Now we almost reached the end of this year, it's December 12th and around this time of the year it's time to sum all the best that 2016 have given us.
Once again it has been a really good year album wise. More than shit loads of money have been spent on records this year, all of them is now going to fight for the top spots on Tune of the days Top 100 list, yes top 100 this year :) It's freaking crazy, but I had really, I mean really hard to choose this year, to many good records have been released. But after some hours of agony, my music heart have decided and now when I look at it, it was not quite what I had expected from the beginning, but what the heck it's my choices and hope that some records might hook you up, might even find a few new favourites and that you buy a few of them to support the artists that have put all their soul into the creation of all the wonderful tunes that serves here. Another thing that I notice that It's pretty heavy this year, not many outsiders that usually slides in here and there.
First up we present this year's best albums between 100 - 91. Where you get the first 10 at once. Today's tune will be publish later on this evening. So here we go!
100. Architects - All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
ARCHITECS have managed to craft a sound that sounds like them and this is their strongest release so far.
99. Port Noir - Any Way The Wind Carries
An album that is full of emotions and pretty atmospheric.
98. Omnium Gatherum - Grey-Heavens
The 7-th album from the Finish rockers, an album that needs to be consume as a complete package to magic, bit's and pieces it will fall into the shadows.
97. Messenger - Threnodies
An excellent progressive rock album, interesting and complex beast.
96. Magnum - Sacred Blood "Divine" Lies
Another great album from MAGNUM, and quite easily to listen to.
95. Grand Magus - Sword Songs
Even if the machinery is running at half-mast, GRAND MAGUS can kick ass.
94. Dust - Soulburst
Swedish blues hard rockers have released a 70's classic rock influenced album that rocks!
93. Wolfmother - Victorious
An album that's easily good enough to keep WOLFMOTHER in scope.
92. Wo Fat - Midnight Cometh
Midnight Cometh is a further proof that patience is a virtue.
91. Tygers of Pan Tang - Tygers of Pan Tang
The self titled album of TYGERS OF PAN TANG has everything you want from an old-school record.
The Not in This Lifetime... tour is an ongoing series of concerts by hard rock band GUNS N' ROSES, featuring classic lineup members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, marking the first time since the Use Your Illusion Tour in 1993 that the three performed together.
After their last tour ended in 2014, there was some uncertainty surrounding the band, especially the guitarist situation. Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal had hinted during the last part of the tour that these would be his last shows with GUNS N' ROSES. However, after the tour ended, no official word on the situation was given, neither from GUNS N' ROSES nor Thal himself. During several South American shows on the tour, Duff McKagan had filled in for bassist Tommy Stinson, who fulfilled previous commitments with his other band THE REPLACEMENTS.
Almost a year after the tour ended, on May 7, 2015 Slash revealed in an interview on CBS This Morning that much of the tension that had existed between Axl and himself was gone, saying: "Well, we haven't really talked in a long time. But a lot of the tension that you were talking about has dissipated. We don't have all those issues anymore." When asked specifically about the chances of GUNS N' ROSES reuniting, he said: "I gotta be careful what I say there. I mean, if everybody wanted to do it and do it for the right reasons, you know, I think the fans would love it. I think it might be fun at some point to try and do that, but…it just starts to get into a whole complex thing. But anyway, it's really between the guys in the band." This sparked the start of what would prove to be a long period of speculation on the reunion subject by both the fans and the media.
Suddenly, on July 27, 2015 the news broke that GUNS N' ROSES’ second lead guitarist, DJ Ashba, was leaving the band. He wrote a letter explaining that he was going to focus his work on his other group, SIXX:A.M., which he had formed with bassist Nikki Sixx and vocalist James Michael in 2007. At the same time he thanked Rose for the opportunity he was given by playing with GUNS N' ROSES and it seemed like they had left things on good terms. While this news story was picking up, it was at the same time confirmed by a representative of GUNS N' ROSES that Thal was officially out of the band. The leaving of both Ashba and Thal, combined with Slash’s comments on a reunion only a couple months before, further fueled both the media’s and the fans’ speculation about a reunion being in the works.
