I remember when Mick Jagger was about to turn fifty, The New York Times did this whole big piece about it, like it was some kind of giant cultural happening. Even having grown up around The Rolling Stones’ music and being a fan, I didn’t really see what the big deal was, but my folks certainly seemed to have a “Hol-ee shit really?” kind of reaction.

Cut ahead almost twenty years, and Axl Rose turns fifty today, and suddenly I understand how my parents felt. Fifty is old. Not old enough to get ready for death or anything, but, y’know, definitely not young. It’s just hard to wrap your head around the fact that the dude who once sang “Old at heart, but I’m only 28″ is now fifty, y’know?

Click to read more…

The Haunted’s rEVOLVEr came out in October of 2004, and the band has released two more albums since then. So, of course, it makes perfect sense that they just released a video for the rEVOLVEr track, “99.”

And while some fans are suggesting that the band did this to remind all the haters of their mostly-loathed Unseen* about happier times, I have been assured by no less an authority than W. Axl Rose that this is not the case. “Waiting seven years to release a video makes perfect sense!” Rose assured me. When I asked him to elaborate, he mumbled something about Lars Ulrich and lack of support from the record label and ran away crying.

rEVOLVEr has been out on Century Media more than two years longer than there’s been a MetalSucks.

-AR

*For the record, I like that album.

The Sundance Film Festival, probably the most famous film festival in the United States and arguably all of North America (sorry, Toronto!), is now underway, which means there’s a lot of Hollywood wheelin’ and dealin’ going on right now. And one such wheel n’ deal comes in the form of Anchor Bay Films acquiring distribution rights to Nothing to Fear, the debut from Slash’s Slasher Films imprint. The horror flick stars Oscar nominee Thomas Hayden Church as “a charismatic but unbalanced man of the cloth.”

Details of the deal haven’t been publicly released yet, but based on my knowledge of Anchor Bay’s usual work, I’d say the fact that this is goin’ down tells us two things about Nothing to Fear:

Click to read more…

“Oh, yeah, let’s definitely have this guy on the jury. No objections, Your Honor.”

I have jury duty later this month, and I’m pretty irritated about it. But I think I have a way out. See, my plan is to wear the ugliest death metal and grind band shirts I own to the court (finalists include merch from Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, and The Black Dahlia Murder), my assumption being that no lawyer would ever want a dude wearing a shirt that says “THE TIME TO KILL IS NOW” or has zombies on it or whatever to be on a jury. If the jury has been convened for a violent crime, then having me present in such attire would be totally inappropriate, and it might be deduced that I do, indeed, endorse violence; if the jury has been convened for some lesser-crime, the lawyers will assume I’m an imbecilic degenerate, and I’ll be home in time for The Simpsons. Either way, I win! Foolproof plan, right?

Yeah, I thought so, too. But I’m feeling a little less confidence in my scheme after reading on Classic Rock‘s website that AXL FUCKING ROSE had to be on a jury earlier this week, and if he can get stuck there, none of us are safe:

“The Guns N’ Roses singer has been on the jury for a civil case in Santa Monica. He was there for four days, ending on Tuesday, January 10. Of course some will wonder if he managed to turn up on time each day!”

Cheesy jokes about whether or not he was on time every day, HOLY SHIT DO YOU THINK HE WAS ANYTHING EVEN REMOTELY RESEMBLING BEING ON TIME EVER AT ALL? I can’t imagine the lawyers questioning him to see if he would or would not remain on the jury didn’t know who he was, and I can’t imagine the question “Is this fucker ever going to show up?” never crossed their minds. Other possible concerns I’d have if I were one of the attorneys involved in this case:

Click to read more…

I’ve never gotten into Doctor Who, but if you have, maybe you’ll enjoy this? It’s a mash-up of the long-running British sci-fi series and — duh — the cover of Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction. And the best part is, for today only, it’s just ten bucks. Get one here.

Speaking of Appetite parody tees: we’ve got a few of the MetalSucks “Appetite for Deconstructions” shirts left, too. Order one before they’re gone… foh-evah!

-AR

[via Topless Robot]

The musician John O’Brien, who passed away in August, was best friends with Dave “Slash Couldn’t Even Spell My Damn Name Correctly in his Autobiography” Kushner. And so the guitarist — unsurprisingly, the only member of Velvet Revolver to drop off the face of the planet when the band went on hiatus four years ago — organized a reunion of his most famous project for a memorial concert in O’Brien’s honor, which will take place on January 12 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

Yes, that means that Scott Weiland is going to be performing with Velvet Revolver again.

And while the gig is currently scheduled to be a one-off affair, now Kushner tells Rolling Stone that Weiland could ultimately end up coming back to the fold for good:

Click to read more…

The gates of the Mansion may be shuttered this week, but that doesn’t mean there won’t still be a few bibs and bobs happening in the metal world before the holidays put us all into a food coma. To boot:

• Axl Rose booted a concertgoer out of the GN’R show in Vancouver, just like in the good ol’ days. Watch video of the incident above, in which DJ Slashba stands there and looks on awkwardly. In other GN’R news, Duff McKagan joined the band in Seattle to play “You Could Be Mine” (after his band, Duff McKagan’s Loaded featuring Duff McKagan, opened the show.)
• Attack Attack! are now a djent band. Check out their new tune here. Sergeant D misses the old Attack Attack!.
• Every Time I Die invited fans up on stage for their last song at their annual Christmas song in Buffalo, NY, but the venue’s security team wasn’t having it. Watch video of the bench-clearing brawl that ensued here. Maybe it’s a pre-cursor for what’s to come when all the scene bands open for Every Time I Die at the 2012 New England Metal and Hardcore Fest?
• Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy released an unplugged album of seven Ratt classics under his solo name. I wonder how his bandmates feel about that?
• Jeff Loomis just completed a three-week clinic tour of China, Taiwan and Indonesia. Here’s Jeff permorning “Enemies of Reality” in Jakarta; Gawd, I love this dude.
• Tool have announced a few more live dates as part of their winter U.S. run, and Intronaut might be the opening act.

-VN

In October, Axl Rose told That Metal Show that Duff McKagan’s Loaded featuring Duff McKagan was going to open some shows on GN’R current North American headlining tour. But then we didn’t hear anything else about it for over a month, so I think most people either assumed it wasn’t happening, or forgot about it all together.

But now it’s actually happening, and is happening this week, no less, in Seattle and Vancouver.

Click to read more…

So the young ‘uns might not remember this, but back in 1995, following the release of Ozzmosis, Zakk Wylde actually had to bow out of Ozzy Osbourne’s touring group. The reason? ‘Cause Mr. Wylde was busy waiting to see if he got the second guitarist spot in the then-biggest band in the world, Guns N’ Roses. GN’R's original rhythm guitarist, Izzy Stradlin, had quit in ’91, and his replacement, Gilby Clarke, was fired in ’94; the band was having a hard time filling the slot (an issue which apparently ended up being a major factor in Slash’s eventual decision to leave the group), and Axl Rose got it into his head that having a second lead guitarist would be a great idea, and would “push” the two axe slingers to challenge themselves in new and interesting ways (a theory Rose continues to test in his current version of Guns). In hindsight, this was probably a terrible idea, but at the time, when word got out that Wylde was jamming with GN’R, everyone was all excited by the possibility.

I’m not quite sure why it didn’t work out between Wylde and GN’R (Rose says that Slash refused to share the spotlight with a second lead guitarist, Slash says that Wylde was too impatient to wait for Rose to get his shit together), but last week fans got a kinda-sorta glimpse of a what a Wylde GN’R might have sounded like when the guitarist, whose Black Label Society was opening for Rose and company, hopped up on stage with the band to perform a cover of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie.” Metal Insider has found multiple fan-filmed videos of the event, one of which I’ve re-posted below; it’s actually pretty amazing, ’cause Wylde doesn’t use a single guitar squeal the entire time. I wonder if that was one of Rose’s conditions when allowing him to perform with GN’R?

And since we’re on the topic of Zakk Wylde almost joining Guns N’ Roses in the mid-90s, here’s a video of Wylde and Slash jamming on Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” from roughly that same time period. Hearing the way these two trade licks and interact with one another might actually give you a better sense of how GN’R could have sounded had Wylde actually ended up in the band. Enjoy:

Click to read more…

I woke up this morning to a seemingly endless number of headlines announcing that Guns N’ Roses have, indeed, been voted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, and I’m as baffled by all the excitement now as I was when the band first became eligible for induction.

Click to read more…

Someone sent us the above via Twitter, but I already forget the guy’s handle. Sorry, dude!

In October, Axl Rose added “Estranged” back into Guns N’ Roses’ regular setlist for the first time since 1993. Even though everyone makes fun of that song’s ridiculous music video, it was a smart move — at the GN’R show in New Jersey I attended last month, the song got a roar of approval from the crowd the moment the band played it. Axl’s Nu-GN’R has mostly ignored the Use Your Illusion era for the past decade, which is foolish, because while the critics may not love those albums, they sold seven million copies each. People wanna hear those songs.

And Rose must get it; that same night I saw him Jersey, he also performed “Don’t Cry,” which he hasn’t done in awhile, and now, this past weekend, he suddenly broke out “Civil War,” too. You can check out video below; the band actually sounds pretty good, even if, Jesus H. Christ, something really does need to be done about Dj Slashba (note the unlit cigarette dangling from his lips).

Interestingly enough, Slash has been doing “Civil War” with his solo band (Myles Kennedy + a bunch of random dudes) since last year. By way of comparison, you can check out his Gun Without Rose version after the jump.

Click to read more…

That Metal Show‘s interview with Axl Rose — the singer’s first on-camera interview in close to a decade – aired this past Friday night, and it was about what I expected. Rose tells some great stories about the good ol’ days, sometimes displays a genuine sense of humor (he sarcastically commands Dj Ashba — who says nothing and is present for no discernible reason — to stop interrupting him), and, naturally, refuses to take responsibility for absolutely anything he has ever done. (To hear him tell it, the infamous rant from “Get in the Ring” was the brainchild of Duff McKagan and A&R guru Tom Zutaut, and when “shit hit the fan,” they both abandoned Rose to deal with the repercussions. Poor, defenseless Axl!)

The complete episode is now available below for your viewing pleasure. Other highlights include a live performance of “Live and Let Die,” and Eddie Trunk looking as though he’s struggling to stay awake through this wee-hours-of-the-morning chat.

-AR

…Max Cavalera recently revealed during a radio interview (video above) that he’s working on his autobiography with British journalist Joel McIver, who has previously penned such metal-themed tomes as The Bloody Reign of Slayer and Justice for All: The Truth about Metallica. The forward will apparently be written by Dave Grohl, who collaborated with Cavalera as part of his Probot project back in ’04.

Click to read more…

I have honestly never seen That Metal Show, but you’re goddamn right I set my DVR to record it tonight. ‘Cause tonight they’re gonna air the interview they conducted with Axl Rose a couple of weeks ago, and if I’m not mistaken, this is Rose’s first on-camera interview since 2002, and his first in-depth non-email interview since the release of Chinese Democracy three years ago.

“But what do you expect to see, dude?” you’re asking. “Axl is nuts. This won’t be good.”

I agree that Axl is nuts, but that’s precisely WHY I think this will be fun to watch. If the preview clips of the interview which have already been released (below) are any indication, Axl is a) in a good mood, b) paradoxically really upfront (he admits that he felt the pressure to finish Chinese Democracy and make it great, and he seems aware that a portion of his “fans” actually hate him) and not really upfront at all (he still refuses to take the blame for his tardiness), and c) completely paranoid and delusional in the most entertaining way possible (he thinks people see him as a dictator because of a joke Izzy made in an interview back in the 80s, and says he was pressured into touring behind Use Your Illusion). I mean, regardless of what actual, concrete info we actually take away from this interview, there’s no way it’s not gonna be good television.

The interview premieres tonight at 11 PM ET/PT on VH1 Classic, although if you don’t have cable, I assume it will be all over the internet in due time. Meanwhile, like I was sayin’ a second ago, you can check out a bunch of preview clips below and after the jump.

Eyal Levi from Dååth, Levi/Werstler, and Audiohammer Studios has obviously been in this business for some time now, and he’s learned a thing or two about a thing or two. This week, he imparts ten lessons about the music biz — and life in general — to you, our beloved readers, once a day, two installments at a time. You can read the week’s first two lessons here, and the week’s next two lessons here, and the week’s most recent two lessons here; check out lesson numbers seven and eight below!

#7: WEEKENDS? THERE’S NO SUCH THING

If you’re fortunate enough to get to a point in your life where you can actually support yourself from a creative endeavor, then be prepared to throw away all notions of having a normal life. Now ,I know that there’s no such thing as “normal,” and that everyone is an individual, but hear me out on what I mean by that.

Weekends are for resting and partying; weekdays are for working. That’s a normal concept, which fits in with the archetypical 9-5 jobs. It’s perfectly setup for ensuring that you can hold down a social/family life while working at the same time. And, for the majority of the world, it works. There’s a good structure to it. I can see how it would get repetitive and old, but at least you know what to look forward to. And at least you can get things done without too much hassle, because the rest of the world is set up to cater to your schedule.

In the land of creative jobs, good luck with that idea. More often than not, you will find yourself working all hours of the night, for weeks, or even months, on end. If you take breaks like the rest of the world, then you will be left behind.

Click to read more…

In 2006, with a little help from Sebastian Bach, Eddie Trunk actually got Axl Rose to come on his radio show for, like, hours, which is obviously a pretty major coup, given that Rose usually only grants incomprehensible e-mail interviews. And the chat was incredibly entertaining, even if Trunk didn’t ask any of the burning questions Rose refuses to answer (e.g., “So, like, what the fuck, dude?” ), ’cause he did get Rose to lighten up and tell some great stories about David Lee Roth, Jimmy Iovine, and the classic days of Guns N’ Roses. (That’s just one part of the interview above; the rest is easy to find on YouTube.)

And I guess Rose was happy with the way things went, too, ’cause over the weekend he apparently granted Trunk another really long interview, this time for Trunk’s television program, That Metal Show. And while the full episode hasn’t been released yet, Trunk did reveal over Twitter that Rose said that Duff McKagan’s Loaded featuring Duff McKagan will be opening some future GN’R shows. (Actually, Trunk just said “Loaded will open shows,” but presumably he meant GN’R shows. Either that, or he has no sense of how context works.)

Click to read more…

Here’s a fun quote from a recent Sammy Hagar interview with Attention Deficit Delirium. Discussing the possibility of a reunion of the original Guns N’ Roses, Hagar says:

“They’ve proved it again and again and again that it ain’t [about] the money. They just don’t get along because Axl goes out for a lot less money with his version of Guns N’ Roses, and Slash goes out for a lot less money with Velvet Revolver or by himself. The amount of money they could make if they got it all back together, made a great record and toured the world would probably be as much as the Rolling Stones [get], and for them not to do it, it obviously ain’t about the money. Because they could do it. I would manage them. I’d be their manager and make sure they got the right deal from all the promoters. They could be the biggest band in the world if they wanted to.”

There’s three things I find funny about this statement:

Click to read more…

Banner Designed by Cysquatch

Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (not really at all) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

Inspired by the ongoing disaster that is Lou Reed & Metallica’s Lulu, this week we asked our writers:

BESIDES METALLICA AND LOU REED, WHAT IS THE WORST COLLABORATION BETWEEN A METAL BAND/ARTIST AND A NON-METAL BAND/ARTIST? AND WHAT IS THE WORST ONE YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE IN YOUR WILDEST NIGHTMARES?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump!

Click to read more…

Axl Rose fell down while performing “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” at a recent Mexico City concert. And that might funny in and of itself — I mean, who doesn’t love scadenfreude? — but what makes it absolutely hysterical is that Rose was not running or even doing anything especially physical at the time of the fall. He simply walked up to the lip of the stage, attempted to rest his foot on a monitor (or something) as he started singing, and just completely missed the target, consequently flailing his arms around and making old man noises before hitting the ground. At which point Bumblefoot, ever the loyal employee, stopped playing, looked kinda confused for a second, and then finally offered to help Rose up. (Rose declined; he also refused help from a stage hand.)

And while I’m totally speculating here, I’m guessing Bumblefoot’s hesitation was spurred by the following thought process: “If I don’t help him up he’ll yell at me for being an insensitive dick, and if I do help him up, he’ll yell at me for making him look weak in front of his fans… plus I’ll violate his ‘no physical contact’ rule, and that could mean the end of the tour. I’d better just lead the audience in an applause whenever he gets back up.”

Kudos to Rose for waiting until he was off-stage, out of the sight of cameras, to call someone a fucking idiot for allowing this to happen.

-AR

[via Bring Back Glam!]

Here’s a great tip if you wanna get laid: follow around your alcoholic friend who girls actually like , and then, when said friend passes out, pick up his not-quite-sloppy-seconds! That’s what Axl Rose recently told some Paraguayan fans he used to, at least (video below), admitting that Slash (the drunk in question) was good for something besides accidentally writing the riff to “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” And let me be the first to congratulate Axl on proving, once again, that he is not at all creepy or weird or kinda sad. After all, it’s a well known fact that you catch more bees with someone else’s honey! LEGITIMATE SOCIAL SKILLS ARE FOR LOSERS!!!

I guess the good news is, he didn’t yell at anybody this time.

-AR

[via Metal Insider]