Aerosmith Guitarist To Have Surgery

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is putting down his ax while he goes under the knife.

Perry canceled a solo show scheduled for April 5 in Niagara Falls, N.Y., so he can recover from knee surgery, spokeswoman Marcee Rondan said in a statement released Monday.

Rondan said Perry has needed knee surgery for two years but put off the procedure so he wouldn't miss any Aerosmith tour dates.

The 57-year-old's knee finally gave out early this month after a pair of performances with his two sons. That prompted his doctor to schedule the surgery for March 18.

Thanks for the info to Yahoo! News.

Muse: New Album To Have '15-Minute Space-Rock Solo'

Muse frontman Matt Bellamy has revealed his plans for the band’s future.

The star explained that he’d like their next album to feature more prog influences as well as a dancier feel.

Talking to NME, the singer and guitarist said: "I think on the next album I’d like to do at least one 15-minute space-rock solo."

He added: "Apart from that, 'Supermassive Black Hole' (2006 UK Top Five single) opened up a new area for us of dancing, grooving, rhythm section-dominated songs. I’d love to do more stuff like that really."

In related news, Muse are playing at the Royal Albert hall as part of the charity shows for the Teenage Cancer Trust next month. The band said there's not gonna be the usual lights and special effects though.

Muse have also admitted they'd be up for writing the next James Bond theme.

As one of the biggest British bands of the moment - Matt Bellamy says - he doens't see them performing it, but has someone in mind who could.

Kiss: 'Rock'N'Roll Is In A Pathetic State'

Kiss legend Gene Simmons has slammed the current state of rock’n’roll music during a visit to Australia.

Speaking ahead of the band’s performance this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, Simmons said that rock’n’roll was in a “pathetic state”.

"Bands think they can get up on stage and strum their guitars and then download it - it's useless and pathetic.

"We're sick and tired of seeing bands getting up on stage and not giving value for your buck," he told the Australian Herald.

Kiss’s Paul Stanley added that they weren’t worried about ever losing touch with their audience.

"Kiss music is universal, ageless - we always find a new audience,” he said. “We don't need to to look for an audience - the audience finds us."

Credits for the info to Gigwise.com.

Kid Rock Causes Scene At A Waffle House

Kid Rock caused another scene at a Waffle House — this time, for charity. The entertainer came to sign autographs for hundreds of fans during a fundraiser at the suburban Atlanta eatery. The event came just a week after Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery from a fight last fall at another Waffle House.

Waffle House spokeswoman Kelly Thrasher said the Atlanta-based company wanted to "take a negative situation and turn it into a positive situation."

Proceeds were to go to Nicholas House, a homeless shelter for families in DeKalb County, where the 37-year-old entertainer was arrested last October following a fight with a customer. Ritchie was scheduled to serve food to Waffle House customers Tuesday but changed plans when he realized he would only have time to sign autographs before his concert scheduled for later in the evening at nearby Gwinnett Arena.

Ritchie said he wanted to make up for the fight.

"The whole situation before was kind of silly," he said as he signed autographs for fans. "We just thought after that unfortunate incident we'd try to do something silly but something more positive."

With posters, CDs, guitars and hats in hand, the line of Kid Rock fans snaked around the building for hours waiting for an autograph and photo with the hick-hop star.

Some of the fans drove hundreds of miles to see him.

First in line: Ashley Miles, 21, from Morgantown, W. Va., and her mother, Terri Miles, from Maryland. They arrived at 8:30 p.m. Monday, set up chairs and waited all night.

"I love him; he is gorgeous," the daughter said.

Next in line: Alisha Mullen and husband Wes Mullen, who arrived at 3:30 a.m. from Point Pleasant, W. Va. They brought sons Carson Taylor, 7, and Brady Taylor, 10.

When asked what he would say to Kid Rock, Carson smiled and said, "I'm a cowboy, baby," mimicking Ritchie's hit song.

Police say Ritchie's tour bus had stopped at another area Waffle House on Oct. 21 after a performance in downtown Atlanta; an exchange of words with a customer escalated into a fight that spilled from the restaurant out into the parking lot.

Officers took Ritchie and five members of his entourage into custody about a mile down the road after the group left the Waffle House.

It's not Ritchie's first public altercation. About a month before the Waffle House incident, he was cited in a police report for misdemeanor battery after he was accused of slapping and punching Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. (Both musicians are ex-husbands of Pamela Anderson, who was a presenter at the show.) Charges were never filed in the case.

Thanks for the info to Yahoo! News.

Radiohead To Release 'Nude' Single

Radiohead are to release Nude as the next single from their In Rainbows album and it will be backed by new b-sides.

XL Recordings release Nude on March 31st as a 7", CD and download. The 7" holds b-side 4 Minute Warning and the CD boasts Down Is The New Up.

Those who bought the limited In Rainbows discbox set last year will recognise the b-sides as songs included on Disc 2.

To coincide with the the release of Nude, Radiohead will also be giving fans the chance to remix the song - details of that will be announced shortly.

7" Track Listing:

A. Nude
B. 4 Minute Warning

CD Track Listing:

01. Nude
02. Down Is The New Up

Thanks for the info to Angryape.com.

Metallica: More Album Details

Virginia Fuel, Virginia's local chapter of the Metallica Club, published an interview with Lars Ulrich's longtime assistance Steven Wiig. Here is excerpt from the chat:

Have you had a chance to listen to the new stuff that Metallica is working on?

Steve Wiig: "I hear it all of the time. I can't get away from it. I'm usually in or around the studio with them. There's some fast stuff, heavy stuff, slow stuff. There's some stuff on there that sounds a little bit closer to the "Fade to Black" / "Sanitarium" / "One"-style. the clean riff thing, a great melody. Verse stuff with the heavy chorus and the ending blows the shit out of the roof. It's cool to hear them doing that kind of thing again. That's what Rick Rubin has been saying; don't be afraid of doing more of what you do really well. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Just make a really good Metallica album."

"So far — as far as I know — James is doing all of the lyrics, and not necessarily like what was done for "St. Anger". I’d imagine Rubin would want James to go off into his own world and tap into his own things and get lyrics that come from the heart. I think James' track record has definitely shown he is capable of coming up with some deep lyrics when he taps into it on his own. I'm anxious to hear what he digs up lyrically."

Steven Ray Wiig is an American musician and film actor. He is the drummer in the band Papa Wheelie, fronted by former Metallica bass player Jason Newsted and appears in the films Into the Wild under director Sean Penn and Some Kind of Monster. He currently resides in Sausalito, Marin County, California and works with Metallica. He is a close friend and Personal Assistant to Lars Ulrich.

Credits for the info to encycmet.com.

Axl Rose Book Author On 'Elliot In The Morning'

According to Blabbermouth.net, British rock journalist Mick Wall, who just released his new biography of Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, "W.A.R.: The Unauthorized Biography of William Axl Rose", was recently interviewed by "Elliot in the Morning". Download the chat as an MP3 audio file at this location.

In a recent interview with Lafayette's daily newspaper Journal & Courier, Wall stated about the reclusive Guns N' Roses singer, "Axl turned 46 last Wednesday (February 6). The last time he released an album of original material he was 29. Now he is closer to 50. THE BEATLES' career started and was over in half that time."

Published Feb. 7, "W.A.R." is available at Borders Books & Music and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Wall said the book's release near Rose's birthday was a coincidence.

Wall said Rose has "50 or 60 tracks recorded, enough for three or four CDs" and those leaked online or on bootlegs have been well-received from GNR fans.

"Officially put it out all online," Wall suggested. "Here it is. Take it or leave it. Then just move on. Put them out. It's a sign of madness that it has taken this long. It was kind of cool crazy in 2002 when he started to tour again. Now it's uncool crazy.

"The tracks I've heard, a lot of it is really good but the whole mystique is wearing away."

My Chemical Romance Stretches 'Black Parade' Finale

My Chemical Romance has expanded its final US run in support of platinum-selling album "The Black Parade."

In addition to adding a few new cities to the spring schedule--Cleveland; New York; Birmingham, AL; St. Louis, MO; and Columbus, OH--the theatrical alt-rockers have tacked on second nights in Portland, OR; Chicago; Detroit and Philadelphia. They also have two-night stands booked in Las Vegas and San Francisco, and will cross the border April 12 for a festival gig in Mexico City.

The previously announced Denver show has been moved from April 13 to 14, and tickets will be honored for the new date.

My Chemical Romance, which is currently wrapping a tour of South America, has tapped Billy Talent and Drive By to open the US outing, which is set to launch March 28 in Tempe, AZ. The coast-to-coast trek will visit intimate venues, with one exception: the May 9 finale at New York City's legendary Madison Square Garden. Bassist Mikey Way called the gig "the show of our dreams" in a posting at MCR's website.

"This is a great goodbye to 'The Black Parade' tour and the beginning of the next chapter in MCR," he said. "Not only that, but we get to share it with our best friends in the world--Taking Back Sunday and Drive By."

Read more at LiveDaily.com.

Plain White Ts Working On New Album

Plain White T's, fresh off their Grammy Style Studio and Awards appearance, have revealed they're working on their next album. The re-released version of Every Second Counts spawned the monster hit "Hey There Delilah" and gave the band a trip to play malls across America as well as tour with Fall Out Boy.

Video clip :

Higgenson said that the band will hit the studio this spring.

