The Dream

Under The Flood To Appear in “PopStar Guitar” Video Game

Our friends Under The Flood have a track on the upcoming video game PopStar Guitar, being published by XS Games. The track is their hit single “In Vain”. The game is scheduled to be released October 28th, 2008 on the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3. Game description from IGN.com:

PopStar Guitar takes the player on a musical journey that starts with forming a garage band to playing at 25 unique venues and eventually performing in the worldwide “Battle of the Bands” contest. Twelve playable characters are featured in the game and can be customized to give the band its own unique look. PopStar Guitar features over 50 pop songs, including several masters performed by the original artists. The game also features a single player Career Mode and two-player Co-operative Mode, along with single player and multi-player mini-games.

MÖTLEY CRÜE Bassist Talks About National Addiction Recovery Month

Motley Crue/Sixx A.M. bassist Nikki Sixx is featured in a new video clip discussing his role as the National Addiction Recovery Month spokesman. Watch it below.

“Here we are a year later [after the release of Sixx's harrowing memoir of addiction, 'The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star', which debuted at No. 7 on the New York Times Book Review nonfiction best-seller list] and [I'm thinking], ‘What can I talk about, what can I say that will make people that are in recovery want to stand up and support Recovery Month?’” Sixx recently told Billboard.com. “A friend of mine said, ‘You know, the fact that you did a really honest book and it changed people’s lives, that’s something to talk about.’ It’s a year later and the book is still selling, and it’s still changing people’s lives.”

The Exies frontman Scott Stevens co-wrote the hit song “Tomorrow” which is about drug addiction.

Saliva, Drowning Pool Together Again

Hard rockers Saliva and Drowning Pool are co-headlining a US tour for the second time this year.

The outing, which will also feature Tantric and Jet Black Stare, is set to kick off Oct. 17 in St. Petersburg, FL, and make its way up the East Coast and over to California by late November. The itinerary includes a half-dozen dates around Texas. Details are listed below.

Alt-metal quintet Saliva is backing last year’s “Blood Stained Love Story,” which reached No. 19 on The Billboard 200 and has produced mainstream rock hits “Ladies & Gentlemen,” “King of the Stereo” and “Broken Sunday.” Those tunes are streaming at the band’s MySpace page.

Drowning Pool continues to support its third album, “Full Circle,” which is the group’s first recording with ex-Soil vocalist Ryan McCombs. The set broke into The Billboard 200 last year and has scored mainstream rock hits with “Soldiers” and “Enemy,” both of which stayed on the charts for more than six months, according to a press release.

“We are excited to get back on the road with our friends in Saliva to bring the ‘Full Circle’ show to friends and fans across the country one last time before we head into the studio to make a new album,” McCombs said in a statement.

In the meantime, Drowning Pool’s latest single, “37 Stitches,” is making waves on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and the video is streaming at the band’s MySpace page.

Drowning Pool played its 250th live show in support of “Full Circle” during an Ozzfest stop in the group’s hometown of Dallas last month, according to a press release.

Nickelback’s New Single ‘Gotta Be Somebody’ Available September 29, 2008

Unstoppable multi-platinum rockers Nickelback announced today “Dark Horse” as the title for their new album, set for release on November 18th on Roadrunner Records. Starting at 6AM on Monday, September 29th, the first single “Gotta Be Somebody” will be available for free download for a 24-hour period via participating radio station websites spanning all pop and rock formats, and via Nickelback.com or at nickelback.roadrunnerrecords.com.
Additionally, the single will be digitally delivered to radio on September 29th. Following the free download, the single will be available for purchase via all online retailers. Dark Horse is co-produced by Nickelback and famed rock producer Mutt Lange (AC/DC, Def Leppard).

A true modern success story, Nickelback has sold upwards of 26 million records worldwide, with 2005’s “All The Right Reasons” accounting for 10 million of that total.

In addition, the six singles from the album totaled 9.3 million downloads and 5.5 million ringtones. All proceeds of digital single and video sales for the song “If Everyone Cared” between February 1 and July 31, 2007 were donated to charity, equally distributed between Amnesty International and International Childrens’ Awareness Canada.
Each of the five videos from All The Right Reasons has reached No 1 on VH1’s playlist: “Photograph,” “Savin’ Me,” “Far Away,” “If Everyone Cared” and “Rockstar.”

In 2006 Nickelback was awarded a World Music Award for “World’s Best Rock Group,” a Billboard Touring Award for “Breakthrough Artist,” an American Music Award for “Favorite Pop/Rock Album” and a People’s Choice Award for “Best Rock Group.”

Nickelback plans to embark on a worldwide tour in 2009.

Black Label Society To Tour U.S. With Sevendust

Black Label Society bassist John “J.D.” DeServio revealed during an interview with Ralph Sutton of the nationally syndicated rock radio show “The Tour Bus” (web site) that the band will embark on an extensive headlining tour of North America in March 2009 with Sevendust as support. No further details are currently available.

Black Label Soceity will embark on a 10-city European tour in November/December, culminating in a headlining appearance at this year’s Hard Rock Hell II festival, set to take place December 5-7, 2008 at Prestatyn Sands, North Wales, UK. Intermixed with the tour dates will be a UK Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society guitarist/vocalist) personal appearance that will be announced shortly.

Black Label Soceity European Tour Dates:

Nov. 22 - Helsinki, FIN - House of Culture
Nov. 23 - Tempere FIN - Pakkahuone
Nov. 25 - Stockholm, SWE - Berns
Nov. 26 - Oslo, NOR - Sentrum
Nov. 28 - Copenhagen, DEN - Amager Bio
Nov. 29 - Eindhoven, NETH - Speedfest
Dec. 01 - Milan, ITA - Alcatraz
Dec. 02 - Zurich, SWI - Rohstofflager
Dec. 03 - Cologne, GER - Live Music Hall
Dec. 06 - Prestatyn Sands, North Wales, UK - Hard Rock Hell

Black Label Society announced in June 2007 that it had parted ways with Roadrunner Records.

The group’s sole release through Roadrunner was 2006’s “Shot to Hell” album.

“Shot to Hell” sold just under 32,000 copies in the United States during its first week of release — less than the 45,000 copies shifted by BLS’s “Mafia” (Artemis) back in March 2005 — to land at position No. 21 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Guns n’ Roses’ ‘Chinese Democracy’ Set For Release In November?

According to RollingStone.com, it is rumored that Guns n’ Roses‘ long-awaited new album “Chinese Democracy” will be released exclusively through Best Buy on November 25. The source of the rumor is a supposed “vendor convention” that Best Buy had on Wednesday in Dallas, Texas. Guns n’ Roses manager Andy Gould told the 900 employees the news about “Chinese Democracy” before previewing three songs from the album. Gould also reportedly revealed that the new Gn’R song “If the World” will be featured in the closing credits for the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio/Russell Crowe film “Body of Lies“, which was confirmed by message boarders on movie websites (like IMDB) who happened to catch a press screening of the film yesterday.

Taproot

Rolling Stone hailed them as “contenders” and Vanity Fair called them “ones to watch.” They’ve shared stages with the likes of Linkin Park and Queens of the Stone Age, blanketed the airwaves with hook-laden rock radio hits and saw all three of their albums (2000’s Gift, 2002’s Welcome, 2005’s Blue Sky Research) chart within the top 35 on Billboard’s Top 200. We’re talking of course about Ann Arbor, MI-based quartet TAPROOT, who have returned with their first album in three years—the highly anticipated OUR LONG ROAD HOME.Working with producer Tim Patalan (Sponge, Lovedrug), the band (vocalist/guitarist Stephen Richards, guitarist Mike DeWolf, bassist Phil Lipscomb and drummer Jarrod Montague) penned more than fifty songs for the album, twelve of which were recorded in a converted barn just a few minutes down the road from Richards’ home.
“We made each of our previous albums in expensive studios and always had to keep one eye on the clock to finish on budget,” says Richards. “This time we got to record an album the way we did our early demos—relaxed, at our own pace, and allowed to indulge in our own guilty pleasures. It proved that you can actually go home again.”

OUR LONG ROAD HOME reveals a revitalized band with a broadened range and deepened perspective. The album combines the feral (”Take It”) with the grandiose (”Footprints”) while exploring themes of loss (”Be The One”), liberation (”Run To”) and the emotional carnage in-between. On tracks such as “Hand That Holds True” and smoldering lead single “Wherever I Stand,” Taproot blends iron-fisted backbeats, honeyed melodies and speaker-shattering guitars to thrilling effect. Additional highlights include the mile-high hook of “You’re Not Home Tonight” and the electrifying “It’s Natural,” which features guest vocalist Kristin Von Burnthal. “It’s the first time we’ve had someone else sing on one of our songs,” says Richards. “Tim heard the track and thought having another voice would add a nice color to the tone. He was right; Kristin sounds amazing.”

The band started writing in late 2006 and continued on and off for nearly a year, working mostly in Richards’ basement. “It was a very organic process,” he says. “We didn’t go into it planning to write about specific subjects, but instead let the songs unfold naturally. I was away from my fiancée during the majority of the writing phase and I think some of the material comes across a little more emotional and lonesome-sounding because of that. But then, those are the kinds of songs that always seem the most relatable.”

After recording three albums for a major label, OUR LONG ROAD HOME will be Taproot’s first as an indie band, and as Richards tells it, that suits them just fine. “Budget cuts and political shifts cost us our support system at the old place,” he says. “When our A&R guy lost his job, we knew it was time for a change. A few years ago, that might’ve been a scary thing, but it’s a brand-new world out there now for bands like us. We no longer have to rely on a big record company to make things happen and that’s exciting. We made this record without the pressure of having to write four smash hit singles hanging over our heads and that was liberating. “Of course,” he laughs, “there are a few songs on the album that could do really well on radio.”

OUR LONG ROAD HOME will be released through Velvet Hammer, the label founded by the management company of the same name (System Of A Down, Deftones, Alice In Chains).

About the album title, guitarist Mike DeWolf says, “It’s based on the idea that everything you ever wanted is right inside of you, you just have to dig and find it,” adds guitarist Mike DeWolf. “It’s been a long road for us, but it was all right here all along. We just had to come home to find it.”

Taproot’s ‘Our Long Road Home’ First Week Sales Revealed

“Our Long Road Home“, the new album from the Michigan-based hard rock quartet Taproot, sold around 7,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 65.

Released through Velvet Hammer, the label founded by the management company of the same name (System of a Down, Deftones), the follow-up to 2005’s “Blue-Sky Research” features the following track listing:

01. The Path Less Taken
02. Hand That Holds True
03. Wherever I Stand
04. Be the One
05. Take It!
06. It’s Natural
07. As One
08. You’re Not Home Tonight
09. Footprints
10. Run To
11. Interlude
12. Karmaway

Working with producer Tim Patalan (Sponge, Loverdrug), the band penned more than fifty songs for the album, twelve of which were recorded in a converted barn just a few minutes down the road from vocalist/guitarist Stephen Richards‘ home.

“Our Long Road Home” reveals a revitalized band with a broadened range and deepened perspective. The album combines the feral (”Take It“) with the grandiose (”Footprints“) while exploring themes of loss (”Be The One“), liberation (”Run To“) and the emotional carnage in-between. On tracks such as “Hand That Holds True” and smoldering lead single “Wherever I Stand“, Taproot blends iron-fisted backbeats, honeyed melodies and speaker-shattering guitars to thrilling effect.

After recording three albums for a major label, “Our Long Road Home” is Taproot’s first as an indie band, and as Richards tells it, that suits them just fine. “Budget cuts and political shifts cost us our support system at the old place,” he says. “When our A&R guy lost his job, we knew it was time for a change. A few years ago, that might’ve been a scary thing, but it’s a brand-new world out there now for bands like us. We no longer have to rely on a big record company to make things happen and that’s exciting. We made this record without the pressure of having to write four smash hit singles hanging over our heads and that was liberating. Of course,” he laughs, “there are a few songs on the album that could do really well on radio.”

With “Our Long Road Home”, Taproot is staying true to its roots, while keeping their grooves current and hearts open. “There’s a sense of energy and excitement about us that we haven’t felt since we released our first album,” says Richards. “We’re ready to hit the ground running.”

Avenged Sevenfold ‘Live In The LBC’ First Week Sales Revealed

Avenged Sevenfold’s DVD/CD package “Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough” sold just under 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 24.

Video footage of Avenged Sevenfold performing the song “Scream“, taken from “Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough”, can be viewed below.

Released on September 16, the “Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough” live DVD features the band’s April 10 hometown show at the Long Beach Arena headlining the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour, while the CD contains previously unreleased b-sides that were recorded during the making of “Avenged Sevenfold”, plus various covers, and other never-before-heard material. The DVD was directed by Core Entertainment’s Rafa Alcantara, who also worked on the band’s critically acclaimed 2007 road documentary “All Excess“.

The track-listing for “Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough” is as follows:

CD:

01. Demons
02. Girl I Know
03. Crossroads
04. Flash of the Blade
05. Until the End
06. Tension
07. Walk
08. The Fight
09. Dancing Dead
10. Almost Easy (Remix)
11. Afterlife (Alternate version)

DVD:

01. Critical Acclaim
02. Second Heartbeat
03. Afterlife
04. Beast and Harlot
05. Scream
06. Seize the Day
07. Walk
08. Bat Country
09. Almost Easy
10. Gunslinger
11. Unholy Confessions
12. A Little Piece of Heaven

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