The Day in Rock 8/26: Vanilla Ice Goes Metal- Teen Dies At Reading Fest- New Rock Sucks- Selling the Universe- No One Beats Hendrix- Give Me A Nickelback- Helmet: Yes & No- New New Found Glory- Pink Snubs Prince. 

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Vanilla Ice Goes Metal 
This one has got to be a hoax, but if it’s not here it is.

Blabbermouth reports: IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain recently spoke to the Dutch web site Metalfan.nl about his collaboration with ex-ANTHRAX guitarist Dan Spitz and rapper-turned-nu-metaller Vanilla Ice on a project dubbed SEVEN X SEVENTY. "At first, I didn't think it would work out [with Vanilla Ice singing], because I didn't know how he would fit in. Danny called me when I was in the studio and told me Vanilla asked him if he could try [to lay down some vocals over the music]. So we went into the studio to see how it would work out. That was the beginning of this year. When I got home after the recording session of [IRON MAIDEN's 'Dance Of Death'], I heard the results and was amazed how good it [sounded]. After that we wrote some more songs, and recorded them, and we are very pleased with them. I really am looking forward to [working some more on the project] next year, but right now I'm MAIDEN's drummer. But after the [IRON MAIDEN] tour is finished, I will work with Spitz on my side project. [And] no, it's not a solo project, but a side project which I work on when MAIDEN is not doing anything."

Currently unsigned, SEVEN X SEVENTY are also said to feature in their ranks Spitz's brother Dave (ex-BLACK SABBATH, LITA FORD, GREAT WHITE) on bass. Former MEGADETH bassist Dave Ellefson, who was previously approached to participate in the project, has since issued a statement denying his involvement in the group. -- Click Here for the full story and an MP3

Teen Dies At Reading Fest
NME.com reports: A teenage boy has died at the READING FESTIVAL.

Local police are investigating the unexplained death in the early hours of this morning. Officers were called at 5.15am following reports that a man in the campsite had stopped breathing. 

Paramedics worked for almost an hour on the 18-year-old at the scene, before rushing him to the Royal Berkshire Hospital just before 6am. However he was pronounced dead at 6.15am. 

Police say there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances, although until a post-mortem is completed a cause of death is not known.

Inspector John Relph, who has been overseeing the running of the festival, said: “The tragic events of this morning’s sudden death have dampened things and our sympathies and thoughts are with the family of the boy who died.” .- Click Here for the Full Story

New Rock Sucks.
This one is pretty interesting and shows that the industry needs to get its act together and create long term artists if they want to remain viable. Either that or these old school bands are charging lots more for tickets. 

Blabbermouth reports: David Hinckley of the New York Daily News reports that this summer's top concert performers include such veteran acts as KISS, IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA, and DEF LEPPARD.

"While they can still draw 5,000-15,000 fans a night, that number includes more than the now-middle-aged fans who remember when music could be found in the grooves of 12-inch vinyl disks historians now call long-playing albums," he writes.

"A look around almost any concert crowd today shows fans who were not born or were too young to notice when some of these artists wrote and recorded the music they now enjoy.

Top 15 concerts of 2003, according to Pollstar:

Group and date of first album:

01. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND (1973) 
02. RADIOHEAD (1993) 
03. ERIC CLAPTON (1964) 
04. FLEETWOOD MAC (1968)
05. AEROSMITH (1973) / KISS (1974) 
06. THE ROLLING STONES (1964)
07. TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS (1976)
08. "Unlimited Sunshine." CAKE (1995), CHEAP TRICK (1977), others. 
09. IRON MAIDEN (1980) 
10. DAVID BOWIE (1966) 
11. EAGLES (1972) 
12. BON JOVI (1984) 
13. "Lollapalooza '03." JANE'S ADDICTION (1987), AUDIOSLAVE (2002), others.
14. METALLICA (1983) 
15. A PERFECT CIRCLE (1992)
- Click Here for more info

Selling the Universe
AP Reports: Vivendi Universal, a French media and utilities conglomerate, plans  to hold a key board meeting Tuesday to discuss which of several bidders was most likely to buy its entertainment assets, company officials said Monday. 

Vivendi wants to sell its Universal film and TV studios, cable channels and Universal theme parks in a package to one of at least three bidders, officials at the Paris-based company have said. 

Hoping to pare billions of dollars in debt, Vivendi has set a $14 billion minimum for the package, but it wasn't clear whether the three bids made last week met that requirement. 

Sources close to the company said last week that Vivendi was set to decide between the offers from General Electric Co.'s NBC unit, cable mogul John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. and a group headed by former Seagram Co. executive Edgar Bronfman.- Click Here for the Full Story - lot more info

No One Beats Hendrix
Reuters reports: Late rock musicians Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman lead the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time in  the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine. 

