Today's Day in Rock Stories

Van Halen Icon Wants Reunion But Not The Drama

Kofi is the brother of former Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge, who himself played with the Tedeschi Trucks Band until 2012. The group has issued a statement that reads as follows:

With exclusive artwork created by renowned street artist, graphic designer and activist Shepard Fairey, "The Ten Year War" is named after a brochure published by Black Sabbath in 1978 in response to years of negative criticism from the mainstream press. Billed with the tagline "more good press than most - more bad press than any", the document mixes artwork and copies of bad reviews by several high-profile media brands of the era, including Billboard and Rolling Stone.

The brochure is reproduced for the 2017 box set, as well as a reprinted tour poster from a 1972 show at Seattle's Centre Arena, the official "Tenth Anniversary World Tour" 1978 tour program, and a hardback book featuring comments from fellow rockers and photos of the group on tour and in the studio.

The band premiere a new track called "Sunday Rain", which features drummer Taylor Hawkins on lead vocals, during their performance in Riga, Latvia on Wednesday (June 21st).

The reunion will feature the lineup of frontman Mark Hunter, lead guitarist Rob Arnold, rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries, bassist Jim LaMarca, drummer Andols Herrick and keyboardist Chris Spicuzza.

The band updated the "About Me" section of their Facebook to include everyone but Herrick but posted a graphic that included his name in the reunion which was captioned "The rumors are true". There is no indication yet if the reunion will be continuing beyond this special show.

Bret shared his excitement about being part of the movie, "I was talking to my good friend Mark McGrath who raved about how much fun he had doing Sharknado. When the writers approached me with an idea specifically written for me, I couldn't say no. The producers and entire crew were great and I had a truly amazing time filming it. I think everyone is going to love this new film."

Following the backlash over the move, Simmons has now reportedly withdrawn the application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. hennemusic has more details: Simmons has apparently reconsidered whether he might have valid trademark rights to the hand gesture, according to Forbes, while the 67-year-old rocker has expressly abandoned the request filed on June 9 - as indicated on his application with the US government department.

Directed by Colin Read, the video leaves viewers feeling anxious as it features a disheveled man struggling with his own sanity as he strolls through town by day, but is followed by unknown forces at night.

Guitarist Michael Amott coproduced the album with drummer Daniel Erlandsson and it marks the recording debut of guitarist Jeff Loomis' (Nevermore) with the band. They recruited Jens Bogren (Opeth, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir) to mix and master the record.

The announced dates kick off on September 22nd in Flint, MI at The Machine Shop and conclude on October 14th in Battle Creek, MI at the Music Factory, with more dates still to be announced.

Deluxe Icky Thump 180-gram, colored vinyl: The cornerstone of the package is the deluxe, "contained explosion" colored vinyl repressing of Icky Thump. Previously only ever available on boring black vinyl, this double LP, 180-gram vinyl dream is housed in a glorious tip-on sleeve with slightly modified artwork and sealed with a Victorian update on the original red/white sticker that was begrudgingly slit open by fidgety record collectors overly concerned with "condition." Remastered from the original 1" analog tapes in Nashville, TN, Icky Thump will be the first-ever Vault title manufactured at Third Man Pressing in Detroit. You will not believe your ears.

The new video was filmed with 360-degree technology and features a stripped-down performance of the single and provides fans with the ideal video experience for the song.

"They're not okay," he said. "A mother lost her daughter, two little girls were in comas. So I've been right in there helping with those families." Townshend, who grew up in nearby Shepherd's Bush, went so far as to replace a piano that a young girl lost in the fire.

The record features 21 tracks: 18 stripped down versions of songs from their past albums plus 3 covers: Whole Wide World," The Stranglers' "Golden Brown," and Daft Punk's "Instant Crush."

"Many times you're adding sonic layers looking for something to hide behind, and what you don't realize is that that vulnerability and that nakedness might be the most compelling and interesting thing about the song," said frontman Matt Shultz about the inspiration behind the project.

The tune was the lead single from the group's seventh album, "ReLoad." The track peaked at No. 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while the project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on its way to US sales of more than 4 million copies.

The Dallas stop marked the third and final Metallica show in Texas last week as part of their North American tour in support of "Hardwired�To Self-Destruct."

Rebirth has a very special place in my heart. I remember it was the third song I received from Matthew Trumpy while we were putting together the Unbroken album. As soon as I heard the song, I knew it was going to be A Killers Confession first single. I listened to that song more than any other song that was sent to me. I knew when writing the lyrics that it had to be something REAL and meaningful to me and not some clever riddles that would be hard to understand lyrically.

While trying to find inspiration for Rebirth, I decided to reflect back on my childhood. Specifically, my mother. Sadly, she passed away when I was 13. In her short time on this Earth my mother taught me a lot. I remember when I was younger her telling me that I would find strength in the darkness and to not be afraid. At such a young age, my mom taught me the important stuff like patience is a virtue and that nothing in this world was forever so I should be thankful for what I have. The most important thing she taught me that "stuck" with me is that don't waste your time hating because you might not be here tomorrow. I took some of these basic principals of stuff my mom taught me and got to work writing lyrics. Writing lyrics isn't always easy folks. My wife, son and I were in the car headed to the Cleveland Zoo one day and we were stuck in traffic. We were all listening to the instrumental version of rebirth and I looked at my wife and I'm like "I'm stuck". So I asked for her help. My wife doesn't usually get involved in the writing process so I was quite shocked when she didn't hesitate and said "Hating me is f***ing you!" (Which we had to change to "Killing" for the radio version). It was perfect. To this day she still says to me that I owe her 10% of all the royalties to this song because of that. LOL.

When we went to record the song at Third Sky Studio I worked with Richard Easterling. Something magical happened in the days I spent there. He was able to push me in ways I have never been pushed vocally before. To this day I wouldn't change a thing about the song. It is my favorite song of the album because of my mother and wife's influences. Don't waste your time hating someone because you're missing out on life, and in the long run you're just f***ing yourself.