Month: August 2021

UNDEROATH will release its seventh full-length album, “Voyeurist”, on January 14, 2022 via Fearless Records. To celebrate the announcement, the band shared the anthemic new track “Hallelujah”, which serves as the second single from “Voyeurist” and is sure to be a staple of their live set for years to come.

“Hallelujah” boasts one of the most addictive hooks of the band’s career over a soundscape anchored in chaotic guitars, soaring synths, and percussion that will rattle the listener to their bones. Fans were offered a sneak peek of the track earlier this week in exchange for granting camera access at voyeurist.io. Once on the web site, they were able to listen along as they got a glimpse at other fans doing the same.

Guitarist Tim McTague summarizes the track: “I think the song is one of the more powerful songs on the album for a myriad of reasons, but sharing a night of beers and stories with a handful of the people you love, unpacking a ton of heady concepts and recording a choir really put an exclamation point on the song for me. It’s dark, beautiful, haunting and heavy all at the same time. That’s what UNDEROATH does best in my opinion.”

“Voyeurist” marks the first time in UNDEROATH’s storied career that they took the recording process completely into their own hands. Doing so led to plenty of difficult conversations, but it also provided the ideal situation for artistic innovation. As McTague continues: “I’ve always wanted to record our own album. I think we just needed to get into a headspace personally that would allow criticism and critique to land in a productive and constructive way.” The result is the most collaborative album of UNDEROATH’s career and, anchored in a profound respect for each other, one that left no stone unturned creatively. McTague adds again: “We grew so much in real time and I think the record speaks to that growth and collaboration. I haven’t ever felt this attached to a project in my life.”

UNDEROATH refers to “Voyeurist” as “high-def violence” — technologically advanced but undeniably visceral. Conceptually, “Voyeurist” has several interrelated meanings, each tying back to the concepts of how we curate ourselves through social media and how that facade masks a lot of what we actually experience in life. The album is a cohesive listening experience with enough layers to provide fans with a fresh take and new favorite track on every spin.

“Voyeurist” is available for pre-order now, including a deluxe animated vinyl that features a plastic o-card sleeve that activates playback of the jacket’s interlaced video imagery.

“Voyeurist” track listing:

01. Damn Excuses
02. Hallelujah
03. I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends
04. Cycle ft. Ghostemane
05. Thorn
06. (No Oasis)
07. Take A Breath
08. We’re All Gonna Die
09. Numb
10. Pneumonia

This far into their storied career, UNDEROATH has unsurprisingly faced their fair share of adversity. Through the trials and tribulations, a commitment to their craft and a sense of accountability rooted in mutual respect for each other has ensured that each new chapter for the band continues to mold their legacy in a positive fashion. With their shared history of remarkable accolades and trying hardships continuing to shape who the individual members are as people, UNDEROATH is still just scratching the surface of what they can accomplish as a band. There are few acts in the annals of rock history that can say their best work is still ahead of them almost two decades into their career. Fortunately, UNDEROATH falls into that category. As the world opens back up in 2021, the band is deeply committed to living up to the high expectations that fans (and themselves) have come to expect for anything associated with the project. It will undoubtedly be something special to witness as this next chapter in the UNDEROATH story manifests.

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Tom Morello world premiered the debut song from his new album “The Atlas Underground Fire” today on six SiriusXM channels.

The RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist’s cover of “Highway To Hell” featuring Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder first aired on SiriusXM’s Lithium, E Street Radio, Pearl Jam Radio, Turbo, Classic Rewind and Ozzy’s Boneyard channels earlier today.

“The Atlas Underground Fire” features additional collaborations with BRING ME THE HORIZON, PHANTOGRAM, Chris Stapleton, Mike Posner, Grandson and more.

Morello’s cover of “Highway To Hell” (courtesy of SiriusXM) can be streamed below.

Tom said about the cover: “Our version of ‘Highway To Hell’ pays homage to AC/DC but with Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder, bringing this legendary song into the future. One of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time sung by two of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time. And then I drop a shredding guitar solo. Thank you and good night.”

“The Atlas Underground Fire” will be released on October 15 via Mom + Pop Music.

Speaking about “The Atlas Underground Fire”, which was recorded during the coronavirus pandemic, Morello said: “During lockdown I had no access to an engineer so I had to record all of the guitar parts on the voice memo of my phone. This seemed like an outrageous idea but it lead to a freedom in creativity in that I could not overthink any of the guitar parts and just had to trust my instincts.

“This record was a life raft in a difficult time that allowed me to find new ways of creating new global artistic connections that helped transform a time of fear and anxiety into one of musical expression and rocking jams.”

“The Atlas Underground Fire” track listing:

01. Harlem Hellfighter
02. Highway To Hell (featuring Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder)
03. Let’s Get The Party Started (featuring BRING ME THE HORIZON)
04. Driving To Texas (featuring Phantogram)
05. The War Inside (featuring Chris Stapleton)
06. Hold The Line (featuring grandson)
07. Naraka (featuring Mike Posner)
08. The Achilles List (featuring Damian Marley)
09. Night Witch (featuring phem)
10. Charmed I’m Sure (featuring Protohype)
11. Save Our Souls (featuring Dennis Lyxzén of REFUSED)
12. On The Shore Of Eternity (featuring Sama’ Abdulhadi)

Tom previously covered the AC/DC classic “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” for the 2018 protest compilation “Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary: Roots And Branches”.

Morello hosts SiriusXM’s “Tom Morello’s Radio Comandante”, a weekly show dedicated to a new musical theme which airs on a SiriusXM channel that suits the current show’s theme. Additionally, listeners can hear Morello’s “One Man Revolution” on SiriusXM’s Lithium channel, as well as SiriusXM’s original podcast “Tom Morello’s Maximum Firepower” available on the SiriusXM app. Listeners can also tune in to Morello’s three SiriusXM channels Tom Morello’s Battle Hymns Radio, Tom Morello’s Heavy Metal Happy Hour Radio and Tom Morello’s Riffs, Rhymes & Rebellion Radio.

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Stephen Pearcy has once again floated the possibility of the surviving members of the classic RATT lineup reuniting to play live shows or make a new studio album.

Pearcy made the comments four months after he was joined by his former bandmate Bobby Blotzer during the RATT singer’s livestream concert from the world-famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.

Asked in a new interview with “Waste Some Time With Jason Green” where the prospect of a classic RATT reunion stands at the moment, Pearcy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Look, all of us had our rounds — everyone. It just wasn’t me against whoever. We all had our rounds, as most bands do. That’s how you get longevity. We’ve always gotten back together because it’s the music. And that’s my main concern.

“The bands that have had this kind of longevity — and thank God for that, because there are bands that never got the time of day in the ’80s that are getting more airplay and notice than ever before…

“We’re not the most dysfunctional [band],” he continued. “I’ll tell you, there’s bands who don’t see each other; they just get on stage to take care of business. There is a still a business in the music business, if you want it there to be.

“It’s not just Bob — we all had our rounds. I mean, that’s just the way it works. You’ve been a band of brothers for so many years, you piss on each other and shit happens. But I did state I see no reason doing a RATT record unless it’s all the original members; there’s no reason. I can just write songs and do what I do because it makes me happy. I can do it whenever I want.”

Asked when the last time was that he talked to former RATT guitarist Warren DeMartini, Stephen said: “Uhm… Indirectly, probably a couple of weeks ago.” He then clarified that he hadn’t been in contact with him through e-mail but that they did have communicaton “through sources.” He added: “Put it this way: Everybody’s talking about a reunion and this. Hey, look, life’s short. I can sit around and do nothing, but that’s not the kind of person I am, whether it’s in the music business or anything else. I just move forward. If something goes down with the original members, that would be great. If it doesn’t, c’est la vie.”

Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier are the sole remaining original members in RATT’s current lineup, which made its live debut in July 2018 in Mulvane, Kansas. Joining them in the band are drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK ‘N BLUE, RATT’S JUAN CROUCIER) and guitarists Jordan Ziff (Marty Friedman) and Frankie Lindia (David Lee Roth).

RATT — featuring Pearcy, Croucier and DeMartini — played a number of shows in 2017 after reforming a year earlier in the midst of a highly publicized legal battle with Blotzer over the rights to the RATT name. They were joined at the gigs by guitarist Carlos Cavazo, who played on “Infestation”, and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who previously played with Y&T, WHITE LION and MEGADETH, among others.

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BLACK SABBATH embraced change in 1976 when the heavy metal innovators started managing themselves and began exploring different sounds on the band’s seventh studio album, “Technical Ecstasy”. The record reached #13 in the U.K. and was certified gold in the U.S.

BMG honors this daring album with a collection that includes a newly remastered version of the original, a brand-new mix by Steven Wilson, plus more than 90 minutes of previously unreleased outtakes, alternative mixes and live tracks. “Technical Ecstasy: Super Deluxe Edition” will be available on October 1st as a 4-CD set and 5-LP set on 180-gram black vinyl. Both the 4-CD and 5-LP versions are available for pre-order now. The remastered studio album will be available the same day on digital download and streaming services. The newly remastered version of “Back Street Kids” is available today digitally.

In the summer of 1976, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward headed to Miami to record “Technical Ecstasy” at the famed Criteria Studios. The band was coming off a world tour for their previous album, “Sabotage”, that had found their live performances evolving to include keyboards and synthesizers. These newly incorporated instruments and sounds were then introduced into the recording process on “Technical Ecstasy”. The new songs encompassed a wide range of styles from the hard charging “Back Street Kids” and ballad “It’s Alright” to the funky “All Moving Parts (Stand Still)” and progressive “Gypsy”. The album also featured the single “It’s Alright”, which was the first SABBATH song to feature lead vocals by Ward. The “Deluxe Edition” presents a newly remastered version of the eight-track album, along with an entirely new mix of the album created by Steven Wilson using the original analog tapes.

“Technical Ecstasy: Super Deluxe Edition” comes with eight previously unreleased outtakes and alternative mixes. Among those are different mixes of “You Won’t Change Me” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor”, as well as both outtake and instrumental versions for “She’s Gone”. The collection concludes with 10 previously unreleased live tracks recorded during the 1976-77 “Technical Ecstasy” world tour. The songs touch on different eras of the band’s history with early tracks like “Black Sabbath” and “War Pigs” alongside new songs “Gypsy” and “Dirty Women”.

The collection comes with an extensive booklet featuring artwork, liner notes, rare memorabilia and photos from the era, plus a replica of the 1976-77 world tour concert book and a large color poster.

“Technical Ecstasy: Super Deluxe Edition” 4-CD/5-LP track listing

Disc One: Original Album 1976 (2021 Remaster)

01. Back Street Kids
02. You Won’t Change Me
03. It’s Alright
04. Gypsy
05. All Moving Parts (Stand Still)
06. Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor
07. She’s Gone
08. Dirty Women

Disc Two: New Steven Wilson Mix

01. Back Street Kids *
02. You Won’t Change *
03. It’s Alright – Mono Version
04. Gypsy *
05. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) *
06. Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor *
07. She’s Gone *
08. Dirty Women *

Disc Three: Outtakes & Alternative Mixes

01. Back Street Kids – Alternative Mix *
02. You Won’t Change Me – Alternative Mix *
03. Gypsy – Alternative Mix *
04. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) – Alternative Mix *
05. Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor – Alternative Mix *
06. She’s Gone – Outtake Version *
07. Dirty Women – Alternative Mix *
08. She’s Gone – Instrumental Mix *

Disc Four: Live World Tour 1976-77

01. Symptom Of The Universe *
02. War Pigs *
03. Gypsy *
04. Black Sabbath *
05. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) *
06. Dirty Women *
07. Drum Solo / Guitar Solo *
08. Electric Funeral *
09. Snowblind *
10. Children Of The Grave *

LP One: Original Album Remastered

Side One

01. Back Street Kids
02. You Won’t Change Me
03. It’s Alright
04. Gypsy

Side Two

01. All Moving Parts (Stand Still)
02. Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor
03. She’s Gone
04. Dirty Women

LP Two: New Steven Wilson Mix

Side Three

01. Back Street Kids *
02. You Won’t Change Me *
03. It’s Alright – Mono Single
04. Gypsy *

Side Four

01. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) *
02. Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor *
03. She’s Gone *
04. Dirty Women *

LP Three: Outtakes & Alternative Mixes

Side Five

01. Back Street Kids – Alternative Mix *
02. You Won’t Change Me – Alternative Mix *
03. Gypsy – Alternative Mix *
04. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) – Alternative Mix *

Side Six

01. Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor – Alternative Mix *
02. She’s Gone – Outtake Version *
03. Dirty Women – Alternative Mix *
04. She’s Gone – Instrumental Mix *

LP Four: Live World Tour 1976-77

Side Seven

01. Symptom Of The Universe *
02. War Pigs *
03. Gypsy *

Side Eight

01. Black Sabbath *
02. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) *

LP Five: Live World Tour 1976-77

Side Nine

01. Dirty Women *
02. Drum Solo / Guitar Solo *

Side Ten

01. Electric Funeral *
02. Snowblind *
03. Children Of The Grave *

* previously unreleased

Photo credit: Sam Emerson

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The restorative powers of extreme music are hardly in dispute at this point. Irrespective of reasons why, listening to truly horrible, grim and violent music is fundamental to our overall sense of well-being. And sometimes, only the absolute most extreme thing will do. Whether it’s metal classics like MARDUK’s “Panzer Division Marduk”, HATE ETERNAL’s “King of All Kings” and ANAAL NATHRAKH’s scabrous debut “The Codex Necro” or flat-out noise assaults like MERZBOW’s immortal “Venereology”, getting smashed to bits by insane levels of sound and aggression is simply one of life’s great joys. With that in mind, VESSEL OF INIQUITY could be the perfect antidote to your post-pandemic funk, or simply a fitting soundtrack to your baseball-swinging, window-smashing personal meltdown. Either way, “The Doorway” is as visceral, filthy and extreme as anything else around in 2021, virulent super-bugs notwithstanding.

If you have ever thought that BLUT AUS NORD were a bit a too cheerful, VESSEL OF INIQUITY have a new shade of black just for you. In this twisted sonic realm, lumbering, drawn-out doom is just as important as the relentless scree of maxed-out electronics and black metal blasting that dominates much of “The Doorway”. This is a profoundly despondent and hateful howl into the void, with no light, no love and only the bitter laughter of the unjustly defeated. In particular, the 12-minute funeral grind of “By Allusion Called” is heroically grim and unrelenting. Elsewhere, the meandering horror of “Three Drops of Milk Before Retiring” begins like an underwater acid trip before swiftly transitioning into the sound of a bombing raid on some gargantuan pan-dimensional scrapyard. Even the more straightforward songs are delivered with such skull-shattering, everything-on-11 intensity that the riffs warp and weft in the air, beholden to the vagaries of demons unleashed and transformed into an inhuman rush of ugly power. “Dying” and the title track are both ferocious, while “Self Not Self” blends feral insanity with more suppurating, tectonic doom. Those with a strong constitution will note that the closing “Ascension” is the best of the lot: nine minutes of untamed black metal anarchy, delivered with psychotic levels of malicious energy.

In the best possible way, “The Doorway” is exhausting. Play it really loud when you want your visitors to leave. Trust me.

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Recently recorded rehearsal footage from RESIST & BITE, the new band featuring former TESLA guitarist Tommy Skeoch, can be seen below. Joining Skeoch in the group are ex-LYNCH MOB lead vocalist Nathan Utz, guitarist Steve Stokes, drummer David Parks and bassist Brian Powell.

RESIST & BITE is currently mixing its debut album, which was recorded over a 21-period at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer and engineer Michael Rosen.

RESIST & BITE’s debut single, “The Myth I’m Livin'”, came out in March 2020. A follow-up single, “Fate”, arrived this past June.

Skeoch left TESLA in 2006 and went on to receive treatment for substance-abuse issues. He has since been replaced by Dave Rude. Asked in an interview with SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” if he exited the group of his own accord or if he was asked to leave, Tommy said: “I was fired. I was getting fucked up and I was definitely in the wrong about a lot of stuff, and they put up with it for a long time. But at the same time, none of us were angels, and we put up with a lot of stuff from the other guys for a long time too, and they’re still there. So I felt like a little scapegoated by the thing. And the other thing is they didn’t want people — I guess for the benefit of my family, so it wouldn’t look bad — they said, ‘Tommy’s just gonna spend time [with his family].’ That’s why nobody knows, and that’s why you’re asking this question. Everyone’s confused on even what happened. Basically, I was fired. I was getting fucked up, and I kept fucking up, and I kept telling ’em I wouldn’t, and I just couldn’t stop.”

Skeoch added that he accepts responsibility for the circumstances that led to his departure from TESLA. “I do, of course,” he said. “But I also believe we put up with a lot of shit for a long time from almost every other guy in the band, and they’re still there. So I don’t know what’s up with that; that’s a little weird to me.”

Last September, TESLA guitarist Frank Hannon was asked by Detroit’s WRIF radio station if the band will ever work with Skeoch again. Hannon said: “When we were kids, Tommy Skeoch and myself, I was 16 and he was about 19 or 20. I used to really look up to him — I was a huge fan of his style, and still am, a great fan of his guitar playing. We were like best buds. And then we would collaborate and write songs like ‘Modern Day Cowboy’ or any of those TESLA songs, we’d write ’em together. But as time went on, man, the egos and the problems — myself included — throughout the years, the competition, it really drove a wedge between us. And the drugs and alcohol just really destroyed our relationship, I’ve just gotta be honest. We weren’t supposed to talk about this stuff, but now I figure it’s been long enough.

“I don’t see that TESLA will ever go back, because we love Dave Rude, and Dave has really been a great addition to the band. And it would be disrespectful to him to go backwards to a toxic thing, a relationship that really got very toxic.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that TESLA will work with Tommy again — ever,” Frank reiterated. “But I will say that myself, personally, I have always loved Tommy and I just wish him the best. I’m so glad that he’s still alive, and I know he’s got a new band out [RESIST & BITE] that put a song out called ‘The Myth I’m Livin”. It was kick-ass; it had Tommy’s guitar. Look, I’m getting goosebumps right now. Every time I hear Tommy Skeoch play, it brings a smile to my face, ’cause he’s freakin’ awesome. As a musician, I have nothing but love and respect for the guy. But I don’t think TESLA will ever work with him again. But I do wish him the best.”

In a 2011 interview with Noisecreep, TESLA singer Jeff Keith stated about Skeoch: “Look, everyone in TESLA has been through their own substance-abuse issues. But Tommy got in too deep again. So the band told him that the only way we would be able to make this work is if he was clean and sober. I felt like we couldn’t ask him to do that if we weren’t going to commit to it too. So I was the first one to say that I wouldn’t drink, or do anything else, on the tour. The next thing you know, the other guys did the same thing. Troy [Luccketta, drums] has been clean and sober for over 20 years, so it wasn’t even an issue for him… Tommy couldn’t stay off the stuff he was doing. It broke my heart to see it, but we knew we had to replace him.”

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A group of STYX fans has organized an online petition lobbying the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to recognize the ’70s and ’80s superstars by inducting them.

STYX released its self-titled debut album in 1972 and first became eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1997. The legendary group’s legacy encompasses a string of multi-platinum and enduring albums that include “The Grand Illusion” (1977), “Pieces Of Eight” (1978), Grammy-nominated “Cornerstone” (1979), “Paradise Theatre” (1981) and “Kilroy Was Here” (1983). They wrote and produced a long list of evergreen hits and classic songs that include “Lady”, “Lorelei”, “Suite Madame Blue”, “The Grand Illusion”, “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)”, “Come Sail Away”, “Miss America”, “Renegade”, “Blue Collar Man”, “Babe”, “Borrowed Time”, “The Best Of Times”, “Too Much Time On My Hands”, “Snowblind”, “Mr. Roboto”, “Don’t Let It End”, “Show Me The Way” and more. Despite that, STYX has yet to even appear on a ballot for consideration.

“For 20-plus years STYX has been eligible for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Their influence and accomplishments warrant their induction alongside their peers,” stated Ken Shafer, one of the fan organizers who spearheaded a Change.org petition to appeal to the Hall Of Fame on STYX’s behalf. “We created our online petition to demonstrate to the Hall that fans of STYX want to see them receive this recognition. Our hopes are that the Hall will recognize this and at the very least put STYX on a ballot for inclusion.”

“We all feel the band deserves to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and would like to see the band inducted while many of the band members are healthy enough to attend a ceremony if there indeed will still be ceremonies,” commented STYX manager Charlie Brusco in reference to 2020’s virtual induction. “We welcome the fan support.”

Former STYX singer, keyboardist and co-founder Dennis DeYoung also weighed in on the fan petition, saying, “Thanks for your support, it’s much appreciated.” Referencing the successful fan-driven campaign that helped RUSH get inducted into the Hall Of Fame, DeYoung quipped, “Hey, it worked for RUSH, why not STYX? They both have four letters.”

“In recent years we’ve seen some of the internal politics of the Hall change, and they’ve finally inducted some long-overdue artists including GENESIS, ALICE COOPER, KISS, JOURNEY, RUSH and YES,” said Sterling Whitaker, author of “The Grand Delusion: The Unauthorized True Story Of Styx”. “STYX has long been one of the most critically misunderstood, under-reported and incorrectly reported bands in rock music history. But the music has always been enough to carry the day with the fans, who have supported the band religiously for nearly fifty years now. Their legacy touches on progressive rock, hard rock, arena rock, ballads, folk, blues, European and American influences … it really is a band with something for everyone , and the music still plays all day, every day across multiple radio formats all across the U.S. and the world,” he added. “It’s also a fixture of television and movies, a testament to how ubiquitous the music of STYX has truly become. STYX for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is the easiest argument in the world to make. Not only is it high time, it’s way past time.”

Fans can support STYX for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by adding their names to the online petition.

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GUNS N’ ROSES performed a reworked version of the song “Silkworms” during its concert Tuesday night (August 3) at Boston’s Fenway Park.

“Some of you might have heard this under another name, but this is really kind of absurd to try this,” singer Axl Rose said while introducing the track. “Wasn’t that funny? And they don’t even know the joke yet. Okay, this is called ‘Absurd’.”

After playing the song, Rose quipped: “See? I never run out of love songs. That was fun. So you heard it here first, a new GUNS N’ ROSES song.”

GUNS N’ ROSES last performed “Silkworms”, which was reportedly written during the “Chinese Democracy” sessions, in 2001.

GUNS N’ ROSES kicked off its summer 2021 tour on July 31 at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dubbed “We’re F’N Back!”, this trek comes on the heels of the “Not In This Lifetime” run that began in April 2016 and became the No. 3 highest-grossing tour in the history of Billboard Boxscore.

As was the case with “Not In This Lifetime”, the current GUNS N’ ROSES tour features classic-lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Rose backed by guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

The massive touring production will make stops in Detroit, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and more before wrapping up with two shows in Hollywood, Florida, at the Hard Rock Live Arena on October 2 and 3, 2021.

GUNS launched its long-rumored and long-awaited reunion tour with an April 2016 club show in Hollywood and appearances in Las Vegas and at California’s Coachella festival.

The band is now reportedly working on a new studio album — the first under the GUNS banner since 2008’s “Chinese Democracy” and the first to feature Rose, Slash and McKagan since 1993.

