Tim Whitby, Getty Images We’re getting closer and closer to a new Black Sabbath album, and the latest update involves bassist Geezer Butler . The band posted a photo (seen below) of an empty stool and a bass guitar where Butler apparently would be setting up shop for the day. If that wasn’t enough, they spelled it out by saying, “Geezer Butler is all set to record some more bass tracks on the new album today.” Guitarist Tony Iommi recently revealed that while the band does intend on having their next album ready by April, recording is still afoot on the disc. Black Sabbath should be in the home stretch though, as not only do they have a specific time frame for the album release, but they’ve started booking tour dates for 2013 , as well. Meanwhile, Black Sabbath fans will have something to tide them over until the new disc arrives, as the group has announced a Dec. 12 release for their ‘Black Sabbath The Vinyl Collection: 1970-1978. The limited edition box set celebrates the iconic albums of the band’s full original lineup. Included in the box set (seen below) are full reproductions of the original album releases, remastered from the band’s personal archives on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl. In addition, the poster from ‘Masters of Reality’ and photo insert book from ‘Volume 4′ will be part of the set. And fans can relish in having a 7-inch copy of the group’s debut single ‘Evil Woman,’ backed by the non-album b-side ‘Wicked World.’ Also included as part of the box set is a hardback book featuring the original tour programs from the band’s 1970, 1975, 1976 and 1978 treks and a “Back to Black Sabbath” download voucher good for easy download of the full set. Facebook: Black Sabbath Universal Music [button href=”http://loudwire.com/catchiest-metal-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Catchiest Metal Songs” align=”center”]
Slash/Reprise Records Guitarist Jim Martin left Faith No More back in 1993 after the band’s ‘Angel Dust’ album. After a decade of silence, Martin agreed to answer 15 questions submitted by readers of a UK fan site. “Some weeks ago, the FNM fan club guy was asking about how to contact me, he wanted to talk to me about the fan page,” Martin said. “After several exchanges via email, he and I decided to do a Q&A thing for the fans. My departure from FNM in 1993 was controversial; I left while the band was still at the peak of its success. I am proud of my contributions to the success and legacy of FNM. I appreciate the time and effort it took to put these questions together. Thank you for the opportunity.” In the Q&A, Martin discusses the ‘Angel Dust’ recording sessions, his current relationship with the band, whether he would consider a reunion and many other topics. Q: What do you consider the highlight of your career? A: Performing with Bo Diddly, Klaus Mein, Metallica, Gary Rossington, Pepper Keenan Sean Kinney Jerry Cantrell John Popper Jason Newstead, singing Misfits songs with Metallica live during our tour with them and GNR. Q: You are an influence to many younger guitarists today, but who were your biggest influences and what do you remember about how those people helped to craft your sound and play style? A: My influences to a greater extent were Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and David Gilmore. Mostly Page. His method of using a pick and his fingers at the same time and his way of squeezing the humanity out of a guitar. It’s funny how influences work. My influences were influenced by old blues men. Those legendary blues men were influenced by their tribal ancestors. The tribal ancestors are the link back to the beginning; they are the keepers of the essence. Through my influences I am connected to the roots of time and the music that elevates the primordial spirit of mankind. We do not truly compose anything genuinely new, the listeners and the presentation are what is new, and it is the perspective that varies. The ability of expression and improvisation, the stuff of creation that fascinates all life. Q: It was great seeing you play again during the Metallica event…also some very great words spoken about Cliff….it was great to see ya! Weird question, Big Jim…and I only just thought of it while scrolling through the last post on FNM Blog: What was the deal with you being the only clothed FNM member in the infamous “FNM underwear poster”? Did you just think the photo idea was dumb, or did you think it’d be better/funnier with one dude dressed to the nines in jeans, leather vest, etc. while everyone else was near nekkid. Thanks for doing this Q&A, man! Excited to see the responses! A: I remember it was one of the first big photo shoots for us set up by London Records. Ross Halfin, “Famous Rock Photographer”, was pretty aggressive, barking orders and abusing band members, particularly Puffy. He ordered everyone to strip down. I said “forget it” (I thought it was dumb). The other guys did, he snapped the picture and at that moment, I understood why he was famous… Q: I’m a crazy obsessed fan and have listened to just about all the bootlegs and read all the interviews…Despite “not being into” the music on ‘Angel Dust’ (so it is written in places), you played flawlessly all of 92-93 and I even caught you banging your head enthusiastically during the Phoenix Festival. Also, while others were bad-mouthing you, you always played it off with a joke and came off as the bigger person (you were hilarious in the Maida Vale interviews!)…something doesn’t add up. Were you really that unhappy? If so, how do you keep such a cool head and stay so professional? A: Thank you for the great compliment. My publicized “not being into” ‘Angel Dust’ was all about the way the whole process went down. There was a lot of weird pressure to follow up ‘The Real Thing,’ and as a consequence, the album AD was more contrived musically than I thought was necessary. I wanted more of the record to happen in the studio and Bill wanted every last tack nailed down before we went in. I wanted to spend time with it, management and the record company wanted to rush it out the door. There were a bunch of journalists in the studio. We were paying for a bunch of sampling that we could have created. Matt Wallace was calling me on the phone complaining about Mike Patton’s performance. Management and record company were calling me complaining about Mike Patton’s performance and desire for outside projects. The record company