Bravewords snackar med riffmeister King!



Tim Henderson på Bravewords.com intervjuar Kerry King och snackar bl a om The Big Four, gamla Slayerplattor och eventuellt outgivet material.

Riffmesiter King här

/Niclas

Storyn bakom skämtet "Megabreth"!




Saxat från TheMetalDen.com

"In 1992, PANTERA opened for MEGADETH on the “Countdown to Extinction Tour”. As the ‘alleged’ story goes, drummer Nick Menza, spurred on by zany media comments made by MEGADETH’s attention seeking leader Dave Mustaine, who felt PANTERA had indeed ripped off his band’s sound, went out of his way – backstage at concerts – to tell anyone (who would listen) that Dimebag sucked on guitar and PANTERA vocalist Philip H. Anselmo was full of himself and that he could kick the macho singer’s ass in a fight if it came right down to it.
Well, word got around to Philip and Dimebag Darrell about what Menza had ‘allegedly’ stated, thanks to the now deceased Jill Marie Abbott, a close friend of the PANTERA band (and at one time Philip’s actual girlfriend) that Nick Menza was “Talking all this shit about PANTERA”. Anselmo and Dimebag immediately went looking for Menza around the venue they were at and eventually cornered him outside near a fence. Anselmo grabbed Menza and said “Why are you talking all this shit about me and Dimebag?”, and next furiously threw Menza against the chain-linked fence in preparation of a serious “Five Minutes Alone” ass-kicking he was fully prepared to launch into with the now obviously petrified Menza.
With tears streaming down his face like a frightened little child, Menza cried out to Anselmo: “Please don’t kick my ass, man! I am sorry for talking shit and I will never do it again!” — and with that began the birth of Heavy Metal’s all-time biggest inside joke: “Megabreth”, which essentially stands for a whole lot of hot air coming out of ones mouth and absolutely ZERO to back it up. The end… now go crank some Cowboys From Hell and don’t you ever forget who the true KINGS of Heavy Metal were… and always will be: the dudes who didn’t turn their backs on the genre in the 90′s like METALLICA did, PAN-FUCKIN-TERA!!!"

/Niclas

Nirvana pre - Grohl 1990!



Nirvana live på Bogart´s i Long Beach 1990. 250 människor i publiken.
Klippet lades upp på en Nirvana Facebooksida i torsdags.

/Niclas

Hail hail rock and roll!



31121973

AC/DC spelar sitt första gig på Chequers Bar i Sidney och låtlistan kan ha sett ut som följande, vilken är från ett gig några veckor senare på Hampton Court Hotel:

01 Soul Tripper
02 No Particular Place To Go
03 Stay For A While
04 Carol
05 It's All Over Now
06 Jumpin' Jack Flash
07 Rock & Roll Singer
08 Blue Suede SHoes - Shake Rattle And Roll - Tutti Fruti
09 Rockin' In The Parlour
10 Bye Bye Johnny
11 Lucille
12 All Right Now
13 Baby Please Don't Go
14 Honky Tonk Women

Samma dag och samma år på andra sidan jorden, gör även Journey sitt första framträdande och detta sker på Winterland Ballroom i San Francisco.
Setlisten ska ha sett ut så här och finns tydligen på soundboardtape:

01 - Topaz
02 - It's All Too Much
03 - In My Lonely Feeling
04 - Mystery Mountain
05 - Sing A Song For You
06 - Kahoutek
07 - State Of Confusion
08 - In The Morning Day

Scott "NOT" Ian ser dagens ljus den här dagen 1963 och thrashgitarristen får ett stort grattis från Metal Shrine på sin 47-årsdag!

Denna dag 1984 kör Rick Allen i Def leppard av vägen och blir troligtvis den första professionella enarmade trummisen.

/Niclas

Årets konsert 2010!



Precis som mitt aktiva skivköpande har dalat, har även konsertbesöken inte varit alltför många under det gågna året. Tre gig står dock ut lite mer än andra.

