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B Sides for 08/18/2014



Nikki Sixx Compliments Gene Simmons For Apology
(hennemusic) Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx has commended Gene Simmons for making a public apology regarding his recent remarks about suicide and depression. Sixx was one of the first to criticize the KISS bassist for making insensitive comments about mental health issues during a recent interview where Simmons told sufferers of depression, "f*** you, then kill yourself".

"I wanted to take a moment to address the media that's been picked up by everybody from Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, NME, Billboard and many more around Gene Simmons comments telling depressed people to kill themselves," posted Sixx.

"I also want to address and compliment Gene for publicly apologizing. That was 100% the right thing to do. This has turned into a bit of an anti-Gene Simmons bashathon and I don't condone that nor do I support that radio stations across the country who are banning Kiss (the guys in the band didn't do anything). Gene said something that has been addressed and maybe in a moment of bravado he was just being cocksure and pompous?"

"Out of everything in my life that's has gone array, either from my own action's or others, I try to learn a lesson," Sixx continued. "There is good in everything. What I know is this. When people are listening we have an opportunity to pass along some valuable and positive information."

"Since I have had my own struggle with addiction and depression, I have been exposed to both sides of the process," he explained. "It's not as simple as we are lowly addicts or morally incapable of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, doing the right thing or just snapping out of it. The process involves hard work and hopefully some form of a support team (family, friends etc) around you. That could mean therapy, rehab, 12 step programs or sometimes-even medication. It's better than the alternative. Trust me." More on this story.

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Paramore Dedicates 'Last Hope' to Robin Williams
(Radio.com) Add Paramore to the list of musicians paying their respects to the late Robin Williams. At a recent concert in Denver, Colo., the rockers dedicated their song "Last Hope" to the fallen comic and actor, who killed himself last week by asphyxiation, Fuse reports.

Frontwoman Hayley Williams preceded the song with a long speech about fulfillment and how everyone is a "part of something," no matter how big or small their contribution.

"I realized how sad that we had been and how we had been in this place where we weren't content, we weren't fulfilled anymore," she said about the recording of their self-titled album, released last year. "It was very scary, it was very depressing. And then this song happened, and sort of a light came on and it was amazing how much I realized I was a part of something - we, the three of us, are part of something.

"I want you to know, before you leave tonight, that you, being here listening to any of your favorite bands, writing songs yourself, writing poems, reading books, any of that, you're part of something and it goes on way longer than any of us will ever be alive. You are part of something. Please know that. This song goes out to Robin Williams."

Watch the tribute performance here.

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Geoff Tate Questions The Wisdom Of Queensryche Firing Him
(TeamRock Radio) Former Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate admits he's still perplexed as to why he was fired by the group in 2012 and says the move is "career suicide" for his old band.

His dramatic dismissal followed a violent confrontation with bandmates, leading to a legal tussle over use of the group's name which was eventually settled out of court.

Tate is keeping the name until the end of his August tour, after which the band and new vocalist Todd La Torre will take the name. Tate will continue under Operation: Mindcrime.

He tells GoUpstate.com: "I didn't see it coming - I didn't even think it was possible. Why would you fire the main writer and the person who is the face of the band - the identifying key figure in the success of the group?

"I don't mean that to sound egotistical, it's just the truth. Why would you do that? It sounds like career suicide, especially at our ages. We're all in our 50s - why would you break apart this successful thing at this point in life?" More on this story.

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Bob Seger Reveals Cover Of John Hiatt's Detroit Made
(hennemusic) Bob Seger has released a cover of John Hiatt's "Detroit Made" as his new single. The Song's release was timed specifically to the Woodward Dream Cruise, an annual car event held in the Detroit suburbs, according to Billboard.

Seger produced and recorded the song in Nashville, using Silver Bullet Band singers Shaun Murphy, Laura Creamer and Barb Payton as well as recent Silver Bullet guitarist Rob McNelley.

"I stumbled on 'Detroit Made' on [SiriusXM] Outlaw Country," Seger told Billboard during the tour last year. "I downloaded it, and that's a great [show] opener for us. My initial plan was to have Kid Rock do it with me, but he was just so busy with the start of his tour that we weren't able to do it. I thought it would be great." More on this story.

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Video Released of Deep Purple's Performance At Jon Lord Tribute
(hennemusic) Deep Purple perform "Above And Beyond" in a new video preview of "Celebrating Jon Lord - At The Royal Albert Hall", the forthcoming package presenting the tribute concert to the late keyboardist held earlier this year in London.

Due September 26 on DVD, Blu-ray and CD, the event featured rock legends including Deep Purple, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Glenn Hughes, Rick Wakeman, Micky Moody, Joe Brown and Alfie Boe.

Lord passed away July 16, 2012 at the age of 71 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. With Purple, Lord co-wrote many of the group's legendary songs, including "Smoke On The Water," and played with many bands and musicians throughout his career.

Check out the video here.

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Anthrax Release Preview For Forthcoming DVD
(hennemusic) Anthrax have posted a preview of their forthcoming live DVD, "Chile On Hell." Due September 16th, the thrash masters were filmed at the Teatro Caupolican in Santiago, Chile on May 10th, 2013, where they performed an extended set that featured songs from Anthrax's entire catalogue.

"Santiago was the perfect place to film the show for this," said drummer Charlie Benante. "When we'd played there in the past, we'd finish our set, play our encore and go back to the dressing room. But every time, the fans would continue to scream and cheer and clap. I mean, they went on and on, they wouldn't stop. One time [guitarist] Scott [Ian] and I walked out to the side of the stage just to watch what was going on in the audience, it was intense. Why wouldn't we want to film a DVD in front of an audience like that? Plus, the time was right to do this DVD."

