Goldmine contributor Bryan Reesman recently conducted an interview with WHITESNAKE frontman David Coverdale. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

On working with WHITESNAKE guitarist Doug Aldrich:

"After developing a good friendship from touring and hanging out, it was inevitable that we would gravitate towards musical conversation rather than just conversation. It's very similar to my fabulous friendship/relationship/partnership with Adrian Vandenberg. Great pals, and that translated into a very healthy and very creative relationship. You don't need to be aggressively and negatively beating the shit out of each other in order to create good rock music. Otherwise, I'd still be working with some assholes from my past!"

On seeing Jimmy Page after a recent show:

"He said, 'I wish we did more together again.' I said, 'Don't worry.' I was delighted with what we did. It was an honor and privilege to work with one of my heroes, and [who] now is one of my dearest friends, who I love and adore and support."

On his departure from DEEP PURPLE:

“I left PURPLE after the show in Liverpool. It was so f**king embarrassing. I did not want to be part of dragging PURPLE into the mud, the details of which I don't really want to go into right now because it would involve personal critiques of several of the members. The circumstance was I left and was asked to keep it quiet until some of the members had decided what course to pursue. But I was an emotional wreck at the end of it. Drugs had come in in a much more overt way, and it was awful to turn around and see some of the founding members playing with their heads down out of shame. I just went, 'F**k it; I'm out of here.' I just couldn't do it anymore. I didn't want to be part of the demise of the legacy of DEEP PURPLE. DEEP PURPLE was an unbelievably beloved band and still is in Europe."

On his druggie days in PURPLE:

"I had what I would call '1 percent Yorkshire sense.' You'd go, 'Okay, this is the last line for the night.' Then, five minutes later, another one. I didn't dive into it body, mind, and soul as some did, but I certainly did enough to know about it.”

On life lessons he has learned:

"These are impossible questions. The best life lesson I can tell anybody is balance. That's the best thing I can offer. That and a great lawyer and a great accountant. And a great woman in your life. It took me a few tries, but I'm absolutely, utterly blessed with my dear wife. I have it all, babe. I'm the luckiest bastard I know."

Read the entire interview at www.goldminemag.com. 

ANOTHER Guitar Hero Rip-off.... but with better songs!

According to PSXExtreme, classic tracks from METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, JUDAS PRIEST, DEEP PURPLE and MEGADETH are featured in the upcoming Rock Revolution video game from Konami. Due on October 14 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Rock Revolution will boast both guitar and drum peripherals. You'll be able to create your own tracks, test out each individual instrument, and of course, have a legitimate blast with several friends.

The following tracks are slated to appear in Rock Revolution:

01. All My Life" - FOO FIGHTERS
02. All the Small Things" - BLINK-182
03. Am I Evil?" - METALLICA
04. Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - JET
05. Bad Reputation" - JOAN JETT
06. Blitzkrieg Bop" - RAMONES
07. Chop Suey!" - SYSTEM OF A DOWN
08. Cum on Feel the Noize" - QUIET RIOT
09. Dance, Dance" - FALL OUT BOY
10. Detroit Rock City" - KISS
11. Diary of Jane" - BREAKING BENJAMIN
12. Dirty Little Secret" - ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
13. Dr. Feelgood" - MÖTLEY CRÜE
14. The End of Heartache" - KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
15. Falling Away from Me" - KORN
16. Given Up" - LINKIN PARK
17. Heading Out to the Highway" - JUDAS PRIEST
18. Highway Star" - DEEP PURPLE
19. Holy Wars… The Punishment Due" - MEGADETH
20. Joker & the Thief" - WOLFMOTHER
21. Kiss Me Deadly" - LITA FORD
22. Last Resort" - PAPA ROACH
23. Magic Man" - HEART
24. No One Like You" - SCORPIONS
25. Our Truth" - LACUNA COIL
26. Pain" - THREE DAYS GRACE
27. Paralyzer" - FINGER ELEVEN
28. Pull Me Under" - DREAM THEATER
29. Round and Round" - RATT
30. Run to the Hills" - IRON MAIDEN
31. Sk8er Boi" - AVRIL LAVIGNE
32. Somebody Told Me" - THE KILLERS
33. Spoonman" - SOUNDGARDEN
34. The Spirit of Radio" - RUSH
35. Still of the Night" - WHITESNAKE
36. Stone Cold Crazy" - QUEEN
37. Walk" - PANTERA
38. We’re Not Gonna Take It" - TWISTED SISTER
39. White Room" - CREAM
40. Won’t Get Fooled Again" - THE WHO
41. Youth Gone Wild" - SKID ROW 

Axl Rose Biography

According to New York Post's Page Six, GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose held debauched sex parties at his home — with all female visitors ordered to "get naked or leave." In "Watch You Bleed", Stephen Davis' new bio of the California rockers, Rose recalls, "There was a lot of indoor and outdoor sex . . . People would show up at all hours and we'd talk the girls into climbing into our loft, and somebody would hit the light and go, 'All right! . . . Get naked or leave!' This one girl, she [bleep]ed almost the whole band, friends of the band, and the band next door. Two days later, she comes back and goes, 'Axl, I'm having your child.'" 


Ripper Replies to Rob

Former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens has commented on Rob Halford's assertion that "a straight man" can't do Halford's job in the legendary British heavy metal band.

In a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News, Halford — who revealed he was homosexual during a 1998 appearance on MTV — explained why he believes that he's the only man capable of fronting JUDAS PRIEST. "To be brutally honest, 'Jugulator' and 'Demolition' [the two PRIEST albums made with Owens as frontman] were affected by my not being in the band, much like when Bruce Dickinson went away from IRON MAIDEN, the way VAN HALEN [was] affected when David Lee Roth left," Rob is quoted as saying. "But I don't think a straight man can do my job in JUDAS PRIEST. I've never said that before. I'm sorry, but they can't."

After reading Rob's remarks on Friday (August 22), Owens — who replaced Halford as PRIEST's frontman in 1996 — told BLABBERMOUTH.NET in an e-mail, "HAHAHAHAHAHA... Rob can be a funny dude! I feel like I did a good job in PRIEST and I'm straight! But Rob is a friend and the guys in PRIEST are all friends of mine! So, really, I will leave it at that.... But, man, that was a pretty funny comment. [It] had to be taken out of context or the question [was] just asked in a strange way, 'cause Rob would not just say that... I'm still laughing though. That just brightened up my day!"

Tim "Ripper" Owens:



Rob Halford 

More Metallica Samples And Interview

A sixth short audio sample of a new METALLICA song has been posted on the group's official web site: Windows Media, Real Media.

Previously released samples:

Sample #5:

Windows Media
Real Media

Sample #4:

Windows Media
Real Media

Sample #3:

Windows Media
Real Media

Sample #2:

Windows Media
Real Media

Sample #1:

Windows Media
Real Media


The latest issue of UK's Kerrang! magazine (web site) includes an interview with METALLICA and report on the band's July 27, 2008 concert in Istanbul, Turkey. A couple of excerpts from the interview portion of the article follow.

On staying relevant more than 25 years after the band's formation:

James Hetfield (guitar, vocals): "Despite the earthquake that is going on in the record industry, this band is still relevant. We worked through our problems and now we've gone to work capturing our musical essence. We've challenged ourselves; we're hungry."

"We understand the importance of staying relevant. We understand the importance of playing new songs. We understand how important it is not to become a nostalgia act. No one in the band wants us to be that. [METALLICA] still has something to offer. No matter what the public thinks, as a band we will do what we have to do. We always have."

On METALLICA's new album, "Death Magnetic":

Lars Ulrich (drums): "I can honestly say that this album is the best album we could possibly have made. Can I guarantee that people will like it as much as they like our older albums? No, I can't; I can't offer any guarantees. But I promise you that we could not have made a better album."

