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Puppets lead this heavy rock sing-along. From the "This is Solid State - the DVD" available from Solid State Records.
Death By Stereo "Desperation Train"
Balancing chaos and consciousness is no easy feat, and few bands will ever do it as well as Death By Stereo has on the astonishing new disc Death For Life. Brutal and brutally honest, the set's eleven songs come swinging at you like a bag of bricks as they embrace the extremities of hardcore and the fluid riffs of metal. "We fought it out and found out what we want to be," says vocalist Efrem Schulz. "We're still here, still fighting, still pissed and not pulling any punches. And while we may be into some pissed off music -- at the same time we want to party. We also love Van Halen. So why not let out all of this aggression and have a blast doing it? So many people are so uptight about mixing the two ideas." With that in mind, there is still no way to prepare for "Binge/Purge," a musical riot of a tune peppered with touches of melody and the tenacious, expressive guitar lines of Death By Stereo's Dan Palmer and Tito. "It's a song that deals with the world and all the bullshit that is constantly shoved down our throats," says Schulz. "Everyone feeds off of this violence, apathy and ignorance. We want to purge it all out." Crafted with the help of Avenged Sevenfold vets The Factory (the production duo of Fred Archambault and Bruce MacFarlane), Death For Life marks a new sound and dynamic for Death By Stereo. "Working with Fred and Bruce was the best thing that could have happened to us," Efrem explains. "They really cracked the whip and made us play better than we ever have."
Blackmore's Night: "Just Call My Name"
Legendary Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (b. April 14, 1945, Weston-super-Mare, England) shifted his musical focus away from hard rock in the late 1990s and started concentrating on his love of Renaissance-era music. He formed Blackmore's Night with his fiancee, vocalist/lyricist Candice Night (b. May 8, 1971, Hauppauge, Long Island, NY), and recruited other musicians from around the world to combine elements of world music, Renaissance, new age, folk, and rock & roll. Blackmore didn't exactly retire his Fender Stratocaster, but he plays acoustic guitar almost exclusively in Blackmore's Night. His acoustic guitar melodies and Night's clear, ethereal voice blend with a host of instruments such as mandolins, keyboards, pennywhistles, violins, tambourines, military drums, and hurdy-gurdies. Blackmore once described the band's sound as "Mike Oldfield meets Enya." Blackmore and Night met in about 1989 when Deep Purple played soccer against employees of a Long Island radio station where she worked. Night, a former model, studied communications at the New York Institute of Technology and had her own radio show. Blackmore and Night discovered they shared a love of Renaissance culture and quickly became a couple. The formation of Blackmore's Night is tied to the efforts of his previous two bands. Blackmore left Deep Purple -- again -- after 1993's musically disappointing The Battle Rages On... album. Blackmore then revived Rainbow -- technically under the original Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow moniker -- with largely unknown musicians for 1995's Stranger in Us All, and Night contributed lyrics for four songs. Blackmore didn't really want to call it a Rainbow project, but record company executives insisted the name recognition would make it easier to market the album. After Stranger in Us All, Blackmore decided to actually record Renaissance-inspired music. He'd loved the style for years, but he never really played it himself. Once he began playing the music at home, Night would casually start singing along. This innocent, informal practice germinated into Blackmore's Night. The debut album, Shadow of the Moon, was released domestically in 1998. Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson contributes flute on "Play Minstrel Play." Under a Violet Moon followed in 1999, and since a full tour was planned Blackmore consciously wrote more upbeat, stage-friendly music. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide
Blackmore's Night:"Olde Mill Inn"
Legendary Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (b. April 14, 1945, Weston-super-Mare, England) shifted his musical focus away from hard rock in the late 1990s and started concentrating on his love of Renaissance-era music. He formed Blackmore's Night with his fiancee, vocalist/lyricist Candice Night (b. May 8, 1971, Hauppauge, Long Island, NY), and recruited other musicians from around the world to combine elements of world music, Renaissance, new age, folk, and rock & roll. Blackmore didn't exactly retire his Fender Stratocaster, but he plays acoustic guitar almost exclusively in Blackmore's Night. His acoustic guitar melodies and Night's clear, ethereal voice blend with a host of instruments such as mandolins, keyboards, pennywhistles, violins, tambourines, military drums, and hurdy-gurdies. Blackmore once described the band's sound as "Mike Oldfield meets Enya." Blackmore and Night met in about 1989 when Deep Purple played soccer against employees of a Long Island radio station where she worked. Night, a former model, studied communications at the New York Institute of Technology and had her own radio show. Blackmore and Night discovered they shared a love of Renaissance culture and quickly became a couple. The formation of Blackmore's Night is tied to the efforts of his previous two bands. Blackmore left Deep Purple -- again -- after 1993's musically disappointing The Battle Rages On... album. Blackmore then revived Rainbow -- technically under the original Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow moniker -- with largely unknown musicians for 1995's Stranger in Us All, and Night contributed lyrics for four songs. Blackmore didn't really want to call it a Rainbow project, but record company executives insisted the name recognition would make it easier to market the album. After Stranger in Us All, Blackmore decided to actually record Renaissance-inspired music. He'd loved the style for years, but he never really played it himself. Once he began playing the music at home, Night would casually start singing along. This innocent, informal practice germinated into Blackmore's Night. The debut album, Shadow of the Moon, was released domestically in 1998. Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson contributes flute on "Play Minstrel Play." Under a Violet Moon followed in 1999, and since a full tour was planned Blackmore consciously wrote more upbeat, stage-friendly music. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide
Propelled along by hand claps and Ian Matthews' inspired Studio 54 style drum fills, the filthy analogue glambience of "Empire" will be inescapable between now and Christmas.
The Loved Ones are a rock n roll outfit based loosely out of Philadelphia. Born in late 2003 singer/guitarist Dave Hause and his fellow cohorts DC based bassist Michael "Spider" Cotterman and drummer Mike Sneeringer are deeply steeped in their hometown lineage having initially offered up their talents as players in Kid Dynamite, The Curse, Trial By Fire, and for a time Paint It Black; where Hause handled axeman duties before leaving to front The Loved Ones. So while the three-piece is definitely a departure from the members past endeavors, the punk sensibilities, and organic approach to playing still remain paramount. Owing as much to Bruce Springsteen as say Dillinger Four, the end result mixes killer riffs and raspy vocals to explosive ends. Expect big things, as heartfelt hometown sing-alongs simply don't get any better than this.
The Raconteurs: "Steady, As She Goes"
The Raconteurs are a new band made up of old friends, consisting of Jack Lawrence (bass), Patrick Keeler (drums), Brendan Benson (guitars, vocals, keys) and Jack White (guitars, vocals, keys). The seed was sewn in an attic in the middle of a hot summer when friends Jack White and Brendan Benson got together and wrote a song that truly inspired them. This song was "Steady, As She Goes" and the inspiration led to the creation of a full band with the addition of Lawrence and Keeler. While each of these four individuals have had successful careers with their own bands, the culmination of all of their talents is what truly makes The Raconteurs a force to be reckoned with.
The quartet convened at Benson's East Grand Studio to lay down the basic tracks for Broken Boy Soldiers. Work would continue whenever the boys could get together over the next year. Finally, the album has found a window for its release in May of 2006. The band is now, for its members, all consuming and they now present themselves to be....consumed, or at best simply heard.
From the ready-made, radio-friendly quality built into songs like "Steady, As She Goes", to the explosive tenacity of "Store Bought Bones", all the way down to the 'hits the cockles of your heart' lullabies that encompass the full length recording, The Raconteurs are more than capable of conquering any genre challenge or tale that they encounter. After all, a raconteur is, by definition, a deft storyteller. And now a new story is unfolding.
Tokyo Sex Destruction: "Two Years Ago"
Talk about Kickin out the Jams, Spain's most recent calling to MC5 is the radically refined garage rock'n roll explosion Tokyo Sex Destruction. 10 Rock'n roll hits that are filled with all the yeah yeahs and all the syncopated claps and guitar breaks and vocal leads and dance steps and catchy choruses. This album is explosive! Strong Nation of Ulysses/Make Up hybrid politic and style uniformity throughout their lyrics and image. On one hand it generates sounds more like The Sonics or Sly and The Family Stone but with the same political element as bands like International Noise Conspiracy. Ben Swank of Soledad Brothers says live they remind him of the same energy as the Datsuns with their wild shows. All power to the people motherfuckers!
Number One Common create a fresh style of hard rock by throwing heavy grooves, alternative rock melodies, punk rock attitude, and metal guitar solos all into the same blender and then spit it out into your face with an intense live show that bleeds with hunger and passion.
The 404 444: Where we tell a Brutal Legend of Uncharted waters
Get ready to have your faces melted, because Brutal Legend finally comes out today for XBox 360 and the PS3. To quote Jeff, the game is a "metal fan's absolute fantasy come true." It stars Jack Black as the voice of Eddie Riggs, a roadie for a metal band that must fight off metal-infused demons to save the world.
