AC/DC Singer Challenges Gene Simmons

"With all respect to the lad," says Johnson. "I think he's terribly wrong for a start. I really do. I don't think anybody should have the nerve to stand there and just say that a certain genre of music has just ff-- disappeared overnight.

"It's not because 'I [Gene] say so,' OK," he added. "Well, I'm here to tell you, Gene, you're wrong. And I'm saying it's alive and kicking. My name's Brian. How do you do?"

AC/DC made the remarks as they prepare to release their latest album, "Rock Or Bust", on December 2. "For performers who are also songwriters - the creators - for rock music, for soul, for the blues - it's finally dead," the 65-year old Simmons told his son, Nick, during a recent interview, repeating verbatim comments he's made over the past year. "Rock is finally dead."

Read more here.

Ozzy Osbourne Vs The Machines

Ozzy tells Consequence Of Sound: "My job is to get the audience having fun - but now you don't have to do that. I saw that Michael Jackson hologram on TV today. That was scary, that was. I said to my wife, 'I could just send my hologram on tour.'"

He continues: "You can't be just a live band. A friend of mine said recently, 'Nobody knows their craft any more; nobody is an artist. They just do it on machines now.' On the last Black Sabbath tour one of the support bands was going on, and I remember thinking to myself, 'They sound really good.' And they were lip-syncing to machines. That ain't cool, you know - that's phoney."

And he refuses to be tempted to resort to technical backup. Read more here.

Nirvana Classic Gets American Horror Story Treatment

Originally found on the band's legendary Nevermind album, the track was performed by Freakshow cast member Evan Peters during a customarily bizarre sequence that finds actor Michael Chiklis beating up a bartender and Jessica Lange serving up quite the scary face.

This take on Nirvana joins previous Freakshow versions of songs by David Bowie ("Life on Mars"), Lana Del Rey ("Gods and Monsters") and Fiona Apple ("Criminal"). According to EW, next on the docket is Kathy Bates offering up what's sure to be an interesting take on Hole's "Doll Parts."

"We decided we only were going to highlight musical artists who at some point in their career had identified themselves as feeling like freaks or misfits or outcasts, which our people are going through," said the show's creator and writer, Ryan Murphy.

Hear the full studio version of the Nirvana cover in the video here.

Metallica Rock For Whom The Bell Tolls On Late Night TV

The track originally appeared on the band's sophomore album, "Ride The Lightning", which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The album is one of two projects Metallica are working on as they prepare deluxe reissues of their first two albums, 1983's "Kill 'Em All" and "Ride The Lightning."

The group are asking for fans help as they put the packages together. "We want it all!," posted the band. "Did you manage to sneak a video camera into a show long before they fit in your pocket? Maybe your old instamatic camera for some snap shots? A cassette Walkman with a microphone?

"We're looking for anything and everything... audio, video, photos, fliers, ticket stubs, the set list you picked up off the floor, and in general any mementos you may have from that around that time."

Read more and watch the performance here.

Soundgarden Stream Unreleased Song Kristi

Originally recorded during sessions for 1996's "Down On The Upside", it's one of two previously unissued songs featured on the 3-disc, 50-track rarities compilation of original B-sides, instrumentals, covers and demos curated by guitarist Kim Thayil.

Due November 24, the package's three discs breakdown as follows: Disc 1, dubbed "Originals", is filled with Soundgarden songs - mainly B-sides - in addition to two unreleased tunes, "Kristi" and "Storm."

Disc 2, "Covers", presents covers of tracks by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Ramones, Devo and others.

Disc 3, "Oddities", offers instrumentals, remixes and demos, including Steve Fisk's unreleased "The Telephantasm (Resurrection Remix)", "Twin Tower", and "Night Surf", an instrumental performed by bassist Ben Shepherd.

Check out the song here.

Slipknot's Corey Taylor Says Fans Need To Unplug and Enjoy The Show

Taylor tells 101 WRIF: "I see it every once in a while. People don't do it so much at our shows, and if they do, they do it from quite a way back, because I empty whole water bottles into people as soon as I see them staring at their phone or tweeting or whatever.

"There was this one poor girl, and God bless her, she was a fan, but at the same time, she wasn't being very covert about it. So I emptied four bottles on to her, and it had to have broken her phone. And then she was just bummed for the rest of the night, and I just kept shrugging at her, going, 'Hey, it's a live show. Pay attention, or don't be here.'

"People need to unplug and realize they're missing their lives. It's sad. And that may be me just being an old jerk, but I don't care." Read more here.

Bob Seger Kicks Off North American Tour

Opening with 1982's "Roll Me Away", Seger and The Silver Bullet Band performed a number of tracks from his new album alongside old time favorites and classics as they played a double-encore, 23-song set lasting more than 2 hours.

The tour's first leg wraps December 19 with a show at New York's Madison Square Garden, while the second leg - with recently added dates - fires up in Toledo, Ohio on January 20.

Seger will join Jason Aldean for the next edition of CMT's "Crossroads" series, with the episode premiering on November 28. Watch video of the tour opener here.

Rush's Neil Peart Gives Video Tour Of His Drum Set

Well, in a new video posted by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Music, the rarely interviewed Peart discussed his kit. Yes, there are a lot of pieces in his kit. But, no, he said, he doesn't really need all of them.

"I've played on rental sets," he said, mentioning that he occasionally goes to Drum Workshop, "and I'll tell them just to set up any old thing. I like to play on unfamiliar drum sets. I could make a record on any old drum set."

That said, he doesn't make a record, or play Rush concerts, on "any old drum set." In his tour of his kit, he discussed his cymbals in detail (made by Sabian)-"it's quite a medieval craft, the making of cymbals"-and noted that his cymbals were made specifically for him. He also explained how he uses electronic drums, acquiescing the point that in the early '80s, electronic drums "had a pretty lame sound."

He revealed that back then, his electronic drums sampled his own voice, singing the sounds that he wanted each drum to make. Read more and watch the video here.

Northlane Releases First Song Featuring New Singer

Northlane released an official statement following the appointment of Marcus that said "We vowed to find the most unique talent we could, and someone that could help us expand on our sound. Northlane has always been about progression, and we saw our situation as an opportunity. This was never going to be easy, but we took a leap of faith and made the only decision that felt right. And we feel the results will show you just how good our music can be."

Bridge now has the task of a mammoth 21-show tour across Europe supporting metalcore powerhouse Parkway Drive. Check out the tour dates and the new song here.

Issues Streaming New EP

The EP is also included as part of the deluxe version of the band's self-titled debut album, originally released in February."We had a lot of fun making this record, being able to reimagine songs and show that we aren't just metalcore kids, or whatever you want to call us", say the band.

"We are multitalented, and we aren't set on one taste of music - we respect and appreciate all variations." Issues will be supporting Bring Me The Horizon, alongside Young Guns and Sleepwave, at Wembley Arena on December 5.

Check out the stream here.

Opeth Happy With Change In Direction

He tells Guided By Metal: "I got to do the death metal thing before the change. But when we took that decision to change it up a bit on Heritage, it took me a while to get used to. But I think it was a cool thing that we did that, because it's kind of bold.

"Not many bands can experiment as much as we do, and we're a bit fortunate in that way." And Akesson responds to those who have criticized their decision to change their sound. Read more here.

Singled Out: Battlehooch's Taking Kate For a Drive

Let me tell ya a little something about our new song, "Taking Kate For a Drive". It all starts with the ART two channel tube pre amp.... About a year ago, we decided to start building a recording studio in the basement of my house in San Francisco. One of the first pieces of gear that we purchased was the previously mentioned preamp. Eager to see what this new piece of gear could do, we decided to do a little impromptu recording project called "Taking ART For A Drive". We recorded a couple tracks using an old Casio keyboard and a Roland 505 drum machine and were thrilled at how sweet everything sounded. We added a couple vocal melodies, and some dreamy guitar parts, and before we knew it we had a finished song! In the long run, we ended up booking some proper studio time to record some of the other instruments (drums, bass, etc.) but the core of the song is still made up of recordings done within the first 5 minutes of trying out the ART.

We noted that the dreamy quality of the keyboards sounded like a song by one of our heroes, Kate Bush, so we changed the title of the song to reference her. In addition to Ms. Bush, you can also hear the strong influence of other bands on this track. For instance, we wanted the drums to have a huge, blown out sound reminiscent of The Flaming Lips (or really any band that Dave Friedman has done production). The sax parts are meant to sound like they could be taken from the extended coda of an early Roxy Music tune. The bass is straight dub reggae.

Like the other songs on our new EP, Wink, "Kate" is more about a general feeling than a specific topic/subject. The lyrics talk about the euphoric release one gets when they can temporarily break free from the grind of everyday life and spend time with someone they care about. It could mean spending a day hanging with friends, driving down the coast with a lover, whatever. It basically says "It feels so good to be HERE with YOU, right NOW."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

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