Gene Simmons is running out of products to pitch or be a part of.
He’s pretty much a marketing machine. Now you can add “voice of Guitar Hero 6″ to his resume.
Watch the video below as he explains.
South America was not good to Axl Rose and Guns ‘N Roses this weekend. In fact, it was a complete mess.
First, the rumored secret shows issue. There have been several that have been talked about for weeks, with Axl denying them along the way. However, word got out that there was a true secret show on Friday night. Fans waited until 3AM, until they realized the band was never going to show up, which sparked a riot.
Saturday night wasn’t good either. In the pouring rain, GNR had to cancel their show due to a collapsed portion of their stage. Not to mention, Sebastian Bach’s driver with all of his equipment rolled his truck several times over the weekend. At this time, nobody knows whether he’s alive or dead. Aaah to be Axl Rose. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
Follow Axl on Twitter. He has more on this and other events. NSFW!
Not only will he be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Genesis soon, we have learned that Phil Collins will be honored at June 17th’s Songwriters Hall of Fame gala.
What’s next, Guitar Hero?
Yesterday, we reported that Pink Floyd weren’t happy about the way their label handled their songs digitally. Some songs were being combined together, which lost the band potential earnings.
Now Pink Floyd have won the first battle, in what’s sure to be a long war. A judge has ordered EMI to pay all of the bands legal fees, while yanking all downloads from iTunes and Amazon.
The bad news, you likely won’t be able to buy their music digitally anymore, so buy them up now. They will likely be gone.
My first thoughts when I heard that the record label/Hendrix Estate were releasing another posthumous album by Jimi Hendrix… was “uhhg, please spare us”. But now that we have the album in hand and I’ve had a chance to listen to it for awhile, I’ve changed my opinion. Past dredging of the Hendrix vaults have given us material that was sonically a bunch of noise or song wise were best left unfinished. But Jimi’s “Latest” “Valleys of Neptune” is actually quite good. Discovering unreleased alternate versions of songs that Jimi Hendrix cut during his brief 1967 to 1970 reign has been hit and miss affair over the years. Every so often nuggets turn up. But to find a complete, undiscovered song, well, that is a true “Eureka” moment.
Now there are four never-before-heard songs to unveil: “Valleys of Neptune,” the psychedelic title track. “Ships Passing Through the Night,” an ambitious precursor to the orchestral “Nightbird Flying”; and two April 1969 leftovers from the original Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Lullaby for the Summer” and “Crying Blue Rain.”
The disc also has a vicious full-band version of “Hear My Train A Comin’,” which first appeared as a 12-string acoustic solo performance on the soundtrack to the 1973 documentary A Film About Jimi Hendrix. But that’s not the end of the surprises you’ll find on “Valleys of Neptune”.
Ten of the album’s 12 tracks were cut in 1969, when Hendrix was at the height of his creative powers and typically spent the nights that he wasn’t on the road hitting a nightclub and then heading into the studio until after daybreak. It only took the opening notes of the first track, plucked harmonics floating on the wobble of Hendrix’s guitar’s whammy bar, to dispel my cynicism about this exceptionally engineered posthumous CD. The sound quality and performances are both excellent.
The disc starts with a stripped down ’69 version of “Stone Free” that radically departs from the hit single that Jimi originally cut in 1966, with a more driving, funky bottom end generated in part by the replacement of original Experience bassist Noel Redding with the R&B leaning Billy Cox. “Valleys of Neptune” comes next. A few tracks of the song appeared in a demo-like form on Lifelines in 1990, but this is re-mastered and it makes a big difference
Then Hendrix revisits Elmore James’s “Bleeding Heart” again, displaying his beautiful vibrato as he explores the song’s theme of loneliness, with D.C.-area drummer Rocky Isaac replacing Mitch Mitchell. It’s followed by a staggeringly grungy, dirty take on “Hear My Train A Comin’ ”, complete with explosive bluesy fireworks. Hendrix vocally scats along with the notes his legendary flying fingers are producing, making this as a far different version than the electric performance on the 1994 collection Blues. The next track, “Mr. Bad Luck,” also appeared in part on Lifelines and this version was obviously a work in progress to the version of “Look Over Yonder” we heard there. The vocal is rougher, the guitar less blazing, and the rhythm less commanding, but it is still fascinating listening to see how Hendrix would build upon previous sketches of songs.
Even before the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s debut album was finished Hendrix and his band were playing Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” on stage. The song remained a regular in Hendrix’s concert sets throughout his career, and the Valleys of Neptune version is roaring unreleased studio instrumental performance that finds Hendrix riffing extending the song out to over six minutes. Next comes a slowed-down “Lover Man,” which has appeared on live and studio releases in its typical form, but this version is based on super-heated strumming and gutty, gritty blue notes colored by splashes of wah-wah and his signature slides and vibrato.
“Ships Passing Through the Night” has a musical theme suggested by Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.” The studio version of “Fire” that follows is fast and furious, like the on-stage renditions that have been captured on many live Hendrix recordings. But it’s the 1969 version of one of my favorite Hendrix tracks, “Red House” that truly makes this album a keeper for me. It was cut at London’s Olympic Studios and is a surprise for its sensitivity and restraint. It takes almost five minutes for him to really uncork a solo, and then it’s a lesson in guitar gymnastics that reveals his debt to Albert King the influences of Eric Clapton at his fiery Cream era best.
The ultimate test of any new Hendrix album, live or studio, to me is whether it achieves a level of quality comparable to the four albums he released during his lifetime, and while it’s not quite that quality through and through, Valleys of Neptune is easily one of the best posthumous Hendrix albums released. I would buy it… if hadn’t found this copy in the mail a couple weeks ago!!
To hear the Eagle’s Valleys of Neptune radio special on demand click here___http://www2.eagle969.com/listen_____________
The much talked about Jimi Hendrix album is in stores today. It’s called Valleys of Neptune, with 12 songs that were never officially released. These are from the final recording sessions, done over four months in 1969. There’s even a nice take of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” From what I’ve heard, this is a strong collection.
Check out the new video for the title track, “Valleys of Neptune” below.
The Kinks Mick Avory has confirmed that a new album is set to be released soon. Expect unreleased material, and possibly a couple of new songs added to the album.
Eight songs exist already with more on the way.
The reason for the delay has been-what else-because of the brothers Dave and Ray Davies inability to agree.
No word on when to expect the album.
Keith Richards is always a quotable one, and he doesn’t disappoint in this Rolling Stone article.
He addresses his rumored sobriety with-“Listen, the rumors of my sobriety are greatly exaggerated,” he says. “And we’ll leave it at that.”
He also talks about a new Stones record, and what the band might do if they tour again.
Sting has just announced a set of dates with an orchestra. You’re in luck. It will land in Northern California in Concord at the Sleep Train Pavilion, Saturday June 12th.
Sting is promising to do several Police tracks, as well as solo numbers with this orchestra, which could be pretty cool. I’m sure Kat Maudru will be first in line.
A UK radio station asked it’s listeners what the best live albums of all time were. For my money, I would have to put The Who’s Live at Leeds at #1, but that only made it at #4 on this list. o, they picked Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous as their #1 live album. #2 was Deep Purple’s Made In Japan, #3 UFO’s Strangers in the Night, and #5 AC/DC’s If You Want Blood.
No Stones? #33 only for Get Your Ya Ya’s Out. Frampton Comes Alive only made it at #8! What are your favorite live albums? What would you put at #1?
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