EVANESCENCE frontwoman Amy Lee will grace the cover of Revolver magazine’s “Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock” issue. The magazine won’t be on newsstands until October 11, but you are welcome for the sneak peek.

EVANESCENCE‘s self-titled third major label album is due on October 11 via Wind-Up Records.

“Evanescence” track listing:

01. What You Want
02. Made Of Stone
03. The Change
04. My Heart Is Broken
05. The Other Side
06. Erase This
07. Lost In Paradise
08. Sick
09. End Of The Dream
10. Oceans
11. Never Go Back
12. Swimming Home

“Evanescence” will come out five years after the group issued its last effort, 2006’s “The Open Door”. But one of the reasons the new record took so long to come out is that singer Amy Lee began work on a version of it last year that she ended up scrapping. The Pulse Of Radio asked Lee why that first attempt at recording didn’t work out. “I think it really was a case of us going in the studio too soon,” she said. “I think people a lot of times get pressure for moving fast, especially in this day and age — you know, the public has a short attention span, you know, it’s all about striking while the iron’s hot. I don’t believe that. I believe in great music. If this is gonna be our big EVANESCENCE comeback record, it wasn’t there yet. So we kept working. We ended up making a record that I’m just, it’s my favorite so far. We’re all really proud of it.”

The first single from the new EVANESCENCE record is called “What You Want”. The band released a video for the track earlier this month.

EVANESCENCE played its first concert in almost two years on August 17 at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, performing four songs from the new disc and opening the show with “What You Want”.

The five-piece group will kick off a 15-city North American run on October 10 in Oakland, California.

“Welcome 2 My Nightmare”, the new album from legendary rocker Alice Cooper, sold 18,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart. Cooper‘s previous CD, 2008’s “Along Came A Spider”, opened with just under 10,000 copies to debut at No. 53.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum “Welcome To My Nightmare” album in 1975, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

That original album is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide theatrical tour and pioneering U.S. TV special and cemented Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop, punk, theater, television, film and much more.

More than 35 years later, Alice and Ezrin have resurrected the horror and humor for a new generation.

“This is Alice‘s nightmare 35 years later,” explains Alice, “Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we’re not writing for me, we’re writing for Alice. We kept the first ‘Nightmare’ album very personal to us, on this one we found more humor and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us.”

There is an array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on three tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately calls Alice “dad”; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice‘s current touring band and featured prominently on the first “Nightmare” album.

Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk, pop balladry to a rocking number very much in the spirit of THE ROLLING STONES. And then there’s the ballad “Something To Remember Me By”, described by Alice as “the prettiest song we have ever released.”

Glimpses of themes from the original album are intertwined throughout, each track representing a different aspect of Alice‘s nightmare.

From the opener, “I Am Made Of You”, through the already established live favorite and first single “I’ll Bite Your Face Off”, to the surprising duet with Ke$ha, “What Baby Wants”, this album is a reminder that albums just aren’t made this way anymore.

And musicians do not play together like Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith anymore.

“I wanted a ’70s feel for ‘When Hell Comes Home’,” says Alice, “and I didn’t even have to ask for it, it’s just how they play and they did it live in the studio. When they got done playing the basic track, Bob and I just looked at each other, that sound is built into their DNA. We didn’t need to go and fix anything. The way they finished was a little bit ragged and that’s the way we used to finish songs, that’s what I like about it.”

Co-writers on various songs include the aforementioned Bob Ezrin, Ke$ha, Neal, Dennis, Michael, plus BUCKCHERRY‘s Keith Nelson, Desmond Child (who famously co-wrote and produced “Poison” with Alice), longtime collaborator Dick Wagner, current touring band member Chuck Garric and film composer Jeremy Rubolino.

“That’s my rebellion,” says Alice of the more surprising guests, “I like people that don’t belong and yet what they’re doing works perfectly. I don’t care where it comes from, as long as it’s right. If you tell me something doesn’t work, I’ll work my head of until it does then shove it down your throat.

“I think a lot of my audience is going to go ‘KE$HA!?’, but she probably wrote the most disgusting lyrics in the song — we had to rein her in. I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that doesn’t mean that’s what they are. Give people a little room.”

With Steve Hunter, one of rock’s great guitarists, added to the band’s line-up of guitarists Damon Johnson and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel, Alice has been tearing up venues worldwide on his 2011 “No More Mr. Nice Guy” tour.

“Worship Music”, the new studio album from ANTHRAX, sold 28,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 12 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band’s previous studio CD, 2003’s “We’ve Come For You All”, opened with just under 10,000 units to debut at No. 122.

“I am most proud of our fans who came out and gave us the amazing support they did,” said ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante. “To have our record debut at No. 12 is a great accomplishment.”

Added the band’s guitarist, Scott Ian, “I’m absolutely thrilled with the fact that our Anthrax Army came out in force this week to show the world that good music matters. Thank you to all our friends, old and new! It’s a privilege to do this for you.”

The CD cover artwork for “Worship Music” was handled by renowned comic book artist Alex Ross, who has worked with Marvel Comics and DC Comics and is known for his “Marvels”, “Kingdom Come”, and “Astro City” illustrations. Ross also did the original artwork for ANTHRAX‘s “We’ve Come For You All” and “Music Of Mass Destruction” albums.

“Worship Music” was produced by ANTHRAX, Rob Caggiano and Jay Ruston and recorded over a four-year period at studios in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Singer Joey Belladonna‘s return to the band prompted some of the songs originally recorded with previous singer Dan Nelson to be re-crafted with fresh lyrics or tweaked to better suit his overall vibe and energy. Some of the songs were completely replaced with brand-new songs and, of course, all have Belladonna‘s inimitable vocal stamp on them.

“Worship Music” track listing:

01. Worship (intro)
02. Earth On Hell
03. The Devil You Know
04. Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t
05. I’m Alive
06. Hymn 1
07. In The End
08. The Giant
09. Hymn 2
10. Judas Priest
11. Crawl
12. The Constant

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman