Happy Friday! You made it! Here’s what’s up in music news today:
Linkin Park vocalist Mike Shinoda has released music videos for two new songs, “Crossing A Line” and “Nothing Makes Sense Anymore.” Both tracks will appear on his debut solo album, Post Traumatic, which is due on June 15th. Shinoda said in a statement, “It’s a journey out of grief and darkness, not into grief and darkness. If people have been through something similar, I hope they feel less alone. If they haven’t been through this, I hope they feel grateful.”
The singer/producer released three new solo tracks as a digital EP in late January. Also titled Post Traumatic, the set directly addressed the death of Linkin Park bandmate Chester Bennington and Shinoda’s own anxiety over what would come next.
Shinoda addressed Linkin Park’s future in two new interviews this week. In the first, with Los Angeles radio station KROQ, he said, “I’ll say just for me, I’m waiting to see what kind of reveals itself, because I’ve looked at it number one first and foremost let’s not forget that Chester was one of the greatest rock singers of all time, period.”
Shinoda continued, “That’s not just me as a friend, this dude, his voice, there is just nothing like it . . . Looking forward into what is the band, those questions have to get answered, and I don’t have the answers.”
He also discussed the band’s future in a new Vulture article, saying, “I’m unable to say what will happen with the band . . . Believe me, I want to know what the answer is. But there just isn’t one. What I do know is that, for the immediate future, this thing I’m doing couldn’t be more important for me personally.”
Shinoda will make his first solo appearance since Bennington’s death at this spring’s Identity LA festival. The free event will take place in downtown Los Angeles on May 12th.
Papa Roach has released a surprise music video for “None Of The Above,” a song from the band’s latest album, Crooked Teeth. The clip, which was shot on location at Beaufort Castle in Luxembourg while the band was on tour in Europe, features the DanceXperience ballet troupe. It was directed by Bryson Roatch and choreographed by esteemed urban dance choreographer Alex Lopes.
Bassist Tobin Esperance said, “We actually wrote ‘None Of The Above’ near the end of recording Crooked Teeth. We were going for a classic rock-sounding anthem, juxtaposed with current, contemporary, sounds and taking a rock anthem to a younger generation. Bryson had this great idea of going to a castle while we were on our European tour and then he made us even more excited by telling us that he could get this song choreographed and he delivered on all counts.”
Roatch added, “We wanted to create something you would not normally see from a rock band.” Crooked Teeth was released in May 2017 and features the Top Five singles “Help,” “Born For Greatness” and “American Dreams.” Papa Roach will next tour North America in April and May, featuring support from Nothing More and Escape The Fate.
Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan revealed how he communicated with A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel creatively while making their new album Eat The Elephant. Keenan explained to Kerrang, “We haven’t done an album in 14 years. He was probably thinking things were going to go the way they used to, and I was going to respond to sounds the way I used to. We really had to come up with a new language for each other.”
Asked how he tells Howerdel if a song’s not working for him, Keenan responded, “There’s no other way to do it other than to be straight and honest and deal with that week of misery. There’s no other way to go about it. Like, ‘I’m not hearing what you’re hearing, sorry.’ But the good news is that we wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t hear it in other things, so that part you just have to figure out how to let it go.”
Howerdel said that making a record is always stressful, remarking, “It’s hard not to get physically worn down from it. When you get to that place where you’re not sleeping, and you can barely think straight, that’s when you go, ‘God, did I need to push it that hard? Or was it necessary?’”
Eat The Elephant is set for release on April 20th and will be the first collection of A Perfect Circle studio recordings since the 2004 covers LP, eMOTive. A Perfect Circle’s first official single from the new album was “The Doomed,” while the band has also previewed song like “Feathers” and “Talk Talk” live. The band is set to hit a number of festivals this summer, including a headlining slot at Indio, California’s Coachella Festival on April 15th and 22nd, plus events in Las Vegas, Dallas and Somerset, Wisconsin.
The band that Dave Grohl played drums in before joining Nirvana, legendary Washington D.C. hardcore act Scream, will reissue its fourth album, No More Censorship, on CD, digital and silver vinyl via Southern Lord Records on April 27th. Retitled NMC17 (No More Censorship), the physical versions boast new packaging and artwork, as well as a booklet filled with photos, lyrics, poetry and other personal writings from the band from that era.
The set is dedicated to photographer Naomi Petersen, who found the album’s original master tapes and passed them along to Scream singer Peter Stahl. The tapes were then restored and remixed at Grohl’s 606 Studio.
The album marked Grohl’s studio debut with the band after joining the group in 1986 at the age of 17. He toured extensively with Scream and recorded two studio albums before the group disbanded in 1990, after which he got an offer to join Nirvana.
Scream released No More Censorship in 1988 at the tail end of Ronald Reagan‘s presidency. The album got its title from the administration’s efforts to censor art and music, with Stahl recalling, “Hearings were held in Congress about lyrics and albums, and warnings were placed on album covers . . . So much of what was going on then is still so relevant today. History repeats.” Stahl’s brother, Scream guitarist Franz Stahl, later joined Grohl in Foo Fighters from 1997 to 1999.
Ozzy Osbourne is the newest member of the Alamogordo, New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, according to the Alamogordo Daily News. The organization posted a picture to its Facebook page of executive director G.B. Oliver posing with the Black Sabbath singer, along with Ozzy’s application to become an investor.
Ozzy and his children reportedly fell in love with the area after they spent some time in town filming an upcoming episode of Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour. The show features Ozzy and his son Jack traveling the world together, exploring the history behind some of the planet’s most storied sites, while checking out some lesser-known locations along the way.
While in Alamogordo, the Osbournes visited a ranch in Laborcita Canyon in La Luz owned by Oliver. Oliver explained, “After they finished filming a camping scene . . . Ozzy wanted to see me in his RV. Ozzy told me he appreciated all this and how pretty it was out here. I said there was only one thing he had to do now and that was to join the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce. Without hesitation, he said ‘done,’ and signed the card.”
Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour was recently picked up for an eight-episode third season on A&E, where it moved last year after debuting on History. The singer had not starred in a regularly scheduled TV series since the MTV reality show The Osbournes ended a four-season run in 2005. Ozzy’s final world tour kicks off this spring with dates in Mexico, South America and Europe, coming to North America in August. It’s slated to last until 2020.
Godsmack has released a trailer for the music video for the song “Bulletproof.” The clip was filmed on February 7th at a studio in Los Angeles, California and will make its online debut on April 3rd. It features cameos from country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach in addition to TV personality Chris Jacobsfrom Overhaulin’. “Bulletproof” is the lead single from Godsmack’s first album in four years, When Legends Rise, which will be released on April 27th.
That’s a wrap! Have a great day!
