The Great Rock News Report 04.23.08

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 04.23.2008

Are Metallica really set to collaborate with Amy Lee on their forthcoming album? When can we expect new material from Stone Temple Pilots and AC/DC? Is Michael Jackson going to be working with Fall Out Boy? The answers to these questions and more, inside!

Guess who's back. More importantly, guess what he's bringing back with him; the Great [Wednesday] Rock News Report [Vol. 666].

Having only confirmed my return to the site Monday night, I didn't have a lot of time to fulfil my duties in both music and wrestling for today, but I did get both done. All the news is here, from Stone Temple Pilots to Metallica to HIM. AC/DC and Staind offer up updates on forthcoming albums while The Used prepare to set off on tour.

Enough with the festivities, on with the show.

Brian Johnson says AC/DC finished recording new CD

According to AC/DC front man Brian Johnson, the band has completed the recording process for their much-anticipated new album, due for a late 2008 release. The album will be produced by Brendan O'Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, Audioslave) and will be their first new release on Epic Records.

Johnson also revealed that the band will now take care of cover art as well as promotion for the album before embarking on a tour towards the end of the year. Depending on what you hear and who you believe, this tour may well be a farewell tour.

New Stone Temple Pilots material to follow tour

STP bassist Robert DeLeo revealed in an interview with Billboard that the group would likely hit the studio soon after their reunion tour comes to an end.

"I think new material will come probably after this tour. I think the whole thing now is kind of getting back and re-acclimating ourselves to the songs that we know. I think that's gonna make for a better atmosphere and better performances ... instead of doing a new record."

The band are just a few weeks away from being their reunion tour, which begins May 17 at the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, and is due to wrap up Aug. 31 at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle. DeLeo says the outing is "a pretty big goal" but is optimistic that the band is up for the challenge.

"In our prime we didn't get through fourth months of touring," he says with a laugh. "It's a pretty big bite, but I think there's a lot more clarity this time around and a lot more wisdom to go along with the music itself.

"I personally think it's gonna make for a better atmosphere. I think we're just keeping an open attitude and trying to enjoy this for once or twice or three times in my career out of all the times we've been together. It'd be great to enjoy this, y'know? I think we all deserve it. We all earned it."

Fall Out Boy pay tribute to Michael Jackson with new video

Boning Ashlee Simpson he may be, but Wentz still can't afford to get MJ involved…

Fall Out Boy will pay homage to the career of Michael Jackson in the video for the new single – a cover of the singer's hit, ‘Beat It'.

Patrick Stump, the band's frontman, said the video had been inspired by all Jackson's videos but made "on a Fall Out Boy budget, so it's not quite as fancy."
The band's cover of the song has become a firm favourite with fans and recently featured on their live DVD ****

Speaking about the concept of the video, bassist Pete Wentz said: "If there were all these places where MJ can make his comeback, I would suggest this video.

"He should really let the world know he's still around. I don't know what our budget is, but I know it does not include enough to get him here.
?"Multiple calls were not returned. I don't think Michael Jackson has a number."
?Fall Out Boy's video for ‘Beat It' is expected to premiere over the coming weeks.

Amy Lee shoots down rumours of a Metallica collaboration

The rumours of Metallica getting together with Evanescence front-woman Amy Lee have quickly been denied by Lee via her online blog. According to reports, Amy Lee was set to collaborate on a new track Last Life as well as a re-working of Metallica classic Fade To Black, both of which would appear on the band's ninth studio album that is due out later this year.

However, Lee blogs; "I am NOT going to be collaborating with Metallica. I have absolutely no idea where this rumour came from, but it is not true."

And that is the sound of many a Metallica fan breathing a big sigh of relief, although to be honest, there are few people Metallica could work with and not improve on their last couple of efforts.

2003's St. Anger was heavily criticized and is widely considered the bands worst work.

Amy Lee meanwhile, is apparently busy writing for the follow-up to The Open Door, Evanescence's second album released in 2006.

Panic At The Disco waste little time getting started on new album

Rewind about a month to when all those pesky scene kids were going giddy in anticipation for Pretty. Odd., the follow-up to 2005's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Upon hearing the new album, half of Panic's fans found themselves in despair because the band tried something a little different and needless to say, it wasn't quite the scene kids expected. But then the other half ate it up, because it's Panic and they'll buy whatever the band puts out.

Pretty. Odd. lived up to the hype. It's everything the band said it would be, very Beatles-esque, a lot less depressing and overall, pretty fucking odd. But now guitarist Ryan Ross has revealed that the band are already thinking ahead to their next album.

"We've written a bunch of songs since recording Pretty. Odd.," Ross told Billboard. "We've probably got about nine or ten new songs going right now, so I hope that after our tour and all that, we can do another record."

When asked about the direction of the new album, Ross said it would follow along the same lines as their sophomore effort though he said he's "not really sure what it sounds like." Not that it matters, because you know the kids will buy it anyway.

Panic have had a busy year, promoting the new album, touring, dropping the exclamation mark, writing new stuff and now they're touring again. The video for the second single off of Pretty. Odd., "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" will premiere on NokiaUSA.com on May 2nd while fans can enjoy a sneak peak of it here.

Staind frontman talks about upcoming solo release

Even though Staind's next album is due out "July-ish," frontman Aaron Lewis is still making plans to record a solo album in the near future.

"As soon as this [Staind] record is done and while we're out on tour I'll be writing and getting everything ready to go," Lewis said. "It'll probably come out right on the tail end of this new Staind record."

Lewis says that at the moment he's planning to produce and play most of the instruments on the album himself but notes that, "We'll see how far I get with that adventure."

As to what the album will sound like, he points to softer Staind material such as the hits "Outside" and "It's Been Awhile" as well as "So Far Away," "Epiphany" and "Everything Changes" as indicative of the direction he'll be taking in his solo work.

"The songs that I tend to write have always been different than what we write as a band," Lewis explains. "Usually the acoustic-based songs we've had over the years have been written on an acoustic [guitar] sitting in my living room, and then I bring them to the band and say, 'Here's the song, you guys do what you do...'

"Before I ever started in this band, the acoustic thing is what I did," he continues. "That's what my dad did when I was a kid, and that's something I've always wanted to do. It can co-exist with Staind because it's not the same kind of songs. It's like having my cake and eating it, too."

Really, these guys are still around? Color me surprised. I can't say I hate Staind as much as most, and I'll probably pick up both albums, but I don't expect much and I have to question how relevant these guys are in 2008.

HIM set to release first live CD/DVD

Finnish "love metal" band HIM are set to release their first official live album, Digital Versatile Doom: Live At the Orpheum Theatre XXXVII A.S. on April 29th.

The live album will feature both a CD and DVD performance from the band, filmed at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre on Nov, 14 and 15 of 2007. The live performance will include about 17 songs, with some bonus DVD videos. The extras on the DVD includes band interviews, behind the scenes, and a documentary of the making of the band's recent album, Venus Doom, with an interview from frontman Ville Valo.

Track Listing

1. Passion's Killing Floor
2. Rip Out the Wings of A Butterfly
3. Buried Alive By Love
4. Wicked Game
5. The Kiss of Dawn
6. Vampire Heart
7. Poison Girl
8. Dead Lovers' Lane
9. Join Me in Death
10. It's All Tears
11. Sleepwalking Past Hope
12. Killing Loneliness
13. Soul on Fire
14. Your Sweet 666
15. Bleed Well
16. Right Here In My Arms
17. The Funeral of Hearts

DVD Only Videos

1. Bleed Well
2. Venus Doom
3. The Kiss of Dawn

The Used and more set for Get A Life Tour

The Rockstar Energy Drink Get A Life Tour is now underway, hitting 25 college campus venues throughout the United States until May 10, 2008. The tour combines music with active lifestyle activities. Dates are listed below.

The tour is being headlined by The Used, who are supporting a new iTunes only release entitled Shallow Believer, which consists of B-sides and rarities from past recording sessions. Performing each night with The Used will be Straylight Run, Army Of Me, Street Drum Corps and Lights Resolve, the Samsung Mobile Unsigned Battle of The Bands Winner.

Bert McCracken, lead vocalist for The Used, states, "Even though I never went to college we are gonna rock all of those smart kids that come to the show with some of our new songs from Shallow Believer as well as our older stuff."

Rockstar Energy Drink Get A Life Tour Dates:
4/23 Richmond, VA Innsbrook Pavilion University of Richmond
4/25 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom Oklahoma State University
4/26 Lubbock, TX The Pavilion
4/27 Austin, TX Stubb's University of Texas at Austin
4/30 Laramie, WY Arts and Sciences Auditorium University of Wyoming
5/1 Salt Lake City, UT The Great SaltAir University of Utah
5/3 Reno, NV Lawlor Events Center Univ. of Nevada, Reno
5/4 Stockton, CA University of the Pacific University of the Pacific
5/5 Bakersfield, CA Icardo Center CSU Bakersfield
5/7 Irvine, CA Bren Events Center UC Irvine
5/8 San Diego, CA RIMAC Arena San Diego State University
5/9 Phoenix, AZ Mesa Amphitheatre Arizona State University
5/10 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre University of Arizona

MCR and FOB encourage Simple Plan to go for it

Simple Plan have admitted that they are inspired by the ambitions of bands like Fall Out Boy, Green Day and My Chemical Romance.

Lead guitarist Jeff Stinco said: "I think that when Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Green Day came out with their ambitious records, we weren't necessarily inspired by them musically, but by their desire to push it further and make grand statements.

"We wanted to find our own way to do this, without copying what they are doing."

And we're done for today. I'll have more time to put together a proper structure for next week and we'll have much more news covered as well.

Feel free to check out a couple of album reviews from me including efforts from Ashlee Simpson (not really a rock star, but she's banging one so it counts) and Elliot Minor.

Meanwhile look out for 411 Music Fact or Fiction later this week as well as the other great columns and reviews around the zone.

Feel free to go check me out later today in the wrestling zone if you're a fan (of ‘rasslin', not me) and the sports section at the weekend if you're a soccer fan. Until next week…