11:01:09 GMT -5
Ice cold!
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Post by Pete on Jan 25, 2012 12:43:32 GMT -5
Wednesday: Van Halen to debut new song on CSI
Van Halen will debut a new song from their forthcoming album, “A Different Kind Of Truth,” Wednesday night on the CBS television series CSI.
The VHND reports fans will get to hear clips of two songs off VH’s new album; the first single, “Tattoo,” and the as-yet unheard “Stay Frosty.”
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Post by Pete on Jan 21, 2012 12:16:12 GMT -5
He was a little better on the prior tour.
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Post by Pete on Jan 20, 2012 12:44:34 GMT -5
Tony Iommi isn’t letting his cancer get the better of him, says Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler.
Instead, the iconic guitarist has written two new songs since being diagnosed with lymphoma at Christmas, and is continuing work on the band’s first original-lineup album since 1978.
Iommi, Butler, frontman Ozzy Osbourne and drummer Bill Ward decided to move their recording operation from the US to the UK to make the guitarist’s health battle easier. He’s now receiving treatment for the form of cancer which attacks the immune system, and early indications suggest he’s responding well.
Butler says: “We got the engines back up and running at Tony’s home studio. Far from being down and depressed about his diagnosis, Tony had already written the music for two new songs.
“I must say it’s given us all a kick up the rump – it’s great to hear him churning out those riffs again, assuaging the ‘demon C’.
“Takes more than that to stop Tony. Can’t wait for you all to hear our workings – it has been great working on this stuff.”
Butler says goodwill messages from across the world have encouraged them all: “It really does help, not only Tony, but us as a band. It raises up our spirits and restores our faith in this tarnished world.
“Sabb fans are good people. Time and again you have proven your faith in us and boosted our endeavour.”
The band still plan to release the untitled album, produced by Rick Rubin, later this year. Despite Iommi’s illness the UK’s Download festival yesterday said they’ll appear as planned at the June event. They earlier cancelled a planned headline slot at Coachella in California in April.
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Post by Pete on Jan 19, 2012 20:25:50 GMT -5
I went to see them for cruefest a few years back and Vince was pretty bad. The rest of the crue were pretty good but Vince was out of breath and could barely sing. I was with a co-worker who was much younger and wasn't familiar at all with Motley Crue. It was the first time hearing them although he said some of the songs sounded familiar. He said the band was cool and rocked but the lead singer sucked and sounded and looked like a fat out breath H.S. chick.
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Post by Pete on Jan 19, 2012 12:04:05 GMT -5
Bruce Springsteen will return in March with Wrecking Ball, according to a listing on iTunes. The legendary musician’s 17th LP comprises 11 tracks and appears to include (and take its name from) “Wrecking Ball”, a tribute to the late Giants Stadium, which he previously debuted live.
The album’s opening track and lead single, “We Take Care of Our Own”, is available for purchase beginning Thursday, January 19th. Press for the album promises “unexpected textures – loops, electronic percussion… influences and rhythms from hip-hop to Irish folk,” however, this single is trademark E Street Band. “We take care of our own/wherever this flag is flown,” Springsteen sings in this politically charged call to arms, which sees him accompanied by guitar, keyboard, and strings.
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Post by Pete on Jan 19, 2012 11:55:27 GMT -5
He and David Gilmour spent many years at loggerheads through lawyers after Waters decided to depart in 1985. Waters claimed the group had “dissolved” and rought to stop the remaining members from continuing under the Floyd name.
But relations have thawed since then, and, last year, surviving members Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason appeared during one of Waters’ live performances of classic album The Wall.
Now the solo artist, who says he’ll retire at the end of his current world tour, admits the years of anger weren’t worth it.
Asked by radio host Howard Stern if Floyd were wrong to keep playing his songs after he’d left, Waters says: “No, I don’t think so. I think I was wrong to think they were wrong.”
The band had begun to drift apart many years before the final split, he reflects. “We were a cracking team when we were younger. From 1968 to Dark Side of the Moon we were a pretty tightly-knit group.”
But things started to change when Floyd’s acclaimed 1973 album brought financial rewards. “Dark Side of the Moon was the first time we made any cash,” says Waters. “We were reasonably generous with one another at that time.
“I think once you’ve achieved that measure of success, you’ve really done what it was you set out to do together. From then on it was really about clinging to the trademark in a kind of frightened way, not wanting to lose the umbrella with the words ‘Pink’ and ‘Floyd’ together.”
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Post by Pete on Jan 19, 2012 11:53:23 GMT -5
Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil has explained why he's considering leaving the band after their Las Vegas residency next month.
He says: "There are so many opportunities in front of me that I'm really excited about. I'm just not sure I can give them the time and effort I'll need, and continue with the band.
"I just don't want to look back later in life and regret that I didn't pursue them. Eventually it's time to call it quits – it might be the time to just kind of bow out." (Las Vegas Sun)
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Post by Pete on Jan 18, 2012 8:20:57 GMT -5
Sammy Hagar speaks out on his former band, Van Halen, including his thoughts on their new single, "Tattoo."
"I personally don't think that what they have just released, what I have seen and heard, is great at all," Sammy tells Cack Blabbath in Manchester. "It should be better than it is but hey, it is what it is and at least they got together and at least they came out with something, that's all I can say, you know. God bless them but I was expecting a lot more."
Hagar was asked if the VH reunion with David Lee Roth was motivated more by music or money. "Well, I'm not going to speculate why anyone does anything, but I'll tell you what, they waited so long and they're so not fan friendly, and as big as Van Halen was in the past…," Sammy began. "That's what we used to argue about when I was in the band, I got thrown out because I didn't want to do a Greatest Hits record. I said 'Why the f**k, we're the biggest band in the world, every album we've done since I've been in the band has been at number 1, we've sold out every arena on the planet, now why would you want to sell them the same old record again and give them two new tracks? Why do you want to do that to the fans?'"
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