The Chili concert date was one of the final shows of a three-plus-year campaign to record and support "Worship Music" and the "Anthems" EP. Check out the preview clip here.

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Metallica Release Live Footage From Final Summer Show
(hennemusic) Metallica performed "Battery", the opening track from 1986's "Master Of Puppets", during their August 9th show at Heavy Montreal and the band are now sharing video from the event.

The footage also includes the band warming up in the tuning room, the pre-show band huddle, as well as the fan-voted song of the day, "The Four Horsemen", from the show.

Metallica wrapped up their 2014 "By Request" tour at Heavy Montreal; the band topped the bill on the opening day of the weekend event at Parc Jean-Drapeau, which also saw performances by Anthrax, the Offspring, Voivod, the Dropkick Murphys and more.

Check out the video here.

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Taylor Swift Talks Dancing at Awards Shows, Her Gym Cloths
(Radio.com) Last week (Aug. 14), Taylor Swift stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers, and while didn't give away any new details on her upcoming Yahoo livestream, she did share what her life is like now as a New York City resident and just why she dances at all those awards shows.

Recently, several photos have surfaced of Swift as she gets out of the gym. But she isn't photographed in a pair of running sneakers and shorts; instead she's dressed to the nines.

"That is how everyone looks when they come out of the gym," Swift joked. "I like to bring a change of clothes. I just like a change of clothes. I bring a hairbrush with me. New York is one of those cities it feels worth dressing up for. I don't know. I just feel like when I walk out onto the sidewalk in New York I have to try a little harder."

As for her dancing at awards shows? Just trying to stay loose and encourage others to do the same, that's all. "I used to get really nervous at awards shows seemingly they're a huge pressure cooker," she said. "A couple years ago I decided this is the coolest concert you could ever go to." More on this story.

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David Bowie's Animated First Reaction To Bruce Springsteen
(Radio.com) The latest installment of Radio.com's Minimation is taken from a 1986 interview with David Bowie, where he recalled seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert for the first time in 1973. This Minimation was created for Radio.com by Elliot Lobell.

It was something of a bonus. David Bowie, spending a night out at the New York club Max's Kansas City, went to see a singer named Biff Rose. Also on the bill that night was a man named Bruce Springsteen.

Springsteen started his set out doing a few solo acoustic songs. Bowie's first impression? "I thought he was a Bob Dylan copyist." After that, he was joined by his band, which at that time, probably included Garry Tallent on bass, Clarence Clemons on saxophone, Danny Federici on keyboards, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez on drums and David Sancious on keyboards.

"I think it was probably the best rock band I'd ever seen in my life," Bowie said. "I thought, 'He might go somewhere.'" He went and bought Springsteen's debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey.

While he liked the album, Bowie noted that "Then it all sort of vanished for a few years. I thought, 'It's amazing how these guys sort of come and go!'"

But the Greetings album certainly made an impression on Bowie: he covered two of the songs from that album, "Growin' Up" and "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City."

Watch the video here.

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Winterfylleth Reveal New Song Whisper Of The Elements
(TeamRock Radio) Winterfylleth are about to make another huge leap forward with the imminent(ish) new album, The Divination Of Antiquity, due to land on October 6 in the UK, and the next day in the rest of the world.

Winterfylleth's label Candlelight Records are giving fan an early taste of the new album with the release of a lyric video for the track Whisper Of The Elements.

Seven minutes long, and several lifetimes in scope, Whisper Of The Elements sees the band moving into yet more melodic and exquisitely forged territories, charged with a new sense of hope but with their unwavering sense of purpose given yet more room to roam.

Watch the video here.

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Occultation Streaming New Song Laughter In The Halls Of Madness
(TeamRock Radio) Occultation are heralding their forthcoming new album, Silence In The Ancestral House, due on October 14 via Invictus Productions, with a new track, Laughter In The Halls Of Madness.

Recorded by Kurt Ballou in Salem, where the faintest whiff of burned witch still hangs in the air, the follow-up to 2012's Three & Seven album looks set to storm the same hallowed halls as Ghost BC and The Oath.

Their eerie, atmospheric yet accessibly groove-laden jaunts through the ether will have you dancing on the nearest grave. Open your arms wide and breathe in the musky incense of Laughter In The Halls Of Madness here.

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Ariana Grande Inspired By Madonna, Freddy Krueger and More
(Radio.com) Sure, sure, Ariana Grande shares some similarities with Mariah Carey, but when it comes to the pop star's role models, she says they're a little more, well, out there.

In the new issues of Billboard, Grande says her childhood role models include a kooky British actress, a horror movie icon and the Material Girl. Grande worships at the altar of Madonna saying, "She is strength, she is freedom, she is wisdom beyond anybody's comprehension."

Perhaps, Tim Burton would be interesting to know that Grande was "a very weird little girl," who now takes inspiration from Helena Bonham Carter, calling herself "a mini" version of the gothic screen queen.

But, maybe most surprisingly, Grande says she idolizes Freddy Krueger. "I always wanted to have face paint on or be wearing a Freddy Krueger mask, and I would carry a hockey stick around."

Grande has already made it clear she has a thing for the supernatural, but also reveals to Billboard a love for an aquatic killer. "For my fifth birthday party we had a Jaws theme and all my friends left crying," she said. More on this story.

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