Metal News Recap – Week of September 14, 2013

High fives to Dee on his successful Dee Snider’s Ride last weekend to benefit the Long Island Cares charity. More than 2,000 bikers took part in the 11th annual event, which previously benefited the March of Dimes. Dee says he expects to raise over $100,000 for Long Island Cares.

Dee Snider’s Rock and Roll Christmas Tale is headed to Broadway this holiday season! It’s a brand-new headbanging, heart-warming holiday musical that “mashes up” holiday songs with Twisted Sister tunes.

It tells the story of Daisy Cütter, a heavy metal bar band looking to make it big even though the ‘80s are long gone. This year, these four guys are ready to take the ultimate step and, in mythic rock tradition, sell their souls to the devil in exchange for success beyond their wildest metal dreams. But every time they try to seal the infernal pact, their heavy metal anthems turn into holiday spirit-filled carols. Soon these rockers are forced to realize their dreams of stardom are no match for the Christmas spirit.

“I just feel that this whole generation needs to all eat a steak,” said Alice Cooper about the current state of rock n’ roll during a recent interview with Fuse. “Maybe they just need to quit eating vegetarian food and get out there and get some blood pumping in their system. Rock ‘n’ roll is not about ‘Happy happy happy, everything’s okay. We’re The Lumineers! Let’s clog dance.’ Hey, there’s a place for that. If I wanted to see a great clog dancing band, I’d see The Lumineers.”

He added, “Mumford And Sons are great at what they do. But it’s not rock ‘n’ roll. Don’t call it rock ‘n’ roll. It’s an offense to rock ‘n’ roll. I get they want to be folk rock, and I guess they want to look like everybody else. I’m old school when it comes to if you’re in a band, you’re an outlaw. You don’t play by those rules, you’re a rock ‘n’ roll outlaw. It doesn’t mean you have to be on drugs, but when you get onstage you don’t play the guitar up here, and it’s not an acoustic guitar. You play the guitar down here. It doesn’t come from your brain, it comes from your guts. It comes from your groin. It’s sexual. It’s tribal.”

He wrapped it up saying, “Okay – you guys don’t want to be rock bands, great. That’s better for us’. There’s more for Foo Fighters, there’s more for Green Day, more for the bands that really are rock bands. I don’t understand why everybody is so afraid to be in a rock band.”

Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, former guitarist for the Glenn Danzig-fronted horror punk band The Misfits, recently talked with the Phoenix New Times about the touchy subject of illegal music downloading. When asked about positive changes in the music industry, he responded, “Positive… it’s usually negative. Umm… positive things. That I don’t know. But I can tell you the most negative thing: People stealing music online. They don’t understand that if they steal a band’s music, one of those guys have to go get another regular job and they can’t make more music for you. So you pay for it. It’s like, if you own a motorcycle company and I went and took a bike, that’s a crime, you know? Right? I pay for all my music.”

“Everybody has [been affected by illegal music downloading]. Especially the smaller bands and artists, they suffer the most. It’s not like Zeppelin and huge acts that don’t really get affected.” He added, “You know, everyone got so mad when Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer] went to sue Napster and everyone was, like., ‘What the f***?’ It’s, like, what do you mean, what the f***? He doesn’t need the money, but everybody else does…It’s hard, man. You wouldn’t believe how many huge musicians that are popular have regular jobs…I wish he would do it again, but sue the whole Internet and fix it so nobody can.”

Metallica’s upcoming film Metallica: Through The Never isn’t out till later this month (September 27), but if you want an early taste of the part concert movie, part urban thriller, you can check out a couple of clips from the film here and here; the full trailer is here.

The film screened at the Toronto Film Festival this week and early reviews were positive, with one reviewer saying, “The soundtrack alone is such an intense experience, such an assault, wear a cup, because it will rock your balls off.” The two-disc soundtrack companion to Through The Never will be out on September 24; definitely check out the live version of “Master Of Puppets” (from the film).

Ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach recently tweeted that he was asked to join Motley Crue back in 1992 after singer Vince Neil was booted; Neil was eventually replaced by John Corabi, who later left when Vince rejoined the band. When asked by a fan why he turned down the gig (which he said was offered, not just “considered” for), he said, “The short answer is that I actually thought at the time this band Skid Row was better.” He added, “Gee, I sure know how to pick ’em.”

So, what does Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler do during his off-time? “I live in Beverly Hills, and I’ve got lots of dogs, so I take them for walks,” he told PureVolume during a recent interview. “Or I’ll just sit by the pool, reading. My dogs are all rescue dogs — I’ve got five rescues now, and they’re just like mutts. The closest to a breed is one that’s a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. But all of our dogs had been severely abused, and we rescued them from various places. And I’ve got seven cats, too. And a few scorpions out in the backyard. There are all kinds of things that live out in the hills where I live: scorpions, tarantulas, coyotes, and deer. Lots of deer. It’s great. I mean, it’s their territory, isn’t it? So it’s a we’re-taking-over-their-territory kind of thing. So you just have to find happiness within yourself. So I find happiness in rescuing animals — they’re so loving and appreciative afterwards, when you give them a good home.”

Here’s your first look at Lita Ford’s upcoming live album, The Bitch is Back…Live. It’s due out on October 22 and captures Lita’s October 2012 performance at the Agoura Hills, CA, venue Canyon Club.

Metal-Rules.com caught up with Lita to ask about the album’s title, which is taken from the Elton John song of the same name that Lita covers in concert. “I spoke to Elton John backstage before we released the album and I wanted his blessing,” said Lita. “I didn’t want to just take his song and do it because I’ve done my own version of it. It’s more guitar-orientated instead of piano. So I said to him. ‘We’re doing “The Bitch Is Back” and we gave him a copy of it, and his tour manager wrote back and said, ‘It’s one rocking version.’ But I went backstage because he came through town…and I said, ”Thank you for letting me do it,’ and he said, ‘Thank you for doing my song.’ So I thought, ‘Right on, I got his blessing.'”