president came in the studio and said: “I hope nobody bought houses” All the air got sucked out of the room. That was one of those great moments when reality slaps you in the face. Some of my associates (had) bought houses. The pressure was on, and everyone wanted to be in the studio with me while I recorded, endlessly tinkering and f—ing with me and f—ing with Matt, and Matt is a really f—ing wound up guy already. Prior to AD, I would work alone with Matt and his assistant engineer period. I had to kick everyone out and even though it was not a new concept it really pissed everyone off. Live performances were always very strong. From my perspective, we came across a lot heavier than the records. Over time, the chord progressions and the arrangements would morph in subtle ways that would make the set heavier than the studio version. As far as the bulls–t in the press, yeah, there was a lot of negativity, and I tried to avoid being part of it to the point of refusing interviews. Of course I was unhappy; individuals were making decisions which would prove to be damaging to FNM. However, despite these distractions, real people paid to see a show and we were able to deliver thanks to the support of a great crew and a great sound man, Greg Bess, who was used to working with the heavy bands. I actually really enjoyed those shows. Q: If you could collaborate for a single cover song with any musician, dead or alive, who would that be and what would the song be? A: I sure miss Cliff. Cliff Burton. We could do any song and twist it up horribly. I think if there were an opportunity to collaborate, we would write something new. Put Dave (Donato – Agents of Misfortune) in there on the drum kit and create something Cliff’s mother would call “Fu–ed Up Weirdos”. Q: I’ll get this one out…what is your relationship like now with the members of Faith No more? A: To be honest Matt, that is an emotional subject. There has been much negative rhetoric in the press, and it was my choice to either play their game, fight with them and let the press spin it, or leave them to play with themselves and allow you to make a decision based on the work I left behind. In an effort to avoid the negativity, I chose the latter. However, there are some points that I would like to address. I read a couple of interviews Matt Wallace did, and his simplified explanations can lead one to believe that I hate homosexuals, I did not contribute to ‘Angel Dust,’ and I did not play guitar on the record. Ouch. Something else is a little more accurate. The guitar parts are mine; that’s me playing guitar on all the tracks. I contributed much to the songwriting and arrangements. Bill added some fluff to ‘Midlife Crisis and ‘Midnite Cowboy’ and wrote everything for his song ‘Small Victory, Mike wrote everything for ‘Malpractice,’ I wrote everything and created the samples for ‘Jizzlobber;’ Bill contributed the keyboard outro. Mike wrote all of the lyrics for the album except Roddy wrote lyrics for ‘Be Aggressive.’ Matt’s commentary about Roddy seemed a little weird; we (band members) all knew Roddy was gay long before he “came out” and it was not an issue for anyone. Matt also forgot to mention that he and I spent a lot of time together on the production of TRT and AD improving the recording method and sonic profile in the studio. I insisted on the co-producer credit for FNM on those 2 records because of that work. Notice ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Angel Dust’ are the only two FNM records co-produced by Matt Wallace and Faith No More. I saw something in Wiki where someone pulled a comment out of an old bucket: Jim Martin said “I don’t know why it’s called ‘Angel Dust,’ I had nothing to do with it” While that is true, it is not complete. The idea was Roddy’s, and nobody else had anything to do with it either. He came in with a basic concept of a bird front, meat locker back, and ‘Angel Dust’ for the title. The question was: “How do we get it (Roddy’s idea) to the record cover?” We lost control of the sleeve art on the last 2 releases. ‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Introduce Yourself’ were conceived and designed by “the record company” and we simply paid the bill. This was an opportunity of artistic expression and finally one of us had an idea everyone would go along with. I got in contact with Mark Leialoha to discuss the idea, he got Werner “Vern” Krutein involved because Werner ran a stock agency and was able to produce the necessary photographs allowing us to realize Roddy’s idea. I had the idea of the Russian army in the sleeve, inspired by The Pogues album ‘Rum Sodomy and The Lash,’ which I was really into at the time. I rode hard on that and made sure it happened the way WE wanted it to happen. There was a lot of squealing when it came time to pay the bill, but at the end of the day, we retained control of our resources, we were able to use our people, and we maintained creative control. Q: Jim! With your publicized dislike of the content/direction of ‘Angel Dust’ – are you surprised by how, 20 years on, it is widely regarded as one of the most influential ‘metal’ albums of the past 30 years? A: Thanks for the opportunity Matt. As for my like or dislike of AD I touched on that a little, so please refer to question 4 above. I am happy AD is regarded in a positive way. It is an affirmation of the legacy we all worked to create. I am aware that some of the newer bands I actually like have referred to FNM as an influence. I am also aware AD was on the Kerrang! Most influential albums list of 2003. Is it an artist’s affirmation? That’s fine. Am I surprised? I don’t think anyone can be expected to anticipate something like this. Q: What kind of music are you listening to today? Is there anything that we might not generally expect that you like to listen to? A: I’ve been listening to Machine Head, a great metal band out of Oakland, Calif. I enjoy classic jazz, reminds me of weird times as a kid. I like the “Glorious lethal euphoria” of The Mermen It’s crazy hardcore psychedelic surf music and hits the mark hard. I’ll listen to any improv, at least for a few minutes. Q: Is it true that you were offered to perform at reunion tour dates – if it is true why did you decline? Fans would have been so happy to see on stage too! A: Thanks Bubbles. For some time during 2008, I had been receiving information with increasing frequency that “we” were booking a reunion tour, festivals, Europe. I was informed that yes, the promoters were selling it as the original line up. In February 2009, Roddy called and said they were just beginning to think of putting something together, and just now feeling out everyone, and what did I think? I said yes, I was interested. I also told him I knew the tour was already booked, they were on the eve of announcing it, and it was time to sign the deals. I told him to send over the contracts so I could review them and started pressing management for details. Several days later, I was able to get management on the phone who told me they decided to use someone else…I know it’s odd, no, you didn’t miss anything. It happened just like that. In an effort to preclude any sloppy misinformation, I made the announcement that I would not be participating in the rumored reunion dates several days before they made their announcement. Q: If Faith No More tours again and if they asked would you make an appearance, kind of like when Chuck did a couple of songs? Would love to watch you perform songs like ‘Malpractice’ or ‘Jizzlobber’ would be awesome! A: Thanks Sean. I know the fans want the real thing, and I was prepared to have a real dialogue about doing a run together. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. As for a random appearance, I do not feel that would do anyone justice. Q: If you could use Bill and Ted’s phone booth to go back in time to the ‘Angel Dust’ era, would you do anything differently to make sure you and FNM were heading in the same direction? If so, what? A: Number one thing: limit journalist access and impose more control over the interviews. Almost anyone could get an interview at that time. It was a free for all, and it hurt us. Q: Have you been jamming with anyone lately, and do you have any plans to make more music? A: No, I’m not working with anyone right now but I do have plans to publish more music. I released a record some time ago called ‘Milk and Blood;’ go to rotgrub.com and email the webmaster for details. Q: What do you think of the music FNM have created post you? And how do you feel when you see other guitarists belting out you licks? A: I remember hearing some of the music a long time ago but I didn’t really study it. I remember thinking it was heavily reliant on Mike. As for other persons playing my music, I don’t really believe anyone could book a show as FNM without playing my music. Q: Being one of the best shredders of your era/generation, and having rubbed shoulders with some awesome musicians in your time, have you never considered forming your own little “supergroup” to set the music word to rights!!?? A: Most of my associates have families and projects taking up their time, and I’m very consumed with the things I am doing. I hope I can get to a place where I’ll be able to do something pretty soon. There are no specific plans at this time. Thanks for a great compliment. Q: Hey Jim, thanks a bunch for doing this. So where did you get the moniker “big sick ugly” from and did you like it?? A: It was bestowed upon me by the filthy press. I am pretty sure Geoff Barton gets the credit. Steffan “Cheese Burger” Chirazi, “Krusher Joule” and Neil “Greasy Chester” Perry helped magnify and perpetuate it and it was ‘Kerrang!’ once again, who rolled that one out there. Thanks to them for some funny times.
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com 3 Doors Down started off with a bang when their hit single ‘Kryptonite’ blew up back in 2000, creating a buzz for the band seemingly overnight. Their debut disc ‘The Better Life’ would go on to yield four hit singles and move more than 5 million copies, launching their career into an upward trajectory. Now, more than a decade later, the band is reflecting back on their musical tenure with a new ‘ Greatest Hits ’ disc due out on Nov. 19. In addition to nine chart-topping rock hits, the release also includes three brand new tracks from the band, proving that they are still going strong over a decade later. We recently caught up with 3 Doors Down frontman Brad Arnold to reflect on the band’s success, the impact their ‘The Better Life Foundation’ has had on him personally, how his songwriting has evolved throughout his career and 3DD’s upcoming tour with Daughtry. Congrats on the upcoming ‘Greatest Hits’ disc. Why did now feel like the right time for that? It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a while. We didn’t want to put it out too soon but we didn’t want to wait another five years to put it out either. We really are moving into a new chapter in our band. We’re not changing our sound or anything but we felt like this was good look back over the last 10 to 12 years for us. We just felt like it was the appropriate time to do it. It must have been a great experience to sit back and reflect on all the music you’ve made throughout your career. Can you talk about the process of putting the disc together, was it hard to pick the songs? You know what, it was. We obviously had a few songs that we knew had to be on there but then there were others that we weren’t sure about and we weren’t able to fit them all on, it was a hard decision to make. It was interesting putting them together because we went back and we remixed and remastered them for it, and we didn’t try to make them sound different we just wanted to choose some more modern technology to have a better sound on the record. You can do so much more now than we could 10 years ago, so we went back and we made it in surround sound. Honestly, if you were to put it in your computer, you probably couldn’t tell a huge difference between the new and the old, although the new to me sounds cleaner. You can tell that we used new technology to make it better. We really at the same focused on, when we were remixing them, to not change the sound of the songs. They were successful the way they were so we didn’t want to reinvent them. I don’t really think people would like that too much, if we changed them a lot. At the same time, it’s cool to hear a modern take on them. I had been wondering if any of the songs had changed at all but it sounds like you stayed true to the original versions. We did, and that’s harder to do than you’d think because you’re using one person to mix it and then he’s going back and mixing songs that 4 or 5 other producers have mixed in the past. I know it was a massive undertaking, but he did a great job on it. ‘Kryptonite’ is the song that launched