Furthermore, on August 22, 2015, Slash stated to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, that Axl and he had spoken recently. This was considered a big news story because it was almost common knowledge that the two of them had not spoken together ever since he left the band in 1996. When asked about the re-connection with Rose, Slash commented "It was probably way overdue". Rumors of a reunited GUNS N' ROSES started to pick up more and more during the fall of 2015. More reports came in claiming to have a confirmation that a reunion would happen, but no official statement was made during this period. One of the questions on people’s minds was if this was going to be a full reunion of the "classic line-up" or if it would be just one or two people from that line-up returning to the band. Steven Adler (the drummer from GUNS N' ROSES "classic line-up") admitted during a radio interview with Eddie Trunk that he had not heard anything from GUNS N' ROSES about a reunion. Classic-era member Izzy Stradlin later confirmed to Rolling Stone that he will have no involvement with the new lineup. Former drummer Matt Sorum stated he was not asked to be part of the reunion, while departed guitarist Ashba claimed he was asked by Rose to be a part of the lineup but had turned it down, citing his commitment to SIXX:A.M. Stradlin explained his absence of the tour stating "they didn't want to split the loot equally".
In late December 2015, the GUNS N' ROSES website was updated, scrapping much of the content and displaying the classic GUNS N' ROSES bullet-logo. The logo had not been used in official promotion since the Use Your Illusion days. Then, on Christmas Day, a teaser trailer debuted before the new Star Wars movie. The 15-second video showed black and white shots of a concert audience with the opening words of "Welcome to the Jungle" played. No additional narration or text accompanied the trailer.
On December 29, 2015, Billboard reported that Slash was set to rejoin the band and a "reunited" lineup would headline Coachella 2016. Rose was set to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! the following week to talk about the future of the band, but his appearance was cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances". GUNS N' ROSES were officially announced as the headliner of Coachella on January 4, 2016, with KROQ reporting Slash and Duff McKagan were rejoining the band. The Coachella festival then confirmed via press release that McKagan and Slash were rejoining. April concerts in Las Vegas and Mexico City were announced subsequently.
The full tour announcement came on April 1, 2016, when the band announced 20 cities as part of a North American leg of the tour dubbed "Not in This Lifetime...". The tour's name is a reference to a 2012 interview in which Rose, when asked about when a potential reunion would happen, responded "not in this lifetime." The reunion was billed as a "regrouping" by the band instead of a full reunion, since Slash and McKagan were filling empty spots in the existing band lineup. Additional dates in Chicago, New England, New York, and Los Angeles were announced on April 25 due to shows selling out. On May 18, ALICE IN CHAINS and LENNY KRAVITZ were announced as openers for select shows of the tour. Two weeks before the tour began, THE CULT, CHRIS STAPLETON, BILLY TALENT and SKRILLEX were announced as additional openers for select shows. On June 30, WOLFMOTHER and TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN were announced for several shows. ZAKK WYLDE was added as an additional opener to the band's August 15 show in Glendale, Arizona.
Additional legs of the tour were announced throughout the year, including a Latin American leg and a leg in Asia and Oceania Babymetal was announced as openers for the Japanese shows in 2017. In late November, commercials started airing in the United States with footage from the tour with the tagline "They're back for more in 2017", teasing a return to North America for 2017.
AC/DC guitarist Angus Young jammed with Guns N' Roses during their show at Coachella, while former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach joined the band on April 9 in Las Vegas. Former drummer Steven Adler joined the band for two songs at 5 shows of the tour.
Tour Personnel:
Keyboardist Dizzy Reed, drummer Frank Ferrer and guitarist Richard Fortus remain from the 2014 lineup, while keyboardist Melissa Reese joined the band in 2016, replacing Chris Pitman
GUNS N' ROSES
Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano
Slash – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
Duff McKagan – bass, backing vocals
Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, backing vocals, Percussion
Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals
Frank Ferrer – drums, percussion
Melissa Reese – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
Guest appearances
Sebastian Bach (performed "My Michelle" during the April 9 concert.)
Angus Young (performed "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "Riff Raff" during the April 16 concert.)
Steven Adler (performed "Out Ta Get Me" and/or "My Michelle" during the July 6, July 9, August 19 and November 4 & 5 concerts.)
TAIT Towers was brought in to produce the stage and show itself. They have previously built and designed world tours with artists such as THE ROLLING STONES, TAYLOR SWIFT, U2 and MADONNA. The set was designed by Phil Ealy, previously the light designer on the Use Your Illusion Tour. TAIT built a 71 ft. wide main stage including band risers, LED staircases made with their P9 LED video tiles, LED fascia and amp stacks, and a self-climber piano lift used for Rose’s performance of “November Rain.” Additionally, they developed an 80 ft. automated video track truss system installed with power transmission units to automate Screenworks background video screens. TAIT Navigator, a proprietary automation platform, operated and controlled the self-climber piano lift as well as automated Screenworks’ video screens into variations of three to six columns.
The stage had staircases on each side as well as in the middle, leading up to the drum-kit. There was a walkway extending all the way around the drummer and two keyboardists, with staircases implemented into the riser, allowing the band members to freely move up amongst the keyboardists and the drummer during the show. At the center of the stage, there was a catwalk extending 28 ft. into the audience pit area hosting the self-climber piano lift. This catwalk was not assembled for the first seven shows as a result of Rose’s foot injury and he was subsequently forced to have a seat on the main stage instead. An extensive lighting rig was assembled in the ceiling of the center stage area and each side of the stage had big LED video screens, primarily used to show close-ups of the band during the concert. Roughly 250 professional and local crew members (125 of each) were needed to set up the staging, speakers and video boards. The setup process took three days and more than 20 production trucks to transfer from each city. Additionally there were 3 x 16 steel trucks carrying the skeleton of the stage, making them able to set up the basis of the stage in three different venues at any time.
The intro to the show featured either the classic GUNS N' ROSES bullet-logo made to look like a neon sign, blinking on the big screen on center stage, or an animated bullet-logo with the revolvers firing shots. The "Merrie Melodies" intro tune was heard, and then the whole venue went dark while the theme from The Equalizer was played over the PA system for a few minutes before the band then started the first song of the set. The show ended with a considerable amount of pyrotechnics on stage, and confetti was shot out over the crowd during the ending of "Paradise City". When they played outdoor venues, an extensive fireworks display was added.
Leg 1
North America (warm-up) – April 1, 2016 — April 23, 2016
Leg 2
North America – June 23, 2016 — August 22, 2016
Leg 3
Latin America – October 27, 2016 — November 30, 2016
Leg 4
Asia / Oceania – January 21, 2017 — March 3, 2017
Leg 5
Europe / Israel – May 27, 2017 — July 15, 2017
Leg 6
North America – July 27, 2017 — September 8, 2017
On June 29 they will play in Sweden at Friend Arena, Stockholm
Today's tune "The Garden" is a song by the hard rock band GUNS N' ROSES released in 1991. It appears on the album "Use Your Illusion I" and features alternating lead vocals between Axl Rose and Alice Cooper.
The Swedish occult-steeped death metal band TRIBULATION are rumoured to be working on the follow-up to the outstanding brilliant album "The Children Of The Night". The creativity is high in the camp at the moment, the riff maestro Jonathan Hulten is standing on his on legs and have created an marvellous tune "Nightly Sun" that is taken from his upcoming acoustic solo project "Chants From Another Place". It's a completely new territory than we are used to, he is taking a new path that sounds truly exciting and promising.
"Nightly Sun" flows in the same stream as Tim Buckley and Nick Drake, it's heartfelt, moody and spiritually.
TRIBULATION are a Swedish death metal band from Arvika that formed in 2005. In early 2009, the band released its debut studio album The Horror. Their second full length studio album The Formulas of Death was released in 2013. In 2015, they released their third full length studio album Children of the Night. Though their debut album sits firmly within the old school death metal genre, their later albums are a radical departure from this sound, drawing significantly on traditional heavy metal, psychedelic rock, gothic rock, as well as the occult and supernatural mythology.
Today's tune "Nightly Sun" is taken from the upcoming solo album "Chants From Another Place", Video directed, shot and edited by Jonathan Hulten.
The French progressive metallers GOJIRA have released a video from the latest BBC Radio1 Rock Show, see the Video below together with the Official Video.
Originally formed in Bayonne, France as GODZILLA in 1996, they changed their name to GOJIRA in 2001 prior to releasing any studio albums. The band's lineup, consisting of brothers Joe Duplantier (vocals, guitars) and Mario Duplantier (drums) as well as lead guitarist Christian Andreu and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie, has been the same since then. They have released six studio albums and three live DVDs. They are known for their environmentally-themed lyrics and have gone from "utmost obscurity" to being placed "amongst the genre's leading new millennium upstarts"
GOJIRAs performance of "The Shooting Star" recorded live at Maida Vale (London UK) in August 2016 for the BBC Radio1 Rock Show.
Here is GOJIRAs official video for "The Shooting Star" taken from the sixth studio album "Magma", The album was released on 17 June 2016 through Roadrunner Records. The album was recorded at the band's studio in New York City, and was produced by Joe Duplantier, mixed by Johann Meyer, and mastered by Ted Jensen. The album has been noted as a stylistic departure from the band's previous albums, featuring a more accessible atmospheric sound and more prominent use of clean vocals.
