Good morning Radicals! We’re halfway through October, which means Halloween’s right around the corner! Hope you’ve got your plans set and your costume’s ready! Meanwhile, let’s dig into the news to see who’s up to what in the world of rock and roll:
Highly Suspect frontman Johnny Stevens says the band has deliberately introduced rap and pop influences into its upcoming third album, MCID, to see if the group’s fans would be open to new sounds. Stevens explained to Loudwire, “We strategically put out the hip-hop song to see who would stick with us. I don’t want fake fans, I want people that understand artwork is artwork.”
Stevens hints that there may be several hip-hop tracks on the album, and hopes that fans aren’t “stuck” on the fact that it isn’t entirely rock. But he added, “Wait ’til next week when we drop ‘Canals.’ Wait ’til next week when we drop the best rock song you’ve ever heard in your entire life . . . wait ’til you come to the live show and watch me put that guitar on and melt your ears.”
Stevens told us that MCID is the band’s most diverse LP yet: “This album is extremely unique, not just for us, but I think for rock ‘n’ roll in general in the sense that — I mean, every song on this album is a different genre. You’ve got hip-hop, you’ve got electronic dance music, you’ve got hard rock, you’ve got heavy metal, you’ve got like everything. I mean, we didn’t go away from what we are, which is rock ‘n’ roll. We have some of the hardest rock songs on this album that we’ve ever had. It’s all over the place, in the best way possible.”
Both the current single “16” — which is Number Two on the rock chart — and new song “Tokyo Ghoul” incorporate the band’s rap and pop influences. But Stevens said that if people aren’t happy with the rock content on the LP, “then that’s their problem.”
“Canals” will come out later this week on Thursday, October 24th, while MCID is due for release on November 1st. Highly Suspect will be Lou’s featured artist next week on hardDrive XL as we lead up to the album release!
Soundgarden, Depeche Mode and Judas Priest are among the top five artists leading the fan vote for this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of inductees.If you want to contribute to the voting, head on over to www.rockhall.com/vote.
As of Saturday night, Pat Benatar had received the most votes with 149,831 votes, while the Doobie Brothers followed with 134,982. Soundgarden was in third place with 127,652, Depeche Mode in the fourth spot with 114,444 and Judas Priest was fifth with 108,286.
Asked if late Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell would be pleased about the nomination, guitarist Kim Thayil told us the answer was yes: “He would be pleased with it. That’s certainly different than where we were in the ’80s or early ’90s, but I know from Chris attending it and inducting Heart that he saw the significance of it and how important it was to the fans and the supporters of the band being inducted. And he said yes, this is very important and it’s cool. And so I think he would be very, very excited.”
Nearly 1.4 million votes have already been cast since voting began. Fans can cast their vote at the museum in Cleveland and on its web site. They can also vote on Google by searching “Rock Hall Fan Vote” or any nominee name plus “vote” through January 10th. Fans can vote for up to five nominees every day.
The top five artists selected by the public will comprise a “fan ballot” that will be tallied and factored in, along with the other ballots sent to approximately 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry.
The top Rock Hall vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted on May 2nd, 2020 at Cleveland’s Public Hall, with the event airing live.
Alter Bridge released its sixth studio album, Walk The Sky, on Friday (October 18th) and in a new interview with Aquarian Weekly, guitarist Mark Tremonti says that “V.I.P. Packages,” for which fans pay inflated prices to meet the band and get other goodies while attending a concert, is the only way for some acts to survive.
Tremonti explained, “The music industry is changing every day and for some bands to survive without record sales, they have to (conduct) meet-and-greets. I simply like to meet our fans. Today, bands get much more personal with their fans. It’s no longer like the old days, when no one could go behind the curtain.”
The guitarist added, “We know our fans very well. We see some of them dozens of times while on a tour. When you see familiar faces, you feel more comfortable. They’ve become our friends and it is good to see friends. There are fans who met at shows and are now married.”
Alter Bridge has been on a co-headlining tour with Skillet that winds down this week in Florida. Dirty Honey also appeared on the bill. The current single from Walk The Sky is “Wouldn’t You Rather.”
Ex-Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge‘s UFO research group To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science has announced a new partnership with the U.S. Army which allows the two groups to collaborate on future research.
The collaboration allows the Army’s Ground Vehicle System Center (GVSC) and Ground Vehicle Survivability and Protection (GVSP) access to To The Stars research on “material science, space-time metric engineering, quantum physics, beam energy propulsion” and other concepts, which may “enhance survivability and effectiveness of multiple Army systems,” according to a press release.
Dr. Joseph Cannon of U.S. Army Futures Command shared in a press release, “We look forward to this partnership and the potential technical innovations forthcoming.” The collaboration is another feather in DeLonge’s cap, who has seen his organization cited in the New York Times repot on the Pentagon’s $22 million program for UFO research.
The report also mentioned the existence of mysterious metal alloys as potential evidence of UFOs, which DeLonge’s organization later claimed to have acquired for investigative purposes. Those alloys are said to be what drove the U.S. Army to partner with DeLonge’s outfit.
DeLonge has been touring with his post-Blink band, Angels And Airwaves, who are expected to release an album in 2020.
Just over a year since he passed away under mysterious circumstances, police are still investigating the death of All That Remains guitarist Oliver “Oli” Herbert. In the meantime, his wife Elizabeth Herbert is involved in a legal battle with the remaining members of All That Remains for a share of the band’s profits.
Elizabeth Herbert’s attorney has filed a letter in probate court indicating that the band has refused to turn over financial information that she needs to file an inventory of her husband’s estate with the court. The letter also claims that she is owed money from tours All That Remains completed shortly after his death since she now controls his portion of the band’s ownership.
Oli was found dead on October 16th, 2018 at the edge of a pond on his Stafford Springs, Connecticut property. He was reported missing by his wife about 3:00 p.m., and his body was found by police face down at the edge of the pond where the water was only a few inches deep.
The Connecticut State Police Eastern District Crime Squad is investigating Herbert’s death, which is being treated as suspicious. They are looking at the will he signed a week before his death as well as a life insurance policy mentioned in the will. The will names Elizabeth Herbert as executor and sole benefactor and states that Oli’s sister, Cynthia Herbert, should not receive anything from his estate.
State police have seized Elizabeth Herbert’s computer and phone records as part of their investigation. The widow claims that a toxicology report showed that her 44-year-old husband had anti-depressants in his system before he died.
Last year, All That Remains singer Phil Labonte called Elizabeth Herbert a “garbage human being” who was “never allowed” to join the band on tour. According to the singer, he tried unsuccessfully to convince Oli to get a divorce for a long time. Labonte refused to share his opinion on how his bandmate died.
Thanks to everyone who spoke up loudly.
Thanks to the #ROCKHALL2020 for listening and adding Phil & Mikkey.
All for one and one for all! #motörhead
vote here, everyday: https://t.co/LADluKBFch pic.twitter.com/TENlq2wPlF— Official Motörhead (@myMotorhead) October 20, 2019
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has amended its nomination of legendary metal act Motorhead to include drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell. Initially, only the band’s early “classic” lineup — bassist/singer Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor, all of whom are deceased — was nominated. But a fan outcry led to Campbell and Dee, both of whom spent more than 25 years in the band, being added to the list.
Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes has confirmed that Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker will appear in the band’s new music video for “In The Dark.” The clip will serve as Sykes‘ directorial debut and premieres on Monday (October 21st). The band met Whitaker back in 2017 when he attended a Bring Me The Horizon show in Atlanta with his son.
Ok, that’s enough for now, go look busy! We’ll see you tonight on hardDrive XL!
