Happy hump day! Here’s some fresh music news to get you through it:
Tool singer Maynard James Keenan publicly called out his bandmates during the group’s show over the weekend at the Northern Invasion festival, asking them to finish recording their parts for the band’s long-awaited new album so that he can record his parts and finally complete the LP. Keenan said from the stage, “Eventually you wonderful people are going to run out of f**king patience. So I beg you Danny (Carey, drums), Adam (Jones, guitar), and Justin (Chancellor, bass), please finish your parts so I can finish mine.”
The new Tool album, its first since 2006’s 10,000 Days, will arrive either later in 2018 or early next year. Recording commenced last month, with Carey recently laying down his drum tracks and Chancellor recording his parts next.
Sunday’s Northern Invasion set was Tool’s first concert in more than a year and featured the first live performance of “Sober” since 2014. Keenan had a busy weekend at the Somerset, Wisconsin festival, also performing with A Perfect Circle on Saturday, May 12th. That band’s first album in 14 years, Eat The Elephant, came out last month.
Frances Bean Cobain has reached a settlement over the division of property in her divorce from ex-husband Isaiah Silva. According to TMZ, Silva has won ownership of the famous guitar that Frances’ father, late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, played on the band’s classic episode of MTV Unplugged.
The rightful owner of the guitar has been a major point of contention throughout the two years of divorce proceedings. Silva claimed that Frances gave the 1959 Martin D-18E to him as a present, while Frances denied ever gifting the instrument to him.
The guitar is estimated to be worth millions of dollars and is said to be only one of 300 made at the time. It is also supposedly the last one Kurt played before his passing and was reportedly meant to stay within the family. Although Frances’ mother, Courtney Love, told TMZ a while back that the guitar was “not (Silva’s) to take,” Frances reportedly “wants to move on” and was finally willing to give up the instrument just to get the divorce proceedings over with. Frances, for her part, gets to keep the house she and Silva bought together and will not have to pay Silva spousal support. He was seeking $25,000 a month.
Women’s advocacy group UltraViolet has called for Spotify to remove the music of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler, the Eagles‘ Don Henley, Ted Nugent and other artists from the streaming service, stating that the musicians were being “glorified despite allegations of abuse.” The demand came after Spotify removed a number of artists last week as part of a new hate content policy aimed at refusing exposure to those with a history of abusive behavior.
Acts like R. Kelly and XXXTentacion, two artists with long histories of sexual misconduct and abuse, were dropped from the service as a result of the new policy.
UltraViolet executive director Shaunna Thomas wrote in an open letter to Spotify chief Daniel Ek, “On behalf of our one million members, UltraViolet applauds and supports this choice. Yet as you know, these two men are not the only abusers on your platform. We implore you to take a deeper look at the artists you promote.”
Thomas added, “Every time a famous individual continues to be glorified despite allegations of abuse, we wrongly perpetuate silence by showing survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence that there will be no consequences for abuse.”
A 2017 report published by Consequence Of Sound listed some of the claims of misconduct by the four rock artists cited by UltraViolet. Among them were Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis’ sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl when he was 23, as well as Tyler’s guardianship of a 16-year-old girl whom he got pregnant when he was 27. Henley was put on probation in 1980 after being found with two underage girls, while in 1978, a 30-year-old Nugent faced kidnapping charges involving a 17-year-old girl.
Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch said earlier this week that the band was playing just three U.S. shows this year, and now we know what those shows are: they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the group’s classic third album, Follow The Leader. The shows will take place on September 12th at the Masonic in San Francisco, September 13th at the Palladium in Los Angeles, and September 15th at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas.
It has yet to be confirmed but it is likely that Korn will perform the album in its entirety at those shows. Follow The Leader was a massive commercial breakthrough for Korn, debuting at Number One on the Billboard album chart, selling five million copies in the U.S. and yielding two hits singles in “Got The Life” and “Freak On A Leash.”
Singer Jonathan Davis told Noisey about making the 1998 LP, “Making that record almost killed me. Our booze and alcohol budget . . . like, we spent $60,000 on alcohol to make that record. Last record of me getting f**ked up, and it was insane.”
Davis recalled that the album was the band’s first without producer Ross Robinson, who had produced Korn’s first two records. Davis explained, “It was time for us to do different types of songs. And it paid off, man. It worked.” Korn plans to head out on a full tour of some kind in 2019 and is also working on material for its 13th studio album.
The Beastie Boys have revealed the details of their massive book, the aptly titled Beastie Boys Book, which will see publication on October 30th — three years after the trio’s surviving members, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond, signed a deal with Random House to pen what was then assumed to be a memoir.
Well, this is more than a memoir: the 592-page tome includes rare photos, original illustrations, a cookbook from chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of New York according to the Beastie Boys, mixtape playlists, plus pieces by guest contributors including Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson and Amy Poehler, along with other surprises.
A description on the Beastie Boys’ website described Beastie Boys Book as “a panoramic experience” and “a book as unique as the band itself.” It will cover the entirety of the group’s career through “revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the almost impossible-to-fathom overnight success of their debut studio album Licensed to Ill; their break with Def Jam and rebirth as musicians and social activists with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul’s Boutique.”
Horovitz told us a while back that he never expected the Beastie Boys to last as long as they did: “I wasn’t planning on any of this. You know, Beastie Boys started when we were literally 14-year-olds, like we were little people. Like, I always knew that I’d be friends with Adam and Mike, like it wasn’t like — I didn’t think this would be a job or we’d make money.” The book will also touch on the band’s later years, including the tragic death of Adam “MCA” Yauch in 2012 that brought the group to an end. Pre-orders for the book are available here.
Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour, the hit A&E Network series that follows Ozzy Osbourne and his son Jack on a series of travel adventures, has set Wednesday, June 13th as the premiere date for its third season — but the show will add a twist this season.
With Jack unable to leave Los Angeles while he and his wife await the birth of their third child, Ozzy is still itching to travel cross-country by RV to Florida for the first show of his farewell solo tour. So Jack enlists his sister Kelly to hit the road with their dad as they stop at an explosion school in Missouri, a space camp in Alabama and other off-the-beaten-track locations.
Jack eventually joins Ozzy and Kelly on the road as well, arranging for stops along the way to feature mariachi bands, marching bands, and even a kids’ xylophone orchestra playing “Crazy Train.”
Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour will premiere at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on the 13th. Ozzy had not starred in a regularly scheduled TV series since the MTV reality show The Osbournes ended a four-season run in 2005. A variety show called Osbournes Reloaded ended after one episode on Fox in 2009.
Finally, we’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to Nirvana bassist Krist Novaselic and P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval!
