Hard Rock
Alice Cooper Shares New Song “Our Love Will Change the World”: Stream
Alice Cooper has shared the new song “Our Love Will Change the World”, the second single from his upcoming album, Detroit Stories. Cooper called the track one of the “oddest songs” of his career for its juxtaposition of “happy” major chords and otherwise cynical lyrics. The shock rock legend explains that the song was written by a fellow Detroiter, thus fitting the Motor City theme of the new album. “I think ‘Our Love Will Change The World’ is one of the oddest songs I’ve ever done and it was one that came to us by somebody else, another Detroit writer,” Cooper explained in the press release. “And it was so strange, because it was happy and what it was saying was anything but happy — it was simply a great juxtaposition. And I got it immediately and said, ‘OK, this is going to be great.’ Th...
Greta Van Fleet Share New Video for “Age of Machine”: Watch
Greta Van Fleet have shared a video for their latest single, “Age of Machine”. The storyline of the seven-minute visual accompaniment is difficult to follow, but its press release insinuates that the narrative murkiness is intentional. Throughout the video, the classic rock nostalgists are seen admiring an ancient statue in the middle of an empty warehouse, cruising through a tunnel on motorcycles, and wandering around the desert in street clothes. Those seemingly unrelated shots of the band are interspersed with panoramas of oil fields, esoteric home videos with a ’70s-esque film quality, and vaguely Kubrick-like scenes of frontman Josh Kiszka receiving eye-drops in a medical facility. At one point, they take turns drilling and chipping away at the Greco-Roman statue they were admiri...
R.I.P. Jason Slater, Original Third Eye Blind Bassist and Queensrÿche Producer Dies at 49
Jason Slater, who was the original bassist in the band Third Eye Blind and a longtime producer for Queensrÿche, has died at the age of 49. His daughter Alyssa reported that Slater died from liver failure at a hospital in Maui, according to TMZ. While Slater was Third Eye Blind’s original bassist and backup vocalist, he did not appear on any of the pop-rock act’s albums. He was a member from 1993 to 1994, recording their first demo. He left the group before they scored huge success with their six-times platinum 1997 self-titled debut, which yielded the hits “Semi-Charmed Life”, “Jumper”, and “How’s It Gonna Be”. A rep for Third Eye Blind revealed to TMZ that the band hadn’t spoken with Slater since 1996, but added, “When a spirited member of the music scene is taken too soon, it is always a...
Slash: New Guns N’ Roses Pinball Machines Are “Way Beyond My Expectations”
A couple of months ago, Guns N’ Roses announced a series of “Not in This Lifetime” pinball machines, modeled after the band’s mega-successful reunion tour of the same name. The arcade games were co-designed by Slash, who caught up with us to discuss all things pinball and his involvement in the creation of the machines. The “Not in This Lifetime” machines are manufactured by Jersey Jack Pinball, and are available in three editions — Standard, Limited, and Collectors — each with a different design on its body. The machines feature a 21-song soundtrack that closely mirrors the setlists that Guns N’ Roses played on their “Not in This Lifetime” tour, which saw the return of classic members Slash and Duff McKagan. As we learned from Slash while speaking with him about the machines, his love of ...
Suspect208 (Sons of Weiland, Slash, Trujillo) Unveil Video for Second Single “All Black”: Watch
Suspect208, the new band featuring the sons of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, and late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, have just unveiled their second single. The track, “All Black”, is accompanied by a music video that offers the first look at the young musicians performing onstage. The band — consisting of 20-year-old singer Noah Weiland, 16-year-old bassist Tye Trujillo, 18-year-old drummer London Hudson (Slash’s son), and 18-year-old guitarist Niko Tsangaris — went viral with their debut single, “Long Awaited”, which arrived last month. That track is already approaching a million hits on YouTube. While “Long Awaited” drew comparisons to Velvet Revolver, a band that featured both Slash and Scott Weiland, “All Black” has more of a rock-pop vib...
Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020
Our Annual Report looks back upon the strange year that was 2020 and the music, film, and television that came with it. Here, we present our Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020. In a year we’d mostly like to forget, the world of heavy music brought us many memorable releases. While we wait for concerts to return, we have a treasure trove of new metal and hard rock albums that amplify the anticipation of seeing our favorite bands return to stages. 2020 has been dominated by a worldwide pandemic, and if anything can provide us with a daily distraction from the suffering and uncertainty, it’s good music. Thankfully, dozens of bands decided to release new albums this year, despite not being able to tour in support of their latest studio efforts. As a reminder that life is filled with comeb...
