Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com North American fans will have only one chance to see Linkin Park live in 2013. The band has announced they will play their lone U.S. show of the year at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on Feb. 16. With this being Linkin Park’s one show of the year on the continent, demand will probably be through the roof. And having the show in a venue like Planet Hollywood, instead of an arena or stadium will make seats even more scarce. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday (Dec. 14) at 10AM. Last weekend, Linkin Park performed at L.A. radio station KROQ’s ’23rd Annual Almost Acoustic Christmas.’ In an interview taped before the show, Chester Bennington talked about his first encounter with Kiss’ Gene Simmons. “So the first time I met Gene Simmons, I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s Gene Simmons. He’s like right here,’” Bennington explained. “So I went over and introduced myself. He grabs me by the shoulders, and he says, ‘You are a powerful and talented young man.’ He’s staring at me in my eyes and says, ‘If we were in prison, I would make love to you.’ I was like, ‘Oh.’” If you’re not able to make it to Vegas to see the band, you’ll have to travel across the world to see them in 2013. Linkin Park have dates scheduled in Australia and New Zealand next February and March. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/linkin-park-announce-clean-energy-promotion-rock-american-music-awards/” title=”Next: Linkin Park Announce Clean Energy Promotion” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Guitar great Mark Tremonti may have spent the tail end of 2012 engrossed in supporting his first solo album, but it looks like 2013 is all systems go for Alter Bridge . According to a tweet posted by Tremonti yesterday (Dec. 11), the Alter Bridge brain trust of singer Myles Kennedy , drummer Scott ‘Flip’ Phillips and Tremonti met up with their management in sunny Florida to plan the immediate future of the band. Although specific details were not disclosed, AlterBridge.com has confirmed that the band’s 2013 schedule includes a new album and a world tour. “Had a meeting today with Myles, Flip, our managers and myself. Starting to plan 2013!,” tweeted Tremonti , giving fans lots to be excited about. The only member seemingly missing was bassist Brian Marshall, who also had to duck out of touring with Tremonti earlier in the year citing personal reasons. The news probably comes as a relief to Alter Bridge fans, providing confirmation that the band is alive and well. With frontman Myles Kennedy currently out on tour providing vocals for Slash while Tremonti tours Europe through February with his solo side project, it’s been a busy time for everyone juggling multiple creative endeavors. Alter Bridge’s last studio offering was their third album, 2010’s ‘AB III.’ Tremonti has also been working on a new album with his longtime band Creed . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/tags/alter-bridge/” title=”Mark Tremonti Reveals Plan to Keep Wolfgang Van Halen in His Band” align=”center”]
Clay Patrick McBride, Razor & Tie Hatebreed fans are looking forward to the band’s sixth studio album ‘The Divinity of Purpose’ due out next year on Jan. 25 via Razor & Tie Records. In the album trailer below, frontman Jamey Jasta talks about the cover art of the new record by saying, “I feel like with everything being so digital and being in this computer age where everything can be found on the Internet, I felt like it would be cool to do a cover which is a painting. We’ve never had that before with Hatebreed.” Jasta goes on to say, “We wanted the title ‘The Divinity of Purpose’ to spark thought and have people interpret it and go, “What does that mean?” or “What could it mean?” The lead single off the record is the recently released ‘Put It To the Torch.’ The album ‘The Divinity of Purpose’ is the band’s follow-up to their 2009 self-titled release. Hatebreed recently wrapped up a stint on tour with Lamb of God and In Flames; check out photos of their stop in New York City here . The band has also announced dates for their 2013 headlining ‘Persistence’ Tour with Shadows Fall, Dying Fetus and the Contortionist. Check Out Hatebreed’s Album Trailer Below [button href=”http://loudwire.com/hatebreed-2013-u-s-tour-shadows-fall-dying-fetus-the-contortionist/” title=”Check Out Hatebreed’s 2013 Dates with Shadows Fall” align=”center”]
Amanda Medina, Special to Loudwire Fresh off their first Grammy nomination (for best hard rock/metal performance), Halestorm are thinking of recording another EP of cover songs. They released ‘Reanimate: The Covers EP’ in 2011. ‘Reanimate’ featured covers of tunes by a diverse group of acts such as Skid Row, Lady Gaga and Guns N’ Roses. Halestorm are now asking fans to suggest songs for the band to cover, and Lzzy Hale posted the following message on their Facebook page : Hello Freaks… The boys and I are tossing around the idea of putting out another cover EP. We know a lot of you have ideas…so let’s hear ‘em! What songs would you love to hear us record? Thank you for being such a big part of our lives! The band says they will choose the top entries and let fans vote to see which ones will end up on the EP. Speaking of voting, Halestorm fans also have a chance to vote for the band in several categories of the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards. They are nominated for Best Rock Song (‘Love Bites’), Rock Album of the Year, Rock Band of the Year and Live Act of the Year along with individual nods for Lzzy Hale (Vocalist of the Year, Rock Goddess) and Arejay Hale (Best Drummer). Start voting here . Lzzy Hale recently spoke with Loudwire about Halestorm’s Grammy nomination. “It’s crazy, it means a lot considering the rock/metal performance category – it’s kind of like a personal victory for the four of us,” Hale told us. See more of our interview with Hale by clicking below: [button href=”http://loudwire.com/halestorm-lzzy-hale-on-grammy-nomination-personal-victory-for-the-four-of-us/” title=”Lzzy Hale Talks Halestorm’s Grammy Nomination” align=”center”] ?