your career – when you look back at that time in the band, what do you remember most about it? I just remember how excited we were when it really started happening. We had written ‘Kryptonite’ a few years before that when we were just teenagers. We had a local radio station play it after we begged them to for like two years. We went to rerecord that song and we got going, and the song started going and it took off, and then it turned into a monster. I just remember the excitement. It was like, ‘Here we go man,’ we never dreamed that we’d get to do THIS, and here we are. Still even then, if you told me we’d be putting out a ‘Greatest Hits’ of other songs 10 years later, nowhere along the line could I have ever believed it. I know one of the three new the songs called ‘Goodbyes’ is very personal to you; can you tell me where it came from and why it was important to you to write that one? We co-wrote ‘Goodbyes’ with Marti Fredrikson, and that’s the fourth time I’ve written with Marti, and he has a good way of going about it. He’ll play on the guitar and Marti has a really cool melody going on in his head all of the time, he’ll sing along with the melody, not trying to make real words, just babbling different words, and then I start to feel an idea develop and run with it, and that’s how we’d written ‘When You’re Young,’ ‘Time of My Life’ and ‘One Light.’ Sometimes it’s hard to go in and say, let’s write a song at two o’clock on Tuesday, and make sure it’s a good one! Sometimes, they just don’t work like that. For that song, the music I just liked so much, I asked Marti if I could take it with me. I promised him it wouldn’t get stuck in a drawer and wasted, I’d write some lyrics to it, and that was in May, that we wrote the music. About a month and a half ago, I was sitting down here, and there’s a man that lives down the road from me at my camp on the river down in South Mississippi. A man that lived down there, he was a real good guy, about 65 years old, we’d always sit around the fire together, have a couple of beers and throw wood on the fire. He had a stroke and he was in a coma for about a week, and that got me thinking about how it’s hard to let someone go like that. When you have a stroke it’s unexpected, I had just seen him four days before that. It got me thinking about him and his wife, and I wrote that song, he definitely got my thought process going. I wrote the song and two days later he passed away. It was hard on everybody that lives down there because it’s a real close-knit community. As soon as I wrote it I sent it down there to one of my buddies and asked him to let everyone hear it, and he said, “How about I let them hear that in about two weeks because they might not be ready for that right now.” But yeah, it became really personal to me and you know it’s not necessarily the happiest song, but I think that song’s going to wind up being personal to a lot of people. It’s not always the happy songs that people get the most out of. It seems like ‘Here Without You’ and ‘Away from the Sun’ – songs like that, although to me I kind of look at ‘Here Without You’ as a bit of a happy song, although it seems sad, it talks about dreaming about somebody, and as long as you’re dreaming about them, you’re together, and I view that as a happy thought, but I know when I wrote ‘Away From the Sun’ I was in that place, and I’ve had so many people, with that song in particular, say that that song saved my life. What else could you do on this planet that’s any more fulfilling than knowing that you’re doing something that helps someone a lot, I know I’ve had songs in my life that have helped me. It’s almost like God sent them to you when you needed to hear them. Its like, “Man, I needed to hear that right now,” and I know that I’ve had those songs and I’m delighted to be able to possibly write just one of those songs for someone else. I’m a firm believer in musical therapy. Music is medicine for the soul! You’ve said you’re not very political but that it was a great honor to perform at the Republican National Convention this year, can you tell us about the experience? It was a cool experience, there were leaders coming from all around the country, and just the operations and productions of the RNC. It was down in Tampa and there were blocks and blocks of security. Once you got through the doors, you knew were safe, it was just amazing how much goes into it. I was talking to the guy that was our escort for the day and he was saying how he was about ready for it all to be over so he could go home and we asked him, “Well how long have you been here, a couple of weeks?” and he said “I’ve been here since May.” I was like, Holy Cow, they’ve been working on it since May, so I’m sure he was about ready to go home. You mentioned the production of the convention, it’s not that far removed from a music tour right? I’m sure looking around you saw a few good ideas. I tell ya what; they had some production going down there. We played on a side stage, but in between speakers on the main stage the floor would open up, the whole podium would go down in it, the floor would close – they definitely had it going on. I was thinking, “Can we borrow that for our drum set?” As you stated earlier, you wrote songs with Marti Fredrikson. On your last album, for the first time, you started working with some outside songwriters, what did that outside perspective bring to your writing process and do you think that’s something you’ll continue to do with future new music? Definitely, I love writing with all the guys in my band, and we’ve written a ton of songs together. When you write with the same guys all the time, it’s kind of easy to get in a rut; it’s easy to start writing things that sound like something else you’ve written in the past. I think it’s really important, I didn’t realize how important it was, but I think looking back on these last few songs that we’ve collaborated on, it’s really important to get out of your comfort zone and write with someone that you’ve never written with before because it brings in a whole new element and a new sound – just a new lick even, something that’s not so familiar to you. It stimulates your senses and makes you want to write something new. Marti is a great one to do it with, that dude is a great song writer and he’s just a fun dude to sit there and write with. We work well together, he’ll start babbling words, not even consciously forming words, and