Greta Van Fleet Announce New Album The Battle at Garden’s Gate, Unveil “Age of Machine”: Stream
Greta Van Fleet have announced a new album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate. In advance of its April 16th release, the young rockers have unleashed the LP’s latest single, “Age of Machine”. The Battle at Garden’s Gate marks Greta Van Fleet’s sophomore album, following their 2018 debut, Anthem of the Peaceful Army, and a whirlwind of success since exploding onto the scene with the single “Highway Tune” in 2017. The Michigan band’s experiences over the past three years have helped inform the new album, with bassist Sam Kiszka stating, “I suppose that everything has changed except what got us here in the first place. Everything — our perception of the world, perception of life itself, what it means to be an artist, what it means to be part of a beautiful, gorgeous society. We’ve gained a larger u...
Slash Unveils Gibson “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop Electric Guitar
Gibson and Slash have announced the “Victoria” Les Paul Standard Goldtop electric guitar, the latest instrument in the company’s expansive Slash Collection of signature models. The “Victoria” Les Paul Standard features a maple top, a solid mahogany body, a dark back finish and personal touches from Slash, including a C-shaped neck profile, uncovered Gibson Custom BurstBucker Alnico 2 pickups, color coordinated hardware appointments, hand-wired electronics with Orange Drop capacitors, and a vintage style brown hardshell case. Exclusive to the collection is Slash’s “Skully” drawing on the back of the headstock and the guitarist’s signature on the truss rod cover. Developed in tandem with Slash himself, if you want to play and sound like the guitar legend, look no further than this new Les Pa...
Bad Religion Announce Four-Part “Decades” Streaming Performance Series
Bad Religion were hoping to tour in celebration of their 40th anniversary this year. Instead, the punk-rock veterans will mark the milestone with a four-part streaming performance series dubbed “Decades”. “Decades” will be divided into four episodes, one for each decade of the band’s existence: “The ’80s”, “The ’90s, “The ’00s”, “The ’10s”. Each episode will feature footage from a new set filmed at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. In addition to the new performances of songs from each era, the episodes will include exclusive interviews, archival footage from each decade, and more. The band will also participate in a live chat as each episode premieres. “I can speak for the whole band when I say that we were so disappointed to not be able to tour this year,” said singer Greg Graffin in a pr...
David Lee Roth Creates Morbid Artwork Referencing Sammy Hagar
The rivalry between erstwhile Van Halen singers David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar has taken on a new art form … and a morbid one, at that. Diamond Dave has created a new piece of artwork that makes several references to the Red Rocker’s future passing and afterlife. Roth’s art piece comes just a few days after Hagar said he would have loved to take part in an all-inclusive Van Halen farewell tour featuring all three of the band’s singers (including Gary Cherone), despite a “not user friendly” DLR. The “kitchen-sink” tour, as Wolfgang Van Halen referred to it, was being planned by Eddie Van Halen before his passing in October. While the timing of Roth’s artwork seems to be in direct response to Hagar’s harsh words, the subject matter apparently references quotes that Hagar made back in June. A...
Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland: Deftones Made “Right Move” by Renouncing Nu Metal
Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland achieved massive success amidst the nu metal craze of the late ’90s and early 2000s. That said, he thinks fellow nu metal pioneers Deftones made the “right move” for their longterm career by renouncing the genre. While appearing on Dean Delray’s Let There Be Talk podcast, Borland was asked about where Bizkit fit in during the rise of nu metal. “A lot of it sort of all developed at once — Korn, and the Deftones … The Deftones really tried to separate themselves from everything, which was the right move, for sure. Because they were able to maintain longevity.” Deftones consciously made the decision to not tour with bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn, and abandoned the nu metal genre in terms of both scene and sound. In the process, Deftones have earned critical...
Marilyn Manson’s Role Cut from Stephen King’s The Stand Miniseries
More than a year ago, Marilyn Manson announced that he would be acting in CBS All Access’ miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. With just a few weeks to go before its December 17th premiere, the show’s director, Josh Boone, has revealed that the shock rocker’s role has been cut from the limited TV series. While Manson’s particular role was never formally unveiled by the series’ creators, it was assumed by many that he would play the pyromaniac Trashcan Man from the 1978 novel. However, it was recently revealed that actor Ezra Miller would play that role, leading to speculation that Manson had been cut from the series. As it turns out, Manson was set to play The Kid, a character who appeared in an extended version of King’s novel, but not in the original story. As dir...
