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Day in Rock Report for 12/21/2015



Scott Weiland Bandmate Will Not Face Drug Charges

(hennemusic) Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts bassist Tommy Black will not face drug charges relating to the December 3 death of his bandmate and former Stone Temple Pilots frontman.

Billboard reports Black was arrested by Bloomington, MN. on December 4 for possession of a controlled substance after authorities found cocaine in his area of the tour bus where Weiland was discovered.

"The narcotics were found in a bunk," Bloomington Police Chief Mike Hartley tells People magazine, "and obviously with several people residing on a bus a number of people could have potentially possessed those narcotics, so at the end of the day we decided not to pursue charges against him."

Weiland's death has been ruled an accidental overdose by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who found cocaine, ethanol and methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) in his system during an autopsy. Read more here.

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Deep Purple's Ian Gillan Slams Rock Hall Of Fame

(hennemusic) Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan is slamming the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for excluding longtime members Steve Morse and Don Airey as part of the band's 2016 induction.

The April 8 ceremony at New York's Barclays Center will honor most of the group's first three lineups, including Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Rod Evans, Roger Glover, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

"Putting the past shenanigans to one side, the induction is not - in clear fact - for Deep Purple," writes Gillan on his website. "It is an arbitrary selection of past members, which excludes Steve Morse and Don Airey; both of whom have been with the living breathing DP for a very long time."

Morse has been the group's guitarist since 1994 while keyboardist Airey joined the lineup following the 2001 retirement of founding member Jon Lord.

"Obviously this is very silly," Gillan continues, "and so my response is quite simple: 'Thank you very much'. "And what a coincidence," the singer adds, "This morning I got an invitation to a wedding from some dear old friends. Unfortunately my family was not invited and they said that I would be required to sit next to my ex (we divorced decades ago) at the wedding feast. They were shocked when I called to thank them and decline the invitation."

Gillan has voiced his displeasure with the Rock Hall over the years and held nothing back upon word of the band's nomination in October. "I have no respect for them," said Gillan. "They're the kind of people that having seen A Hard Day's Night decided that The Monkees would be America's equivalent to The Beatles. They've no idea what goes on in the big, wide world outside of their self-arbitrating surroundings." Read more here.

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Paul McCartney Joins Bruce Springsteen On Saturday Night Live

(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed on Saturday Night Live's final episode of 2015 this weekend where they were joined by Beatles legend Paul McCartney and video of the appearance has been posted online.

On hand to promote "The Ties That Bind: The River Collection", a newly-issued 7-disc box set marking the 35th anniversary of the 1980 double-album, the New Jersey rocker delivered the previously unreleased tune "Meet Me In The City" and "The Ties That Bind" before closing out the show with "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" - with the help of the SNL cast and special guest Paul McCartney.

The package presents the original record alongside "The River: Single Album" - originally named "The Ties That Bind" - a 10-track album that Springsteen recorded in 1979 as a follow up to 1978's "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" but never released.

The 4CD/3DVD set also includes 22 outtakes from the studio sessions alongside an hour-long documentary/interview and a legendary 1980 concert filmed at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.

Springsteen will perform the double-album in its entirety during a nine-week North American tour that begins January 16 in Pittsburgh, PA. Watch the SNL performances here.

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Led Zeppelin Will Play Again Believes Bonham

(Classic Rock) Jason Bonham says he believes Led Zeppelin will play together again at some point in the future. The son of the band's late drummer John Bonham was behind the kit when vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones took to the stage in 2007 for their one-off reunion show in London, later documented on the DVD Celebration Day.

And despite the fact Plant has spoken out on several occasions against resurrecting the group, who split in 1980 following the sticksman's death, Bonham still feels it's a distinct possibility.

He tells Vanyaland: "In my heart of hearts I do believe we will play together again. It remains to be seen if it will be in public or privately, but I do think we will play again."

Bonham, who has just wrapped up his Led Zeppelin Experience tour of the US, says playing tracks including Rock And Roll was a challenge as he had to change his style to suit that of his father's. Read more here.

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Cheap Trick Giving Away New Song To Celebrate Rock Hall Induction

(hennemusic) Cheap Trick are celebrating news of their induction into the 2016 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by offering fans a free download of "No Direction Home", the lead single from their forthcoming album "Bang Zoom Crazy�Hello."

The Rockford, IL band will enter the Hall during an April 8 ceremony at New York's Barclays Center alongside Deep Purple, Steve Miller, Chicago and N.W.A.

The principal lineup of guitarist Rick Neilsen, vocalist Robin Zander, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos will enter the Hall, while Carlos was removed from the touring lineup in 2010 and replaced by Neilsen's son Daxx.

"We have the best fans," says the group. "We're giving away a new track to say thank you!" Read more and grab the download link (requires email address) and stream the song here.

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Kinks' Dave Davies Shares Video From Reunion With Brother Ray

(Classic Rock) Kinks guitarist Dave Davies says it was fun to reunite with brother Ray on stage last week. The singer joined his sibling's band in London on Friday (December 18) for a rendition of classic track You Really Got Me, in front of a surprised and delighted crowd.

It was the first time in almost 20 years that they'd performed together. They've been involved in reunion speculation for several years, with Dave reporting in 2014 that they'd spent a short time working on music together.

Ray appeared on the Islington Assembly Hall stage towards the end of the show, and told his brother: "Your gift is wrapped under the Christmas tree - but unfortunately you're banned from the house."

He then led the audience in a round of applause for the guitarist, before Dave invited him to move from a backing-vocal microphone to the lead one at centre stage. The pair shook hands at the end of the song before Ray left.

Dave later said: "I had a great time tonight in Islington. It was fun to play with Ray again." Check out the video here.

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Nine Inch Nails Promises New Music And 'Other Stuff' In 2016

(Classic Rock) Nine Inch Nails have confirmed they'll reveal fresh material next year. Their last album was 2013's Hesitation Marks, their eighth release and follow-up to 2007's The Slip.

Mainman Trent Reznor revealed the news on Twitter while promoting the band's art book with longtime collaborator Russell Mills titled Cargo In The Blood. He says: "New NIN coming in 2016. Other stuff, too."

Reznor has been busy with a number of projects since the last NIN studio album, including working on the soundtrack to hit film Gone Girl. He was also behind the music for this year's Batman: Arkham Knight video game and is said to be involved in a musical version of Brad Pitt movie Fight Club. Read more here.

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Europe Plan To Explore Musically On New Album

(Classic Rock) Europe are planning on hitting the studio next year to begin work on the follow-up to this year's War Of Kings album. And frontman Joey Tempest says their future material could have a blues vibe as they don't want to repeat themselves.

He tells Mitch Lafon: "The idea is to record the next album in September or October next year for an early 2017 release - that's the plan. We want to challenge ourselves with every record and that's going to happen again.

"It's moving organically and we're excited about it. What we want to do is find a deeper expression and maybe mix in blues and soul a little bit. If we can explore that, it would be amazing." Read more here.

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Bret Michaels Speaks Out About Poison Bandmate's Cancer Fight

(Classic Rock) Poison frontman Bret Michaels has called bandmate Rikki Rockett a "true fighter" after the drummer revealed he's battling cancer. Rockett opened up this week about the intensive treatment he's received since being diagnosed with a tumour on his tongue in June.

Michaels, who suffered a near-fatal brain haemorrhage in 2011, says: "My thoughts and prayers go out to Rikki. I have known for a while he was going through this tough battle.

"Although people have asked me about his health, out of respect for Rikki's wishes, it wasn't my place to speak about it until Rikki was ready to talk about it himself. He is a longtime friend and a true fighter."

Last week, Michaels hinted that Poison - who last made a public appearance together in 2013 - could play "select" dates next summer to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary.

And Rockett has backed up those comments, saying a return to the road is a distinct possibility. Read more here.

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Radiohead Producer Plays Stormtrooper In Star Wars: The Force Awakens

(Prog) Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich took on the role of a Stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The 44-year-old, who produced seven studio albums with the British band, was spotted by Redditors on the IMDB page for the film, credited as Stormtrooper FN-9330.

The 'FN' designation apparently refers to a Stormtrooper in the First Order. Producer Four Tet, praised Godrich on Twitter for his "excellent" performance in the film - to which he replied "thanks man!"

Film director Edgar Wright, whose work includes Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, later Tweeted: "I am happy to say I got Nigel the gig. I owed him one and this was my return gift." Read more here.

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In This Moment Postpone Tour Due To Health Issues

(TeamRock Radio) In This Moment have been forced to postpone their planned January European tour. They were due to kick off a run of 12 dates in Paris on January 10 but unspecified health issues affecting frontwoman Maria Brink mean the band will now hit the road in May instead.

Brink says: "I am madly in love with our UK and European fans. It breaks my heart to have to postpone our tour, but before you know it, we will be there and I am counting down the days. On our last UK/Euro run, we had some of the best shows of our entire life. Getting back to you is my priority and I'm so excited to see you soon."

The band have released a list of rescheduled UK dates, with other European venues to be announced in due course. Tickets for the original gigs will remain valid for the new shows. See the new dates here.

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Steve Vai's Stolen Guitar Left In Bushes Outside His Home

(Classic Rock) A guitar stolen from Steve Vai at a charity show in LA has been returned. The guitarist's signature JEM Ibanez, nicknamed Bo, was taken from the loading area of The Wiltern Theater on December 12 - but it was found in bushes outside his home.

Vai's webmaster posted online: "Great news, everyone - Bo, Steve's mirrored JEM that went missing this past weekend, has been found left in the bushes at the gate on Steve's property. We do not have any more details on how it got there and will perhaps forever remain a mystery.

"The entire Vai camp is grateful for all the amazing outpouring of support we have seen regarding this issue over the last week. Bo is now ready for 2016 and all the notes she will once again be singing from Steve's fingers and soul." Read more and see a photo of Vai holding his returned guitar here.

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Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi In Christmas Way Charity Single Video

(Classic Rock) Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is featured in the video for a charity single by footballers Stiliyan Petrov and James Milner. He appears in the promo for Christmas Way, which aims to raise funds for the NSPCC, Help For Heroes and Bloodwise. Both Petrov Iommi have been victims of cancer.

The song was written by producer Glen James McDonald, who designed and built Iommi's studio. He reports: "I played it to Tony - I'm with the dark lord of heavy rock, and he said, 'That sounds like Christmas.'"

The footballers say on their Christmas Way website: "For many, this Christmas will be overshadowed by suffering rather than joy, pain rather than love and difficulty rather than comfort.

"Support the single and tell us what is special to you at Christmas. Every donation, no matter how big or small, could help to change a life." Watch the video here.

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Neck Deep Announce New Member

(TeamRock Radio) Neck Deep have added their touring guitarist Sam Bowden to the official lineup. Neck Deep will tour the UK next year with Creeper and Waster to support their second album Life's Not Out To Get You.

Bowden, who previously played in Lincoln hardcore band Blood Youth, had been performing with Neck Deep for four months before they offered him the permanent spot.

He replaces former guitarist Lloyd Roberts, who departed after allegations were made against him in August. Police later reported the matter had been "investigated fully" and that no further action would be taken. See the announcement post here.

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Black Stone Cherry Stream New Song 'The Way Of The Future'

(Classic Rock) Black Stone Cherry have made new track The Way Of The Future available to stream online and confirmed their fifth album Kentucky is to be released on April 1.

The 13-track follow-up to 2014's Magic Mountain is named after the band's home state, and it'll be launched via their new deal with Mascot Label Group. Guitarist Ben Wells says: "This album is by far the heaviest, most aggressive album we've ever made. We went in focused, but not overly prepared. We wanted to leave room for creativity to grow in the studio and man did it happen.

"Lyrically, we went to places that we think people will relate to, because it's all stuff that we have lived, or are living. This is the first album we've been able to fully self-produce and the result is an album jam-packed with 'in your face' riffs, huge drums, and bass that will shake your teeth."

BSC tour the UK with Shinedown, Halestrom and Highly Suspect starting next month, then they'll headline the Ramblin' Man Festival in Kent at the end of July. Stream the song here.

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Five Finger Death Punch Reissuing Early Albums On Vinyl

(TeamRock Radio) Five Finger Death Punch have announced that their first three studio albums are to be re-released on vinyl on February 12, 2016. Spinefarm Records will put out LP versions of American Capitalist, War Is The Answer and The Way Of The Fist.

The band are set to play Monster Energy Carolina Rebellion, Fort Rock and Welcome to Fort Rockville alongside Rob Zombie, Disturbed, Bring Me The Horizon and more next May.

5FDP launched their sixth album Got Your Six in September. It became their best-selling studio work to date. Watch a promotion video for the new vinyl reissues here.

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Hammerfall Reveals New Album Plans

(TeamRock Radio) Swedish power metal outfit Hammerfall are aiming to release their next album by the end of 2016. They've have been working on new material for a couple of months while on tour in support of their 2014 record (R)Evolution.

But guitarist Oscar Dronjak tells Spark TV they find it difficult to make time to pen songs while on the road. He says: "I find it hard. I always want to be removed from the live situation when I write songs, and it's very difficult when you know that in three weeks you're gonna go out on tour again.

"I don't think I would be able to do it if I was like I was when I was younger, but now I plan ahead much more. Now I have a family and everything I have to take care of, so I think about things like that."

Frontman Joacim Cans adds: "It all depends when we can get the producers to work for us and with us. But we're gonna do two shows early February, then the whole year is gonna be devoted to writing and recording and releasing a new album. So it's gonna be out there at the end of next year." Stream the full interview here.

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The Cult's X-Session Performance Streaming Online

(hennemusic) The Cult performed their new single, "Dark Energy", at Pacific Beat Recordings as part of a recent X-Session for San Diego, California radio station 91X which has shared the performance online.

The group also delivered their classic "She Sells Sanctuary" from 1985's "Love" and "Honey From A Knife" from "Choice Of Weapon" as part of the broadcast.

"Dark Energy" previews the February 5 release of the band's 10th studio album "Hidden City." Produced by Bob Rock, the project marks the debut of bassist Grant Fitzpatrick in the lineup and is the third and final installment in a trilogy of records that began with 2007's "Born Into This" and 2012's "Choice Of Weapon."

"Hidden City is a metaphor for our spiritual lives, our intimate interior lives," says frontman Ian Astbury. "I find today's gurus are trying to peddle some cure, product or insight as if it's a new phenomenon.

"My place is to respond, not react, to observe, participate and share through words and music. There is no higher authority than the heart." Check out the X-Session here.

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Milk Teeth Release 'Kabuki' Music Video

(TeamRock Radio) Milk Teeth have released a video for their track Kabuki. It features on the band's debut album Vile Child, set for release on January 29 via Hopeless Records.

Singer and bassist Becky Blomfield says: "Kabuki was the very last song we recorded on Vile Child. I wanted the recording to be mixed as minimally as possible and capture an intimate moment like somebody is telling you a story in your living room.

"It is emotionally one of the toughest songs I have ever written and it's good to be able to look back now and know it's a time in my life I made it through when it felt initially like it would never end."

Milk Teeth previously released a video for their track Brickwork from the album, which is available for pre-order. They'll head out on tour across Europe next month, and are scheduled to play the Download festival on June 10. Watch the video here.

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Magnum Add 15 Dates To 2016 Spring Euro Tour

(Classic Rock) Magnum have added 15 UK shows to their planned 2016 European tour. Bob Catley and co initially announced a run of 16 dates around mainland Europe in support of Sacred Blood "Divine" Lies, out on February 26 via Steamhammer/SPV.

Now they'll perform across the UK in May, kicking off in Southampton on the 11th, before wrapping up the tour at Leamington's Assembly Rooms on the 30th. They've also been confirmed for the Rock Of Ages festival in Seebronn, Germany, on July 31.

Guitarist Tony Clarkin wrote 25 songs for the follow-up to 2014's Escape From The Shadow Garden but cut that number to 10 for the final tracklist, with a further three included on a bonus DVD to be bundled with the record.

Clarkin said: "It would have been too much of a shame to disregard them, particularly since our fans want to know after every release what happened to the rest of the material." See the dates here.

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Galahad Release 30th Anniversary Retrospective Double Album

(Prog) Galahad have launched 30th anniversary retrospective double-album When Worlds Collide. It included ten new performances of old tracks - including three-decade-old composition "City Of Freedom," which has never previously been properly recorded.

The work runs to more than two and half hours and also features material from their three most recent releases. Galahad say: "In some cases the new versions are similar to the originals, but in other cases the songs have been re-worked considerably. We tried to be sympathetic to the spirit of the originals, while trying to bring them up to date so they compare favourably with the Galahad sound of 2015.

"As this is a rather special album, we have also included a few strategically-placed tributes to our original influences - it'll be interesting to see if they get spotted." Read more including the tracklisting here.

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Monster Magnet Announce Expanded Reissue Campaign

(hennemusic) Monster Magnet will release expended reissues of four classic albums from their years on A&M Records in the new year and mark the occasion with a European tour.

Due February 12, the band will reissue 1993's "Superjudge", 1995's "Dopes To Infinity", 1998's "Powertrip" and 2001's "God Says No." Each project will be available as 2CD and 2LP sets and present remastered audio with bonus tracks new liner notes written with direction by frontman Dave Wyndorf.

Monster Magnet will launch a European tour in support of the releases on March 7 in Bergen, Norway. "Hey hey!," says Wyndorf. "We're happy to be touring the A&M albums and hope to get into some deep cuts as well as the more obvious crowd pleasers. A lot of these songs have never been performed live and that makes it exciting for us and hopefully you too!"

The New Jersey band's last studio effort was 2013's "Last Patrol", which was followed by a pair of remix records: 2014's "Milking The Stars, A Reimagining Of Last Patrol" and 2015's "Cobras And Fire (The Mastermind Redux)." See the dates here.

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Bruce Springsteen's Tonight Show Appearance Streaming Online

(hennemusic) Bruce Springsteen was a featured guest on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday and a video stream of the appearance has been posted online.

The New Jersey rocker was on hand to promote "The Ties That Bind: The River Collection", a newly-issued 7-disc box set marking the 35th anniversary of the 1980 double-album. "The River" earned Springsteen his first No. 1 US album and helped expand his audience with the success of singles like "Hungry Heart."

"This was the record where women started coming to the show," Springsteen told Fallon. "Previously we played to a lot of young men, due to the homosexual undercurrents in my music. But we had a hit record, and when we have a hit record, that means it's date night - Women listen to Top 40 radio, that's what my daughter does - and so finally people came, brought their dates, girls came, it was a much nicer scene for us."

Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform the double-album in its entirety during a nine-week North American tour next spring that begins January 16 in Pittsburgh, PA. Watch the Tonight Show appearance here.

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Perfect Beings Release 'Cryogenia' Video

(Prog) Perfect Beings have released a video for their track Cryogenia. It features on their recently released second album Perfect Beings II, which was made possible thanks to a successful PledgeMusic campaign.

Mainman Ryan Hurtgen told Prog: "For me, the album is a concept album because it goes into a discovery of self. The idea of trying to find yourself, trying to love yourself, trying to understand what you're doing on this planet. A lot of existentialism.

"I'm not doing it for money. I'm not in it for the fame, obviously. So why am I doing it? It really comes down to doing something that I strongly believe in. Some of that is what the album is about." Watch the video here.

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Team Sleep Release Live 'Blvd Nights' Video

(TeamRock Radio) Team Sleep have released a video for their track Blvd Nights. The clip was captured during Chino Moreno and co's live performance at the Applehead Recording studio in Woodstock, New York, last year.

The entire performance was released as Woodstock Session Vol. 4 - the first live album from the Deftones man's side-project and first release since their 2005 self-titled debut album.

Woodstock Session Vol. 4 features reworkings of their material along with new versions of tracks that were previously only available as demos. It was helped along by a PledgeMusic campaign.

Moreno is joined in the band by Todd Wilkinson, CrookOne, Gil Sharone, Rick Verrett and Chuck X. Watch the video here.

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Lost Society Release 'I Am The Antidote' Video

(TeamRock Radio) Lost Society have released a video for their track I Am The Antidote. The song is taken from the Finnish thrash outfit's upcoming third album Braindead, due to be released on February 12 via Nuclear Blast. The band are joining Exodus as support on their 2016 UK and Ireland tour.

Frontman Samy Elbanna says: "We can't even begin to tell you all how stoked we are to announce that we'll be hitting the road with the almighty Exodus at the end of February.

"We're so happy to finally return to the UK and hit our other favourite countries and cities. We'll be playing some tracks off Braindead for the first time ever, and of course songs off the first two records.

"One thing is for sure, Exodus and Lost Society will tear down every single venue, and we expect you all to go crazy and scream your lungs out. Make sure you get your tickets right away, this is gonna be legendary." Watch the video here.

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