SAMMY HAGAR Says He 'Would Have Been Embarrassed' If VAN HALEN Had Changed Band Name To VAN HAGAR After He Joined

In a new interview with Marci Wiser of the 95.5 KLOS radio station, former VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar was asked if he was part of the discussions about whether to keep or change the band’s name after he was recruited to front VAN HALEN following the mid-’80s departure of David Lee Roth. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, we were all in a room. And I think [head of Warner Bros.] Mo Austin said, ‘Why don’t we be careful here…?’ Our managers and lawyers and the president of the record company and the band was all in a room when we asked for permission for me to join the band — it was official. Everybody came and said, ‘We wanna have a meeting.’ And we were in the studio and we played ‘Why Can’t This Be Love’ [song from the 1986 album ‘5150’]. And Mo Austin went, ‘Oh, I smell money’ — he thought it was just the greatest. But anyway, so then he said, ‘Did you guys ever think about maybe changing the name to, like, VAN HAGAR or something?’ And I know what they were thinking, because they thought, ‘If this doesn’t work, at least you can go back with VAN HALEN again. But if you’re VAN HALEN and it don’t work, now you’ve ruined VAN HALEN.’ So they were trying to preserve, I think, the VAN HALEN name. And Eddie Van Halen — Eddie Van Halen; no one else — said, ‘Fuck that.’ He said, ‘This is VAN HALEN with a new singer.’ And everybody said, ‘Okay. Word. Gospel.’ Boom.”

Asked if he was on board with the decision to keep the VAN HALEN name, Sammy said: “I was a hundred percent on board with it. It was VAN HALEN with a new singer. I would have been embarrassed to be VAN HAGAR. I would have said, ‘Let’s just change it back to [VAN HALEN’s original name] MAMMOTH’ or something — go back to the beginning.”

Hagar recorded four studio albums with VAN HALEN — “5150”, “OU812”, “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and “Balance” — all of which topped the U.S. chart.

In a 2020 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, VAN HALEN’s longtime producer Ted Templeman admitted that he also initially had reservations about Hagar joining the band. “I wanted them to change the name,” he said. “When I first sat down with Sammy and his manager, I said, ‘Call it something else if you’re going to be in the band. It’s just not VAN HALEN without Dave to me.'”

Hagar, Eddie, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

In early 2019, rumors were rampant that the classic-era lineup of VAN HALEN would reunite for the first time since 1984. It has since been revealed that a health setback involving Eddie was responsible for the tour not materializing.

Eddie died last October at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman passed away from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

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GILBY CLARKE Reveals 'The Only Reason' He Performed With GUNS N' ROSES At ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Induction

Ex-GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke says that “the only reason” he performed with his former bandmates at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction was because Duff McKagan asked him to appear at the event.

Clarke joined GUNS N’ ROSES in November 1991, replacing Izzy Stradlin, who quit the group in the middle of a 28-month world tour. Gilby has also played with ROCKSTAR SUPERNOVA, HEART, NANCY SINATRA, Kathy Valentine (of THE GO-GO’S) and the reformed MC5 on their 2005 European tour.

Clarke, along with fellow former GUNS N’ ROSES members Slash, McKagan, Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, played three “Appetite For Destruction” songs with Myles Kennedy at the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in April 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, although Gilby himself was not inducted as part of the group. Kennedy, who handles lead vocals in Slash’s solo band and ALTER BRIDGE, sang “Mr. Brownstone”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City”, with “Use Your Illusion”-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on “Brownstone” and the man he replaced in GN’R, Adler, pounding the skins for the other two songs.

