Leon Halip, Getty Images Everyone’s a critic, but some are a little more harsh than others. Still, that doesn’t mean an artist has to sit back and take it and Kid Rock had a few notes after receiving a fairly poor review of his Palm Beach show Dec. 30. The review, which ran in the Broward-Palm Beach New Times , began with sub-heading “Better Than: ‘Jock James: Volume 5′ before launching into a particularly harsh review that opened with, “It has been said that a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none. However, while someone like Dave Grohl feeds his children by disproving the aforementioned statement, Kid Rock has managed to spin a career out of what boils down to on-stage vivisections of the term.” While the writer offered up some objectivity, stating that Rock high-energy performance was professional and that his band consisted of top caliber players, he also commented, “Kid Rock’s songs simply are not very good.” He added, “The curious thing is that, despite it being fairly common knowledge that Kid Rock totally sucks, there was a full audience — with a minimum ticket price in the range of $60.” In response, Rock provided his own critique of the poor review. In a posting at his website , he called the critic “the biggest hater, jackass, miserable p—- critic on Earth.” He went on to add, “He is such a miserable p—- it makes me laugh to read how much he or she hates me, but has to admit everyone had a blast! He probably really enjoys Radiohead shows!! Haha. I bet if you ask anyone who was at the show, a good time was had by all!” Rock also added, “Happy New Year to all, and yes, ‘Let’s get s— faced!’ (I know this critic fails to believe that’s what most folks do on New Years!! IDIOT!). Hahaha. He is exactly the type of a–hole me and Sean Penn were making fun of in ‘ Americans .’” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kid-rock-2013-rebel-soul-u-s-tour-dates-openers-buckcherry-hellbound-glory/” title=”Next: Kid Rock Announces 2013 ‘Rebel Soul’ Tour” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images In 2009, Virginia Tech college student Morgan Harrington was murdered shortly after disappearing from a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. Three-plus years later, the band is still involved with the search for the 20-year-old student’s killer and her parents are thankful for the continued support. Noisecreep reports that the band’s latest venture, allowing the title of ‘Enter Sandman’ to be used on a line of Virginia Tech t-shirts , has resulted in another $40,000 being raised this past fall for the Morgan Harrington medical scholarship fund. That comes after the band chipped in $50,000 of their own money when the fund was initially launched and they also donated $50,000 to the reward in seeking information that would lead to the capture of Harrington’s killer. Plus, just last year, the band filmed yet another PSA seeking information in the case. Morgan’s mother, Gil Harrington, said of the band’s involvement, “It has been very humbling from the very beginning. Two days after Morgan was abducted, they could have distanced themselves from an ugly occurrence. But James Hetfield called this house to speak to Dan [Harrington], as a father, and asked, ‘What can we do?’ Three years out, and they are still doing things.” Harrington says Hetfield spoke to the FBI and also generated the first “missing person” poster that went up on their website in hopes of locating her daughter. “It’s a visceral response as fathers. They were not liability driven or self-protecting,” she adds of their involvement. At present, between the Harrington family and Metallica, there is $150,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Morgan’s murderer. For more information on the case and reward, visit this location . To read more of Noisecreep’s interview with Gil Harrington’s exclusive interview, click here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/james-hetfield-films-new-psa-to-help-bring-justice-for-murdered-metallica-fan/” title=”Next: Watch James Hetfield’s PSA Seeking Morgan Harrington’s Killer” align=”center”]
Frank Micelotta, Getty Images A new Kurt Cobain documentary film is currently being planned for a 2014 release, and it aims to delve into the true spirit of the late Nirvana frontman. As popular as Cobain remains, the musician’s life continues to be somewhat of an enigma even among his most rabid fans. Now, the director of the recent Rolling Stones documentary ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ has accepted the challenge to reveal the true nature of Cobain. ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ was released in 2012, receiving an impressive amount of critical acclaim and securing a 92 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes . Director Brett Morgen now seeks to create another success with the yet-untitled Kurt Cobain project. “If you think about Kurt, he’s a contradiction,” Morgen tells NME . “He could be sincere and sentimental, and also ironic and sarcastic. He was sweet and sour. He was incredibly funny too, and the film has to reflect his sprit.” Morgen adds, “The thing about him people might not know too is that he was an incredible visual artist and left behind a treasure chest of comic books, paintings, Super8 films, all sorts. We’re hoping the Cobain film, that’ll hopefully be released in 2014, will be this generation’s ‘The Wall’ – a mix of animation and live action that’ll allow the audience to experience Kurt in a way they never have before. It’s very ambitious.” As word of the Cobain documentary first broke, it was reported that Hole frontwoman and Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love would be a part of the film’s creation. Although Morgen stated that Love originally brought him into the project, it has been confirmed that Love will not be involved in the filmmaking process. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kurt-cobain-guitar-hero-5/” title=”Kurt Cobain – Rock Star Cameos in Video Games” align=”center”]
Theo Wargo, Getty Images – Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were among 2012′s highest grossing touring rock acts. Find out how much money each act raked in. [ Loudwire ] – Pearl Jam ‘s Eddie Vedder reveals the band is halfway through recording their next album. [ Loudwire ] – Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal takes a music magazine to task over twisting his friendly advice into an attack on frontman Axl Rose . [ Loudwire ] – Megadeth ‘s Dave Mustaine receives an apology from Men’s Warehouse after his Facebook rant against the company. [ Loudwire ] – Members of Slayer , Exodus and Queens of the Stone Age are collaborating on the ‘House of Shock’ documentary soundtrack. [ Loudwire ] – Happy 67th birthday to Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones . Check out his best work with Ultimate Classic Rock’s Top 10 John Paul Jones Led Zeppelin Songs. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Congrats are in order for newly engaged former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick . [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Jack White is lavishing fans with more goodies as part of his Vinyl Vault subscription service. [ Diffuser.fm ] – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have debuted a second short film to promote their new album. [ Diffuser.fm ]
Ethan Miller, Getty Images What started off as an interview with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal offering advice to young musicians turned into an attack on Axl Rose by the time it was retold by British music magazine NME and the musician isn’t happy about it. The guitarist initially spoke with Ryze-Up magazine offering a few tips on how to succeed in the music industry. His official comment stated, “1. Be on time. By ‘on time’ I mean ‘be early.’ Make sure you’re there for when you need to be — wait in your car, communicate, let them know 10 minutes early that you’ll be there in five minutes and walk in five minutes later.” He went on to list items like “be prepared” and ‘be cool,’ but it was the “on time” comment that got twisted. Metal Hammer picked up the story and ran it with their own commentary about Axl Rose’s notorious tardiness, which NME then picked up and attributed to Bumblefoot. The offending line that raised Bumblefoot’s ire read, “Remember kids, only massive goobers make a habit of not being on time.” After reading the NME version of the story, Bumblefoot took to his Facebook page with a response. He stated in his posting: Some ‘info’ sites will twist anything into an attack on Axl [Rose], LOL (only way to get more readers and hike up rates on advertisers, I guess … ) NME is ‘not’ a legit source of music info by any stretch. Not only do they make up quotes that aren’t true (I’ve NEVER used the term ‘massive goobers’ in my life, LOL). I also didn’t speak to Metal Hammer. NME is using a piece of an interview I did with Ryze-Up magazine. If NME is going to point fingers, they should have more integrity and class in what ‘they’ do, yes?” I’m at the venue early, I’ll have dinner with the crew, watch opening acts, get warmed up, I’m at every meet-n-greet, and I’m ready to get on stage at show time. That’s me. My advice was for musicians starting out, hopefully it served its positive purpose ?. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/axl-rose-feud-slash-duff-mckagan-im-surviving-this-war-not-the-one-who-created-it/” title=”Next: Axl Rose Discusses War With Slash + Duff McKagan” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Jane’s Addiction ‘s Perry Farrell recently spent some time recovering from surgery enjoying a creative burst that resulted in some 60 tracks being worked through, but the singer says that the material was not necessarily all for Jane’s Addiction. Farrell tells GrungeReport.net , “There’s over 60 [songs] lyrically written and then there’s probably 38 recorded, but they were not Jane’s Addiction, they were mine, for the next project.” The vocalist went on to add, “The next project’s going to be a really interesting affair, never before done in history. It’s going to be immersive theater, like a musical or play. I’m going to have Jane’s writing one record and then I’ve written another one that’s electronic. It’s theater, and in some cases, the scene takes place out in a place like Phuket or a region like that in a bar or a club, so you’d be listening to dance music.” The vocalist says he’s already written the first, dance-related portion, but the second half is still incomplete. He added, “I have many song melodies, but they haven’t been recorded or worked with Jane’s Addiction yet.” Farrell also spoke about a proposed Porno for Pyros reunion and explained that his current project has cooled him on the idea for the time being. He explains, “I love all the guys in Porno and I’ll always want to do it, but I’ve gotten so hot with this new project, now that it’s in the works and moving forward, that … something really great came up. It’s sort of like you were with a girl or with a guy, and then you guys broke apart, and you started getting in contact with each other, like, ‘Yeah, we should see each other again sometime,’ and then all of a sudden this amazing person comes into your life.” For more of the singer’s thoughts, including working with Trent Reznor , the latest on Lollapalooza and more, check out the full GrungeReport.net interview here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/janes-addiction-dave-navarro-plotting-two-solo-records/” title=”Next: Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro Contemplates Two Solo Records” align=”center”]
Mark Metcalfe / Ethan Miller, Getty Images Deftones continue to receive plenty of acclaim for their ‘ Koi No Yokan ‘ album, with the disc making many year-end Top 10 critics lists, including a No. 1 spot on Loudwire’s 10 Best Rock Albums of 2012 . But the success for the band is bittersweet as they’ve been doing it without the services of longtime bassist Chi Cheng , who has mostly been in a comatose state since his 2008 car accident. While Cheng has been out of action, singer Chino Moreno says his presence is felt on their recent material and he feels the musician would appreciate what the band has been doing in his absence. Moreno tells the Irish Times , “Some of the best times in our lives have been together as friends making this music together and he’s a very big part of it. I’ve been friends with him for most of my life. I think he would appreciate what we are doing now.” The band’s creative resurgence with both ‘Koi No Yokan’ and their previous disc ‘Diamond Eyes’ came after Cheng’s accident, and Moreno says that it really proved to be a catalyst for the band’s future musical focus. He says, “It made everybody sit back and realize that little things don’t seem to matter so much anymore. It’s just music. It is not the be all and end all, but it is a gift and we appreciate it. Everybody got into a really good headspace and it made us all close together. We started to appreciate and enjoy it more.” The singer adds, “A lot of people deal with things that are bad. Once you’ve been through something, you grow from it and you take a lot in. You can always turn it into something positive.” As for Cheng’s future, Moreno says, “I think [we’ll see him recover]. That’s what keeps us going. [It’s] four years since his accident. He’s still alive, he’s still fighting. He wants to make it through this. It has happened before in a lot of cases. We do keep positive and hopeful. It helps us to carry through and keep going. It could be the case that he never wakes up, but the best thing we can do is keep a positive mental attitude about things.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/deftones-spring-2013-u-s-tour/” title=”Next: Deftones Announce 2013 North American Tour” align=”center”]