Click here to listen   We are on Twitter! Get your Rock History Book headlines on our Twitter page! Click Here. Top Stories   Van Halen In the Studio with Producer John Shanks January 25, 2011 – The new Van Halen album is on. The band is in the studio with producer John Shanks to record their first full album with original lead singer David Lee Roth since 1984, released the same year. MORE The Day John Bonham Almost Kicked Sting's Ass January 25, 2011 – Jason Bonham has interesting memories of his dad going backstage and meeting Sting. When the younger Bonham was 13 he convinced his dad to meet the Police. He told Spinner.com, the whole thing happened at a show promoting the band's second album “Reggatta de Blanc” MORE Don Henley Working On Country Covers Album January 24, 2011 – Don Henley is working on, only, his fourth solo album since 1982. The Eagles lead singer is in Nashville with producer/drummer Stan Lynch from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers fame. MORE Elton John Frustrated with Slow Movement in Gay Rights January 24, 2011 – Elton John is not too happy with how gay rights is moving especially with California's gay marriage ban. The 63-year-old singer says, "In this country, we need more dialogue, We don't need any more stone throwing. We don't need any more vitriol. We need people to say, 'OK. I'm straight. You're gay. Let's get along. I'm Republican. You're Democratic. Let's work together.' I'm sick and tired of people being hateful to each other in this country." MORE Aerosmith Working on New Album Despite American Idol January 23, 2011 – Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton just gave the world an update on the band's new album. The guitarist claims that all members, it seems including Steven Tyler who is busy with American Idol, have some time right now to start working on their latest project. Here is what he told AeroForceOne MORE Clint Eastwood Suffers Blow To The Head and Joins Forces with Beyonce January 22, 2011 – What the hell is Clint Eastwood thinking? The famous actor and director is trying to land the rights to “A Star is Born" and have Beyonce star as the lead. Expect lots of close-ups of the long-legged wonder. Is this the best Clint could do...really? MORE Paul Simon Set to Release “So Beautiful or So What” In April January 22, 2011 – Paul Simon says he's gone back to recording music much like he did in the early seventies by just sitting down with a guitar and seeing what happens. The new project, due in April, “So Beautiful or So What” MORE Despite Facelift American Idol Loses 13%+ of Its Viewers January 21, 2010 – American Idol is not the king it once was. Even though 26.1 million viewers watched Wednesday’s 10th season premiere it was still down 13% from last years opening show. Last night’s New Orleans episode was a bigger drop with the show losing 18% in the key demo 18-49. MORE Robert Plant Reminds Us That Led Zeppelin is Dead January 21, 2011 – A Led Zeppelin reunion sounds like a great idea until you talk to Robert Plant. The singer told Rolling Stones magazine that the famous O2 show in London in 2007 was amazing but “The preparations for it were fraught and intense, but the last rehearsal was really, really good, for all that it represented and all that we were trying to capture,” says Plant. MORE     Get More Music News About Us Volunteer with Us Check out Our Sister site below Join our Facebook Group and get on our mailing list. Here   Custom Search
Where’s My Teeth? Led Zeppelin Reunion, Non-Story of 2008, Now Lets Talk Dirt Jan. 7, 2009 – Would 2008 have been any better if Robert Plant just played along? Maybe, if he stopped thinking about himself for a minute and gave us what we wanted, we’d be looking forward to 2009 just a tad more. After all, with half of Americans losing their savings there’s a possibility we’ll all look as unkept as Plant and Page did in the seventies anyway. Think of the Zep merchandising opportunities? When the dust settles I still believe that Plant will rejoin Page, Jones and Bonham for a reunion. In all fairness he’s earned the right to do it when he wants to. Just not in 2009. The urgency of a Zeppelin reunion was accentuated by the passing this year of Richard Wright, who easily brought Pink Floyd 40% more fans than they would have had without him. As strong as David Gilmour and Rogers Waters were, Floyd would not even have gotten to flying pigs and insanity gigs without him. Don’t get me started on Syd Barrett. Rock’ n Roll got a little lighter in 2008 with the passing of Bo Diddley who earned bragging rights a long time ago for building the foundation of this crazy past time of ours. The seriously underrated Jeff Healey is probably on some main stage in Rock’n Roll heaven telling Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Not bad buddy, but I can do it with my eyes closed.” Isaac Hayes’ days of turning 3 minute songs into groovy, hypnotic epics also came to an end. He will be forever known as the voice that forced us to never multi-task in his presence. George Carlin also went to the other side and though much of his belly-aching comedy was long behind him, Carlin had turned into even more of a philosophical thinking mans comedian, which I guess he always was. It’s just that as I laughed less I heard more. He was another great inventor of new boundaries. Also a man who could actually keep up with Hendrix, drummer Mitch Mitchel passed in 2008. Let’s also tip the hat to Frankie Kerr of Teenage Head and Kenny McLean of Platinum Blonde. Almost making the list in 2008, former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and pal DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) who, cheated the hangman by walking out of a crashed burning plane. In 2008, the music biz was still over-populated by celebrities who should, for all intents and purposes, be pushing flap-jacks at I-Hop or at least selling knock-off bling in the parking lot. Alicia Keys’ duet with Frank Sinatra at the Grammy’s was as cringe inducing as it was laughable. I’m still waiting for the spoof on the Family Guy. The folks at the