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Nikki Sixx may not be a frontman, but you’d be hard pressed to find a bassist that deserved the spotlight more. As a songwriter, Sixx had a hand in creating a majority of the hard-rocking hits Motley Crue have cranked out over the years. Plus he’s shown that even outside of Crue, he’s still a creative force to be reckoned with as the namesake member of the powerful trio Sixx: A.M. He even turned in some solid work in the lesser-known bands 58 and Brides of Destruction. With that in mind, we salute Nikki Sixx’s contributions to the world of hard rock and metal with this list of his best work. So let’s kickstart our countdown of the 10 Best Nikki Sixx Songs: 10 ‘Looks That Kill’ Motley Crue From: ‘Shout at the Devil’ (1983) ‘Looks That Kill’ gave Motley Crue their first national music video exposure and the track introduced fans to Vince Neil ‘s soon-to-be-recognizable voice and some stellar guitar work from Mick Mars. Sixx penned the track, which provides a more sinister feel to describing a gorgeous woman. ‘Looks’ aren’t the only thing that kill with this song. This driving track slays in concert, as well. Listen to ‘Looks That Kill’ 9 ‘Lies of the Beautiful People’ Sixx: A.M. From: ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ (2011) Nikki Sixx’s passion for photography find its way in his second book-album amalgamation, ‘This Is Gonna Hurt.’ The Sixx: A.M. bassist took pleasure in shooting non-traditional beauty, and even leads off the song’s video by stating, “It’s okay to be different.” Musically the track ‘Lies of the Beautiful People’ is driven by Sixx’s chunky bass and guitarist DJ Ashba ‘s licks, while singer James Michael offers the requisite amount of emotion using his upper register to make the song an inspirational one. Listen to ‘Lies of the Beautiful People’ 8 ‘Girls Girls Girls’ Motley Crue From: ‘Girls Girls Girls’ (1987 Motley Crue’s partying was reaching its height in the mid-to-late ’80s and you tend to write what you know. The anthem ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ was an ode to the strip clubs where the band enjoyed some of their best times. Sixx’s chugging bass, Mars’ memorable guitar licks and the boastful wail of Vince Neil led this track. It’s still a staple today both in strip clubs and as part of the band’s live set. Listen to ‘Girls Girls Girls’ 7 ‘Shout at the Devil’ Motley Crue From: ‘Shout at the Devil’ (1983) ‘Shout at the Devil’ is the track that gave the Crue their first radio success. The song itself features Mick Mars ‘ blistering guitar and Tommy Lee ‘s cymbal mastery. Sixx, who penned the track, took some criticism over the song’s alleged satanism, but the rocker would say in ‘The Dirt’ autobiography, “It just looks cool. It’s meaningless symbols and s–t. I’m just doing it to piss people off. It’s not like I worship Satan or something.” Listen to ‘Shout at the Devil’ 6 ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ Sixx: A.M. From: ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ (2011) When it comes to straight-up, adrenaline-filled rockers, there’s no doubt that Sixx: A.M.’s ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ deserves its spot among the 10 Best Nikki Sixx Songs. The second single from the band’s sophomore album is one of the more rocket-fueled tracks that Sixx has come up with. There’s some serious shredding by Ashba on guitar and James Michael’s vocals deliver one of the catchiest choruses in the band’s catalog. Listen to ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ 5 ‘Dr. Feelgood’ Motley Crue From: ‘Dr. Feelgood’ (1989) One of Motley Crue’s biggest songs has Sixx’s fingerprints all over it. The chugging opening of ‘Dr. Feelgood’ immediately grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. As for the title and lyrical content, Sixx would tell Rolling Stone , “It had a whole different theme to it. It was called ‘Dr. Feelgood,’ but a whole different thing lyrically. In the end, it was inspired by drug dealers. Is there ever just one? A good drug addict always has more than one dealer.” Listen to ‘Dr. Feelgood’ 4 ‘Wild Side’ Motley Crue From: ‘Girls Girls Girls’ (1987) ‘Wild Side’ is one of the more non-traditional songs in the band’s catalog, with its shifting time signatures and equal parts swinging and rocking moments. But that doesn’t mean it rocks any less. In fact, it’s a live favorite with the band getting to show off more of their skill. Lyrically, the track deals with the band’s own hardships in the Los Angeles music scene and is meant as a rallying cry to those who’ve lived life on the ‘Wild Side.’ Listen to ‘Wild Side’ 3 ‘Life Is Beautiful’ Sixx: A.M. From: ‘The Heroin Diaries’ (2007) ‘Life Is Beautiful’ deserves its spot on the 10 Best Nikki Sixx Songs list as it is arguably his most personal track. The bassist lays his soul bare on this one, expressing the emotions he felt upon almost dying from his drug addiction and what he endured while kicking his habit. Beautifully and powerfully delivered by singer James Michael, the song is one of the most affecting songs in Sixx’s arsenal. Listen to ‘Life Is Beautiful’ 2 ‘Home Sweet Home’ Motley Crue From: ‘Theatre of Pain’ (1985) Look up power ballad in the dictionary and this song should be the definition. ‘Home Sweet Home’ finds drummer Tommy Lee delivering the opening piano notes and Vince Neil joining Sixx and Lee in receiving writing credits. After the opening stanza, the song rocks out with Lee returning to drums and Sixx’s bass work keeping the pace in place of the piano. The song is also notable for arguably the band’s most recognizable guitar solo from Mick Mars. Listen to ‘Home Sweet Home’ 1 ‘Kickstart My Heart’ Motley Crue From: ‘Dr. Feelgood’ (1989) While Nikki Sixx has penned some serious songs about his drug addiction and near-death experience, this one offers a lighter take. It was inspired by the two adrenaline shots needed to revive him after he was clinically declared dead. Sixx told Rolling Stone he initially considered the track “a throwaway,” but that it fit the band’s album better than expected. Luckily the band held onto the song, as it yielded a Grammy nomination and turned into one of their most requested live tracks. Listen to ‘Kickstart My Heart’ What Is Your Favorite Nikki Sixx Song? So there you have it — a pretty impressive list of songs that Nikki Sixx has had a hand in recording over the years. Did your favorite Nikki Sixx song make the cut? Would you like to make an argument for a Brides of Destruction or 58 song to make the list? Here’s your chance to give us feedback on this list. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire In Flames kicked off the year with a headlining trek with Trivium and Kyng , and they are currently on a major U.S. tour with Lamb of God , Hatebreed and Sylosis . Loudwire recently had the chance to catch up with In Flames guitarist Bjorn Gelotte before the band played New York City’s Roseland Ballroom. Gelotte talked all about his relationship with the bands on the bill, as well as offering his view on Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe ‘s incarceration in the Czech Republic. He also spoke about owning a pub with his bandmate, what In Flames will be up to in 2013 and much more. Describe your relationship with the bands on this bill? Lamb of God is a fantastic band to work with — we’ve toured with them before and all the other guys as well. We didn’t know Sylosis before, I didn’t know them before but they are perfect English gentlemen and they’re really good at what they do and of course Hatebreed [laughs], who doesn’t love Hatebreed? When you heard about Randy Blythe’s arrest, what did you think about this whole situation? I had such a mixed feeling — of course you feel really sad about somebody getting hurt as bad as dying from it, at the same time you know how it is onstage. I highly doubt he did anything in rage; I just think that was a very unfortunate accident. I felt really bad, at the same time I felt like [Blythe] handled it really well — he stood up for it and said, “I’m here, you know where to find me if there’s anything, I won’t hide. If you guys find a case around this I’ll be there,” and that’s a standup thing to do. Whether you crowd surf or not, there’s always a possibility of getting injured at metal shows … It’s sometimes surprising that it doesn’t happen more often. I’ve seen some really crazy pits, circle pits and it could get really violent. Most of the time I think people in the pits try to take care of each other – if somebody falls down they try to pick them up and seem friendly about it. It’s a weird thing – you would never find me in a circle pit or mosh pit. Does the experience of what Randy went through affect the way you perform onstage or your mindset of what a fan might do when you are onstage? No. We’re really aware of the audience and we try obviously to spur them to stage dive, well maybe not stage dive but to crowd surf and run around a bit. At the same time we have big confidence in the security working because they’re not there to save us from the fans, they’re there to save the fans – maybe from each other sometimes but they’re actually doing a really good job. It’s a lot of big men taking care of small kids, it’s really funny sometimes — they just carry them up with one arm. ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading’ is only a year and a half old, but has there been any progress on material for a new album? Not really. I know it sounds weird but being on tour, it’s not very inspirational. It’s a great forum to talk about music, it’s a forum to meet other musicians but to create it’s not — it’s also very impractical. It’s a bunch of gear that you need, the right software to work and I’m just like “F— it, I’ll just wait until I get back home.” I have a studio at home so I just push the power button and I’m rolling. What do you usually find inspiration from, when creating music? I don’t look for a theme or story or anything, I just go with whatever melodies seems to be bouncing around in this empty head of mind — melodies and riffs and when you just