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BLACK SABBATH
GEEZER BUTLER Arrested For California Bar Fight
According to TMZ.com, BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler was arrested last night ...
Iommi Doesn’t Know How Long He Has Left To Live
BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi gave a new interview to U.K.'s Mirror...
JIMMY PAGE Didn’t Want To Rewrite History With LED ZEPPELIN Remasters
Jimmy Page is keeping busy with the recent publication of his photo biography called "Jimmy Page By Jimmy Page", and the ongoing LED ZEPPELIN reissue campaign. Page's deluxe remastering job on the band's fourth and fifth albums, 1971's "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses Of The Holy", is coming on October 28.
The Pulse Of Radio asked Page if while handling the band's classic masters while upgrading their quality, he was ever tempted to throw them back up on the board and do some minor tweaking to them. "I'm not into re-writing history, I'm just re-presenting," he said. "All of the music that you hear across the companion disc is all basically mixes from the time. I thought it was essential to have mixes from the time, because you've got the mindset, it's showing the mindset of what's being done. To go to the multi-tracks and start remixing, then that's a whole different total ballgame. I wasn't into that. I really wanted something whereby totally reflected what was going on at that point of time — of the time capsule, if you like, of when these things are being recorded. That's what the idea was of this."
The Jimmy Page-remastered editions of "Led Zeppelin IV" and "Houses Of The Holy" will both be released with previously unreleased audio content in a variety of packages — including a limited edition "Super Deluxe" box set.
Earlier this year, LED ZEPPELIN's recent live set, "Celebration Day", recorded during their 2007 London reunion concert, won the Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album" beating out releases from BLACK SABBATH, DAVID BOWIE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, NEIL YOUNG with CRAZY HORSE and KINGS OF LEON.
OZZY OSBOURNE Says U2’s Album Giveway Was ‘Selfish’
Ozzy Osbourne is the latest musician to comment on U2's decision to team with Apple to put the Irish rock band's new album, "Songs Of Innocence", on every single iTunes account in the world for free regardless of whether it was wanted or not.
Speaking to Shortlist, the BLACK SABBATH singer said: "I think it's good in one way, and bad in another. People got so pissed off with it, it was terrific. Trying to find out how to delete it off their fucking phones, or whatever. But U2 can afford to put an album out for free, whereas other bands can't, so it makes it difficult for up-and-coming bands. It's fucking selfish, really. They just got a zillion fucking sales from Apple, I suppose. Not everyone is U2, not everyone can get a fucking deal with Apple. There are a thousand bands out there today that aren't going to get heard by fucking anybody because they can't afford to do it."
33 million of the world's 500 million iTunes users have reportedly accessed the U2 album, but there have been complaints about it as well. Apple gave an online tutorial on how to remove it, while BUCKCHERRY guitarist Keith Nelson dissed the Irish supergroup for devaluing their own music.
Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne delivered the most scathing remarks via a Twitter rant in which she wrote, "U2, you are business moguls, not musicians anymore. No wonder you have to give your mediocre music away for free, 'cause no one wants to buy it." She also called the Irish quartet "just a bunch of middle-age political groupies" and the group, iTunes and record company president Jimmy Iovine "a bunch of megalomaniacs."
Unlike many who felt that the placement of the "Songs Of Innocence" album was an unwanted intrusion, free or not, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Billboard, "I think U2 are the coolest . . . It's 2014 and anybody who thinks outside the box, or attempts in any way, shape or form, to break the status quo in the world of music, should be applauded."
Ulrich added, "It's not about whether the endeavor is a success or not. It's the fact that they have the balls and the foresight to throw something this radical at all of us."
The drummer hinted that METALLICA itself could do something along similar lines when it comes time to release its next album, saying, "We are embedded in our creative process right now and this type of attempt to reinvent the wheel inspires me immensely."
While U2 continues to be one of the world's biggest group, the band's last effort, 2009's "No Line On The Horizon", was considered a commercial failure — although the two-year supporting tour was the highest-grossing in history.
OZZY OSBOURNE’s ‘Hell Gate’ Coming Next Year
Ozzy Osbourne has launched a Facebook page for a forthcoming attraction called "Ozzy Osbourne's Hell Gate".
The BLACK SABBATH frontman has yet to reveal any details regarding the event, which is said to be "coming October 2015."
Some fans have speculated that Ozzy has rejoined forces with Universal Studios Hollywood for the annual "Halloween Horror Nights" event.
Ozzy and the rest of BLACK SABBATH were featured in last year's all-original 3D maze "Black Sabbath: 13 3D" at Universal Studios Hollywood. The maze was based on the darkest lyrics from BLACK SABBATH's biggest hit songs and was the only attraction at the horror event to incorporate 3D video. It also included scenes inspired by the legendary band's comeback album, "13".
Ozzy will release a solo career retrospective titled "Memoirs Of A Madman" on October 7.
His last solo studio effort was 2010's "Scream".
Ozzy's first album under the SABBATH banner in 35 years, "13", came out in June 2013 and topped both the U.S. and U.K. album charts, later winning a Grammy Award as well.
FAITH NO MORE IS ‘CONSIDERING DOING SOMETHING NEW’
Bassist Billy Gould of the reactivated influential alt-metal act FAITH NO MORE has revealed to Classic Rock magazine that the band may begin work on a new studio album at some point in the not-too-distant future, explaining, "to do something creative would be a really good thing to do."
FAITH NO MORE recently hinted at the possibility of new music 17 years after the release of the band's last LP, "Album Of The Year", and debuted two new songs, "Superhero" and "Motherfucker" — when they supported BLACK SABBATH at London,'s Hyde Park on July 4.
"We're considering doing something new," Gould said. "[But] we're not going to go into a room and bang out a bunch of songs just to put something out; it has to to be right."
He continued: "Our relationships among ourselves are really positive at the moment, and to do something creative would be a really good thing to do. We're all at that stage. I mean, we're still the same people and there's still the same shit going on, but I think maybe we're a bit more appreciative of one another than we were fifteen years ago."
The group, which made a comeback in June 2009 with a headlining performance at the Brixton Academy in London, England and has played sporadic shows for the past few years, launched a new Twitter account and one of the first posts in May was as follows: "The reunion thing was fun, but now it's time to get a little creative."
"I think we still have a lot of potential to do really good things, and I think our heads, musically speaking, are in a really good space," Gould told Classic Rock.
"If anything is to come out of this, I'll probably have to be one of the instigators. But everybody has to want to do this or it doesn't happen.
"At this point, no one has a carrot or a stick to use on anyone else. If it comes together, it'll all be completely consensual."
FAITH NO MORE singer Mike Patton said in a 2012 interview that one of the reasons the band's reunion didn't happen sooner is the fact that they wanted to avoid making it feel like a nostalgia thing — like "Here's FAITH NO MORE again." "We wanted it to feel fresh and still somehow vital," he said. "It wasn't an money grab. It's funny to say, but we all kind of reconnected, and after quite a long time we all kinda looked at each other and were like, 'Man, we actually spent half of our lives together.' It's interesting to see it through that set of glasses as opposed to the ones you wore back then. I suppose, at least personally speaking, I've grown up a lot since then, and I think I approach the music differently, and I felt better about the music than I did then."
Campaign To Get OZZY OSBOURNE Knighted Scores More Than 21,000 Signatures
According to The Pulse Of Radio, an online campaign to get Ozzy Osbourne knighted has already notched more than 21,000 signatures. A 65-year-old British fan named Helen Maidiotis has launched the petition, saying that the BLACK SABBATH singer deserves the honor for "his significant contribution to the music industry." She added that he deserves to be knighted "not only for all his charity work but for all his years entertaining us and helping make a difference to peoples' lives who have looked up to him for his strong will and determination to get through the many obstacles that he has come across and for that we thank you Ozzy! Helping to get him Knighted would be our gift to him."
When asked about the campaign in a recent interview, Ozzy said, "I've heard about that. Getting knighted? I can't imagine anything better… And my wife (Sharon) would become a Lady, which would be pretty cool. But I'm not gonna get upset if it doesn't happen. I never thought I'd get further than Aston (the area of Birmingham where he was born)."
AVENGED SEVENFOLD’s ‘Hail To The King’ Certified Gold In U.S.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, "Hail To The King", was certified gold on July 16 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies. Released last year, it was the band's second straight CD to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, following 2010's "Nightmare".
The latest effort was recorded after the AVENGED SEVENFOLD bandmembers immersed themselves in the music of two classic LPs: METALLICA's Black Album and GUNS N' ROSES' "Appetite For Destruction".
"The BLACK SABBATH, AC/DC, ZEPPELIN Influence comes through," AVENGED SEVENFOLD lead guitarist Synyster Gates told TimesLeader.com about "Hail To The King". "We wanted to create space rather than just fill up every song with four bridges and three choruses and vocal harmonies everywhere, with guitar duels going on. The goal was to focus on the songwriting and the arrangements."
"Hail To The King" marked AVENGED SEVENFOLD's full-length debut with new drummer Arin llejay, whom Gates described to TimesLeader.com as "one of the most tasteful drummers I've heard in my life… He's got that caveman, barbaric huge groove philosophy that we were trying to go for on this record. He's really got it in his heart and soul. We took the approach of wanting a hungry young kid who could suddenly come out of nowhere and play in front of 50,000 people. He really stepped up."
AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance told Billboard.com that the band will take "a real quick trip to Japan" after Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival ends on August 10 and then plans to come off the road in order to start working on a follow-up to "Hail To The King".
"I think once we get home, the ideas are going to start brewing," Vengeance says. "I know Syn's been writing a ton purely for fun, trying different styles, recording backstage, keeping himself busy. I've been thinking of all sorts of ideas, listening to tons of different music to get inspiration — as have all of us. And being on tour, I'm so inspired. Seeing bands like BODY COUNT with Ice-T out there, they're so old-school and riff-based and over the top and slightly offensive and it's fuckin' awesome. So there's tons of inspiration that I know we'll be drawing from."
AVENGED SEVENFOLD and KORN are co-headlining this year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, which kicked off its annual run on July 5 in Devore, California.
Other acts on the bill include ASKING ALEXANDRIA, SUICIDE SILENCE, TRIVIUM, MISS MAY I and more.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD will reissue its breakthrough second album, "Waking The Fallen", in a new special edition on August 26. "Waking The Fallen: Resurrected" will include a total of 23 tracks, including 11 never-before-heard songs, new artwork, the original first cut of the music video for "Unholy Confessions" and a 30-minute film featuring the present-day band.
HALFORD Says Controversy Over DICKINSON’s Teleprompter Comments Is Much Ado About Nothing
Rob Halford says that the recent controversy surrounding IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson's apparent condemnation of the JUDAS PRIEST singer's use of a teleprompter during live performances is much ado about nothing.
A teleprompter, or autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script, and it is usually used by singers — including Halford and BLACK SABBATH's Ozzy Osbourne — who are getting on a bit and have a large body of work to remember.
"I never realized that people were using autocues," Dickinson told The Guardian in a recent interview. "What the fuck is that all about? People pay good money and you can't even remember the sodding words."
He continued: "The daftest one I ever saw was [JUDAS PRIEST's] 'Breaking The Law'. It's on the fucking autocue. 'Breaking the law, breaking the law/Breaking the law, breaking the law/Breaking the law, breaking the law/Breaking the law' — guess what? — 'breaking the law.' It's ludicrous."
Asked by Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone to respond to Dickinson's comments, Halford laughed out loud and said: "What we British say is it was just a storm in a teacup [Editor's note: 'Storm in a teacup' is a British variation of 'tempest in a teapot,' an idiom meaning a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion]."
He added: I love Bruce. I love Bruce. He's a great friend of mine. And he's very outspoken. [He's a] great frontman, a great singer from a great band. And, you know, these things are said in many ways, and I'm sure he didn't mean it in any other way than Bruce sometimes goes off in one of his rants. You know, it's just the way it goes.
"But, yes, storm in a teacup. Storm in a metal teacup."
In a 2010 interview with the QMI Agency, Halford spoke about how using a teleprompter helped him when he was asked to fill in for Ozzy with BLACK SABBATH for a show after Osbourne was taken ill. "[Like Ozzy], I use a teleprompter now too because I do so many things," he said. "I can't remember. I wish I was like my mate Bruce Dickinson and could do everything, but I need that safety blanket."
During the 2005 edition of Ozzfest, the traveling festival's founder, Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne, famously cut the venue's public-address system and the main stage's power on at least three occasions during MAIDEN's performance at the tour's final stop in Devore, California because she said that Dickinson was "talking shit about my family, night after night," and was being "disrespectful" to her husband during Bruce's "nightly outbursts from the stage" by saying that "we don't need a teleprompter' (like Ozzy)."