Eddie VH Teams Up With Adult Movie
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Eddie Van Halen works with an adult movie.
Topic: Heavy Metal
CHATSWORTH, Calif. - In a major crossover move, rock superstar Eddie Van Halen has joined forces with adult director Michael Ninn to write and perform two songs for the upcoming Ninn Worx feature, Sacred Sin.

Although several big-name rappers have contributed material to XXX movies, Van Halen is probably the first major rock star to lend his name to an adult project.

Van Halen told AVN.com he's not bothered by possible criticism. "I'm working with a friend -- very simple. I like his work," he said. "Michael Ninn is like a Spielberg to me: the imagery, the way he makes things look, just... sensual.

"We hooked up, I ended up doing the music, and it's some whompin-ass shit. I think it's the best work he's ever done, and me too. And more to come."

"Eddie is from Amsterdam, born and raised, and his interpretation of sex and music are all in one, so it wasn't a big step for him," Ninn told AVN.com in an exclusive interview.

He and Van Halen, he said, have been friends for "a couple of lifetimes, it seems like. It started out as him ringing me up to work on some music together. One thing just led to another, and it ended up, I had this movie in mind. We would sit at the piano -- he has two grand pianos in the house -- and play and talk all night long."

The project came to life as a result of "the things we talked about: life in general, imagery and the power of imagery. Sometimes as he'd play I'd walk around the estate and the story kind of came to me while I was there."

The Van Halen songs in Sacred Sin are "Rise" and "Catherine," a remix of the theme from Ninn's 2005 movie of the same name.

"One of the things that Eddie really, really liked," Ninn said, "was the theme from Catherine. He did a remix, it still carries the melody, but it's got a Kashmir-Led Zeppelin kind of feel to it now. A very, very powerful piece of music."

He said Van Halen was "absolutely elated with the track," and the rocker himself confirmed, "If 'Catherine' doesn't move you, you're brain-dead."

The second song, "Rise," was a tune he had been working on already. "I heard it and just fell in love with it," Ninn said. Van Halen also contributed some "transitional piano pieces that are sprinkled throughout the movie." The rest of the music is the work of frequent Ninn collaborator Loren Alexander.

Ninn Worx will release Sacred Sin on September 13, distributed by Red Light District. The two-disc set will contain music videos for both Van Halen songs. "They're pretty powerful," Ninn said, calling his friend "an incredible performer who really comes to life when the cameras are on. He's a showman."

Ninn is also cutting a non-explicit version of the movie, to be called Rise, for the general market. Release date is unsure, he said, because it has yet to be submitted to the MPAA board for a rating.

The picture introduces new Ninn Worx contract girl Heather Vuur, in her first adult movie. "She's an incredible actress on top of being stunningly beautiful," Ninn said. "Anyone that can pull off my psychobabble and make it believable is one hell of an actress. Her energy for this picture was just amazing."

The movie was completely shot on High Definition video and is frankly aimed at the couples market. Ninn called it "180 degrees from Catherine," in which the sex scenes, because of the nature of stars Audrey Hollander and Otto Bauer, "were all over the top -- carnival X."

In Sacred Sin, he said, "I wanted the sex to be for couples, nothing too crazy, a picture that couples could get off on."

He said the budget "might push $200,000. We're around $150,000 right now and we're not finished with post work. I'm not sure. I try to stay out of that and just get the best picture I can make."

Van Halen, he said, has "seen a lot of the movie and has seen this is real. He seems to be relatively happy with what we're trying to achieve."

To find out more about Sacred Sin, visit www.ninnworx.com/sacredsin.

Courtesy of www.avn.com

Bulletboys May Reunite
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Marq Torien discusses with CC Bannana the chance of Bulletboys reunion.
Topic: Hair Metal
As part of his month-long Bananiversary Celebration, rock & roll comic C.C. Banana spoke with singer Marq Torien about the current state of the BulletBoys as well as Marq's recently-completed new album. A few excerpts from the interview follow:

C.C. Banana: What is the present status of the BulletBoys? Does the band even exist at this point? Who is in the current lineup and are there any plans to tour or release a new album?

Marq Torien: There is going to be a BulletBoys semi-reunion and we'll be doing some shows during the summer and into the fall. I say "semi" because there is one member who is still resistant to the idea. I love this guy very much and I just wish he'd come back so that the four of us can do what we do best. I care about this person immensely and I think he's one of the greatest musicians I've ever played with. We shared a lot of things together and we've gone to battle alongside one another in the music world. So far I've spoken with both Lonnie Vencent and Mick Sweda and they're both on board. Lonnie's definitely ready to go and Mick has said that the only thing he'd ever turn down is a warm Budweiser. So we'll just have to see what happens with Jimmy D'Anda.

(I am also) starting a new project. A brand-new band called Ten-Cent Billionaires. I've been working on the record for a couple of years now and I'm really excited about it. We're getting ready to drop it with a brand new record company but I can't really go into detail just yet. I'm not trying to sound secretive or anything but we honestly have something really, really solid with this record. We're just trying to dot the I's and cross the T's. God willing, I hope to have this record out by the end of summer with a video on one of the video channels.

I would say that the sound of this band leans toward the old school with a fresh touch of the new school. It actually sounds very Sunset Strip to me. There's not really a lot of embellishment on it, it's real meat and potatoes. Vocally, I'm screaming my butt off so the fans should dig that. People who hear it really seem to like it and I'm very happy about that.

Originally I wasn't even planning to release it. I was just going to form the band and play some shows and see how things went. But people just kept asking me to play them the new music and they'd always be baffled that it hadn't already gotten me signed. The music actually got picked up by 6 or 7 radio stations in the state of Florida and it just did really well so we went in and started to make a record.

C.C. Banana: What happened on your ill-fated tour with L.A. Guns and Black 'N Blue in 2003? It seems like the BulletBoys dropped off the bill pretty quickly.

Marq Torien: It was a combination of a lot of different things. One of them was that we were told the tour would pay a certain amount of money, which it ultimately did not. Plus, when the BulletBoys were onstage the place was full. After we finished, the place emptied out. I won't say which band would be out there playing, but there would only be about 20 people left. So monetarily it just didn't seem fair.

We were also having a lot of problems on the road. I was out there with a new drummer and a new bass player, with guitarist Keri Kelli pulling double duty with BulletBoys and L.A. Guns. Keri is an amazing dude and I love him to death but I think it was just too much for him. He was burning off a lot of energy playing the BulletBoys' set because we just go off and have a great time. Then he had to play in L.A. Guns and he was just exhausted. It started out to be a good arrangement but it just turned into a mess.

Then one day I woke up to find that our tour manager Mark Rojas had been stabbed by our bus driver. He literally tried to kill him! When something like that happens on the road, it's just a bad omen. Then after the bus driver was sent to jail, we found out that he had been wanted for attempted murder and that he had a big gun on the bus that nobody had known about. I just didn't feel comfortable continuing after that so we decided to pull out. I think we played 2 or 3 shows, maybe few more than that. It had nothing to do with L.A. Guns, it just wasn't right for me. I felt that there were a lot of Indians out there and that I was the chief. And that was a little hard on me because I like to have fun, too. Plus like I said, the money wasn't right and I just felt very uncomfortable playing our songs with people who hadn't written them. I don't know, it was just very difficult out there on that tour.

C.C. Banana: Who or what were Kagny & the Dirty Rats?

Marq Torien: Kagny & the Dirty Rats was a band signed to Motown, featuring a singer by the name of Steven St. James. This was actually the first time I was ever signed with any record company. The band had been put together by Berry Gordy's son Kerry Ashby along with Benny Medina. Benny now has a huge management firm, Handprint Entertainment, where he's managed artists like Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey.

A friend of mine had asked me to come in and sing with the band when they were recording at Hitsville USA. They needed someone to sing on a song called "Emotions," a real R&B-style ballad which featured The Temptations on backgrounds. So I was just amazed that they wanted me to come in and sing on it! But when I showed up, Benny and Kerry just kind of looked at me as if to say, "What's going on with this surfer dude?" They thought I looked too much like a rock guy and wanted to know if I could sing R&B. So Steven said to them, "Hey, I'm telling you, this guy is great." So they played the track for me and I just fell in love with it. Fortunately, I was able to give them what they wanted and they were just amazed that I could sound like that. We ultimately recorded a full album for Kagny & the Dirty Rats, which got MTV airplay and everything. This was way back in the early days of the channel, around 1983 or 1984.

The entire interview is available here:

http://www.ccbanana.com/sludge/20questionsmarqtorien.htm

Courtesy of www.ccbanana.com

Velvet Revolver Writing For New Album
Mood:  loud
Topic: Hard Rock
The Velvet Revolver camp is in talks with heavyweight producer Rick Rubin to man the boards for their upcoming disc.

"We've been talking to Rick Rubin," drummer Matt Sorum told ABC Radio. "So hopefully he's gonna come on board, because I think he's just a great song guy.

"He's listened to a lot of our riffs and different parts that we have. He's a very honest guy, and even if he doesn't produce us, he's given us a good sense of what we need to go for, and that's just great songs."

The band is in the middle of writing songs for the album, which is going by the working title "Libertad."

Their debut disc, "Contraband," entered the Canadian charts at No. 1 back in June of 2004.

Rubin's 2006 production credits include Johnny Cash's "American V: Hundred Highways," Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Stadium Arcadium," Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way," and the upcoming Audioslave effort, "Like a Stone."

Courtesy of www.canoe.ca

Warrant Releases New Album On Cleopatra
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: In stores now is Warrant's "Born Again," released on Cleopatra Records.
Topic: Hair Metal
HOLLYWOOD, CA (July 26, 2006) - Every show-date in 2006 is a record release party for 80's metal legends, WARRANT. Come join "The Down Boys" as they celebrate their first album in almost 10 years. "To me this album picks up where Cherry Pie fell in the lap of that girl that just got off the bus in LA," explains Jerry Dixon, bassist and founding member. "It even has guitar solos (remember those?). No drum machines, no rock rap, no samples just drums, bass, guitars and vocals. It's old school Warrant at it's finest."

WARRANT's new release BORN AGAIN [Cleopatra Records], which was produced by famed producer Pat Regan (KISS, Deep Purple, Mr. Big). This is WARRANT's first new material since 1997 and they are currently performing summer shows in support of the new CD. The first single 'Bourbon County Line' is gaining airplay across the states. "We wanted to make a record in the true Warrant fashion," states Erik Turner, founding member and guitarist. "I think we accomplished that sound again. It sounds like what a Warrant record should sound like."

The band's four founding members, Erik Turner (guitar), Jerry Dixon (bass), Joey Allen (lead guitar) and Steven Sweet (drummer) are together for the first time in over a decade. Joining the band is Jaime St. James, formerly of Black N' Blue produced by Gene Simmons [KISS]. The reformation of these metal heroes has been overwhelmingly positive giving the band inspiration to write new material for the fans.

WARRANT PERFOMANCE DATES:

July 28 Grove of Anaheim Anaheim, CA w/FireHouse & Skid Row
Aug. 3 Logan's Bar & Grill Freeport, IL w/FireHouse
Aug. 4 Stratford Ballroom Fenton, MO
Aug. 5 Quincy Raceway Quincy, IL w/ FireHouse
Aug. 11 Rockin' the Rivers Three Forks, MT
Aug. 12 Brewfest/Westfair Amph. Council Bluffs, IA w/ FireHouse, Bad Company's Brian Howe, Starship feat Mickey Thomas, Blue Oyster Cult, Lou Gramm, & Dennis DeYoung (Styx)
Aug. 19 Hanger Amphitheater Rochester, MN w/FireHouse
Sept. 1 Stern Wheel Regatta Charleston, WV
Sept. 3 Echo Basin Ranch Mancos, CO
Oct. 12 Club Mate Baltimore, MD
Oct. 14 Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse Burgettstown, PA w/FireHouse
Oct. 27 Northern Lights Casino Walker, MN W/FireHouse
Oct. 28 Northern Lights Casino Walker, MN W/FireHouse
Dec. 22 The Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, CT
Dec. 31 Prime Time Burnsville, MN

Courtesy of www.vqpr.com

Bruce Dickinson Rescues UK Soilders
Mood:  bright
Topic: Heavy Metal
According to Metalhammer.co.uk Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, who is a qualified pilot, helped to airlifte 200 British citizens back to the UK from Cyprus. This was part of a major operation to rescue British citizens caught up in war torn Beirut.

Following the announcement of the forthcoming early September release of their new studio album A Matter Of Life And Death, Iron Maiden announced the news that The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breega will be released as a very special single on 14th August.

Says Steve Harris, "This is a very intense album in many ways and we really wanted to go with a lead track that demonstrated that in the best way, rather than going for a shorter track on the album just to please the chart rules. Benjamin Breega is a great example of the feel of the album in its really heavy riff and lyrically it's a very dark, atmospheric and powerful song which really epitomizes what the album is all about for us. So it made a natural choice for us."

Rolling Stones Return To US
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: The Rolling Stones return to the US for their ongoing 'A Bigger Bang' tour.
Topic: Classic Rock
Wed Jul 26, 12:54 AM

NEW YORK - The Rolling Stones will return to North America this fall as part of their ongoing "A Bigger Bang" tour. The Stones, now packing venues in Europe, will open the tour Sept. 20 in Boston's Gillette Stadium. Other stops include Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Vancouver, British Columbia, with the final stop in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium on Nov. 18.

"Most of the shows are going to be on the big stadium stage with fans in the balconies behind us," Mick Jagger said in a statement Tuesday. "We're going to play many cities we didn't get to before and also return to some of our favorite places."

The Stones kicked off "A Bigger Bang" last August at Boston's Fenway Park.

They were forced to postpone the start of the European leg of the tour, which ends Sept. 3 in Denmark, after Keith Richards suffered a head injury in a fall from a tree while vacationing in Fiji in April.

The 62-year-old guitarist said he's feeling great and can't wait to play "more gigs in America and Canada."

"I thought we left too soon you know, so that's the reason we're coming back," Richards said.

Tickets go on sale Monday.

Richard Fortus Comments On The Riot
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: GN'R guitarist Richard Fortus sticks up for the band after the Newcastle Riot.
Topic: Hard Rock
Message from Richard Fortus

"To my knowledge, there was never a bottle thrown at the stage while we were on it. Newcastle (in my opinion), was one of (if not the), best shows of the tour. It was also the hottest! It was a steam bath! The fans were amazing, and seemed 100% with us the entire show.

It was a really magical show for me, until the very end. During Night Train, someone threw a coin and it hit Axl and he stopped us and we walked off. We made an announcement that we weren't going to keep playing if anything else was thrown. Unfortunately, we came back, started the song again and the same thing happened. So we left. That's what this band has always done when people keep throwing shit. Maybe people were booing in the back. If they were, I sure as hell didn't hear it nor did I see it.

Except for some asshole that ruined it for everyone, it was one of the greatest shows of my life. The Newcastle audience was amazing. The press reports that I've read made it sound as though we were bottled and booed off the stage, but as usual they are full of shit. That includes the story about Axl refusing to go on until he got a roast duck dinner. Complete bullshit. I know, I was with him. Blatant lies. Don't believe what you read kiddies!

The fans have been amazing here in Europe. It's pretty overwhelming. I'd like to personally thank all the fans that have come to the shows. Especially the ones that didn't come as fans, but left as fans. Your emails and all the posts on the websites have really meant a lot.

oh yeah, one more thing. Izzy Stradlin is one of the coolest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. It's a pleasure to play with him and to hang out with him. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that has helped make this tour so much fun."

Courtesy of www.heretodaygonetohell.com

Metallica Joins iTunes
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Metallica believes the digital format death of the album.
Topic: Thrash
They may have been dragged kicking and screaming, but Metallica has finally joined the digital revolution.

After famously decrying online downloading as the death of the album format, and filing a few lawsuits in the process, the head-banging quartet has finally acquiesced to Apple and made available their back catalog on the iTunes Music Store Tuesday.

"From the 'It's about f---ing time!' file, comes this...," the group said on its Website Monday.

"Over the last year or so, we have seen an ever-growing number of Metallica fans using online sites like iTunes to get their music. So, in continuing with the tradition of offering our albums for sale online (which we've been doing for a few years through various sites), as well as making our live concerts available for download in their entirety (through the livemetallica.com site), we are now offering fans the opportunity to obtain our songs individually."

Metallica had previously made available their music for downloading on Yahoo! Music, MSN Music and Rhapsody, but the iTunes collaboration marks the first time listeners can purchase a single song rather than an entire album.

As of Tuesday, each of the band's 10 albums were available for download, along with a handful of previously unreleased live songs, included as bonus tracks on Metallica's first four discs, Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All.

"We chose these four because, unlike the more recent releases, we were only capable of writing 8-9 songs for each of these albums!" the band said.

The iTunes deal marks a significant turning point for the foursome of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo, who had became the poster boys for the luddite music industry during the Napster wars.

The thrashers waged a high profile and vicious legal battle against the file-swapping service in 2000, blaming the network for "hijacking" their music. In a particularly fan-unfriendly move, Ulrich even went so far as to hand deliver a list of names of roughly 30,000 Napster users to a Redwood City, California, court house.

In 2003, when the iTunes Music Store launched, the group declared it would not allow Apple to hawk its tunes, saying it would "contribute to the demise of the album format."

As it is, Metallica's entire catalog was available for download Tuesday morning on iTunes' U.S. and Canada editions only.

"This is unfortunately due to the fact that our record company overseas doesn't seem to want to play ball with us on this at the moment," the band posted online. "Enjoy iMetallica!"

Although Metallica is finally on board, iTunes still has some major holdouts.

The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Garth Brooks are the biggest artists refusing to partner with the download service. And with the Beatles' recent loss to Apple in a trademark infringement cases, it's unlikely the Fab Four will strike a deal anytime soon.

Courtesy of www.eonline.com

L.A. Guns Slam Former LAG Members
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: 2 bands named L.A. Guns are touring this summer.
Topic: Hair Metal
It has come to our attention that a former member of L.A. Guns with rights to use the name has put a Tribute band together with some of the guys he played with before the band were signed to Polygram records in 1986. It is a band that never recorded a record together just played some local shows. Twenty years ago. So if you intend to book or attend a concert by this band you should know that a singer who's voice you have never heard on a single LAG record will be attempting to cover LAG classics with a drummer that hasn't played in a band since 1989. Unfortunately this situation has developed due to the fact that Tracii has burned every bridge that he has ever crossed and these are the only guys left that take him seriously. It should be apparent to anyone with the slightest understandING on how a band operates that certain people are indeed toxic which is why Steve Riley, Phil Lewis, Adam Hamilton and Stacy Blades decided that the band had to continue after our former guitarist jumped ship two weeks before the release of a new record and world tour four years ago. Since then the band has gone on to prove that live and in the studio the loss has not hurt us a bit, in fact public and press option has made it clear that we are in fact much better off.

We anticipate there might be some confusion in the coming months with both bands playing live shows so we want to make it clear that we do not endorse of have any control of this situation and expect our fan base to stand by us as we have always stood by them.

So if you're a life long fan or someone that has recently discovered L.A. Guns and you want to hear all the hits from the first self titled record all the way to Tales From The Strip played authentically with the real singer and drummer who have been playing together for sixteen years then be sure not to confuse the two groups.

