We Will Rock You

FROM WWW.MELODICROCK.COM:

Press Release / Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2009) - Thrash metal pioneers Megadeth are set to be the latest act to “go A.P.E.” on the virtual airwaves. Listeners everywhere should prepare for the debut of the band’s “predictably unpredictable” Artist Personal Experience radio station, “Megadeth Radio.” Band founder and frontman Dave Mustaine has complete creative control in the programming of his 24-hour channel, which features interviews, news, personal commentary, and playlists of his favorite music. The multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated rockers follow hot on the heels of A.P.E. stations “Radio Weezer,” “Christina Aguilera Radio” and “Eagles Radio Hosted by Joe Walsh” as “Megadeth Radio,” debuts on October 22 at 11:00 am EST.
“Megadeth Radio” is set to become the destination of choice for both the band’s fans as well as anyone who appreciates hard-rocking radio, and will be distributed across Clear Channel Radio’s “iheartradio” network (www.iheartradio.com), which includes hundreds of local radio websites; the popular iheartradio mobile app, which has been downloaded by 3.5 million people; widgets; and www.megadeth.com. Just like the other A.P.E. stations, fans can participate in “Megadeth Radio” by emailing their comments to megadeth@aperadio.com or calling 1-866-686-1010.
Says Mustaine, “Megadeth has been on the forefront of music for over 25 years. Now we’re breaking ground in radio. We’re giving metalheads everywhere a look inside and an opportunity to see what influences our world and music.”
When the public tunes into “Megadeth Radio,” they’ll hear selected playlists of some of the band’s favorite songs, including artists such as AC/DC, Arch Enemy, Black Sabbath, Suicidal Tendencies, Killswitch Engage and many more. Interviews and eclectic stories told by the band members will punctuate the programming, including Mustaine talking about his younger days (and trading pot to a record store clerk for albums), Metallica, his writing process and more. The station is a hard-rocking outlet unlike any other, and attractive to all fans of innovative audio entertainment.
Founded by Dave Mustaine in Los Angeles in 1983, Megadeth has released twelve studio albums, six live albums, two EPs, 26 singles, 32 music videos, and three compilations. The band has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, with six consecutive albums being certified platinum in the USA, and has earned seven consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Metal Performance. With new lead guitarist Chris Broderick, Megadeth released their latest studio album, Endgame, on September 15, 2009. Megadeth and Slayer will head up north to co-headline the Canadian Carnage Tour from November 8-13, featuring Machine Head and Suicide Silence. Megadeth will then return to the U.S. to headline their Endgame Tour through the end of the year. Full tour dates and info can be found at www.megadeth.com/killingroad.php.

FROM WWW.MELODICROCK.COM:

Press Release / Kansas delivers unforgettable live performances! Evidenced nowhere better than on their current DVD release, ‘There’s Know Place Like Home’ debuts at #5 on the Billboard DVD top sales chart. Featuring guest appearances by former members Kerry Livgren and Steve Morse, spectacular lighting, and songs previously not recorded with a symphony, this unique concert has been captured in High Definition video and Surround Sound audio. Released October 13th, TKPLH has already become the highest-charting Kansas DVD of all-time and the #1 selling DVD for RED distribution this week.
The immediate success of ‘There’s Know Place Like Home,’ should come as no surprise, as uniting Kansas with the orchestra is a natural and richly fulfilling experience. The result is a must-own DVD of a performance filmed/recorded earlier this year at the Washburn University’s White Concert Hall in their original hometown of Topeka, KS and released on co-producers Jeff Glixman and Jim Gentile’s StarCity label. Says Glixman: “I have seen many, many Kansas shows and this one was right at the very top. The DVD contains arguably the definitive versions of ‘Icarus II’, ‘Hold On’, ‘Nobody’s Home’ and more, as well as Kerry Livgren and Steve Morse appearing together for the first time”.
Add to the mix simply magnificent renditions of such Kansas classics as “Carry on Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind,” and you have a can’t-miss recipe that has resulted in what is unquestionably one of the finest in-concert rock DVD’s of 2009.
For more information, visit: www.starcityrecording.com / www.kansasband.com.

FROM WWW.CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM:

Jon Bon Jovi has upset The Sun newspaper.

Gordon Smart, who edits The Sun’s Bizarre column, writes this morning:

‘I was excited talking to Jon Bon Jovi yesterday as his band have sold more than 120 million records. So I was gutted to find he’s a knob.

‘I was later told I upset him by not calling his dates at London’s O2 next summer a “residency”. It seems that’s what aides must call them.’

As you might’ve gathered from the above, Bon Jovi have announced five shows for next year at the O2 Arena in London.

These happen on June 7, 8, 10, 11 and 13. Tickets will go on sale from 9am on October 30. The O2 shows are expected to be the band’s only European dates next year.

Bon Jovi’s new album The Circle is released on November 2, with the official book When We Were Beautiful following a day later. And on November 23, the band issue a live DVD filmed at Madison Square Garden in July this year.

For further details, go to www.bonjovi.com

FROM WWW.CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM:

Chuck Klosterman’s celebrated book Fargo Rock City is to be turned into a film.

The book tells of journalist Klosterman’s experiences being a metal fan at school in North Dakota during the 1980s. The script for this is being co-written by Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, with Klosterman himself acting as producer.

