Welcome back, friends, to the MySpace Tour and stop #2 - the Chris George Band. The first stop on our tour was LA’s Heart Of Cygnus, and we’ve selected Chris George from their list of friends to continue the tour.

Okay, any band that sports the name of one of its members usually has that person as the focus. Chris is the main man - lead guitarist and vocalist. He’s aided and abetted by drummer Farid Medjane and bassist Rob Butterfield.

You should know that Chris is some kind of guitar prodigy - he’s been playing since he was 7 years old, and was crowned Young Guitarist Of The Year in 1997 by Guitarist Magazine.

Some MySpace stats…

Friends: 959 at time of writing. Profile views: 15927.

Influences: Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Who, Jimi Hendrix

Label: Blue Juice Music

Review

We couldn’t be happier that we discovered Chris’s band for our MySpace tour - he’s an unassuming Guitar God, teasing beautifully melodic and distorted notes from his guitar. And in keeping with legendary rockers Messrs Hendrix and Cobain, he plays his six-string left-handed. The only difference is…he’s not dead.

Check out the official Chris George Band website for more information, photos and stuff.

Chris George on Video

Here’s a couple of examples of Chris milking his guitar and Marshall amps to perfection:

And…with Paul Gilbert

OK, this is the first stop on our tour of MySpace, and the band we’re featuring tonight is Heart Of Cygnus, an LA-based metal band.

Yes, METAL. We’re starting with metal…

On first listen, Heart Of Cygnus are a full-on rock and metal act with a typically big sound. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll discover that the band are only two people, Jeff Lane and Jim Nahikian.

MySpace popularity: 44164 friends at time of writing. Not bad!

Influences: Rush, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queensryche, etc.

Label: Unsigned

Albums: Debut album Utopia is independently released and available via iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon.

Verdict

After listening to a few of their songs on MySpace, it’s clear that Heart Of Cygnus are tow extremely talented guys flying a flag for classic metal. Jeff Lane’s layered harmonic guitar work on The King And His Steed is actually a little reminiscent of Megadeth back in the real early days. Great riffing and some laser-precise lead guitar work.

Their most played song on MySpace is Metropolis, with almost 54,000 plays (quite a few of them by us when we were reviewing the page, heh). You can hear the influence of Brian May in the intro lead work, quickly segueing into and epic verse. And as overblown as you might think this all sounds, check out the YouTube clip of Jeff and Jim in the studio in a more laid back tune.

Awesome, no? Remember to visit their MySpace page.

What happens next?

Well, to continue on our tour, we’ll browse through Heart Of Cygnus’s friends list and choose a band for our second stop…no, we have no idea who we’re going to choose yet!

After being unintentionally outed by retailer Music Dispatch, Metallica have officially announced the track listing for Death Magnetic, due out in September.

But if an over-enthusiastic retailer is what it takes to get the low-down on the highly anticipated Death Magnetic, then shouldn’t we all just be grateful?

The song titles are suitably foreboding, and could easily hark back to the golden era of thrash that we’ve all been hoping for. Titles after the jump…

1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End of the Line
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred
4. The Day That Never Comes
5. All Nightmare Long
6. Cyanide
7. The Unforgiven III
8. The Judas Kiss
9. Suicide & Redemption
10. My Apocalypse

You’ll have noticed the inclusion of The Unforgiven III, a continuation of a theme which was begun with the Black Album.

In keeping with the name, Death Magnetic, the song titles seem to indicate a dark concept album which seems to start with two songs about the end of life, then ending with themes of redemption and apocalypse. We wonder if there’s any flow to the album - no-one’s mentioned it being a concept album!

Anyway, the excitement continues, but what Metallica gossip will keep us going until Death Magnetic hits the stores on 22 September?

Alice Cooper. What a legend. With his trademark theatrical make-up and a gallows or guillotine always on hand to dispatch his fiendish stage persona straight to hell, Alice has left an indelible impression on the history of rock.

