In many ways, 2012 could be called the Year of the Woman in hard rock and metal. In genres of music that have long-been male dominated, a handful of female-fronted acts stole the show this year, making the Rock Goddess of the Year an especially intriguing category in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards. The women below are some of rock music’s most respected artists and front some of rock’s most popular and critically acclaimed bands. Last year’s winner, Sharon Den Adel, has been left off this year’s ballot, as 2012 was a relatively quiet year for her band Within Temptation. That leaves it open for a new artist to claim the coveted crown of Rock Goddess of the Year. Check out the seven nominees below and be sure to vote in the poll below: ? Amy Lee, Evanescence After returning to the scene in 2011 with their self-titled third album, Evanescence traveled the world in 2012 to support the effort. In addition to touring overseas in the first half of the year, the band headlined the Carnival of Madness tour in the United States over the summer. All the while, the band was led by the ethereal and beautiful voice of Amy Lee . ? Angela Gossow, Arch Enemy Arch Enemy toured the world in 2012 in support of their 2011 album, ‘Khaos Legions,’ as frontwoman Angela Gossow led the charge. The band filmed their fall 2012 Latin America tour for an upcoming 2013 DVD. With a combination of beautiful looks and brutal vocals, Gossow has been leading the Swedish death metal band since 2000. ? Cristina Scabbia, Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil unleashed one of the best albums of 2012 with ‘Dark Adrenaline.’ The Italian band joined Megadeth, Motorhead and Volbeat on the 2012 Gigantour. With a stunning voice and gorgeous looks, the band’s co-vocalist Cristina Scabbia is among the finest female singers in rock or metal. Catch Lacuna Coil on tour with Sevendust in 2013. ? Emily Armstrong, Dead Sara Dead Sara were one of the breakout bands of the year, topping our list of the Best Rock Songs of 2012 with their powerful single ‘Weatherman’ off their self-titled debut disc. As the Los Angeles act’s frontwoman, Emily Armstrong’s powerful vocals are only matched by her uninhibited stage presence. Catch Dead Sara on tour in 2013 with Muse. ? Jill Janus, Huntress Los Angeles heavy metallers Huntress delivered their debut album, ‘Spell Eater,’ in 2012, led by the seductive and talented Jill Janus . The singer describes the band’s music as ‘vicious but melodic,’ and plans on ‘conquering the world one metalhead at a time.’ Huntress toured relentlessly in 2012, and have signed on for some major 2013 festivals. ? Lzzy Hale, Halestorm Did anyone on this list have a better year than Lzzy Hale ? Her band Halestorm became the first female-fronted act to top the Active Rock chart with their single ‘Love Bites (So Do I),’ off their 2012 album ‘The Strange Case Of …’ In addition, the lovely Lzzy & co. toured nonstop in 2012, including stints on the Mass Chaos and Carnival of Madness treks. ? Maria Brink, In This Moment In This Moment unleashed their latest album, ‘Blood,’ in August, and have since taken the world by storm. Led by sultry singer Maria Brink , the band scored a Top 10 rock single with the disc’s title track, which was accompanied by a seductively stunning video. Maria & co. were also one of the standout acts on the 2012 Uproar Festival tour. ? ? Voting for the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards closes on Jan. 15 at 11:59 PM EST. Fans can vote once per hour, so keep coming back to make sure your favorite band wins! Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/rock-titan-of-the-year-2012-loudwire-music-awards” title=”Next: Vote for Rock Titan of the Year” align=”center”] Get Notified When Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the daily Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of our full list of winners in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards, as well as the top stories in rock and metal. Email
Frazer Harrison, Getty Images Asking Alexandria recently stated that their next album might be more radio-friendly , but before that arrives there’s a free compilation en route that definitely features music familiar to radio listeners. The group has recorded a digital EP titled ‘Under the Influence’ that will be available for free to Revolver Magazine subscribers. The set includes four cover songs, including the band’s take on such classics as Journey ‘s ‘Separate Ways,’ Motley Crue ‘s ‘Kickstart My Heart,’ Whitesnake ‘s ‘Here I Go Again,’ and Def Leppard ‘s ‘Hysteria.’ In addition, the band will tack on their latest single, ‘Run Free,’ for fans to enjoy as well. To get the free EP, simply subscribe to Revolver online here if you’re not already a subscriber. In between wrapping up their summer Mayhem Tour stint and headlining the late 2012 Monster Energy Outbreak Tour , Asking Alexandria found time to work out some new material for their next disc. Guitarist Ben Bruce said of their new music, “[The new album is] a lot more mature. [We may have] a lot of radio singles — what we’re calling radio singles, songs we’re going to push towards radio and try to accelerate our career and get to the next level and hopefully bring our old fans across with us.” But for fans who raised a few eyebrows over those comments, the guitarist assures, “[The rest of it will be] our usual balls-to-the-wall kind of stuff. We spent a long time honing in on our song structures and writing techniques and things like that, but there are still heavy songs on the record. We’re not just going to throw that away and kick our original fan base in the teeth by getting rid of all that. There will still be a lot of riffing and screaming. But we feel like we did find a happy medium between being heavy and then being light enough to be on radio, but still keeping the balls in the songs.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/asking-alexandria-danny-worsnop-thanks-fans-support-during-sober-summer-touring/” title=”Next: Asking Alexandria’s Danny Worsnop Thanks Fans For Sober Summer” align=”center”]
Reprise Mastodon are coming off one of their more well-received albums with ‘The Hunter’ and they’re in the mood to keep things rolling. Singer-guitarist Brent Hinds reveals that writing is currently underway on their follow-up and there’s potential that they’ll begin recording just after the start of 2013. Hinds tells MTV Hive , “We’ve never put out an album a year. That would be unlike us, so maybe we could tour for another year on ‘The Hunter.’ It’s very possible.” Mastodon is wrapping up a South American tour with the possibility that Hinds will follow with some West End Motel shows in support of their ‘Only Time Can Tell’ disc. Once that is done, Hinds says there’s a chance that a January Mastodon recording session could follow. As for the Mastodon stuff he’s been working on of late, he explains, “A lot of the stuff I’m writing is in open G-minor. I’m playing a lot of slide guitar and just getting really Jimmy Page -y on the place and getting really eerie and Radiohead ish and very spooky sounding.” Hinds says he has three songs worth of material, but he adds, “It could be one gigantic one. I haven’t made up my mind yet.” Regardless of how far along he is, he’s confident that the rest of his bandmates are also working toward the common goal of a new record. He concludes, “Those dudes are always working. There’s never really a shortage of music with Mastodon because all of us are working on something musically. I’m in good company. Just because they might [see me] stand in the middle of the stage or something, people might think this is the leader. He must conduct everything, but we’re all the leaders. We spread the weight around.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-mastodon-songs/” title=”Next: Top 10 Mastodon Songs” align=”center”]
Mike Coppola / David Becker, Getty Images By now, most people are familiar with the Bon Jovi classic ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ and could sing it word for word if put on the spot, but Duff McKagan has a question that’s long been debated amongst his musician friends that pertains to the lyric “ I’ve seen a million faces and I’ve rocked them all .” The bassist ponders if this was truly a fact or just taking poetic license for a great lyric. In his latest Seattle Weekly article, the musician breaks down the argument he’s had with several musicians over the years. But before you think McKagan’s lost his mind, he does admit, “A musician has plenty of time to ponder things — both big and small — when they’re on the road. You have to hope for a good sense of shared humor when traveling and living together in cramped confines, something I call the tour bubble. If you can’t make light of some of the asinine situations you meet on the road, you are gonna be toast.” One of those “situations” was the ongoing Bon Jovi debate, where McKagan states that being on the road does expose you to a lot of people, but do you technically “rock” them all? McKagan says no. The bassist states, “I have no doubt that Bon Jovi had played to a million people by the time ‘Dead or Alive’ was released on ‘Slippery When Wet’ in 1986. But did they rock them all? Couldn’t it be that some dudes brought their girlfriends to the show and weren’t necessarily into the music of Bon Jovi? What about some parents? Or, maybe some people just didn’t get rocked? Hey, it’s happened to me. I’ve gone to gigs properly prepared to get rocked and it just didn’t happen for me.” He goes on to add, “How could they even be sure? They had played a bunch of festivals, and you KNOW that not everyone there was attending to come see their band. They had probably converted some of these people into new fans, but rocking them all would be a huge overstatement.” McKagan himself, who has enjoyed a lengthy career with Guns N’ Roses , Velvet Revolver and Loaded , among other projects, says, “In my whole career, I have certainly played to a ton of faces (I’ll let you do the math), but, hell, I was hammered for a couple of those years, and probably wasn’t concentrating on faces at all. Besides, how can you see all of the faces that you play to, hammered or not?! Lights are in your eyes! It’s dark! You have shades on! When you headline a smaller venue, with say 850 people, you can actually see all of the faces. But even if all of those people are there to see your band, and have spent their hard-earned money to come and spend the evening with you, isn’t it possible a few of those people were disappointed? I guess, ‘I’ve seen 48,000 faces, and I rocked close to 41,000 of them’ (a good damn percentage, by the way), is not so poetic.” To read more of McKagan’s weekly columns, check out his Seattle Weekly archive here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/duff-mckagan-regrets-not-receiving-royalties-from-the-simpsons-beverage-duff-beer/” title=”Next: Duff McKagan Regrets Not Receiving Royalties From Duff Beer” align=”center”]
Michael Buckner / Jason Kempin, Getty Images After grunge legends Soundgarden chose call it quits in 1997, the band members who helped bring the group to worldwide prosperity all ventured out into various musical projects. Vocalist Chris Cornell and drummer Matt Cameron continued their massive careers after the breakup, but guitarist Kim Thayil chose to keep a low profile. However, Thayil reveals that he had started a supergroup with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and other prominent musicians. Following the disintegration of Soundgarden, Cornell found massive success with Audioslave, which combined the singer’s talent with the instrumental section of Rage Against the Machine . Drummer Matt Cameron also remained in the limelight after the breakup, going on to man the drums for Pearl Jam . Cameron also joined forces with bassist Ben Shepherd to form Wellwater Conspiracy and Hater, but where was Kim Thayil during this period? In a recent interview with Spinner , Thayil revealed that he had no desire to become neither a “hired gun,” nor a member of a “B-grade Soundgarden.” “I declined participation in a lot of projects and collaborations,” reveals Thayil. “I didn’t want to be part of someone else’s band or part of a collaborative effort that wasn’t something I started … I avoided playing in another heavy rock band. Which, if I’d pursued that, would have been a B-grade Soundgarden. I was perfectly comfortable denying the expected ambition of a successful pop culture participant.” Thayil lent his talents to Dave Grohl ‘s Probot project during Soundgarden’s hiatus, and worked with doom legends Sunn 0))) on their 2006 split with Japanese metal band Boris. In addition to these works, Thayil jammed with Krist Novoselic from Nirvana, Bubba Dupree from Void and Alfredo Hernandez from Queens of the Stone Age . “We were jamming on and off for a couple years but there was no singer,” says Thayil. “A lot of instrumental stuff and beer drinking.” Kim Thayil is now back with Soundgarden, who just released ‘King Animal,’ their first album in 16 years. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/soundgarden-rock-jimmy-kimmel-live/” title=”Watch Soundgarden Rock ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!'” align=”center”]
Junko Kimura, Getty Images Back in May, the day before Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch tragically passed away, a lawsuit was filed against the Beastie Boys , accusing them of illegally sampling music on 1986′s ‘License to Ill’ and 1989′s ‘Paul’s Boutique.’ The group’s lawyers responded this week, asking the suit to be dismissed. According to the Hollywood Reporter , TufAmerica claims samples of songs from the group Trouble Funk were used by the Beastie Boys on several songs. So why did the label wait so long to file the suit? Technology has advanced since the ’80s, allowing for more sophisticated analysis of where samples originated. According to the complaint, TufAmerica says the samples were “effectively concealed” to “the casual listener” and that they were discovered “[o]nly after conducting a careful audio analysis.” The Beastie Boys responded by saying that shows that their work is different than the songs they are accused of sampling, “Because Plaintiff admits that the casual observer cannot identify Plaintiff’s musical compositions and sound recordings… there can be no substantial similarity.” That’s a lot of legalese, but the bottom line in layman’s terms is the record label says the Beastie Boys used their songs without permission or payment, while the band says the samples were not recognizable, so you don’t have a claim. The judge will respond to the band’s request to dismiss the suit, although a timetable wasn’t given. The Beastie Boys’ legal team has been busy lately. The band and the estate of Yauch recently sued Monster Energy for the unauthorized use of their music in a recent promotional campaign. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/10-beastie-boys-songs-that-rock/” title=”Next: 10 Beastie Boys Songs That Rock” align=”center”]
New Ocean Media Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler is branching out with his own band, appropriately named Adler , and the band’s debut full-length, ‘Back From the Dead,’ carries a straight-ahead rock sound that proves Mr. A means business. Now, Adler is opening up about the message behind the album, and he says he hopes it gives him a fresh start in the music business. “Every musician, their goal in life is to play music that people love and I’ve accomplished my goal,” he told goJimmygo . “I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and left that chapter of my life and those people in the past. Good and bad, I’ve loved and am thankful for that chapter. I’m thankful that I survived that chapter and am able to have a second chapter. I want to start afresh and become relevant again.” Adler says recording the album was a blast, especially when it came to getting guitar great Slash involved. “It was wonderful,” Adler said. “Just to have him be proud enough and believe in me enough again after all of the things that have happened. “I have to prove myself every second of every day and it got to where I’ve proved myself enough for Slash to be happy and want to be a part of this record. It feels great that we have such a history together. I really care about what he thinks and feels about me.” Things are looking up for Steven Adler, as evidenced by Loudwire’s stellar review of his band’s ‘Back From the Dead’ album. Click below to check it out: [button href=”http://loudwire.com/adler-back-from-the-dead-album-review/” title=”Adler, ‘Back From the Dead’ – Album Review” align=”center”]