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Adam Steiner’s new book, Silhouettes And Shadows – a deep dive into Bowie’s year of fear 1980 and the making of Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) – is out this July in North America, and in September in the UK.

An avant-garde pop album rich with tension and fear, 1980’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) marked a pivotal point in David Bowie’s career. Standing at the bleeding edge of the new decade between the experimental Berlin Trilogy (Low, Heroes, and Lodger) and 1983’s wildly successful Let’s Dance, it was here Bowie sought to bury the ghosts of his past and the golden decade of the 1970s to become a global superstar reaching millions of new fans.

Featuring fresh insights and exclusive interviews with close collaborators, Adam Steiner’s Silhouettes And Shadows uncovers the studio stories, meanings behind, and secret history of Scary Monsters. Steiner gives a nuanced, memorable portrait of Bowie at a personal and professional crossroads, drawing on his own struggle with addiction, growing paranoia, and political turmoil. Including the hit singles “Fashion” and “Ashes To Ashes,” the album found Bowie riding a new wave of inspiration, from the post-punk of Joy Division, The Specials’ two-tone revolution, and the stadium synth-pop of Gary Numan.

The album marked a final goodbye to Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, and The Thin White Duke, characters and personas that had defined his career: in this rare moment, David Bowie, the costumed clown of romance, suffering, and song, let his mask slip to reveal David Jones, the man within

“Steiner’s rich text brilliantly recreates the claustrophobic paranoia and relentless self-analysis of the album.” – Peter Doggett, author of The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie And The 1970s

“Beautifully conceived and written with penetrating insight.” – Chuck Hammer, Guitarist

“Written with a poet’s love for the jumble of words, the critic’s fierce interrogating eye and the fan’s love of music, Silhouettes And Shadows is an essential read for anyone who takes Bowie seriously.” – David Buckley, author of David Bowie – Strange Fascination

Pre-order the book here.

(Photo – Peter Strongwater, 1981)

Rob Zombie recently appeared on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, co-hosted by the comedian and his daughter Jackelyn Shultz. An excerpt has been transcribed as follows: 

Howie Mandel: What are you working on now?

Rob Zombie: “Right now I’m just worrying about the summer tour and the next album, ’cause it’s been a while since I’ve made a record.”

Howie Mandel: Are you writing the album and the music right now?

Rob Zombie: “I was ’til about a week ago. And it’s going good. It’s a long process. I like making records over a long period of time, so that I can live with it. Sometimes you write something and it’s new and you’re all excited cause it’s new and the time goes by, and you’re, like ‘Eh, it’s just exciting cause it’s new. It’s not really that good.’ But if you live with stuff for a while…”

Howie Mandel: When you say you’re writing, or putting together an album, is it just you in a room? Or do you collaborate?

Rob Zombie: “Usually it starts with just me and the producer coming up with ideas, mapping out rough ideas. And then the band will start, ‘I’ve got this idea. And this idea…’ I haven’t stood in a room with a band and jammed on ideas since the early ’90s. Cause I just always found that to be really draining… I like working with one guy behind the board and we formulate ideas and you piece it together — kind of like you would a movie; it’s kind of similar. As opposed to a bunch of guys jamming all day long. You’re, like, ‘Anyone got any ideas?’ ‘Not really’.”

Howie Mandel: How close do you think you are to the next album?

Rob Zombie: “Not close at all. We just have a ton of ideas and I’ve gotta take those ideas, whittle them down, start writing lyrics, see if that makes sense… Hopefully by next summer.”

This summer, Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper will join forces for the 2023 Freaks On Parade Tour. Rounding out the lineup are industrial pioneers Ministry, and eclectic alternative rock act Filter. Tickets are on sale now.

Tour dates:

August
24 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
26 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
27 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
29 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
30 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater

September
1 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
2 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
5 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
6 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
8 – Scranton, PA – The Pavilion at Montage Mountain
9 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
10 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre
12 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
16 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre 
19 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
20 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
22 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion
23 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
24 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre

Ian Anderson expressed confusion over Roger Waters’ political outbursts in recent years.

The Pink Floyd co-founder has created controversy while airing his opinions, notably on the tensions between Israel and Palestine. He recently staged a legal battle to force a German venue to allow him to play after his date was canceled on the allegation that he was antisemitic – an accusation he strenuously denied. He separately argued that Russia was provoked into the invasion of Ukraine.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, Anderson said he couldn’t understand why “someone who’s been doing it as long as he has is seemingly unable to act on the understanding that it’s up to you to convey your ideas in a way that isn’t going to get you a drubbing.”

He added that Waters was “loose-tongued with his convictions, which seem to be a little confused and perhaps not based on reality.” As a result, he suggested, “[he] goes out there ranting and raving, as many others do.”

The Jethro Tull mastermind noted that he keeps in contact with friends in Russia, including a media operative who has to be careful with communication. “He knows that I know that his emails are probably being monitored, so we’ve only skittered around the edges of [the current situation],” he explained. Anderson also spoke of Boris Grebenshchikov of the prog group Aquarium, saying that he’s “Russian to the core, but very anti the current regime, just as he was very critical of the regime in his early life when it was a very brave thing to even try and start a rock band.”

Considering developments in Eastern Europe – which are touched on in the new Jethro Tull album, RokFlote – he said, “I’m not scared for me, but I am for my grandchildren. I do get concerned for what they may be facing. But you can’t worry about it forever, and I prefer to be optimistic in thinking that Putin is the ultimate bluff meister.”

Anderson also revealed he was once something of a doomsday prepper, in the original Cold War era during which nuclear devastation always seemed imminent. “I wasn’t exactly a survivalist, but I did think quite seriously about an escape plan, what to do if the proverbial hit the fan,” he said. “There were two fueled-up vehicles and probably 30 gallons of petrol stashed away. They were the days of easier gun ownership, and there were some fairly serious-looking armaments that I would not have left at home.”

Jethro Tull is currently touring Europe, with North American dates starting in August.

Pink Floyd Albums Ranked

Three different eras, one great band.

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

Zakk Wylde revealed that he and Dimebag Darrell Abbott never jammed when they were spending time together. Even though they respected each others’ abilities, the close friends preferred to focus their energies on partying, the Black Label Society leader told Guitar World in a recent interview.

Asked if he and late Pantera guitarist Dimebag had traded licks in private, Wylde said, “No. Why would we do that? Let’s see. We could be at an Irish pub somewhere laughing our asses off, or we could be working on writing some new music. Hmm. I think we’ll be at the Irish pub! Seriously, man, there was no time to jam. They live in Texas; I was out in California. Whenever we got together it was just to have a good time. … We’d make each other cry, we’d be laughing so hard. But every time we got together it was always hilarious – nothing but pure comedy. And sometimes we caused mayhem.”

Wylde said that when they started “hanging out, of course, we drank. But most of the time drinking with Dime would be over the phone. We talked on the phone all the time for several hours just drinking away.” Asked what powered the pair’s close connection, Wylde replied, “It was a combination of everything. Between the playing, the drinking, how we matched our stilettos and our fishnets with our eyeliner and our rouge – all the typical stuff that brings fellas together!”

The guitarist is currently touring Europe with Pantera in place of Dimebag, with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante replacing Dime’s late brother Vinnie Paul Abbott in the band. The road trip returns to North America in July.

The Metallica Machine is making its way to Hamburg for a No Repeat Weekend starting Friday, May 26, with special guests Architects and MammothWVH. Then, two days later, the band takes the stage again – after special guests Epica and Ice Nine Kills – to perform an entirely different setlist.

They have checked in with the following update:

“Check out the latest exclusive colorway of Juan Ma Orozco’s official Pop-Up Shop poster for Hamburg!

The only place to get your hands on this is the M72 Hamburg Pop-Up Shop, where a limited number of prints will be available each day. So if you’ve got your eye on one, make sure you show up early!

