Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 12:01AM
Friday, December 4, 2015 at 08:50AM Breaking news, filed by our friend HIM.
Scott Weiland, the notorious and divisive singer for the Wildabouts, was found dead on his tour bus last (Thurs.) night. According to Rolling Stone, detail of his death will be released later today.
A bright flash of energy when he arrived on the scene with STP in 1989, Weiland his bandmates were known as much for their initially derivative sound as they were for the singer’s antics and manic stage presence. Though they branched out musically and gained more fame as a result, Weiland ultimately burned too many bridges with the rest of the band. STPs imploded in 2002.
Weiland gained a measure of rebirth as the lead singer of Velvet Revolver in the mid-2000s, even as he continued to both alienate and attract fans and critics alike. Although he managed to recapture a bit of his mojo with a STP reunion in the late-2000s, he remained haunted by past drug use and current denials regarding his sobriety.
The cause of Weiland’s death won’t be subject to speculation for very long. Even now, surely some have already posted conjectures about “orange juice” and/or suicide. Such smarminess is the default stance on the Internet these days.
Thankfully readers of BBG! resist that tendency by and large. And we can all, regardless of whether we liked his music or hated his excesses, mourn the loss of a talent who—whatever the cause—died too soon and burned out without ever truly cashing in the potential he showed.
RIP Scott Weiland.
Friday, December 4, 2015 at 12:01AM
It's official! Coldplay is set to perform during the 2016 Super Bowl halftime show: https://t.co/eUBi9PmqzK pic.twitter.com/4Yz9p9ZcoE
— E! Online (@eonline) December 4, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 12:01AM Standouts on the lineup include headliner Red Hot Chili Peppers, Steel Panther, SIXX: A.M., Asking Alexandria and Megadeth. There are some other good bands scattered in too like We Came As Romans... but all in all I must say I think the headliners are weak. ROTR has had Disturbed, Rob Zombie, Shinedown and Five Finger Death Punch before. I was hoping for Iron Maiden but I guess the budget just wasn't there. Tickets are available now via pre-sale - field access weekend wristbands are $199 each and the price will go up incrementally until they are sold out.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 12:01AM Today's post is from our friend HIM.
Slow news day. But I figured I would restart a debate about music some of us care about.
The latest Sabbath tour, sans album feels like a sad gasp of the totality that Sabbath represents. Consider the impact the band has had on bands. Consider the clunkers and the hits. Consider the hidden pleasures (I still find the Martin voxed “Black Moon” a fine entry in their latter catalog).
Here’s the thing: Iommi can do no wrong with me, even if he did some serious disrepair to the brand over the years (Forbidden is nearly a mess and I won’t lay that at the feet of Ernie C. either). And I will celebrate his perseverance, and his stamina, in the face of illness and decline, alongside the talents of every member who ever graced the Sabbath stage. Glenn Hughes, we hardly knew you when you were outsizing yourself.
But here is the other thing: I really enjoyed 13, even if I heard Heaven and Hell leftovers and warmed-over sub-takes and remakes of what should have sounded like “true” Sabbath. And you all know me: I know that 13 was the best (better than we could have hoped for) out of this band, at this time, given all the element in place: a sick Iommi, a chugging Geezer, a complacent Ozzy, and a needed stand-in in Wilk. I won’t raise the Ward issue. Though if you want, we can Facetweet and Fingertext about it. I have opinions. So I just want to go back to the last time that I felt Iommi really wanted to make music. Over fifteen years ago. Iommi is suffused in nu metal stylings and odd attempts to capture the newest brass ring. But it rocks like Sabbath haven’t in some time.
Consider the Cult’s Astbury on “Flame On”
Or David Grohl (and Brian “frigging” May!!!) on “Hello Lament:”
Classic Sabbath? Nope. Chasing trends? A bit. But you can hear that crunchy Iommi riffing. And you can listen to pretenders to the throne as they bow before him—not Geezer, not Ozz, not Ward—and show their respect. That adds up to something a lot better than it should have been. And then you can listen to a patchwork of hits and misses from people like Henry Rollins and Phil Anselmo. So it is a dog’s dinner or a lord’s lunch; your choice. So let me bring it all home: I am so glad Iommi is living and breathing and rocking. I am also glad he is ready to retire. We likely won’t get much out of Ozzy and we might squeeze a bit out of G/Z/R/. Ward does his dance and he does it well. If anything, he is attuned to sounds that even Iommi is unaware of even if he can’t pound the skins to those beats in his head. Here’s the thing though: New or old, Iommi remains atop the hill. 2000 was ample proof of that.
