HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY TO THE HOST OF HOSTS, THE TOP OF THE PILE OF ALL DJ’S IN THE WORLD, THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND, THE ONE, THE ONLY, OUR VERY OWN LOU BRUTUS!
NOW THEY TELL US! After we’ve spotlighted the band all week on the air talking about the album release, Avenged Sevenfold has pushed back the release of the deluxe edition of The Stage from Dec 15th to Dec 22nd, with no explanation given for the delay. Vinyl versions of the set will arrive on Jan 12th.The band issued a statement in which it said, “Hey A7X Family. The deluxe edition of The Stage has been pushed back a week due to unforeseen circumstances. However, the good news is that the enhancements make it worth the wait. Put it on your A7Xmas list and stay tuned as 2018 keeps shaping up to be f**king awesome.”
Frontman M. Shadows told us Avenged Sevenfold never wants to release anything to its fans that it doesn’t deem top-notch in quality: “I really want to do better in terms of quality output. I don’t want to have any little areas where you’re just like, ‘Eh.’ When people don’t like a record, I want to come back with the next one and just smash ’em with something amazing. Everyone’s not gonna love everything but I think for us, I really want to keep the high quality output.”
The new edition of The Stage will feature seven additional studio songs plus four previously unreleased live tracks recorded during recent shows at the O2 Arena in London. In addition to the LP’s 11 original cuts, the deluxe edition contains all the band’s recent covers, including the Mexican folk song “Malagueña Salerosa,” Mr. Bungle‘s “Retrovertigo,” Del Shannon‘s 1961 hit “Runaway,” the Beach Boys‘ 1966 hit “God Only Knows” and Avenged’s take on the Rolling Stones‘ “As Tears Go By.” Also included are the original track “Dose” and live recordings of “The Stage” “Paradigm,” “Sunny Disposition” and “God Damn.”
The deluxe edition is the latest chapter in an album cycle that began last year when Avenged Sevenfold became the first rock band to ever release an album with no advance promotion, surprising their fan base. The group announced the LP’s arrival with a live-streamed performance on the rooftop of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The band promised an “evolving” body of work with new songs added over the next year.
Avenged Sevenfold recently confirmed the details of an early 2018 North American headlining tour with Breaking Benjamin and Bullet For My Valentine. The trek will begin on Jan 12th in Nashville with shows booked so far through Feb 11th in Fargo, ND.
Speaking of Breaking Benjamin, new music MAY be coming in about 3-4 weeks! The new album will be out in the first couple of months in 2018. Looking forward to hearing!
Alternative Nation and The Pulse of Radio are reporting Alice In Chains has announced its first concert since October 2016, confirming that the band will appear at the Tons Of Rock festival in Norway in June 2018. Tickets are on sale now. Also set to perform are Ozzy Osbourne and numerous other bands from the underground side of the metal scene. Alice In Chains last performed on Oct 8th, 2016 in Reno, Nevada, and has not performed live in 2017.
Drummer Sean Kinney told us a while back that life on the road is different for Alice In Chains these days: “We’re in different places and a lot’s happened, you know, so in the past, the show was part of the day but the day was full of all sorts of potential chaos. Being one of the people that would create a lot of that chaos, once in a while you miss it a little (laughter). I’m not gonna lie!”
Alice In Chains reportedly entered Studio X in Seattle back in June to begin recording the follow-up to its 2013 album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, which debuted on the Billboard Album Chart at # 2. The new disc is tentatively due out in early 2018. The new disc will be Alice In Chains’ sixth full-length studio album and will be its third with singer/guitarist William DuVall, who joined the band in 2006 following the death of Layne Staley four years earlier.
Meanwhile, Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell told Fantasy Live in September the band was “taking our time” to make the new LP. Asked about returning the road, Cantrell said, “That’s probably part of the whole package. But, again, one step at a time. We can’t go out and do that until we make a great record, in our opinion, and then hopefully a few other people like it too.”
Metallica-Circa 1986-Cliff Burton, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield (photo: Chris Anthony)
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett looked back on the band’s final show with bassist Cliff Burton in a new interview with Rolling Stone. The gig, which took place on Sep 26th, 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden, is included on the upcoming deluxe box set reissue of Metallica’s landmark 1986 LP Master Of Puppets, due out today (Nov 10th).
Asked if listening back to the show was an emotional experience, Ulrich replied, “Obviously, we’re 31 years past this. So you pause, you reflect, you think, you appreciate, you’re humbled. I move so fast through a lot of the stuff that I never slow down long enough to reflect. And occasionally, when you sit with some of the stuff at 2 o’clock in the morning, you go, ‘Wow.’ When you sit there and listen to the last two songs or look at the pictures from the last show with him, it stops you in your tracks as you deal with it.”
Pressed about what he recalled from that last show, Ulrich said, “We played the show in Stockholm, and it went incredibly well. I think it may have been a rare case where we actually played an additional song that wasn’t on the set list, because the show was so good. That’s not something we did a lot then or now. So there was a good vibe.” Hammett added, “I distinctly remember that show being good, and the feeling when we got offstage was really great and positive and forward-looking . . . then the accident happened and it literally felt like we were going from a hopeful sort of circumstance to one where we found ourselves in into a deep, black pit.”
Burton was killed on Sep 27th, 1986 when the band’s bus flipped over after the driver lost control of the wheel. He was 24 years old.
The Master Of Puppets reissue has been remastered for the most advanced sound quality and is available as a Standard LP, Standard CD, three-CD Expanded Edition, and Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set, along with digital versions as well. Bonus content in the set ranges from previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, interviews and live tracks to a 108-page hardcover book, DVDs, handwritten lyrics and more.
Meanwhile, Metallica performed last night (Nov 9th) at the Band Together Bay Area benefit concert in San Francisco, along with Dave Matthews and others. All of the show’s proceeds are going to relief efforts following the devastating wildfires that recently ravaged Northern California. The concert was streamed live on Metallica.com, the band’s YouTube channel and the group’s Facebook page. (Thanks The Pulse Of Radio)
GUNS N' ROSES Dodger Stadium 2016
Finally today, Guns N’ Roses have announced their 2018 European tour. See Road Rage for all the info!
Celebrating life: Friday: DJ Ashba, ex-Guns N’ Roses and SIXX A.M. is 45. Tracy Morgan is 49. Sunday: Neil Young is 72. Al Michaels is 73 and Dave Ellefson of Megadeth is 53.
