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Rob Halford Feared Coming Out Would ‘Damage’ Judas Priest

Frontman worried that the stigma surrounding homosexuality could harm his band. Continue reading…
Source: HRRL Classic Rock News via ultimate Classic Rock
Rob Halford Feared Coming Out Would ‘Damage’ Judas Priest
HRRL Classic Rock News via ultimate Classic Rock

Inspirations – SAXON

Covers albums are a risky business. There are, of course, lots of great examples of the form, and we all enjoy the healthy dismantling and reconstruction of a classic every now and then. On the other side of the mimicry coin, however, there have been lots of truly dismal covers albums over the years, none of which deserve to be mentioned here.

Fortunately, SAXON are a band of sufficient vintage and legend that they have absolutely no reason to explain anything they do at this point. “Inspirations” is very obviously a record that was bashed out and glued together during lockdown but sounds every bit as energetic and powerful as you might expect from the British veterans. If there is one tiny downside to the whole thing, it’s that the band’s choice of songs is all so screamingly obvious that it’s hard not to wonder why they couldn’t have come up with at least one curveball along the way. Observant fans could arguably have predicted at least eight of these 11 tunes, and even the mildly surprising likes of TOTO‘s “Hold The Line” and THE KINKS‘ “See My Friends” are firmly within the classic rock arena.

But then, as is so often the case with SAXON, the sheer, mad-eyed exuberance of the whole thing grabs you by the fundamentals and jettisons all cynicism with a chuckling flourish. Clearly having as much fun as they’ve had in years, this is a looser, less precise SAXON than we generally hear on their studio albums, but it’s also a showcase for the band’s resolute chemistry and, more importantly, their unabashed, shared love for these songs. It’s also an absolute joy to hear Biff Byford singing the likes of “Immigrant Song” and “Speed King”: songs that evidently influenced his own vocal approach, but which he sings, brilliantly, with an audible twinkle in his eye, very much on top of the job throughout. Similarly, when Biff takes on AC/DC‘s “Problem Child” or THIN LIZZY‘s “The Rocker”, he sounds squarely in his element, saluting his heroes but also contemporaries from SAXON‘s early days.

With only a re-worked and slightly stilted rendition of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Stone Free” missing the mark, “Inspirations” may be an unapologetic stopgap, but it’s also a vibrant and brashly entertaining collection of blasts from the past. It’s hard to imagine anyone else getting away with it, but this is SAXON: the finest covers band in the world (this week).

Source: HRRL News Feed via Blabbermouth.net
Inspirations – SAXON
HRRL News Feed via Blabbermouth.net

SKID ROW Taps Producer NICK RASKULINECZ For New Album Sessions

SKID ROW guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo has told the “Behind The Vinyl” podcast that he and his bandmates will regroup in less than two weeks in Nashville, Tennessee to begin pre-production on some of its new material. Asked if they will once again work with producer Michael Wagener, who also helmed the group’s 1989 self-titled debut and 1991’s “Slave To The Grind”, Sabo said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We went in and did a bunch of stuff [with Michael]. This is a whole new batch of stuff we’re doing. Michael is kind of taking a break, I think, from the music business. We did a bunch of great work with him. And so we’re working with [Grammy Award-winning producer] Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON, RUSH).

“We wrote a bunch of new songs, and, like I said, Michael’s taking a breather,” he continued. “Nick had expressed an interest to work with us. Rachel‘s [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] become really good friends with him, living down there in Nashville. And he’s, like, ‘Let’s do some stuff together.’ So we figured it out where he’s got some space and we can get our asses down there and do some work for a couple of weeks and see what happens… I’m looking forward to it. Obviously, his reputation precedes him; he’s made some great records. And he has a great excitement about working on some of our new music. So I look forward to the experience.”

SKID ROW‘s new LP will mark its first release with South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined the band in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

Unlike 2014’s “Rise Of The Damnation Army – United World Rebellion: Chapter Two” and 2013’s “United World Rebellion: Chapter One”, SKID ROW‘s forthcoming release will be a full-length record.

SKID ROW previously collaborated with several outside songwriters on its new material, including Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR) and Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of HALESTORM, a group that covered the title track of “Slave To The Grind” on its “ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP” in 2011. SKID ROW also worked with songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow.

SKID ROW‘s 2020 “The Big Rock Summer Tour”, also featuring RATT, CINDERELLA‘s Tom Keifer and SLAUGHTER, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe.

Photo by: Chuck Arland

Source: HRRL News Feed via Blabbermouth.net
SKID ROW Taps Producer NICK RASKULINECZ For New Album Sessions
HRRL News Feed via Blabbermouth.net

PETE LOEFFLER Says CHEVELLE Hasn't Made Any Money Off Record Sales Despite Selling More Than Six Million Albums

CHEVELLE vocalist/guitarist Pete Loeffler has revealed to “The KiddChris Show” on Cincinnati’s WEBN radio station that his band is a free agent after fulfilling its contractual agreement with longtime label Epic. “We just finished our record contract,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “How many bands can say that? We just handed in our last one for Sony/Epic, and we’re stitting here wondering what’s next. Where do we go now? Do we go back to being an indie band? I mean, that’s kind of cool. That sounds exciting. I don’t know. I don’t know where we’re gonna go now. Do we start a label? Do we do it ourselves? We’re not a TikTok band necessarily; we don’t have that platform.”

He continued: “We’re trying to change, but not change too much to lose your core fanbase, and yet you do wanna grow, and yet you don’t wanna be stuck in the same archaic music-business model.”

Asked if he and his brother, CHEVELLE drummer Sam Loeffler, still don’t know if they will re-sign with Epic, Pete said: “Contracts are a bitch, and we’ve signed some raw ones. And we need to start trying to make some money off of our catalog, which is 10 albums deep, plus all the side stuff. We haven’t made any money off of record sales, album sales. It’s all gone to the major labels. A lot of people make money off of us; we just don’t make money the way the deals are structured. We just aren’t excited to get back into any kind of contract. So if we find a new home at a new label, wherever it is, it’s gotta be a special deal where you get something for your hard work.’

He continued: “It would be nice to do something different and actually make a buck off of an album for once; it just hasn’t happened for us. We’ve sold six million albums for Epic Records, and they’ve made 50 million dollars. It’s lopsided. And the artist — just like [American stand-up comedian] Dave Chappelle said, he knows he signed a deal with for the Chappelle show [‘Chappelle’s Show’] long ago, and it’s a raw deal. It went to someone else, and they can put it on any platform they want, whether it’s Netflix or HBO or whatever, and he went to them and said, ‘Look, I know I did that, but it’s wrong — it’s still wrong. You need to compensate the artist.’ And that’s kind of where we’re ending up too. It’s a bad business model for the artist.”

Pete went on to say that Epic still retains the rights to CHEVELLE‘s entire catalog. “The fact of the matter is when you sign a record deal with a major, they own it for, like, 20-something years,” he explained. “We said, ‘We’d re-sign with you if you just sent some of it through the pipeline to us.’ All the profits, they’re keeping everything. ‘And if you just send a little bit through, maybe we can talk about this, [about] continuing on.’ I mean, there’s some good people at Epic. And then, in a lot of ways, we feel burned.”

CHEVELLE‘s latest album, “Niratias” (Nothing Is Real And This Is A Simulation), was released on March 5. The follow-up to 2016’s “The North Corridor” was recorded throughout 2019 and 2020 with longtime producer Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), CHEVELLE.

“Niratias” bowed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It debuted at No. 9, and was the first new release to chart within the Top 10 in over three weeks. In addition, “Niratias” achieved several other accolades. This week, the LP impressively debuted at No. 1 on several Billboard charts, including Rock Album, Alternative Album, Hard Music, Overall Album, Digital Album and Internet Album. “Self Destructor”, the album’s acclaimed lead single, also reached the summit of the Active Rock radio chart this week, marking CHEVELLE‘s 12th No. 1 single at the format.

“The North Corridor” debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced a No. 1 Mainstream Rock single, “Joyride (Omen)”.

Source: HRRL News Feed via Blabbermouth.net
PETE LOEFFLER Says CHEVELLE Hasn't Made Any Money Off Record Sales Despite Selling More Than Six Million Albums
HRRL News Feed via Blabbermouth.net