Classic Rock News

On September 30, Eric Clapton will release The Complete Reprise Studio Albums – Volume I, a vinyl box set featuring remastered versions of his first six studio efforts for the Reprise label.

The 12-LP collection, which can be preordered now, features 1983’s Money and Cigarettes on a single disc, as well as 1985’s Behind the Sun, 1986’s August, 1989’s Journeyman, the 1994 blues-covers project From the Cradle and 1998’s Pilgrim as two-LP sets. The box set also features the Rarities Vol. 1 LP, which includes rare studio and live recordings from the era.

Money and Cigarettes peaked at #13 on the Billboard 200 and featured the top-20 hit “I’ve Got a Rock ‘n’ Roll Heart.”

The Platinum-certified Behind the Sun included “Forever Man,” which reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

August featured “It’s in the Way That You Use It,” which Clapton co-wrote with The Band‘s Robbie Robertson, and the Tina Turner duet “Tearing Us Apart.” Those peaked at #1 and #5, respectively, on Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Journeyman, which was certified two-times Platinum by the RIAA, included two Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart toppers — “Pretending” and “Bad Love.”

From the Cradle topped the Billboard 200 and has sold over 3 million copies in the States.

Pilgrim reached #4 on the Billboard 200 and included the hit “My Father’s Eyes,” which peaked at #16 on the Hot 100.

Rarities features two previously unreleased tracks, a new mix of “Pilgrim” and a cover of Albert King‘s “Born Under a Bad Sign” that’s a From the Cradle outtake. The latter tune is available now as an advance digital track.

A second box set of Clapton’s Reprise studio albums, spanning from 2001 to 2010, will be released in early 2023.

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Former Journey frontman Steve Perry has received a lot of media attention thanks to a pair of remixes of his old band’s 1983 hit “Separate Ways,” which appear on the soundtrack of the latest season of Stranger Things.

During an interview on the Rock Classics Radio show, Apple Hits Music DJ Jenn Marino asked him what song he’d like to hear accompanying his scene if he appeared on an episode of Stranger Things.

While the series is set in the 1980s and usually showcases songs from that era, Perry said he’d want to feature a tune by his favorite 1960s soul singer.

“Well, first of all, I would be driving to school in am … really beautiful GTO, and out of the speakers of the car, I would love to hear some Sam Cooke,” Steve declared. “I mean, you’d have to allow that generation to start to discover that by having one guy in the car, a young-looking Steve Perry … playing ‘Cupid’ or [another Cooke tune].”

Steve then settled on a different song and proceeded to serenade Jenn with a verse from Cooke’s posthumous 1965 single “When a Boy Falls In Love.”

“I mean, that song cripples me,” he added. “It’s so teenage and so true. So that’s my choice.”

Perry also discussed how he wound up collaborating on the second of the two “Separate Ways” remixes for the Stranger Things season 4 soundtrack. He explained that he contacted series creators, the Duffer Brothers, and offered his services after he heard the first remix, which was used in the new season’s first trailer.

“I had not heard [my voice] that naked [on the track] since the day we did it back in the ’80s,” Steve noted, “and I loved it.”

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A pair of archival live albums capturing metal legends Dio performing at the Monsters of Rock festivals in Donington, England, in 1983 and 1987, respectively, will be released September 23 on CD and as limited-edition two-LP vinyl sets.

The CD and two-LP versions of both albums — Dio at Donington ’83 and Dio at Donington ’87 — will come packaged with a 3D lenticular print of the cover art, while the LP sets will feature an exclusive etching on Side D. Standard single-LP editions of both albums will also be available.

Dio at Donington ’83 features the Ronnie James Dio-led band performing in support of its debut album, Holy Diver. The group’s set featured renditions of four songs from Holy Diver, as well as select tunes from Ronnie’s stints with Rainbow and Black Sabbath, including Rainbow’s “Stargazer” and “Man on the Silver Mountain,” and Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell” and “Children of the Sea.”

Dio’s 1983 lineup featured drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain, keyboardist Claude Schnell and future Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell.

Dio at Donington ’87 captures the band performing shortly after the release of its Dream Evil album. Dio’s set included three songs from Dream Evil, the title tracks of their Holy Diver and The Last in Line albums, and select Black Sabbath and Rainbow tunes.

Dio’s 1987 lineup featured Appice, Bain, Schnell and guitarist Craig Goldy.

Dio at Donington ’83 and Dio at Donington ’87 can be preordered now. Recordings of the two concerts were previously released together in a single package in 2010.

Here’s the full Dio at Donington ’83 track list:

“Stand Up and Shout”
“Straight Through the Heart”
“Children of the Sea”
“Rainbow in the Dark”
“Holy Diver”
Drum Solo
“Stargazer”
Guitar Solo
“Heaven and Hell”
“Man on the Silver Mountain”
“Starstruck”
“Man on the Silver Mountain (Reprise)”

And here’s the full Dio at Donington ’87 track list:

“Dream Evil”
“Neon Knights”
“Naked in the Rain”
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Children”
“Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll”
“The Last in Line”
“Children of the Sea”
“Holy Diver”
“Heaven and Hell”
“Man on the Silver Mountain”
“All the Fools Sailed Away”
“The Last in Line (Reprise)”
“Rainbow in the Dark”

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Four years after it was first recorded, Collective Soul‘s new album, Vibrating, has finally arrived.

As frontman Ed Roland tells ABC Audio, the “Shine” rockers had written two albums’ worth of material in between touring at the end of the 2010s and decided to release the second batch as the album Blood in 2019. That first batch, which made up Vibrating, was then set to drop as a companion album soon thereafter. Of course, that was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“The pandemic kinda whacked everybody,” Roland says. “We were gonna release Blood and then, right after that, release Vibrating. So we had to wait a couple years — two or three years — before we could get it out.”

Even if Vibrating was made so long ago, Roland can clearly remember the recording process, which took place live in his home studio with the band “horseshoed” around drummer Johnny Rabb.

“We did no more than five takes on all the songs,” Roland recalls. “I just loved the spontaneity and what the band felt at that moment. It was that simple.”

That spontaneity led to moments like the breakdown in lead single “All Our Pieces,” which spotlight’s Roland singing over just a quiet drum beat.

“I want people to hear the feeling of what I was going through,” Roland shares. “When we were doing it with the band, actually, I think Johnny or [guitarist] Jesse [Triplett] was, like, ‘We need you to just break it down right here. I want people to hear what you’re talking about. Let us get out of your way.'”

Vibrating is out now. Collective Soul’s current U.S. tour in support of the album alongside Switchfoot continues Saturday in Billings, Montana.

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Sammy Hagar was among the many well-known artists who contributed original songs to the soundtrack of the classic teen comedy-drama Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which premiered 40 years ago this Saturday.

Hagar wrote and recorded the movie’s title song, a riff-heavy rock tune that Sammy notes was one of a series a tunes he recorded specifically for films around that time.

“They just would send me the script of the movie, and I would read…through it,” Hagar explains to ABC Audio. “And they didn’t ask me to write the title track. I just wrote a song called ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High.’ So…lyrically, I just kind of mimicked what was going on in the movie. You know, just a bunch of high school kids messing up…and trying to get laid, basically.”

The Red Rocker says having one of his songs as the title track of a popular movie then felt like he’d hit the “big time.”

Hagar notes that he always enjoyed writing songs for films, explaining, “I loved having a theme. For a songwriter, the first thing you need to have, after you have the [music]…I needed a title, a subject. ‘What am I writing about?’ And when they would hand that to you in a script in a movie…I just said, ‘Oh, yeah. Boom! I know what to do.'”

Meanwhile, Hagar says one of the cool things about his “Fast Times” song was getting to work with a soundtrack musician who was experimenting with synthesizers, and who added an effect that Sammy described as sounding “like a knife being sharpened.”

“It was so advanced [at the time],” Hagar notes. “It was really cool…You know, no one had ever heard anything like that before.”

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Alice in Chains has announced a vinyl reissue of the band’s 1992 sophomore album Dirt in honor of its 30th anniversary.

The two-LP collection, which includes remastered audio of the original record, will be released September 23, six days before Dirt officially turns 30 on September 29.

The reissue will also be available as a super deluxe box set, which, along with the two LPs, also includes a remastered Dirt CD and each of the album’s five singles — “Them Bones,” “Down an a Hole,” “Rooster,” “Angry Chair” and “Would?” — on seven-inch vinyl, plus various memorabilia, including an 80-page photo book and exclusive art prints, posters and a reprinted set list.

The box set is available to preorder now via the Alice in Chains web store.

As previously reported, Alice in Chains is also marking the 30th anniversary of Dirt with an album-themed collection of Funko Pop! figures. Dirt was also recently certified five-times Platinum by the RIAA.

Meanwhile, you can catch Alice in Chains live on their U.S. tour with Breaking Benjamin and Bush. The outing, which just kicked off earlier this week, is currently scheduled into October.

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The third installment of Aerosmith‘s five-week archival streaming concert series, 50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults, premieres Friday at 3 p.m. ET on the band’s official YouTube channel.

The movie captures the veteran rockers performing in July 1993 at the Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater in the Pittsburgh suburb of Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, during the band’s tour in support of its chart-topping, hit-packed ’93 studio album, Get a Grip.

The show features renditions of “Eat the Rich,” “Love in an Elevator” and “Cryin’,” as well as older classics like “Walk This Way,” “Back in the Saddle,” “Rag Doll,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” “Dream On” and “Sweet Emotion.”

The film, which has been remastered in HD from the original master tapes, will be viewable for one week after its premiere.

As previously reported, the five-part series, which kicked off two weeks ago, is offering new archival “official bootleg” concert films featuring never-before-seen footage debuting weekly. Each flick captures Aerosmith during a different decade.

One day after each film premieres, highlight clips from the respective movies will be added to Aerosmith’s YouTube channel.

Here’s the complete remaining schedule of the 50 Years Live!: From the Aerosmith Vaults series:

8/12 — Live from the Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh, PA, 1993 (Get a Grip Tour)
8/19 — Live from Comerica Park, Detroit, MI, 2003 (Rocksimus Maximus Tour)
8/26 — Live from Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, 2016 (Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble Tour)

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The second episode of the new four-part Rolling Stones docuseries My Life as a Rolling Stone premieres on EPIX this Sunday, August 14, at 9 p.m. ET.

The new installment focuses specifically on Keith Richards, looking at how important the founding Stones guitarist’s passion for music has been to the band, and how his bad boy and rebellious image has played such a major role in the group’s legend.

In a preview clip, Richards talks about how important he feels it is for a song to have a good guitar intro.

“[I]f an intro can grab you, you’re gonna to be in for at least a few more minutes,” he notes. “And if the riff behind that intro grabs you then, then you pretty much got ’em.”

Richards also discusses the unique way he devised of setting up his guitar, which entails removing the low E string and tuning the remaining five strings to a G chord.

He explains about the sound of the specially tuned guitar, “There is something about the intonation of the notes, the separation at the point — I would say almost mystical — that when hit in the right way, in the right moment, you know, [it’s a] cheap ride to heaven.”

As previously reported, the series, which was produced to coincide with the British rock legends’ 60th anniversary, is made up of four hour-long episodes, each focusing on a different band member. Last week’s premiere episode profiled singer Mick Jagger, while the final two installments will look at longtime guitarist Ronnie Wood and late drummer Charlie Watts, respectively.

In addition to new conversations with Jagger, Richards and Wood, My Life as a Rolling Stone features new interviews with a variety of other noteworthy music artists.

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Megadeth has premiered a new song called “Soldier On!” off the band’s upcoming album, The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!

“Soldier On!” is available now via digital outlets and is accompanied by a visualizer streaming now on YouTube.

The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead!, the follow-up to 2016’s Dystopia, will be released September 2. It also includes the previously released single “We’ll Be Back” and the Ice-T collaboration “Night Stalkers.”

Megadeth will hit the road in support of The Sick, the Dying…and the Dead! on a U.S. tour with Five Finger Death Punch kicking off August 19 in Ridgefield, Washington.

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This Saturday, August 13, marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of the classic teen comedy-drama Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

The hit film, which featured such soon-to-be stars as Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates and Forest Whitaker, also had deep connections to the rock music world.

For starters, the screenplay was written by one-time Rolling Stone journalist Cameron Crowe, who went on to write and direct such rock-themed movies as Singles and Almost Famous.

The Fast Times soundtrack was packed with original songs by well-known rock artists, including Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, The Go-Go’s, Don Felder, Billy Squier, Sammy Hagar, Graham Nash and Stevie Nicks.

Meanwhile, Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson appears in a scene in which Judge Reinhold‘s character Brad Hamilton tries — and fails — to flirt with her.

Several other scenes included humorous references to popular rock acts. Here are three examples:

–In a scene featuring Leigh’s Stacy Hamilton and Cates’ Linda Barrett, as the two friends chat in the high school cafeteria, they realize that several of their female classmates have “cultivated the Pat Benatar look.”

–As the shy, nerd-ish Mark Ratner, portrayed by Brian Backer, nervously prepares for his first date with Stacy, his smooth-talking but sketchy pal Mike Damone — played by Robert Romanus — shares his special five-point plan for a successful date. Point five? “When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV.”

–Just before the end credits of the film roll, we’re informed that Penn’s perpetually stoned surfer-dude character Jeff Spicoli has won a bunch of reward money for saving model/actress Brooke Shields from drowning, but spent all the cash to hire Van Halen to play his birthday party.

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