In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Kirk Hamnett, Metallica’s long-serving guitarist, revealed that the band’s tenth studio release is set to be a “heavier ‘Black Album’”.
The 1991 self-titled album has never really sat easily with Metallica’s dedicated band of followers and its commercial success only served to push the metal rockers into the mainstream.
It has already been announced that the ‘Black Album’ will be played in its entirety at this year’s Download Festival, but even though the new album is to go back to “more groove-oriented” songs, fans have been told to expect this version to be heavier. Eight of the new tracks have already been written for the album.
This is an interesting question seeing as Nevermind has been back on the agenda this week following the relase of a 20th Anniversary Remastered Edition.
Many online music critics have been arguing over whether this, In Utero, Bleach, Incesticide or indeed the live performance on MTV Unplugged in New York.
For me, this album came out at a time when I was just discovering music so I would have to agree with those who put this at the top of the pile. I was also really blown away by the purity and intensity of Kurt’s singing during the unplugged session, so that comes in a close second.
You don’t have to have knowledge of the music industry and how it operates to understand that you just have to be in the right place at the right time to really make it in this business.
I have followed a number of local bands over the years and while some have found a measure of success, it is usually the same old story, despite displaying plenty of talent.
The other night I happened to go and see one of my brother’s school friends and former band mates set out on his solo career. After being involved with a rock band well-known in the Manchester music scene for a number of years, he has now decided to go it alone, despite the odd collaboration with other artists.
As a singer-songwriter, Chris Birdsall has now developed his own sound, which is a mix of blues and folk music. In my opinion his voice is incredible and when playing the acoustic guitar, it really brings out the best in him.
Don’t take my word for it - check out his solo album ‘Joker in a Dream’, plus the acoustic selection of tracks on his more recent release ‘Under the Tree’, to hear this for yourself. Links to each can be found on his Singing Tree website.
Chris is due to play a number of live acoustic sessions in the Manchester area later this month, so be sure to check out the Gigs section of the site for further details.
Lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis has spoken for the first time about the band’s upcoming new album, their first release in five years.
In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, Kiedis reveals the process that they went through before deciding on Josh Klinghoffer to be their replacement guitarist for John Frusciante.
The 31-year old Klinghoffer is no stranger to the band anyway, having played with RHCP on their last world tour.
With the 14-song ‘I’m With You’ album set for release on the 30th of August we are all waiting to find out if the band can cope without the songwriting and axe grinding skills of one of the best guitarists of all time.
The good news is that this is a challenge the band are already looking forward to, with a tour likely to be announced soon after the album release.
It was really good to hear that the Foo Fighters frontman went back into the studio with his former Nirvana bandmate Krist Noveselic to rock out again like they did in the good old days.
And when you listen to the new album ‘Wasting Light’ you can immediately tell that it is their most fierce rock sound since the band began.
This shouldn’t be a surprise when you find out that the music was recorded in Grohl’s garage and produced by Nevermind collaborator Butch Vig.
Maybe going back into his past has made Grohl think about where he had come from and these experiences have certainly shone through on this impressive collection of tracks.
While on the subject of new albums, the fourth album from New York City’s finest The Strokes was released at the end of last month.
Angles has certainly garnered mixed reviews from critics who have generally agreed that it is a decent enough effort by the band, but falls well short when compared with the decade defining Is This It and the exceptional Room on Fire.
The Strokes were never going to win on that score as those two albums are almost impossible to match. Their own unique brand of garage rock still shines through though and singer Julian Casablancas’ trademark vocals are still as refreshing as ever.
The band’s seventh album is now almost upon us, with Wasting Light set for release next Monday. As well as this new material, the Foo Fighters have made a documentary film which contains plenty of behind-the-scenes footage about the group’s explosive ups and downs through their 16 year history.
The ‘Back and Forth’ movie is due to be screened at selected cinemas from tomorrow, although judging from reports, Taylor Hawkins for one is not altogether keen on their exploits being shown to the world.
UK fans of the American rockers will be looking forward to hearing tracks from the new album played live when they visit the Milton Keynes Bowl for two shows this July. Both the Saturday (2nd) and Sunday (3rd) gigs are sold out.
Have you been listening to the first single from Panic! At The Disco in two years? If so, do you think it was worth it?
The Ballad Of Mona Lisa is certainly one of the hottest songs around at the moment. Since it was released on the 1st of February fans have been flocking to the shops to buy it on CD or downloading it like crazy.
The Las Vegas rockers’ new album (their third record) entitled ‘Vices and Virtues’ will be available from the 29th of March, so if you want to know if it lives up to the hype then you still have over a month to wait.
The eighth album from the LA rockers is almost here and it will be released next month under the title – Hurley.
The follow up to ‘Raditude’ is out in the UK on September the 13th and the band has decided to move to a lesser known label in Epitaph Records. This is certainly a bit of a departure from the Universal Music Group owned Geffen.
Weezer are all set to play at the Reading and Leeds festivals at the end of August, so lucky festival goers should be able to get to hear what the new songs sound like.
My all time favourite Weezer track still has to be “Say It Ain’t So” from the Blue album.
The tracklisting for Hurley is listed below:
01 Memories
02 Ruling Me
03 Trainwrecks
04 Unspoken
05 Where’s My Sex?
06 Run Away
07 Hang On
08 Smart Girls
09 Brave New World
10 Time Flies
11 All My Friend Are Insects (bonus track on the deluxe edition)
12 Viva La Vida (bonus track on the deluxe edition)
13 I Want To Be Something (bonus track on the deluxe edition)
14 Represent (bonus track on the deluxe edition)
The news all ‘idiots’ (Green Day fans) have been waiting for has now finally arrived: a release date has been set for the Green Day standalone version of the popular Harmonix Rock Band video game.
The game, entitled Green Day: Rock Band will be available worldwide for all leading games consoles (Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii) from 8th June. The disc will contain an outstanding 47 tracks and will cover the whole of the band’s journey from 1994’s Dookie to last year’s 21st Century Breakdown.
Billie Joe explains:
“Seeing ourselves through the lens of this videogame has been mind blowing… From the soundtrack setlist and venues to the unlockable video footage and photos, Green Day: Rock Band undeniably manages to capture the best moments and work of our insane careers. We can’t wait for our fans to experience it.”
So, mark that date in your calendars Green Day fans, and get ready to rock out to your favourite tracks!
