Why is Mother Nature so mad at us? Is it because we are ruining the planet with pollution, thus global warming? Is this why every holiday is made to be the most treacherous travel day ever??!!!! And it might get so windy on Thursday here in NYC, that it could jeopardize the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! (Which we can see outside of our office windows!) OH NO!!!!!….This is either a good sign or a sign of the apocalypse. Pulse of Radio reports Muse intends to get back to basics on its seventh studio album, according to a new interview with Radio.com. After experimenting with electronic music on last year’s The 2nd Law, frontman Matt Bellamy said the band will be going for a more raw approach on its next effort. The singer-guitarist explained, “The last two albums, we sort of veered away from our instruments a little bit. We sort of focused on things like synthesizers, drum machines and various electronics and stuff. I kind of feel like on this next album, we’re going to veer back towards musicianship again and focusing on our own instruments: guitar, bass and drums. It’s probably going to be a bit of a rawer album, and definitely a bit more rock, I’d say.” Are you into Muse? What do you think the next album should sound like?…..Soundgarden reissues its first two EPs, 1987’s Screaming Life and 1988’s FOPP, today (Nov 26th) in a remastered edition that also includes a bonus track. The set, which is coming out as a single CD, double vinyl LP and download, brings these early releases back into print after several years of being unavailable. Guitarist Kim Thayil told us that a long-awaited collection of B-sides and non-album tracks only previously available on singles, soundtracks and other such releases is also on the band’s agenda: “I see that as another album, you know, as a stand-on-its-own album. I don’t see it as a compilation, like a greatest hits or anything, because it’s an album where a lot of these songs that are previously uncompiled will be available. That always used to be a problem for me, like, hearing a song that was a B-side for a single and it wasn’t on the album and it’s like, ‘Oh man, where can I get this, you know.’” Thayil told Rolling Stone the set of B-sides and non-album tracks will consist of “original material that has never been compiled on a Soundgarden album. Things from compilation records, like Sub Pop Rock City, for instance, might have been on the B-sides album.”…Also today, 2,500 A Perfect Circle fans are very happy now the band’s massive concert boxed set, called A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo, is released. Only 2,500 copies of the limited edition collection were pressed and have been long sold out, although the group is making the music available digitally. I asked guitarist Billy Howerdel if it’s possible the band might manufacture more physical copies as well: “There’s no plans to right now. We are releasing it digitally. You know, maybe there’s some kind of special thing in the future, but right now there’s, that was it. For that particular package, it was just gonna be 2,500 signed copies and that’s it.”…Last week, Hinder announced the departure of their original lead singer. Now comes a press release from Austin Winkler regarding his official exit from the band after he left the group’s lineup during a tour earlier this year and entered rehab. Winkler said, “It’s with a heavy heart that I announce after 12 years of being the lead singer of Hinder, the band and I have decided to part ways. I wish the guys nothing but the best in the future. I want to thank each and every one of you all for your love and support over the years, and especially over the last four months on my road to recovery. All the messages you sent me on Twitter and Instagram really helped me get through this difficult time in my life. I’m happy to say I’ve been sober for 150 days.” Winkler added, “I’m really passionate about the new project I’m working on. I have been in the studio nonstop and can’t wait to share this new music with you . . . Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being with me on this journey. We’re just getting started!”….I wondered what was going on here. Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello is a huge presence on High Hopes, the new album from Bruce Springsteen due on Jan 14th, 2014. According to Billboard, Morello is featured on eight of the set’s 12 tracks, including the title song, the controversial “American Skin (41 Shots)” and “The Ghost Of Tom Joad,” which Springsteen and Morello have performed live together many times. The disc itself is a collection of covers, new songs and previously performed material, all freshly recorded or re-recorded in the past year. Springsteen credits Morello with the idea of adding the song “High Hopes” to his live set last year, writing in the CD liner notes, “Tom and his guitar became my muse, pushing the rest of this project to another level. Thanks for the inspiration Tom.“….Blabbermouth reports Kurai, the new project featuring guitarist/vocalist Scott “SVH” Von Heldt (formerly of Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch‘s pre-Love & Death solo band), Mudvayne bassist Ryan Martinie and drummer Abel Vallejo (former Korn drum tech), will release its debut EP, “Breaking The Broken”, on Dec 17 on their own Sonic Velocity label. For more, hit www.kuraiband.com…..Blabbermouth also reports “Army Of The Damned”, the movie which marks the feature film acting debut of Godsmack singer Sully Erna, will be released on DVD on Jan 14, 2014. The movie, which will have an early video-on-demand release on December 3, follows the crew of a hit reality TV series who follow a team of local cops in a small town. When the cops are summoned to a house on a “domestic disturbance” call, they suddenly are faced with a situation in which they either must survive or join the “army of the damned,” a horde of warriors from hell. The film began production in April and was directed by Tom DeNucci. “This is my first lead in a movie and it’s cool,” Erna told Dread Central. “It’s an action/horror and there’s some good sarcastic New England humor in it. They put me together with three other cops that play beside me. Everyone has such a different personality and it’s really, really cool how we play off each other. Bridge, who I play, is a lot more serious and intense and takes things a lot more seriously. He’s watching over the town his father used to be sheriff in. And then we’ve got two other knuckleheads that just come in and never take anything seriously because nothing ever happens in their town. The dynamics are really great.” Meanwhile, Sully, Tony, Shannon and Robbie are working on new music for the next Godsmack album which will be released next year.
