Original Kiss drummer Peter Criss has announced a new solo album, featuring several notable collaborators.
Criss shared his news via a short video posted to the KissFAQ website (which you can watch below).
“I have an announcement. I have my new rock and roll album to you, Kiss Army guys, coming out in the fall,” the drummer said. “And I really hope you like it, man. And I wanna say God bless to each and every one of you.”
Kiss historian Julian Gill, who runs KissFAQ, added further information regarding Criss’ upcoming LP.
“This is a hard rock kick-ass album, co-produced by Barry Pointer, who’s worked with Ozzy [Osbourne], Marilyn Manson, Fred Coury, Steve Stevens, amongst others, and, of course, John 5,” he reported. “I was honored to listen to this album at Peter’s studio with him last night, and it was absolutely amazing to hear this new music. It was vibrant and powerful. I’m so excited for it to be released, and I think Kiss fans are gonna love this album. Peter’s drum sound is absolutely massive and his vocals are powerful. Barry Pointer’s production is stunning, and Peter’s got an incredible group of musicians and background vocalists behind him.”
Gill went on to name many of the guests who will be featured on the album, including bassist Billy Sheehan, guitarist John 5 and keyboardist Paul Shaffer.
When Was Peter Criss’ Last Solo Album Released?
Criss enjoyed three separate stints in Kiss. As the original drummer, he played on the band’s first seven studio albums before initially departing in 1980. He returned from 1996 to 2001 and again from 2002 to 2004.
Criss’ most recent solo album was One for All, released in 2007. He retired from touring in 2017, giving what was promoted as his final full concert on June 17 at the Cutting Room in New York City.
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He’s confirmed work on an intriguing new documentary about the Faces, using archival footage from handheld video cameras given to them in 1972. “It’s never been seen,” Jones tells The Telegraph, “and there’s some rude bits in there!”
A new album from surviving members of the Faces, also including Rod Stewart and long-time Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, has been in the works for years. At one point, Stewart said they were evaluating as many as 15 songs – “some old, some new” – for potential release. Jones previously confirmed they had 14 songs.
Jones now says they’re working on “about 11 tracks” during occasional sessions at Mickie Most’s former studio, RAK in North London. Jools Holland of Squeeze fame guests on one song. A release date remains uncertain. “I can’t see it coming out this year,” Jones admits, “but I can see it coming out next year.”
The project has been delayed by their busy lives outside of the Faces. “Everyone’s doing different things,” said Jones, the only surviving member of the preceding Small Faces lineup. “We do little snippets [of recording] here and there. Then all of a sudden, the Stones are out [on tour] again, Rod’s out again.”
Jones is overseeing a sweeping reissue campaign from the archives of Immediate Records, which he acquired from BMG. The label was originally co-founded in 1965 by Rolling Stones co-manager Andrew Loog Oldham and issued early singles by Fleetwood Mac, Nico and John Mayall, among others.
Scheduled upcoming releases include the Small Faces, Steve Marriott’s post-Small Faces band Humble Pie, Keith Richards and others. They’ll appear on Nice Records, a label Jones founded in the ’90s to raise funds for former Small Faces bandmate Ronnie Lane during his battle with multiple sclerosis.
Kenney Jones’ Unlikely Small Faces Reissue
Perhaps the most unlikely entry is The Autumn Stone, a lightly regarded retrospective that was rush-released after the Small Faces broke up. The double album originally cobbled together original single releases, live recordings with added crowd noise and songs from the Small Faces’ never-completed fourth album.
Jones is overseeing a complete remaster, erasing the fake fans and adding more material to complete a sprawling box set. He admits the work has occasionally made him “very emotional, very sad. It’s a lonely feeling. I can’t share it with my mates.” Marriott died in 1991. Lane succumbed to MS in 1997. Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan passed in 2014.
Still, reclaiming “something that we hated in the first place, because it was cashing in, is a nice feeling,” Jones said. “We were only together for such a short time, and I’m amazed at what we did. So many songs. So it’s my job to keep the catalogue, the memory and the Small Faces’ name alive. So many people know it and love it. So I thought: ‘OK, I’m going to love it back.'”
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David Thomas, a cofounder of Pere Ubu and the only member to perform on all their albums, has died. The singer was 71.
The band shared the news on social media, noting that Thomas “died after a long illness” on Wednesday. … He died in his hometown of Brighton & Hove, with his wife and youngest stepdaughter by his side.
“MC5 were playing on the radio. He will ultimately be returned to his home, the farm in Pennsylvania, where he insisted he was to be ‘thrown in the barn.'”
The post noted that Thomas was recording a new album with Pere Ubu. Their last LP, Trouble on Big Beat Street, came out in 2023. “He knew it was to be his last,” reads the post. “We will endeavor to continue with mixing and finalizing the new album so that his last music is available to all.”
