Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 10:34PM
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 12:01AM 
Duff McKagan is a household name around these parts. After all, he is the original bassist for Guns n' Roses and spends a lot of time searching for new singers with his current main band Velvet Revolver. In his downtime, Duff writes financial columns and recorded a CD with his side band Loaded. Last week, Duff McKagan's Loaded released Sick, an all out punk onslaught with just enough Glam thrown in for good measure. Yeah, this album rocks.
Sick (Century Media) features these songs:
Sick
Sleaze Factory
Flatline
IOU
The Slide
Translucent
Mothers Day
I See Through You
Forgive Me
No Shame
Blind Date Girl
Wasted Heart (electric version)
No More
The best songs are on the first half of the album - but really all the content here is great. It sounds impossible, but Sick is very interesting in that the tracks sound raw - but still polished. Perhaps that's the brilliance of living in a ProTools world. At any rate, Duff's love of punk rings through and so does his voice. No, he isn't a great singer, but that's not the point. This is a rock record about love and loss and having fun and you don't really need to sing like Tony Bennett to get those messages across.
Make sure you listen to "Sleaze Factory" and "Flatline." If you don't find yourself humming the hook to "Flatline" after a few listens, then there is something seriously wrong with your hearing.
Hopefully, Duff McKagan's Loaded will enjoy a nice bit of success because Sick is a well produced effort featuring songs just perfect for driving in the summer with the windows down.
Duff McKagan's Loaded is:
Duff McKagan - guitar/vocals
Geoff Reading - drums
Jeff Rouse - bass
Mike Squires - lead guitar
Monday, April 13, 2009 at 11:37PM
Download the exclusive Mastadon media here.
Crack The Skye, which was released March 24 2009 on Reprise Records, is Mastodon's fourth studio album, and has already received critical acclaim. The album entered the Billboard Top 200 Charts at #11 and sold 41, 395 copies in its first week.
Mastodon are Bill Kelliher (guitars), Brann Dailor (drums, vocals, percussion), Brent Hinds(lead guitar, vocals, and banjo) and Troy Sanders (bass, vocals, and bass synth). The band formed in Atlanta in 2000 and has been recording and touring since. Mastodonis currently on tour throughout the US, and will begin a European tour in June.
Check out Mastodon's profile on the Zune Social
here.
To download the Zune software, visit http://www.zune.net/
Monday, April 13, 2009 at 12:01AM A few hours ago I got a press release announcing the Devil Side Festival at Landschaftspark in Duisburg-Nord, Germany. The one-day festival is June 28 and will feature these bands:
All Shall Perish
Anthrax
Bloodhound Gang
The Bones
The Carburetors
CRO-MAGS
Discipline
Disco Ensemble
Elvis Jackson
Five Finger Death Punch
Hammerhead
Millencolin
Misfits
Motorhead (headliner)
Peter Pan Speedrock
Soulfly
Personally, I think this is a great one day Metal lineup. The more I think about it - perhaps one day fests are the way to go. On the Glammer side of things, both the M3 Fest (Baltimore, Maryland) and the Desert Invasion (Phoenix, Arizona) have great lineups. M3 features:
Twisted Sister
Ratt
Extreme
Kix
Slaughter
Dokken
Y&T
Gilby Clarke
Jani Lane
Keel
Jetboy
L.A. Guns
XYZ
SLAMM
The Desert Invasion features:
Dee Snider (host)
Night Ranger
Skid Row
L.A. Guns
Trixter
Kix
Bulletboys
Firehouse
Bang Tango
The way the economy and tour routings are going this year, it seems that more and more promoters are cashing in on one and two day events that give fans the festival experience without the expense of a week-long vacation.
At any rate, I won't be at any of these three events because I went ahead and signed up for more traditional, multi-day fests. Still, if I had an infinite amount of cash, you'd better believe I'd be at M3 - no question.
Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 12:01AM 
It's Easter Sunday and the Glam Mistress is away from the computer for much of the day. In case you missed these music stories in the past week, click the links and catch up.
American Idol contestant Adam Lambert proved why he's the best of the 2009 competition - again.
Carlos Santana thinks President Obama should legalize pot already.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil opened to rave reviews and even catches the attention of National Public Radio.
That Metal Show co-hosts talk about their favorite bands.
Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 12:01AM I had no idea Pete Evick worked with Paramore. Turns out, the Bret Michaels Band guitarist just received his first gold record award for his work with Paramore. No, Pete didn't play guitar with the modern rockers - he helped with his studio prowess.
Turns out Pete helped with the editing on Paramore's album The Final Riot!
From the official press release:
"The guitarist for the Bret Michaels Band and leader of his namesake band was brought in by producer Jeff Juliano to digitally edit the modern rock heroes live album. "The album had been mixed down but they were on a tight deadline to deliver it to their label so Jeff suggested they send it to me to see what I could do with it, knowing that I understand editing software for use in live recordings better than most," says Evick. "I also work at a pretty rapid pace and could meet their deadline so I worked on it a few days, sent it back and all was good. It was an honour to work a young band
like Paramore who aren't only talented, they really have their act together."
Paramore certainly are famous these days. Perhaps Pete can lead his studio abilities to Poison, giving the Pennsylvania natives a much needed nudge toward the studio?
Here's a little Paramore for your Saturday - give them a chance, you might like them!
Friday, April 10, 2009 at 12:01PM Seriously. Do it. Finish this sentence: Without Iron Maiden, life would...
I say "Without Iron Maiden, life would largely be devoid of any quality modern Metal bands." Why? Because bands I love like Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot and Bullet for My Valentine all point to Iron Maiden as major influences. I listen to all three bands every single day. In fact, I do not think it would be humanly possible for me to make it through eight hours in a corporate cubicle without Slipknot. Seriously.
So, your turn. You finish the sentence. Here's some live Maiden to get you going. Thank Glam it's Friday!
