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Monday, January 24, 2011

Rock News for Monday 24th January, 2011

Universal Music releases remixed, remastered, reissued and expanded Thin Lizzy classics!

Universal Music is proud to announce the imminent release of deluxe expanded editions of three seminal Thin Lizzy albums – Jailbreak, Johnny The Fox and one of the greatest live rock albums of all time, the iconic Live and Dangerous. Remixed, remastered and put together by original band member Scott Gorham and Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) – each contains a remastered version of the original release plus a bonus disc of rare material.
The scheduled release date for each of these - According to Amazon, Universal had nothing! - is February 8th, 2011.
Sad news for US fans though, is the Deluxe edition of Live and Dangerous is NOT as yet, being advertised on http://www.amazon.com/ ... It's only showing as available through Amazon.co.uk

The Amazon links included below each album's details.

JAILBREAK



1976's Jailbreak was Thin Lizzy's sixth studio album and features the seminal singles Jailbreak and the track that was one of Q magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks and Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 500 Rock Tracks Of All Time – The Boys Are Back In Town. One of the classic rock albums of all time, this deluxe version now contains BBC session recordings and previously unreleased tracks.

Disc: 1
1. Jailbreak
2. Angel From The Coast
3. Running Back
4. Romeo And The Lonely Girl
5. Warriors
6. The Boys Are Back In Town
7. Fight Or Fall
8. Cowboy Song
9. Emerald

Disc: 2
1. The Boys Are Back In Town (Re-mixed Version)
2. Jailbreak (Re-mixed Version)
3. The Boys Are Back In Town (Alt vocal Re-mixed Version)
4. Emerald (Re-mixed Version)
5. Jailbreak (BBC Session 12/02/1976)
6. Emerald (BBC Session 12/02/1976)
7. Cowboy song (BBC Session 12/02/1976)
8. The Warrior (BBC Session 12/02/1976)
9. Fight Or Fall (Extended Version - Rough Mix)
10. Blues Boy (Unreleased Studio Track)
11. Derby Blues (Early Version - The Cowboy Song)

 

JOHNNY THE FOX


Released in 1976, Johnny the Fox was the band's follow up album to Jailbreak. They were at their peak and the album highlights the twin guitar attack of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson and Phillip Lynott's own song writing and contains the all time classic "Don't Believe a Word". This deluxe version contains BBC session recordings alongside previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Disc: 1
1. Johnny
2. Rocky
3. Borderline
4. Don't Believe A Word
5. Fools Gold
6. Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed
7. Old Flame
8. Massacre
9. Sweet Marie
10. Boogie-Woogie Dance

Disc: 2
1. Don't Believe A Word (Re-Mixed Version)
2. Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed (Re-Mixed Version)
3. Borderline (Re-Mixed Version)
4. Don't Believe A Word (BBC Sessions 11/10/1976)
5. Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed (BBC Sessions 11/10/1976)
6. Fools Gold (BBC Sessions 11/10/1976)
7. Johnny (BBC Sessions 11/10/1976)
8. Fools Gold (Instrumental Run Through)
9. Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed (Instrumental Run Through/Extended)
10. Rocky (Instrumental Run Through)
11. Massacre (Instrumental Take With Lynott Directions To Band)
12. Scott's Tune (Unreleased Scott Gorham Composition)



LIVE AND DANGEROUS


Live and Dangerous was released in 1978 and is without doubt, one of the greatest live albums of all time, rated in 2010 as number 1 by http://www.planetrock.com/ and listed in 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die. Recorded in London and Toronto in 1977, it is packed with Lizzy's timeless moments. This 3 disc set set comes with the original Live and Dangerous DVD, now expanded to include previously unseen performances from the show and their farewell tour.

Tracklisting as follows:
Disc: 1
1. Jailbreak
2. Emerald
3. Southbound
4. Rosalie/Cowgirl's Song
5. Dancing In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me In It's Spotlight)
6. Massacre
7. Still In Love With You
8. Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed

Disc: 2
1. Cowboy Song
2. The Boys Are Back In Town
3. Don't Believe A Word
4. Warriors
5. Are You Ready
6. Suicide
7. Sha-La-La
8. Baby Drives Me Crazy
9. The Rocker
10. Opium Trail
11. Bad Reputation

Disc: 3
1. Introduction/ Rosalie (Video)
2. The Boys Are Back In Town (Video)
3. Emerald (Video)
4. Dancing In The Moonlight (Video)
5. Massacre (Video)
6. Call On Me (Video) - (Still In Love With You) 
7. Don't Believe A Word (Video)
8. Are You Ready (Video)
9. Sha La La (Video)
10. Baby Drives Me Crazy (Video)
11. Me And The Boys (Video)


Artwork on all of these releases features extensive new sleeve notes, memorabilia and rare and unseen photos.
For more information on Thin Lizzy and these releases:


Tommy Shaw to release The Great Divide on March 22nd, 2011


In perhaps a strange twist, change of direction - Even considering the Shaw / Blades stuff. - Styx mainman Tommy Shaw will release a new solo album on March 22nd, 2011, 'The Great Divide' is a Bluegrass album!

Not quite sure about this, but here's more on the story from Tommy himself:

'In 2003, my friend Brad Davis asked me to sing a high harmony on a bluegrass song he’d written and was recording for a solo album. I had fun cutting that track and when he realized this was right in my wheelhouse he suggested we get together and try our hand at writing some bluegrass. Having grown up in Alabama in I’d been exposed to all kinds of popular music, including Saturday night radio broadcasts of The Grand Ole Opry, which came in clearly because of WSM’s 50,000 watt signal up the road in Nashville. Songs like The Carter Family’s “Wildwood Flower” were standards in my hometown no matter what type of band you were playing in because sooner or later you’d get a request for it, so you needed to know how to play it.

Brad and I got together every few months to write and record demos of new bluegrass songs. When we had three songs completed and recorded I said, “We have a story now and can start playing these for people.” We were thrilled but nobody else knew about it for months other than our closest friends. Their feedback was very positive.

But it was now 2005 and we realized by then this was going to be a was a slow process because we were both incredibly busy in our individual careers and it was tough finding a time when we were both available to get together, but we loved what we were creating and knew the day would come when we’d get it done.

In late 2009 we saw an opening and committed to begin writing the rest of the songs we needed to make an album. After the new year Brad began spending three, four and five days at a time at my studio in Los Angeles and over the next several months we amassed a list of 19 songs in various stages of completion.'

To read more of the story, go to:

Among others on the album, he's pulled in Brad Davis of course, 'the instigator' perhaps, then Dwight Yoakam and Alison Krauss as well.
You can read a whole lot more on this right here:

Interesting stuff for sure and I for one, am kind of surprised ...
I wonder where this leaves the Styx saga regarding any new material?
I have to say, I'm sure it's not likely, but I sincerely hope it's not going to follow a similar path!
It will probably be a while coming yet anyway since they've just released 'Regeneration Volume 1' not so long ago with one new song and the others all re-recording of Styx classics. My review of that can be found here:


Toto adding extra reunion live dates ..., but not in the US ..., yet!

In what seems to be a bit of a blanking out of the USA from both Toto and Steve Lukather - Sadly ... - the band who reformed originally to play just a few European live dates in June 2010 to honour Toto bassist Mike Pocaro, who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), had added more European dates for 2011.
Luke (Steve Lukather) had even toured the European circuit last Autumn / Fall, in support of his latest solo album, 'All's Well That Ends Well' - My review here: http://chambersofrock.blogspot.com/2011/01/steve-lukather-alls-well-that-ends-well.html 
OK, I know Luke played six New York live dates in January, but, come on, that's not a US tour?
On his 'Ever Changing Times' tour, I thought he did great, here in the US, not big venues by any means, but I understood the response was great, so where are his US tour dates for the album? 

Well, more dates are being added for the Toto tour with an additional six Japanese dates just announced on Sunday 23rd January.
The Toto tour dates currently confirmed for the band, run from May through into July, as follows:

May 2011
16 - May - 2011 Monday Nagoya (1,920) Shi Kokaido Japan
17 - May - 2011 Tuesday Kanazawa Kagekiza Japan
19 - May - 2011 Thursday Osaka Archaic Hall Japan
20 - May - 2011 Friday Osaka Archaic Hall Japan
23 - May - 2011 Monday Yokohama Pacifico Japan
24 - May - 2011 Tuesday Tokyo Budokan Japan

June 2011
21 - Jun - 2011 Tuesday Bruxelles Forest National Belgium
23 - Jun - 2011 Thursday Amsterdam Heineken Hall Netherlands
24 - Jun - 2011 Friday Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall Netherlands
26 - Jun - 2011 Sunday London Hammersmith Odeon UK
27 - Jun - 2011 Monday Paris Le Zenith France
28 - Jun - 2011 Tuesday Lyon Halle Tony Garnier France
30 - Jun - 2011 Thursday Copenhagen KB Hallen Denmark

July 2011
03 - Jul - 2011 Sunday Riihimaki / Helsinki Riihimakirock Finland
10 - Jul - 2011 Sunday Vejle Open Air Denmark
12 - Jul - 2011 Tuesday Hamburg Stadtpark Freilichtbühne Germany
14 - Jul - 2011 Thursday Straubing Jazz an der Donau Germany
15 - Jul - 2011 Friday Ulm Klosterhof Wiblingen Germany
17 - Jul - 2011 Sunday Verona Castello Scaligero Di Villafranca Italy

For more details go to: http://www.toto99.com/
 
 
Van Halen News Desk confirms Producer John Shanks is working with Van Halen
(John Shanks photo courtesy of www.vhnd.com)

This statement comes directly from the Van Halen news desk, so I guess there must now be some substance to the stories!

The Van Halen News Desk was the first to report last December that Van Halen were to record a new studio album with Grammy Award winning producer John Shanks in January, 2011. Shanks has confirmed this with a tweet late Thursday night, “here we go kids…..vh” followed by tweeting this photo he took from the studio:


Last week, Shanks tweeted the hint: “going back to cali..good bye london.hello la.time to rock.i still believe!! in the power and thunder.big bass drum and big guitars.just me?”

Keep checking at: www.vhnd.com/ for updates and I guess you could also go checking out:
http://twitter.com/johnshanks1 ... Here's to a new album from EVH and the gang!


Foo Fighters say, 'Told Ya We Were Comin’ For You!'
Announce new tour dates.

The Foo Fighters are psyched to announce headline shows in Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki! So says their website!

All times reflect local venue time. Presales start next week. Sign up to the http://www.foofighters.com/ email list to receive exclusive presale information!

June 18th – Berlin – Wuhlheide
With Band of Horses
Tickets go on sale to the public on January 26th at 10am through www.fkpscorpio.com & http://www.eventim.de/

June 21st – Copenhagen – Refshaleoen
With Biffy Clyro and The Gaslight Anthem
Tickets go on sale to the public January 26th at 10am through http://www.livenation.dk/

June 22nd – Stockholm – Stockholm Stadium
With Band of Horses and Biffy Clyro
Tickets go on sale to the public January 26th at 10am through http://www.livenation.se/

June 24th – Oslo – Telenor Arena
With Sahara Hotnights and Kvelerton
Tickets go on sale to the public January 26th at 10am through http://www.livenation.no/

June 26th – Helsinki – Kalasatama
With Biffy Clyro
Tickets go on sale to the public January 26th at 9am through: http://www.lippupalvelu.fi/

On the 17th January, the band made this announcement too:

Foo's set to headline their first arena gig of 2011 with the NME Awards Big Gig @ Wembley Arena on Friday the 25th of February.
The show will very special guests in the house including Cee Lo Green / Band Of Horses / No Age. Exclusive and limited number of tickets will be available from both Foo Fighters and NME on Wednesday, January 19th @ 9am (GMT). Stay tuned for presale deets from the band. General onsale Friday, January 21st @ 9am (GMT) available from http://www.gigsandtours.com/ / http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ / www.nme.com/tickets or via phone @ 0844 811 0051.
Head to http://www.nme.com/ for all the deets.

Full tour date information on the band can be found here: www.foofighters.com/us/events
For all other information on the band: www.foofighters.com/us


The Jan Holberg Project featuring Ex-Rainbow/Deep Purple Vocalist Joe Lynn Turner.

The Norwegian bassist/songwriter Jan Holberg has joined forces with legendary singer Joe Lynn Turner to release an exciting debut album, a move that will thrill the fans around the world.
The Jan Holberg Project is preparing to release the debut album 28th March, marking a huge stage in the career of Jan Holberg. Jan, who lives in Trondheim, Norway, has just put the final touches to the album and is now preparing for the imminent release that will hopefully build upon his fan base, and get his music heard by more people than ever.

The album, Sense of Time, consists of ten original songs from Jan, each providing a combination of high-energy playing, and melodious vocals by Joe Lynn Turner.
The album was mainly recorded in Reykjavik, Iceland, and some of Europes finest musicians participate on the album.

Jan says, 'The idea behind the album is that music should be free, there are no musical borders, on this album. You can hear ballads, pop-songs, instrumentals and funk. This is what I am all about as a musician.'

Turner adds, 'I had a great time stretching out the vocal style on Jan's songs. I'm always interested in something different with quality. Looking forward to the concert dates!'

JLT with JAN HOLBERG
27 April - BLAEST (Trondheim)
28 April - JOHN DEE (Oslo)
30 April - HEMNEHALLEN (Hemne)
(all dates with Jan Holberg are in Norway)

SAMPLE AUDIO AVAILABLE HERE:

On The Web:
JAN HOLBERG OFFICIAL WEBSITE:


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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Dio - The Legend Live! - DVD review

Dio – The Legend Live! DVD review
Released on: IMV Blueline Distributed via MVD Release date: Available now


Sadly this Dio live DVD release is another of those ‘bare bones’ DVD’s, that is simply just the show and no extra’s.
Worst still is that the case says it has a running time of 60 minutes, but all you get is little over 30 minutes.
It is a shame, because overall it’s not bad footage and seemed to catch the band in rockin’ form, which is how we will always remember Ronnie James Dio best!

It was recorded in Tokyo apparently, in 1985 and after investigating further around the web, it turns out that this is an edited version of ‘Dio Super Rock – Live in Japan’ which has currently been floating around as a bootleg for some time, on the web.
As a show, the band seemed on their game, quality wise for picture and sound, it’s not the greatest and at times, it makes you think someone has run off a copy of a VHS tape to DVD and put it out.
Some of the editing between tracks is also pretty blunt as well.

Anyway, to what we do have here and the band opens with ‘Hungry for Heaven’ and Ronnie James Dio appears to be in great form and looking as good as ever. He always looked like he was enjoying himself, always …
The band is rocking too, with the line that featured: Vivian Campbell (Guitars), Jimmy Bain (Bass), Vinny Appice (Drums) and Claude Schnell (Keyboards).

