Guitar Meets Science has shared a new video focusing on the rise of Eddie Van Halen as a legend. Check it out below.
“This week, we dive deep into the explosive debut album that changed rock music forever: Van Halen I. We’ll explore the making of this iconic record, from the band’s wild days on the Sunset Strip to the groundbreaking recording sessions at Sunset Sound Recorders. Discover how Eddie Van Halen’s revolutionary guitar techniques, David Lee Roth’s flamboyant showmanship, Alex Van Halen’s thunderous drumming, and Michael Anthony’s rock-solid bass and soaring harmonies came together to create a masterpiece.
We’ll break down the stories behind legendary tracks like ‘Eruption’, ‘Runnin’ With The Devil’ and ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love’, and uncover the secrets behind the band’s signature ‘brown sound.’ We’ll also look at the album’s immediate impact and its enduring legacy as one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time.”
Rock Kommander recently caught up with Annihilator founder / guitar legend Jeff Waters for an exclusive Q&A session. Check out Part 3 below:
“In this special Q&A session, legendary guitarist Jeff Waters (of Annihilator and American Kaos) responds directly to fan questions. He reflects on his past projects, shares insights on his upcoming trilogy album, and teases what’s next. Plus, hear how he’s bringing his music into the gaming world, starring as a playable character with his own game mode in Rock Kommander. It’s all about your questions, his stories, and the road ahead!”
When asked about his favourite Annihilator riffs to play live, Waters offered the following:
“Either ‘King Of The Kill’ or ‘Set The World On Fire’ because those are the two most popular songs we play. It’s funny, because they’re both one string, one note riffs.”
Jon Oliva’s Pain, featuring Savatage co-founder / original frontman Jon Oliva, was active from 2003 – 2019. They released four albums and one EP between 2004 and 2010. Plans for a live DVD to be filmed in 2009 were rescheduled, with a concert at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands in October 2010. Slated to be release in 2011, the DVD has yet to surface.
However, multi-cam video of “Death Rides A Black Horse” from the Tilburg show ha surfaced on YouTube courtesy of Mark Christopher Garrett. Check it out below.
“Death Rides A Black Horse” is taken from the band’s 2010 album, Festival.
The legendary Savatage (Johnny Lee Middleton – bass, Chris Caffery – guitars, Al Pitrelli – guitars, Jeff Plate – drums, and Zak Stevens – vocals) have announced tour dates across Europe for summer 2025, with a mix of festival appearances and headline shows.
Says Zak Stevens: “As you can imagine, there are so many special things about these shows that are racing through my mind. We get to play a series of headline shows for the first time in over twenty years that will put us right back in front of all of the unbelievable fans who have given us so many unforgettable memories over the last three decades. Here’s our chance to directly give back to everyone who’s been there supporting us all these years! All the great festival shows are going to be off-the-charts amazing. It’s even hard to imagine the scale of excitement that’s going to take place with those shows.”
Savatage mastermind Jon Oliva expressed his disappointment at not being able to join the band for the shows, but shared his excitement, stating: “I am very excited for the guys to be doing some shows. Unfortunately, due to health issues, I will not be able to join the guys for this run. Hopefully, this is just temporary. I will continue working in the studio on new music for the future. These shows will be awesome and I will be working with them to get it all ready for you. I know everyone is going to love it!!! Me and the guys are very excited and ready to kick ass! So from me, thank you all for the support for all these years and we can’t wait to rock you!”
For further details, including ticket/festival links, head to Savatage.com. Find a video trailer below.
South American dates:
April 19 – São Paulo, Brazil – Monsters Of Rock 21 – São Paulo, Brazil – Espaço Unimed (Headline Date) 23 – Santiago, Chile – Masters Of Rock
European dates:
June 13 – Leeuwarden, Netherlands – Into The Grave 14 – Oberhausen, Germany – Turbinenhalle (Headline Date) 16 – London, UK – Shepherds Bush Empire (Headline Date) 18 – Zurich, Switzerland – Komplex 457 (Headline Date) 19 – Munich, Germany – Tonhalle (Headline Date) 22 – Dessel, Belgium – Grapop Metal Meeting 24 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz (Headline Date) 26 – Barcelona, Spain – Rock Fest 28 – Thessaloniki, Greece – Rockwave
The California thrash metal favourites took six years to release latest record The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, the followup to 2016 Grammy winner Dystopia, but seem intent on being quicker this time.
Singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine says via X (formerly Twitter) that he’s currently working on Megadeth’s next album with engineer Chris Rakestraw. He hopes his bandmates will join him in the studio shortly after the new year.
Mustaine comments (per Metal Injection): “Right now I’m in the studio working with Chris Rakestraw. And everybody else is gone. Teemu [Mäntysaari, guitars] is in Switzerland and James [LoMenzo, bass] and Dirk [Verbeuren, drums] are in Los Angeles. So it’s just me here by myself with Chris.”
He continues: “And Chris leaves tomorrow to go on a vacation, and I’m working up to the last second today to get as much done as I can before he takes off because we won’t be starting again until he returns somewhere around New Year’s Day.
“And at that point, it’s only a matter of a couple weeks before everybody converges on to the studio. And for that I’m pumped. And you guys are gonna be excited.”
Mustaine’s statement echoes one Mäntysaari recently made to Megadeth Digital. The lead guitarist, who replaced Kiko Loureiro last year, said he’s been remotely working with Mustaine on new music over the holidays.
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“So Dave is in the studio in Nashville, and I’ve been working from home, and now from the vacation location where we are with the family,” he explained (per Metal Injection).
“But I’m working a little bit every day. And just today I was working on some solo ideas, and [I am] talking with Dave on the phone every day and doing Zoom meetings and exchanging ideas. So, there’s progress every day, which is nice.”
Though he stopped short of saying what the new Megadeth is sounding like, Mäntysaari continued, “I feel really good about the album. We have already so many good ideas. I think it’s gonna be a great one.”
The news of another Megadeth album first came from LoMenzo in June. The bassist told Metal Global: “We’re actively working on music right now. We’re talking with Dave every day. Dave really wants to do another record and just get something fresh out there.”
The new album will mark Mäntysaari’s studio debut with Megadeth, as well as LoMenzo’s re-debut. The bassist played on 2007’s United Abominations and 2009’s Endgame before being replaced by returning co-founder David Ellefson in 2010. In a twist of fate, LoMenzo then replaced Ellefson in 2022, shortly after The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’s bass tracks were recorded by Steve Di Giorgio of Testament.
You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
Seven Impale emerged from Norwegian mists a decade ago, fully formed and audacious. Annoyingly young and obnoxiously talented, the Bergen sextet laid down an impressive template on City Of The Sun: a precocious debut album that receives a snazzy, 10th anniversary “Solar Flare” vinyl relaunch here.
Darker and knottier than anything by their ultra-melodic Scandinavian contemporaries, they side-stepped clinical perfection and recorded these songs without a click track – or indeed brakes. The result is a collection of songs powered by youthful exuberance and intense collective chemistry.
It’s also a prog record that eschews the most obvious influences in favour of the unhinged and obstreperous clatter and skronk of Van der Graaf Generator and Red-era Crimson. Plenty have paddled in the same murky waters, but few have done it with such eye-popping vigour.
City Of The Sun has countless moments of prodigious prog indulgence, but it’s the tooth-dislodging controlled chaos of Eschaton Horo that most loudly confirms Seven Impale’s mercurial brilliance. A labyrinth of mutant syncopation and inspired tempo changes, its eight, frenzied minutes whistle by in what seems like half the time.
As the Norwegians lock into one of their lurching, counter-intuitive grooves, all six musicians are locked in and audibly exhilarated. Sweat drips from the walls. Saxophones are honked with mischievous glee. Blisters are displayed as badges of honour.
Elsewhere, different extremes are explored. Windshears is a beautifully languorous moment of restraint, but a fiendishly inventive one. Closing epic God Left Us For A Black-Dressed Woman goes the whole prog hog, mixing complexity and raw power for the sheer convoluted hell of it.
One of the finest prog debuts of the 21st century, the record showcases a hopeful young band neck deep in magic and clicking effortlessly into gear.
Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s.
Of all the albums Mötley Crüe have released during their 40-plus year career, 1989’s Dr Feelgood is arguably the most important one.
The band’s fourth full-length record, it found the LA band teaming up with hotshot Canadian producer Bob Rock, who beefed up their sound while retaining their pop edge. It was a fruitful union – Dr Feelgood became the first Mötley Crüe album to reach No.1 in the US.
But it was also crucial in another respect. After spending much of the previous decade strung out on booze and various substances, it was also the first album the band recorded sober, following an ultimatum from their manager, Doc McGhee, after bassist Nikki Sixx clinically died for several minutes following a heroin overdose.
Looking back on the making of the album in the brand new issue of Classic Rock, Sixx reveals how the band’s new gym-centric lifestyle and clear-headed state-of-mind fed into the album itself.
“Aerosmith [who were recording at Vancouver’s Little Mountain Studios at the same time as Mötley Crüe] would be in the gym too,” says Sixx. “Then we’d be outside, taking in nature, jump on our motorcycles, drive over to the studio. Be there by eleven-thirty or noon and be creative all day, and then go back to our apartment and listen to mix-down tapes, and rewrite lyrics.”
Sixx in particular was determined to bag that elusive No.1 spot, and Bob Rock was ready to push the band all the way.
“He’s pushing Vince [Neil, vocalist] to sing better,” says Sixx. “Nobody had done that before. He’s pushing Tommy [Lee, drummer] to change up the beat. He’s pushing Mick [Mars, guitarist]: ‘I want to re-do the guitars, double them, triple them, quadruple them…’ Bob focused on the little things. You do enough little things right and you make big change.”
Sixx didn’t escape the producer’s demands either. He recalls Rock telling him to “take a shot at rewriting the lyrics” to a new song Mick Mars had conjured up a thundering riff for.
“I had a little room that I’d go in and sit on the floor,” says Nikki. “No computer to pull information from, just books and magazines. I’d work on lyrics then come out and show Bob, who would be like: ‘I think you could do better.’ I’d go back in the room, come back out again. Bob would go: ‘You’re halfway there.’
“Eight times I rewrote that song. He kept saying: ‘More Springsteen! More Ian Hunter! You know how to do this. You’re a storyteller!’”
Mötley Crüe – Dr. Feelgood (Official Music Video) – YouTube
This parade-ground approach worked. The song that Rock was urging Sixx to rewrite would turn into album’s title track, Dr Feelgood, a pulsing anthem centred around the titular drug dealer and the coterie of low-lives that surrounded him – presumably drawn from the bassist’s own experiences.
Released in August 1989 as the first single from the new album, Dr Feelgood, reached No.6 in the US – still Mötley Crüe’s biggest hit. With a fire blazing under it, the album itself reached the top of the Billboard Chart soon after, giving the band their coveted No.1.
“It was a special experience, which then turned into a special album,” Sixx tells Classic Rock. “We learned something that we still apply today: ignore everything else, forget whatever’s going on outside the studio. You follow the creativity, and then magic moments happen.”
Read the full interview with Nikki Sixx in the brand new issue of Classic Rock, on sale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
Check out our fantastic and entertaining Green Day articles, detailing in-depth the band’s albums, songs, band members, and more…all on ClassicRockHistory.com
Brian Kachejian was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. He is the founder and Editor in Chief of ClassicRockHistory.com. He has spent thirty years in the music business often working with many of the people who have appeared on this site. Brian Kachejian also holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Stony Brook University along with New York State Public School Education Certifications in Music and Social Studies. Brian Kachejian is also an active member of the New York Press.
newsjourneyprofessor of rockneal schonclassic rock
Professor Of Rock has shared the new video below, along with the following message:
“Coming up next, one of the greatest living guitarists, Journey’s Neal Schon, tells the story of two of the ’80s most famous solos: One he played the hell out of, but it was cut from the song ‘Who’s Crying Now’ when it was climbing the charts to the Top 5. But angry fans called radio stations and complained so they put it back in. And another song, ‘Faithfully’, was so inspiring that one of the greatest guitar players and geniuses of the ’80s, Prince, actually called Journey because he had written one of his greatest songs, ‘Purple Rain’, but he was afraid he might’ve subconsciously ripped off the guitar part and asked them if they would listen to it and see. Journey graciously said it was similar, but a whole new song. We have Neal Schon with us to tell the story of these two amazing songs next on Professor of Rock.”
Sarah Jezebel Deva returned to the Scars And Guitars Podcast to discuss her experiences with the reformed Covenant and reflect on the band’s reunion. She also discusses the development of her philosophies since her Cradle Of Filth days, strategies for managing her music career alongside family responsibilities, her view on her legacy in extreme music, and balancing personal and band commitments. The conversation extends to what the future might hold.
Sarah: “I had no real intention of doing anything live again. My son comes first, your family comes first, and I was afraid of being away from him and how he would deal with everything. There was a lot of anxiety. I had many conversations with the guys, and when all these conversations were happening (over the years), it was the fantasy thing. I really, really wanted to do it, and then when it started happening I shit myself. Speaking to (booking agent) Håkon (Grav), he said ‘You have a life, too. You’re not just Mom, you’re Sarah, you deserve a life.’ So I decided to do it, and the first show comes through (Eindhoven Metal Meeting 2024), and at one point I thought about backing out. Then I went over (to Norway) for rehearsals – and you have to bear in mind that we haven’t seen each other in so long – and by the end of those rehearsals I was well up for it. They went so well.”
