FOREIGNER’S ULTIMATE 40th ANNIVERSARY TOUR FINALE: FOREIGNER TO BE JOINED BY ORIGINAL MEMBERS LOU GRAMM, DENNIS ELLIOTT, AL GREENWOOD, IAN McDONALD AND RICK WILLS AT SOARING EAGLE CASINO & RESORT, MI ON OCTOBER 6th & 7th 2017
MICK JONES REUNITING ORIGINAL BAND MEMBERS IN A TWO NIGHT 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION FOR A 2018 TV SPECIAL, DVD AND ALBUM RELEASE
(September 14, 2017) – Iconic rock band FOREIGNER turned forty this year with one of the summer’s most popular tours. Mick Jones (lead guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums) rocked crowds while headlining amphitheaters and arenas around the world. With ten multi-platinum albums, sixteen top thirty hits, and worldwide album sales exceeding 75 million, songs like “I Want To Know What Love Is,” “Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” and “Juke Box Hero” continue to top the charts forty years into the game.
One of the highlights of FOREIGNER’s 40th anniversary tour was a handful of surprise appearances by original band members Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills at various stops along the tour. Inspired by these individual appearance, FOREIGNER will be joined by original members on stage for two night special event on October 6 & 7at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Michigan for the ultimate toast to 40 years of rock and roll. This special event will be recorded for a forthcoming 2018 TV special, DVD and accompanying album release.
Says Foreigner’s leader and founder Mick Jones, “Playing alongside Lou, Dennis, Al, Ian and Rick again certainly brought back some special memories and we decided it would be the ultimate celebration to join together on one stage, and give the fans the best possible farewell to our 40th Anniversary.”
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary, FOREIGNER releaseda40th anniversary album that features forty FOREIGNER tracks throughout the years entitled 40 – Forty Hits From Forty Years (RHINO). This album is a comprehensive compilation of original hits and several tracks from the current lineup featuring Kelly Hansen on vocals including “Can’t Slow Down,” “Too Late,” and the Top 20 AC hit “When It Comes To Love.” The album also features two new songs, “The Flame Still Burns,” and “Give My Life For Love,” a brand new song by Jones.
Responsible for some of rock and roll’s most enduring anthems including “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold As Ice, Hot Blooded,” “Waiting For A Girl Like You,” “Feels Like The First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Say You Will,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Long, Long Way From Home” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” FOREIGNER continues to rock the charts more than forty years into the game with massive airplay and continued Billboard Top 200 album success. FOREIGNER also features strongly in every category in Billboard’s Greatest of All Time listing. Catalog sales often eclipse those of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Aerosmith and most of their Classic Rock peers. (Source: Nielsen SoundScan week ending 8/3/17).
FOZZYhave announced that their seventh studio album Judas will arrive on October 13 via Century Media.
FOZZY have already experienced incredible success with the “Judas”single. The official music video has accumulated almost 9 million views in just a few months, and the song hit No. 1 on iTunes charts in eight countries. Vocalist Chris Jericho went to bat for the single, eventually convincing Century Media to release “Judas” as the new album’s flagship cut.After their hugest charting (#54 on the Billboard 200) and most successful record, 2014's "Do You Wanna Start A War" and subsequent tour finished at the end of 2015, the band began focusing on taking their future to a new level creatively and enlisted critically acclaimed song writer Johnny Andrews to produce the new record. With Andrews, Ward and Jericho (the team who created FOZZY's highest charting single "Lights Go Out") at the helm, FOZZYspent 2016 crafting their new masterpiece for a spring 2017 release.
"After the huge success of the Do You Wanna Start A War record and the tour that followed that saw us share the stage with such incredible bands as Kiss, Slash & Myles Kennedy, BuckCherry and Theory Of A Deadman, we decided to take 2016 off to recharge and write songs. But now WE'RE BACK with our best album EEEVVVEEERRR and are so excited to destroy stages all across the globe again! There is nothing like playing FOZZY rock n roll to our amazing friends worldwide and watching you guys smile, laugh and have a blast...after all, isn't that what rock n roll is all about? We believe that there's only three things you can count on in life: death, taxes and the fact that if you come to a FOZZY show, you are GOING to have a great time!! That's the FOZZY money back guarantee..."- Chris Jericho.
Chris Jericho talks about JUDAS the album exclusively for Australia:
The success of the single Judas is mindblowing!
‘’I think it's the right song at the right place at the right time. I think there's been a lot of goodwill towards Fozzy over the years with a slow and steady build. And I think that I had such a huge year last year in 2016 in the WWE that a lot of people wanted to check out why I left the WWE to go to Fozzy and they gave us a chance when they hadn't in the past. And as a result, heard this song Judas, which is our best song. So, hooky, so heavy, so dark the lyrics are very dark. Everyone can relate to those lyrics. I think like I said it's just a great piece of timing and that so many people check out the band that never had in the past. And then hearing this amazing song with these lyrics that everybody can relate to ‘’Everyone I've Ever Loved I've Pushed Them All Away’’
It's about making the wrong decision knowing that you're making the wrong decision listening to the Judas in your mind and betraying yourself. So, I think all those things combined with a killer video, a great team, the return of Paul DiLeo. All of these things really, just all kind of compounded at the right time to create this perfect storm of Judas which is now a top 20 billboard which is awesome.’’
