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KISS Webcast This Week
(PR) KISS on Facebook via a Ustream streaming link live from their show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 9 pm PST on Wednesday, November 25. This is the first-ever live web concert for one of rock’s most iconic bands as KISS celebrates the release of their new, three-song Guitar Hero track pack featuring Modern Day Delilah, I Was Made for Loving You and Lick It Up.
Users can watch and interact by visiting the official KISS Facebook page at facebook.com/KISS or on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kiss-live to connect with other KISS fans for a personal chat and live video experience in real-time during the show.
AEROSMITH’S STEVEN TYLER IS WRITING HIS MEMOIRS
Steven Tyler has opened up about his rumored hiatus from Aerosmith – he’s taking some time off to write a book while his injured shoulder heals.
The group has been thrown into chaos in recent weeks, with Tyler’s baffled band mates admitting he’s kept them in the dark over whether he plans to continue as their frontman.
Guitarist Joe Perry recently claimed Tyler is planning to take a “two-year” hiatus, leaving the band in turmoil.
However, a spokesperson for the frontman is adamant Tyler is just taking a quick break while he recovers from a shoulder injury, which he sustained after falling off stage at a gig in August.
The rep adds that Tyler is using his time productively – he is writing his autobiography, telling People.com, “He’s concentrating on his book right now while his shoulder heals.”
Rock Like AC/DC With New Angus Young Gibson SG
We know we have a lot of AC/DC fans here, and we know many of them play guitar so here is big news for you from Gibson: For more than 35 years, AC/DC has represented the archetypal “big rock” guitar sound, setting the standards for countless bands to follow. In particular, Angus Young’s incendiary lead tone and mammoth rhythm crunch have inspired wave after wave of rock guitar heroes, and he has done it all on a Gibson SG Standard. The SG replaced the underappreciated Les Paul Standard in 1961, and while the Les Paul would surface later in the decade as a rock and blues classic, the new SG (originally named Les Paul/SG) was an instant hit in its own right. Its simple yet inspired ingredients of thin, all-mahogany body and neck and two Gibson humbucking pickups gave it a snappy attack with a muscular punch, and its slim, fast neck yielded unprecedented playability. Now the Gibson Custom Shop offers its reproduction of one of the world’s most renowned SGs in the form of the Angus Young SG, a Limited Edition that captures the tone, look, and feel of this rare specimen among a classic breed, but which updates this legendary guitar with custom modifications requested by Angus himself.
Angus Young acquired his 1968 SG Standard in 1970, and has used it on all major AC/DC recordings and many tours since the band’s inception in 1973. Young’s ’68 SG is known to be a superb example of this model, with an unusually slim neck, pickups that blend just the right proportions of power and sweetness, and a resonant, vocal tone that represents the best of the SG formula. Listen closely to any classic AC/DC tune, and the tone is huge, but not filthy or fizzy. Angus’s ’68 SG achieves a stunning clarity and definition right within its bone-crushing thump and grind. With utmost attention to detail, the Angus Young SG seeks to achieve that tone, aided by a pair of custom-spec Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucking pickups. And with 50 guitars out of the total run of 250 aged in-house by Gibson and signed by Angus himself, this outstanding Custom Shop reproduction also nails the look of this legendary guitar, with upgraded modifications at Angus’s request, including an ebony fingerboard with “lightning bolt” inlays (a further 200 guitars will receive the VOS treatment). The Custom Shop Angus Young SG will also be sold with a custom Certificate of Authenticity, a Gibson Custom Shop hardshell case, and a full range of owner’s manuals and instruction sheets.
Feuding rockers Aerosmith looking for new singer
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Who wants to become the new singer for Aerosmith?
The lead guitarist with one of America’s most successful rock groups said on Monday that he and his bandmates were “positively looking for a new singer to work with,” following a rift with energetic frontman Steven Tyler.
Joe Perry, 59, made the announcement on his Twitter page, ratcheting up an unusually public feud with his songwriting partner of 40 years.
The duo, dubbed the “Toxic Twins” for their hard-living days of yore, wrote such classic-rock staples as “Walk this Way” and “Love in an Elevator.” Their musical relationship has been likened to that of their role models, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
But Tyler, 61, recently said he wants to concentrate on solo endeavors, a claim he has made in the past but never followed through on. He also stopped communicating with the rest of the band several months ago, and hired his own manager.
Perry told Reuters last month that Tyler has refused to write a song with him for a decade. More recently, Perry said that the last time he phoned Tyler, the singer hung up on him.
Incredibly, the band has still managed to perform concerts, but a summer trek through North America was cut short in August when Tyler fell off the stage and broke his shoulder. None of his bandmates accompanied him to the hospital.
“BRAND TYLER”
In recent weeks, Aerosmith reunited for a pair of shows in Hawaii, and then performed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 1, temporarily papering over the cracks to recoup some of the revenue lost by the canceled American tour.
But Tyler surprised his bandmates by telling Britain’s Classic Rock magazine, in an article published last Wednesday, that he would focus on his own projects, “Brand Tyler,” as he dubbed it.
His bandmates were less than enthusiastic about being sidelined. In the same article, guitarist Brad Whitford raised the possibility of bringing in a new vocalist.
Tyler was “one of a kind,” it quoted Whitford as saying. “But if somebody was willing to do it and the chemistry was right, why not?”
Perry quickly took to Twitter to express his dismay at learning about Tyler’s apparent departure online, and he described Tyler’s attitude as “a bit cold.”
In his Twitter messages on Monday, in which he referred to Tyler simply as “one of the members,” Perry denied Aerosmith would break up, saying the band was playing “hotter than ever.”
“You just can’t take 40 years of experience and throw it in the bin!”
At any rate, Perry is now focusing on his own endeavors. He just released his fifth solo album, and plans an extensive world tour early next year.
Aerosmith previously fell apart in 1979, when Perry quit the band during its drug-fueled nadir. Whitford soon followed, leaving the rest of the band to limp along. The original lineup reconvened in 1984, sobered up, and eventually enjoyed a successful 1990s comeback fueled by MTV videos.
But the band has not released a studio album of new material since 2001. Recording sessions since then have been interrupted by ailments affected virtually every band member. For his part, Tyler did a stint in rehab last year.
While Perry has been vocal about the feud, Tyler has largely kept silent. But his daughter, Mia, also took to Twitter on Monday to defend him and to make a dig at Perry.
“They are in their 60s now,” she wrote. “Let them do what they wanna do! & can someone please tell (Joe Perry) that gossiping on Twitter is uncalled (for)!”
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia responded to the feud by moving Tyler to its list of former Aerosmith members, but then restored him to the current lineup amid the uncertainty.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman)
Slash Finishes Recording His Solo CD
The solo album from former Guns N’ Roses and current Velvet Revolver guitar legend Slash is almost complete, with the final songs being mixed as Slash gears up for a benefit show later this month.
He updated his Myspace with the following: We’re a little more than 2 weeks away from the LAYN “Slash & friends” fundraiser, Nov 22nd at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood Ca. George Lopez is hosting an indulgent night of Rock & Roll with special guests, Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, Perry Farrell, Chester Bennington, Andrew Stockdale, Franky Perez, Dave Navarro, Travis Barker, Chris Chaney & myself. The set is going to be killer & the whole event is supporting an awesome cause. Remaining tickets are available at: Its going to be one for the books for sure.
The tracking for my record is completely done & we only have 3 songs left to mix. I’m extremely happy about how the whole thing turned out, I think you’re going to dig it. Also, there is a single dropping in Japan this month that I did recorded with Koshi Inaba from the B’z. The song is called “Sahara” & is only available for sale in Japan & won’t be on the domestic release of the cd. There is a surprise B-Side you gotta check out.
Zakk Wylde Speaks Out About Ozzy Kiss Off and More
(antiMusic) Music Radar has an in-depth interview with Zakk Wylde where he discusses a lot of different topics. One of the more interesting things we learn from the exchange is how Zakk found out that Ozzy had fired him. Here is that part of the interview:
“Well, I found out from Neil Zlozower, ’cause he was doing a photo shoot with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. He calls up and goes, ‘Hey dude, I hear you’re not playing with Ozzy anymore.’ I go, ‘Where’d you hear this?” And he’s like, ‘I heard it from Gene and Paul.’ So I go, ‘Well, I guess I’m not playing with Ozzy!'” [laughs]
He shows his gracious side as well with this comment: “Gus, who’s playing with him, he’s f**king awesome. So I hope he has a millisecond of the good time I had – that’s a f**king lifetime. Gus will have a f**king blast, you know what I mean?”
The Legend Of Rock 