On December 14, The Kovenant – featuring Nagash, Steinar Sverd Johnsen, Sarah Jezebel Deva, Astennu and Hellhammer – reunited for the first of several scheduled reunion shows at the Eindhoven Metal Meeting 2024. Fan-filmed video of the entire comeback show can be viewed below.
Setlist:
“The Sulphur Feast” “Bizarre Cosmic Industries” “Planetarium” “The Last of Dragons” “Bringer of the Sixth Sun” “Dragonheart” “Planetary Black Elements” “Chariots of Thunder” “Interlude” “Jihad” “In the Name of the Future” “Towards the Crown of Nights”
Sarah followed up with this message:
“Seriously, hands down, the most incredible experience ever. So humble, so grateful and so ready for what’s next. I think this morning, I’m on a major come down, as usual I wear my heart on my sleeve and will always say what I feel, and I have to say, not only do I love these guys so much, but the crew also. What a team. I met some old friends and met some new friends that I had only met online and worked with. It’s been a long time since I’ve cried laughing, and I cried a lot…. laughing.. think maybe a bit of wee came out too…. Thank you.”
The Kovenant originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name. The band’s name change also marked a change in sound/style, as the band from there on began to focus more on an aggrotech / industrial metal sound heavily influenced by Europe’s EBM scene. Despite their style change, The Kovenant did however later reissue their early albums under The Kovenant name.
The Kovenant’s live schedule is now as follows:
January / February 30-3 – 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise – Ocho Rios, Jamaica
May 1-3 – Karmøygeddon Metal Festival – Kopervik. Norway
The unpredictable Frost* are back with Life In The Wires, a bold double concept album that revisits the mood of their first record Milliontown. Band leader Jem Godfrey tells Prog why he rolled out the solos on a record he describes as the most fun since their dazzling debut.
Continuity of activity is the hallmark of countless successful bands, prog or not – but rules have exceptions, and continuity has never been a dominant feature of Frost* – their career has been punctuated by many stops and starts. Their dazzling debut, Milliontown, launched them onto the progressive scene in 2006, but prime mover Jem Godfrey decided to call an abrupt halt to proceedings later that year.
He then executed a spectacular volte-face only a few months later, resulting in 2008’s somewhat underwhelming and ironically titled Experiments In Mass Appeal. After that second album, Frost* went on hiatus, which was interrupted with 2016’s Falling Satellites. Then (2020 box set and EP aside) they downed tools again before returning in 2021 with fourth album, Day And Age.
By Frost*’s irregular standards, releasing Life In The Wires comfortably within four years of its predecessor appears almost unduly hasty and actually threatens to provide the band’s previously haphazard career arc with some continuity. Speaking to Prog from his studio, The Cube, in Kent, Godfrey chuckles as he references the band’s “glacial work rate.”
So what prompted this comparatively swift follow-up? “I had something to say for once, so it wrote itself, really,” he explains. “It was an ideas I had that was floating around and does actually follow on from Day And Age. They’re in the same universe because the end of that album starts with the beginning of this one. I did that deliberately because I already had a bit of an idea when we did Day And Age that this was a thing that could have legs.
“Day And Age felt very cinematic in terms of the different songs; each of those songs concerned characters within a certain universe. It lent itself to having a bigger story told.” This in itself is far removed from Frost*’s usual approach; as evidenced by their first four albums, and indeed 2020’s Others EP, their ethos has been never to do the same thing twice.
“That’s one of the reasons I did it,” Godfrey explains. “The modus operandi of this band is to always do the opposite of what people expect.” Given their previous non-repetition approach, and the sharp turns Godfrey and his bandmates have taken, a return in many respects to the style of Milliontown is perhaps the last thing fans anticipated.
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Godfrey admits he hadn’t expected to make a new album so comparatively swiftly. “Because there was no expectation with Milliontown, it was actually quite easy to make, and tremendous fun. And actually this album has been the most fun I’ve had making a Frost* record since Milliontown. There were no boundaries.
It’s a sort of Pilgrim’s Progress-type journey: everyone dies. The usual thing, really!
“People weren’t expecting an album so quickly – and I don’t think they were expecting a double album, which is another thing that’s fun about it. I’d always wanted to do a double concept album, because we’re a prog band and you have to do that.”
With more than 80 minutes of music, the subject of Life In The Wires is AI. “It’s not really an anti-AI thing,” Godfrey says. “It’s this character in a world where AI is dominant and pushing against that, to not be subsumed by it. It’s a sort of Pilgrim’s Progress-type journey: everyone dies. The usual thing, really!”
While Day And Age saw the band embark on a more collaborative approach – with Godfrey and guitarist John Mitchell writing together – Life In The Wires is heavily dominated by Godfrey alone. “Because John had lots of other commitments, I’ve written 98 per cent of this. I wanted to go back to that more singular approach of pulling something out myself. I totally understand why John does Lonely Robot; I love that you can control the whole thing. Everything that happens is as a result of you doing it, and that’s brilliant.”
But surely with Godfrey taking back creative control so significantly, the dynamic within Frost* has moved on again? “I don’t think it’s changed anything,” he says. “The others have always said it’s my band, which it is. Sometimes I’ve come to writing sessions a bit half-arsed, thinking about three other jobs at the same time. It’s brilliant to write with somebody when you’re in that frame of mind. But I didn’t find I had any gaps that needed filling. They played on this album. It’s not like me playing everything. Everyone’s part of it.”
It was one of those things where you listen to an album and wish you could do it again… there’s a lot of those questions answered here
Having cleared his diary of all other creative commitments, Godfrey ensconced himself in The Cube between January and May 2024 and set to work. “When John does his Lonely Robot albums, he holes himself up at home for a month and doesn’t come out until it’s done. So I thought I’d do the same – I cancelled everything else, stopped doing other work, and it was absolutely brilliant. But, of course, because I work half as fast as John, it took me five months rather than one!”
Those five months appear to have been very productive, with a result that’s indubitably closest to Milliontown. Fair or unfair? “Very fair – and quite deliberate,” says Godfrey. “But compositionally this is a stronger set of songs. And being 18 to 20 years later, the production is more up-to-date.
“I listened to Milliontown recently. It was fine for its time, but does sound a little bit dated in places. It was one of those things where you listen to an album and wish you could do it again so you can do that bit better. And there’s a lot of those questions answered here.
“I get told a lot that it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, so it was nice to acknowledge it and say, ‘Alright, here’s a bit more of that.’ But that’s also us being different: we’ve always done something different, so to do something different by doing the same thing is also doing something different!”
Additionally, having embraced a ‘no solos’ mantra for Day And Age, there are solos – and in particular keyboard solos – aplenty on Life In The Wires. “There wasn’t a diktat that we’d never solo again; it was just for one album and gave it an interesting sound.”
Godfrey maintains that his contrarian approach made the band more creative and cites the middle section of Terrestrial to support his position: “We could have just had a rinse, but it was nice to have that little vocal bit and dropping stuff in and out and how it all changed. I realised that the last time we did an album with solos was Falling Satellites, which was eight years ago. That’s a long time to ask people in a prog band to put up with not having any solos.
Basically you have to be bloody minded enough to take a bit of a hit financially – which I did
“So I thought it be good to row back a bit. Some of us are fairly handy as soloists; I thought, ‘Fuck it! I’m going to go for it.’ I just did what I wanted. It was really good fun to be slightly freer of the restrictions we’ve imposed upon ourselves before. Everybody wants that bit in a song where you let rip a bit. So I just did a whole double album of it.”
It’s abundantly clear that Godfrey revelled in every second of his experience of Life In The Wires. “I understand now how much fun it must have been in the old days when people were in bands full time and they actually could do it as a career,” he reflects. “I pissed quite a few people off by saying, ‘I’ll see you in five months.’ Basically you have to be bloody minded enough to take a bit of a hit financially – which I did.”
Frost* have never been a full-time endeavour for any of the key protagonists, though. Godfrey continues to be highly in demand in the world of radio and recently worked on the relaunch of BBC Radio Two’s sonic branding. While It Bites appear consigned to the history books, Mitchell’s current commitments include Asia, Lonely Robot, the David Cross Band and Arena. Meanwhile, bassist Nathan King keeps busy on the road with Level 42 and drummer Craig Blundell juggles live commitments between Steve Hackett and Steven Wilson.
Frost* did manage a handful of UK shows at the back end of 2022, and followed those up with an appearance at the Midsummer Prog festival in the Netherlands last year. “I’m ticking things off,” Godfrey says of his musical wish list. “I always wanted to play at being a proper rock star and have this as my only job, which I did for five months. It was completely brilliant and it’s been a real pleasure doing this album. I was very sad when it was finished and I had to go back to the real world.”
