Edge New Rock News

Current Three Days Grace Singer Working With Own Band Again

LaunchDaily — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:23:00 GMT

Current Three Days Grace frontman Matt Walst has returned to his original group,My Darkest Days, to work on music for the band's third studio album. Walst, the brother of Three Days Grace bassist Brad Walst, joined that group on a temporary basis last January following the departure of original vocalist Adam Gontier. Neither Three Days Grace nor Matt Walst himself have indicated whether he will carry on as the new permanent frontman for the band.

Matt posted at Facebook, "Writing with the guys for the new MDD CD!! MDD, the 3rd, coming soon!!"

The new My Darkest Days album will follow up 2012's Sick And Twisted Affair. The group's self-titled 2010 debut featured the breakout hit "Porn Star Dancing."

Three Days Grace still has shows lined up into late August. But the mostly festival dates are few and far between, giving Walst time to work with My Darkest Days in the studio.

FAST FACTS

The original January announcement of Gontier's departure cited health factors as a reason for his exit, although he later contradicted that explanation.

Gontier said that he left the band after more than 20 years because "I had enough of the money coming before the music . . . the music really wasn't coming from the heart."

Three Days Grace has been touring behind the band's fourth album, Transit Of Venus, which includes the current Top 10 rock radio hit "The High Road."

Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz Sees Comeback As 'Vindication'

LaunchDaily — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:23:00 GMT

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz told the Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday (May 22nd) that he sees the band's comeback this year with a chart-topping album as "vindication," explaining, "It's crazy to have Fall Out Boy have a Number One album in the year 2013. To write an album that's just for ourselves, kind of in secret, and then for it to be embraced on such a bigger level, it feels cool and it feels like some sort of vindication -- but not in a negative context -- just in the way that maybe we made the album the right way."

Fall Out Boy issued its fifth studio album, Save Rock And Roll, earlier this spring after a hiatus of more than four years during which many assumed the band was over.

Frontman Patrick Stump told us that the group only thought about pleasing themselves while making the new record: "I kind of purposely wasn't so focused on what people would think and more just what we would think, you know. Because I think the kind of lesson of having done it for, I guess, 11 years or whatever is that you're not gonna please everybody. And the thing is that it kind of forces you to focus more on just making sure that you can sign off on everything and you're not -- there are no decisions made out of fear."

Save Rock And Roll debuted at Number One on the Billboard album chart last month, selling 154,000 copies in its first week of release.

That was the third biggest sales week ever for the Chicago-based group and its second Number One debut after 2007's Infinity On High.

Fall Out Boy kicked off a spring/summer tour of smaller venues earlier this week and plays on Friday (May 24th) in Toronto. A North American arena tour is on tap for the fall.

Dave Grohl Joins Forces With Lamb Of God Singer

LaunchDaily — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:28:00 GMT

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has teamed up with Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe plus bassist Mike Dean and drummer Reed Mullin of veteran hardcore bandCorrosion Of Conformity in a new project called Teenage Time Killer. Blythe posted a photo of himself with the COC guys at Instagram on Thursday (May 9th), while promising that the new outfit will feature "a bunch of cool vocalists." The instrumental sections of the project were recorded at Grohl's personal studio on the famous mixing board he bought from the Sound City recording facility.

Blythe wrote, "Reed had a track he wanted me to write lyrics for and sing on, so I did (title is 'Hung Out To Dry') -- it's old-school COC style thrash punk and I killed it on the mic last night."

Blythe added, "The instruments were recorded at Dave Grohl's studio (watch his documentary, Sound City -- track was recorded on THAT board) -- Grohl will add a couple of guitar tracks to the tune too."

It is not clear when or how the tracks will be released, whether Teenage Time Killer will tour or how extensive Grohl's involvement will be.

Grohl just came off a stretch of promotional appearances for his Sound City film, including live performances by the Sound City Players, a rotating assembly of musicians from the movie.

Blythe made headlines in March when he was acquitted of manslaughter charges in a Czech courtroom. The singer was accused of throwing 19-year-old fan Daniel Nosek off the stage at a 2010 concert in Prague, causing injuries that led to his death. Blythe faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Green Day's Billie Joe Calls Psy The 'Herpes Of Music'

LaunchDaily — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:53:00 GMT

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has taken to Instagram to slam South Korean pop singer Psy, calling the "Gangnam Style" hitmaker "the herpes of music." Posting at his Instagram account on Wednesday (May 8th), Armstrong wrote, "This dude is the herpes of music. Once you think it's gone, it comes back. #herpes #flareup #pleasegoaway." It's not known what set Armstrong off, since he usually goes on Instagram just to share pictures of his bandmates or give updates from the road.