It was also said that Thomas “left instruction that the work should continue to catalog all the tapes from live shows via the official Bandcamp page,” and that an autobiography he was working on was almost finished and that friends and family would complete it.
Thomas was born on June 14, 1953, in Miami. By the ’70s, he was living in Cleveland, where he formed Rocket From the Tombs, which evolved into Pere Ubu, one of the leading bands of the art-rock and punk movements in the U.S.
Their mix of proto-punk and avant-garde music became a beacon for like-minded and outside artists worldwide. They released nearly 20 albums over their four-decade recording career, starting with 1978’s classic The Modern Dance.
Thomas’ distinctive voice, which often soared from low to high ranges, helped stamp his music throughout his career. Critic Greil Marcus stated that Thomas’ “voice is that of a man muttering in a crowd. You think he’s talking to himself until you realize he’s talking to you.”
Why Was Pere Ubu So Influential?
Pere Ubu’s first four albums influenced a generation of post-punk acts. Dub Housing, New Picnic Time and The Art of Walking were at the forefront of new music, almost impossible to classify and often working within boundary-bleeding genres.
Pere Ubu’s music drew inspiration from proto-punk bands like the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, as well as performance art and the industrial landscapes of Cleveland. Yet, Thomas always insisted that his group was “just a rock band.”
After a six-year hiatus in the mid-’80s, the band established a comeback with 1987’s The Tenement Year and even had a Modern Rock radio hit with “Waiting for Mary,” from 1989’s Cloudland.
Pere Ubu continued to release albums over the next three decades as Thomas juggled several projects, including a solo career, working under the names David Thomas & the Pedestrians, David Thomas & the Wooden Birds and Unknown Instructors.
He lived in Europe and had settled in England for decades before his death on Wednesday.
He revealed the band had been pleasantly surprised when they ran through their tour set with Dawson, and realized he’d be able to cover outgoing drummer Nicko McBrain on short notice if it became necessary.
McBrain announced his retirement from playing at the end of Maiden’s last world tour as a result of health issues. When they return in May, Dawson – a member of Steve Harris’ band British Lion – will be behind the kit.
“We were hoping Nick was going to [complete] the tour, but there were some times during the show when… we were worried,” Dickinson said during a recent interview at the Musicians’ Institute in Hollywood (video below).
“We were like, ‘We do not want to end up with Nick in hospital, and we do need to have a backup.’ And Simon was suggested by Steve, and we all went, ‘Yeah, but how do we know it’s gonna work?’”
With McBrain’s agreement, the band booked a rehearsal studio in Portland, OR, to see how Dawson would cope. “And honestly, I was pleasantly shocked,” the singer reported. “We went through the whole set without a break.
“And this guy had not rehearsed with anybody – he just, like, turned up with Maiden. We went through the entire set… and it was all there. I thought, ‘My God, we could do a show tonight if we had to.’ That’s unreal.’”
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Dickinson confirmed some well-known musicians had been “kind of in the frame” to take McBrain’s place, but added: “Although they were very good drummers… they all wanted to sound like Nick. And you can’t replace Nicko – you shouldn’t even try to replace him. You don’t want a Nicko clone. You want a drummer that plays the material, but plays kind of their own style.”
Returning to the session with Dawson, he namechecked Burr, who played on Maiden’s first three albums Iron Maiden, Killers and The Number of the Beast, and who was replaced by McBrain in 1982.
“If I closed my eyes at moments during that rehearsal, it was like having Clive Burr back in the band,” Dickinson said. “He’s got that feel… that big band swing time feel. He has all the same influences and everything. And I was just, like, ‘Oh my God! Wow!’ So I’m actually really excited.”
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You go to enough rock and metal shows and after a while you’re convinced you’ve seen just about every possible variation of a mosh pit there could ever be. Circle pits? Standard. Twerkle pits? Scene Queen has them down. Macarena pits? Yep, seen a few of those. I swear no metal band post-2009 has been able to play more than 10 minutes without getting everyone to go down low and then ‘jumpdafuckup’ together. Crowds are even rowing at Deafheaven gigs now (Amon Amarth, what have you done?!).
This is, however, the first time I’ve seen a full-blown, all-serving catwalk open up in the middle of a rock show. If ‘rock show’ is even accurate – Alt Blk Era owe as much to the arena drum ‘n’ bass of Pendulum and Chase & Status as they do the throbbing trap metal of Ghostemane or the cross-pollinating anthemi-core of Bring Me The Horizon. Whatever: no sooner has Hunt You Down‘s glistening dance-pop wrapped up than the catwalk has closed up and The Underworld is back to dancing and moshing its ass off.
