When Will Udo Dirkschneider Realize That Udo in Accept is Better Than Udo in U.D.O.?

Early this morning there was a buzz that Accept might be reuniting. Blabbermouth.net  posted a message from bassist Peter Baltes that went like this:

“To all you hardcore Accept fans out there,  Wolf Hoffmann; former Accept guitarist] just spent the weekend at my house [in Pennsylvania] and we were shredding away. Something amazing is in the works. As soon as I can, I’ll let everybody know. Let’s make the ‘Metal Heart’ beat again.”

Words of encouragement for Accept fans? You bet.

But it was later in the day that, Frank Seupfle, a management representative for the band U.D.O. — the solo project of Accept’s vocalist, Udo Dirkschneider — jumped all over it, and deflated the rumor before it sailed. Then Frank sent out a post that went on about the newly recorded material of the band U.D.O. and got some unnecessary jabs:

“… The songs they recorded fit perfectly to the most succesful days of the Accept era and prove again that U.D.O. always kept up the banner of Accept  (and, of course, will continue with that in the future)! The video to promote the album will be filmed mid-June and might be shown mid-July at earliest. The song is called “Black and White” and will show you exactly where the ‘Metal Heart’ is STILL beating! By the way, it never stopped beating…”

What a bunch of promotional horseshit! Claiming that any new U.D.O. can “fit perfectly to the most successful days of the Accept era” should have a disclaimer attached to it. U.D.O.’s music may be good but it’s no Accept in their prime. It’s like when Senator Lloyd Bentsen once said to Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle, “You’re no Jack Kennedy“. Well, U.D.O., you’re no Accept.

Put Accept’s Breaker and/or Restless and Wild up against any U.D.O. material. Go Ahead. It’s pointless. Not to mention all the valuable influence Accept had on the metal scene, and what groundbreaking material they had! What an asinine comment if I’ve ever heard one!

Plus,  if U.D.O wanted to keep the “banner of Accept” waving, it would be with Accept, not U.D.O.. To say U.D.O. is “exactly where the ‘Metal Heart’ is STILL beating” is not giving enough credit to the talented musicians who played with Udo in Accept for all those many years.

Maybe one day there will be an Accept reunion again (they did an all-too- brief 25th Anniversary tour in 2005, see footage below). But, until then, I’ll go on my cherished memories of past Accept shows. I mean, who can forget that one magical metal night at the legendary Brooklyn L’amours in 1984? Nothing can beat that.

Village Voice Gives Green Day One of the Best Reviews Ever Written

Well, it pretty much seems that way.

Mordechai Shinefield of the Village Voice deep-praises Green Day in the newest Voice this week, as if the trio were rock music’s second coming. As it is hard to top American Idiot, Green Day’s newest album, 21st Century Breakdown, is described like this (just a sample, mind you):

“We’re dealing with possibly the greatest rock album of the past decade.”

And, after comparing it to Brecht and Beckett,— and, of course, a little U2 — Shinefield ends the album review with:

“It’s practically fucking Milton.”

I’m sure it may be as “dystopian, prophetic, and extraordinary” as the writer claims but…Milton?

Who knows, maybe in hundreds of years they will be teaching college seminars on Green Day, too. No textbooks, just some vinyl for the syllabus.

Guitarist Dennis Stratton Does Not Regret Leaving Iron Maiden in 1980

Anyone remember Dennis Stratton? I sure do.

Even though he was with Iron Maiden for only one year, Stratton left his mark as one of the lead guitarists on Maiden’s brilliant debut album.

So now he says he never felt regret for leaving Maiden, bound for the lower rung of NWOBHM like Lionheart and Praying Mantis? Yeah, right … Stratton left right before Maiden got big … real big. I have a hard time believing that statement of no regret. I’m sure Stratton felt some regret. In reality, maybe, after all these years, he has moved on (unlike Steven Adler… read post below). That I can believe.

And I still can’t get over how much Stratton is looking a lot like one of Tony’s NJ gang on the Sopranos nowadays. Fuhgettaboutit! It only takes a listen to his English accent to break that spell. All I can remember is Stratton as the guy in the poster that used to hang on my wall during my teenage years (below; Stratton, far right). What a cool poster. At least Steve Harris kind of looks the same to this day.

Steven Adler Believes It Was Axl Rose Who Ran Guns n’ Roses into the Ground

Steven Adler still can’t let go. Or they keep bringing it up to him: a GN’R reunion, a GN’R reunion, a GN’R reunion…

It’s never going to happen. Never. Go ahead, check with Vegas. The odds are worse than Plant pulling that stick out of his ass and joining Page to reunite Zeppelin.

What’s interesting is Adler’s ever-evolving opinions on Axl Rose, too. He recently told Dirty Rock Magazine:

“… the thing about Guns N’ Roses is, for starters, Axl [Rose] ran the whole thing into the ground and still is. It’s a shame. Two, he should have named his record W.A.R. — W. Axl Rose. Then I think it would have been a bigger hit. You know what?! It’s heartbreaking, because I was there from the beginning and helped get it started, and to see what he did and still doing, it’s hurtful. That, and I heard that some big rock agency offered us $150 million for us to do 20 shows. And that was very hurtful that Axl said no and doesn’t want to do it. Because that doesn’t happen.

The way Axl is, what I know of him, is he could make a call tomorrow and say, “OK, guys we’re doing it.” I’m not saying he’s going to call up and say, “I’m sorry guys, and we’re gonna do it.” (Laughs). And he is that way, so you never know. Tomorrow he could call up and say, “Let’s do this, guys.” As long as the five of us are alive, there’s an opportunity. But I can’t wait, I can’t wait, and I’m not going to wait.”

Forget a reunion, Steven. Axl won’t be calling. Work on your Appetite instead.

The past is the past… just like that photo of you above.

Corey Taylor of Slipknot Admits to Owning Abba’s Greatest Hits

Slipknoter Corey Taylor told the Toronto Sun that an Abba Greatest Hits is the wimpiest album that he owns (and you would assume, he listens to).

Shit, that beats my wimpiest. But it could have been a lot worse. Could have been Wham!

Yet, Corey also goes on to say that he’s got “a ton of them.” So who knows!

I think a Slipknot cover of “Mamma Mia” is in order.

Perry Farrell Injures Himself On-Stage

During an Atlants show last night, Perry Farrell, lead man of Jane’s Addiction, tore his calf muscle. He got the injury on the very first song and felt obligated to finish the show (take that, Axl Rose!). After the show, he was rushed off to the hospital by ambulance.

It may not be as newsworthy as ARod being injured but it might effect a highly anticipated NINJA Tour (see footage below). The doctors told him to stay off the leg for a few days, but, like any gamer, Perry wants to perform tomorrow night.

It would be cool if he did the next show with a cane. Highly unlikely he’d do it in a wheelchair, huh?

Kerrang Magazine Gets Cocky on Twitter

A tweet from “spacebecky” of Kerrang! had this to say to the rock masses yesterday:

we can’t write about every band with guitars: some readers might like McFly, Coldplay or U2 too, but we’re a ROCK mag!

OhhhKay…

Remember, Kerrang! used to put Marillion on the cover. Yes, Marillion! … not as heavy (or as “rock”) as McFly, Coldplay or U2, kids.

Interview with Serenity Posted on POWERLINE A.D. Site

POWERLINE A.D.’s Marc Garrison interviews Georg Neuhauser, vocalist of Austrian Power metal group Serenity.

www.powerlinead.com/metal

The Manics’ Nicky Wire Questions The Decision To Do An Album Using Richey Edwards’ Lyrics

In an  interview published in the Friday, May 8th edition of the UK newsppaer The Guardian, Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire (pictured at left above in a photo by Dean Chalkley) publicly questioned the decision of his bandmate James Dean Bradfield (pictured above, center) to record an album using lyrics written by the former Manics guitarist Richey Edwards. Edwards disappeared on February 1, 1995 and was declared presumed dead on November 23, 2008. The new Manics album, titled Journal For Plague Lovers, is slated for a May 18th release in the UK.

Wire opined that the new album could harm the band after the great commercial success of their last album, Send Away The Tigers. That album contained the terrific single “Your Love Alone Is Not Enough,” which the Manics recorded with Nina Persson of The Cardigans. Wire told The Guardian:

“This album could seriously damage us in a commercial sense. Already, supermarkets won’t accept the album cover, which I am really startled at. You can have the Pussycat Dolls poledancing, but you can’t … [Wire's voice trails off.] So already I’m thinking, ‘Oh fucking hell, are we putting them off already?’”

To read the interview with Nicky Wire in full on The Guardian‘s Web site, click here.

To hear Nicky Wire being interviewed for The Guardian‘s Music Extra podcast, click here and then click the play button on the page. You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes (it’s free on US iTunes) by clicking that link on the page and you can also download it as an MP3.

Some fans of the Manics have been critical of Wire’s comments, calling him a “sell out” and the like. I don’t see this as Wire selling out at all. He realizes that the Manics have a much different sound these days than they did when Edwards was still a member of the band. In addition, Wire and his bandmates are 14 years older than they were when Edwards was in the band. I’m sure that they all take the band more seriously now than they did in the early 1990s. They realize now that this is their vocation, something that probably didn’t cross their minds much in 1994. Also, given the terrible state of the economy and the drop in sales of CDs and MP3s, I cannot fault Wire at all for thinking in terms of commercial success. Bands are being dropped right and left by their record companies these days. Wire is being prudent. Whether the fans who ripped Wire for comments like it or not, the music business is, after all, a business.

I would even go as far as saying that the fans that criticized Wire for his comments to The Guardian are the worst kind of fans that a band can have because they don’t want the band to be successful. These are the people who want bands to maintain cult status forever so they they and their like-minded friends can feel like they are in on something cool that most others don’t know about. I’m glad that the Manics have attained the commercial success that they have. They’re a great band. People should know about them.

For additional information on Manic Street Preachers, go to:
http://www.manics.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/manics

Video By the Band The Bezerker Causes Controversy on YouTube

A band like The Berzerker trying to be controversial?!… what a stretch! Isn’t this the same band who tries to make Slipknot sound and look like the Beach Boys? I guess the real shock is that this extreme Australian industrial metal band covers a pop song, as in the once popular T.A.T.U.’s “All the Things She Said.” Then releasing a video of it with simulated underage lesbian scenes. Viva Lolitapalooza, I guess.

It’s only been a day or so since the video was first posted and it already received a record number of complaints. In fact, to view it, you have to sign in and then confirm your birth date, restricted to 18+:

This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube’s user community.

By clicking “Confirm”, you are agreeing that all videos or groups flagged by the YouTube community will be viewable by this account.

But, really, the video’s not that outrageous. It’s all suggestive BS to get eyeballs and stir the PR pot. This is actually the least outrageous the band has ever been. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to their music. Watch their other videos. Read their lyrics.

The Berzerker’s version of this crappy pop song will not be released as a single, even though there has been heavy demand for it.. As a statement warns on one of the YouTube consoles for “All the Things She Said”:

This version will NOT be released, (please stop asking) Its just the Berzerker …

Exactly.