Top 11 of 11 B Sides stories

This Thanksgiving weekend we are looking back at the top 11 stories from each month of B Sides in 2011

May

Sammy Hagar Asked To Join Motley Crue, Pantera, Aerosmith and Velvet Revolver

"I was asked at one time to be in M�tley Cr�e," Hagar said. "I was asked at one time to be in Pantera by their mangers. I was asked to be in Velvet Revolver when Scott Weiland quit and went back to the Stone Temple Pilots. I was waiting to be asked to be in Led Zeppelin to say 'no,' since they were the greatest band on earth and no could replace Robert Plant. I was asked to be in Aerosmith and I said 'no.' Certain bands and certain front man singers are more difficult to replace than others. Steven Tyler and that band have stayed together for forty years and you don't to walk into something like that. They had one moment years ago, when they replaced Joe Perry, but it's still always been Steven at the front of Aerosmith. You don't replace that."

Hagar says there is a difference between the Aerosmith job and the Van Halen gig he took in 1985. "When I came into Van Halen, it was easy because Dave wasn't a great singer, but he was a good front man. In those times, I was selling out the same arenas they were, so it was like the combination of two forces and it worked�but it's a rare thing. We were all lucky that the fans accepted it and it got bigger. I would avoid bands that are going to break up pretty soon." - more on this story

Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax Want World Tour?

"Once it was announced last summer in Europe, the whole world was clamoring for the Big Four," said Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. "So we'll get there. That's the best thing I can say, you know? This is a really big piece of furniture to move around, with all four bands and all the logistics and schedules and all that. So we all want to do it�all 17 guys in these four bands want to continue doing these shows�and I think that's the impetus that will make this happen more, because we all want to do it."

Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson agreed: "We've got South America screaming at us and Australia and fans all around the world saying, 'Please come to our country.' So I think we have a lot of territory in front of us. Hopefully, it'll just carry on and the goodwill will continue." - more on this story

Judas Priest Almost Hired Sebastian Bach

At one point in time, Judas Priest considered Sebastian Bach for their lead singer role, but never got around to making the offer. This news came to light thanks to a Facebook posting Sunday by Bach. Along with a photo of Sebastian with Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton and Rita Haney, the longtime girlfriend of late Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, taken at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood, California, was the following note by Bach:

"Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest, Rita @dimebagzhag & me at the Rainbow last night. Glenn & I talked about me almost being the singer of Judas Priest he told me it almost happened! Wow. What a great guy." - more on this story

Iovine Caused Guns N' Roses CD Delay?

Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson comes clean about the 2008 album in a recent interview with A.V. Club. "At first we were in the [studio] a lot. We were working on the writing aspect of it, but it just kept going on," says Stinson. "We had [Interscope Chairman] Jimmy Iovine intervening in a not-so-productive way, and we had other guys coming and going with nutty ideas. My summation of the whole thing is that Interscope, when they took over Geffen, really led Axl to believe that Jimmy Iovine would be involved, and would help get this record done and make it happen. But, basically, what he did was let it completely fall apart. Then he had this great idea to bring in [producer] Roy Thomas Baker to make it sound better. All he did was re-record everything three or four different times, trying to make it sound like something it didn't need to sound like, and spend $10 million in the process. My two cents on the whole thing is that I really think Jimmy Iovine f**ked the whole thing up."

"It was a bummer," adds the bassist. "Most of the songs that are on the record now were done 10 f**king years ago. But all the talking heads in the mix were saying, "Make 'em sound better! Make 'em sound better!" So we kept redoing this and that. And it ended up coming back down to the same f**king songs that they were 10 years ago, except that now they were a super-dense mishmash of a bunch of instrumentation. That whole era pretty much sums up what happened to the record industry. Those kinds of people, making those kinds of decisions and not really helping the artist." - more on this story

Avenged Sevenfold Tribute The Rev In New Video

The song, which appears on the band's current full-length Nightmare, is a "very personal goodbye" to Sullivan, states a press release from the group.

