Classic Rock
Frank Zappa’s Final American Concert to Be Released as Live Album
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-23T16:57:13+00:00“>April 23, 2021 | 12:57pm ET Frank Zappa’s final performance on American soil has been collected into the new live album Zappa ’88: The Last U.S. Show. It’s out June 18th via Zappa Records/UMe, and the news is accompanied with the live single “I Ain’t Got No Heart”. The performance took place at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY on March 25th, 1988. Days later, Zappa and his 11-piece band decamped for a European tour, during which they fell apart from internecine fighting. In 1990, Zappa received a terminal cancer diagnosis and he passed away in 1993. Part of the joy of that March 25th concert is that neither audience nor artists knew it would be among the l...
Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith on the Influence of Deep Purple, Free, and Humble Pie
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T19:25:41+00:00“>April 21, 2021 | 3:25pm ET Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS On today’s episode of Kyle Meredith With…, Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith jumps on the line with Kyle Meredith to talk about Smith/Kotzen, the new album that finds him collaborating with Richie Kotzen. The English guitarist discusses their shared love of bands like Deep Purple, Free, and Humble Pie, as well as early blues’ influence on hard rock. Smith also gets into the album’s themes a bit with an eye on getting away from the past and moving forward, and then lets us in on what the live shows might sou...
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Nancy Wilson of Heart
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-21T15:33:15+00:00“>April 21, 2021 | 11:33am ET Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself, recently releasing the song “Eternal Way” under the moniker Upon Wings. This month’s piece features an interview with Nancy Wilson of Heart. Legendary Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson didn’t spend the past year waiting for the pandemic to end. Instead, she worked on her first-ever solo album, You and Me, which was largely written and recorded during lockdown. The 12-song LP...
Robert Fripp and a Body-Painted Toyah Tackle The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”: Watch
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-18T12:44:40+00:00“>April 18, 2021 | 8:44am ET If you were wondering what Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox were going to come up with next, wonder no more. For the married couple’s latest “Sunday Lunch” performance, Toyah is covered in nothing but body paint and a completely sheer top as they perform The RollIng Stones’ classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. Robert and Toyah have blown up on YouTube with their combination of quirky takes on rock classics and Toyah’s risqué outfits. Heck, their biggest video to date is a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” featuring Toyah riding an exercise bike while wearing a see-through top. She has also sported a French maid getup (Motorhead’s...
Tom Petty Estate Unveils Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions): Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-16T18:16:44+00:00“>April 16, 2021 | 2:16pm ET The Tom Petty estate is streaming Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions), a collection of alternative looks at some of Petty’s most beloved songs. Take a listen to it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The 1994 original was produced by Rick Rubin and went on to become one of Petty’s most admired records. The alternate versions on Finding Wildflowers first appeared on the 2020 collection Wildflowers & All the Rest , an expansive — and, at least in its Super Deluxe edition — expensive retrospective. It’s now been made available digitally, on CD, and as a limited-edition gold vinyl. Finding Wildflowers colle...
Paul McCartney Releases New Covers Album McCartney III Imagined: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-16T04:00:48+00:00“>April 16, 2021 | 12:00am ET Paul McCartney has just released McCartney III Imagined, his new album of covers and remixes by St. Vincent, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, and many other marquee artists. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. If the title didn’t make it obvious, this new LP was composed entirely by other musicians as they reimagine McCartney III, the solo album he dropped last December. Because that record was written, performed, recorded, and produced entirely by McCartney himself, it’s extra fitting for the former Beatle to put that same material in the hands of others to see how it sounds from different perspectives. As we heard in early singles...
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson to Release His Memoir The Lives of Brian in October
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-12T16:38:34+00:00“>April 12, 2021 | 12:38pm ET AC/DC singer Brian Johnson will tell his life story in his official autobiography, The Lives of Brian. The book is due out October 26th via Penguin Michael Joseph in the UK and Harper Collins’ Dey Street Books in the United States. The memoir will chronicle Johnson’s life and career from his early days in the UK as the son of a British army sergeant-major and an Italian mother to his years in the band Geordie to the daunting task of replacing the late Bon Scott in AC/DC. It will also touch upon the serious hearing issues that forced him to exit AC/DC in 2016 prior to his recent return to the legendary band. Penguin publishing directo...
Ted Nugent Thinks There Was COVID-1 through -18, Wonders Why There Weren’t Shutdowns Then
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-08T15:04:27+00:00“>April 8, 2021 | 11:04am ET Legendary guitarist and gun-toting purveyor of extreme right-wing views Ted Nugent has a bone to pick with the COVID-19 shutdown. He wonders why we didn’t have shutdowns during COVID-1 through 18, mistakenly thinking that COVID-19 is the 19th iteration of the contagious disease. Lamenting the fact that he won’t be back on the road anytime soon, The Nuge took to Facebook Live (transcribed by Blabbermouth) to declare, “This year’s tour is canceled again. The production companies won’t let us tour again this year. Dirty bastard, lying, scam, smoke-and-mirrors COVID-19 freaks.” That’s when he mistakenly and hilariously used non-factual lo...
R.I.P. “B.B.” Dickerson, War Co-Founder and Bassist Dead at 71
Morris “B.B.” Dickerson, co-founding member, co-vocalist, and bassist of War, has died at the age of 71. According to Billboard, Dickerson passed away Friday (April 2nd) following a long, undisclosed illness. War’s origins date back to the late 1960s, when Dickerson and several other future members of War served as the backing band for football player Deacon Jones. After record producer Jerry Goldstein caught the band in concert, he linked them up with former Animals singer Eric Burdon — and the rest was history. Burdon and War released their debut album, Eric Burdon Declares “War”, in April 1970. It peaked at No. 18 on US albums chart, due in large part to the hit single, “Spill the Wine”, which peaked at No. 3 on the singles chart. The group’s sophomore double album, The Black-Man’s...
Robert Fripp and Toyah Celebrate Easter Sunday with Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast”: Watch
Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are celebrating Easter Sunday in a devilish way. For their latest “Sunday Lunch” performance, they take on the Iron Maiden classic “The Number of the Beast”. Leave it to the quirky married couple to pay homage to the devil on the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The pair are once again joined by a mysterious guitarist, as they were last week with their performance of ZZ Top’s “Gimme All Your Lovin’”. Looking like a naughty Easter Bunny, Toyah holds three carrots in her hand as she sings the metal opus. At one point she impressively holds a note for 10 seconds, giving Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson a run for his money. “The Number of the Beast” is the title track to Maiden’s third album, and their first with Dickinson. It’s consi...
Fugees Built New Classics Out of Old Staples
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Consequence of Sound and Sony present The Opus, an exploration of legendary albums and their ongoing legacy. For Season 13, host Jill Hopkins (The Moth Chicago, Making Beyoncé podcast) will explore the Fugees’ second and final album, The Score. So much of hip-hop is built on the notion of creating something from something. Call it covering, call it borrowing, call it sampling, but don’t call it unoriginal. For decades, samples have helped musicians turn some of greatest hits into even greater hits. Fugees are no exception to this. In fact, they built upon this legacy, The samples and covers included on 1996’s The Score range from The Delphonics to Enya — and yet they’re seamlessly woven together to create a distinct, si...
Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi on “Rock Is Dead” Theory: “I Don’t Think Rock Is Going to Die”
For years, Gene Simmons of KISS has voiced his opinion — on several different occasions — that “rock is dead.” In a feature in Esquire magazine in 2014, the blood-spitting bassist-singer provided such quotes as “Rock is finally dead” and “The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered.” However, fellow rock legend Tony Iommi has a different opinion on the state of rock music. At the beginning of this year, Simmons reiterated his “rock is dead” claim in an interview with Gulf News, and then fully explained his theory in an interview with Heavy Consequence. He told us, among other reasons, “That kid living in his mom’s basement, decided one day that he didn’t want to pay for music. He wanted to download and file share. And that’s what killed the chanc...