To celebrate the release of Alice’s 25th studio album, we thought it was a good time to look back over some of the best songs of his career. This is our Top Ten - feel free to add your own favourite Alice Cooper songs in the comments section.

10) I’m Eighteen

I’m Eighteen is the coming of age song that launched the Alice Cooper band into the limelight. Featured on their major label debut, “Love It To Death”, it’s become a heavy metal classic through the years - and the teenage angst theme would feature in future Cooper tracks like School’s Out and Teenage Lament ‘74.

9) School’s Out

Back in ‘72, the king of shock rock released his most identifiable song, School’s Out. It became an instant classic, and an anthem which would be rolled out at the end of every school term for the last 36 years. Its tendency to be mercilessly overplayed is perhaps the reason why it charts at number 9 on our list!

8) How You Gonna See Me Now?

What? The king of shock rock in ‘vulnerable moment’ scandal! How You Gonna See Me Now was released after Cooper had spent an extensive period in hospital while being treated for alcoholism. The song’s as far from ‘classic’ Alice as he could possibly get, but fans of the man will dig this track for its autobiographical nature showing Cooper’s insecurities after dealing with his addiction.

7) Freedom

How could we resist this slab of pre-Trash album cheese? Freedom was released in 1987, and is notable for Schwarzneggerian guitarist Kane Roberts’ appearance in the video - guitarists aren’t ever meant to have that build, are they? Just watch some of those Status Quo-esque guitar moves…awesome!

6) The Ballad of Dwight Fry

If you’ve seen Alice live, you’ll recognize this brilliant early track which he sings while trussed up in a straightjacket. The lyrics are brilliantly psychotic and delivered with Alice alternating between docile and out-and-out crazy, often in the same verse.

5) Billion Dollar Babies

The title track from the Alice Cooper band’s best albums, Alice was riding high at the time (1973) and hanging out with Salvador Dali.

Cooper veritably sneers and spits out the lyrics of the tune, which comes fully loaded with misogynistic and highly sexual themes.

4) Only Women Bleed

It might be hard to imagine a rocker whose pastimes included cavorting with snakes and getting killed on stage receiving praise from women’s groups, but in 1975, Cooper released Only Women Bleed (which bizarrely had nothing to do with menstruation). The song sensitively tackled the issue of domestic violence. Of course, Alice also performed it on stage after fake murdering one of his fellow performers from time to time, also.

3) Desperado

Back in ‘71, Alice recorded one of our favourite songs - Desperado - an almost Western-themed track about a loner who kills for money. Brilliantly bleak lyrics - “You’re a notch and I’m a legend/You’re at peace and I must hide” - make this an all-time great.

Cooper is seemingly forgetful as to who the song was written about, having cited both Doors frontman Jim Morrison and a character from The Magnificent Seven as the inspiration. However, as far as we’re aware, Jim Morrison was not a hitman at any stage in his career.

2) Poison

Cooper’s 1989 comeback track would have taken the top spot, and it’s the song that introduced a new generation to Alice’s greatness, even if it was co-written by Desmond “All rock bands should sound the same” Child.

From that searing intro to the blistering riff, those big-ass Hair Metal drums and Cooper striding above it all, whip in hand, sneering his lyrics and loving every minute. Oh, and don’t forget the MTV-friendly video babes, a reminder that women once wore their eyebrows au naturalle. But we digress…

1) Halo Of Flies

We know what you’re thinking, “But it wasn’t even a single!” Quit crying, baby. Halo Of Flies is quite simply an epic, 8 and-a-half minutes of amazing rock music. It arguably has no parallel in Cooper’s entire back catalogue.

From 1972’s Killer album, Halo Of Flies is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Listen to the track below for an example of its sheer brilliance (and also look for Dead Babies from the same album which should have been on this list).

We’ve tried to include some obscure Alice tracks in this round-up. Undoubtedly, long time fans will have their own favourites, so give us your own top 10 down in the comments!

