ROCK AXXESS INT'L no. 3

NO. 3, MAY 2012 free copy

the only rockstyle magazine in the universe

ERIC SINGER PROJECT JOHN NORUM - EUROPE MEMBERS OF WHITESNAKE THERION METALLICA IN EXTREMO GUITAR GUINNESS RECORD JIMI HENDRIX STYLE A VINYL LIFESTYLE TIMELINE OF MUSIC FORMATS WE WILL ROCK YOU EUROPEAN SUMMER FESTIVALS

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news access

rock talk

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ERIC SINGER PROJECT JOHN NORUM - EUROPE

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rock access

may 2012

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MEMBERS OF WHITESNAKE - Nothing can kill the music IN EXTREMO WITH FIRE AND BAGPIPES

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digging the rock

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YOU KNOW THE HITS... METALLICA - BLACK ALBUM rock shop rock live

JUDAS PRIEST 39 ANATHEMA

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dark access

MYTHS AND BIBLICAL STORIES IN THE WORLD OF THERION

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backstage access

43644 METRES OF STRINGS - LESZEK CICHOŃSKI

49 undressed

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JIMI HENDRIX STYLE rock collectors corner

A VINYL LIFESTYLE

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rock style

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WE WILL ROCK YOU - 10TH ANNIVERSARY real rock

rock savvy

TIMELINE OF MUSIC FORMATS - PART II - DIGITAL

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rock shot

METALLICA TRAPPED UNDER ICE DRINK

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map of rock

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EUROPEAN SUMMER ROCK FESTIVALS GUIDE - PART I rock gallery

EDITORIAL Certain person accused us of promoting alcoholism in Rock Axxess. How dare we publish a photo of a musician drinking our own Polish national beverage? Maybe high percentage alcohol and rock n’ roll don’t always go hand in hand... But wait! Rock bands are still trying to sell their own brands of tequilla, beer or wine. We took a closer look at the last on that list, so in our Rock Shop you can read our little rock-wine review. Sitting with a glass of wine, you can check what’s going on around the world – when Kiss played in Poland (they actually didn’t but Eric Singer had a dissenting opinion) and who likes The Final Countdown.

We also have some new stuff. The world’s first press realityshow: not with a camera, but with a piece of paper and a pencil, we follow a rock band called Maqama. Each month, starting from this issue, you can follow the band in their rehearsal room, on and off the stage, and about every other place they decide to go. Another new thing is a live concert gallery. We take off with some heavy riffs – Metallica captured by Marek Koprowski. And finally, another new section: collector’s column. We encourage you not only to read but also to share your thoughts and stories about your own rock collections. E-mail us, visit us on Facebook – let us know you better. Maybe some of you have a cabinet full of wine? You’ll have plenty of time to drink it while reading this edition of Rock Axxess because we’ve never been so thick before.

Karolina Karbownik editor-in-chief

ROCK AXXESS the only rockstyle magazine in the universe editor in chief/ creative director Karolina Karbownik [k.karbownik@allaccess.com.pl] deputy editor in chief / translation editor Jakub Bizon Michalski [j.michalski@allaccess.com.pl] contributors Falk-Hagen Bernshausen Aleksandra Błaszczak Marcelina Gadecka Marek Koprowski Agnieszka Lenczewska Erick Lopez Robert Markowski Leszek Mokijewski Sheila Palkoski Izabela Sepioł Katarzyna Strzelec Dorota Zulikowska advertising director Katarzyna Strzelec [k.strzelec@allaccess.com.pl] rock axxess logo Dominik Nowak

publisher: All Access Media, ul. Szolc - Rogozinskiego 10/20, 02-777 Warszawa, Poland biuro@allaccess.com.pl editor’s office contact@rockaxxess.com We do not accept responsibility for the content of the advertising published in the magazine.

on the cover: John Corabi photography: Monica Zielińska photo edition: Marek Koprowski graphic design: Karolina Karbownik

news access

Jakub “Bizon” Michalski, Karolina Karbownik

Future mom wants to find her baby’s pop?

Heavy metal poetry Amp Rock TV came up with an extremely interesting idea. They have created a series of short videos in which some well-known figures from the world of rock and metal music recite the words of their own songs, often adding some almost theatrical gesticulation. We must admit that such a way of presenting their own work is really interesting, both for the fans and probably for artists themselves. It’s probably quite a challenge for the musicians also because the words of the musical pieces devoid of noisy background music are often easy targets for criticism. Marylin Manson was one of the first that dared to pick up the gauntlet, presenting the lyrics of his song, Overneath the Path of Misery from his new album, Born Villain. Other musicians brave enough were the members of Korn, My Chemical Romance and the Black Veil Brides. How was it? Interesting, to say the least. The videos are dubbed Series 1 which gives us some hope that the project will have its continuation.

Certain lady caused some sensation on the Internet recently searching for a man that, allegedly, had been responsible for her pregnancy. The whole thing was supposed to take place in a toilet during Megadeth and Motörhead’s club gig in Chicago. After giving a detailed description of both her and her lover’s outfits, the woman also shared a few spicy details of their little toilet tête-à-tête, and then asked the future proud (?) father to get in touch with her, if he would like to be a part of his child’s life.

photo. Miss Shela / Erick Lopez

The message quickly spread round various web portals and also found its way to many TV stations. However, everything turned out to be just a joke.

The witty gal is now telling the truth about the whole thing: It started from not sleeping very much and starting a new medication that kept me awake.

I was just so bored being awake all day and all night, and I was surfing the internet non-stop. I read some Craigslist Missed Connections posts and I found them funny, so I decided to put one up. [The guy] is a friend. Just a friend. I was not there. I cannot name any Megadeth or Motörhead songs. I’m pretty sure there were people banging at that concert, by the way, based on email responses from a few terrified concertgoers who thought that they had impregnated me. I may not be pregnant, but someone is. We would really like to comment on that somehow but... we just can’t come up with anything smart enough.

news access Dimeboard Metal fans can get a new skateboard which was created as a homage to Pantera’s deceased guitar player, Dimebag Darrell. It was released by Elephant Brand Skateboards, owned by a professional skater, Mike Vallely who, in addition to riding skateboards, is also a wrestler and a heavy metal musician, among others.

You can view the whole fourminute promo film on the official Elephant Brand Skateboards’ website. It was shot at Dimebag and Rita Haney’s place and is acompanied by an early and unreleased song written and performed by Dimebag, called Twisted. Vallely is one of the film’s two skaters who show their skills in various places around Dimebag’s household. You can admire and acquire the skateboard through www.dimebaghardware.com.

Faithful Zakk

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We have another Zakk Wylde signature guitar – Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom. It stays faithful to the characteristic graphic pattern that refers to Hitchcock’s Vertigo. People from Gibson say that the guitar will be equipped with many devices most popular among thrash metal players. The guitar is made from mahogany and maple wood; it comes with EMG-81/85 hambuckers. On the back of the guitar’s headstock there’s Zakk’s silhouette. The guitar is supposed to play as good as it looks. But there’s some bad news. It will cost almost 4000$, a bit too much for a casual fan. However, metal fans proved many times that they are willing to spend lots of money when it comes to their idols.

Åkerfeldt denies rumors There was a lot of confusion about Mikael Akerfeldt’s condition and the reasoning behind the canceling of Opeth’s show in Maplewood, Minnesota on 8 May. Many sites have originally reported that the band’s frontman had broken his arm in a car accident.

The accident indeed happened but had nothing to do with road collisions. Mikael released a statement through his officjal facebook account: Seriously, I was not in a car crash and I haven’t broken my arm.

All that happened is I hit my head in Mastodon’s tour bus as I was getting a new pair of (red) underwear out from my suitcase. (...) Anyways, I split my head open down to the skullbone and had to be taken to the emergency. They gave me a bunch of shots in the wound, cleaned me up and stapled my head shut with 8 metal staples.

The rest of the gigs went as planned. Wish the story was more rock and roll, believe me – added Opeth’s frontman.

Playing with holograms

photo. Karolina Karbownik / Agnieszka Lenczewska

Here we go! The music industry has been flooded with rumors about deceased artists holograms’ possible appearances on stage after Tupac’s recent performance at Coachella Festival. The fans’ opinions were deeply polarized. Some of them treat the holograms as a proper tribute (or a kind of resurrection) to a late artist, but others say that playing with holograms is a kind of necrophilia and an easy way to earn some money.

And how long do we have to wait to see Amy Winehouse or Whitney Houston back on stage? This brings up an interesting moral question: is it okay to resurrect an artist in such a way? Immediately, some questions popped up concerning the appearances of other late artists. Their families, promoters, heirs and all those who can make some money out of it became more active recently. A survey was carried out asking the fans, who would they like to see resurrected onstage. The winner was Jimi Hendrix. Jim Morrison was another one frequently mentioned. Although it was just a poll, there have already been some plans made.

Michael Jackson’s brother, Jackie, has stated that he’d be interested in performing together with his famous brother. Some already speculate about Elvis Presley’s tour.

Few people know that such ideas were already tried out. A couple of years ago, a German TV station resurrected Freddie Mercury, who performed his last hit, These Are the Days of Our Lives, although the technique was a bit different than the one used currently. Queen’s Roger Taylor, asked about a possible tournee with Freddie Mercury’s hologram, told Billboard: I don’t think I want to. It just doesn’t sit too well with me. I don’t want to appear with a hologram of my dear friend. It’s the real one or no hologram for me. I think it’s an amazing effect when used properly, obviously in darkness. Were somebody to use a hologram of Freddie, I would have no objection. Although an idea of seeing rock stars from the past could be tempting, especially to all those born several years to late, but we have serious doubts whether the late musicians would be able to improvise with the rest of their bands and spontaneously play some long-unheard songs if asked by the fans...

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rock talk

Eric Singer Project

Eric Singer, Bruce Kulick, John Corabi.

Someone will mention Kiss and Mötley Crüe.

Others will add Union and Eric Singer Project.

And there are more of those “projects” which is great because we get to see these artists in different personal configurations, always delivering solid portions of good old hard rock. this interview we publish courtesy of Wojtek Maciejewski who organized aforementioned shows .

Katarzyna Strzelec photography: Monica Zielińska i Andrzej Olechnowski

unplugged

It’s not your first time in Poland, is it?

Eric: For me? No, I’ve been here a few times, many times.

I don’t know about John or Bruce.

John: My second time.

Bruce: And my second time. We were here on 12 April (2011).

Just John and I, we played acoustic.

Eric: And I was here with Brian May, with Alice Cooper, with Kiss and…

No, you haven’t been here with Kiss.

Eric: Ever? I thought Kiss played in 2008…here. Never?

No, that was in Prague.

Eric: Well, I played with ESP and …I played with Alice Cooper [The show that never was... – Rock Axxess] and Brian May. I know we played, I remember Warsaw in 1998 with Brian May. That I remember for sure.

What was so special about playing with Brian May. Do you have any plans to join him again?

Eric: With Brian May? What was so special? Well, two reasons.

One - Brian May is a very unique guitar player. I think he is one of the best ever and he is one of my favourites. But also, for me, I was, still am a very big Queen fan, so that’s what was special. But I don’t think Brian plans on doing any more of solo type stuff in the sense that he did before. He has been doing things with Brian, sorry Roger Taylor and Queen - Queen related things, so…

Bruce, were you also influenced by Brian?

Bruce: Amm, you know, there is an interesting story about Brian.

