Lost your password?

Search Results for

accept

BLACK SABBATH Wins ‘Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance’ GRAMMY Award

Manos Spanos
BLACK SABBATH was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 56th annual Grammy Awards, which is being held tonight (Sunday, January 26) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. BLACK SABBATH was nominated for the track "God Is Dead?", from the band's 2013 comeback album "13". The SABBATH members did not personally accept the award at the pre-telecast ceremony because they were busy preparing to be one of the presenters during the main show. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper, who co-hosted the pre-telecast, said that she spoke with them prior to the event and that they were grateful for the honor. "I know that Ozzy is not here and I saw them last night," she said. "They asked me to accept this award for them. It's awesome. And I'm sure he thanks the Academy. They had to be next door to do something. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everybody." Osbourne came up with the title for "God Is Dead?", but bassist Geezer Butler wanted to call it something else. Ozzy told Shortlist, "I was in a doctor's office and there was a magazine in there with that line on the cover. I thought, 'Yeah — people flew planes into the World Trade Center because of God, there's all this fucking shit going on in the world in the name of God.'" Geezer added, "Ozzy gave me that line, and I wrote the lyrics. I wanted to call the song 'American Jihad'." Ozzy continued, "Fuck that. I'm the guy at the front singing it; I would have had a fucking army after me . . . In the early days [of BLACK SABBATH], there was a lot of backlash from religious groups . . . I was sent letters written in blood. In my house I must have 25 fucking Bibles, each with a marked-up passage that [the sender] wanted me to read." Butler told The Pulse Of Radio what the song was about. "It's about this guy that sets out to prove that God is still alive, and he has this voice in his head saying that God's dead, and he can't get rid of the voice telling him, so he goes out and kills everybody," he said. "13" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in June 2013, the first SABBATH album to ever top the U.S. chart. The disc features Ozzy, Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi playing together for the first time in 35 years. Their last effort together was 1978's "Never Say Die!" The nominees in this year's "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category were as follows: ANTHRAX - "T.N.T." Track from: "Anthems" Label: Megaforce BLACK SABBATH - "God Is Dead?" Track from: "13" Label: Vertigo/Republic DREAM THEATER - "The Enemy Inside" Track from: "Dream Theater" Label: Roadrunner Records KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - "In Due Time" Track from: "Disarm The Descent" Label: Roadrunner Records VOLBEAT feat. King Diamond - "Room 24" Track from: "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies" Label: Republic Records BLACK SABBATH's "God Is Dead?" also picked up a nomination in the "Best Rock Song" category. In addition, the band's comeback CD, "13", earned a nod for "Best Rock Album", alongside LED ZEPPELIN's "Celebration Day" and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's "…Like Clockwork", among others. METALLICA's "Through The Never" received a nomination for "Best Recording Package" and ALICE IN CHAINS' "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was up for the "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical" award. Nominations for the 56th annual Grammy Awards were announced on December 6, 2013 by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by the voting members of The Academy. For the sixth year, nominations for the annual Grammy Awards were announced on primetime television as part of "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour CBS entertainment special broadcast live from Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. "This year's nominations reflect the talented community of music makers who represent some of the highest levels of excellence and artistry of the year in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, in a statement. This year's Grammy Awards process registered more than 22,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (October 1, 2012 - September 30, 2013). Grammy ballots for the final round of voting were mailed on December 11 to the voting members of The Recording Academy. They were due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by January 8, when they were tabulated and the results kept secret until the 56th Grammy telecast. The 56th annual Grammy Awards are produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, and Louis J. Horvitz is director. The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS tonight (Sunday, January 26) at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
05 min read

KISS Wins Fan Vote For ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction

Manos Spanos
Legendary rockers KISS have won the fan vote for induction into the 2014 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The poll ended with KISS at 17.22 percent, followed by NIRVANA at 15.69 percent, DEEP PURPLE at 11.93 percent, and YES at 10.88 percent. The Rock Hall's official poll will be used to create a single online fan vote. That will be matched against about 600 voters consisting of artists, historians and members of the music business. The artists who get the most votes will be announced later this month December and will be inducted at a New York City ceremony next April. Highlights from the event will be shown on HBO in May. During an interview with The Huffington Post, KISS frontman Paul Stanley took time to salute the band's fans while taking a swipe at chairman of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation, Jann Wenner, when asked if he ever sees a day when KISS will be inducted into the Rock Hall. "Well, it depends on who lives longer, us or Jann Wenner," Stanley said. "Look, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is marketing," he continued. "You've got a bunch of faceless people in a back room who trademark a name that sounds very official. Well, if you had thought of it first, you would have been the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I am one of the biggest Laura Nyro fans. I still listen to that stuff incessantly. Laura Nyro does not belong in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Songwriter Hall Of Fame? Absolutely." He went on to plead his case, saying: "It's absurd for anybody to look around and hear the acts and artists who cite us as an inspiration, and then tell me that we're not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I would certainly accept on their (the fans) behalf because it seems to be a major sore spot for them, but I don't need the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame." KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons told Rolling Stone last year about being shut out of the Rock Hall: "It's become a joke. We've been thinking about it and the answer is simply, 'We'll just buy it and fire everybody.' In all seriousness for the fans, for something to be called Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is such an insult to MADONNA, BLONDIE. . . Who the fuck knows what other disco act is in there? It's an insult to them because they don't get to be in the 'Dance Hall Of Fame', because that's what they do. They're legitimate dance, disco artists. They don't belong in rock and roll." Stanley added: "The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame has reached a point where they're really scrounging and scratching to find someone left that they consider viable. With all due respect, when you get to Patti Smith, you're about two steps away from Pete Seeger." Gene Simmons told The Pulse Of Radio that awards hold little allure for him, since it's the fans that ultimately decide who stays around and who doesn't: "Our awards are under the 'K' section in record stores. Every time somebody goes out and plunks down their hard-earned money — either for a KISS ticket or for an album — that's the award, and reward."
03 min read

JOHN PETRUCCI: Drummer MIKE MANGINI Is ‘The Right Fit On Every Level’

Manos Spanos
Robert Cavuoto of Myglobalmind webzine recently conducted an interview with guitarist John Petrucci of progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Myglobalmind: Are there any pre-show rituals that you or the band does? John: We do get together before going on stage and we talk to get our heads in the same place and bond. You're about to walk on stage and play together for the next few hours, so you want to feel connected and make sure that everyone is in the same headspace; a good headspace. If someone is feeling out of sorts or detached, it's a great time to bring them in and restate why we are here and what we are trying to do. Many times we talk about the people that have come to enjoy the show. They went through a lot to get here, whatever they needed to work out in their lives; they got babysitters, they traveled, and purchased the tickets. So it's up to us to deliver the goods. We're always in that headspace about the audience and less about us at that moment. Myglobalmind: I thought one of the greatest compliments that anyone can give to a bandmate was what you said about Mike Mangini on the DVD during the drummer auditions that "he's not just playing DREAM THEATER, he's living it." John: We auditioned a lot of great drummers; every one of them was world-class. We had a lot of fun playing with each of them and had some great jams. With Mike, it was just something really special about what was going on. First and foremost, with everybody, we wanted to see if they can pull off the songs, play them correctly, and that they it felt right musically. That's something Mike did; it felt like the band. He really gets the style and delivers in a powerful metal way. He has all the techniques, chops and sensibility; everything just flows musically. Over and above that, there were a few things, like his attitude and dedication to wanting to get everything exactly right, as well as genuinely wanting the position. Not just wishy-washy, "Yeah, if I get it, great. If not, OK too." Personality wise, we are all kindred spirits. I've said this before; if we ever went to high school together, we would have been friends. He is just one of us. We felt that immediate connect. He the right fit on every level. Myglobalmind: He also seems like a funny and entertaining guy too. John: He's hysterical; he keeps us entertained. If you bring somebody into the band, you are going to be with them a lot, whether it's in the studio, on the tour bus, or at dinner every night. You want somebody you enjoy being around. You don't want an annoying guy. [laughs] Myglobalmind: You're an amazing, accomplished guitarist. At what point in your career did you realize that your style was truly unique? John: It's hard to answer that from my own perspective, because when I'm playing, I know where it is coming from and the sources. Guitar players get inward and analytical about their playing, but when you start to get positive feedback from other players, it makes you think that it is coming together. For me, the first time I started hearing comments like that was after "Images And Words" was released. It seemed like there was a jump from the there for me stylistically. It wasn't something I picked up on, it was comments that I received from other people and players. Myglobalmind: When you were young and starting out, was there ever a band that you auditioned for who didn't hire you for whatever reason? John: I didn't try out for bands when I was younger. I got into guitars intensely a couple of years into playing so much, by the time I was graduating high school, I was accepted into Berklee College Of Music. Practicing six hours a day, I was consumed with it. I somehow always found the right people on my own to jam with as well as playing with all my buddies. I didn't get to a point where I was auditioning for any bands. Out of Berklee, DREAM THEATER was born and we've been together ever since. I didn't have to taste that feeling of defeat. [laughs]
04 min read

