Classic Rock News

Eric Clapton‘s The Definitive 24 Nights box set is out now, and to coincide with the release he’s shared the set’s unreleased version of “Crossroads (Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1991).”

The Definitive 24 Nights is made up of six hours of music from Clapton’s historic 24-night run at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1991, which broke his own record for the longest run of concerts at the venue. During the run, Clapton performed with three lineups — a rock band, a blues band and an orchestra; “Crossroads” was part of the rock set.

The Definitive 24 Nights is available now as a six-CD or eight-LP set. There are also standalone versions of each genre —24 Nights: Rock, 24 Nights: Blues and 24 Nights: Orchestra.

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Music fans will soon be able to enjoy some classic albums like never before.

Rhino is set to release several iconic 1970s albums in quadraphonic sound, or 4.0 surround sound. The latest are Black Sabbath‘s Paranoid, Alice Cooper‘s Billion Dollar Babies, The J. Geils Band‘s Nightmares…and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle and Jefferson Starship‘s Red Octopus.

All four have been transferred from the original four-track quad mixes, marking the first time they’ve been available in quadraphonic audio in almost 50 years. They are available to purchase on Blu-ray both separately and as a four-album bundle.

This isn’t the first time Rhino has reissued albums in quadrophonic sound. It previously released The Doobie Brothers: Quadio in 2020 and Chicago Quadio in 2016.

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Music fans will soon be able to enjoy some classic albums like never before.

Rhino is set to release several iconic 1970s albums in quadraphonic sound, or 4.0 surround sound. The latest are The J. Geils Band’s Nightmares…and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle, Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus, Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies and Black Sabbath’s Paranoid.

All four have been transferred from the original four-track quad mixes, marking the first time they’ve been available in quadraphonic audio in almost 50 years. They are available to purchase on Blu-ray both separately and as a four-album bundle. 

This isn’t the first time Rhino has reissued albums in quadrophonic sound. It previously released The Doobie Brothers: Quadio in 2020 and Chicago Quadio in 2016. 

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Foo Fighters are confirmed to play a surprise set at Glastonbury.

Dave Grohl and company had been heavily rumored as the true identity of The Churnups, a mystery band scheduled to perform Friday, June 23, on the famed English festival’s main Pyramid Stage ahead of Royal Blood and headliner Arctic Monkeys. Theories only intensified when Grohl wrote in a letter to fans, “It feels good to see you, churning up these emotions together.”

Now the Foos revealed that they are indeed The Churnups in an Instagram post featuring a photo of a sign reading “Churn it up,” as well as #Glastonbury2023.

Foo Fighters previously headlined Glastonbury in 2017. At the 2022 festival, Grohl made a surprise appearance during Paul McCartney‘s headlining set, marking his first public performance since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.

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Mötley Crüe has shared a mysterious teaser hinting at a tiny club show in London.

In a Facebook post, the “Dr. Feelgood” rockers have shared a video teasing a show for “Dögs of War,” complete with an umlaut, taking place Friday, June 30, at London’s Underworld venue. The club capacity is limited to 500 people. 

Tickets go on sale Monday, June 26. Notably, the ticket price is 19.81 British pounds, a likely reference to the year Mötley Crüe was founded.

Meanwhile, the Facebook video is accompanied by what might possibly be new music. The Crüe’s been in the studio with producer Bob Rock and new guitarist John 5, who joined the band in place of Mick Mars.

Mars, meanwhile, is suing Mötley Crüe over a financial dispute related to his retirement from touring in October 2022.

Mötley Crüe is currently on tour with Def Leppard. The outing comes to the U.S. in August.

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Bad Company/Free frontman Paul Rodgers is making his musical return. The singer is set to release the new album Midnight Rose on September 22 and has given fans the first taste with the just-released single “Living It Up.”

Midnight Rose is described as “a celebration of a storied career and a feel-good, hopeful look towards the future,” with Rodgers sharing on his Instagram that “it’s a very personal album and I’m very happy to share it.”

Midnight Rose is Rodgers’ first solo release in almost 25 years. It is available for preorder now.

Here’s the track list for Midnight Rose:

“Coming Home”
“Photo Shooter”
“Midnight Rose”
“Living It Up”
“Dance In The Sun”
“Take Love”
“Highway Robber”
“Melting”

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On This Day, June 23, 1973 … 

George Harrison’s third studio solo album, Living in the Material World, landed at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, where it spent five weeks. The album actually knocked Paul McCartney and Wings‘ Red Rose Speedway out of the top spot. 

Living in the Material World was Harrison’s second #1 album, following 1970’s All Things Must Pass, and the first release since his successful live charity album, The Concert For Bangladesh, which went to #2.

The album, which featured the hit song “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth),” was certified Gold by the RIAA two days after its release.

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Queen is back with episode 22 of their weekly YouTube series, Queen The Greatest Live, and this week they’re once again looking at the process of adapting songs for the stage. The new episode focuses on their classic tour closer, “We Will Rock You,” and how it has evolved over the years.

The clip features an archival performance of the News of the World track at Budapest’s Népstadion on July 27, 1986, which comes close to the studio version, with another clip from a 1977 Houston, Texas, concert showing a completely different and sped up version of the song.  

The video also features a performance from Queen’s 1982 concert at Milton Keynes Bowl in England, as well as a performance at the Montreal Forum in November 1981, where “We Will Rock You” actually opened the show.

Next week – “Another One Bites The Dust.”

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The Black Crowes’ Rich Robinson recently talked to Guitar World about the legendary guitarists who helped influence his sound, including Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Jimi Hendrix and Stephen Stills. Not surprisingly, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page also makes the list, and Robinson doesn’t understand why anyone would have anything bad to say about him. 

“Anyone who calls him sloppy or whatever, f*** that,” Robinson says. “He’s a God of guitar, which should be obvious.”

He adds, “Jimmy meant as much to me as anyone, and maybe even more because I got to play with him on tour with the Crowes,” referring to their concerts together in 1999 and 2000. “I mean … to sit there and play with Jimmy Page was an experience I’ll take with me forever.” 

Robinson goes on to praise Page’s “compositional approach, acoustic playing, and rhythm playing,” noting they “were all on a plane he only existed in.”

Finally, he shares, “What can I say? He’s f****** unbelievable. Jimmy is straight-up amazing.”

Next up, The Black Crowes are set to join Aerosmith on their Peace Out! tour, which kicks off September 2 in Philadelphia. A complete list of dates can be found at theblackcrowes.com.

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Brian May has shared another video giving insight into his 1983 side band Star Fleet Project, this time introducing folks to his bandmates, Eddie Van Halen, Alan Gratzer, Phil Chen and Fred Mandel.

In the clip, May calls Van Halen “a phenomenon,” sharing that they met through Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and that he saw him play for the first time when Van Halen opened for Sabbath.

May says his first reaction to seeing Eddie play guitar was, “Wow, what is this, what is this guy, what is he doing. I can’t even begin to figure out how his fingers are moving,” adding, “It was a bit like seeing Jimi Hendrix for the first time.”

May says they got to meet up after and he felt there was an “instant bonding” there, with Eddie telling May he had been “massively influenced” by Queen.

As for the rest of the group, May recalls bassist Chen as “full of sunshine, full of life,” and says Gratzer “hits the drums pretty much harder than anyone I’ve ever known.” He describes Mendel as “a character,” adding that he’s also “a virtuoso keyboard player.”

May will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Star Fleet Project with the release of a new box set, Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project, on July 14. It is available for preorder now.

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