Finn told The Hollywood Reporter: “Seventeen or 18 is the perfect age for characters in a movie like this, because it’s at that age that you have drivers’ licenses and a certain amount of independence, but you’re still young enough that you can totally make terrible decisions. And you’re still young enough that you can have a two-hour argument over whether Mötley Crüe would beat Guns N’ Roses in a fight.”

Personally, we hope that there will be a serious discussion on screen about the merits of Lisa Dominique and MaryAnn Scandiffio.

For further info, go to www.theholdsteady.net

FROM WWW.SPINNER.COM:

Weeks of production delays and ongoing difficulties recruiting additional investors for the show are being blamed for the holdup, according to an executive on the project. In an interview Thursday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because producers have not authorized any comment about the musical, the source said there was “no way” that rehearsals would begin on schedule later this fall.

FROM WWW.SPINNER.COM:

Original Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan has finally offered up his opinion of ‘Chinese Democracy’, the disc his former bandmate Axl Rose delivered under the band’s moniker late last year. McKagan, who left the band in 1994 and is a member of Velvet Revolver, had an interesting, if not amusing, perspective on the record.

“For me to really comment on the band, I might as well be commenting on the new Slipknot record,” McKagan told AskMen.com. “It’s that far removed from me.”

“I think Axl did a great job on that record and other than that, the songs and the band are a completely different thing,” added McKagan, who is currently promoting ‘Sick’, the latest offering from his solo band, Loaded. “We [Guns] made our last record in ‘92 or ‘93 or something — that was 16 years ago.”

“That was a lifetime ago for me,” Duff said. “I was still using [drugs] and stuff back then. So, that’s how long ago it was for me … There are songs on it that I like and there are songs on it that I don’t like, just like any other record.”

FROM WWW.SPINNER.COM:

Guitarist Steve Vai has a new live DVD, ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ that highlights his 25 plus years of performing for sold-out audiences. Vai, who is known for his wild guitar licks onstage, was no match for the backstage antics he experienced on tour with Van Halen’s David Lee Roth.

“Actually, I was never really wild,” he tells Spinner. “I guess back in the ’80s when I was touring with Dave Roth, that was pretty wild. I was just a naïve kid and I’d been touring with Frank Zappa, which was tough enough but I wasn’t ready for the Dave Roth experience. We would pull into town and every night there was this tremendous party backstage because Dave really knew how to do it. There would be food and drinks and a big PA system and lights and there was usually 50 or so chosen girls from the audience that were very happy to be at the party. The techs would go out and invite somebody backstage or if somebody in the band saw a girl in the audience he’d give a cue to the tech or would go out and give them a [backstage] pass. Back then, we were playing those arenas [and] it was 80% girls in their underwear. It was crazy. I was like a bee sitting on the rim of the cup sipping the honey. I just had a taste now and then. It was really an amazing experience.”

FROM WWW.SPINNER.COM:

Heart’s Nancy Wilson has a cure for insomnia. It’s not pharmaceutical, it’s not herbal and it doesn’t require reading self-help books. The guitarist has made a CD of soothing lullabies, ‘Baby Guitars,’ that initially was designed to woo babies into the land of slumber. “A friend of mine was having a baby a few years back and the idea came up that a good gift would be lullabies of instrumental guitar music, acoustic music,” Wilson tells Spinner. “I put that together in part and she raved about it. She said it really, really worked and I should finish it.”

So, Wilson brought in Heart guitarist Craig Bartock and the veteran rock band’s keyboard player Debbie Shair to finish the record. It just so happened that Wilson and her sister, Heart singer Ann, were already working on a bedtime storybook, ‘Dog & Butterfly,’ which is based on Heart’s 1978 song of that name. Ann wrote the text and the pair illustrated the story together. “We’re both mothers and doing things for the little ones is one of the best things to do,” Nancy says. Both the book and CD were released simultaneously, Oct. 6, through Amazon, and the Wilsons’ friends who’ve tried the CD to lull their children to sleep have already scored it with full marks. “The reviews just kept coming back, even from my own kids, that it really helps them settle into a sleep,” Nancy says. “It creates a comfortable atmosphere to fall asleep to.”

FROM WWW.SPINNER.COM:

The Faces reunited for a one-time charity show on Oct. 26, but they did it without the help of frontman Rod Stewart, who couldn’t appear due to scheduling conflicts. The ’70s UK rock band played at the Royal Albert Hall in London to support PRS for Music Benevolent Fund, a charity that supports musicians and their families in need.

Three original Faces — guitarist Ronnie Wood, drummer Kenney Jones and keyboardist Ian McLagan — played the set with former Rolling Stones member Bill Wyman, who filled in for the late Ronnie Lane on bass. Instead of just getting one singer to step in for Stewart, the band enlisted a slew of guest performers including Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, ex-Spice Girl Mel C and Kiki Dee.

FROM WWW.SPINNER.COM:

David Byrne’s just-ended tour, dubbed ‘Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around,’ was a little different than his usual road trips. Byrne left his guitar behind and instead was an actual talking head promoting his new book ‘The Bicycle Diaries.’

In his too-brief lecture at Toronto’s International Festival of Authors on Saturday, Byrne ran through topics mentioned in his pro-biking book, such as the follies of early 20th century urban planners, like Frank Lloyd Wright’s agrarian utopia, ‘Broad Acre City.’

“A great architect but, thank god he didn’t get to do this as there was no space made for urban space whatsoever,” said the former Talking Heads singer. “However, if we did get to live in Frank Lloyd Wright’s future, we would get to fly around using our own personal flying saucers!”