Classic Rock News

Neil Young & Crazy Horse have debuted a music video for “Heading West,” the second advance track that the veteran rockers have released from their upcoming album Barn.

You can check out the visual now at NeilYoungArchives.com and at Young’s official YouTube channel.

Like the clip for the first advance track released from Barn, “Song of the Seasons,” this video was directed by Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah, and features time-lapse footage of the Rocky Mountain area where Neil and the band made the album.

The “Heading West” clip shows the actual barn where the Barn album was recorded.

“This is the second of our series,” Neil writes in a post about the video on his website. “We are featuring ‘nature on the move’ in the area of the BARN where the music is emanating…Watch the door pulsing with the beat! It’s wonderful the way the videos let you listen and watch undisturbed at the same time.”

In a separate post, Young explained what inspired him to write “Heading West.”

“My mom and I travelled across the country together, heading west. She was on her way back home to start over. I was on my way there with her,” he wrote. “Here’s a song about me and my mom and those ‘growing up’ times. It’s so great to remember her this way!”

As previously reported, Barn, which you can pre-order now, is a 10-track collection that will be released on December 10. It will available on CD, vinyl, cassette and digital formats, and as a deluxe box set.

The box set includes a CD and a vinyl LP, as well as a Blu-ray disc that features a film directed by Hannah offering a look at the making of Barn. The Blu-ray will also be released separately.

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Rod Stewart has debuted a third track from his upcoming studio album The Tears of Hercules, an upbeat and romantic pop-soul tune called “I Can’t Imagine” that the singer has dedicated to his wife, Penny Lancaster Stewart.

The song is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, and you also can check out a new companion music video at Stewart’s official YouTube channel.

The clip captures Stewart performing the song and having fun with his band members and backing singers at a large lakeside mansion outside of Las Vegas. “I Can’t Imagine” is one of nine songs that Rod co-wrote on the 12-track album, which is due out next Friday, November 12.

Stewart will be promoting The Tears of Hercules with a number of TV appearances in the coming week. On Monday, November 8, he’ll be featured on Entertainment Tonight, while on November 12, the album’s release date, he’ll perform and be interviewed on The Kelly Clarkson Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The Tears of Hercules can be pre-ordered now, and is available on CD, as a vinyl LP and in digital formats.

“I Can’t Imagine” follows the release of two other advance tracks co-written by Stewart, the country-pop gem “One More Time” and the introspective and topical gospel-influenced ballad “Hold On.”

Stewart recently wrapped his latest Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and his next engagement at the venue is scheduled for May 2022. First up for Rod is a tour of Australia and New Zealand taking place in March and April.

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Ozzy Osbourne has premiered a new video for “Flying High Again,” a single off his 1981 solo album, Diary of a Madman.

The clip features an animated collage of paper cutouts of archival images of Ozzy and guitarist Randy Rhoads. Diary of a Madman was notably Rhoads’ final album before he was tragically killed in a 1982 plane crash at age 25.

You can watch the “Flying High Again” video streaming now on YouTube.

The RIAA triple-Platinum Diary of a Madman celebrates its 40th anniversary this Sunday, November 7. An expanded digital reissue of the album, including a previously unavailable live recording of “Flying High Again,” is out today.

Meanwhile, a special blue-swirl vinyl edition of Diary of a Madman will be released November 12 exclusively at Walmart.

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Art Garfunkel, the angelic-voiced singer who made up half of legendary folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, celebrates his 80th birthday today.

Garfunkel began performing and recording with Paul Simon during the 1950s as a rock ‘n’ roll duo called Tom and Jerry. After breaking up for a while, Art and Paul reunited in the early ’60s and began recording acoustic folk music using their real names.

After their debut album, 1964’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., was a failure, they split up again. Then, in 1965, producer Tom Wilson took a track from the album, “The Sound of Silence,” and added electric guitar and drums and re-released it, and it became a hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100.

The reunited duo, propelled by Simon’s songs, and Art and Paul’s harmonies, went on to become one of the most celebrated music acts in the world.

After the success of “The Sound of Silence” and through the 1970s, Simon & Garfunkel scored two more #1 hits, “Mrs. Robinson” and Garfunkel’s showcase “Bridge over Troubled Water,” and numerous other top-40 singles.

Garfunkel won five Grammys for his work with Simon, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year in 1970 for Bridge over Troubled Water and its title track.

Garfunkel launched an acting career in the early 1970s that Simon cited as a factor in his decision to break up the duo.

After the split, Art enjoyed moderate solo success. He scored a #9 hit with his 1973 single “All I Know,” written by Jimmy Webb, and his 1975 album Breakaway was certified platinum.

Over the years, Simon and Garfunkel reunited multiple times for tours and special events, but the two old friends currently are estranged.

Art was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Simon & Garfunkel in 1990. He continues to perform as a solo artist. His next scheduled tour is a run of European dates in fall 2022.

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Steve Perry‘s first Christmas album, The Season, arrives today, and finds the ex-Journey frontman putting his own stamp on holiday classics like “Winter Wonderland,” “Silver Bells” and “The Christmas Song”…gently.

“I’ve always loved these songs since I was a child, and I was really…careful to make sure that the original emotional reverence that meant so much to me when I was young stays intact,” Perry tells ABC Audio. “And so I wanted to do them a little bit different. I wanted to make them mine, but I didn’t want to walk too far away from the melodic structure…that I loved about them.”

Perry says The Season is his way of bringing holiday cheer to everyone who’s struggled through the pandemic.

“The last year and eight months or two years have been so difficult for so many, including myself,” Perry admits. “And given me such a different respect for so many things.”

He continues, “Honestly, I’m not in the music business to make money. At this point, these records I’ve been making, solo-wise, are almost like just giving back to what I’ve been given so much [of].”

To that end, Steve thinks that one particular song really sums up with the project is all about.

“For this particular period, this Christmas…it has to be ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas,'” Perry notes. “Because it’s something everybody in their heart wishes they could have done [last year]. And perhaps now, what we’ve all been through has refreshed our reverence for how important it is to go home for Christmas.”

And does Perry see more holiday music in his future?

He laughs, “If I can pull it off — if Uncle Steve is still here — I might do that, yes!”

Here’s The Season‘s full track list:

“The Christmas Song”
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
“Auld Lang Syne”
“Winter Wonderland”
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
“Silver Bells”
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

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If you’ve been searching for a new, upbeat track to soundtrack your weekend, look no further than Green Day‘s infectious new single, “Holy Toledo!,” which they released Friday… just don’t listen too closely to the lyrics.

The rockers once again invoke their clever happy song/dark lyrics format for their latest offering.  “Holy Toledo!” rides a whimsical yet nostalgic ska-like beat and, while the music presents itself as the perfect tune to sway your shoulders to, the lyrics paint a completely different picture.

“We’re hell raisers, death wish cravers/ We’re running with razor blades/ Party favors, sex with strangers/ We don’t care what the neighbors say,” the Grammy winners celebrate in the chorus, as they sing about “crawling out of the dead man’s bed” all to catch the high of getting “sick again.”

The single was created for the rom-com Mark, Mary & Some Other People, which follows a newlywed couple exploring the world of ethical non-monogamy in an attempt to spice up their love life.  The movie is in theaters and streaming on-demand now.

“Holy Toledo!” follows Green Day’s previously released singles “Pollyanna” and “Here Comes the Shock.”  The punk trio also released a cover of the KISS classic “Rock and Roll All Nite,” which was recorded during their Hella Mega tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer.

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Elton John‘s memorable fourth studio album, Madman Across the Water, was released 50 years ago today, on November 5, 1971.

The album, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200, yielded two singles — “Levon” and “Tiny Dancer.” Levon was the bigger chart hit, reaching #24 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Tiny Dancer” just missed the top 40, stalling at #41 n the tally.

However, “Tiny Dancer” has gone on to become one of Elton’s most popular and recognized songs. John’s songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, wrote the lyrics about his first wife, Maxine Feibelman, who was working as a seamstress for Elton’s band around the time he met her.

In 2000, the prominent appearance of “Tiny Dancer” in a scene in the 2000 Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous gave the tune a big boost in popularity. In 2011, it was certified triple platinum for notching 3 million sales equivalent units in the U.S.

As with most of Elton’s earlier albums, Madman Across the Water featured majestic orchestral arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. Other standout tunes include the enigmatic title track, the breezy, mandolin-driven “Holiday Inn” and the dramatic “Indian Sunset.”

Interestingly, Madman Across the Water was the third album Elton released in 1971, following the soundtrack to the film Friends and the live album 11-17-70.

Madman has gone on to sell over 2 million copies in the U.S.

Heart‘s Ann Wilson has been a fan of Elton since his first album, and her band went on to collaborate on multiple projects with Buckmaster, who passed away in 2017.

“Madman, with the strings by Paul Buckmaster and everything, [is] Elton at…maybe his most creative,” Ann tells ABC Audio. “Pushing the envelope. He and Bernie just at their peak. Great record.”

Here’s Madman Across the Water’s full track list:

“Tiny Dancer”
“Levon”
“Razor Face”
“Madman Across the Water”
“Indian Sunset”
“Holiday Inn”
“Rotten Peaches”
“All the Nasties”
“Goodbye”

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High-quality audiophile versions of the late Janis Joplin‘s classic final studio album, 1971’s Pearl, will be released on Tuesday, November 9.  The versions include two-LP box sets mastered at 45 rpm, as well as on the SACD format.

The vinyl box sets, which are pressed on 180-gram vinyl, will be available with LPs created using Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step lacquering process for $125, or with discs made with the industry-standard three-step process for $59.99. The LPs come housed in a deluxe box that features special foil-stamped jackets.

The reissues celebrate Pearl‘s 50th anniversary. The album was released on January 11, 1971, about three months after Joplin’s October 1970 death at age 27 from a heroin overdose, and spent nine consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200. Pearl features Janis’ chart-topping cover of Kris Kristofferson‘s “Me and Bobby McGee,” as well as such other classic tunes as “Mercedes Benz,” “Move Over” and “Cry Baby.”

“Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is honored to be a part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Janis Joplin’s landmark recording,” says the company’s president, Jim Davis. “Our limited-edition, audiophile-grade vinyl box set brings out the explosive dynamics and delicate intricacies of Ms. Joplin’s powerhouse performances, allowing listeners to get closer to the singer’s music, passion, and emotions. Most importantly, this definitive version helps ensure Pearl will forever be regarded as one of the most important rock albums of all time.”

You can pre-order the Pearl vinyl box sets and SACD now at MoFi.com, and the ulra-hi-fi version also can be purchased at JanisJoplin.com and MusicDirect.com.

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Pearl Jam will headline the the second day of the 2022 edition of Lollapalooza Paris, taking place in the French capital on July 16 and 17.

Imagine Dragons will headline the first day of the festival, which also will include performances by The Struts, Megan Thee Stallion, A$AP Rocky, Måneskin, Phoebe Bridgers, Highly Suspect and many others. Tickets are on sale now.

Pearl Jam had previously been scheduled to headline Lolla Paris in 2020 before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grunge icons are also playing 2022’s Lollapalloza Stockholm.

The 2022 U.S. edition of Lollapalooza, which takes place in Chicago’s Grant Park, will take place July 28-31.

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Metallica is helping to introduce a new combat sport to the world.

The metal legends are performing ahead of the debut of Triad Combat, a team-based fighting competition that combines the rules of boxing and MMA. Produced by Triller Fight Club, the event will take place November 27 in Arlington, Texas.

“Here’s something different for you and is definitely a first for us!” Metallica says of the show.

Tickets go on sale Friday, November 5, at 10 a.m. CT. You’ll also be able to watch live at home via pay-per-view.

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