Archive for July, 2010

Footage by Kenny Howell

Catch them live: The quintet — Matt, 26; his brother Brad (guitarist), 28; Lincoln Parish (guitar), 19; Daniel Tichenor (bass), 29; and Jared Champion (drummer), 28 — brings its gritty, frenetic sound to the Stone Temple Pilots’ tour starting Aug. 10.

Modest beginnings: Growing up in a Pentecostal household, the Shultz brothers were allowed to listen to gospel music only. But their father, a freight truck driver, was once a musician and occasionally would play a Joe Walsh or Pink Floyd album for the kids.

Dumpster diving: The family lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Bowling Green, Ky., so it wasn’t easy to slip music past their mother. But that didn’t stop them from trying. “We found a drum kit in a dumpster and dragged it into our apartment,” Matt Shultz says. “We used coat hangers as drumsticks.” Brad bought his first guitar from a neighborhood kid for $20. “The back had fallen off, so we duct-taped it on,” his brother says.

To read the complete story visit USA TODAY

When the thrash godfathers Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax all joined together on the Sonisphere stage in Sofia, Bulgaria last month, who wasn’t thinking we might be just a little bit closer to a full fledged Big Four tour in the States. With news of Anthrax joining the second leg of the American Carnage Tour alongside of Slayer and Megadeth, that day hopefully is around the corner.

The second leg kicks off on Sept. 24 in Dallas, Texas and runs for 20 dates, where Megadeath will continue playing their ‘Rust in Peace’ set list and Slayer will play the groundbreaking ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ album straight through. Anthrax recently was reunited with frontman Joey Belladonna.

As for a full Big Four tour, almost everyone seems to say the same thing: It’s up to Metallica.

To read the complete article visit NOISECREEP

The Flaming Lips may be the longest-running band to perform during the week of concerts being held in celebration of SPIN’s 25th anniversary — presented in partnership with ZYNC from American Express — but the Black Keys, who headlined Terminal 5 Wednesday night in Manhattan, have the deepest musical roots.

In a 90-plus minute set featuring a big greasy handful of songs found on the latest album, Brothers, from Akron, Ohio’s favorite sons (sorry, LeBron), drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach gave a lesson on the enduring power of the blues, sending the sold-out crowd into near-delirium with their seemingly endless, endlessly entertaining variations on simply sinister chord patterns and brawny shuffle rhythms.

To read the complete article visit SPIN

Linkin Park will exclusively preview the first single from their upcoming album “A Thousand Suns,” which is out Sept. 14, via a trailer for the upcoming videogame “Medal of Honor.”

The preview will be offered one day before the single, “The Catalyst,” is scheduled to hit radio and other outlets. Linkin Park’s Joe Hahn also directed the video clip, which includes a mix of gameplay footage and live-action footage of actors playing as soldiers. The full trailer goes live Aug. 1 at medalofhonor.com/linkinpark. In the meantime, watch a sneak peek gameplay trailer above.

To read the complete article visit BILLBOARD

(HarperCollins; $25.99; July 27, 2010)

The story of Steven Adler’s life as a member of Guns N Roses, one of rock and roll’s most volatile, decadent and out of control bands, is both terrifying and awe-inspiring. His new book, My Appetite For Destruction: Sex and Drugs and Guns N’ Roses, due for release July 27th, really hits home–but not for being a thrill-inducing rock and roll story. Actually it’s just the opposite. Adler’s candor and self-reflection make this book a different kind of rock star memoir entirely.

Steven Adler absolutely does not try to pretty up his story; there’s no attempt to make himself look heroic or, as so often happens in rock star biographies, victimized. Adler puts aside his own ego to tell a story that is bitingly poignant in its brutal honesty.

To read the complete view visit EXAMINER.COM

When you call your first album Funeral, you set the bar high in terms of your maturity level. How can any young band evolve toward that full-grown third album after starting out with a meditation on death and grief? It’s no problem for Arcade Fire – these Montreal indie rockers are not shy about gunning for a solemn, grandiose, three-hankie anthem every time out. The best song on their last disc, “No Cars Go,” was a dead ringer for Neil Diamond’s flag-waving classic “America,” which gives a sense of the gargantuan scale of their anthemizing. On their fantastic third album, The Suburbs, they aim higher than ever, with Roman numerals and parentheses in the song titles. In their dictionary, “suburbs” is nowhere near “subtlety.” But that just adds to the emotional wallop.

Their first two discs, 2004’s Funeral and its 2007 sequel, Neon Bible, peaked with songs about scared kids hiding from their parents. In “Rebellion (Lies)” and “No Cars Go,” the kids hide by escaping into dreams and sharing guilty secrets with one another. But on The Suburbs, they open up to see family life from the parents’ perspective – a much harder trick. “I want a daughter while I’m still young,” Win Butler sings on the magnificent opening theme, “The Suburbs.” “I wanna hold her hand/And show her some beauty/Before this damage is done.”

To read the complete review and hear album samples visit ROLLING STONE