Clarke discussed GN’R’s Rock Hall induction while he was a guest on a recent episode of the “Hangin’ & Bangin’: Artists On Lockdown” online show, where he was joined by Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO), Carmine Appice (OZZY OSBOURNE, VANILLA FUDGE), John Payne (ASIA) and host Ron Onesti. Reflecting on the experience, Gilby said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, to be honest, I don’t really follow that stuff, so I didn’t even know that GN’R had been nominated, let alone [that they] accepted or all that; I really wasn’t paying attention. And then I got a call from Matt, and Matt told me what was happening. And I go, ‘Woah. That’s kind of weird.’ ‘Cause, actually, I didn’t get inducted as part of the band; Matt and Dizzy [Reed, keyboards] did, along with the original five guys. And I thought it was a little odd. But by the time I found out, it was past what was going down.

“I didn’t think anybody was gonna play or anything,” he continued. “Two days before the show, Duff calls me and says, ‘Hey, we’re gonna play.’ And I go, ‘Oh, well, have a good time.’ [Laughs] And I go, ‘Who’s gonna play?’ I go, ‘I thought Axl [Rose, vocals] is not going and Izzy’s not going.’ And he goes, ‘Well, they’re not, but we wanna do something.’ He goes, ‘Will you come out?’ So, my wife and I flew out and we did the show. We literally rehearsed for it at three o’clock in the morning the night before. And that may sound weird, but Duff had a show in Cleveland the night before — he was doing something with his own band — and so we literally rehearsed after his show at three o’clock in the morning. I played with Steven, Slash and Duff, and then Myles Kennedy sang.”

According to Gilby, he eventually resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to be inducted into the Rock Hall. “I didn’t think it was so strange, because the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS were getting inducted at the same time, and they did the same thing; they picked and chose [the musicians that were being inducted],” he reasoned. “Dave Navarro, who had been on two milti-million-selling records, wasn’t inducted with the CHILI PEPPERS, but a guitar player that played on the first album was. So, when I started hearing about all this stuff, I go, ‘Are we getting paid for it? No. Who cares?’ Whether you care or don’t care, I don’t really know if it affects anything. I always say it’s one more line in your bio that no one’s paying attention to anyway.”

After Onesti praised Clarke for being “a stand-up guy” and performing at the Rock Hall even though he wasn’t being inducted himself, Gilby said: “To be honest, the only reason why I did it was ’cause Duff asked me. And Duff’s my friend; Slash is my friend. And I did it plainly for that. I honestly didn’t even think about all that other stuff.

“We had no roadies, no techs — nothing,” he continued. “I’m not kidding. ‘Cause it wasn’t planned. We decided to do it, like I said, a day or so before. I literally walked on and plugged into an amp I’d never seen before.”

Last year, Clarke told the “Appetite For Distortion” podcast that no one should care about which musicians get inducted into the Rock Hall. “Seriously, there’s no validity,” he said. “And I’m not just saying that, because… You can honestly say — did I get burned? Yeah, I got burned. But it didn’t matter to me at that time.

“When it went down, the whole GN’R [Rock Hall induction], I didn’t even know about it until it was a done deal,” Clarke revealed. “Matt had inside information, so he kind of got in there and got himself included, which, obviously, included Dizzy too. By the time it got to me, it was a done deal. And I didn’t really care.

“Slash and I had a conversation about it. I said, ‘Look, when you think of GUNS N’ ROSES, you think of the five guys,’ and so do I.’ That’s what it should be. But if you’re gonna induct Dizzy and Matt, now I feel left out. I mean, yes, Matt and Dizzy made the ‘[Use Your] Illusion’ records, and I would never take credit where credit wasn’t due. But who fucking cares who gets in? It’s not like anybody gets a dollar for it or whatever.

“My honest take on it is if you’re inducting GUNS N’ ROSES as GUNS N’ ROSES, put all the guys that were in the band at that time — Bumblefoot and Richard [Fortus]; everybody,” he added. “Who cares? It’s not like we’re getting money for it. But if you’re gonna have a ceremony, yeah, maybe have Slash, Duff and a couple of the guys speak. But who cares?

