Tank fires up War Nation
Singer Doogie White keeps himself busy – and that’s just as well for those who love his brand of almost-operatic performance...
(Doogie White)
The former Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist is currently on tour with Michael Schenker and recently completed his long-awaited album with his breakthrough band La Paz.
(La Paz)
In 2010 he added his talents to those of Tank guitarists Mick Tucket and Cliff Evans and the result was well-received album War Machine. The follow-up, War Nation, is out tomorrow in the US and here’s the lead track, also called War Nation.
Leave my friend Ulrich alone says Lombardo
Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo wants people to stop bad-mouthing Metallica sticksman Lars Ulrich...
(Dave Lombardo)
And he admits his band don’t know when guitarist Jeff Hanneman will be able to return after being sidelined with a near-fatal spider bite.
(Jeff Hanneman)
When Ulrich was rushed to hospital ahead of the UK’s Download festival in 2004, Lombardo was one of the musicians who covered for him. The Metallica man later thanked him and called him “the best drummer in the world.”
Now the Slayer member has returned the kind words. He tells Metal Paths: “Me and Lars, we get along great. I don’t like people talking shit about Lars. They have to stop.
“There are a lot of fans out there who like to say a lot of bad things about him. He’s a very good friend of mine and I don’t like it.”
(Lars Ulrich)
He adds that relations are strong between all of the Big 4 bands – who shared a stage for the first time together in 2010 – name checking Metallica and Megadeth frontman James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine.
“I’m having a really nice time with Lars and James,” says Lombardo. “Dave visited us in our dressing room. I go visit them. It’s a very, very nice friendship and relationship.”
(The Big Four, from left: Slayer's Dave Lombardo, Metallica's Robert Trujillo, Slayer's Jeff Hanneman and Tom Araya, Anthrax's Charlie Benante and Joey Belladonna, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson, Anthrax's Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, Slayer's Kerry King, Metallica's James Hetfield, Megadeth's Shawn Drover, Anthrax's Frank Bello, Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett.)
Slayer axeman Hanneman lost most of the flesh in his arm after contracting necrotising fasciitis from a spider in February 2011. His band-mates later revealed he’d been close to death.
Despite a guest appearance late last year his band have been touring with a stand-in. Their upcoming dates will be covered by Exodus man Gary Holt, who’s covered during most of Hanneman’s time off.
Lombardo says: “Gary is an amazing player. We love him and we really appreciate all the help he’s given us while Jeff is getting better.”
Asked when their own guitarist is expected to resume duties he replies: “I really don’t know. Nobody knows – until he feels better and the doctor says ‘go’.”
(Exodus man Gary Holt)
(Jeff Hanneman)
GnR fan told: Remove Slash shirt or go home
An 18-year-old Guns n’Roses fan was told to remove his Slash shirt or go home ahead of Axl Rose’s appearance in London on Friday...
It’s a repeat of events first believed to have unfolded in 2010, when gigglers in Canada were ordered to turn Slash shirts inside-out and abandon their top hats.
James Revell attended the GnR show in London’s O2 Arena with his younger brother. On arrival door staff instructed him to take off his shirt and said he wouldn't be allowed in if he didn’t comply.
The teenager tells says: “I felt as though my freedom to wear what I want had been taken away from me. I did not react angrily as I didn't want to spoil the show for my brother.
“I believed they asked me to do it because Axl Rose has some problem with Slash, and if he saw me wearing the shirt he might have stormed off stage.”
(Axl Rose and Slash)
Revell says he feels “insulted” and adds he and his brother were only able to watch three songs of GnR’s set before having to leave because of the band’s late start.
O2 Arena staff confirmed: “We were told by management not to allow anyone in who is wearing a Slash t-shirt. We are asking anyone who is to remove it, and if they refuse they will be turned away.”
(o2 arena London)
The band’s first London show of two was streamed online via a pay-per-view service. They completed their UK tour in the English capital last night, featuring another guest appearance from classic-era guitarist Izzy Stradlin. They threatened to end the late-starting concert when angry fans threw coins and cups towards the stage.
(Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin)
Meanwhile, GnR guitarist DJ Ashba has defended bandmate Rose, telling people: “He’s actually very misunderstood by the media and people who don’t know him. People like to assume shit. I can only speak for me, but truth is he’s one of the funniest and collect motherfuckers out there. I would take a bullet for him.”
(Axl Rose and DJ Ashba)
Ozzy hints at Sabbath’s album name
Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne has hinted at the title of their reunion album and says they’ve written 15 songs so far – but they don’t plan to stop there...
(Ozzy Osbourne)
(Black Sabbath … (from left to right) , Geezer Butler, Tommy Clufetos, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi)
Guitarist Tony Iommi says the audience response to their low-key show in Birmingham last month was the boost he needed as he fights back from cancer.
Black Sabbath will close the Download festival at Donington, UK, next Sunday. It’s one of only three shows they’ll play with Iommi this year after his health issues prompted the cancellation of their world tour. Their hometown warm-up was the first.
The guitarist says: “What I've gone through the last year, I’ve been living in a different world. To be able to come back on stage and get that is fantastic. It really boosts you up.”
They performed with Ozzy’s solo band drummer Tommy Clufetos after original sticksman Bill Ward dropped out, saying he’d failed to reach a contractual agreement.
(Tony Iommi)
(Tommy Clufetos)
(Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne, , Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi)
Iommi says: “We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, feuds, this, that and the other. It all sorts out and the friendship never goes away, whatever’s going on. This band is strange like that.”
Discussing the new album, their first with Osbourne since 1979, the guitarist explains: “It’s certainly taken on the flavor of the old stuff, but we’ve put a newer look on it.”
Bassist Geezer Butler says producer Rick Rubin steered them in that direction. “Rick sat us down and put the first album on and said, ‘Listen to this,” Butler reports. “We were sort of, ‘Yeah, it’s the first album.’ ‘No, imagine it’s 1969, you've just done that – what would you do next?’”
Osbourne explains their working mantra is: “Where would we be now musically if we’d stayed together?” He adds: “ We've written about 15 songs so far. Whether they all get on an album I don’t know. We keep on writing.
“Next year, 2013, is a good clue to what we’re going to call the album.”
(Tony Iommi)
Exclusive:
The lead track from ZZ Top’s new EP: I Gotsta Get Paid...
Leaked to the world via an advert for Jeremiah Weed’s alcoholic ginger beer, new single I Gotsta Get Paid nods to 1972′s Just Got Paid – and that says it all, really. Forty years on, this is ZZ Top re-tooled for Generation 2.0 but, weirdly, the same as they ever were.
Big hairy grooves, whiskey-scorched vocals, guitars crunchier than a taco full of nachos… and a sense of humor drier than an Arab’s sand-shoe. Proper good.
(ZZ Top...Dusty Hill. Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard)
-Classicrockmagazine.com
No comments:
Post a Comment