"When we start, that's going to be our main priority," Hammett tells Billboard, "and we're pretty excited about it because we've been saying we need to start working on this album, but we've been procrastinating greatly with it. We've pretty much come up with every sort of excuse we can not to start work on the album, but we've run out of excuses, so we pretty much have to start work on it now."

Some of the foot-dragging, Hammett says, is the idea of facing a plethora of musical ideas the group has assembled. "We're a band that never has a shortage of ideas," he notes.

According to veteran music writer Michael Goldberg (via his blog Days of the Crazy-Wild), the dynamic duo of White and Young laid down versions of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," Phil Ochs' "Changes" and Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain" among others for the covers album his sources say is destined for White's Third Man Records label, with a possible release on Warner Bros. as well.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and recent Kennedy Center Honore has announced concerts in Cleveland, Louisville, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Chicago. A press release announcing the Chi-town show at Wrigley Field trumpets the fact that "the first time a musical artist has made a return appearance to the storied ballpark."

Over 60 acts will perform at the annual hard rock fest, including Five Finger Death Punch, Slayer, Staind, Motorhead, Seether, Chevelle, Alter Bridge, Mastodon, Black Label Society, Killswitch Engage and more. The fest will also include a comedy tent featuring Jim Breuer, Jim Florentine and some up-and-coming comedians.

A revitalized Guns N' Roses have reemerged on the festival scene in recent years, though Rock on the Range is the first U.S. appearance for 2014 they've announced. Axl and co. hit South America in March.

Some of Browne's peers (Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley) contribute to the album, as do "younger" artists (Ben Harper, the Indigo Girls, Joan Osborne, Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek).

Springsteen's contribution, billed as collaboration with his wife/bandmate Patti Scialfa, is "Linda Paloma." The song was originally from Browne's 1976 album The Pretender, and was, incidentally, produced by Springsteen's longtime manager, Jon Landau.

The time-worn harmonies and even the group's signature melodic guitar solos of yore are deeply ingrained in the subconscious of anyone who's spent any time with legacy rock radio.

From its launch in 1967 through the '90s, the L.A. Forum was the city's premiere arena, the longtime home to championship NBA franchise the Lakers that also played host to an impressive list of music titans, including Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin.

After falling out of favor with the advent of the Staples Center in downtown L.A. in the 2000s, the Forum is back after a $100 million renovation (complete with the world's largest vinyl record on the roof), the arena debuting it's bold new look with a six-stand stand from the Eagles, which kicked off with last night's show.

Opening with the band members sitting in a circle with acoustic guitars to invoke the "simple rehearsal shack atmosphere of 1971," as Henley said in a recent interview, the first segment of the show was a well-paced retrospective of the band's humble beginnings.

He explains: "We are saddened to announce that, because of some personal issues that have unfortunately arisen, Daniel will not be able to join us for the first half of the tour."

The band ripped through a medley of three of their biggest rock hits, including "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice" and "Hot Blooded."

Foreigner are hitting the road for more live dates this year, with shows starting January 31 in Valley Center, California. This week, the band announced a February 3rd UK release of "I Want To Know What Love Is - The Ballads."

"I think we live more in a touring idea that everything you do is recorded now," Springsteen tells NPR. "And that's OK with me, you know. As a matter of fact, I believe on this tour, we're starting to do something like you can come in, you can buy a [wrist]band, you can get a copy of the night's show. So hopefully we're gonna do that at a really nice-quality level."

The notoriously controlling artist has opened up his mind to sharing material, especially online. "I think I'd like to get an archival series going in some way," he says. "I'd like to make things more available through the Internet. The Internet has become our friend, you know. We went to South America � hadn't been to South America in 25 years � we played for a lot of people. And I guarantee you very few of them had ever seen us before but I was shocked by how knowledgeable they were about the band. The first night we went into Santiago, Chile, and I realized after a few songs: "I got it. The Internet." In other words, if you're anywhere today, you're everywhere. There's no such thing as having not gone someplace anymore."

Sellers RR Auction, who'd set a reserve of $10,000, say the record was taken into the Atlantic Hotel, Newquay in September that year by a young porter who worked there.

In a letter written in 1985 he explained: "To my and everybody's amazement, the Beatles stayed at the Atlantic for a few days while they were filming Magical Mystery Tour. The manager told all the staff who worked at the hotel not to bother or ask them for their autographs

Fox last year told Prog: "I had been keeping in close touch with Mike after his very public and difficult departure from Dream Theater. My musical future seemed quite bleak and I was very vocal to Mike about not being able to sustain the band any longer on my own.

Wesley says: "Being able to perform with artists who take huge chances musically, such as Fish, Porcupine Tree and Steven, led me to a new place creatively. Disconnect is the culmination of all the musical input I've had in the past several years.

Last month, the band released "MTV Unplugged - Scorpions Live In Athens" in Europe; it was compiled from three concerts in Athens, Greece at the city's Lycabettus Theatre.

The bassist shares stories about the album, his days as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, and gives fans an update on his health at the time; Lemmy's issues caused the postponement of the band's fall European tour, which is now set to start February 13 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Lakland basses will be located at booth #5496, while EMG pickups will be at booth #4784. "My first official signature gear! Come on down!!" says Geezer.

The track is from the band's third album, "All You Can Eat", which is due on April 1. Produced by Jay Ruston, the project features 12 new tracks from the Los Angeles group.

The track features vocals by Mats Leven of Candlemass, and he's joined on the album by other guests including Jeff Scott Soto, Billy Sheehan and David Ellefson.

They say in a statement: "Due to conflicts and complications in our upcoming tour schedule, Joey Brasler will no longer be a member of Little Caesar. We will be eternally grateful for his contributions over the last four years in creating great music.

Frontman Dave Peters reports: "Completing this album felt great in so many respects � most important of which was the opportunity to finally give longtime supporters this music that I've had swirling around in my head over the past four years.

This version of "The Eagle Has Landed" was taken from the band's rework album Unplugged And Strung Up, which was released back in November.

Apocryphon was The Sword's first album since original drummer Trivett Wingo left the band, citing extreme stress from touring, and was replaced by Jimmy Vela.

Sabbath's latest project is nominated for three 2014 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album ("13"), and Best Rock Song and Best Metal Performance for "God Is Dead?"

Described as "the future of modern classic rock music," the band is made up of vocalist and guitarist Jason Barwick, bassist and vocalist Tim Smith and drummer Kurtis Smith. They cite their main influences as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Wolfmother and Kula Shaker.

In a post on his website, May said a specialist has since given him the news that no cancer cells were detected. "I am�thank God�in the clear," wrote May. "It's a great relief."

Remarkably, Starr's appearance will be his first performance at the annual event. Some sources have reported that McCartney and Starr will play together, but information at the Grammys website indicates only that both artists will perform. Whether they will take the stage at the same time remains uncertain.

The two ex-Beatles last played together in 2010, at a celebration of Starr's birthday at New York's Radio City Music Hall. As members of The Beatles, both men will be awarded the 2014 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Titled Cloud to Ground, the album is said to incorporate sounds generated by a computer-based sound design system�called Kyma�that creates mutations in recordings made with conventional instruments.

As reported by The Guardian, the album will also feature live performances by Jones and Sten, who first began staging shows together in 2011. The title track has been described as a "monstrous duet for icicles and cathedral organ."