Opening an album with a song called ‘If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, Then I Will’ might feel like the most comprehensive way possible to announce that things aren’t quite right in a band’s camp. Yet for PUP, it almost seems par for the course. Their second album, The Dream Is Over, is packed to the brim with self-deprecating humour which suggests that they might not be quite as close to self-destruction as that song suggests.
Gene Simmons
The sun will rise, the tides will change, Arsenal’s Premier League campaign will fall apart in January and Gene Simmons will open his big fat mouth, and shit will spew out. These are the facts of life. This week Simmons has decided to outshine the other three however by commenting on the passing of Prince, describing his death at ‘pathetic.’ A claim which led bandmate Paul Stanley to say he was ’embarrassed’ by the comments.
Andy Black – The Shadow Side
Andy Black’s day job has never done much for me. While I understand that Black Veil Brides will hopefully introduce thousands of kids to rock and metal, they leave me cold. So I don’t know what I expected going into his solo project. What I didn’t expect, was a solid pop album which left me wishing I was still a rather confused teenager.
Axl/DC
It has been confirmed. Axl Rose shall be the new lead singer of AC/DC. It may have appeared to be the kind of rumour that you would laugh about in the pub chuckling into your pint before bemoaning the stupidity of the internet, however, somehow it has come to be, and it makes no fucking sense.
Black Stone Cherry – Kentucky
Black Stone Cherry are to rock and roll what Coke is to fizzy drinks. You know what you are going to get, but it doesn’t stop it being damn tasty. They have an incredible ability to reel out southern rock tracks that make you want to drink a beer and have a good time and Kentucky keeps that rolling.
Farewell To The Defiled
The Defiled are the latest band to throw in the towel, announcing that like many of their peers, the financial cost of remaining a band is too much to bare. This follows high-profile cases like CJ from Thy Art is Murder, who left the band while claiming that trying to live life as a member of a touring band in 2016, is hard fucking work.
AC/DC
AC/DC are one of the best rock and roll bands ever to strap on a guitar. You just have to hear one of those booming riffs blare out and you are taken to a better place. It doesn’t matter if you are a drunk eighteen-year-old in a field or an aging rocker reliving your youth, AC/DC are universal. And yet all good things must die, and in the last few years it feels like time has finally caught up with this particular behemoth.
Babymetal – Karate
My relationship with Babymetal has been strained at best. When I first saw them at Sonisphere, I hated them with every fiber of my being. When I decided to give the album a go I was brought round a bit, the songs were catchy enough that it was hard to hate but over time I’ve never once returned to it. It was a curiosity, nothing more. However, the rest of the world very much did and slowly and surely Babymetal have been building up one hell of a fanbase, all desperate to see what they will do next.
Download So Far
The Download line-up is shaping up and, as usual, it is setting itself up to be one hell of a weekend. While the headliners all felt a bit same old, same old the real joy is usually to be found on the lower stages, where you can see the bands that will hopefully be headlining in 10 years ripping it up in front of a handful of fans.
Panic! At the Disco – The Death of a Bachelor
There are a million albums out there that I don’t like or in which I take absolutely no interest. The number that I actively hate is a lot smaller. It takes something special to make me despise a band and the music that they create. Panic! At the Disco have pulled that off with Death of a Bachelor. Even more impressively, they’ve pulled it off while getting me to like some of the songs.
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Ramblings About Wrestling 