Thursday, May 25 – Sunday, May 28
11 am – 6 pm Barlach Halle K
Klosterwall 13 20095 Hamburg, Germany

Be sure to check out the official #M72 interactive map that will guide you to all the Metallica spots you’ll want to see while you’re in town.

Discover pop-up shops, support gigs, notable sites from Metalli-history, and more. The map will update with new places to visit in each city on the tour, so be sure to check back often.”

Go to this location for the interactive map.

On Wednesday, May 19th, Metallica performed Night 2 of their No Repeat Weekend in Paris, France at Stade de France.  They have shared the setlist, found below. Fan-filmed video of the entire show is also available.

Metallica: “Here’s the set from Night 2 at Stade de France featuring not a single song from Night 1. Over the two shows, we played 32 different songs from 11 different albums & a movie soundtrack too.”

Setlist:

“Creeping Death”
“Harvester of Sorrow”
“Cyanide” (tour debut)
“King Nothing”
“72 Seasons”
“If Darkness Had a Son”
“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
“You Must Burn!”
“The Call of Ktulu”
“The Unforgiven”
“Wherever I May Roam”
“Moth Into Flame”
“Battery”
“Whiskey in the Jar”
“One”
“Enter Sandman”

The new issue of Metal Hammer features Avenged Sevenfold on the cover, and comes with three exclusive gifts: a Deathbat patch, a laptop sticker of their album artwork, and a reaper print.

Inside, we speak to all five members of the band about the making of their brain-meltingly brilliant new record, Life Is But A Dream…, which is inspired by the likes of Mr. Bungle, Daft Punk and Frank Sinatra – as well as psychedelic toad venom. But will this dramatic change in direction pay off for them?

“I was scared,” frontman M. Shadows says of how he felt once they’d finished the record. “What are people going to think when they get to the end of this thing? But that’s exactly what I want.”

Elsewhere, we fly to Amsterdam for the first date of Metallica’s epic M72 World Tour, and report back on all the action from the Snake Pit. We also remember legendary Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman on the 10-year anniversary of his death, and get in the studio with Corey Taylor for an exclusive chat about his next solo album. 

Plus, we speak to Maynard James Keenan about the weird birth of Puscifer, celebrate 20 years of Download, and meet the gatekeeper-baiting ‘bimbocore’ heroine Scene Queen.

All this, and: Royal Thunder, Sevendust, Devildriver, Elegant Weapons, Jesus Piece, Sabaton, Unearth, Limp Bizkit, Witch Fever, Demonstealer, Skindred and much, much more!

Only in the new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.

Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!

Today, six-time JUNO-nominated Canadian hardcore punk heavyweights Cancer Bats unveil the official music video for “Hammering On”. Featuring live footage from their sold-out December 2022 performance at The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, the video captures the band in top form, playing to a packed hometown crowd and connecting every note with their ferocious live energy.

Along with the electrifying title track Psychic Jailbreak, the punishing, southern-tinged banger “Lonely Bong”, the hard-hitting “Pressure Mind” and the hardcore anthem “Radiate”, “Hammering On” is taken from the band’s critically-praised and JUNO-nominated seventh studio album Psychic Jailbreak, which dropped in April 2022 via the band’s own label Bat Skull Records in partnership with New Damage Records. A band favourite, “Hammering On” showcases the bands love of all things stoner, sludge and Sabbath and features soaring duet vocals from Brooklyn Doran.

Tonight, Cancer Bats are kicking off their East Coast dates in support of Psychic Jailbreak. The band will play Charlottetown, PEI this evening at Trailside Cafe and are set to play Moncton, Halifax and Sydney, NS over the next few days. For a list of all upcoming Canadian tour dates and to purchase tickets, head to cancerbats.com.

Dates:

May
24 – Charlottetown, PEI – Trailside Café
25 – Moncton, NB – Xeroz
26 – Halifax, NS – Seahorse
27 – Sydney, NS – Curling Club 

July
8 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage (support for Billy Talent)

(Photo – Sid Tang)