The band won in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category for the song White Limo. They also got the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song (both for Walk), Best Rock Album (Wasting Light) and Best Long Form Music Video (Foo Fighters: Back And Forth).

Find out more at www.foofighters.com

Like the album this will be called Clockwork Angels, and is to be written by sci fi author Kevin J. Anderson. This is what he says about the project on his Facebook page:

“Most of you are aware of my long-standing friendship with Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist from the legendary rock band Rush, as well as how much Rush has influenced my work. My first novel, Resurrection, Inc., was closely inspired by the Rush album Grace Under Pressure, and I can point to dozens of other novels and stories that bear a clear Rush influence.

“For morethan 20 years, Neil and I have wanted to collaborate on something MAJOR, a way we could tie together our imaginations, and at last that’s happening.

“I’m writing the novelization of Rush’s forthcoming album, Clockwork Angels, their first new CD in five years. Imagine if someone had written the novel of The Wall, Tommy, or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band when those classic albums were released. For Rush fans, Clockwork Angels is that project.

“I worked together with Neil to flesh out the epic story told over the course of the music, as well as the artist Hugh Syme, whose paintings fill the CD booklet. In a young man’s quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colourful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.

“To whet your appetite, Rush released the first two tracks, Caravan and BU2B. Listen to those songs to get an idea of the story’s beginning.
“I’m writing the chapters now, incorporating the lyrics into the narrative, and having a fantastic time. More details to come, but for now-to quote a line from Caravan: ‘I can’t stop thinking big’.”

Find out more at www.rush.com

Orion Music + More is an annual music, arts and lifestyle festival, which will be headlined by Metallica. It happens this year on June 23/24 at Bader Fields in Atlantic City.

“We’ve had the idea of doing our own lifestyle festival with lots of diverse music and fun and games for years,” said Lars Ulrich. “Finally this year all the practical ducks lined up in a row, and we are beyond psyched to bring Orion to our fans, friends and the curious. After the most incredible of weeks ever in December 2011 celebrating our 30^th anniversary at the Fillmore in San Francisco, , bringing the spirit of that week, the looseness of that week, the possibilities of that week, the fan interactive elements of that week, and the (fill in your own blank here) of that week to a festival setting is so exciting we can hardly contain ourselves.”

Watch Metallica talking about the festival here.

The album is out on May 21 in an exclusive Classic Rock Fan Pack form – providing a unique collectable package containing the studio album with bonus tracks, alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content put together by Classic Rock.

The Fan Pack format will also come with free gifts including a pin badge and artwork poster and will be available to buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the traditional high street and online music retailers.

Roadrunner Records will simultaneously release the record digitally. The standard physical release of the Slash album will follow through Roadrunner Records on June 18.

The album, currently being produced by Eric Valentine, doesn’t yet have a title. But it sees Slash working with vocalist Myles Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz.

Pre-order your Fan Pack here.

The band will be playing at the Download Festival in June.

See Slash and his band  in action in the studio here.

Find out more at www.slashonline.com

The new issue of Classic Rock features a rundown of the 50 Worst Albums Ever.

From incomprehensibly awful solo records to ill-advised dabblings with gay disco, it’s a litany of disaster that shows exactly what happens when albums go bad. Inside the issue, you can find the likes of Kiss’s Gene Simmons, Queen’s Brian May and Keith Emerson of ELP defending – or in some cases, apologising for – their actions.

Over the next few days, we’ll take a closer look at all 50 of these solid gold stinkers here on the Classic Rock website. And once you’ve taken these frankly indigestible offerings, we you to tell us what your worst albums are.

Day 3 of our series is dedicated to the crappest covers albums ever unleashed on the world. Strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride…

Check out Day 1 here and Day 2 here.

1 Ozzy Osbourne – Under Cover
Gawd bless Ozzy – he’s a national treasure. But somebody should have had a word with him before he decided to cover – well, murder – the likes of King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man and Mott The Hoople’s All The Young Dudes. You can read Ozzy’s attempts to explain away the new album in the current issue of Classic Rock.

Redeeming track: A surprisingly heartfelt version of John Lennon’s Working Class Hero. Sadly, that’s not on YouTube, so here’s him having a bash at The Beatles’ In My Life.

2 Guns N’ Roses – The Spaghetti Incident?
The year is 1993 and you’re the biggest band in the world. What do you do? If you’re Guns N’ Roses, you record a collection of half-arsed covers of songs by the likes of the Misfits and The UK Subs. Oh, and you throw in a ‘controversial’ rhumba-paced cover of Charles Manson’s Look At Your Game, Girl for good measure. Cheers, Axl!

