Sammy Hagar Burning Bridges In His New Autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock"

A four-and-a-half-minute promotional video for legendary rocker Sammy Hagar's upcoming autobiography, "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", can be viewed below.

Here´s a couple of short excerpts from "Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock", which is due on March 15th:

On David Lee Roth:

"I hated Dave. The guy rubbed me wrong. I'm sure I rub all kinds of people wrong, so it's not like I'm putting him down. The guy was a great front man, great attitude in rock, and had an image from hell, but I just couldn't stand the guy. He was the opposite of what I believed in and what I am. First of all, the guy's not a great singer and he acts like he's the coolest, hottest guy in the world when, to me, he looks gay."

On David Lee Roth and the Van Halen reunion tour in 2003:

"I hadn't seen him in 10 years. He looked like he hadn't bathed in a week. He certainly hadn't changed his clothes in at least that long. He wasn't wearing a shirt. He had on a giant overcoat and army pants, tattered and ripped at the cuffs, held up with a piece of rope. I'd never seen him so skinny in my life. He was missing a number of teeth and the ones he had left were black. His boots were so worn out he had gaffer's tape wrapped around them and his big toe still stuck out."

Read more on Marin Independent Journal.

Honest and compelling, Hagar's account spares no one, least of all himself. Hagar's autobiography reveals the inside story of one of rock music's most recognizable voices, from his humble beginnings in the town of Fontana, California, to his incredible business success with Cabo Wabo Tequila and the Cabo Wabo Cantinas. The book was co-authored byJoel Selvin, longtime pop music writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. (Blabbermouth)

Phil Lynott Was A Real Irish Hero

A host of Irish and international stars have come together in a special issue of the Irish magazine Hot Press, marking the 25th anniversary of the death of the Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott. It includes interviews with a wide range of artists who either worked with Phil, or were influenced by his work.

They include, among others, Slash, Joe Elliott and James Hetfield.

It also includes reminiscences of key members of Thin Lizzy, including Eric Bell, Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Brian Robertson and Midge Ure.

Speaking on Phil's death, James Hetfield reflects, “It was one of those moments that was so sad. You just wondered, ‘Why did God take such a creative person?’. But I think there was a purpose to it all, because the struggles that he wrote about: with drugs, drink, ethnicity, all of those things, they almost speak louder now he has passed. For me, going through the struggle with alchohol and addiction in general, just going back and listening to his lyrics it’s like, ‘Wow, I know what he’s talking about now’. I love that.”

Hot Press editor Niall Stokes says, “Working on the Hot Press Philip Lynott Special was one of the most emotional projects we’ve ever taken on. Philo seemed to tap into a seam of almost universal goodwill. He was a real Irish hero.”

Visit Hot Press for more.

"Cold Sweat" live in an Irish pub 1983:

Queensrÿche: Different Is Good

Different is good. Ask Queensrÿche. Kelley Simms of SMNnews.com caught up with Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate last year to talk about the 20th anniversary of the epic album "Empire". Read excerpts below.

The Seattle quintet has set their own standards and done things their own way since 1981, when they set out to establish a sound that was different than the metal out at the time. Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax were metal-thrashing mad and starting to make their mark in metal history. But Queensrÿche had a totally different and progressive approach to heavy metal. Their self-titled EP (1983) and "Warning" (1984) set them apart from their peers. Not much has changed: Queensrÿche still pushes the bar of progressive metal and the trends it sometimes follows.

2010 marks the 20th anniversary of 1990’s seminal breakthrough, "Empire", which spawned chart-toppers “Silent Lucidity,” “Jet City Woman” and “Another Rainy Night (Without You)” and established Queensrÿche as innovators of the progressive metal sound, which broke bigger ground in the US market for the band.

Tate: “The original, actually, is a great sounding record. In fact, a lot of digital sound engineers use ´Empire´ as a reference to building the PA or they go into a different studio and test a room for frequency response to get ready to record. Which is kind of interesting, because that just shows it’s a really well-made record. That’s really due to James Barton, our engineer of that record, who did a fantastic job. All of the records he’s done with us, they’re all very interesting sounding. He’s just a consummate professional when it comes to sound engineering. What they did with it this time was remastered it, although I don’t think it really needed it. But it does sound good, I have to say. I don’t think it sounds necessarily better than the original, but it’s a bit different, mostly in the high end. The digital gear they use nowadays is much better than it was back in 1990, I think it’s called analog digital converters that they’re using now, are just more pristine.”

Read the entire interview on this location.

30th Anniversary DeLuxe Edition of "Moving Pictures"

Rush's "Moving Pictures" celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with a spectacular Moving Pictures - Deluxe Edition via Mercury/UMe. The reissue of this seminal album on April 5, 2011, will be available in two formats: (1) a digitally remastered CD plus DVD and (2) a digitally remastered CD plus Blu-ray. For this Deluxe Edition, the DVD & Blu-ray discs will feature the album and three bonus music videos, "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight" and the previously unreleased clip "Vital Signs," in both a stunning 5.1 surround sound mix supervised by the band’s Alex Lifeson using the original multi-tracks and in newly remastered stereo from the original analog master tapes.

The Moving Pictures experience has never sounded better or been more moving. Also included in the package is an extensive gallery with previously unreleased photos from the original recording sessions, new liner notes by renowned music journalist David Fricke and 30th anniversary artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme.

Tracklisting:



FORMAT 1 (CD + DVD):CD:


Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta


YYZ


Limelight
The Camera Eye
Witch Hunt


Vital Signs

DVD-AUDIO/VIDEO:


Tom Sawyer (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
Red Barchetta (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
YYZ (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)


Limelight (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
The Camera Eye (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)


Witch Hunt (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
Vital Signs (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)

Tom Sawyer (Music Video – 5.1 & Stereo)
Limelight (Music Video – 5.1 & Stereo)
Vital Signs (Music Video – 5.1 & Stereo – Previously Unreleased)

FORMAT 2 (CD + BLU-RAY):CD:


Tom Sawyer


Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
The Camera Eye


Witch Hunt


Vital Signs

BLU-RAY:


Tom Sawyer (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
Red Barchetta (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)


YYZ (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
Limelight (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
The Camera Eye (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
Witch Hunt (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)
Vital Signs (Audiophile 5.1 Surround and Stereo)

Tom Sawyer (Music Video – 5.1 & Stereo)
Limelight (Music Video – 5.1 & Stereo)


Vital Signs (Music Video – 5.1 & Stereo – Previously Unreleased)

Visit the Rush website for more info.

Tony Iommi will guest on the BBC's "The One Show" this Friday

Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell guitarist Tony Iommi will guest on the BBC's "The One Show" this Friday, February 25 at 7 p.m. U.K. time as part of an interview about the band Queen. The program looks at Queen and the band's music as well as the new queen exhibition "Stormtroopers In Stilettos". Tony Iommi is a good friend of Queen guitarist Brian May.

For more information on "The One Show", click here.

Tony Iommi last year revealed to U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine that he has begun work on new material with the hopes of launching the "next phase" of his career alongside longtime Sabbath and Heaven & Hell bandmate/bassist Geezer Butler. He said, "What I'm doing now is writing. I've gone mad, writing loads of riffs again. I'm really enjoying it, putting stuff together. We will be doing something. I'm in touch with Geezer a lot now and we've been talking about what the next phase is going to be. It'll be great to get out and do something again. I don't normally say this, but there's some great ideas coming out. That's all I've got to do right now. Sit and write riffs!"

Here´s an interview Tony Iommi did with Brian May in 2006: