Well folks, it seems there's more issues over formatting here through Blogspot, so because of that it all takes longer to put it all together. Not cool! Quite why this is happening is beyond me and a few others (PR folks) too?!
I had meant to bring you a much bigger update yesterday, but those issues screwed up everything, nice ...!
We already have a first correct answer on the Doobie Brothers giveaway, but the other prize is still up for grabs, so go on, rattle your heads and give it a shot, contest details are in Tuesday's news update.
Cheers folks, have a good day and if your feeling the heat in the US, as we are, try and keep cool. Al
AXEL RUDI PELL TO RELEASE “THE BALLADS IV” SEPTEMBER 27TH IN NORTH AMERICA ON SPV/STEAMHAMMER
Another seven years has passed since the release of the “The Ballads III”. Seven years of writing, recording and collecting even more emotional and melancholic songs. To keep with the tradition, the band decided to record 3 brand new tracks for this ballad compilation.
Here is a short introduction by AXEL himself to every new song in the specific running order:
WHERE THE WILD WATERS FLOW -“My own composition in the true ARP ballad style. This song is not about love, it has a more mysterious content and it captures the long and hopeless journey of human beings trying to get away from some dark nights. One can apply this to many different thoughts and situations nowadays. I definitely think that this song is one of the strongest ballads I´ve ever written with a hookline that will stick to everyone´s ears !"
HOLY DIVER - "As everybody knows, my soul mate and friend Ronnie James Dio sadly passed away last year. It was very clear to me I needed to use one of his songs to pay him tribute. It had to be a song, which was very easily recognizable as one of his tunes and therefore I picked “Holy Diver”. Of course the original track isn´t a ballad, so I decided to re-arrange the song completely and we made a Piano version out of it, featuring some Orchestra strings, a Cello and a clean and melodic guitar solo. Johnny gave his very best vocal performance and after the track was finished, there were lots of tears in some eyes…"
HALLELUJAH - "At least one of the best ballads around. Originally written and released by Leonard Cohen in 1984, it wasn´t his version giving me the idea to cover this tune. Actually it was all the good and bad performances of some TV casting show participants, who gave me the real kick to create one of the, hopefully, ultimate versions of this song. We recorded a children´s choir for this, which fits perfectly to Johnny´s emotional and soulful voice. There are 2 different versions of this track: the CD album version which features a slightly wilder guitar solo and the “Single” (and downloadable) version which features a calmer guitar solo. "
"The Ballads IV" will be released as standard version and digital download in North America through SPV/Steamhammer.
"The Ballads IV" - Tracklisting:
1) WHERE THE WILD WATERS FLOW (new song)
2) HOLY DIVER (new song)
3) HALLELUJAH (new song)
4) NORTHERN LIGHTS
5) NOBLESSE OBLIGE (Opus #5 Adagio Contabile)
6) LOVE GUN
7) GLORY NIGHT
8) IN THE AIR TONIGHT
9) TOUCHING MY SOUL
10) LIKE A CHILD AGAIN
11) NO CHANCE TO LIVE
12) HAUNTED CASTLE SERENADE (Opus #4 Grazioso E Agresso)
13) THE CURSE OF THE DAMNED
"Where The Wild Waters Flow", "Holy Diver" and "Hallelujah" were recorded, mixed and co-produced by Charlie Bauerfeind at Twilight Hall Studios in Grefrath, Germany, in May 2011.
The CD was mastered by Ulf Horbelt at DMS Mastering Studios in Marl, Germany.
The cover illustration was created by Martin McKenna.
"The Ballads IV" - Release Dates:
Germany: September 23rd, 2011
Europe: September 26th, 2011
USA/Canada: September 27th, 2011
Line-Up:
Johnny Gioeli - Lead und Backing Vocals
Axel Rudi Pell - Lead, Rhythm und Acoustic Guitars
Ferdy Doernberg - Keyboards
Volker Krawczak - Bass
Mike Terrana - Drums
For More Info Visit:
GLYDER TO RELEASE “BACKROADS TO BYZANTIUM” IN OCTOBER VIA SPV/STEAMHAMMER
Irish rockers GLYDER have completed work on their fourth studio album, "Backroads To Byzantium", for an October 11th North American and October 7th European release via SPV/Steamhammer Records. “Backroads to Byzantium” takes the listener on a road trip that has a hint of Americana and progresses to the re-emerging troubles on the streets of Northern Ireland to being homeless on the streets of London. Other themes on the album concern the evils of the tabloid press and global warming. The album ends off in a reflective mood about mortality and how it's not the end.
