After a year and a half long search, Stone Temple Pilots have finally found a new singer to fill the shoes of late iconic front man Scott Weiland. Not only that, but the band is now working on new music with the new vocalist as well.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, bassist Robert DeLeo goes into minor detail about the new singer as well as the music, saying:
“We’ve been working with someone – I don’t want to name names yet – and we’re making music. I don’t know if he’s well-known or unknown; I don’t look at him as ‘well-known.’ But we’re writing music and we’re hopefully looking at finishing a record and putting it out soon.”
Stone Temple Pilots had been on the search for a new singer since they parted ways with Weiland in 2011 (who died in 2015 of a drug overdose) and the attempted push forward with late Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington in 2013 coming to an end for Bennington to focus on his main band.
That said, I know I'm looking forward to finding out who the new singer is and what the new stuff will sound like as well as how he will interpret the old material as well. There is no replacing someone like Scott Weiland, but if AC/DC can come back and be bigger and better than ever after a similar incident, then I don't see why STP can't do the same.
In 2004 the enigmatic creepy guitar black belt Buckethead teamed up with Pinchface, the drummer from his first band Deli Creeps as well as keyboardist Travis Dickerson to record some new music after the sessions for the album they were all a part of Brain Circus by their band Cornbugs. The result was Buckethead's 12th album, a rather interesting jazz fusion record by the name of Population Override.
Population Override like the vast majority of Buckethead's works is entirely instrumental. The songs while having recognizable segments that identify them as the songs they are for the most part are just long, drawn out jam sessions with only minimal overdubbing. For the most part this album sounds pretty organic and flows, which makes sense because the theme they had in mind was to pay tribute to the great jazz fusion vinyl albums of the 60's and 70's.
Earth Heals Herself features some rather tasty interplay between Buckethead and Dickerson. Even though this is labeled as a Buckethead album, Dickerson is not afraid to make himself a noticeable presence in the music. However, it's done in such a way to where the guitar and keys intertwine in all the best ways. Some times Big B will take center stage with hot licks and some nice key backing and some times he'll step back and let Dickerson lay down something really smooth and nice. This tune absolutely moves and grooves, but at the same time keeps a chill atmosphere.
Too Many Humans has to be one of if not THE absolute best songs on the entire album. It's laid back and chill, and has some incredibly powerful emotion pulsing the entire way through it. It perfectly reflects the feelings I understand all too well of there some times being moments where there are just too many people in proximity to you and it just gets to you. It has a rather cool and some times sad vibe to it, but as I said it perfectly reflects the intended emotion of the song.
Population Override is one of Buckethead's more unique albums in that while it isn't one of his soft more melodic albums, it isn't one of his hard driving ones either. He kind of lays off the fireworks on the fret board but shows that he has some dazzling blues/jazz chops that can keep up if not surpass any of the greats. The marriage between that and Dickerson's keyboard playing is an absolute treat for the ears. If you're looking for something that you can get lost in the groove of, this is the album for you.
Population Override, by Buckethead receives 3.75 out of 5 stars. Track List:
1. Unrestrained Growth
2. Too Many Humans
3. Population Override
4. Humans Vanish
5. Cruel Reality of Nature
6. A Day Will Come
7. Earth Heals Herself
8. Clones
9. Super Human
10. ...
Recently master guitarist Joe Satriani announced that he would be putting out a brand new solo album on January 12th of the coming year titled What Happens Next. In order to give us a taste of what the album will sound like, Satch has released the first single, a song called Energy which can be listened to here.
This is a pretty solid track. I don't know if I would consider it a long lasting classic by any stretch of the imagination, but it's straight up hard rocking bluesy soul music done in a way that only Joe Satriani can. His signature guitar sound is plastered all across the song while he has one hell of a dirty gritty rhythm section backing him up.
Not only is the release of What Happens Next exciting news to begin with, but the album also features Deep Purple and Black Country Communion singer/bassist Glenn Hughes on bass and Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chickenfoot band mate Chad Smith on the drums. If the rest of the album is anything like this, it's definitely going to be a fun, wild ride.
Former Whitesnake guitarist Adrian Vandenberg, who played with the band from 1986 to 1990, 1994, and 1997 is back with a vengeance and is better than ever. He has a new single out with his current band Vandenberg's Moonkings titled Tightrope.
Tightrope is the first single from Moonkings' upcoming sophomore album MK II. It is currently set to be released on November 3rd and is already available for pre-order where available. This will be their first release since their self-titled debut album in 2014.
Tightrope along with the first Moonkings album is a refreshing change of pace for Vandenberg. It sounds absolutely nothing like the stuff he did with Whitesnake. It's more hard rock and Jimi Hendrix inspired than anything heavy metal. This tune in particular has a really nice mid-tempo groove to it that you can move your head to. The vocal harmonies are quite pleasant too. I wouldn't say the song is anything remarkable, new, or groundbreaking, but if you're looking for a good song to rock out to for a few minutes then you've come to the right place.
5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:
1. Loving Cup, by The Rolling Stones featuring Jack White (live) Jack White and the Rolling Stones jamming together is like bread and butter. They just go together perfectly. Both have their roots deep within the blues and that common thread definitely shines through as they put on one of the most energetic and jovial performances I have ever been able to witness. This rendition of Loving Cup definitely brings the song to a whole other level than it already was at to begin with.
2. Dazed and Confused, by Led Zeppelin (live) This is Led Zeppelin at their peak, if you ask me. They were still young, hungry, and unafraid to be wild, unchained, and different. When they first came on the scene in 1969 they took blues music and blasted it into the stratosphere. No one else had ever played with this kind of intensity before. This particular performance of Dazed and Confused shows them going absolutely wild with the song and just jamming the hell out of it. It's an experience to witness, that's for sure.
3. Burn, by Deep Purple (live) Speaking of playing with intensity, this performance from Deep Purple at the California Jam in 1974 showed the world just how much balls, passion, prowess, and power their newly debuted Mark III line-up had. This performance just has so much fire and energy to it. You can tell they were firing on all cylinders and proving that this new incarnation of the band could blow away anything that they had done previously. I'd say they succeeded.
4. Pressure and Time, by Rival Sons (live) Rival Sons are definitely still making a name for themselves in the world of rock n' roll, but they have already come a long way. This is probably one of my favorite performances of their iconic track Pressure and Time (at least in terms of performances I wasn't personally present for) because you can see that they want to show everyone that they have what it takes to stand up and play with the big boys who have been at it for 30-40 years or more.
5. One Way Street, by Aerosmith (live) This performance is from 1999. I think they were playing a New Years Eve party in Japan. Regardless, I love this performance because even though by that point they were the over commercialized ballad band that we know them to be today they weren't afraid to play the older, bluesier, less well known stuff as well. Plus, it's cool to hear Steven Tyler using his old vocal style 26 years after this song was originally released.
One of David Bowie's most beloved tracks just got a very special treatment on the 40th anniversary of its release. Electronic rock/pop band Depeche Mode just did their own version of the song (which can be listened to in the video above).
The cover was recorded not just for the song's birthday, but also because it's been a staple in Depeche Mode's current live shows due to the song striking a heavy chord with singer David Gahan since his teen years and Bowie's death last year taking a heavy toll on him.
Many purists might disagree with me, but honestly I think the cover is brilliant. It's faithful to the vibe of the original while also going off in its own direction and doing something new. You can feel the love and passion for this song pulsing through every last note. It's not my usual shindig in terms of genre, but I'll still definitely recommend listening through it at least once and experiencing a different spin on an old favorite.
When it comes to musical genres, many have rather ambiguous beginnings. It's almost impossible to track things down to a definite starting point. This however is not the case for heavy metal. Though a few may argue against it, most of us will acknowledge that heavy metal was born on February 13th 1970 when a virtually unknown band from Birmingham, England called Black Sabbath came out with the darkest and heaviest album released up to that point in time: Black Sabbath.
Black Sabbath was unlike anything anyone had ever heard in 1970. These guys were louder and heavier than Led Zeppelin and had dark lyrical themes relating to Satan, wizards, H.P. Lovecraft references, and more. It takes that blues based hard rock and brings it to a whole different level. When the music wasn't crashing and pounding it had this sinister tone to it. Overall the album has this eerie, yet intriguing presence that makes you want to keep on listening.
Black Sabbath, the title track of the album starts things off and boy does it set the tone for what the band is about. It starts off with sounds of ominous thunderstorms that are then interrupted by the band stomping in with that iconic Devil's Triad based riff that repeats throughout the song in the most foreboding and frightening way. Ozzy Osbourne definitely did a splendid job of instilling even more hand trembling fear with his sinister vocal tone and horrifying screams. I remember being maybe 16 or 17 listening to this by myself in my room in the dark for the very first time and being nearly scared shitless. Needless to say, it made me want to listen on.
Warning in my opinion is one of the best Sabbath tracks of all time, but somehow it always gets overlooked and unspoken of. It's a cover of a song by The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation that gets extended into a ten and a half minute blues rock jam that takes many twists and turns. It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time because it's so intense and you don't know which way it's going to turn next. The instrumentalists in the band really strut their stuff as individuals and as a cohesive unit here. This song is actually where I learned a lot of my guitar chops.
Black Sabbath is THE essential heavy metal album. It's where I would start anyone who wanted to get into Black Sabbath or heavy metal in general. This is where an entire genre and subsequent sub-genres have their roots. Without it, the world as a whole would be a very different place. That said, I can't think of a single track on it that I don't love to death. I think you'll understand why. For a real experience with it, play it while wandering a forest in mid-Autumn in the early evening. It will really be something else.
Black Sabbath, by Black Sabbath receives 5 out of 5 stars. Track List:
1. Black Sabbath
2. The Wizard
3. Behind the Wall of Sleep
4. N.I.B.
5. Evil Woman
6. Sleeping Village
7. Warning
