The Classic Metal Show (Pitriff.com) has issued the following message to fans and followers of internet radio stations everywhere:
"Internet Radio recently was struck a major blow by having the licensing rates, established by the RIAA and the CRB, raised to levels that will, for the most part, put Internet Radio out of business. By doing this, not only do the small internet radio stations suffer because they will no longer be able to record, but many more will feel the bite of this as well. Small record labels, like many of those that keep your classic rock and metal artists’ releases coming out and have been introducing many of you to smaller up and coming bands which then go on to become bigger bands (LAMB OF GOD, SHADOWS FALL comes to mind) were helped immensely by being heard on Internet Radio in their infancy. The bottom line to these changes is that the only people that will be able to broadcast on the Internet will be your corporate giants, like Clear Channel, AOL and CBS Broadcasting. If you are a supporter of the homogenized, corporate radio that you currently get on terrestrial radio, expect more of that on the Internet, as these rates will effectively kill your ability to hear non-corporate, non-standard and college radio on the Internet.
If you are an Internet Radio Fan or supporter, or are just willing to help the cause, please visit this location, read up on what’s going on, and notify your State Representative that you don’t agree with the raising of these rates and the attack on the small internet broadcasters of the world."
DON DOKKEN SAYS RECORD LABEL "THEY DON'T GET THE SONGS" ON HIS NEW SOLO
Recently Mydenrocks conducted an interview with DOKKEN mainman Don Dokken. Few excerpts are follows:
Mydenrocks: So you literally stumbled across the tapes for the new "From Conception: Live 1981" CD?
Don Dokken: We store all of our master tapes at a vault in Hollywood. They are temperature controlled so they don't go bad. I was down looking for the master tapes from the German recordings of "Breakin' The Chains" to do a remix for a 25th anniversary. I saw some old faded boxes with two-inch tapes that just said "Dokken Live". I didn't really know what it was because they're were really no other markings on them. So, I took them with me, put them on the machine and found they were old recordings from way back when.
Mydenrocks: How much other unreleased material is stored in the Dokken vaults?
Don Dokken: That's it. We got masters, etc. There's nothing unreleased in there. Everything has been released from what I could see. I actually looked through the tapes, but unfortunately these new live tapes were it.
Mydenrocks: Do you have a target release date for the new studio release "Lightning Strikes Again"?
Don Dokken: We wanted to put out in June. But, it doesn't look like we're going to make it. Like all albums they always take longer than you expect. It looks like it will be out late summer or September at the latest. We've already booked the European tour starting in September and then we'll do the U.S. tour right after that.
Mydenrocks: Any particular songs stand out to you for the new studio release that you would like to give a little advance on?
Don Dokken: No songtitles yet. I haven't even titled the songs yet. (laughing). I got the music. I got the lyrics. In about a month I should have some pretty concrete titles to throw out there. It's hard to describe the music without matching it up to a song name. So, no one will know what we're talking about anyhow. As far as the sound as a whole for the new material, I would say it's good hard rocking music that is in the veign of the classic DOKKEN sound.
Mydenrocks: Where does your solo CD stand right now? Any release date planned?
Don Dokken: Nowhere, apparantly. I finished it. It's done. I gave it to a few labels. A lot of people don't get the solo CD. They don't get the songs. They think it's too mellow and there's no market for it. It's a different kind of music. It's new age. It's different. It's not signed to a label yet. I'm really proud of the record. I just have to find the right label to put it out on. A rock label is not the way to go with it.
Mydenrocks: Do you look at the new studio release as a make-or-break-type milestone for the band? If it doesn't sell, will that mean an end to DOKKEN?
Don Dokken: It is a make-or-break album. If this album doesn't have some success, then I don't know what to say. We got great label. They're marketing it, promoting it, doing whatever they can. If it doesn't sell, then what's the point in making new CDs? I won't disband the band if it doesn't sell. But we'll just stop making new records and be like POISON — we'll go out on tour every year and just play our hits.
EDGUY's TOBIAS SAMMET ON AVANTASIA PROJECT "THERE'S NO LIMITES TO OUR CREATIVITY"
EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet is currently working on the third installment of his solo project AVANTASIA. The album is being produced by Sascha Paeth, who also played the rhythm guitar on the CD. The drums were laid down by KISS/ALICE COOPER drummer Eric Singer and the bass is being handled by Tobias himself.
Commented Sammet: "I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to do this. There is so much creativity in the studio and the material sounds so great. There is so much variety — we got fast songs, mid-tempo songs, a few ballads. There are modern elements, epic elements, classic elements. There's no limits [to] our creativity and I feel blessed that I am allowed to work with the most talented sidekicks I could ever dream of."
The new AVANTASIA album will be a concept album featuring different singers singing different characters in a story. But the concept itself won't be a sequel to the first two AVANTASIA albums.
AVANTASIA's last release was the two-part epic called "The Metal Opera" (issued in 2001 and 2002), which featured an impressive array of guest vocalists playing the various characters of the opera, including Michael Kiske (ex-HELLOWEEN), David DeFeis (VIRGIN STEELE), Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION), Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY), André Matos (ANGRA, SHAAMAN), Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS), Rob Rock (WARRIOR), and others.
