ALBUM REVIEW: Helloween – Helloween


Sometimes, even for grumpy middle-aged metal fans, wishes can come true. So when it was announced in 2017 that former Helloween members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen were to join the current incarnation of the band there was much, much rejoicing. The Pumpkins United (Nuclear Blast) single which followed swiftly dispelled any initial concerns about musical overcrowding, the band now consisting of seven members including three vocalists plus Hansen adding a third guitar, and the path to Helloween (Nuclear Blast) was clear.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Ellefson – No Cover


Cover songs can be tricky. A balancing act that often results in calamity. Lean too far one way and be accused of musical blasphemy; keep things too safe and be reliably informed you shouldn’t have bothered in the first place. So with that in mind, surely an album consisting entirely of cover versions is just asking for trouble, isn’t it?Continue reading


CLASSIC ALBUMS REVISITED: Between the Buried and Me – Alaska


I assume it’s easy to look back at the aughts and be dismissive of the entire decade particularly from the perspective of metal or punk fan. Nu-Metal was slowly being phased out as any goodwill from the previous decade had eroded and acts like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte made everyone realize that maybe the idea of Pop-Punk was a mistake. But those who kept their ear close to the ground knew better than to become jaded. Hard rock was alive and well and young bands were doing very exciting things. Young bands like Between the Buried and Me with their seminal Alaska (Victory Records 2005/Craft Recordings 2020).

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Queen is Facing Legal Hurdles Trying to Stop Donald Trump From Using Their Music


According to a published report, the management for Queen described the band’s attempts to stop Donald Trump from using its music in social media campaigns as an “uphill battle.” Earlier this week, Trump’s campaign used their classic song “We Will Rock You” in a video on TikTok competitor Triller. The video has not yet been taken down.A spokesman for Queen told BBC News said it has “repeatedly taken issue with the Trump campaign,” adding that “the band itself has been quite outspoken on the subject.” This is not the first time Queen and Trump have clashed over his unauthorized use of the band’s music. Last October, the band filed a copyright infringement notice over the unauthorized use of “We Will Rock You” in a another Trump campaign video. The clip was eventually removed from Twitter “in response to a report from the copyright holder.” Queen also clashed with Trump four years ago on the campaign trail when then-Republican presidential hopeful Trump for using the band’s 1977 song “We Are The Champions” without permission.Continue reading


Queen Drummer Roger Taylor Shares Animated Video for “Isolation” Solo Single


Legendary Queen co-founder and drummer Roger Taylor has released an animated video for his new solo single, “Isolation”. The clip was produced by Animind Studio 2020. Released on June 22, the song was recorded during the lockdown and is said to reflect “the current times of COVID-19.” Taylor told BBC Radio 6 Music about the inspiration for “Isolation”: “It was a frustration and a slight anxiety behind it all, so I just thought I would write a song about how to fill the day — routine in isolation. It’s something we are not used to. It is a direct reflection of how I was feeling at the time.”Continue reading


Brian May of Queen Says Collaboration Album with Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath Still Possible


In a new interview with Guitar World, Queen guitarist Brian May has said that there is still “a chance” that his much-rumored collaboration with Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi will see the light of day. “We do more talking than anything else, but we do a lot of talking,” Brian said. “He is really my dearest friend in the business and has been for so many years. I could write books about Tony because he’s just the most [pauses]… I don’t even know how to put it into words. You know, he’s a luminous human being is Tony, with a wonderful, kind nature and an incredibly baffling sense of humour. And, of course, he is the father of heavy metal. He did that. He made that happen. And it’s from his fingers and his mind. That young ex-welder, he made that happen. So, you know, he forever wears that medal, I think. He founded this stuff, heavy metal, in my opinion. I mean, I think probably most people would agree.”Continue reading


Queen Guitarist Dr. Brian May Barely Survived a Heart Attack Recently


Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed that he recently suffered a “small heart attack.” The episode left him “very near death,” but says he’s now feeling remarkably well after being fitted with three stents — tiny tubes that can hold open blocked arteries. In a video posted to Instagram, May said: “In the middle of the whole saga of the painful backside, I had a small heart attack. I say small — it’s not something that did me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of pain in the chest and tightness. It’s that feeling in the arms and sweating. And you kind of know — you’ve heard things and you think, ‘This is a heart attack.’ To cut a long story short, my wonderful doctor drove me to the hospital himself and I had an angiogram.” Earlier in the month, the May, 72-yeas-old, iinjured his buttocks and assumed the injury was the cause of the pain he was feeling. Still in “agony,” May had an MRI of his spine done, revealing a compressed sciatic nerve, the result, he said, of, “50 years of running around with a guitar strap over my left shoulder holding a heavy guitar.” According to the guitarist, the nerve was “quite severely compressed and that’s why I had this feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back.”Continue reading


Queen to Share 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribue Concert ft Guns N Roses, Metallica, Elton John, David Bowie, Def Leppard, Tony Iommi, Robert Plant, George Michael and More!


Queen are sharing their famous 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness via Youtube. The band is raising money to donate to COVID-19 relief efforts and they’ll be sharing the show for 48 hours via their Youtube live on Queen’s Youtube from 2pm EST on May 15th. May. Queen’s’ Benefit Concert took place in London’s Wembley Stadium on Easter Monday (20th, April). The surviving members of the band: Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor wanted to perform the benefit concert in memory of Freddie Mercury, who had passed away the previous November. The concert featured Queen and friends like David Bowie, Elton John, Axl Rose, and James Hetfield among others to pay tribute to Freddie Mercury. The setlist included some real treats like Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, and a special rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

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Queen + Adam Lambert Reschedule Tour Dates to 2021


Queen + Adam Lambert’s European Tour, previously to kick off in May will now take place in 2021. The 27-date European “Rhapsody” tour is being postponed due to the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak. The 2020 tour was due to start in Italy on May 24, with the itinerary also including a run of 10 London O2 concerts as well as a pair of shows each in Manchester and Birmingham, before further mainland Europe dates were set to conclude with two Madrid shows on July 7 and July 8. The decision has been made with the safety of Queen’s audiences, band, crew and venue staff in mind and with close on 400,000 tickets sold across the tour, was not a decision taken lightly. The good news for fans is that the band has worked swiftly to reschedule the dates and is now able to confirm that the shows are now set for matching or similar dates in 2021. All tickets will be valid for the rescheduled show dates. Ticket holders are advised to contact their point of purchase for information on ticket exchanges for the 2021 dates. The postponement comes as a major disappointment for the band having only recently enjoyed performing one of their biggest ever tours with their massively successful six-week stadium tour of South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, playing to audiences reaching up to 60,000 a night. The trek also included a special appearance at the Sydney Fire Fight Australia benefit concert for bushfire relief, for which the band reprised their iconic 22-minute Live Aid set, helping raise $9.5 million to help those affected by Australia’s massive bushfires.Continue reading