Classic Rock News

Whitesnake is revisiting their 2008 comeback album, Good To Be Bad, with a new reissue. They’re set to drop the new retrospective Still Good To Be Bad on April 28, just a few days after the original release’s 15th anniversary.

Still Good To Be Bad will be released in a variety of formats, including a four-CD/Blu-ray set that includes a newly remastered version of the original album, along with a newly remixed version. There will also be rare and unreleased studio and live recordings, plus music videos, interviews and performance clips from the world tour that accompanied the original release.

But that’s not all. The 2023 remix album will be released as a two-LP vinyl set, as well.

And fans are now getting their first taste of what to expect from the remixed record, with the release of the new version of “Can You Hear The Wind Blow.”

Good To Be Bad, released April 21, 2008, was Whitesnake’s 10th studio album. At the time it was their first album in over a decade, their first release since 1997’s Restless Heart.

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U2 is set to release their new album, Songs of Surrender, on March 17, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day — but music fans at Notre Dame have an extra special reason to run out and get it. The band is set to release a special vinyl pressing of the album for the college, limited to only 2,500 copies.

The Fighting Irish’s edition will include 16 acoustic and reimagined recordings, and it will come on blue and gold vinyl. It will also include Notre Dame-inspired pictures of the band members, the Notre Dame monogram on the included poster and all four records, a special Notre Dame sticker and more.

The special edition is now available for preorder, while supplies last, with a limited amount to be sold at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore on March 17.

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Pearl Jam is celebrating the 25th anniversary of their fifth studio album, Yield, and they’ve got lots of treats for fans. 

The celebrations kick off with the just-released new spatial audio mix of the album, produced and mixed by Josh Evans and Nick Rives, who have worked on Pearl Jam’s previous spatial audio releases. 

That will be followed by a deluxe 25th anniversary 12-inch vinyl reissue of the album from Vinyl Me, Please and the band’s Ten Club. The anniversary edition marks the first time the album will be released on two LPs; it will come out on 180g translucent red and black hi-melt vinyl. It is also the first pressing to be done at VMP’s new audiophile-grade pressing plant in Denver, Colorado. Fans can preorder it at Vinyl Me, Please and the Pearl Jam website. The item is expected to ship this summer.

Plus, as previously reported, Pearl Jam is also releasing the live album Give Way on vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day on April 22. The 17-track set was originally recorded in 1998 in Australia during the Yield tour.

Originally released on February 3, 1998, Yield features such future Pearl Jam classics as “Given To Fly,” “Do The Evolution” and “Wishlist.” The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 Album chart and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

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The band Elegant Weapons, which features Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner and Rainbow vocalist Ronnie Romero, has a released a new song called “Blind Leading the Blind.”

The track marks the first single from the group, which also features Uriah Heep bassist Dave Rimmer and Accept drummer Christopher Williams.

You can listen to “Blind Leading the Blind” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

“Blind Leading the Blind” will appear on the debut Elegant Weapons album, Horns for a Halo, due out May 26. The record also features contributions from Priest drummer Scott Travis and Pantera bassist Rex Brown. It was produced by touring Priest guitarist Andy Sneap.

“[Elegant Weapons is] a mix of Jimi Hendrix, Priest, Sabbath, solo Ozzy and Black Label Society, but with a lot of melody, sort of old school and modern at once if that makes any sense, and actually down-tuned a whole step,” Faulkner says. “There are a lot of guitar solos and the songs are on the heavier side. And even though there’s a lot of melody, it’s still going to shake your bones.”

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Back in 2007, Elton John told a crowd of 300,000 fans in Kyiv, Ukraine, that he would help them end their AIDS crisis. Once again, he’s putting his money where his mouth is.

In a new op-ed for The Guardian, Elton writes, “The promise I made from a Kyiv stage still stands more than ever: I’ll be there for the people of Ukraine. I said I would do everything to help and renew that pledge today.”

Elton says his AIDS Foundation is providing new funding to make sure progress isn’t being lost in “Ukraine’s impressive advances in ending its HIV epidemic.” And there is progress: Since 2007, AIDS-related deaths in Ukraine fell by 81% and infections decreased by more than half.

Elton explains that since the war started, his foundation has awarded more than $1 million to community organizations across Ukraine. However, he notes, “This support keeps people alive, but it isn’t enough. Which is why now, on the anniversary of the invasion, I am announcing new funding. We want to ensure the efforts of the past decade and a half have not been in vain.”

Specifically, Elton’s foundation is now donating $125,000 to UNITED24, the country’s official fundraising platform, to buy 10 biochemistry analyzers for use in the care and treatment of Ukrainians living with HIV.

Elton concludes, “I do not know when, if ever, I will stand on a stage in Ukraine again, but my promise still stands: I will do everything I can, wherever I can, to fight for the agency and health of people at risk of HIV, all in the hope that one day we will end AIDS everywhere, for everyone, for good.”

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The latest issue of MOJO magazine has a six-page tribute to the late Jeff Beck, who passed away January 10 from bacterial meningitis at the age of 78. The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood takes part in that tribute, sharing how hard it has been dealing with Beck’s death and what made the guitarist so great.

“It was such a surprise because he’s part of the furniture,” Wood, who played in the Jeff Beck Group, says of the guitar great’s passing. “He’s always at the Christmas parties I go to, with the wonderful Sandra, and we always have a giggle. He never seemed to age or change.”

As for why Beck was so special, Wood notes, “He was always creating something new, putting a new angle on something. Sometimes he’d go too far, but that was Jeff.” 

Wood also addressed rumors about Beck joining The Stones and says there’s a good reason it never happened. “He wouldn’t have kept up with the timetable!” Wood explains. 

Wood says the last time he got to see Beck play was at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club 2018 for Wood’s Chuck Berry tribute album: “On-stage, he liked to take the foreground. He liked to be heard. I’m really gonna miss him.”

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If all your life you’ve been searching for a Foo Fighters pinball machine, then do we have good news for you.

The company Stern Pinball is teasing a new cabinet inspired by the music of Dave Grohl and company. You can check out a promo video now via the Stern Twitter account.

Stern has previously created pinball machines themed around bands including Led Zeppelin, Rush, Metallica and AC/DC. To find a Stern pinball game in your area, visit SternPinball.com.

Meanwhile, Foo Fighters are getting read to return to the road as part of their live comeback following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last March. Their first scheduled show back is at the Boston Calling festival in May.

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Van Morrison has shared yet another track from his upcoming album, Moving On Skiffle. The latest is “This Loving Light of Mine,” his take on the traditional gospel song “This Little Light of Mine.”

Moving On Skiffle is set to drop March 10 and will be available as a two-CD set, as a two-LP vinyl package, on cassette and via digital formats. It is available for preorder now, and Morrison is offering some fans an incentive to do so.

Fans 18 and older in the United Kingdom and Ireland who preorder the record, or who have already done so, will be entered into an exclusive drawing to win tickets to an upcoming Van Morrison show. Two runners-up will win signed goodies from Morrison. The grand prize winner will get to pick from Morrison’s Milton Keynes, England, concerts March 13 through March 15 or his shows in Belfast, Ireland, taking place April 5 through April 7. Hotels are not included in the prize.

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A demo tape said to have launched Rod Stewart‘s career has sold for triple its initial estimate at auction.

BBC reports Stewart recorded the demo on June 18, 1964, in a basement studio in London owned by engineer Pepe Rush. 

The 15ips reel-to-reel tape included the tracks “Ain’t That Loving You Baby,” “Bright Lights Big City,” “Worksong” and “Don’t Tell Nobody.”

Stewart used that demo as his audition tape and was later signed by Decca Records. His manager at the time, Jonathan Rowlands, held onto the tape. 

Rowlands, now 83, sold the nearly 60-year-old demo at Cheffin’s in Cambridge for 3,400 pounds — or roughly $4,000. The auctioneer says the selling price is three times the initial estimate. 

Also included with the demo was Rowlands’ appointment book from 1964, which included dates and details of his meetings with the hitmaker.

“We knew Rod was something special from the word go,” Rowlands said. “He had that absolute star quality which he shares with the likes of Tom Jones and Elton John, which has allowed them to stay relevant in the music industry even after all of these years.”

He also spoke of how Stewart managed to find a recording studio to make the demo: “We had got lucky finding out about Pepe Rush’s studio that was hidden in the basement of a shop in Berwick Street, Soho.”

“With my then partner, Geoff Wright, we then sent the tape to Decca Records as an audition recording in June 1964 and the result was we obtained Rod’s first recording contract,” he added.

Rowlands also revealed he had to get Stewart’s parents to sign the contract because artists couldn’t sign if they were under 21; Rod was 19.

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Gene Simmons is offering KISS fans a truly unique experience. The rocker is giving fans the chance to record a song with him at Abbey Road Studios, but it doesn’t come cheap.

For a little under $6,000, a KISS fan and a guest will get to spend July 10 with the bassist at the legendary London studio where the Beatles recorded their albums. There, they’ll record a KISS song with Simmons and his band.

In addition, Simmons will share his favorite KISS stories, and the lucky purchaser will be able to take home some items from Simmons’ personal KISS collection. Simmons will also take a photo with them and sign two of their personal items.

If you’re hesitant to shell out the money because of your lack of musical experience, Simmons assures fans none is necessary. The package description notes, “The day is about having fun with Gene Simmons and going home having a copy of you and Gene Simmons on a recorded KISS song!!”

More info can be found at genesimmonsabbeyroadstudios.com.

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