Wednesday, Oct 18, 2017

I love Metallica!  They are the band that keeps on giving!  The Pulse Of Radio reporting the Bay Area band has shared a previously unreleased demo version of its classic song “Master Of Puppets.” The track was recorded in the garage at The Carlson House in El Cerrito, California in late June 1985 and is taken from the upcoming reissue of the band’s seminal third album, also titled Master Of Puppets and originally issued in 1986. The Master Of Puppets reissue will arrive on Nov 10th. The LP has been remastered for the most advanced sound quality and will be available in various physical configurations, including Standard LP, Standard CD, three-CD Expanded Edition, and Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set. It will also be available digitally as a Standard CD, a three-CD Expanded Edition and a Digital Deluxe Box Set.  Bonus content in the set will range from previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, interviews and live tracks to a 108-page hardcover book, DVDs, handwritten lyrics and more. The reissue is available for pre-order at Metallica.com and fans who pre-order the standard album will receive an instant download of “Disposable Heroes (Remastered).” Those who pre-order the expanded or deluxe editions will receive an instant download of “Disposable Heroes (Remastered)” and “The Thing That Should Not Be (Live at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL – May 25th, 1986).” Metallica is hitting the road in Europe this month and plays London this Sunday (Oct 22nd).

Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch was asked in a new interview on Good Company if the band have any plans to perform its 1998 break-through album Follow The Leader in full next year, since the LP — widely considered Korn’s finest — turns 20 years old on Aug 18th, 2018. Welch responded, “It’s gonna be the 20th anniversary of this record next year, ’98 to 2018, yeah, so we’re talking about celebrating this record somehow. But I don’t know.” Welch also spoke about the band’s plans for its 13th studio album, which will follow last year’s The Serenity Of Suffering. He remarked, “The next record we’re talking about doing. You know, I think it’s gonna be a combination of maybe both (The Serenity Of Suffering) and (2013’s The Paradigm Shift). We’ll try some new stuff though, but we’re definitely going to focus on guitars again.” Korn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer told Lou Brutus the band has changed a lot since recording its first album: “We’re so different now. I think most of us are (more) mature than we were back then. It’s kind of fun to just see how we react to some of the old songs when we play ’em, and it does bring back memories. But there’s some memories also that aren’t so good.“ Welch noted one thing that will be notably different on the next disc, explaining, “Jonathan (Davis, singer), he said he’s gonna spend more time writing with us this record. ‘Cause he just came in — the last two records that I’ve been back — he came at the last . .. like when we were done.”  Welch added, “(Davis) is gonna come in and be involved with the music. So yeah, I think we’ll have a good record, an even better record this time around because everybody (is) involved.” Korn will appear at Knotfest Mexico in Toluca, Mexico on Oct 28th, along with Stone Sour, A Perfect Circle and others. The night before, on Oct 27th, Jonathan Davis will take part in Linkin Park‘s tribute concert to Chester Bennington at the Hollywood Bowl. (The PRP) Although it seemed that Marilyn Manson had squashed his recent beef with Justin Bieber, the shock-rocker apparently didn’t get the memo. During a recent appearance on The Scully Show — one of his first since a falling stage prop broke his leg in two places and postponed his tour — Manson said about Bieber, “He’s in some sort of sexual religious cult with an Asian version of (Jane’s Addiction guitarist) Dave Navarro, apparently . . . I don’t like to fight with girls, so I don’t want to fight with Justin Bieber.” The feud with Bieber started last month, when Manson trashed the pop singer in an interview with Consequence Of Sound for selling repurposed old Manson T-shirts with Bieber’s name on them. Bieber claimed he had Manson’s permission to rework and sell the shirts. Manson said that when he first met Bieber, “He said to me, ‘I made you relevant again.’ Bad mistake to say to me.” Manson claimed Bieber eventually “took all the proceeds from those shirts from him. They didn’t even fight, they were just like, ‘Yeah, we already know, we did wrong, so here’s the money.‘”  Asked on The Scully Show if he had any idea why Bieber thought he could get away with it, Manson said, “I don’t know how to use the mind of a squirrel. So I don’t know what he’s thinking.” Manson postponed and rescheduled a number of shows on his just-launched Heaven Upside Down tour following an incident on September 30th, when he was injured after a stage prop fell on him while he was playing in New York City. The accident broke his fibula in two places. The tour is scheduled to resume on Nov 5th at Knotfest in San Bernardino, CA and the following week, Manson heads out on his European run. (Loudwire)

News briefs:

Asking Alexandria guitarist Ben Bruce and his wife Ciara welcomed their newborn son, Fynn, into the world on Monday night (Oct 16th), with Ben writing on social media, “Welcome to the world my son. I have so much to show you. I love you Fynn.” The new arrival joins the Bruces’ daughter Fae Holley Bruce, who was born last year. Asking Alexandria’s new single, “Into The Fire,” is climbing the rock radio chart, with a new full-length LP due in December. (Alternative Press) Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 has released his cover version of the Metallica classic “Enter Sandman.” The song is now available for streaming on Spotify and on YouTube. The latest studio album from John and his solo band The Creatures, titled Season Of The Witch, was released last March. (Blabbermouth) Evanescence performed at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles last Sunday (Oct 15th) in support of its fourth album, Synthesis. Like the disc itself, the concert featured a reimagining of some of Evanescence’s best-loved songs with the band performing alongside a full orchestra and utilizing electronics. Fan-filmed video footage of the entire show is posted above. (Blabbermouth)

And finally today, Gone Is Gone, the project featuring Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, At The Drive In‘s Tony Hajjar, Queens Of The Stone‘s Troy Van Leeuwen and guitarist-keyboardist Mike Zarin, is celebrating Record Store Day’s Black Friday with two previously unavailable tracks — an acoustic version of “Starlight” and “Phantom Limb” — released on seven-inch red vinyl through Rise/Black Dune. Fans can pick up the vinyl on Nov 24 at indie record stores. You can find a store nearest you at RecordStoreDay.com. “Phantom Limb” is a brand-new track and this version of “Starlight” was recorded earlier this year during a special acoustic session at Paste Studio in New York City, then remastered for this release. “One can feel a bit naked when shedding the comfort of loud amplification,” says Sanders. “However, when asked to attempt a stripped-down version of a few songs, we boldly accepted the challenge. We were happy with the sound of the Paste session and ‘Starlight’ seemed like a solid choice for this seven-inch.” Discussing the meaning behind “Phantom Limb,” he adds, “The song explores a cause of sensation and is inspired by one’s ability to overcome what was once there.” Hailed by Clash as “a crisp, compact document, one laced with energy and sweeping songwriting,” Echolocation was produced by the band and mixed by Ken Andrews of Failure (Beck, A Perfect Circle). Gone Is Gone was formed by multi-instrumentalist Mike Zarin and Hajjar, who previously collaborated on various film trailer projects for Sencit, Zarin’s music production, licensing and supervision company. Together they’ve put together a wildly diverse sound production resume that includes trailers for the Internet-breaking television series “Stranger Things”, Christopher Nolan‘s 2010 sci-fi thriller “Inception”, multi-Emmy-winning television series “Game Of Thrones” and the Marvel Comics blockbuster film “X-Men Apocalypse,”  to name but a few. They brought in Troy Van Leeuwen, known for his work with  Queens Of The Stone Age, Failure, A Perfect Circle, Eagles Of Death Metal and Sweethead, who, in turn, brought in Troy Sanders from multi-Grammy nominees Mastodon. Speaking of Record Store Day, via a press release, here are other releases that you can look forward to. As we head into the holiday season, Record Store Day once again brings record stores into the spotlight, and shoppers back into thriving local businesses. Record stores are the perfect place to discover new musical loves, to re-discover old musical favorites, and to introduce new enthusiasts to the pure joy of music and of record collecting. We receive photos all the time of serious record collectors posing with their young children and their favorite LPs.  What they are really doing is creating the next generation of music lovers and continuing a tradition of sharing the gift of music with family and friends. That wonderful season is nearly upon us, when you are extra nice to everyone (just because), you try to remember not to pout (it’s hard), and you need some “eggnog” after each hard days’ night (of shopping).  Beginning Nov 24th, more than 1200 local record stores in the US are excited to offer these great Black Friday titles of sheer fun and celebration… and to offer a wonderful shopping alternative to EVERYONE! ‘Tis the season, and there are quite a few festive titles on the Official List, including two from Paul McCartney, always very supportive of Record Store Day and indie record stores, spreading some cheer with two 7″ releases, one on red vinyl and one on green vinyl, both featuring a new version of his classic “Wonderful Christmastime” on which he’s joined by The Roots. The green vinyl B-side is The Decemberists’ rendition of “Jesus Christ” and the red vinyl is backed by a live Norah Jones performance of “Peace”. Speaking of legendary musicians, Muddy Waters has influenced everyone from the Rolling Stones to the White Stripes. Record Store Day is proud to have an exact reproduction of Muddy’s original 1958 album, The Best of Muddy Waters, from the original Chess Records mono reels on the Black Friday Exclusives list. We’re also proud to have new music from Darryl McDaniels, the DMC in RUN-DMC, who broke down musical and cultural barriers with their fresh mixture of rock and rap, back and fresher than ever with a brand new 4-track 12″ vinyl release Back From The Dead. (Bonus fun fact: this comes out on Brookvale Records, one of several record store-owned labels who have releases in record stores.) The “virtual” band Gorillaz, actually English musician Damon Albarn and lots and lots of friends, is back after a seven-year hiatus with Humanz, featuring collaborations with artists such as Popcaan, De La Soul, Grace Jones and many others. RSD Black Friday sees Humanz come to record stores in double picture disc format. Other animated musical bounty comes in the form of Vitamin String Quartet and their tribute to the music of the films of Studio Ghibli, Vitamin String Quartet: The World of Studio Ghibli highlights the emotional beauty in films like Kiki’s Delivery Service, When Mamie Was There and more. Ever since Snoop Dogg busted out of Long Beach, CA on Dr. Dre’s masterpiece The Chronic, he has been a force to be reckoned with musically, lyrically, socially…heck, he even coaches Pee-Wee football. Snoop has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide, and he’s back with Neva Left, available on vinyl for the first time for RSD Black Friday. Rappers who probably grew up listening to the D-O-G-G are on the Black Friday tip too, including Murs and Tyga. Late legends J Dilla and Prodigy are also remembered, with two releases each: J Dilla’s Delights Vol. 1 and 2 and reissues of both Prodigy’s first solo single and solo record. After The Grateful Dead left Warner Brothers in 1973 and before they signed with Arista in 1977, they released three excellent studio albums and one double album on their own Grateful Dead Label.  These LPs, Wake of the Flood, Blues For Allah, From the Mars Hotel and the double live Steal Your Face, have been long sought after by collectors and are brought together for Black Friday in a 5xLP box: The Grateful Dead Records Collection. Jerry Garcia’s fans can also look forward to Side Trips, Vol One, the album recorded live by Jerry and keyboard collaborator Howard Wales. This collection of four jazz/fusion performances comes to vinyl for the first time on Black Friday. Waylon and Willie and the boys are well represented on Black Friday, as both Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson have two releases: loving reissues of both Spirit and Yesterday’s Wine for Willie Nelson, while New Stuff brings to light recordings that Waylon Jennings was preparing before his death, and Here’s To The Champion brings together multiple versions of Waylon’s tribute to Muhammad Ali, done by several country musicians. Eric Church’s Mistress Named Music sees that modern country makes an appearance on the list as well. Jazz fans will find lots to give and get this year. Vibrations is the second album released by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler‘s quartet featuring Don Cherry, Gary Peacock and Sonny Murray recorded in Copenhagen in 1964, and has been out of press for decades. In Paris: The Definitive O.R.T.F. Recording captures jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery on his only tour of Europe on Mar 27th, 1965 at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, France. RSD Black Friday also presents a newly remastered reissue of Sonny Clark Trio‘s LP The 1960 Time Sessions With George Duvivier and Max Roach. In August, Record Store Day brought nearly two hundred record store owners and staff together in New Orleans, for a party that included a set at Preservation Hall by the homeboys Preservation Hall Jazz Band. That set was recorded and is coming full circle to record stores as Run Stop & Drop!! Of course, rock ‘n’ roll never fades away at record stores, and there will be plenty of it this Black Friday. The first North American vinyl release of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, a deluxe 2xLP 40th anniversary edition of Richard Hell & the Voidoids’ Blank Generation, Clutch’s Pitchfork & Lost Needles picture disc, Gone is Gone’s “Phantom Limb” 7”, Chris Cornell’s take on the songs of Cliff Poncier, and a live recording of the night Walter Lure (The Heartbreakers), Clem Burke (Blondie), Tommy Stinson (The Replacements) and Wayne Kramer (The MC5) took on Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers’ L.A.M.F. album are just the tip of the messy, beautiful pile of rock releases hitting the racks at record stores starting November 24. Record stores are the place to be on Black Friday and throughout the holiday shopping season, because you want to give your family and friends great gifts, and record stores sell nothing but. For general information, including a Black Friday FAQ and participating stores, please visit http://www.recordstoreday.com A full list of titles and their accompanying artwork can be found here: www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases