Music-News

METALLICA'S LARS ULRICH SAYS HE MIGHT DIRECT A MOVIE ONE DAY

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:31:00 GMT

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is currently at the Cannes Film Festival in France, where he is talking with various international distributors about the band's upcoming feature film, Metallica Through The Never. Ulrich, a well-known film buff who has even done a little acting in a handful of movies, was asked by Getty Images Entertainment if he ever considered actually directing a movie himself one day.

He replied, "The biggest enemy I have is time. Metallica in its 32nd year is busier and has more projects on the table and takes up more of my time than it ever has. I may do it. I would love to do something. I have actually been offered the chance to both direct and produce as well as write and I've acted in a couple of films so I do what I can."

But, Ulrich added, "Metallica is the main thing in my life and I'm not going to turn my back on that."

Metallica Through The Never will open on IMAX screens in the U.S. on September 27th, with a wider release following on October 4th.

The movie stars Dane DeHaan has a member of the band's road crew who is sent on a mysterious mission while the group headlines a concert at an arena. The film is said to mix a conventional storyline with concert footage.

Ulrich said about the filmmaking process, "Making a movie at this level has been a little overwhelming. In the music world, you get very used to controlling your environment and in the film world there is nothing to control . . . it's just like a complete clusterf*** . . . and there's a bizarre beauty in that."

COREY TAYLOR ON SLIPKNOT: 'IT'S STARTING TO FEEL LIKE IT'S TIME'

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:30:00 GMT

For a long time, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor seemed the most hesitant to get back into the studio and make a new album following the 2010 death of bassist Paul Gray. But with three years having passed since Gray's death, and with Taylor making three albums with Stone Sour since then, the singer told us that he thinks 2014 will finally be the year of the Knot: "I know everybody is pretty keen on getting together and seeing what happens next year, so I mean, if it takes us a year to write an album, so be it. The main goal is to just get us in the room and just see what happens, you know. If we can get past that first day, I think it'll come together. Now that we're all kind of in better places in our lives and whatnot, it's making it a little easier to be excited about it again. It's just starting to feel like it's time."

Slipknot has performed live over the past two years but has not recorded a new album since 2008's All Hope Is Gone.

Stone Sour issued Audio Secrecy in 2010, House Of Gold And Bones, Part 1 last fall and House Of Gold And Bones, Part 2 last month.

Taylor has also written two books, with the second one, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Heaven (Or, How I Made Peace With The Paranormal And Stigmatized Zealots And Cynics In The Process), due out on July 16th through Da Cappo Press.

Slipknot plays the Download Festival in the U.K. on June 14th and the Graspop festival in Belgium on June 29th.

CHRIS CORNELL SAYS INDUCTING HEART CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT ROCK HALL

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:29:00 GMT

Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell said in a recent fan question and answer session at HBO's website that inducting Heart into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month was an "eye-opening experience" that changed his view of the entire institution. Cornell explained, "I was certainly honored, but had always had a cynical attitude about an institution like this as it pertains to rock 'n' roll in general. The fan support of all the bands inducted and their emotional enthusiasm changed everything for me."

Asked "If Soundgarden is inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, who would be the presenter?" Cornell replied, "I would hope it is a when, as opposed to an if. How about Gene Simmons?"

As for who he would like to induct into the Hall if he had the chance to do it again, Cornell selected singer and songwriter Daniel Johnston, who recorded a lot of music on cassette tapes through a boom box.

Cornell said, "It occurred to me at one point that I got no less enjoyment out of listening to his records than I did from a Pink Floyd record . . . That thought spoke to me as an absolute definition of what rock 'n' roll is really about."

Soundgarden plays in Kansas City on Wednesday night (May 22nd) as the band continues to support its 2012 album King Animal.

30 SECONDS TO MARS SINGER LOST 30 POUNDS FOR MOVIE ROLE

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:28:00 GMT

30 Seconds To Mars singer Jared Leto is slowly putting the weight back on after losing nearly 30 pounds for his latest movie role, according to Rolling Stone. Leto consumed only 400 calories a day to play a transgender person dying from AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club, saying he went "hairless and in heels" alongside star Matthew McConaughey for the December 2013 release.

The role was Leto's first in four years, and the latest in an acting career that includes Requiem For A Dream, American Psycho, Fight Club and others.

Leto is packing the pounds back on -- more or less -- just as 30 Seconds To Mars has released its new album, Love Lust Faith + Dreams this week.

The actor/singer told Rolling Stone that the band's fourth disc is "a new chapter. It really felt like a new beginning. It feels like a new band, like we let go a lot of the past. It's not just a rock record -- it's more expansive, it digs deeper."

Love Lust Faith + Dreams was recorded in India, Malibu, Berlin, Paris and Tokyo. It follows up 2009's This Is War.

Leto explained, "I was going for something much, more focused and decisive, and at times minimal and not as bombastic -- really revealing and personal and lush, atmospheric. I feel like we've made the best album of our lives, hands down, because we've learned a lot about who we were."

30 Seconds To Mars has been performing a series of free shows in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, Toronto, and New York, but has yet to announce full tour plans behind the album.

SLASH, FANS REACT TO CHESTER BENNINGTON JOINING STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:27:00 GMT

The news that Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington was going to be the new frontman -- more or less -- for Stone Temple Pilots seems to have divided fans of both bands, but one person thinks it sounds great: Slash. The legendary guitarist, who played in Velvet Revolver with former STP vocalist Scott Weiland before dismissing him from that band, tweeted, "On a quick break from interviews, listening to new @STPband w/ @chesterbe sounds fantastic! Really excited for this new line-up."

It was Slash who first hinted that STP had fired Weiland for a second time last December, with the band itself making the official announcement in February.

Slash has made no secret of his problems with Weiland but admitted a while back that he was hardly surprised by them: "You know, we knew what we were getting into going into it and, you know, he managed to do pretty well for a while there. But then he turned around and it was aggravating and frustrating and all those negatives, but at the same time, you can't sit there and be surprised."

Fans were shocked when Stone Temple Pilots made a surprise appearance at a radio festival in the Los Angeles area last Saturday (May 18th), with Bennington making his debut on the mic.

The group performed a new song called "Out Of Time" at the show, putting a studio version online earlier this week. Bennington later said that he was planning on doing more recording and touring with STP, while remaining in Linkin Park.

THE DOORS' RAY MANZAREK DEAD AT 74

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:37:00 GMT

The Doors' co-founder and keyboardist Ray Manzarek died on Monday, May 20th in Rosenheim, Germany at the RoMed Clinic following a long battle with with bile duct cancer. He was 74. Manzarek was surrounded by his wife Dorothy and his brothers Rick and James Manczarek. Manzarek is survived by Dorothy, their son Pablo, his wife Sharmin, and their three children Noah, Apollo, and Camille. Funeral arrangements are pending. An official statement posted on TheDoors.com stated: "The family asks that their privacy be respected at this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, please make a memoriam donation in Ray Manzarek's name at www.standup2cancer.org."

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger said in a statement: "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."

Doors drummer John Densmore said in a statement: "There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison's words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother."

Ray Manzarek was born Raymond Daniel Manczarek, Jr. on February 12th, 1939 on the South Side of Chicago and was of Polish decent. In 1962 he moved to Southern California to study at the Department of Cinematography at UCLA, where he first met fellow student and future partner Jim Morrison, along with his wife of 45 years, Dorothy Fujikawa. Together with Morrison, Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore, the quartet formed the Doors in 1965 and between 1967 and 1971 released six studio albums -- The Doors (1967); Strange Days (1967); Waiting For The Sun (1968); The Soft Parade (1969); Morrison Hotel (1970); and L.A. Woman (1971) -- before Jim Morrison's death on July 3rd, 1971 in Paris.

Manzarek changed the face of rock keyboard playing, with his early signature sound being a combination of a Vox Continental organ -- and later a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo combo organ -- with his left hand playing the basslines on a Fender Rhodes electric piano "bass unit," which featured only the keyboard's lowest notes. Although the Doors eventually added a studio bassist to their sessions, Manzarek handled the bass duties via his keyboards for the band's live appearances with Morrison.

Following Morrison's death, the Doors soldiered on with Manzarek and Krieger taking over vocal duties on the band's 1971 set, Other Voices, and its follow-up, 1972's Full Circle. Following that, Krieger and Densmore split to form the Butts Band. After a short-lived mid-'70s collaboration with Iggy Pop, Manzarek formed Nite City with future Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison, and produced and collaborated with the likes of Philip Glass, Echo & The Bunnymen, X, and poet Michael McClure, among many others.

In 1978 Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore reunited to compose and record music to Morrison's poetry for the An American Prayer album. Manzarek collaborated frequently with Robby Krieger. In 2002 the pair began touring as the Doors Of The 21st Century, which went through various name changes -- including Riders On The Storm -- until the pair settled on Manzarek-Krieger or Ray Manzarek & Robby Krieger of The Doors, following a bitter five-year battle against John Densmore and the Morrison estate over the use of the band's name.

In 1998, Manzarek published his memoir, Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors. He followed the autobiography in 2001 with The Poet In Exile, which supposes what would've happened had Jim Morrison faked his death -- as many fans believe. In 2006 he published his second novel, the Civil War-based, Snake Moon.

The Doors' stats remain among the most impressive of the rock era, selling over 100 million albums worldwide, and receiving 19 Gold, 14 Platinum, and five multi-Platinum albums in the U.S. alone.

FRIENDS AND FANS REACT

Joe Perry wrote: "I am very saddened by loss of Ray Manzarek now he's with Jim. They mean as much to me today as they did 40 years ago."

Slash wrote: "The Doors represent the LA sound to me. It was the 1st band I remember hearing when I came from England; 'Light my fire,' I'll never forget."

Alice Cooper wrote: "Ok it is OFFICIAL. Ray Manzarek is dead. Mind blown. RIP Ray."

Flea wrote: "Wow. Ray manzarek. Bless his heart. One of a kind rock original. Grateful to have jammed with him once. R.I..P."

Weird Al Yankovic wrote: Oh man. So terribly sad. We lost a great one. #RIPRayManzarek

Elijah Wood wrote: "The End. Sad to hear of Ray Manzarek's passing."

When discussing the Doors in their prime, Ray Manzarek told us that whether they liked it or not, the Doors ended up being spokesmen for their generation: "There was a war in Vietnam and, y'know, that had to be stopped, and we were gonna try to clean up the environment, and do all those good things that hippies were trying to do. And everyone was angry, man, so, y'know, we tried to make the music as hard and as powerful and as exciting as possible. And when you got Jim Morrison as your lead singer, well, y'know, that's an extra plus. So that's what it was all about."

Robbie Krieger says that looking back, the Doors' short time together was relatively free of ego problems or star trips: "It was really, like, the perfect group, y'know, as far as working together and stuff. There was no ego problems, y'know, and petty jealousies and stuff like that that a lot of groups go through."

During the height of his and Robby Krieger's recent battles with John Densmore over the use of the Doors' name, Manzarek never wavered from the belief that the pair deserved to be billed as "The Doors": "We are the Doors. You're watching two guys who were in the band. The keyboard player and the guitar player are the original members of the Doors. That's the actual guys, man. There's the sound of the Doors right in front of you. That's the keyboard player who plays 'Light My Fire.' That's the guitar player who wrote 'Light My Fire.' So it's a continuation."

Ultimately, Ray Manzarek told us that as the Doors' music ages, it's probably better understood and more beloved than when it was first recorded: "I think the time has allowed them to digest the Jungian/Freudian aspect of the Doors' songs. I think they've gotten into the depth of the songs a lot more than back in the '60s, and understand it from an intellectual perspective, and are just as wild as the people were in the '60s. I'm surprised at, y'know, how uninhibited and how crazy and Dionysian they can actually be."

SICK PUPPIES SET RELEASE DATE FOR NEW ALBUM; SINGLE OUT NOW

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:35:00 GMT

Sick Puppies will release their fourth studio album, called Connect, on July 16th, with the first single, "There's No Going Back," arriving at radio stations and iTunes on Monday (May 20th). The entire 12-song set is also available for pre-order at iTunes. Connect will follow up 2009's Tri-Polar, which featured the singles "Odd One," "Maybe," "You're Going Down" and "Riptide," the latter two of which were both Top Five hits on the Active Rock radio chart.

A video for "There's No Going Back" will premiere on VEVO on June 6th.

Sick Puppies has already been hitting the road in the U.S. this month to give fans a preview of the new material. The band next plays on Sunday (May 26th) at Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, Illinois.

Frontman Shim Moore told Loudwire about the new disc, "It's a louder record, but we went for a different sound in terms of the layering of the guitars. So there aren't as many guitars, but the ones that we do have we've turned up a lot more. So if that gives you an idea, it's a louder record but it's much more musical."

METALLICA'S LARS ULRICH SPEAKS WITH PRESS AT CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:33:00 GMT

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is at the Cannes Film Festival in France, where he has done a couple of video interviews to talk about the band's movie, Metallica Through The Never, which is due for release this fall. Ulrich is at the festival to help sell the film to international distributors. We asked Metallica frontman James Hetfield about Ulrich's trip to Cannes as well as the status of the movie itself: "Lars is there right now, and he's the biggest of all movie buffs in this group here for sure, so he's representing us over there right now. Film is not done; we're extremely close. There's editing, sounds, mixing, things like that that have to happen. It's pretty complex."

It is not clear whether buyers at Cannes will see an unfinished version of the movie or just selected clips or scenes from the IMAX 3D release.

Metallica Through The Never will open on IMAX screens in the U.S. on September 27th, with a wider release following on October 4th.

30 SECONDS TO MARS RELEASES 'LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS'

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:32:00 GMT

30 Seconds To Mars releases its fourth album, Love Lust Faith + Dreams, on Tuesday (May 21st). The disc follows up 2009's This Is War and continues the band's embrace of social networking and interactivity with fans through the Internet and other means. Frontman Jared Leto recently told MTV UK that 30 Seconds To Mars is not just a band, but an "art project," saying, "We've always thought about 30 Seconds To Mars not just as a band but an art project. A place where we would make music, we would make books, we would make art in general, short films, documentaries."

Leto added, "I mean really the music is the glue that binds it all together but its certainly not just about the music, it's about community, its about a life."

Leto told us a while back that he thinks his group's fans, who call themselves the Echelon, are the most devoted in rock: "It's incredible to have a group of people that are so dedicated and passionate to what we have to offer. Obviously we're not the biggest band out there, but we have the most incredible fans -- it's like a big dysfunctional family, I've said a bunch of times before. There's always just the most inspired efforts by the people that are here to be a part of something very special."

30 Seconds To Mars has already made one film, 2012's Artifact, which Leto directed under his pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins. The film chronicled the making of This Is War and the band's battle at the time with its record label.

The first single from the new disc is called "Up In The Air" and 30 Seconds To Mars has issued a typically grandiose, eight-minute video for it, once again directed by Leto.

30 Seconds To Mars, which entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011 for playing 309 shows over two years in support of This Is War, has yet to announce live plans to promote the new CD.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN BASSIST BLAMES SINGER FOR BAND HIATUS

Point Music News provided by Pulse — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:30:00 GMT

System Of A Down bassist Shavo Odadjian posted a series of statements at his Facebook page on Monday (May 20th) in which he directly blamed singer Serj Tankian for the band's continued lack of new music, saying that the vocalist was holding the group back. According to Loudwire, Odadjian wrote in a post riddled with spelling errors, "I'll come clean.. Its not us, meaning Daron Malakian, guitar, John Dolmayan, drums or Shavo!! Its Serj, who doesn't want to do a new album . . . now he might hate me for exposing the truth but I had too. Sorry folks!!! We're trying to get a new album out, it's just not passing Serj's RULES!"

Odadjian hinted that he would be happy to work with a new singer, saying, "I'm ready to release (a new album) with someone who wants to be the singer of System, not someone we have to beg to be a part of System!! So with that in mind, what do you guys (think we) should do? Just remember, he's been holding us back for 7 years so far -- wanna wait another five years? Or shall we release a record without Serj?"

Odadjian added, "No diss to Serj . . . If he wants to be in the band then he's welcome but if he's not? What do you expect us 3 to do??"

Odadjian told us a while back that he could never envision System Of A Down going away permanently: "We're brothers, man, we'll take bullets for each other. So it's like, you kind of miss each other after a while and you, one guy makes the first move, then another starts making phone calls....this is a juggernaut, man. System Of A Down is my lifeline. It'll never go away. We could not make a record for 10 years -- that's not gonna happen, but I'm just saying we could -- and we'll come back strong."

System Of A Down released a statement shortly after Odadjian made his remarks, saying, "Earlier today, Shavo posted a few statements on his personal Facebook page that do not reflect the sentiments of System Of A Down as a collective band. These were misleading statements that were made during a temporary state of bad judgment on his part alone."

The statement added that the full lineup of System will be performing its upcoming live dates, which will take place mostly in Europe but include a July 29th gig at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

As for a new album, the statement from the band said, "Although we have not agreed on a timetable for a new album, we all believe that having the four of us do it together is the way to be true to the band and our fans."

Tankian has been the busiest of all four System members since the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2006, releasing three solo studio albums and one live set, with a jazz disc and a symphony on the way this summer.

Dolmayan and Malakian started the on-again, off-again Scars On Broadway, while Odadjian collaborated in a project called Achozen.