How do ya like that! As I was typing in today’s date, I was reminded, one year ago, Maynard James Keenan‘s biography was released and I was getting ready to be the moderator of a few of his book tour stops (one in NYC and two in DC.) It was exciting!
Just a year later, all this is happening. The PRP and The Pulse Of Radio are reporting Tool guitarist Adam Jones has revealed on his Instagram account that the band has recorded a revised version of the title track to its 1992 EP Opiate, while completing a new video for the song as well. Although the group has also performed the new version of the tune live, it is not clear when or if the studio version will surface.
Tool guitarist Adam Jones has revealed on his Instagram account the band has recorded a revised version of the title track to its 1992 EP Opiate, while completing a new video for the song as well. Although the group has also performed the new version of the tune live, it is not clear when or if the studio version will surface.
Jones wrote online, “We recorded a new version of ‘Opiate’ not too long ago. We wrote a different break down that’s about five minutes longer in the middle of the song. I believe there are recent live versions of it online. @dominic_hailstone_ did an (unreleased) Ultimate Video for it. Anyway here’s a clip of me messing with sounds for the distant Synth Melody. *Enjoy #Tool #opiate ~”
Jones’ post was accompanied by a brief video of him working on the song. There is speculation that the group has recorded it for a long-rumored vinyl reissue of its back catalog, although there has been no confirmation of that.
A while back, Jones told Yahoo Tool’s creative process is relatively simple: “We write this song, and then we write the next song — we don’t really, like, you know, go, ‘Okay, well, now we’re gonna write the radio song,’ or ‘Now, we’re gonna write this song.’ You know, we just write and then put ’em in an order that we like after we’ve recorded them and then get a feeling from all the songs in the group and then try to attack the propaganda of selling the record.”
Tool continues to work on its first studio album in over 11 years, although there is no official word yet on when it will be released or if the band has even started recording yet.
The instrumental members of the group have reportedly been working steadily on music, with singer Maynard James Keenan also preparing some of his parts.
Keenan, however, is now on the road with A Perfect Circle, which is set to issue its own new studio LP — its first in 14 years — in 2018.
Thirty Seconds To Mars posted their music video for “Walk On Water” yesterday. According to a press release sent on the band’s behalf, the clip, which is also the band’s current single, is also a preview of the group’s forthcoming documentary film, A Day In The Life Of America, for which the band recruited fans in all 50 states, along with Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, to film and submit homemade videos this past summer from their July 4th celebrations with the aim of creating a “filmed portrait of the country.”
Frontman Jared Leto told us that Thirty Seconds To Mars has always aimed to include their followers in the band’s creative process: “Some of these experiments, these ideas, are just, you know, organic extensions from the idea of 30 Seconds To Mars that’s always been there. And that’s that it’s not about the band, it’s about all of us. It’s about all the people that are part of this community. So for us to turn the microphone or turn the lens on our audience, on the community, is like a really natural thing to do.”
The sweeping clip documents many facets of America, including the country’s physical beauty, its cultural diversity and its social injustice. Scenes in the clip range from a baseball game in California to a truck crashing in Pennsylvania to Donald Trump speaking at the White House, while celebrities like LeBron James, Kylie Jenner and Danny Trejo make guest appearances alongside statistics about the United States and its citizens. The complete documentary, which has yet to get a release date, ended up utilizing 92 professional film crews, 10,000 fan submissions plus news and social media content.
“Walk on Water” is currently Number Three on the Alternative radio airplay chart. The new Thirty Seconds to Mars LP will follow 2013’s Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, but the band has yet to announce a title or release date.
Tomorrow night, Friday, Nov 10th, PBS will air Foo Fighters filmed live at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. In addition to the concert, Foo Fighters main man Dave Grohl and Landmarks Live In Concert host — and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer — Chad Smith discuss the music their families listened to when they were growing up and how it impacted them in a video preview of this Friday’s broadcast of the new PBS series.
Grohl begins, “When I was a kid, 70’s AM radio…” with Smith interjecting, “RULED!” Grohl continues, “I swear to God, that’s got such a big place in my heart. 10CC, Andrew Gold and Gerry Rafferty.”
Grohl explains that while he listened to hardcore punk growing up, his father was devoted to classical music, his mother loved show tunes, and his older sister liked new wave and classic rock at the time, but Grohl adds, “I would dip into everybody’s albums and listen to them.” Smith says, “I did the same thing,” and recalls going through his own older sister’s collection of soft rock records.
An ongoing documentary series, Landmarks Live In Concert captures performances by global superstar artists at monumental locations and landmarks around the world. Smith interviews the featured artist in each episode and told us that he thinks the fact that he’s a musician as well puts them at ease: “What’s cool is I think that they feel, when they’re talking to a so-called journalist, maybe their guard’s up a little bit or they’re not maybe as comfortable as when they can talk to somebody who’s a fellow artist who’s there, who’s doing what they do.“
Previous episodes of the show have featured Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley and Andrea Bocelli. The Foos taped their performance at the historic Acropolis back in July.
Black Sabbath is streaming live footage of its classic 1970 song “N.I.B.” from the band’s upcoming farewell release, The End. Some of you entered our contest and won yourself one of these sets, so congrats! The DVD was filmed during the band’s final concert in its hometown of Birmingham, England this past February. Bassist Geezer Butler told us what the scene was like backstage that night: “Well, it was chaotic backstage, that’s for sure. I think every friend that we’ve ever met in our lives was there. All our families were there. We didn’t really see each other before we went on, and it really was nerve-wracking, the last ever show, ’cause I was just hoping beyond hope that I wouldn’t break a string, or lights wouldn’t fail, or Ozzy wouldn’t fall over or something or whatever. I was just petrified that something would go wrong, but everything went great on the night.”
The End will hit stores on Nov 17th on Blu-ray, DVD and CD. A limited edition deluxe collector’s edition will include a 32-page book, a metal winged demon pin, a replica of the “The End” tour laminate and three guitar picks housed in a mirror board box.
Also featured on the CD will be The Angelic Sessions, an intimate live performance at Angelic Studios recorded in the days after the Birmingham shows. The session features the band playing a selection of their favorite songs not played on tour, including “The Wizard,” “Wicked World,” “Tomorrow’s Dream,” “Sweet Leaf” and “Changes.”
The concert performance features the entire final live show from February 4th, 2017, with the 16-song set including classics such as “War Pigs,” “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Into The Void,” “Iron Man,” “Snowblind” and “Paranoid.”
The band decided to make this tour its last because guitarist Tony Iommi, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and is currently in remission, can no longer travel for extended amounts of time.
