METALLICA’S ‘MASTER OF PUPPETS’ GETS CLASSICAL-PIANO TREATMENT

She’s a classically trained, award-winning musician … and Ukranian pianist Viktoriya Yermolyeva is also a Master of Puppets.

While Yermolyeva might not be a household name as far as most metal fans are concerned, she probably should be. Since diverting her focus from classical performances several years ago, she’s compiled an impressive list of rock and metal covers, applying her prodigious piano skills to new versions of classic cuts by a long list of bands that includes the Doors, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and Metallica.

Yermolyeva’s performance of ‘Master of Puppets,’ which you can hear above, isn’t new — it was uploaded in 2011 — but it perfectly encapsulates the way she brings her years of training to bear on a composition that, while certainly not easy to play, is often thought of more in terms of headbanging power than musical complexity. With the spotlight on Yermolyeva’s piano, the song’s stark beauty is emphasized, giving ‘Puppets’ a very different (but just as evocative) feeling.

If you like what you hear, there’s a lot more where that came from: Yermolyeva’s YouTube channel is stocked full of performance footage, and at her website, she’s offering free MP3s of her many rock and metal covers (although she requests — and certainly deserves — donations). Heck, she even takes requests!

THE MOST ANTICIPATED ROCK + METAL ALBUMS OF 2014

Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images / Puscifer / Kevin Winter, Getty Images

For fans of the acts listed below, 2014 will likely be a year of sweet relief. We know you’ve been waiting on these albums for a while, so you’ll be glad to know there’s new music coming from these bands in 2014

Some of these records are simply follow-ups to recently released albums, while others have been long in the making. Any of these albums may very well be your personal ‘album of the year’ pick in 2014, so make sure you check out our picks for these 10 Most Anticipated 2014 Rock + Metal Albums.

Gary Miller, Getty Images

Tool

 

 

There's no better way to start off this list than with Tool. Is there a fan base more rabid for a new album? We can't think of one, but luckily, it seems very likely that 2014 will be the year Tool's fifth studio album will see the light of day. Once 2014 comes around, it will have been eight years since the band released, '10,000 Days,' but both Maynard James Keenan andDanny Carey have teased a 2014 unveiling for Tool's next effort.

 

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Judas Priest

 

 

Judas Priest completed the writing process for their 17th full-length back in August, but it's just been confirmed that 2014 will see a Judas Priest recording! On the band's website, Priest posted a Christmas message along with the promise, "We will be releasing a new album sometime in 2014 so stay tuned……!!" Merry Christmas indeed! We can't wait to press our ears against speakers for the long-anticipated successor to 'Nostradamus.'

 

Tenth Streeet Entertainment

Motley Crue

 

 

Motley Crue fans lapped up the new song 'Sex' in July 2012, but since then, we haven't heard any other sonic offerings from heavy metal's most notorious act. Motley Crue have been talking about their farewell for a while, and according to singer Vince Neil, both the goodbye tour and the final album will coincide in 2014. Rumors had been stirring that Crue's upcoming farewell is due to guitarist Mick Mars' health issues, but both Mars and other Crue members have refuted the claim.

 

Photo by KOBARU

Behemoth

 

 

Not all musicians are lucky enough to recover from cancer, but Behemothfrontman Nergal has been going strong since receiving a bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. Fans have given Nergal a tremendous amount of support since his initial diagnosis, so Behemoth's 2014 album, 'The Satanist,' brings a sense of redemption for both the Polish extreme metallers and their loyal followers. 'The Satanist' is scheduled for impact on Feb. 3.

 

Kevin Winter, Loudwire

Anthrax

 

 

Fresh off their 'Anthems' EP, which garnered the band a Grammy nomination for their cover of AC/DC's 'T.N.T.,' Anthrax are set to attack 2014 will a new full-length record. Anthrax began the writing process in September to pen the proper follow-up to the critically acclaimed 'Worship Music,' which came out in 2011. The 2014 release will be the band's first since Shadows Fall guitarist Jonathan Donais replaced Rob Caggiano in early 2013.

 

Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com

Linkin Park

 

 

Chester Bennington may be lending his vocal talents to Stone Temple Pilots, but Linkin Park are by no means over. The rock / nu-metal act released their fifth studio album, 'Living Things,' in 2012 and the group is looking to craft a speedy follow-up for 2014. In a recent 'Ask Anything' chat with Linkin Park members Mike Shinoda and Steve Aoki, Shinoda expressed a desire to release the band's sixth studio album in 2014.

 

Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com

Mastodon

 

 

With the release of 'The Hunter' in 2011, Mastodon continued their streak of dominance in modern metal. Mastodon fans are insatiable, which is understandable considering the amount of acclaim the band has drawn in with five straight studio albums. The Georgia metal quartet are currently in the studio, and according to drummer / vocalist Brann Dailor, the new effort will be "massive and insane" with "lots of epic greatness." We're inclined to believe him.

 

Mark Davis, Getty Images

Foo Fighters

 

 

Foo Fighters announced in late 2012 that they'd be taking a break, but only a few months later, frontman Dave Grohl began revealing plans for the group's eighth full-length. "We begin recording soon," Grohl stated to Rolling Stone in November, "but we’re doing it in a way that no one’s done before and we’re writing the album in a way that I don’t think has been done before.” According to various sources, the new Foos record can be expected for a 2014 release.

 

Spencer Kaufman, Loudwire

Slayer

 

 

The metal world was lucky enough to experience 10 studio albums and two EPs with Jeff Hanneman as the creative heart of Slayer. Following Hanneman's untimely death in 2013, the future of Slayer was in question, but the thrash legends have no intensions of slowing down. In fact, frontman Tom Araya told us first that Slayer would be delving into Hanneman's audio archives to possibly include the late guitarist's work for a new album. Slayer are expected to release their 11th full-length in 2014.

 

Nuclear Blast

Suicide Silence

 

 

Suicide Silence laid still for nearly a year after vocalist Mitch Lucker was killed from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. However, All Shall Perish vocalist Eddie Hermida was recruited to join Suicide Silence full-time in October 2013. Shortly after, Suicide Silence revealed that they would soon begin recording a new album. "Expect the unexpected," said guitarist Mark Heylmun. "This is for Mitch." The new record is currently stated for a summer 2014 release via Nuclear Blast.

 

Beyond 2014?

 

 

There's no guarantee that all of the albums listed above will arrive in 2014 (cough ... Tool ... cough), but we're fairly confident in the 2014 arrival of most if not all the discs that made the list. In case you're wondering why some of the biggest acts in the world aren't listed above, there's either no concrete evidence that the discs will arrive in 2014 or we are anticipating that those albums will arrive in 2015. Among those acts are Metallica,Slipknot, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden and AC/DC, to name a few. While all are reported to be working on new discs, fans may just have to wait a bit longer for those albums to arrive.

NIRVANA, KISS + MORE AMONG 2014 CLASS OF ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2014 class of inductees late Monday night (Dec. 16), and grunge goliaths Nirvana and hard-rock heroes KISS are among the acts who have been elected into the prestigious institution.

Nirvana make it into the Rock Hall in their first year of eligibility (25 years after the release of their first significant recording), while KISS finally were inducted after being overlooked for several years.

Joining Nirvana and KISS in the 2014 class of inductees are Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Linda Rondstadt and Cat Stevens, along with the E Street Band (Bruce Springsteen’s backing group) receiving the Award for Musical Excellence.

The 2014 ceremony will be held April 10 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., marking the first time that public tickets to the event will be sold in New York. Previous ceremonies were held at the NYC’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel or at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Tickets to the event will go on sale in January, and the ceremony will air on HBO in May.

For fans wondering if the surviving members of Nirvana will perform, that’s still up in the air. “We’re just getting into the creative of the show, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that performance,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Joel Peresman tells Rolling Stone of Nirvana. “They have to figure it out.”

Ironically, KISS singer-bassist Gene Simmons recently claimed in an interview that late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain should not be considered a music icon. We’ll find out if that causes any tension at the Rock Hall ceremony.

Among the nominees not making it in this year are Deep Purple, Yes and the Replacements.

Congratulations to Nirvana, KISS and the rest of the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class!

METALLICA PERFORM ‘FREEZE ‘EM ALL’ CONCERT IN ANTARCTICA [VIDEOS + PHOTOS]

Metallica made history yet again by performing in Antarctica on Dec. 8. Contest winners were brought to Carlini Station to enjoy the sub-zero Metallica concert, which the band dubbed ‘Freeze ‘Em All.’

With this show, Metallica can now say that they’ve played all seven continents. Even more impressive, Metallica performed gigs in all seven continents in 2013 alone. Performing inside a small dome, Metallica cranked out a 10-song set for Coca-Cola Zero contest winners. No, Metallica didn’t play ‘Trapped Under Ice,’ but the metal legends jammed a set filled with fan favorites such as ‘Sad But True,’ ‘Master of Puppets’ and ‘Enter Sandman.’

What made it more interesting is that the full sound was only heard through special headphones given to the concertgoers, as shown in the first video below.

Metallica shared a bunch of photos from the Antarctica performance on their Facebook page along with a recap of the show:

This was the most unique show Metallica has ever done. The band, contest winners, research station scientists (from Russia, South Korea, China, Poland, Chile, Brazil and Germany), and the ship crew, all crammed in this little dome out on the helipad of Carlini Station in ANTARCTICA! The energy in the little dome was amazing! Words can not describe how happy everyone was.

The band cranked out 10 songs for the small crowd including Creeping Death, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Sad But True, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Master of Puppets, One, Blackened, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman, and Seek & Destroy.

No word on if there were any penguins were attendance.#FreezeEmAll

Metallica are currently scheduled to hit the road once again starting May, playing a bunch of festival dates throughout Europe. Check out the complete concert above and some more videos and photos from Metallica’s Antarctica performance below.

Check out more videos of Metallica’s ‘Freeze ‘Em All’ Show:

http://youtu.be/0nNx-zgqOfk

METALLICA UNVEIL FULL 2014 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES

Spencer Kaufman, Loudwire

After announcing a few dates last week, Metallica have firmed up dates for all 15 shows on their 2014 European Tour

The trek is being the dubbed the Metallica by Request tour. Every show will have a different setlist, with fans who buy tickets given a link to cast their votes on the songs they would like to hear. Seventeen of the songs each night will be selected that way, with the remaining song a brand new track, one that might appear on Metallica’s next album.

The tour will be great for European fans, but U.S. fans will have to wait longer to see the band, since Metallica have called off the Orion Music + More Festival for 2014.

So when will that new album be released? Probably sometime in 2015, although frontman James Hetfield says they have been working on it for a while. “We have lots of material [we've been] working on from the day ‘Death Magnetic’ ended all the way up until now,” Hetfield says. “There’s tons of material. Some [riffs] stick with me because the themes keep coming back. Out of 700 riffs, there’s at least three I’ve played 20 times.”

One thing that has slowed down the process has been the production and promotion of their 3D concert movie ‘Metallica Through the Never.’ The film will get a DVD/Blu-ray release on Jan. 28.

Metallica 2014 European Tour Dates:

5/28/14 — Helsinki, Finland — Beach Sonisphere
5/30/14 — Stockholm, Sweden — Gardet Royal Park
6/1/14 — Oslo, Norway — Valle Hoven Sonisphere
6/3/14 — Horsens, Denmark — Gaol
6/4/14 — Hamburg, Germany — Imtech Arena, Sonisphere
6/5-6/8/14 — Nürburgring, Germany — Rock Am Ring
6/6-6/9/14 — Nuremberg, Germany — Rock Im Park
6/9/14 — Landgraaf, Netherlands — Landgraaf Pink Pop
7/1/14 — Rome, Italy — Rock In Rome Sonisphere
7/3/14 — Werchter, Belgium — Rock Werchter
7/4/14 — Basel, Switzerland — St. Jakobspark Sonisphere
7/6/14 — Knebworth, England — Knebworth Park Sonisphere
7/8/14 — Prague, Czech Republic — Aerodrome Festival
7/9/14 — Vienna, Austria — Krieau Rocks
7/11/14 — Warsaw, Poland — National Stadium Sonisphere

10 BEST OZZY OSBOURNE SOLO SONGS

Larry Busacca, Getty Images

As the ’70s turned into the ’80s, Ozzy Osbourne was trying to figure out his next move after his ousting fromBlack Sabbath. What he did was embark on a very successful solo career that was lasted more than 30 years. In addition to releasing a number of memorable tunes over the past three decades, Ozzy has selected some virtuoso musicians to record with him, including the incomparable Randy Rhoads and the very talented Zakk Wylde. While Osbourne has reunited with Sabbath on several occasions and is recording a new album with the heavy metal legends, we’re taking a look at some of the best music that Osbourne’s solo career has produced. So, stick with us as we take our “shot in the dark” at counting down the 10 Best Ozzy Osbourne Solo Songs:

10

'Over the Mountain'

From: 'Diary of a Madman' (1981)

 

 

If you need some drums to kick your ass, Ozzy Osbourne's 'Over the Mountain' might just do the trick. Lee Kerslake's furious flurry of beats not only kicks off the song but also offers the opening notes of the 'Diary of a Madman' album. The fantastical Osbourne track takes listeners through a dreamland with an invitation to join him on his journey.

Listen to 'Over the Mountain'

 

 

9

'Suicide Solution'

From: 'Blizzard of Ozz' (1980)

 

 

'Suicide Solution' may be the most controversial songs Ozzy Osbourne has ever released. Osbourne stated that the song was a tribute to the late Bon Scott, who died of alcohol poisoning, while bassist Bob Daisley who wrote the track says that Osbourne himself, who was struggling with alcoholism, was the inspiration. There was also the matter of the title, which sparked a lawsuit when a depressed teen shot himself. But controversy or not, the song rocks with Randy Rhoads' chugging guitar and Osbourne's wail leading the way.

Listen to 'Suicide Solution'

 

 

8

'Gets Me Through'

From: 'Down to Earth' (2001)

 

 

What is Ozzy really all about? The singer attempted to clear it up in the 2001 song 'Gets Me Through,' which he wrote as a thank you and explanation to his fans. In the song, Osbourne states, "I'm not the Anti-Christ or the Iron Man," thus separating the man from the image. The song itself starts with keyboard before guitarist Zakk Wylde, bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin grunge up this trudging rocker.

Listen to 'Gets Me Through'

 

 

7

'Mr. Crowley'

From: 'Blizzard of Ozz' (1980)

 

 

'Mr. Crowley' is a solid choice for the 10 best Ozzy Osbourne songs as it smoothed the singer's transition from Black Sabbath frontman to solo artist. Osbourne's dark side fully intact, the singer created a song about black magic practitioner Aleister Crowley and his sinister ways. The track launches with the distinctive organ solo from Don Airey before the rhythmic rocker kicks in.

Listen to 'Mr. Crowley'

 

 

6

'Shot in the Dark'

From: 'The Ultimate Sin' (1986)

 

 

'Shot in the Dark' makes the 10 best Ozzy Osbourne songs as one of the more instantly recognizable tracks of the singer's career. The catchy mid-'80s rocker was penned by bassist Phil Soussan and altered to Osbourne's specifications. Easily one of the more radio-friendly songs of the singer's career, the track does still rock with wailing guitar work from Jake E. Lee and a driving beat laid down by Randy Castillo.

Listen to 'Shot in the Dark'

 

 

5

'Flying High Again'

From: 'Diary of a Madman' (1981)

 

 

Osbourne's affinity for drugs did occasionally find its way into song and 'Flying High Again' is a perfect example. In the lyrics, Osbourne shares his concern, stating, "Mama's gonna worry / I been a bad, bad boy / No use sayin' sorry / It's something I enjoy." Then rationalizing his behavior, he adds, "If you could be inside of me / you'd see, you'd see what light I see / flyin' high again, alright!"

Listen to 'Flying High Again'

 

 

4

'Mama I'm Coming Home'

From: 'No More Tears' (1991)

 

 

Here's the rare non-rocker on our list of 10 best Ozzy Osbourne songs. But this song was a major hit in the era of the power ballad and its success was all the sweeter for Osbourne as it was a love song to his wife Sharon. The track, co-written with Zakk Wylde and Lemmy Kilmister, was penned about his proposed retirement from music and his return home to his lady love after his support of the album was complete.

Listen to 'Mama I'm Coming Home'

 

 

3

'Bark at the Moon'

From: 'Bark at the Moon' (1983)

 

 

'Bark at the Moon' finds Osbourne once again digging into mythical territory for inspiration, as the track follows a beast that terrorizes a town, was killed and then was resurrected to wreak even more havoc. Musically, the guitar work from Jake E. Lee is top notch with a driving riff that is easily one of the most recognizable licks from Osbourne's catalog.

Listen to 'Bark at the Moon'

 

 

2

'No More Tears'

From: 'No More Tears' (1991)

 

 

Ozzy Osbourne stated in his 'Prince of Darkness' liner notes that the song 'No More Tears' was "a gift from God," and we're not ones to disagree. The Bob Daisley bass line that opens the track pulls the listener in, while chugging Zakk Wylde guitar licks propel the song's verses. The track also features an extensive bridge infused with keyboards, piano and what sounds like a string backing before finishing out with a fury.

Listen to 'No More Tears'

 

 

1

'Crazy Train'

From: 'Blizzard of Ozz' (1980)

 

 

No surprise here -- 'Crazy Train' is the best Ozzy Osbourne song of all time. It's the song that signified that Osbourne's move to a solo career was a wise one. Guitarist Randy Rhoads "doubled" his parts for the song's very difficult solo, in the process delivering one of the most admired licks in rock history. As for the lyrical content, Osbourne addressed the crazy state of the world during the Cold War and offered the uplifting message, "Maybe it's not too late / To learn how to love and forget how to hate." Simply put, 'Crazy Train' is not only one of Ozzy's best, but one of the best rock songs ever.

Listen to 'Crazy Train'