“The thing is they’ve pretty much proven that they’ve gotten it wrong every time. I felt bad in the beginning when I found out Matt and Dizzy got inducted and I didn’t. I was, like, ‘Oh, man, it sucks to be left out.’ But then I heard the CHILI PEPPERS got inducted, but they didn’t induct Dave Navarro. Dave Navarro played on some million-selling records. And then they inducted the GRATEFUL DEAD and inducted, like, a hundred people. And when those things happen, then it puts it in perspective. And I don’t really give a flying fuck. It’s not like I get anything for being in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. It’s not like suddenly a hundred more people are gonna come to the show. It literally is a line somebody will say when I go do a TV show: ‘Gilby Clarke, Rock And Roll Hall…’ I don’t think there’s any real validity in it. I think some people hold it in high regard, but it literally is a select group of people making these decisions. And I don’t know how qualified they are. I don’t know if any of them have ever been in a van, if any of them have ever gotten paid to play a musical note.

“So, like I said, it’s not a big deal to me, and it shouldn’t be to everybody else.”

Gilby will release his first solo album in two decades, “The Gospel Truth”, on April 23 via Golden Robot Records.

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Full Album Stream: Obsolete – “Animate//Isolate”

Check out Obsolete’s debut album, Animate//Isolate, a dizzying masterstroke of death metal ability and insanity!
The post Full Album Stream: Obsolete – “Animate//Isolate” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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THE OFFSPRING Is 'Discussing' Possible Livestream Concert

In a new interview with Germany’s Radio Bob!, THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman was asked if he and his bandmates have considered staging a livestream concert during the coronavirus pandemic. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, but we’d wanna make it a real spectacle. We wouldn’t wanna do something that just comes across as some guys playing on YouTube. There are some of these that are done really well and some of these that are not so interesting to watch. Especially if you’re gonna charge people for a livestream, you wanna make sure it’s really done well. So, yeah, we’re discussing all of that. We’re also very hopeful that with the advent of the vaccines and getting the vaccines out to everybody that the virus is gonna slow to a point where we can start gathering again in groups. And fingers crossed, we’re gonna be coming your way hopefully before the end of the year.”

THE OFFSPRING’s tenth studio album, “Let The Bad Times Roll”, will arrive on April 16 via Concord Records. The follow-up to 2012’s “Days Go By” was once again produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band’s last two LPs.

Singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland, Noodles, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse wrote and recorded “Let The Bad Times Roll” in the last few years at various locations, including the band’s studio in Huntington Beach, California.

In December, THE OFFSPRING released the official music video for its Rock-produced cover version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, a rock song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album “A Christmas Gift For You” from Phil Spector.

Last April, THE OFFSPRING jumped on the “Tiger King” bandwagon by recording a cover version of THE CLINTON JOHNSON BAND’s “Here Kitty Kitty”, a song made popular by Joe Schreibvogel — better known as Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King” — through the Netflix docuseries.

Photo credit: Daveed Benito

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No Corporate Beer Reviews: Salts

Black Narrows Brewing Co’s Salts states a pretty persuasive case for why sessionable wild ales might be the next big thing.
The post No Corporate Beer Reviews: Salts appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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EXODUS Drummer Begins First Round Of Chemotherapy For Cancer Treatment

EXODUS’s Tom Hunting has started treatment for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

Earlier today, the official EXODUS Instagram shared a photo of the drummer flashing the “devil horns” at the hospital, and included the following words from him: “Getting my 1st Chemikill Concocted Cancer Killing Cocktail!! Thank You ALL for your support!! —Tom #fansrule #family #thrashmetal #goingtobeatthis #fuckcancer”.

The 56-year-old musician revealed the diagnosis in a statement released on Tuesday (April 13). He said: “Today I will be starting treatment for a squamous cell carcinoma. It’s a gastric tumor that was diagnosed in my upper stomach in February.

“I’m making this public to raise awareness for people to pay attention to symptoms of stomach and esophageal issues. If they persist, please go get it checked out.

“I’m not gonna be sheepish talking about it. I feel that if I can help someone with what I’ve learned, or someone out there has information to share with me, it’s a win-win! When you can name the enemy, it’s empowering, and you’re 1 step closer to killing it!

“Ok, you’ve heard the bad news. The good news is he feels great physically! I’m gonna beat this like a fucking snare drum that owes me money!!! I’ve had great doctors and a great support system that is an army in itself. I’m ready for the fight!”

After Hunting went public with his diagnosis, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt said that the band will “delay” the release of its recently completed new album, “Persona Non Grata”, “so that when Tom has defeated this, he will be back to full strength to hit the road and pummel his drums like only he can! When he has kicked cancer’s ass like we know he will, we will resume kicking YOUR asses with the sickest record yet!” he said.

The squamous cell carcinoma of the stomach is a very uncommon entity, with worldwide incidence of 0.04% to 0.07% of all gastric cancers.

“Persona Non Grata” will be the follow-up to 2014’s “Blood In Blood Out”, which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers’ first release since the departure of the group’s lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Steve “Zetro” Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

“Persona Non Grata” was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap.

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Video Premiere: Tooth and Claw — “Your Crucifixion”

Are you ready to fight Tooth and Claw to avoid “Your Crucifixion”?
The post Video Premiere: Tooth and Claw — “Your Crucifixion” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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MEGADETH's DAVID ELLEFSON And ANTHRAX's FRANK BELLO Collaborate With Guitar String Jewelry Manufacturer STRÜNG

Strüng is a lifestyle brand for music lovers made by musicians Jenny Mann and Tim Barbour who discovered a unique way to repurpose their broken guitar strings and turn them into distinctive jewelry pieces for both men and women themed to a classic song. With over 80 tracks ranging in genres including rock/metal, country/blues, hip-hop/rap and classical music to choose from, customers can wear their favorite song by ordering one of their custom bracelets, necklaces or earrings which comes with a matching charm. Additional shop items include unisex drum cymbal necklaces, beaded bracelets, choker necklace chords and more. Strüng also has a customizable “Send-a-Song” shop where shoppers can pick their own song and matching charm.

The company has also teamed up with several famous musicians for their limited-edition line Strung Live, which offers one-of-kind designs made with used/played guitar strings and includes a signed authenticity card. A portion of profits is donated to a charity of the artist’s choice. Current and upcoming artist collaborations include David Ellefson (MEGADETH), Frank Bello (ANTHRAX) and Kurt Blankenship (HED PE) — just to name a few.

According to Guitar Girl Magazine, the idea for Strüng came about in 2012 when Mann and Barbour, original members of the rock band BLAMESHIFT, spent over 200 days touring the country and Jenny noticed all of the strings that guitarist Tim was constantly changing and leaving all over the tour bus. That inspired her to make bracelets from the used strings and she began selling them at their merch table at shows.

View Strüng’s entire collection at www.getstrung.com.

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LED ZEPPELIN: 'The Biography' Book Due In November

Penguin Press has set November 9 release date for Bob Spitz’s new book, “Led Zeppelin: The Biography”.

From the author of the definitive New York Times bestselling history of THE BEATLES comes the authoritative account of the group Jack Black and many others call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious.

Rock stars. Whatever those words mean to you, chances are, they owe a debt to LED ZEPPELIN. No one before or since has lived the dream quite like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. In “Led Zeppelin”, Spitz takes their full measure, for good and sometimes for ill, separating the myth from the reality with the connoisseurship and storytelling flair that are his trademarks.

From the opening notes of their first album, the band announced itself as something different, a collision of grand artistic ambition and brute primal force, of delicate English folk music and hard-driving African-American blues. That record sold over 10 million copies, and it was the merest beginning; LED ZEPPELIN’s albums have sold over 300 million certified copies worldwide, and the dust has never settled. Taken together, LED ZEPPELIN’s discography has spent an almost incomprehensible ten-plus years on the album charts.