Robert Plant och Band of Joy
Annexet, Stockholm

En fullskalig religiös upplevelse och då kvarstår det faktum att jag inte på något sätt tillbedjer någon form av högre makt. Skulle det dock vara så, är herr Plant vår allsmäktige Fader och kompbandet hans trogna lärjungar.

Slayer
Sonisphere, Stockholm

Tom Araya står numera stilla och Kerry King bär omkring på en kedja storlek gigantisk, men de körde över allt och alla under den bibliskt blöta Sonispherefestivalen. Hail Satan!

Imperial State Electric
Debaser Medis, Stockholm

Visserligen är skivan något platt i sin produktion, men herre Jesus vad det svängde live! Sällan har Nicke Andersson varit så bra som han var denna utsålda kväll.

/Niclas

De klassiska intervjuerna i Playboy 2001!



Efter att ha läst ut Mick Walls Metallicabiografi är jag sedan en tid tillbaka bitvis uppslukad av allt Metallica.
Här är de numera klassiska intervjuerna med Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammet och Newsted, där de alla öppnade upp och även snackade skit om varandra.
Två månader efter att intervjuerna gjorts hoppade Newsted av bandet.

Metallica i Playboy här

/Niclas

10 skäl till att älska Manowar!



Dom Lawson på Metal Hammer radar upp 10 skäl till varför just Du bör älska detta fjollband.
Jag väljer att citera Nigel Tufnel respektive David St Hubbins: "None more black!" och "It´s such a fine line between clever and stupid!"

Manowarkärlek här

/Niclas

Dansk trummis vs. svart badboll: 0-1



/Niclas

"Stevie Ray Vaughn is dead and we can’t get Bon Jovi near a helicopter? Come on, folks. ‘Get on that helicopter, John. Shut the fuck up and get on that helicopter! There's a hairdresser in there. Yeah, go ahead in there, yeah, yeah!"

Marc Spitz skriver om Bon Jovi i Vanity Fair och ställer frågan om det är dags att sluta förlöjliga Bon Jovi, just med tanke på att de är världens mest inkomstbringande turnésällskap 2010?

Bon Jovi VF här

/Niclas

Back from the dead!



Den gamle sångaren från Shy, Tony Mills, som numera huserar i norska TNT, är tillbaka på banan igen efter att ha varit kliniskt död i två minuter efter en hjärtinfakt i somras.

Story i VG här

/Niclas

Djuplodande analys...



Någon har haft lite tid över och plitat ner en kul story om en analys av Van Halens "Hot for teacher". Om du orkar läsa till slutet bjuds det faktiskt på en hel del rolig läsning. Bäst är nog Lita Ford-muséet och Van Halen-institutet.

Van Halen här

/Niclas

Senaste Ebayköpet!



The mighty Van Halen live på den legendariska klubben Starwood i Hollywood den 29:e juni 1976. Ett enastående musikdokument. "Limited 100 copies only". Från Japan via Sydkorea till lilla igensnöade Hägersten.

Somebody Get Me A Doctor 3:07
Babe Don't Leave Me Alone 2:55
Show Your Love 4:57
D.O.A. 4:52
Runnin' With The Devil 4:05
Let Me Swim 8:19
She's A Woman 3:22
Ice Cream Man 5:06
Believe Me 4:24
Honolulu Baby 3:42
Simple Rhyme 5:52
Eruption 6:12
House Of Pain 3:23
Eyes Of Night 4:45
I Live With Fools 11:00

/Niclas

The good, the bad, the ugly...



Decibel Magazine forstätter sin serie "Justify your shitty taste" och har nu Judas Priests "Turbo" på agendan.
Minns själv hur jag inhandlade plattan iklädd lång svart trenchcoat med uppkavlade ärmar. Detta efter att ha sett en bild på Halford iklädd något liknande. Kände mig helt klart som den tuffaste slyngeln i stan.
Faktum är dock att jag gillade plattan då och gör det fortfarande, även om Priest gick vilse bland alla synthgitarrer.

