Metallica
Launching a new month and Spring Break for me starts now, but the 80’s metal rolls on 24/7 on METAL SHOP.
Here’s a 2-minute readup on this mostly Fool-free Friday, April 1st.
There is nothing to contradict the earlier reports of Axl Rose guest singing for AC/DC on the remaining 10 scheduled tour dates, so we are accepting it as fact. This article lays out the evidence quite nicely.
For Axl’s other band, all signs point to a sneak-peek GUNS N’ ROSES warm-up show tonight at a Los Angeles club. The exact location is also unconfirmed, though several sources point to the Troubadour. This will be the first time Axl appears on stage with both Slash and Duff McKagan since 1993.
History tells us David Lee Roth quit VAN HALEN on April 1, 1985, but history is wrong. Roth left the band in 1985 and the idea of him springing this news on April Fools’ Day makes for a great story, but the truth is Eddie delivered the bad news in the pages of Rolling Stone in August, “The band as you know it is over,” he said. “Dave left to be a movie star. He even had the balls to ask if I’d write the score for him.” Eddie then made clear that he’d moved on. “I’m looking for a new lead singer … it’s weird that it’s over. Twelve years of my life putting up with his bulls–.”
AC/DC Guitarist Angus Young celebrated his 61st birthday yesterday (3/31). Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach turns 48 on Sunday (4/3).
Of course it’s “All Fools’ Day,” an Elizabethan smart-mouthed play on “All Saints’ Day” and if you’re a fool for classic metal, you may have bought this headline today, ‘Metallica to stage Master Of Puppets… on ice!’ courtesy of teamrock.com… hopefully only for a second. This April Fool’s prank was definitely better the headline posted on Loudwire ‘James Hetfield Quits Metallica to Join the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’
That’s a wrap. Updates during my Spring Vacation will have to come between beers, but rest assured, I’m on top of it 🙂 Upon my return, the IRON MAIDEN tour will be in my neighborhood… can’t wait! In the meantime, I’m enjoying this great footage from Wednesday night’s New York City stop – Click Here
Rock on kids!
Welcome to WTF Thursday. Rumors persist that Axl Rose will perform with AC/DC as a guest vocalist for their 10 remaining shows, but this sounds like a done deal with Malcolm Young’s son claiming ‘It’s True.’ Another source says Brian Johnson was “supposed to retire after the last tour.” Official word should be coming any day or minute now.
40 years ago this summer, KISS’ Gene Simmons discovered VAN HALEN and recorded several demos with them, including Eddie and Alex playing KISS’ “Christine Sixteen.” Those recordings have never seen the light of day. Simmons says “It’s a lot of cool stuff, but the band just doesn’t want it to come out — you know, the back and forth with [David Lee] Roth complicated matters.” While there is no official release, you can hear the demos online at this location – http://www.vhnd.com/2016/03/22/gene-simmons-talks-lost-seventies-van-halen-demos/
METALLICA’s “Master Of Puppets” is among the albums that have been selected for induction into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, which annually selects 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and are at least 10 years old. The selections for the 2015 registry bring the total number of recordings on the registry to 450, only a minuscule portion of the Library’s vast recorded-sound collection of more than 3 million items.
On considering the possible end of IRON MAIDEN when Bruce Dickinson was diagnosed with cancer, bassist Steve Harris said “At this stage of our career, I really don’t think we would have looked to another singer. We didn’t even consider it. There’s no point. We can’t really replace Bruce anyway, so we wouldn’t try at this stage in our career. I don’t think so. But, thank God we didn’t need to and he’s fine.” Harris went on to say “If Maiden ended tomorrow, it’s been amazing and I can live with that.”
This sounds like an Onion article, but this headline was seen on a metal website yesterday – “MÖTLEY CRÜE Reunites As ‘Motley Crew’ To Avoid Retirement Contract”
Today in 1979, MOTÖRHEAD paved the way for thrash with their second album ‘Overkill’
Happy Birthday to Exodus singer Steve Souza. He turns 52 today.
The 80’s metal runs loud and proud on METAL SHOP 24/7. Thanks for listening!
No more Mr. Nice Guy dogs. It’s coming down fast and it’s coming down hard. Thanks for listening to METAL SHOP.
The major metal news outlets have not confirmed, but this site posted yesterday that a ‘source close to AC/DC confirms singer Brian Johnson was fired.’ Comedian Jim Breuer feels ‘really bad’ about invading AC/DC’s privacy last week when he said Brian Johnson was “kicked to the curb” by the band, but the report from United Media Publishing claims “everything Mr. Breuer originally said is basically the truth, in a roundabout way.”
The informant, speaking out only under the condition of anonymity, says it’s his loyalty to Brian Johnson as to why he’s risking his job by speaking out. He says Brian is a “fab guy and has been treated like shit. He does have hearing issues but not as serious as they’re saying. This was just an excuse to fire the guy, basically.” The insider also denied claims that KROKUS singer Marc Storace was contacted by the band’s record label to possibly replace Johnson.
The source said lead guitarist (and sole remaining original member) Angus Young has narrowed the search down to two or three guys, all relative unknowns outside of their respective countries, putting to rest rumors of a possible mashup of classic rock royalty. “They’re not well known names. The band never considered any big name vocalists to replace Brian. I think they wanted to find a fresh new talent. The plan is to decide on the singer within the next couple of weeks, maybe sooner, reschedule the tour and get back out on the road as if nothing’s happened.”
METALLICA released audio of ‘The Four Horseman’ from the remastered edition of ‘Kill ‘Em All,’ coming out April 15th. The quality is excellent, but probably too clean. Maybe new fans will appreciate this, but I still get most excited hearing the energy and raw sound of the original that got me hooked in the first place. Have a listen – Click Here.
After a major runway accident in Chile, IRON MAIDEN’s Ed Force One has been repaired and will rejoin the tour today in Brasilia. While Maiden had continued touring South America without it, it’s good news if you hoped to get a glimpse of the plane when they come to your town.
Maiden’s third album and first with singer Bruce Dickinson, “The Number of the Beast,” was released today in 1982. The album cover was originally created for the song “Purgatory”, but was deemed too high a calibre of artwork for a single release and it was saved for The Number of the Beast album instead. The original 1982 artwork includes a blue sky in the background; this was a mistake by the printers of the album cover, and was later rectified and became black when the album was remastered for compact disc in 1998.
ANTHRAX released their big breakthrough album “Among the Living” today in 1987. It features the singles, “I Am the Law” and “Indians” and was dedicated to the memory of METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton.
SCORPIONS were forced to cut short their concert in Hamburg last night because of a “viral infection” affecting the voice of the band’s lead singer, Klaus Meine. The band reportedly performed for about thirty minutes before calling off the rest of the gig. It is not clear if Meine will be well enough to take part in the next performance scheduled for Wednesday in Leipzig.
An official announcement is expected today, but there is speculation that former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler will join the big reunion. Stay tuned.
‘How’s the lad?’ and welcome to the wearing-o’-something-green edition of ‘How’s it going there’ in 80’s metal.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so below is a video performance of ‘Whiskey In The Jar’. THIN LIZZY’s version came out in 1972 and METALLICA’s cover of Thin Lizzy’s version was released in 1998. Since neither came out in the 80’s, I flipped a coin and Thin Lizzy won, so “whack for my daddy-o, there’s whiskey in the jar-o” to light up your day.
Seems everyday there is something new in the AC/DC guest singer saga. Now comes word that vocalist, Rob Liotti, who was chosen by filmmakers to portray the late Bon Scott in a biopic, has apparently had contact with the band about replacing lead singer, Brian Johnson. Liotti says “yes, I will confirm that I have had contact with the band – both directly and through third parties close to the AC/DC camp, but that’s really all I can say.”
Last week, former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist KK Downing said he would only consider a return to Priest if they embarked on a “greatest metal tour” with other giants of the genre, IRON MAIDEN and BLACK SABBATH sharing the bill. Well, Priest frontman Rob Halford says he loves the idea, saying “I think that’s the dream of a lot of people, to imagine Maiden and Sabbath and Priest and Led Zeppelin. Can you imagine what that would be like at Wembley? Oh my God! It would just be mad. It would be like multiple nights. Forget about 50 shows that Michael Jackson didn’t do. It would be 100 shows at Wembley. So, yeah, it’s great to hear that there’s that passion still in KK’s voice for Priest.”
A petition has been launched to erect a statue of RONNIE JAMES DIO in his birthtown of Portsmouth, New York.
On this date in 1984, VAN HALEN’s ‘Jump’ peaked at No. 1 in the U.S. Over the years David Lee Roth has given various accounts of the meaning behind the lyrics, but most often says they are about a TV news story he saw where a man was about to kill himself by jumping off a building.
Happy Birthday to Bob Bohtelo listening to METAL SHOP in California.
That’s a wrap. Make a little time to party today or a lot 😉 and thanks for checking in here, made even better by your comments and updates! “Have a drink on me” Metal Dogs! And have a Sham-ROCKIN’ St. Patrick’s Day!
Hola! regular readers and dubious skimmers alike!
It’s Wednesday, March 16th and AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson’s close friend, comedian Jim Breuer, has released a video message clarifying the comments he made in which he suggested the singer was “kicked to the curb” by the band after 36 years. “Just so people know, I’m not quoting Brian Johnson,” said Breuer. “It’s me venting. He didn’t say a lot of those things. When I first saw him he was just down and sad and just saying, ‘I’m just trying to work things out and I hope it all comes to fruition.’ The rest is me just trying to lift him up, being funny and goofy. Then I just talked in a conversation with a friend kind of exaggerating some of those points. I had no clue the madness that it would create.”
Many famous names have been floated as possibilities to guest sing for AC/DC and finish out the current tour. One of those names is KROKUS vocalist Marc Storace, whose band has opened for AC/DC in the past and who once turned down an opportunity to audition to replace the late Bon Scott in 1980. Storace says he would ‘certainly’ accept the offer to front the band, if an offer came, saying “As far as it concerns me, obviously there’s my loyalty to Krokus, but the guys would understand if the offer came and I would certainly take it up this time and go for an audition. Then it’s up to Angus to decide. For me, AC/DC is Angus Young — no offense to Brian Johnson. I think Brian Johnson did a magnificent job with his special unique kind of voice. But losing your hearing is not a nice thing. It’s like losing our eyesight for a musician.”
I remember being sick and staying home from school one day in 1976 and my dad coming home from work with the new KISS album as a get well gift. That record was ‘Destroyer’ released this week 40 years ago and what most consider to be their best album. Rolling Stone magazine disagreed with that sentiment, writing “the vocals are undistinguished and emotionally empty; the lyrics — about partying and the rock scene, with plenty of campy S&M allusions — trite. Worse yet, there’s not a memorable guitar solo on the album.” Click Here to read the rest of the review.
Today in 1992, during a METALLICA concert at Orlando Arena, fans dangled an usher by his ankles from the balcony as trouble broke out at the show. The band was charged $38,000 for repairs and cleaning after the audience trashed the building.
On this date in 2008, Daniel MacMaster, vocalist for Bonham, died of complications from pneumonia at age 39. R.I.P.
It’s a short one today, but the best part of this is your contribution, anyway. So, have at it!
Happy Friday! The 80’s metal is non-stop on METAL SHOP because you deserve a good ass kicking, and you know it.
On this date in 1983, QUIET RIOT released their third album “Metal Health,” the first heavy metal album to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200. QR went on a tour the same year, opening for BLACK SABBATH. The title track is known by a number of slightly different names. It was simply called “Metal Health” on the original vinyl release, but most subsequent reissues of the album on other formats call it “Bang Your Head”, with the phrase ‘Metal Health’ in parentheses, either before or after the “main” title.
Today in 1983, HELIX also released their third studio album “No Rest for the Wicked,” featuring the single “Heavy Metal Love.” After a long run as a standard bar band, they changed their image to a more image-conscious metal band and were finally signed to Capitol Records after being rejected by them three times.
METALLICA is working on a new album and it may be done this year as Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone, “We’ve gotta finish the new record now. But thankfully we’re quite far along. Hopefully we should be able to knock that on the head this spring, I would guess. So we will be gearing up and playing shows and doing all that fun stuff again soon.”
JUDAS PRIEST is releasing a new concert DVD from last year’s “Redeemer Of Souls” tour later this month. Checkout a performance clip of ‘The Hellion/Electric Eye’ from that disc posted yesterday at this location – Click Here
Happy Birthday to former PANTERA Drummer “Vinnie Paul” Abbott, who turns 52 today and Happy Birthday to IRON MAIDEN Bassist Steve Harris, who turns 60 tomorrow (3/11).
For most of us in the U.S.A. and some parts of the world, we have the inexplicable duty this weekend of making sure that every single timepiece in our realm is changed, by force or by programming, to Daylight Saving Time. This is a highly unpopular and pointless mandate. The government wants us to eat our broccoli, but they have no problem with depriving us of that precious and vital thing called sleep?
Thanks for checking in! Look forward to reading your interesting updates and comments. Enjoy your abbreviated wknd!
Welcome to a Monday. We’re those old fuckers that play those old heavy metal songs. METAL SHOP rolls out kick ass 80’s metal and hard rock 24/7.
All your favorites are always in the mix, including IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, METALLICA, DIO, MÖTLEY CRÜE, MEGADETH, QUEENSRŸCHE, SCORPIONS, RATT, SLAYER, and more.
Listen also for the new ANTHRAX… ‘Evil Twin’ is coming up soon. The new album ‘For All Kings’ is excellent and cracked the U.S. Top 10 in its first week of release to land at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart.
In a recent interview with vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza of San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans EXODUS, he said “we’re not considered one of the [so-called] “Big Four” [of 1980s thrash metal, which consists of METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX], and I hate that phrase. METALLICA is by far the biggest band in the world, so to put the other three in that category? No disrespect to MEGADETH, ANTHRAX or SLAYER; I love all of those bands, but I lived in the Bay Area when metal was being born, and everybody wanted to be like EXODUS. That goes from POSSESSED, LEGACY, DEATH ANGEL. It was not necessarily METALLICA, it was EXODUS. So, to me, that was the band that innovated and started it out.”
Checkout this video an IRON MAIDEN fan uploaded of the official and bootleg merchandise stands at the band’s March 3rd concert at Palacio De Los Deportes in Mexico City. METAL SHOP’s Ralph Cartel noted that in Las Vegas, the official merchandise booth was out of control. In Mexico though, not a soul is buying a t-shirt inside the venue but if you go outside it’s a whole different story.
Former ACCEPT singer Udo Dirkschneider is currently on tour where he is performing ACCEPT songs one last time before he closes the chapter for good, saying “I wanna close, like a book, and say, ‘Okay, that’s it. I read it.’ Sometimes you have to come to an end with something. I wanna close up everything with ACCEPT. Click Here to read more and see video footage from Friday’s show in Jyväskylä, Finland.
Happy Birthday to Linda Jarota listening to METAL SHOP in Pennsylvania, Chris Hiles listening in Washington State, Tony Nicholl listening in the U.K., and Jorge Zorrilla Diaz listening in Peru.
Have a good one all and stay dry out there.
Yes, it’s Friday and time to ‘March Fourth’ to the weekend… think about that one if you need to 🙂
Seems everyone today is talking about Donald Trump defending the size of his willie during last night’s Republican presidential debate. Just for the record, I have small hands, which I have been told means I am a creative person, and if something else must be small, “I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.” 🙂
According to The Pulse Of Radio, OZZY OSBOURNE’s wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, was discussing recent scandals involving nannies on “The Talk” earlier this week when she revealed that she had caught Ozzy in bed with a couple of them in the past, saying she had caught two nannies in compromising positions with the Prince Of Darkness at “different times,” and adding that Ozzy was “out of his mind” on drugs at the time. Sharon said she finally hired a “manny” named “Big Dave.” Poor Ozzy.
METALLICA Drummer Lars Ulrich held an event, titled ‘A night with Lars Ulrich and Friends’ at UC Berkeley in California the other night. Not much to report there, but some of the comments on Facebook were a little nuts, including this one “metallica you disappointed fans long enough your keep letting fans think you are working on on new music and fail us. megadeth is miles ahead of you I bet dave mustaine is laughing to the bank,” and this one “Jassons new band Newsted is way better than Meatllica .. They get of all there good players. And keep what they have right now , that stinks.” My head is spinning, but ‘Meatllica’ sounds delicious.
Happy Birthday to former Metallica Bassist Jason Newsted. He turns 53 today. Click Here for this great video of Newsted singing ‘Seek and Destroy’ live in 1992.
ACCEPT released their 6th studio album “Metal Heart” today in 1985. Although critically panned at the time, today Metal Heart is often considered by fans as one of the band’s best records. Former singer Udo Dirkschneider remembers the Breaker through Metal Heart era as the time when the band got along best together.
Today in 1983, THIN LIZZY released their final studio album, “Thunder and Lightning.” Two years earlier, band leader Phil Lynott brought in guitarist John Sykes to give the band a heavier sound (ie, “Cold Sweat”). Lynott’s drug problems were too much though to keep Thin Lizzy going and he died three years later, but oh, what might have been.
That’s a wrap. Crank the 80’s metal with METAL SHOP and have a kick ass weekend.
Hello again 80’s Metal lovin’ friends. Today is a big-time landmark day because today in 1986, METALLICA released what many consider the greatest metal record of the 80’s and maybe of all-time, ‘Master of Puppets.’
Rolling Stone notes the album still sounds as powerful today as it does fearless. It was also written in only eight weeks. The first song Metallica wrote for the LP was “Battery,” followed by “Disposable Heroes.” The only songs that weren’t complete by the time they got to the studio were “The Thing That Should Not Be” and “Orion.” Originally, they’d hoped Rush singer Geddy Lee would produce the LP, but he was unavailable due to time constraints.
The title track is so popular it surprises Lars Ulrich, saying “when I listen to ‘Master of Puppets’ now, I just sit there and go, ‘What the fuck? How do you do that?’ It’s very gutsy music.” Former bassist Cliff Burton said in 1986 that it was Metallica’s “best song yet.”
Did you know Lars used another band’s drum on ‘Master of Puppets’? Def Leppard’s Rick Allen had been in an accident that resulted in him losing his left arm and wasn’t using his snare at the time, so Lars asked, “Can you send it over? They just overnighted it.”
Ex-JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing says he would be open to reuniting with his former bandmates on the occasion of a hypothetical Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Even better he said “is to schedule a massive tour featuring of BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN and PRIEST. I think we would all love to see that. “It would be something I would have to be part of,” Downing said. “Only because I’d like to see the greatest heavy-metal tour happen because it’s never happened. And it’s never gonna happen. Unfortunately, that chapter of history won’t be there forever, which is kind of sad.”
SLAYER guitarist Kerry King may have temporarily lost his mind or may be a little delusional when he said in a recent interview that Iron Maiden and Metallica are ‘living on past success’. Although he did admit that Slayer is, to some degree, resting on its laurels. Not sure what to make of this.
SAVATAGE Guitarist CHRIS CAFFERY is joining METAL CHURCH for their upcoming tour.
That’s it for now. Find out the latest by visiting the METAL SHOP website or follow on Facebook or Twitter.
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Metal Monday is on and it’s Leap Day, which means we get an extra day of February this year. It also means most of us are essentially working an extra day for free. If you look at it that way, we also get a free day of cable, internet and electricity, so there’s that.
IRON MAIDEN played Las Vegas last Night (Feb. 28th). METAL SHOP’s Ralph Cartel was there and was able to get only a few photos before his phone died, but he had killer seats – see photo below. Stay tuned for his recap coming later today or tomorrow.
It was a great weekend for live 80’s metal and hard rock from many of our favorites… MEGADETH performed in L.A. last night, former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was in San Antonio on Saturday (Feb. 27), and BLACK SABBATH played its last-ever concert in New York City at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Checkout fan-filmed video footage at this location – Click Here
In a recent interview, MEGADETH’s Dave Mustaine was asked what it would take for another ‘Big Four’ concert to happen? He responded, “if it happens again, that would be great. If it doesn’t, the people who got to see it got to see something really remarkable. Am I supposed to doing it? You know, it would have to be the right thing. I think that, you know, Megadeth is at a place right now where we’re successful to a degree where we would be happy continuing to do what we do on our own. So if we’re gonna do another ‘Big Four’ thing, I would want it to be something where we walk away as content as METALLICA does from something like that. It’s not Metallica and three other dudes.”
You may have heard there are competing touring versions of RATT out there. Former bassist Juan Croucier fronts RATT’S JUAN CROUCIER and former drummer Bobby Blotzer is touring as RATT, but he is the only original member in that group. This has obviously created a lot of tension for everyone, including former Ratt guitarist Warren DeMartini, who in September filed a lawsuit against Blotzer, claiming that the drummer was falsely advertising his “tribute band” as the real thing… you think? Stephen Pearcy has checked out of all of this and is performing some solo shows. Croucier was quoted last week saying “There is no single person in the band Ratt who’s by themselves Ratt.’
I didn’t watch the Academy Awards last night but PANTERA was mentioned in the short clip introducing each of the nominated films in the category before the winner was announced. Actor Christian Bale learned to play double-bass drums for a short scene in “The Big Short” where his character, the hedge fund manager Michael Burry, bangs on his kit in his basement to Pantera’s ‘By Demons Be Driven.’ https://t.co/pbMJu6N6r3
Any Leaplings out there? Happy birthday! If you turned 50 today, you would actually still not be a teenager, so act your age and headbang all day while you work. You’re not getting paid anyway 🙂