Psy was virtually unknown outside his home country before "Gangnam Style" became an international phenomenon, with the song's music video becoming the first to pass one billion views on YouTube.

The singer recently released a follow-up track, "Gentleman."

Green Day recently completed its first North American tour since Armstrong spent six months in rehab after melting down at a festival in Las Vegas last September.

The band did several early March warm-up gigs in California and then played later that month at Austin's South By Southwest music and film festival, where the trio premiered the documentaries Cuatro!and Broadway Idiot.

Green Day heads to Europe later this month as it continues to support last year's triple pack of albums,Uno!, Dos! and Tre!.

Imagine Dragons 'Very Grateful' For Success

LaunchDaily — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:52:00 GMT

Imagine Dragons has topped the Modern Rock radio chart again this week with "Radioactive," the second straight hit single from the Las Vegas band's debut album,Night Visions. Frontman Dan Reynolds told us how he feels about the group's sudden success: "Well, you know, we've been a band for four years so it's been a very organic build to us. But this last year particularly has been just kind of that snowball effect. Things have really just taken off. So as an artist, it's a very gratifying thing to have lived off people's couches and kind of struggled for four years, and then to get to a point now where, you know, we have a sold-out tour and be able to start traveling, you know, outside the U.S. It's just -- we just feel very grateful to be here."

Reynolds told Rolling Stone that "Radioactive" is 'basically a song about my struggle with anxiety and depression. It's about becoming self-empowered and rising above that. I wanted to write a masculine and primal song about conjuring and rising above human weakness."

Night Visions debuted at Number Two on the Billboard album chart back in mid-September of last year.

Imagine Dragons is currently on a North American tour that brings the band to Boca Raton, Florida on Friday (May 10th) and wraps up in Phoenix on June 3rd, after which the group will head to Europe.

Queens Of The Stone Age Debut Eerie New Video

LaunchDaily — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:22:00 GMT

Queens Of The Stone Age seem to be delving into the macabre for the promotion of the band's first album in six years, . . . Like Clockwork. The group has released an eerie new video for a song from the album called "I Appear Missing," while the lead-up to the clip's arrival online featured fans accessing a website where they punched in certain numbers and got a spooky voicemail on their phones, telling them to return to the site on Monday (May 6th) for the video's premiere.

This is the first video issued from the album. The first song, "My God Is The Sun," arrived last month.

The video features a bandaged man covered in blood, with the words "Wake up" written on his chest, becoming conscious even as his body is picked up by ravens and carried to a city where he meets his destiny.

Homme told us that . . . Like Clockwork is perhaps the most personal Queens record he's ever done:"On my sixth record here, I'm dealing with everything that I would have sort of looked away from before. These records now, more and more, are closer to my own life just as a document of what's going on, you know. This is the record where I'm not looking away from something that I maybe would have tried to avoid in the past."

Like Clockwork is due out June 4th and will be the Queens' debut for Matador Records after many years with the Interscope label. Frontman and founder Josh Homme described the disc as "audio documentary of a manic year."

The set features guest appearances from Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl, Elton John, Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and one-time Queens of the Stone Age members Mark Lanegan and Nick Oliveri.

Linkin Park Giving Away Studio Visit For Hurricane Relief

LaunchDaily — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:20:00 GMT

Linkin Park is working through its Music For Relief organization to raise funds for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in the U.S. and Haiti, and will give one lucky fan a chance to hang out in the studio with the band as part of that campaign. According toAudio Ink, a random winner who gives $10 or more will get to spend one hour with the group at their private studio in Los Angeles, where Linkin Park is currently working on a new album. Airfare and a hotel stay for the winner and a companion will be included in the prize package. The deadline to donate and enter is May 31st.

Music For Relief, which was originally launched in 2005 as a response to the Asian tsunami, has raised nearly $4 million since then.

The charity has provided aid for relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the earthquake in Haiti, Habitat for Humanity and more.

As a result of those efforts, Linkin Park have been honored by the United Nations Association of the United States of America with a Global Leadership Award.

Linkin Park released its last album, Living Things, in June 2012 and has not yet announced any details about its next project.

Phoenix, Rob Zombie Crack Billboard Top 10

LaunchDaily — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:20:00 GMT

New albums from Phoenix and Rob Zombie both cracked the Billboard album chart's Top 10 on Wednesday (May 1st), with Phoenix's fifth album, Bankrupt!, debuting at Number Four with 50,000 copies sold in its first week of release. That represents both a sales and chart peak for the French modern rockers. Meanwhile, Zombie's fifth solo effort, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, entered at Number Seven on sales of 34,000 copies.

Zombie told us what goals he had in mind for his latest musical venture: "I wanted it to be kind of hooky -- I always want everything to be hooky, but unconventionally hooky, where maybe the first couple of times you hear it, you go, 'Oh yeah, that's a cool song.' And then the more you hear it, the more you go, 'God, I can't get that song out of my head, I can't get that song out of my head.' Whereas sometimes songs are so hooky the first time you hear 'em, that by the fifth time you hear 'em, they're almost like grating."

Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor is the fifth Zombie solo album to enter the Top 10.

His previous disc, 2010's Hellbilly Deluxe 2, debuted at Number Eight on the Billboard chart, selling 49,000 copies in its first week.

Last week's Number One debut, Fall Out Boy's Save Rock And Roll, dropped to Number Five this week with sales of 36,000 copies.

Phoenix plays this Saturday (May 4th) at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Rob Zombie will be presented on Thursday night (May 2nd) with the Golden God award at theRevolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Soundgarden PBS Concert To Get July Premiere

LaunchDaily — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:29:00 GMT

Soundgarden's upcoming appearance on the PBS concert program Live From The Artist's Den will premiere in July, according to Loudwire. Although an exact broadcast date has not been set, a teaser for the show's sixth season indicates that a slew of new concerts from Soundgarden, Mumford & Sons, the Killers and others will all make their debut that month. A crew from the Emmy-nominated series filmed Soundgarden's February 17th concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, the last gig of a three-night stand there, with that night's set featuring 28 songs from all eras of the band's career.

The band will begin a new leg of North American tour dates this Friday (May 3rd) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The trek will include stops at radio festivals and events likeRock On The Range.

Some of the shows will be with fellow Seattle legends Alice In Chains and Soundgarden guitaristKim Thayil told us that the two bands remain friends: "We still speak speak with those guys fairly regularly and see them fairly regularly. Jerry (Cantrell, Alice In Chains guitarist) is back in Seattle, he lives near Sean (Kinney, Alice drummer), and Mike (Inez, bassist) just got married. I was invited to his wedding, it was last spring or two springs ago, and the only reason why I couldn't attend was I think we were on the road."

Soundgarden has been touring in support of King Animal, its first album of new material since 1996.

The disc was released last November and features the singles "Been Away Too Long" and "By Crooked Steps." The video for the latter song has been directed by Dave Grohl.

CHECK IT OUT: Watch the trailer for season six of Live From The Artist's Den:

Muse Planning To Celebrate 20th Anniversary In 2014

LaunchDaily — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:28:00 GMT

Muse plans on doing something special for its upcoming 20th anniversary, with drummer Dominic Howard saying that the band might "play a little club show" next year to commemorate their two decades together. According to Gigwise, Howard told a British radio station, "It's our 20th anniversary year and I can't believe it -- it's February next year or something . . . Hopefully (we'll) do some special shows for it or something. It will be nice to celebrate that and play some little club somewhere and go 'Jesus Christ, can't believe we're 20 years old as a band!'"

Although Muse rarely plays smaller venues these days, Howard told us a while back that he enjoys playing concerts of all sizes: "Just going from one extreme to another is always a great feeling when you're playing live. So I think certainly doing these, like, really big gigs that are kind of overwhelming, with the amount of people that you see in front of you, to playing in front of a few hundred people where you can really see everyone's faces and, like, hear what they're talking about in between songs, and that kind of feeling, that's a really amazing feeling, I think."

Howard also told the U.K. station that the band, known for their spectacular live shows, are still coming up with new stage ideas after all this time. He explained, "There's always ideas hanging around for shows. We always find ourselves coming up with ideas we probably can't achieve and then we end up scaling things back so there's always a list of ideas that we haven't accomplished yet."

Muse recently released "Panic Station," the third single and video from the British act's sixth album,The 2nd Law, which arrived last fall.

The trio will next head out on a summer-long run through the U.K. and Europe, but will come back to the U.S. to kick off a new round of dates on September 3rd in Charlotte, North Carolina.

CHECK IT OUT: Watch Muse perform "Uprising" in Atlanta last month: