Archive for September, 2009

MEGADETH performed the song “Head Crusher” on last night’s (Thursday, September 17) edition of NBC-TV’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”. Watch video footage of the appearance below.

According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet HITS, MEGADETH’s new album, “Endgame”, is on track to sell between 40,000 and 45,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

MEGADETH’s previous album, “United Abominations”, opened with around 54,000 copies to land at position No. 8 on The Billboard 200 chart. This was more than the 46,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, “The System Has Failed” (which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart), and was a bit less than the 61,000 opening number of 2001’s “The World Needs A Hero” (No. 16).

To read the complete article visit BLABBERMOUTH.NET

*Footage & photos by Kenny Howell

THE CULT stopped at the House of Blues in Boston on Saturday, September 12^th for their highly anticipated “LOVE” LIVE TOUR.

I am starting to enjoy these cliché concerts where a band plays an album in its entirety because you can time your bathroom breaks and beer runs around the songs that you do not really care for, but with THE CULT, choosing a song you do not care for is a challenge.

The LOVE album is regarded as THE CULT’s paramount album – from the unmistakable opening notes of “Nirvana”, through BILLY DUFFY’s wah-wah chording guitar on “Phoenix”, to the velvet vocals of IAN ASTBURY’s on “Black Angel.” THE CULT gave birth to an album that still resonates 25 years later and it marks the band’s evolution from its Goth roots to a lean-mean arena rock machine.

THE CULT delivered an extravagant production, with theatrical effects, using state-of-the art video technology. The back of the stage was encompassed by a movie screen that displayed colorful expansions of 60’s psychedelia leaving me to wonder if I was watching ASTBURY front THE CULT or THE DOORS. It complimented the chill vibe and rain that had been falling outside non-stop for two days.

I have been seeing THE CULT since 1988 and four times within the last four years and this show was definitely the highlight – it sounded phenomenal, and reminded me how truly great LOVE is, an album that usually gets sidelined to ELECTRIC and SONIC TEMPLE.

To coincide with the band’s “LOVE” LIVE TOUR, they will be releasing two different editions of the album in September.

SETLIST:

In addition to playing the complete LOVE album they played the following:

• Electric Ocean
• Wildflower
• Sun King
• Rise
• Firewoman
• Dirty Little Rockstar
• Love Removal Machine

For more information visit THE CULT

For more footage visit us on YOUTUBE

*Footage & photos by Kenny Howell

STRYPER kicked off their 45-city 25^th ANNIVERSARY TOUR in Boston to a packed House of Blues on Friday, September 11^th in support of their latest release and best effort to date, MURDER BY PRIDE.

I guess you could get away with calling it a hometown show for the native Orange County, California band since they rehearse and record on Cape Cod which is also the home of lead singer MICHAEL SWEET.

Audience banter was kept to a minimum aside from SWEET talking about the bands roots in Boston and playing for the first time in 1985 at the now defunct Channel — “We have so many ties here. We are pretty much based here. We are not from Boston but I live on Cape Cod  were we rehearse. Should I give you guys the address? You can come down for coffee.”

The show offered the first glance at the new stage clothes by designer Ray Brown who created the classic outfits for TO HELL WITH THE DEVIL and IN GOD WE TRUST.  I was a little apprehensive about seeing color coordinated stage outfits but they were toned down from previous designs with a modern flair and edge.

When you are considered a 80’s band there is a thin line between being timeless and being dated but STRYPER proved throughout their 90-minute set that they stand on the timeless side of the line.

The show launched to a pitch-perfect intro of “Soldiers Under Command” by SWEET who then handed the vocal duties off to the crowd and they did not miss a syllable. Working out the rust was still evident as the band missed the cue to launch into “Soldiers Under Command.”

After blasting through tunes from SOLDIERS UNDER COMMAND and THE YELLOW AND BLACK ATTACK — “The Rock That Makes Me Roll,” “Loud N’ Clear,” “Reach out” — they chipped away at the  critically acclaimed and   impressive newbie’s, “Murder By Pride,” and “4 Leaf Clover” frequently looking at one another  to anticipate the myriad mid-song changes.

The usual suspects filled in the remaining holes including the delicate and melancholy classic “Honestly,” “The Way,” and “To Hell With The Devil.” One of the night’s most exhilarating moments was the guest appearance by TOM SCHOLZ and GARY PIHL of BOSTON for a cover of, “Piece of Mind.”

Rarely has a band been unfairly pilloried as STRYPER and while truths in music may depend on who’s listening, STRYPER proved that even after 25 years in the music industry, as long as you can still bring it live you really don’t have  to worry about what others are saying.

For more information visit STRYPER

For more footage visit us on YOUTUBE

For more photos visit us on FLICKER

Former Korn guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch, who spectacularly quit the nu-metal titans in 2005 after finding Jesus, recently asked to rejoin the band, guitarist James ‘Munky’ Shaffer alleges.

“It’s kind of a strange thing, Brian actually contacted us recently and wanted to come back to the band,” Munky told Attitude TV. “And it was not the right time for us.”

Upon his departure, Welch was featured on US news channel CNN being baptised in the River Jordan. He subsequently started a heated exchange in the media with singer Jonathan Davis, slamming his former band and claiming “Korn care only about making money.”

“It’s kind of like if you divorced your wife and she went on and she stayed successful and her career flourished, and you go back and say, ‘My gosh, she’s still hot.’ ‘Baby, can we get back together?’,” Munky continued. “I don’t see it happening right now.”

To read the complete article visit KERRANG!

Courtney Love plans to release an album on New Year’s Day. It’s Nobody’s Daughter, which she originally aimed to have out on New Year’s Day this year. But a series of problems, including claims of a haunted studio and a seeming determination to issue it under the name of Hole, temporarily put the skids under the record.

Now Courtney has said on her Twitter page: “New Year’s Day, what are you guys doing? Buying my record? That’s what I thought. If you don’t, expect angry @replies all year long”.

To read the complete article visit CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE

Many art rockers have symphonic pretensions, but it takes gumption to compose a “symphony.” Enter Muse: The British trio’s fifth album closes with “Exogenesis: Symphony,” a three-part suite full of grandiose orchestral swells and lyrical koans like “Why are we? Who are we?” Muse’s humongous cresting and tumbling songs have earned them a massive cult following, along with criticism that the band sounds a little too much like its heroes. (Frontman Matthew Bellamy has a serious Thom Yorke fixation.) Songs like the industrial-flavored “Uprising” prove again that Muse know how to whip up an almighty roar. But the lyrics are pompous doggerel (”Coercive notions re-evolve/A universe is trapped inside a tear”), and they borrow shamelessly from Radiohead and Queen without the former’s musical invention or the latter’s cheeky swagger.

To read the complete review visit ROLLINGSTONE.COM