Grammy Crisis Centre probably missed my cry for help following Beyonce’s narcissistic fuck-tard spaghetti stringed tribute to Tina Turner at the Grammy’s. Let’s make Tina Turner’s whole career about you Beyonce? Or should we call you Sasha Fierce. The rip-off factor on her pretentious, ill thought out concept album was higher than being kidnapped by Dr. Phil’s wife and son each weekday afternoon. Beyonce, please get Verizon Wireless, next time you won’t miss the warning from Garth. Also in the ‘Is This Even Music Anymore’ category - Britney Spears. Ok, she’s hot, really hot, really. I thought she was hot when she was chubby. I got a chubby when I waited for the sex tape. I’m a guy, the only reason I ever paid attention to her was because she’s hot. Poor girl has a worse voice than Nancy Reagan at a Jack Klugman sing-a-long. As crappy as Britney’s pipes are, Jennifer Nettle of Sugarland has to win the prize for ‘The Twang That Makes it Ok to Store Your Bullets in Your Eye Sockets.” I would rather be Star Jones’ toilet than ever listen to ‘All I Want to Do’ again. Easily the most annoying song in the history of music. Not far behind in the ‘Country toiletries’ category comes ‘Elvis – Christmas Duets.’ Just when you thought "The King" couldn’t be bastardized anymore, along comes Martina McBride pretending she and Elvis shared kung-fu and amphetamines on her shameless video of ‘Blue Christmas.’ Hey, Martina, what did Elvis’ corpse look like when you asked him for permission to superimpose yourself in his classic video? Dishonourable mentions also go out to Anne Murray, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, Amy Grant and Gretchen Wilson for their ability to speak, or rather sing with the dead. I hope a few of them checked in, for at least a second, to ask themselves, “Does this dead guy make my ASS-inine career blunder look big?” Never being a Guns’ N Roses fan I tried listening to ‘Chinese Democracy’ like a card carrying, braided, bandana wearing drunken sailor - just to be fair to Axl. It almost worked. Too much build up for something that sounded like a solo past time attempt from a lead singer waiting for his ‘bread and butter’ lead guitarist to come crawling back. Slash, please come home. To be fair, listening to Guns has always been like spotting a gorgeous woman who is completely not your type. I always see great talent in Axl, I just don’t want it. Now for the good stuff. Coldplay might spend more time in court than Casey Anthony in 2009 for allegedly ripping off Joe Satriani but the ‘Viva La Vida’ album stood in no ones shadow. Taking a slight step back from their commercial past, Chris Martin and the boys’ weirdly crafted orchestral pop sounded more U2 this past year but it still all made sense. Also props to lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, I still hear David Gilmour haunting riffs in his mix. This guys guitar work makes me feel funny but better. It’s no surprise that Martin says, “There would be no Coldplay music without Jonny Buckland.” Vampire Weekend has been described as afro-preppy party music which helps me here because I don’t know what the hell they are. The four Columbia University grads made me wonder what Genesis would sound like if Steve Hackett had found rockabilly as his religion. Their appearance on Saturday Night Live literally woke me up – infectious, intellectual and fun. Easily the most underrated female singer on the planet for the past 10 years, Jonatha Brooke returned in 2008 with ‘The Works.’ Her tall task was putting music to lost Woody Guthrie lyrics. Kind of like trying to finish a Beatles tune. Interestingly, Brooke found herself again in this mans words.  The prolific folk icon, who died in 1967, felt an urgency to promote the good in people and that brotherly love was like going back to church for Brooke. ‘All You Gotta Do is Touch Me.’ her duet with Keb' Mo' is like reconnecting to the juice that made music our God during those pimple faced prepubescent years. This album is truly a classic. Pick up her CD ‘Plumb’ while you’re at it. This one has been in my top 10 for years. For a guy who I really want to punch in the face, Kanye West continues to show that he might actually spend more time in the studio than in the mirror. ‘808's & Heartbreak,’ his fourth album was built around TR-808 drum machine beats. Stephen Colbert said, “You don’t have to go out and buy Kanye’s new album just put a tin can to your ear and lean against a Pac-Man machine.” For a narcissistic bastard, Kanye, to his credit, does the impossible musically – he comes across like he cares about what he’s singing about. Though not as brilliant as he is ‘880’ still stands out as one of the best for 2008. The Killers ‘Day & Age,’ John Mellencamp’s ‘Life, Death, Love and Freedom’ and James Taylor’s ‘Covers’ were weaker incarnations from these boys but brilliant none the less. Then there was Paul McCartney. The ex-Beatle has been hogging all the “I married a dirty rat-bitch” headlines since meeting Heather Mills in 1999. He wrote the big check, felt like a new man and met Nancy Shevell, who has tons of cash and might even be with Paul because she thinks he’s a cool guy! Good for him. Let’s move on. 2009 promises goodies from Eminem, U2, No Doubt, Bruce Springsteen and Green Day. Let’s row forward! – by John Beaudin ---- Comment on this article ------ Randy Meisner Former Eagles member Randy Meisner tells the truth about his old band //See more Let us Make Sure Everyone Who Visits this Site Knows Who You Are! - Advertise with us. We build the Banners for free and we'll spread you on every page of this site. Contact us now. Retro Review: Linda Ronstadt - The Very Best of -Sept. 24, 2002 - In high school my best buddy John Scott could never understand how I, a rocker, preferred Barbra Streisand over Linda Ronstadt. //See more Retro Review: Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail- Oct. 16, 1998 - No one could ever accuse Hornsby of not paying attention. Every lyric on 'Spirit Trail,' his sixth album, describes his unquenchable thirst to understand what were all doing here. //See more