It’s been a full ten years–that’s a damn decade, man–since Candlebox’s last record. To commemorate the long-ass time it took to bring the original songwriting team (singer Kevin Martin and guitarist Peter Klett) back together, Into The Sun, the new one, will be released July 22. Original drummer Scott Mercado is back on the skins; only bass player Bardi Martin will not return. He’s been replaced by Adam Kury.

Martin and Klett’s extensive separation proved just the right amount of time to let the air clear and, once they re-converged, get their collective creative vibes cracklin’–just like old times. “When we started writing the songs for this record back in ’07 I think we all felt like we were on to something special,” Martin explains on the band website. “I think you can hear that in the songs, they just speak to you like an old friend you haven’t seen in years but are so happy to be able to catch up with.”

Enjoy the classic Candlebox video, then click in for track listing, tour dates and more new album info.

Into The Sun was produced by Ron Aniello (Barenaked Ladies, Lifehouse) engineered by Cliff Norrell (REM, Henry Rollins) and mixed by Norrell and Mike Shipley (Nickelback, Def Leppard). Kevin Martin (vocals) and Peter Klett (guitar) Scott Mercado (drums) and Adam Kury (bass) have come together to make a bold, eclectic mix of rhythms and textures that will make long-time fans mouths water.

Into The Sun track listing:

01. Stand
02. Bitches Brewin
03. Surrendering
04. Into The Sun
05. Underneath It All
06. Miss You
07. How Does It Feel
08. A Kiss Before The Dying
09. Breathe Intro
10. Breathe Me In
11. Lover Come Back To Me
12. Consider Us

“Stand”, the first single off Into The Sun, goes to active and rock radio in May and is currently streaming on the band’s MySpace page.

Candlebox tour dates:

June, 4 2008 06:30 PM – Tacoma Dome

2727 East D Street, Tacoma, Washington 98421 – $30.00

w/ Chevelle, Another Black Day

June, 7 2008 02:30 PM – Gallivan Center

36 East 200 South, Salt Lake City, Utah – $10.00

w/ P.O.D., Royal Bliss, Metal Gods, Blaze

June, 27 2008 07:00 PM – The Rock

2029 Woodlyn Ave., Maplewood, Minnesota 55109 – $18 Adv / $22 Day Of

June, 28 2008 07:00 PM – Rock Island Plaza – Daiguiri Fest

1809 2nd Ave, Rock Island, Illinois 61201 – $19 Adv / $22 Day of

June, 29 2008 12:00 PM – Stars & Stripes Festival

31 North Walnut Street, Mt. Clemens, Michigan 48043 – FREE

Johnny Lang, Gary Hoey

July, 2 2008 06:30 PM – Voodoo Lounge @ Harrah’s Casino

One Riverboat Drive, North Kansas City, Missouri 64116 – $22 Adv / $25 Day Of

Kings Royal

July, 4 2008 12:00 PM – Ozzie Smith Sports Complex

100 N. Main Street, O’Fallon, Missouri 63366 – FREE

Gin Blossoms, Big Head Todd

July, 5 2008 09:00 PM – The Surf Ballroom

460 Northshore Drive, Clear Lake, Iowa 50428 – $12 Adv / $15 Day Of

July, 6 2008 07:00 PM – Austin’s Saloon

481 Peterson Rd, Libertyville, Illinois 60048 – $22 Adv / $26 Day Of

July, 8 2008 08:00 PM – Headliners

4500 N Detroit Ave, Toledo, Ohio 43612 – $18 Adv / $22 Day Of

July, 10 2008 07:00 PM – L’Auberge du Lac

777 Avenue L’Auberge, Lake Charles, Louisiana 70601 – FREE

July, 11 2008 05:00 PM – Quaker City Raceway

10359 W. South Range Rd., Salem, Ohio 44460 – $10

Ribs-N-Rock Festival

July, 12 2008 09:00 PM – Headwaters Park – Three Rivers Festival

333 S. Clinton, Ft. Wayne, Indiana 46802 – $12 Adv / $18 Day Of

July, 15 2008 06:30 PM – Bogart’s

2621 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219 – $20 Adv / $23 Day Of

July, 19 2008 05:00 PM – Xclamation Festival – Rock N Roll Stage

Corner of 10th & H Street, Modesto, California – $20 Adv / $40 Day Of

w/ Eve 6, Mother Hips, Y-N-T

August, 27 2008 08:00 PM – Hampton Beach Casino

169 Ocean Blvd, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire 03843 – $21 Adv / $23 Day Of

August, 28 2008 07:00 PM – Thursday At The Square

Layfette Square Court St and Main St, Buffalo, New York 14203 – FREE

The Specials came swaggering across the cracked concrete of Coventry’s inner-city despair to spark a musical and cultural revolution in late ’70s London. From the start, their style, attitude, and sound were superbly cool and extremely original. The band lasted 4 years, but still managed to churn out seven consecutive top 10 UK hits before busting up in 1981.

Specials lead singer Terry Hall says he had “years of reservations” about reforming, but since long-held tensions between various members have been resolved, the original interracial gangsters from Ghost Town are planning its first shows in more than 25 years for this fall, possibly as early as October.

Take a look at one of their greatest, “Too Much Too Young,” and then click through to find out more about the upcoming tour and the new Best of CD/DVD.

If you get a chance to catch a Specials show, don’t blow it, man!

Original singer-songwriter Neville Staple and Terry Hall are both said to have rejoined the line up, after leaving because of the obligatory “band rift.” Speaking to BBC Radio 6 Music earlier this year, Hall said no tour dates had yet been confirmed. “Well we’re still trying to put dates together, but hopefully September or October time. Check back here because as soon as they let us know, we’ll let you know.

Rude boys and rude gals can prep for the ska-punk revolution (’08-style) with the a new release, The Best of The Specials, which features 20 tracks on CD & DVD that put together choice singles and tracks from the first three Specials albums (Specials, More Specials and In The Studio) together with a DVD of live performance footage and videos for all singles. This includes the spooky and atmospheric “Ghost Town” and “Concrete Jungle.”

This Nathan Cox-directed video (Cox was also behind the camera for Disburbed’s “Stupify”) impacts with the subtlety of an imploding stomach grenade. It’s a somber visual realization of the song, but then again the music, the lyrics, the meaning…everything about “Inside the Fire” is dark. It’s probably the darkest stuff lead singer David Draiman has ever written about. The storyline concerns a girl Draiman was in a relationship with (in real life). In the song, she’s committed suicide and he’s left to deal with the devil’s voice over his shoulder provoking him to take his own life so he might join her. Doesn’t get much darker than that.

The band wants to make absolutely clear they are not condoning or glamorizing suicide in any way. In fact, the video starts out with a brief statement from David. Take a look.

Ladies and germaphobes…pay close attention, por favor, as we offer you newly-announced tour dates for what many consider the ballsiest-named band in all of rock and roll: Butthole Surfers.

If you dig black humor, vicious psychedelic punk/metal sound manipulation, chaotic avant-garde live shows (from 1986 through 1989, a stripper from New York City toured with the band as their “naked dancer”) and kick-back-feeling-groovy songs like “The Revenge of Anus Presley,” “Bar-B-Q Pope,” and “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey Oswald’s Grave,” then the surf is up! Click through for more.

Four UK shows are set to take place in July. A posting on the band’s official site states: “This is the rhythm section the band had for most of the ’80s and marks the first time this line up has played together since 1989.” Here are the dates. Sex Wax not included.
Check back for more confirmed dates/ticket info

6/24/08 – Asbury Park, NJ – Asbury Lanes
6/26/08 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
6/27/08 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
7/04/08 – Glasgow, UK – ABC1
7/05/08 – Manchester, UK – Academy 2
7/06/08 – Wolverhampton, UK – Wulfrun Hall
7/26/08 – London, UK – Kentish Town Forum

7/29/08 – New York City – Webster Hall

 For these shows, Jeff Pinkus will be on bass and Teresa Taylor (along with King Coffey) on drums. This is the rhythm section the band had for most of the 80s and marks the first time this line up has played together since 1989.

Paul Leary has prior commitments and unfortunately can’t play the European dates (he will be on stage for the New York City show and possibly more stateside).

However, fear not, our European friends. Joining the band onstage for all shows in the US and Europe will be The Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars. This mob of teenage geniuses will blow your mind, forming a virtual Butthole Surfers Orchestra when they play with Gibby and company.

In case you forgot, here’s “Pepper” from Electriclarryland:

The April ’08 release of the second installment in Thrice’s double EP concept disc, The Alchemy Index Vol. III & IV (Vol. I&II was released in October, ’07) has officially stomped its way into the top 20. The good news for the band that was founded in 1998 by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school, not to mention all their sweaty, scenester-followers with their sleeve tattoos and ear plugs, is that Thrice just might be the band to thrust the fast-paced, high-decibel post-hardcore sound to a mainstream level. The band’s original idea was to let all four discs go at once, with each disc offering six tracks representing one of the four classical elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Churning out a 4-disc concept project proved to be something of a challenge as detailed in the band’s blog they wrote detailing the process.

http://www.alchemyindex.com/

Stemming from bands like Fugazi, Rites of Spring, and even early emo rockers Sunny Day Real Estate, post hardcore bands like Thrice have mostly enjoyed something of a cult following for the last two decades. If you can handle the thrash, here’s the latest from Thrice.

Okay, here’s the shot:

You walk into the manager’s office. The band is sitting on a black leather couch against the wall, staring down at a fruit tray. The manager rises from his desk and offers you coffee. You say no because you’ve already had enough of the liquid fuel to power a steam ship to China. The manager cocks his head like a dog who’s heard a sound inaudible to the human ear and lifts his eyebrows high up on his forehead

Then the band lean in, looking at you, waiting for you to blow their collective mind.

You are the video director and it’s up to you, in one sentence, to sell the band on the video concept that turns out to be this visually stunning, grippingly cinematic 3 Doors Down video premiere, “It’s Not My Time.”

Here’s ours:.

It’s the gripping drama of Sixth Sense with the hyperkinetic action of Casino Royale backed by the thunderous rock song by a band that shoots straight for your bloody, pulsing heart and pulls absolutely no punches.

Best pitch comment gets a shout-out in a post honoring your winning skills.

FYI the ridiculously dangerous, gravity-ignoring sport of freestyle walking is incorporated into the video thanks to a former gym teacher turned stuntman who has been featured on shows like Heroes. Here’s our star, Gabe, also known as JayWalker with his stuntman crew “Tempest” performing at the stuntman awards.

ZIGGY IN ’72! LIVE! 

Ambisexually enigmatic, flamboyantly fearless, outrageously otherworldly…Ziggy Stardust dropped out of the sky and fell to American soil circa 1972 accompanied by a band called Spiders from Mars and armed with a spaceship full of the most brain-crackling songs on the planet.

Listening to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was like pouring a bag of Pop Rocks into your ear canal.

Ziggy’s Spiders — guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder, pianist Mike Garson and drummer Michael “Woody” Woodmansey — backed the alien rock star (a.k.a. earthling David Bowie) during a theatrical tour de force of inter-planetary proportions that followed the release of the album.

But, from early 1972 until the fateful July 3, 1973 “retirement” gig, Ziggy’s life flashed across us like lightening; brilliant, wondrous, heart-rattling, shocking, then gone. To hear the music is one thing, but to experience that galactic glory live and on stage? Man, that must have been a wham-bam thank you ma’am to the main frame. Bassist Bolder’s green sideburns, Ziggy/Bowie’s unremitting costume changes and guitar wizard Ronson’s magical mojo and tight silver sequined knickers took glam rock to another dimension, a supersonic, visceral extravaganza that raised the bar for rock performance to outer space and influenced countless artists to come.

If you were lucky enough to catch Ziggy in his glory, well, good for you. But for those of us who might not have been there during those heady, hazy days of the mighty ’72 when Ziggy ruled the stars (and stripes), we’ve got the upcoming release of David Bowie: Live Santa Monica ’72 (due July 8 in the U.S. via Virgin/EMI).

Taken from an oft-bootlegged Oct. 2, 1972, KMET (The Might Met 94.7 FM) broadcast from the Santa Monica Civic Center that marked Bowie’s first live radio appearance in the States, the album is, to say the very least, nothing short of stellar.

Sonically, the recording is a clean and bright soundboard feed, while today’s digital remastering spruces up the sound quite nicely.

Opening with “Hang on to Yourself,” the performance is awesome, from Ronson’s restrained, driving riffs and the band’s tightness, to Bowie’s oh-so-rich vocal prowess. Even without a visual, you can feel the dripping sexuality and futuristic, space vibe. Just listen to this snippet of “The Width of a Circle” for a taste.

<< INSERT LINK TO 30 SECOND SAMPLE HERE >>

“It’s no longer an act; I am him,” Bowie recalls in a statement regarding the recording. “This would be around the 10th American show for us and you can hear that we are all pretty high on ourselves. We trainwreck a couple of things, I miss some words and sometimes you wouldn’t know that pianist Mike Garson was onstage with us, but overall I really treasure this bootleg. Mick Ronson is at his blistering best.”

And although it’s hard to celebrate major labels for much of anything these days, we’ve got to applaud Virgin for doing this one right. David Bowie: Live Santa Monica ’72 will be released in a 180-gram double vinyl, numbered package that is sure to please collectors, purists and audiophiles; a limited-edition two-disc CD version for those who still (correctly) long for packaging and a tactile experience with their music; and a digital version of the album that will be available for download.

In his original review of the show (included in the album’s packaging, along with photos taken that night), Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn described the scene as having “the aura of Clockwork Orange, not so much in the sense of violence as in an incredible sense of ‘nowness’ and the wave of the future. Future shock had arrived.”

And, because we love you, check out this clip from D.A. Pennebaker’s film that captured the heartbreaking final Ziggy gig at the Hammersmith Odeon on July 3, 1973.

European tour dates were recently announced for Chad Kroeger and the boys from north of the border.

Cologne, Germany — Sep 8 2008

Stuttgart, Germany — Sep 9 2008

Belfast, Ireland — Sep 12 2008

Dublin, Ireland — Sep 13 2008

Manchester, England — Sep 15 2008

Sheffield, England — Sep 16 2008

Birmingham, England — Sep 18 2008

London, England — Sep 19 2008

London, England — Sep 21 2008

Could this mean American dates will follow? Only time will tell, my friends, time will tell. But the band recently redesigned their website and there’s plenty of room for feedback and fan interaction so if you want the band to visit your town, let them know. In the Interact section, there’s also a contest to find the biggest Nickelback fan in the world. Not exactly sure if the grand prize is anything more than the opportunity to be featured on the website, but hey, to some that’s all they need.

Oh, and to those of you who might not believe Nickel can bring the noise, bring the rock,, might we suggest you check out this little ditty as Nickelback look ahead to their trek across the Atlantic, we offer up their cover of a great European band, Queen and “We Will Rock You.” See you at the show.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE…

No way in hell Steve Hackett was gonna take part. We’d already accepted that, but we were crossing fingers for a four-man Genesis reunion.

At first, the major variable in the equation said such a thing was not out of the question, but when it came down to it, Peter Gabriel was apparently too busy being one of the smartest people in the world to put a huge flower back on his head and play some classic tunes with his old buds. Fine. Be that way. What came down the pike was the three-man, Phil Collins-fronted version, and that announcement initially met with some groans because the band’s really watered-down, adult contemporary final years were, for many, not yet far enough in the rear-view mirror.

But then came the surprise. Collins and his mates, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford (he of equally treacly Mike + The Mechanics fame) were willing to swim further back in the sea of time than We Can’t Dance, or the dismal post-Collins set Calling All Stations.

