Today's Day in Rock Stories

Unusual AC/DC Cover Becomes Viral Hit

Wandtke, who joined Trivium in late 2015, had the following to say in a post entitled "I guess the rumors were true" that he published on his official website on Friday (January 20th): "Bedlem has been a project that I've been in the development stage for the past six years with my good old best friends from high school. After working with Trivium the past year, taking the world stage with them has been Eye Opening And Jaw Dropping for me. Some of the festivals we rocked were Graspop Metal Meeting (over 100,000 people), Knotfest, Louder than Life, Rock on the Range and more.

The date at the city's Kyocera Dome saw the reunited trio of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan deliver their standard 23-song set of classic tracks, with emphasis on 1987's "Appetite For Destruction" - the biggest selling debut album of all time with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide.

The concert began with the now familiar opening of "It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone", while featuring staples like "Welcome To The Jungle", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "November Rain" and show-closer "Paradise City."

Guitarist Andy Marsh had this to say about the reunion, "A little over a year ago we were left in a pickle when CJ had finally reached his breaking point - the physical, emotional and mental stresses of touring, and the lifestyle had taken its toll on him. After the dust had settled we had time to speak amongst ourselves, and with him, and we were all able to get on the same page.

"He was able to take time off from the road and work consistently, tick off some life goals like getting married, and enjoy the routine and familiarity of life at home with his friends and family. Conversely the rest of us kept going, touring relentlessly, playing bigger tours to more people than ever before, going to new countries for the very first time, and had a blast taking a few great vocalists and mates out for the ride with us while we weathered the storm and figured things out.

He tells Rolling Stone: "It came from all the other punk bands at the time, The Clash, with the lyrics. There were all these other bands saying, 'We're not like all the rock stars that drive around in Rolls Royces and live in mansions.' It's not like we were going to do that, but it we didn't want to be broke either.

"Who wants to be broke? It was a stupid thing. I don't want to live in some bloody squat. None of us did. I think I speak for all of us when I say we wanted to make dough like anybody else, and we deserved to make dough.

The group performed the track with the show's house band The Roots. The band released the album in January of last year and it topped the iTunes charts within the first 24 hours of hitting the online music retailer. Check out the Fallon performance here.

They plan to release the new album in May with the lead single and video called "No Wishbones" set to be revealed on February 10th. Frontman Mikee Goodman had this to say "We've started recording and it is sounding really vibey so far.

The trek will be kicking off with a show in Amarillo at the Midnight Rodeo on March 1st and will wrap things up a week later on March 7th in Corpus Christi at Brewsters.

The 2018 cruise will taking place in March of next year and the lineup is lead by former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm, along with Mike + the Mechanics, Loverboy and The Tubes.

They have recruited Rick Springfield as the host and headliner. MTV VJs Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood and Alan Hunter will be co-hosts. Additional artists include Tommy Tutone, Thomas Dolby and ex-Katrina & the Waves singer Katrina Leskanich.

The group is releasing a new digital deluxe edition of their latest album "Self Inflicted" on January 27th which will include two new songs "American Dream" and "Avidus" and are streaming the former here.

The band has recorded five new original songs as well as plans for a tour early in 2017. The R&B-based Roadcase Royale arrives following news of a spring US solo tour by Heart singer Ann Wilson while the Seattle group is on hiatus.

"Heart is always evolving, changing," said Ann. "It is a living organism. Right now it's in a cocoon of metamorphosis, and we will see what emerges when the time is right."

The new show was launched by our friends over at Classic Rock Revisited and is hosted by CRR founder Jeb Wright along with James Rozell. In addition to Halford, the first episode also features Warrant's Robert Mason and ThundHerStruck drummer Stephanie Leigh.

The new record was produced by Erik Ron (Panic! At the Disco, Set It Off) and features guest vocals from Spencer Chamberlain (Underoath), Garret Rapp (The Color Morale), and Tilian Pearson (Dance Gavin Dance).

Slaves frontman Jonny Craig had this to say about the effort, "with this album, I feel like I have the chance to be the person I was supposed to be the entire time." Stream the first single here.

The band will be releasing the record later this year and Jari M�enp�� had this to say, "Yes, you guessed it! This album is our version of Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons', but it hasn't got anything to do with Vivaldi musically or with classical music.

The pairing delivered the debut concert appearance of the "...And Justice For All" track after teaming up in 2014 to play the tune at the 56th annual Grammy Awards.

"Loved the unique energy of performing with Lang Lang again!," said the band after the Beijing event, the second of two shows in China this past week as Metallica resumed their WorldWired tour in support of their tenth album, "Hardwired�To Self Destruct."

The event, which took place on Saturday night, was one of the most talked-about shows happening around NAMM 2017. Just some of the rock veterans that took part were: Brad Gillis, Night Ranger; Howard Leese, Heart/Bad Company; Tracii Guns, LA Guns; Keith St. John, Montrose; Rudy Sarzo, Whitesnake/Ozzy Osbourne; David Ellefson, Megadeth; Jimmy Degrasso, Black Star Riders/Alice Cooper and many more.

Montrose singer Keith St. John wants the guitar great's legacy to continue. He says, "Ronnie's contribution to rock music in the early '70s heavily influenced the up and coming American rock guitarists for next two decades more than he probably ever realized or gave himself credit for. I just want to give those who really appreciate Ronnie the chance to get together in a loving concert setting where we can really dig in and enjoy each other through the commonality of his music."

Howard Leese of Heart, says this about Montrose: "I played with Denny Carmassi for 10 years in Heart after he was the drummer for Montrose for 4 years and Ronnie's band Gamma for 3 years, so I felt I knew Ronnie in a big way by our one degree of separation in the industry, and of course, all Denny's stories.

Waters told fans earlier this month, "Canada. Starting June 2017. Annihilator. Headline Tour. First official tour in Canada since 1993. More info coming in the next weeks but it will hit at least six provinces, starting out in BC! Finally. Yes, the mighty USA will be next but let's get this summer in Canada cookin' first. Get ready to buy tix... this will sell out!"

Originally, "They Came From Outer Space" was written many years ago and was intended as a full-on Heavy Rock song with the working title "Visitors", inspired by the likes of Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver and Alice In Chains. I played in a couple of Hard Rock/Metal bands at the time and this song was rejected not once, but twice, by two different bands. On one occasion it was deemed "too poppy" and in another band the singer flat-out refused to sing the song because of the sci-fi themed lyrics (he only wanted to sing about 'real' issues).

I was living in Budapest, Hungary for a few years when I decided to finally record an all acoustic solo album and decided to rework this song. We had to transpose this track to another key to accommodate our singer's vocal range. Once we were in the studio and heard the Hammond organ it added a completely different vibe; I wanted an almost '60s type of feel to accentuate the sci-fi B-movie theme. Also, once Stefi [P�nzes, guest vocalist] laid down her amazing, sultry contralto vocals, I knew we had something special! This was the first song she recorded in the studio for us and it made quite the first impression, to say the least! I pretty much decided then and there to make this the title track and do a video for this song.

I've always been a big fan of sci-fi; such as Star Wars, The X-Files, and Ben Bova novels, etc. Lyrically "They Came from Outer Space" was inspired by the movie "Contact," based on the Carl Sagan novel of the same name. I always thought that discovering we're not alone in the universe would be the coolest, yet most terrifying revelation mankind would ever face. Interestingly enough, when we were recording the album, the migrant crisis in Europe was peaking, and it dawned on me that the lyrics could be much more metaphorical than I had originally intended. When encountering others who look different than us, come from a different cultural, linguistic, religious/philosophical, ethnic background, we should always be hopeful and optimistic that we'll find common ground, but I think in many of us there is an underlying skepticism, or even fear, regarding their intentions. This duality of sanguineness and trepidation is basically the underlying theme of the song.

One slight little fun fact at the end, when the main theme returns after the guitar solo, I felt it was a little empty, almost anti-climatic. So on the last day of recording I decided we should have a short narration. Since I was the only one in the studio who had an American accent, I took it upon myself to do the theatrical voice-over. I quickly wrote a few lines and tried to do my best Orson Welles impression, channeling my best oratory skills. Hopefully, it's not too over the top!