Kirk Hammett (guitar): "This album is some of the best music we've made in the past 15 years. A lot of the albums we made post-'Black' album were us trying to get away from a perceived METALLICA sound. That was the right thing for us at the time, but we don't feel we haveto do that anymore. And to be truthful, it's fun to play fast, to be heavy. We're now all on the same page with regards to that. I'd even go so far as to say that we even missed playing that way."

James Hetfield: "This album has a hunger and a youthfulness about it. We had a new producer, a new bass player… and we worked really hard to get it right. So when you ask me if it is good, if it's really good, I can honestly say, 'Yes, it is!'"

Kirk Hammett: "I think we're all aware of the danger of becoming a band that exists in the past. I think any band that's been around as long as we have has to face that. But ['Death Magnetic'] is going to prove to people that we never lost our ability to make an album like this. We just chose not to. And I'll stand by those words."


New Randy Rhoads Sculpter

KnuckleBonz has created a second sculpture of late guitarist legend Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT) in association with the Randy Rhoads estate. The figure is sculpted and hand-painted and available only in a very limited edition of 3,000 worldwide. Each is hand-numbered and has a certificate of authenticity on the base of the sculpture.

The Randy Rhoads II figure is officially licensed through the Randy Rhoads Charitible Trust. The sculpture has already been completed and approved by the family and KnuckleBonz is in the paint-production phase now. A fall release is expected.

A number of photos taken at Randy Rhoads's gravesite at the Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino, CA on March 19, 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of Randy's passing have been posted online at this location.

With the blessings of the family of Randy Rhoads, Dakota Pictures and director Peter Margolis began filming the "Randy Rhoads Documentary" last year at the Mountain View Cemetery. In hopes to fully capture the significance of the 25th anniversary of Randy's passing, the filmmakers interviewed as many of Randy's fans as possible.

In 1982, Rhoads, the then-lead guitarist for OZZY OSBOURNE, and two others were killed at Flying Baron Estates, just outside Leesburg, Florida, when their small plane struck Osbourne's tour bus, then crashed into a mansion.

 

Testament Guitarist Interview

Scott Tady of TimesOnline.com recently conducted an interview with TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

TimesOnline.com: What's been the highlight or craziest moment of the ["Metal Masters Tour" with HEAVEN AND HELL, MOTÖRHEAD and JUDAS PRIEST]?

Alex: The best part of it happens almost every night when my friends come to the show, and together, with my all-access pass, we get to go front row for BLACK SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST. I love meeting up with my friends and watching some of the best bands of all time. There have been a couple nights where I've been front row and (JUDAS PRIEST's) Glenn Tipton has noticed me and made faces at me. My friends congratulated me because I got props from Glenn.

TimesOnline.com: Congratulations on a strong new album, one that might ultimately be TESTAMENT's most successful. Why do you suppose "The Formation of Damnation" was your highest-charting album, here, nearly 25 years into the band's career?

Alex: I think there are a number of reasons. One is that when the original lineup got back together, we didn't think about doing a record until it felt right. Despite cries from certain sections of the fans and media to hurry up and do a record, we just took our time. When we ended up doing it, we meant business. I don't think we wanted to do one until we were in that place. I think that there was also a need for a good classic metal record that also felt current.

TimesOnline.com: A hardball question on behalf of people weaned on pure '80s metal: Which has hurt heavy-metal more, POISON, CINDERELLA and the other "hair-metal" bands; or today's guttural, Cookie Monster-voiced death metal bands?

Alex: Ha ha, it's hard to say. I would say neither because that's a general stereotype. There are bands from both genres that are good, and there are bands that are bad. Occasionally the bad ones get all the attention, and it can hurt the overall impact and image of metal in general.

Read the entire interview from TimesOnline.com. 


New Queen Album Pushed Back

The North American release date of QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS's new album, "The Cosmos Rocks", has been pushed back to October 28 from the previously announced October 14. The CD will still arrive in Europe on September 15 via EMI/Parlophone.

