Artists including Def Leppard and The Beach Boys have teamed up with Vault Comics for a new graphic novel project called Headshell.
The endeavor aims to “present original stories inspired by artists’ careers and music, giving fans an all new way to connect with the artists and music they love.”
“Great musicians are storytellers,” the Headshell description reads. “But some stories need to be told on the page. Headshell works with iconic recording artists to create unique graphic novels that resonate with artists and audiences.”
Other artists taking part include Metallica, Fall Out Boy‘s Pete Wentz and rapper Redman.
Last August saw the release of The Complete Reprise Studio Albums – Volume I, a vinyl box set featuring remastered versions of Eric Clapton‘s first six studio efforts for the Reprise label. Should you find yourself in need of a late holiday present this year, good news: volume two is right around the corner.
Eric Clapton: The Complete Reprise Studio Albums — Volume 2 will be out January 13, and “combines remastered versions of five solo studio albums Clapton recorded with Reprise between 2001 and 2010 with an additional LP of rarities selected from the same era,” according to the label.
The set includes newly remastered versions of five studio albums released over nine years, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl: 2001’s Reptile, featuring the Grammy-winning title track; 2004’s Me & Mr. Johnson, featuring covers of songs by Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, and the companion album Sessions for Robert J; the Grammy-winning and RIAA Gold-certified Back Home, from 2005; and 2010’s Clapton. All the albums will be released as double LPs, with the exception of Sessions for Robert J, which will be a single disc. The box set also marks the first time that album will be released on vinyl.
Additionally, the Rarities Vol. II 2001-2010 disc includes eight tracks, including the newly remixed bonus track “Midnight Hour Blues,” which you can get a taste of now.
You can pre-orderEric Clapton: The Complete Reprise Studio Albums — Volume 2 now via Rhino Records or Clapton’s official website. Volume I is still available both places as well.
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain released a new holiday EP titled Christmas Is Love on Friday, November 4.
The five-song collection, which is available now via streaming services, was written and produced by Cain, with four of the tunes mixed and mastered by Jonathan’s frequent collaborator David Kalmusky at Nashville’s Addiction Sound Studios.
“Christmas is love. It is that simple,” says Cain about the message of the EP and its title track.
“Hope Was Born” highlights the story of the birth of Jesus, while “Who Is This Child” finds Cain marveling at Jesus’ arrival.
“I enjoy celebrating Christmas every year,” adds Jonathan. “What went down in the desert at Bethlehem, it’s such a monumental miracle that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It was a game-changer.”
The Christmas Is Love EP also includes “Wonder of Wonders,” a duet with Michael Tait of the popular Christian-rock act that Cain first released in 2019. The final song on the EP is “Behold,” a previously unreleased tune that Jonathan performed at his 2021 Wonder of Wonders Christmas Concert held at the City of Destiny church in Apopka, Florida, where his wife, Paula White-Cain, serves as pastor.
Cain is planning to host a 2022 edition of his Christmas Concert at the church on December 18.
Christmas Is Love follows Cain’s latest faith-based album, Arise, which arrived in May, and Journey’s new studio effort, Freedom, which was released in July.
Somehow, Guns N’ Roses have found a way to make “November Rain” even more dramatic.
The “Welcome the Jungle” rockers have released a new version of the Use Your Illusion epic, recorded alongside a 50-piece orchestra. Grammy-winning composer Christopher Lennertz arranged the orchestration and served as the conductor.
The orchestra-accompanied “November Rain” is one of the many bonus tracks featured on the upcoming reissue of GN’R’s Use Your Illusion I and II albums, due out November 11. The super deluxe box version of the reissue will be available as eight-CD and 12-LP collections, and includes a hardcover photo box and various memorabilia.
Use Your Illusion I and II were originally released simultaneously in September 1991 and debuted at the top two spots on the Billboard 200. The nearly nine-minute “November Rain” was released as a single off Use Your Illusion I in 1992 and is among the longest songs to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The song’s theatrical — and historically expensive — video has over one billion views on YouTube.
The duo of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart are reuniting to perform at the ceremony and recently revealed they will be playing three songs at the big event.
While Eurythmics have only performed sporadically since their last tour ended in 2000, Stewart tells ABC Audio he’d love to hit the road with Lennox again, although he doesn’t think Annie is open to the idea.
“I think Annie always casts her mind back to touring … in the ’80s or even at the end of the ’90s,” Dave notes. “And [she thinks], ‘Oh, it’s flying every day and … masses of press all day.’ And I personally know that we don’t need to do that anymore.”
He continues, “[Annie also] worries that, ‘Oh, I used to run around the stage for two hours,’ but you don’t need to do that either … Her voice is so distinct and chilling and beautiful, and she could sit down all the time if she wanted to.”
For his part, Stewart says, “I love playing live … After all that work, it’s the one thing where you get some kind of freedom in expression … and being able to play this stuff that you’ve been hanging around your neck for 40 years or, you know, 35 years. And it’s very therapeutic to me.”
As for whether he thinks Eurythmics will play more concerts, Dave says, “One can only wait and see, but I hope we do,” while noting, “I know that the fans … would really appreciate it.”
U2 frontman Bono was Stephen Colbert‘s guest on Thursday’s edition of CBS’ The Late Showwith Stephen Colbert promoting his new book, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, and revealed the clever, if not so honest way they got their big break.
“When we were kids…we had a big TV producer…come into our high school, cause he heard we wrote our own songs. And it was a break, gonna get our big break, on the national [television]. And we were arguing about how the song was going, it wasn’t going anywhere, none of the songs,” Bono told Colbert.
As they were arguing back and forth, Bono said, they heard a knock on the door, which turned out to be the TV exec.
“What are we gonna do? What are we gonna tell him? What are we gonna say,?” Bono recalls the band saying to each other. “And he walks in and [he says] ‘You write your own songs?…Could you play me one?'” Bono adds that he and bandmates Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. “improvised” by playing The Ramones‘ “Glad to See You Go,” claiming it was theirs.
That deception got U2 a TV appearance, though Bono was quick to explain that they did actually perform one of their own songs on the show.
Bono also performed a partly spoken-word, down-tempo orchestral version of the U2 The Joshua Tree classic “With or Without You.”
Surrender, out now, follows Bono from his childhood in Dublin, to the loss of his mother when he was 14, to the founding of U2 and their rise to global stardom. It also covers his activism, including his work to fight AIDS and extreme poverty.
It’s been over 20 years since Peter Gabriel released an album of new, original songs, but the acclaimed singer/songwriter has hinted that his next record will likely be arriving soon.
During a recent gallery event in New York City promoting his daughter Anna‘s new photo book, Eye-D, Gabriel told ABC Audio, “It’s reaching completion. I’m just finishing things up. So, there should be … some news about it soon.”
Gabriel’s last studio album of new music, Up, was released in September 2002. The new album is tentatively titled I/O.
Meanwhile, Peter and his daughter also shared some details about a new multimedia project they’re involved with, called Reverberation. The project, as Anna explained to ABC Audio, focuses on “how music can affect your brain and sort of the power of music and how to use it in your daily life.”
In conjunction with the project, a book called Reverberation: Do Everything Better with Music, featuring a foreword by Peter, was recently published. Anna also noted that the book will be followed by a TV show, a podcast and more.
Peter also discussed some of the interesting scientific studies tied in with Reverberation about the positive effect music and sound can have on people.
As he pointed out, “Some older folk that had lost the capacity to talk, when they were played music that was significant in their teens to them, they were able to talk again … not permanently, but it just shows the power [music has] to activate certain switches in the brain.”
Visit AbramsBooks.com for more info about Reverberation: Do Everything Better with Music.
Some have tried their hand at a Whitney Houston biopic, but an authorized story of the singer’s life will soon make its debut. I Wanna Dance with Somebody, named after her 1987 hit, is due out December 17 — amid the merry holiday season.
The film is about Whitney’s rise to fame, but centers on her relationship with mentor/record executive Clive Davis, who serves as a producer on the project.
Speaking to Billboard, Clive says it was time that “a full-fledged theatrical biopic be done on Whitney.” To ensure the biopic was an accurate depiction of her life, he made sure Anthony McCarten, who wrote the film, researched “every aspect of Whitney,” and even went as far as introducing him to her family and collaborators.
When he felt that the final script “was authentic, honest and understood the full nature of Whitney’s life,” Clive brought McCarten to Pat Houston, executor of Whitney’s estate, and Larry Mestel, CEO and founder of Primary Wave. They produced the film alongside Davis, Sony Tristar and Compelling Pictures.
With the film complete, Clive says he’s satisfied, especially with the portrayal of his relationship with Whitney. He notes that the film “hit home,” is realistic and is “very accurate in its portrayal of the dialogues we had.”
The record exec hopes the biopic has “a very positive effect” on Whitney’s legacy, as “it shows real depth and understanding of who she was, as well as the magnitude of what her musical life represented.”
He says seeing Whitney be celebrated again brings him “a combination of enormous pride, enormous regret at her premature passing, wonderment at the uniqueness of her incomparable voice and the impact she had on musicians, artists, singers everywhere.”
“It’s been quite the emotional human experience,” Clive adds.
Earlier this year, Elton John‘s husband and manger, David Furnish, told MusicWeek about the possibility of bringing the Rocket Man into the metaverse. Now, that virtual dream has become a virtual reality.
Elton has announced a collaboration with the popular online game platform Roblox. Titled Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, the virtual experience will, as a press release puts it, “let fans follow the yellow brick road through an interactive world inspired by Elton’s life and legacy.”
Users will be able to collect digital items inspired by John’s famed stage outfits, including the sequined Los Angeles Dodgers uniform he wore during his 1975 Dodger Stadium concerts.
In a statement, Elton shares that he’s “absolutely thrilled” about the project.
“I’ve always been myself and used my image, eyewear, and music to express myself, and Roblox really encourages that self-expression,” Elton says. “Now my fans can do the same, and that’s really exciting.”
“At every step of my career, I’ve always wanted to push forward and look to the future, and ‘Beyond the Yellow Brick Road’ is the next step on that journey as I prepare to step away from live touring after 50 years on the road,” he continues. “It’s genuinely thrilling, and I can’t wait to see the response from my fans and the Roblox community.”
Elton is set to play his final U.S. concert, taking place in Dodger Stadium, on November 20. The show will stream live on Disney+.
December’s a big month for Neil Young fans. Not only is the rock legend releasing a box set commemorating the 50th anniversary of his landmark Harvest album, we’re also getting a film documentary to go along with it.
Neil Young: Harvest Time “takes viewers on an intimate journey to Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California for the ‘Harvest Barn’ sessions, to London for an iconic performance with the London Symphony Orchestra, and to Nashville where the then 20-something Neil Young worked on various tracks of this signature album,” according to the distributor, Trafalgar Releasing.
The film, shot between January and September 1971, includes footage of Young creating and recording Harvest classics like “Old Man” and “Heart of Gold,” as well as other songs from the RIAA-certified four-times Platinum album. You can watch a clip from the film now.
“I was 24, maybe 23 and this album made a big difference in my life,” Young says of Harvest. “I had a great time and now when I listen to it, I think I was really just lucky to be there. I hope you enjoy this story, which is Harvest Time, and which talks about everything that happened.”
Neil Young: Harvest Time will debut December 1 in select theaters worldwide, with an encore presentation on December 4. Tickets go on sale November 10 at NeilYoungHarvestTime.com.
The Harvest 50th Anniversary Edition box set drops on December 1, just 24 hours before Neil Young: Harvest Time opens. You can order it now in two physical versions offering the same content — a three-CD/two-DVD set and a collection featuring two vinyl LPs, a vinyl seven-inch disc and two DVDs.