LOSTPROPHETS Singer Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Rape Baby

Manos Spanos
According to the BBC News, singer Ian Watkins of the Welsh rock band LOSTPROPHETS has pleaded guilty to 13 sexual offenses, including two of attempting to rape a baby. The 36-year-old musician admitted three counts of sexual assault involving children and six involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal. He will be sentenced on December 18. Prosecuting barrister Chris Clee QC told Cardiff Crown Court earlier today: "Ian Watkins was the lead singer in a successful band called the LOSTPROPHETS. "He accepts he was a determined and committed pedophile." Watkins' two female co-defendants also admitted a string of sex abuse charges against their own children. Clee said: "Both women sexually abused their own children and made them available to Watkins for him to abuse." Watkins allegedly sent a text to one of the women saying: "If you belong to me, so does your baby." Watkins initially claimed he was the "victim of a malicious campaign" against him, telling police during interviews he was being stalked by "a crazed fan" and other people had access to his computers. The following details about the charges against Watkins have been revealed: * A laptop seized from Watkins' home in Pontypridd was password protected but was later sent to GCHQ to be cracked. The password was later discovered to be "Ifuckkids." * In a 45-minute webcam chat downloaded by detectives, Watkins and one of the two women charged discuss making the baby have sex with animals and take drugs.
04 min read

MACHINE HEAD: Previously Unreleased Demo Versions Of ‘Through The Ashes’ Songs Posted Online

Manos Spanos
MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn has uploaded demo versions of the band's songs"Imperium", "Days Turn Blue To Gray" and "Descend The Shades Of Night" to the group's official YouTube channel. The final tracks were included on MACHINE HEAD's "Through The Ashes Of Empires" album, which celebrated its tenth anniversary earlier this week. In the latest installment of his online blog, "The General Journals: Diary Of A Frontman... And Other Ramblings", Flynn offered up a lengthy explanation for how the demo recordings came to life. "In May of 2002, not long after we finished the 'Supercharging America' tour, our-then-guitarist Ahrue Luster quit the band," Flynn wrote. "It seems weird even talking about theAhrue era of the band as feels like a lifetime ago, probably because it WAS a lifetime ago! Literally thousands of bands have come and gone from that era he was with us ('98-'02). We get on fine now, so I don't have anything negative to say about him other than he was just really a bizarre choice to get in the band. However, to his credit, he did bring in a some cool songs ('Blood, Sweat And Tears', parts of 'The Burning Red', parts of 'Silver' and 'Blank Generation'), but yeah, when he quit no one in the band was surprised, and most Head Cases [MACHINE HEAD fans] just went, 'Meh.' "Once he was gone, we decided to continue as a three-piece and to write and record the next album that way. It was a good decision as we weren't interested in bringing in another person, and truthfully, we couldn't think of anyone off hand if we wanted to. We figured we'd cross that bridge when touring came up, and guess what? We had some pending European festival dates coming up in June. Someone (possibly [then-bassist] Adam [Duce] or our managerJoseph [Huston]) brought up getting my old VIO-LENCE guitarist, drinking buddy and partner in crime Phil Demmel to fill in for the dates. Phil was recently back on our radar as Adam had filled in playing bass for VIO-LENCE in the summer of 2001. But Phil playing with us? At first I wasn't into the idea. After I'd quit VIO-LENCE, there was a long period where Phil and I didn't talk, things didn't end on a good note, and I blamed him for a lot of it. On top of that, I had also taken a personal vow to never to mention VIO-LENCE in interviews, advertisements, album covers, ANYTHING related to MACHINE HEAD. I wanted MACHINE HEAD to stand or fall on its own merits and I wouldn't use my previous band in any way to help sell or sink it. "When VIO-LENCE broke up, [Demmel's] next band TORQUE opened for MACHINE HEAD a few times, and later his next band TECHNOCRACY would open some shows too, but we didn't really hang out anymore. It wasn't until almost eight years later than him and I had a real heart to heart (leaving an Oakland Raiders game) that we cleared the air, and after that, we hung out a lot. Usually at football games or shows. "Once I was on board, we decided to see what he'd say, so Adam reached out to him (viaAOL AIM... anyone remember that?) and Phil came back and said, 'Yes.' In fact, he told us that it would be perfect as he had decided he was retiring from the music business. He'd been doing it for 10 years since VIO-LENCE ended and he was frustrated. He had been married for a while, had a long-standing steady job and the band thing hadn't been working so what better way to end his music career than by jamming with one of his favorite bands? His choice was a good one, he'd be jamming with his old friends, touring the world for two weeks where he'd be playing over Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson, headlining festivals to 20,000 people and then go and settle down. "It was perfect situation. We didn't want a band member and he didn't want to join a band and it was a simple agreement. Phil wheeled his stuff over from the VIO-LENCE rehearsal room (they'd recently reunited and had done a string of weekend shows, but were also getting ready to retire) and when we jammed together, it was just awesome! There was a chemistry. Something was different about the energy in the room. We all felt it. "And while I felt something, I didn't voice it, I didn't want to. "We went on tour and the first show was in Dublin, Ireland with EVILE and GAMA BOMBopening. The show was nutzo!!! About halfway through the show, I looked to my right and thought, 'Hey, I remember that guy!' There he was, stage right muggin' it up and smiling like a Cheshire cat every chance he got. The next show was a 'secret' TEN TON HAMMER show in London at The Garage (or as the Brits say 'the gair-ige') and hanging out on that small stage, jamming cover songs, annihilated on vodka, having onstage chug-a-lugs with hammered fans, and playing to a frankly insane group of Head Cases, there was something happening, something real, a connection. "And it wasn't OK to talk about it... "Because he was retiring... "And we didn't want someone in the band...
016 min read

Video: Original KISS Members ACE FREHLEY And PETER CRISS Perform Together For First Time In 13 Years

Manos Spanos
Original KISS members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) reunited on stage for the first time in 13 years last night (Wednesday, October 23) during the all-star jam at the 30th-anniversary party for VH1 Classic "That Metal Show" co-host Eddie Trunk's radio show at the Hard Rock Café in New York City. Drummer Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) served as the musical director for the event, which featured additional performances by members of GUNS N' ROSES, ANTHRAX, ACCEPT, TNT, TWISTED SISTER and OVERKILL, among others. The setlist for Eddie Trunk's 30th-anniversary-party all-star jam was as follows: 01. Captain Nemo (MSG) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar 02. Diamonds And Rust (JUDAS PRIEST) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar * Tony Harnell (TNT) - Vocals 03. Burn (DEEP PURPLE) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar * Tony Harnell (TNT) - Vocals 04. Restless And Wild (ACCEPT) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM THEATER) - Drums * Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS) - Bass * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) - Guitar * Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT) - Vocals 05. On Fire (VAN HALEN) * Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, DREAM
05 min read

EVILE Launches Lead-Guitarist Search

Manos Spanos
British thrashers EVILE are now accepting applications for their vacant lead guitarist position. If interested, please send any links, videos, photos and biogs as well as a brief statement about yourself to: evileguitarist@gmail.com. On August 30, guitarist Ol Drake announced his departure from EVILE. he explained in a statement: "Over the past year, I've, unfortunately, found myself becoming more and more detached from the touring/band lifestyle. "In my opinion, the music business for a band of our genre and 'level' determines a very unrealistic way of life to me, and I personally find it difficult to make a living and have a 'normal' life. "I've reached a point where I want a family/kids, a house, a steady and definite income and everything in between, and in regard to my personal preferences, a touring band's income and uncertainties, in the state that I feel they would continue to be in, has become incompatible with how I feel and what I want/need." EVILE released its fourth album, "Skull", on May 27 in Europe on Earache Records and in North America via Century Media/Earache Records. The follow-up to 2011's "Five Serpent's Teeth" was once again recorded with producer Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR) at Parlour Studios in Kettering, England. The artwork for the album was painted by artist Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, SODOM, HATEBREED).v
01 min read

DERRICK GREEN: SEPULTURA ‘Has The Right To Keep The Name And Continue On’

Manos Spanos
Live-Metal.net recently conducted an interview with vocalist Derrick Green of Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Live-Metal.net: Is that at all surprising to you that it's taken so long for fans to accept you into the band, even after seven albums, 10-15 years, or whatever it's been. And is it still a challenge every day to win back these older fans? Derrick Green: It's not really that surprising. A lot of times in the world of metal when you're a fanatical fan of a band that you really enjoy, it's hard to see certain changes happen. There have been a lot of changes in bands that I have loved in the past and they made changes happen. But being an artist, I understand a little bit more that those changes were inevitable sometimes. It's just life. It's just constantly changing, and it's just something that you have to deal with. As an adult and as a human being, those things are going to happen. When you look at life that way and there are changes that happen for a reason, you can kind of get beyond living in the past. But instead a lot of people do, and I do the same because there are things I'm going to always love. But I love from that time period — that time period when I discovered SEPULTURA and "Arise", and I had a cassette tape that a friend gave to me and it was amazing. And I cherish it, and it can never be replaced. It can never go back truly to that time. It would be silly to even think that. For me, I think the challenge for us is the fact that we love what we do. We never walk away from this band, we have always stuck to it and we always stayed focused on creating new music. And music that we wanted to do. Everything was a process, and we knew that it would take time to evolve, to know each other, to get to do it together, to create music together. We needed that time to bond, and I think it was all a process of evolving for us. And we wanted to get better with each album, and I think we've been doing that since we've been together. And for us, that's always been our goal, to really focus on music and leave all the other stuff behind. A consequence of just focusing and doing what we do and the drive and not giving up has brought a lot of new fans that have never seen SEPULTURA in any period of "Chaos A.D." or "Roots" or "Beneath The Remains". So we have those new fans that truly appreciate what we've been doing since I've been in the band. And then they go back and listen to old stuff, and they have an understanding, but they're not really kind of dwelling on the past. And then there's the old fans that we brought back who had lost touch with the band and are not really feeling the changes. But they still have that hope and that glimmer, and they still like good music. So I think that we're able to produce some good music that people are interested in hearing, so it's great to see that mix. And I know that we'll never be completely bringing back all the old fans, but that's never been my goal. Our whole goal has really just been to create and write great music.
08 min read