More interesting news from the Metallica front - the band are going to release a special edition box set of their forthcoming Death Magnetic album packaged in a coffin.

According to the Metallica website, in addition to the full CD, the box set will include:

everything next level cool relating to “Death Magnetic!” Seriously, there will be a CD with the demos of the songs, a DVD of even more “making of the album” footage not seen on Mission: Metallica, a t-shirt only available in this box, a flag, guitar picks, and a fold out poster along with a collector’s credit card embossed with a code to redeem a free download of a special European show happening in September

Kind of has you hankering for the days of the special edition picture disc, doesn’t it? We remember living for this kind of stuff back in the day - the best Metal bands always made sure there was something for the die-hard fanbase.

Can you feel the fervour building up around the new Metallica album? The band has just announced the title of its ninth studio album, Death Magnetic.

As you can see from the picture, the album cover is expected to be stark white with the album title and the ‘M’ from the Metallica logo forming a pattern around it. Does anyone else remember scrawling these letters on schoolbags and books?

Death Magnetic is already one hotly-anticipated album, following the universally-panned St Anger in 2003. But as I said above, the fever is mounting and having been a Metallica fan for the last two decades (man, that’s hard to say), I’m hoping for nothing less than a complete return to form from the band. With a small side order of world domination.

And it could happen, too. Many reports suggest that this album takes us back to And Justice For All-era Metallica with longer song formats, epic riff-fests and the return of the missing guitar solos.

It sounds like Metallica are all set to turn things around on Death Magnetic, but with great hype comes great responsibility - they’re going to have to deliver a phenomenal album to satisfy the fans. And this time, I think they can.

I’m slightly disappointed by the cover art (if it’s representative of the final design) - classic Metallica comes with awesome illustrations. Think the gravestones on Master Of Puppets, or the electric chair on Ride The Lightning. The new generation (indeed, the old guard too) need an iconic design to link with the album. What do you think?

Unless, of course, they’re angling for the exact opposite of 1991’s Metallica/Black Album. Could this become known as the White Album?

» Hey, if you liked this, you’ll love our Completely Fictitious History Of Metallica

Slave To The Grind was the second single off Skid Row’s second album of the same name.

Why am I telling you this? Well, given the absence of decent music recently, I’ve delved into my old albums and have been listening to the Slave To The Grind album non-stop. I thought we might slip a few 80’s/90’s rock tunes into the blog to see how y’all readers like it.

At about the point this song and album were released, Skid Row had had a massive falling out with Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora over an exceptionally harsh publishing deal where Skid Row signed their royalties away to the Bon Jovi moguls. In return, they did get a lot of exposure, to the point where they got a couple of spots on Bon Jovi’s New Jersey: The Videos release.

While their first album was an excellent hair metal album, Slave To The Grind had a lot more anger and energy to it. Personally, I think it spilled out in a big way on this track. It and Monkey Business are outstanding songs, and I remember screaming myself hoarse trying to sing along to these tunes!

It’s easy to forget how popular Skid Row were back in the day - this album went straight to #1 in America upon release. They followed it up touring the world with some of the biggest names in metal at the time.

For me, Slave To The Grind (the song) is probably the high point of Skid Row’s career, and it shows an extremely focused band playing with a lot of passion and intensity. Enjoy, and please share your memories of the era below…

Ever find yourself longing for the days when Def Leppard released albums with titles that didn’t stretch beyond one word? Pyromania, Hysteria, Adrenalize. OK, forget Adrenalize, but you know what I mean.

But Songs From The Sparkle Lounge? How rock and roll is that for an album title? And take a look at that album cover - I see what you did there, Leppard, you ripped off the Sgt Pepper’s cover. Highly original. Bet no-one’s done that before.

