ASH announce newly re-mastered splatter edition vinyl re-issues of ‘1977′ and ‘Free All Angels’ .
Band to celebrate 21st anniversary of ‘Free All Angels’ by playing the album in full with Charlotte Hatherley
Photo credit: Sophie Howarth
ASH are today announcing the upcoming re-issue on newly re-mastered splatter vinyl of two of their beloved albums, 1977 and Free All Angels.
1977, the band’s spectacular debut album, was a defining record for 90s guitar music, reaching No.1 in the Official UK Albums Chart, and going to achieve platinum status. Its singles ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Angel Interceptor’ and ‘Oh Yeah’ remain staples of the band’s live show, as they still ring out at sold-out shows and in festival headline slots. This will be the first time the album has been re-issued since its 1996 release.
Free All Angels was the third smash hit album from Ash, and their second with guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. The album again reached No.1 in the UK and has since become a platinum record. It birthed the Ivor Novello-winning smash hit single ‘Shining Light’, the NME Single of The Year ‘Burn Baby Burn’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘There’s A Star’, ‘Candy’ and Walking Barefoot’.
1977 will be released on July 1st. Pre-order here.
Free All Angels will be released on Sept 16th. Pre-order here.
In addition to this exciting release news, Ash are also announcing a run of very special UK live dates to celebrate Free All Angels’ 21st anniversary, for which they will reunite with guitarist Charlotte Hatherley to perform the album in full. Drummer Rick McMurray had the following to say: “We’re delighted to announce that we will be commemorating the 21st anniversary of the release of our 2001 classic, Free All Angels. Not least because we will be joined by the fourth member of Ash, guitarist extraordinaire, all-round Shining Light, the one and only, Charlotte Hatherley. Can. Not. Wait.”
Live dates are below. Tickets will be on O2 pre-sale from Wednesday, May 25th at 10 am, and on general sale from Friday, May 27th at 10 am.
Thur 15 Sept – O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK – Tickets available here Sat 17 Sept – O2 Institute, Birmingham, UK – Tickets available here Sun 18 Sept – O2 Forum, Kentish Town, UK – Tickets available here
US rockers Drive-By Truckers roll into the summer of 2022 with the release of an impressive 14th studio album. ‘Welcome 2 Club XIII’ sees the band step away from the politically oriented releases of the last few years, and instead focus and what the band describes as “a reckoning with the dualities of the things that make you alive and how they sometimes can kill you. A life-affirming flashlight for the dark nights of one’s soul.”
Dark nights are certainly the appropriate setting to accompany this album. The trudging riff of album opener ‘The Driver’, where we go “driving sometimes late into the night”, are offset by some ghostly vocals, all wrapped up in a fully atmospheric 7 minutes. By the second song ‘Maria’s Awful Disclosure’, the album is already opening up, sitting comfortably in a breezy southern rock world of cool.
The record is a wonderful tour through many of the things that make Drive-By Truckers so well-loved – shades of light and dark folk, country and rock and roll, all with a gritty but delicate delivery. From the warm ‘Shake and Pine’ to the somewhat joyous title track and first single (“a tongue in cheek homage to a local dive that founding members Cooley and Hood played in their early days”), or the melancholy of ‘We will never wake you up in the morning’, the album travels various yet always complementary paths converging together in a glorious 9 sweet tracks.
Wicked Cool Records are proud to announce the release of ‘Wasted Times’ the debut single by Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners.
“Wasted Times is pure rock n roll, peppered with country touches, while the lyrics have an honesty traditionally found in folk music and It’s just a good time song played by a killer band.” exclaims Ginger Widlheart.
Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners were formed in August 2019 when Ginger joined forces with Neil Ivison and Nick Lyndon from the band Stone Mountain Sinners. The line up was completed with drummer Shane Dixon (Tri-City Fanfare) and as Ginger explains “I actually met the band at the studio where we recorded the debut album. We hadn’t even rehearsed prior to setting up in the live room of the studio. Wasted Times was the first song we played together.” Wasted Times is taken from their forthcoming album recorded at Mwnci studios in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with Dave Draper producing.
To celebrate the release Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners play 7 UK shows in June, starting Friday 3rd at Oran Mor in Glasgow and concluding at Esquires in Bedford on Sunday 19th.
Despite the turmoil in which we find ourselves, Ginger with his Sinners gives us all hope. ‘Wasted Times’, backed with a live version of ‘The Words Are Gonna Have To Wait’, is available to stream/purchasehere
SINGLE LAUNCH SHOW LONDON WATER RATS MAY 20TH THIS FRIDAY! TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE:The Duel and Seven Days and Doesn’t Die are along for the ride!