"This video is a raw and emotional tribute to Avenged Sevenfold's late drummer Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan and celebrates the long-time friendship the band members have shared since forming A7X in Huntington Beach, CA, in 1999," the release reads. "The video was directed by Wayne Isham, who has directed videos for such artists as Metallica, Megadeth, and Def Leppard, among many others. The heartfelt quality of the video is in keeping with the emotional resonance of the song, a very personal goodbye to Sullivan that appears on the band's album Nightmare." - more on this story

Accept Guitarist Punctures Lung On Stage

Accept bassist Pete Baltes says guitarist Frank didn't know he'd punctured his lung and broken four ribs until after the show finished.

Frank is recovering in hospital and the band are playing without him until he's fit again. Baltes explains: "He tripped and landed hard on his back. Even though he managed to finish the show his pain became unbearable as we arrived in Houston for our next appearance. He was taken to the emergency room." - more on this story

AC/DC Plan Next Album and Tour

The band were in London last week to attend the premiere of their new live movie, Live at River Plate, recorded near the end of their two-year tour. It's officially the third-biggest grossing tour of all time � during 2010 one in every fifteen major concert tickets on the planet were sold by the Australian giants.

Guitarist Angus Young tells the Sun: "We're already planning another one. We're thinking, 'How can we ever better the Black Ice world tour?' We don't know how yet � but we will." - more on this story

Steven Tyler Rips Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab

Tyler, who has famously battled his own addictions over the year, recounts in his new autobiography, "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?," that we was in a Los Angeles area rehab at the same time former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler and Tyler alleges that Adler was "told to fake his drug stupor for the 'Celebrity Rehab,'" according to Reuters.

"They wanted him to act out his own messed-up state when he entered rehab. It was ghoulish and unreal. They gave him 30 grand for the episode, he snorted it all, crashed his car, and he ended up in jail detox," Tyler wrote.

"It didn't seem to me all that ethical using actual f---ed-up people like Steven Adler in a reality show, but who am I to say? Not to mention getting trashed celebrities to mime their own self-destructive nosedives which they then sensationalize on a melo-fing-dramatic reality show, which so traumatizes them they end up in worse shape than ever -- from the drugs they bought with the money from the show." -

KISS Promise Cross Between Destroyer and Revenge

The Kiss main man says long-term fans of the band can expect their follow up to 2009's 'Sonic Boom' to sound like a cross between 'Destroyer' and 'Revenge' and he adds every single song was written entirely by the band themselves.

In an interview with Elliot In The Morning Simmons said: "Yes (we've been in the studio), we're halfway through it. We got five tracks done in two days so it may be the fastest record we've ever done and it really sounds terrific and Paul's really doing a great job. -

Rare Randy Rhoads Era Ozzy Osbourne Video Released

hennemusic has this background on why these reissues are so important: On May 31, the musical legacy of Ozzy Osbourne is finally getting cleaned up. The release of reissues of Ozzy's first two solo albums, "Blizzard Of Ozz" (1980) and "Diary Of A Madman" (1981) is long overdue, given the antics of Sharon Osbourne.

The legacy of these albums was scarred in 2002 when Sharon let her emotions get the better of her during legal issues with former Ozzy bandmates Bob Daisley (bass) and Lee Kerslake (drums). Sharon tried to erase Bob and Lee's contributions by re-recording the bass and drum parts on these records with Ozzy's then-current band members, Robert Trujillo (now with Metallica) and drummer Mike Bordin. The original versions of the albums disappeared.

Sharon said in the 2002 press release, saying "Ozzy wanted to remove them [Bob and Lee] from these recordings." In an interview with Classic Rock last summer, Ozzy busted Sharon publicly on this, letting fans know it wasn't his idea, he didn't approve of it and that he wanted the originals reissued - more on this story

Zakk Wylde Would Be Honored To Join Pantera Reunion

"I'd be honored!", if he's indeed asked to be part of any kind of future one-off Pantera reunion event that would essentially bring back the surviving members (Rex, Phillip, and Vinnie Paul) with Zakk Wylde as the guest guitarist.

Earlier this year a small army of devoted Pantera fans began piling up on each other in honor of the late great rocking Texas metal band and to support the cause (obviously a sore subject to many, including Vinnie Paul himself), one by one on Facebook... - more on this story

June

KISSed Off: Shannon Tweed Vs Gene Simmons

In a teaser clip from the show, Tweed confronts Simmons about a photo of the rocker posing outside a Hollywood restaurant with two young blondes on his arm. Simmons tries to explain that he had no idea who the women were, prompting Tweed to snap, "I'm sick of hearing it, I'm sick of seeing it, and I'm sick of looking at it... Gene, please don't play me for a fool."

Tweed looks visibly upset throughout the NBC interview while Gene is clearly uncomfortable, even to the point of being speechless, and how many times has anyone seen the fast talker in that shape?

When asked about their 28-year relationship, Tweed responded "the last two were a bitch," adding the relationship "has pretty much unraveled."

"I'm done. We held it together until [the kids] got to college," Shannon said. - more on this story

Tribute To Slipknot's Paul Gray Planned

At 2pm on the Sunday, a two minute silence, led from the Saturn Arena stage, will fall over the whole arena and all the stages at Knebworth, so fans can pay tribute to Slipknot's number 2.

Fans will also be able to leave a more personal tribute in the book of remembrance that will be left at the Metal Hammer signing tent for the duration of the weekend. The giant, leather-bound book will be open to those who wish to leave their own obituaries, thoughts or drawings, from midday to midnight each day. The book will be passed to the band at the end of the festival on Sunday night. -

Rex Brown Officially Out of Down

He hadn't appeared on the band's most recent tour and guitarist Pepper Keenan admitted he wasn't sure how to describe Brown's current status. Last week drummer Jimmy Bower said the split was permanent � and now Brown himself has confirmed Down will continue with Crowbar's Patrick Bruders in his place, while he concentrates on new band Kill Devil Hill.

"I'm officially out of the band. Things came to a head and they're better off doing what they're doing with Patrick." Brown tells 8countnews. "I kind of lost my passion after a while. There were some other problems that we had to address � and it just turned out better that we parted ways. - more on this story

Tommy Lee Motley Thru With New Albums

"As far as new music goes, and people say it all the time, 'When are you guys gonna make a new record, dude?' It's like, 'Really, why?' No one buys them anyway anymore. And I'm not sure what the reason is," Lee tells Noisecreep.

"To tell you the truth, I think the days of making a record, for me personally, are over. After this last Methods [Of Mayhem] record I did, I'll never make another full record, I think. It's a waste of time, 'cause people can only ingest a song at a time, so why not make bitching songs at a time and release them? If you want to call them singles, great, whatever; or at its maximum, an EP, four songs, done, boom. I just really feel like the days of the entire record are long gone." -

Van Halen Play New Album Live For Creed Guitarist

In a new interview with Austria's Mulatschag TV, Mark was asked about his band friendship with VH bassist Wolfgang Van Halen. "We played with Van Halen years and years ago at Madison Square Garden and Palace in Detroit," said Tremonti. "The first time I saw Wolfgang, he was just a little� probably five-year-old kid or six-year-old kid.Eddie, [VH] that day, gave me one of his guitars, so I got to know Eddie.

"Then years went by and Wolfgang ended up being a fan of Alter Bridge, so we got to know him through Alter Bridge," he continued. "And Wolfgang invited us to go see soundcheck when Van Halen did a tour a couple of years ago, and we were the only in there, so it was quite a treat. And then recently, I was in Los Angeles and Wolfgang invited me to his Dad's house and I got to go to 5150 studios and watch Eddie and Alex and Wolfgang play their new record from front to back. So I was one of the only people who have heard the new Van Halen. It was incredible." - more on this story

Surprise Jimmy Page Jam

In 1965 the future Led Zeppelin guitarist was paid �13 to play guitar on the title track of Donovan's Sunshine Superman album. So when the iconic folk performer decided to recreate the album live, he invited Page to join him and the London Contemporary Orchestra in the city's Royal Albert Hall.

Page took to the stage and repeated live what he'd recorded in Abbey Road Studios 46 years ago, in front of a delighted audience who'd heard rumours of his presence before the show began. Later he took part in the encore track Mellow Yellow. - more on this story

Dave Mustaine Hints At Megadeth Retirement

"I've got the dubious honour of managing a band called Baptized in Blood, and my manager and I are managing Testament, which is awesome. We're doing some other things outside the scope of playing music, so once I hang up my guitar I'm still going to be very much involved � and I'm excited about that."

