Author: wamdines

Chappell Roan might well just be one of the biggest popstars on the planet right now. Last month, she performed alongside legend – and close friend – Elton John at his annual Oscars viewing party, and now it appears that even Corey Taylor has some love to share for the Missouri singer.

This weekend, the Slipknot frontman made an appearance at Spookala, a biannual horror convention in Florida, to offer signings for fans and to perform a solo acoustic set of mostly covers.

The event took place at Expo Hall from April 4 – April 6, and hosted a number of horror icons including Saw actor Tobin Bell, The Lost Boys star Kiefer Sutherland, and of course, Corey Taylor himself, who is a longtime horror enthusiast.

Towards the end of his performance, Taylor played through a snippet of Roan’s huge hit Pink Pony Club to a cheering crowd. Elsewhere, he performs takes on huge anthems, including Foo Fighters classic Everlong, Incubus track I Miss You, Nine Inch Nails’ Something I Can Never Have and Violent Femme’s Add It Up, as well his well-loved cover of the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song.

He additionally plays a handful of Stone Sour and Slipknot tracks, including Song #3, Taciturn, Bother, Through Glass and Snuff, before ending on Spit It Out.

Watch Taylor’s Pink Pony Club performance below:

@a_cord_k94 ♬ original sound – Allen

Back in February, Taylor featured in a gorgeous duet with Bad Omens frontman Noah Sebastian. The pair of metal heroes performed a rendition of Kansas’ Dust In The Wind for a new wrestling film titled Queen Of The Ring.

In June, Slipknot will hit the road across Europe for numerous festival dates, including Sweden Rock, Germany’s Rock Im Park, NovaRock, Resurrection Fest and more. In July, they’ll headline Inkcarceration in Mansfield, Ohio on July 19. For the full list of dates, visit the band’s website.

April 7, 1990 is a day Steven Adler would probably like to forget – and one Tommy Lee is lucky he survived.

On that night the two drummers were performing 797 miles away from each other – Lee with Motley Crue in New Haven, Connecticut and Adler with Guns N’ Roses at Farm Aid 1990 in Indianapolis. One lost his job and the other could have lost his life.

Motley Crue were in the midst of a massive 168-date tour in support of 1989’s Dr. Feelgood album. By this point, Lee had become known for his gravity-defying drum solo stunts. Always eager to top himself, the new tour’s stage show featured Lee performing on a moving drum kit that hung just below the roof of the arenas the bands were playing at the time – then making a dramatic bungee jump back to the main stage to start the next song.

But on that night at the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum, things went wrong. Apparently concerned that the brake wouldn’t be pulled in time, the drummer uncoupled himself mid-drop in order to “reach his foot strap, hanging him upside down.” The result was a 20-foot fall and a painful head-first landing.

The second half of the show was cancelled, and Lee was hospitalized with a mild concussion, but luckily escaped the incident without permanent damage. When Motley Crue returned to the road three days later in Poughkeepsie, New York, he was reportedly  performing a modified, safer version of the bungee drop. The incident didn’t stop him from dreaming up more and more inventive high-flying drum stunts on future tours.

Read More: How Tommy Lee Injured Himself After Falling Off His Drum Kit

The Controversy Behind Steven Adler’s Last Guns N’ Roses Show

For Adler, the night wasn’t about sudden danger but rather a boiling over of long-simmering troubles. Farm Aid was the only show Guns N’ Roses played in 1990, as they spent most of the year working on their massive Use Your Illusion double albums.

In the eyes of his bandmates – none of whom claimed to be angels in this regard – Adler’s substance abuse issues had gotten out of control to the point where they were severely affecting his in-studio and on-stage performances.

Farm Aid marked the first time Guns N’ Roses had performed together since a drama-filled four-show stint opening for the Rolling Stones at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum six months earlier.

Things in Indianapolis didn’t get off to a great start. Slash recalled Adler missing a show-opening leap onto his drum kit by about four feet before struggling during their first live performance of the track “Civil War.”

“If his playing had been fine, I don’t think anyone would have cared what he was doing to himself – at least I wouldn’t have,” the guitarist later claimed in Slash: The Autobiography. “We weren’t really concerned for Steven’s health as much as we were pissed off that his addiction was handicapping his performance and therefore the rest of us.”

Things got worse when the band attempted to play a song Adler didn’t even know, a cover of the U.K. Subs’ “Down on the Farm.” Looking back on the show in his book My Appetite for Destruction, Adler contends he was set up to fail.

“I believe their strategy was to make my playing sound like this,” he wrote. “I believe they wanted me to fuck up on live TV; that would be their evidence. By branding me as an ill-equipped, crappy drummer, they’d be armed with a sound reason for kicking me out.”

Regardless of who was right and to what degree, the Farm Aid show was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and also the last time Adler performed as a member of Guns N’ Roses.

When the band returned to the road at Rock in Rio in January 1991, Matt Sorum had replaced Adler as their drummer. It would be the first of a series of lineup changes that would leave singer Axl Rose as the sole founding member of Guns N’ Roses from 1993 until his 2016 reunion with Slash and bassist Duff McKagan.

Read More: How Farm Aid Became Steven Adler’s Final Gig With Guns N’ Roses

Watch Guns N’ Roses Perform ‘Civil War’ at Farm Aid 1990

Phil Collins has long been known as someone who is very serious about his work, both solo and with Genesis. As Chester Thompson would learn, he wasn’t afraid to take matters into his own hands.

The drummer, who’d played previously with Frank Zappa and Weather Report, received a phone call from Collins himself. The band was looking to fill the empty slot left by the departure of Bill Bruford. Phil was familiar with Thompson’s work and in fact, had seen Chester’s last gig with Weather Report. There would be no audition necessary, the gig was his if he wanted it.

Once he said yes, he had a short time to get ready for the first show, which was happening on New Year’s Day in 1977 in London at the Rainbow Theatre, where the prog legends were booked to play three nights. The initial gig was “pretty rough,” as Thompson recalled during an interview for an upcoming episode of the UCR Podcast. “The second day wasn’t bad and the third night was really locked in. Between nerves and [how much there was] to remember and just trying not to mess up, [because] you know, you just want to try and get it right, that was the tension.”

READ MORE: All 32 Genesis Music Videos Ranked

Touring in support of 1976’s Wind & Wuthering, which had been released at the end of that year, the group had more than just a new band member to break in. They were also debuting a revolutionary light show and with barely 8,000 tickets available for the trio of gigs, it had been a tough ducat to acquire. The band’s former frontman, Peter Gabriel, was one of the witnesses as they began the tour and had positive feedback regarding Thompson’s performance. “Chester was really driving the band and all of the material was working,” he shared with the Los Angeles Times. “It was really exciting.”

“The third night was very rewarding to listen to,” Thompson remembers now. “The first night, because I’m probably my worst critic, it was not good. I can’t remember which guy, but one of the big rock critics over there….man, I mean, he just shredded me to no end on that first show. He gave me just a horrendous review, so bad to the point that the first time we played L.A. maybe a year later, Phil grabbed the guy by the collar and made him apologize to me.”

Why Phil Was Unique as a Drummer

Though Collins has a distinctive and instantly recognizable sound, Thompson is able to pinpoint what made the drummer stand out. “In my mind, everything he played was really unique, especially the early days when Peter was there. It was like, man, this stuff was just very different than anybody else you hear,” he says. “Well, it turns out, in some cases, it was him trying to play like an American. But because of his background and everything he’s around, it gave it a very unique twist and that explained a lot. We listened to a lot of the [same players], especially the jazzers. We both listened to Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. He was very well-read on all of the jazz players as well as all of the rock heroes over there.”

Thompson, a Nashville resident, has continued to stay busy behind the kit in the years since he stopped playing with Collins in 2010. Fans of progressive music will be happy to learn that he’s part of a new supergroup featuring Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) and Byron House (Robert Plant, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton). The quartet, collectively known as Cosmic Cathedral will release Deep Water, their debut album, on April 25.

The Pretenders will release a new live album entitled Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts on June 13.

The 17-track collection was recorded on the band’s 2024 theater tour, and if it all sounds as great as the three tracks the band has released from the album so far it’s going to knock your socks off.

In a July 2024 Instagram post, Chrissie Hynde explained why she loved playing theaters.

“Over these past years, people often ask why we aren’t playing in bigger venues i e. arenas? The simple answer is: Clubs and theatres are better venues for the audience and for the band.

Personally, I have never stayed for a three hour show, and I like to see the band on stage rather than on screens if I’m in the audience. And if I’m on stage, I like to see every audience member right up to the back of the balcony.

So yes, we could be playing bigger places, making more money, and in some people’s eyes, garnering more prestige…… but we really don’t give a shit about that stuff.

We have loved supporting Stevie Nicks, Phil Collins, Guns N’ Roses, and now the Foo Fighters in huge venues, but for our own shows we like to keep it reined in.

A limited edition heavyweight double vinyl edition of the new live album is available for pre-order exclusively through the band’s website.

You can see the complete Pretenders Live – Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts track list below, and here the album’s versions of “Thumbelina,” “Time the Avenger” and “You Can’t Hurt a Fool.”

Read More: The Pretenders Barnstorm Ohio: Video and Set Lists

The Pretenders will launch a Latin American tour on May 7 in Mexico City. The trek is currently scheduled to conclude on May 24 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Prior to that trip they will play May 1 in Las Vegas and at the Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach, California on May 3rd. Complete information is available from their official website.

Hear the Pretenders Perform ‘Thumbelina’

Hear the Pretenders Perform ‘Time the Avenger’

Hear the Pretenders Perform ‘You Can’t Hurt a Fool’

Pretenders Live – Kick ‘Em Where It Hurts Track List:

1. “Losing My Sense of Taste”
2. “Turf Accountant Daddy”
3. “Talk of the Town”
4. “The Buzz”
5. “Thumbelina”
6. “The Losing”
7. “Private Life”
8. “You Can’t Hurt a Fool”
9. “Don’t Cut Your Hair”
10. “Let the Sun Come In”
11. “I Think About You Daily”
12. “Biker”
13. “Boots of Chinese Plastic”
14. “Back on the Chain Gang”
15. “Time the Avenger”
16. “Hate for Sale”
17. “Middle of the Road”

Pretenders and Chrissie Hynde Albums Ranked

From punk beginnings to middle-of-the-road balladry to Dylan covers.

Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

New wave got its start in the late ’70s with flinty records by Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and Joe Jackson, then was refined into the new decade by forward-thinkers like the Cars, Roxy Music, Gary Numan and Talking Heads. As the ’80s dawned and MTV followed, they joined a string of freshly crowned stars.

But like radio before it, MTV had a way of creating one-hit wonders. The novelty of music videos perhaps inevitably led to a novelty approach to the process. Some of the songs and many of the clips – and, quite frankly, a few of the acts – were overly jokey. Others haven’t aged well.

In the record-label rush to sign, record, tour and (most importantly back then) push new video from the Next Big Thing onto the airwaves, some very promising performers were left behind. That mirrored the previous era of radio, too.

READ MORE: New Wave Acts Who Belong in the Rock Hall

We’ve returned to five new wave acts that should have been bigger, if it weren’t for fate – and, in some instances, the giant divide created by the Atlantic Ocean. Several had success in the U.K., while being largely ignored in America. Others just had bad luck. One proved far more influential than anyone would have guessed back then. It just took time (and Radiohead) to make their impact known.

5. Missing Persons

Missing Persons went missing after consecutive singles “Words” and “Destination Unknown” both stalled outside the Top 40 in 1982. Singer Dale Bozzio’s outlandish style in the accompanying videos may have made them seem like a novelty act. The truth, however, is that Missing Persons had a deep well of musical talent – and some highly recommended deep cuts. Four of its five members had previously worked with Frank Zappa, including Bozzio and her then-spouse, the audacious drummer Terry Bozzio. Secret-weapon guitarist Warren Cuccurullo was later a member of Duran Duran, co-writing the quite gorgeous “Ordinary World.”

4. Lloyd Cole

He spun off four consecutive Top 20 LPs in the U.K. But following a trend with underrated new wave acts, Lloyd Cole’s biggest Billboard single was 1987’s somewhat jokey “My Bag,” released after some of his very best albums had been largely ignored in the U.S. Every song from Rattlesnakes, his 1984 debut with the Commotions, was better. Cole went solo, did orchestral music, launched another band, tried soundtrack work and even electronica. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work – well, in America anyway. Standards, an absolute gem from 2013, recalled his original glories but never got trapped in the past.

3. Siouxsie and the Banshees

Siouxsie and the Banshees emerged from the punk scene, but were never defined by the genre. Or, really, any genre. That may have initially made them too hard to pin down for American audiences, even as Siouxsie’s first nine albums went Top 20 in the U.K. They finally began making fleeting Billboard appearances toward the end of the ’80s (“Peek-a-Boo” and “Kiss Them for Me” topped the alt charts in 1988), but only after smoothing out the edges considerably – at least musically. Siouxsie continued as one of the era’s most daring and inventive performers, and that was no easy feat in the technicolor ’80s.

2. Prefab Sprout

British audiences embraced them, as Prefab Sprout soared into the Top 40 album charts nine times. “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was a (well-deserved) Top 10 hit in the U.K., too. An early association with Thomas Dolby should have helped in the U.S. They probably expected more momentum after 1985’s “When Love Breaks Down” just missed the Top 40 on the college-rock charts. But that was as close as Prefab Sprout ever got to mainstream notice in the U.S., despite writing some of the catchiest, strikingly literate and deeply compassionate music of the era. Frontman Paddy McAloon eventually just packed it in.

1. Talk Talk

Talk Talk was pigeon-holed into synth-pop after the artfully introspective title track from 1984’s It’s My Life reached the Billboard Top 40 and went platinum in the U.K. But the late Mark Hollis‘ restless imagination defied categorization. By the time Talk Talk got to the ’90s Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock had invented the post-rock movement now widely associated with Radiohead. The shift actually started immediately after It’s My Life, when Talk Talk stirred jazz and art rock into 1986’s The Colour of Spring. Their new MTV fans began running for the exits, but Talk Talk clearly had larger aspirations – and they achieved them.

After four intense rounds of voting, only AC/DC and Van Halen are left standing in our Best ’80s Album March Madness bracket.

That’s right, it’s Back in Black vs. 1984 for all the marbles. You’ve only got three days to vote for the best ’80s album in this final round. You can see the results of last week’s voting below, then decide who gets to cut down the nets and douse themselves with champagne.

In the last round, AC/DC’s Back in Black defeated U2’s The Joshua Tree with 74% of the vote. They’ve been railroading through the competition, previously beating Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard of Ozz 78% to 22%, Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required 84% to 16% and the Talking Heads’ Remain in Light 86% to 14%.

Van Halen’s 1984 has had some tougher battles, most recently squeaking by Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction by a single percentage point. The week before they bested Def Leppard’s Hysteria with 56% of the vote. Prior to that Eddie, Dave, Alex and Michael mastered Metallica’s Master of Puppets 64% to 36% and tattooed the Rolling Stones’ Tattoo You 79% to 21%.

So now, we’ve arrived at the end of Ultimate Classic Rock’s Best ’80s Album tournament. You can cast your vote below for the Best ’80s album in our final match up. You can vote once per hour now through April 7 at 11:59PM ET.

The winner will be revealed the day after voting closes.

Adrian Borromeo, UCR

Top 20 1984 Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Albums

It was a triumphant year for the genre, but changes loomed on the horizon.

Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

Chaka Khan said an album of songs she co-wrote with Prince was on the way after red-tape hurdles had been cleared.

The singer reported that the unreleased material featured the pair working with Sly and the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham.

The three funk legends are known to have worked together in 1998. In July of that year Graham’s group Graham Central Station released the Prince-produced album GCS 2000. On the same day Khan released Come 2 My House, which featured Prince as a songwriter, performer and producer.

In 1984 Khan had a worldwide hit with her cover of Prince’s 1979 single “I Feel for You.”

Asked in a new Guardian interview what it was like collaborating with Prince, Khan said: “It was like working with myself, more than anyone else I’ve worked with.”

READ MORE: Prince Estate Afraid of His Humanity, Says Axed Movie Creator

She compared the experience to working with Miles Davis, saying: “He and Prince were very similar – big thinkers. Miles was always looking to grow. Prince was, too.”

She added: “Prince just grabbed ideas out of the air and left you wondering: ‘Where did you get that?’ He was a really deep and beautiful thinker.

“We worked on a lot of songs, and they’re all going to be on a CD I’m soon to release – there’s a lot of red tape that’s been in the way, but we’ve cleared it. It’s him and me and Larry Graham, together.”

Chaka Khan Can’t Remember 4 a.m. Performance with Prince

In the same interview Khan admitted she couldn’t remember performing with Prince and George Benson at a late-night party following Prince’s show at London’s Wembley Arena in 1995.

“Four o’clock in the morning? No one’s doing anything but craziness at four in the morning!” she said. “So I’m sure it was like a wild, wonderful night.”

She added that her attitude to failing memory was: “[D]on’t look for the little details; just remember the big feeling you had. … I don’t remember a lot of what I did. And thank God!

“I’m a ‘next!’ person. Life is about what’s happening now… I’ve done a lot in my life, and over half of it I don’t remember. Did I ever keep a diary? Oh, hell no. That takes a special kind of patience.”

Prince Year by Year: 1977-2016 Photographs

The prolific, genre-blending musician’s fashion sense evolved just as often as his music during his four decades in the public eye.

Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

Metallica’s Master Of Puppets has been streamed one billion times on Spotify.

The 1986 track crossed the 10-digit threshold earlier this week. It’s the California metal titans’ third song to reach the landmark, following Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman, both from their blockbuster 1991 self-titled album (AKA The Black Album).

Master Of Puppets, the title track of Metallica’s lauded third album, was released as a radio single on July 2, 1986, almost four months after its namesake record came out via Elektra. It quickly became a fixture of the band’s setlist and was acclaimed by fans and critics for its technicality and neoclassical touches. Its lyrics refer to the control that alcohol and drug addiction can have over people.

The track was co-written by all of Metallica’s then-members: singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Cliff Burton. It would be one of Burton’s last songwriting credits during his lifetime, as the bassist died in a bus crash while the band were touring Sweden in September 1986. He was 24 years old.

In 2022, Master Of Puppets was featured on the soundtrack of Netflix series Stranger Things’ fourth season and became a mainstream hit. It charted in the US and the UK for the first time since its release and reached number four in the Netherlands.

Amidst the attention post-Stranger Things, Metallica released a music video for the song, 36 years after it first came out, and recorded a viral TikTok of them miming along to the Master Of Puppets scene in the series.

According to setlist database setlist.fm, Master Of Puppets has been performed live 1,758 times, making it Metallica’s most-played song. The band will likely add to that tally when they embark on a run of North American shows later this month. See below for all dates and details.

Apr 19: Syracuse MA Wireless Dome, NY*
Apr 24: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON*
Apr 26: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON+
May 01: Nashville Nissan Stadium, TN*
May 03: Nashville Nissan Stadium, TN+
May 07: Blacksburg Lane Stadium, VA*
May 09: Columbus Sonic Temple, OH
May 11: Columbus Sonic Temple, OH
May 23: Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, PA+
May 25: Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, PA*
May 28: Landover Northwest Stadium, MD*
May 31: Charlotte Bank Of America Stadium, NC*
Jun 3: Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium, GA*
Jun 6: Tampa Raymond James Stadium, FL+
Jun 8: Tampa Raymond James Stadium, FL*
Jun 14: Houston NRG Stadium, TX*
Jun 20: Santa Clara Levi’s Stadium, CA+
Jun 22: Santa Clara Levi’s Stadium, CA*
Jun 27: Denver Empower Field at Mile High, CO+
Jun 29: Denver Empower Field at Mile High, CO*

* Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies support
+ Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills support