Happy Birthday Elvis

Elvis Presley would have been 77 years old today.

Can you believe there was a time when the above video was considered provocative and racy? 

Friday Night Videos: Heavy Metal Christmas Edition

Black Label Society (Zakk Wylde)

Ronnie James Dio & Tony Iommi

Lemmy Kilmister with Billy Gibbons and Dave Grohl

Rob Halford

And we can't forget TSO this time of year...

Scumbag Communist Dictator Dies

Kim Jong Il, who was hilarious in Team America: World Police has died. His son 27 year old Little Fatty is set to be his successor.

Another Win for Cleveland: Most Awful Music Video of 2011

Wow. It’s moments like this when all I can do is just hang my head low and say, “yes, I am from Cleveland.”

Courtesy of Yahoo Music:

Do not attempt to adjust your computer monitor. Do not assume that the video you are about to see is the result of some egg-nog-induced fog. Deluded Cleveland metal band Alternate Reality really did shoot an ambitious video about, according to lead singer Steve Delchin, "the legend of King Arthur and his quest for the Kingdom of Metal." The result is a video not even the most diehard Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast or Comic-Con season-pass-holder could appreciate or sit through more than once. Actually, if this video were intended to be ironic, we would say it was the most genius video of all time. Ditto if it were a video by Spinal Tap, Tenacious D, or Bill & Ted's Wyld Stallyns. But sadly, it seems like these not-so-shining-armored guys' tongues were nowhere near the vicinity of their cheeks when they filmed this video atrocity. Apparently they really do live in an alternate reality in which dressing up like Mickey Mouse from Fantasia and engaging in Camelot swordfights is the epitome of cool. Obviously, this is not a reality in which any sane person would choose to live.

Friday Night Videos: Four Horsemen

Here’s a little known fact outside of hardcore metal-heads, sometime around 1984 or so, James Hetfield lead singer and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal legends and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Metallica was unsure about his singing abilities. He wanted to recruit John Bush of Armored Saint at the time and then later Anthrax to be their front man, so he could focus on guitar. No one except the guys in the band know for sure if Bush was ever even officially offered the spot, but now 27 years later at the Metallica 30th anniversary show here is what could have been.

Metallica perform "The Four Horsemen" off of their 1983 debut album "Kill 'em All" with Armored Saint and ex-Anthrax singer John Bush.

Recorded live at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California on December 7th, 2011 courtesy of YouTube user mathiasnielsen66.

Vodka Dog

Wow, I wonder if this guy will come to America to help me train my dog to fetch me a beer from the fridge?

Friday Night Videos: Albatross

Pepper Keenan is currently with Down finishing up their next album, and COC is out on tour and the rest of the guys are touring with the 3 piece Animosity-era line-up, with an album due out next spring. But fuck, this is one of the most underrated metal bands ever, I can't can't wait for another album from this version of Corrosion Of Conformity.

Anthrax & Testament with Death Angel 11/18/2011

Anthrax at the House of Blues in Cleveland, OH 11/18/2011

Anthrax, Testament and Death Angel rolled into the House of Blues in Cleveland this past Friday night for the second to last stop on their fall tour. It was an amazing night of metal.

Death Angel, a band that I had loved as a kid but never got the chance to see live until tonight, opened up the show and were amazing. I got chills down my back and was transported back to my fourteen year old self as I finally got the chance to hear “Seemingly Endless Time” live.

Testament was a band I has liked, but was never really a huge fan of. I had always liked Alex Skolnick as a guitarist and had followed his non-Testament non-metal stuff. I didn’t know what I was missing out on by never having seen Testament live before. They were freaking awesome and heavy as all hell.

I did learn one very important lesson as they I started playing “Into The Pit,” off of 1988’s The New Order which incidentally is the only Testament album I had ever owned --- I am too old to mosh. That song came on and I was instantly lured to the pit, like a Greek sailor in ancient mythology succumbing to the call of the sirens. Now as I write this twenty-four hours after the show, I still ache all over.

Last, but certainly not least Anthrax came on. Now I have seen Anthrax live on numerous occasions at numerous venues throughout Northeast Ohio --- never have I seen them however with the Joey Belladonna fronted version of the band. Now I was a fan of the Joey version of the band, the version that many purists will call the ’real’ version of the band. It’s just that during the John Bush fronted years --- Anthrax went from being one of my favorite bands, to my very favorite band.

That being said, they were fucking awesome last night. Not only did Joey Belladonna sing his balls off on their most recent album Worship Music, but he sounded amazing live and the band was tight as hell and the crowd was amazing. And it was finally great to hear the Joey-era songs live, actually being sung by Joey.

The set list was a great mix of classic-era material as well as tracks from the new album, my favorite being “In The End” written for Dimebag Darrell & Ronnie James Dio both metal legends that were lost between the times Anthrax had released a new record.

Joey Belladonna of Anthrax gets the crowd riled up at the House of Blues in Cleveland, OH 11/18/2011

Testament at the House of Blues in Cleveland, OH 11/18/2011

Friday Night Videos: Killing Yourself To Live

It's VH1's National Day of Metal and it just does not get any more metal then the band that created the genre.

Today on 11/11/11 at 11:11 Pacific Time, the forefathers of Heavy Metal held a press conference at the Whiskey in LA to announce that they are putting the band back together for a world tour and new album to be produced by Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Johnny Cash). 

These Go To 11

It's 11/11/11, Nigel Tufnel day!