Pic credit Per-Ake Warn
New Zealand born, London-based rockers Desperate Measures follow their mini-album ‘Rinsed’ on Easy Action Records and a full UK tour with Paul Cook’s post-Pistols rockers The Professionals at the end of last year, with a brand-new single today titled ‘Thinking Of England.’
Recorded once again with Andy Brook (who has produced, engineered, and toured with the like of Status Quo, Ginger Wildheart, Wonk Unit, Hayseed Dixie…) at The Brook Studios in Wallington, Surrey, ‘Thinking Of England’ is the first glimpse of Desperate Measures’ debut full-length album due early 2023.
‘Thinking Of England’ is a high-energy, charging power-pop eruption that guitarist Michael Gaffney says is “about leaving a bad situation, whether it be physically or mentally, trying to find light at the end of the tunnel and staying hopeful, realising that you might be fucked now, but it’s not always going to be that way.”
Having recently seen the band perform live supporting The Mission I spent a few days wondering where I’d seen them before (probably due to brain fog, age and the bands inactivity over the last few decades) and then it came flooding back. “Back in the day”, Salvation played that fateful evening of legend (in my house) supporting The Lords Of The New Church when Stiv wore that T Shirt and fired the band on stage. Anyway moving on some thirty years! (ah that brain fog) I find myself listening to this here live album and it sent memories flooding back from that fateful night. To be fair the songs sounded great when I saw them recently, even with the help of the rhythm section in a box it was a decent support on that Mission tour.
Songs like ‘Debris’ and ‘All And More’ sound great and sparked a flick through my record collection knowing I had at least one of their studio albums, and so it was, ‘Sass’ an album that is well represented here with ‘Paint It Rose’ having a great rolling Cult-like riff that leads this upbeat number.
This live recording captures a band that clearly loves the music they play, and to be fair, The songs have dated really well seeing as they’ve not been played for an age. From the opener ‘The Answer’, with it’s vibrant tempo. It’s something many bands, who to be fair, haven’t played a great deal over the past thirty years don’t quite capture. I’ve always liked that big overdriven guitar sound and having strong melodies always helps.
There are eleven tracks on this CD and a twelve-page booklet to accompany it. Sure fans of The Cult, Mission, and Sisters will be all over this and it’s a no-brainer if you caught any of the band’s recent shows some of these songs will be familiar anyway but Rock fans looking for a new “old band” who had a whole bunch of top tunes – dive in!
‘The Shining’ is a burst of energy before ‘Pearl Necklace’ then raises the bar. I’d love to hear what the band are currently creating studio-wise and see if they can still capture a sound that brings back such good memories. Finishing off with the vibrant ‘Why Lie?’ with its glugging bassline and rolling guitar lick it’s a great set ender.
Go seek Salvation in this live snapshot that contains some really good driven hard rock meets Goth that is delivered really well by a band who clearly still loves music.
“The first time we came to Wales was with Ronnie James Dio in 1984. I have a distinct memory of being in Cardiff on a day off, being in a nice hotel, and being in the bathtub. A fire alarm got set off by some of Dio’s crew members, this was a tour of pranksters. They thought it was great fun, I had to get out of the bath, go all the way downstairs in my bathrobe, go outside and stand in the street!”
Oh dear! Ha ha.
Queensryche played my favourite ever venue – Newport Centre a few times, I believe the last time was supporting Judas Priest on their Epitaph tour in 2011?
“That’s right, that was our last tour together”.
Did you keep busy during lockdown? Is there any more to come from Sweet Oblivion or have you recorded any more solo material?
“I’ve done all kinds of things, that’s all I did really was hang out in the studio, write stuff, yeah, primarily that’s all I did. I worked on the Sweet Oblivion album, the Avantasia album. I also wrote some music for two different projects of my own that will hopefully be launched sometime this year. Busy, busy y’know?”
Did you manage to keep your voice in shape?
“Well, it’s one thing to sing in the studio, it’s a whole different thing to sing live y’know? Starting back out live I had to work for a couple of weeks to get myself back on form again. Singing’s one of those things, that you just have to do, there’s no way around it. You have to power through it and do it. You just have to keep working at it.”
Why did you decide to play ‘Rage For Order’ in it’s entirety rather than say, ‘The Warning’?
“I love the album, absolutely love it. It’s my second favourite Queensryche album. My favourite is the last album we did together, Dedicated to Chaos, that’s the one I listen to the most.
What are your favourite songs to perform live from ‘Rage for Order’ and ‘Empire’?
“I love playing the whole albums. I tell the audience every night that it’s been on my bucket list to play Rage for Order, we never got to play it back in the day. We only played a couple of songs off the album, that’s kind of the curse of most albums, you never get to play everything y’know? You just get to play a couple of tracks because people wanna hear what they know. They are really into hearing what they are familiar with (laughs), some people are not musically adventurous. The best response you have from an audience when you’re playing your album or your songs is, you come out with a new album, you only play a couple of songs, the rest you play are oldies. Next year when you come back, they are starting to like and get used to those songs, it’s a cool dynamic”.
What are your memories about the recording of ‘Rage For Order’?
“The Rage For Order album was a really fun album to make from my perspective. We were working with Neil Kernon as a producer, and he was a wild man that we got to hang out with. One of the greatest personalities to be in the studio with, he could run with your idea, and he had such a vast technical background. At the time, I didn’t have much technical experience in the studio. I would say ‘I want my voice to do this, or I want this sound I’m making to do this’, he’d go ‘ok, I’ll just turn this up here, and oh!, let me plug this box in’ (laughs). He would always have a workaround on how to make it happen. He just came in with a jovial, happy personality, he was glad to be there and contribute, a really good ‘idea guy’. I loved working with him.
On the ‘Rage For Order’ tour, Queensryche supported the likes of Ratt, Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne. Did you ever feel pressured to play with other artists who were very different musically to you guys?
“We weren’t trying to sound like anybody, that whole idea of making bands conform to each other, that was later. We came in that great era when they put all kinds of different music together. We played with Jethro Tull (laughs), Roger Waters and the Psychedelic Furs. We also loved bands like Ratt, we had some great tours together, in fact we had a pretty intense bowling competition with those guys while on tour (laughs).
How do you juggle the touring and family life?
“It is what it is, my wife and I raised our kids on and off the road. They just grew up like that, they are used to travelling, eating in restaurants, being able to order a French meal (laughs). They have high expectations; they won’t go to a concert if they don’t have backstage passes y’know? (Laughs).
This week marks the 34th anniversary of your seminal album ‘Operation:Mindcrime’, how does that feel?
“It makes me feel old! (laughs) Most things make me feel old nowadays, it’s a strange time when you get into your sixties, you’re looking at all of this life that you’ve had. My grandkids are approaching their teenage years now. I’m doing shows, and everyone in the audience, has grey and white hair! (laughs) It’s just a really strange time, I don’t really see myself that way,as being an old fart, even though I am an old fart!”
Do you think that a concept album like Mindcrime would work in today’s environment with people’s poor attention spans?
“I don’t know..it was hard to get people to pay attention back in the eighties (laughs). That’s the thing about music, it’s a personal journey, music is a very personal thing for people. Some people are going to get it, some people aren’t. Some people hold music in a highly revenant regard in their lives, others don’t give a fuck”.
There’s a great line from the song Speak from the Mindcrime album: ‘The rich control the government, the media, the law’. Do you think that line is even more relevant in today’s society?
“I couldn’t even imagine the context of ‘rich’ in today’s situation with people being multi, multi billionaires y’know? (laughs) and then they don’t pay taxes, it seems incredibly wrong. A guy like Elon Musk, with a lot less that he paid for Twitter, he could eliminate hunger in the US for example. He could make a living wage for people, they could work and be paid a living wage which is enough to survive on, or at least live on. He could do so many wondrous things, but he buys a social media site, y’know? I can almost understand Jeff Bezos flying into space because they are looking for minerals and ways to mine that are not going to impact the earth”.
I must ask you about the Hear N Aid project back in 1984, how did you get involved?
“Ronnie James Dio called me, he said that was doing this thing and would I want to get involved in it. I absolutely said yes! I didn’t know what it was, or understand what it was, I just said yes, I’ll be there, just tell me what you want me to do. He sent me a cassette tape of the song Stars and a lyric sheet. A week later, I go down to LA and walked into A & M studios amidst this circus that was going on! There were so many people there, I was a very young man at the time, and I wasn’t used to that kind of situation where all of these very famous people that I looked up to and admired were all gathered together in this room. Many of them were sitting in the same room behind the glass listening to me sing my part which I didn’t know very well (laughs). It was very intimidating! It was a cool moment in time and Ronnie and Wendy (Dio) had great intentions and put their heart and soul into it. They brought together so many different people to participate, it was amazing. Especially as we didn’t have any social media or cell phones back then. I don’t know how they even got hold of all those people! (laughs).
You have a range of wine called Insania. Can we buy here in the UK?
“Normally yes, but everything is kinda messed up with the world transportation issues. If you’re in the UK you can order it from Germany, that’s where we make it, and they can send it to you. I need to find out if the Brexit thing will have an effect on the shipping too actually. Ironically, you can’t get it in the US (laughs) it’s because all of the ships are backloaded and delayed out a year. Thanks a lot Covid!”
You have another company called Backstage Travel, tell us about that. Is it back up and running? Fans can just book up and spend time with you eating and drinking?
“Yes, we just came on this tour from Tuscany, we did a weeklong trip with 32 people, and it was fun. If you like to travel, if you like to drink, if you like to eat great food, and if you like music, it’s a really fun trip to take y’know?”
What are your thoughts on the whole streaming debate?
“As long as they pay people fairly, then I’m all about it y’know? It’s one thing to make music and another thing to sell it, if you have an outlet that’s selling your stuff and you are being compensated fairly, then you’re way ahead of the game. It’s funny, the whole vinyl comeback thing, they’ve been saying that since the eighties, ‘vinyl’s coming back’ (laughs) I dug out my old turntable a while ago, and it was very expensive back in the day. I put a record on and, yep, still got that crackly thing going on!”
I was wondering if you have seen any of the classically trained vocal coaches on YouTube who spend a lot of time analysing one performance of yours, the Tokyo concert from 1984, and specifically, the song Take Hold of the Flame?
“I’ve not seen any of them, but someone has mentioned them to me. Is it a good laugh or what?
Ha ha, on the contrary, the coaches are in awe of your voice. I think they are of the opinion that heavy metal is just noise. They certainly change their opinion after watching the video!
“Oh wow, I’ll have to check that out! Sounds interesting.”
On behalf of RPM Online, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me today, I’m looking forward to tonight’s show and I hope the rest of the tour goes well.
“My pleasure, me too, so far so good. And on days like this, it doesn’t get any better”.
Swansea on a beautiful sunny May evening is a great place to be. The historic Patti Pavilion is where I was heading to see the legendary Geoff Tate perform not just Queensryche’s 1986 album Rage For Order in its entirety, but also their most successful album, 1990s Empire. Much has been said over recent years regarding the seemingly never-ending drama regarding Queensryche and ex-members. It does seem, however, that Tate has settled into his stride with his current band and is more than happy to be a legacy act. The number of punters wandering around wearing Queensryche T-shirts gives you a good idea of the demographic here tonight.
Before we get to the main event, we had a short but impressive set from openers Mark Daly & the Ravens. Mixing up a blend of southern rock with some Alice In Chains tinged tunes, Daly puts in an energetic performance. The sparse but appreciative audience thoroughly enjoys what they see and hear. Definitely, someone to keep an eye on.
By the time we are presented with Tate’s entrance, the room fills up considerably and there is an air of anticipation. I’ve been checking out some YouTube videos of recent performances and it seemed like Tate has been firing on all cylinders vocally. Taking to the stage with the classic ‘Walk In the Shadows’, when Tate strolls casually up to the microphone and nails that initial scream, everyone in attendance goes nuts. Snazzily dressed and looking the picture of health, Tate has the audience in the palm of his hand from the get-go. The band works their way through Rage For Order’s tracks and there is only a noticeable lull from the audience when lesser-known songs such as Neue Regel and London are being played. A fantastic rendition of ‘I Will Remember’ closes the first act with style.
After an extended break, the band returns to the stage while the intro to ‘Best I Can’ blasts through the PA. Rapturous applause from the crowd pushes the energy of the band and yet again, Tate is nailing it. For a man in his sixties to be singing this well is no mean feat. Tate gets his saxophone out for ‘The Thin Line’ and the band seems to be having the time of their lives. Scottish guitarist Kieran Robertson gets a great reaction from the crowd every time he sticks his tongue out and nails his parts with gusto. Crowd favourite ‘Jet City Woman’ goes down a storm as does ‘Another Rainy Night’ and ‘Empire’ in its full-blown glory. The sound mix tends to be a little muddy in places and drummer Daniel Laverde is obviously a very capable and talented drummer, but as a drummer myself I don’t like the fact that Daniel is using electronic drums. They just look naff, Queensryche’s original drummer Scott Rockenfield was renowned for the huge drum kits that he used, and it just doesn’t work visually for me in a hard rock/metal setting. Just my opinion of course.
‘Silent Lucidity’ sounds amazing as always. You forget how great that song is and looking around at the crowd singing every word is goosebump enticing. Tate is a master at keeping everyone in attendance entertained, even his anecdote about having to go grocery shopping for the first time in his life due to Covid canceling all his tour plans is very funny. After ‘Anybody Listening?’ the band leaves the stage to more rabid applause, shouts, and screams for more. They return for an encore of ‘Last Time in Paris’ and ‘Take Hold of the Flame’. The band has played for around two and a half hours, Tate is certainly giving his loyal fan base value for money. He is happy to press the flesh with the many fans who are front of stage trying to get a reaction from their hero. He seems genuinely over the moon to back out playing live.
The voice is well and truly alive and well. Go and see Geoff Tate if you get the chance, you won’t be disappointed, but you will be thoroughly entertained.
The legendary King’s X, comprised of dUg Pinnick, Ty Tabor & Jerry Gaskill, are pleased to announce they have signed with InsideOutMusic/Sony Music worldwide. They will be the label-home for the band’s forthcoming 13th studio album and first new music in 14 years, which has just been completed, the long-awaited new record will see the light of day on the 2nd of September 2022.
The band comments:
“I feel like it’s been forever since we put out a new album, and I’m ready for the world to hear our latest offering, hopefully there’s a little bit of everything that you love about Kings X, three sides of one is the best way to describe it. The groove is with us!” – dUg Pinnick
“It’s really gonna happen! The new record is coming out soon. I’m happy to be working with the team at InsideOut/Sony Music. I’m happy with the record. I’m happy everybody gets to hear it. It’s a happy day. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Hope you enjoy it!!!” – Jerry Gaskill
“I have a long-standing relationship with InsideOut and am so pleased that InsideOut/Sony is releasing the new King’s X album.” – Ty Tabor
InsideOutMusic label-head Thomas Waber adds: “We have known the guys since forever and have been fans even before then. We are really looking forward to adding another album to their impressive legacy. Working on a King’s X album is always a highlight and an honour!”
The bands forthcoming new album saw them working with Emmy Award-winning engineer, mixer, and producer Michael Parnin (Rage Against the Machine, Mark Lanegan) at his Blacksound Studio in California. He comments: “I am very proud of the energy and work put into this album, especially of all the different vocal performances and varied musical influences mixed together as one. In true King’s X fashion, we had several obstacles to overcome, and it wasn’t easy but hopefully worth it to the amazing die-hard fans out there who have been waiting so patiently and to the new listeners hearing King’s X for the first time. It’s an honest labour of love that I am excited the world finally gets to hear.”
King’s X are set to return to stages in 2022, heading to Europe in September and returning to North America for more dates in October. Find the full list of shows below:
Europe & UK
1st September – Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany
2nd September – Veruno Musica Festival, Veruno, Italy
3rd September – Old Capitol, Langenthal, Switzerland
6th September – Hirsch, Nürnberg, Germany
7th September – Colos-Saal – Aschaffenburg, Germany
9th September – Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands
10th September – Fabrik, Hamburg, Germany
12th September – Spirit of 66, Verviers, Belgium
13th September – Kantine, Cologne, Germany
14th September – Le Forum, Vaureal (Paris), France
16th September – The Brook, Southampton, UK
17th September – Picturedrome, Holmfirth, UK
18th September – Wylam Brewery, Newcastle, UK
20th September – Garage, Glasgow, UK
22nd September – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
23rd September – Junction, Cambridge, UK
24th September – KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton, UK
26th September – Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK
27th September – Academy 2, Manchester, UK
28th September – Tramshed, Cardiff, UK
30th September – Biebob, Vosselaar, Belgium
1st October – Hypothalamus, Rheine, Germany
North America
28th July – Gramercy Theatre, NYC, NY, USA
29th July – Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville, PA, USA
19th October – Amos’ Southend, Charlotte, NC, USA
20th October – The Concourse, Knoxville, TN, USA
21st October – The Forum, Hazard, KY, USA
23rd October – Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville, TN, USA
25th October – The Howlin’ Wolf, New Orleans, LA, USA
27th October – Come and Take It Live, Austin, TX, USA
28th October – Trees, Dallas, TX, USA
29th October – Warehouse Live, Houston, TX, USA
Look out for more info on the new album in the coming months!
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