GLYDER's new singer Jackie Robinson has a unique rock voice that sometimes hints at Paul Rodgers and Phil Mogg. Hailing from Northern Ireland, he was recruited through an ad on the Internet and because the rest of the band is from the South of Ireland, the album was written between Jackie and the two GLYDER guitarists, Bat Kinane and Pete Fisher, over email. Working with some home recording software and a few Gmail accounts, the new GLYDER album took shape over Christmas 2010 and early 2011. The album was recorded in Dublin and mixed in Copenhagen. The stunning artwork was created by Mark Wilkinson.
Founding member Bat Kinane spoke about the new lineup and album:
"This new GLYDER album has I feel my best songwriting and guitar playing to date. I've just put everything into this album and I also seem to have found a new confidence in my playing. Pete's playing is also great and he has some amazing solos."
"You cannot mistake that this is a great guitar album, but the songwriting I feel is top-notch, too. Jackie, the new singer, really has a quality set of pipes and that makes it very exciting.
I like the fact that we used all the modern technology available to us to write the album because Jackie lives 200 miles away. It's very much a classic rock-sounding album, but it was written and recorded in a way that could have not been done thirty years ago.
I know in my heart we have done something very special on this album and I'm very proud to be in this band."
GLYDER have released three albums and have opened for the likes of Metallica, Slash, Dio, Thin Lizzy, Michael Schenker, Mötley Crüe, Blue Oyster Cult.
They have headlined in Spain and their own native Ireland as well as headlining to 10.000 rock fans in India.
The band is currently lining up dates for festivals in Ireland during the summer and doing some dates with Y+T in Ireland in October.
GLYDER is:
Jackie Robinson - Vocals
Bat Kinane - Guitars and Backing Vocals
Pete Fisher - Guitars
Graham McClatchie - Bass
Des McEvoy - Drums
For more info visit:
DORO PESCH ANNOUNCES TWO U.S. DVD RELEASE SHOWS THIS FALL
In 2008, legendary metal queen, DORO PESCH, celebrated her 25th anniversary concert at the ISS Dome in her hometown of Dusseldorf, Germany. With over 8,500 people in attendance, the magical, full-documented performance included guest appearances by Overkill's Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, Grave Digger's Chris Boltendahl, former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen, Scorpions' Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker, Liv Kristine (Leaves' Eyes), Floor Jansen (After Forever), Axel Rudi Pell and many others. The set was recorded in its entirety and resulted in the mammoth '25 Years In Rock' 2 DVD/CD set which includes the once-on-a-lifetime concert as well as out-takes from DORO's 2,500th concert and more. '25 Years In Rock' will finally be available to North American fans on September 13, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.
In conjunction with the Stateside release, DORO will perform two special shows - her previously announced appearance in New York City on September 9th and an additional show in Chicago on September 11. Both nights will include clips from the DVD, limited edition merchandise and an autograph session followed by a performance by the metal queen herself. Tickets are on sale now through all local ticket outlets!
DORO PESCH 25 Years In Rock US Release Shows:
9/09/2011 Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY
9/11/2011 Reggie's Rock Club - Chicago, IL
In related news, PESCH recently did a short run of shows in Spain with Dio Disciples filling in for singer Tim "Ripper" Owens. Dio Disciples is the new project featuring former Dio members Rudy Sarzo (bass), Simon Wright (drums), Craig Goldy (guitar) and Scott Warren (keyboards), along with Owens and additional singer Toby Jepson, who pay tribute to legendary vocalist, Ronnie James Dio. Owens was unable to make the Spanish shows to celebrate his daughter's wedding.
Watch fan-filmed footage of DORO performing "Don't Talk To Strangers" HERE:
More links:
COLD CHISEL ARE BACK WITH HUGE DOWN UNDER TOUR!
Sydney, Australia – July, 2011
Iconic rock band, Cold Chisel, today announced their biggest tour in nearly 30 years.
(Click on flyer to see readable text!)
The Light The Nitro Tour will kick off in October and finish on the first weekend of December with 24 concerts unveiled around Australia plus two New Zealand shows.
Tickets for all these gigs will go onsale everywhere at 9.00am on Thursday, 4 August. However, anybody who signs up to the band’s mailing list at:
http://www.coldchisel.com/mailing-list/ before August 1 will actually be able to buy tickets from 9.00am on Tuesday, 2 August as part of a special presale.
The Light The Nitro Tour will take this legendary live band from Darwin to Hobart and from Coffs Harbour to the Margaret River. In addition to all capital cities, the tour will hit six key Queensland regional centres plus other hubs such as Mudgee, Wodonga, Tamworth and the Hunter and Yarra Valleys. Cold Chisel will wrap up the Australian leg of their tour in the town where they first formed – Adelaide.
Then they’ll cross the Tasman for shows in Wellington and Auckland: their first NZ gigs since 1983.
Shows will be staged under specially constructed all-weather Big Top Tents in many towns. There will also be seated arena shows, amphitheatre dates, a club gig in Newcastle and for the first time ever the band will play a handful of very special winery concerts.
Apart from the winery experiences, every ticket for every concert will cost only $99.90 (including all booking fees but excluding any credit card charges and ticketing agency transaction charges).
“We can’t wait to get back on the road together," said frontman, Jimmy Barnes. “Every day for years I’ve had at least one person come up and ask me when Cold Chisel are going to do a proper tour. I’m bloody glad to finally have something good to tell ‘em!”
The tour announcement comes on a day that is already a huge one for Cold Chisel fans.
At exactly the same time as the concerts were being announced at a Sydney press conference, all of the band’s recordings were being unleashed digitally for the first time in a major online launch that included 56 rare and previously unreleased tracks. Meanwhile retailers were receiving the newly remastered and repackaged CD versions of all the classic Cold Chisel albums which are in store now (each of their studio albums now comes with a bonus DVD containing rare and unreleased footage from that era).
This massive catalogue rollout had already been hailed as the most extensive archival project in the history of Australian rock. Today’s timely tour announcement should help focus even more attention on these special releases.
Jimmy Barnes revealed today that the original plans for all of this were actually hatched in secret nearly two years ago around the group’s memorable one-off show to over 50,000 people at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
“We got such a buzz from that gig that it made all of us really want to get our act together”, he explains. “We wanted to do things properly though because we know this band means a lot to a lot of people – especially us! So we had to do it right. That meant taking time to find lots of cool unreleased stuff and getting the albums looking and sounding great. It also meant making all the music available everywhere that people might want to get it these days. We agreed that once that was sorted we’d go out and play all those songs right around Australia and New Zealand in a way that we haven’t really done since the early 80s.”
These plans took the better part of two painstaking years to pull together including lengthy archival excavation and remastering activities. However, in January this year everything was suddenly put on hold with the tragic passing of the group’s drummer, Steve Prestwich.
Keyboardist Don Walker explains that for two months nobody in the band even discussed whether to continue what they’d all been planning together. “When the four of us finally sat down to talk about it we realised we all felt the same way. Steve was really keen on seeing all these things happen. We all felt it would have been wrong to just walk away from the plans we’d started together.”
In some ways Steve Prestwich’s passing therefore ultimately strengthened the band’s desire to present Cold Chisel‘s music to a 21st century audience in the best way possible.
“At one point we actually thought about calling the tour ‘Unfinished Business’,” explains bassist Phil Small. “After that 2009 gig we’d all quietly decided to try to do something big. To have bailed out just a few months from actually doing it would actually have felt like we were letting Steve down.”
As guitarist Ian Moss explains, “It was all another reminder that life is short and you never know what’s around the corner. We miss our brother Steve every single day but the four of us still love playing music together. And we know that people want to hear these songs, so we want to do more of that while we still can. The tour is going to be a celebration of what he helped us create.”
Renowned drummer Charley Drayton (Keith Richards, B52′s, Divinyls) will be behind the kit for the Light The Nitro Tour and one fifth of tour profits will go to Steve Prestwich’s children.
The tour name refers to the practice of injecting nitrous oxide into the carburettor during a street race, which instantly doubles or triples the horsepower of a conventional engine. Incredible power, explosively unpredictable … obviously apt for this incendiary live band.
Hardcore fans may be interested to know that “light the nitro” is also a line from one of the songs the band recorded over recent months … a new Don Walker rocker called 'HQ454 Monroe' about a man and his beloved hotrod.
Cold Chisel have promised to showcase “one or two” new tunes on the Light The Nitro Tour. The setlist will also feature more than 20 of their classic songs. While Cold Chisel are continuing to make progress on new recordings – including some songs written by Steve Prestwich and some featuring his performances – there will be no new album released for this tour. At this stage a release is pencilled for early 2012.
For the rest of 2011 the group will be focusing totally on supporting their massive catalogue re-release with the biggest Australian concert event of the year … the Light The Nitro Tour.
Joining Cold Chisel for all but seven of these shows will be special guests You Am I. The group’s singer, Tim Rogers, is a lifelong fan of Cold Chisel and actually joined a disparate group of luminary Australians including Ita Buttrose, John Birmingham and Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie in penning liner notes for one of the new CD reissues.
“There are wildly vacillating expectations racing round my head,” says You Am I‘s Tim Rogers. “Cold Chisel are the real deal: they’ve climbed the mountain, drained the ocean, extracted the gold and the poison. We’re engorged with pleasure to be asked to support them, and will be alternately brattish, reverential, charming, barbaric and hushed. Like all good little acolytes should.”
You Am I‘s shoes will be filled on the Sunshine Coast only by special guests, Grinspoon.
Dan Sultan, Stonefield and Even will also appear on various dates and further opening artists will be announced over coming months.
The basic facts of Cold Chisel‘s career need no retelling. Since their initial heyday in the late 70s and early 80s their music has been embraced by subsequent generations as shown just last week by the appearance of two of their albums in a new Triple J listener poll of Australia’s 100 greatest albums of all time. Hearing their classic album East played in full on the national youth broadcaster 31 years after it caused the band to trash the set at the Countdown Awards is testament to their special place in our musical landscape.
The songs of Don Walker, Phil Small, Steve Prestwich, Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes are now utterly engrained in the fabric of Australasian life.
Khe Sanh, Flame Trees, Bow River, My Baby, You Got Nothing I Want, Last Wave Of Summer, Forever Now, Cheap Wine, Choir Girl, Standing On The Outside, Rising Sun, Saturday Night … and many more.
So many great songs. One great band.
Seeing is believing – so don’t miss your chance to experience the legendary Cold Chisel live.
Dates and venues for the Light The Nitro Tour are below.
Presales from 9am on Tuesday, 2 August with General Public Onsale from 9.00am on Thursday, 4 August.
The tour will be presented nationally by Triple M and Southern Cross Media, MAX and CMC
Official band website:
Late breaking Cold Chisel related news
Jimmy Barnes Announcement
Jimmy Barnes was taken ill around lunchtime today and visited doctors. Initial concerns that his problems may relate to his heart and may require hospitalisation thankfully proved unfounded.
However, doctors have advised that he must have four weeks of total rest and recuperation.
Unfortunately this has necessitated cancellation and postponement of some solo engagements which he had planned between now and the end of August.
Jimmy recently completed a gruelling European tour and returned to Australia just in time for the launch of
Cold Chisel’s tour last week. He had been battling a lingering viral flu for some time.
He is expected to make a full recovery in plenty of time to begin rehearsals with
Cold Chisel in September for their October tour.
“I hate to cancel shows and over the years I’ve very rarely done it“, says Jimmy. “Sorry to anyone who’s been let down by this but I’ll be back on deck in a few weeks time.”
We will be making no further comment at this time.
http://www.coldchisel.com