It all speaks to the sheer, unbridled uniqueness of Alt Blk Era – two young sisters who began writing music together in lockdown and, in the space of a few EPs and one album, have danced through metal, punk, hip hop, edm, emo and more. This year’s thoroughly decent Rave Immortal saw them embrace those aforementioned drum ‘n’ bass leanings to craft one of 2025’s most propulsive, funnest debuts – and it really comes to life on stage.
Sandwiching a full Rave Immortal playthrough between two older tracks gives the duo – Nyrobi and Chaya Becket-Messam – and their band the chance to let the album’s concept loose in full. Much of the record’s material circles around Nyrobi living with chronic illness and the affect that has had on her mental health, her friendships and her relationship with her sister – “I was bedridden for a year and a half,” she tells Camden at one point.
It builds an emotional focal point, but it wouldn’t be nearly as impactful if the songs didn’t stack up, and cuts like Straight To Heart, Crashing Parties and the album’s jungly title track are flat-out ragers, sparking all manners of pitting and shape-throwing. The singalongs that greet dancey emo banger My Drummer’s Girlfriend, meanwhile, suggests that Nyrobi and Chaya already have at least one undroppable hit in their arsenal.
By the time Rave Immortal sees people shamelessly breaking the ‘no stagediving’ rule that’s plastered across signs around the venue, the Underworld is a sweatpit. I hadn’t seen a catwalk at a rock show before, but I have definitely just seen one of the most energetic and joyous gigs of 2025 so far.
Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.
Australian prog Eurovision stars Voyager have shared their first new music for two years, with the release of a video for their brand new ‘comeback’ single Seen Better Days.
“Difficult times yield dark music,” says Estrin of the new single. “It won’t come as a surprise that Seen Better Days is a personal account of the 18 months of hell, through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery that I have endured. Embracing the beautiful love and support I have received from friends, family and fans while often putting on a brave face in the horrid abyss of stage 4 cancer is no easy feat, so I felt it was right to put it to words and music.
“Somehow as brutally vulnerable as the song is, it still maintains an uplifting melancholy and, despite its crushing ending, manages a breath of optimism through the bleakness… after all, life is beautiful.”
The release of Seen Better Days coincides with the announcement that Voyager will perform two live shows in their hometown Perth this coming June/July.
They will play an all-ages show (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult) at the Rosemont Hotel on June 21 and Magnet House on July 4.
Voyager last appeared in stage in January with a 15-minute performance at the Rugby SVNS in Perth.
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On July 18, Russian deathcore monsters Slaughter To Prevail will release their brand new studio album Grizzly. To celebrate, we’ve teamed up with the band to offer an exclusive vinyl variant that you won’t find anywhere else – a seaweed green and bone-coloured number completed by a lovely big splatter of red. It looks excellent, and you can pre-order it right now from the official Metal Hammer store. There’s even a pop-up cardboard bear trap in the inner sleeve. What more could you want?
(Image credit: Future)
Speaking about the album while promoting its lead single Russian Grizzly In America, fearsome frontman Alex Terrible said: “I think this is the best album we have ever written. We put so much effort into it. We spent a lot of time on every detail and really poured our souls into the songs.
“In the past, we were always rushing to finish albums and just releasing whatever we had. This time, we took our time, worked carefully on each track, and made sure everything was exactly how we wanted it. Hopefully it was all worth it.”
“Long story short. My neighbor @kirillpotapov ( literally 10 mins away from me) saved 2 babies bears Kodi and Harley,” he explained on Instagram.
“He helps animals for long time and I want to help him. From this moment I will visit this babies every time Im at home in Russia and help them financially. And I want to ask you guys for help as well. I will not just ask you for money and shit abut I will drop some merch with this lil cutie pies and you will buy it. All money will go to them. Stay brutal.”
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Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.
Ghost’s Tobias Forge may have just revealed how Papa V Perpetua’s tenure will end: “There is nothing that is eternal, except maybe for the memory of someone”
(Image credit: Mikael Eriksson)
Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge has hinted that the band’s current frontman, Papa V Perpetua, will die at his post.
During a new interview with French YouTube channel Riffx, Forge, who co-founded Ghost in 2006 and has played every incarnation of the band’s papal singer, is asked whether Perpetua will stay at the mic forever, given his name is derived from the Latin word for “eternal”.
“I don’t know,” the musician answers.
He goes on to describe the idea of having an eternal leader “humoristic”: “There is nothing that is eternal, except maybe for the memory of someone. That might be eternal – as long as anyone remembers someone, that person will exist. You might beat those odds a little if you have a statue in your name or something.”
Forge then notes the irony in the death of a frontman whose name suggests ‘eternity’, adding that he’d be keen to integrate it into Ghost’s lore.
“But the concept of being an ‘eternal’ leader, and then all of a sudden that person dies and there’s a new ‘eternal’ leader, is kind of funny,” he says. “I thought that that is typically one of those funny paradoxes that I want in that universe.”
Historically, Ghost’s frontman has changed with each new album cycle. So far, the only character to stay at the mic for more than one full-length release was Cardinal Copia, who sang on 2018’s Prequelle before being promoted to Papa Emeritus IV and reappearing on 2022’s Impera.
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Papa V Perpetua is leading Ghost during their Skeletá era. The new album will come out on Friday, April 25, and the singles Satanized, Lachryma and Peacefield are now streaming.
The band’s Skeletá tour started in the UK last week and they are currently making their way across mainland Europe. See all remaining dates on their global run of shows below.
Apr 24: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany Apr 26: Lyon LDLC Arena, France Apr 27: Toulouse Zenith Metropole, France Apr 29: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal Apr 30: Madrid Palacio Vistalegre, Spain May 03: Zurich AG Hallenstadion, Switzerland May 04: Milan Unipol Forum, Italy May 07: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany May 08: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands May 10: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland May 11: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic May 13: Paris Accor Arena, France May 14: Oberhausen Rudolph Weber Arena, Germany May 15: Hannover ZAG Arena, Germany May 17: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark May 20: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland May 22: Linköping Saab Arena, Sweden May 23: Sandviken Göransson Arena, Sweden May 24: Oslo Spektrum, Norway
Jul 09: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD Jul 11: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA Jul 12: Tampa Amalie Arena, FL Jul 13: Miami Kaseya Center, FL Jul 15: Raleigh PNC Arena, NC Jul 17: Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, OH Jul 18: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA Jul 19: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA Jul 21: Boston TD Garden, MA Jul 22: New York Madison Square Garden, NY Jul 24: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI Jul 25: Louisville KFC Yum! Center, KY Jul 26: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN Jul 28: Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena, MI Jul 29: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI Jul 30: St Louis Enterprise Center, MO Aug 01: Rosemont Allstate Arena, IL Aug 02: Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center, MN Aug 03: Omaha CHI Health Center, NE Aug 05: Kansas City T-Mobile Center, MO Aug 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO Aug 09: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV Aug 10: San Diego Viejas Arena, CA Aug 11: Phoenix Footprint Center, AZ Aug 14: Austin Moody Center ATX, TX Aug 15: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX Aug 16: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Sep 24: Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes
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.
Jon Bon Jovi onstage at the London Palladium, October 10, 2016(Image credit: Neil Lupin / Getty Images)
It’s May 1985, and Bon Jovi are on stage at London’s Dominion Theatre, halfway through the UK leg of their 7800° Fahrenheit tour. Tickets are £3.50, and the mostly-male audience are confronted by a singer who doesn’t look like other singers. His clothes appear to be accessorised with female underwear. He has chiselled cheekbones, a radiant smile born of uncommonly perfect teeth, precisely tousled hair, and a glittering blue cloak that fans out in an arc from his body as he spins across the stage. To his right is an equally lithe guitarist, leather-clad and bare of chest. They’re clearly on to something. It’s a good show, but it’s a traditional rock crowd, and there’s a degree of suspicion about this duo’s very apparent prettiness.
For an audience who’ve only recently staggered out of the NWOBHM’s patchouli and sweat-scented trenches, Bon Jovi are a confounding prospect. But not everyone’s thrown: dotted throughout the crowd are young women, and they’re going nuts.
Today, some 31 years later, Bon Jovi are on stage again at a similar London venue. That guitarist is gone, those women dominate the audience, and Classic Rock is sitting next to one. Angela is a charity worker from Preston who fell in love with the band as a seven-year-old on a family trip to New Jersey.
“I remember the bandana, and all the hair,” says Angela. “It was a nice look, but it was more about the music. It was so powerful. When you listen to it, your heart surges like it’s about to burst out of your chest. It makes me feel euphoric.”
This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock 230, published in December 2016(Image credit: Future)
She first saw the band on the These Days tour at Wembley Arena.
“It was everything I hoped it would be,” she says. “It was ten times better. The only thing I can compare it to is when you touch down in New York for the first time and you feel a sensation that anything is possible. That’s how their music makes me feel.
“I also feel that Bon Jovi helps people build bridges. If you ever feel awkward in a situation, or you’re not sure how to connect with people, a good way to start a conversation is to talk about Bon Jovi. It’s helped me get established on a work level, and it’s helped me make friends.”
How would she feel if you met Jon?
“I might die,” she jokes. “I’ve thought about this a lot. I’ve even role-played it with a friend.”
London’s iconic Palladium venue (Image credit: Kevin Nixon)
Tonight’s ‘Listening Party’ is Bon Jovi pressing the reboot button. With a new album on the way and a new seven-man line-up, it’s a rare opportunity for us to see the band play a non-arena set, and for them to road test the new songs in front of an unquestioning audience.
As is the way of these things in 2016, it’s a live show that’s sponsored by a streaming service funded by millionaires, one that fans have accessed either via a ticket lottery or by stumping up £1,230 for a package including cocktails, a meet’n’greet, and a signed photo. Things have really moved on since 1985.
“It’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium,” announces Jon Bon Jovi, “and my name’s Bruce Forsyth.”
Dressed in simple black shirt and trousers, he has that slightly feminine look of many men of a certain age who’ve managed to hold on to their looks, hair and figure. Half Bill Clinton, half Ellen DeGeneres, but still ludicrously handsome.
New rhythm guitarist John Shanks (the album’s producer) fires the starter’s pistol with the riff to the album’s title track, This House Is Not For Sale, and we’re off. It’s the one song from the album you know will remain a fixture on future tours, with a riff pulled straight from the Bryan Adams school of popular performance art and a chorus that can stand toe-to-toe with the band’s most exultant Rock Of Ages-style bangers. Three minutes in and we’ve already climbed Everest.
Living With The Ghost follows, and it’s clear that Jon Bon Jovi has lost none of his knack with a tune, nor his gift for pumping them full of helium to ensure they fly. These are songs built for swaying crowds in vast arenas, with guitars that ring and chime, and choruses that soar deliriously towards the heavens. They might not be Coldplay or U2, but they definitely share much of the same DNA.
Something else JBJ shares with Bono and Chris Martin is sincerity, and there’s a lot of it on show. Jon talks about each of the songs at length, going into the whos and the whys and the wherefores, seemingly happy to let the energy in the room sag just as soon as each song has built it up.
(Image credit: Simone Joyner/Getty Images)
“The thing about these songs,” he ponders, “is when we write them, they come from the purest of places. They come from a place inside you, and sometimes you don’t know how, but they come. And when they come, they mean something specific until the day we share them. And that’s when everything turns, and these songs, over the years, have become yours. Tommy and Gina became you, and your friends.” And he sounds less a rock star, more a man who’s spent a substantial amount of time sitting on expensive therapy couches and isn’t entirely sure if he got his money’s worth.
He talks about his frustration with social media, and his battles with the record company, and his struggles with songwriting, and about the type of man he is, and he really only sounds happy when he’s talking about listening to Led Zeppelin is his bedroom as a kid. The rest of the time he gives the impression that being Jon Bon Jovi really isn’t that much fun. Occasionally he flashes that brilliant Colgate smile, and you wish it would linger a little, but his eyes narrow and the smile vanishes and you begin to wonder about the type of man he is.
It’s entirely possible that Classic Rock is alone in this analysis. The crowd scream every time Bon Jovi opens up his shoulders and leans back, arms spread, his legs bent at the knees, despite this being the apparent extent of his stagecraft. His voice isn’t what it once was, but it doesn’t seem to matter. When the band play Rollercoaster, everyone claps along to a song they don’t know without any encouragement at all.
This crowd are having a ball. They remain on their feet throughout the songs, although by the time Devils In The Temple (a snarling rocker about Bon Jovi’s fractured relationship with Mercury Records) rolls around, many are taking the opportunity to sit through the speeches. In the row in front of us, two women who’ve clearly been hitting the chardonnay alternate between swaying from side to side, their arms elatedly held aloft, to sagging in their seats, chatting loudly and texting people who are elsewhere.
(Image credit: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Phil X is a solid replacement for Richie Sambora, but something doesn’t look quite right. Before Richie left, there was a partnership at the core of the band, with all its attendant chemistry and chaos. Now it feels like a one-man show, with the other musicians reduced to the role of supporting cast. As Bon Jovi and Phil X lean into each other like Jon and Richie used to, it feels like choreography.
Musically speaking, there are differences too. Sambora’s playing was so rooted in the blues that the band always had a sweet, soulful edge, and this has been filed down and replaced by something that feels more functional, as if their sound were designed by strategists. Nonetheless, Sambora is a ghostly presence throughout. So much of what Jon Bon Jovi talks about is rooted in the break-up, and about the tumult that followed, even if the band’s former gunslinger is never referred to directly.
Angela, who liked Sambora because “you need someone in a band who’s a little bit of a liability, a little bit rock’n’roll”, is positive about Phil X. “I think he’s different, but he was really engaging onstage, probably because he was so clearly excited to be there, and so enthusiastic. He brought a lot of light and presence to the stage.”
Scars On This Guitar is a real highlight of tonight’s show, a ballad that slowly unwinds over softly strummed chords and some lovely, Stonesy piano from David Bryan. Meanwhile, God Bless This Mess is cut from similar cloth to This House Is Not For Sale, with a rousing chorus and lyrics that mark the singer’s passage through time (‘My voice is gone, I’m going grey, my muscles all ache’).
Elsewhere it’s slim pickings. Reunion features the kind of churning, repeated guitar patterns so beloved of U2, while New Year’s Day (no, not a cover) sounds like someone’s had their copy of The Unforgettable Fire on repeat and decided it could be improved by adding tinsel. It’s as if the band fall back on the same kind of tricks other stadium acts use when the songs aren’t as good as they might once have been: the bagpipe-style guitars; the bombast; the grand statement choruses designed to make large, impersonal events feel personal and intimate.
(Image credit: Rune Hellestad – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
There are moments of light. Phil X plays some bum notes on the intro of Come On Up To Our House that are so jarring that a halt is called to proceedings, before he grins sheepishly and holds up his hand in apology, nowhere to hide. And Jon Bon Jovi talks about his charity work with such unbridled enthusiasm that it’s a stark contrast with the bitterness you sense bubbling under the surface when he speaks about the band. He chokes up singing All Hail The King (another song that has to be stopped and started again), and it’s impossible to tell if it’s genuine emotion or part of the act.
It’s clear that Jon Bon Jovi is proud of these new songs, and it’s clear that this audience have signed up for the duration. And while a triumphant final coupling of Have A Nice Day’s Who Says You Can’t Go Home and a rafter-rattling Bad Medicine suggests it’s the big hits that’ll keep the crowds coming back for more, there’s enough in the new material to suggest that the band are going to keep things interesting.
“If you will, pull up a chair,” says Jon Bon Jovi, “and let me tell you stories for the next 30 years.”
Afterwards we make our way to the Palladium Bar. Lips and Rob from Anvil are there, along with the cheesemaker Alex James and X Factor winner Matt Cardle. There are free drinks, and pretty girls in neat uniforms stalk the room offering canapés. One by one, the members of Bon Jovi slip quietly into the throng, where they’re warmly greeted by old friends and colleagues.
And one by one, Angela waits to gets her photo taken with them. Hugh McDonald asks her name as they compare glasses. Phil X seems delighted to see her and offers a hug. Tico Torres is gracious. David Bryan listens as Angela explains how he inspired her to take up piano.
(Image credit: Fraser Lewry)
We linger for a while, drinking wine and eating cold chicken, but there’s no sign of Jon. Then someone who used to work with the band tells us the frontman was probably halfway back to the hotel before the last notes of applause had faded. This isn’t the kind of thing he does. And Angela’s not going to get the photo she really wants.
“You know, even though I didn’t meet Jon Bon Jovi, I’m cool with it,” she says. “I had an amazing night and I am glad my Jon Bon Journey isn’t over. It just means we’re destined to meet at some other point, when I’m not two red wines in and going celeb-spotty-dotty at the after-party. After all, he said he’ll be around for another thirty years… which will make me sixty-four and Jon ninety-four. Perfect!”
Fan’s-eye view: Angela’s full review of Bon Jovi at the Palladium
A soft roar erupts through the London Palladium. Tico Torres settles down at the drums. David Bryan takes to the keyboards. Hugh McDonald stands firm on the bass. A flash of neon rips through the venue and thunderous applause reverberates around the room… Then he appears: Jon Bon Jovi, a vision in skinny jeans, silky black shirt unbuttoned just enough to reveal a tantalising slither of waxed pectorals.
The audience goes crazy as the opening chords of This House Is Not For Sale power through the venue, creating an immense heart-soaring rush of exuberance. This is Bon Jovi, back to their finest, for one night only.
With a playlist dedicated to the band’s new album, the first five songs currently released are met with excitement. For Jon, it’s an opportunity to talk – often at length – through the album, and the “tumultuous time” of late. The band nearly lost its record deal, he reveals, and Richie sadly departed.
It’s a fascinating insight into a normally guarded (albeit super-sexy) man. His honesty is refreshing and it’s clear that the stage is where Jon relaxes. The often chatty interludes make me itch for a classic track or to relive the JBJ/Richie Sambora glory days. While Jon alludes to his former bandmate and BFF, it’s never directly addressed.
The music is when it’s best. This House Is Not for Sale is poignant and power-packed (the four walls represent the four original members of the band), Rollercoaster is a brilliant upbeat number, All Hail The King an opportunity for Jon to talk about his philanthropic ventures (he’s sensitive too – swoon!).
Finally, it’s time for the encore. It’s what we’ve all be waiting for. The band burst back on. Jon punches the air, does that alluring wiggly finger thing as he leans back with this knees bent (man, he’s got some moves) and launches into Who Says You Can’t Go Home.
The familiar chords of Bad Medicine kick in and I’m in my happy place. Cue that overpowering, heart-soaring rush of exuberance that no band other than Bon Jovi can quite make me feel.
This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock 230, published in December 2016
Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazinesince 2014. 39 years in music industry, online for 26. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.
“It’s overwhelming – you wanna go on, you wanna live off the music, but maybe not everyone in the band can do that”: Katatonia ended a phase of doubt and gave shape to their Dead End King on 11th album City Burials
(Image credit: Ester Segarra)
In 2020 Katatonia reached the end of what could have been one of the shortest musical breaks in prog history. As the release date for experimental 11th album City Burials approached, singer Jonas Renkse shared the band’s excitement and hunger for a new phase of existence.
When Katatonia went on hiatus in December 2017, singer Jonas Renkse prepared himself for the worst. In the back of his mind, he knew he wanted to continue with the band he’d invested 26 years in, but he didn’t know if the others felt the same. As a defence mechanism, he mentally prepared himself for the worst-case scenario – that they would never make music again.
But he kept writing material and endeavoured to remind himself of Katatonia’s achievements. “I was trying to focus on all the positive things I’ve got from being in this band, and it definitely overshadowed the negative feelings, even if the loss would be immense in the beginning,” he says. “But thinking of everything that we’ve done, and done together, and all the band members we ever had, it’s like a museum of memories that are very precious. So it’s not like you’re losing everything at once – you still have the memories.”
After more than two years apart, Katatonia assembled in their rehearsal room to prepare for their Night Is The New Day 10th anniversary tour. They’ve been using in their Stockholm basement since 2012, and the walls are filled with paintings and flags from fans all over the world – a colourful reminder of the countries they’ve visited and the connections they’ve made. They sometimes gather here to listen to music, kick back and have a few drinks. It’s familiar: their home. And when they plugged in and ran through their songs, their chemistry reignited.
“You could actually sense that everyone had missed playing together,” Renkse says. “We had this perfect opportunity to do the anniversary thing, so we had a soft start to get back into the business. That was good for everyone – to get back into the feeling – and everyone was super into the idea of doing another album. There was no doubt, and it felt like yesterday since we’d last played.”
Katatonia – Behind The Blood (from City Burials) – YouTube
There were several reasons for the hiatus. Firstly, their new, full-time guitarist, Roger Öjersson, had been dealing with a severe back injury that prevented him from gigging. Secondly, Renkse and co-founder Anders Nyström were keen to record a new album for their death metal project, Bloodbath. And thirdly, Katatonia had been touring nonstop for 2016’s The Fall Of Hearts, not to mention the album cycles before that. They wanted a break, to see if they had the will to continue. The reality of being in a mid-level touring band today means working relentlessly while always having an eye on the bottom line.
“Sometimes it’s overwhelming to be on this level where you wanna go further on, you wanna live off the music, but maybe not everyone can do that in the band,” Renkse admits. “It’s just hard work all the time. I’ve nothing against it, but since we had the luxury to actually have a break, it was all to the good. We’re more hungry than ever.”
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A ‘break’ for Renkse actually meant welcoming his third child to the world, writing and recording that new Bloodbath record with Nyström (2018’s The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn), and composing the material that has since morphed into new Katatonia album City Burials. Its first single, Lacquer, is a synth-driven song reminiscent of Norwegian black-metallers-turned-avant-garde-experimentalists Ulver. Renkse’s melancholic vocals wrap around a dark, trippy dreamscape, in a mellow departure for a band who have often dwelled at the metal end of the progressive metal spectrum.
It was a surprise for their fans – especially since they didn’t know any music was coming at all – and indicative of how Renkse composes when left to his own devices, influenced by singer-songwriters, electronic music and even country. “I think it’s easier for me to write that kind of music because it fits my voice better,” he says. “I’m not really a metal singer. I think the kind of metal that Katatonia plays, it’s good for it, but if I would go even more metal, it wouldn’t suit me.”
Around 60 per cent of his early material ended up on the record, and there are ambient atmospheres in the mournful verses of Vanishers (featuring Anni Bernhard from Stockholm alt-rockers Full Of Keys) and the piano-led Lachesis. Nonetheless, the band felt they should balance it out with “a bit more metal” – so opener Heart Set To Divide boasts a galloping, old-school Katatonia riff, while follow-up Behind The Blood echoes classic Judas Priest – something the band were inspired to do after covering Night Comes Down, from the British band’s 1984 album Defenders Of The Faith.
“We love playing live, and I think that’s where the metal parts are really fun to do,” enthuses Renkse. “Also, we’ve always been a pretty varied band. At this point, we didn’t want to step away from that. I think actually the new album is a bit more metal than the previous one. I’m not ruling out that the next one could be all ambient soundscapes with some miserable vocals on it – but it could also be even more metal. It’s all up in the air, which is what I love also about this band.”
As a kid, when you’re gonna have a summer vacation, that was always a bit sort of melancholic
Each song reveals artful layers, whether it’s heartstring-pulling vocal harmonies or sweeping, cinematic keys. On first listen, City Burials comes across as a solid Katatonia record, but when you listen again and again, you’re gripped by a ton of intense hooks and rich textures. It’s a stunning piece of work, and an incredible accomplishment 11 albums in. There’s a lot for prog fans to love.
“I do think we have a lot of subtle nuances that are kind of complex, the layering is very complex, and we have a lot of sounds that are going on at the same time. If people are into that, they should definitely give it a listen,” advises Renkse. “It’s not Dream Theater, but in a subtle way it’s kind of difficult music. There’s a lot of vocal stuff going on in a lot of harmonies. If you listen to it for the first time, you might not notice, but if you give it a few spins, you realise there’s loads of stuff going on.”
Katatonia – The Winter of our Passing OFFICIAL VIDEO – YouTube
In much the same way that Renkse had been reminiscing about Katatonia’s career, he found himself thinking back to his childhood. He regularly visits friends in suburban south Stockholm where he grew up, and likes to stroll around the now gentrified streets where he used to ride his bike. He’s not sure when it happened, but he started to become nostalgic about his memories, yearning to return to a simpler time, and contemplating the nature of memory itself.
“It’s not far from where I live now,” he explains. “And I just thought that, for everyone that grew up somewhere, or lived a long time at the same place, you’ll have a lot of memories attached to that place. Memories are things that happened in the past, and the past is often buried. It’s like a memory is a bit of death. And that’s how I figured out the title City Burials.”
You would say winter is the most bleak season, but I think it’s also the beginning of the summer
To illustrate the concept, Renkse and Anders came up with a striking character called the Dead End King – an entity that swallows experiences and turns them into memories, “like a thief of things that have happened to you.” His crown is made of a shattered mirror that symbolises glass skyscrapers, representing the city. City Burials is not a concept album – the songs cover everything from fatherhood (Neon Epitaph), to the destruction of indigenous tribal communities (Vanishers), to the current state of humanity (Lacquer) – but Renkse talks of a “red thread” running through their bleak lyrics of loss and remorse. It stretches back further through their albums; the character’s name comes from 2012’s Dead End Kings, and there are thematic links to the likes of 2003’s Inside The City Of Glass.
He can’t pinpoint exactly which parts of City Burials were inspired by his memory walks, but he does know there’s a recurring sound. “There are a few chord progressions that I find when I write music. Sometimes it just strikes me that it sounds like when school was out, when I was a kid, when you celebrate that you’re gonna have a summer vacation,” he says. “And to me, that was always a bit sort of melancholic. On the one hand, it was great not having to go to school – but I would know that my friends now were gonna go their separate ways, even if you knew that in 10 weeks or something we would be back together.”
He still gets this feeling, at the same time every year, when nature is at its lushest and greenest, and when his own children are now breaking up for their summer holiday. It seems very Jonas of Jonas to get sad about something that most people see as a cause for celebration. “You would say winter is the most bleak season, but I think it’s also the beginning of the summer, because it has so many promises,” he says, with a degree of sheepish self-awareness. “You never know what’s gonna happen, and if these promises are gonna fall short or if you’re gonna have a wonderful time.”
Renkse is desperate to get City Burials out and play live again (“I missed it a lot during the break”), hitting countries they’ve never been to. When the opportunity arises, he also hopes to reunite with Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord, to make a follow-up to 2013’s Wisdom Of Crowds record. “We had an instant chemistry, me and Bruce, and we really wanted to build on that. So I can’t say when, but it’s definitely going to happen at some point.”
I’m pretty confident with where I am as a person and what I’m achieving
Renkse is 44 years old, but 11 Katatonia albums deep and with three children growing and changing every day, the passage of time is something he’s become increasingly aware of. With Katatonia feeling reinvigorated, he’s determined to appreciate every second – to fulfil the promise of the summer that lies ahead.
Contemplating his career, reminiscing about his upbringing… he’s giving off some serious midlife vibes. “Yeah, it’s a definitely a crisis,” he deadpans. “Not really! I don’t feel like I’m having one. Maybe if you could ask someone close to me, they would be certain. But I’m pretty confident with where I am as a person, and what I’m achieving, and what I’ve done. I’m pretty happy right now.”
Eleanor was promoted to the role of Editor at Metal Hammer magazine after over seven years with the company, having previously served as Deputy Editor and Features Editor. Prior to joining Metal Hammer, El spent three years as Production Editor at Kerrang! and four years as Production Editor and Deputy Editor at Bizarre. She has also written for the likes of Classic Rock, Prog, Rock Sound and Visit London amongst others, and was a regular presenter on the Metal Hammer Podcast.
