Metal News Recap – Week of November 21, 2014

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Soundgarden Releases 3-CD Rarities Collection

Hard on the heels of their 20th anniversary re-release of Superunknown, Grammy®-winning, multi-platinum selling Soundgarden is releasing a 3-CD rarities collection entitled Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path available on November 24th. Curated by guitarist Kim Thayil, Echo Of Miles features seven unreleased tracks including a brand-new recording of Storm which was recorded in May with producer Jack Endino in Seattle. Echo Of Miles is the first official Soundgarden release to include more than 26 years of rarities that have appeared as B-sides, bonus tracks, soundtracks, compilations and more. A must for any fan of the band!

“Essentially this is a gathering together of “loose ends” from throughout our recording career. I believe “Scattered Tracks Across The Path” describes this album best. As album sets go, this one has been fun to collect and compile over the decades. I personally may have referenced this project a number of times over the years, going back almost twenty of them to the mid-nineties!”
– Kim Thayil

Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path is available at iTunes, Amazon Music, GooglePlay and Soundgardenworld.com and is set to come out in a lavishly appointed box set, digitally and as a 14-track single CD.

The members of AC/DC are finally speaking out about guitarist Malcolm Young’s exit due to dementia and drummer Phil Rudd’s recent arrest in New Zealand and charge of threatening to kill (as well as drug-related charges). In a recent Rolling Stone interview, guitarist Angus Young explained that Malcolm’s memory lapses began several years ago during the recording of the band’s 2008 album, Black Ice. “It’s something that had actually been happening for a long time,” said Angus. “[It] had surfaced even before the last project … [Malcolm] was still capable of knowing what he wanted to do. I had said to him, ‘Do you want to go through with what we’re doing?’ And he said, ‘S**t, yeah’… [Malcolm] liked to finish what he started.”

Continued Angus, “He got good help, good medical care,” but added that he “had to relearn a lot of things,” including AC/DC riffs he’d written and played for decades. Angus said it was “very strange for [Malcolm]. But he was always a confident guy, and we made it work.” Malcolm did not play on the band’s upcoming album, Rock Or Bust (due out on December 2).

Regarding Rudd, Angus admitted that he was flaking on recording sessions for the new album. “One minute he was coming, then he wasn’t, then he was,” Young said. “We’re not a band that likes to wait around.” Rudd ended up playing on the album, but Young noted that he’s ”seen him in better shape. It was not the Phil we had known, after we had finished the last tour. He’d let himself go.” He added, “Our problems had begun even before the [legal] situation he’s in now…And our thing was we were going forward [without him on the upcoming tour].”

While we’re at it…check out the title track for AC/DC’s Rock Or Bust, right here.

Oooops! Well-meaning Irish rockers U2 sent guitar whiz Slash a case of Guinness during Slash’s recent gig in Dublin. What they didn’t remember was that Slash is a recovering alcoholic (who took it in good stride with this tweet).

German filmmaker Andrew Horn’s “We Are Twisted F*cking Sister!”, a film that chronicles Twisted Sister’s infamous club days, premieres this weekend at the world’s biggest documentary festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. We’ll keep you posted when it makes its way stateside. Check out the official trailer.

Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell has teamed up with Neil Starr (who fronts Phil’s side project, All Starr Band) on a new musical endeavor for young children called Panda Party. The project hopes to engage kids with catchy tunes, upbeat nursery rhymes, teaching ABCs and colors, and more. “Well, they say never work with animals and children but here I am, working with animals, for children!” says Campbell. “I like the dancing Pandas — I play the guitar on this [song] but we need celebrities for each week.” Check out Phil ripping through a Panda-filled version of “Happy Birthday”.

Have a listen to Lynch Mob’s cover of Bad Company’s “Burnin’ Sky”. The tune is off the band’s upcoming EP, Sun Red Sun (out December 9).

“Hi, Dee! Here is a picture of my husband Kevin dressed as the late, great [Kiss drummer] Eric Carr for Halloween. A little late but hope you enjoy it. Thanks for rockin’ all of the great tunes every week on the House of Hair! We are faithful listeners \m/ ”

–Melissa