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During an appearance on the “Appetite For Destortion” podcast, legendary guitarist George Lynch was asked about the impact Eddie Van Halen’s death had on him. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “That hit me personally very hard, and every guitar player I know, pretty much, kind of felt the same way. As we get older, obviously, we’re seeing people go away and pass. And that’s just normal, of course. And we’re seeing a lot of that. And so that’s pretty profound. But, I mean, fucking David Bowie and George Michael and all these people — Prince — these giants… Tom Petty. It’s, like, ‘What?’ All at once it seemed like. But Eddie was on another level, because, obviously, we’re a little closer as far as what we do, and we kind of came up in the same place at the same time and had some connections and all that, so that’s why it was more profound, I think. And I learned a lot from him, and I based a lot of my style on him. Even though we were compatriots in a way, he was way beyond me, so I lifted a lot of stuff from him and got inspired by him, as we all did. He’s a Southern California guy, and we were like kind of neighbors and played the same clubs and played on the same stages together and hung out. [DOKKEN] did [the 1988] ‘Monsters Of Rock’ [tour with VAN HALEN, SCORPIONS, METALLICA and KINGDOM COME]… So, yeah, that was a pretty tough one. It hits close to home, too, I think, for us when our friends start disappearing, because it’s a lonelier place after that.”

Asked if he had any Eddie Van Halen stories to share that might “display the fun side of his personality,” George said: “He was just incredibly shy. He was just a super introvert. I mean, all the guy did was just sit in his room and play guitar his whole life, and drink his beers and smoke his cigarettes, and developed what he developed. He changed the guitar world. I think he was just sort of burdened with this whole fame thing and being a human being in a complicated world. It isn’t always so nice. He was a super-sensitive guy, which allowed him to be this incredible musician, as you have to have that sort of sympathy and empathy. A lot of people thought he wasn’t that nice of a person, but it was just ’cause he was really quiet. He was a little bit scared, but he spoke so beautifully through his instrument.

“But we had moments,” he continued. “We used to hang out. ‘Monsters Of Rock’, we’d go almost every night. When Valerie [Bertinelli, Eddie’s then-wife] wasn’t out, we’d jam. We’d just sit in our hotel room and just play guitar all night. It was pretty awesome. And actually, I had some issues with my gear out there on the ‘Monsters’ tour, and [VAN HALEN] were the headliner, obviously. And he was so sweet, ’cause he was, like, ‘Hey, man, take anything you want of mine.’ So I did half that tour with his gear. That’s pretty insane, ’cause headliners usually don’t do stuff like that. They’re just, like, ‘That’s your problem. Figure it out,’ which is fair. But he was very sweet: ‘Just take anything you want — heads, cabinets.’ I used his rig for, like, half that tour. It was pretty sweet.

“He gave my son a guitar lesson,” George added. “My kid was going to GIT, and he wanted to be a guitar player like his dad. And I took him to meet Eddie at a show, and Eddie’s, like, ‘You know what? You’re a guitar player? Let me show you…’ So they went back in the warmup room and he gave my son a little lesson. That was pretty cool. Who does that?”

Lynch previously talked about Eddie’s influence in a 2009 interview with Guitar Player magazine. Asked if he was jealous of VAN HALEN’s success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, George said: “We were jealous and we were all trying to play catch up. We thought, ‘Oh boy, we better get on board. This guy’s going to change the world.’ I remember my reaction when I first heard Eddie. I had been hearing about this guy with the weird European name. He’s got a torpedo onstage, the bass player wears clogs, they have bombs onstage, and the guy’s unbelievable. I saw him and it blew my mind. They were still doing covers at the time — RAINBOW, MONTROSE — and their original stuff was as good or better than their cover stuff, which was pretty exceptional. After their show, I went back to our band room and played my guitar until the sun came up. I thought, ‘Man, how can I get that tone?'”

Asked if he tried to copy Eddie, George said: “What I really did was sort of bounce off his stuff rather than emulate it. I’ve done that with a lot of players. Instead of copying them, I react to them. I’ll think, ‘Well, Di Meola does this thing. I can do some alternate picking, so I won’t copy it but I’ll embed that a little bit into my toolbox and do it my own way.’ I’ve tried to do that with any player who has influenced me: Clapton, Hendrix, Schenker, Eddie, Holdsworth. I couldn’t play any of their stuff note for note to save my life, but I can capture the gist of what they’re doing by being exposed to it. I can get the essence.”

Eddie died in October at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

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