How cool is this?
Charlie Benante, drummer for thrash legends Anthrax, spent Monday Feb. 11 back in the classroom. Benante turned the Woodlawn Middle School in Lawn Grove, IL, into his own School of Rock! The accomplished Grammy-nominated musician was invited to the school to speak with seventh graders about his experience with music — both as a student and a performer. Benante commented, “My stepson comes home one day and says that he learned how to play “Smoke On The Water.” I’m like, ‘What?!’ That was one of the first songs I learned how to play too. They’re still using that?’ I thought it was great. He asked me, “Would you come to the school and show the class some things?”
He convinced me and I ended up doing it.” Benante spent a class period speaking to 75 music and art students about his experience learning how to play music, as well as all things Anthrax. School librarian and technology director Howard Frishman, who organized the event, reported, “Charlie had a profound effect on the students. He’s a great motivational speaker. There was a buzz going around school. When we first came up with this, we said, ‘Let’s do something cool the kids won’t forget.’
Speaking of cool, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame has finally seen fit to induct the “other” legendary Canadian power trio, Triumph…
Releases, reissues and other projects…
Hellhammer’s Demon Entrails is out now via Century Media… Trouble has finally released their unplugged album through www.newtrouble.com... White Lion’s new one is Return Of The Pride… Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen unveiled her highly-anticipated solo debut, My Winter Storm, on Feb. 26… Michael Bolton’s Everybody’s Crazy has finally been reissued on CD. (Go ahead and laugh, but Bolton’s early albums are widely hailed, albeit in hushed tones, as melodic rock gems. No, seriously.)… Loudness singer Minoru Niihara’s side project is Asian Typhoon. The band released Wings on Mar. 4… Exodus’ Force Of Habit and Impact Is Imminent albums are being reissued Mar. 11… Prosthetic Records will reissue Testament’s First Strike Still Deadly on Mar. 18…
Keel’s Lay Down The Law debut will be reissued on Mar. 25… Rage’s Carved In Stone is due any day now… Kreator’s At The Pulse Of Kapitulation: Live In East Berlin 1990 DVD is due Mar. 31… Sevendust’s Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow arrives Apr. 1… UFO’s Showtime Live DVD hits store shelves on Apr. 8 via SPV Records… Magnum’s Wings Of Heaven Live double CD comes out the same day… Whitesnake’s next is Good To Be Bad and comes out Apr. 22… You can hear it in its entirety at http://www.spv.de/whitesnake/pipapado/... Def Leppard’s Songs From The Sparkle Lounge arrives Apr. 29… Virgin Steele’s Age Of Consent and Noble Savage are being reissued next month… Jorn’s next is Lonely Are The Brave… Former Judas Priest/Iced Earth singer Tim “Ripper” Owens will sing on the next Yngwie Malmsteen album… Evergrey’s next one is to be called Torn…
To tour or not to tour…
Tmz.com is reporting that the Van Halen tour has just been cancelled.
Sources tell tmz.com that arrangements are being made right now to cancel hotel stays for the tour, which was scheduled to continue through Apr. 19. According to the site, the reason for the cancellation is guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who is said to be “having issues.”
The Sunday Mirror (www.sundaymirror. co.uk) has reported that Robert Plant turned down an extra $200 million to take Led Zeppelin on a world tour… Death Angel is currently lining up a US tour with God Forbid… Arch Enemy and Firewind are also teaming up for a US tour… The Javelina Harley-Davidson Festival is taking place in Boerne, Texas, on July 11 and 12 and, at press time, was set to feature performances by Helix, Krokus, Y & T and L.A. Guns…
Wanna design the next Metal Church album cover?
Metal Church singer Ronny Munroe has issued the following update: “As you all know, we are busy working on the new release. Metal Church is back with a vengeance and we know where you are. In appreciation for our fans old and new over the past two plus decades, we have decided to accept artwork for the new cover from those who know us best..... our Congregation! If we accept your artwork and use it, we’ll include your name on the CD. The working title is… This Present Wasteland. So use your imagination. We will display some of the artwork we get at www.myspace.com/metalchurch for everyone to see. We know there are many talented fans out there, and we would love to see one of you get the cover. You can submit your artwork to This_Present_Wasteland@yahoo.com. This new release is sounding incredible, and we’re all very excited for you to hear it. Until then good luck and Metal Horns to you.”
Random Quote of the month
Exodus guitarist Gary Holt – “Every time I see Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott do a solo, I say ‘How the fu*k did he do that?!’”
C-ya next month.
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