Metal Video Of The Week: These Old Boots by Phil Campbell

Phil Campbell was the guitarist of Motörhead from 1984 until the death of beloved singer Lemmy Kilmister in 2015. That is 21 years of service in one of the greatest metal bands ever which means that Phil Campbell is royalty to us. With that being said, the former Motörhead guitarist is gearing up to release his first ever solo album titled Old Lions Still Roar which comes out October 25TH via Nuclear Blast Records. The album features quite an impressive group of guest musicians that the guitarist has employed for his first solo effort which shows that the 58 year old is far from slowing down anytime soon. To get us ready for the album he has unleashed a video for the track These Old Boots which features Mick Mars (Motley Crue), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), and Chris Fehn (ex-Slipknot). Musically, the track resembles that hard blues rock sound that we were used to from Motörhead with some amazing vocals from Dee Snider. The video itself is animated and it follows a pair of boots that seem to outrun the law. Phil spoke about the record saying, “I’m really happy to release my first solo album, Old Lions Still Roar, worldwide. I’m also honored to have mega talented guests and friends do their thing. Looking forward to everyone taking a listen!” Check out the video below and make sure you check out the bundles for pre-order here.

Old Lions Still Roar Tracklisting

01. “Rocking Chair” (feat. Leon Stanford)
02. “Straight Up” (feat. Rob Halford)
03. “Faith In Fire” (feat. Ben Ward)
04. “Swing It” (feat. Alice Cooper)
05. “Left For Dead” (feat. Nev MacDonald)
06. “Walk The Talk” (feat. Danko Jones, Nick Oliveri)
07. “These Old Boots” (feat. Dee Snider, Mick Mars + Chris Fehn)
08. “Dancing Dogs (Love Survives)” (feat. Whitfield Crane)
09. “Dead Roses” (feat. Benji Webbe)
10. “Tears From A Glass Eye” (feat. Joe Satriani)

Pedal Cup: The Finals Are Here (Vote Now)

That is right metal heads, the finals of the first ever Pedal Cup (the World Cup of Metal) is here and this is the moment you have been voting for. You the fans, took two bands in Behemoth (Poland) and BABYMETAL (Japan) and you voted them all the way to the finals and it was quite the run for both bands. Unfortunately, only one of them will walk away from the tournament as the first ever Pedal Cup champion. We also have the third place match which is traditionally played in the FIFA World Cup and we are going to keep that tradition as Portugals’ Moonspell take son US Death Metal legends Morbid Angel for the right to Bronze. Today, we are also revealing the Pedal Cup trophy which we dedicated and designed some specifics of it to honor the legacy of one of music and Metal’s greatest inspirations in the late Motorhead Frontman/bassist Lemmy Kilmister. There is a Spade from the Ace Of Spades on the top of the trophy along with a coin of Lemmy on the bottom and the Pedal To The Metal logo beneath that. As always, there are three ways to vote with one being on the Facebook page, the other on Twitter, and the last way to vote right here on this blog. You have 24 Hours to decide who is the first ever Pedal Cup Champion and the third place band. Good luck!!!!

Pedal To The Metal Tournament 2018

The Pedal To The Metal tournament has remained one of the most controversial tournaments in history mainly due to certain fan bases arguing over the legitimacy of the tournament. People have always questioned how certain bands have defeated other bands and it always seems to center on Iron Maiden. They have been in the tournament every year and they have never won the tournament yet. We’ve seen Motley Crue, Judas Priest (2X Champs), Kreator, Destruction, and Queensryche claim the title, but never them. The fact of the matter is that I post the article on every band’s Facebook page to try and alert the various fan bases, but it’s up the band to share the posts. If they do not then you obviously do not see it and therefore when you finally catch wind of the tournament, you cry foul that Iron Maiden was eliminated. I changed the tournament up the last couple of years to include newer bands, but this year we are going back to the beginning when things were simpler. First, we have shortened how many bands are in the tournament from 32 to 16 and the last thing we did is that it is only going to involve 1980’s hard rock and heavy metal bands.

In fact, we are only including the bands that could be considered the elite of the list and while it’s up for debate, we have chosen the bands. The following bands will be in the tournament this year: Queensryche (defending champions), Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio, Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Motorhead, Def Leppard, and Scorpions are the qualified bands. The last four spots of the tournament will be contested between eight other bands with the top four qualifying for the tournament. The eight bands are Twisted Sister, Skid Row, W.A.S.P., Dokken, Ratt, Accept, Y&T, and King Diamond. The voting will occur in two places: one place you can visit to vote will be on my Twitter page @TheMonsterHour with the second being the blog’s very own Facebook page. We’ll also be hosting the vote on my radio show page for Pedal To The Metal Radio which is what the tournament was named after. You will have 24HRS to cast your vote and the top four bands will move on so choose wisely. Stay tuned for the rest of the tournament news and brackets to follow!

Rock Video Of The Week: Welcome To Hell by Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons

One of the hardest deaths to deal with in the last two years or so was the passing of the great Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. It signified the true end of an era in the rock and metal world as one of it’s most prolific and battle tested veterans had passed away. The question moving forward from that was what were the remaining members of Motorhead going to do and we have an answer for at least one of them. Phil Campbell who was Motorhead’s guitarist from 1984 all the way to 2015 started a band with his kids and vocalist Neil Starr called Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. The band is preparing to release their first album together entitled The Age Of Absurdity which will hit the shelves on January 26TH via Nuclear Blast. To hold fans over until then, the band has unleashed the performance based video for Welcome To Hell and fans will not be disappointed. The track is fierce and you can definitely hear the Motorhead influence in the track, but this is more guitar driven than Motorhead was. Starr talked about the album saying, “Writing and recording this album was a lot of fun. We got to record at Rockfield studios where so many great artists had been over the years, it really was inspirational. Hearing the blistering riffs that the Campbell family seem to churn out effortlessly made me ensure I pushed myself to the limits when writing the melodies and lyrics. It’s an album that I, and the rest of the band, are very proud of and can’t wait to share it with the world!” Check out the video below:

Pedal To The Metal Radio Playlist For Alumni Takeover Weekend 10/20/2017

1st Promo Pic

When I was a DJ at Bridgewater State University’s WBIM 91.5 FM, I had a lot of fun hosting Pedal To The Metal every Thursday or Friday night depending on how the cards landed. I played every imaginable 80’s metal track you can think of on my two year run there and I had a lot of fun doing it. 20 years ago, WBIM FM started hosting the Alumni Takeover where for one weekend, the DJ’s from the past years were able to come and relive old glory days even if it was just for one day. Three years ago, when I learned that I could be apart of it, I jumped at the chance to reconnect with some familiar faces and meet new faces that had sat in the very chair just as I had done when I attended school there. Sometimes, you don’t know how much you’ve missed it until you’re right behind the microphone like I was this past Friday night for the third ever return of Pedal To The Metal on Alumni Takeover Weekend. I want to take the time to thank John Coombs, he is the main who deals with all of our annoying requests and messages as he tries to strategically place everyone in a time slot. Oh by the way, he does an amazing job doing it as I couldn’t have been more pleased with my time slot. So, a big thank you to him is much deserved! I also want to take the time to thank the current DJ’s at WBIM for giving up their shows and allowing us to relive a little past glories. It is much appreciated!

 

Second Promo Pic

As far as the playlist was concerned for the show, I had three different playlists that I was going with for the show. The 1st one primarily featured almost the same exact lineup as the one that was actually played. The second playlist featured bands from every era of metal whether it be the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and beyond. The third and final playlist that I created was similar to the first one, but the song selection was different. I wanted to pick nine solid songs for the show with one present that I would present to people with a just in case I still had more time track. Last year, I presented everyone with a Black Sabbath medley that featured I believe three different Sabbath singers doing the same track. This year, I decided to do another medley, but this time it would be Ozzy solo and it would feature five different guitarists doing the same track. It was quite the difficult task, but I got the job done and you will see below what the result was. I made one minor adjustment to the playlist twenty minutes to my show because a good friend of my mine in Doc Rock found a vinyl that I just couldn’t resist playing and I opened the show with it. One minor note, I had originally scrapped a Motley Crue track, but I reintroduced it when the Kiss track I chose suddenly stopped due to technical difficulties. So without further ado, check out the playlist below and once again thanks to everyone that tuned in and a big thank you to the WBIM Alumni Association for having me yet again.

 

Third Promo Pic

Playlist for 10/20/2017 edition of Pedal To The Metal Radio

1. Addiction by The Almighty (Vinyl Of The Week)

2. Unholy by Kiss

3. Shout At The Devil by Motley Crue

4. The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden (Mandatory Maiden)

5. A Touch Of Evil by Judas Priest

6. The Lady Wore Black by Queensryche

7. Among The Living by Anthrax

Fourth and Final Promo Pic

8. The Conjuring by Megadeth

9. Hello From The Gutter by Overkill

10. Suicide Solution (Guitarist Medley) by Ozzy Osbourne featuring Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E Lee, Zakk Wylde, and Joe Holmes

11. Rock And Roll by Motorhead

Album Of The Week: Denim and Leather by Saxon

We are feeling generous here at Moshpits and Movies considering there hasn’t been that many posts lately. So, we figured that we would give you a second album of the week and we wanted to cover a band that we hadn’t done before and they had to be a classic metal band. So, we looked no further than New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Saxon who in October of 1981 would release the last of what fans have called a part of a trilogy in Denim and Leather (Wheels Of Steel and Strong Arm Of The Law came before it). The band which was made up of Biff Byford (Vocals), Graham Oliver (Guitar), Paul Quinn (Guitar), Steve Dawson (Bass), and Pete Gill (Drums) who subsequently this would be his last album as he would break his hand and then join Motorhead right after. As far as I can see the album went gold while it peaked on the Billboard charts at number nine. The album spawned two hit singles while remaining one of the most legendary albums the band ever produced with it’s classic lineup.

1.Princess of the Night– The opening track on the album that deals with the narrators love and obsession with a steam locomotive of the LMS Princess Royal Class. 5/5

2. Never Surrender– a groovin track that features some fierce playing in a track that is all about standing up for yourself and pushing forward through adversity. 4/5

3. Out Of Control– a good rock track that I believe he is talking about alcohol and not a woman. It’s just the feeling I get with it. 4/5

4. Rough and Ready– a rock track about a man who is from the streets and does whatever the hell he wants to do and if you wanna why just try to stop him. 4/5

5. Play It Loud– I feel that this is an interesting track because it’s a battle cry for metal as it always never got it’s fair shake in the world. This is an anthem for all metal heads. 5/5

6. And the Bands Played On– A track that the band wrote in tribute to a show they did on the 1980 Monster Of Rock festival as they name check every band on the bill. 5/5

7. Midnight Rider– a great track about the troubles the band went through on a tour of the states thanks to their tour manager. The track features a really cool guitar solo in it. 4.5/5

8. Fire in the Sky– A hell raising track that talks about war and the fear of missiles hitting the earth and destroying us all. 4/5

9. Denim And Leather– An amazing anthem that is a tribute from the band to it’s fans and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene. 5/5

My Final Thoughts-A classic album from a band that is so underrated in the metal scene that they deserve their due. If you want to hear a classic metal album then do yourself a favor and check this one out. I am giving the album 4.5 stars out of five for a final grade.

Cover Battle: Metallica Vs Overkill

There is a significance with today’s date and the newest edition of Cover Battle and I’ll explain it to you because it’s a special one. A couple of weeks ago, we had Van Halen take on Mott The Hoople as to who did You Really Got Me by The Kinks better. Well, you all voted and chose Van Halen as the better version. So back to today’s cover battle which is very special because on December 11, 2015 Motorhead would play their last ever show with Lemmy Kilmister who would sadly pass away on December 28, 2015. The last song that they ever played together was the classic 1979 track Overkill and we have chosen it as today’s cover battle track. This one maybe one of the best battles yet because it features a couple of juggernauts of metal as Metallica does battle with Overkill in who did the track Overkill better. It’s east vs west as Bay Area thrash legends Metallica take on New York thrash legends Overkill.

Metallica– The Bay Area Thrash legends back in 1998 released an all covers double album called Garage Inc.. The album contained B-side covers, covers, and even an old EP that had gone out of print since it’s release. The album also included a b-sides disc that was released with the Hero Of The Day single called Motörheadache which saw the band covering Motorhead songs including Overkill. The band stays pretty faithful to the original track with Jason Newsted playing some amazing bass with James Hetfield rocking the song on vocals. Check out Metallica’s version below:

Overkill– The New York thrash legends released an all covers album entitled Coverkill which featured them covering the likes of Jethro Tull, Kiss, Black Sabbath, and Motorhead’s Overkill. It seemed like a very natural move for the band considering the name of the band is the track itself. The version the band included on the album was a live rendition of the track Overkill and the band opens up with the same fury as Metallica, but the only difference is Bobby Ellsworth signature high pitched growl. I truly love D. D. Verni’s bass playing on the song as well as the drumming because they bring the fury of the song right into your face. Check out their version below:

Now it is time for all of you to vote for who you believe did the song better. Was it Metallica or was it Overkill? You have until the next post to decide.