Issues with Bob Rock and Sharon Osbourne leave the Quireboys Bitter Sweet & Twisted

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 27, 1993 By Steve Newton After Bob Rock hit the big time by producing Motley Crue’s No. 1 album, Dr. Feelgood—and then accomplished the incredible feat of making former thrash-masters Metallica a mainstream rock-radio fave—it seemed the Vancouver producer could do no wrong. And although Rock’s reputation as a producer with … Continue reading Issues with Bob Rock and Sharon Osbourne leave the Quireboys Bitter Sweet & Twisted

Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” chosen as the top heavy-metal song of all time

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 4, 2003 By Steve Newton Toronto-based music writer Martin Popoff is Canada’s top expert on heavy metal. Senior editor of metal mag Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and author of The Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal, the Trail, B.C.–raised Popoff certainly knows his stuff when it comes to … Continue reading Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” chosen as the top heavy-metal song of all time

Steven Tyler screeches like a budgie from hell as Aerosmith rocks Vancouver on the Pump tour

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 23, 1990 By Steve Newton Boy, the nerve of those Aerosmith guys! They stay in our city for months on end, tie up our world-class studios, use our best producers and engineers, hog all the seats in our strip bars, and then deny the city’s top entertainment rag a crummy phone … Continue reading Steven Tyler screeches like a budgie from hell as Aerosmith rocks Vancouver on the Pump tour

David Lindley says its serious time for the oud

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 8, 2002 By Steve Newton A while back I made one of my regular visits to Zulu Records and noticed that they were giving stuff away. Not great stuff—there were no limited-edition Hellecasters CDs or Jeff Beck bootlegs—but in the box of vinyl castoffs and local cassettes was Win This Record, … Continue reading David Lindley says its serious time for the oud

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on Ticketmaster, Neil Young, Nickelback, and the new Riot Act

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 29, 2003 By Steve Newton Pearl Jam is one of those hugely influential, multiplatinum rock acts that’s notorious for refusing to talk to the press, often for extended periods of time. So when PJ guitarist Mike McCready calls from the “lovely offices” of Vandenberg Public Relations in Seattle, my first question … Continue reading Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on Ticketmaster, Neil Young, Nickelback, and the new Riot Act

Gene Odom’s Lynyrd Skynyrd book lacks literary grace and gory details

  ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 21, 2002 By Steve Newton On their latest CD, Southern Rock Opera, alt-country reprobates the Drive-By Truckers combine sociology, history, and musicology to deliver a concept album about southern rock, and the band they focus on to get their ideas across is Lynyrd Skynyrd. For the uninitiated, … Continue reading Gene Odom’s Lynyrd Skynyrd book lacks literary grace and gory details

Joe Elliott says that Def Leppard were never a “big-hair” band, just longhairs like Sabbath and Zeppelin

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 18, 2003 By Steve Newton A lot of bands that were big in the ’80s are now having trouble getting booked into bowling alleys, but Def Leppard’s not one of them. The British melodic-rock quintet—which hit its commercial peak in 1987 with Hysteria, which has sold 16 million units worldwide—is still … Continue reading Joe Elliott says that Def Leppard were never a “big-hair” band, just longhairs like Sabbath and Zeppelin

Scorpions inflict deadliest sting yet as lead guitarist Matthias Jabs helps cause a devastating Blackout

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JULY 16, 1982 By Steve Newton It’s a hard road, and often a long one, that leads to success in the world of heavy metal. With the exception of a few bands that luck out on their debut recordings because radio is good to them, most hard rockers fight an uphill battle … Continue reading Scorpions inflict deadliest sting yet as lead guitarist Matthias Jabs helps cause a devastating Blackout

Star producer Bob Rock just wants to play guitar in a band

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 12, 1991 By Steve Newton Vancouver’s Bob Rock is one of the most in-demand rock producers in the world today. The albums he’s worked on in the last few years have sold millions of copies and—in the case of Motley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood—made it to number one in Billboard. Recently, he … Continue reading Star producer Bob Rock just wants to play guitar in a band

Superstar producer Bob Rock gets his guitar jollies at the Rock Cellar with riff-based Rockhead

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 10, 1991 By Steve Newton After producing hit records by the likes of Motley Crue, the Cult, and Metallica, Vancouver’s Bob Rock is tying on the gloves and stepping into the ring with Rockhead, his new hard-rock four-piece. The band’s been playing at various local top-40 bars, and if Saturday’s (October … Continue reading Superstar producer Bob Rock gets his guitar jollies at the Rock Cellar with riff-based Rockhead

Link Wray licks led to Los Straitjackets’ Supersonic Guitars in 3-D

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 18, 2003 By Steve Newton Guitarist Eddie Angel was playing at a Nashville club in 1986, opening up for underrated roots-twang merchants Webb Wilder, when his future bandmate, Danny Amis, showed up. During the set, Angel caught the attention of the instrumentally minded Amis with a Link Wray cover, which led … Continue reading Link Wray licks led to Los Straitjackets’ Supersonic Guitars in 3-D

From Black Oak to Thin Lizzy, Tommy Aldridge has been a monster on the kit

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCT. 25, 2001 By Steve Newton Tommy Aldridge is one of the most recognizable hard-rock drummers in the world. His name may not be a household word along the lines of Moon or Bonham, but anyone who’s followed the careers of Pat Travers, Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, and latter-day Thin Lizzy … Continue reading From Black Oak to Thin Lizzy, Tommy Aldridge has been a monster on the kit