RockMusic

AC/DC is back with the ‘Black Ice’ studio album and straight away the album has gone to number one in the official UK album charts. ‘Black Ice’ is the band’s fifteenth studio album to date and follows on from the ‘Stiff Upper Lip’ studio album which was released back in 2000. ‘Black Ice’ has seen AC/DC come back with a bang, many praising the band’s latest release and glad that the band is back with new material after a massive eight years; the longest the band has ever gone between releasing studio albums.

AC/DC has seen off competition in the form of new album releases from Kaiser Chiefs, Leon Jackson, and Katherine Jenkins amongst others. The Australian rockers have done it again and once more AC/DC has released a hugely successful studio album. As well as hitting the top spot for albums in the UK; ‘Black Ice’ has also been a number one album in Australia, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, and Sweden so far; not a bad achievement at all for a band that has been around now since 1973.

After fifteen studio albums you’d think that AC/DC would now be running a little low on ideas; the band battles on though and continues to please all by consistently slamming out heavy rocking albums. ‘Black Ice’ has been a long time coming and let’s hope there’s not now another eight year wait before studio album number sixteen.

Having never been a huge fan of the music of Guns N’ Roses in the past; I was surprised to find just how much I liked the band’s new ‘Chinese Democracy’ single when I first heard it. With repeated listens it’s grown on me even more; I simply can’t get enough of the album’s title track and now can’t wait to hear the band’s new ‘Chinese Democracy’ album.

‘Chinese Democracy’ will be Guns N’ Roses sixth studio album and is to be released on November 23rd 2008 all around the world other than in the United Kingdom; in the UK the album will be released on November 24th. It’s the band’s first studio album for fifteen years; the first since ‘The Spaghetti Incident?’ back in 1993. ‘Chinese Democracy’ has been a long time coming and there’s therefore a high level of expectation from many. All eyes are on Axl Rose and the whole Guns N’ Roses line-up in fact as November 23rd draws ever closer.

Axl Rose is the only founding member still present in the band, and aside from he and Dizzy Reed; for all other members of the band this will be the first Guns N’ Roses studio album they will feature on. This is by no means Guns N’ Roses as it were back in 1993, in 2008 Guns N’ Roses is a very different band and the sound has changed to suit the time. If the Guns N’ Roses sound had remained static then to many the band’s music would no longer be relevant; the rock scene has changed a lot since the early 90s and Guns N’ Roses has too.

The following is the new Guns N’ Roses single; it may not be to everybody’s tastes, it’s definitely a track that is well worth listening to however, and as long as you listen to the track with an open mind and don’t expect the music to sound as it did back in the early 90s then I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you hear. This is ‘Chinese Democracy’:

Hard working, heavy rocking UK Manchester metal band Gone Til Winter has signed an agreement with Headroom Records to record and release two digital singles and a CD mini-album in 2009. The album will be available to download worldwide through iTunes and other such online music retailers, and will be physically distributed throughout the UK, Germany, and also the Benelux.

It is planned that the first single will be released in March 2009 and that the mini-album will follow shortly after. The band will re-record tracks from the ‘Deconstruct the Season’ demo EP which was released in 2007, and will also set about recording some completely new material.

Gone Til Winter is a female fronted rock band and as such frequently gets compared to other bands which also happen to have a female lead vocalist; the truth is however that Gone Til Winter is a band like no other, the band’s sound is strong, unique, and always the music is incredibly hard hitting. There’s much passion behind the vocal lines and often fantastic ferocious bite behind the instrumental element.

Upbeat and excited that a deal has been agreed with Headroom Records; Gone Til Winter will now play a number of tour dates before the end of the year and full information about the band’s tour plans can be found at the Gone Til Winter MySpace Page .

The ultimate video game for rock music fans is soon to be released; Guitar Hero World Tour. The game will be released on Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, and also the Xbox 360; all on the same day. If you live in America then the game is due out on October 26th 2008, if like me you live in the UK however then you’ll have to wait until November 14th in order to get your hands on the game.

What’s so special about the game that makes it so essential to own then? Well, for the first time ever; Guitar Hero is branching out, and not only will you get marked on your guitar playing skills, but also on your drumming and your vocal performance. Guitar Hero is evolving and times are changing; you’re now able to do more than ever and this may well attract a whole new audience to the game.

All previous instalments in the Guitar Hero series have been a success, with this latest game the actual gameplay is being taken to a whole new level however and this could potentially lead to higher sales than ever before. The game is more expensive than ever before if you opt to purchase the edition which includes the guitar controller, drum controller, and microphone; its more pieces of equipment than there have been in the past however and the price has merely risen to accommodate for this.

86 songs will be playable in the game, all of which will be master recordings, and the game will also feature a fun new feature through which you’ll be able to create custom songs and share them with others online through the use of Xbox Live, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and the Playstation Network. Covers of copyrighted songs are strictly forbidden and will be removed if found to have been uploaded to the network. So no cover tracks for copyrighted music; but you will be able to try your hand at creating your own original recordings which should be pretty fun.

Guitar Hero has always been a fun game to play, and with the added option of drumming and singing; Guitar Hero World Tour will potentially provide more hours of entertainment than ever before. Playing Guitar Hero is a great way to unleash the rock star within, and whilst Guitar Hero World Tour may well put an end to your social life for the foreseeable future; at least you’ll be having fun in the process.

There’s not long to wait now and many people all around the world shall soon be showing the virtual music world what they’re made of with Guitar Hero World Tour. The release of Guitar Hero World Tour is imminent, so let’s all sit back, relax, and get ready to rock.

Technically a hip-hop artist, I’ve always found that Eminem is one of the few rappers to be openly embraced by the rock community. His music is played on typically rock radio stations, and the videos also get played on channels which generally only cater for rock. Eminem has all the style and swagger of a rock star, his shock tactic lyrics going down well in the rock scene and always providing him a second home in rock as well as in hip-hop.

Eminem has a new album due out before the end of the year; it’ll be his sixth studio release and will hold the title of ‘Relapse’. No official release date has yet been confirmed and no one is currently quite sure of the track list; with Eminem you know that there’ll always be plenty of guests involved however and many will be brought into the mix in order to make the album as excellent as possible.

Eminem has stated that it’s all about the music now, he’ll take whatever fame comes his way, but he’s making a return out of a passion for music, not money. It’s been four years since the last Eminem album dropped and as such there’s likely to be much media hype; there’ll be a lot of people out there excited to hear the return of Eminem and it’s very likely that he’ll once more be hugely popular. He’ll take it all in his stride however and his attitude it seems is that whatever will be, will be.

I’ve got a strong feeling that ‘Relapse’ will be Eminem’s strongest album yet; only time shall tell though, and with the album due out before the end of 2008 there’s not long left to wait now until we all find out what Marshall Mathers has to offer with Eminem album number six.