What’s immediately apparent here is that Vinny’s drum kit is tiny! He must’ve got a loaner! Perhaps customs held it up … I think I heard him tell a story about that once or someone, that the kit was quarantined for suspicion of drugs.

Anyway back to the music, the track finishes and the poor editing shows, is obvious as the band then kick off ‘Holy Diver.’
What cracks me up here is that as the track starts – Without any introduction – usually a familiar track as it starts gets a roar, the crowd seem to cheer loudly as Ronnie starts singing the chorus itself. Too funny!
The editing is obvious again it seems as after one verse and chorus, ‘Holy Diver’ then goes into ‘Last In Line,’ which is fine – And great track too! – and then it’s into ‘Heaven and Hell,’ as the medley continues.

The band do come across as in great form and hungry too, but Campbell does seem to play a bum chord during the change into the chorus from the verse. The average fan may think nothing of this or even fail to notice it, but to many die hard Dio fans, I’m sure you will too!

Ronnie makes me laugh too, as the band take the song down a bit and Ronnie tries to get the crowd to sing the line, ‘On and on, on and on, it’s Heaven and Hell,’ the crowd is lame and Ronnie says, ‘Oh bollocks, I can’t hear you at all!’ He then tells the band to ‘Shush!’ Yes really, ‘Shush!’ What a character! Then they wrap the song up and it’s into ‘Sacred Heart.’

It’s of course a great solid song, but I’m really feeling for Vinny on the ‘borrowed’ drum kit, as he would typically do some massive fills with his full kit, but he makes the best of the situation!

It’s Rainbow’s classic ‘Long Live Rock and Roll’ next and Ronnie again approaches the crowd again, and about halfway through he says, ‘You know this song right?’ Hardly any response, so he goes over to former fellow Rainbow band mate Jimmy Bain and says, ‘You know this song right?’ Jimmy says, ‘Yeah!’ Ronnie says, ‘I’m glad someone bloody does!’
Too funny Ronnie, you really were quite the character, we miss you!

A bad edit again into next track, ‘Rainbow in the Dark’ and the keyboards seem like they should be higher in the mix, but otherwise it sounds great!

The set here is closed with out and out rocker, ‘Stand Up and Shout,’ which simply just kills, it’s great!
Then that’s it and the credits come up and it’s all over.

It is a good show, sad that it’s so short, the word out there though is that it’s highly likely that ‘Dio – Super Rock in Japan’ may well get an official release through Wendy Dio, Ronnie James Dio’s widow, who co-founded Niji Entertainment.
Here’s hoping!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – It’s not a bad show as I’ve said, but it’s all too short and the quality needs improvement.

Official Dio website: www.ronniejamesdio.com/

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Friday, January 21, 2011

Rock News Update for Friday 21st January, 2011

Francis Rossi to release his brand new solo set "Live at St. Luke's, London" on 14 March 2011.

This live set from Status Quo's Francis Rossi is to be released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray formats by Edel's international rock label, earMUSIC distributed in the UK and Republic of Ireland by Absolute via Universal. As well as the full concert, the DVD and Blu-ray boast excellent bonus features.
The DVD has an interview with Rossi, plus the promo video for the 'Faded Memory' single.
The Blu-ray has a behind the scenes documentary, which also features interviews, plus the promo video.

Recorded in front of an enthusiastic crowd at St. Luke's church in London, this solo show was only the seventh that Rossi has ever performed. "Live at St. Luke's, London" follows on the heels of the 2010 studio album -- also released through Edel -- which was enthusiastically received by the rock media.Classic Rock said in their review of the St. Luke's show, "New album 'One Step At A Time' is a surprising treat. The gig is the same, only more so." Guitar and Bass added that the material, "reveals a more fragile side to the Rossi we all know -- and it's genuinely refreshing."

Long regarded as one of the finest rock performers this nation has ever produced, Rossi's songwriting has been duly recognized by the Classic Songwriter Award and the BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution To Music [jointly with Rick Parfitt]. Francis Rossi is famous for his dry wit and lyrical dash, and this live release offers a chance to get up close and personal with a musician doing what he does best: delivering great music live.


Rossi commented, "Stepping outside Quo and recording and performing these songs was a big step for me -- I love these songs so much it hurts! It was very freeing to do my own thing instead of being with a band, as I have been since I was 12! I wanted, for once, to do exactly what I wanted and luckily, the reaction has been great. The show at St. Luke's was very atmospheric, the band and the crowd were great and I'm really proud of what we've produced".



Stan Bush update and new Music video for 'Your Time.'

As mentioned in last weeks news items, Stan Bush has recently released a brand new song, the single 'Heat of the Battle.'
Stan along with Lenny Macaluso wrote "Heat of the Battle" which has been submitted for consideration for the new Transformers game due out later this summer.

Lenny Macaluso also co-wrote the smash hit song, "The Touch" with Stan back in the 80's and for those that didn't know it, 2011 is actually the 25-year anniversary of "Transformers: The Movie" and of "The Touch"!
'Heat of the Battle' is now available for download via the Stan Bush website:
Also check out this incredible music video for “Your Time” created by Trans Fans Randall Ng and DR. SMOOV! Give ‘em a shout over at their website http://www.ngsmoov.com/ for doing such a terrific job on this!


In additional Stan Bush news ...

Stan Bush rare live show in the US!

It’s official! Stan Bush’s first live appearance of 2011 has been confirmed – catch him in concert on Saturday, April 16th in Philadelphia, PA!

Stan will be performing live at the Fan Conclave event in conjunction with CHIKARA’s massive pro-wrestling tournament “King of Trios 2011” taking place at the Asylum Arena (formerly the ECW Arena) in South Philly!

Catch Stan live on Saturday afternoon, April 16th in Philly – a rare East Coast appearance!
Tickets to the Fan Conclave event are available here:


Stan’s powerful reinvention of “The Touch,” “Sam’s Theme” serves as the official theme song of King of Trios 2011!

Artist official website: http://www.stanbush.com/

Judas Priest add extra European live dates to Farewell EPITAPH World tour

UK metal rockers Judas Priest, who recently announced they will be calling it quits on the band soon, by rolling out their 'Farewell Tour' announcement, have just added a few more European dates to the EPITAPH World Tour.

The additional dates are as follows:

June 2011
7th June Eindhaar, Tilburg, Holland
20th June Le Zenith, Paris, France
27th June Zenith, Munich, Germany

July 2011
1st July Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia
 
For more information on other tour dates and Priest in general, go to:
 
Apparently, “You’re gonna see a lot more of Ed Van Halen this year…hopefully by summer.”

At least, so says http://www.vintagerock.com/ who sat down with Eddie Van Halen's Gear Product Manager, Chris Cannella, for a chat about what’s new and what’s ahead in EVH-land…

Some interesting comments by Cannella, who winks at the camera while answering a question about a new Van Halen album, while following that up with “you’re gonna see a lot more of Ed this year… hopefully by the summer.”
Check out the chat right here:



Greek rockers Outloud, issue new song 'Waiting For Your Love'

OUTLOUD, the Greece based hard-rocking outfit featuring Bob Katsionis (Firewind), Mark Cross (ex-Helloween, Firewind) and singer Chandler Mogel (ex-Talon), following their succesful 2009 debut "We'll Rock You To Hell And Back Again!" from Frontiers Records, return with "Waiting For Your Love", a brand new track for 2011 from their upcoming sophomore album, "Love Catastrophe".

The song can be heard exclusively on the Greek music community site JUMPING FISH on their personal page under www.jumpingfish.gr/outloud
This site serves as the launchpad for the "Be the opening act on Bon Jovi's Athens Show,July 20th" competition - for which Outloud are seeking your help to get the slot!

The song is mixed by Danish engineer Tommy Hansen known from his work with Helloween, TNT, Pretty Maids, etc., and produced by Bob Katsionis who also states about their participation in this competition:

"I'm not a fan of music competitions, in fact I dont find any meaning to most of them, since the only thing you have to "win" with your music is to touch the hearts of your listeners. This particular contest though, is a fine chance to get our music heard by a different set of fans and not only this of rock/metal which in Greece is kinda difficult to reach. We don't wanna be rockstars overnight and we're not the typical "opening band" who just want to be famous. In fact OUTLOUD have never yet played before anyone! We just believe in our music and we want to take it as far as we can."

The song is automatically played once you enter this link: www.jumpingfish.gr/outloud.
Once you hear the song, please take a minute to vote for Outloud to open for Bon Jovi in Athens, Greece on July 20th! Even though the site is in Greek, if you follow this simple guide, you can make your vote quickly and easily (for non-Greek readers):

1. Go to www.jumpingfish.gr/outloud. Right below the music player, there is a black box with a Bon Jovi logo in it (the sword in the heart). Run your cursor over this box (or click on the white envelope for non-flash users) to reveal two small grey boxes -click on the bottom one. This sends you to the next screen to register on the site.

2. Once there, scroll down to the bottom of the green page and click on the left black box.

3. Now you'll be prompted to enter some information. In descending order of the boxes, enter your: First Name, Last Name, Username (make one), Password (make one), Re-enter Password, and E-mail. Right below that, enter your sex (from left to right it's M, F, or don't wish to enter it)

4. Right below that, there are four small paragraphs. Leave the top one checked as it is, but out of the second two, click the one on the right (it says "listener" in English). Below that, uncheck the box if you don't want to receive a newsletter from the site. Then click the black box to continue. Almost there!

5. Another page will show up, just click the black box again to continue. Now go to your email account and click on the link that you were just sent by the site. Click on it from your e-mail and that will take you back to the site, and now enter your name and password and click the black box.

6. Once you do that, you are logged in. Now copy and paste the link www.jumpingfish.gr/outloud into the address bar of your browser, and you're back on the Outloud page. Right below the picture of Outloud within the black area where you started is a little white box with an envelope in it. Click on that and you've voted!

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Brief News Update for Thursday 20th January, 2011

HURTSMILE: The latest from Gary Cherone and his band of “brothers” to release their debut album

 

HOLLYWOOD, CA (January, 2011) - Frontiers Records is excited to announce the release of HURTSMILE self-titled debut album on February 8, 2011 in the US.

HURTSMILE is a new band featuring singer Gary Cherone (Extreme, Van Halen) who has teamed up with his brother Mark (Cherone) to write his most succinct record to date. The self-titled, HURTSMILE is a raw sonic sucker punch in the face! From the opening buzz saw riff of “Just War Theory” to the epic finale of "Slave” and “Beyond The Garden/Kicking Against the Goads”, Gary continues to push and poke you in the ear with his lyrically provocative themes.

“Hurtsmile was a long time coming… I always wanted to write a record with my brother,” says Gary. "I'm a big fan of Mark’s song writing and his snarling guitar riffs." The timing was right as Extreme was in-between their touring and record cycle, leaving Gary the freedom. They recruited Joe Pessia (bass) an alumnus of Nuno Bettencourt’s Dramagods as well as the guitar player for Tantric. Joe also engineered, and co-produced the record with Gary. To round off the lineup they enlisted heavy hitter Dana Spellman on drums “It’s an east coast-Boston thing,” states Gary. “Mark, my brother, was in a band with Nuno’s brother… Joe was in Nuno’s band and Dana was a friend, and student of Mike Mangini (former Extreme drummer) … we like to keep it in the family.”

The lineup is not the only thing familiar with the band. In true Cherone fashion, the record is chock full of swaggering guitar, soaring vocals and the trademark Cherone eclecticism on tracks such as “Jesus Would You Meet Me”, the reggae-tinged “Just War Reprise” and the Dylanesq “The Murder of Daniel Faulkner (4699)”. “Hurtsmile was about returning to my roots, writing a record in my basement, a straight up rock ‘n’ roll record… but it turned out to be more diverse and ambitious than I expected.”

Gary is no stranger to taking on intense topics, and Hurtsmile is no exception. The first half of the record is a group of more loosely knit songs such as the cynically inquisitive "Just War Theory", the limit's of free speech "Tolerance Song (edit)" and the disturbingly mesmerizing “Kaffur (Infidel)”, inspired by the beheading of Daniel Pearl.

The 2nd half of the record is more conceptually cohesive; an introspective look at the nature of man and the condition of the human heart. “Stillborn" introduced earlier, and "Set Me Free" both touch on mans inclination toward darkness, culminating with an epic journey from sin to salvation… "Slave" to "Beyond the Garden/Kicking Against the Goads".

For the most part both themes are represented as 2 sides of a record. A concept familiar to Extreme fans but make no mistake, whether reading between the lines or just moved by the visceral power of the music, this is a completely different type of record. Gary adds, "All the boys in the band have brought something new to the table, and you'll never know what hit you!"

“Hurtsmile” tracklisting includes:
Just War Theory; Stillborn; Love Thy Neighbor; Kaffur (Infidel); Painter Paint; Tolerance Song (Edit); Set Me Free; Jesus Would You Meet Me; Slave; Beyond The Garden / Kicking Against The Goads; Just War Reprise; The Murder Of Daniel Faulkner (4699).

The songs “Just War Theory” and “Love Thy Neighbor” can exclusively be listened in full in streaming on the Frontiers Web radio. Tune in at: www.frontiers.it/webradio

Hurtsmile:
Gary Cherone – Vocals
Mark Cherone - Guitars
Joe Pessia - Bass, Mandolin
Dana Spellman – Drums, Percussion
Produced by Gary Cherone, Joe Pessia


Joe Bonamassa - "Dust Bowl"
The Brand New Solo Album
Featuring Vince Gill, Glenn Hughes & John Hiatt



Joe Bonamassa is set to release his 12th full-length solo album, DUST BOWL in the UK on March 21st and in the USA on March 22nd. The album will be promoted on Bonamassa's forthcoming 2011 Dust Bowl World Tour that will take in America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.
DUST BOWL is Bonamassa’s 9th studio release on Provogue Records in Europe and his J&R Adventures label (which he created with long-time manager Roy Weisman) in the US and his 6th collaboration with Dust Bowl’s producer, Kevin "Caveman" Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Black Crowes, Black Country Communion).

Shirley most recently produced Bonamassa’s 2010 release, Black Rock, which entered the UK album chart at #14 and 2010's self-titled debut album from Black Country Communion, the Bonamassa-helmed, British-American rock supergroup with Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin, UFO, Foreigner) and Derek Sherinian (Billy Idol, Dream Theater).
Black Rock was also a #1 album in the US.
Recorded in sessions at Black Rock Studios in Santorini, Greece, Ben’s Studio in Nashville, TN, The Cave in Malibu, CA and The Village in Los Angeles, CA, Dust Bowl combines the gritty, blues-based tones of Bonamassa’s first albums with the fluid, genre-defying sounds he’s mastered in the years since, plus a dose of Nashville in duets with legends John Hiatt and Vince Gill.

"Dust Bowl," Shirley explains, "is very firmly rooted in the Blues, but definitely explores the outer reaches of the genre and showcases Joe’s amazing virtuosity as he digs deep into his psyche in some lengthy and blistering guitar solos."
"This is the best album we’ve ever done," adds Bonamassa. "I’m finding more inspiration in storytelling in my 30s, in writing songs that are about something more profound than ‘my baby left me.’ I like albums that are made with the right intentions and sound organic and a little rough around the edges, like a great band playing live in the room, and that’s what we accomplished with Dust Bowl."
Along with the best of intentions, Dust Bowl benefits from collaborations with the best of Nashville, legends Vince Gill and John Hiatt. Gill lends his signature guitar stylings to the John Hiatt/John Porter-penned "Tennessee Plates," on which Hiatt duets with Bonamassa. Gill also plays on "Sweet Rowena," a song he composed with frequent writing partner Pete Wasner.
Arlan Scheirbaum, Beth Hart and Blondie Chaplin play on the Michael Kamen/Tim Curry track "No Love On The Street," and Glenn Hughes sings on the Paul Rodgers-penned "Heartbreaker."

Other standout tracks include Bonamassa originals that showcase his storytelling, such as the album opener "Slow Train," an old-style British Blues song, "Black Lung Heartache," "The Last Matador of Bayonne," "The Whale That Swallowed Jonah" and the title song "Dust Bowl."

In support of the album, Bonamassa's Dust Bowl World Tour includes the U.S., Canada and Europe as well as Australia and Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Voted "Best Live Act of 2010" by Planet Rock Radio, Bonamassa’s mesmerizing concert experience is set to get even better with the infusion of some of his best new music to date.

(Photo Credit: © Paul Bergen)


2010 was a stellar year for Bonamassa and his best to date. Black Rock was his highest charting album. He was called "The Blues Rock Titan" by Guitar World and was honoured twice in Guitar Player Magazine's 2010 Readers' Choice Awards winning "Best Overall Guitarist" for the first time and "Best Blues Guitarist" for the fourth consecutive year.

BCC’s debut self-titled album, released in Sept. 2010, entered the UK Album Chart at #13 and #1 in the Rock Album Chart and received rave reviews.

It was placed third best album of the year in the Classic Rock Critics Poll and Planet Rock listeners voted them as #1 Best New Band and Band Of The Year.
Joe Bonamassa – Official Website
http://jbonamassa.com/

Joe Bonamassa – Facebook
www.facebook.com/joebonamassa
Joe Bonamassa – Twitter
http://twitter.com/jbonamassa

Joe Bonamassa – YouTube
www.youtube.com/joebonamassatv

Judie Tzuke to release 'The October Road' Live album


'The October Road' the new live album from Judie's Tzuke is now available for pre-order via her website.
The album will be officially released on March 1st, 2011.

This album gives you the chance to experience or if you were lucky enough, re-experience the wonderful show which Judie took out on the road to celebrate the release of the retrospective album 'Moon On A Mirrorball' in 2010.

The set is a collection of new and old favourites, played by a group of fantastic musicians whose love for Judie and her music adds an inspired edge to their playing; with rock tracks and ballads all played with equal passion, skill and care.

Judie's always wonderful vocals are still a revelation, somehow transporting the listener back to the early 80's when blasting out 'Sportscar' and then shifting to the rich honeyed voice needed for a performance of 'If'. These amazing vocals are ably backed by two more Tzuke voices, the superb Bailey Tzuke and in her first appearance on tour, the youngest Tzuke, Tallula; the best example being during their lovely three part a cappella version of Judie's first single, 'For You'.

Take this chance to be the first to own a copy of this album,
Pre-order now and receive your copy two weeks earlier than the official release on the 1st of March.

Track listing:
Enjoy the Ride
Under the Angels
Secret Agent
Faith
Submarine Boy
Come Hell or Waters High
One Minute
Bring the Rain
Love Me No More
I Will
Sukarita
Stay with me 'till Dawn
Sportscar
For You
If

Available for pre-order at:

Go to http://www.tzuke.com/ for all Judie Tzuke updates.

Following up on Night Ranger's live N.A.M.M. performance

No, I wasn't there, but wish I was!
Word is that Night Ranger's recent performance at the N.A.M.M. event in California, was pretty impressive - No surprise to me there! ;-) - and the band even closed their set with a cover of AC/DC's 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.'
Full details on that hour long performance right here:
http://soundcheck.ocregister.com/2011/01/15/namm-2011-craig-chaquico-experiments-kim-wilson-blows-harp-night-ranger-covers-acdc/42392/
I will add that last summer, when we caught Night Ranger in Waterford, Michigan, that their set included a bunch of various covers as the band discussed between themselves, to the crowd what each of their first gigs were. They even included a full version of AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' amongst other interesting covers.
That gig review from last summer, right here:
http://chambersofrock.blogspot.com/2010/07/night-ranger-live-in-michigan.html

This led me to think that they could be possibly working on a covers release as many classic rockers have indeed been doing that in recent years. Drummer Kelly Keagy let me know that it wasn't the case at this time, but that it wasn't to say that they wouldn't do one in the future!

The band has currently been recording their latest new album - No title at this time. - due out later in 2011 and apparently, based on comments from Andrew McNiece - http://www.melodicrock.com/ - who has been talking at length, so it seems with Jack Blades, that the band will undertake a 'proper' world tour in 2011 as well as Jack Blades releasing his own second solo album.
So a busy year ahead for Night Ranger.
Keep tabs on them here at: www.nightranger.com/
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Steve Lukather - All's Well That Ends Well album review

Steve Lukather – 'All’s Well That Ends Well' album review
Released on: Mascot Records. Release date: Available everywhere now!

Steve Lukather or simply Luke to most people that know the guy and his work, is a musician that I have nothing but the utmost respect for and time. When I interviewed him a couple of years back, he was a true gent and helpful with my questions, to a fault!
I’ve met the guy a couple of other times too and he’s a smashing guy, can be very funny too.

His previous solo albums have varied here and there, but for the most part are great pieces of work and his last, 'Ever Changing Times,' I simply could not stop playing it!
Sadly for Luke, he’s just had a really rough, tough year on a personal level leading up to the release of this album 'All's Well That Ends Well' and what has gone on he’s managed to capture a lot of, on this album too.

The release dates on this album, I must say have been a little strange with the European release of this back in September / October time, then in North America it was made available as a download around late November and finally, it’s now available in stores!

OK, I have to admit that when I first got this I could not get into it and possibly for me, that was maybe a) my own frame of mind at the time or b) that I had been listening to a lot of really catchy hook laden material and Luke’s solo work, does not always follow that path and sometimes can take a little getting into, but there is never any doubt about the mans playing ability.

With this album, as with 'Ever Changing Times,' Luke has written the bulk of the material along with CJ Vanston and the few other songs with old friends Fee Waybill (The Tubes), band mate Steve Weingart and Randy Goodrum.

Starting with ‘Darkness In My World’ that perhaps is so apt for summing up the previous year and it starts very atmospherically, before getting into it’s groove and it captures both the best of Luke’s ability as reflected in his solo work and with Toto, with such fine musicianship. Sweet solo too, just class!

'On My Way Home,' as on 'Ever Changing Times,' allows Luke to pay his respects to a degree to the smoothness of Steely Dan. He makes no secrets of his admiration of both Donald Fagen and Walter Becker during the verses, before picking up some in the choruses. Very slick Luke.

A soulful start for ‘Can’t Look Back’ in the opening verse before kicking in with the pre-chorus and the chorus rocks out in a big way, big hooks, catchy indeed! The solo is one of his best and Eddie Van Halen could easily wish he’d done it! Some great playing indeed!

‘Don’t Say It’s Over’ wouldn’t be out of place on a Toto record, but as Luke said to me in that interview at a point where I said something in his solo work sounded very Toto like, his response, ‘Well it should, ‘cos that’s me right there too!’ So true Luke.
Power ballad territory for sure.

To ‘Flash in the Pan’ next and it’s a fun and funky tune, still with good hooks and co-written with Tubes man Fee Waybill, on just how short your career could be these days in the entertainment world . You just have to listen to the lyrics, great lines guys, funny!

The laid back groove of the excellent ‘Watching the World’ has almost a nod to the Beatles perhaps, but for me it’s so much more than that. It’s just a really nice multi-layered track that once more is beautifully smooth.

It’s an almost jazzy funky edge to ‘You’ll Remember’ through the verses before the chorus comes in big and then for the solo Luke just takes it somewhere else altogether and that’s his ability altogether. Some wonderfully deft keyboard touches from Steve Weingart here too.

Throughout this album the level of musicianship is exactly what you’d expect, just simply excellent.
Great vocal harmonies all over it as well from some great guest musical colleagues, just helps to emphasize things yet more.

The last vocal track on here is ‘Brody’s,’ which the lyric is obviously based around an interesting bar that Luke has discovered at some point in time and there’s interesting (And amusing!) lines here. There is of course excellent playing here with some great guitar interplay.

Final track is instrumental ‘Tumescent,’ which is a co-write across his band mates and really gives us some variety where once more Steve Weingart shines alongside Luke.

You can’t take anything away though from the other players here, CJ Vanston who aside from co-writing so much here, provides other keyboards and ‘atmospherics’ that I probably could have mentioned more of on here, as there’s plenty present!
The rhythm section is the fine guys that people would’ve caught on the Ever Changing Times tour, in Carlitos Del Puerta on bass and the fantastic Eric Valentine on drums. Luke also had Lenny Castro throw in some percussive help and then on backing vocals, how about this: Joseph Williams (Ex-Toto, Vertigo), Phil Collen (Def Leppard), daughter Tina Lukather and old mate Fee Waybill too.
His son Trevor Lukather, who was also on his last album, is back once more again here on guitar, so impressive stuff indeed!

Luke has done well again, yes, the album did grow on me and yes, I like it a lot! Nice one Luke!

Rating: 4 out of 5

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