Good morning hardDriveRadio fans! I hope everyone’s got some fun weekend plans! Maybe catch the STP livestream concert tonight on Nugs.tv? The band will play the entire “Core” album starting at 5pm pacific, 8pm eastern. Tickets for the livestream are $9.99.
Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich says he still stands behind the controversial snare drum on the band’s 2003 album, St. Anger. The sound has been described by fans and critics as “irritating” and other similar adjectives, however Ulrich said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation show on Wednesday (July 29th), “I stand behind it a hundred percent because at that moment, that was the truth.”
Ulrich explained the situation behind the sound saying, “I hear St. Anger, that’s a pummeling and a half, and there’s a lot of incredible, raw energy, and it’s, like, ‘Woah!’ It’s been slapped around a little bit. But the snare thing, it was like a super-impulsive, momentary . . . We were working on a riff. (James) Hetfield was playing a riff in the control room. And I ran up. I was, like, ‘I need to put a beat behind that.’ I ran into the tracking room and sat down and played a couple of beats over this riff to not lose the energy of the moment, and I forgot to turn the snare on.”
Ulrich said at that point he decided to leave the snare off for the rest of the sessions. He said, “It was, like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool. That’s different. That’ll f**k some people up. That sounds like that’s part of the pummeling,’ or whatever. And then it becomes this huge, debated thing. And sometimes we’ll kind of sit on the sidelines and go, like, ‘Holy sh**! We didn’t see that one coming,’ in terms of the issue that it turns into.”
These days, Metallica has been working on a new studio album, the followup to 2016’s Hardwired … To Self-Destruct.
Slash took time out to look back at his first rehearsal with Axl Rose and Duff McKagan prior to the key members of Guns N’ Roses regrouping in 2016. Slash admitted to Ultimate-Guitar.com, “It was pretty surreal being back on this (reunion) tour because the first time that Axl, Duff and I were back in the same room in person, there was this unquestionable, powerful chemistry that I hadn’t really thought about because it had been 20 years. I always knew that we had this thing. It just happened as soon as we plugged in and started playing, and it was really like an overwhelming feeling of, ‘Oh yeah. . .'”
Slash went on to remember the sound of the first Guns rehearsal in the band’s pre-fame days: “The first time that we jammed together was at a rehearsal place in Hollywood and it was intense. We started working together at that point, we did some shows and it was always very unpredictable and wild. Like, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.'”
With the band’s 1987 debut album, Appetite For Destruction topping the U.S. charts for five weeks and going on to sell over 18 million copies, Slash remembered that becoming a superstar seemed more overwhelming than anything else: “I would say I was blindsided by the success . . I didn’t have any big expectations for the first record. I was just happy to have done a first record. We went on the road as the opening band for God knows. . . everybody at the time, and when ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ connected, the whole thing blew wide open.”
New music from former Five Finger Death Punch drummer Jeremy Spencer will drop on Friday, July 31st.
Torch the Faith, The full-length, 12-song debut album from Psychosexual will be available for download at midnight on Friday (July 31st). At 11:00p.m. ET the same day, Psychosexual will stream a live concert event on their Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Spencer, who serves as the band’s frontman, Devil Daddy, said in a press release, “To be able to write, create, produce, shoot videos and release your first album on your own label during these uncertain days under months of lockdown and fear is an incredible accomplishment. I can’t wait to finally share my new music with fans.”
New music from MAstodon appreared in our ears this morning! “Fallen Torches” is an unreleased track from Mastodon that will appear for the first time on Medium Rarities – a collection of rare tracks released digitally for the first time. This classic Mastodon track was recorded in Atlanta in 2019, originally planned to be released in support of a European tour, the track was delayed so the band could to focus on the release of “Stairway to Nick John”, a tribute to their late, long time manager Nick John, with proceeds going to the Hirshberg Foundation for Pacreatic Cancer Research in his honor. “Fallen Torches” is written by Mastodon and features guest vocals by long time friend and collaborator Scott Kelly from the band Neurosis.
Medium Rarities is the first rarities collection from Mastodon covering their entire career. The compilation features one brand new song – “Fallen Torches”. It also includes a bevy of classic covers, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides, and live recordings on one complete package for the very first time. Among an eclectic array of covers, the musicians tackle “A Commotion” by Feist, “A Spoonful Weighs A Ton” by The Flaming Lips, “Atlanta” by Butthole Surfers, and “Orion” by Metallica. It also features soundtrack cuts such as “White Walker” [from the Game of Thrones inspired mix tape] and the soundtrack song “Cut You Up With A Linoleum Knife” [Aqua Teen Hunger Force]. Meanwhile, they get under the hood with instrumental versions of “Asleep in the Deep,” “Toe To Toes,” “Jaguar God,” and “Halloween.” 14 of these tracks have never been available on streaming services until now. The limited edition double LP is pressed on pink vinyl.
Finally, let’s wish a Happy Birthday to two powerhouse artists, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, and guitar virtuoso John 5! Have a great day, and a kick-ass weekend!