Hendrix, who invariably tops such polls, received a glowing tribute from Who guitarist Pete Townshend (news), who wrote that he "made the electric guitar beautiful." 

Townshend recalled that one of Hendrix's shows was "so profoundly powerful" that he found himself holding hands with fellow devotee and guitarist Eric Clapton.

Allman was hailed by the magazine for transforming "the poetry of jamming" with the Allman Brothers Band, the Atlanta rock group he founded with younger brother Gregg in 1969. 

B.B. King, who turns 78 next month, came in at No. 3. "His string-bending and vibrato made his famous guitar, Lucille, weep like a woman," the magazine said. 

Clapton landed at No. 4, followed by Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. Rounding out the top 10 were Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooder, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards.

The survey is featured in the next issue, which hits streets on Friday.

(You can skip the first 40 pages, they will most likely be full-page fashion ads. This is not a joke. Look at the current issue (the one with the Troll twins on the cover) and count how many pages of “fashion” ads you have to flip past to get to the table of contents. So no bitching about a couple of pop-ups! But it is nice to actually see some rock in Rolling Stone.) - Click Here for the Full Story

Give Me A Nickelback 
Melodic.net reports: Postgrunge rockers Nickelback will release their new album "The Long Road" on Sept.23rd, produced by Chad Kroeger and the here´s the full tracking list:

1. Flat On The Floor
2. Do This Anymore
3. Someday
4. Believe It Or Not
5. Feelin' Way Too Damn Good
6. Because Of You
7. Figured You Out
8. Should've Listened
9. Throw Yourself Away
10. Another Hole In The Head
11. See You At The Show
12. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) - (bonus track)
13. Learn The Hard Way - (bonus track)
14. Yanking Out My Heart - (bonus track)

Click Here for Full Story

Helmet: Yes & No
Billboard reports: - Fans of seminal New York hard rock act Helmet will have a little something to celebrate later this year, when Universal releases a retrospective of the group's three studio albums for Interscope. 

The set is due Nov. 4, although it's unknown whether any rare or unreleased tracks will be included. 

Contrary to a published report, the group, which split in 1999, has no plans at present to reunite for a tour in conjunction with the retrospective. A management spokesperson for Helmet frontman Page Hamilton was unsure how the rumor began, but confirmed to Billboard.com that Hamilton is working on a new project with late-period Helmet guitarist Chris Traynor, among others. The two musicians recently played together on tracks intended for Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale's solo debut. - Click Here Full Story

New New Found Glory
Undercover reports: New Found Glory are already to start work on their next record.

"We are going into the studio in about a month to record our next record" guitarist Chad Gilbert tells Undercover News. 

The next project is so fresh they are yet to start tossing around names. "For the newer newer one? No not yet, we have like nine songs so far" he says.
- Click Here for Full Story

Pink Snubs Prince
Although her 15 minutes appear to be over, Pink still sticks to her principles. The almost-was pop singer snubbed the Prince, because she doesn’t like the way he treats furry creatures. (Namely, hunting them down and kills them for sport.) No, not the symbol guy, Prince William; aside from having bad taste in music, he is a member of the British Royal Family. 

Sydney Morning Herald - Prince William is a fan of pop star Pink, but animal-lover Pink is no longer a fan of the hunting prince. 

The heir to the British throne is so keen on Pink's music that he had wanted her to play at his 21st birthday party (she had a previous commitment), MSNBC.com reports.

But the chameleon-haired singer is an animal lover and a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

So when she learned that while on safari, the young prince speared and killed a dwarf dik-dik deer, she fired off an angry letter to him.

"I was happy to hear that I was your first choice to play at your 21st birthday bash - then disgusted to learn that you hunt and kill animals for fun and that you purposely rammed a spear through a tiny deer in Africa," Pink wrote.

"Why? Was it some kind of 'trying to prove you're a man' trip?"

Pink, however, is willing to change her mind if the Prince will change his ways and oppose blood sports like his mother Princess Diana did. 

Her letter continues: "But hey - we all make mistakes in our lives and we can all change. Hopefully you'll have a change of heart and find more interesting things to do with your spare time than kill animals. Call me or PETA if you'd like any suggestions! Then maybe I'll come play at your next birthday!"

(Bad Prince, Bad Prince… No word on his response but antiGUY suggests, “I love animals, they taste great!”. That ought to get her PETA in an uproar. Not as funny as the time PETA tried to get Judas Priest to rename their “Hell Bent For Leather” album to “Hell Bent for Pleather”. But someone really needs to send the young Prince some good CD’s for his birthday.)  - Click Here for Full Story

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