Not only I was a fan, of course, ’cause Queen being such an amazing group and he is such a brilliant guitar player. I actually met him while doing one of my first gigs, backstage. I actually was packing up like a top forty disco artist, and Brian and the drummer came to the club, and the next thing you know, they are backstage and I’m talking to him. He is the most incredibly intelligent, sweetest, friendliest man, and I promised myself, you know, If I ever have the opportunity to be known by fans, I would want to be like Brian. He was an inspiration for me in that way, not only as a musician. He is a total gentleman, an incredible guy. And Eric is very lucky to have worked with him, I think he is a great guy.

Ok. Eric, let’s go to the beginning. Why did you start the ESP project?

Eric: It came about actually by a friend of ours that runs the Kiss website, Kissonline.com, and also has the Kiss Army Warehouse - Keith Leroux. Keith Leroux has originally came up with the idea. I was going to do a record of cover songs, and he said Hey, I have some people who would invest if you do a record, but because Bruce and I have just come out of Kiss, he said, if you do it with Bruce and John - they were working together in Union – I have some people that will give you a record deal. So that’s how it came about – 1998.

What is the difference for you when you play gigs in front of 50,000 people and with ESP when you are doing clubs for 500 people?

Eric: That would be 49500…[laughs] If my math is correct.

Bruce: I would say it is just better catering when we play for 50,000.

Eric: Yeah, better catering, better towels, first class in airfare…

Bruce: We do get asked that and to be honest, speaking for myself as a musician, I really care about any size audience, ‘cause I really want to play well. So I’m pretty nervous in a big crowd and a small crowd. The smaller crowds are probably harder to

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play, cause they are really right there.

Eric: I find it a little intimidating myself – the small crowd, because when I was small, a teenager, I was always very shy about playing drums in front of anyone, so whenever I get into these kind of situations, it kind of reminds me of being at somebody’s house in the basement, jamming and being kind of intimidated because your friends and everybody is standing like right here staring at you. It’s rewarding because a lot of fans really… you get to see the expression, the emotion on their face. Last night we played in Oslo, Norway, and the people were veeery drunk.

[Bruce laughs] Eric: They sang along a lot of the songs and honestly, I think it made it – for us – a more relaxed, loosed atmosphere and we have ended up jamming and messing around with other songs that we didn’t normally play, even just parts of songs, so it made it more loose.

Bruce: Yeah, in the big crowd you can never do that. You know, you’ve got to stick to the program.

So you are not missing the big venues from the times you were in Kiss and Mötley Crüe?

John: Well… of course, we all want to play, you know, the big crowds, and like Eric was saying - the big light show and lots of amps, but this is cool, too. It does give you the opportunity, and in the bigger situation you don’t ever get to see much pass the front row. So this is the way just to get out and feel the reaction from people in the smaller setting, it’s cool.

Bruce: John just finished a really cool tour in America by himself playing acoustic, opening for Cinderella, very popular band in America. And the guys were touring all different places, and I was very proud of him, ‘cause it’s pretty bold to get out there all by yourself and sing alone playing the guitar in front of thousands of people. And I love doing it in an intimate club with him. So it is all about communicating with the people and hopefully they enjoy your music. It becomes a love fest. [laughs] Eric, do you think there is any album or a song that represents your drumming style the best?

Eric: Errr, I don’t know, I never thought about this kind of thing.

I mean, I think anytime I get to play songs, your own songs, in other words a new record, like we’re working on a new Kiss record, so even though I was playing Kiss songs or Kiss music I have to be conscious of that and remember that I have to play for the music and for the song first, but still that’s me playing drums, I’m not trying to play like anybody else. So I think that anything I play on represents what I do.

What’s your favorite Kiss album?

Eric: My favorite Kiss album? Probably Dressed To Kill and Hotter Than Hell.

Bruce: I think he means the ones you played on.

No, no.

Bruce: Oh, ok, in general.

Eric: Of the ones I played on, I like MTV Unplugged because I always tell people that it is a unique kind of experience and I always… Look, I love doing the big show with all the bombs and all this kind of stuff and playing all dressed up, It’s like Halloween every night for us, but I still like the fact that when we did MTV Unplugged, it was taking all this away and showing the music just stripped down to its basic form of a song, and a melody, and amm….

Bruce: A proof to people...

Eric: Yeah, at least in my opinion, it proved that Kiss does have >

substance and it was more than just, you know, the 6 inch platforms and make up in grease paint and all this, and bombs... they have good songs and we are people, we can play and we can sing.

And the albums: Animalize, Asylum, Crazy Nights, Revenge - are there any songs which have never seen the daylight and are there any outtakes recorded but not relased?

Bruce: Yeah. Kiss usually just rehearses and records everything that will be on the record. Except for the demo, ok? But there’s one song that we spent a lot of time on and it sounds amazing, but there’s no vocals. It’s from Revenge, so Bob Ezrin produced it. The track is amazing and the working title was something like, Do You Want To Touch Me Now or something like that. Snake from Skid Row wrote it with Paul and Ezrin.

And it’s a great song. I never understood why we didn’t finish it. And please don’t ask me for a version, ok? I’m one of the few people to have it and I’ll go on the record and mention that when the box set was put together by Gene and Paul they asked me, What do you have? Because they knew I used to keep things… The producers would always give me the tape, cause they know I wouldn’t lose it. I’m not that kind of a person. I’m gonna back it up and I’ll save it. And that was one of the important tracks that I said, Dude, time to put this out, and they decided not to. I don’t know why. Although, you know, there will probably be the box set no. 2 and box set no. 3 in the future…

Who knows…

John: But if you want it now, I have it for 19,99 in the trunk of my car… awesome [laughs] Bruce: JohnCorabi.com – unreleased Kiss songs.

It’s fascinating with all the bootlegs out and so many different things but there is not a lot of unreleased Kiss songs. Gene does have tons of demos he has written of songs that he always talks about putting out. Which would be interesting, because there

might be some songs that I’ve co-written with him but they didn’t survive, you know, didn’t get released. Paul did a couple of songs with Eric and I – Time Traveler, Sword and Stone - but they are demos, they are not really a finished product. But on the one from Revenge, all that was missing was a vocal. That was it.

Do you have any plans to record a new ESP album?

Eric: Right now, there’s no plan, but my attitude about music and music business and all bands is never say never, because anything is possible. We’ve talked about it on and off through the last few years, but it’s a matter of finding the right time to do it and somebody that wants to put the record out – it’s not easy anymore. Record business keeps changing literally every month.

Bruce will tell you, and John. John is working on an acoustic record and Bruce put out his own record last year, so they can tell you – it’s not easy to try and put records out nowadays.

Is there any chance that Union will continue to play and record in the original line-up? I mean with James Hunting and Brent Fitz.

John: Well, just so everybody knows… we never really, like officially broke up. We took a little bit of a break. Bruce was obviously asked to do the Grand Funk gig. Right around the same time, I was asked to do Ratt, and Brent was asked to play with Vince Neil. So, we’ve all been doing other things in the meantime, but we’ve talked about it. We’ve talked about maybe possibly doing another record or doing just the shows. So you know, it’s not a band that’s broken up. We’ve just kind of taken a break for a little while and hopefully Union can come over here and play in Poland, it would be awesome, it would be very cool.

Bruce: What he said – YES….[laughs] John: The same for me… [laughs]

Do you have any time for hobbies, sports or whatever?

Eric: Hobby or sports? This is my hobby. I just feel blessed I get to do what I like or what I love. I think most musicians have turned their hobby into their lifestyle and a way of making a living.

Eric, I know you like watches. Is there any particular brand that you would like to have?

Bruce: Oh boy...

Eric: Well, I was hoping Bruce and John would pull their money together and buy me something nice…[laughs] To me the watch thing is just a hobby, like you asked about hobbies, it is just a hobby thing that I really enjoy, but it’s very boring to talk about in this kind of situation – I’ll be honest with you.

What’s your best advice for a young musician who wants to be successful?

Eric: Learn to write songs. Because the money is in the publishing, owning and writing songs. Many people don’t even perform, they are just songwriters and they have made a very great living this way. But most important is – you have to keep your head up straight. I try not to be a preacher, but you have to stay away from the drugs and the drinking, and all this because it always… that ends up always very bad.

John: Can you hand me my heroine?

Eric: Yeah.

John: I’m kidding! [laughs] Bruce, you took part in Rock ’n Roll Fantasy Camp, was it a good experience?

Eric: Oh, he has done more than just one.

Bruce: Yeah, I mean… I’ve done probably a dozen at least, maybe more. It’s a very hard work in long hours, and Eric actually came along with Paul – ‘cause Paul Stanley was the special guest at the one in L.A. and he got like a full day to see what goes on. It’s always rewarding, it’s not easy, but I enjoy sharing what I know about making a band and they don’t mind when I yell at them about it, too. So I’m getting these, like professionals, you know – doctors, accountants from everyday life, who always had their passion. Some of them can play a little, some of them are terrible, some are really talented. And they are thrown together in the way of a cohesive band. And I’m telling you – it changes their lives. I get the reward out of taking a part and making it good. And then the other bonus is I get to play with people that I really respect, a lot of musicians, and I have backed up some of my heroes – I got to jam with Jack Bruce in London - I’m a Cream nut. Played Pete Townshend’s guitar parts for Roger Daltrey, it doesn’t get better than that…

So there is always those moments too... You know, like I have my fantasy because some people come in and play. And it was great – Paul played all the songs with my band, and of course we did mostly Kiss songs, it was at the Playboy mansion, it was a lot of fun. It was a great time. It is hard work, but very rewarding. And there is more coming. More of them.

Ace Frehley released his biography No Regrets. Have you read it?

Eric: No. Bruce: I heard a few things about it, but I didn’t read it.

Eric: Somebody told me I don’t get mentioned, so if I’m not in it, there is no reason for me to read it. Honestly, I wish Ace the best, I like Ace, he’s a nice guy, but I don’t care about these kind of books. Some people find it interesting and for me that is the great thing about books – there is something for everybody. For me, I would rather read about a historical figure or something.

Bruce: About watches…[laughs] Eric: Watches, yeah. Or historical figures, I’m interested in this kind of thing.

So you are not going to write any memoirs?

Eric: I don’t have any story.. I mean everybody has a story of their life, but my opinion is: if you gonna write a book, you better be willing to really be straight up and tell all ‘cause people don’t want to hear of just the nice, all the goody-two-shoes.

They want to hear of the dirt, they want to hear salacious, all behind the scenes and all the dirt in the closet. They don’t want to hear just about how sweet everything is. It’s not interesting to people.

Bruce: I started writing, a friend of mine was helping me talk about my career and time in Kiss. Shortly after The Dirt came out - the book from Mötley Crüe, which John gets a chapter in - which was pretty extreme, you know, there was a lot of crazy stuff in the book, and the people – the business people – were asking, Do you have anything like that in it? – And I was like – No. And even if I knew something – you know – dark, I wouldn’t want to share that, when I respect the people that I’ve worked with. So I realized I really shied away from it, and now I really know if I ever do a book, it would have to be my way, meaning - the way I want to tell the story, and not try to throw people under the bus, which is what some people do.

Eric: Sometimes you want to tell the truth and it will make somebody look unfavorable or look negative, if it’s viewed that way, but I think, unfortunately the way society’s become, with all these reality TV shows, and all this stuff… Everybody wants to see train wrecks. They want to see problems and chaos, and not everything is always chaos, so it’s very difficult to do this, and I personally think that some things are best left, you have your own memories in your own head, and you don’t need to share them with the world. I think sometimes it’s being more respectful that way.

Polish roots – that could be a nice chapter in your biography. Is it true that you have Polish roots?

Eric: I thought you’re Russian.

Bruce: Yeah, I’m mixed. Russian and Polish and some what they call Prussia – it’s just Eastern Europe. Apparently, on my mother’s side, my grandmother came from Poland, and again – that was very long time ago. I just found out a lot about that more recently, so on our trip I was kind of fascinated with it, I was looking forward to seeing Poland, because back in the times of my grandparents and everything, this was a very different place as you know. It was Russian control, problems. We were really impressed with a lot of the modern stuff we see here and how people are living here. I’m quite impressed. I see you as the new chic Europeans. So, I’m proud of that.

Eric: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and we had a really big Polish community in Cleveland when I was growing up, I remember.

Last question – What is the most annoying question you always hear?

Eric: Most annoying? Ammmm… Usually it is something about Kiss. Look, everybody is proud of everything we’ve done, but sometimes questions become kind of old and redundant. I’m sure that every time John gets asked a question of something to do with Mötley Crüe or Tommy Lee, or Nikki Sixx. People always ask me about Gene Is Gene’s tongue real?, Is it sewn on?

You know, crazy. After some time you think, Do people still believe in this kind of stuff?

Bruce: We’ve heard them all so we know what to do… No problem. No big deal… �

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no grown ups like

rock talk

the final

countdown

JOHN NORUM - EUROPE Katarzyna Strzelec, Jakub “Bizon” Michalski photography: K. Strzelec, J. Michalski, Paul Bergen

With its performance during Thanks Jimi Festival in Wroclaw, Poland - Europe has begun their tour after the release of the new album Bag Of Bones. Before listening to a set of new songs mixed with the old hits such as “Carrie”, “Rock The Night” and “The Final Countdown”, we had a chance to talk to the band’s guitar player, John Norum, who turned out to be a very open and joyful chap.

The new album Bag Of Bones is out and it’s the first concert of the tour after the release of the album. Is there anything new that you will try to incorporate into the show?

Well yeah, we’re gonna play some new songs from the new album. We’re doing like four or five new songs, which is different. What else is different? There’s a few different things in between the songs.

Any old favourites that you dug out?

Well, no. Not really. Well, obviously we’re gonna do some hits from the eighties. Not all of them but a couple. The ones that we like to play.

Or the ones that you’re expected to play...

Well, yeah. People might sometimes wanna hear certain songs. We’ve done it thousands of times. It gets boring for us.

We just wanna play the stuff that we like and we can enjoy.

Actually, I read an interview with Joey Tempest in which he said that you thought about not playing The Final Countdown anymore.

It’s never gonna happen. We kinda joke about it sometimes.

We’re just having fun with it, like in a tour bus after a couple of beers. And we talk about it: Let’s not play ‘The Final Countdown’ tomorrow. And everyone is: Yeah, let’s not do it! But then it’s gonna happen anyway ‘cause we’re too scared to put that thing out. We can’t put it out of the setlist because we’re scared everybody’s gonna get mad and beat us up [laughs].

There’s gonna be a riot, throwing tomatoes and eggs at us, bananas come flying.

Have you ever thought about doing a tour and stating

that we’re not playing any hits during this tour and if you would like to see us not playing the hits, then buy the ticket and come?

No, it doesn’t make any sense. People want to hear the songs that they know and they love from the 80s, 90s and so on.

We try to please everybody.

I actually remember Uriah Heep recording the Wake The Sleeper album a couple of years ago and in fact it was so good that they played the whole thing live. A 40-year-old band plays the whole new album live. I still don’t know if it was brave or stupid.

I don’t know, I’m not into that kind of thing. I’ve heard about Metallica doing the whole Black Album this year. It’s boring.

Next year it’s gonna be the 30th anniversary of your debut album. Do you plan on doing anything special because of it.

Yeah, maybe we’ll do the whole first album [laughs]

You’re not doing much off the first album now.

No, but we were so young then. These songs were written when we were about 15.

Are you ashamed of those songs?

No, we’re not ashamed of them but it’s not something you wanna play in your late 40s. We have progressed a little bit.

Coming back to the new album, Joe Bonamassa plays on one of the tracks. Is he a friend of the band or is Kevin Shirley a common friend?

No, he’s a friend of the band, definitely. I’ve done a show with him in Sweden, I went up, it was a guest thing. You can see it

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on YouTube. Everything is on YouTube. He came up to do the guest thing with us. And of course we have the connection in Kevin Shirley. He’s worked with Joe for over 10 years or something. He thought maybe we should have a slide guitar at the beginning of the song Bag of Bones and then he looked at me, and I said: Well, don’t look at me. I don’t know anything about this. I don’t know anything about slide guitar nor acoustic, I’ve never done it. I’ve never been interested in it. So what do you think about having Joe come and play the intro?

And I said, Well, I think that’s great. It’s perfect, as long as he only plays slide, not stealing the show. As long as he’s not using his fingers, and blow me away [laughs].

He’s doing a lot of guest appearances, he probably lost track of it a long time ago.

Yeah, he’s all over the place. He’s a workaholic. But he’s young, he’s only like 34 or something. You can do that then. You have to cut down a little bit when you get this old, like me [laughs].

Well, the guys from Uriah Heep are over 60, the same with Deep Purple…

Yeah, and they’re still going strong. You’re never too old to rock. Rockin’ out can actually keep you young, help you stay young and healthy.

Actually, when you go to play the concert today, you’re gonna see guys that are like 60 or 70 with their guitars and also guys who are 5 or 6 years old, probably their grandchildren.

All ages, yeah. We have that kind of audience too, which is quite exciting. If you’re a pop band, you usually have a pop audience. If you’re heavy metal, you have like heavy metal, doom metal guys. Usually just guys. But our audience is like everything from 10 to 90, because we have the hard rock stuff, we have the pop stuff, and we have some metal as well.

We have it all basically [laughs] It’s just fun too to do different styles.

Coming back to Joe Bonamassa. He said that he collects guitars, he not only plays them but he buys them and searches for different models, like 59 Les Paul, vintage stuff. Do you do this kind of thing?

No, I’m not a collector, you know. He’s a millionaire so he can do that [laughs]. I played his 59 Les Paul. He bought it for something like 300,000 dollars. It’s crazy, that’s a lot of money. It’s like Can I touch it? - Oh no no, don’t even look at it.

- [laughs] Like the Spinal Tap thing. I don’t collect, I have like 20-25 guitars, and that’s it.

How many of them do you take on tour?

Now I have five with me.

This is not like a full tour now, right? Just selected appearances on summer festivals?

Yeah, it’s gonna be like two weeks until the next one. On festivals you usually go out during the weekends. But we do this all of the summer. It’s usually the weekends, which is good, especially if you have little babies at home.

I saw that you’re doing the UK tour in November and there’s a certain rumor in Poland about you coming back for a couple of gigs in autumn. Can you comment on that?

Yes, after the UK tour we’re doing the whole Europe. We’re gonna be all over the place. We’re gonna be out for like two

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months. So we’re gonna be in every country all over the Europe and then we’re gonna be in Scandinavia for two weeks.

And then Asia, and then South America and then it goes on and on. [laughs] The usual business we do pretty much every other year.

Do you still have some time for your solo career? The last album was about two years ago.

I don’t look at it as a career, really. I look at it more as fun, a side-project. Europe is the main priority but the solo thing is very important to me because I can do whatever I want. I can’t do that in Europe, they tell me what to do [laughs]. You should do this or that. [laughs]. No, it’s not that bad, really.

But it’s fun for me because I can be the producer, the engineer, I like to do everything: do the singing, mixing, I can do five or six instrumental songs, if I like to. If I come to Europe and say I have ten instrumental songs, can we use seven of them and Joey – you can sing three – and the rest is instrumen-

tal. It doesn’t work. So that’s why I can do whatever I want.

It’s just fun.

You were talking about your families and weekend shows. Your son is on the cover of your last solo album, Play Yard Blues. He’s seven. Is he already playing the guitar or was it just for the photo shoot?

Oh no, he plays. He has it in his blood. There was no escape.

Even if he wanted to, he cannot escape this, it’s in his genes.

He’s very fortunate; he has it from his mother and his father.

His mother was the guitar player, Michelle Meldrum from the band Phantom Blue. He’s exciting, he has three guitars, he’s practicing a lot. He’s really incredible, you know. He’s so ambitious, just like I was when I was young.

Usually parents remember the first word the baby says.

Do you remember the first chord he played on the guitar?

Oh yeah, I do. It was a D chord. It felt very natural to him.

He basically picked it up where I’ve always been [John does some air guitar].

The guitar your son is holding on the cover of your album Play Yard Blues - is this a special, smaller professional guitar for kids?

I gave him this one. I got it when we were on tour in Japan, as a gift from a Japanese fan. But it’s tiny, too small for me, I’m a big guy. I thought it would be perfect for my son. He has this one and a miniature Strat and a Telecaster. He has all the classic ones. This one is a really good one because the black stuff you see here is a tiny speaker. You just switch it on, it has a battery inside, you don’t actually have to plug it in.

Do you think that it’s easier for him nowadays because

you said he has a Strat and stuff, and you probably had to buy some shitty guitars when you were young?

My first one was really shitty. But it looked beautiful. I remember the first day I had it. It stood against the wall all night and I was lying in bed, staring at it. I couldn’t sleep all night.

Maybe one day you will play on one stage with your son.

I hope it’s gonna happen. We have to wait a few more years, I think, but soon he will be ready to rock on a stage and then he’s gonna be headbanging.

Is he following your footsteps in terms of the genre?

Not really. I mean, The Final Countdown is one of his favourite songs but he’s at that age when you like The Final Countdown.

No grown ups like The Final Countdown, come on. [laughs] It’s a song for kids. Even though it’s a good song, I like it myself. But it’s typical, friends in his school love it when I come and drop him off at school they come to me and say yeah, you’re the Final Countdown guy. But he listens to other stuff, whatever is on TV or on the radio. You know, the Eurovision song contest. He likes that kind of stuff. The Eurovision song contest is at that age level, between 7 and 10, the bubblegum stuff.

So you play with Joe Bonamassa and Anton Fig on the last album. Any other musicians you would like to play with? Any dream band that you have?

You know what, I’m very lucky, I’ve played with a lot of people, I’ve played with Deep Purple – that was amazing. I wasn’t ready. They just asked us. We were opening up for Deep Purple and they just asked – You wanna come up and jam?. I said Which song? . ‘Smoke on the Water’, you’re gonna do this trade off thing with Steve. This was amazing, standing next to Ian

Gillan and Roger Glover – people I grew up listening to. But I guess I already am in the best band in the world.

I’m in the dream band because these guys go back so many years, we’re like brothers. I’ve done other things, I was in Dokken for a while, but it’s not the same thing, we’re like brothers. We met each other when we were 14 or 15 years old, running around on mopeds. We’ve known each other for a long time. But there’s someone I’d like to meet – David Bowie. I met most people I admire as musicians, like Glenn Hughes, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Frank Marino, a lot of them, basically. But David Bowie was a big influence on me when I was younger, when he was Ziggy Stardust. I used to have one of those balls on my forehead, like the planets and the flash and all.

Was Mick Ronson an influence also?

Yes, definitely. What you’re gonna see when I’m playing tonight is the Mick Ronson guitar, the Les Paul. It’s not his original one. Gibson makes a signature model.

They’re very hard to get, though. But that’s my main guitar tonight. It was black at the beginning, it looks like wood now and black at the back. He just had that great sense of rhythm. He didn’t play that many notes, it didn’t matter. He had such a great feel. He just had to play like three or four notes. It was enough.

Europe’s last album is like a bow to classic hard rock. More than the eighties albums. The eighties albums were typical of that period with that keyboard sound… … spandex pants, big hairdos, shiny shirts, make up, mascara, eyeliner…

photo. Paul Bergen

The last album is more like classic rock influenced, by bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple.

Is it the direction the band is taking now permanently?

I don’t know. We just do one album at a time. We didn’t have a big master plan this time that we wanted to make an album that was like 70s style. I think it has a lot to do with Kevin Shirley, actually. He makes it sound like a 70s album. These songs could have been done in a more high-tech production and it would have been completely different. The riffs and everything might remind you of the 70s.

It’s very basic, melodic hard rock, blues influenced.

But Kevin’s mixing is very warm and analogue, and the Hammond organ… it’s like Uriah Heep.

It’s the main distinction between the 80s and nowadays – the sound of keyboards. The new records are less like 80s hair metal and more like Hammond organs, like Ken Hensley.

Yeah, Hammond organs through Marshalls, it’s very vintage style, old school. Key plays through that big old furniture and that’s cool.

Actually, we were listening to the new album recently and I said that it sounds similar to Black Country Communion, probably because Kevin Shirley is there and you can hear that he’s produc-

ing this album.

Yeah, that’s what he does. That’s why we wanted to work with him, because we really enjoy that warm, fat sound that he gets, which is very much the 70s when it was very organic and very real. I’m very old school myself, you know, I’m an old hippie. Peace, brother.

Do you listen to any new bands, rock bands or do you stick with the dinosaurs?

I stick with the dinosaurs, I like T. Rex [laughs] I’m very loyal. The latest album I bought was Van Halen, Different Kind of Truth. So I follow and I buy UFO or Deep Purple. I’m not one of those that follow trends.

I’m not a fan of bands like Lamb of God. If I think of a new band that sounds really great, I guess Black Country Communion. That’s a new band. If I think of another one, I enjoyed listening to Audioslave when they came out. We listened to a lot Audioslave. It was like a riff-oriented rock. And I think a lot of stuff that came on The Last Look at Eden album… we were listening to Audioslave all the time when we were writing that album. There’s a lot of riffy stuff. But other than that, I can’t come up with anything… there’s probably bunch of them out there but I don’t follow any scene.

Have you heard The Answer or Rival Sons?

Well, yeah. I’ve heard The Answer long time ago, well, probably it was like three years maybe. Ok, it’s not a very long time [laughs]. I wasn’t that impressed…

You prefer to stick with the originals?

Yeah, they’re much better players. I didn’t think The Answer were good players. I was not impressed by them.

Any Scandinavian bands?

No, not really. I don’t like… well, I should be nice now [laughs]. I’ll try to come up with someone. Well, Opeth!

ABBA? ABBA. ABBA is the greatest band of all time.

Mikael from Opeth actually told the same during their concert in Poland. He asked people, How many of you would go to see ABBA if they reunited and then he said Of course, everyone would go.

Oh man, I would love to see ABBA reunite, that would be amazing. But yeah, Opeth is great. This is one of my best friends, Fredrik, the guitar player [John points at Fredrik Akesson on the cover of Rock Axxess’ March edition]. We’ve known each other forever, we always go out and party together. We always go out and drink beer for hours and talk. We talk guitars and amplifiers and everything and it goes on and on and on. We can’t stop. He’s a great guitarist. He’s one of the best on the planet now, as we speak.

Ok, I think we have to finish now. Thanks for the interview and see you during the show.

Thanks guys, see you later. �

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rock access

nothing can kill the

MUSIC Karolina Karbownik photography: Falk - Hagen Bernshausen

Guitars were used as baseball bats to devastate all could be devastated.

Luckily, almost six months later, they are back where they belong, handled by those who know how to use them properly.

photo. Falk - Hagen Bernshausen

photo. Falk - Hagen Bernshausen

Several months ago, I was watching a short film on YouTube about vandals running with guitars and destroying all that was around them. My heart was torn to pieces. I saw heavy amps and instruments, waiting for notes to be played on them, being used as a weapon, instead. For hundreds of masked rebels, shiny and new guitars became baseball bats, perfect for crashing wind shells and windows.

Rockbottom has operated at the same location for 36 years. One day in August, it all went up in flames, just like

other shops in the area. 60-year-old Carl Nielsen recalls that day when he and his teenage son witnessed thugs smashing the shop’s windows, tearing away the shutters and plundering the whole place: I was holding a mike stand trying to fend them off, but there were about twenty of them. It was terrifying. The vision is still with me, and my son won’t even enter Croydon. The vandals weren’t interested in confronting the store owner. Their goal was to get the instruments and use them in a battle. They devastated the store and went away.

Rockbottom was wrapped in smoke. Nielsen estimates that he lost £500,000 in stock, damage, and lack of earnings.

While arriving at the store on that March afternoon, the members of Whitesnake were greeted by a great number of fans holding Whitesnake album covers, photos, books, posters, and other memorabilia which would soon be signed by Brian, Doug and Michael. Signing session and chatting with fans took place in the atmosphere of fun and laughter that Croydon had been missing for a long time. Now, it was finally time to tell some jokes, take pictures and, of course, have a tour round the renewed store.

After shaking many hands, the musicians moved to Fairfield Halls in Arnhem Gallery where they played for over two hours, giving the gathered fans what they wanted to hear: real, pure hard rock, including Whitesnake songs. Nothing can kill the music. � from left to right: Brian Tichy, Michael Devin, Carl Nielsen and Doug Aldrich

photo. Falk - Hagen Bernshausen

W

elcome everyone. Thank you for having us, thank you for coming out and supporting Rockbottom and... buy some stuff – with these words Doug Aldrich greeted people gathered at the reopening of Rockbottom music store in London. The guitarist of Whitesnake was accompanied by his bandmates: the bassist Michael Devin and the drummer Brian Tichy. On 28 March, together with their fans, the store’s customers and its neighbours, the musicians were the first guests of the refurbished Rockbottom. Located in the 68-70 London Road, the store was heavily damaged during the Croydon riots in 2011. A lot of people have been very helpful and we have had a lot of support but the past nine months has been very tough – stressed Carl Nielsen, the owner of Rockbottom. Thanks to those people, Rockbottom can be placed on the map of Southwest London again. Brian, Doug and Michael inaugurated the store’s rebirth.

photo. Falk - Hagen Bernshausen fot. Falk - Hagen Bernshausen

with fire &

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tekst: Aleksandra Błaszczak foto: Izabela Sepioł

fot. Izabela Se

IN EXTREMO

BAGPIPES

rock access

We’re just a couple of days from the Metalfest – a festival that will take place in Jaworzno, Poland.

One of the bands that is scheduled to play during the festival is a German group In Extremo. The band still remembers their first visit here and the guys are happy they can come back.

Aleksandra Błaszczak photography: Izabela Sepioł

Who’s In Extremo?

Who’s In Extremo? The band was founded in 1995 when two separate projects joined forces – one of them had played rock, and the other was a group that had performed medieval music. Two years ago, the band celebrated its 15th anniversary in Erfurt, playing in front of 15,000 people during a two-day Wahre Jahre festival. You can find them on German TV, on the covers of the magazines; they get nominated for the most prestigious awards in German music industry. Their last studio album released in February 2011, Sterneneisen, topped German charts for several weeks, finally reaching gold status. Tickets for their homeland gigs are usually sold out and one of the main features of their concerts is the combination of music and pyro show.

It all started all the way back in East Germany when some young guys met and decided to play music together. Before they started the band, each of them was already an experienced musician. Kay Lutter (Die Lutter) learned to play the bass before he joined Freygang. Later, along with Michael Rhein, he played in an anarcho-rock band Noah. Meanwhile, the guitar player Sebastian Lange (Der Lange) was a member of Die Vision – a new wave band from East Germany – and Marco Zorzytzky (Flex der Biegsame), Dr. Pymonte and Boris Pfeiffer (Yellow Pfeiffer) performed with different bands that played medieval music. At first, the group performed during medieval fairs, playing old folk songs. Their first acoustic album, Die Goldene, was released in 1997. The next one, Hameln, a year later. In Extremo played their first show on 29 May 1997 in front of a thousand people crowd during Rathaus Markt in Leipzig. Those days, musicians used to wear silver uniforms resembling spacesuits. This marked the beginning of the band’s characteristic onstage dres-

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scode. 1998 saw the release of In Extremo’s first rock album, Weckt die Toten!.

The most important thing for us was to create music with friends, , powiedział Kay Lutter. said Kay Lutter. The band’s history was marked with difficulties. In late 90’s, during a concert in Mannheim, Michael Rhein suffered serious burns to his body.

The group’s future was in jeopardy for the next couple of weeks, but two months after the accident, In Extremo hit the stage again with Rhein. In 2001, the bass player Kay Lutter was diagnosed with cancer. But he rejoined In Extremo, albeit still a bit weak, during the band’s Christmas tour. They say: Things like these bond us all together even more.

The group has already recorded nine studio albums along with a couple of live records. The newest of these, Sterneneisen Live – Laut Sind Wir und Nicht die Leisen, was released on 25 May in both CD and DVD format. It includes the band’s most known songs, like Frei Zu Sein, Vollmond and Siehst Du das Liecht. The gig recorded for this release took place in Siegen on 21 April 2011.

The whole Sterneneisen tour was one of the biggest and most spectacular in the band’s history. During this tour, In Extremo played over 40 concerts in their homeland alone, also visiting countries like Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia.

Unclassifiable multiinstrumentalists

It’s hard to classify music played by In Extremo. It mixes metal with folk instruments, such as harp, zither or bagpipes. It’s also worth mentioning that each of seven band members is a multiinstrumentalist.

Some of the instruments we play were hand made by us, they say. The band uses some old lyrics from works such as Carmina Burana or Merseburger Zaubersprüche but also writes their own compositions. Their lyrics are often about politics or love, sometimes delivered in a humourous way. When asked why the medieval element in the band’s music was pushed to the background recently, they say: How long can you sing about kings, knights and dragons? Next month, you’ll have a chance to see the band in almost all areas of Europe. We strongly encourage you to see them when they’re around your area, because In Extremo’s live show goes far beyond a typical metal gig, even though the musicians themselves stress, It’s the music that matters the most, not the fireworks. �

digging the rock

O

ver 25 million copies sold worldwide (and counting). 6 years on Billboard’s Top 100. Video clips played in heavy rotation on MTV (the one we still miss...). 15 times platinium in the States.

First of all, let’s find the right spot on the timeline. It’s summer 1990 and Lars Ulrich sits down with James Hetfield to compose some music for the new album. Metallica is a thrash metal band, one of pioneers of that genre. It’s a band that received many awards and certifications, with their songs and albums charting regularly.