Kul artikel här

/Niclas

Kan det bli bättre?



Öppningsscenen i "Californication" säsong 4, är en fullständig kärlekskopulering mellan en ohälsosamt bra låt och en av världens all time bästa tv-serier.
Hank Moody rules!

/Niclas

Årets album 2010

Kingdom of Sorrow

"Behind the blackest tears"



Trots att jag driver den här bloggen har jag under 2010 lyssnat väldigt lite på nya alster. Mitt skivköpande har dalat och de skivor som inhandlats har istället många gånger handlat om diverse bootlegs eller diverse skivor från 70 - och 80-talet. Och sitta framför datorn för att lyssna på promodownloads är inte riktigt min grej. Jag vill ha den fysiska skivan, trots att vi skriver 2010. Därför blir denna lista ytterst kort och består av bara ett ynka band.
Dock var jag snabb med att hala fram cash för ett ex av Kingdom of Sorrows andra vax och jag blev inte besviken. Folk får skrika sig hesa över Watain, Ghost eller Dimmu Borgir, men för undertecknad är det team Windstein/Jasta som gäller hela vägen.
De följde upp sin debut med ett än vassare album och dessutom ett av de snyggaste omslagen.
Hail Kingdom of Sorrow!



/Niclas

Hur. Är. Det. Möjligt?



Pudlarna från New Jersey slår U2, Metallica, AC/DC mfl på fingrarna och drar in mest cash under 2010. Hur går detta ihop?
Personligen tappade jag intresset efter plattan "New Jersey" och har sedan dess bara uppfattat bandet som en nästan transparent upplaga av det band de en gång var. 201,1 miljoner dollar i biljettintäkter är en sinnessjuk siffra och än mer "out there" när det handlar om Bon Jovi.
Världen kommer aldrig att bli sig lik igen...

Artikel i NME här

/Niclas

Bokrecension

Mick Wall

"Enter night - Metallica the biography"



Mick Wall lyckades för nästan exakt två år sedan ge ut en fantastiskt detaljerad och välskriven biografi om Led Zeppelin, When giants walked the earth, och nu finns hans senaste bok om Metallica i en bokhandel nära dig.
Enter night är i upplägget väldigt lik boken om Led Zeppelin. Varje kapitel inleds med fragment av ett gammalt samtal med en bandmedlem eller ett möte och därefter tar historien vid.
Mick Wall har jobbat som musikjournalist i 30 år och har följt bandet sedan början och intervjuat, krökat, snortat, ätit och levt allmän rövare med medlemmarna i allehanda sammanhang. Med andra ord sitter han inne med en hel del info, vilket också ger boken en validitet som kanske saknas i liknande biografier.
Boken tar upp allt man kan önska sig om bandet, från Dave Mustaines sparkning och Ulrichs ofta hårt kritiserade trummande till Cliff Burtons tragiska död utanför Ljungby och hur Ulrich och Hammet var drivande bakom de sågade Load och Reload albumen till Hetfields stora förtret. Ingenting lämnas orört och allt får komma upp till ytan.
Wall skriver alltid väldigt bra och framförallt lyckas han trollbinda läsaren genom hela boken, vilket han även gör i detta fall. Själv har jag lyssnat igenom i stort setta hela bandets skivkatalog samt plöjt igenom filmen Some kind of monster för femtioelfte gången. Ett betyg så gott som något.
Enter night är ett självskrivet köp för varje fan av Metallica, men även för andra inte fullt lika troende lyssnare. Boken ger en väldigt bra bild om hur ett band växer från att spela i ett garage till att sälja ut de absolut största arenorna världen över och hur mycket arbete som lagts ner bakom kulisserna för att ta sig till nästa nivå, även om det ibland har inneburit att lägga sina gamla ideal och principer åt sidan, som exempelvis Ulrichs hårt kritiserade korståg mot Napster. Dock skulle de sedan själva utnyttja internets olika kanaler i samband med lanserandet av senaste albumet Death magnetic.
Läs och njut av en mycket givande och innehållsrik biografi, som åter visar att Mick Wall är en av de främsta musikjournalisterna jorden har att tillgå.

/Niclas

Sänkta priser hos Rollins idag, 27/12!



Om det nu har fallit sig som så att du har lite pengar över från julklappsinköpen, kan det vara läge nu att slänga dessa kronor på en av Henry Rollins böcker.
10% rabatt just idag.

Rollins affär här

/Niclas

"The first two things I had for the third album were “Immigrant Song” and “Friends,” which wasn’t a bad place to start."

Lång och läsvärd intervju i Guitar World med Jimmy Page om "Led Zeppelin III".

Intervju med Page här

/Niclas

Skål på dig Lars!



Idag fyller den lille glade dansken med det taskiga dangelska uttalet, 47 trumskinn.
För övrigt kan jag tipsa alla om att läsa Mick Walls nyutkomna biografi "Enter night"! Fantastiskt bra bok om bandet och skriven på ungefär samma sätt som hans mastodontbok om Led Zeppelin, "When giants walked the earth". Recension kommer snart.

/Niclas

Intervju med Gary Cherone från Extreme/Hurtsmile!



Gary Cherone är just nu aktuell med debutplattan från sitt nya band Hurtsmile, i vilket även hans bror Marcus är medlem.
Gary ringde nyligen upp mig i ett kallt Hägersten och pratade om bl a Hurtsmile, första mötet med Van Halen, gamla låtar och drömproducenten för nästa platta med Extreme.

Gary Cherone: Niclas, this is Gary Cherone!

Hey, how are you?

GC: I´m good! How are you doing?

Good! It´s cold!

GC: Yeah, it´s very cold in Boston too.

You´ve got any snow?

GC: Not yet. The Midwest got hit, so we´re prepared for it.

Alright! Well, we´re trying to survive the cold here and the suicidal bombings. It´s crazy!

GC: Yeah it is!

First up, this band Hurtsmile, what´s the story behind it and working with your brother?

GC: After all these years it´s a wonder why didn´t hook up sooner, but we had different bands. He´s a little younger than me and during the Extreme days, in the clubs, the funny thing was that he hooked up with Nuno´s brother Paul and he was in a band called Flesh. It (Hurtsmile) was a project that started in 2007 and then I had to put it on the shelf because of the Extreme reunion and we did the record and tour and then when Nuno had an opportunity to do the Rihanna tour, it made sense to finish the record. I love playing with those guys, they´re all East coast guys and I´ve known them for years and I really wanted to write a record with my brother.

Is the plan to tour with this band?

GC: Absolutely! The record is coming out on January 19th and in America on February 8th. We´re looking at dates now. Obviously the economy is tough and to get everywhere you wanna go was even impossible for Extreme. But we´ll get to Japan and do at least a handful of dates in Europe. That´s the plan and of course America is a bit easier to play.

Of course. So far I´ve only heard samples of the album and I have to say that I was surprised of the heaviness and it sounded great. Really cool music!

GC: Thank you! I wish we have an opportunity to talk a little bit more once you hear the record? That would be great!

Absolutely!

GC: I think… you know, it´s got the four basic elements. I´m very used to this three piece rock and roll band. The record is diverse and has some eclecticism on it. The majority of the record is pretty heavy. Marcus writes a great heavy memorable riff, you know, snarling riff. I´m happy you like it.

Yeah, especially “Jesus would you meet me”. A really cool song! Are you the one behind the lyrics?

GC: Yeah! It works pretty much that way in all the bands. In Extreme Nuno writes as well and is a terrific lyricist. Marcus and I collaborated on rock and roll riffs and then me scribbling some words down and a melody. That was one of the last songs we recorded on the record and Marcus played me the riff and it reminded me of a rootsy Led Zeppelin and it kind of took me there with the rootsy gospel Jesus would you meet me type of chorus. Yeah, it´s a fun song and we´re rehearsing it now.

It goes “Jesus would you meet me on the day I die”. Is that something you are still wondering about?

GC: Well, no… I do believe there is something after this life, but the song… and it´s consistent with my faith, but the song is part of the second half of the record which is conceptually knit together and the song is really a question of live after death, the meaning of life. You can apply it and you don´t have to be a Christian to understand that. I think everybody asks that; “Is this all there is to life?”. For the Christian, he´s praying to Jesus, for the Jew he´s praying to Yahweh and so on and so on.

The song, which I understand is based on the Daniel Pearl story, the “Kaffer” song, when did the idea for that song come about? Was that something you had from when it happened or…?

GC: Yeah, it´s so funny… a title or a theme could be in my head for ten plus years. I remember having “Kid ego” in my head since high school, before I wrote that in Extreme and I was in a bunch of different bands before I decided to write that one. You mentioned the bombing! How can you not be affected by what´s going on in the world. I wish you´d heard the song. Musically it´s one of the heaviest songs I´ve ever done and musically the band is ferocious on it. Lyrically I wanted to… it´s almost the question of what it would take to be a martyr. Would you die for your beliefs? It´s taken from the murderers’ point of view, so lyrically it´s very disturbing. Daniel Pearl is what actually inspired it. There´s been many other beheadings, but it´s more of a general sense.

Are there plans for another album after this one and the tour?

GC: Yeah, we´ve finished the record and we´re excited that it´s coming out and we actually wrote some more stuff that we plan on putting out at the time of the release. Just on the Net, because if we´re gonna go out and tour this thing, I´d like to have a little bit more material, so I don´t have to dip too much into the past. I will do a few older tracks, but the more the band writes the better it gets, so that´s the plan. . With Extreme, we´re writing and we´ll have some new music next year as well. The bands won´t conflict because Nuno´s got some things to do with Rihanna and we´re able to get together over the Internet.

This album is released on Frontiers as well and was that just a natural step since Extreme´s last album was on Frontiers as well?

GC: Yeah, those were obviously the obvious… we had an obligation to tell them and they were interested and I think they would be interested in a Nuno project or anything with Extreme. They liked what they heard and they offered us a deal we liked and the same with JVC. There were a few other interesting things but I was so eager to… it was a little bit of a long process in scheduling and getting this record finished. I really wanted the record to come out and I´m happy it´s coming out in January.

What´s the story behind the name Hurtsmile?

GC: (laughs) I guess that´s an inside joke with my brother. That´s one of the toughest thing to do, to name a band. This is the first time in my life actually, that I came up with a name that everyone liked the first time. They scratched their head a bit and I had to explain it. I said “Marc, I´ve got the name of the band!” and he goes “What is it?”. I said “Hurtsmile!” and that goes back 30 years when we were growing up as kids, me and my brother and my friend were playing football or messing around in the house… I grew up with four brothers so there were a lot of fighting going on and that term came from like if someone got hurt, if they fell down and they were in pain but didn´t want to cry in front of the rest of the kids, they couldn´t hide that. They tried to smile through the pain and everyone would point and go “Hurtsmile, hurtsmile!”. So he laughed and I think it works, like Black Sabbath or Iron Butterfly, the opposite names. Hurtsmile, isn´t that what we do in life? Smile through pain? They like it and it´s humorous.
It´s a good name!

GC. Oh, thanks man!

I was kind of wondering about your last name Cherone? Where does that come from? Is it French?

GC: No! The pronunciation sounds that way, but it´s Italian. The original spelling was Cirone and it was pronounced “Keroni”. My grandfather on my father´s side came over to America and it was Americanized. For a lot of people it sounds like Shalom and they think I´m Jewish or French, but it´s Italian.

Have you been back to where your grandparents came from?

GC: No. We´ve toured Italy quite a few times. Seems like the only place we play is Milan. Both my parents and grandparents came from the Motherland. My grandfather was Sicilian, so don´t mess with me! (laughs)

You mentioned that with Extreme you´re working on some new stuff and I also realized that it´s the 20th anniversary of the release of “Pornograffitti” this year. I read somewhere that you had plans of doing something before the end of the year. Do you still have any plans of playing?

GC: We really messed with that idea and we were excited to do it, but scheduling didn´t permit it because of Nuno´s Rihanna thing and I don´t blame him. It was an intriguing gig. He says it´s great, but he misses the rock and roll part of Extreme. I think someday… we missed the 20th anniversary, but I´d like to do a string of dates and do the whole record because there are some songs there that we haven´t done in over 20 years or let alone, I think, have ever done. Maybe get some horns out for “Get the funk out” and “Li´l Jack Horny” and some of those tracks.

Originally when you wrote that album, who came up with the title and what´s the story behind it?

GC: (laughs) “Pornograffitti” was a song before we named the record. It was a group of songs we were writing. We were writing those songs, believe it or not, on the first album tour because our first album was delayed a year and we were pissed off and we were playing all the old songs on the road and we were writing, what we thought, was better music. “Pornograffitti” was one of those songs and usually I write a crop of lyrics and they usually are connected theme wise, so when we wrote this, it became that loose knit storyline. We were gonna call the record “Extreme II” just like “Queen II” and all that, but we couldn´t decide so the record is actually called “Extreme II Pornograffitti”, which is very confusing. The record company said “Decide! Either call it Extreme II or call it Pornograffitti!” and of course Extreme said “No, we´re gonna call ém both!”.

I bought that album when it came out and played it 24/7 and the song “More than words” was a big hit over here. Writing as song like that, when you´re writing it and recording it, do you ever get the feeling “This might be something!”?

GC: I´ve been asked that and Nuno has been asked that. We knew when we wrote it that it was a good song, we knew it was one of the better Extreme songs and we showed it to the guys and said “We´re thinking about keeping it simple, acoustic, and not add drums.” And both Pat and Paul were like “Absolutely, don´t touch the song!”. But there´s no way in a million years that we´d think that it would become that big. It was bigger than the band and it was so big even the audience got confused. People would go and buy the record… You´d have housewives going in and go “We like that pretty ballad.” And someone would say “Yeah, that´s the band Extreme and the album Pornograffitti!”. “No, no!”. “Yes, yes, you are talking about that!”. That was funny and frustrating, but in retrospect it was the song that introduced the world to the band. We were really fortunate. That really bought us our freedom in the studio.

Yeah. I listened to that album not that long ago and there are some favorite songs of mine like “Li´l Jack Horny” and stuff like that. I´m just wondering, were there a lot of leftovers that didn´t make it and stuff you´ve got laying around?

GC: Yeah, there were a few demos that haven´t been out. Some of them have leaked out in really bad sounding bootlegs. A few of those songs made it to the next record like “Color me blind” and two or three others. You make me think of “Pornograffitti” and I just remember, for me when I listen to it, the Nuno riffs blow me away every time. This last tour he was blowing me away. He was just ferocious playing, so that´s what I think of “Pornograffitti”. It´s funny to listen back. Some of the arrangements you would do different and you would think of a vocal take and go “Ah, I could sing that better now!”, but I guess that´s always what you do when you´re listening to old stuff. I´ll probably be saying that when I listen to Hurtsmile in five years.

On your latest record, which is a really good record as well, a favorite song of mine is the bonus track “Americocaine”…

GC: Aha! (laughs)

And I interviewed Nuno when that album was released and said that I never understood why it wasn´t released, because it´s such a killer song?

GC: Thanks! You know what? It was always a matter of time with Extreme. Me and Nuno were always moving forward and old songs fell by the way side. There´s a lot of stuff that was unfinished and some demos, like I said, where the quality wasn´t great and for us to go back and maybe dig one up and re-record it, is a long shot. We´re removed from that. But why those things happened I don´t know. I always liked “Americocaine”! It´s not the first song, but at least the second song me and Nuno wrote together. It was written with the bass player at the time, before Pat, in the clubs and Nuno had just joined my band and there was still a little metal, Randy Rhoads thing going on. Yeah, I like “Americocaine”. Another one on the Japanese release was “Mr Bates”. Go YouTube that and you´ll dig that! Same period of time.

Nice! When you were singing with Van Halen, do you have any memory of the first meeting you had with those guys and the first jam session? Do you remember what songs you played? Was it just Van Halen songs?

GC: Yeah, that was the plan. Here I am, just getting out of Extreme, I had a vocal operation and that year I did “Jesus Christ Superstar” and my manager says “You´re gonna be auditioning for Van Halen!” and I go “Yeah, right!” and he goes “No, really!”. Eddie called me and we had a great conversation and we talked about maybe five or six songs I´ll learn. A couple from the Sammy era and a couple from the Dave era and I remember arriving there in the afternoon… I knew Michael Anthony before that and he came out and greeted me. Alex and Eddie were in the studio 5150 at the time and I go “Hey Mike, what´s up man?”. I´d met him a few times and he remembered me and I go “You gotta help me out here man, I´m a little nervous!” and he goes “Nah, don´t worry about it!”. Then Eddie literally came out and shook my hand and said “Hey man, you ready to sing?”. I go “Yeah! You mind if I go to the bathroom?”. (laughs) So I went to the bathroom and said a little prayer, you know, “Just let me do good!”. (laughs)” If I´m not in the band, so what!”. Believe it or not, I went in there and I had nothing to lose. I sang… I think it was “Panama” and then we had a little break and he showed me what was to become “Without you” and we wrote that and I even think some of that take was even on the record.

Wow, cool! I know you did a video for that one at the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden. Who came up with that idea?

GC: That was the record company. Believe it or not, but our portion was done in LA.

You´re kidding?

GC: Do you believe that? They shipped in all this ice and created this wall of ice and it was melting slowly. They used footage with the girl from the one in Sweden and our performance was done in LA in a hangar.

I always thought you guys were up there. (laughs)

GC: Yeah, that´s funny! You should´ve seen it! It was like walking into an ice cave with fans all over and this is the first video and we´re all in winter coats and you walk outside and it´s hot outside.

The funny thing about Van Halen was that I interviewed Eric Martin from Mr Big recently, and he auditioned for Van Halen.

GC: I didn´t know that!

Well, he chickened out. He went as far as he walked up the road to Eddie´s house and he had met Sammy Hagar at the airport and he had told him that he´d gotten the job, so he never really auditioned. He chickened out. It´s a cool story.

GC: Wow, that´s interesting!

What´s going on with Tribe of Judah?

GC: Well, that was the case of… I don´t wanna blame anybody, but the management wasn´t together and the record company wasn´t together. It was very disappointing because I was very proud of the record and the guys I´m still in touch with and obviously Pat was in the band and a couple of other guys and one of them joined Nuno´s band. I really wanted to do another record and it just kind of dismantled and I went somewhere else. I needed a break. It was right after Van Halen and I didn´t want to do the three piece rock band, so I wanted to experiment a bit and towards the end it wasn´t a great experience. It´s so funny, right now, after the Extreme tour, now with Hurtsmile, this is where I want to be. A three piece rock band and it´s my comfort zone. It´s a good place for me so I enjoy doing what I´m doing.

Going back to Extreme again, the new album, will you produce it yourselves or get an outside producer?

