Tag Archives: ian gillan

Features, PiercingMetal Says

Guitarist Steve Morse Steps Down From Deep Purple After More Than 25 Year Tenure

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The Statement:
Deep Purple announces that Steve Morse will be stepping back from the band, having been its guitarist for more than a quarter of a century.
Steve’s personal circumstances have made it impossible for him to commit to the band’s schedule throughout 2022 and beyond. A few months ago, Steve openly shared with the band´s fans the sad fact that his wife, Janine, is battling cancer and, in his own words, “I simply must be there with her.”

Since joining the band in 1994, Steve has written and recorded eight studio albums with the band: “Purpendicular”, “Abandon”, “Bananas”, “Rapture of the Deep”, “Now What?!”, “Infinite”, “Whoosh!”, “Turning to Crime”
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Features, Tours and Festivals

Deep Purple And Judas Priest Announce Summer Co-Headline Tour

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Good morning, we are here to wash away your Monday blues with some rocking news about some legendary bands from the United Kingdom who I think you know very, very well. I’m talking about none other that the mighty Judas Priest and the equally important to modern music as we know it Deep Purple. Check out the full press release about their upcoming co-headlining tour and I’ll return at the close with some thoughts.

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The Press Release:
Legends will collide late this summer when Deep Purple and Judas Priest embark on a co-headlining North American tour. Produced by Live Nation, the outing will kick off August 21 in Cincinnati, OH and visit 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada before wrapping September 30 in Wheatland, California. Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, April 27 at 10am local time at LiveNation.com.

Citi is the official pre-sale credit card of the Deep Purple and Judas Priest tour. As such, Citi cardmembers will have access to purchase pre-sale tickets beginning Tuesday, April 24 at 10am local time until Thursday, April 26 at 10pm local time through Citi’s Private Pass® program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

Deep Purple’s latest studio album, inFinite, was released April 7, 2017, via earMUSIC. Produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin, (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss), InFinite featured 10 new tracks recorded with no musical boundaries in the spirit of the 70s. The metal pioneers have released five studio albums since 1996, augmented by an abundance of solo work and special projects from members Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Steve Morse and Don Airey. Fans will be thrilled as they cover decades of favorites for this run. For more information, please visit the link below. Additionally, Airey will release his solo album One of a Kind on May 25.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

“Thank You & Farewell” to Black Sabbath (1968-2017)

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As everyone prepares for “The Big Game” with Super Bowl LI (which doesn’t mean the game is in Long Island BTW) I am thinking of more important things to my field of interests and a large portion of my mental focus today is the fact that yesterday the mighty Black Sabbath played their last gig ever and has closed their personal book on Heavy Metal history. “The End” is no longer near nor on its way and has instead arrived and passed. Today is the day that founding members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler sit back and rightfully rest upon their laurels and believe me there are many laurels to be sitting on after such a career. I thank them profusely for the just shy of fifty years that Metal music was delivered under the Black Sabbath banner. Of course, we have plenty of others to thank now as well with the original founders closing this historic tome so let’s raise the horns for them as well. The clip below is from the actual final shows ending moments and the images used are from the final show that happened in New Jersey late last year.

To the INCREDIBLE former members of the Black Sabbath lineup both living and deceased such as Bill Ward, Ronnie James Dio, Geoff Nichols, Dave Walker, Craig Gruber, Vinny Appice, Ian Gillan, Bev Bevan, Ron Keel, David Donato, Eric Singer, Dave Spitz, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen, Bob Daisley, Tony Martin, Terry Chimes, Jo Burt, Cozy Powell, Laurence Cottie, Neil Murray and Bobby Rondinelli. Some of these folks I never even realized had been members over the years but indeed they have and I thank them for their own offerings to the legendary name.
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Music, Reviews

“Out Of My Mind/Holy Water” by Who Cares

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Artist: Who Cares (Iommi & Gillan)
Title: “Out Of My Mind/Holy Water”
Label: Armoury Records
Release Date: 5/10/2011
Genre: Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
Rating: 3.75/5

Uniting for the sake of charity and to help an Armenian Music School comes Whocares, a veritable super group of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock talent that is truly deserving of the often abused title. You know that you agree with me on this because any combination of players from some hardly known bands are often touring as super groups and it’s enough to make you scratch your head at the rationale in the qualification. This title is properly denoted however when it comes to legendary Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi joining forces with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, as these two musicians are nothing less than Hard Rock and Metal royalty. It does not end with this pairing of course and the project also features Jon Lord, Nicko McBrain, Jason Newsted and Mikko “Lindhe” Lindstrom. Together with the song “Out Of My Mind” the group hopes to raise monies for the victims of a terrible earthquake that hit Armenia several years ago as the region is still in dire need of assistance. Isn’t it amazing how quickly society forgets this kind the thing the moment that new “news” hits the Interwebs and broadcasts. Gillan and Iommi worked together before on Black Sabbath’s “Born Again” album and while this was never my own favorite I know people who would argue with me on this to great extent. Resultant of this prior relationship the tune has a vibe that would have made this a worthy inclusion to a special edition re-release of “Born Again” or perhaps even new material to be used by the apparently on hiatus for good Heaven And Hell. This is the strongest of the tracks as the riffing is tight and sharp while the rhythm section is packing a serious solid punch. I would expect this with the rest of the players coming from Purple, Metallica, Iron Maiden and HIM. I loved the Doom laid down by Iommi as well as the very much missed Hammond sounds of Jon Lord (who retired from Purple a few years ago). It was interesting to hear just how well they all worked together and I think that most Metal heads will enjoy this tune.
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Books, Reviews

“Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose: An Illustrated History” by Martin Popoff

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Artist: Martin Popoff
Title: “Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose: An Illustrated History”
Label: ECW Press
Release Date:
Genre: Rock Music History
Rating: 5/5

Everyone has a story, some get told, some never get told. One of the long overdue stories that needed to be told is the history of Black Sabbath as musicians. There has not been a really thorough chronicling of Black Sabbath’s influential career based on the music and the band. Until now, with Black Sabbath Doom Let Loose An Illustrated History by Martin Popoff
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