NME are reporting that Jason Newsted will rejoin Metallica when the band is inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4th April.

Newsted left the band in 2001 but had spent 14 years with the band since the death of their original bassist, Cliff Burton. According to the report, the band don’t want politics to mar the ceremony as they did with the Blondie induction in 2006.

"Jason Newsted will be there, and he will be playing with us at one point," guitarist Kirk Hammett said. "We went as a band when Black Sabbath was being inducted, and at that time Blondie was also being inducted that night. And there was so many politics and so much drama that, you know, we collectively said to each other, ‘We don’t want any of that,’ because it kind of, it puts a really bad, sour note on the whole celebration itself."

Having spent so long with the band, it’s great that Newsted can come back and be part of the celebration. After all, he was part of the biggest band in the world as their fame crested and peaked. I think he deserves it, and I’ll be looking out for footage of that performance when it hits the web!

The Hall of Fame induction takes place on 4th April in Cleveland, and the band are to receive their induction from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Look at these six geezers and their oversized branded plane! Who do they think they are, Iron Maiden? Oh, that’s right…they are.

Anyway, Flight 666 is a documentary movie chronicling the band’s world tour and the craziness that surrounds a band on the road.

The tour itself sounds like it was great fun, as the band travelled the globe on their own private plane, piloted by their multitalented lead singer, Bruce Dickinson:

Circumnavigating the globe in just 45 days, the band flew in a specially customised Boeing 757 airliner, piloted by lead singer Bruce Dickinson, with the entire tour crew and 12 tons of music and stage equipment on board, to 23 sold-out stadium and arena shows in Asia, Australia and North, Central and South America. The band played in 13 countries, also landing in Azerbaijan and Papua New Guinea en route for fuel stops, travelling 50,000 miles (70,000 km) and performing to almost half a million fans – a schedule that was only made possible by having their own "magic carpet" which enabled them to go where they wanted with all the key elements of band, crew and equipment on board one plane, christened ED FORCE ONE.

The band’s long-suffering manager, Rod Smallwood describes the movie thusly:

This film is a testament to an extraordinary tour and to our incredible fans all over the world. Seeing it on the big screen will make you feel like you were there on that spectacular journey.

Having never taken the time to catch an Iron Maiden live show, it sounds like an excellent opportunity to catch the movie version instead: you never get to see a rock concert down your local Odeon, do you? Check, check, check out the trailer:

Following the rule that scarcity creates demand, Flight 666 will only be available in cinemas for ONE DAY ONLY!!! (Tuesday 21st April 2009, if you’re interested) It’ll be an awesome global event, with Maiden fans from across the globe sitting down to watch the movie all on one day. How awesome is that?

Is Flight 666 showing in a cinema near you? Visit this page to find out.

Remember, Flight 666 is only being shown in cinemas on 21 April 2009.

Ooo-arrr! I know it sounds dodgy, but check out his proof of concept video:

Since the video became a viral smash on YouTube, Davey has decided to start a band to take his flat-cap version of Metal to the masses. Needless to say, I’m thinking giant inflatable sheep floating over the arena, and a 60 minute concept album about how Louis Pasteur revolutionised the milking industry.

Davey tells me a single will be released in the next few months, so keep an eye on his YouTube feed for the latest and greatest. Coming from a fairly rural area, I’ve always felt there’s been a synergy between agriculture and rock, and now Davey’s stepped into the fray to give voice to this musical minority.

I read somebody making an excellent point the other day about Guns N’ Roses needing to shift a serious number of copies of Chinese Democracy in order to match Appetite For Destruction.

Well, Blabbermouth are reporting that record sales for the new album, despite the initial strong sales, are plummeting.

GUNS N’ ROSES‘ new album, "Chinese Democracy", sold just under 57,000 copies in the United States in its second week of release to land at position No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart. This represents a whopping 78-percent drop from the CD’s opening-week tally of 261,000.

"Chinese Democracy" dropped out of the U.K. Top 10 this past Sunday (December 7), having landed at No. 11 in its second full week of release. The CD debuted at No. 2 in the U.K. after failing to outsell "Day & Age", the latest album from Las Vegas rock group THE KILLERS.

OK, Apetite has a 20-year head start in terms of sales, but also back then Guns N’ Roses was a controversial band. Oh, and they had the advantage that they rocked, too.

These days, they’re the last refuge of a prima-donna like Axl Rose. Apparently the blame lies with Axl for lack of promotion. I read a while back that he disappeared virtually as soon as the masters were handed over and was uncontactable ever since.

Perhaps he was hoping that the Dr Pepper thing would have been good free publicity. Obviously not. Perhaps he thought that people was that keen to hear the follow-up to The Spaghetti Incident (yes, not GNR’s finest hour, but then neither is this). Obviously not.

I’m not gloating. I’m sad that Chinese Democracy didn’t make an impact. Isn’t it funny that their peers from the glory days, Metallica, have come back strong and proved that they can be relevant, even in the 00’s?

But anyone who’s deeply into Guns N’ Roses knows that Axl is his own worst enemy. Late to shows, feuds with anybody who looks at him, alienates his entire band and spitefully replaces them with hired Guns. The people needed to see Axl and the band out and promoting this new record. He didn’t show, and while he scored some respect for releasing the album, he’s lost all that kudos for failing to promote  such a long-awaited album.

You let us down again Axl. :(

There are two things in my mind as I approach my Death Magnetic review. One is that such a record cannot be compared to a classic (Master Of Puppets) that has been part of our lives for over twenty years.

The second thing is guilt. Yes, guilt. After the critical roasting they got for St Anger, Metallica went back to their roots. Is it even remotely right for us fans to insist on ‘more of the same’ from a band? Surely artistic growth alone suggests that Metallica should have been allowed to shape their musical style instead of returning to the sound that launched them?

Something about this “sounds like a cross between Puppets and Justice For All” move reeks of desperation to please the fans, rather than a majestic opus the band are 100% proud of. Sure, as I write this, Metallica have been more or less restored to their position as rock overlords.

And rightly so, I must say. A few years ago, I would have led the charge of Metallica haters after the Napster debacle. I have to admit – the only album I bought after Load was S&M, as close as the band have ever come to releasing a greatest hits album.

But the hype for this album has hit all the right spots for me – getting me excited about a new Metallica album for the first time since… Well, since the Black Album. And Death Magnetic delivers on the promise.

The opening track, The Was Just Your Life kicks things off with a moody minor arpeggio before bursting into a majestic riff, and suddenly you’re back in thrashville, being led through this massive thundering anthem. Yes, anthem. Great riffing, brutal bass drum work from Lars, and Hetfield doing a very close approximation of spitting his lyrics out with the fervour he used to before he discovered ‘singing’.

I don’t intend to go through each and every song, but Death Magnetic is an impressive platter, worthy of every single bit of hype that it garnered over the summer. I don’t know if it’s the influence of bassist Robert Trujilo, but many of the songs have a real groove to them.

But if I recall correctly, the best way to road test a Metallica album is to listen to it when you’re angry. I took Death Magnetic out for a walk when I was in a strop, and within 10 minutes I was walking with that Hetfield stride – legs cowboy width apart.

When Death Magnetic arrived through my door, it came at the same time as CDs by Extreme and Black Stone Cherry. Without a shadow of a doubt, Metallica’s is the album of choice. And if I could go back on my earlier assertion that we shouldn’t compare this album to their earlier works – Death Magnetic is a stunning tour de force. It’s definitely going to be regarded as one of their best in a long, long time.

You can’t stop the rock reunions. Alice In Chains are the latest act to reform, despite the sticky issue of having a deceased lead singer.

It’s been 13 years since the band’s last album, and 6 since their legendary lead singer Layne Stayley died from a drugs overdose.

In this latest incarnation, Stayley has been replaced by singer-with-a-pulse William DuVall who’s been knocking around the rock and punk scene since the early 80’s.

DuVall has been with the band since 2007, when they toured with Velvet Revolver. However, the latest buzz comes from a blogger who’s working with the band under the moniker of ‘The Baldy‘.

October will arrive and Alice In Chains will reconvene to record the new album…

So, as 2008, winds down, band activity will be gearing up, and at some point in 2009 you’ll finally hear what I’ve been raving about for the last several months.

If you want to see DuVall in action, here’s a clip of him performing Rain When I Die with the band last year.

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!