Best. Metal. Ad. Ever.

Our friend Metalboy! sent me a photo of an ad that Hard Rock Cafe used to promote the opening of an Oslo, Norway store. The campaign isn't new, but I don't remember ever seeing it before. At any rate I thought I just had to share this with you.

The Hard Rock Oslo print advertisement was developed by DDB, Oslo. I'm in marketing and help develop ad campaigns and I give this campaign mega props for awesomeness: simple design, great photography and just the right amount of copy. Did you miss the copy? Look at the Hard Rock logo. Below the logo is the snipe "Arriving in December." Perfect.

Will Tony Iommi's Cancer Derail New Black Sabbath Music?

For anyone who is not aware, Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma). It sounds like it was caught early, and the members of Black Sabbath are saying that it's given them a real kick in the pants to work on a new album, but I'm sure worried.

Having just lost Ronnie James Dio to cancer, it would be devastating to lose Tony as well, especially on the cusp of a reunion with Ozzy Osbourne that will include new music. According to Metal Hammer, Iommi has written two new songs just since his cancer diagnosis.

Here is Black Sabbath with Ian Gillan doing "Trashed."

Will you see Black Sabbath's reunion tour this summer?

I Think Steven Tyler Did A Great Job Performing the National Anthem

Steven Tyler performed the National Anthem before yesterday's AFC Championship game featuring the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. After Steven was done, Twitter went batshit crazy with criticisms and before long, "Steven Tyler" was trending and my timeline was full of lame American Idol jokes. Folks were even saying that Steven doesn't have any vocal abilities at all... and that Aerosmith doesn't deserve their Grammy awards.

Yeah, okay.

I get so sick of negative people and criticisms in general. I swear, it seems like all anyone wants to do anymore is criticize and complain. Here I was excited that a rock singer got the chance to perform the National Anthem at such an important game. Steven was introduced as "lead singer of multi-platinum selling band Aerosmith." NOT as "a judge on American Idol" or even just as "Steven Tyler." Nope. Aerosmith was mentioned for a reason: it's why Steven is famous and the hometown crowd at Foxborough, Mass loves him (and the rest of the band!) So suck it, haters.

Here's the video below if you missed it. I dare anyone on Twitter to do better.

Reckless Love, 'On the Radio' -- New Video

Reckless Love has a new video for the song "On the Radio." Basically, it's awesome: all glam, all the time.

The song is from the album Animal Attraction. There really isn't any excuse for you to not own this record. Click over to Amazon and get a copy.

Heavy Metal Exhibit Coming to Grammy Museum

On April 11, 2012, the Grammy Museum at L.A. LIVE will debut their new exhibit called "Golden Gods: The History of Heavy Metal." Instead of pointing out the irony or mocking the Grammy awards, I'm going to take the high road and say this is a cool idea.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the Grammy organization and Revolver Magazine. Curators hope to educate visitors on the origins of Metal, including all it's subgenres. (Yes, I would say this means Glam!)

According to the official exhibit website, guests will see instruments, stage props, handwritten lyrics, stage clothes, interviews and more. There will even be a special booth dedicated to the wonders of the metal "scream."

The exhibit runs through February 2013, so you have plenty of time to head to L.A. to check it out. General admission tickets are available through Ticketmaster and hours vary.

Is Queensryche the M3 Headliner?

M3 is May 11 and 12 in Columbia, Maryland. Queensryche is listed as playing on May 12. Does this mean that 'Ryche is the headliner? Perhaps. It's possible they are in the slot right before the headliner, but that's about it. I've seen Queensryche headline lots of festivals, including Rocklahoma and ShipRocked. For that reason, I was hoping for another band, namely Europe.

I already knew the early slots will (likely) be filled with bands I've seen several times, and that is fine. I was just hoping for someone different in the headline slot. As for May 11, I'm assuming Kix gets that headline slot, although you never know I guess.

So, we'll add Queensryche to the bands we already know are playing the festival including Warrant and Quiet Riot.

Here's a cool retro Queensryche clip I found last night. Enjoy.

I Really Dig New Medicine

I was flipping through my XM stations yesterday and landed on Octane. The song that was on was "Laid" by New Medicine. Instead of immediately flipping like I normally would, I paused and found myself enjoying the song and the band! New Medicine remind me of Buckcherry. That means there's some classic Glam vibes mixed in with the new music fun!

New Medicine released the album Race You to the Bottom in 2010. I'd like to see them at Rock on the Range this May. They played the 2010 version of Rocklahoma, but I didn't get to see the band's whole set so I'd like another shot. Check them out.