Rock History

Deep Purple’s “=1,” containing the tracks “Portable Door” and “Pictures Of You” has dropped. It’s Deep Purple’s first album featuring guitarist Simon McBride, who joined two years ago following Steve Morse’s departure. “Many of the songs… were written in the first sessions and literally came together in 5 or 10 minutes. It all was so easy and natural,” noted…

“Recording it was really fun, full of lots of dancing in the studio,” guitarist/vocalist Lucia de la Garza said in a statement regarding the band’s upcoming LP, “No Obligation,” due October 11th.  The lead single is “All In My Head.” “I wrote ‘All In My Head,’ from the perspective of a book character, which kinda…

Having just released their tenth LP, “10,” Mr. Big is closing out its career with “The BIG Finish Live,” which is due September 6th. The 26-song set includes versions of “Alive And Kickin‘” and “Just Take My Heart.” This will be the band’s 15th live set and third recorded at the Budokan in Tokyo. The first…

Mr. Big, with founding members Eric Martin (vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitar) and Billy Sheehan (bass), have delivered its tenth studio album, “Ten,” containing the tracks “Good Luck Trying” and “Up On You.“ Currently, Mr. Big is on the European leg of “The Big Finish Tour,” an extensive farewell trek.  “And then right after that, I got other projects, but no…

Phish’s “Evolve,” their first studio album in over four years, has arrived. The band’s 16th studio album follows the band’s ’20 set “Sigma Oasis,” and the ’22 release of “Mercy,” guitarist/lead vocalist Trey Anastasio first solo acoustic album. “I think I’ve historically felt safer playing the guitar than I have walking down the street,” offered…

Dark Tranquillity: Not Nothing  “‘Not Nothing‘ is an existential piece of (the upcoming album) ‘Endtime Signals‘ that we feel showcases some of the diversity that the album holds,” offers vocalist Mikael Stanne. As I Lay Dying: The Cave We Fear To Enter “This is the first time I’ve written lyrics based on an idea started by someone else in…

Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour/Ministry) has announced he will sit behind the kit for guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s (Alice In Chains) summer ’24 tour. “I’ll be taking break from Ministry for a while, but I shall return at some point,” explained Mayorga. The trek, headlined by Bush, celebrating its 30th anniversary, will launch on July 26th in Bend, OR and will conclude on…

The recently released Bon Jovi album “Forever” peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 in its debut week but dropped off the chart one week later. Unless there’s a major single to drive sales or a label promotion that brings the set to the forefront “Forever” will be the Bon Jovi album with the shortest stay…

Visions Of Atlantis have released their ninth studio effort, “Pirates II – Armada.” The set features the tracks “Monsters” and “Armada.” Influenced by Nightwish and fascinated by the myth of Atlantis, the band was founded in ’00. Visions Of Atlantis can count 15 former members. As part of the turnover, they went through four female vocalists…

The Exies long-awaited comeback EP, “Closure,” containing “Spirits High,” “For “What It’s Worth” and “s.A.D.,” has arrived. “Spirits High” was the band’s first song in fifteen years. “‘Closure’ is about moving from the past so one can walk through the door to the next chapter,” noted frontman Scott Stevens. The Exies formed in ’97 taking their…