Does Sammy Hagar Really Prefer Joe Satriani’s Playing Over Eddie Van Halen’s?!

Sammy must be drinking too much of his own secret batch of Cabo Wabo.

In an interview with Gibson.com, Hagar explains why he prefers Satriani over Eddie:

As a writer, Joe is faster. That makes him easier for me to work with, because I come up with things really fast as well. As soon as I hear a chord structure, I have a melody, instantly. And then five seconds later I’m writing lyrics. Working with Joe is great. If I say to him, “Hey, let’s do something funky,” next thing I know he’s saying, “How about this?” It’s like, bang, he’s done. Whereas with Eddie, he would come back a week later and want to re-do something.

But that said, working with Eddie was great, and we wrote great songs together. The Van-Hagar stuff still holds up fantastically well, but it was a slow process. It took three years to write the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album. And when I tried to do the Van-Hagar reunion, in 2004, and we were trying to make a new record, Eddie could only squeeze three songs out. He’s just not as prolific, and not as fast. So that’s the difference between them as far as writing.

As far as playing goes, they’re both phenomenal. The innovations Eddie came up with in early Van Halen — before I was in the band – were just so unique, he gets lots of points for that. But as just a straight-up player, who can play anything, and plays perfect every time, there’s no one better than Joe.

No one better than Joe?

Bottom line: Eddie Van Halen’s playing is interesting and pleasurable to listen to. Also, Eddie’s guitarwork always fit in well with good songwriting structures. I always found Joe Satriani’s music boring and uninteresting. His playing never fused well with any songs, taking over a song rather than making it more appealing. Sure, Satriani is a phenomenal player, but … please.

Get Well Soon, Zakk Wylde

Zakk, this is a Get Well post. Even if you are telling us all to f*ck off in the above photo.

blabbermouth reported that Zakk’s wife has been tweeting (or is it “twittering”?) the progress on his heart condition:

“stable” condition right now after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and leg. She writes, “We are following up with his [doctors] in L.A. with hopes of beginning a slow recovery. Apparently, this is a long process.”

We’ve covered Zakk back when he was young, innocent and hairsprayed up (see below). Since then he has built quite a career in heavy music. Let’s hope he continues doing that.

Noel Gallagher Issues Statement About Why He Quit Oasis

Yesterday, Noel Gallagher issued a statement concerning the reasons that he decided to quit Oasis. The statement appeared in his Tales From The Middle Of Nowhere blog on the official Oasis Web site. The statement was also published on NME.com, and it read as follows:

“Dearly beloved, it is with a heavy heart and a sad face that I say this to you this morning.

“As of last Friday, August 28, I have been forced to leave the Manchester rock ‘n’ roll pop group Oasis.

“The details are not important and of too great a number to list. But I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable. And the lack of support and understanding from my management and bandmates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new.

“I would like firstly to offer my apologies to them kids in Paris who’d paid money and waited all day to see us only to be let down AGAIN by the band. Apologies are probably not enough, I know, but I’m afraid it’s all I’ve got.

“While I’m on the subject, I’d like to say [sorry] to the good people of V Festival that experienced the same thing. Again, I can only apologise – although I don’t know why, it was nothing to do with me. I was match-fit and ready to be brilliant. Alas, other people in the group weren’t up to it.

“In closing I would like to thank all the Oasis fans, all over the world. The last 18 years have been truly, truly amazing (and I hate that word, but today is the one time I’ll deem it appropriate). A dream come true. I take with me glorious memories.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a family and a football team to indulge. I’ll see you somewhere down the road. It’s been a fuckin’ pleasure.”

NME.com published a great blog item about the Oasis split yesterday, which was titled, “Oasis: Is This The End Of The Road?” You can read it by clicking here. One quite interesting point made in the blog piece is that due to the various personnel changes in the band and shortlived walkouts by both Noel and Liam Gallagher, there is not one member of Oasis who has played at every Oasis show.

Despite the fact that Noel Gallagher is, without question, the min creative force in the band, there are rumors that the band might continue without him. XFM London reports that an Oasis spokeswoman told the BBC, “I expect in the next couple of days a decision will be made as to how to continue or if they continue.”

Alan McGee, who signed the band to Creation Records in 1993, told XFM London, “I think you’ll have a reunion tour in about five years time. They love each other. When people love each other, they’ll always make peace.”

No matter what happens, the future of Oasis will be an interesting one. Will they end up like The Beach Boys, with Al Jardine leading one splinter group and Mike Love the other? I believe that Noel will record the talked-about solo album and then do a large-scale tour to promote the album. And he will likely perform Oasis songs live. Those songs are, after all, his songs. Oasis could possibly survive without Noel’s input, but they certainly will be a less-interesting group.

Maybe Sebastian Bach Should Switch to Country Music

Noel Gallagher Quits Oasis

Despite Noel Gallagher’s well-publicized differences with his brother and Oasis bandmate Liam Gallagher, I was in stunned disbelief when I read the news earlier tonight that Noel Gallagher has decided to quit Oasis. In a brief statement on the Oasis Web site, Noel said:

“It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.

“Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan.”

The Gallagher brothers both attended the Manchester City soccer match last weekend, but apparently were not seated together.

There have been reports of trouble between the Gallagher brothers on the current Oasis tour. They reportedly were not speaking and would only see each other on stage. I saw their show at Madison Square Garden in New York City last December. The show wasn’t particularly good, as it lacked the fire of past Oasis performances I had seen. But I also saw both of Oasis’ stellar concerts at New York City’s Beacon Theatre in 2002. Noel’s solo acoustic version of “Wonderwall” at one of those shows was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on a concert stage. Their Madison Square Garden show in the summer of 2005 was also excellent.

Oasis cancelled a performance in Paris last night at the last minute, with the promoters citing an altercation within the band. The Scottish singer Amy Macdonald, who was also on the bill of the Paris show, apparently witnessed the altercation and wrote on her Twitter page, “Oasis cancelled again with one minute to stage time! Liam smashed Noel’s guitar, huuuge fight!” Last weekend, Oasis cancelled their scheduled performance at the V Festival in Chelmsford, England, citing Liam’s laryngitis. Was it laryngitis? Or was there another fight?

Noel Gallagher had talked about making a solo album after the conclusion of the current Oasis tour. When and if that release materializes, I’m sure it will get quite a bit of attention. But if Oasis is well and truly finished, what will become of Liam Gallagher’s music career? While Liam has been writing some of Oasis’ songs, the vast majority of the band’s hit songs were penned by Noel.

I do hope that Noel and Liam can patch up their differences and carry on as Oasis. If not, we still have the music. A lot of that music, particularly the early stuff, is spectacular.

For more on this story, see the articles from BBC News, The Times of London, and NME.com.

For further updates on Oasis, see the official Oasis Web site.

And now, check out two of the tunes that made Oasis the great band that they were (are?):

To watch the video for “Supersonic” by Oasis, click below:

To watch Oasis’ “Morning Glory” video, click below:

For more on Oasis, see:
http://www.oasisinet.com/
http://www.myspace.com/oasis
http://www.youtube.com/user/oasisinetofficial

The Writer From Heaven MUSIC NEWS – By Carol AnneSzel

Outsidelands Music & Arts Festival Will be streamed live on YouTube for the first its ever live music festival webcast.Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Productions and Starr Hill Presents, in a partnership with the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department, today announced that YouTube™ will stream live the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival to viewers in the US. The live webcast will be featured on youtube.com/outsidelands beginning Friday, August 28th - Sunday, August 30th. The festival coverage will include performances from Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, Thievery Corporation, The Dead Weather, Silversun Pickups, Raphael Saadiq, Cage the Elephant, Atmosphere, among others. The tradition of marrying music and technology continues to be a foundation of the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival. “We are proud to feature Outside Lands as the first-ever live streamed festival on such a powerful and recognizable platform as YouTube,” said Richard Goodstone of Superfly Productions.

Warner Bros. Records has confirmed the final track listing for Madonna’s upcoming “Celebration” CD – The “Ultimate” Compilation – and “Celebration: The Video Collection” DVD – both scheduled to be released on September 28/29th.  The songs, which were selected by Madonna and her fans, have all been exquisitely remastered. “Celebration” will be available as a two-CD set as well as a single CD. “Celebration: The Video Collection” DVD will include unedited and never before seen footage of  “Justify My Love” along with 18 Madonna videos to be released on a 2 disc DVD compilation for “the very first time” including “Into The Groove” and “Give It 2 Me” as well as the just completed video of Madonna’s new single “Celebration.”Another newly recorded song, “Revolver” featuring Lil Wayne is also included on the “Celebration” CD.  Artwork for the packaging of the CD and DVD was designed by renowned street pop artist “Mr. Brainwash.”Currently on tour in Europe with her sold out “Sticky & Sweet” Tour, the multi-Grammy winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with the highest grossing tour in history for a Female Artist, is scheduled to end her tour with her final show in Israel on September 2nd.

Cheap Trick releases Sgt. Pepper Live CD and DVD today in celebration of their sold-out concerts honoring the 40th anniversary of The Beatles’ album and leading up to their “Sgt. Pepper Live” shows at the Las Vegas Hilton Sept. 13-15, 17-19 and 21-23. Sgt. Pepper Live by Cheap Trick salutes the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ influential Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album with an energetic live performance that features the New York Philharmonic orchestra, Indian Sitar Band and an array of special guest artists. At the helm of the production is Geoff Emerick, the renowned engineer of the classic 1967 album. Never performed in its entirety by The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper Live allows Cheap Trick to incorporate their brand of power pop into the classic songs while paying tribute to music legends. The CD and DVD were both recorded in New York during a benefit concert for Michael Milken’s Prostate Cancer Foundation. Cheap Trick also performed “Sgt. Pepper Live” in 2007 and 2008 to sold-out audiences at the Hollywood Bowl. The DVD offers interview footage as well as a closer look at some of the special guest artists including Joan Osborne, Ian Ball and Rob Laufer, all of whom will be joining Cheap Trick for their Las Vegas Hilton residency.

Platinum-certified Reprise Records artists The Used have announced the venues for their nationwide headlining fall tour.  The month-long run, which kicks off October 9th in Las Vegas, NV and runs through November 14th in Portland, Oregon, will support their new album, Artwork, out August 31, 2009.  The Almost and Drive A will be supporting. The Used have announced a special pre-sale for the tour.  With every online ticket purchased, fans will receive exclusive new music: B-side track “Something Safe (Demo)” as well as the uncensored music video for “Blood On My Hands.”  Visit www.theused.net/tour for information on the pre-sale

R.E.M. will release a brand-new double live album, entitled R.E.M. Live At The Olympia on October 27th, 2009 on Warner Bros. Records. The two-CD set, produced by Jacknife Lee, features 39 songs that capture the best moments from the band’s “working rehearsals” at Dublin’s fabled Olympia club during which singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, and bassist Mike Mills tested out new songs for R.E.M.’s 2008 studio album Accelerate. Live At The Olympia ventures back to July 2007 when R.E.M. set up camp at the venerable Olympia Theatre in Ireland’s capital city and tested new material over five nights before fired-up, capacity crowds comprised of fan-club members, friends, family, and fans from all over the world who were privy to R.E.M.’s so-called “experiment in terror,” as guitarist Peter Buck puts it. “We were just trying to do something we hadn’t done before,” Buck says, “which meant there was no relaxing during the set. Every second we were playing something we didn’t know all that well. Which was kind of good — there were all kinds of terror elements going on during that show.”Live At The Olympia gives fans that were unable to attend the Irish shows a chance to hear different incarnations of the songs before they were recorded in their final Accelerate versions, such as the singles “Man-Sized Wreath” and an early version of “Supernatural Superserious” under its original title “Disguised.” As a bonus, the band has included two songs: “On The Fly” and “Staring Down The Barrel Of The Middle Distance,” that were only performed live and were not included on Accelerate. In addition, the package features many early R.E.M. favorites from the band’s albums Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, and Life’s Rich Pageant.

Environmental advocacy organization Rock the Earth, announced today that they have partnered with the Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic in calling on all attendees of the bands co-headlining North American Tour, to bring their old, unwanted mobile phones (and chargers, adapters, etc) to the Rock the Earth booth at the Allman Brothers Band / Widespread Panic upcoming August – September US tour stops.In partnership with Musictoday, Collective Good and Gibson, all attendees who bring a phone to the Rock the Earth booth for redemption will receive a 20% off a future Musictoday purchase, and be entered into a nightly drawing for an Instant Live soundboard recording of the band’s performance; and the tour prize of a Gibson guitar; Plus gain entry into the national mobile phone recycling campaign Grand Prize of the “Party Like A Rock Star” experience – Winner plus 12 friends wins use of  the Gibson Tour Bus for a one night concert excursion. Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks commented “We’re very happy to align with Rock the Earth in this effort to keep mobile phones out of landfill, and just like everyone else, we too have been looking for the right place to recycle our old phones. In fact, I plan on bringing my five old phones to the Rock the Earth booth and I encourage everyone else to do the same”.

BILLY CORGAN has announced that Mike Byrne has joined THE SMASHING PUMPKINS as their new drummer. The 19-year-old Portland, OR native will make his debut with the band on the Pumpkins’ next album—about which a major announcement is expected in September–and tour. “I’m super excited to be playing with the band,” says Byrne.  “Dream come true, man.”Byrne–who’s played in such indie Portland bands as Moses, Smell The Roses and the Mercury Tree–heard about the Pumpkins’ open call for a new drummer on the Internet this past April and submitted his materials. Byrne was immediately called to attend an audition in Los Angeles, where Corgan liked what he heard—a lot. “We didn’t actually play songs at the audition,” says Byrne. “We just kind of jammed for about 15 minutes and then talked about Fugazi for the other 15 or so minutes.”

 Following up one of its most successful years ever, CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival returns to New York City October 20th-24th.  As New York’s largest music event and one of the world’s most important showcases of new music artists, CMJ draws tens of thousands of professionals from all sectors of the music and film industry. More than 1,300 artists and over 120,000 music fans will converge on the Big Apple to catch the latest buzz band, cool indie film or learn more about the ever-changing music industry from key innovators, insiders and celebrities. By day, in partnership with New York University, , CMJ Music Marathon welcomes many of the world’s most influential and revolutionary musicians, artists, cultural and political figures at a variety of events including presentations, screenings, Q&A sessions and panel discussions. At night, CMJ Music Marathon takes over 75 venues across Manhattan, Brooklyn and surrounding environs presenting a dazzling array of new music from around the globe.  Registration to CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival grants attendees entry to all daytime and nighttime offerings (venue capacity permitting).   New York’s 101.9 WRXP will return as the official commercial radio sponsor of this year’s event. For information visit www.cmj.com/marathon  

Queensryche is set to Perform Extended Suites: Rage For Order / American Soldier / EmpireSunday, October 25 @ 8 PM at the Capital One Bank Theatre at Westbury in New York.  Tickets available exclusively at www.livenation.com, and at the Theatre at Westbury box office.

Several Songs From The Specials’ V Festival Set Are Featured On Absolute Radio Web Site

The Web site of UK radio station Absolute Radio is currently featuring several live tracks from The Specials’ set at this past weekend’s V Festival in England. The songs featured are “Too Much Too Young,” “Gangsters,” and “A Message To You, Rudy” as well as a medley of “You’re Wondering Now” and “Ghost Town” for which The Specials were joined by the troubled singer Amy Winehouse. Winehouse’s contribution to the performance is minimal, unfortunately. But at least she’s getting back on stage.

To listen to The Specials at the V Festival, see the Absolute Radio Web site.

To watch The Specials and Amy Winehouse perform “You’re Wondering Now” from Channel 4′s coverage of the V Festival, click below:

To watch an interview that Absolute Radio’s Geoff Lloyd did with three members of The Specials, click below:

Noisettes Deliver Spectacular Version Of “Don’t Upset The Rhythm” At England’s V Festival

The UK’s hottest act of the moment, Noisettes, delivered a very energetic version of their hit single “Don’t Upset The Rhythm” at the V Festival in Chelmsford, England this past weekend. Vocalist Shingai Shoniwa got up close and personal with the crowd during the song. The cameras of UK broadcaster Channel 4 were there to record it and thanks to the magic of You Tube, the clip is now posted for the whole world to see. You can watch it by clicking below:

The first three minutes of this clip are devoted to a rather inane interview that XFM London DJ Dave Berry did with band for Channel 4. If you just want to watch the song, fast forward to 3:12 into the clip.

For more on Noisettes. see:
http://www.noisettes.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/noisettesuk

Arctic Monkeys Discuss Their Humbug Album On XFM London

This past Tuesday, August 25th, Alex Turner and Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys stopped by the Leicester Square studios of XFM London for a track-by-track discussion of their new Humbug album with XFM London DJ John Kennedy. The discussion aired on Kennedy’s Xposure program. The interview is now up on the XFM London Web site. You can hear it by clicking here and then clicking the individual audio links on the page. The music from the album is not included in the Web site version of the interview due to rights restrictions.

Last night, Arctic Monkeys headlined the Brixton Academy in London. Supporting Arctic Monkeys at the show were the new supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which feature Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, and Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. Homme produced part of Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug album. To read a very positive review of the Brixton Academy show, see The Times of London’s Web site.

Powerline A.D.’s Patrick Prince has reviewed Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug album. You can read the review here.

My review of Arctic Monkeys’ August 3rd show at The HighLine Ballroom in New York City can be read here.

The Humbug album was released earlier this week and is available for purchase in the United States, the UK, and elsewhere.

P Diddy Tells Twitter Followers to Buy the New Arctic Monkeys CD

Ah Bah, Humbug!

P Diddy did a tweet telling people to go out and buy the new Arctic Monkeys CD “Humbug.”

NME caught the Diddy tweet:

“Go get the Arctic Monkeys‘ new album ‘Humbug’!!!!!!” he wrote, adding his online catchphrase. “Let’s go!!!!!”

Actually, those unfamiliar with Arctic Monkeys should buy their debut album “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.”

Humbug is good but not great, like the first release. The first one was close to a masterpiece.

P Diddy is close friends with AM’s drummer Matt Helders and a big fan.

Last time I saw P Diddy he was “moshing” it up, right in the crowd, up-front, at a NYC Arctic Monkeys gig. I had to respect him for that one, even if he did have a 300 lb body guard by his side.

And laugh if you will at P Diddy and his tweets. He does have 1,819,849 followers. And that’s nothing to laugh at.