Classic Rock News

The Scorpions‘ long-awaited 19th studio album, Rock Believer, the band’s first new record since 2015’s Return to Forever, arrived today.

Frontman Klaus Meine tells ABC Audio that with the album, exemplified by its title track, The Scorpions deliver the message that they believe hard-rock music is alive and well, and that they know their fans feel the same way.

“The lyrics [of ‘Rock Believer’ are] about saying, ‘We are the essence of rock believers, doing this for so long,'” Meine explains. “And, of course, it was addressed to all the rock believers out there, addressed to the hard and heavy community.”

Meine says the band’s objective with Rock Believer was “for us to have great songs, powerful songs for our live set, and…for the hard and heavy fans out there hoping The Scorpions this time would not focus too much on ballads.”

Having said that, Meine notes that alongside various fast and mid-tempo rock songs on Rock Believer, there is indeed one ballad, “When You Know (Where You Come From).”

Asked to name some of his favorite songs on the album, Klaus says “When You Know,” “Rock Believer” and “Call of the Wild,” which he says is “a cool little…bluesy song.”

He also singles out “When I Lay My Bones to Rest” which he says he likes because it’s “a fast song, it’s so powerful, with really funny lyrics.”

The Scorpions recorded the album during the COVID-19 lockdown, and while some of the songs feature lyrics inspired by the global health crisis and other serious issues, Meine says he focused more on writing tunes “for the fans to enjoy and get away from this whole corona thing…and just to rock out with us with positive energy.”

Here’s Rock Believer‘s full track list:

“Gas in the Tank”
“Roots in My Boots”
“Knock ‘Em Dead”
“Rock Believer”
“Shining of Your Soul”
“Seventh Sun”
“Hot and Cold”
“When I Lay My Bones to Rest”
“Peacemaker”
“Call of the Wild”
“When You Know (Where You Come From)”
“Shoot for Your Heart”
“When Tomorrow Comes
“Unleash the Beast”
“Crossing Borders”
“When You Know (Where You Come From)” (Acoustic Version)

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Heart‘s Nancy Wilson has recorded a new version of The Beatles‘ “Here Comes the Sun” with longtime Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone and actor/drummer John Stamos, and a video for the cover will premiere this Saturday, February 26, during the 2022 gala for the Hillsides charity taking place in Pasadena, California.

Hillsides is a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping children deal with trauma and mental health issues.

You can check out a preview clip of the “Here Comes the Sun” video on Wilson’s Facebook page. John Mahon, a multi-instrumentalist who, like Johnstone, is a longtime member of Elton’s touring band, also contributed to the song.

The year’s fHillsides undraiser, which has been dubbed “Come Together,” will be held at The Langham Huntington hotel in Pasadena and also will be streamed live on the organization’s YouTube channel.  In addition to the screening of the “Here Comes the Sun” video, the event will feature a cocktail hour, dinner, a silent auction and a live, silent auction.  Among the hundreds of items and experiences up for bid are virtual meet-and-greets with Wilson, Johnstone, Mahon and Elton John drummer Nigel Olsson, and a drumhead signed by various members of Elton’s band.

To bid on items in advance, visit ComeTogether2022.ggo.bid. You can purchase tickets to the gala or make a donation to the charity at Hillsides.ejoinme.org/ComeTogether2022.

The YouTube livestream of the Hillsides gala starts at 11 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Long-running label Metal Blade Records is turning 40, and its celebrating with a bit of Metallica history.

Metal Blade has announced a vinyl reissue its debut release, a 1982 compilation titled Metal Massacre Volume One, due out April 22.

Metal Massacre Volume One was originally released to showcase unsigned metal bands in the Los Angeles area, including a very young Metallica. The future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ contribution was “Hit the Lights,” notably the first song James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich wrote together.

The compilation also features the early Ratt tune “Tell the World,” as well as songs by Avatar, Malice, Pandemonium and other bands.

You can pre-order your reissue of Metal Massacre Volume One, which hasn’t been available on vinyl since 1984, now via MetalBlade.com. A special edition clear-vinyl variant will be released exclusively via Metallica.com.

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Tomorrow, The Scorpions will release Rock Believer, the veteran German rockers’ first new studio album since 2015, and to celebrate its arrival, the band will treat fans to a short studio tour via their YouTube channel at 12:45 p.m. ET.

After the virtual tour, The Scorpions will debut a music video for its new song “When You Know (Where You Come From)” on YouTube at 1 p.m. ET. The track is the only ballad on Rock Believer. You can check out an advance preview of the video that’s been posted at the group’s Facebook page.

You can pre-order Rock Believer now.

In other news, The Scorpions have posted a message on their social media pages reacting to the invasion Russia launched Thursday morning of neighboring country Ukraine.

The note reads, “Don’t stop the Dialog…Words are better than bullets…Our hearts go out to the people in the Ukraine,” and is accompanied by a photo of Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine sitting in a chair and holding a bullhorn.

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High-quality audiophile versions of Van Halen‘s first six studio albums will be released later this year as two-LP box sets mastered at 45 rpm, as well as on the SACD format, by the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, starting with the band’s self-titled 1978 debut.

Two-LP vinyl versions and SACDs of 1979’s Van Halen II, 1980’s Women and Children First, 1981’s Fair Warning, 1982’s Diver Down and 1984’s, um, 1984 will then be released at a later date.

The vinyl box sets, which are pressed on 180-gram vinyl, will feature LPs created using Mobile Fidelity’s ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step lacquering process. The LPs come housed in a deluxe box that features special foil-stamped jackets.

All six albums can be pre-ordered now at MusicDirect.com, with the LP sets priced at $125 and the SACDs at $29.99. The albums also will be available in both formats at MoFi.com.

Van Halen’s first six albums all featured the band’s classic lineup of frontman David Lee Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony. The records all were certified multi-platinum by the RIAA, with Van Halen and 1984 both being certified Diamond for sales of at least 10 million copies in the U.S.

“Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is excited to release Van Halen’s first six iconic albums in the [UltraDisc One-Step] and SACD formats for the first time,” says the company’s president, Jim Davis. “Fans will experience Van Halen’s original blend of raw power and Hollywood flair like never before through these limited-edition, audiophile-grade One-Step vinyl box sets.”

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Dave Grohl is the latest person to enter the ring of fire on Hot Ones.

The Foo Fighters frontman guests on the latest episode of the popular YouTube show, in which host Sean Evans asks celebrity guests different questions as they attempt to eat hotter and hotter chicken wings.

Being something of a barbecue expert himself, Grohl handled the heat level pretty well in-between sharing stories about his belief in UFOs and his various onstage injuries. During the 30-minute conversation, Grohl also revealed that he’s a huge Hot Ones fan, and compared the experience of appearing on the series to playing Saturday Night Live and David Letterman‘s show.

“For years, I’ve watched…[Hot Ones], and I finally walked onto this set and saw those sauces and saw your face, I was, like, ‘Yes! Bucket list, bam!'” Grohl told Evans. “The only thing I have left to do in my life is jam with AC/DC.”

Grohl, of course, also gave a shout-out to the upcoming Foo Fighters movie Studio 666, which premieres in theaters Friday.

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Dave Grohl has shared a tribute to late Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, who passed away earlier this week at age 57.

Speaking with the U.K.’s The Independent, the Foo Fighters leader recalls when he first met Lanegan. He had just joined Nirvana, which was about to explode in the Seattle grunge scene that Screaming Trees, a fellow Washington State band, had helped pioneer.

“When I first joined Nirvana I was living with Kurt [Cobain] in our tiny apartment,” Grohl shares. “One weekend he said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go up to Seattle for the weekend and hang out with a friend, do you want to come?'”

“We went up to stay with his friend…and we went to a show,” he continues. “I passed out on the couch and woke up in the morning and opened my eyes and Mark Lanegan was sitting in a chair right across from me.”

Lanegan’s first words to Grohl? “Who the f*** are you?”

Grohl adds that he thinks Lanegan’s first solo album, 1990’s The Winding Sheet, is a “masterpiece,” and calls it one of the “most influential records” on him.

“It was so pure and so real,” Grohl says of Lanegan’s music. “If he sang about pain, you believed it and if he sang about love, you believed it.”

“There was nobody like him,” Grohl adds. “In Seattle he was much loved.”

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Foo Fighters have made some special announcements ahead of the premiere of the band’s Studio 666 movie.

Dave Grohl and company will be making a “special appearance” during select Los Angeles-area screenings of the film this Friday. The specific showings will take place 7 and 7:15 p.m. at the AMC Promenade 16 at Woodland Hills, and 8:30 p.m. at the Regal Sherman Oaks Galleria.

Director BJ McDonnell will also join the Foos at the screenings.

Meanwhile, Foo Fighters have teamed up with Coors Light to create their own signature, Studio 666-themed beer: Coors Almighty Light. Apparently, the brew includes “blessed” water, which the fine print tells us was “blessed by a non-denominational ordained minister.”

“Coors Almighty Light is the first spiritually-enhanced beer developed specifically to ward off demons while viewing the Foo Fighters’ dangerous new film Studio 666,” the Coors website reads.

In other news, Grohl’s Studio 666 promotional duties took him to CBS’ The Late Late Show Wednesday, where he and fellow guest Hilary Duff played — or, one might say, were subjected to — host James Corden‘s “James That Tune” game.

As Corden explained, the point of the game is to guess the name of the famous song he’s playing on a keyboard. Crucially, however, Corden does not know how to play the keyboard, which led to him banging away at random notes as Grohl and Duff looked on in confusion.

After failing to guess Corden’s interpretation of the Foo Fighters songs “Learn to Fly” and “My Hero,” Grohl was able to discern the host’s take on “Best of You,” though didn’t want to admit it “for fear that people will think it sounds like that.”

For all your Studio 666 needs, visit Studio666Movie.com.

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Queen guitarist Brian May‘s second solo album, 1998’s Another World, will be reissued in multiple formats and configurations on April 22 as the second installment of the Brian May Gold Series solo reissue campaign.

The remastered collection will be available on CD, cassette, vinyl and digital formats, and as a deluxe box set, two-CD set and limited-edition vinyl picture disc.

Another World was released in the U.K. in July ’98, and reached #23 on the U.K. albums charts.  The album included songs culled from various of projects May was working on around that the time, including music composed for TV soundtracks, video games and a shelved covers collection.

One of May’s main collaborators on Another World was acclaimed drummer Cozy Powell, who sadly died in a car crash at age 50 shortly before the album’s release. The album also features guest appearances by Jeff Beck, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and Mott the Hoople‘s Ian Hunter, the latter of whom appears on a cover of the Mott classic “All the Way to Memphis.” Another World also features renditions of Jimi Hendrix‘s “One Rainy Wish” and the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll gem “Slow Down.”

The box set and two-CD version of the Another World reissue features a bonus disc that boasts alternate versions and mixes of songs, live performances from a June 1998 concert Brian’s solo band played in Paris, and covers of The Rocky Horror Show tune “Hot Patootie,” Buddy Holly‘s “Maybe Baby” and Conway Twitty‘s “It’s Only Make Believe.”

The box set features two CDs, sky-blue vinyl LP, a 32-page booklet and an enamel badge. Visit QueenOnline.com for full details about the Another World reissue.

Brian kicked off his Gold Series campaign last year with the reissue of his 1992 solo debut, Back to the Light.

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Metallica has added a pair of U.S. stadium shows to the band’s summer schedule.

The metal legends will headline Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, New York, on August 11, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 14. Both shows will feature support from Greta Van Fleet and Ice Nine Kills.

Tickets to both concerts go on sale next Friday, March 4, at 10 a.m. ET, though if you’re a member of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club, you’ll have access to a pre-sale beginning Monday, February 28.

For all ticket info, visit Metallica.com.

Tonight, Metallica is set to play Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Their other current 2022 U.S. tour plans include headlining sets at the BottleRock Napa Valley and Boston Calling festivals.

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