I’ll sit there and listen to him as he works on the melody. It could be one word here and one word there, and I’ll sit there with my notepad starting to piece things together and it’s just such a really cool experience to do that. Your upcoming tour with Daughtry kicks off with a very special show – the annual concert for your ‘ The Better Life Foundation ‘ – what can you tell us about the foundation and what it’s meant to the band over the course of its existence? That foundation has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. It’s hard for me honestly to look at it as giving back, because I swear to you, I’ve been given more simply by being a part of that foundation than I’ve ever done. It’s blessed me in so many ways. To be able to be the catalyst, because it all comes from our fans, I’m honored to be that catalyst. Looking at what it’s allowed it to do – whether for a special needs home or a kids camp or a children’s hospital, it’s just the best feeling in the world. I’m honored to be a part of it, there are a lot of people that work a lot harder than I do on it and I’m thankful for them. This year, this is our ninth year, and it’s going to be our biggest one by far. Over the last couple of years we’ve added a motorcycle ride . The first year was a bit of a fluke because it was cold and rainy so some people couldn’t make it but last year we had 400 riders and this year we’re expecting around 600 riders at least and I’d say more than that. That ride is so fun, Bourget’s Bike Works, they build a bike for us every year for the Foundation and they donate it, and they are awesome motorcycles. The first couple of years we auctioned it off, but then not everyone can bid on it, so the last few years we’ve raffled it off and it was a lot more successful and allowed more people to take part in it. So I’m really looking forward to that ride and the concert is going to be awesome, it’s going to be a really great start for the tour because it’s going to start us out on a light note, because there’s a lot of fun stuff going on there, but it’s also going to give a nice, firm, positive push to the tour. I really couldn’t ask for a better way to start the tour. You mentioned the band entering a new era, and I can only assume that you referring to the lineup changes that occurred over the last year. I know that you and former guitarist Matt Roberts go back a long time and were friends as kids, talk about the impact it had on the band when he left, it had to be an emotional thing? I look over there sometimes and I miss him. Matt and I have been friends since we were little kids; we use to play t-ball together. It was hard to see him go, it honestly was, and it was a little emotional. Like I said, I miss him being here sometimes. Chet [Roberts] does a great job, I look over there and he’s just got this big old grin on his face and he’s running around. You do look back, especially now for the ‘Greatest Hits’ and you have these memories of what we all done together so it was a difficult time to see him go. Chet [Roberts] seems to have has adapted to the lineup perfectly. I saw the band live shortly after he joined the band and the chemistry seemed to be pretty strong, so while it was hard, it seems like you found the right guy to fill those big shoes. We definitely did. We already had some confidence in Chet because before he was our guitar player he was Chris’ guitar tech, so he’s been around a little while and we all knew him. I knew he could fill the shoes because a couple of months prior to that we went to do an acoustic thing and Matt had something going on so just Chris and I were going to go, but Chet was going to come as our tech, and we were like, well, if you’re already coming, bring your guitar and play with us. He did so well with that show, singing backup, we didn’t ever go and look for another guitar player, we just said, ‘Get your guitar Chet, it’s time to play.’ That almost sounds like a movie, but it’s definitely got to be every guitar tech’s dream come true. The first show he played with us, right before the ZZ Top tour, we played three shows down in Brazil. Those crowds down in Brazil are amazing, so his first show was in front of an enthusiastic Brazilian crowd. Boy, I looked over there at him and I was so proud because he’s been in bands and he’s been in a few touring bands that just never took off. I just looked over there and he was smiling so big, and it was just a proud moment. Since we are talking about your ‘Greatest Hits,’ looking back throughout your career, is there a particular moment that stands out as one of your most rewarding? I think the most rewarding thing for me really, and I know I sound redundant in saying it, but the most rewarding thing for me in our career has really been ‘The Better Life’ foundation. I look back at different points in our career too, like when we first went Gold, that was huge. They always told us that the hardest thing to do was to go Gold, and after you reached that, you had your momentum and Platinum is not so hard after that. We started touring when I was 20 years old and I still lived at home with my parents. I continued to live there until I got married a couple of years later so the first place my gold record ever hung was in my bedroom at my Mom and Dad’s house. I remember I had had a picture hanging above my bed and it was a proud day to take that picture down and hang up my gold record. I brought all my friends in and we’d all sit there and look at it. So the big question is, where is it now? It’s actually hanging in my studio at my house, in my little writing spot in my mancave. You’re going from playing with rock legends like ZZ top to this new tour with rock newcomers Daughtry – it’s a good sign for the current state of rock don’t you think? I do. I really do feel like that. This tour is really going to be, honestly, it’s going to be a tour that is greater than all of its parts. There’s a lot of chemistry, Chris [Daughtry] and I are good friends, and we’ve been friends since the start of his career. We’ve done a little writing together here and there, and so, I’m really excited about this tour. Every night he and I are going to get together and sing a song together – maybe a cover or one of our own songs, and I’m really looking forward to that. He came to Nashville last year and he and I sang The Allman Brothers song ‘Whipping Post’ and that was so much fun, and that’s kind of what sparked wanting to do that collaboration every night. Chris and I have tried to make this tour happen for quite awhile, it just never worked out. So it’s 19 shows now but we haven’t even started the tour yet. It goes to December now and we’re already wanting to bring it back out and start it back up in January and stay out from January through March. We want to see how far this tour can go; I don’t have a doubt in my mind that people will walk out of the show saying ‘Man, that was a good show.’ It’s also a show that a parent can bring their kids to and not worry about hearing the F-bomb dropped onstage every few words. None of these bands on this tour cuss on the stage, you may here “hell” or “damn” but that’s about it. I like to look out there and see a Daddy standing with a son or a daughter, or even a family standing there. Many times parents drag their kids and its Mommy and Daddy enjoying it and the kids thinking its pretty lame or the opposite, but I think this will be a show that a family can come to where everyone will have a good time at. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/3-doors-down-brad-arnold-inspiration-one-light/” title=”3 Doors Down’s Brad Arnold Shares Inspiration Behind New Song ‘One Light’” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show this past weekend. He spoke all about the band’s forthcoming album ‘The Divinity of Purpose,’ as well as hitting the road with Lamb of God and how playing shows has changed since Randy Blythe’s arrest. Read the full interview with Jamey Jasta below: You are obviously part of this awesome Lamb of God tour and you are probably doing 12 bazillion things, as you do? Metal is a life style and no one in the metal community is more immersed in that lifestyle than you. When did you realize that metal would become so prominent in so many aspects of your life, musician, songwriter, label owner, media personality. Coming from the punk and hardcore scene – I just saw that there needed to be more unity with metal. We always played with metal bands and we always enjoyed metal bands like thrash bands, death metal however you want to call the different sub-genres and I thought “It’d be good to just be more involved and bring people together.” I always liked the inclusionary aspect of metal whereas coming from the punk and hardcore scene a lot of it is exclusionary where there’s a lot of strong beliefs. So I thought “Man, it would be great to have a balance of the two” so very young I started learning about how shows were booked and how tours were booked and how different bands got signed and I just tried to learn so that if I ever was to be in a band, which I ended up being in – I had a little bit of an edge. Especially coming from the punk and hardcore scene there’s so many bands and it’s so hard to break especially in the Northeast – being from Connecticut we were sandwiched in between New York and Boston where there’s hundreds of bands, you really have to work super hard to get noticed. Growing up and having bands like Biohazard and Sick of It All but also bands like Anthrax and all of the Florida death metal bands, we ended up getting to play with a lot of those bands. You see how die-hard the fans are and how truly supportive and they stay with the band and now we’re seeing it more than ever with Testament and Anthrax and even Megadeth – they constantly keep having these huge rebirths in a way where the fans pass it along to younger fans. We just wanted to do that but for bands who were crossover bands who had roots in the hardcore scene and everything comes with that – the lifestyle aspect of it, trying to make a brand, have your own clothing, have your own label, have your own TV show or radio show or whatever it is. You want to have a medium to promote the stuff and it’s been cool and a lot of people are still doing things like that; Kerry King from Slayer had a clothing line, Scott Ian has a web TV show and it’s nice to see that through metal there are all these cool opportunities being had. I believe in abundance I’m like, “Share the wealth and have everybody express their views and interests and have the music be that medium to get the message across.” As you mentioned there’s a new Hatebreed record coming out in January and tell us what will fans love most about this new record? I just think if you like any one Hatebreed record there’s a little bit of something for you on this one. I feel like if you like ‘Satisfaction [Is the Death of Desire]’ and you’re in your thirties and that hardcore was a big part of your life, there’s some stuff you’ll like on this record. If your more ‘Perseverance’ type of person and from the last ten years onward have been a fan there’s a lot of themes that are similar. Then there’s the thrash and the crossover influence, as well. I think it’s got all of the cool elements of Hatebreed records in the past but has that identity where it’s fresh and new but you know when you put it in, you know it’s Hatebreed. Even if you hate us at least you won’t be like “Who is that? What is that?” you know who it is. You guys are celebrating an anniversary coming up right? We just celebrated the 10 year anniversary of ‘Perserverance’ and Nov. 11 [marks] the 15th anniversary of ‘Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire.’ I don’t think we’ll get the chance to do a tour or a re-release of the record or anything which would have been cool but the past is the past – we’re proud of it but it’s like we got to put this new record out in January and it’s onward and upward. This is a huge tour for us to play out to a new audience. It’s great to see Lamb of God – even though they might not be new to some people, we’re seeing a lot of young kids and I feel like they’re the new leaders of aggressive metal or modern metal. Both Hatebreed and Lamb of God are both powerful aggressive bands in an instant how did things change for you as a musician, entrepreneur and for metal as a whole when Randy [Blythe] was arrested in Prague? Well it was crazy because it instantly put this magnifying glass on how a concert should go as far as searching the fans, security, barricades and we come under a lot of scrutiny because we’re from the hardcore scene. There are some people who are very vocal about us becoming a big band – they don’t like that. There’s always been this kind of punk rock guilt in the scene like “You can’t be successful, you can’t make money or play big shows on big stages” but