Bullet For My Valentine, 'Riot' -- New Video

Bullet For My Valentine just released a new video for the song "Riot." I love this band and I'm excited they are back with new music. The song is from the forthcoming album Temper Temper due Feb. 12. Check it out.

Now I Love Amazon Even More

There's a reason 90% of all my non-food purchases come from Amazon.com. The company is just flat-out amazing.

Amazon just launched an auto-rip service that puts MP3 copies of songs into your Amazon cloud storage when you buy CDs. The auto-rip service goes back 15 years. That means I didn't have to manually rip all those CDs I own into my cloud after all! I have a premium cloud account and I have Amazon Prime, too. My premium cloud account is $25 a year and I get storage for something like 250,000 songs. Even major collectors can agree that's a ton of space.

In case you're wondering if this is legal, it is: Amazon has a special licensing deal with major labels to allow this auto rip process.

50,000 auto-rip titles are currently available and more will be added. So it's a process, and if you have something obscure it might take a little time to show up in your cloud. When the music is in the cloud, you never have to worry about losing it. Everything is neatly organized, the way you choose.

Right now, auto-rip is only open to folks living in America. Auto-rip is also available only for albums sold by Amazon.com. It does not apply to the same products sold by other sellers.

For audiopphiles: the bit quality is 256kbps.

Were These Two Poison Videos Shot The Same Day?

These videos have the same stage backdrop. Were these clips shot in the same day?

Black Veil Brides, 'Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones' -- Album Review

Black Veil Brides are back with their new album, Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones. The concept album is nothing short of epic. The album is 19 tracks long, some of which are spoken word cuts that help the story of a revolution against a totalitarian government along. The entire album is very dystopian - and that's right up my alley (Aldous Huxley is my favorite fiction author, after all!)

The album is full of rock anthems, meaning the band better ready a massive stage show because an album this good deserves nothing less. Sonically, Wretched and Divine is massive. Musically, the album borrows from contemporaries like Avenged Sevenfold and shows growth beyond BVB heroes Motley Crue. The vocals are more mature than previous efforts and the guitar work is stellar.

"I Am Bulletproof," "New Year's Day" and "In the End" are all winners. My favorite track is "Lost It All." I also love the "Overture" which is the album's theme reprised in strings. I like to think the guys in Black Veil Brides listened to Operation: Mindcrime (Queensryche), Tommy (The Who) and The Wall (Pink Floyd) over and over when planning their own rock-opera-concept masterpiece.

Wretched and Divine is so good, there's no doubt in my mind that the album will absolutely catapult BVB to a whole other level of fame. I hope they are ready, because their lives are going to change dramatically. Wretched is that rare album that has tons of commercial (radio) appeal but will still be accepted by die hard fans and rock lovers in general.

Be wary of someone who tells you they don't like Wretched and Divine. If they do, it's because 1) they are trying to seem cooler than they are or 2) it's because they are a hipster and hate everything fun. It is true we all have different tastes, but greatness should be universally appreciated. It is exceptionally rare for me to buy an album on its release day and listen from beginning to end without stopping. Even more rare is listening to the album more than once in a given day. Yesterday, I listened to Wretched and Divine 15 times, front to back. I didn't have the urge to listen to anything else while working, while driving, while writing, while cleaning. After my run, I found myself humming one of the album's tracks in the shower. I am not a hummer. This album is rare and special. I can't think of a better way to spend ten bucks than buying a copy of this record. You'll be glad you did. Trust me.

Treat Celebrate 30 Years

Swedish melodic rock legends Treat are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2013 and announce some mouthwatering news for all their fans. Treat will release a special 30th anniversary edition package, containing a best of-album with two brand new songs and two previously unreleased songs, and their latest album “Coup de Grace”, regarded as a "masterpiece" by Classic Rock Magazine and voted “Melodic rock album of the year 2010” with an extra track.

Treat also plans a big tour, that will kick off with some major festival gigs in  the summer, and will see them rockin´on the road in to the autumn. Then it´s over.  For good.   

 

”We have a saying in Sweden: You should always leave the party when you have the most fun”, says guitarist and songwriter Anders Wikström who formed the band back in 1983 together with singer Robert Ernlund. Say what? Treat is breaking up!  Treat has never been a more tight knit rock’n’roll unit than now, and the band is brimming with creativity and excitement. That´s why the band now chooses to call it a day; they want to, as they put it, ”end on a high note”. 

 

”We´re doin’ it out of love and respect for our fans”, Anders Wikström says. ”We quit before they ask us to get the hell out. We want Treat´s legacy  to be pure rock´n´roll happiness!” 

 

The decision to close down operation is most amicable, and kind of grew upon the five in the band, but when the decision was made, the band almost immediately started making plans for the farewell party next year. 

 

”We´re going out with a bang and will give our fans a ride they didn´t even knew they wanted.”, says Anders Wikström. 

 

Treat, who released their classic debut album ”Scratch and Bite” back in 1985, now also introduces the new bass player Fredrik Thomander, who’s for years been close to The Band Of Brothers that Treat are: Fredrik has been co-writing songs with the band, mixed ”Coup de Grace” and has already done some gigs as a Treat Brother. 

 

Anders Wikström (guitar and vocals), Robert Ernlund (lead vocals), Jamie Borger (drums), Patrick Appelgren (keyboards and vocals) and Fredrik Thomander (bass and vocals) take Sweden on a turbo charged rock´n´roll journey in 2013.  There’s many ways to say goodbye. 

 

”We wanna party with our fans”, says Robert Ernlund and adds: "The Treat´s on us"!        

Chickenfoot Covers Deep Purple Live

From the awesome file: Chickenfoot covers Deep Purple's "Highway Star" live. Be warned: this is one of the best live clips I've ever seen, by any band, period.

Four Decades of 'Aerosmith'

Yesterday, Aerosmith's self-titled debut turned 40. That's right, four-zero. Aerosmith's debut is largely underrated when compared to the rest of their catalog, save the epic "Dream On."

I love "Dream On" but I'm also a big fan of "Walkin' The Dog" and "Movin' Out."