Forgive me folks, I’m always hardest on the bands I’ve loved in the past and want to love again. And the press release over on Heavy Metal Addiction site definitely bodes well for fans like me who severed their connection with Def Leppard with Adrenalize:

“The whole record’s got a great ’70s feel,” said lead singer Joe Elliott. “By our standards, it’s a very different album as we’ve been very adventurous, musically, on certain numbers. On the album there are classic Def Leppard songs and then there’s also tracks that are very new-wave influenced while others sound like middle-to-late ’70s AC/DC. There will definitely be some moments on it where anybody that’s familiar with our music will go, ‘Whoa! I wasn’t expecting that!’”

Apparently, the songs have the writing values of Hysteria coupled with the production values of High N Dry. That ticks all the right boxes, doesn’t it?

Other stuff you need to know: The Sparkle Lounge is named after a backstage area where the band would go to write songs while on tour. Makes a change from all those tales of fornicating with groupies.

The album’s slated for a phased release: 29th April in North America, 30th April in Japan and their loyal British fans get the album last, on 5th May. Thanks lads!

Track Listing

1. Nine Lives
2. C’mon C’mon
3. Go
4. Love
5. Cruise Control
6. Bad Actress
7. Hallucinate
8. Tomorrow
9. Come Undone
10. Only The Good Die Young
11. Gotta Let It Go

The Axl Rose Show?

Idolator are skeptical about the idea of Axl doing a reality TV show. Sure, it makes sense to build some pre-launch buzz for Chinese Democracy. They focus on the credentials of the sites breaking the news. However, read the source, they’ve got their tenses all screwed up.

On one hand, they’re citing that the idea has only just been pitched. On the other, they’re claiming that there’s “a lot of footage to choose from. Some of it is incredibly personal and revealing about Axl’s life.” OK, so we could be talking about highly scripted reality TV here. Let’s face it, is there any other kind?

But I’m inclined to be a little bit cynical about the idea of a GNR or Axl-based television show. The whole thing reeks of a stunt to me.

And Chinese Democracy Completed?

Seems a bit soon, doesn’t it? 14 years* we’ve been waiting for this album and a bit of teasing by a soft drinks company prompts Axl to release something?

Well, if Mark Malkin is to be believed:

Axl Rose & Co. have recently been letting people, music industry honchos, tastemakers and so forth, listen to six new tracks, according to a music executive who has heard the songs.

The exec raved about the music. “It’s really good,” he said. “Axl’s voice sounds exactly the same, but the songs sound contemporary. You expect it to be a trainwreck, but it’s not.”

If so, then wow. Maybe Axl’s pushed things forward to try and get a 2008 release. I’m happy about that, I think. Not sure he should call the thing Chinese Democracy at this stage. I think GNR should distance themselves from that name. Treat it like a jinxed album title or something.

And A Small Conspiracy Theory

Because I couldn’t resist - isn’t it ironic that Axl once sang “don’t get back 14 years in just one day” when that’s roughly the amount of time we’ve been waiting on this album?

Bet you’re thinking about that one, aren’t you?

Welcome, gentle Metalhead, to a whistlestop tour of Metallica’s long and winding career. The band who brought Thrash to the world. Four guys who delivered some of the most iconic metal albums of the 1980’s (and early 90’s).

Think of this as the ‘Behind The Music’ with a difference - this is the untold story of Metallica. Because it’s the untrue story of Metallica.

Find out how Metallica formed, how Dave Mustaine got literally ‘ejected’ from the band and find out the real story behind the Metallica v Napster court case.

Garage Days

It’s 1981, and friendless tennis geek Lars Ulrich hit upon a plan to recruit some mates - he was going to start a band. Initially he was inspired by a British musical movement and decided to start a skiffle group with himself on lead washboard. However, upon meeting be-mulletted son-of-a-truck-driver James Hetfield, Lars decided to seek out a heavier sound.

And thanks to a faulty gramophone playing Black Sabbath at too quick a speed, the thrash genre was born. It wasn’t a stroke of genius, Ulrich just didn’t realise the record player was screwed.

It was in these early days Metallica decided to differentiate themselves from the herd. This isn’t as easy as you think in an industry where everybody wears black. Here’s where Hetfield showed his visionary leadership - he decided that he should have the most iconic stance in rock. Did you think that stage pose came about naturally? James underwent an intensive programme of horse-riding and getting kicked in the nuts in order to perfect his rawk stance. And I think you’ll agree that it paid off.

Mustaine Gets The Boot

No-one quite knows where Dave Mustaine came from, but conspiracy theorists speculate that he’s either an advanced form of phlegm or an early, less likable prototype of Axl Rose. Either way, he managed to wow his way into Metallica with a solid gold Flying V. Hetfield and Ulrich weren’t all that impressed with his playing, but they figured they could pawn the guitar to cover the cost of studio time.

However wasted he was on his addiction du jour, Mustaine could shred like a man possessed. With his wavy strawberry blonde hair and menacing sneer, no-one would have guessed he was a corrosive personality within the band. Fortunately, they weren’t famous yet, so no-one cared.

Ultimately, the other members of Metallica would get so pissed off with him that they kicked him out of a moving car on the way home from a gig one night. OK, it was only over a fart, but it was a fart too far…

When Mustaine got up and dusted himself off, he promptly formed his own four-piece thrash act with a spiky ‘M’ type logo and himself as frontman. A class act, and despite his success with Megadeth, we still remember him today as the loser who got kicked out of Metallica.

Lars Sues The Fans

Metallica’s lowest point came in the new millennium. Leaving a late night business meeting, Lars was attacked and bitten by a rabid lawyer. Though the bite had no effect on his ability to do a mean paradiddle, Ulrich became withdrawn and the band didn’t see him for a fortnight. When he eventually resurfaced, Lars was busily campaigning for the death sentence for all Napster users.

He eventually settled for the banning of 350,000 Napster users before he was diagnosed with lawyer-poisoning and treated in a special rehab facility. Although he hasn’t taken any more legal action against file sharers, many fans believe that Metallica have been pursuing a new strategy of releasing music so bad that no-one wants to share the files.

Rehab, Therapy and St Anger Management

The new millennium was not kind to the members of Metallica. Jason Newstead, erstwhile bassist for the band since Cliff Burton’s death at the hands of Dave Mustaine (don’t believe the bus crash cover-up). Sorry, Jason Newstead finally left the band for more fulfilling musical ventures. He subsequently joined less interesting thrash act, Voivod and was never heard of again.

Hetfield, on the other hand went into rehab due to an unhealthy addiction to country music. When Lars discovered a Garth Brooks compilation behind Hetfield’s amp, he and Kirk Hamster staged an intervention and persuaded Hetfield to go into rehab. In order to preserve his hard-man image, the Metallica management leaked a story about him being admitted for drink and ‘other addictions’. Now you know what those addictions were.

This intervention was the catalyst for the band to become all new-agey and get in touch with their feelings. It coincided with them hiring a film crew to document the creation of the St Anger album and a therapist to mediate between them. Before long the studio was filled with the scent of incense and the sound of Buddhist chanting. The band strengthened their bonds but released the critical flop of their career. Fortunately, they’ve been in a freakishly long group hug since 2003 and haven’t noticed yet.

The Bits We Missed

Somewhere in between all these touch points in Metallica’s history, they managed to release some outstanding music. They had a bassist die, a bassist leave but the line-up has remained remarkably solid in the last 20-odd years.

Then there’s the rumors that Metallica captured Mustaine in 1987 and tortured him for badmouthing them - the footage of the soldier on his deathbed in One is actually a confused and disoriented Dave Mustaine. You’ll note that he toned down his remarks about Metallica after that point.

We hope you enjoyed our history of Metallica. If you did, please take a moment to send positive energy to them with the power of your mind. They like that.