Tax Day here at my place. Running around this morning trying to find all pertinent paperwork to take to the accountant. OH MAN! Where is last year’s return? And I thought I had organized the organizer! Ugh, apparently NOT!…..Well this is funny and not sure if it’s funny “haha” or funny “weird.” Pulse of Radio reports for some reason known only to himself, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has come briefly out of seclusion to pen an op-ed piece for Billboard on the recent controversy surrounding the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Super Bowl performance, during which the band pretended to play to pre-recorded guitar, bass and drum tracks. In the somewhat mocking piece, titled “In The Name Of Science,” Rose wrote, “I enjoyed the show and I’ve no idea what the real story is nor would I want to suggest or imply anyone wasn’t actually performing or that what they were playing wasn’t what we actually heard. That said, I feel it’s important to always look on the positive side of things and to give the benefit of doubt.“He added, “So consider that maybe sometime before their actual performance that rather than use a guitar cord or standard wireless, that in the name of science and for all mankind Flea courageously had a newly invented breakthrough in microchip technology installed in his ass that picked up the frequencies of his bass and transmitted them to his amplifier.” Rose continued, “Maybe they all had microchips installed in their asses and not only pick up the frequencies of their instruments but get DirecTV and the Internet too! Like Google Glass… Google Ass! They could be ‘Scientific Pioneers!’” Rose then went on to say that if vocalist Anthony Kiedis wasn’t really singing, the band “may have set a new world record for the largest karaoke audience ever!” The Chili Peppers have yet to comment on Rose’s screed. But I think the whole thing is funny! Practically NONE of these halftime shows, Grammys, awards shows, etc. are completely performed LIVE! Come on people, what’s the big deal? (OK, maybe Queens Of The Stone Age on the Grammys was truly live.) The networks have to time these things out like clockwork, so I understand if they played to a track. And this is nothing new! So what’s all the fuss?….With the album and touring cycle for their sophomore effort, 2012’s The Strange Case Of . . . , now behind them, Halestorm has put a period at the end of that lengthy sentence by releasing one more video, for the song “Mz. Hyde.” The track is the latest and final single we’ll hear from the group before they resurface later this year with their third album, for which work is getting underway now. Singer Lzzy Hale told us the timetable for recording an album has changed over the years: “When we were making the first record, we had all the time in the world and 10 years of songs to get through, so we spent like 19 months on the first record. With the last record and then now this one, we’re, I’m happy to be kind of organizing it and making sure that we have our schedule together and just bang it out.” Tentatively, we hear they’ll write and record at home (Lzzy and Joe Hottinger live in Nashville) and probably record down there as well. Can’t wait to hear what they’ll have up their sleeves…..Very happy for my new friends Of Mice & Men, whose Restoring Force album debuted at # 4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart! That’s HUGE!….I’m also learning my pals Seether are in the final stages of their next album with producer Brendan O’Brien. Shaun Morgan said the album will be a bit heavier than Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray, but at the same time, there will be more pop-ier tunes as well. Whatever, bring it on! Shaun is also excited for the second Rise Above Festival, set of May 10th in Bangor, ME. In case, you haven’t heard, they’ve booked Avenged Sevenfold, Motorhead, Black Stone Cherry, Trivium, Devour The Day and more! Hit the Seether website for more….Hey, here’s something to look forward to! Fearless Records is releasing Punk Goes 90’s-Vol. 2, a compilation of covers of new bands covering some old ones. And these will be heard on the next hardDrive Cover It Up special edition Memorial Day weekend! Asking Alexandria does Nine Inch Nails “Closer,” Motionless in White covers Rammstein‘s “Du Hast.” Falling In Reverse does Coolio‘s “Gangster’s Paradise” (!!???) and more! Look for it April 1st (no joke!)…Happy 52nd today to Axl Rose.
