Classic Rock
Eddie Van Halen Photo Book by Noted Rock Photographer Ross Halfin Due in June
A new Eddie Van Halen coffee-table photo book by renowned rock photographer Ross Halfin is arriving in June via Rufus Publications. The 356-page book, titled Edward Van Halen, will retrace the career of the late guitar legend through the lens of one of rock’s most storied photogs. Halfin’s photo credit can be spotted next to some of the most iconic images in the genre’s history, having also worked with Black Sabbath, Metallica, and more over the years. Like with many of the great band’s of their era, Van Halen were often the subject of Halfin’s visual documentation. His shots of the group are the definitive images of their career, and the pictures of Eddie perfectly captured the virtuoso’s kinetic guitar skills on film. According to the publisher, the book includes classic and unseen photo...
Myles Kennedy (Slash, Alter Bridge) Announces New Solo Album, Shares Single “In Stride”: Stream
Slash co-conspirator and Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy has announced his second solo album, The Ides of March, due out May 14th. In anticipation, Kennedy has shared the lead single, “In Stride”. The Ides of March follows Kennedy’s debut solo effort, 2018’s Year of the Tiger. The singer-guitarist first told Heavy Consequence about the new album in our interview last year, where he revealed “a lot of it is blues-based.” The single “In Stride” definitely has some bluesy elements, with a bit of a country-rock tinge. Throughout the song, Kennedy’s soulful voice is front and center. The single’s chorus of “take it all in stride” could be considered Kennedy’s advice for coping with the pandemic, as he wrote the lyrics during the panic of the first wave of lockdowns. “Chill out. That pretty mu...
New Motörhead Live Album and Concert Film Documents 2012 Show in Berlin
Motörhead, photo by Thaib A. Wahab A new Motörhead archival live album and concert film is on the way. Titled Louder Than Noise… Live in Berlin, the release documents the band’s 2012 performance at the Berlin Velodrom. The set arrives April 23rd on CD/DVD, vinyl, and digital formats. The 15-song set rips through the signature moments of Motörhead large song catalog, highlighted by hits like “Ace of Spades”, “Overkill”, and “The Chase Is Better Than the Catch”. To tide us over, a clip of “Over the Top” was released to coincide with the album’s announcement. On December 5th, 2012, Motörhead were in the midst of the “Kings of the Road” tour. At this point, the trio of late frontman Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Phil Campbell, and drummer Mikkey Dee had been playing together live since 1995. You ...
Ronnie James Dio’s Autobiography to Be Posthumously Released in July
Ronnie James Dio had been working on his autobiography, Rainbow in the Dark, prior to his passing in 2010. Now, the book has been completed by music writer Mick Wall and is set for release on July 27th. Dio and Wall, a longtime friend, had been working on the autobiography before the iconic metal singer passed from stomach cancer on May 16th, 2010. According to a press release from publisher Permuted Press, the book is a frank and humorous telling of Dio’s legendary career and life as a rock singer. Readers can expect “coming-of-age tales, glorious stories of excess, and candid recollections of what really happened backstage, at the hotel, in the studio, and back home behind closed doors far away from the road.” His fallout with Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, the drugs th...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Honors Keith Moon with Rousing Drum Cover of The Who’s “My Generation”: Watch
Having owned 2020 and conquered Dave Grohl in an epic drum battle, 10-year-old Nandi Bushell has now set her sights on the Mount Rushmore of rock drummers. Her latest YouTube video sees her dedicating a drum cover of The Who classic “My Generation” to the late, great Keith Moon. Moon is in the pantheon of drumming gods along with the likes of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and Rush’s Neil Peart, among others, but that didn’t stop young Nandi from tackling the iconic Who song. As she’s shown us in her previous videos, she’s incredibly talented. What’s more, she’s a bundle of energy and joy behind the kit. “My Generation” is a fitting choice for Nandi, as she represents a new generation of young rockers. It was also, in many ways, one of the first punk songs before punk rock was even a thing — w...
Bruce Springsteen Blew a 0.02 During DWI Arrest — Quarter of the Legal Limit
Last November, Bruce Springsteen was arrested and cited for a DWI, reckless driving, and consuming alcohol in a closed area. However, new information reveals that his blood-alcohol content at the time of the arrest was just 0.02 — a quarter of the legal limit in New Jersey. Springsteen was detained on November 14th at Gateway National Recreation Area, a federal park in New Jersey. According to the Asbury Park Press, a source familiar with the case confirmed that Springsteen’s BAC was nowhere near the number needed to be arrested. In all states except for Utah, it is illegal for anyone 21 years or older to operate a vehicle with a BAC of 0.08 or higher. A BAC level of 0.02, which Springsteen had, is “the lowest level of intoxication” that can impact the brain, resulting in a slightly a...