Redeeming track: Duff McKagan’s sozzled take on Johnny Thunders’ You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory. Go, pissed bass fella!

3 Bon Jovi – This Left Feels Right
There was nothing wrong with their titanic pop rock anthems, but they decided to break them anyway. Cue a stripped-down acoustic album in which the ‘Jove’ tackle their own back catalogue. Badly. If you’ve ever wondered what You Give Love A Bad Name would sound like if it was reimagined as a stripped-down duet with D-list actress Olivia D’Abo, here’s your answer: rubbish.

Redeeming track: Blood On Blood – and even that only appears on the bonus DVD!

4 Scott Weiland – The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
You’d have thought the Scott Weiland and all things white and powdery would have been a marriage made in heaven. Oh no – this absolutely hatstand album of ‘festive’ covers is possibly the craziest thing he’s ever done. And that’s saying something. Don’t believe us? How about a reggae version of O! Holy Night.

Redeeming track: His Sinatra-tastic version of White Christmas.

Now it’s your turn. We want you to tell us the albums you think are worse than the ones on our list. Email your nomination, with a few words as to why it’s such a stinker, to classicrock@futurenet.com, headed ‘The Real Worst Album Ever’. We’ll print the best suggestions in the next issue of Classic Rock.

Come back tomorrow for more on the 50 Worst Albums Ever. The new issue of Classic Rock, featuring the full list of all 50 albums, is out now.

The famed drummer has issued the following statement about his current situation:

“Dear Sabbath fans, fellow musicians and interested parties.

“At this time, I would love nothing more than to be able to proceed with the Black Sabbath album and tour. However, I am unable to continue unless a ’signable’ contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band.

“Last year, I worked diligently in good faith with Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler. And on November 11, 2011, again in good faith, I participated in the LA press conference.

“Several days ago, after nearly a year of trying to negotiate, another ‘unsignable’ contract was handed to me.

“Let me say that although this has put me in some kind of holding pattern, I am packed and ready to leave the US for England. More importantly, I definitely want to play on the album, and I definitely want to tour with Black Sabbath.

“Since the news of Tony’s illness, and the understanding that the band would move production to the UK, I’ve spent every day getting to or living in a place of readiness to leave. That involves something of a task, and as I’ve tried to find out what’s going on with the U.K. sessions, I’ve realized that I’ve been getting ‘the cold shoulder’ (and, I might add, not for the first time). Feeling somewhat ostracized, my guess is as of today, I will know nothing of what’s happening unless I sign ‘the unsignable contract.

“The place I’m in feels lousy and lonely because as much as I want to play and participate, I also have to stand for something and not sign on. If I sign ‘as is,’ I stand to lose my rights, dignity and respectability as a rock musician.

“I believe in freedom and freedom of speech.

“I grew up in a hard rock/metal band. We stood for something then, and we played from the heart with honesty and sincerity. I am in the spirit of integrity, far from the corporate malady, I am real and honest, fair and compassionate.

“If I’m replaced, I have to face you, the beloved Sabbath fans. I hope you will not hold me responsible for the failure of an original Black Sabbath line-up as promoted. Without fault finding, I want to assure everyone that my loyalty to Sabath is intact.

“So here I am. I lay my truth down before you. I’m good to go IF I get a ’signable’ contract.

“I don’t want to let anyone down, especially Black Sabbath and all the Sabbath fans. You know I love you. It would be a sad day in rock if this current situation fell to the desires of a few.

“My position is not greed-driven. I’m not holding out for a ‘big piece’ of the action (money) like some kind of blackmail deal. I’d like something that recognizes and is reflective of my contributions to the band, including the reunions that started fourteen years ago.

“After the last tour, I vowed to never again sign on to an unreasonable contract. I want a contract that shows some respect to me and my family, a contract that will honor all that I’ve brought to Black Sabbath since its beginning.

“That’s the story so far.

“Stay safe and stay strong.

“I love every single one of you.”

In response, the rest of the band – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler – have released the following statement:

‘We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans… We have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open… We are still in the UK with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll… See you at Download!!!”

Find out more at www.billward.com

The brand new Classic Rock also comes with a brilliant FREE CD, featuring 17 immense new bands for 2012, hand-picked from the US, UK, Spain, Brazil, Australia – and even France. Get set to familiarise youself with bands such as Blue Snaggletooth, Exit Wound (ouch!), The Plastic Boots, Venomous Maximus, The Buzzos and many more…

For our cover story, we celebrate the wild life and tragic death of Randy Rhoads, rock’s most enigmatic guitarist. Thirty years on from his sad demise, we reveal the full untold story of Ozzy’s lost axe hero, from six-string prodigy with Quiet Riot to the Prince Of Darkness’ highly prized wingman.

Elsewhere in the issue:

Genesis – Part two of our epic feature. From “They’ll be nothing now that Peter Gabriel’s left”, to the global hit-making phenomenon that conquered the world and defined 80s rock.

Stretch – Were they doomed from the start by their involvement in one of the strangest chapters in music history – the mysterious case of ‘the fake Fleetwood Mac’?

The Doors – Doors guitarist/songwriter Robby Krieger on some old, new, borrowed and blues favourites from the Doors catalogue.

Blue Öyster Cult – S&M gear, kinky sex and crazed motorcycle gangs. The story of the birth of metal’s greatest pranksters.

Smashing Pumpkins – Mainman Billy Corgan says he’s “the best songwriter of my generation” and a perpetual “outsider”. His detractors say he’s “a baldy twat”. Would the real Billy Corgan step forward…

Tyla – From rock’n’roll Charles Bukowski to boho renaissance man. But Dogs D’Amour’s vagabond-in-chief had to go through drink, drugs and public mutilation to get to where he is now.

The 50 Worst Albums Ever – From ill-advised disco dabblings to cringeworthy covers, these are the records that absolutely nobody should own, including stinkers by Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Queen, ELP, the Stones, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Aerosmith.

Chris Squire – The Yes bassist on near-deaths, money squandered, and being the only member of Yes who’s never left.

Van Halen – Behind the scenes at their recent comeback gig at the tiny Cafe Wha? in New York.

All this and more in the March edition of Classic Rock (issue No.168), on sale now.

Randy Rhoads (and Ozzy) are the cover stars of the new issue of Classic Rock.

A wealth of new bands (but no John Bonham drum solos) on our free CD.

The Cult Fan Pack will include a special edition of Choice Of Weapon plus a 132-page magazine. The Fan Pack version of Choice Of Weapon comes with 10 brand new studio tracks plus two live bonus tracks, exclusive to this edition.

The Fan Pack magazine contains a major, all-new interview with The Cult’s mainmen Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, plus fellow band members Chris Wyse and John Tempest, with a wealth of exclusive, never-before-seen pictures of the band and the story behind the making of the album.

For Choice Of Weapon, long-time Cult collaborator and producer Bob Rock – who produced one of The Cult’s most successful albums, the platinum-certified Sonic Temple – put the finishing touches on the sonic foundations laid by co-producer Chris Goss (Queens Of The Stone Age, U.N.K.L.E., Masters Of Reality).

Choice Of Weapon was written by Astbury and Duffy, and recorded in New York City, Los Angeles, the California high desert, and the band’s Witch Mountain studios in the Hollywood Hills between July and December 2011.

With a rich history to cover and a forward-looking attitude to savour, The Cult Choice Of Weapon Fan Pack is a Cult collectible that’s a must for all fans of the band.

Tracklisting: 1. Honey From A Knife (3.06) 2. Elemental Light (4.46) 3. The Wolf (3.33) 4. Life > Death (5.33) 5. For The Animals (4.28) 6. Amnesia (3.02) 7. Wilderness Now (4.33) 8. Lucifer (4.40) 9. A Pale Horse (3.14) 10. This Night In The City Forever (4.45)
+ Two live bonus tracks

The Fan Pack goes on sale May 14, a full three weeks before the actual album release.

And if you want to get a taste of what to expect from the new album, The Cult are giving away the song Lucifer from 2pm UK time today (Tuesday, January 31). Download it for free here.

Click here to pre-order your copy of The Cult Choice Of Weapon Fan Pack.

They’ll play the O2 Arena in Dublin on Thursday, May 17. Tickets go on sale on Friday, February 3. The band have also confirmed an appearance in Italy at The Gods Of Metal Festival on June 22.

Now, the last time they played there, in September 2010, the band were not only late onstage but walked off after 22 minutes because fans were throwing plastic glasses at them. They did return after half-a-hour to finish the set. Interestingly, Paddy Power are offering odds of 10/1 on a fan backlash over what happened last time. Those are the odds on the gig being pulled due to lack of ticket sales. You can also get odds of 3/1 that the band will start the gig on time, and 2/1 that they’ll be over an hour late.

GNR are expected to release details of more summer shows in Britain and Europe soon.

Find out more at www.gunsnroses.com

Or, you can now listen to the songs Stay Frosty, China Town and Blood And Fire.

Blood And Fire actually sounds like a reworking of an Eddie Van Halen instrumental called Ripley. This was featured in the 1984 film The Wild Life. If you fancy comparing the two, then here is Ripley.

And you can now buy Blood And Fire digitally.

Find out more at www.van-halen.com