GC: There´s talk of a few people. It would be great to get an A-list name. I don´t know if that happens? My dream producer would probably be Rick Rubin. Here´s a guy that´s done Johnny Cash, the Chili Peppers and you know, Neil Diamond.

And Slayer!

GC: And Slayer! Yeah, he´s the guy that pulls the best out of the band. He doesn´t overwhelm the band and make it a Rick Rubin production, like some producers.

That would be really cool Gary!
Well, it was really nice talking to you! My time is up and I hope we´ll be able to talk some more later on?

GC: Definitely! Thanks a lot man!

/Niclas

Slayer goes to church!

YouTube har blockerat klippet pga tillståndsförbud från Sony, så jag hittade istället klippet på vad som troligen är en rysk sida.

/Niclas

Idioti är en väl utbredd sjukdom.



Tom Goododwyn på NME skriver om homofobi inom hårdrocken i anledning av en nyligen publicerad intervju med "the Metal God". Dock kan man väl bara konstatera att denna form av total idioti finns inom alla musikgenrer och inom alla samhällsskick, tyvärr.
Vad gäller artikeln så är det nästan mer läsvärt att ögna igenom kommentarerna från diverse kloka och även okloka läsare.

Artikel i NME här

/Niclas

"I know this year has one week left but I am already in 2011. I have a lot of plans and hope to get them realized."

Henry är lite frustrerad och skriver bl a om "Don´t ask, don´t tell!" i militären, vilket nu äntligen blivit avskaffat, och om Abraham Lincolns briljans.

Rollins här

/Niclas

Idag skålar vi lite extra för Lemmy!

Världens mest ultimata rocker blir idag 65 bassträngar.

Skål Lemmy!

/Niclas

Bon Jovi i Australien!



Som sagt, fram till och med "Slippery when wet" var det gamla Jerseybandet ganska kul. Numera handlar det mest om übersmetiga fulcountryballader och att vara rådgivare åt president Obama. Så långt från rock and roll man kan komma.
Bandet har precis avverkat en handfull konserter down under och får, konstigt nog, överlag bra recensioner för gigen i Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane och Sydney.

Recensioner i Sidney Morning Herald här

/Niclas

Metal Shrine önskar alla en God Jul!



/Niclas

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away...



Långt innan droger, aids, fyllor och bråk kört bandet i botten, tillhörde Ratt den exklusiva skaran band som kunde fylla stora arenor i USA.
Här i ett härligt skakigt liveklipp från Madison Square Garden 200387. Bootleg som detta ser man inte längre, vilket är både bra och dåligt.

/Niclas

Galenskap på högsta nivå!



"23121985, Judas Priest fans Raymond Belknap and James Vance shot themselves after listening to the Judas Priest album ‘Stained Class.’ The two had drunk beer, smoked marijuana and then listened to hours of the album. Afterwards they took a shotgun to a nearby school playground where Belknap shot and killed himself. Vance then blew away his jaw, mouth and nose but lived for more than three years before dying of effects of the shooting."

Vem minns inte denna fullkomliga galenskap som ledde till en rättegång under sommaren 1990 i Reno, Nevada, där Judas priest stod anklagade för dolda meddelanden på skivan "Stained class" och främst i låten "Better by you, better than me"? Dessutom är ju inte låten skriven av Priest, utan av det tyvärr oftast bortglömda Spooky Tooth.

/Niclas

Creatures of the night!



Jag har alltid tyckt att "Creatures of the night" (1982) är ett av KISS starkaste album och sällan har väl någon lyckats prestera ett sådand Bonham-sound som Eric Carr gjorde på detta album.
Här en intressant och givande intervju från sagda album. Dessutom korta liveklipp från Sao Paulo 1983.

/Niclas

Skicka ett lite annorlunda kort till dina vänner!



Istället för de vanliga Hallmarkkorten finns det nu ett alternativ att skicka till den du håller kär eller kanske tycker riktigt illa om. Eller varför inte ett alternativt julkort?

Mer info här

/Niclas