Classic Rock News

After using it as the opening of their current Rhapsody tour with Adam Lambert, Queen has re-released their song “Machines (Or Back To Humans)” from their 1984 album, The Works.

On the Rhapsody tour, the song helps set the stage for the show’s theme. Fans hear “Machines” — which features Roger Taylor‘s electronically treated vocals — as robotic imagery and menacing CGI robots are shown marching across giant video screens. Freddie Mercury and Brian May are then heard singing, “It’s a machine’s world — don’t tell me I ain’t got no soul.”

“Basically, it starts off where everything is electronic – electronic drums, everything. And what you have is the ‘human’ rock band sort of crashing in. What you wind up with is a battle between the two,” Taylor explains.

It’s all a lead-in to the concert’s opening number, “Radio Ga Ga.” “Machines” and “Radio Ga Ga” originally started as one song before they diverged, May explains in a statement. 

The re-release comes during a time when questions about how far A.I. can go are top of mind.

“In these days of Artificial Intelligence beginning to invade our whole lives, these mechanical guys personify Robotic Insurgence,” Brian May says. “‘Back to Humans’ is the sound track to us as humans reclaiming our control.”

“Putting the new show together, it hit me that ‘Machines’ was more relevant than ever,” he adds. “So the idea came about of theming the show with a 21st century version of this battle and, incidentally, bringing ‘Ga Ga’ and ‘Machines’ fittingly back together once again.”

The band has also added “Back To Humans” merch to its online store to go along with the re-release.

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It’s 2023, and The Beatles are #1 on the British chart.

The group has made history with their “final” song, “Now And Then,” which features new contributions from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, a John Lennon vocal from the ’70s and guitar from the late George Harrison, which was recorded in the ’90s.

The last time The Beatles were on top of the charts in their homeland, it was 1969, with the single “The Ballad of John & Yoko.” The group now sets a record for the longest gap between number ones: 54 years. The record was previously 44 years, set by Kate Bush last year when her ’80s hit “Running Up That Hill” went to number one.

Paul McCartney told the UK’s Official Charts Company that the news was “mind-boggling,” adding, “It’s blown my socks off. It’s also a very emotional moment for me. I love it!”

This is The Beatles’ 18th #1 hit in the U.K. No other group has had that many. They’re also the oldest band to top the U.K. chart: The average age of surviving Beatles Macca and Ringo is 82.

“Now And Then” is also the U.K.’s fastest-selling single of the year, with 48,600 units sold in its first week.

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The Rolling Stones‘ return to music did not go unnoticed by the Recording Academy.

The world’s greatest rock and roll band scored a nomination for Best Rock Song for “Angry,” the lead single from Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first new album of original songs since 2005.

Meanwhile, Paul Simon‘s first album of new material since 2016, Seven Psalms, is up for Best Folk Album, as is Joni Mitchell‘s recent live release, Joni Mitchell At Newport.

Bruce Springsteen‘s latest album, Only The Strong Survive, features cover versions of old R&B songs. Though it doesn’t contain any original music, it’s earned him a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

The Beatles‘ newly produced animated video for their Revolver track “I’m Only Sleeping” is nominated for Best Music Video, while the David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream and the Little Richard documentary I Am Everything are up for Best Music Film.

In the category of Best Historical Album, Lou Reed‘s Words & Music, May 1965 – Deluxe Edition earned a nomination.

The Grammys will air February 4 on CBS.

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The nominations for the 2024 Grammys were announced on Friday, November 10. Here’s who’s competing in the dedicated rock categories:

The Best Rock Album nominees are Foo Fighters‘ But Here We Are, Great Van Fleet‘s Starcatcher, Metallica‘s 72 Seasons, Paramore‘s This Is Why and Queens of the Stone Age‘s In Times New Roman…

In the Best Rock Song category, you’ll find Foo Fighters’ “Rescued,” QotSA’s “Emotion Sickness,” The Rolling Stones‘ “Angry,” boygenius’ “Not Strong Enough” and Olivia Rodrigo‘s “ballad of a homeschooled girl.”

Best Rock Performance includes “Rescued,” “Not Strong Enough,” Metallica’s “Lux Æterna,” Arctic Monkeys‘ “Sculptures of Anything Goes” and Black Pumas‘ “More Than a Love Song.”

The Best Alternative Music Performance nominees are Paramore’s “This Is Why,” boygenius’ “Cool About It,” Arctic Monkeys’ “Body Paint,” Lana Del Rey‘s “A&W” and Alvvays‘ “Belinda Says.”

Arctic Monkeys’ The Car, boygenius’ the record, Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, Gorillaz‘s Cracker Island and PJ Harvey‘s I Inside the Old Year Dying will compete for Best Alternative Music Album.

Up for Best Metal Performance are Metallica’s “72 Seasons,” Disturbed‘s “Bad Man,” Slipknot‘s “Hive Mind,” Spiritbox‘s “Jaded” and Ghost‘s cover of Iron Maiden‘s “Phantom of the Opera.”

The 2024 Grammys will air February 4 on CBS.

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Rod Stewart sang some of the greatest slow songs ever written on his Great American Songbook albums, but now, he’s picking up the tempo.

In an interview with Bryan Adams for the October issue of Classic Rock magazine, Rod reveals his plans for his next album. “You know Jools Holland? We’ve nearly completed a swing album,” he says.

Holland, the former keyboard player for Squeeze, is well-known in England for hosting the influential music show Later…with Jools Holland, and being a bandleader of a large ensemble that plays swing, big band, jump blues and R&B.

“The Great American Songbook was all ballads, but this is all up-tempo stuff with [Jools’] band, which is probably one of the best I’ve ever heard,” Rod adds.

Rod tells Bryan he and Jools have been so busy, they weren’t able to release the album in September as they originally planned. He predicts, “It’ll come out next year now, probably March or April.” 

Bryan, who teamed with Rod and Sting for the 1994 #1 hit “All for Love,” told Classic Rock that he wanted to interview Rod because, he says, “I love Rod’s voice. Classic. Simple as that.”

“Your voice is just so identifiable and inspiring to so many people,” he tells Rod. “It’s a classic rock voice.”

What Rod does to keep his voice in shape may surprise you.

“Some people think you shouldn’t drink when you sing, but I do,” Rod reveals. “But I do have a proper way of doing it. I don’t drink till I’m totally warmed up, which takes me about an hour. And then I have a little rum and coke and then I have a hot lemon water.”

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On This Day, November 10, 1975 … 

Patti Smith released her debut album, Horses, considered one of punk rock’s seminal albums. 

Recorded at New York’s Electric Lady Studios, the album was produced by Velvet Underground’s John Cale. 

While it was only a modest commercial success, Horses was a critical darling and has often appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time. It is often cited as a major influence for new wave, alternative rock and grunge artists. 

In 2009, Horses was chosen by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

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In the wake of the release of The Beatles‘ “final” song, “Now And Then,” reissues of the band’s beloved 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 compilations — known respectively as the Red and Blue albums — are out now.

The albums, originally released 50 years ago, were many fans’ gateway to the music of the Fab Four. Now, both compilations have been remixed in true stereo and Dolby Atmos, with 21 new tracks: 12 on Red and nine on Blue, including “Now and Then.”  They’re available in a variety of configurations, including CD, vinyl and digital.

Many of the new songs that have been added to the albums are George Harrison-penned tracks, which were underrepresented in the original compilations.

The 12 new songs on the Red album are:

“I Saw Her Standing There” (2023 Mix)
“Twist and Shout” (2023 Mix)
“This Boy” (2023 Mix)
“Roll Over Beethoven” (2023 Mix)
“You Really Got a Hold on Me” (2023 Mix)
“You Can’t Do That” (2023 Mix)
“If I Needed Someone” (2023 Mix)
“Taxman” (2022 Mix)
“Got to Get You Into My Life” (2022 Mix)
“I’m Only Sleeping” (2022 Mix)
“Here, There and Everywhere” (2022 Mix)
“Tomorrow Never Knows” (2022 Mix)

The nine new songs on the Blue album are:

“Within You Without You” (2017 Mix)
“Dear Prudence” (2018 Mix)
“Glass Onion” (2018 Mix)
“Blackbird” (2018 Mix)
“Hey Bulldog” (2023 Mix)
“Oh! Darling” (2019 Mix)
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (2019 Mix)
“I Me Mine” (2021 Mix)
“Now and Then”

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It’s been over 50 years since Foghat released their self-titled debut album and they are still making music. In fact, they’ll release their 17th studio album, Sonic Mojo, on November 10.

The album features three new songs co-written by founding member/drummer Roger Earl, along with guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Rodney O’Quinn and singer/guitarist Scott Holt. It also includes three songs co-written by Earl’s former Savoy Brown bandmate Kim Simmonds before he passed away in December 2022.

Discussing Simmonds, Earl tells ABC Audio that in addition to being a great blues guitarist, he was “an incredible writer.”

“The amount of songs that he’s written, every year you would have a new record out,” Earl says.

Simmonds expressed interest in writing songs for the band after a jam session at a Nashville studio; Earl agreed, as long as Simmons agreed to play on them.

“He sent me four tracks, and then after that, he started getting ill so he couldn’t play on it,” Earl says. “We actually did three of them. They’re fantastic songs and some of the best songs on the record, I think.”

With Sonic Mojo, Foghat fans can expect to hear songs that blend with the music they’re accustomed to hearing from the band. Earl notes that even though the lineup’s changed over the years, they don’t stray too far from the music fans love.

“Everybody is steeped in American classic music,” he says of his bandmates. “Foghat sound is, you know, it’s what it always was, a blues rock ‘n’ roll band and all the other stuff that comes out of America.” 

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Billy Idol‘s hit 1983 album Rebel Yell is turning 40: It was released November 10, 1983.  Idol is planning to mark the milestone with a special release, but not until 2024.

He tells Yahoo Entertainment that the package will feature “quite a few extras on it,” including a version of the 1978 Rose Royce ballad “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore,” which you may know because Madonna recorded it on her 1984 album Like A Virgin.  In fact, that’s why Idol left it off his album: because he found out Madonna had done it.

“It’s not what you expect. My version is a kick-ass f****** rock song. I’m really singing it, and I sound like I mean it,” Idol tells Yahoo Entertainment.

“I don’t remember if something was happening in my life at the time, or why I even wanted to do the song … but if I do say so myself, actually we would’ve p***** all over Madonna’s version, because it’s a rock version.”

Idol also reveals that he didn’t like the cover art for Rebel Yell, and when his record company refused to change it, he stole the master tapes and gave them to his drug dealer. He then told his record company, “This guy’s on the street. He needs money. So, if you mess about too long, he’s just going to bootleg [the tapes]. He’s not going to sit on them forever!’”

Idol actually grabbed the wrong tapes, but his record company believed him and caved. “It was great, frightening them to death,” he says, adding, “And after that, they never f***** with me again!”

Rebel Yell, which features the hit title track, “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh for Fantasy,” went on to hit the top 10 and sell two million copies.

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Sammy Hagar is parting with one of his valuable and beloved possessions. No, it’s not a guitar — it’s a car.

The Red Rocker is putting his one-of-a-kind 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari on the block at the Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, which takes place January 20 to January 28. The car will be sold on January 27.

The car is one of only 499 produced and was custom designed by Hagar. Its cream color was inspired by a photo of a 1960s Ferrari that Hagar saw on the wall at the Ferrari factory in 2014. It only has about 1,100 miles on it, can go from zero to 60 in under three seconds and has a top speed of more than 217 mph.

“This is undoubtedly my favorite car I’ve ever owned,” Hagar says in a statement. “It’s an incredible machine and I’ve adored it since I took delivery of it in 2015, but the time has come to pass it on to someone else who will hopefully enjoy it as much as I have.”

If you’ve got the cash and want to take a crack at owning the car, you can register to bid at Barrett-Jackson.com.

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