This year is the 30th anniversary of the Guns N' Roses ambitious Use Your Illusion albums, and to mark the occasion, Ultimate Classic Rock is doing something pretty cool by diving into the background of each song on the records with a new one every day. The track I got to tell the story behind... Continue Reading →
35 Years Ago: Alice Cooper Makes a Comeback with ‘Constrictor’
Back when I was a wee lad, I thought Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives was one of the greatest films ever made. What can I say? Back then all I needed was some jump scares, ridiculously obscene kills, a fitting soundtrack and I was sold. The year after it came out, it ran... Continue Reading →
Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out for Charlie Watts.
The backbone of the Rolling Stones has passed at the age of 80. Rest in Peace.
KISS Resume ‘End of the Road’ Tour
Kiss resumed their End of the Road tour last night at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Mass. more than 17 months since the last show of the trek, with this current leg having been interrupted and significantly rerouted since it was first announced in Dec. 2019 due to COVID-19. The band showed little signs of rust though,... Continue Reading →
Surging Covid wreaks havoc on concert tours
Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like live music was finally back on track more than a year after the COVID-19 outbreak caused hundreds of artists around the world to be pulled off the road. Now, it’s starting to look like the celebration of live music returning may have been a bit premature as... Continue Reading →
Did Metallica Steal from Other Artists for ‘Enter Sandman’?
It's one thing to have what is arguably the greatest crossover heavy metal song in history. It's quite another to be accused to finding major amounts of inspiration in said song not just in independent acts from a parallel label, but the guitarist and co-founder you fired many years prior. An unknown Los Angeles band,... Continue Reading →
30 Years Ago: Metallica Wake Up the Mainstream with ‘Enter Sandman’
It's hard to believe 30 years have passed since "Enter Sandman" completely changed the way the mainstream viewed heavy metal. Metallica ended up with one of the biggest hits of their career, shifted both radio and MTV in one fell swoop, and it all happened by riffing on a nightmare scenario of getting sand in... Continue Reading →
Talking the Mysterious Death of Jim Morrison on Coast to Coast AM
Tonight (Friday, July 9) I’ll be appearing on Coast to Coast AM to talk about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Jim Morrison, 50 years after the world found out that the singer for the Doors had died of heart failure in Paris at the age of 27. Was it simply a case of... Continue Reading →
Roundtable: David Lee Roth’s Debut LP vs. Van Halen’s First with Sammy Hagar
The Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth debate will likely go on forever, but the first time any real comparison could be made was when the latter dropped his debut solo LP, Eat 'Em and Smile, in July 1986, a scant few months after Van Halen released their first effort with Hagar at the mic,... Continue Reading →
Roundtable: Was ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ the Right Move for Van Halen?
Following two keyboard-driven albums, Van Halen got back to basics on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, their third LP with singer Sammy Hagar. Part of that had to do with the ever shifting musical landscape and a need to stay relevant, but it also was due to bringing in producer Andy Johns, who had previously worked... Continue Reading →