Good morning Radicals! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Here’s some music news to start your morning!
A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha is going to sit out the band’s tour this spring because of his commitments to the Smashing Pumpkins reunion trek. According to Guitar World, A Perfect Circle has tapped longtime friend Greg Edwards from Failure to fill in on guitar. A statement from the band reiterated that Iha remains a member of A Perfect Circle.
A Perfect Circle will begin its spring run on April 14th at a radio festival in Tucson, Arizona. The band’s new album, Eat The Elephant, is set for release on April 20th and will be the first collection of studio recordings from the band since the 2004 covers LP eMOTive.
The long-awaited semi-reunion of the original Pumpkins was confirmed last month with the announcement of a 36-city North American tour that will begin in Glendale, Arizona on July 12th. Joining the three charter members — Iha, frontman William Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin — will be Jeff Schroeder on guitar and Jack Bates on bass. Founding bassist D’arcy Wretzky will not participate, and has accused Corgan of rescinding an offer to join the reunion.
The show will feature material exclusively off the first five Pumpkins albums, from their debut Gish to the last LP to feature the original lineup, Machina: The Machines Of God.
Dean Deleo, Jeff Gutt, Eric Kretz, Robert Deleo-Stone Temple Pilots 2017
With the new, self-titled Stone Temple Pilots album released this past Friday (March 16th), bassist Robert DeLeo was asked in an interview with AltWire if there were any songs left over from the band’s 2015 sessions with Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington on vocals that were repurposed for the new LP.
DeLeo replied, “There were, but they were kind of ideas and they didn’t really get too far. Working on a new record with Chester was kind of a notion and it didn’t really go too far before he said he could no longer do STP. We got together and played some ideas and that was about it. So these ideas were sitting there for a couple of years.”
Bennington committed suicide in July 2017. Original STP vocalist Scott Weiland was dismissed in early 2013 and died of a overdose in December 2015.
The new STP record, its seventh full-length effort, features the debut of new singer Jeff Gutt. Gutt, a one-time The X Factor contestant, made his live debut with the band last November in Los Angeles. The band recently did its first round of dates in support of the new album and next plays on April 14th in Tucson, Arizona.
Korn‘s Jonathan Davis has set May 25th as the release date for his new solo album, saying on Matt Pinfield‘s podcast, “I just finished (the album) last night actually. I’ve still been working on it. I’ve been working on songs being mixed, so the last song I finished last night. It’s being mixed today and it’ll be done.” Davis released a first single called “What It Is” in January.
Davis has yet to decide on a title for the disc, which he has been writing and recording on and off since 2007. Asked in a recent interview about the sound of the project, he explained, “It’s completely different. It’s a different thing. It’s something I’ve been working on for 10 years. It’s just a crazy, different world music hybrid of all kinds of things, and there are all kinds of different players who play on the record. And I’m really proud of it.”
The singer will kick off a solo North American tour on April 6th in Portland, Oregon, ending on May 18th in Boston. Korn drummer Ray Luzier will be part of the backing band.
Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger and guitarist Ryan Peake let the video roll for a spontaneous version of “Ahead By A Century” by the legendary Canadian act The Tragically Hip. The pair say in an accompanying post, “Being on tour can be a game of hurry and wait. Sometimes waiting around to take the stage is just plain torturous. And other times The Tragically Hip pops into your head and you get lost in a moment that makes it all better. This will always be a favorite!”
Peake breaks out the acoustic guitar in the clip and joins Kroeger, who appears to be signing photos or documents while singing the track.
Nickelback is on a break now but will return to the road in May, when the quartet begins a lengthy European tour that will last until the end of July. The band is touring behind its ninth studio LP, Feed The Machine, which came out last June. The set includes the singles “Must Be Nice,” “Song On Fire” and the title cut.
Pearl Jam‘s headlining spot at Lollapalooza Argentina on Sunday (March 18th) was scrapped as the entire day’s show was canceled due to severe weather. Organizers said in a statement, “Due to severe overnight weather containing heavy storms, lightning and winds that are expected to continue, it has been decided in compliance with governmental authorities instructions to cancel the third day of Lollapalooza Argentina.” Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron shared a photo, saying, “Sorry gang, severe weather conditions last night led to the cancellation of today’s lollapalooza concert. We love you Argentina!” (Billboard)
Judas Priest‘s 18th studio album, Firepower, entered the Billboard 200 album chart at Number Five, making it the band’s highest-charting album ever. 2014’s Redeemer Of Souls debuted and peaked at Number Six, the British act’s previous high point. Firepower moved 49,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 48,000 of those in traditional album sales. The Firepower chart position was bolstered by sales generated from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer in association with the band’s current North American tour. (Billboard)
Finally, we’d like to very happy birthday to Brann Dailor of Grammy award-winning Mastodon! Woo-hoo!
