Happy Monday hardDriveRadio Radicals! Pinch yourself, because you’re not dreaming. We’ve got your first taste of new Tool music! (Unless you’v seen them live recently)
The instrumental members of Tool have released a trailer for their upcoming music clinic appearances that features snippets of music from the new song “Descending,” which the group has been playing live over the last few years. The track is expected to appear on the band’s long-awaited new album, which Tool has been tracking for the last month and a half.
The music clinics will see drummer Danny Carey, bassist Justin Chancellor and guitarist Adam Jones give live performances and offer fans the opportunity to meet them, have their photograph taken with them and take part in Q&A sessions. Singer Maynard James Keenan will not participate in the events.
A total of eight clinics are scheduled, starting on May 11th in St. Paul and heading to Chicago, Indianapolis, Royal Oak, Michigan, Columbus, Ohio, Cleveland and Pittsburgh before finishing in Philadelphia on May 23rd. Collectable merchandise will also be on hand, along with a display of rare Tool memorabilia. Tickets start from $500 and are now available.
Keenan revealed on Twitter last week that he had finished writing the lyrics and melodies for the follow-up to 2006’s 10,000 Days, which the band is recording with producer Joe Barresi. Keenan wrote, “My work is done. Waiting on them to track. Then I can finish. Can’t track to music that isn’t recorded.” The singer will also tour this year with A Perfect Circle, whose new album Eat The Elephant is out now.
Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has pushed back against fan speculation that the band could be breaking up, following Armstrong’s surprise release of the debut album from his new project The Longshot. Armstrong wrote at the latter act’s Instagram account, “Some of you are asking about Green Day and if there’s anything wrong, or if we’re breaking up. The answer is no. I am having some fun with some of my friends.”
Armstrong continued, “I am what you call ‘a musician.’ Some people have a hard time calling it that sometimes. With that said, shut the f**k up. You’re a f**king whiner, and I’m playing music because that’s what I’m supposed to do. That’s what people that play guitar, and drums, and bass, and they sing — this is what we do.”
The singer/guitarist added, “So if you don’t like it, then f**k off. And if you do like it, come along, because it’s a lot of fun. All right? Have a pleasant day.” The Longshot’s debut LP, Love Is For Losers, arrived on April 20th, along with a music video for the title track. Armstrong began teasing the new act earlier this month on Instagram. Prior to releasing the album, he shared three songs on April 13th and hit the stage with The Longshot for the first time that same weekend.
Green Day has been on a break since completing the tour cycle for its 2016 album Revolution Radio. The band has reportedly been working with HBO on the film version of its 2004 punk opera American Idiot.
With Godsmack‘s seventh studio album, When Legends Rise, just released on Friday, frontman Sully Erna discussed 10 albums that changed his life in a new interview with Classic Rock. Leading the list was Aerosmith‘s 1976 album Rocks, about which Erna said, “I’d been a musician since I was three-and-a-half years old, and I was raised on blues and more jazzy music . . . A friend played me ‘Last Child’ from Rocks. I think it was the first time I smoked a joint, and it was a really life-changing point for me, because it really lured me into the world of rock. It was super-cool for a young kid.”
Other albums on Erna’s list include AC/DC‘s Back In Black, Metallica‘s 1983 debut Kill ‘Em All, the 1979 live LP Unleashed In The East from Judas Priest and Iron Maiden‘s Piece Of Mind. The bottom half of Erna’s list included Rush‘s Moving Pictures, Pink Floyd‘s The Dark Side Of The Moon, Dirt from Alice In Chains — which included the song “God Smack,” from which Erna’s band got its name — Into The Labyrinth from Dead Can Dance and his own band’s self-titled 1998 debut.
Erna told us a while back that meeting one particular musical hero was a highlight of his 20 years as a recording artist: “Being able to meet Neil Peart a couple of times, I didn’t need to meet anyone else after that. As much as I love the Steven Tylers and the Joe Perrys and the James Hetfields, you know, I quit school because of Rush. Really, that’s all I did is I studied Rush, you know. I sat home and strapped on headphones and played Moving Pictures and Exit…Stage Left and Signals and all these great albums.”
When Legends Rise follows up 2014’s 1000 Horsepower and comes as Godsmack commemorates its 20th anniversary as a recording act. The first single is called “Bulletproof.” Godsmack is performing at several music festivals this spring and summer, before launching a tour with Shinedown on July 22nd in Clarkston, Michigan.
Ozzy Osbourne officially kicked off his “No More Tours 2” trek, which is being billed as his final extensive world tour, on Friday night, April 27th at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Jacksonville, Florida. His band consisted of longtime collaborators Zakk Wylde on guitar, Rob “Blasko” Nicholson on bass, Tommy Clufetos on drums and Adam Wakeman on keyboards.