"The Cosmos Rocks" was recorded and mixed at QUEEN drummer Roger Taylor's The Priory studio between November 2007 and August 2008, and co-produced and engineered by Joshua J Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson. It marks the first album of newly recorded material from QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS since they first set out on the road in 2005, and the first QUEEN studio album since 1995.

A first single from the album, "C-lebrity", will be released September 8 in enhanced CD, 7", and digital formats. Versions contain exclusive performances of QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS live performances of "Show Must Go On" and "Fire and Water" filmed during Q + PR's 2005 Japanese tour.

The track, according to Roger Taylor — and seemingly much in keeping with many on "The Cosmos Rocks" — is the writers' skew on the times in which we live: "'C-lebrity' is really a comment on the current concept of fame — success and all that goes with it. Getting your face on TV is enough — talent doesn't really enter into the equation. 'Celebrity' is an overused and devalued word today. I think the song shows we have lost none of the humour ofQUEEN!"

The album is released in three physical formats: standard CD, deluxe package which includes additional DVD featuring 15 highlight performances by QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS from the band's Super Live in Japan concert recorded live at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo on October 27, 2005, along with double gatefold vinyl release. The album will also have a special digital release including bonus tracks.

Coinciding with the release of "The Cosmos Rocks", QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS embark on a 33-date Europe and Northern Eurasia tour beginning mid-September. The tour reaches the UK on October 10 with 11 dates including two at London 02 and the tour's final date at Wembley Arena on November 8.

"The Cosmos Rocks" track listing:

01. Cosmos Rockin'
02. Time To Shine
03. Still Burnin'
04. Small
05. Warboys
06. We Believe
07. Call Me
08. Voodoo
09. Some Things That Glitter
10. C-lebrity
11. Through The Night
12. Say It's Not True
13. Surf's Up . . . School's Out!
14. (small reprise)

A special edition CD/DVD featuring a bonus disc containing a recording of QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS at Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo on October 27, 2005 will also be made available.

The DVD track listing is as follows:

01. Reaching Out (Hill / Black)
02. Tie Your Mother Down (May)
03. Fat Bottomed Girls (May)
04. Another One Bites The Dust (Deacon)
05. Fire And Water (Rodgers / Fraser)
06. Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Mercury)
07. Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) (May)
08. These Are The Days Of Our Lives (Queen)
09. Radio Ga Ga (Taylor)
10. Can't Get Enough (Ralphs)
11. I Was Born To Love You (Mercury)
12. All Right Now (Rodgers / Fraser)
13. We Will Rock You (May)
14. We Are The Champions (Mercury)
15. God Save The Queen (Trad. Arr. May)

QUEEN's last studio album was "Made In Heaven", released in November 1995 and containing the last recordings with Freddie. The LP became the band's biggest selling studio album, with world sales in excess of 20 million. 


Peter Criss Interview

40° 74° magazine has published a new interview with original KISS drummer Peter Criss and his wife Gigi about their life in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

"That was it for me," Criss said of his decision to leave KISS for the last time in 2003. "That was like: Ace [Frehley, guitar] ain't here. This ain't the original band. I said to Gigi, 'I can't do this with these guys. I made this band what it is. I'm one of the founding fathers. No matter who they get to put stuff on their face, it ain't us. You can take the mask off the Lone Ranger and put it on someone else, but it ain't the Lone Ranger.' We ended it on my 58th birthday, which couldn't have been more apropos."

Regarding his home in Spring Lake, New Jersey, Criss said, "The year before we got married, I came out here for Christmas. I hadn't had a Christmas with snow for eons. I really missed it in California. We were dating then. I was taking the garbage down. There were all these deer surrounding the garbage area. They were beautiful, man. I just love deer anyway. Some people can shoot them. I don't get that.

"Something happened an epiphany, call it what you want. But I just felt God said, 'You're gonna marry this girl, and you're gonna live here.'

