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Inside The World Of Rock, New York, NY (2026)

08/22/2026

🔴 THE BAND BOB DYLAN SAID HAD THE BEST SINGERS

His voice is incredibly distinctive, and there’s no one else who could have sung his songs but him back in the 1960s, but it wasn’t like he was going to be competing with the likes of Frank Sinatra around the same time, either. He was much more interested in delivering the best tunes that he could, but he was always aware when he was listening to some of the greatest singers that rock and roll had ever produced.
But rock and roll has never been a genre really keen on having the best singers in the world. Little Richard was an absolute showstopper whenever he tapped into that higher register when he sang, but when looking through a lot of the biggest names in rock and roll, The Beatles took everything that their idols did and amplified it by ten when they first started performing together.
The Fab Four were already a sponge of all of their influences, and it wasn’t out of the question for them to switch up their vocal styles to suit whatever song they were playing. After all, they already had four different voices to trade off of, and while John Lennon could put his back into nearly every single heartbreaking ballad that he could think of, Paul McCartney’s massive scream is still one of the finest in rock history, especially when he was covering old rock and roll numbers like ‘Long Tall Sally’.
And while Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison had a lot of swagger behind their delivery, Dylan felt that The Beatles were the best collective of singers that he had ever heard, saying, “Everybody else thought they were for the teenyboppers, that they were gonna pass right away. But it was obvious to me that they had staying power. I knew they were pointing the direction of where music had to go. I was not about to put up with other musicians, but in my head, The Beatles were it. They were fantastic singers. Lennon, to this day, it’s hard to find a better singer than Lennon was, or than McCartney was and still is.”
Aside from their vocal prowess, though, it was also about the tone of their voices that resonated with everyone. Not everyone was used to the advanced harmonies that they were doing on all of their albums, but when you look through a song like ‘This Boy’, every single one of them hit their mark absolutely perfectly when it comes time to harmonise, and that’s before even bringing up tunes like ‘Because’.
So, for a band with that much talent, the fact that they were trying to sound like Dylan was a hell of a compliment back in the day, and while Dylan and Lennon always had a bit of a song rivalry going on every single time they came up with a standout track, even if Dylan could mock The Beatles every now and again, they were always right behind him, coming up with tunes that outmatched him. ‘Just Like A Woman’ was a classic, but it was nothing compared to ‘Girl’.
But even if the world didn’t have that much time with all the Beatles, Dylan was at least going to take a few cues from what they were doing. He was always knocked back by what Macca could do with his music, and even though he preferred to work alone, the fact that he could manage to get a few songs out of George Harrison and the rest of the Traveling Wilburys showed that he could indeed work well with others.
If you were to break down all of their talents, though, The Beatles were put on this Earth to give their voices to the world. No one was quite ready for them to be over so quickly, but when looking through their vast catalogue, they gave all of us more than our fair share of fantastic vocal performances.

08/22/2026

Eurythmics

08/22/2026

🔴 JAMES HETFIELD LISTS HIS FAVOURITE SONGS OF ALL TIME

It means that, like you and me, they probably create their own playlists and pick their own shower songs. It’s a joyful image to imagine Kirk Hammett belting out Bette Midler in the shower, and it got us thinking about what the band’s singer, James Hetfield, likes to put on his stereo system.
Metallica are the juggernauts of metal music. One of the early adopters of the scene the band turned the ’80s hair metal on its head and delivered some heavy iron worthy of anchoring an entire scene to. They’re so widely beloved that it’s hard to imagine the band doing anything ‘normal’. But if we’re to trust this 2016 collection of songs, which in this case we will, we can assume that Hetfield, just like the rest of us, likes to vary up his genres when creating the perfect playlist. The band’s powerhouse lead singer isn’t one to shy away, and the playlist of his favourite music is littered with proof that he wouldn’t avoid his roots here either selecting heavy rock above all else.
Yet Hetfield also shows off a far more profound side to his musical taste. The singer selects jazz-guitarist Bill Frisell and indie rock charmers Unknown Mortal Orchestra to name a couple—but the peace doesn’t last for long as Hetfield always lands on the tougher side of rock music.
Selecting some veteran thrash bands like Venom and Dark Angel as well as some more modern metal acts like Pallbearer and Ghost B.C. Hetfield shows that he’s metal to the core. There are also notable choices of Gary Jules’ version of ‘Mad World’ and a special song from Colin Hay, the former frontman of Men At Work, which has made us smile. But all in all, the playlist shows a truly musical man.
Not confined to one mood or genre, Hetfield shows off that the singer knows his stuff no matter the band and his playlist is delightful from start to finish, no matter your musical persuasion.

James Hetfield’s favourite songs:

✔ ‘Shellshock’ – Tank
✔ ‘The Highway Man’ – Johnny Cash
✔ ‘Gloomy Sunday’ – Pallbearer
✔ ‘Surfer Girl’ – Bill Frisell
✔ ‘Mad World’ – Gary Jules
✔ ‘Indian Reservation’ – Paul Revere and The Raiders
✔ ‘Fertile Green’ – High on Fire
✔ ‘Lahja’ – Oranssi Pazuzu
✔ ‘From The Pinnacle to the Pit’ – Ghost
✔ ‘Jeweler’s Daughter’ – Carousel
✔ ‘Eyes on Fire’ – Blue Foundation
✔ ‘Who You Can Trust’ – Ivy Levan
✔ ‘Die Hard’ – Venom
✔ ‘Multi-Love’ – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
✔ ‘Dear Father’ – Colin Hay
✔ ‘Volcanic’ – Death Angel

08/22/2026

🔴 GENE SIMMONS “STILL SAD” OVER HOW ACE FREHLEY & PETER CRISS NEVER ENJOYED THE “FRUITS” OF KISS LEGACY

Back in 1973, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Paul Stanley joined forces in New York City to create KISS. Shining a light of shock-rock, the band took over the music industry with their crazed antics and wild concerts. Having no limits when it came to performing, the band gained a mountain of backlash and criticism of their lyrics. Still, KISS sold over 100 million albums and gained entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ending their run in December 2023 with one last concert, Simmons recently looked back on the band’s legacy and shared his sadness about how Frehley and Criss never got to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Sitting down with Rick Rubin on the Tetragrammaton podcast, Simmons recalled what it was like to travel to New York City for the last concert of KISS. Expecting an emotional moment given the decades he poured into the band, he remembered the entire city overrun by KISS fans. “You went to get a pizza, the outside of the pizza boxes, [there] were our faces in your face. There were KISS pop-up shops. Basically, if you started a new religion and called it Kisstianity, that’s what was going on. It was like a total takeover… We just couldn’t believe it”
When it came time for KISS to take the stage, Simmons was overcome with emotion. Although proud of what they produced, he compared it to marriage. “People who have been married, I’m guessing, a few times, but remember when it was real love and that magic of the thing, if it doesn’t last, there’s a sadness there. Sometimes it’s drugs and alcohol, sometimes they just go apart. But when it was great, it’s sad because not everybody survives life.”
As for the legacy of Frehley and Criss, Simmons admitted his sadness over how it ended. “ I’m still sad about Ace and Peter, who even today can’t enjoy the fruits of their labor. They were equally as important as Paul and myself in the formation of the band and those first few years — there’s no question about it. It was a four-wheel-drive vehicle.”
While Simmons wasn’t able to change the past, he recalled the moment Frehley decided to leave. Even with KISS wanting him to explore a solo career and still work with the band, the musician insisted, “He said to my face, ‘No, I can’t stay in the band. He said it in print, ‘If I do another tour, I’m gonna kill myself.’ That’s verbatim”.

08/22/2026

🔴 6 ALBUMS THAT SAVED A BAND’S CAREER

There are plenty of records that nearly killed the career of one of rock's biggest artists, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Sometimes, the right album at just the right time can do wonders. In our rundown of albums that saved a band's career, we'll actually be exploring more than one type of career resurrection. On the one hand, you have bands like Aerosmith who lost everything and were forced to make drastic changes to get it back. “Seeing some of these bands come up, like Whitesnake and Guns N’ Roses, the whole climate was changing and we had to step up to the plate or move on,” Joe Perry has said. “We stepped up to the plate. Adapting to the new climate and the whole video thing, I have to say, we probably had a little lipstick on, but, you know” — he laughs — “just for the cameras.” Then there were artists such as Kiss and Bruce Springsteen, who nearly ran out of chances before breaking through to a mass audience. These career-saving albums are indelible for just that reason. For instance, when Springsteen listens to his breakthrough record Born to Run decades later, “I hear my friends," he once said, "and I hear my hopes and my dreams and what I thought my life was going to be like as a 25-year old kid." As the above gallery of career-saving albums demonstrates, if you've got talent and dedication there's always hope for big success.

✔️ Aerosmith, 'Permanent Vacation' (1987)
Congress passed a law several years ago declaring that any discussion of career-saving albums must begin with Aerosmith‘s shocking 1987 multi-platinum comeback LP ‘Permanent Vacation.’ O.K., that’s a fib. But the story’s plot points are so dramatic they’ve become the template for a hundred lesser “Behind the Music” redemption stories: Band climbs to the top, indulges in drug excess, starts to hate each other and succumb to their addictions, then breaks up. A few years later, they get back together and release a back-to basics album that restores them to their former glory. One catch: That record, the highly underrated ‘Done With Mirrors,’ flopped badly. So the band finally cleaned up, hired outside collaborators to modernize their sound, and you know the rest: Aerosmith was back and maybe bigger than ever.

✔️ Bob Seger, 'Night Moves' (1981)
Heartland hero Bob Seger spent a decade and a half trying to break into the national music spotlight, but prior to the release of 1976’s ‘Night Moves’ it seemed he might have to be satisfied with being “just” another extremely popular regional concert attraction. Of course, the Detroit legend had several near-breakthrough singles in previous years, and in the markets where his songs were played on the radio he could pack the biggest concert halls. But it was the title track of ‘Night Moves’ that finally cracked the whole country wide open for Seger. ‘Main Street’ and ‘Rock and Roll Never Forgets’ soon followed, helping the album sell over six million copies and permanently enrolling Seger into classic rock’s royalty.

✔️ Bruce Springsteen, 'Born to Run' (1975)
Bruce Springsteen‘s first two studio albums racked up tons of critical acclaim, but very little in the way of sales. Which meant it was up to his third album, 1975’s ‘Born to Run,’ to keep “the next Bob Dylan” from being dropped by his label. Columbia Records gave Springsteen a huge recording budget to pursue the “wall of sound” production style he desired, and then probably got very nervous when he spent over a year trying to get it right. Luckily, the undeniably cinematic and fantastic album, along with the massive (and artist-angering) marketing campaign that followed, were more than enough to finally help “The Boss” break through to massive commercial success.

✔️ John Fogerty, 'Centerfield' (1985)
Former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty's fourth solo LP arrived roughly a decade after he’d last issued an album of new material. This hiatus was due to a number of things — the first of which was the rejection of an earlier attempt. Fogerty also found himself embroiled in a nasty, drawn-out legal war over CCR’s legacy. He returned, however, no worse for wear: 'Centerfield' hit No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, while leadoff single "The Old Man Down the Road" went to No. 10 on the Hot 100. A follow-up, "Rock and Roll Girls," hit No. 20; the title track, a No. 4 rock hit, stalled just outside the pop Top 40.

✔️ KISS, 'Alive' (1975)
They had good songs, a live show that was hard to top, and most definitely a look all their own. Still, despite several years of hard work, Kiss‘s career was nearly dead before it came ‘Alive!’ in 1975. For all the excitement generated among rock fans by their blood-spitting, fire-breathing, spotlight-stealing concert appearances, the masked marvel’s first three studio albums sold so poorly that their record company was close to bankruptcy. Casablanca boss Neil Bogart agreed to a “make or break” proposition for both band and label: releasing a double live album in the hopes that the thrills the band generated on stage could finally be captured on vinyl. As you know, the plan worked. ‘Alive!’ sold millions of copies and rocketed the band to the top of the ’70s arena rock mountain.

✔️ Ozzy Osbourne, 'No More Tears' (1991)
Ozzy Osbourne ruled the rock world for much of the ’80s. But as he began work on what would become 1991’s ‘No More Tears,’ declining sales had made it clear the former Black Sabbath trailblazer was dangerously close to becoming just another member of the trend-chasing pack — releasing overly slick pop-metal records, and it must be said, dressing like an old woman. Luckily, new guitarist and songwriting partner Zakk Wylde helped offer the first signs of salvation on 1988’s ‘No Rest for the Wicked.’ The duo really hit their stride with ‘No More Tears,’ a multi-platinum smash that cut out all the B.S. and re-invigorated Osbourne’s career. Together with his annual Ozzfest tours, the album earned Ozzy permanent “elder statesman” status in the rock world.

08/22/2026

🔴 PAUL McCARTNEY SAID THE BEATLES' 'EIGHT DAYS A WEEK' REFLECTED THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION

Paul McCartney felt The Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week” reflected the sexual revolution. John Lennon didn’t like the song and explained the song’s origin. On the other hand, a director associated with The Beatles said John’s memories were incorrect. “Eight Days a Week” includes lyrics like “Hold me, love me.” During a 2015 interview with Billboard, Paul discussed the song. “Our parents had been rather repressed, and we were breaking out of that mold,” he said. Paul said The Beatles weren’t the only ones feeling the cultural shift. “Everyone was let off the leash,” he recalled. “Coming down from Liverpool to London, there were all sorts of swinging chicks, and we were red-blooded young men. All that’s on your mind at that age is young women — or it was, in our case.” The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is a 1980 interview with John and Yoko. In the book, John revealed he wasn’t a fan of “Eight Days a Week.” “‘Eight Days a Week’ was never a good song,” he said. “We struggled to record it and struggled to make it into a song. It was his initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I’m not sure. But it was lousy anyway.” John recounted the origin of “Eight Days a Week.” “Eight Days a Week was the running title for Help! before they came up with ‘Help!‘” he said. “It was Paul’s effort at getting a single for the movie. That luckily turned to ‘Help!,’ which I wrote, bam! bam!, like that and got the single.” Richard Lester directed Help! According to the book The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Write, Lester disputes John’s version of events. He said The Beatles made “Eight Days a Week” around five months before Help! started filming, so it’s unlikely the song had any connection to the film. In addition, Lester said Help! was going to be called Eight Arms to Hold You rather than Eight Days a Week. “Eight Days a Week” became a huge hit for The Beatles. For two weeks, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100. “Eight Days a Week” lasted on the chart for 10 weeks in total. The tune appeared on The Beatles’ compilation album 1962-1966. The compilation peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 175 weeks. “Eight Days a Week” was not a single in the United Kingdom. According to The Official Charts Company, the song did not chart there. On the other hand, 1962-1966 reached No. 3 there and stayed on the chart for 167 weeks. “Eight Days a Week” embodied the sexual revolution — even if John wasn’t a fan.

08/22/2026

🔴 THE DRUMMER STEWART COPELAND AND NICK MASON CALLED THE BEST OF ALL TIME

Everyone has their favourite drummer. It could be decided on virtuosity, stage presence, fashion sense or, of course, a winning personality. However, when it comes to a drummer’s favourite drummer, we can expect technical skill and unique style to lean more weight on the equation. What better pair to decide on the best drummer of all time than Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason and Stewart Copeland of The Police? In 2018, Mason and Copeland were welcomed as guests on Amazon’s motoring show The Grand Tour. With a drumming ambassador from each side of the Atlantic and two disparate rock genres in front of him, Jeremy Clarkson knew he was in for a brief deviation from car chat. “One thing I see that you have in common is your favourite drummer is the same person,” Clarkson probed during the interview. “Yeah, we sorted this out last night,” Copeland said. “We sorted out the hierarchy last night.” “That’s exactly right, and I knew we were really on it because the table next door were beginning to eavesdrop. And after five minutes, they’d both actually gone to sleep,” Mason laughed in agreement. “So you both agree that Mitch Mitchell was your favourite drummer of all time?” Clarkson asked. “Yeah, our favourite drummer,” Mason replied. “This was Jimi Hendrix’s drummer, I think we should explain to those of you who are not as old as we are,” Clarkson clarified. “Well, that’s the travesty right there,” Copeland interjected enthusiastically. “This great towering… this monument of drums, was Jimi Hendrix’s drummer!” “Well, how would you describe him?” a perplexed Clarkson countered. “Well, Jimi was Mitch’s guitarist,” Copeland asserted before exchanging a look of triumph with Mason. The two drummers have long asserted their respective admiration for Mitch Mitchell, and although they neglected to divulge their “hierarchy,” it would appear Ginger Baker took a snug second place. “In terms of style and rock drummers I like, it was Mitch Mitchell,” Mason told Music Radar in 2010. “Whether it’s behind the beat or not, it’s so lazy, but it worked perfectly under Jimi and that slightly jazzy thing. There’s no one else like him.” Elsewhere in the same conversation, Mason also threw flattering light on Mitchell’s Cream counterpart. “Most of my icons are the people that were my heroes when I was kicking off,” he added. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Ginger Baker. When the curtain opened at the Regent Street Polytechnic in 1966, and there was Ginger, Eric and Jack, I thought, that’s what I’d like to be, and that was it.” The same names cropped up in Copeland’s 2022 interview with Far Out. When asked about Led Zeppelin’s late great drummer John Bonham, the Police beat keeper replied: “I’m more inspired by him now than I was growing up. It was all Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell then and Bonham came later. I liked the fact that Ginger used his tomtoms a lot. He was playing more of his drums than the others, as was Mitch Mitchell who was probably the most inspiring out of all of them.” “It was between him and Buddy Rich,” Copeland added. “Mitch Mitchell just had that electric spark that was just perfect for Jimi Hendrix on guitar. As a frustrated guitarist myself, that was a problem; ‘Who am I?’ ‘Am I the guitarist, drummer or both?’”

08/21/2026

🔴 DID YOU KNOW THAT ABOUT PRINCE?
Prince was really good at programming a drum machine. He was one of the first to get his hands on the first unit that sampled real drums: the LM-1, of which only about 500 were made. He was able to process the sounds in creative ways, resulting in patterns like the one heard on "When Doves Cry." According to Roger Linn, who created the LM-1, Prince was the most creative user of the device.

08/21/2026

🔴 QUOTE : DAVE GAHAN
"I really believe that the more distractions and fixes I remove from my life, the better I'll feel about myself. The biggest of those is Depeche Mode. It's the one marriage that survived, but I'm not sure it works - for me, anyway. Jumping on a plane to go somewhere else and be told how wonderful I am doesn't feel good any more."

08/21/2026

🔴 AUGUST 1979
Van Morrison released his 11th studio album Into the Music.
It includes "Bright Side of the Road", which peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart, and other songs in which Morrison sought to return to his more profound and transcendent style after the pop-oriented Wavelength. The record received favourable reviews from several music critics and was named as one of the year's best albums in the Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Into the Music was recorded in early 1979 at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with Mick Glossop as engineer. During the recording of the album, one of the musicians, trumpet player Mark Isham, referred Morrison to P*e Wee Ellis who lived nearby. Morrison brought him in to do the horn charts for "Troubadours", but Ellis remained and worked on the entire album. The band also included Toni Marcus on strings, Robin Williamson on penny whistle, and Ry Cooder playing slide guitar on "Full Force Gale".

Inside The World Of Rock

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