It’s a band nominated for the Grammys. Finally, it’s a band that still wants to evolve. To achieve this, they enlist Bob Rock, a famous rock producer, to work on their new record. But his ideas are different than Metallica’s. The atmosphere is really tense. Rock wants to rerecord Hetfield’s vocals, he also states that some of the lyrics could have been better. He wants to make the songs shorter. He thinks they should be more radio-friendly. But Metallica is an aggressive thrash metal band and the musicians are not willing to listen to the producer’s advice. On 12 August 1991, the world got to know the nice and melodic face of a thrash metal band. What’s more, the group’s music was supplemented by orchestral arrangements!

Karolina Karbownik photography: Erick Lopez / promo

photo. Erick Lopez

YOU KNOW THE HITS...

NO MATTER WHAT SOME PEOPLE MAY THINK, METALLICA IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST BANDS IN THE WORLD, RECOGNISABLE FOR SMALL KIDS AS WELL AS OUR OWN GRANDPARENTS. 12 AUGUST 1991 SAW THE RELEASE OF A UNIQUE ALBUM – A SELF-TITLED ONE, USUALLY REFERRED TO AS “THE BLACK ALBUM”.

AS WITH MOST OTHER BIG RECORDS, IT DIVIDED THE BAND’S AUDIENCE. SOME WERE MISSING THE THRASH ELEMENTS, OTHERS LOVED THE MELODIES. THE BAND PLAYS THE ENTIRE “BLACK ALBUM” DURING THE SUMMER TOUR.

Metallica consists of 12 tracks with a total length of 62 minutes and 33 seconds. The compositions are simpler than previously. The albums starts off with Enter Sandman’s rhythmic riff. The song itself is about a child’s nightmares. It was supposed to have more morbid elements but at the suggestion of Bob Rock, that death was not a well-selling product, some parts of the text were changed so that they referred to Peter Pan and the Neverland. It’s a one riff song, says Lars Ulrich. What’s wrong with that?

The second track on the album is Sad But True, which happens to be my favourite. It was released as a single in 1993 but it failed to repeat the success of Enter Sandman, reaching only 98th spot on Billboard. But Guitar Player recognised it as one of 50 most important songs of all time. The lyrics were inspired by Richard Attenborough’s Magic.

The album’s shortest song, Holier Than Thou, was aimed at Bob Rock’s celebrity pride. At the time when the whole show business loved long-haired guys, lyrics about envy, gossip and hipocrisy

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within the music industry were not at all welcome. Was this the reason why, contrary to initial plans, Holier Than Thou was not released as a single? I don’t know but I think Enter Sandman was a better choice anyway.

The album slows down for about six minutes to give us some much needed rest with The Unforgiven. This touching track with lyrics about difficult childhood was subtly accompanied by keyboards and acoustic guitars. This non-metal ballad is still played live. You may not like it but it’s still worth listening to before your heartbeat goes up again with Wherever I May Roam. And who said that a single cannot last for six minutes? Interesting arrangement, a rhythm that’s easy to remember. They say everyone can play that. In Guitar Hero, that is.

Don’t Tread Me is associated with the snake that’s barely visible on the album’s cover. The snake and the phrase come from Gadsden Flag, one of Continental Marines’ early motto flags. As a symbol of patriotism, it was used during the Independence War. The text refers to American Revolution, which stands in contrast with the lyrical theme of the previous album, ... And Justice For All, that was known for its anti-American tone.

Before we get to the hit of almost every wedding reception, Nothing Else Matters, we still have a guitar-driven Through the Never with its tempo changes and Hetfield’s aggressive vocals. Hetfield sings about human desire to explore the whole universe. And here it is: a ballad about lost love. One of the most favourite songs in primary schools, at discos and receptions. One of Metallica’s most covered compositions, even by the likes of Shakira. Nothing Else Matters. It is said that Hetfield was writing this song during a telephone conversation with his girlfriend. An intimate song? Well, considering James plays the solo, which is not that common, we say: yes, definitely!

Of Wolf And Man, – about similarities between them and the need to go back to nature. Some noise, faster rhythms and nice riffs, typical for Metallica. The God That Failed is one of my favourites on the album, maybe because of the bass line in the first part of the song. Or maybe because Kirk’s solos here are really amazing. Adding to that, we also have a touching story about the death of James’ mother.

The penultimate track, My Friend of Misery, is the only one co-written by Jason Newsted. The album concludes with The Struggle Within – a song about fighting your own demons.

Definitely a good finisher.

Ready to see Metallica playing the whole thing this summer?

We already did! �

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rock shop Karolina Karbownik, Agnieszka Lenczewska

HEADBANGER’S BILLABONG How to describe Reign In Blood - a new, red wine launched by Slayer? The wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from sunny California, is as unpredictable and tough as the band. Reign in Blood wine has a soft nose of dark berry fruits with oak and spicy nuances. Good mouth feel with hints of fresh fruit and juicy, smooth tannins.

Price per bottle: only about 12 Euro. Reign in Blood Red is already available in Sweden.

Thrashers from California might not be the first band to get into wine game. Do you prefer Moscato? No problem. The producer offers you four brands of grape beverages signed by AC/DC: You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato, Highway to Hell Cabernet Sauvignon, Hells Bells Sauvignon Blanc and Back in Black Shiraz.

The Shiraz is also popular with Motörhead’s fans. In March issue of Rock Axxess, we wrote about the brand of wine launched by Lemmy and his merry men.

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Of course, rock veterans KISS have also put their name to a brand of wine. If you’re a wine lover try one or all of the following: KISS THIS Destroyer 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, KISS THIS Faces 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, KISSology 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. Moreover, you can join the Kiss Wine Club. NWOBHM’s icons - Iron Maiden - offer only one brand, Chilean Merlot. Whitesnake also have their own rock wine. David Coverdale has worked with the wine wizard Dennis De La Montanya and they have come up with Northern California Whitesnake Zipfandel. Other rock wines are available from The Rolling Stones’, Grateful Dead’s and Pink Floyd’s wineyards.

What could go better with Overkill, Angel of Death or Another Brick in The Wall than a nice, tall glass of rock wine?

rock live

SPIKED

JUDAS

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Doris photography: Stefan Gadomski

KATOWICE, POLAND, 14 APRIL 2012

AFTER THEIR LAST YEAR’S FAREWELL CONCERT, THE HIGH PRIEST CAME BACK TO POLAND THIS YEAR HOW NICE OF THEM.

T

he beginnings are always hard, especially for some devoted fans. Too many drinks caused some of them to fall asleep in front of the venue in what could be called an interesting hair-and-leather-mass. It’s always fun to travel several hunderds of kilometres and pay lots of cash for the tickets only to start and finish the day snoring loudly in front of the venue. But it’s always been that way and probably always will be. Spodek – the event’s venue – after a solid lifting looks quite nice. Nice surprise – beer stalls on the terrace and food stalls. The prices are, unfortunately, not surprising at all. In the foyer Metal Mind Productions had its merch stall with admittedly reasonable prices. Can’t say the same about the band’s official merch, though. Waiting for the concert in the venue’s corridors we pass some Halford-clones as well as old-school metalheads.

Some middle-aged chaps in pullovers, whole families with kids and hot rock chicks mixed with barbies that would fit perfectly at some Disco events.

But let’s leave the corridors, it’s show time. The whole stage is covered with a huge Epitaph rag. First the intro, then another one – War Pigs – and Battle Hymn. And then they start with Rapid Fire and the curtain goes down straight into the capable hands of the band’s crew. There’s HIM – Rob Halford. We can’t hear him so we focus on his clothing. Great, spiked leather coat could as well be used to scare away pigeons. I bet Lady Gaga is jealous. Not only of the coat, but also the boots. The rest of the boys look great too in their leather pants. The sound guys quickly fix the

37

problem with Rob’s mike, to the relief of some thousands of people. The energy just pours from the stage – people in the whole standing area beneath it get ecstatic. The band plays mostly tracks from the 70s and 80s. Sometimes the voice sounds a bit rough or the guitar players miss a note of two but we forgive them. For their age, they still rock. As for special effects – they are not that special at all. One big screen at the back of the stage, showing album covers of the tracks played with some Windows Media Player animations. Some green laser beams and flames added from time to time and, of course, Rob entering the stage on his Harley at the start of Hell Bent for Leather.

Many thanks to the security guys. When Painkiller started, they had their hands full of crowdsurfing fans. Fortunately, they were able to catch each and every surfer with their muscular and caring arms. Good job guys!

The 2 hour show was concluded with a huge hit Living After Midnight. Most of the fans went back home satisfied, maybe with the exception of those, who witnessed almost exactly the same show last August and got a rock deja vu instead of something new. Because I have to say this - Judas Priest were a hell of a lot better in August.

rock live

ANATHEMA KRAKÓW, 16 APRIL 2012

Jakub “Bizon” Michalski

I

got to Kraków’s Klub Studio not really knowing what to expect.

Simply because I was still unable to say what I thought about Anathema. They do have some compositions that blow me away every time I hear them, but at the same time I must admit I get a bit tired of their music if I hear too much of it.

Although they do have an opinion of being able to hypnotise their audience, I was far from being hypnotised when I saw the band playin at last year’s High Voltage Festival in London. But I blamed it on the fact that Anathema played there at the smaller prog stage in the afternoon’s full daylight. I was assuring myself that some bands need to have the full package of music and light show to fully express themselves. This was my attitude when I decided to see the band in Kraków.

But before the Liverpudlians took the stage, the sell-out crowd saw another British band playing as the support act – Amplifier. I must admit, I waited for their concert as much as for the headliners, as Amplifier was one of the biggest surprises of the aforementioned last year’s High Voltage Festival. They didn’t disappoint me this time either. Three out of seven songs they played that evening were taken from the band’s latest offering – The Octopus. They got a warm response from

39

the audience and their mix of moods similar to Anathema and Pink Floyd combined with stronger rhythms in the vein of Tool or even King Crimson did great to warm up the crowd.

pecially beautiful. Some fans were not happy about the inclusion of female vocals on Anathema’s latest releases but I bet some of them changed their minds after this performance.

During recent interviews, the members of the band hinted at playing some old songs during this tour, so some of the fans were a bit disappointed by the fact that there were no songs from the first three albums played that evening. But what the band actually played and the quality of it made up for some omitted old favourites. Throughout the entire 140 minute set, Anathema presented a great mix of dynamic and intensive sounds blended with some melancholic fragments. Vocal duets between Vincent Cavanagh and Lee Douglas sounded es-

For those who still need more, we have some good news. The group has already announced more European shows. We’re going to have to wait for them till autumn, though. �

It’s not very often that a support act sets the bar so high for the headliner but Anathema accepted the challenge and played a great gig. The concert was to promote the band’s new album, Weather Systems. It was released just a couple of days before the gig in Kraków, the tour’s first. Is five days enough to get to know the record properly? Probably not, but the audience reacted to all seven new compositions enthusiastically, as if people knew them for some time. Well, I guess that’s the power of the Internet. But those tracks, not all of them that great on the record, sounded much more dynamic and intensive during the gig. It’s also worth mentioning, as the musicians themselves stressed a couple of times,

It wasn’t perfect. The musicians admitted they were still getting into the right groove. But those small mistakes like the one made by the band’s new keyboard player Daniel Cardoso in Untouchable, part 2 or a short lack of concentration during Everything (there are still some doubts as to who actually bungled) did not spoil the atmosphere. It even made this magical evening a little more interesting by adding that human element to the whole. The great atmosphere spread to the band as well. Daniel Cavanagh constantly attracted the attention by interacting with the audience and successfully encouraging fans to participate in the show. People sang most of the songs along with the band, making use of their lighters and mobile phones during A Natural Disaster. The whole thing was concluded by Fragile Dreams, which left every person in the club at least satisfied. The concert in London didn’t help me become a fan of the band but the gig in Kraków is a completely different story.

dark access

myths and biblical stories

THERION

Leszek Mokijewski photo: promo

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...Powers of Thagirion Watch the Great Beast to be For To Mega Therion...

T

he Choir’s elegiac tone announces the Beast’s coming. Egged on by the sound of drums and galloping guitars, it takes us onto a journey leading through the paths of occult visions, which appear on Theli. It is Christopher Johnsson, the main composer and Therion’s founder, who lets us taste this magnificent synergy of heavy metal and symphonic music. The choir’s voice guides us through the dark labyrinths of this esoteric world. Instrumental landscapes charm the listeners while showing them Eden covered by the night.

The paradise awaits a sin. And here it comes: the serpent tempted the woman. She has learnt about the mystery. No one will ever go through the gates of the garden of delight. We must escape to avoid being punished.

Heat, sorrow, pain… Following the voices of the choir we wander across the Setha desert. The sun, hanging so high above us, portends our slow death. We’re waiting to hear some soothing voices.

Can you hear them? Yes, here they are!

Voices of sirens seduce us to a grove, and let us rest beneath the trees, sheltered by the sirens’ songs. Theli has drawn new paths in music, preparing our souls for the magic of symphonic metal. Since the album’s release, every next work is a blend of the sounds of heavy metal guitars and choir singing. These melodies guide us through the gardens of myths.

Vovin comes after Theli. It’s high time to visit ancient Persia….

(The) Sun enter the Capricorn (and) the Star of Sin will shine The King of Sodom drink again Lady Babalons whine 42

The violin’s oriental sound is mixed with rhythm guitars and the choir.

The city gates are opened to show us the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrach. Pain, tears, and screaming in the sea of fire and sulphur. These are the last days of those who made God angry.

Therion’s music makes us feel pain and suffering, as it was God’s will. A moment of silence, followed by a sublime heavy metal guitar riff, and alternate male and female voices that introduce us to a tale of Aphrodite’s birth.

Greek goddess of beauty, love, and desire raises above the deep ocean waters. Arisen from the sea foam, Aphrodite would bring the destruction to the city of Troy. Her majesty is emphasized by the symphony of Therion’s music, which leads us further, across the waters of Styx, letting us drown in silence.

Surrounded by the incomparable beauty of the world, finally we reach the

gates of destiny. These are opened by Clavicula Nox – a magic key to the truth. This is what the choir sings about while taking us for an astral journey.

behind the light i go My long journey never endS, but I will receive what I send.

Nox, the night and key I will open your old mystery.

Christofer Johnsonn creates remarkable music which, combined with lyrics, can totally seduce our hearts and minds. Each next album is a mystical journey through the worlds of ancient cults, gods, and rituals. Mythical beasts are woken up by the music, and the choir tells us mythical stories with its elegiac voice. Mixing heavy metal with symphonic power of classical music makes the band’s work multidimensional. This is what makes every journey through the mythical lands different and unforgettable. Lyrics contain words borrowed from ancient languages, which makes us feel that the worlds, in which priests saluted to the cult of the Sun, and temples that were decorated with magical symbols, are closer to us. Therion opens the world that was previously accessible only through historical books. Just like an adroit guide, leading us through the mythical and biblical paths. �

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43.644

backstage access

metres of strings

Leszek Cichoński, A RENOWNED BLUES GUITAR PLAYER ONCE AGAIN TURNED WROCŁAW INTO THE BIGGEST GUITAR CITY IN THE WORLD. “HEY JOE” PLAYED BY 7274 PEOPLE SETS THE NEW GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR THE NUMBER OF GUITARISTS PLAYING TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE. THE MAINMAN BEHIND THE THANKS JIMI FESTIVAL TAKES US FOR A TOUR BEHIND THE SCENES OF THIS GREAT EVENT.

Katarzyna Strzelec photography: Agnieszka Lenczewska, Jakub “Bizon” Michalski

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This year’s Thanks Jimi Festival is over, the record was broken. Did you expect such a great turnout? What do you think was the main factor that helped set the new record?

I was sure we were going to make it. I just thought it would be around 6500 people. Especially that in the last two years the numbers were going up. Two years ago it was 4500 people, even though we had the plane crash in Smolensk not long before the festival and the event was not advertised at all. People still came. Last year we had 5601 guitarists, so over a thousand more than previously. I thought it was going to be another thousand more this year. It would mean something like 6500-6600 people. But it was 7274! It’s almost a thousand more than in the case of the previous record. It was a surprise. I didn’t expect it to be more than 7000. But the numbers are not the most important thing, although they’re surely great. What makes this event so successful is the fact that we have parents coming with their children, grandparents with their grandchildren, we have this happy crowd of people with their instruments they sometimes assemble from whatever they can find around them. It all makes this event very colourful and different from other attempts at breaking records. Playing together in Wrocław is absolutely amazing.

Have you ever tried to count how many metres of strings are used during those couple of minutes when you all play Hey Joe? 7274 multiplied by 6 metres. We get 43644 metres.

The stage in Wrocław hosted many great musicians that helped set the new record. How did you manage to convince original Whitesnake’s Bernie Marsden and Jimi’s brother, Leon Hendrix to take part in the event?

Thanks Jimi Festival is already well known around the world.

Everyone who’s played here told others about this great guitar fest. Inviting big stars is not a problem for us anymore.

Bernie Marsden wanted to play only Hey Joe with everybody else but when he saw that joyful guitar forest, I had to quickly adjust the timetable for him to play more. The same with Marcus Miller, who at first said that he would come but not play.

Let’s go back to the beginnings. How was the whole idea for the Guitar Guinness World Record event conceived?

15 years ago I was doing a blues guitar workshop in Zakrzew and along with my students, I prepared a special concert to conclude the course. During that concert we performed Hey Joe with 18 guitar players on stage. It went great. Everyone, including us, was so impressed. We repeated that at the Woodstock Festival in Żary and since 2003 we’ve been doing that as a kind of guitar mass movement and a new 1st May holiday.

Why did you choose Jimi Hendrix as the inspiration for the festival?

Since I was a little kid, I’ve listened to blues artists like Muddy Waters or BB King and lots of other old players like Johnny Winter. And some white guitarists: Eric Clapton, all those people that played with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, namely Mick Taylor, Peter Green and others like Mike Bloomfield. It was what I liked in blues. But Jimi Hendrix was always special to me. I loved the way he played so expressively and with

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so many emotions.

How does the event look like from the artistic point of view? Do people that take part in it learn together to play Hey Joe? They all learn before the event. But we also play other tunes which you can find on our website www.heyjoe.pl.

Many players treat their guitars as an extension of their soul. What does this instrument mean to you?

Yes, indeed, the communication between the player and the instrument is almost intimate. It’s all about joy and positive memories because through the guitar, you can give so much joy to other people.

Thanks Jimi Festival is not only about those two days of live concerts and beating the record but also about guitar workshops. These workshops are attended by people who started playing also because of you. Do you feel like a role model for them?

The workshop is an important element of the pre-festival education. I often hear some of my phrases in their playing but I’m even more happy when they drop them and play as they like it. It’s all about playing one’s own thing, isn’t it?v

Right, Playing My Own Thing (English for Sobą Gram) is the title of your latest solo album. It gave you a nomination for Fryderyk (the biggest Polish music award).

Yes, this album is really important to me. It’s about what is really important in life and about all those changes in consciousness that are happening on Earth right now. Two song titles – Who Are You (Kim Jesteś) and What’s In Your Head (Co Masz w Głowie) are two questions that everyone should ask themselves. What’s even more important – the answers can actually help us make our lives better and improve our selfawareness. The record is about issues like these but there are also lyrics that are very lighthearted and are full of positive attitude and can serve as a hint to those who still search for their way in life or want to change something. The lyrics to the title track were written by Jacek Cygan (one of Poland’s

most famous pop lyricists - Rock Axxess). I fully identify with them. I think that every guitarist and every other person that tries to find a balance between having a passion and being close to another person can identify with them. Guitar players should check out the clip to this song, which you can find on You Tube. Thousands of guitars held high up in the air is an outstanding view. And a new clip to Co Masz W Głowie is already released.

How many good words did you get for orginising the whole event? Were there any special messages that you particularly remember?

It’s hard to count them all but the most special ones are always from the parents who are made to come by their children. Thanks to playing together, they experience something unique, they can be closer to each other. Parents with children come to Wrocław even from the most remote places in Poland. There are people from far away that organise themselves in groups. Seeing so many guitars is breathtaking. I remember Marek Raduli (a guitar player well-known in Poland) having tears in his eyes when he first saw all those guitars held up high in front of the stage. I had similar reactions this year, I must admit. The whole atmosphere is just amazing. There are lots of films on You Tube but it’s best to witness this whole thing live.

Thanks to you, Wrocław became the capital city of guitar.

What else would you like to achieve with this festival?

I dream of having 10000 players in 2016 at the city’s main square. I’d also like to organise a big guitar festival at the new stadium that would outshine the famous Guitar Legends fest in Sevilla.

Are there any plans as to who might come next year?

We’ll send another invitation to Carlos Santana, Richie Kotzen and other big ones.

Congratulations on another Guinness World Record. We wish you further success. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.. � Leszek Cichoński (right) during guitar workshops before Thanks Jimi Festival

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undressed

Karolina Karbownik

jimi hendrix Karolina Karbownik

Jimi Hendrix: the man who perfectly fits the flower-power era.

His style still inspires and delights us. An interesting combination of colors, especially the patterns and unique designs attracted attention even in the black and white photos and on the TV screens. Sublime style of clothing and well-matched accessories are all parts of the Hendrix style.

We’ll show you how you can easily dress up to look like Jimi.

Jimi Hendrix: the man who perfectly fits the flower-power era. His style still inspires and delights us. An interesting combination of colors, especially the patterns and unique designs attracted attention even in the black and white photos and on the TV screens. Sublime style of clothing and well-matched accessories are all parts of the Hendrix style. We’ll show you how you can easily dress up to look like Jimi.

The hippies fashion, in addition to multitude of patterns and colors, is remembered for the bell bottoms. In fact, Jimi Hendrix wore it. He also liked wearing narrow trousers, which today we call the skinnies or cigarette pants.

Trousers had to have interesting colors, which is another thing that fits perfectly with present trends in fashion.

The top of Jimi’s outfit are: zipped shirts with wide collars and patterns that were joining the artist’s raging guitar licks in a hypnotizing dance. Contrasting colors but never fluo. He liked purple, orange, blue and brown tones. His outfit was supplemented with a slimfit coat with a royal cloak buckle, decorated with buttons or embroidery. He could also be seen wearing a waistcoat.

Headwear: a hat or a bandana. Shoes: cowboy boots or sneakers.

HENDRIX MAN

HENDRIX GIRL Rock‘n‘Roll Religion

NEW YORKER

JOHN VARVATOS

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RIVER ISLAND

RIVER ISLAND

HENDRIX MAN ZARA

HENDRIX GIRL TOP SHOP

MARNI FOR H&M

JIMI HENDRIX CLOTHING

AUTHENTIC MISSION CLOTHING

TOP SHOP RIVER ISLAND MARIE LUND / VAN GRAAF

JIMI HENDRIX CLOTHING RIVER ISLAND MAN

H&M

TOP SHOP BOTTEGA VENETTA RIVER ISLAND MAN

ESPIRIT

H&M

AUTHENTIC JIMI HENDRIX PANTSAUCTIONS HOUSE CHRISTIE’S KAZAR

CONVERSE - CHUCK TAYLOR JIMI HENDRIX COLLECTION

EMU

DEEZEE

RIVER ISLAND MAN

JIMI HENDRIX CLOTHING

RIVER ISLAND MAN

RIVER ISLAND

H&M

H&M

collector’s room

A true collection is never complete. Anybody who has collected something in their life knows that. It doesn’t matter what it was – match boxes, beer cans, rare Italian sportscars or pieces of unforgettable experience.

As for me, I chose vinyl records. Or should I say, they chose me instead.

Robert Markowski

a vinyl

lifestyle

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M

usic has been important to me ever since my dad showed me The Beatles and that was way back, when I was five or six. It took me quite a while until I broadened my range with anyone besides them, but then my musical explorations finally took off. Initially, I chose from among bands inspired by The Fabs in some way (like Oasis, Pink Floyd or The Electric Light Orchestra) and only later did I progress to others, although I would almost exclusively go for rock groups. Quite frankly, my scope of interest in music is not broad at all – I do not buy hundreds of albums at a time and then pick out a handful of outstanding ones. I am methodical and select precisely. I need to discover an interesting band first and only then do I start collecting its albums. But when I become a fan, I am a die-hard one – I buy all they put out (compilations included, but hardly any singles) and I forgive momentary lapses of form easily. A discography simply needs to be complete. And a vinyl one.

Why vinyl, in the first place? It all began with a surprising find: a mysterious case in a great-grandmother’s apartment’s closet turned out to be a vintage portable record player (a Polish classic called Bambino 4, by Unitra Fonica). It was very well preserved and complete with a user manual and a 40-year old warranty card. And it came with a set of records full of Soviet military orchestra marches and such like. Quite soon I discovered that the turntable shouldn’t really be used for playing records – with a needle pressure of about 7 grams, it’s some sort of achievement it doesn’t shred discs into spiral threads of vinyl.

Although it sounds remarkably well if you consider the power of its lamp amplifier, which is barely 2 (two!) watts. I talked my wife into getting me a more decent player for Christmas and that’s how a linear-tracking, 1980’s Aiwa came about. It was very convenient to use as it had track searching and even programming!

I eventually sold it and got myself something better still, but let’s leave that for a moment and digress.

My expectations towards a record player changed when I came across these non-black gems, that is coloured vinyls and picture discs. The latter ones are those which do not need sleeves, as they have the artwork pressed into themselves, under a layer of vinyl in which the groove is cut. Many music fans reject these due to lower sound quality and only have a few as ornaments to their otherwise black collections, but I knew right from the start that I wanted to compose my collection from coloureds and picture discs, so that I could admire vinyl records not only with my ears (I would never buy a record that I wouldn’t listen to – the looks alone aren’t enough), but also my eyes (if there’s a colour/PD edition of an album alongside the regular black one, I will always go for the fancy one, even if the price is higher). Enter dilemma: how can you listen to a record and feed your eyes on it without standing by the turntable?

Look, listen, admire. Upright.

A solution came by out of the blue, thus finding me again.

While browsing the web, I came across a record player that plays discs vertically! Optonica, a brand hardly remembered these days and created by Sharp to compete with Technics in its time, released the RP-104H and RP-114H turntables, in which the cover does not lift, but opens to the front, revealing some extraordinary solutions. Not only are these models vertical, but they also have two tonearms each. One of the arms is placed in the cover, the other one in the body and they are both linear. Add two-direction drive and there you have it – a turntable that plays a record in its entirety without the need to turn it over between sides! This was the deal for me, because it allowed me to sit comfortably on the

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>

couch and enjoy the juicy sound and gorgeous looks of a black record that doesn’t actually need to be black at all. I had to lay my hands upon it and yet again fortune proved merciful.

My discovery of the Optonica coincided in time with my graduation. My parents insisted on getting me an elegant watch to celebrate the end of my education adventure, but I chose a used RP-114H instead and got mine. Without getting rid of it, I recently found something cooler still – a Sony PS-F5 Flamingo: a 1980’s marvel of Japanese technology, which is like a vinyl walkman. You can put it in your backpack and take it with you anywhere and then just plug in headphones and enjoy your favourite grooves. It’s battery operated, has a linear tonearm, stands upright or works horizontally and can be hanged on a wall as well. And when you put a record in it, it sticks out for the most part, so colour vinyls and picture discs look brilliant in it. Is this cool? It’s ice cold, baby! Having secured such far-out replay tools, I could finally get down to collecting records, and I did. When I got the Optonica, my parents gave me a copy of The Mars Volta’s debut album along, which is pressed on silver records made in a picture disc manner. Quite luckily for me, fancy vinyl editions became TMV’s trademark – their follow-up album was issued on quadruple glow-in-the-dark vinyl (how awesome is that?!), another two were made as split-colour ones (half a record in one colour, the other half in another).

Then it turned out there are tons of coloureds and picture discs out there, so my new hobby could bloom quickly and easily.

And in addition, vinyls became fashionable again, so today it’s equally easy to get a used one as a new one. Yet another lucky coincidence, eh?

My collection grew substantially when I got deeper into Iron Maiden. They are the kind of band which issues everything in a variety of versions, colour vinyls and PD’s included.

Their output is actually so huge I had to make some limitations of my own, so I concentrated on the basic LP’s – studio and live albums plus official collections and compilations.

These still make as many as 30 titles! When I look for ultimate editions, I seek coloureds first, only then come picture discs as they really do sound inferior (even though my twoyear old daughter loves them, The Irons included) – they have

substantial background noise. But, as John Peel said, life has background noise, too, so should we care?

That’s exactly the thing, you know? When you listen to a CD, you get crystal clear, almost aseptic sound. It’s just that you would have to lock yourself up in a soundproof bunker to fully appreciate it. Impossible? That’s what I think, so I’m ready to sacrifice another bit of quality, but in return I receive the entire ritual of playing a record. First, I scan my shelves and, looking at sleeves’ spines, I recollect fragments of songs from each particular album. The one that evokes impressions most compatible with the moment is chosen to be placed in the turntable (not on the platter, though – my players don’t have them). And I don’t particularly care if it’s a rarity or not – you may call it sacrilege if you will, but records are meant to be played and I couldn’t just buy a wrapped example and store it away for the sake of it. But back to the ritual: when the choice of what to play is made, the record comes out from among others and I spend a while to look at the artwork once again (you get real masterpieces on a 12 by 12 inches square cover, unlike on that of a CD, which – out of necessity – is usually a portrait of the artist), I pull out the inner sleeve and carefully remove the disc from the inside. Then I cautiously place it upright in the player and press play. People for whom music is just gigabytes of files uploaded into an iPod, without any kind of physical form, will never get that.

I’m glad to have been infected by this strange vinyl virus.

A peculiar series of coincidences made me interested in this, seemingly obsolete, music format. It’s nowhere near handy or portable (you can’t take a vinyl for a walk with the dog or out to jog with), it’s fragile (minor scratches come even from removing and inserting a record in its sleeve) and not as inexpensive as you might imagine (the production technology is complicated and the output is relatively small, not to mention the fashion which also makes prices higher). The bottom line is this: vinyl is authentic, it’s genuine. The grooves pressed on the surface of the vinyl is real music that you can see with a naked eye. And it sounds exactly the way it did when it was recorded. It’s not just a heartless piece of plastic, printed on one side and shiny on the other. It’s a way of life. �

rock style

we will

ROCK you Karolina Karbownik photo: promo

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I must confess: as a little kid who couldn’t speak English, some strange words caught my attention while I was listening to a nice song called “Bohemian Rhapsody”. “Scaramouche, scaramouche” sounded like a spell which I really enjoyed singing. In London’s West End, “Scaramouche” is the main female character of the musical “We Will Rock You”.

A

story set in the future that uses a very interesting list of songs by Queen was panned by media and loved by the band’s fans as well as London theatres’ visitors.

We Will Rock You has been the queen of Dominion Theatre for 10 years.

It has 3600 performances under its belt (not counting the productions in other countries), the same amount of standing ovations, and impressive ticket sales of around 620,000 per year. It was pretty long time ago when the millionth ticket was sold. Brian May, who was personally sitting at the box office, gave it to the purchaser who happened to be a 61-year-old lady, a grandma of a 4-year-old kid who she wanted to introduce the jukebox musical to.

Punk Britney

We Will Rock You is a performance directed

by Ben Elton. Two acts and nearly two hours; 30 Queen songs woven into a story from the future.

It’s the year 2300 – the era when musical instruments are forbidden, the era of people who have been brought up to think the same way, and be interested in the same things. They listen to one and only radio – Radio Ga Ga. The Earth was renamed Planet Mall (since 2011 it’s been iPlanet). No-one tries to be different. What would happen if anybody attempted to? Yes, here we are. In the group of similarly narrow-minded people attending the graduation class, there is a guy who is very different. He calls himself Galileo and wears leather jacket and denim pants. He says he wants to break free, which

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certainly does not make him a favourite of Planet Mall’s police – Globalsoft Corporation. Globalsoft Corporation is managed by Khashoggi who acts on behalf of Killer Queen. Big (literally) Killer Queen shares with him her suspicions about certain prophecy. It says that some musical instruments have been hidden on Planet Mall, somewhere in the location called the place of living rock. Investigating the matter, Khashoggi observes Galileo and soon arrests him. The other person captured is a gothic girl. The two wake up in a hospital. Right away, they realise that they are kindred spirits and flee the hospital together. On their way, they get to know Meat and Brit, a couple of freaks who happen to be representatives of an underground commune, Bohemians.

To be honest, at the beginning I was very surprised by Brit’s look. When it comes to rock and boheme, I think more about hippies, rockers, heavy-metalers: generally long-haired people wearing leather jackets. Brit looks none of these. The big Afro-American looks more like a rapper man than a rocker. It doesn’t take too long to fall into him, though.

Brit and Meat gather different materials in their hideout to make musical instruments, believing in the Dreamer who will fulfill the prophecy and will bring real music back into the world. At the beginning, the couple is wary about Galileo and his companion. Galileo tells them that he can hear some secret words in his mind which leads Brit and Meat to consider him a spy. Those words, which are taken from Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics, are the key to win him the Bohemians’ trust. Galileo introduces them to the girl, whose name is Scaramouche – this word is well-known to Bohemians, too.

They welcome their guests in their clubhouse called Heartbreak Hotel. Here we witness a very funny scene when all the Bohemians introduce themselves with the names they know from magazines (what is a magazine? – asks a very concerned other productions. Eventually, he took part in an American ediScaramouche. The answer seems to be very unexpected and tion of the television show Voice. A Queen Latifath type character, the musical’s Killer Queen, was primarily played by Sharon surprising: it’s something you can touch!)

D. Clarke. Later, X Factor star Brenda Edwards took over. She Meat takes her name after Meat Loaf, we also have others wasn’t the only one to get to WWRY from a TV show. The curlike Cliff Richard and Gary Barlow. The big rapper – Brit – in- rent Galileo is played by Noel Sullivan, who has gained his large troduces himself with these words: I’m the biggest, baddest, popularity in The United Kingdom while appearing in Popstars. meanest, nastiest, ugliest, most raging, rapping, rock’n’roll, The WWRY’s cast had many chances to share the stage with sick, punk, heavy metal psycho bastard that ever got get-down Queen’s Brian May and Roger Tylor , who are also co-producing funky. They call me - Britney Spears. the musical. The cast also had an opportunity to perform for Very disarming Scaramouche gets new outfit from her new Queen Elizabeth II, appeared on many festivals and TV shows. friends. Galileo finds her new look very rock’n’roll. But what One of the musical’s producers is Robert De Niro. does rock’n’roll mean? – he asks. Many funny things happen I guess that WWRY’s happy ending is not a big surprise. Galiin reference to what Bohemians have learnt from preserved magazines and recordings. They quote The Beatles, Abba leo accompanied by his love (yes, yes, there is a love theme in and David Bowie. To understand all the dialogues, you have the story, too!), Scaramouche, brings back the real music to the to know quite a lot about pop culture, rock and heavy metal world. Although Khashoggi tries to hamper Galileo’s plans, good music. Some parts are being modified as the world changes: wins over evil. It sounds obvious for all those who wait for the WWRY outlived Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Whitney winners’ song We Are the Champions which is one of the final tracks. We also have a monumental We Will Rock You sung by GalHouston and many more. ileo and, of course, played with real instruments found by him.

With Queen and for the Queen

The cast has been changing, too. Hannah Jane Fox, absolutely fantastic in the role of Scaramouche, has been replaced by a number of actresses. The current one, Sarah French has been playing this part since April 2012. Fox’s partner, Galileo was played by Tony Vincent who also appeared in the American version of the musical and later played in a number of

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Is it worth watching? Yes, I think so. However, if you’re not a fan of musicals, you probably won’t stand a joyful rendition of Radio Ga Ga at the very beginning of the show. The original Dominion Theatre’s musical was followed by a number of international productions to mention just the USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zeleand, South Korea and South Africa. It doesn’t surprise me – everybody wants to rock you!

�

real rock

real rock:

maqama by ed.

photography: Filip Błażejowski

A word of introduction Real Rock… when I was offered to run this section I wondered intensively how to illustrate it. Whose story to tell, whose route to the top to present?

I didn’t want to produce another article based on stories and legends of the greatest. My intention was to avoid writing a story whose ending can be foreseen.

This is why I bet on an open book. I took a close look at a band who is fighting. Will they succeed? I don’t know. Are they good? Maybe the best? I don’t know that either. However, this uncertainty seems to be the most fascinating part.

In this section we are going to show the band’s ascent to the top. Or the fall to the bottom – who knows?

I’ve become the fifth member of the band. I’ll be there at rehearsals, on trips, close to the management and the musicians. From now on I’m going to tell a story about us not them.

Maqama I’m going to skip a common BIO as you can look it up on Wikipedia. Maqama is an ordinary rock band. They are a niche band, however, they have managed to release a second album recently. They travel to concerts by a 20-year old bus, but to record music they flew across the Atlantic. At gigs they face either a 20 person audience or a 30 thousand crowd.

The band’s life seems to be full of extremes.

Why is it Maqama? There is no particular reason. It’s not about how and what they play. They do it well but so do others. Nevertheless, guys do more than that. It sounds a bit mysterious. Just wait and see.

April 2012

It’s finally out! Gospel of Judas – the record we have worked on for nearly two years. We flew thousands of miles around the world to make it happen and the album is in stores now. We’re really hyped up about it because we published it ourselves. After negotiations with both small labels and major ones we weren’t offered anything reasonable. For the first time we turned down offers by choice not out of necessity.

We have a distributor in Poland – Fonografika. They are a bunch of sound guys who know their stuff. They believe in us and support us logistically. People around the world buy our album digitally too and we’re still developing in this direction. The record is going to do well and we aren’t going to slow down. Summer is coming. Maybe we could get into a few festivals.

We’ve just found out that we are invited to take part in Carpathia International Song Festival 2012. A great venue – no doubt about it. We’re really excited about it as we believe it will uncork a bottle and will result in more gigs to play.

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Kilimanjaro Project However thrilled we are with the album and the festival, there is something else on our minds. Since the startup of the band we have been working with The Polish Humanitarian Action (PAH – Polska Akcja Humanitarna) within PAH’s Water Campaign. This cooperations is extremely important to us and we believe it enriches us as a band. It’s a lot of fun and gives us satisfaction. We have also met a lot interesting people who we can share our passion with. The girls who work for PAH are truly engaged professionals who are also emotionally attached to the organization. There aren’t many people who are so concerned with these issues and working with them gives us a great buzz.

That’s why I truly believe that the undertaking, we are absorbed in, will be a successful one. In summer Maqama’s representation will take part in Kilimanjaro Project 2012. We are going to climb Kilimanjaro and play a few songs there in order to draw people’s attention to the problem with access to potable water. A concert on the Roof of Africa? That has never been done before! The action is gaining momentum and promotional events will start in June. On top of that, the project seems to be contagious as more and more people are getting involved in it.

It started innocently. Haidar and the boys were going to go to Kilimanjaro on holiday and suddenly a great idea was born – to create an event. Something meaningful. The idea grew bigger and bigger by the hour. When we stormed into the PAH’s office in Warsaw to share it with them, the girls almost fell from their chair. They immediately caught the bug.

That’s all for now but stay tuned. More info on the progress next month. �

rock shot

trapped under ice Karolina Karbownik foto: Erick Lopez (Metallica), 123.rf I don’t know how to live trough this hell... Well, if you don’t know that, Rock Axxess is ready to help you.

Here’s a recipe for a drink Trapped Under Ice. Stir it, play Ride the Lightning... Is there anything else you need?

Well, there is... For 1 drink you’ll need: 45 ml of Gin 30 ml of Jägermeister Tonic Lime Ice Vessel: Highball or Old Fashioned glass Preparation time: 5 minutes Drinking time: 4:04 when drinking to a studio version of the song

Preparation:

Cut the lime into wedges and put it in a glass with lots of ice already inside. Add Gin and Jägermeister. Fill it up with Tonic.

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map of rock EUROPEAN SUMMER ROCK FESTIVALS GUIDE part 1

Katarzyna Strzelec

S

ummer is getting closer and closer, and consequently openair festivals are starting across Europe. Checking the line-ups of the forthcoming events we have to admit that there is a lot to see.

Metallica presents its Black Album, Mötley Crüe tours the whole continent, and The Prince of Darknes – Ozzy - has invited his friends to play together.

What kind of equipment is necessary for the trip to a summer festivals? Tickets, a tent and some good company. Ticket prices? They vary. But if we add up the total prices of single concerts, a trip to the festival seems to be more reasonable than a couple of single events. See below for performers, venues and dates in June as well as some info on how to get there. See you around!

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Event: Sweden Rock Festival Location: Sölvesborg, Sweden Date: 6-9.06.2012 Line up: Mötley Crüe, Soundgarden, Twisted Sister, Motörhead, Kind Diamond, Blue Oyster Cult, Bad Company, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sebastian Bach, The Darkness, Mastodon, Dimmu Borgir, Ugly Kid Joe, Gotthard, Edguy, Fish, Sabaton, Axel Rudi Pell, Exodus, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, Steel Panther, Symphony X, Nightranger, Adrenaline Mob, Fear Factory, Entombed & more Ticket prize: 690 - 2390 SEK WWW: www.swedenrock.com

Event: Gods Of Metal Location: Milan, Italy Date: 21-23.06.2012 Line up: Ozzy & Friends, Guns N’ Roses, Mötley Crüe, Manowar, Slash feat. M.Kennedy, Children Of Bodom, Black Label Society, Opeth, Gotthard, Sebastian Bach, Within Temptation, Amon Amarth, Adrenaline Mob, Unisonic, Cannibal Corpse, Killswitch Engage, Black Stone Cherry, Soulfy, Ugly Kid Joe, The Darkness, Black Veil Brides & more Tickets prize: 65 – 220 € WWW: www.godsofmetal.it

Festival: Nova Rock Location: Nickelsdorf, Austria Date: 8-10.06.2012 Line up: Metallica, Linkin Park, Billy Talent, The Offspring, Nightwish, Evanescensce, Slayer, Marylin Manson, Machine Head, Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Within Temptation, Die Toten Hosen, Lamb Of God, Corey Tylor, Mastodon, Turbonegro & more Ticket prize: 72,50 – 256,90 Euro WWW: www.novarock.at

Event: Tuska Open Air Metal Festival Location: : Helsinki, Finland Date: 29.06 – 1.07.2012 Line up: Megadeth, Ministry, Lamb Of God, Apocalyptica, Edguy, Sabaton, Behemoth, Exodus, Trivium, Overkill, Napalm Death, Hatebreed, Suicide Silence & more Ticket prize: 65 – 130 € WWW: www.tuska-festival.fi

Event: Download Festival Location: Donington Park, United Kingdon Date: 8-10.06.2012 Line up: Metallica, Black Sabbath, Slash, Megadeth, Soundgarden, The Prodigy, Machine Head, Europe, Rise Against, Opeth, Nightwish, Sebastian Bach, Edguy, Tenacious D., Steel Panther, Black Veil Brides, Saxon, As I Lay Dying, Fear Factory, Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Devil Driver, Kyuss Lives, Black Label Society Ticket prize: 75 – 200 $ WWW: www.downloadfestival.co.uk

Event: Hellfest Open Air Location: Clisson, France Date: 15-17.06.2012 Line up: Ozzy & Friends, Guns N’ Roses, Megadeth, Mötley Crüe, Slash, Lamb Of God, Machine Head, Edguy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sebastian Bach, Gotthard, Black Label Society, Uriah Heep, Unisonic, Molly Hatchet, Within Temptation, Blue Oyster Cult, Hatebreed, King Diamond, Turbonegro, Heaven Shall Burn, Exodus, Devildriver, Walls Of Jericho, Entombed, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Children Of Bodom, Amon Amarth, Behemoth, Moonsorrow, Satyricon, In Extremo, Enslaved, Dimmu Borgir, Biohazard & more Ticket prize: 66 – 149 € WWW: www.hellfest.fr

Event: Graspop Metal Meeting Location: Dessel, Belgium Date: 22-24.06.2012 Line up: Ozzy & Friends, Guns N’ Roses, Limp Bizkit, Motörhead, Slayer, Machine Head, Sabaton, Twisted Sister, Slash, Megadeth, Europe, Dimmu Borgir, Black Label Society, Gotthard, Jon Oliva’s Pain, Sebastian Bach, Children Of Bodom, Behemoth, Exodus, Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Godsmack, My Dying Bride, Thin Lizzy, Amon Amarth, Paradise Lost, Obituary, Black Veil Brides, Fear Factory, Goijra & more Ceny biletów: 80 - 150 € WWW: www.graspop.be

Event: Rockwave Festival Location: Malakassa, Greece Date: 30.06 – 2.07 Line up: Ozzy Osbourne & friends, The Prodigy, Iggy & the Stooges, Machine Head, Paradise Lost, Unisonic & more Ticket prize: 45 – 60 € WWW: www.rockwavefestival.gr

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rock savvy Marcelina Gadecka

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Timeline of music formats part II digital

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METALLICA

Prague, 7 may 2012 photography:

Marek Koprowski

photo. Marek Koprowski

photo. Marek Koprowski

photo: Marek Koprowski

photo. Marek Koprowski