Sammy Hagar is currently out on The Best Of All Worlds 2024 Tour with rock heavyweights and longtime bandmates Michael Anthony (bass, backing vocals), Jason Bonham (drums) and Joe Satriani (guitar).
Not for a lack of trying on Hagar’s part, Van Halen drummer, Alex Van Halen, will not be making a guest appearance on the tour.
Speaking with Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hagar explains, “I reached out to Alex a dozen times, before this tour was announced, and got no response. I mean, I’ve asked him to meet me under any conditions, any circumstances, anytime, anyplace, anywhere. It’s not like, ‘Well, let me think about it.’ It’s like, no answer. Zero.”
Hagar says he can’t recall a time Alex Van Halen has performed without his brother. Fittingly, the famed drummer is due to issue his autobiography, Brothers, this fall. That project might have something to do with the chasm of communication with the former Van Halen singer.
“I’m sure when he made his book deal, they said, ‘You cannot talk to Dave, and you cannot talk to Hagar. I guarantee you, that that was part of the deal.”
Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Loverboy, the 28-date The Best Of All Worlds tour will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, MO. For tickets and more details, go to RedRocker.com.
Tour dates:
August 9 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena 11 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre 13 – Spokane, WA – Airway Heights, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest 14 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resort Amphitheater 16 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre 17 – Concord, CA – Toyota Pavilion at Concord 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum 20 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resorts Amphitheatre 22 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion 23 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 25 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP 27 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center 28 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena 30 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center 31 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Former Fear Factory vocalist, Burton C. Bell, has released his new single, “Technical Exorcism”. Stream the song here, and watch the official music video below.
Credits:
Music Produced, Written and Arranged by Burton C. Bell Additional Arrangement: Henrik Linde Vocal Resonation: Burton C. Bell Reverberating Guitars: Henrik Linde Resounding Bass Guitar: Henrik Linde Seminal Pulsing Drums: “Big” Paul Ferguson Kinetic Storm Guitars: Norman Westberg Ancillary Reflection Guitar: Stewart Cararas Subliminal Keys: Burton C Bell Lyrics: Burton C. Bell Mixed by: Stewart Cararas Mastered by Joe Bozzi at Bernie Grundman Mastering
Live Band:
Vocals: Burton C. Bell Stage Left Guitarist: Henrik Linde Bassist: Tony Baumeister Drummer: Ryan “Junior” Kittlitz Stage Right Guitarist: Stewart Cararas FOH Sound Engineer: David Gibney
Video Production Credits:
Executive Producer: Burton C. Bell Produced by Don Pancho Films @donpanchofilms Directed/edited by Jessie Sanchez @jessiesanchezbass Cameras by Michael Cerda @mpcvisuals and Jessie Sanchez
The voice that defined futuristic anxiety, existential desperation, and steadfast resistance returns. Extreme music pioneer, multimedia talent, and iconoclastic provocateur, Burton C. Bell, resurrects his legacy and forward-thinking destiny, remade in a career-spanning incarnation as a singular solo artist.
His work continually explores themes of dystopian angst, identity, technology gone wrong, and resilience. “Anti-Droid”, Burton C. Bell’s debut solo single, recently arrived with a potent message. “I severed the machine that no longer served me,” he screams in the moody, synth-heavy, sci-fi metal missive. It’s a defiant statement delivered with a confident bombast. Burton C. Bell is back on the offensive.
Watch the music video below, and stream the track here.
Original KISS drummer, Peter Criss, has announced his appearance at the upcoming Famous Monsters Festival at the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Peter will meet with fans on Friday & Saturday, September 13 & 14.
– Friday, September 13 – 6 – 10 PM – Saturday, September 14 – 12:30 – 7 PM
Says Peter: “HELLO KISS ARMY! I’m looking forward to seeing you all. Safe travels and I will see you all soon!!! God Bless.”
Purchase event tckets & Peter Criss pro photo op tickets here. *No tableside selfies allowed*
Maximum of five items signed per guest/family
NOTE:
Peter will not sign copies of Nothin’ To Lose, Sealed With A KISS, or Behind The Mask.
No outside drum heads or drum parts.
Rockologists remake of Let Me Rock You and Out Of Control will not be signed. Only the original releases from Casablanca Records will be signed.
Drum heads will be available at the event at Peter’s table with proceeds going to charity.
Shining, the latest full-length album from the Finnish death doom pioneers, Swallow The Sun, will be available via Century Media Records on October 18. The powerful and very heavy new track of transformation and rebirth, “What I Have Become”, will take you through personal hell and back.
The new record is produced and mixed by Dan Lancaster (Bring Me the Horizon, Muse, Enter Shikari, etc.), mastered by Tony Lindgren (Fascination Street Studios), and recorded by Juho Räihä at SoundSpiral Audio, except vocals recorded by Dan Lancaster.
Juha Raivio comments on the new song: “‘What I Have Become’ is about that moment when you look yourself deep in the eye from the mirror and your own eyes start to tell what your soul has become instead of what you always wanted it to be. The hardest thing is to forgive yourself and break that circle”.
Watch the visualizer for “What I Have Become” below, stream the song here.
About Shining, Juha Raivio adds: “After our last album, it soon became clear to me that writing another Moonflowers album would kill me. So, I made a quiet wish to myself that if there ever will be any new music then please have a little bit of mercy on yourself rather than be that infinite black hole that will suck out the rest of your remaining light and soul just for the sake of it. Musically this album shines like a glacier diamond and has that power and punch that feels like a kick in your face! While lyrically the album deals with how fearing life will eventually kill you and how melancholy can become your God.
“We want to thank all the support and trust from Century Media, not to mention our insanely talented producer Dan Lancaster having the balls and guts to jump straight in the deep end with this band and get us out of our comfort zone. This album truly feels like a sunrise in the night sky”.
“Innocence Was Long Forgotten” “What I Have Become” “MelancHoly” “Under The Moon & Sun” “Kold” “November Dust” “Velvet Chains” “Tonight Pain Believes” “Charcoal Sky” “Shining”
“Innocence Was Long Forgotten” video:
Moreover, Swallow The Sun will host a very unique and exclusive event at the beautiful Aleksanterin Teatteri in Helsinki on October 16. Their upcoming studio album Shining will be listened to in its entirety, before its official release on October 18. Please note the band will not perform at the event.
Anyone who wishes to attend the event can register and get their tickets via Levykauppa Äx from now until October 4. To order and register, head here.
At the exclusive pre-listening session, fans will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in Swallow The Sun’s latest work with the best possible sound in one of the most beautiful places in northern Europe, the Aleksanterin Teatteri.
Mikko Kotamäki shares about the pre-listening session: “Very excited to go back to the very special theater, but this time enjoying the music as a listener! Also cool to meet everyone and talk about the ‘Shining’ process and how it was working with such people as Dan! See you in Helsinki!”
More than two decades of despair, beauty, and heartache have not only shaped but fueled Finnish melancholy torchbearers, the chart-topping and two-time Finnish Grammy nominated Swallow The Sun.
Formed in Jyväskylä in 2000, the quintet has enjoyed numerous fan-lauded music videos (10+ million YouTube views) and streaming dominance (50+ million Spotify plays), while also embarking on a four-continent, 900-show run over the course of their 20-year career.
Their new music, however, is the group’s first step on the new path to the unknown.
Swallow The Sun are:
Juha Raivio – Guitar, Keys Juho Räihä – Guitar Mikko Kotamäki – Vocals Matti Honkonen – Bass Juuso Raatikainen – Drums
“Brandon Lee was always laughing, fun-filled and determined – a beacon of light.” From HIM to Avatar and Ice Nine Kills, 90s cult hit The Crow has had a lasting impact on metal culture
(Image credit: The Crow (1994): Moviestore/Shutterstock, The Crow (2024): Press/ Lionsgate)
When James O’Barr came up with the idea for The Crow in 1981, all he wanted it to achieve was emotional catharsis. He was a 21- year-old US Marine stationed in Berlin, still reeling from the death of his fiancée at the hands of a drunk driver a few years earlier while they were still in high school. He didn’t know if the comic he was writing and drawing would ever get published.
“It was just a way of getting it down on paper,” James told The Los Angeles Times in 1994, referring to the grief he still felt. “I had never done anything that personal before.”
The first issue of The Crow wouldn’t be published for another eight years, but this story of an undead avenger seeking retribution against the men who killed him and his fiancée took on a life of its own, thanks in large part to the 1994 movie adaptation. That film, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee as the title character, aka resurrected rock musician Eric Draven, became a cult hit.
With the tagline ‘Real love is forever’, its aesthetic influenced countless rock, metal and goth artists, while a brilliant soundtrack featuring everyone from The Cure and Nine Inch Nails to Rage Against The Machine and Rollins Band helped reshape the way Hollywood incorporated heavy and alternative music into big-budget movies.
Brandon Lee’s tragic on-set death didn’t stop the franchise continuing, with even a trio of underwhelming sequels failing to dent the character’s iconic status. A brand new remake, with It star Bill Skarsgård stepping into Brandon’s shoes as Eric Draven, will hit cinemas in late August, 30 years after the original movie. Like its title character, The Crow refuses to die.
“Eric was my hero,” says former Him vocalist turned solo star Ville Valo. “The film happened right after grunge broke and was really grungy in a cool way. There were a few darker films, but I don’t think there was anything considered ‘gothic’ coming out of Hollywood at the time, and it had a bit of rock’n’roll. Eric was carrying a crow and a guitar.”
Ville certainly isn’t the only musician to bow down before the original movie. Finnish goth-metallers The 69 Eyes released a song called Brandon Lee in 2000 in honour of the late actor, while members of Lacuna Coil and Motionless In White are confirmed fans. Rising synthgaze duo Zetra recently covered The Cure’s Burn, the opening song on The Crow soundtrack, while horror-obsessed metalcore outfit Ice Nine Kills essentially remade the film as a nine-minute short to accompany their 2018 single, A Grave Mistake.
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“It’s one of those movies that will forever be a classic,” says Ice Nine Kills singer Spencer Charnas of The Crow. “And rightfully so – everything from the cinematography to the storyline to the music. It’s a special film.”
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult – After The Flesh – YouTube
For all its influence today, The Crow’s ascent to iconic status was slow. The original comic came out via independent US publisher Caliber. James O’Barr didn’t make enough money from it to become a full-time artist; he was working for car manufacturer Ford when producers first tried to buy the film rights from him in the early 90s.
Brandon Lee’s death mid-filming – the freak result of being shot by a dummy bullet – meant that no studio wanted to release the finished movie. Jeff Most was co-producer and uncredited co-writer on The Crow. “[Original distributor] Paramount Pictures dropped it: ‘We just don’t think we can have this movie on our slate right now, given its very tumultuous history,’” he tells Hammer. “Every major studio turned it down.”
In the end, the movie was picked up by Miramax, the company founded by infamous producer Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob. It went on to gross $94 million, making it the 26th biggest movie of the year – respectable, but hardly blockbusting. But The Crow was already picking up a cult following. Ville Valo remembers hearing about it via word of mouth.
“I must have heard about it from Jyrki [69], who sings in The 69 Eyes, because he’s a movie buff,” he remembers. “It influenced me and affected me on all possible levels, music-wise and lifestyle-wise: ‘Oh, this is how it’s supposed to be!’” He adds that it gave HIM “the sonic palate, and the visual palate as well, for years and years to come”.
Stylistically, The Crow leaned hard into both goth and metal subcultures. Visually, it was dark and gloomy, while Brandon played the leather-clad Eric Draven as much as a rock star as he did a vengeful revenant (James O’Barr himself based the original character on Peter Murphy of goth pioneers Bauhaus, and Iggy Pop). Eric’s corpsepainted image – white face, scar-like black slashes running down over his eyes, Joker-style smile – have been picked up by more than one musician since.
Avatar’s facepainted ringleader Johannes Eckerström clearly draws upon The Crow’s visual style, although he has claimed that he was influenced as much by WCW wrestler Sting as the original character. “I liked The Crow, but also I liked the pro-wrestler who ripped off the look of The Crow even more!” Johannes said back in 2017.
Ville Valo took to the stage at one Him show at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in 2004 – the 10th anniversary of the movie – in full Eric Draven costume. “We invited our dear friend Paul Xavier, who’s a specialist in make-up and all sorts, to come over and bring all his gear,” says Ville. “I’m not sure if I was clever enough to have realised that it was the 10th anniversary! Ha ha!”
Other musicians have channelled their love of The Crow in less purely cosmetic ways. Like Ville, Ice Nine Kills’ Spencer Charnas first saw The Crow on an old-school VHS video and fell in love with its theme of bloodsoaked revenge. Years later, he based the nine-minute mini-movie for INK’s A Grave Mistake on the film.
“This couple is killed on the night before Halloween and he comes back,” he says. “If you read the lyrics for A Grave Mistake, it’s a story of revenge. You should never seek revenge on someone – I think living well is the best revenge – but music is escapism. Everyone has people in their lives that they feel have wronged them, and people that have been wronged enjoy singing songs and hearing lyrics that scratch that itch.”
For Spencer, the film carried extra emotional weight because of the death of its star. Brandon Lee was the son of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, and The Crow was his first leading role. On March 31, 1993, Brandon was fatally shot on-set when a dummy bullet that had become lodged in a prop gun was inadvertently fired into his abdomen, rupturing a major blood vessel. Ironically, he was filming the scene where Eric Draven is shot and killed by the men assaulting his girlfriend. Brandon was just 28 years old, and had been due to marry his fiancée, Eliza Hutton, 17 days later. His death would become intertwined with the movie, amplifying its tragic edge.
“There was this cloak of sadness surrounding the movie, months and months before it was released,” says Spencer. “That horrible incident combined with the subject matter of the film, which was about a guy killed in the prime of his life, so there was just this real eeriness. It added a layer to the film that I don’t know if any other film put out by a major studio has ever had.”
Though Brandon and Eric subsequently became inextricably connected, Jeff Most says that the actor was nothing like the character he portrayed. “We spent months and months together developing the film before we went to location,” he recalls. “Brandon was a man who was just full of life. He loved practical jokes. He was always laughing, fun-filled and determined – a beacon of light.”
(Image credit: Press/Lionsgate)
If the visual component of The Crow was a big part of the movie’s success, then so was its music. The soundtrack, released two months before the film went on general release, reflected the dark, rock’n’roll spirit of both the movie and James O’Barr’s original comic book, bringing together an array of big-name bands from the worlds of metal, goth, alt-rock and beyond.
“I wanted the music to be really evocative of what was coming from the screen, with everything from punk to metal to hard rap to a Joy Division cover,” says Jeff Most, who put together the soundtrack with music supervisor Jolene Cherry.
The soundtrack album was a Who’s Who of 90s rock, with previously unreleased contributions from The Cure (wired opener Burn), Rage Against The Machine (Darkness), Stone Temple Pilots (Big Empty) and more. Elsewhere, big-hitters Nine Inch Nails, Pantera and Rollins Band turned in memorable covers of songs by Joy Division (the hypnotic Dead Souls), US punk juggernauts Poison Idea (anti-cop diatribe The Badge) and electronic-punk provocateurs Suicide (Ghostrider) respectively.
Other names on the album included Helmet, indie rock mainstays The Jesus And Mary Chain, roots-punks Violent Femmes and long-forgotten alt rockers For Love Not Lisa. This was the perfect mid-90s alt rock playlist, years before Spotify. It certainly struck a chord, reaching No.1 on the Billboard album charts and going on to sell more than three million copies in the US.
It wasn’t the first movie to feature a rock soundtrack, but its success made Hollywood realise that hitching a bunch of loud bands to a blockbuster movie was a winning ticket – everything from pre-Marvel superhero flick Spawn to Tom Cruise blockbuster Mission: Impossible 2 followed The Crow’s playbook. Jeff Most couldn’t help noticing the trend: “In the wake of The Crow’s original soundtrack, so many films’ producers turned around and went, ‘We want [to recreate] that!’”
The Crow (2024) Official Trailer РBill Skarsg̴rd, FKA twigs, Danny Huston РYouTube
The death of Brandon Lee didn’t stop Jeff and co-producer Edward R. Pressman from attempting to replicate the movie’s success. A sequel, 1996’s The Crow: City Of Angels, featured Vincent Pérez as a new Crow (aka Ashe Corven), with original director Alex Proyas being replaced by maverick video director Tim Pope, most famous for his work with The Cure. It also spawned another great soundtrack, featuring Korn, White Zombie, Hole, Deftones, PJ Harvey and more.
Two more straight-to-video movies – 2000’s The Crow: Salvation and 2005’s The Crow: Wicked Prayer – followed, each with different lead characters and actors. None of the subsequent films were successful, critically or commercially. Nonetheless, Ice Nine Kills’ Spencer Charnas refuses to let the sequels sully his love for the 1994 original.
“I’m not one of those guys that thinks if there’s a great film and then sequels come out, that it soils the original,” he says. “Everyone has the right to look at the original as just that. If that’s what you want to see the movie as, don’t see the sequels. I don’t think it’s disrespectful to Brandon Lee, either. Had those films done well, it would have brought more attention to the first one and make it look even better!”
A similar debate has surrounded the remake. Reintroducing the character of Eric Draven for the first time since the original film, Game Of Thrones/Aquaman star Jason Momoa was originally set to play the main character before being replaced by Bill Skarsgård. Diehard fans were up in arms about the reimagining of the original’s goth aesthetics – the new version of Draven is heavily tattooed and short-haired, looking more like a SoundCloud rapper than a rock star. This issue of Metal Hammer went to print before the new movie was released, and advanced screenings weren’t available on time (sometimes a measure of a film’s quality, or lack of it, with studios wishing to avoid negative buzz).
But Alex Proyas, the director who originally brought The Crow to life on the big screen, made his views on the remake clear: “The Crow is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain.” He also threw shade at the new-look Crow: “Eric Draven’s having a bad hair day.”
Ville Valo is sceptical about whether the new version of The Crow will have the same enduring impact as the original. “The fairy-tale quality of the 90s material looks quite different from the new one,” says Ville. “It’s like [late rapper] Lil Peep being Eric Draven. It’s really weird. Bill Skarsgård is a great actor, but we’ll see if it retains the romance.”
Regardless of how the latest iteration of Eric Draven is received, The Crow remains an enduring cultural touchstone and a source of inspiration for generations of musicians. ‘Real love is forever’ read the original movie’s tagline. So, it seems, is The Crow itself.
The Crow remake is out in cinemas August 23
Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.
Sweden’s Opeth have announced a UK headline tour for February – March 2025, with special guests Grand Magus. The dates continue their mainland Europe stretch of dates announced last week.
European Tour Dates 2025:
February 9 – Helsinki, Finland – Ice Hall 11 – Stockholm, Sweden – Cirkus 12 – Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene 14 – Copenhagen, Denmark – DR Koncerthuset 15 – Hamburg, Germany – Docks 17 – Cologne, Germany – Palladium 18 – Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom 19 – Munich, Germany – Muffathalle 21 – Paris, France – L’Olympia 22 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live 23 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique 25 – Bristol, UK – Bristol Beacon 26 – London, UK – Roundhouse 28 – Birmingham, UK – Symphony Hall
March 1 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall 2 – Glasgow, UK – Barrowland
Opeth are offering a special bundle for fans who pre-order newly announced album The Last Will And Testament. Fans who pre-order the album will receive a special ticket pre-sale code for the UK tour. The offer will end on Tuesday, August 13 at 1 PM, BST. Tickets go on general sale on Friday, August 16 at 10 AM, BST.
Pre-order via the links below to get access to the ticket pre-sale:
General sale tickets for the EU tour dates are available now.
Opeth’s 14th studio album, The Last Will And Testament, is set for release on October 11 via Moderbolaget / Reigning Phoenix Music. It is five long years since their last album, 2019’s In Cauda Venenum, and also marks 30 years of the esteemed, creative band.
To celebrate, Opeth have shared its first single, “§1”, now available on all DSPs here. Listen below.
Opeth vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt admits, “I love this record. I have to say it (write it). Maybe I’m proud even? There are some familiar ingredients in there I suppose. Most of our music has sprung from the same source, so I guess it’s not much of a shocker if it’s going to sound like ‘us’. I’m a bit in awe of what we did with The Last Will And Testament. It feels like a dream. There is some ‘coherence’ and ‘songwriting skills’ I hope, but what do I know? I tend to favour the ‘strange’ over the ‘obvious,’ but I feel like I’m in the minority, and that’s fine. So…fair warning! Don’t expect an instant rush (as per usual), but if you do “get it” (have you got it yet?) right away, that’s ok too!”
The Last Will And Testament is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The narrative weaves through the patriarch’s confessions, the reactions of his twin children, and the mysterious presence of a polio-ridden girl who the family have taken care of. The album begins with the reading of the father’s will in his mansion. Among those in attendance is a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins.
Regarding the record’s creation, Åkerfeldt adds, “This is the first record with Walt on drums. Seeing and hearing him record his bits was otherworldly and what went through my head was something like: How can a human being play this stuff? The older cats (myself, Mendez, Fred, and Jocke) did our bits in due time. We did them well (I like to think) and the alcohol concentration in our blood was mostly quite low as the red light was on. We’re professionals, you see! Rockfield Studios treated us well and we love that place! Stefan Boman recorded and mixed it all (CAPTURED it on TAPE… kind of…). Miles Showell did the master at Abbey Road Studios and then we (myself and Stefan) took him for a curry in Covent Garden. Travis Smith has done this odd-masterpiece-artwork that put ‘clothes’ on the music. All in all, we hope we’ve put together a nice little morsel of information for you to nibble on when it’s raining out. Thank you for your time. Thank you for reading. Thank you for listening. Thank you for giving us a respectable past. I’ll thank you for our future in the actual future, OK?”
Åkerfeldt rolls out the red carpet for storied flautist and Jethro Tull main man Ian Anderson. Not only do Anderson’s signature notes fly on “§4” and “§7”, he narrates on “§1”, “§2”, “§4”, and “§7”. Joining Anderson, Europe’s Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on “§2”, while Åkerfeldt’s youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt, is the disembodied voice in “§1”.
The Last Will And Testament is gripping from start to finish, jaw-dropping inside and out, representing some of Opeth’s finest material to date. Just as Opeth welcomed many into its distressed arms over the years, the Swedes again deliver on the promise that great music always tells a compelling story – this time with growls.
Album cover by Travis Smith.
The Last Will And Testament tracklisting:
“§1” “§2” “§3” “§4” “§5” “§6” “§7” “A Story Never Told”
“§1”:
Trailer:
Opeth’s fourteenth album was written by Åkerfeldt, with lyrics conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (The Heard, ex-Crucified Barbara). The Last Will And Testament was co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (Ghost, The Hellacopters), engineered by Boman, Joe Jones (Killing Joke, Robert Plant), and Opeth, with Boman, Åkerfeldt, and the rest of Opeth mixing at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe Studios in Stockholm. Strings were arranged by Åkerfeldt and returning prog friend Dave Stewart (Egg, Khan) and conducted by Stewart at Angel Studios in London. Visual artist Travis Smith returns to the fold, crafting his 11th cover, a haunting “photograph” reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s infamous “Overlook Hotel” photograph. Miles Showell (ABBA, Queen) also revisits mastering and vinyl lacquer cutting at Abbey Road Studios in London.
