Chad Kroeger has stated that he wants the kids to stop playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band and pick up a real guitar and start a real rock band.

"I feel like there's not enough rock bands out there, especially when we go on the road," said Kroeger, who performs with the Canadian rock outfit on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Wednesday night. "It's tough to find other bands out there, because either they're making a record, or they just got done touring. So kids: Start rock bands. Set down the 'Guitar Hero,' learn how to play an actual guitar and start a band, because it's hard to find more bands to put a solid rock-and-roll package together, to get out there. It's getting harder and harder, but I think we've done it."

Well Chad, you apparently have never seen this site. (Thank god because we would probably be sued) This site is littered with bands that have the "rock and roll package" and have more artistic and musical integrity than Chad Kroeger and Nickelback.

I don't think Chad gets it. No one wants to tour with you because you suck. It would be rock career suicide if a band like Rev Theory or Bang Camaro went on tour with you. Sure they would be playing to packed houses every night, but the Nickelback fans wouldn't know good rock music if it waltzed into their house, fucked their daughter/mom/wife, all while yelling "This is good rock n roll and I am fucking your wife."

I can't decide what image to use here, so here are three:







Source

        

I love my Xbox 360. If my house was burning, I would grab my Xbox 360 and my purple vibrator Mr. Jigglesworth. Because of my love for the Xbox 360, Blogs N' Roses has teamed with DiNG to give away an Xbox 360. But that is not all. The Xbox 360 will be wrapped in a DiNG of your choice.

So what is a DiNG? DiNGs are full color, high-resolution decals and custom-fit to each electronic device. They are easily removed without damage and leave no adhesive residue.

Enter our contest now to win an Xbox 360 wrapped in Nine Inch Nails, Cobra Starship, or any other artist from their impressive roster. Check out other DiNGs at WWW.DiNGLIFE.COM

Click the banner below to be magically transported to the contest page.

        

Guns N' Roses has broken a MySpace record. Yes, MySpace keeps tracks of records. Chinese Democracy was streamed over three million times, with the title track being played 826,000 times. That translates to 25 listens a second...and this still proves nothing.

I tried to log on to the site six times and nothing would play. That is probably more due to my porn box, what I call my computer, having some type of virus. But still there are six of the 826,000 hits.

I am eager to hear it, even with the slightly negative reviews from two other staff members (Kyle's thoughts, Joe's thoughts) I will brave the elements to purchase this record because I have liked the tracks Chinese Democracy and Shackler's Revenge. I even like There Was A Time (TWAT for those unfamiliar with this song), well just the ending anyway. I also want to buy the record for the liner notes to see who plays guitar on what tracks.

Source

        

Here's my review summarized in a single word:  No.

OK, that doesn't mean much without some context, so here are some questions to go along with it:

Is Chinese Democracy a great album?
Is the album a throwback to classic GnR?
Is this GnR at all?
Does it live up to all the hype?
Was it worth the 14-year wait?
Should you plunk down your hard-earned money and buy this album?

Again, the answer to all those questions:  No.

The album is a hybrid of rock, fake-rap beats, and Axl crooning like he's trying to win American Idol.  It is definitely not GnR, so don't expect to hear Use Your Illusion III.  For that matter, don't even expect Use Your Illusion II.I (do Roman numerals even support decimals?).  The first track, "Chinese Democracy", is the best track on the album.  It has a great first-track-on-an-album sound, like Axl is announcing his return and his intention that he will rock all of our genitals off with a masterpiece of musical fury.  However, these hopes are soon dashed, as the album is all downhill from there.  In fact, the album is immediately downhill, into a valley, and plunging down through the Earth's surface with the second track, "Shackler's Revenge", which happens to be the worst song on the album.  It's just plain terrible.

I'll be honest, the album is not all bad - there are some decent songs in there, with some good melodies and some good guitar solos.  There's also a lot of music here - most of the songs are pretty long.  However, as has been pointed out on this site before, Axl (and whoever else was involved in the studio) overproduced the shit out of this album.  It's ridiculous - there were several times when I thought my web browser had switched over to streaming music from The Phantom Of The Opera, because I thought I was listening to the score of a musical.  But honestly, I'm not that surprised.  What could anyone possibly be doing for 14 years with an album?  I'll tell you what - drugs, drinking, women, and occasionally dicking around with an album to the point that it's the musical equivalent of an average-looking Hollywood starlet coated with pounds and pounds of makeup until you think she's attractive.

The album is decent.  It's not bad, but it's not good either.  And it shouldn't have taken 14 years to make.

I still think Axl is a huge dickhead for releasing Chinese Democracy under the name Guns N' Roses.  For this reason alone, you should refuse to buy this album.  Other musicians (like Scott Weiland and Chris Cornell) had the decency and common sense to release their solo efforts under their own name, not the name of the band they left.  Axl evidently has no such decency and no such common sense.  I refuse to call this a Guns N' Roses album because it's not - it's an Axl Rose album.

Don't buy this album.  Give it a listen, illegally download your favorite tracks, and don't patronize this man until he gets his act together.

        

Guns N’ Roses will be world premiering their long-awaited Chinese Democracy on their MySpace page tonight at 12AM EST. The album will be hitting Best Buy stores exclusively on November 23^rd. The band leaked a new song, “Better,” earlier this week and the title track single is all over radio. 

Check out Chinese Democracy in it’s entirety at www.MySpace.com/GunsNRoses at 12AM EST tonight!

        

It's been a tumultuous week in the Guns N' Roses vs. Velvet Revolver vs. Scott Weiland soap opera. Blabbermouth reports that RCA has dropped the pathetically inert Velvet Revolver. There's nothing like kicking a man when he's down, but VR deserve this kick to the ribs. I'm sure they won't have any trouble finding a label when they confirm that Sammy Hagar is their new lead singer. 

And now for BNR Horoscope: Guns N' Weilands Edition! 


Guns N' Roses Fans - Axl and his employees get an up arrow for the week. Chinese Democracy should hit store shelves in a few days and they have released two singles as well. Love or hate the new songs, at least Axl is finally putting his money where his rather large mouth is. You will enjoy a new period of sexual prosperity with a co-worker. Don't be shy, bang her in the copy room, you will not be terminated while Mercury is in the seventh house during Chinese Democracy's premier on the Billboard Charts.

Scott Weiland Fans - Scotty also gets an up arrow for the week. Like his foil Axl, Weiland is also releasing his solo album next week and isn't dicking around trying to find a band. He also gets some bonus points for streaming his entire album, Happy In Galoshes on his myspace page. The Weiland faithful will be rewarded with a great financial windfall with the planets properly aligned and Weiland at the height of his David Bowie mimicking. Use your money to go buy some make-up and platforms.

Velvet Revolver Fans - GIANT DOWN ARROW. Not wanting to be outdone by their former lead singers, Velvet Revolver have bitten off their nose to spite their face. They are akin to the picky 45 year old spinster that is still waiting for the right man to come along. No telling how long Venus will be eclipsed by Uranus, so stock up on Vaseline and tissues...this could be a long, dark drought.

        

Temperedcast, a band from Seattle Washington is garnering a significant amount of press due to their no holds barred attitude, their kick ass, in your face brand of rock n roll, and their work ethic. They stayed at the Electric Factory and continued to push their record and merchandise while taking the time to meet every fan that wanted to talk to them. That is a rare attitude in this day and age of rock entitlement. Just because they are on tour with Puddle Of Mudd, doesn't mean Temperedcast isn't going to try and out work the headliner.

Temperedcast is Kelly Murphy (drums), Josh Perry (guitar), Nick Sundesten (bass), Kris Tonnessen (guitar/vocals), and Calvin Muma (vocals).

BnR: How have the fans received "Reach"?

Kelly: On this tour, it has been received real well. We are shoving it down their throats. Kind of force feeding a bunch of shit that no one has heard before. For the most part, they are eating it up. The CDs are flying off the shelf.

Calvin: We basically tried the songs out in Seattle for a couple of shows. We did a CD release and then hit the road immediately after that. Nobody has really heard them.

Nick: Definitely not around here. When it comes to CD sales when it comes to hard merch sales, we are blowing everyone out of the water. You can't beat the big bands because that is what people come for.

Calvin: We got people next to us [when selling merchandise] just packing up and leaving early. We stay here all night long.

Nick: We basically do it all guerrilla style. We walk around and try to find the people that want to buy something. They thought you were good, good enough to buy a cd. We are not marking them up to where it is a ridiculous price. For us, it means more to have our album in your hands. So as long as we cover our costs and make it worth our while. Or if you really really want it and you can tell it is not some cheese wiener that is sitting there "Oh my girlfriend really wants your cd." I am not going to give that guy a CD. But if there is some young kid who has like six or seven bucks and just thinks you are the cat's meow, I am going to give him that CD. I will come up with a couple of bucks just to make sure that kid has that CD. Because that is the fan that is going to come back and want more. After the shows, we go out and find more people. We will stand in front of this venue all night until there is not a single soul left.

Calvin: When we are on stage and we are talking about 'we want to meet you at our merch booth and want to shake everyone of your hands.' There is no bullshit about that. We are going to hang out here until the venue kicks us out. Then we are going to stand out on the sidewalk and continue selling cds. Our competition is insane. So if we want to make enough money to hang and do this again that is what we have to do.

Nick: But to be honest, it is the hard work that got us here in the first place. So if we sat here, in the greenroom, the whole time. Play the show and act like we are rockstars, then we wouldn't make a dollar. It would be meaningless to even make cds. We would just get out there and play.

Calvin: We are far from rockstars. As soon as this tour is over, we are going to go home and beg for our jobs back.

Nick: Until we get another opportunity like this. Puddle of Mudd blessed us and paid it forward a little bit. Some other band gave them a shot. We are just trying to take advantage of the opportunity we got. We just want to show every band out there that we work very hard.

Calvin: We also want to show the fans that we respect them. Especially when they scream and yell for Temperedcast and give respect to Seattle, Washington. That is huge to us.

Kris: So what they are saying is that the album has been received well.

BnR: What was the main inspiration behind the record "Reach"?

Calvin: To make a better record than the record before.

Kris: The album title basically describes the entire process. A big struggle to get...

Calvin: We wanted to get to hang with national touring bands. We knew the only way to do that was to make a record that was equal to a national touring band. So we basically got out there and searched for the producer that could give us the closest thing to a record that we could get out nationally and tour and sell.

Nick: And the whole album "Reach," the name and every song on it almost sums up the story. If you listen to the lyrics from every song, it builds. It is almost a storyline basically. Reach is how we would sum up us reaching our goals. It doesn't have to be reaching your goals. Reach might mean something different to everybody. We thought it best represented what we were trying to do at that time. Trying to be able to do a tour like this, get our CD out to 2,000 people in a certain amount of months, which would get us recognition. That would get us taken seriously.

Calvin: We are reaching for the next level. That is basically what the title of the record means. We want to be able to hang with any band you throw at us. We will open for anybody, but we are going to kick your ass...if we have our way. OR we are going to get your respect.

BnR: I love this quote from your MySpace site: "Most bands ask about the venue's sound system. We ask if we'll be playing on a re-enforced stage." I think that is indicative to the type of show you guys put on.

Calvin: Tonight, Nick was right next to me and I was getting ready to sing and I could feel the stage. It was like an earthquake. I didn't realize he was next to me. I thought the stage was going to break. I looked next to me and saw it was just Nick fucking killing it.

Nick: That is what gets us more amped up. The more the crowd gets into it, that makes our energy just go through the roof. Sometimes when the crowds are not into it we are still going to do it...

Kelly: It is a lot more fun when you can feed off each other.

Nick: We were having difficulties, but once the crowd kicked back in we knew we would be alright.

Calvin: Temperedcast's only hope on stage is to demand respect. It is all we have. If we can demand your respect and get your respect. We have a lot of really great bands coming up after us, so we want you to remember us.

Nick: That is the hardest part. When you play with this many good bands, the next band comes up a half hour later, you don't even remember who the last band was.

Calvin: I guarantee you Red is out there killing it right now. So we go out there and think about that so when Red is done this whole crowd still remembers our name.

Nick: Nobody knows our music. These guys [other bands] all have singles on the radio and you get to hear it eight times a day on the radio station. The only opportunity we have is a half hour of your time so you go off "Remember that band over at the Electric Factory. Those guys were going off. I don't even know what the hell they were singing, but all I know is that these guys were all over the place." Hopefully that was enough to get you to go back to the MySpace or buy a CD for ten bucks to help us out.

Calvin: And it is also guys like you who help us out by doing these interviews with us. This underground shit. Nobody else will do this shit for us. It actually helps. We check our MySpace every night.

Nick: You guys take this serious.

BnR: You obviously don't know us. We don't take anything serious.

Nick: I was only doing that because that thing was on. :points to the recorder:

BnR: How does the band write a song?

Nick: Mostly with a pen and paper.

Kelly: We usually come in with a guitar riff. Then we jam on something. Sometimes it is a full structure, then we just jam on it together. Calvin tries to lay down some vocals. We pick at it until it sounds like something...

Calvin: No we don't actually pick at it; we nit-pick at it. Sometimes it actually takes six months to nit-pick a song to where we are all happy with it. A lot of times there is bickering and arguing for months about 'I don't think that part is right. I think it is too long, too short.' But we always seem to come to an agreement.

Kelly: We try a lot of different things.

Nick: Any five person in this band comes up with some sort of idea, it makes...it is all democratic. We usually try to step back and think what is best for the song.

Calvin: Sometimes it comes down to a full on vote. With five guys in the band, it sometimes comes down to 3 vs. 2.

Nick: We are close enough and understand the business enough and understand the ultimate goal enough, that we don't take it too personal.

Calvin: Sometimes what will happen is I'll have three guys voting against me and Josh. Me and Josh have to deal with that and go "Well I am just going to make it great then."

Kelly: Some of the best advice we have ever gotten was not to get married to a part. I think a lot of young bands write something and you are always proud of it. You have to step back from it and realize there are a million parts that sound cool here. You mine as well try a bunch of shit.

Calvin: It is hard to take a painting that is perfect to you and your buddy comes over and goes "That is fucked up color right there. You should change that color." You are like "No, fuck you man that's perfect." You have to listen to everyone's opinion when you are in a band with five people. When you eventually do that, it ends up better than you imagine. You can look at your friends and go "Damn man, you were right."

BnR: So besides the Northwest are there any other places that you have really loved touring?

Band: Texas.

Calvin: Tennessee was great too.

Nick: we are still early in this tour, we don't even know yet. We will have to answer that question when we get back.

Calvin: We came to Philly and wanted to make them love us. We heard Philly was a tough town. We were determined.

Nick: Every town has something different to offer. No particular town stands out. No dicks or anything. Last night we actually thought we were kind of doomed in Asheville, North Carolina. We got there two days early. We were out there flyering and trying to recruit people to help ticket sales. It just kind of seemed like a doomed show. People were not into it. Then all of a sudden at the end of the night we sold 110 CDs. Everything worked out right.

Calvin: It also humbles you too. When you show up two days early to a city, it is really hard to approach someone and offer them a spot on the guest list for 10.00. Then are just like "Aw fuck you."

Nick: Or there Mom thinks it isn't legit.

Calvin: There were these 15 year old girls. We are just trying to get kids out to the shows.

Nick: If you buy a cd we can basically get you into the show for free. So you spend 10 bucks and you get a free ticket to the show. The mom was like 'No way.'

Calvin: The mom actually called us "Is this legit or bullshit?" No, they are on the guest list.

Nick: We are also pessimists too. We always think worse case scenario. We plan for the worst so we bust ass trying to sell stuff. Then at the end of the night when we are counting stuff (final cd count, money count) we are like "Holy crap." But that is the hard work paying off. If we take our career that way hopefully we can kick open some doors that wouldn't necessarily be open.

BnR: You have toured with Jerry Cantrell, 3 Days Grace, Drowning Pool, and now Puddle of Mudd. Who has been your favorite to tour with so far?

Calvin: Probably Puddle of Mudd first, Powerman 5000 second because every time they come to town we somehow get that gig. They have been great to us.

Nick: Puddle of Mudd has been really great just because they have been so nice. The first time we toured with them it was just our regional tour. It was almost sad that we only played those handful of shows because they were so nice and open to us. They made us feel welcomed. They could have just been "oh you are an opening band." So when we got back out here and they had the same attitude. They understand that this is a job, but you are working together for six weeks. So you mine as well be friends. On a down day, they are like 'you wanna grab a beer or hang out?' Whether or not it happens all the time it is still cool that they talk to you.

Calvin: And as hard as it is, we really try to stay out of the way. We don't want to be noticed except for the 30-35-40 minutes we are on stage. That is our time to be noticed. We are not in your way, we are not even here.

Nick: Basically when they see us it is us working on stage, slinging cds, or advertising the show. We want them to see that we are hungry and that we deserve to be here.

Calvin: We also have respect. We know where we stand. It is hard for us sometimes when we have to move out of the way constantly for these other bands. It gets hard sometimes because we are working just as hard, traveling just as far. But it is something we have to do.

BnR: Who is your least favorite?

Band: We are going to plead the fifth. Until we get to their level then we will drop names.

BnR: Who would you love to tour with?

Kris: Metallica

Kelly: Whoever is packing the place. Let's do Ozzfest.

Nick: There are so many cool bands, it doesn't even matter who we play with. I just enjoy listening to Red and Puddle of Mudd every night. You guys see the show once, but for us it is repetitious. Now after doing this for a couple of weeks, you know exactly what they are going to do. It is cool to see how they do it. I am getting to live a dream right now.

Kelly: Personally, I think I would want to play with Sevendust.

Calvin: There is a band that I think it would be a dream to tour with and these guys kind of turned me on to them. It is 36 Crazyfists. They are probably not much further than we are as far as their career and money. I am just huge into that band that if I got to play a show with 36 Crazyfists, I would be pretty stoked.

BnR: Who has been your major influence?

Nick: I think everyone is into different stuff.

Calvin: I didn't know how much I loved Puddle of Mudd until we did this tour with them. When I hear them play I am just so into them.

Kelly: I think Vinnie Paul was probably one of my first favorite drummers. Just a groove oriented sound.

Calvin: Vengeance, for instance, the last song we played was probably incredibly inspired by Pantera.

Nick: I think the first bass player I looked up was [Jason] Newstead from Metallica. He just beat the hell out of his guitar which is what I do.

BnR: What does the band name mean...Temperedcast?

Kelly: A combination of a couple of words that represent what we are about. Tempered as in turn to steel, make heavier, or an angry state of mind. Cast as in casted out, shoving it in people's faces. Cast as in a group of guys. We are a group of guys that are casting our music out in your face and we hope you like it.

BnR: How did the band come together?

Kelly: Nick and I actually grew up together. So we have been jamming in bands for 14 years.

Nick: Then we found Kris. I am sure every city has one "a stranger ad," which is basically a free local paper. So Kris was like a diamond in the rough. He is like a savant. We lucked out there.

Kelly: Then through the local scene people were recommending Calvin. He didn't want to play with us.

Calvin: I was going through tough times. I didn't feel like I was ready to be in a serious band. I had gone through a break up with a band that I was heartbroke over. I was doing a bunch of side projects. It seemed like everywhere I went, Nick and Kelly would show up and corner me. 'Dude I got some new shit come check it out.' It turned into a couple of jam sessions. Pretty soon we wrote the chorus for Vengeance. It just came out. I said inside "If I don't get to sing that chorus again, I am not going to be a happy person.' That was the moment when I said "I am in." I realized how tight they were and how focused they were. I needed that at the time.

Kelly: Then we decided we sounded like a bunch of pussies with one guitar player.

Nick: Josh's story is pretty cool. Once we recorded Proximity Fuse, we needed a second guitar player to make it true to what we recorded. Josh's name kept coming up with our producer. We jammed with Josh a few times and we went to Vegas for Calvin's wedding. We were there for a couple of days and had then had this mini tour deal on Eastern Washington. We called Josh. 'Dude are you ok to go out and play.' "oh yea" We played a couple of cool shows and we were pretty sure he had a good time. The third show was Kris' wedding anniversary. So he [Josh] had only jammed with us a few times, played two shows, and known us for a total of a week. We sit him down and say "Kris' wedding anniversary is tonight and he's not going to be able to play. So you are going to be lead guitar tonight." He freaked out.

Calvin: I was scared for this dude. Maybe we shouldn't do it.

Kris: It was that weekend in Spokane. I was like "Are you having fun?" You were on your phone with your other band and you said "Yea I just quit my other band."
 
Calvin tells a pretty funny story about Josh quitting, but you are going to have to listen to the podcast. It is around 25.28 minute mark.

BnR: If you could meet one dead person, who would it be?

Calvin: Layne Staley

Kris: Jimi Hendrix

Nick: Dimebag

Josh: Dimebag

Kelly: Dimebag

Thanks goes to the guys in Temperedcast for sitting down and talking with this "underground" website. We really appreciate it. Check these crazy motherfuckers out on tour with Puddle of Mudd. Go to their MySpace site for current tour dates, a taste of their music, and pictures of these guys. I am sure Calvin will make you ladies swoon.

You can listen to the podcast at the following location. Blogs N Roses Official Podcast page (Audio starts after 10 second commerical).

        

The Axl Rose solo album gets all the press these days, but don't forget that your old pal Scotty Weiland is releasing his solo album, Happy In Galoshes, on November 25th. Weiland's entire album available for streaming on his myspace page because Happy In Galoshes doesn't sound like Axl Rose taking a pinto bean and cheese shit at Taco Bell.  

Yep, the whole thing is there. Revel in it's spacey, Bowie inspired brilliance. Weiland also dabbles in some electronic music and whatever you would call the banjo infused "Tangle With Your Mind." Sure Happy In Galoshes drags in a few places but standouts like "Missing Cleveland" and "Paralysis" make Axl look like an over-produced, wig-wearin' punk.

http://www.myspace.com/scottweiland

        

This may come as a shock to some of you readers, but Corey Feldman is a singer. That is right, the guy from Lost Boys, and Goonies is a singer.

Take a moment and listen to the song "Green is the Colour" which is a song from his upcoming album "Technology Analogy." The song is streaming...or should I say steaming from Corey's website.

Technology Analogy is a concept album about technology ruining our world. "Green is the Colour" is near the end of the album and urges listeners (assuming you make it that far) to save the planet by going green.

"Selfishly industry's glowing consuming out needs
Violently raping the forest the mountains and seas
Endlessly persuing the prophet at the cause of the free."

No Corey, the only thing being raped here is our ears. Tell us what you think after you listen to it.

I would rather listen to this:

        

There is less than a week until Chinese Democracy may actually hit store shelves and Blogs N' Roses intends to milk this cow for every tasteless and predictable joke it's worth. 

"Better" isn't as hard rockin' as "Chinese Democracy" since it sounds like Axl wrote the song for Britney Spears in 1999. Yep, it's a dance song with Buckethead supplying a few gratuitous solos and a hoarse Axl Rose croaking through Britney's parts.  

LISTEN HERE!

I didn't think I had the right song until Axl opened his big mouth. If you're putting this on your iPod playlist next to a Hinder song so you can blast it in your Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible then you are A.) a South Jersey hose beast with a fake tan or B.) a meat head with a fake tan driving around with a South Jersey hose beast. "Better" makes me want to dance but I still I prefer Britney Spears' "Womanizer" or at least something from Nelly Furtado if I'm gonna get footloose.

The Rolling Stone review of this song also provided much humor since we love mocking Rolling Stone as much as Chinese Democracy.

READ HERE!

I can tell the Jewish Prince Valiant, David Fricke, didn't write this review because it doesn't reak of cigarette smoke and self-serving fellatio. Anyway, it proves the morons at Rolling Stone can't write anything without referencing the Jonas brothers and acting like 1991 was part of the Paleolithic Age. I guess '91 feels like a lifetime ago to their under-age, under-qualified Frances Bean Cobain interns who are tasked with penning such swill when they're not picking the cigarette butts out of Fricke's flowing mane of rat hair.

The reader comments are the best part of the review. Half of the readers hated "Better" while the other half seem to think it's the best rock song they've heard in the last decade. In an unrelated survey, half of all "Rock" fans polled have only listened to Nickelback in the last decade, which may explain this undeserved love. That and inbreeding...and Fricke's rat hair.   

        

About two weeks ago, I sauntered over to the San Francisco Public Library and picked up the next book on my "to read" list - The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band.  For those who don't know this book by the first two words of the title alone, this is the autobiography of Motley Crue.  Now my commute, bathroom trips, and free time are filled with wondrous tales of irrational drug use, ridiculous sexual escapades, and a general disregard for any type of authority or social structure.

It was only a matter of time before this influence followed me to work, so I created a new "80's Metal" Pandora station this afternoon.  After skipping the first song, "On With The Show" came on.  Even though I'm becoming more learned in Motley Crue lore, I'm still unfamiliar with most of their discography.  After hearing the first 30 seconds of the track, I realized that I recognized the tune, but I recognized it from a song that was definitely not Motley Crue.  I pondered this for a few moments until I realized that I was hearing a tune from the 9-minute epic "Jesus Of Suburbia" by Green Day (on their album American Idiot).

Some quick Youtube sleuthing narrowed the melody down to the second part of the song, "City of the Damned".  Listen for yourself:

     

This is the third time that Green Day has appeared on one of these installments of "Songs That Sound Like Other Songs".  Now don't get me wrong - I really like Green Day and I think they're awesome and American Idiot is a really cool album.  However, they need to turn off the radio at night to prevent the subliminal musical infestation that's apparently plaguing them.  Or, maybe mankind has simply reached the mathematical limit on the number of melodies that could possibly be created?

        

Somewhere in the bowels of the Hard Rock Casino, George Lynch silently and stealthily sneaks toward the stage. George Lynch is the ninja of electric guitar. I envision Lynch ducking and weaving between the rows of slots and go-go dancers on the casino floor…slowly and methodically making his way towards his gig with the Sin City Sinners. His arrival is heralded by the presence of stern bouncers and a tiger striped Stratocaster but there is still no physical sign of Lynch. Then from the darkness comes the fist in your face.

We conversed briefly with George after his high volume, high speed guitar barnstorming and asked all the questions that really must be answered. What are his plans with his latest band, the Souls of We? What does George think of the Guitar Hero explosion? What’s going on with Don Dokken?! George also answered the infamous A-Team question with a new twist.

Veni, Vidi, Lynch!

BNR: Your new project is Souls of We and your album, Let the Truth Be Known was released earlier this month. Do you have any plans to tour with them?

GL: It's sort of a difficult situation with Souls of We because these are all high caliber musicians that do lots of other things, and to be able to take that on the road we really gotta have something substantial to tour with. So the catch 22 is that the name isn't that well known so the demand isn't there and if the demand isn't there the money isn't there. We were offered the Black Label/Sevendust tour but the money was so low we would have had to pull money out of our pockets to do it...and we all got families, we all got obligations. I don't know and what we're thinking of doing is maybe just bundling up our stuff and taking it on the road ourselves and going out there and just taking the music to the people, I think that's the only way we're gonna get out there.

BNR: So is that something that ideally you would like to be your full-time gig?

GL: I would love it to be but I'm looking at Souls as a work in progress and as something that will have to grow, hopefully not gradually but if gradually, I'll be happy with that as long as we can do another record.

BNR: I saw a couple people with your album tonight and it had the cover with the skull, but everywhere online I see the Robert Johnson one. What was the inspiration behind that?

GL: Well, it was one of my big influences and I started out playing blues; some Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and those kind of guys. But when it came time for a general, real record release the label got a little nervous about name and likeness which is understandable.

BNR: Yeah, then you get the lawsuits and what not...

GL: ...From the estate of Robert Johnson, so we changed it up which made it kind of interesting because we released a thousand with Robert Johnson and we signed them all.

BNR: What gear did you use on that album, guitar wise?

GL: I used an LTD baritone and for solos I used my tiger guitar, mostly. For amps I used Lynch Boxes with a variety of modules and a combination of old Hiwatt cabinets and Lynch Box cabinets with Eminence speakers.

BNR: Did you have the giant Lynch stack? I've seen those in a few guitar stores. It's towering.

GL: I've got a few of those, but when you record you only need one. More does not necessarily sound bigger in the studio. Less is more.

BNR: You're a pretty disciplined musician, what percentage of your life is dedicated to just playing the guitar?

GL: A very, very small percentage unfortunately. I wouldn't say small, that probably isn't accurate, but I spend a lot more time on the business of music rather than the playing of music. My obligations to play are so heavy that I've got a guitar in my hands a lot of the time, but as far as sitting around and doing disciplined practicing and tearing stuff apart and reading and expanding my knowledge base, I unfortunately don't get to do much of that.

BNR: That's kind of odd because you normally hear about the Guitar Dojo and everything...

GL: Yeah, well… I've been playing 44 years so I have a nice backlog of stuff to draw from.

BNR: Back to the Souls of We, did you have a different approach to writing and recording or was it just kind of the same 'ol George Lynch banging away?

GL: This record has been a very strange process. The earliest ideas on the record started out as a project called Stone House when I lived in Northern California and had a studio. That band never really happened... that was something I released for a second on my website. It never turned into a released record. Then from there I went and did LP which came out with Jeff Pilson. Right after that I jumped into a thing called Microdot and that was with London LeGrand as well. London, in the middle of that project skipped over to Brides of Destruction, so that sorta got put on the back burner but we had those songs as well, some of which ended up on this record...one did. Then I went to Henson studios where I had a production room for two years and had a band called Band of Flakes with Jason Slater from Snake River Conspiracy. London was gonna be in that as well and Scott Coogan on drums and so forth. It was sort of a post-Alice In Chains kind of a feel and it was very, very cool. That's where "Push It" came from; "Key of Noise" came from that and I think one other song. That's also a project that fell apart due to the fact that nobody ever showed up except me, thus the name The Band of Flakes. So then I started writing for something, I didn't even know what it was going to be. I just thought, "Ok, this is a new project, this is a George Lynch record, I don't know what it's going to be called." Wrote about eight or nine songs over the period of a year, recorded them; spent a lot of time on it. We called it Starfish just for a working title, West Hollywood Starfish. So that ended up also not going anywhere. I sent it to my management company they went, "Eh, keep working," and I go, "Ok..." And then at that point I shifted gears, and what really ended up being Souls of We was about half the record was a culmination of ideas from all those projects, changed up a bit, obviously, and the other half new ideas that I started writing at that point. It wasn't like you sit down with a band and write a record and go record, it wasn't anything like that. It was just spread out over five years. Five years, lots of musicians, lots of studios, lots of engineers...big different periods of time and inspirations... and I think that's why the record's so rich in depth is that it has all that history in it. And then at the 11th hour we pulled Johnny and Yael and London and myself together and that's the band. And hopefully we'll be able to get out and represent.

BNR: If you were a character from the A-Team, who would it be and why?

GL: Uhh...I'm not even that familiar with that...what's that?

BNR: The show from the 80s.

GL: Hmmm...not to familiar..., I don't watch too much TV.

BNR: That's probably our most original A-Team answer so far, because normally they all go with Face, but you're like, "The A-Team, I've never seen it."

GL: I don't know that one. (Looks puzzled)

BNR: You were probably on tour during the whole run of that.

GL: I was probably high the whole time.

BNR: Your house is burning down and you can only grab one guitar, what do you grab?

GL: Can I grab two?

BNR: OK, I'll give you two.

GL: That's a no-brainer; it's not even an interesting answer...the tiger, which I built myself so it has a lot of meaning to me and my skeleton guitar.

BNR: I haven't seen you play that yet, but it's funny, that was the first time I saw a Dokken video was you and the skeleton...

GL: ..."It's Not Love" in the back of the truck there. I take that out when I go out on the road and I use that for "Mr. Scary."

BNR: What was the coolest car you owned in the 80s?

GL: A '73 built Pantera...got in a lot of trouble with that...very dangerous.

BNR: Less than other people though...

GL: Yeah...it's up on the wall at Hall-Pantera. If you go to Paramount and go to Hall-Pantera in California it's up on the wall, and that's where I used to get my car worked on so that's how I know that.

BNR: You are an actual guitar hero, what do you think about the Guitar Hero games?

GL: I think it inspires a lot in interest in guitar but I don't think it's relative to guitar. I think it might be a transitional thing, it could introduce people to the idea of wanting to play real guitar but I haven't met anybody that's good at one and good at the other. I know lots of shreddy guitar players that couldn't play a note on guitar hero, including myself, and lots of kids that can get to the Dragonforce level with one hand tied behind their back, blindfolded and couldn't play a C chord. I know Best Buy is starting to sell musical instruments and I think that makes sense because you get these people that are Rock Band and Guitar Hero and they are going to want to make the transition to real music.

BNR: Are there any guitar players of this new generation that you admire or if you think they are the up and coming studs?

GL: Alexi Leiho from Children of Bodom, and this other guy isn't a new guy but I really like this guy - Mattias from Freak Kitchen from that genre if you're talking heavy music. I like Joe Bonham as well.

BNR: A couple of months ago I read an an excerpt of an interview and you were talking about Dokken and you were saying basically that you and Don wouldn't have a problem with it (a reunion) and you're pretty much just waiting until the right time. Is that the situation, are you guys still on hold?

GL: Well, there's no dialogue there so I don't know. That's really an unanswerable question. I mean, I'm totally fine with it but to get four people at our age, at our points in our careers where everybody's really busy...Mick Brown's in Ted Nugent working his ass off, Jeff has been in Foreigner for four years making tons of money, having tons of success...why? You know, what's the point? I think the problem has always been...people go, "It’s personalities," it's not. It's really money. It's always behind all of it.

BNR: It’s management behind it saying, "Hey, you guys should hook up so we can make some money."

GL: Uhh, no. It's within the band. There's certain components of the band that are very much thinking that it's all about them. My position is, and I think most of the rest of the guys is, that unless it's going to be an equitable situation like it was for most of the time we were together, that it just isn't going to happen. I think Don enjoys having the control of his Dokken tribute band, so good for him.

BNR: So if it happens, it happens and if not that's cool also?

GL: Oh yeah, I'm down. If they gave me my 25%, we go and do a real record; no games, no bullshit, no lies, everything's up and up and transparent and go out and create some closure for the fans and ourselves, I think that would be a wonderful thing for everybody. Everybody wins, why not? But uh, a lot of egos there... The thing is, you get bands that achieve some success and then they break up and there's always this one-upmanship thing going on, you know.

BNR: Yeah, it's kinda like Humpty Dumpty, right? It's never the same.

GL: "I don't need you guys!" "No, well, I don't need you either!" Well, maybe the people that we worked so hard to get to, that we sold them on our music and they loved the band and the personalities... maybe we should give them this and it wouldn't be a bad thing for anybody. Its music, it's a lot better than having a day job!

BNR: Yeah it is!

GL: They're offering us millions of dollars to go back! Your own T.V. show, your own record, giant tour all around the world... "Nah!" Fuck! That shit pisses me off. I try to do everything I can. I work as hard as I can. I say no to very little; thus, why I'm here tonight. I don't necessarily have to do this, but it keeps my chops up and keeps me busy. I never ever try to pretend I'm a rock star, I don't give a fuck because you go up, you come down and meet the same people on the way down, then you gotta live with yourself. Try to stay humble…and play the best I can and stay relevant, and that's all you can do. But when you get involved with other people that don't think that way, you get the conflicts.

Thanks to George Lynch for taking the time to talk to us and to the Sin City Sinners for having awesome guests!

 

        

Motley Crue will hit the tour route this January with Theory of a Deadman, Hinder, and the Last Vegas. The tour should probably be deemed Theatre of Pain Part Deux. What have you done Motley Crue?

The Last Vegas aside, the Crue are hanging around with killers of Rock n Roll. Hinder is so fucking generic and try way to hard to be like Motley Crue it is nauseating. In fact, their latest album made one of our staff writers vomit. Read about it here.

And what is with the new Vince Neil, he looks like Jon Lovitz.



Ok, that picture was edited, but I bet you couldn't notice.

And here is something that has bothered me since the winner of Make Rock History was announced. The final six bands performing for Motley Crue's competition were: The Spittin Cobras, Lorene Drive, The Dirty Pearls, Waterstreet, The Heroine, and Something to Burn. Around October 31, Something to Burn had to withdrawal from the competition.

I used to compete in a few competitions back in my heyday. Yea they were pie eating contests, but contests none the less. If there were ten contestants and one dropped out, the judges wouldn't add another person, they would just let the nine compete against each other.

That is how this competition should have gone. Instead of six bands, there should have been five since Something to Burn had to drop out. Then it wouldn't look like such a fucking fix when The Last Vegas is added to the competition and they mysteriously win.

A band that has a shit load of press and been featured in Guitar Hero II (a game played by 10 million people) miraculously wins a competition that awards them with a recording contract, a management deal, 20k in equipment, and 25 thousand dollars in cash.

The whole thing reeks of a conspiracy. I don't blame The Last Vegas because I think they kick ass. I don't really blame Motley Crue either. I think blame lies directly on the suits who run Tenth St. Entertainment. They saw an opportunity to pick a band that already had a metric ton of press behind them and it saw how it would be easier (less money in the long run) to get this band up and running...instead of doing the right thing and picking one of the original five.

Also, the public voted on those original six for one reason or another. To add The Last Vegas to the bill is a giant boot the collective testicles of every John and Jane Q. Public who voted for the final six. Then when the competition goes down to the judges: a band steps down, another band (not voted for by the public) is added, and that band (not voted on by the public) WINS the whole fucking thing as picked by the judges.

I hope you are getting the picture here of how screwed these final bands were. Here they are going into the biggest competition of their musical careers, only to find out...they never really had a shot in the first place.

The press release of Something to Burn dropping off the bill came out on October 31. The competition was on November 10. That left 10 days between the announcement and the live performance in front of the judges. How about taking the other top vote getters (not in the top 6) and allowing the public to decide who would replace Something to Burn? I wouldn't be crying FIX if that happened.

Shit, if Tenth St. Entertainment rigged the whole second voting thing, the voting thing I just proposed in the paragraph before this one, I wouldn't fucking care. As long as the whole competition appeared democratic instead of this insider bullshit.

We have no idea what went on after Something to Burn dropped out. We have no inside tips because we haven't sold out and become a corporate cock sucker. All we know, is this is how it appears to the public and the bands who worked hard and rocked the Whiskey on November 10. If you are an insider and want to set the record straight, email us. We would be glad to feature your response.

We are also in the process of reaching out to the REAL top 5 bands so we can feature them on this site. If you know them, help us get in touch them. Then we can ask them how they FEEL about having a band no one voted for added to the bill at the last minute.

        

Rev Theory will be shooting a video for their new single “Light it Up” and are looking for people to be in the video. It’s an underground club scene and they need people to be in the crowd and it is said that some of the fans will definitely be featured.

When: Tuesday 18 November - All day 9a - 7pm (subject to change)
Where: New York City

If you are interested in coming out, please email a photo of yourself with your contact info (name, phone #) to casting@ghostrobot.com Please only respond if you live in the New York City area.

If they can use you in the video, the casting department will get in touch with you to coordinate information, time and place. Basically they are looking for people who don't look like the following:

        

The New York Dolls and record producer Todd Rundgren have been reunited for the first time in 36 years.  Rundgren will produce the New York Dolls‘ new album at his studio on the island of Kauai.  Production is scheduled to start in January 2009.

“We’re really excited to be working with Todd again,” says David Johansen. “We’re hoping to recapture the same magic on the forthcoming album.”

The album, which is yet untitled, will be released on the Atco label through Warner Brothers.  The Atco label has been specially re-launched.  The band will follow the release of the new album with a world tour in 2009.

Make sure you catch the New York Dolls holiday show with our friends the Dirty Pearls in New York City. Get your tickets now before they sell out. We will be there to report on all the debauchery and replace the bottle of vodka we drank. Mainly because we are upstanding gentleman who occasionally like hookers, strippers, and Perry Como.

        

Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an interview with former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Classic Rock Revisited: You have always been about the music. From the Wabos to Van Halen to your solo career to Montrose. I think the fans recognize that and that is why they love you.

Sammy: The reason I have a loyal following is because I have delivered time-and-time again. Whether you like my music, my band or my songs, I am out there doing it. I will keep doing it and I will dig it. Hopefully, my new band, Chickenfoot, will fill that Van Halen gap for myself and the fans. You have a super guitar player, Joe Satriani, and you have Chad Smith on drums and [Michael Anthony] on bass and singing. We have the early Van Halen chemistry. When we get together, we start laughing and having a good time, and the music just comes pouring out of us. I am so happy to be in a creative environment like that with other people again. My band is creative; don't get me wrong. They are my solo band and they will always be my band. It is like Bruce Springsteen and the E STREET BAND; they back up Bruce properly. When you put together another kind of band, where everyone inspires each other, and tries to out play each other, and pushes each other to the limit, and I am not running the show — that is what Van Halen was. I love that feeling. It was like that in Montrose and HSAS. Everyone brought things to the table and it is not a solo thing. I am really enjoying this time with Chickenfoot.

Classic Rock Revisited: Is the name Chickenfoot going to stick?

Sammy: Say we change the name tomorrow to The Brown Boys. We will put a new album out and people will say, "Have you heard The Brown Boys?" People will go, "Who are they?" They will answer, "They used to be Chickenfoot." No matter what we change our name to everyone will refer to us as "Chickenfoot." To me, it is more than a silly name. This band is funky and it is like a chicken foot walking around a barnyard. It is down and dirty.

Classic Rock Revisited: Have you set dates?

Sammy: Hopefully, it will be done by the summer of next year. We want to have a CD out and go out on tour. We want to take it to the world; this band is too good. Just looking at the four parts then you can tell it is good. Now, imagine if the four parts have great chemistry, then you know how good it is going to be. Everyone takes each other to a different level. You can put the best musicians in the world in a band, and if there is no chemistry then the music stinks. You can put good musicians in a band, and have good chemistry, like The Beatles had, and you have the greatest band in the world. You can't compare George Harrison to Eddie Van Halen on guitar but the creative process that those guys achieved, you can't compare to Eddie Van Halen, me or anyone.

Classic Rock Revisited: Because you are so honest I want to get your take on something. I didn't make it to see the last Van Halen tour. But I can't help thinking that Michael Anthony got fucked. I want to know if you think Mike got fucked.

Sammy: Absolutely. I am dragging Mikey around the country — I have a bass player who can play and sing. I still choose to drag Mikey around the country with me. I love the guy. He is more fun than the rest of Van Halen put together. Because he got fucked, I can't stand to go out and play a show anywhere in the world without saying to Mike, "Do you want to come?" Ninety percent of the time he says, "Yeah." He got fucked and it was horrible. I am not going to go on about "why and what," because I have no idea. Once again, they can't make a record for fifteen years and then they throw Michael Anthony out of the band right before they do the reunion that the whole Van Halen world has been waiting for since the '80s. They have been waiting for this reunion and they [Van Halen] did it wrong. It is one more strike against those guys. They are not healthy, mentally, and they make bad decisions. They don't take the fans in mind for one second and it is not good.

Classic Rock Revisited: I heard that Eddie and you got into a fight in an airplane, while in the air, and Eddie actually tried to smash out a window in the plane. Is that true?

Sammy: Yes, it is true. He tried to smash the window out with his hand until he hurt his hand. Then he tried to smash it out with a wine bottle until Alex [Van Halen] jumped up and took the bottle from him and calmed him down. I was going to quit the band the next day, but there were forty more shows and I couldn't do that to the fans. I thought that it was not cool to burn the fans. I knew they [Van Halen] would make me the bad guy. I refused to fly with the guy ever again. He was completely out of his mind drunk. He was completely wasted. He was so wasted that he was actually stupid enough to take twelve people down. People that act like that shouldn't be allowed to fly on airplanes, and they probably can't, but we were flying privately. I said, "The only way I will continue to do this tour is if I have my own airplane." They paid for my own airplane.