we’ve always been looking for the most success possible – we’ve never been ashamed of that. Randy getting arrested has really brought that out and people have said, “What are you going to do? Are you going to be able to play shows without a barricade.” We’ve been playing shows with barricades for the last 12 years it’s just people that wasn’t to cause a stir and act like we’re compromising our integrity in some way. They’ve brought all this stuff up like, “Everybody should be welcome on the stage” and all this stuff – not at a metal show maybe at a punk and hardcore shows and God Bless them if they can police the stage and be on top of it. God forbid somebody breaks their neck like we had happen at The Staircase in PA and that’s probably going back to 2002, 2003 – that club shut down, we almost got named in the lawsuit. Even before Lamb of God we were dealing with these types of issues before Lamb of God was even signed so they just brought it to the forefront – it’s such a unique incident where they feel Randy is at fault which he isn’t, he’s totally innocent. Regardless I think it’s a bigger question or a bigger thing where people just need to respect each other at a show, respect the security and vice versa. What do you want out of the show? Do you want to enjoy it or do you want to hurt people and hurt yourself? You have to ask yourself that. If you’re looking to hurt people or hurt yourself then maybe you should just stay home. As far as the bigger metal bands like Lamb of God, Anthrax and Slayer – don’t ever expect to be allowed onstage. Hatebreed has already done shows since this has happened without barricades and it was just a couple random shows like my birthday show in Switzerland and everything was fine. We took a risk by doing that and if could’ve gone wrong but we told the crowd “Look this is super important that everybody respects each other, if somebody dives you got to catch them, if somebody falls you got to pick them up.” I don’t see that being something that can still go on especially not in America, definitely not in America. I think that in America, especially after the ‘Perseverance’ tour which was probably our most violent tour we’ve done in a long time, with the exception of Pomona. Pomona was incredible, seeing all the unity and everybody picking each other up and really no fights – that was great but every other place was super violent and I’m not complaining. I understand it’s heavy music and a crazy show and we write some stuff that’s going to cause the kids to go crazy but at some point you have to say “Enough is enough, let’s respect each other.” If you get hit in the pit just deal with it and shake it off. At the Detroit show there were girl fights and it was crazy. I know when you involve booze and heavy metal you’re bound to have a couple fights but we had a lot of shows where it was literally like 30 fights – two, three fights every song and you’re like “Alright this has got to chill for a little bit.” That’s why with Hatebreed we try to do the bigger tours like Mayhem Fest where we can play to a ton of people, get out message out and not have to worry about people getting hospitalized. In terms of Hatebreed, what surprises people most about you in terms of their perception that’s based on Hatebreed and your music? Well now after the whole CNN debacle where they basically misreported us being a racist band or having a racist agenda – because our fans stood up for us and really just bombarded them with Tweets. It actually got us a little bit of mainstream attention and now people who might not know about Hatebreed at least they get it and they say, “Okay their negativity or the negative aspects that they see or feel in the world they’re trying to do something positive with it” and they get that we’re trying to have a positive agenda. So I guess when people meet us and we’re regular guys and we’re not out here beating people up or sacrificing goats or whatever they think that we’re doing – they get it. Also, when you perform at this level – we’ve done more shows than most bands who’ve been around for 20 years, 30 years, we’ve done a higher volume of shows. We’ve gotten out a lot of energy, when you scream your head off for 40 to 90 minutes a night – it’s hard to be upset during the day, that’s the therapy. That’s probably another thing that people don’t realize – I get all the bad stuff out, I have that release. That’s why with this whole record and going into this new world tour and everything, I have a really good outlook because I still get that fulfillment – that’s why I feel like we’ve had such long term success it’s a cyclical power, people get that from the show and we get that from performing. We just need now to make it be more of a fun experience and hopefully the next tour won’t be as crazy and violent. We write some heavy stuff so it is to be expected. Do you think looking back at starting out in terms of punk roots and you have to be in an angry mindset in general on that whole genre – thinking back then to now do you still feel that anger and rebellion in general? Yeah, but also I think it goes in waves now we have the election coming up and the way the economy is and as you get older you see so many people are down and out. People are dealing with depression and anxiety and struggles that you face throughout your life, it’s just constant fuel for the fire I think. I feel like life is never going to be a hundred percent peachy so you got to have that balance. You don’t always want to eat pizza, you can’t eat pizza for every meal, you want to switch it up just like you don’t always want to listen to Hatebreed, maybe some people do and God bless them – but for when you do need that release or you want that aggressive music whether it’s in the gym or on your ride to work hopefully we’re that band. Full Metal Jackie will welcome Dez Fafara of DevilDriver on her next show. Full Metal Jackie can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com .
