Alter Bridge Coeur D' Alene Live At Wembley

In my opinion, Alter Bridge not only boasts one of the best modern guitarists in Mark Temonti but also one of the best set of pipes in Myles Kennedy. It's no wonder they make such kick-ass music, with 3 great albums to their credit now. Sadly, we won't see a new CD from them in 2012 apparently but they say they'll hit the studio late in the year probably. But they've got a new live DVD coming up and here's a little sneak peak from it. It's called "Live At Wembley" and it in Stores March 27th. The song is "Coeur D' Alene" from their 3rd CD.

Sevendust Live

I've probably seen Sevendust a good half-dozen times in the last 5 years as it just seems like they're always touring. Doesn't matter to me though... I'd watch their ass-kicking live show every weekend if I could. Check out this cool live video they posted this week to feel what it's like to be there.

"Sevendust playing Splinter live at the Machine Shop on Dec 3, 2011. Video recorded on a GoPro camera. Video editing and extras done by "Metal Mike" Ames. (MetalMikeSMD@yahoo.com)"

KoRn LiVe iN NeW yOrK

So Korn's new CD was a risk just as much as Metallica's collaboration with Lou Reed in my opinion. The biggest difference? Well, Korn collaborated with hot modern dubstep artists like Skrillex and Kill The Noise. Metallica collaborated with a guy that really hasn't been relevant or popular in about 30+ years... if he ever was at all. The results? Well let's just say since I picked up Korn's new CD I've also discovered a lot of new music from some of these dubstep (genre of electronic dance music) artists and am digging a whole new genre. Since the Metallica collaboration was released I now vomit every time I hear the word "LuLu". *BLARRRGHH* There I go again.

Anyway though, dig this very cool new live version of "Narcissistic Cannibal" from the ever evolving Korn...

"The live version of Korn's genre-melting single 'Narcissistic Cannibal', featuring Skrillex and Kill The Noise and taken from the band's album 'The Path of Totality' - available NOW on Roadrunner Records."

2011... The Year In Music

Well old man 2011, it appears as though you've come and gone. But you left some scars, and possibly tinkle on the seat. But it sure seems to me that any year where we get new music from the likes of Anthrax, Machine Head, Motorhead, Trivium and Megadeth is definitely a rockin' year. But there was more. Oh so much more. Put on your big girl panties and let's get dirty.

Note... these are my favorites, not necessarily the best, so save your bitching and troll away. But I'd love to hear yours.

Favorite Concerts... wow what another great year. I don't think I can list these. I saw Motorhead finally and Foo Fighters at last, so that's awesome. I also saw Keith Urban twice, Kenny Chesney once and Jake Owen 3 times on the country side. Add shows by Hurt (unplugged), Apocalyptica in New Orleans, Head (from Korn), The Sword, Billy Currington, Adelitas Way, Uncle Kracker, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sevendust, Seven Day Sonnet, Journey, Foreigner and Night Ranger. And more. Another great year.

Top 25 Releases in 2011 (CDs? Albums? Digital Albums? Whatever)

25. Eddie Veder - Ukulele Songs
24. Iced Earth - Dystopia
23. Five Finger Death Punch - American Capitalist
22. Limp Bizkit- Gold Cobra (sue me, I like this)
21. Maylene And The Sons of Disaster - IV
20. Motorhead - The World is Yours
19. Southern Train Gypsy - Hallelujah in the Fire
18. Sebastian Bach - Kicking and Screaming
17. Tesla - Twisted Wires
16. Revoker - Revenge For the Ruthless
15. Black Stone Cherry - Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea
14. Anthrax - Worship Music
13. Journey - Eclipse
12. Korn - The Path of Totality
11. Pop Evil - War of Angels
10. Megadeth - Th1rt3en
9. Rev Theory - Justice
8. Seether - Holding on to Strings Better Left To Fray
7. Chevelle - Hats Off To The Bull
6. Chickenfoot - III
5. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
4. Machine Head - Unto The Locust
3. Sixx A.M. - This is Gonna Hurt
2. Staind - s/t
1. Trivium - In Waves

Favorite Live CDs

* Jonathan Davis and the SFA - Alone I Play
* Slash - Made in Stoke 24/7/11

Best Comedy Album That Still Rocks: Steel Panther - Balls Out

Best CD Cover: Supagroup - Hail Hail (ode to the classic Heavy Metal soundtrack! See at right...)

Best Blues Release: Kenny Wayne Shepherd - How I Go

11 Favorite Rock Tracks

11. Korn - Get Up (w/Skrillex)
10. Black Stone Cherry - Blame It On The Boom Boom
9. Breaking Benjamin - Blow Me Away (w/Valora)
8. Valora - I Waited For You
7. Emphatic - Get Paid
6. Trivium - In Waves
5. Stain - Not Again
4. Machine Head - I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)
3. Butch Walker - Summer of '89
2. Sixx A.M. - Lies of the Beautiful People
1. Seether - Tonight

11 Favorite Country Tracks

11. Eli Young Band - Crazy Girl
10. Aaron Lewis - Country Boy
9. Brantley Gilbert - Country Must Be Country Wide
8. Dierks Bentley - Am I The Only One
7. Chris Young - Tomorrow
6. Blake Shelton - Honey Bee
5. Jake Owen - Barefoot Bluejean Night (unofficial song of Summer boating)
4. Eric Church - Drink In My Hand
3. Kevin Fowler - Hell Yeah I Like Beer
2. Rodney Atkins - Take A Back Road
1. Toby Keith - Red Solo Cup (good lord this is catchy)

Favorite Rap Tracks

* Royce da 5'9" - Writer's Block (w/Eminem)
* Travis Barker - Can A Drummer Get Some
* Wiz Khalifa - Roll Up
* Yelawolf - Let's Roll (w/Kid Rock)
* Nelly - The Champ
* Bad Meets Evil - Fast Lane
* Asher Roth - Last Man Standing

Worst Piece of Crap Ever

* Lou Reed & Metallica - LuLu (although, Metallica released 4 tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions that I think kick ass, so they're off the hook. And truth be told, I have the track The View from LuLu and while it's bizarre... it sort of grew on me enough to where I don't throw up when it plays anymore.)

I am the table!

Acoustic Hurt

When I do my year-end top concerts post it'll be tough to pick-and-choose as we've been to see some killer shows again this year, including Kenny Chesney, Foo Fighters, Keith Urban, Apocalyptica, Motorhead, Sevendust, Journey and much more. But we saw a show on Friday night at Stickyz that will have to be in the running. It was rockers Hurt doing an acoustic set and it was fantastic. Very intimate setting in the small club and they stripped down their heavier songs and played stuff from all their albums before the set was over. A killer show you must see if you're a fan. You can find quite a bit from this short acoustic tour on YouTube but here's one to give you an idea... this from the Louisville stop at Uncle Slayton's playing "Rapture".

Favorite Van Halen Tracks

There's been a lot of talk about Van Halen lately, as they or their publicists are probably jerking someone's chain around and getting in the news. I loved them once upon a time, but the way they keep their fans in the dark is just amazing to me. In this modern era of the Internet and social media can they not have 1 person in their camp fill us in on what's happening with them? Embrace the technology! Embrace your fans!

But anyway, Rolling Stone asked their readers their favorite 10 Van Halen songs, and here are the results:

01. Unchained
02. Panama
03. Hot For Teacher
04. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
05. Jump
06. Runnin' With The Devil
07. Mean Street
08. Eruption
09. Right Now
10. Dreams

Kind of weird having both Sammy Hagar tracks and David Lee Roth tracks on there, but hey what the hell. I love all of those songs but wouldn't have Jump or Eruption on my list. Jump isn't that good of a song, despite it's success, and Eruption is more of just a guitar solo to me (an awesome one, but I like vocals). So just because I want to, here's my top 10 DLR and top 10 Sammy songs:

01. Unchained
02. Panama
03. Jamie's Cryin'
04. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
05. Everybody Wants Some
06. Hot For Teacher
07. Runnin' With The Devil
08. Mean Street
09. Dance The Night Away
10. So This Is Love?

So there. Took out Eruption and Jump and added the awesome Jamie's Cryin, Everybody Wants Some, Dance the Night Away and So This Is Love?.... and yes I have nothing on the list from Diver Down and only 1 track from 1984. DLR-Halen did 4 great albums in my opinion.

Now let's get to Sammy-era, which a lot of people don't care for but I loved almost as much as DLR era and in fact most of this top 10 would challenge for spots on my DLR top 10.

01. Right Now
02. Poundcake
03. Runaround
04. Cabo Wabo
05. Finish What Ya Started
06. Dreams
07. Source of Infection
08. Black and Blue
09. Top of the World
10. (Don't Tell Me) What Love Can Do

Plenty of great tracks there as well, it's just a totally different band during that era. I wish they'd have changed the name really.

And let's just forget the whole Gary Cherone era shall we? I can't even do a top 3 of that.

Syd Duran Will Make You Want To Come Home Soon

Sweet! One of my favorite rocker girls is back again, Syd Duran from the band Valora, and she's posted this video for a song called "See You Soon" on YouTube which she says is "for our loved ones serving in the military". In the comments somebody asked if this was going to be on their new CD and she replied "No, I just wrote it this week." I love this girl and am looking forward to the new CD. Not sure of a release date... sometime early 2012.

Apparently this was done for her Artist Direct blog "Waiting For You...With Syd Duran of Valora." You can go read it if you follow that link (and the other 3 blogs she's posted), and I highly recommend it as all the lyrics to the song are there, but below is what she says about it:

"This week I've been thinking a lot about our friends and family serving in the military. Many of us have loved ones that we miss terribly, especially during the holidays. I wrote this song in honor and gratitude for our troops. Thank you for your dedication, courage and selflessness."

Use the search field over to the right to see some more posts about Valora and Syd Duran.

In Flames vs. Trivium - Reroute to 2112

Check out this entertaining clip featuring Anders Fridén (In Flames) and Matt Heafy (Trivium) discussing their favourite food and enjoying an awesome dinner at 2112 - the recently opened restuarant of In Flames' bassist Peter Iwers and guitarist Björn Gelotte in Gothenburg / Sweden. (http://restaurant2112.com).

New KoRn CD Listening Party

RoadRunner Germany posted this preview of the new KoЯn CD, The Path Of Totality, with some clips from all the tracks. It's due out next Tuesday. Check it out:

Nickelback Rocks Jimmy Kimmel Live

Nickelback was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night in support of their new CD, Here And Now, and they played a couple of tracks. For some reason the only one they've posted on their YouTube site is "Burn It to the Ground", but I'll watch for more cause I know you want it. Oh yes, you want it.

Daughtry on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Ellen DeGeneres had Daughtry stop by to perform "Crawling Back to You," from their new CD which came out yesterday, "Break the Spell." Check it out:

Never Say Die

Well, there have been a lot of rumors, but it finally looks official... Black Sabbath in it's original form will be back next year.

"The original lineup of the legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath (also known as Black f'n Sabbath!!!) — Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) — has reunited and will release a brand new album in 2012. The group's first studio effort in 33 years will be produced by Rick Rubin. A world tour will follow."

A three-and-a-half-minute reunion-announcement video can be seen below.



Oh yes, it's on.

Valora Meets Pantera

OK, I know you've figured it out with all of my Valora posts (use the search feature!) but just in case I'll say it... I love this Syd Duran chick. Awesome voice and not too hard on the eyes. Well here's something they posted yesterday, it's Syd Duran & Ryan Villa of Valora covering Pantera's "Cemetary Gates".

LuLu = DoDo

I must reiterate here... I love Metallica. They're one of my favorite all-time bands. But now that I've heard their new collaboration with Lou Reed, LuLu, all the way through a few times I'm just blown away by how much wang this thing smokes. It's terrible. Almost laughably terrible. I am however having a lot of fun reading all the reviews on the interwebs. Lots of fun!

MetaCritic has it at a 37/100 from critics right now, which if you don't know is simply dreadful. Here's some of my favorite quotes, and keep in mind these are your usual Internet trolls and chuckleheads, these are critics from places like A.V. Club and Chicago Tribune. Check 'em out:

* The whole thing comes off as either an expensive major label joke or nigh-impenetrable high art concept. Maybe both.

* Lulu is essentially a piece of shock art that's littered with vulgarity both lyrical and musical.

* Any message contained within Lulu is lost in the whirl of discordant guitar work, Reed's mutterings and the complete sense of abject disappointment that surrounds the entire album.

* An utter wreck that curiously, miraculously, might have been great.

* LuLu is a work that invites derision, an album that wallows in a tarpit of ugliness.

* The bulk of Lulu sounds like your dad's drunk friend reciting his self-penned erotica over a melting ReLoad cassette.

* It turns out that "Brandenburg Gate" is one of the only songs with an actual melody. The rest of Lulu is full of recycled, repetitive riffs; endless drones; more sex and violence than a slasher movie.

* Lulu is a joyless mess, a grim, humorless record with no notion of when to say "when."

* The godfather of avant-rock and the popular metal band don't click on any level.

* Audacious to the extreme, but exhaustingly tedious as a result, its few interesting ideas are stretched out beyond the point of utility and pounded into submission.

* At no point does Lou Reed sound like he is singing with Metallica, and the same is true the other way around.

* Not only is Lulu the worst thing any of the players have been involved in, it's quite possibly a candidate for one of the worst albums ever made.

Ha ha now that's fun! The user scores aren't any better, giving it an average of 1.8 at this point (out of 10 believe it or not). It's getting pounded. Here's some favorites:

* Lou Reed's nasally delivery just doesn't fit, it comes off as some uninspired old fart recording his voice in the living room while a metal riff plays in the background.

* I am all for trying new things and pushing the boundaries but sometimes you have to know when to pull back and review your art objectively.....this i'm afraid is just an exercise in self indulge

* This is just an embarrassment made by two creatively bankrupt artists. Please stop your Metallica hero worship and hear this album for what it is: Crap.

* I understand wanting to do something different musically. But the band also needs to understand that sometimes doing something different means that it can still suck. And suck this album does.

Fun stuff!

Please Metallica... I'm begging you... get into the studio as soon as possible and make a new CD so we can put this whole ugly mess behind us. Stop saying we "don't get it" and quite trying to justify it as being "outside the box". I do get it and I've been outside the box before... and it still sucks monkey crotch. Simply terrible. You missed, it happens.

James Durbin Wants You To Love Him Bad

Like any good red-blooded American, I don't watch American Idol at all (I kid!), but I actually do like David Cook and Chris Daughtry so I sort of pay attention to see who comes out of that show who I might find of interest. The latest seems to be this kid, James Durbin.

This first track I've heard is called "Love Me Bad" and comes off his debut album "Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster", due on November 21 via Wind-Up Records. Mick Mars from Motley Crue guests on 1 track even. This seems pretty harmless, not a big bite to it but it's nice with a slight edge I guess and the 22-year-old seems to be waving the rock flag, so I'll check out the whole CD.

Soundgarden Recruits Pepper Keenan (AntiQuiet.com)

Soundgarden Recruits Pepper Keenan For ‘Gun’:

As the anticipation for new material from Soundgarden continues to rise, the band recently played their last concert of 2011 at New Orleans’ Voodoo Music Experience festival. One of the highlights of the concert occurred when they were joined by guitarist Pepper Keenan – frontman for Corrosion of Conformity and six stringer for Down.

Keenan (who lives in New Orleans) helped in adding some weight to the already ridiculously heavy Gun. Watch it below:

Soundgarden’s first album in 15 years will reportedly be out next spring, and the band will tour Australia in early 2012. As for Down, the band plans start releasing a series of EPs sometime next year, and we’ll be catching the band on their South American tour next month.

Heavy Halloween Tunes

Yeah, I know all the standard tunes for Halloween as I'm a man who used to have a party every year and of course there were music mixes to set the tone. I always go with the usual suspects... like Monster Mash by Boris Pickett and A Nightmare on My Street by Fresh Prince, then there's The Witch Doctor by Dave Seville, Adam's Family Theme Song, Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon, Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr, Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell, Black Magic Woman by Santana, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells Pt. 1 (Theme From 'The Exorcist... and the list goes on.

But what if you want your Halloween party to be a bit... heavier? Say something with a bit more "bite" to it? Well, this year's mix from me will do just that. Here's my 50 songs to make any good werewolf bark at the moon while he's banging his head.

I give you Cracker's Halloween tunes for your party... if you want it to rock. Now crank it!

* Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween
* AC/DC - Hell's Bells
* Rob Zombie - Dragula
* Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
* Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
* Godsmack - Voodoo
* Alice Cooper - Feed My Frankenstein
* Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
* Metallica - Enter Sandman
* Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
* Marilyn Manson - What If I Was Your Vampire?
* Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
* AC/DC - Night Prowler
* Metallica - Creeping Death
* Atreyu - We Are The Living Dead
* Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare
* Black Label Society - Parade of the Dead
* Motorhead - Devil I Know
* Van Halen - Running With The Devil
* Black Sabbath - Children of the Grave
* Korn - Dead Bodies Everywhere
* Dio - The Last In Line
* Godsmack - Vampires
* Disturbed - Fear
* Mnemic - Ghost
* Seasons After - Cry Little Sister
* Judas Priest - Bloodsuckers
* Kiss - God of Thunder
* Megadeth - Blessed Are The Dead
* Metallica - All Nightmare Long
* Pantera - Cemetery Gates
* Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl
* Union Underground - Turn Me On Mr. Deadman
* Shadow's Fall - Bark At The Moon
* Murderdolls - Chapel of Blood
* Mudvayne - Scream With Me
* Avenged Sevenfold - Scream
* Metallica - Am I Evil?
* Lizzy Borden - We Only Come Out At Night
* Helloween - Halloween
* Kiss - Creatures of the Night
* Godsmack - Releasing The Demons
* Dust for Life - Where the Freaks Go
* David Draiman - Forsaken
* AC/DC - Highway To Hell
* Another Black Day - Wicked Souls
* Black Label Society - Black Mass Reverends
* Black Sabbath - Iron Man
* Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
* Rob Zombie - Werewolf Baby!

Megadeth Rock HDNet

I only wish I got HDNet on Comcast, but no such luck. If I did, apparently I'd see a pretty cool show this Sunday as Megadeth performs. Here's a clip as they rock their track "Symphony of Destruction," which is probably still my favorite song by them they've ever done. There's some other stuff like interviews and such that I posted underneath it. Somebody let me know if they get to watch this I guess. Bastards.

Watch the full concert Sunday at 11:40pm ET, only on HDNet.

Let's Talk LuLu

I've now heard the Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration "LuLu" in it's entirety, and you can too if you follow this link: LouTallica LuLu

Go check it out and then come back and we'll talk. Go ahead.

Back? OK, we now I feel like I can have a much more informed opinion. And here it is.

The music is awesome. Cool background vocals.

The lead vocals and lyrics or whatever the hell you call that spoken word stuff... just sucks monkey ass.

Hey I'm sure Lou Reed has a lot of fans in this world and he's a legend and all that and I personally love "Walk on the Wild Side", it's just more of a novelty as enjoyment to me. I don't want to hear any more of it, it's just not my thing.

If this would come out in an instrumental version I'd buy it.

I'm sad Metallica used this much time on this project instead of working on a new Metallica CD. I'm sad that if they wanted to do a collaboration they didn't do one with Dave Mustaine or Ripper Owens or hell Keith Urban if they wanted to be taking a risk like this. Or maybe a CD with all lead vocals on every track by somebody different, with Lou Reed doing one song. Then it could be a novelty again.

But in summary... I love Metallica, and this eats nut sacks. I won't be buying it. It sounds like exactly what it is I guess... a monster metal band rocking their asses off while some old man talks. Which in any situation would make me want to yell at the old man to shut up. As here. "Shut up dammit! Metallica is playing!" Oh, too late.

Mastodon Roars on Jools Holland

The mighty metallers Mastodon played "Black Tongue" on Later Live with Jools Holland last night. I ain't lyin! See for yourself:



Told ya.