Slash’s much-anticipated blues cover album is studded with fine performances – Chris Stapleton singing on “Oh Well”, Iggy Pop on “Awful Dream”, Brian Johnson loving it on “Killing Floor”.Continue reading
Tag Archives: ZZ Top
ALBUM REVIEW: Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons – Kings of the Asylum
Two band names, three studio albums, one EP, a live album, and a change of vocalists. A lot has happened in the last few years for Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. From beginning life as a side project for the former Motörhead guitarist, performing covers under the somewhat less than attention-grabbing moniker of Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band, the band announced a much-needed name change the following year and the improvement was both noticeable and immediate.
Whitesnake Co-founder and Guitarist Bernie Mardsen Has Died
Original Whitesnake Guitarist Bernie Mardsen has died. He was 72 years old. No cause of death has been revealed. The news was broken by Mardsen’s label Conquest Music and their PR team. You can read that notice below. A great Hard Rock and Heavy Guitarist and songwriter, Mardsen is best known for his work in Whitesnake, sharing composing credits on two of their biggest hits “Here I Go Again” and “Fool For Your Loving!” In addition, he released many solo albums, and had other bands and collabs such as UFO, Ringo Starr, ZZ TOP, MGM, and The Company of Snakes, and others. His former bandmate and friend David Coverdale of Whitesnake commented: “I’ve just woken up to the awful news that my old friend and former Snake Bernie Marsden has passed,” he wrote. “My sincere thoughts and prayers to his beloved family, friends and fans. A genuinely funny, gifted man, whom I was honored to know and share a stage with.”
RIP.
EP REVIEW: The Guitar and Whiskey Club – The Guitar and Whiskey Club
As the nights get darker, trees have lost their leaves and there’s a “nip” in the air, you could do worse than retreat into your man cave with a guitar and some whiskey, or even The Guitar & Whiskey Club’s new self-titled EP (Orchard / Sony).
Dusty Hill, Co-Founder of ZZ TOP, Has Died
Sad news as Rock and Blues legend Dusty Hill of ZZ TOP has died suddenly, in his sleep. He was 72 years old. News of his death was shared on the bands’ social media pages by surviving members Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard. Known for his iconic voice, bass style and beard, Hill rocked for over 50 years in the band, as well as becoming a pop culture icon in television, movies, and commercials. He sang lead vocals and harmonized wonderfully. We send our condolences to Dusty’s family, bandmates, friends, and fans at this difficult time.
ALBUM REVIEW: Royal Blood – Typhoons
From the moment of Royal Blood’s self-titled debut seven years ago, the Bristolian duo’s rise was meteoric. Their music is simple, brutal, and effective – taking inspiration from Queens of the Stone Age and The White Stripes and combining big hooks, tasty riffs, and volume to full effect. This beefed-up take on indie rock can only take you so far though, so on the new album Typhoons (Warner Records), they looked toward Dance and Disco to broaden their sound. Continue reading
In This Moment, Body Count, Code Orange And Power Trip Among the Nominees For The 63rd Grammy Awards.
Metal mainstays such as In This Moment, and Body Count, while upstarts Code Orange and modern legends Power Trip were among the “Best Metal Performance” nominees at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, which will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS television network on Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT. The 63rd annual Grammy Awards will be hosted by “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah. Last year’s best Metal Performance award went to Tool, honored with a Grammy in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, which was held on January 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tool was nominated for “7empest”, a track from its 2019 album Fear Inoculum. Other related nominees include Beastie Boys and ZZ Top in the film category and Bill and Ted 3 for multi-media.
ALBUM REVIEW: AC/DC – POWER UP
After months of rumours fuelled by glimpsed sightings and blurry photographs taken outside recording studios, the worst kept secret in rock was finally confirmed at the end of September this year. With a sudden flurry of activity on their website, the announcement was clear. AC/DC was back.
PODCAST: Episode 100: Bobby Blitz and Mark Menghi Talk BPMD, Covers, and American Rock Bands
For our 100th Episode of the Ghost Cult Podcast, Keefy interviewed Bobby Blitz (Overkill) and Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance, also interviewed in podcast #2) about their new band BPMD, and their debut album of covers American Made out now on Napalm Records. We talked to the guys about how the new supergroup, also featuring Mike Portnoy and Phil Demmel came together, why they chose to cover only American bands, how they chose deep cuts over popular songs, how BPMD is different than other bands that come together to create covers, what the music industry might look like after the coronavirus, whether the band will ever perform live or not and more! You can buy American Made at this link and hear our chat right now!
ALBUM REVIEW: BPMD – American Made
Named after the four members, Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, Mike Portnoy, Mark Menghi, and Phil Demmel, supergroup BPMD is here with their debut release, a covers album by the name of American Made (Napalm Records). As the title suggests, every cut on the record was originally recorded by an American artist, and each revitalised track sounds nothing short of tremendous.Continue reading