Metal Tribute Tuesday

Doors open @ 7:00 p.m.    Show @ 8:00 p.m.

$15.00 General Admission

Tributes to…

Dokken

Megadeth

AC/DC

Ozzy

Slash

House of Blues Anaheim

1530 S. Disneyland Drive

Anaheim, CA 92802

(714) 778-BLUE (2583)

-Submitted by Braingeller Bruce Forrest

UFO has always been a straight-forward, no-frills band. 41 years into their existence, they still have yet to garnish the recognition they deserve. They were voted #84 on VH-1′s Great Artists of Hard Rock.  Below The New York Dolls, and Spinal Tap. How’s that for lack of respect?

The band has never had a major radio hit, but that never seemed important to them. The music, itself, is what matters. Even during the 80s, when non-glam bands like Ozzy, and Judas Priest, were poofing up their hair, and wearing flamboyant stage clothes, UFO still stuck to their working-man roots.  After all, vocalist Phil Moog would never be caught dead with eye-liner on, would he? Apparently, to the band, it’s the music that counts. Otherwise, they would have called it a day, eons ago.

“The Best of a Decade” is 16-tracks, six of which are live. The ten studio tracks are from “The Visitor,” “The Monkey Puzzle,” and “You Are Here,” all, of course, released in the last decade. “The Wild One” kicks things off, with a buzz-saw, and catchy  riff from guitarist Vinnie Moore. “Hard Being Me” is a driving-rocker, with a down-and-dirty feel. “Black and Blue” sounds very 80s, with a Sunset Strip-feel.  And so it goes. None of the studio tracks are amazing. They aren’t on the level with faves like “Mother Mary,” “Only You Can Rock Me,” or “Cherry.” They do, however, maintain the same UFO formula:  bluesy, rough-on-the-edges, and no bull. UFO has never ventured into other musical territories, more times than not, playing it safe. This perhaps may have worked against them. You always get the same result, from album to album, ala AC/DC. But, on the other hand, you always know, you are getting high-quality rock and roll.

The live tracks are a nice reminder of UFO’s past, and balances nicely with the studio tracks. They aren’t, however, the best live work I have heard from the band. As a matter of fact, the guys sound as if they were going thru the motions, at times sounding a little tired. “Lights Out” severely lacks the velocity it requires to be effective. “Shoot Shoot” maintains it’s drive, as does “Let It Roll.” The live tracks are not bad. They are better than what any of today’s rock bands could execute. I just expect a little more energy from these guys.
I don’t think “The Best of a Decade” will recruit any new fans. But, it will work for those who are already fans, and probably have not picked up a UFO album, since “Strangers in the Night.“

Nothing says “welcome to America” like being tased in the neck. Ozzy Porkchop, guitarist of the St. Albans, UK hardcore act, YOUR DEMISE got to experience this now seemingly common American tradition firsthand during a recent stop in South Carolina. While playing a show on the Small Town Shakedown tour, the band encountered a skinhead [...]

British thrashers EVILE have been overwhelmed by the support they have received from bands and artists the world over in response to the recent tragic death of their bassist, Mike Alexander.

EVILE are set to host two memorial shows to honour Mike Alexander, which will take place on December 7th at Rio’s in Leeds and December 8th at the Underworld in London.  A massive raffle has been arranged, with rare and signed items up for grabs which have generously been donated by many well-known bands and artists.  Raffle tickets will be available at the memorial shows for £5 each and can also be bought online for £7.50 each.  Some of the items will be auctioned after the shows.

View the incredible raffle items up for grabs and purchase tickets at http://www.mikealexander.co.uk/raffle.php

EVILE lead guitarist OL DRAKE has posted a new entry in his online diary regarding the raffle:

“Hello to all – haven’t felt like updating this in a while but thought I would now.

“I got a mail from Gary (Exodus) that he’s gonna send some signed Exodus vinyl over.  It got me thinking we could really raise some money for the family.  I had the idea of holding a raffle at both shows.

“We have some amazing raffle donations from the likes of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Metallica, Slayer, Machine Head, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Overkill, Exodus, Hirax, Trivium, Benediction, Andy Sneap (Sabbat), Annihilator, Gus G (Firewind/Ozzy), Ed Stone Rockwear, Peavey, Sonisphere Festival, Bloodstock Festival and much more.  The support being shown is amazing.

“This support has re-enforced my passion for heavy metal and its community.  I’m so glad we are part of such an amazing and friendly group of people.  This was a big reason Mike loved heavy metal – the people he’d meet.  Everyone was, and is, so supportive and friendly.

“The support has helped so much.  Mike’s girlfriend, Hayley, was so overwhelmed by the support she texted me saying “Long live heavy metal!”, and that’s something I wouldn’t imagine hearing from her!  Haha.

“Please grab a raffle ticket from http://www.mikealexander.co.uk/raffle.php for £7.50 – or come along to one of the Mike Memorial shows on Monday/Tuesday.”

• For more news and information, visit http://www.mikealexander.co.uk
• View the flyer for the memorial shows at http://earacherecords.com/myspace/MikeMemorialShows.jpg
• For more EVILE news and info, head to http://www.myspace.com/evileuk

MOTOGRATER mashup act FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH will title their next album War Is The Answer. Guitarist Zoltan Bathory reveals more:

“The new record has been co-produced by Kevin Churko, who was heavily involved with Ozzy’s ‘Black Rain’ album, and the plan is for it to be mixed by Randy Staub, whose track record includes Metallica amongst many others …

“In terms of the overall style, I would say that we’ve continued the journey we started on the first album, so there’s a healthy balance of melody and aggression, and as always we concentrated on writing strong metal songs in the traditional sense.

“There’s some epic moments on the record, and there’s some straight-up home-wreckers, too. All I can say is, those who liked our first album are going to LOVE this one!”

OZZY OSBOURNE is currently in the studio in Los Angeles co-producing his 10th studio album with Kevin Churko. The new CD is the rock & roll legend’s follow-up to 2007’s Black Rain which debuted in the Top Ten on the album charts in 11 countries and spawned OZZY’s first ever #1 active rock track, “I Don’t Wanna Stop” (which also sat atop the Heritage Rock chart for more than 20 weeks). The two-time Grammy Award winner has decided that he will not be touring until he has a new album in-stores (currently projected to be Thanksgiving 2009). Thus, OZZY has decided to put his namesake festival OZZFEST on hold this year. In the meantime, if you need an OZZY fix you can watch him with Sharon, Kelly and Jack on the “first family of rock’s” return to television. THE OSBOURNES: RELOADED is set to launch this spring on Fox TV. Stay tuned for more information THE OSBOURNES: RELOADED and the new OZZY OSBOURNE album.