Matthew Simmons, Getty Images The Used will head up the 2013 Take Action Tour, and they’ll be squeezing a little extra life out of their ‘Vulnerable’ album by re-releasing it as a two-disc effort titled ‘Vulnerable II’ that coincides with the run. The Used will welcome We Came As Romans , Crown the Empire, and Mindflow for the tour, which launches Jan. 11 at the Las Vegas House of Blues. Like past Take Action treks, the tour has a charitable association. This year, proceeds from the trek will be directed to the It Gets Better Project, created to provide youths in the LGBT community with a positive outlook by showing the potential of what can happen by surviving the often difficult teen years. Ten percent of each ticket sold will be donated to It Gets Better and the annual charitable sponsor, Sub City. Tickets are on sale at the Take Action website . The Used’s Bert McCracken and Jeph Howard have created an “It Gets Better” video to help support the cause. The promo can be seen below. “It’s our privilege to work with such a lovely charity that does so much good in this confusing world,” says McCracken. “Pease check out itgetsbetter.org and we’ll see you at the Take Action Tour.” In addition, Hopeless Records will partner with Sub City to offer the ‘Take Action Compilation, Vol. 11,” which features tracks from The Used, Bad Religion, AWOLNATION, Falling in Reverse , Whitechapel and more. As with the tour, a portion of the proceeds from sale of the two-disc set will go to It Gets Better. As for The Used’s ‘Vulnerable II’ re-release, the album has now expanded to a two-disc set, with the second disc offering multiple remixes and acoustic versions of tracks from the original effort. It’s due in stores Jan. 22, and can be pre-ordered here . Watch The Used’s Bert McCracken and Jeph Howard’s “It Gets Better” Spot 2013 Take Action Tour Dates: 1/11 — Las Vegas, Nev. — House of Blues 1/12 — Salt Lake City, Utah — In The Venue 1/14 — Denver, Colo. — Summit 1/16 — Kansas City, Mo. — The Beaumont 1/17 — Minneapolis, Minn. — First Avenue 1/19 — Milwaukee, Wis. — The Rave 1/20 — Indianapolis, Ind. — Egyptian Room 1/22 — St. Louis, Mo. — The Pageant 1/23 — Chicago, Ill. — House of Blues 1/25 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Stage AE 1/26 — Rochester, N.Y. — Water Street Music Hall 1/28 — Washington, D.C. — 9:30 Club 1/29 — Boston, Mass. — House of Blues 1/30 — Sayreville, N.J. — Starland Ballroom 2/1 — Hartford, Ct. — Webster Theatre 2/2 — Atlantic City, N.J. — House of Blues 2/4 — Atlanta, Ga. — Tabernacle 2/5 — Tampa, Fla. — Ritz Ybor 2/7 — Asheville, N.C. — Orange Peel 2/8 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Bogart’s 2/10 — Detroit, Mich. — Fillmore 2/11 — Cleveland, Ohio — House of Blues 2/13 — Tulsa, Okla. — Cain’s Ballroom 2/14 — Houston, Texas — House of Blues 2/16 — Austin, Texas — Emo’s East 2/17 — Dallas, Texas — House of Blues 2/19 — San Antonio, Texas — Backstage Live 2/20 — El Paso, Texas — Tricky Falls 2/22 — Albuquerque, N.M. — Sunshine Theatre 2/24 — Phoenix, Ariz. — Marquee Theatre 2/26 — San Francisco, Calif. — The Fillmore 2/27 — San Diego, Calif. — House of Blues 3/1 — Los Angeles, Calif. — The Wiltern The Used ‘Vulnerable II’ Track Listing Disc One 1. ‘Come Alive’ 2. ‘This Fire’ 3. ‘Hands and Faces’ 4. ‘Put Me Out’ 5. ‘Shine’ 6. ‘Now That You’re Dead’ 7. ‘Give Me Love’ 8. ‘Moving On’ 9. ‘Getting Over You’ 10. ‘Kiss It Goodbye’ / ‘Kinda Hectic’ (Interlude) 11. ‘Hurt No One’ 12. ‘Together Burning Bright’ Disc Two 1. ‘Surrender’ 2. ‘The Lonely’ 3. ‘Machine’ 4. ‘Disaster’ 5. ‘I Come Alive (Revolvr and Danny Mihai Remix) 6. ‘Hands and Faces’ (Bobby Alt Remix) 7. ‘Put Me Out’ (Kraddy Remix) 8. ‘I Come Alive’ (acoustic) 9. ‘Put Me Out’ (acoustic) 10. ‘Together Burning Bright’ (acoustic) [button href=”http://loudwire.com/the-used-discuss-new-album-vulnerable-intense-encounter-with-super-fan-more/” title=”Next: The Used Discuss ‘Vulnerable’ Album” align=”center”]
Kevin Winter, Getty Images – Soundgarden ‘s released a full itinerary of dates and unveiled the ‘Been Away Too Long’ video. [ Loudwire ] – Ever catch Ozzy Osbourne or Ronnie James Dio on the big screen? Check out a list of favorite musician movie cameos. [ Loudwire ] – Speaking of movies, Korn ‘s Jonathan Davis stars in a short film titled ‘Wounded Warriors’ that will play at the GI Film Festival. [ Loudwire ] – Drummer extraordinaire Mike Portnoy has a mini-meltdown during a performance in Manila. [ Loudwire ] – 30 Seconds to Mars have been working on a new album and Jared Leto has high praise for the upcoming release. [ Loudwire ] – The Used will headline the 2013 Take Action tour. [ Rock Music Report ] – Anthrax ‘s Joey Belladonna joins Steel Panther for a cover of a Journey favorite. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Roger Waters plays with a backing band full of heroes. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – The Joy Formidable have debuted their new video for ‘This Ladder Is Ours.’ [ Diffuser.fm ] – How excited is James Bond to see ‘Skyfall’? The picture says it all. [ GuySpeed ]
Rick Diamond / Getty Images It’s interesting, but Kid Rock , one of the few remaining mavericks not to bow to the growing behemoth of downloading that is iTunes, has finally given in for the release of his upcoming album, ‘ Rebel Soul .’ So what changed the rocker’s mind? His manager suggests that these are different times and different rules apply in the current musical climate. Lee Trink, who oversees Rock’s career, tells Rolling Stone , “Times are different than they were on the last release. There are fewer record stores available, and there are fans who don’t necessarily want to get in the car and drive to the store. They’ve been accustomed to buying it digitally. He’s proven the point that he was able to have an incredibly successful record without iTunes, [but] that doesn’t mean you can’t reassess the landscape and take a look at people’s buying behaviors.” Rock has adamantly resisted adapting for iTunes over the years, maintaining the artistic ideal of selling a record as a whole piece of work rather than opting for the single track approach of iTunes. With the musician’s decision to finally allow his music to be sold via the digital download site, only big name acts like AC/DC , Tool , and Garth Brooks remain as holdouts. “Now is the right time,” says Trink of Rock’s decision. “Digital will only be a greater and greater proportion in the way recorded music is purchased. At a certain point, there will be a very tiny, tiny proportion of physical goods. You’re going to have to make that decision.” ‘Rebel Soul’ arrives in stores and online Nov. 19 and is currently available for pre-order on iTunes here . The lead single, ‘ Let’s Ride ,’ is already available on the iTunes platform. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/kid-rock-stage-name-origins/” title=”Next: Kid Rock – Stage Name Origins” align=”center”]