Hard Rock
Donald Trump Thinks Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” Is the “Greatest Music Video of All Time”
Donald Trump loves him some Guns N’ Roses. In fact, not only does Trump think “November Rain” is the “greatest music video of all time,” he’s made his staffers watch the video to prove his point. As Newsweek reports, Trump’s love of GNR’s “November Rain” video was revealed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The former White House Press Secretary mentioned the tidbit in her new book, Speaking for Myself, recounting the time Trump made her and White House Communications Director Hope Hicks watch the video in the Oval Office: “The president told Hope and me in the Oval he wanted the classic Guns N’ Roses song ‘November Rain’ added to his rally playlist. He told us it was the ‘greatest music video of all time,’ and made us watch it to prove his point, even though neither of us had disagreed.” Eventual...
Marilyn Manson Masterfully Embraces His Influences on WE ARE CHAOS: Review
The Lowdown: While Marilyn Manson has developed a signature sound over the past 30 years, it never manages to get stale. One reason for this is the revolving door of musicians and producers with whom he has worked throughout his career. Manson is back with his 11th album, WE ARE CHAOS, and he recruited Shooter Jennings — son of legendary country artists Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter — as his new musical compatriot. The two met when Manson was working on the TV show Sons of Anarchy and, according to Manson, have wanted to work together for a while. With Tyler Bates at the production helm on Manson’s critically acclaimed albums The Pale Emperor (2015) and Heaven Upside Down (2017), one might be concerned about this change in the ranks. Have no fear, though, as the resulting collaboration ...
Disturbed Cover Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”: Stream
Disturbed have had unquestionable success with cover songs in the past, and now the metal act is trying their hand at the classic Sting song “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”. While Disturbed were already established as one of heavy music’s biggest bands, their 2015 cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” took them to a new stratosphere. An accompanying video for the song has racked up more than 600 million views on YouTube. On their Sting cover, Disturbed keep things fairly mellow for the first half of the track, with frontman David Draiman delivering clean vocals to start. At the 2:23 mark, Disturbed turn things up, with Draiman switching over to his powerful rasp and the band kicking in with heavy guitars and drums. “We have loved this song for a long time, and even ...
Amigo the Devil Premieres Bare-Bones Version of “Stronger Than Dead”: Stream
Amigo the Devil has been making waves as a unique troubadour who appeals to fans of both folk and metal. While his music is acoustic-based, his lyrics are decidedly macabre. In the midst of a new “living” album project titled Covers, Demos, Live Versions, B-Sides, Amigo teams up with Heavy Consequence to premiere a stripped-down version of his song “Stronger Than Dead”. As he continues work on a proper follow up to Everything Is Fine, which made our list of the Top Hard Rock + Metal Albums of 2018, Amigo is rolling out rarities and alternate song renditions to create the ever-growing collection Covers, Demos, Live Versions, B-Sides. “Stronger Than Dead”, which originally appeared on Everything Is Fine, is stripped down to its bare bones in this version, simply featuring Amigo and his acous...
Ace Frehley: “Trump Is the Strongest Leader That We’ve Got on the Table”
Ace Frehley insists he doesn’t like to talk about politics, but the former KISS guitarist has gone ahead and talked about politics. In a new interview, he declared President Trump “the strongest leader that we’ve got on the table.” While speaking on The Cassius Morris Show, the guitar legend remarked, “I don’t think politics and rock ‘n’ roll mix — in my opinion. And I try to stay away from that as much as I can. I mean, once in a while, I’ll make a crack. I will say I’m a Trump supporter.” He added, “All the politicians have had skeletons in the closet. But I think Trump is the strongest leader that we’ve got on the table.” Frehley’s comments don’t come as a major surprise. He previously said during a 2018 appearance on the Juliet: Unexpected podcast, “Let me say this about Trump. Whether...
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea Discovers Cannibal Corpse, Declares Them “F**king Insane”
Flea (photo by Philip Cosores) / Ex-Cannibal Corpse singer Chris Barnes (publicity) Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea found himself on a death metal kick this week, seeking out recommendations on Cannibal Corpse. Randomly, the veteran funk-rock musician asked his Twitter followers on Monday (September 7th), “What’s the best Cannibal Corpse album?” Roughly 20 minutes later, after perusing the responses, he declared, “OK, I’m going with Tomb of the Mutilated.” Then, after giving the 1992 metal classic a spin, Flea exclaimed, “THIS SHIT IS F**KING INSANE!!!!!!! WHOOOOO!!!!! WHAAAAAAAA!” Tomb of the Mutilated featured original Cannibal Corpse singer Chris Barnes, who would later be replaced by George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. The LP, which includes iconic tracks like “Hammer Smashed Face” and “...
Rush’s Geddy Lee Confirms He’s Alive After Trending on Twitter
The year 2020 has been so rough that anytime a celebrity trends on Twitter, people assume the worst. So, when Geddy Lee’s name went viral over the past 24 hours, some fans assumed something tragic had happened to the Rush legend. Thankfully, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer reports that he is alive and well. Rush’s official Twitter account had to assure fans that the beloved prog-rock icon is okay, issuing a statement from Lee that read, “Even I gulped when I saw I was trending on Twitter, but I asked my dogs and apparently I’m a bit boring but otherwise fine.” As for why Geddy Lee was trending in the first place, all signs point to a cardboard cutout of the singer-bassist placed in the stands behind home plate at Toronto Blue Jays games this season. The team has been playing home games i...
Judas Priest Announce 50th Anniversary Photo Book
Judas Priest are commemorating their 50th anniversary in style with a 648-page coffee table photo book. Titled Judas Priest – 50 Heavy Metal Years, the title is available in four editions and available for pre-order starting September 11th. The book is a true testament to Judas Priests’ half-century run as one of the most influential and visually captivating metal bands of all-time. The photography was curated by David Silver, Ross Halfin, and Jayne Andrews and features “unseen, unpublished photographs” by Ross Halfin, Neil Zlozower, Mark Weiss, Fin Costello, Oliver Halfin, and more. The photographs will be linked by an accompanying history of the band written by Mark Blake, allowing the book to work as a photo documentary of sorts. “I’ve photographed Judas Priest from 1978 until now and o...
Gone Is Gone (Mastodon, QOTSA, At the Drive-In) Unveil New Song “Sometimes I Feel”: Stream
Gone Is Gone — featuring members of Mastodon, Queens of the Stone Age, and At the Drive-In — have released another new stand-alone single, “Sometimes I Feel”. The track marks the third new song the supergroup has unveiled in the past year. “Sometimes I Feel” follows “No One Ever Walked on Water”, which arrived in December 2019 as the group’s first new music in three years, and “Everything Is Wonderfall”, which came out this past July. The band features Mastodon singer-bassist Troy Sanders, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Zarin. “Sometimes I Feel” has a trippy psychedelic vibe and is not as heavy as the band’s previous singles. Sanders’ lead vocals are more ethereal than metal, as the song takes some twi...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Continues Drum-Off with Dave Grohl by Rocking Them Crooked Vultures Song: Watch
In an otherwise tough year for the entertainment industry (and the world), this could very well be the feel-good music story of 2020. After Dave Grohl accepted 10-year-old Nandi Bushell’s challenge for a drum-off, the young YouTube sensation has continued the battle by matching the rock star’s performance of Them Crooked Vultures’ “Dead End Friends”. To quickly recap, it all started when Nandi rocked Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” a couple weeks ago, and issued a challenge to Grohl for a drum battle. This past weekend, Grohl responded by using his daughter Harper’s drum kit to rock a bit of “Everlong” and a full performance of “Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup featuring Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. In his video, Grohl told Nan...
Six Members of Nine Inch Nails Added to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction
When Nine Inch Nails were revealed as one of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2020 inductees, only Trent Reznor was to receive the honor. Now, a couple months prior to the ceremony, six additional members of NIN have been added to the list of inductees. While Reznor has been the band’s mastermind and lone constant member of the groundbreaking industrial group since its inception, there have been valuable players throughout the years. Perhaps with a nudge from Reznor himself, Atticus Ross, Robin Finck, Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, Ilan Rubin, and Alessandro Cortini have joined the list of NIN inductees. As Cleveland.com reports, an annual inductee exhibit that recently opened at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum revealed the new names under Nine Inch Nails’ bio. Those inductees have ...
Bring Me the Horizon Unveil New Song “Obey” Featuring Yungblud: Stream
Bring Me the Horizon have unleashed a new song, “Obey”, featuring frontman Oli Sykes trading verses with UK singer Yungblud. The track is the latest single from BMTH’s forthcoming series of Posthuman EPs. The new song once again demonstrates Bring Me the Horizon’s recent propensity for melding various genres, although there is a return to the heaviness of the band’s earlier work. Sykes offers up some metal screams over thick riffs, with electronic and industrial elements throughout. A music video for the track depicts Sykes facing off with Yungblood as they each control a throwback giant robot in their own likenesses. The clip ends with an unexpected twist that we won’t give away. According to a press release, “‘Obey’ is a soaring ode about how, as a society, oppression has been so normali...