"I said (to Gigi), 'Go find a house. Buy it. Make sure it’s got a pool, a lot of privacy and land.' Gigi looked at a bunch of places. I came here. We named the house Harmony. I fell in love with it. I've got land, I have privacy, I have my studio downstairs, I have a pool. I have all the great things a kid from Brooklyn — trust me — never had. What more do you really want in life?

"I find here and now is a great place for Peter Criss. I love it here. It's paradise."

Read the entire article from 40° 74° magazine.

Alice Cooper Interview

Steven Patrick of Uweekly.com recently conducted an interview with rock legend Alice Cooper. An excerpt from the chat follows.

Uweekly.com: Would you agree that "Along Came A Spider" is a "return-to-form" album for you?

Alice: I really kind of do my albums for my fans. I realize I'm not breaking any new ground out there. I don't think OZZY is, or AEROSMITH is, either. We have our fans. We've had them for a long time. We are getting new fans because kids that like MARILYN MANSON immediately go, "Who's this ALICE COOPER that they're always talking about?" Then they bring up my website on the Internet and go, "Wait a minute…I like this guy even better…and he's got 25 albums out!" So, they rediscover me…but honestly, when I do an album, I'm not thinking about, "Boy, I really got to get the FOO FIGHTERS' audience." [laughs] I'm thinking that I've got to satisfy my audience. I spent more time in the production of this one, and I think that's what they mean by going "back to form." It probably reminds them more of "Welcome to My Nightmare", and that's fine because when we do this production on stage next year, it will be like "Welcome to My Nightmare". It will be a full-out Alice production. The album is already doing great. It's charting great, it's selling great, pre-orders are amazing. It's already surpassed in one week all the other albums combined. I must have found something in here that works.

Uweekly.com: So much of your work deals with teenage angst and rebellion; how do you still tap into that at age 60?

Alice: Well, the good thing about it is that I don't. Alice does. I don't know how old Alice is. When he's doing "Eighteen" he's 18. When he's doing "School's Out" he's 15, 16, 17 years old, I guess. You know, because, how old is Dracula? How old is Batman? How old is any fictitious character? They really don't have an age. You know, so when I'm on stage and I'm doing "Eighteen", believe me, I'm as 18 as any kid out there that's 18…maybe more. When I get offstage, of course I go, "Well, I can't say you're 18"…you know, Alice has got to be 18. Then there are other times when Alice needs to be a hundred. You know, he needs to be coming out of a crypt somewhere, so I kind of adapt him to whatever I need him to be.

Read the entire interview at Uweekly.com. 


Reissue of No Bull

According to a posting on the AC/DC Rising Power web site, the new version of AC/DC's "No Bull" DVD — featuring the band's July 10, 1996 performance at Plaza de Toros in Madrid, Spain — will be released on September 9 (one day earlier internationally).

It will be available both in DVD and Blu-ray format and will feature:

* Remixed and remastered sound (Stereo and 5.1 surround) and new transfer in HD.
* "Shoot To Thrill", "Hail Caesar", "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and "You Shook Me All Night Long" with the Angus Young angle of view.
- Bonus: "Cover You In Oil" recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden, and "Down Payment Blues" in Daytona, USA
* 12-page booklet
* Discography

AC/DC's new album, "Black Ice", has had its release date pushed up one week, from October 28 to October 21. The record, AC/DC's first in eight years, will be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart.

The first single from "Black Ice", titled "Rock 'n Roll Train", will arrive at radio stations August 28. A source at Harddrive Radio described it as "smoking hot. It's AC/DC like we love them, loud, anthemic and hard!"

"Black Ice" is AC/DC's first new studio effort since 2000's "Stiff Upper Lip". It was recorded at a Canadian studio with PEARL JAM and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN producer Brendan O'Brien.

The legendary rockers are slated to begin an 18-month world tour in October, with the trek reportedly kicking off on around Halloween in Chicago.

The 1977 AC/DC song "Let There Be Rock" will be featured in the new Rock Band 2 video game, due out in September. This will mark the band's first and so far only contribution to a video game soundtrack.