News of setlists from the opening shows on the band’s North American tour began to circulate and there were (seriously??) songs from Wind & Wuthering, Selling England by the Pound and Trick of the Tail in the mix. Yep, pre-Gabriel-exit and post-Gabriel-but-pre-pop-shift tracks were being included alongside the more familiar hit songs, and being performed with scintillating perfection. And suddenly, those stadium booking were starting to make sense … and sell out.

Now Genesis fans who couldn’t get enough will be happy to hear that Rhino is planning a June 10 release of When In Rome 2007, a triple-DVD package that captures the grand final show on the reunion tour, and it was a biggie. In front of 500,000 fans at Rome’s historic Circo Massimo, the band performed a free, open-air concert spectacle that is as lasting as the balance of its varied career.

The set will boast the entire concert and a bunch of extras (photo galleries, deleted scenes, etc.), as well as Come Rain or Shine, a tour-spanning documentary filmed by Anthony Mathile on the third disc. Where will you get it? In the U.S., you’ll be able to buy it exclusively at Wal-mart and its warehouse sidekick Sam’s Club. Online, it can be pre-ordered at walmart.com, samsclub.com and the band’s genesis-music.com.

When In Rome 2007

DVD track list:

Disc 1
(Dukes Intro)
“Turn It on Again”
“No Son of Mine”
“Land of Confusion”
In the Cage Medley (“In the Cage,” “Cinema Show” (excerpt), “Dukes Travels” (excerpt))
“Afterglow”
“Hold on My Heart”
“Home by the Sea”
“Follow You Follow Me”
“Firth of Fifth” (excerpt)
“I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”

Disc 1 Extras
How Does Duke’s End End?
We’re Gonna Take It Up A Bit
Plugged In. Turned On. On the Edge
Minimal Confusion
Tony Changed His Mind
We Need More Lights
Counting The Bars To ‘Heart’
Working On Home
Mike Wants Phil’s ‘Feel’ On Drums
From ‘G’ To ‘G’ On ‘Firth’
Time To Dance
Tour Program Gallery

Disc 2
“Mama”
“Ripples”
“Throwing It All Away”
“Domino”
“Conversations With 2 Stools”
“Los Endos”
“Tonight Tonight Tonight” (excerpt)
“Invisible Touch”
“I Can’t Dance”
“Carpet Crawlers”

Disc 2 Extras
Bring the Pitch Down Like Elton
‘Acoustic’ Ripples
‘Throwing It All’ Down
Tony Talks About His Inspiration
The Drum Duet
Not a Period Piece
Invisible Key
Phil, Tony & Mike, And Phil & Mike
Singing Along
Photo Gallery
Deleted Scenes

Disc 3
Documentary: Come Rain or Shine

Here’s one of our faves: “Turn it on Again”:

JOEY RAMONE B-DAY BASH

Others may have cracked open the door, but it wasn’t until Joey Ramone lifted his black, snorkel flipper-sized Converse high-top and kicked the thing wide open that it became an undisputed fact: you don’t have to be a pretty boy to be a rock star.

Tonight is Joey’s birthday, so let us honor of the man, the myth, the urban legend, the six-foot-six, skinny outcast from Forest Hills, Queens with a subway tan who spun the notion of what a rock and roll frontman could be on its ear, and celebrate some other “offbeat” characters who’ve hijacked the stage:

Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)

Adam Durwitz (Counting Crows)

Meat Loaf

Dee Snider (Twisted Sister)

Oderus Urungus (Gwar)

Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit)

Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria)

John Popper (Blues Traveler)

As far as the eighth annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash goes, Joey’s brother Mickey Leigh is throwing tonight’s hang-loose at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. The party features Richard Lloyd of Television, Shangri-La’s Mary Weiss, Jesse Malin, Little Steven Van Zandt and a ton of other crisp, vintage rock survivors including headliners, the riotous rumblers Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom. Whodat, you may ask? Trust us, the party starts NOW! Just watch this: