Today's Day in Rock Stories

Stone Temple Pilots Stream New Song The Art Of Letting Go

The veteran UK metal band's eighteenth studio album was recorded last year with producers Andy Sneap and Tom Allom. Sneap will join Judas Priest on guitar alongside Richie Faulkner for their Firepower world tour - which begins in Wilkes Barre, PA on March 13 - following news that longtime axeman Glenn Tipton has retired from touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

"Ten years ago, Glenn was diagnosed to have the onset of the early stages of Parkinson's," says the group about the degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, "from then until recently Glenn has lived his life as the great heavy metal guitar player he has always been, maintaining by his own definition a standard of quality and performance that is incredibly important.

"Right now, Glenn is able to play and perform some of the Priest songs that are less challenging but, due to the nature of Parkinson's progression, he wants to let you all know that he won't be touring as such.

"True to the metal spirit of 'the show must go on'," they add, "Glenn has requested Andy Sneap to fly the flag on stage for him."

Formed in Birmingham, UK in 1969, Tipton joined Judas Priest in time for the recording of their 1974 debut album, "Rocka Rolla"; his twin-lead guitar work with K.K. Downing provided a signature sound for the group through the years.

"I want everyone to know that it's vital that the Judas Priest tour go ahead and that I am not leaving the band - it's simply that my role has changed," explains Tipton. "I don't rule out the chance to go on stage as and when I feel able to blast out some Priest! So at some point in the not too distant future I'm really looking forward to seeing all of our wonderful metal maniacs once again"

"I love being on stage with Micky," Nesmith said in a statement. "We've been collaborating for over 50 years, so it's hard to believe it's never been just the two of us. I'm excited to dust off some tunes that I haven't played for a long time too. These are going to be some fun shows."

"Right from the get-go, I admired Mike's songs. When we used to get together around the campfire to sing in the early days, we were always doing his songs," Dolenz added. "We always had such a great a vocal blend; he was the one who encouraged me to write songs of my own. I've always been a big fan and now we finally get to do the Mike & Micky show that we riffed on back when we were shooting The Monkees."

"We've been wanting to put together a tour like this for a long time," Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale said in a statement. "We are a few of the hardest working women in rock, so the fact that we are all on the same stage every night is something not to be missed! We support and love each other, and we are representing our genre. This lineup is a beautiful display of what it means to be a strong female example for rock fans everywhere."

Maria Brink of In This Moment added, "I am very excited about being a part of such an empowering, divine, female-fronted tour. It is very rare in rock music to have a movement like this and the timing couldn't be more perfect. Lzzy and I are already discussing the possibility of more tours like this in the future. Let the Amazons rise!"

The Nashville stop has been confirmed to be the display's final stop on its U.S. tour. Previous locations included New York City and Chicago. Before it hit the U.S., Exhibitionism debuted at London's Saatchi Gallery in April of 2016.

"We're all in for a rare treat," Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum CEO and founder Joe Chambers said in an official statement. "Hosting The Rolling Stones Exhibit�and pairing it with our museum that celebrates the achievements of all musicians around the globe establishes a can't-miss destination worth traveling from anywhere for music fans."

This week I'm very happy to share a song I've been working on for a long time. This tune also now has a brand new music video that looks like it was shot on Mars. It might as well have!

It is by far the best music video I had done to date, It'll be a tough one to outdo for sure! The tune Tomb Of The Gods is a very straight forward Hard Rock Instrumental melodic tune with a middle eastern twist to it.
This tune came to me as I was teaching and explaining the Phrygian mode to a student and demonstrating it. As it turns out the Phrygian mode was considered to be a warlike mode in ancient Greek music, so I thought the name was appropriate as well.

Sometimes while explaining a concept on the guitar and demonstrating it to another human being can inspire one to write something right on the spot, that was definitely the case here. I can tell you I'm very happy I gave that one particular guitar lesson as it gave birth to a song I will be playing for the rest of my life, It gave birth to what is now my absolute best music video and it gave birth to a piece of music that did not exist before but because of that one lesson it will now see the light of day for many many years to come.

Another thing that immediately comes to mind when I think about Tomb Of The Gods is the incredible guest guitar solo by none other than Satchel of Steel Panther! This is an exclusive on the album version of this tune. The experience of collaborating with Satchel was a very exciting and pleasant experience. I am forever grateful to him for taking part in this and I am absolutely loving the result, as I'm sure anyone who will be hearing it on the album. Hearing his guitar playing in a slightly different context than Steel Panther is already real interesting in and of its own to say the least! Satchel is one of the very top guitar players we have in this day and age, His style is very melodic, tasteful, elegant and delivered with great time feel and flawless technique. I think Tomb Of The Gods already has many special things associated with it even before the record is released! I can't wait to see how the world reacts to it once it's been out there for a while!

"Next to Me" arrives with a slew of new U.S. tour dates that kick off June 5 in Hartford, CT. The new dates run through August 10, when the band touches down in Tampa, FL. Singer/Songwriter Grace VanderWaal will join the guys as the support act. See the full tour itinerary below.

The band first recorded the tune for their 1998 compilation album, "Garage Inc.", with their studio version going on to win a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2000.

"Garage Inc." featured Metallica covers of tracks by several acts, including Black Sabbath, Bob Seger and Misfits, as well as the group's 1987 collection, "The $5.98 EP - Garage Days Re-Revisited", which will be reissued on its own on April 13.

Late last year, My Bloody Valentine bandleader Kevin Shields announced "all analogue" vinyl reissues of their two classic albums Isn't Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991). As it turns out, the band secretly included a special "alternative cut" of Isn't Anything with the initial shipments of the albums.

The project captures the UK band live during an April 6, 1968 set at the newly-opened Manhattan venue in the days that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, TN.

As the first British rock act to headline the club, The Who were originally scheduled to play four shows over a two-night run; however, because of feared social unrest in the wake of Dr King's assassination, it was decided to compact the shows into one per night.

Due to faulty equipment or human error, only part of The Who's April 5 performance was recorded, but the second night was fully captured and has now been restored and mixed by long time Who sound engineer Bob Pridden from the original four-track tapes.

"Live At The Fillmore East 1968" presents classic tracks by the band alongside three Eddie Cochran classics: "My Way," "Summertime Blues", and the never before released Who version of "C'mon Everybody."

Also featured is a rare cover version of "Fortune Teller" written by Allen Toussaint, originally recorded by Benny Spellman but made famous by The Rolling Stones.

Fresh off their GRAMMY win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Portugal. The Man delivered a spirited version of "Live In The Moment" with their special guests.

The BK Steppers are a Brooklyn-based marching band founded at the Jackie Robinson Center for Physical Culture. They wore signature blue uniforms and backed the group on a variety of hand-held instruments. For the P.S. 22 chorus from Staten Island, New York, this is the second time they have performed with Portugal. The Man, the band first visited their school last summer.

"This show and staging will be unlike any we've ever done, and will feature a set unlike any we've ever played," Corgan wrote on social media. "For if this is a chance at a new beginning, we plan on ushering it in with a real bang."

The band's reunion lineup features Corgan, guitarist James Iha, third guitarist Jeff Schroeder and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (all but Schroeder were in the original band, which formed in Chicago in 1988). It is still unknown who will play bass on the group's upcoming tour.

Corgan also shared a setlist from a Pumpkins concert in Chicago in 1995. In the caption, he pointed out that the band tested unreleased material on that tour.

The epic closing track from the group's second album, "Strange Days", was stretched even further in concert, says drummer John Densmore. "Playing that song was intense," Densmore tells Rolling Stone. "I had to take a deep breath before playing it, because it's not a little three-minute pop ditty. This was our second epic, after 'The End'. 'The End' was like a love song and then 'When the Music's Over was a statement. You know, 'We want the world and we want it now.'

"We developed it over time, vamping in the middle section, as Jim would throw in whatever poetry things he wanted. I'm real proud of it, because I had this impulse to stop the beat in the middle, and Ray kept the bass line going and Jim said, 'What have they done to the Earth? ... They stuck her with knives.' And I started stabbing the cymbals like knives. It was like freeform poetry in music.

"The Who did 'Tommy' that night at the Isle Of Wight," he adds. "They did an opera, we did a symphony."

The 1972 project combined tracks from Townshend's private pressings of his tributes to his spiritual guru Meher Baba - 1970's "Happy Birthday" and 1972's "I Am" - as well as demos from the unrealized concept album "Lifehouse", part of which became The Who's classic "Who's Next" album.

The 2-CD expanded version of "Who Came First" features the original album's nine tracks plus a second disc of eight previously unreleased tracks, new edits, alternative versions and live performances.

The eight-panel tall-format digipak includes new sleeve notes written by Pete himself, plus the original poster from the 1972 release and a 24-page booklet with rare images of Townshend at Eel Pie Sound, his home studio in Twickenham and performing at Meher Baba's shrine in India.

New Musical Express Editor-In-Chief Mike Williams presented Gallagher with the special award, saying his appointment to the Godlike Genius rankings was "extra special" compared to previous winners.

"This is a man who understands exactly what it means to be a rock'n'roll star," said Williams before welcoming the rocker to the stage. "Through his history, the tunes, the swagger, and the sense of humor, Liam is one of the most iconic rock stars of all time. He's a frontman who knows the job description - look cool, belt it out, be totally Godlike. No one does it quite like LG."

"I want to dedicate this to my mam and my army of songwriters, past and present. The parka monkeys," said Gallagher as he accepted the honor.

"I hope they don't have the internet wherever you are," Francis Bean captioned next to lovely vintage photo of the Nirvana frontman playing with a baby Francis Bean in a wading pool. "I feel like that would be counterproductive. Regardless, Happy Birthday to an angel."