What can we expect from Judas the album:
Well I mean if you like Judas the song, there was actually a big debate with the record company as to what the first single should be. There's so many great songs on this I think if this was like 1987 in the days of Hysteria and Appetite for Destruction when you saw a band that had five or six singles. This is that type of record. There was a lot of argument about whether Painless should be the single or Elevator or Weight Of My World and now Drinkin’ With Jesus is in contention so there's a lot of great songs on the record. It's very much a more compact album. It's very much more about the songs and very much, is this song a single if it's not if it doesn't have a single potential let's not even put it on the record so we have 11 singles on this record which is the way we wanted. It took a long time to get it right. We didn't even record a couple of songs that we wrote for it, they just weren’t right. So these are the best 11 songs that we that we have, all of them could be hits. And as we’ve seen with Judas I think this record is going to take us to a completely different level, all across the board.
The writing process is a lot different this time around:
Before it was always Rich who wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics. We worked with Johnny Andrews last record for lights go out which was our biggest song to date and we decided we wanted to use an outside producer for this record. You know like Kiss with Bob Ezrin or Metallica with Bob Rock. Not that we’re those bands but it's the same vibe that you want to do something different and there wasn't anybody named Bob available apparently. So we went with Johnny Andrews because we had really enjoyed working with him on Lights Go Out and he produced the record and he co-wrote all the songs with Rich. I submitted all my lyrics and three of them were used which are Running With The Bulls, Wordsworth Way and Three Days In Jail but the rest are all Johnny and Rich collaborations. So they write them and I sell them. It really doesn't matter. It's just whatever's best for the song. And we had a great songwriting team in Rich and Johnny and the contributions that I made, the lyrics that I contributed. And once again every song, not worried about if there's a solo on it, Judas doesn't even have a soul it's just got a really cool middle Queen section. A lot of it would always be like well let's write a song with a crazy solo in it in a 4-minute intro and all that's gone. It's very compact is very much what AC/DC did when they worked with Mutt Lang also a Robert. Lot of Robert's man. We need to find Robert but we found Johnny and it's even better for us.
When can Australian fans we can expect a tour:
We've been waiting to come back to Australia since 2013. We were lucky enough to tour there twice in 2013 on the Soundwave tour with Metallica and then with Steel Panther, great times. Australia is one of our favorite places to go. We've been there I think four or five times now with Fozzy but we haven't been there since the Do You Want To Start A War Record came out which is 2014. I remember we listened to the demos for Do You Want To Start A War Record in our hotel room on that tour with Steel Panther so we got to make it back there. That's one of our goals and I know there's a lot of people waiting to see us and we are super excited about Australia. One of our favorite countries to tour in, Foztralia, Fozzy in Aussie has to happen again. So we're looking forward to doing that on this tour cycle. Hopefully in 2018 for sure.
TheRighttoRock.com has issued their latest podcast interview (episode #24), featuring Vocalist Michael Monroe. Michael took time out of his busy schedule to discuss his latest solo release Best Of. Interview lasts approx. 30 min.
The boys recently caught up with Michael Monroe to discuss his latest release, The Best. Michael discussed how he determined which songs would land on this 2-disc Best Of, and also discussed the origins of some previously unreleased material as well as the new track One Foot Outta The Grave - and much, much more.
And hey if you dig Michael Monroe's music as much as we do, show him some love by purchasing his latest album, The Best, from your favorite online store won't you? We here in Houston may have been knocked around recently, but we've still got our HORNS UP!
YES Men Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford Revisit Pinnacle Of Progressive Rock On 45th Anniversary Of Close to the Edge
Dallas, TX - Sept 15, 2017. North American syndicated Rock radio show IN THE STUDIO with Redbeard: The Stories Behind History’s Greatest Rock Bands gets a first hand account from YES current and former members Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe and Bill Bruford about perhaps the pinnacle moment for progressive rock with the 1972 release of YES Close to the Edge.
Coming off the breakthrough success of the band’s Fragile album just nine months earlier, YES had now gained a level of commercial capital that they intended to spend. It wouldn’t come in the form of three and a half minute pop songs, instead appearing as an album of only three songs. Close to the Edge would debut at # 3 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and crown YES as progressive rock royalty for decades to come. Jon Anderson tells IN THE STUDIO host Redbeard that the band did not intentionally aspire to create complex lengthy songs.