North American tour dates 2024:
October 11 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave / Eagles Club 12 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom 14 – Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre 15 – Montréal, QC – L’Olympia 16 – Worcester, MA – Palladium 18 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre 19 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE 20 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre 22 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle 23 – New Orleans, LA – Fillmore New Orleans 24 – Austin, TX – Emo’s Austin 25 – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre 27 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom 29 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren 30 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater 31 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
Opeth lineup:
Mikael Åkerfeldt – Vocals, guitars Fredrik Åkesson – Guitars, backing vocals Martin Mendez – Bass guitar Waltteri Väyrynen – Drums and percussion Joakim Svalberg – Keyboards, backing vocals
Special Guests:
Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) – spoken word (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7) // flute (tracks 4, 7) Joey Tempest (Europe) – backing vocals (track 2) Mirjam Åkerfeldt – spoken word (track 1)
– All Music and Lyrics written by Mikael Åkerfeldt – Lyrical concept by Mikael Åkerfeldt, dramatic consultation by Klara Rönnqvist Fors – Produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt – Co-produced by Opeth and Stefan Boman – Engineered by Stefan Boman, Joe Jones and Opeth – Mixing by Stefan Boman and Mikael Åkerfeldt and Opeth at Atlantis and Hammerthorpe, Stockholm, Sweden – Mastering and vinyl lacquer cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road studios, London, UK – Strings conducted by Dave Stewart at Angel Studios, London, UK – Strings arrangement by Mikael Åkerfeldt and Dave Stewart – Artwork by Travis Smith with directions from Mikael Åkerfeldt
“Me and Joe were talking about this,” Bonham said on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation. “There’s the way they play certain parts as if they’re having a go at each other. It’s as if one of them is making it so awkward that the other one feels awkward doing it.”
So, “there was definitely some weird stuff that goes on where I’m going, ‘That’s not natural … to push there,’” Bonham added. “And Mike would say, ‘It’s Eddie screwing with Alex. … He’s making him play something that’s weird.’”
Bonham added that it had been an “eye-opening experience” to “really dig in there and go, ‘Hold on – why, why does it push there? It’s not meant to. That doesn’t feel right!’ And it’s the brothers. … That’s all [Anthony] says: ‘It’s the brothers. It’s their thing. It’s just the way they were.’”
Listen to Jason Bonham Discuss Van Halen’s ‘Weird’ Music
Is a Book Deal Behind Alex Van Halen’s Silence?
Meanwhile, Hagar previously reported that he tried several times to make contact with Alex Van Halen, in hopes that he’d take part in the Best of All Worlds tour. He’s now speculating that a book deal is behind Van Halen’s silence.
“I’ve asked him to meet me under any conditions – any circumstances, anytime, anyplace, anywhere,” Hagar says in a new interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s not like, ‘Well, let me think about it.’ It’s like, no answer – zero.”
Hagar confirmed that Van Halen could have taken any role he liked: “Just play a couple of songs, or if you want to be the drummer the whole night, or be the executive producer. What do you want to do?”
Van Halen’s Brothers is set for publication in October. “I’m sure when he made his book deal, they said, ‘You cannot talk to [David Lee Roth], and you cannot talk to Hagar,” he added. “I guarantee you, that that was part of the deal.”
Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham Live in 2024
Hagar and Anthony revisit their Van Halen years with help from their friends.
See a new album trailer and complete track listing below. Also included as a bonus is the original studio version of Harrison’s Top 10 1971 U.K. charity single “Bangla Desh.”
Harrison spearheaded the effort to provide aid through UNICEF for millions of East Pakistani refugees who’d fled to escape suffering associated with the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Bhola cyclone of 1970. Scheduling was so complex that they couldn’t even complete a group rehearsal before the show.
“For three months, I was on the telephone setting up what became The Concert for Bangladesh, trying to talk people into doing it – talking to Eric and all those people who did do it,” Harrison wrote in his autobiography, I Me Mine. “We had very little rehearsal. In fact, there was never actually one rehearsal with everyone present. We did it in dribs and drabs and under difficulties.”
The Concert for Bangladesh reached No. 1 in the U.K. and other countries while finishing as a gold-selling No. 2 hit in the U.S. (Harrison and friends spent six weeks behind Don McLean‘s American Pie.) Initial gate receipts raised some $250,000 in relief funds; a triple album box set and film then helped generate millions of dollars for UNICEF.
That opened the door for a string of now-familiar musical charity projects like Live Aid, Farm Aid, America: A Tribute to Heroes and Live 8, among many others. “George and his friends were pioneers,” former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said.
Decades later, UNICEF still provides critical aid, while the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF advances this concert’s towering legacy by providing continued support. All proceeds from sales of The Concert for Bangladesh, after taxes, are directed to the Harrison’s UNICEF fund.
Track Listing for The Concert for Bangladesh Introduction by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Ali Rakha and Kamala Chakravarti, “Bangla Dhun” George Harrison, “Wah-Wah” George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord” George Harrison, “Awaiting On You All” Billy Preston, “That’s the Way God Planned It” Ringo Starr, “It Don’t Come Easy” George Harrison and Leon Russell, “Beware of Darkness” George Harrison, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” Leon Russell, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash / Young Blood” George Harrison, “Here Comes the Sun” Bob Dylan, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” Bob Dylan, “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ In the Wind” Bob Dylan, “Mr. Tambourine Man” Bob Dylan, “Just Like a Woman” George Harrison, “Something” George Harrison, “Bangla Desh” Bob Dylan, “Love Minus Zero / No Limit” George Harrison, “Bangla Desh (studio version)”
Beatles Live Albums Ranked
Beatles live albums didn’t really used to be a thing – then they started arriving in bunches. Let’s count them down.
Kevin Winter / Ethan Miller / AFP / Hulton Archive, Getty Images
Charles Manson was an aspiring rocker, long before he became known as the mastermind of one of history’s most grisly and shocking crime sprees. In fact, as the following list shows, he had a striking number of connections in the music business.
Manson and four members of his so-called Family – Charles “Tex” Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie van Houten and Susan Atkins – were ultimately convicted of murder and given since-commuted sentences of death for their roles in the killing of seven people beginning on Aug. 9, 1969. Atkins and Manson memorably died in prison while the entire group went through a never-ending merry-go-round of parole denials.
Only later did it become clear that Manson had drawn the Beatles into his strange and murderous worldview. He claimed, in explosive court testimony after his arrest, that their songs had inspired him to act – ensuring that the Beatles would remain a part of his troubled narrative forever.
The Beach Boys recorded a rewrite of Manson’s “Cease to Exist” by drummer Dennis Wilson that was called “Never Learn Not to Love.” It became one of the more bizarre moments in a discography filled with them, and it almost got Wilson killed. Young, meanwhile, admits that he found Manson’s off-kilter songwriting style intriguing enough that he tried to help with a recording contract. Keep reading to find out more of Charles Manson’s often-terrifying music connections.
Charles Manson’s Often-Terrifying Music Connections
Charles Manson was actually an aspiring rocker before he became known as the mastermind of one of history’s most grisly and shocking crime sprees.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
See the Beatles in Rock’s Craziest Conspiracy Theories
Alice Cooper is regarded as the godfather of shock rock, but he not trying to jar fans the way he used to.
“It used to be easy to shock an audience in the ’70s. Now nobody’s really trying — we’re not really trying to shock an audience,” Cooper said during an interview with radio station KLPX. “I don’t think anybody is ‘shock rock’ anymore.”
While Cooper’s brand of gory theatrics may not shock the way they did in years past, he recognizes they’re importance to his performances.
“Those elements still remain in the show because they’re fun to watch,” he said. “It’s still fun to watch the guillotine and the fact that you really buy into it because of what happens before that. You’re really concerned about this character Alice up there, what happens – and that’s what I like about it. I want the audience to get involved in the show.”
Is Alice Cooper on Tour?
Cooper is playing nationwide in an extension of his Too Close for Comfort tour which began in 2023. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee wraps his U.S. leg on Sept. 18 in Fort Worth, Texas. From there, he heads overseas for an extended run across Europe in October.
Even at the age of 76, Cooper shows no signs of slowing down. He insists he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The word retirement is not in my vocabulary,” he said. “I have never felt better in my life. I have never done better shows than the ones I’m doing now. My band is unbelievable.”
There Will Be Blood: 24 of Rock’s Worst Onstage Injuries
