Classic Rock News

On Thursday night at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom, Journey played their first concert since late 2019, and the first since longtime bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith were fired early last year.

The performance was part of a series of Lollapalooza “aftershow” events that select artists also performing at the Chicago festival this weekend are playing at various venues in the Windy City. The Aragon show was a warmup for Journey’s Lollaplooza headlining set Saturday.

In addition to guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain and singer Arnel Pineda, Journey’s lineup includes drummers Narada Michael Walden and Deen Castronovo, keyboardist/backing vocalist Jason Derlatka and bassist Randy Jackson, although Marco Mendoza is filling in for Jackson at the Chicago shows while Randy recovers from back surgery.

According RollingStone.com, the Aragon Ballroom show was an extra-long, two-set extravaganza that included classic hits like “Open Arms,” “Faithfully” and “Separate Ways,” along with deep cuts like “Suzanne,” “Just the Same Way” and “Feeling That Way.” You can check out fan-recorded video of the band performing the 1978 gem “Wheel in the Sky” on YouTube.

Walden, Jackson and Derlatka joined the band last year, while it was announced earlier this week that Castronovo, who previously played who Journey from 1998 to 2015, was once again a member of the group.

Meanwhile, Schon tells ABC Audio that he’s excited that popular rapper-singer Post Malone will be headlining Lollaplooza alongside Journey on Saturday.

“I think he’s a very good guitar player…and I heard he’s a fan of mine as well,” says Neal. “And he plays many different styles.”

Schon adds, “Maybe he’ll get done before we do, ’cause I think we’re playing a longer show, and I’d like to invite him to our show to come…and sit in.”

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Alice in Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has released a new song called “Atone.”

The track, which premiered via RollingStone.com along with an official music video, is the first single off Cantrell’s upcoming solo album Brighten. The album, which can be pre-ordered now, is due out October 29.

According to Rolling Stone, Brighten will feature guest spots from artists including Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan. It was co-produced by film composer and former Marilyn Manson band member Tyler Bates.

You’ll also find a cover of the 1971 Elton John song “Goodbye,” which was personally approved by the Rocket Man himself.

“Out of respect to Elton, I wouldn’t include it unless he said it was OK,” Cantrell says. “He’d played piano on [the 2009 Alice in Chains song] ‘Black Gives Way to Blue,’  which I wrote for Layne [Staley], so I reached out to Elton, he listened to it, and told me, ‘You should absolutely use it.'”

Brighten is Cantrell’s first solo album since 2002. Here’s the track list:

“Atone”
“Brighten”
“Prism of Doubt”
“Black Hearts and Evil Done”
“Siren Song”
“Had to Know”
“Nobody Breaks You”
“Dismembered”
“Goodbye”

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Some day soon, you may be able to tour Kurt Cobain‘s childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington — that is, if the home’s current owners has anything to say about it.

Lee Bacon and his wife Danielle bought the house, where the late Nirvana frontman lived from 1968 to 1984,  in 2018 from the Cobain family.  Since then, Rolling Stone reports, they’ve been working to restore it to the way it looked in the ’70s and ’80s. It even has the Cobain family’s blessing: They’ve donated Kurt’s toddler bedroom set, as well as the mattress from his bedroom and their old dining room table and china hutch.

So far, the home has been officially approved for inclusion of Washington state’s Heritage Register of buildings that are culturally important.  While it’s not properly zoned to become an actual museum, Bacon says he wants to open it up in the coming months for private tours, and is trying to work out the logistics now. 

Rolling Stone adds that Bacon has also bought another building in downtown Aberdeen, where he plans to open an 8,000-square-foot “Tribute Lounge and Gallery Cafe” dedicated to Kurt.  He envisions it as a space that will “tell the story of the house” and Kurt’s childhood years via artifacts, memorabilia, photos and more.  Admission to that will be free, he says, and so will admission to the house, if he’s allowed to open it for tours.

Bacon also plans to install a plaque on the front of the house, telling Rolling Stone, “We have to write it for someone in the future, 20 years from now, who wants to learn about Kurt. We want it to be for someone who doesn’t know who he was or the contributions he made.”

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Earlier this year, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts launched a partnership with the nugs.net live-music platform making available previously unreleased concert recordings and video performances spanning the band’s 40-plus-year career.

Three new archival concerts recently were made available in both audio and video formats: a 2013 performance at the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California; a 2015 show at the Toyota Center in Houston; and a 2016 event at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York.

These three shows join previously released concerts from 1983 in Houston; 2015 in Columbus, Ohio; and 2018 in Clisson, France.

The audio versions of the shows are available for download in MP3 and two high-res formats.

Meanwhile, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts begin their 2021 tour itinerary with a show this Sunday, August 1, in San Francisco at the Stern Grove Festival. Check out the band’s full schedule at JoanJett.com.

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When Foo Fighters performed in Cincinnati on Wednesday night, they took some time to pay tribute to ZZ Top bass player Dusty Hill, whose death at age 72 was announced a few hours before the band took the stage.

Drummer Taylor Hawkins wore a t-shirt reading “Dusty RIP” and, as a video that’s now been posted online shows, Hawkins also sang ZZ Top’s “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers” during the band introduction part of the concert, after guitarist Chris Shiflett began playing the tune. Shiflett then kicked into the ZZ Top classic “La Grange,” although frontman Dave Grohl unsuccessfully struggled to remember the words.

“That’s all you’re gonna get,” he joked. “But that was for Dusty, everybody. Let’s give it up.”

Hill died in his sleep on Wednesday; a cause of death hasn’t been announced.  ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons has since said that the band plans to continue on.

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A new track that Paul McCartney recorded in collaboration with famed DJ/producer Mark Ronson and synth-pop veteran Gary Numan has been released as part of the soundtrack album for a new Ronson-hosted Apple+ series that premiered today.

Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson is a six-part series that follows Ronson as he “uncovers the untold stories behind music creation and the lengths producers and creators are willing to go to find the perfect sound.” To do that, he interviews artists including McCartney, Numan, Foo Fighters‘ Dave Grohl, Beastie Boys members Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and “Mike D” Diamond, and more.

Each episode ends with Ronson debuting a new piece of original music created with the guest artist using various groundbreaking techniques and technology.

McCartney and Numan are featured in an episode focusing on the synthesizer, and the tune they created with Ronson is called “I Know Time (Is Calling).”

The six-track soundtrack is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.

Here’s the full track list of Watch the Sound (Original Soundtrack):

Autotune: “Show Me” — Mark Ronson
Sampling: “Why Would I Stop” — DJ Premier featuring Wale
Reverb: “One Life” — Mark Ronson featuring Diana Gordon & Jónsi
Synth: “I Know Time (Is Calling)” — Mark Ronson featuring Paul McCartney & Gary Numan
Drum Machine: “You’ll Go Crazy” — Mark Ronson featuring King Princess
Distortion: “Do You Do You Know” — Mark Ronson featuring Santigold & Kathleen Hanna

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Today, you can hear Metallica as you’ve never heard them before — twice — on the soundtrack of the new Disney movie, Jungle Cruise.

The band worked with noted composer James Newton Howard to reimagine “Nothing Else Matters” for the film.  Two different instrumental versions of the song appear on the soundtrack: one is a mostly sedate, acoustic guitar-and-strings version that runs for about a minute-and-a-half, and the other is a much more rocking version featuring strings plus the Metallica thunder.

In a statement, the band says, “It was an honor to work with renowned, legendary composer James Newton Howard as we reimagined the song by performing his arrangement and creating a rendition we like to think is fit for an excursion through the Amazon.”

They add, “Not only are we big fans of Disney, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Howard, an eight-time Oscar nominee who has been recognized for films such as The Fugitive, Michael Clayton, and The Village.”

Set around World War I, Jungle Cruise, which is now in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access, stars Emily Blunt as an adventurer who hires an Amazon riverboat captain, played by Dwayne Johnson, to take her and her brother in search of a magical plant that can cure all illnesses.

Of course, if you want to hear even more versions of “Nothing Else Matters,” there are 12 different ones on the upcoming The Metallica Blacklist album, performed by everyone from Miley Cyrus and Phoebe Bridgers to My Morning Jacket and country star Chris Stapleton.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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A previously unreleased alternate version of George Harrison‘s classic song “Isn’t It a Pity” that will appear on the upcoming deluxe reissue of the late Beatles legend’s landmark 1970 solo album, All Things Must Pass, is now available as an advance digital track.

Two versions of “Isn’t It a Pity” are featured on the original album, while the expanded reissue offers three additional renditions — a demo recording and two alternate takes.

The newly released “Take 27” version features a slower and simpler arrangement than the best-known version of of “Isn’t It a Pity,” which was issued as a double-sided single with “My Sweet Lord.”

An animated music video for “Isn’t It a Pity (Take 27)” has debuted at Harrison’s YouTube channel in conjunction with the track’s release. The melancholy clip brings surreal and evocative painted images to life, including a windmill, grandfather clocks, hot air balloons, and a man rowing a boat followed by an old sailing ship, all inside of a bottle.

As previously reported, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of All Things Must Pass will be released August 6 in multiple formats and configurations, including a Super Deluxe eight-LP or five-CD/Blu-ray-audio set.

The Super Deluxe reissue features a new mix of the original 23-track album, as well as 30 demos and various outtakes, alternate takes and studio jams. Forty-two of the tracks are previously unreleased.

The collection comes with a 60-page scrapbook curated by Harrison’s widow, Olivia, that features rare images and memorabilia, handwritten lyrics, diary entries and more. A replica of the original album poster also is included.

Released in November 1970, All Things Must Pass spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.

Visit GeorgeHarrison.com for full details about the reissue.

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July 17 was the second drop of Record Store Day 2021, and Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam came out on top.

Billboard reports that according to MRC Data, the event resulted in 1.14 million U.S. vinyl album sales overall, and the top-selling RSD release was Foo Fighters’ Hail Satin, released under the name The Dee Gees. The project sold 12,000 vinyl LPs, plus another 3,000 downloads when it was made available digitally on July 19.

The 10-song album features covers of four number-one Bee Gees hits, a cover of “Shadow Dancing” by the Bee Gees’ little brother, Andy Gibb, and live versions of songs from the Foos’ latest, Medicine at Midnight.

The top-selling RSD single release was Pearl Jam’s “Alive,” which was issued on both 12-inch vinyl and cassette, along with the rare B-sides “Wash,” “Dirty Frank” and a cover of The Beatles’ “I’ve Got a Feeling.”

Here are the top-selling RSD 2021 July 17 drop albums at independent record stores, according to MRC Data:

1. Dee Gees/Foo Fighters, Hail Satin
2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Deja Vu: Alternates
3. Beastie Boys, Aglio e Olio
4. Amy Winehouse, Remixes
5. Miles Davis, Champions: Rare Miles From the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
6. Cat Stevens, Harold & Maude: The Songs From the Original Movie (Soundtrack)
7. The Rolling Stones, Hot Rocks 1964-1971
8. Allman Brothers Band, The Final Note: Painters Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD 10-17-71
9. John Prine, Live: At the Other End, Dec. 1975
10. The Ramones, Triple J Live at the Wireless: Capital Theatre, Sydney, Australia, July 8, 1980

And here are the top-selling singles:

1. Pearl Jam, “Alive”
2. Fleet Foxes featuring Resistance Revival Chorus, “Can I Believe You ” / “Wading in Waist-High Water”
3. St. Vincent, “Piggy ” / “Sad But True “
4. Bob Dylan, “Jokerman” / “I and I ” (Remixes)
5. Karen O & Willie Nelson, “Under Pressure “
6. Dio, “God Hates Heavy Metal “
7. Denzel Curry & Robert Glasper, “So Incredible ” / “This Changes Everything ” (Live from Leimert Park)
8. ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, “Beat on the Brat “
9. Jxdn, “Angels & Demons ” / “Drivers License”
10. The Dirty Knobs, “Humdinger “/ “Feelin’ High “

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Just as Journey starts playing live again for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the band has announced that Deen Castronovo, who was the group’s drummer from 1998 to 2015, has rejoined its lineup as a second drummer alongside Narada Michael Walden.

On Wednesday, Journey guitarist Neal Schon and Castronovo hinted at Deen’s return in a series of Twitter posts promoting the band’s Chicago concerts this week, on Thursday at the Aragon Ballroom and Saturday at the Lollapalooza festival.

Schon’s post featured the Twitter tags of the Aragon Ballroom and most of Journey’s current members, plus Marco Mendoza — who will be filling in on bass for Randy Jackson this week — and Deen.

Also, Castronovo tweeted on Wednesday a message that reads, “It’s ON!! STOKED to be playing with my brothers in Journey this weekend!! Let’s DO THIS!,” along with the hashtags #deencastronovo, #teamdeeno, #lollapalooza, #aragonballroom, #journeyband and #journeyfamily. The post also featured photos apparently taken at the group’s rehearsals for the concerts.

Then, on Thursday, Schon chatted with fans via a Facebook thread and was asked if Castronovo was back as an official member of Journey, to which he replied, “Yes.” He also noted that both Deen and Narada will be playing drums, adding, “JOURNEY AS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD US BEFORE!!!!”

Castronovo was fired from Journey in 2015 after he was arrested on domestic violence charges involving his then-girlfriend, to whom he’s now married.

In 2019, Castronovo took part in Schon’s short-lived Journey Through Time project, which celebrated Journey’s early music and also featured founding Journey singer/keyboardist Gregg Rolie and, interestingly, Mendoza.

Walden, Jackson and keyboardist/backing singer Jason Derlatka all joined Journey in 2020 after drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory were fired from the band.

Ok… Double trouble Chicago @NaradaMWalden @DeenTheDrummer Narada Michael Walden and the return of Deen Castronovo on Drums @AragonBallroom @lollapalooza pic.twitter.com/RRHYNi6CuQ

— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) July 27, 2021

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