Hey. Been a week or so and plenty to talk about, so let’s get right to it. For starters, if you didn’t catch the VH1 airing of the new Iron Maiden documentary Iron Maiden: Flight 666, then fret not because it hit the streets for purchase on Tuesday and you can buy the DVD, Blu-Ray, CD, or Vinyl right here. Obviously, if you have a Blu-Ray player I’d advise going that route as it looked quite good in HD just on cable and also it’s only 15 bucks right now through amazon. Overall, the documentary’s pretty good but the real gem is easily the performance footage. While I was kind of hoping for a little more depth in some of the interviews (and simply more interviews with fans in the countries visited), there’s absolutely nothing disappointing about Maiden’s performance on stage. They sound so good and put on such a good show that the video’s really not a bad next-best-thing for those of us who live nowhere near the select venues the band hit on this infamous tour. And seeing a young fan in India say “Up the Irons” while waiting in line or seeing another fan in Honduras (I think) just break down and cry after the show’s over is really surprisingly moving. Especially living in America it’s hard to get a sense of just how big a band like Iron Maiden – who get virtually no press whatsoever here – are in the rest of the world. And as singer Bruce Dickinson points out in the film, seeing their audience isn’t like looking at the same dudes who were there back in ’83. Yeah, those guys might be there but they’re surrounded by masses of younger fans. Kids dig Iron Maiden again. And that can only lead to good things.
If you’re a Rock Band gamer then you should also look out for a special Iron Maiden set list available for download that ties in with the documentary. It’s got all the classics and a few live ones (including “Hallowed Be Thy Name”) thrown in as well. For more info, click here. In related news, Van Halen is getting their own version of the Guitar Hero game. While this sounds pretty great in theory, don’t expect Sammy Hagar or Michael Anthony (or for that matter, Gary Cherone) to make an appearance because just like in life, they’ve pretty much been erased from the picture. So it would seem you’ll only be getting the Roth era tracks to jam out to and, yes, Eddie’s son Wolfgang will be digitized for bass duties. That’s all good and well, but apparently you can play as the band circa 1984 and while Eddie, Alex, and Diamond Dave will be made to look like their former selves, young Wolfie will still be there on bass, still looking like he does right this very second. This, of course, begs the question: are you freaking serious? I’m not enough of a Van Halen nut to buy this game in the first place, but if I were I would no doubt feel more than a little shame knowing that the Halen brothers are trying to both profit off their history and rewrite it at the same time. Not cool. Haven’t they learned anything from George Lucas??? Sigh. Read more here.
Have you seen Mastodon’s new video for “Oblivion”? If not, click here and take a look. I think that’s probably their best video to date. Either that or “Seabeast.” In unrelated but undeniably funny news, have you seen the Bret Michaels Tony Awards incident? Don’t worry, I promise it won’t make you want to rip your own soul out the way Rock of Love does:
When Doogie Howser busts your chops and your name isn’t Vinnie Delpino you know you’ve done something dumb. And speaking of dumb, Billy Corgan has reportedly found the new drummer of Smashing Pumpkins and he reportedly is all of nineteen years old. I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t judge prematurely but how can this not end badly??? Read more here.
In other news, the Beastie Boys announced a surprise and extremely rare gig at a less than 1,000 occupancy club right here in Asheville, N.C. where yours truly lives. Tickets went on sale, I made a valiant attempt, and naturally came up empty handed. Sold out in ten minutes. I was disappointed for a while and then life continued. Oh well. Here are the Boys recently on the Jimmy Fallon show playing with house band The Roots:
I hope those that get in have a good time. And, also, I hate all 1,000 of you…Anyway, a friend recently made me aware of yet another side project from singer Mark Lanegan called The Soulsavers. Actually, reading now it seems that Lanegan isn’t actually in the band but merely provided vocals on eight of the ten songs on 2007′s It’s Not How You Fall, It’s How You Land. Whatever the case, this song “Revival,” has been stuck in my head because it’s awesome. May it be stuck in yours too after this:
I swear, Lanegan has made the guest appearance an art form. P. Diddy would be jealous (remember when he was in every single hip-hop or R&B single that came out for a while there?). Anyway, that’s all for now. Maybe more this week, but if not I’ll see you the next…
