This Is Not A Drill: Metallica Announce New Song, Album, Tour

Finally new Metallica music is coming! Earlier today the band announced 72 Seasons. The album will come out April 14, 2023. A big world tour is happening too, with some good support bands including my beloved Ice Nine Kills on some shows. (You have to match the tour date with the band list to figure out the show openers).

Best news of all? The band also dropped the new track "Lux Æterna" and a video to boot. The track is on the upcoming new album. The video for "Lux Æterna" is at the bottom of the post. If you want tour tickets - the shows go into 2024 and the on sale date is soon. And yeah, it's via Live Nation (Ticketmaster).

⚠️ NEW METALLICA SONG ⚠️ NEW METALLICA ALBUM ⚠️ NEW METALLICA TOUR ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/kDtLDY0spA

— Metallica (@Metallica) November 28, 2022

NEW METALLICA TOUR // M72
One City. Two Nights. No Repeats. In the Round.

Presented by @LiquidDeath & @blckndwhsky

2-Day Tickets On Sale Friday
Fan Club & @Citi Cardmember Presales Start Wednesday

Visit https://t.co/2j9SAsq6ig for more details. pic.twitter.com/JmJWLWovlA

— Metallica (@Metallica) November 28, 2022

The Best Rock Videos Of 1998 - Day 4

You knew Metallica would be on this list, right? Their cover of Bob Seger's "Turn The Page" is included on Garage, Inc. The 1998 video is thought-provoking and depressing.

MTV didn't originally air the video because of the scene of sexual assault. The clip is raw and that helps make it a compelling piece of art and snapshot for the time period it was made.

My Happy Place In A 3 Minute Video Clip From 1989

Ah, the MTV Video Music Awards 1989. The zenith of that awards show and the music we love. Motley Crue presented the award for "Best Metal Music Video."

Note 1989 was the first year for the category. Vince Neil looked so good back then!

The nominees for the first ever Best Metal Music Video: Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Guns n' Roses, Metallica.

Guns n' Roses won for their "Sweet Child O' Mine" video. Duff McKagan and Steven Adler showed up to accept the award. Happiness ensues!

The awards show also featured the final live performance of guitarist Steve Clark with Def Leppard. He died in early 1991. My beloved George Michael won the Video Vanguard Award.

Madonna presents George Michael his big award. The footage is so old, Madonna and her backup dancers are smoking on stage as part of a planned "bit" - I'm sure that wouldn't be allowed these days!

The thing about this particular awards show was that it was so fun... and memorable. Like, everyone was talking about the show at school the next day. We all taped it (for real, on VHS!) and watched it back again and again. I am not exaggerating when I say I still think back to this particular awards show pretty regularly. It was just that good. The next year was hard to beat, too. The 1990 VMAs featured Madonna doing the best live performance of "Vogue" ever - and Motley Crue did "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" and Aerosmith did "Love In An Elevator." Just freaking great stuff.

Here's Madonna at the 1989 VMAs with an equally awesome performance:

Sunday's Best: Week 7, 2022

Since nutbag Vladimir Putin seems hell bent on causing a war in Europe by invading Ukraine, I thought Sunday's Best this week should focus on conflict songs. You know, the best songs about war.

JUST IN: Lower-level Russian tactical commanders have been given orders consistent with orders to invade Ukraine, U.S. officials tell @ABC News.

LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/E4U08DZHy2

— ABC News (@ABC) February 20, 2022

Some of my choices:

War Pigs - Black Sabbath

Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Rooster - Alice In Chains

Us and Them - Pink Floyd

Civil War - Guns n' Roses

One - Metallica

Did I forget one of your favorite war-related songs? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Valentine's Day, Hair Metal Fans

Are you going out tonight for Valentine's Day? Perhaps you are staying in. Eric and I don't really celebrate these sorts of holidays, so there is nothing special planned in our household.

Perhaps you'd like to have a throwback Valentine's Day, complete with a homemade mixtape (ok, Amazon playlist) of great power ballads for the one you love. Here's some choices for a great power ballads list.

• Metallica, Nothing Else Matters
• Aerosmith, Dream On
• Whitesnake, Is This Love?
• Extreme, More Than Words
• Bon Jovi, Always
• Van Halen, Can't Stop Lovin' You

"Three things shall last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

From our family to yours: Happy Valentine’s Day! 💕 🐾 🐈 pic.twitter.com/h6jBuDy9ro

— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) February 14, 2022

Sunday's Best: Week 5, 2022

Yesterday's post about Eddie Vedder vs. Nikki Sixx got me thinking about all the awesome albums that came out in 1991. Yes, Pearl Jam's Ten came out in 1991 and as I said, I did enjoy it. Still, there were way more albums released in 1991 that I loved more - and still do! - to this day.

Sunday's Best this week looks at some of the awesome albums released in 1991. Did I leave off one of your favorites? There were gobs more great albums that came out in 1991. A truly great year for music.

Skid Row - Slave To The Grind.

Metallica - Metallica

Tesla - Psychotic Supper

Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears

Kix - Hotwire

Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion

Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

Sunday's Best: Week 3, 2022

Welcome back to Sunday's Best! I swear, January is like the month of Mondays or something. It just feels never-ending. Cold, dark, boring... at least we've got some good playoff football as a distraction. Did you hear? A little team called the Cincinnati Bengals are going to the AFC championship game next week. That's right - the team won their first road playoff game in franchise history last night. Obviously, I'm pumped!

WE'RE GOING TO THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! pic.twitter.com/gXde7z27DP

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 23, 2022

But back to the music. Way back in the dark ages of 2009, both Jeff Beck and Metallica were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Toward the end of the induction ceremony, there was a big jam session featuring Beck, Metallica, plus Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin). This group of wealth and talent got together to do "Train Kept A Rollin.'" Most people know the song because of Aerosmith, but the track was originally recorded in the early 50s and covered by The Yardbirds in the sixties. The performance below is magic: simply one of the best gatherings of music legends on a single stage at the same time. Enjoy.