Ranking Every Van Halen Album From Worst to Best
It took the death of their iconic guitarist to finally stop Van Halen. For four decades, the band seemed like it could adapt to and survive anything. The arrival and departure of multiple lead singers. The rise of MTV. The births of heavier styles of rock that overtook the hearts and t-shirt collections of fans worldwide. Drugs and alcohol. Health problems. A constant clashing of egos and personalities. Even if they weren’t releasing music. Van Halen seemed destined to limp forward like a rusting muscle car for eternity. But on October 6th, 2020, the linchpin of the band’s sound, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, passed away and closed the book on one of the greatest rock groups of all time. As Wolfgang, Eddie’s son and the band’s latter-day bassist, put it to Howard Stern a month after his dad’s...
Robert Fripp and Toyah Salute a Famous Misheard Lyric in Cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”: Watch
It’s Super Bowl Sunday in the United States, but in the UK it’s another super “Sunday Lunch” with Robert Fripp and Toyah. This time around, the King Crimson guitarist and his singer wife have a little fun with the Jimi Hendrix Experience classic “Purple Haze”, incorporating rock’s most famous misheard lyric into their performance. As she did last week for “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”, Toyah straps on a guitar for the Hendrix song. While Fripp is considered one of rock’s most innovative guitarists, Toyah is no Jimi Hendrix … or Robert Fripp, for that matter. But this is not an exercise in guitar histrionics, it’s an amusing take on an iconic rock song. Compared to their recent “Sunday Lunch” covers, their take on “Purple Haze” is rather subdued, both in physicality and Toyah’s attire. Where it ge...
Neil Young Announces Unreleased 1982 Album Johnny’s Island and New Film Trans: The Animated Story
The holidays are over, but the Neil Young Archives is the gift that keeps on giving. Young has announced a pair of projects centered around his 1982 album Trans. The first is the unreleased LP Johnny’s Island, recorded with the Trans band in 1982, and the second is a new film entitled Trans: The Animated Story. Trans was a significant departure from Young’s folk-inflected rock, and its release became one of the more controversial moments in his career. With synthesizers and heavy doses of vocoder, it was inspired by the robopop of Kraftwerk as well as his own attempts to communicate with his nonverbal son, Ben. Many fans hated it, and Geffen Records sued Young for not sounding like himself. Almost 40 years later, time has dulled some of the sharper takes, and while few would...
Steven Wilson Says He Was Unaffected by Eddie Van Halen’s Passing, “Bums Out” Wolfgang Van Halen
In a new interview, progressive rock artist Steven Wilson was asked about the recent passing of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. The former Porcupine Tree frontman bluntly replied that he was unaffected by Van Halen’s death before offering a negative opinion of the guitar “shredder” style that Eddie inspired. “Honestly, it didn’t [affect me], because I was never a fan,” Wilson told FaceCulture. “I know he’s an extraordinary musician, and it’s always sad when an extraordinary artist dies, [but] I was never a fan of the so-called shredder mentality. And I think in many ways, he was the father of that whole kind of movement.” He added: “I never understood that ‘playing as fast as you can’ thing. And I know that wasn’t all he did — I know he was a more flexible musician than that — but I think t...
Edgar Wright’s The Sparks Brothers Crams 50 Years of Art Pop Into Two Giddy Hours: Sundance 2021 Review
This review is part of our Sundance 2021 coverage. The Pitch: Sparks has been around for just shy of 50 years, and have influenced just about every major pop act since the 1970s –from New Order to Weird Al Yankovic. They’re one of the greatest bands of all time, but you probably haven’t heard of them. That is, of course, unless you’re Edgar Wright, pop culture vagabond and Sparks superfan, who brings his giddy, high-tilt cinematic energy to a two-and-a-half-hour chronicle of two California-born brothers who made it to the top of the pop charts, and have spent the last several decades reinventing themselves with every new album and experimentation. Along the way, he talks to artists and fans who’ve grown up with their work (Jason Schwartzman, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Fred Armisen), and i...
Summer of Soul Is Questlove’s Thrumming Ode to Black Music and Culture: Sundance 2021 Review
This review is part of our Sundance 2021 coverage. The Pitch: In 1969, the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival played just 100 miles away in Harlem. It was the third annual Harlem Culture Festival, a weeks-long celebration of soul, Motown, blues, and gospel where nearly 300,000 people gathered and celebrated the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Mavis Staples, Nina Simone, and a host of other Black artists at the time. But the festival was more than, as it would be haphazardly marketed, the “Black Woodstock”. It was a nexus around which so many facets of Black life at the time would intersect, from Afrocentrism to the Black Panthers (who would provide security for the event) to the renewed reclaiming of the word “Black” to identify themselves in print and in person. The music ...
