Now What?!is the upcoming 19th studio album by English rock band Deep Purple. It’s due out on April 26th. (North America 4/30) Here is producer Bob Ezrin‘s cut of the first single, “All The Time In The World”.
The release date for the first Black Sabbath studio album with Ozzy Osbourne in 35 years is known. The album, titled 13 drops on June 11th, 2013. We are 90 days away from striking historic pay dirt. I love how true this feels within the music of our heart.
Witness Rick Rubin’s commitment as he talks about the goals of the recording.
“I’ve been a fan of Black Sabbath my whole life, and getting to come in to work everyday and hearing Black Sabbath play, it stimulates something in me just like when I was 14 years old,” Rubin says in the clip. “They just want what’s best, and we’re all sort of working together to find whatever works best for them.”
First new Soundgarden album in 15 years, King Animal!, available on Tuesday 11/13/12
King Animal will be available as a Box Set, a Deluxe CD, and 180 gram double vinyl. View and pre-order all the deluxe editions at www.soundgardenworld.com.
You can also stream King Animal in its entirety on iTunes now.
Soundgarden ‘King Animal’ Album Special Today at 9:00 pm ET
Soundgarden is back with their first album in over a decade and band members Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron premiere ‘King Animal’ on Sirius XM’s Pearl Jam Radio. Pearl Jam guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard celebrate the occasion and sit down with the Soundgarden members to discuss the band’s beginnings in Seattle, how their unique sound was born and what it was like to be back in the studio to record their newest album.
Rebroadcast: Mon 11/12 11:00 am ET; Tues 11/13 5:00 pm ET
The heavy metal chord that Jimi Hendrix strikes at the beginning of “Are You Experienced” is the anthem cry the metal universe has responded to ever since.
I drift back to the summer of 1967 when I was 15 years old. I was in the throes of teen age angst and The Jimi Hendrix Experience was catching my soul. Hendrix sang, “I know what I want but I just don’t know, how to, go about getting it”, I said Wow, he really gets who I am, what I’m feeling. The identification was immediate and undeniable. I wore the Are You Experienced vinyl LP out on my hi-fi record player.
I have listened to many musicians and recordings since that time but nothing will ever exceed the impact and resonance of Jimi Hendrix and Are You Experienced.
There is no shadow of a doubt that Deep Purple personifies progressive metal. You can feel the steel crunch in the three powerful tracks on Deep Purple’s Machine Head, “Smoke on the Water” , “Space Truckin‘”, and “Highway Star“.
Machine Head is often cited as influential in the development of the heavy metal music genre. It is Deep Purple’s most successful recording, topping the charts in several countries following its release. The album reached #1 in the UK, where it stayed for 20 weeks in the top-40. It also reached #7 in the US, remaining on the Billboard 200 for 118 weeks. (Source: wikipedia)
My best personal memory of Deep Purple was their appearance at California Jam. This outdoor live event was covered by ABC-TV and 250,000 paid fans attended.
My first intention when I started this prog rock series was to stay the prescribed course by writing about progressive rock “sentimental favorites” such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Yes, Asia, Emerson, Lake and Palmer etc. I soon surmised there are lots of articles already written about these bands. My prog rock goal shifted to music journalist(educator) to learn and share more about what has transpired in prog rock circles.
Today’s blog post is about a band from Sweden named Opeth and the prog rock or heavy metal (depending upon your frame of reference) sub-genre known as progressive metal. Progressive metal is defined as a blend of heavy, guitar-oriented metal music enriched with compositional innovation and complex arrangements, usually expressed through diverse instrumentation and often (but not always) with odd-time signatures. Common, but not essential to define the movement, are the frequent use of keyboards, high-pitched vocals, concept lyrical themes and tracks of longer duration. Similar to progressive rock, progressive metal draws influences from other genres, such as jazz/fusion, ethnic, classical and symphonic music. Progressive rock pioneers such as King Crimson, Deep Purple and Rush are acclaimed as progenitors of progressive metal. (My thanks to the Prog Archives WebsiteProgessive Metal Team)
Staying linear with King Crimson, Steven Wilson and Opeth the intersection continues with Opeth’s 10th studio recording, Heritage which was mixed by Steven Wilson(who has played on as well as produced various Opeth recordings). I heard Heritage for the first time this morning . I was literally swept away by its warm tonality and lush heavy rock interludes.
A further point of intersection is initiated when Mikael Åkerfeldt collaborated with Steven Wilson to create Storm Corrosion. Storm Corrosion’s sound can best be described as ambient, epic, enchanting, and orchestral.[1]
It was just announced that Opeth have been nominated in various categories at the inaugural Progressive Music Awards 2012 brought you by Prog Magazine.
Opeth are nominated in the following categories open to public voting.
There have been just a hand full of artists these past forty years that once I heard them I was forever affected by their power and order of magnitude.
Led Zeppelin was the first English rock band, even more than Cream, to galvanize my interest in rock music, first as a blues rock band, then as progenitors of heavy metal. The first and second Led Zeppelin albums provided the strongest one-two punch I’ve ever heard from evolving rock musicians. There was no sophomore jinx with Led Zeppelin II, which shot to Number 1 on the album charts in 1969.
I was clued into Led Zeppelin early in the fall of 1968. I hung out with several music fanatics in high school. One of these guys had relatives in England who informed us of the sensation Led Zeppelin was causing with their initial British tour. By the time Led Zeppelin’s initial album, Led Zeppelin was released in January, 1969 we readied ourselves for the assault on our senses. We were quite unprepared for the onslaught Led Zep would have on us. They took America, particularly FM radio airplay and rock venues across the US by storm.
If you are passionate about Led Zeppelin I urge you to seek out Uncut Magazine‘s The Ultimate Music Guide, Led Zeppelin.It is a well curated collection of articles, insights about Led Zeppelin, their recordings, the band members and the rock and roll saga we love to hear told.
I recall those halcyon days of pulsating hard rock in 1968 pounded out by the band Blue Cheer. I must admit that I could only tolerate so much of their sound at a time. It’s interesting what the mind rejects but the universe accepts.
Looking back on what Blue Cheer established has helped me to appreciate their role in the annals of rock music. Sprung from the loins of the psychedelic era in San Farncisco, the band is said to have been named after a street brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley.
Blue Cheer clearly established heavy metal way before it had a moniker.
Vincebus Eruptum, Blue Cheer’s landmark 1968 debut, is widely regarded as ground zero of the heavy metal explosion. The album, featuring the classic Blue Cheer lineup of guitarist Leigh Stephens, bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley, includes the trio’s mind-melting reading of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” which became a Top 20 single.
The release date for the first 
There is no shadow of a doubt that 