The 13-number set opened with “Bark At The Moon” and featured Ozzy staples like “Mr. Crowley,” “I Don’t Know,” “Suicide Solution,” “No More Tears” and “Crazy Train,” as well as a medley of rarely performed tracks “Miracle Man,” “Crazy Babies,” “Desire” and “Perry Mason.” Ozzy also played two Black Sabbath tunes, “War Pigs” and his signature track, “Paranoid.”
Ozzy also played on Sunday, April 29th at the Fort Rock festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and will now head overseas for much of May, June and July. The main North American leg of “No More Tours 2” will launch on August 30th in Allentown, Pennsylvania and run through October 13th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ozzy will be joined by Stone Sour for this leg of the tour. Ozzy’s solo swan song is expected to last into 2020 and will mark his final bout of global touring, although he will still perform selected shows in the future.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl said in a new interview with the British edition of GQ that he is “ashamed” of having Donald Trump in the White House, saying that the former reality TV star “seems like a massive jerk.” Arguing that Trump’s policies do not promote economic opportunity or mobility, Grohl explained, “The American Dream was still tangible, still desirable. Today, the American Dream is broken.”
Grohl continued, “I’ve probably traveled internationally more than our current president and the one thing I understand that he doesn’t is that the world isn’t as big as you think it is. It is all in your neighborhood. India, Asia, Iceland aren’t other solar systems. I am ashamed of our president. I feel apologetic for it when I travel.”
The former Nirvana drummer added, “Listen, who cares what I think about guns or religion, but the thing about Trump that stings the most is this: he just seems like a massive jerk.” Grohl said that he knows “a lot of wonderful people who don’t share my politics,” adding, “Tomorrow night in the stadium not everyone will share the same opinion or hold the same views. But when I sing ‘My Hero’, they will all sing it with me. In the three hours that I am on stage, none of that matters.”
Nevertheless, Grohl told us a while back that he feels it’s acceptable for the members of Foo Fighters to be active politically: “We’ve never used this band as, like, a political vehicle. But when we go out and do something like support a candidate or support a cause, you know, we do that as human beings first. If a candidate that we all believed in asked us to give them some support, then we would do it. It wouldn’t necessarily be as the Foo Fighters, it would be as American citizens.”
The Foos are touring in support of their ninth studio album, 2017’s Concrete And Gold. A new North American trek kicked off earlier this month and will continue through the spring, summer and fall, with the last scheduled date on October 18th in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The Pretty Reckless, Pop Evil, Halestorm and other rock acts are mourning the death of producer, engineer and mixer Kato Khandwala, who passed away last Wednesday, April 25th from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Singer Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless wrote in a lengthy statement that Khandwala “changed the entire direction” of her life, adding, “He was our ringleader, our confidant, my best friend, my family, my musical soulmate. Nothing will be the same without him.”
Khandwala produced all three albums that The Pretty Reckless has released, while also working with acts such as Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, Drowning Pool, Paramore, My Chemical Romance and many others.
Pop Evil said in a statement, “Today our world stopped. We lost a mentor, a brother, a leader, but most of all a good friend. Kato, thank you for helping bring positivity and fun throughout this last album we made together. Our lives are forever better having you been in them.”
Halestorm frontperson Lzzy Hale said, “You burned bright, and that light will never be lost on us. My heart also goes out to Kato’s family and loved ones in this hard time.” Bad Wolves vocalist Tommy Vext wrote, “Your kindness, guidance and unwavering support for me and almost anyone you came into contact with was inspiring. You were an example of living your life with integrity, love and peace in your heart . . . For all these reasons and more, I am a better man for having known you.” Khandwala was 47 years old and is survived by his mother and two daughters.
Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have composed the original theme music for the opening title sequence of a new Showtime documentary called The Fourth Estate. The four-part series “examines the inner workings of The New York Times during President Donald J. Trump’s first year in office,” according to a press release. The Fourth Estate premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend and hits Showtime on May 27th at 7:30 pm. Eastern. (Thanks Pitchfork!)
In This Moment has released the official music video for the song “Black Wedding.” The track, which features a guest appearance by Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, is taken from In This Moment’s latest album, Ritual, which came out last July. The clip was co-directed by frontwoman Maria Brink and features a dark take on the traditional matrimonial ceremony, with Halford making an appearance as a priest.
Nothing More has shared a new video for the song “Just Say When,” the latest track released from the Texas act’s fifth studio LP, The Stories We Tell Ourselves. The band’s current single, “Do You Really Want It?”, is Number Six this week on the rock radio airplay chart.
Atlanta progressive heavy rockers Mastodon have released an animated music video for their song “Clandestiny.”. The song is taken from Mastodon’s seventh studio album, Emperor Of Sand, which came out in March 2017. “Clandestiny” follows up the Top Five rock radio hit “Show Yourself.” Emperor Of Sand also includes the Grammy-winning cut “Sultan’s Curse.”
That’s a wrap, have a great day!