warm up or noodle around, ideas come up. Throughout this year, what has been the funniest moment on tour or the funniest thing a fan has said to you? We hear all sorts of s—t. [Laughs] One funny moment was on this tour actually. I came into the dressing room in San Antonio and I saw this big stuffed bear in the dressing room and at that moment I knew how this tour was going to be. Sure enough, the bear ended up on the bus and stays with us. Where did the bear come from and where is it now? It’s still here – he was a hazard being up in the front lounge so we had to have him in the merch trailer but he’s all dressed up and nice. He joins us for walks and stuff, it’s funny if you’re on the road. What are your touring plans for 2013? We have lots of plans actually, there’s going to be a lot of touring – hopefully coming back over here, fairly soon, right after New Year’s. We’re doing the 70,000 tons of metal Caribbean Cruise thingy – weather wise it should be fantastic but I don’t know about the stage conditions and all that. We’ll try to link that to some more touring. We, of course, have the summer festival season coming up and we’re going to try to hit a lot of festivals – nothing really confirmed yet. Most of that will be confirmed by a month or two. [Editor’s note: Shortly after the interview, In Flames did in fact confirm a 2013 U.S. tour with Demon Hunter, All Shall Perish and Battlecross.] You and your bandmate, bassist Peter Iwers, have a restaurant in Sweden 2112, how is that venture going? It’s great, it’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of different things to think about. We’ve been talking about it for years — he wanted a restaurant , I wanted a bar. I like beer, he likes food. It was hard in the beginning to mix the two because it was really fine dining, great menus, a fantastic chef but now we’ve tried to relax it a little bit, so it’s not that white table cloth setting. It’s more like burgers and beer which works really good with the rock, metal attitude – for grownups. Would you ever think about bringing it to the States? I would love to, that’s a whole different ball game. We’re really strict in Sweden when it comes to alcohol and there’s a lot of bulls—t you have to deal with in order to get the license. I have no idea whatsoever how to get a liquor license here but that’s probably in the future. Have you learned any cooking techniques from being in the restaurant / bar business? Yes, to make an awesome coleslaw for instance. It’s not as easy as you think. I’ve learned to not be afraid to try out things – it’s not science, it’s very much feeling when you season food and the right temperatures and everything. When you see the [workers in the kitchen] they have a stove on all day and it’s really inspiring to see them cooking for 50 people and they do it in no time. I haven’t been in the kitchen working – I’ve just seen them and it’s like, “Okay I’ll stay in the bar,” and I’m not even working there, I’m on the outside of the bar drinking beers – one of the perks of being the owner. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lamb-of-god-in-flames-hatebreed-sylosis-rock-new-york-city-with-vigorous-show/” title=”Check Out Photos of In Flames Performing in New York City” align=”center”]
Michael Buckner, Getty Images It’s always difficult to predict the next move of Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor . Along with his legendary industrial group, Reznor’s discography includes making music with his wife for How to Destroy Angels and creating original scores for feature films. Now, Reznor has officially announced that he is planning to release new Nine Inch Nails songs on an upcoming best-of compilation. In a new feature on Reznor, New Yorker magazine [via Spin ] reports the following: ”In 2014, Interscope Records will release an edition of the band’s greatest hits, to which Reznor intends to contribute two new songs. Then he plans to write music for a new record.” In the same article, Reznor talks about his new partnership with hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and his ‘Beats’ brand. It’s revealed that Reznor has been developing a music streaming project, tentatively titled ‘Daisy.’ The platform aims to help users sort through songs in a way that differentiates it from services like Spotify. “‘Here’s 16 million licensed pieces of music,’ they’ve said, but you’re not stumbling into anything,” says Reznor of the other platforms. “What’s missing is a system that adds a layer of intelligent curation . . . As great as it is to have all this information bombarding you, there’s a real value in trusted filters. It’s like having your own guy when you go into the record store, who knows what you like but can also point you down some paths you wouldn’t necessarily have encountered.” Stay tuned for more news on Reznor and his multitude of projects as news breaks. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/how-to-destroy-angels-stream-an-omen-ep-ahead-of-release/” title=”Listen to How to Destroy Angels’ ‘An Omen’ EP in Full” align=”center”]