“We were making music and we’d stop when it was finished and look at each other and say, “Well that’s great, what is it?” And (producer/engineer) Eddie Offord would say,’ its twelve minutes long.’ Wow, well, we’ll just tighten that up a bit and it’s ten minutes long. Wow, we were more surprised than anybody that it was long. We just made music until it was finished.” - Jon Anderson
Los Angeles hard rockers HEAVEN & EARTH release HARD TO KILL, October 6 on Quarto Valley Records. It’s available to pre-order via HEAVEN & EARTH’s PledgeMusic campaign. In addition to pre-ordering HARD TO KILL, fans can purchase a range of exclusive merchandise and special offerings from the band, including signed albums, guitars, posters and lyric sheets, Skype lessons with each band member, and even a Skype cooking lesson with singer Joe Retta. A lyric video for “The Game Has Changed” was recently released and can be seen on the band’s official YouTube page. It will be available on iTunes September 22.
HEAVEN & EARTH features Joe Retta (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Stuart Smith (guitars), Lynn Sorensen (bass and vocals), keyboardist Ty Baillie (who has played with Katy Perry and Robbie Robertson), and essential to the album with his songwriting and drumming is Kenny Aronoff, who has been a sideman to countless bands both live and in-studio including Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, and the Rolling Stones. His distinctive style and energyis one to behold on HARD TO KILL. While on tour, the band includes musicians Mike Mangan (Hammond organ and keyboards) and Steven Wilson (drums, percussion, vocals).
Taking HARD TO KILL as a whole, the 11 original songs ring true and the melodies unfold like you have known them your whole life. The title track serves as the band’s anthem, a testament to perseverance and the power of rock. “L.A. Blues” exposes the pitfalls of living in the City of Angels, while “The Game Has Changed” dramatically contrasts the past with the present. Meanwhile, “Til It’s Over” will earn the admiration of longtime rock listeners, just as the attitude in “Bleed Me Dry” and “Walk Away” will speak to any modern music fan.
With guidance from Ritchie Blackmore, Smith’s own performing career took him across Europe with various bands, through New York City, and ultimately to Los Angeles where he first formed HEAVEN & EARTH. The band released two previous albums before he met singer Joe Retta about a decade
HEAVEN & EARTH founder/guitarist Stuart Smith was born in Great Britain, the son of an RAF jet fighter pilot, and he was originally classically trained on the guitar from the age of 8. After seeing a Deep Purple concert in the early ‘70s, he got turned on to rock & roll. When he was 19 years old, he met guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and the two became fast friends. Blackmore instantly took Smith under his wing and mentored him.ago, when both men were touring with The Sweet, known for the classic hits “Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox On The Run.” After developing a strong writing partnership, Retta and Smith joined forces to continue the HEAVEN & EARTH legacy.
A native of Rochester, NY, Retta established himself as one of the most versatile singers in Los Angeles. He has performed with The Sweet, Gregg Rolie, Dio Disciples, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. With Retta out in front, his powerful vocals and world-class musicianship are integral to HEAVEN & EARTH’s epic sound.
Bassist Lynn Sorensen, a Seattle native, has performed all across the globe with Bad Company and in Paul Rodgers’ band. As a teen, Sorensen studied classical violin and viola; to this day, he maintains a passion for classical music.
“We feel that HARD TO KILL is definitely the band’s best work yet, and we’re excited to see how it’s received,” says guitarist Stuart Smith. “We’re looking forward to going on tour and playing selections from all four HEAVEN & EARTH albums, as well as a few surprises.”
“The reinvention of rock comes to you from HEAVEN & EARTH. A band that brings every riff you ever wanted into the 21st century"
—Chris Lord-Alge, Multi Grammy® Award-winning mix engineer
"The new album from HEAVEN & EARTH is the real deal. Many great songs start out as a great riff, and this album is full of them. Intention, intensity, and emotion. All three are in play here. Well done, guys. Keep On Rocking!"
—Edgar Winter
“On all fronts, HARD TO KILL is an album that demands your attention. I recommend a total surrender, because those who absorb its savage beauty will be rewarded with a transcendent musical experience.”
LICENCE, the band from Ludwigsburg/Germany is the brainchild of local guitar hero and songwriter Steam Thiess. After a break for a few years he decided he has too much musical creativity to let it go and he wants to get back into business.
In May 2014 he founded LICENCE and was looking for musicians who'd fit into the band. To find the singer was easy, his daughter Jacky had just what he was looking for! With an amazing presence and rocking voice the first piece to the puzzle was solved. With bassist Pappe and drummer Sammy Sin they recruited the two perfect missing links.
They soon played shows with bands like TERRANA, STORMWITCH, PRAYING MANTIS, STOP STOP, TRI STATE CORNER & TWENTYDARKSEVEN, followed by festivals alongside SAXON, THE POODLES and many more.
The pre-production in 2016 ended in recordings for their debut album „Licence 2 Rock“, which was mixed and mastered by none other than Achim Köhler, known for his work with PRIMAL FEAR, BRAINSTORM and many others. The record shows the whole facettes of the LICENCE sound. Back to the 80s without sounding outdated. Heavy, melodic and always keeping you on the edge of your seat. Once you hear the songs they will remain stuck in your head.
You can't buy the licence to rock, you need to own it. LICENCE does!!!