L.A. Guns is a band that thrives on the support of our fans. If any doubt this special relationship that only need to check out the message board on the official LAG web site www.laguns.net or any of our nine thousand friends over at my space.com to see that there is great enthusiasm for our work and we promise that this temporary annoyance will not affect our commitment to delivering the best live shows and records.

So be warned that if you find yourself in an empty club with a band called the original L.A Guns. It' not us.

L.A. Guns:
Phil Lewis - Vocals
Steve Riley - Drums
Adam Hamilton - Bass
Stacy Blades - Guitar

Courtesy of Obi Steinman Mgmt

Zakk Wylde & BLS: New Album
Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: Blavck Label Society Prepares to Release New Album This Fall.
Topic: Heavy Metal

New York, NY – (July 14, 2006) -- Legendary Grammy winning guitarist Zakk Wylde and his band Black Label Society (BLS) are preparing to release their new studio album Shot To Hell on September 12th. Produced by Zakk and executive produced by Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers) this latest offering is his 8th album since becoming Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist and co-songwriter 20 years ago. Shot to Hell is the first BLS release for Roadrunner Records and follows the band’s success of selling nearly 2 million albums in the U.S. to date. Currently headlining the second stage at Ozzfest, BLS will announce a US headlining tour shortly.

 The buzz is already starting to build dramatically as the September 12th release date approaches. In June, Zakk appeared on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine and he’s on the cover of the September 2006 issues of Guitar World and Metal Edge Magazines. Radio is hotly anticipating the July 24th add date of the first single off Shot to Hell, which is “Concrete Jungle.”

Shot To Hell is the follow up to Mafia, which debuted in March 2005 at #15 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart and at #1 on the Top Independent Albums chart and # 15 on the Top Internet Releases. Zakk is Guitar World Magazine’s 3 time reigning MVP who in their year end readers poll was named #1 most valuable player, #1 best metal guitarist and #1 best shredder. In addition he was the recipient of Metal Hammer Magazine’s 2005 “Riff Lord” Golden God Award. 

Capitalizing on the buzz and Zakk’s diverse fan-base, (including Hard Rockers, Bikers, a CNN anchor, professional Athletes, ESPN Analysts, Teachers, Stock Brokers, Housewives and Kids) companies are calling upon him to help give a face to their products. Recently, this father of three who married his high school sweetheart has garnered new endorsement deals from Gibson and Epiphone Guitars, Marshall Amps, Dunlop strings and pedals and more. Many of these companies have created special Zakk Wylde models such as the Marshall Amp Zakk Stack. Additionally, Zakk and the gift emporium Spencer’s partnered up to offer one lucky fan tickets to an Ozzfest show and a personal guitar lesson with the legend himself.

Never one to rest on his reputation or past accomplishments, Zakk is keeping himself very busy touring the world with BLS. He is, once again doing double duty on Ozzfest, a tour for which he has played more shows than anyone, including the tours namesake Ozzy Osbourne. Last year, Zakk’s original compositions for ESPN helped promote the popular X-Games and this year his piano based songs will promote other sporting events either for or on ESPN. Zakk is a sports fanatic whose son can even claim notable MLB All-Star, Mike Piazza as his Godfather.

In 1986, at the age of 19, Zakk was plucked from a gas station in NJ to be the new guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne. He quickly asserted not only his guitar skills but also his songwriting prowess, having co-written some of Ozzy’s best-selling albums including, No Rest For The Wicked, No More Tears and Ozzmosis.  Additionally, he has released one album with the short-lived project Pride & Glory, one solo album and five albums with Black Label Society. BLS has released the DVD Boozed, Broozed & Broken-Boned- Live with the Detroit Chapter, which is certified Platinum. Zakk is also a budding actor who appeared in the 2001 movie Rock Star with Mark Wahlberg as well as voicing the Zakk Wylde character in the Cartoon Networks hit series Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

For more information visit www.ZakkWylde.com .