Mustaine also says rumors circulated about him in the press made it more difficult for him to clean up his life. And he regrets the fact that negative headlines were published about him even after he'd stopped saying and doing things which upset others. - more on this story

Brian Wilson Biopic Coming

"I have no interest in making a biopic," producer Bill Pohlad told the Los Angeles Times. "What's fascinating to me is to look at the different elements in his life, like that super-creative period when he was doing Pet Sounds and the later part when he was redeemed."

Oren Moverman, who co-wrote the unconventional Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, is working on the script for the film. No actors have been cast yet, although with the film taking place over a number of years, many actors might be enlisted to play Wilson. - more on this story

Zakk Wylde Vs Rehab

When he was told to stop using alcohol last year as a result of suffering serious blood clots in his legs, that's just what he did: he stopped. And he says that's the approach he expects from his band.

"The complaint department is closed. You don't go to rehab, you just stop drinking. That's Black Label rehab: it's a one-step programme. Shut up and stop drinking," Wylde tells the Press of Atlantic City. "I don't have time for 'I have a heroin problem,' I don't f**king care. I don't care what you did yesterday or six months ago � I got sh*t to get done." - more on this story

Iron Maiden Dominate Greatest Albums of the Past Decade

Clearly, according to readers, Iron Maiden rule, as their 2006 "A Matter Of Life And Death" record was named the greatest album of the last decade, while 2003's "Dance Of Death" came in at No. 2, and last year's "The Final Frontier" landed at No. 5.

"Wow, that's amazing," says bassist Steve Harris. "There have been polls before where we've had albums in top 20 or top 10, but never before top one and two. Three albums in the top five is outrageous." - more on this story

Wealth of Unreleased Randy Rhoads Material

Daisley accuses the celebrity couple of "rewriting history" and cites the example of his own removal from re-releases of the first two Ozzy solo albums. Manager Sharon Osbourne had his parts and those of drummer Lee Kerslake replaced with new recordings when Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman were republished in 2002.

"When Sharon and Ozzy tell the story, they both try to rewrite history. It's inaccurate and it's not how it happened," The bassist tells BraveWords. "To start, Ozzy said Sharon used to come to the pub with us when we were doing the first record. But she wasn't even there � it's a long way to come from LA, as that's where she was living. She had nothing to do with the first record; Ozzy was still married to Thelma at the time, and she used to come to the pub."

But Daisley says fans will have to wait to hear the whole story: "Lee and I were not consulted � you're not going to get us in it as the Osbournes are involved. There were four people in that band and it was the chemistry of those four people that made it what it was." - more on this story

July

Iron Maiden Singer Rejects TV Show Offer

"That show sounds so crap and demeaning to everyone involved, I took great delight in turning the BBC down," he said. "The X Factor is appalling enough, it's no better than Opportunity Knocks."

The BBC is attempting to rival The X Factor with The Voice, which was a hit show this spring for NBC. On the U.S. edition, the judging panel was made up of Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. - more on this story

Motorhead Star Died With A Laugh and a Drink

The ex-axeman, 61, passed away on Saturday after having lived with cardiomyopahty, a disease of the heart muscle, for a number of years.

The band say: "We are greatly saddened to confirm our long-time friend and comrade died at his home. Wurz was pouring a Guinness and cracking a joke when he succumbed to a heart attack. At least we know he went with a smile." - more on this story

Type O Negative Died With Peter Steele

Steele suffered heart failure in April 2010 as the band were preparing to make a new album. And Kelly, who's currently touring with Danzig, says the saddest part is that he'd dealt with his addiction issues just before he died.

"I was in shock � and it's still pretty unfathomable to me to think he's not here. I spent a good portion of my adult life with him; not only being in the band, but as one of my closest friends," The drummer tells Sweden's TV4. ""He was a very complex person, always a clown, always trying to make a joke, and he had no problem making jokes about himself. I'm convinced he rides with us: wherever we go, he's there with us. - more on this story

Serious Injury For Testament

Citing a "serious injury," Testament drummer Paul Bostaph is not involved with the album's recording sessions, but he will meet up with the band for future tours.

Taking his place on the album is Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan (Fear Factory, Dethklok), as well as Chris Adler (Lamb of God), who makes a cameo on a few bonus tracks - more on this story

Rock is Dead?

The singer talked to Classic Rock magazine about how things have changed in the music industry and how his band is trying to change.

"Rock is pretty much dead. If you look at the numbers, it's definitely not the music of the times anymore," Tate said. "If it's gonna keep moving, bands need to embrace new ideas. There's a lot of elements to rock that, mentally speaking, are kinda boneheaded. Like the whole 'chunk-chunk-chunk' guitar progression � the stuff you play when you're learning the damn thing. You would hope bands would get beyond that." - more on this story

Blink-182 Break Up Was Really Stupid

He left the three-piece in 2005, forcing them into hiatus, and it wasn't until the 2008 plane crash which nearly killed drummer Travis Barker the bandmates got talking again. The result was a reunion tour following by work on new album Neighborhoods, due out in September.

"The reason the band broke up was really stupid in the first place. It's not like we had sex with each others' wives � though for how bad we hated each other that should have been what happened," DeLonge tells the BBC. "We got so big that the machine running the band took over. We were burned out. We needed a break. But the machine won't let you do that.

"We'd stopped communicating with each other because the machine was so big." - more on this story

Album of Unreleased Ronnie James Dio Songs Coming

(Kayos) Over the years, legendary singer Ronnie James Dio fronted some of the most popular/enduring hard rock/heavy metal bands of all-time, including Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell, and Dio. But before all of these bands, there was Elf. Described as a "Rock/Honky Tonk/Blues band," a forthcoming release, 'And Before Elf�There Were Elves,' will prove that Ronnie could easily handle other rock-related styles.

Released on October 11th via the Niji Entertainment Group, 'And Before Elf' will feature twelve previously unreleased tracks (all from 1971), comprised of both live in the studio and live on stage tracks.

The album will feature a striking Lenticular/3D/Hologram cover, that when you turn it, you will see two alternating images � Ronnie from the first Elf LP, as well as a vintage group shot from 1971. And although these recordings are 40 years old, the sonic quality still passes the test, as longtime Dio engineer Wyn Davis remastered the original tapes. - more on this story

Trivium Slam Metal Fakes

He insists a live show should be just that, and the paying public should be able to buy a ticket in the expectation of seeing and hearing an act playing the entire show live.

Heafy tells The First 3 Songs: "Most pop stars are using backing tracks and Autotune live � but I cannot believe the amount of metal bands who are doing it. They have the actual album playing while they're supposed to be playing live." - more on this story

Heavy Metal Declared An Addiction

Roger Tullgren, 42, also has dispensation to miss work shifts to attend shows. And when he does appear in the Hassleholm restaurant which employs him as a kitchen porter, he's permitted to dress in the kind of clothes many of us would be sent home for wearing � and he's allowed to play his own music while he works.

"I've been trying for ten years to get this classified as a handicap. Finally three psychologists agreed I needed help to avoid being discriminated against," Father-of-two Tullgren tells The Local. "I have a form saying: 'Roger feels compelled to show his heavy metal style. This puts him in a difficult situation on the labour market. Therefore he needs financial help.' - more on this story

Robert Plant Plays Surprise Club Gig

According to The Sun, the Led Zeppelin legend sang at a village hall in Monmouth, South Wales, for a crowd who had paid just $5 per ticket.

The gig was a charity benefit for one-time Plant producer Pat Moran, 63, who died earlier this year. Darren Martin, who witnessed the show, told The Sun: "It was amazing � he's a rock god and he was playing in a village hall. It was a real honor to be there � and he chatted with the audience afterwards." - more on this story

Rush, Tool, Primus and Police Supergroup Video

The Police's Stewart Copeland hosted a jam session at his studio in April and invited Rush drummer Neil Peart, Tool drummer Danny Carey and Primus bassist (and Copeland's Oysterhead bandmate) Les Claypool. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the result was "Count Drumula," a song with lots of lead percussion � which you can hear in the video below.

In addition to playing drums, Copeland brought along his guitar and tuba and Carey played a little trombone on the track. As of right now, CCCP have no future plans to do anything together. - check out video here.

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