David Lee Roth is back with another somewhat bizarre video, this time proving to fans he’s skillful with a samurai sword.
The former Van Halen frontman’s latest clip has him showing off a series of sword moves, soundtracked to the tune “Woke Up This Morning” by Alabama 3, better known as the theme song to the HBO hit mobster series The Sopranos.
Roth captioned the black-and-white video “Inazuma II,” a reference to an earlier clip, “Inazuma,” posted in July. That video featured another sword routine, set to the Queen classic “We Will Rock You.”
Foghat is set to return with their first new album in seven years. The band will release their 17th studio album, Sonic Mojo, November 10, with the first single from the record, “Drivin’ On,” available August 25.
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 Ken Simmonds before he passed away in December 2022.
Sonic Mojo will be released on CD and 180-gram neon purple vinyl. Fans can presave the new single “Drivin’ On” now and check out a preview on YouTube.
Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon doesn’t mince words when it comes to his thoughts about Danny Boyle‘s Sex Pistols series Pistol, which was based on guitarist Steve Jones’ autobiography, Lonely Boy.
In an interview with The Sun, Lydon says he watched the FX series “just to see how absurd it was” and notes, “I’m sad to say it fulfilled all my negative expectations.”
“I didn’t recognize the characters. It was so disappointing that the whole thing was done behind my back ’cos I’m the bloke who wrote the songs and created the image. So bizarre,” he says. “It was like an act of rebellion against what made the band popular and famous. Or unpopular and infamous!”
In the same interview, Lydon rails against suggestions that the punk scene came out of New York, suggesting you only have to look at artists like T. Rex, David Bowie and Mott The Hoople to know that isn’t true.
“Their influence was enormous,” he says. “And they try to write that all off and wrap it around Patti Smith. It’s so wrong!”
Finally, Lydon shares his thoughts on the recent supergroup Generation Sex, featuring Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, and Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X.
“Good luck to them but come on boys, get it together,” he says. “The Pistols side of it is songs they never really understood and Billy’s got to come in as a translator. What has poor Billy taken on?”
The Band’s Robbie Robertson certainly lived an interesting life, and after news of his death hit this week, evidently a lot of people realized they wanted to learn more about it.
Variety reports that the late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s memoir, Testimony, is back on top of the bestseller list.
Released in 2017, Robertson spent five years writing Testimony, which covers his upbringing in Toronto and his musical journey, which begins at 16. He writes about touring with Bob Dylan in 1966, his time in The Band, the group’s breakup following their The Last Waltz concert and more.
As the description notes, “Above all, it’s the moving story of the profound friendship between five young men who together created a new kind of popular music.”
Robertson died Wednesday, August 9, after a long illness. He was 80.
Metallica‘s All Within My Hands charity foundation has announced a $200,000 grant toward wildfire relief for Maui, Hawaii.
A statement posted to the All Within My Hands Instagram account reads, “We are heartbroken by the destructive wildfires devastating the historic town of Lahaina in Maui.”
“With strong ties to the Hawaiian Islands, #AWMH is granting $200,000 to the Maui Strong Fund established by the [Hawaii Community Foundation],” the post continues. “The fund is currently providing resources, along with rapid response and recovery for the ongoing wildfires.”
Metallica, meanwhile, is set to continue the North American leg of the band’s M72 tour Friday, August 11, in Montreal, though not without a reported complication.
According to a Facebook post by music journalist Mitch Lafon, a truck hauling equipment for the show was involved in a road accident. Lafon also linked to a TikTok featuring footage of the accident aftermath. Both the Facebook post and the TikTok note that the people involved are OK.
ABC Audio has reached out to Metallica’s reps for comment.
The 1998 Black Sabbath live album Reunion is being released on vinyl for the first time.
A three-LP collection will be released October 13. It includes remastered audio, as well as two bonus remixes.
The original Reunion was recorded in 1997 and featured the return of the original Sabbath lineup: frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward. That lineup would stay together until 2006 before reuniting again in 2011, though Ward was out of the band by 2012. Sabbath played their final concert in 2017.
The Reunion reissue is one of many archival Sabbath pieces released since that final show, the most recent of which being June’s 40th anniversary deluxe edition of the 1983 Live Evil live album.
Heart’s Ann Wilson is set to drop some new music. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announced on Instagram that she’ll be releasing the new album Another Door, with her backing band Tripsitter, on September 29.
“All these songs were written by me and some musicians of the finest caliber,” Wilson shares in her post. “And I think if you give it a listen, it’ll blow your mind. Will you walk through the door with us?”
And if you weren’t excited enough, the music is already getting a glowing endorsement from Ann’s sister and bandmate, Nancy Wilson. She commented on the post, “I’ve heard a few cuts already and this promises to be a great album!”
Wilson first teased the new music with Tripsitter back in May, when she announced a set of new tour dates with the band. Her next show is happening August 23 in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. A complete list of dates can be found at annwilson.com.
Here is the track listing for Another Door:
“Tripsitter”
“This Is Now”
“Rain Of Hell”
“Stranger In A Strange Land”
“Waiting For Magic”
“Ruler Of The Night”
“Still”
“Rusty Robots”
“What If”
“Little Things”
“Miss One & Only”
Pearl Jam is raffling off a signed poster to raise money for those affected by the ongoing wildfires devastating Maui, Hawaii.
The poster is from Eddie Vedder and company’s 1998 Hawaii shows. It’s autographed by all five current PJ members, along with touring keyboardist Boom Gasper, who was born and has long lived in Hawaii.
The raffle will be run by the platform Fandiem and closes September 3. The more you donate, the more entries you’ll receive in the contest.
A classic Van Morrison album just got a new high fidelity reissue.
Morrison’s 1970 album, His Band and the Street Choir, is the latest release in Rhino High Fidelity’s new series of limited-edition, high-end vinyl reissues. The pressing is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies and includes an exclusive interview with the album’s engineer, Elliot Scheiner, as well as a lyric sheet.
“Every take with this guy was just brilliant,” Scheiner says in the interview. “The best Black singer I ever met was Ray Charles. The best white singer was Van Morrison.”
His Band and the Street Choir was Van Morrison’s fourth studio album and featured the top 10 single “Domino.” The track reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was higher than Morrison’s signature hit, “Brown Eyed Girl,” which peaked at #10.
The Rhino High Fidelity reissue of His Band and the Street Choiris available now for $39.98.
Sammy Hagar is among the many stars expressing their grief over the devastation caused by wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.
“There are no words to describe the heartbreak that my family and I are feeling for the people of Maui,” he writes on Instagram. “We called the island our home for over 20 years and remain forever attached to the community.”
He shared his “deepest gratitude” to the employees of his restaurant, Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill, who helped folks who were stranded at the Kahului Airport.
“Since day one, our Beach Bar & Grill has given back to the island that has graciously made us part of their community,” he writes. “We will continue to show our love and support for our island family and we are actively working to be a part of the island’s relief efforts.”
Van Halen’s Michael Anthony commented on the post, revealing that he and his wife, Sue, were in Maui during the wildfires, but were able to get out safely before the airports closed.
“It was heartbreaking to see the fires from our hotel as we were just at Mick Fleetwoods restaurant on front St. having a relaxing dinner on Sat!!” he writes, referring to the Fleetwood Mac founder’s restaurant, which has been destroyed by the fires. “Our hearts go out all our Ohana on the island.”
Fans did ask Sammy what they could do to help; he urged them to make sure they do their research before donating any money, but he offered up some suggestions. He shares, “I like Maui food bank, and some local church shelters i feel are a safe bet and are much needed for the local people on Maui.”