The band is notoriously guarded, and previous books shine more heat than light. But Spitz’s authority is undeniable and irresistible. His feel for the atmosphere, the context — the music, the business, the recording studios, the touring life, the radio stations, the fans, the whole ecosystem of popular music — is unparalleled. His account of the melding of Page and Jones, the virtuosic London sophisticates, with Plant and Bonham, the wild men from the Midlands, into a band out of the ashes of THE YARDBIRDS, in a scene dominated by THE BEATLES and THE ROLLING STONES but changing fast, is in itself a revelation. Spitz takes the music seriously, and brings the band’s artistic journey to full and vivid life. The music is only part of the legend, however: “Led Zeppelin” is also the story of how the ’60s became the ’70s, of how playing in clubs became playing in stadiums and flying your own jet, of how innocence became decadence. LED ZEPPELIN may not have invented the groupie, and they weren’t the first rock band to let loose on the road, but they took it to an entirely new level, as with everything else. Not all the legends are true, but in Spitz’s careful accounting, what is true is astonishing, and sometimes disturbing.

LED ZEPPELIN gave no quarter, and neither has Spitz. “Led Zeppelin” is the full and honest reckoning the band has long awaited, and richly deserves.

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FEAR FACTORY Unveils 'Aggression Continuum' Cover Art, Teases 'Disruptor' Music Video

FEAR FACTORY will release its first new song in over five years, “Disruptor”, on Friday, April 16. The track will appear on the band’s upcoming album, “Aggression Continuum”, due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records.

A short teaser for the “Disruptor” video — created by Finland’s Riivata Visuals — can be seen below. Also available is the “Aggression Continuum” cover art, designed by LIGHT THE TORCH guitarist Francesco Artusato.

Last September, singer Burton C. Bell issued a statement officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY, saying that he “cannot align” himself with someone whom he does not trust or respect.

Bell’s exit from FEAR FACTORY came more than two weeks after guitarist Dino Cazares launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of FEAR FACTORY’s long-awaited new LP.

Bell later told Kerrang! magazine that his split with FEAR FACTORY was a long time coming. “It’s been on my mind for a while,” he said. “These lawsuits [over the rights to the FEAR FACTORY name] just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from bandmembers, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it.

“With FEAR FACTORY, it’s just constantly been, like, ‘What?!’ You can only take so much. I felt like 30 years was a good run. Those albums I’ve done with FEAR FACTORY will always be out there. I’ll always be part of that. I just felt like it was time to move forward.”

Pressed about whether there is any chance of a reconciliation with FEAR FACTORY down the line, Burton said: “I’m done. I haven’t spoken to Dino in three years. I haven’t spoken to Raymond [Herrera, drums] and Christian [Olde Wolbers, bass] in longer than that, and I have no intention to. I’m just moving forward with my life.”

In October, Dino issued a statement in which he said that the door for Burton to come back to FEAR FACTORY wouldn’t “stay open forever.” The guitarist also revealed that Burton “lost his legal rights” to the FEAR FACTORY name “after a long court battle” with Herrera and Olde Wolbers. “I had the opportunity to do something right, and I felt that obtaining the name in full was the right thing to do for the both of us, so after nearly four years we can continue as FEAR FACTORY, to make more records and to tour,” he said. “That is why it is sad to hear that he decided to quit and, in my opinion, for whatever issues he has it seems like it could’ve been worked out.”

In explaining his reasons for starting a fundraising campaign, Cazares said that all donations will go toward covering newly incurred production costs involved with the making of the new FEAR FACTORY LP, including re-recording the drums, guitars, bass and keyboards, as well as production by Damien Rainaud and Cazares, and mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap. Burton’s original lead vocals, which were recorded in full in 2017, will remain on the new version of the album.

FEAR FACTORY’s fundraising campaign marked the first public activity from the band since it completed a 2016 U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, “Demanufacture”, in its entirety.

Bell’s ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS project released its second full-length album, “Apocrypha”, last October via Dissonance Productions.

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

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