Classic Rock News

Metallica‘s run of videos continues with “Chasing Light,” a track off the band’s new album, 72 Seasons.

The latest clip finds the ‘Tallica members striking poses against a glitchy yellow and black background. You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.

Since 72 Seasons dropped last Friday, Metallica has released a new video every day. They also put out visuals for the four pre-release tracks: lead single “Lux Æterna,” “Screaming Suicide,” “If Darkness Had a Son” and the title track.

Now with “Chasing Light,” only two 72 Seasons songs have yet to receive videos: “You Must Burn!” and the 11-minute “Inamorata.” The “You Must Burn!” clip premieres Thursday, presumably followed by “Inamorata.”

Additionally, Metallica is releasing every 72 Seasons video in American Sign Language, or ASL. The ASL edition of the title track is out now, and the remaining 11 videos will premiere April 25.

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On This Day, April 19, 2012… 

Levon Helm, best known as the drummer, singer and multi-instrumentalist for The Band, died at age 71 of throat cancer.  

Helm was featured on many of The Band’s classic tracks, including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

He was with The Band until their farewell performance on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976. The performance was later turned into the critically acclaimed documentary film The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese.

In addition to music, Helm dabbled in acting and appeared in movies like Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Right Stuff, Feeling Minnesota and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

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Duane Betts, son of Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, is set to release his debut solo album, Wild & Precious Life, on July 14. The first single from the record, “Waiting on a Song,” is out now.

The album was written in 2020 during the pandemic and has Duane reflecting on important things in his life, like his father, his soulmate, his journey to sobriety and more.

“We’re here for such a short period of time,” Duane shares. “We see people come and people go — people we love and people we miss. We’ve all lost loved ones, yet we’re still here. You really have to take advantage of your time and make the most of it.” 

Wild & Precious Life, recorded at Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks’ Swamp Raga Studio, features guest appearances by Trucks, Marcus King and Nicki Bluhm. It’s available for preorder now.

Here’s the track list for Wild & Precious Life:

“Evergreen”
“Waiting on a Song”
‘Forrest Lane”
“Colors Fade”
“Saints to Sinners”
“Stare at the Sun”
“Under the Bali Moon”
“Sacred Ground”
“Cold Dark World”
“Circles in the Stars”

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After a week of teasing, Foo Fighters have announced a new album.

The record is titled But Here We Are, and drops June 2. You can listen to lead single “Rescued” now via digital outlets.

But Here We Are is the follow-up to 2021’s Medicine at Midnight, and, more notably, the first Foo Fighters record since the unexpected death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. A press release describes But Here We Are as a “brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything Foo Fighters endured over the last year.”

Following Hawkins’ passing, Foo Fighters canceled all of their tour dates before reemerging for two giant tribute concerts to their late bandmate in September. On New Year’s Eve, they announced they intended to continue as a band, and have since scheduled a number of headlining concerts and festival sets for 2023, the first of which takes place May 24 in Gilford, New Hampshire.

As for who’s playing drums with the Foos on the album and on tour, that hasn’t yet been announced.

Here’s the But Here We Are track list:

“Rescued”
“Under You”
“Hearing Voices”
“But Here We Are”
“The Glass”
“Nothing at All”
“Show Me How”
“Beyond Me”
“The Teacher”
“Rest”

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Jethro Tull’s new album, RökFlöte, drops Friday, and for their latest release frontman Ian Anderson was inspired by the characters and gods of old Norse mythology and paganism, in part because he didn’t know much about it. 

“The reason that I had rather ignored that in my studies of comparative religion over the many years is because it was somewhat overworked in terms of holding a dark fascination,” he tells ABC Audio. “But then I thought, well, that shouldn’t be a good reason to put me off.”

Anderson says he wanted to approach the subject “in a sensitive way,” one that “allows me to look at that particular subject matter without feeling that I’m imitating some Norwegian heavy metal band.” 

Anderson says he has no expectations about what Jethro Tull fans may take away from the record, noting, “I’m not trying to sell them a particular set of ideas or a particular set of beliefs. I’m just suggesting, you know, here are some lyrics, here’s some music, and you examine it, see if you like it.”

RökFlöte is Jethro Tull’s second album in two years, following 2022’s The Zealot Gene. And it doesn’t sound like Anderson has any intention of slowing down. He says he’s already started work on the band’s next project, sharing, “I will be turning my attention to that again during the weeks and months to come.” 

RökFlöte is available for preorder now.

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According to Dave Grohl, Melvins is the “heaviest band of all time.”

In an Instagram post, Melvins shared a video celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary featuring a quote from the Foo Fighters frontman.

“Arguably one of the most influential artists of the past 40 years, the Melvins have still never relented from being the heaviest band of all time,” Grohl’s quote reads. “From the day I dropped the needle on their 1987 debut album Gluey Porch Treatments, I’ve been inspired by their signature, staggered feel, much like countless other bands who look up to them as the kings of the Northwest music scene.”

Melvins were a big influence on Nirvana, and not just musically. As the story goes, it was Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne who introduced Grohl to Kurt Cobain and Krist Novselic.

“Oh, and thank you for giving me Nirvana’s phone number,” Grohl says.

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The Black Crowes are set to headline the annual Mempho Music Festival, taking place September 29 to October 1 in Memphis, Tennessee.

The festival, happening at the Radians Amphitheater at the Memphis Botanic Gardens, also features headliners My Morning Jacket and Turnpike Troubadours, with Ween, Lake Street Drive, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Band of Horses and more also on the bill.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now. More information, including a complete lineup, can be found at memphofest.com.

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Jethro Tull is hitting the road this summer. Ian Anderson and the band just announced dates for their The Seven Decades Tour, which hits such cities as Cincinnati, San Diego, Boston and New York.

The tour is set to kick off August 18 in Highland Park, Illinois, wrapping November 4 in Albany, New York.

Tickets for all shows go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at jethrotull.com.

The news comes as Jethro Tull are getting ready to release their 23rd studio album, RökFlöte, which drops Friday, April 21.

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A new documentary about the Chicago blues scene is set to hit digital platforms this summer, featuring interviews with Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and more.

Born in Chicago, narrated by Dan Aykroyd and executive produced by Jim Belushi and Elliot Roberts, delves into the Chicago music scene of the ’60s using a mix of archival footage and interviews. In addition to Dylan and Richards, the movie features appearances by Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Bob Weir, Steve Miller, Charlie Musselwhite and more.

Born in Chicago has already screened at several festivals. It is also set to be shown at the upcoming New York City Independent Film Festival, as well as the Washington DC International Film Festival and the 2023 Chicago Blues Festival. It will hit all digital platforms on August 1.

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Billy Idol is giving fans a sneak peek at a very special concert he performed earlier this month at the Hoover Dam.  

The singer headlined the first-ever concert at the dam on the Nevada/Arizona border, along with his guitarist Steve Stevens and special guests Alison Mosshart of The Dead Weather, the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and No Doubt’s Tony Kanal.

The concert, which took place April 8, was filmed and will be getting a theatrical release through Encore Nights later this year. The first look shows Idol and the band performing his 1990 classic “Cradle of Love,” with Idol changing the lyrics to sing “I rocked the Hoover Dam.”

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