Tom Writing New Plain White Ts Album

"Yeah, there's actually half of the new album written already. We're going to record it as soon as we're done touring in about April/May. We're going to be recording a new album, definitely writing non-stop, on the road. I've probably written about fifteen songs so far, and out of those I think the band all likes six or seven of those songs. Like I said we're about halfway there, ten more songs written. Hopefully we'll get the last six, and like I said, we'll be ready to record April/May."

Higgenson and the rest of the Plain White T's have had a whirlwind year, and he was asked what the most surreal part of it was.

Plain White Ts On Most Surreal

"Most surreal part? I mean, look around. It's all surreal. We're getting free...everything. Everything just keeps getting stranger and stranger."

Plain White T's lost both of their nominations in the Song Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals categories. The band is in Australia playing the Soundwave touring festival, but in the meantime Higgenson has teamed with Ashlee Simpson for a duet titled "Little Miss Obsessive," and fans can search for it on the internet.

10 Great Greatest Hits Albums

Few bands can crank out one classic album after another—obvious exceptions being the Beatles, U2, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Nirvana, Miles Davis, the Sex Pistols … did we already mention the Beatles? But for bands whose genius is a bit more hit or miss, there is the greatest hits album, that perfectly edited compilation of singles and album highpoints that—when it all comes together just right—elevates a band from a perpetual three-star act into a stratospheric five-star favorite that you’ll wonder how you ever lived without. (How do you think I got suckered into buying the entire Billy Joel back catalog?). Here’s a quick look at 10 bands whose incredible career-spanning compilations outshine any of their individual works, according to Aidin Vaziri's article at Gibson.com.

# David Bowie Best of Bowie

Why pick just one Bowie era when you can have them all? From Thin White Duke to silver-haired fox, this comprehensive two-disc set covers all of Bowie’s career highlights, including classics like “Ziggy Stardust” and “Rebel, Rebel,” plus guilty pleasures like “China Girl” and Tin Machine’s “Under the God.”

# Bob Dylan Dylan

The folk hero has released something like 573 official albums, some of them very good, others not so much. Why risk blowing $12 on a lousy one when you can just get this three-disc trawl through the best of the best? And by that we mean it includes the oft-covered “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Lay, Lady, Lay,” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

# Duran Duran Greatest

They may have successfully put the pastel suits behind them but these high-flying British new wave icons never managed to make another album as good or as popular as their 1982 sophomore release, Rio. But, as this 19-track compilation reveals, they kept cranking out Killers-inspiring singles like “The Wild Boys” and “Notorious” well into the grunge era, where this compilation leaves off with the moody “Come Undone.”

# James Brown 20 All-Time Greatest Hits

Quick—which James Brown album has “Night Train?” What about “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag?” “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud?” Who cares? They’re all here, along with every other incredible, essential funk track known to the history of man. Not a single grunt or slap-bass note is wasted.

# The Clash Essential Clash

London Calling is great and everything, but do you have 17 hours to spare to listen to 1980’s triple album Sandinista! just to find out it only has a few good songs? This two-disc set does what the Clash promised but sometimes failed to deliver—it cuts the crap and offers 40 vital punk-ska-reggae-rock classics, including “White Riot,” “Train in Vain,” and, yes, “Rock the Casbah.”

# The Rolling Stones Forty Licks

Honestly, this is a toss-up between the Stones’ two compilation albums Forty Licks and Hot Rocks 1964-1971. But since Forty Licks draws the best songs off some of the band’s least impressive albums it takes the cake for having the insight to place “Miss You” and “Shattered” alongside “Ruby Tuesday” and “Paint It Black.”

# New Order The Best of New Order

This group has released nearly as many best-of compilations as actual albums, if not more. That’s because they know that by lining up all their moody, pulse-quickening synth-pop singles such as “Bizarre Live Triangle” and “Blue Monday” back-to-back, it effectively renders all competitors—Depeche Mode, Erasure, the Pet Shop Boys—totally useless.

# Blondie Greatest Hits

“Heart of Glass.” “Rapture.” “Atomic.” Could Debbie Harry and company possibly do anything wrong? Well, yeah, if you go back and listen to the albums that spawned those songs. Instead, stick with this flawless set.

# The Doors The Best of the Doors

Ever heard The Soft Parade? If you thought it sounded like Jim Morrison retching for half-an-hour, you’re not the only one. The Best of the Doors—a classic, recently expanded set—strips the band of their pretension and propensity for bluesy filler and reveals them as the ultimate singles band, capable of bending weird psychedelic trips into amazing pop fodder like “People Are Strange” and “Love Her Madly.”

# Journey Greatest Hits

Along with Def Leppard, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, and Styx, Journey could eliminate everything else they ever put out before their greatest-hits sets and the world would be no worse for the wear. Not when “Open Arms,” “Lights,” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” all happily coexist right here. Such is the power of an effective greatest-hits disc!


Thanks for the article to Gibson.com.