"Well, this was one odd week especially yesterday. First we finally flew out to Russia for the first time and we didn't know what to expect. There's always been this grim picture painted of that country to us. Having said that we thought we'd arrive under dark skies, with rain and depressed looking people everywhere. Instead, we arrived to sunshine and enthusiastic people that looked happy and energetic and we were through customs in matter of minutes. So I said to myself, 'this will be interesting.' We were soon greeted there with open arms by the promoters and we were off. We played St-Petersburg first then Moscow. The shows were fantastic and everything was top notch. Fans knew all the lyrics and went ballistic! We even had Russian special forces soldiers stage diving! It was just a crazy all around good time and the shows were packed! I could have stayed there another week but we said our goodbyes and headed back home. "

Byrne, drummer for Oregon-based band Moses, Smell the Roses apparently landed the gig after working for a week with Corgan last month, and blogged on his MySpace page that he was "off for another couple of weeks at pumpkin camp."

AC/DC, arguably the most successful hard rock band in history, has personally selected Anvil as the sole support act for two arena shows -- July 28 at Gillette Stadium in Boston and July 31 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

Janna Elias, a representative for Michaels, stated, "With all due respect to everyone working the Tony Awards, somewhere down the line there was a lack of communication and the prop should have been immediately halted until Michaels was clear. Sunday morning at rehearsals, Bret was never informed that the descending set piece existed, let alone would be moving into position as he was exiting the stage."

Fans can watch this exclusive performance when "VH1 Storytellers: ZZ Top" premieres Saturday, June 27 at 10:00 PM on VH1 and will air on VH1 Classic and Palladia, MTV Networks' high-definition music channel on Saturday, July 4 at 9:00 PM.

A little follow up to yesterday's story about Bret Michaels of Poison being hit by a piece of staging at the Tony awards. His publicist says that he fractured his nose and had to get three stitches in his lip. She says he was getting a CAT scan on Monday as a precaution, as he's had a past neck injury. more No word on his bruised ego.

In related news: Spinal Tap has been confirmed for an appearance on the Conan O'Brien Show on June 15th. They will be performing on the show but no word has been given on what song(s) they will play yet. more

A spokesman for Kenny Rankin's record label says the veteran singer-songwriter has died of lung cancer. He was 67. In a career spanning 50 years, Rankin worked with such artists as Bob Dylan, wrote songs for Peggy Lee and Mel Tormemore

Sweden's Pirate Party, which wants to abolish copyright laws and protect Internet privacy, has won a seat in the European Parliament. The Pirate Party captured 7.1% of the Swedish vote Sunday, enough to secure it one of Sweden's 18 seats in the Europe's 785-seat parliament more

Promotional Partners company will release a series of KISS Mr. Potato Head toys, complete with interchangeable parts. This collectors set includes all four "characters" of KISS: The Demon, The Spaceman, The Catman and The Starchild.more

Godsmack is coming back on the scene next week with a brand new track called "Whiskey Hangover", according to an e-mail blast sent out on Friday (June 5).more

Amy Speace's "Better" almost didn't make it on to her new album 'The Killer In Me,' out June 30 from Wildflower Records. But thanks to some advice from producer and guitarist James Mastro (formerly of The Bongos/Health and Happiness Show), the song was included. Was it a good call? decide for yourself

Opiate for the Masses have gone the way of the Soviet Union. The members have decided to go separate ways and are individually pursuing new projects. more

Within Temptation vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitar player Robert Westerholt have issued the following announcement about giving birth to a son: 'Two weeks ago he already did an attempt, but on Monday the 1st of June he made it and Sharon gave birth to Robin Aiden Westerholt.more

The most overused clich� in music is "[overused cliche removed]". Seems every single album these days is billed that way by the labels and PR peeps.... but are they really that anticipated? The actual sales often tell another tale.

Sacrifice have pulled the previously reported Rush cover of 'Anthem' off the special edition version of their [overused cliche removed] return, The Ones I Condemn. Says frontman Rob Urbinati: "We will release it digitally or vinyl, or both; it will see the light of day!"more

Sonic Youth are set to perform a free show in New York City Tuesday (June 9) to celebrate the release of their new album 'The Eternal'.more

DMX was sentenced Monday to more than a year of probation, avoiding more time in Arizona jails after spending two years in and out of the state's legal system.more

Sunn 0))) will tour the Midwest in July with support from Eagle Twin.more

Helix vocalist Brian Vollmer has revealed that Russ Dwarf will appear on the band's upcoming CD. Brian states, "Now that we have the first three songs for the new CD recorded it's onwards and upwards. The next track we plan on taking into "The A Room" is Hung Over But Still Hanging In, written by myself, Sean & Moe Berg. For this number my good friend Russ from Killer Dwarfs is coming in to sing a duet with me. Should be a blast."more

After the Fall have announced their summer touring schedule which includes shows with The Carrier, Sakes Alive!!, Caleb Lionheart and more.dates

Bouncing Souls have announced their second 7-inch for 2009, Volume 2. The record compiles their three monthly songs from April, May and June 2009 (plus one bonus track) as they continue their ongoing project to release a new song each month this year, and a new 7-inch every quartermore details

Barry Manilow announces his only UK gig this year will be at the BBC Proms in the Parkmore

Night Of The Vinyl Dead will reissue Saxon's 1999 album "Metalhead" on limited-edition silver fold-out vinyl, featuring an eight-page booklet. The album is hand-numbered, with only 333 copies having been made.details

The issue features a storyline inspired by God Forbid's fourth studio album IV: Constitution of Treason and will be available at comic book stores worldwide, scheduled for release through Diamond Distribution during the 4th quarter of 2009. Llexi Leon, creator of the multi-media concept ETERNAL DESCENT, began approaching ESP artists late last year to create the Eternal Descent comic.

The series is inspired by and features cameos from a host of iconic metal musicians. The initial launch issue is slated for late October, 2009 with the God Forbid issue released in November. The bands Atreyu, Firewind, and Static X, among others, are also slated for upcoming cameo appearances in subsequent issues.

Do you feel the Chickenfoot lineup takes any Van Halen comparisons out of the equation by assembling a group of established musicians like Chad & Satch? Michael Anthony: I really do. It wasn't like we reacted to what anyone else was saying or doing, it's just a group of gifted musicians getting together and doing what they love to do. It just so happens that those jam sessions lead us to some creative common ground.

We're extremely proud of what we've done in our pasts musically but for the initial stages of the tour we are consciously staying away from doing any Van Halen, Chili Peppers or anything from Satch's amazing solo catalog. This project is all about a new band presenting new songs; what makes it even more exciting is the prospect of playing them live for the fans. On this little Club Circuit tour, we've been tearing through the entire album along with the bonus track "Bitten by the Wolf".

"Music is one of the things that make the UFC experience so exciting, and I've always been a big fan of Limp Bizkit, so we are excited to have the group perform at UFC 100 event weekend," said Dana White, UFC President.

Shane Clark (guitars) states: "Our new album is finished and we've named it Here Waits Thy Doom. Much like our last record it is a step beyond the album that precedes it. We've again taken what we do a step further and not made Fire up the Blades part 2, we've stuck to our formula- no formula. We are true metal fans and we've made an unapologetic metal record. I think this our most focused record to date, from writing all the way to mixing there was no unnecessary drama or too many cooks in the kitchen. This is 3 Inches Of Blood at its most punishing, epic and mighty."

Gagged and Bound is probably the one song I didn't expect to be liked so much. I have a few favorites, but until those songs become available, Gagged and Bound is the one I would want to push. Our manager has recently pushed this song on internet radio. There are several stations that have put it into their rotation. It's pretty flatterring. I wrote the music in, like, ten minutes. I had it composed and everything on the bass guitar. It has a heavy Maiden influence in the chorus. the verse riffs are like early-Megadeth. It's a hell of a tune to play, difficult to pull off live, because the tempo has to be just right. If it's played too fast, it becomes hard to articulate and sounds like chaos.

In the early life of this song, the bass runs in the verses were played solo over the actual guitar verse riff. When Paul joined the band, I wanted him to twin what I was doing. So on this version, the bass and guitar are doing the scales together over the grinding rythym guitar. It proves to be somewhat melodic underneath the vocals. It's an intense song to play! The title Gagged and Bound is pretty tame compared to the actual lyrics. The lyrics are purposely sadistic. I wanted to capture something to express my anger towards women, specifically my ex-girlfriends. Most of the songs I write are inspired by these awful intense relationships I endured. Anyway, we sat around practice one day, I brought up the new tune, I explained to Rich what I wanted lyrically and it went from there. Rich and I wrote the lyrics with a little help from my girlfriend at the time. It worked out because she was psychotic anyway. haha... In fact, she came up with the "sodomized" part. Ahh, magic..haha..

I had recently discussed this tune with Rich. He told me he didn't like the idea of the song at the time because of personal reasons. He told me he was so pissed off at me about being adamant about the title, he just wrote out of anger. In a sick, perverted way, this song is probably about me!! haha...
Gagged and Bound is blatant, in your face, f*ck off music.