Pics of Pink Floyd's New Album Master Disc Arise

 
If you had suspicions that the new Pink Floyd album Endless River may have been a hoax, the band has just released photos that should quell them.

The photos were taken as the master discs arrived where it will be pressed at Quality Sound Pressings in Salina, KS. One of the spokespeople from QSP says, “We’re ecstatic that QRP was chosen to press The Endless River on vinyl and proud that our recent pressing of The Division Bell was so highly received. When we say we press the world’s finest-sounding LPs, we mean it.”

 The Endless River it seems will be a double album. It will be Pink Floyd's first release of brand new material since their 1994 release The Division Bell. It will contain keyboard recordings that were recorded in some of the band's final sessions in the mid-90's by the late Richard Wright, who died in 2008 and was the band's keyboard player.

The album is set to come out this October. Many of the songs will be ambient instrumentals similar to what was on The Division Bell. Knowing the kind of hard work Pink Floyd usually puts into their music, I'm sure it will be something amazing. For the first time in 20 years we will finally get to embark on yet another Pink Floyd adventure.

AC/DC's Upcoming Album Took Only 10 Days to Record

In more recent years many of AC/DC's fans have come to notice that the band takes noticeably long periods of time (at least 5 years) between recording albums. However, apparently that does NOT mean that when they are in the studio things take a long while. In fact, it seems to be quite the opposite.

Even though this is AC/DC's first album without founding member rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young (due to him having health issues), the music according to the band seems to be "stellar" and shows that the band is at full strength. In a recent interview with Australian radio station Triple M drummer Phil Rudd has this to say about the process:

“It was done in 10 days, and I’ve never played better. I hope it’s as good as I remember when I came away from the studio. It’s pretty damn good.”

Rudd seems to be quite impatient with the rest of the process, however. “Usually you master something and wait a couple of weeks, and you go and have a listen to it. They do things a certain way — I think they’re taking too long.”

Be that as it may, I'm sure the wait will be well worth it. After all, we wouldn't want a product that wasn't as good as it could have been just because we were in a big hurry to get it. Hopefully Rudd as well as the rest of the AC/DC fan base will be happy with the end result and will be able to forget about the wait. If the music is said to be that good I'm sure it will be.

“Usually you master something and wait a couple of weeks, and you go and have a listen to it,” he added. “They do things a certain way — I think they’re taking too long.”

Read More: AC/DC's New Album Took 10 Days to Record | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/acdc-new-album-2014/?trackback=tsmclip

“Usually you master something and wait a couple of weeks, and you go and have a listen to it,” he added. “They do things a certain way — I think they’re taking too long.”

Read More: AC/DC's New Album Took 10 Days to Record | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/acdc-new-album-2014/?trackback=tsmclip

Throwback Thursday: Heaven and Hell, by Black Sabbath

In 1979 heavy metal legends Black Sabbath had come nearly to a breaking point. Singer Ozzy Osbourne had delved far too deep into the drugs, alcohol, and partying for the band to keep carrying on as they were. Plus, they felt immense lack of creativity. Sabbath had been working in Los Angeles for nearly 11 months trying to come up with new material and the sessions were not going well to say the least. A lot of it had to do with Osbourne's behavior. Something had to change and quickly; otherwise the band would cease to exist altogether. That being said, Osbourne was booted out.

This left Black Sabbath looking for a new singer. Since the band had garnered such huge notoriety throughout the decade they had their pick. They ended up deciding on former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio who had recently left the band due to creative differences. The first day guitarist Tony Iommi and Dio jammed together at Iommi's house, there was instant chemistry and they finished the entire song Children of the Sea. Bassist Geezer Butler initially didn't want to be in the band any more, but he came back to record the whole album with them. Shortly after drummer Bill Ward would quit. The result of the first work with Dio became the album Heaven and Hell. It was released April 25th, 1980 and although old fans were at first apprehensive, the album became Black Sabbath's highest selling album since 1975 album Sabotage.

The album's title track Heaven and Hell is one of the most amazing heavy metal songs I have ever heard. I remember at the time I first listened to it I was a die-hard Ozzy fan, but when I heard that signature riff and then that astounding operatic voice of Ronnie James Dio soar up over the bass line I was stunned. To me it was like Black Sabbath saying that they were back from the dead and could do such better things than they could have ever done before. It's a pretty mid tempo song as many of Black Sabbath's songs are. The lyrical style definitely differs from what they had done before because Dio had taken up primary lyric writing duties (which as a singer he should). Not only is the guitar riff unforgettable, but Iommi does some of his best soloing in this song. To sum it all up, it will leave you with chills and raise the hairs on your arms.

If you really want to hear some of the best work Iommi has ever done solo-wise however, listen to the track Lonely is the Word. It's the album's closing track and gradually fades out near the end. The lyrics are some of the darkest that Dio had done up to that point and you can tell a lot of emotion was put into the singing. It really gives you the feels. However, when it gets to the part of the song where Iommi solos musically you get feels too. It makes it seem as though you are just floating out into the universe all alone like you will keep wandering without seeing a single soul forever.

Heaven and Hell is a metal masterpiece. It proved that Black Sabbath could do just fine without Ozzy Osbourne. You can really tell that the band was rejuvenated with the replacement of Osbourne with Dio. The style of their playing did change slightly but it was for the better. The music got heavier, the lyrics got more dark and creative, and the life of a legendary band was extended. I know that a lot of people will always think that Ozzy is Black Sabbath, but that simply isn't true. Not giving Heaven and Hell a chance is a crime. You're missing out on some great music if you think that way. It's all killer and no filler.

Heaven and Hell, by Black Sabbath receives 5 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Neon Knights
2. Children of the Sea
3. Lady Evil
4. Heaven and Hell
5. Wishing Well
6. Die Young
7. Walk Away
8. Lonely is the Word

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Hell-Black-Sabbath/dp/B001EOOQEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409278437&sr=8-1&keywords=Black+Sabbath+Heaven+and+Hell

Robert Plant's Next Album May Be His Last

Former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant has had a very busy career the past 45 years. He has been around the world singing his balls off to audiences of all kinds. However, in a recent interview with Independent Plant is alluding to the idea that his upcoming album lullaby … And the Ceaseless Roar may be the end to not just his recording career, but his entire career.

Plant says:

“Maybe this new album is the end now for me. Of this musical wanderlust and the wonderful carousel that I’ve been on. It’s like a kaleidoscope: you hold it up to the light, rotate it, and the pieces fall beautifully in different ways, but this record feels different. It’s a consummation of all those bits from Son House to Roni Size to the Gambia and it seems to have some sort of finality.”

lullaby ...And the Ceaseless Roar of course will not go unbacked by a tour. The album comes out September 9th and a short North American tour will kick off on the 25th of the month.

This new album will be Plant's first release of brand new material since 2005. A bit of a stretch, but he was plenty occupied with other projects and activities during that time. The music this time around will have a bit of an edge but with world rhythms and electronic beats. Not exactly what we're all used to hearing from Plant (at least those of us who haven't heard much of his work outside Led Zeppelin), but I'm sure whatever it is will be worth at least one listen; especially if it will be his last album ever.

Hopefully Plant chooses to carry on making music, but if not I can kind of understand. He has been at it a long time and has a respectable catalog and career behind him. Sadly this will probably put the nail in the coffin for a Led Zeppelin reunion, though he has already turned down the idea multiple times recently. Personally, I think if he is going to retire he should do one more Led Zeppelin tour just for old times' sake but that's just me. I know he doesn't want to be a human jukebox and only be doing it to please everyone but himself.

Alice Cooper to Release Concert DVD of 2013 Wacken Performance

Seems that the godfather of shock rock Alice Cooper will soon be releasing a brand new live DVD/CD combo of his August 3, 2013 performance at the annual Wacken Open Air Festival that takes place in Wacken, Germany.

This package of gruesome will be packed with a total of 22 songs, three of which will be covers. In this case he has Break on Through, by The Doors, My Generation, by The Who, and Another Brick in the Wall, by Pink Floyd. A pretty interesting choice in covers if I do say so myself. I've heard him do part of Another Brick in the Wall while blended with School's Out at both the shows I've seen him perform and it worked out surprisingly well. However, I'm more curious to hear his take on Break on Through and My Generation. Those have GOT to be something else.

Portions of the profits from this upcoming package will be going to help fund the Wacken Foundation, an organization that helps fund up and coming heavy metal and hard rock bands. Sounds cool to me because it would be great to see undiscovered talent rise to the stardom they deserve.

Raise the Dead – Live from Wacken Track Listing

1. ‘Hello Hooray’
2. ‘House of Fire’
3. ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’
4. ‘Under My Wheels’
5. ‘I’ll Bite Your Face Off’
6. ‘Billion Dollar Babies’
7. ‘Caffeine’
8. ‘Department of Youth’
9. ‘Hey Stoopid’
10. ‘Dirty Diamonds’
11. ‘Welcome to My Nightmare’
12. ‘Go to Hell’
13. ‘He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)’
14. ‘Feed My Frankenstein’
15. ‘Ballad of Dwight Fry’
16. ‘Killer’
17. ‘I Love the Dead’
18. ‘Break on Through’
19. ‘My Generation’
20. ‘I’m Eighteen’
21. ‘Poison’
22. ‘School’s Out’ / ‘Another Brick in the Wall’

On With the Show! Jack White Sprains Ankle But Continues Touring

As if I didn't have enough reasons to respect blues rock singer/guitarist Jack White already, he just gave me and the rest of the world another one. The other night White severely sprained his ankle, but performed his show at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium anyway despite this.

White's label Third Man Records was highly against the decision and even wanted him to postpone the rest of his tour. However, White wouldn't have it. He has decided he does not want to let his fans down and will continue with the tour as scheduled.

Third Man Records have even posted a pic of the black and blue on White's foot to their Instagram account:

Hopefully White can make a speedy recovery despite his continued tour activities. I know that standing on stage and being active for two hours every night even without an ankle injury is no easy feat. That being said, much props and get well soon Jack White!

Album Review: Space Invader, by Ace Frehley

 
Lately former Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley has been talking big game about how his new album Space Invader is going to put the current line-up of Kiss to shame and show them and the whole world that he is not a big screw up any more and can blow any replacement of his off the stage. A couple of days ago Space Invader made its debut and is now available to the public. Does it live up to the boasting of its creator? We're going to talk about just that today.

I will say this, it does have Ace Frehley written all over it. The guitar playing is unmistakeably him. While that is a good thing, I do have a few nitpicks. The overall sound of the album is too over-produced for the style of music. A lot of it does sound like classic Kiss, but that's the problem. There is too much shine for what fans are used to. As far as I'm concerned, part of what made Kiss's sound back in their 70's heyday was the fact that to a certain extent it was raw and had a bit more warmth to it. Secondly, I know this is something that Ace can't exactly help but the age in his voice definitely shows through. You wouldn't know the vocals were him unless you knew who it was beforehand.

Gimme a Feeling was the first single put out from the album a couple months before its release. It starts out with a classic Ace guitar riff and solo that we have all heard him do many times, but I think it works. It's the song's way of saying, "Yeah, this is Ace motherf***ing Frehley up in this b****!". It is a mid tempo rocker does sound like something Kiss might have done back in the day. However, I think higher octave vocals like the kind Ace was able to do a long while back would have helped it a bit more. Other than that though, the guitar work is fantastic. It's flashy, it's ballsy, and it's Ace.

Ace did another cover for this album as well. This time around it was Steve Miller Band's The Joker. I was a little dumbfounded when I found this out, but I decided to give it a fair shot. It definitely sounds different from the original and is quite unique. I will give it this, while the vocals don't really astound me, to the song's and Ace's credit the blend of acoustic and electric guitars really does work. Ace really makes this classic his own and really makes it almost an entirely different song (though not in a bad way). However, I do kind of miss some of the whistling sounds that were in the original.

Space Invader is by no means a bad album, but if you want the God's honest truth from me none of the songs really stood out to me. There was no one particular track that really grabbed my attention and made me want to play it on repeat like some Kiss songs have in the past. In my opinion, I think Ace my have bragged about it a little too much. However, it is still worth finding online and listening to a couple times. There is some good guitar work. It's what you would expect from him. Maybe if he had toned down the production a bit things might have worked out a little better. I get the impression that maybe this is one of those albums you have to listen to a few times to really grasp it.

Space Invader, by Ace Frehley receives 3 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Space Invader
2. Gimme a Feeling (Radio Edit)
3. I Wanna Hold You
4. Change
5. Toys
6. Immortal Pleasures
7. Into the Vortex
8. What Every Girl Wants
9. Past the Milky Way
10. Reckless
11. The Joker
12. Starship
13. Space Invader (Radio Edit)
14. Gimme a Feeling

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KGYPY7Y/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p15_d1_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=05SB6C8MF7T10XZ9WZG8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846