The New Europe Single Is Amazing

Have you heard the new Europe single "Not Supposed to Sing the Blues?" The song is amazing and is on the new album Bag of Bones. The album is up on Amazon for import pre-order, with a planned release date of either May 8 or April 24, depending on the album version you select. This is one record I can't wait to add to my collection!

Introducing Steelshine

My friend David Henzerling of Big Cock has a new project. It is called Steelshine. He explained it a little to me in an email that he said I could share with you:

I've had Steelshine brewing in my head for some time. This new song is part of a ten song collection that I'll be releasing one-per-month, aggregating all into a complete album towards the end of the year. There's a lot of diverse stuff coming up, but I believe there's a cohesive thread weaving through all the songs. It's been a great privilege working with my good friend John Covington on drums again and with stellar vocalist Seann "Tarsha" Nicols.

"Laughing With The Sinners" borrows heavily from my days listening to Led Zeppelin LPs, mixing some psychedlic Jimi Hendrix in for good measure. Seann really kicks ass on this one. The lyrics are a by-product of my repressed Catholic upbringing, but with hopefully enough tongue-in-cheek entendre to not make things too intense.

Check out Steelshine's "Laughing With the Sinners."

Buy the song on iTunes.

Colton Dixon Sang White Lion on 'American Idol' Last Night

Every season of American Idol seems to have a rocker... and this year, we've got Colton Dixon. Colton is one of my favorites in the competition... and imagine my surprise when he busted out White Lion's "Broken Heart" last night! I can't recall another time when a White Lion song made it on to American Idol, so score one for Glam!

Check it out:

Here's the original.

Are You An Avid Listener of the Glam Classics?

Let me say this first: I grew up in the 80s, and I love the music of that era. If "Kickstart My Heart" comes on the radio, I'll turn it up and sing my lungs out. For all that, I realized recently that I never, ever, get out a Ratt or Dokken or Motley Crue CD and put it on. I just don't have it in me to listen to the same songs for decades on end.

What do I listen to now? I love the new Lacuna Coil, Black Veil Brides, Avenged Sevenfold, the new Nightwish, bands like Electric Mary, Mastadon, older stuff like The Sweet (who I only recently discovered), Rodrigo y Gabriella and so on. Now, when a band from the 80s comes out with a new CD, I'll give it a go. I love the new Van Halen, for example.

I saw Motley Crue on the Carnival of Sins tour and loved it. I've seen them a few times since and I've seen Poison a few times and all these bands play the same set list every time. Does that mean the people who love to go over and over, are also listening to the same CD's over and over at home? I have to admit, Motley toured Australia late last year and I did not even consider it. It's not that I don't like it, it's that I've seen it and I don't see the point in spending a fortune to see it again. I want to keep adding to my music collection, and enjoying new music as well as continuing to like the music I grew up with.

I will say that Metallica are in a much better place. They are less of a "chart" band to start with, so they have a group of songs they do every night and then they change the rest of their set. As a result, fans follow them from city to city and they sell enough repeat tickets to easily do several shows in each city. Iron Maiden are the same in that they alternate between a "classics" tour and a new album tour, and they have a lot more scope for each tour to contain different material, which makes them worth seeing over and over. Surely bands that do the same set list are going to struggle to find new people to come to see them, and will lose more people on each touring cycle?

Am I alone in loving new rock music as much as I love the old stuff?

Bret Michaels Issue Public Fitness Challenge, I Dig It

I know we all rib Bret Michaels on occasion for his endless string of new business ideas but his latest endeavor is absolutely fantastic. Bret has announced a fitness challenge for the general public. He's teaming up with Champions of Health on GoodChime! to bring awareness to healthy living and physical activity.

GoodChime! is a new social media platform, revolving around health issues. The challenge launches in about a month. GoodChime! was founded by a doctor. 

I think choosing Bret as a health ambassador is pretty smart and cool, considering his life long battle with diabetes. I'll be participating in the challenge. We can all do more to better our health.

Aerosmith on '60 Minutes'

Did you watch 60 Minutes last night and see the special Aerosmith feature? I was excited for the feature all week... and ended up cringing during the entire segment. The relationship between the band members seems brutal right now. Who knows if this is accurate or a result of selective editing, but it was pretty upsetting for a lifelong fan like me.

Journalist Lara Logan got to travel with the band during their recent South American tour. The segment showed live show performance video in addition to the traditional interview content. Most of the piece focused on lead singer Steven Tyler and his relationship with the rest of the band.

"He wouldn't be on that show if he wasn't in the band, being part of Aerosmith," guitarist Joe Perry said when asked about Steven Tyler's position as a judge on 'American Idol.'

Things sort of went downhill - Tyler was in a contentious mood. Of the other band members, he said "I think my perfectionism and my busting everyone's chops is what got this band to where it is today." When talking about the rest of the band he even said, "They ride my coattail... They don't like me."

You can read the entire interview transcript on the 60 Minutes website. Here's some special backstage content that was not aired on television.

Slash, 'You're A Lie' -- New Song

Have you heard the new Slash song "You're a Lie" yet? The song is on the upcoming release Apocalyptic Love. Basically, the song rules. The new album will be out May 22. Check it out and happy Sunday.