Classic Rock News

The Smashing Pumpkins are going back in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Siamese Dream.

Billy Corgan and company have teamed up with Tower Records to recreate the Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream album release show at the franchise’s Chicago store in 1993. The pop-up will be open September 14-17 at Corgan’s Madame Zuzu’s tea shop in Highland Park, Illinois, and will feature limited edition merch.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Wait, Tower Records is still around?” The former music retail giant did indeed go out of business in 2006 but relaunched as an online store in 2020. They’ve also opened a new physical space in Brooklyn, New York.

“The Smashing Pumpkins played an unforgettable in store performance at Tower Records, Chicago. We’re excited to celebrate Siamese Dream once again, 30 years after hosting the original album release party,” says Tower Records president Danny Zeijdel. “In the future, we intend to provide the same platform for young, emerging artists. We will continue with this at Tower in Brooklyn and new online experiences forthcoming.”

Additionally, the Pumpkins will perform a pair of Siamese Dream-themed acoustic shows at Madame Zuzu’s on September 17. The second set will stream live online via the platform Veeps. For more info, visit Veeps.com.

Siamese Dream, the second Smashing Pumpkins album, was released July 27, 1993. It’s been certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA and spawned singles including “Cherub Rock” and “Today.”

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The late Greg Lake may be best known for his work with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but he also had an extensive solo career. Now, that career is being celebrated with a brand new box set.

Greg Lake Magical, dropping November 10, is a limited edition, seven-CD box set featuring Lake’s two studio albums, Greg Lake and Manoeuvres, and two live albums. It includes collaborations with Clarence Clemons, Toto, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Keith Emerson, Carl Palmer, Gary Moore and others.

In addition to the music, the set includes a 64-page coffee table book with previously unseen archival photos and sleeve notes by Prog magazine editor Jerry Ewing, who talked to many of Lake’s collaborators.

Greg Lake Magical is available for preorder now.

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On This Day, September 6, 1968…

George Harrison asked Eric Clapton to contribute a guitar solo to his new Beatles song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

Clapton initially declined Harrison’s request saying, “nobody ever plays on Beatles records,” but Harrison eventually convinced him to participate, and Clapton recorded the solo that night.

The song appeared on the band’s album The Beatles, also known as The White Album, which was released in November of 1968. The track was one of Harrison’s songs on the album. It went on to be an iconic track for him and has often made it on lists of the greatest guitar songs of all time.

Harrison eventually paid Clapton back for his contribution by cowriting and playing guitar on Cream’s “Badge.”

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The Rolling Stones have officially launched a new era. During a press conference in London Wednesday, September 6, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers announced they’ll release their new studio album Hackney Diamonds on October 20.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood sat down with Jimmy Fallon to talk about the record and revealed that their late drummer, Charlie Watts, appears on two songs, which were recorded in 2019. They also confirmed that original Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman appears on the record, as does special guest Lady Gaga. 

“I don’t want to be big headed, but we wouldn’t have put this album out if we didn’t really like it,” Jagger shared. “I mean we didn’t want to make just any record and put it out,” adding, “before we went in, we said we’ll go and make a record that we really love ourselves.”

The first single from the record, “Angry,” is out now, with a video featuring Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney.

The album, produced by Andrew Watt, who also produced albums by Eddie Vedder, Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne, is available for preorder now.

Hackney Diamonds will be The Rolling Stones’ first album of original songs since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. The last album they released was 2016’s Blue and Lonesome, which was an album of blues covers.

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Most music fans have albums they simply can’t live without, and Mike Reno is no exception. In an interview with AXS TV, the Loverboy frontman reveals the five albums he’d want with him if he was stranded on a deserted island.

Topping the list is 1969’s Led Zeppelin, with Reno saying the band’s debut album “changed everything” for him. He called it “the best thing I’d heard in many years.”

Next on his list is Chicago’s 1971 release, Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall, sharing that he loved the double album so much, “I played them until I had to buy a second copy.” That was followed by Styx’s 1976 release, Crystal Ball, with Reno noting he wasn’t into Styx until Tommy Shaw joined the band. “That took it over the edge for me.”

Coming in at four is Steely Dan’s 1972 album, Can’t Buy A Thrill, with Reno saying it’s an album he “always has to listen to, even to this day.” Elton John’s 1973 classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road rounds out the top five.

“It was a time in my youth that was one of the happiest times in my life,” Reno says of listening to Elton’s album. “To this day, when I hear Yellow Brick Road, the song in particular, I just go right back to the place I grew up when I was a youngster, about 17, and it takes me right back to the beginning and I loved it.”

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Metallica has announced an update to the bill for the band’s upcoming show in Phoenix on September 9, which was rescheduled from September 3 due to frontman James Hetfield testing positive for COVID-19.

Opener Ice Nine Kills will no longer be playing the rescheduled date and have been replaced by Suicidal Tendencies. Five Finger Death Punch will remain on the lineup.

The Phoenix show is part of Metallica’s ongoing M72 tour, during which the metal legends are playing two shows in each city with completely different set lists. On the U.S. leg, Pantera and Mammoth WVH have been opening the first night, while Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch have provided support for the second.

Ahead of Hetfield’s COVID diagnosis, Metallica played the first Phoenix show on September 1, though the set was cut two songs short.

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“Margaritaville” singer Jimmy Buffett passed away Friday, September 1, after a four-year battle with Merkel cell skin cancer, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer, and his family says he stayed positive all the way until the end.  

His sister Laurie Buffett McGuane tells People she and Jimmy spent his final days reminiscing about their childhood,” noting, “We would repeat stories, and Jimmy would laugh and nod his head to let us know that he remembered.” 

She shares, “I have never seen Jimmy depressed ever. Not even at the end. We all like to joke and laugh and that was very much Jimmy,” adding, “he brought joy to so many.”

Laurie’s husband, Tom McGuane, a longtime friend of the singer, noted Jimmy “was always high-spirited, fun-loving, hard working and creative,” sharing, “It is remarkable to be able to say that he remained the same during the last month of his life. His sense of humor was fully intact. God bless him for keeping himself that way.”

Now with Jimmy gone, Laurie is having a hard time imagining what the future will be like without her brother. “When Jimmy was in the world, I felt safe,” she says. “Even though I have Tom, it will be a whole new thing for me to be without my brother Jimmy.”

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An autographed copy of Led Zeppelin’s classic album Houses of the Holy sold for big bucks at auction, and it didn’t even contain the actual album. 

According to the BBC, the cardboard sleeve of the 1973 release, featuring the signatures of all four members of the iconic band, sold for over $18,000, well above the estimated selling price of between $1,500 and $2,200.

The inclusion of drummer John Bonham’s signature made the item a rare find, which resulted in what is believed to be the highest sale price for an autographed copy of the album. This is despite the lack of the actual record and the sleeve being slightly worn out in the corners.

“We were thrilled to achieve this astonishing result for this set of Led Zeppelin autographs 50 years on from the original release of Houses of the Holy,” Andrew Smith, music and memorabilia specialist at Gildings Auctioneers in Leicestershire, England, tells the BBC. “Thanks to the extreme rarity of full sets of the band’s signatures, this album cover represented a holy grail for collectors determined to own a very special piece of music memorabilia.”

Houses of the Holy was Led Zeppelin’s fifth studio album. It featured such Zeppelin classics as “The Song Remains the Same,” “The Rain Song” and “Dancing Days.”

(A previous version of this story published on 9/5/23 erroneously identified the winning bid as $15,000 in the headline. The headline has been updated to correct the error.) 

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The Osbournes are back, in podcast form.

The heavy metal family’s audio series will return after a five-year hiatus beginning September 12. Ozzy and Sharon will be joined by kids Jack and Kelly for the show.

“Nothing is off limits,” Sharon tells Rolling Stone, to which Kelly replies, “I wish there were things that were off limits.”

You can get a preview of said no-limits discussions in the podcast’s trailer, which is streaming now on YouTube.

The first season of The Osbournes podcast premiered in 2018 and featured 10 episodes. That, of course, followed The Osbournes TV show, which aired from 2002-2005.

The Osbourne family is also set to return to the TV world with the upcoming series Home to Roost, which will document Ozzy and Sharon’s move back to the U.K. after years of living in Los Angeles.

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Foreigner is currently on their Farewell Tour, but it looks like they aren’t saying goodbye to the road that quickly. In a new interview with Rock Show Critique, bassist Jeff Pilson confirmed the band will still be on the road next year.

Pilson told the show that the tour has been “going great,” adding, “the attendance has been really crazy. We’re freaking out at how many people are coming.” He then revealed that fans will have even more chances to see them.  

“I can’t give you all the details, but yes, we will be touring through 2024,” he said when pressed about their future plans. “And there is a major tour in mind, and we’ll be announcing it shortly so you’ll hear about it.” 

Foreigner’s Farewell tour hits Airway Heights, Washington, on September 22. A complete list of dates can be found at foreigneronline.com.

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