Newsbites: Def Lep to play Hysteria in full

Lounge liberators: Def Leppard

Def Leppard will play their 1987 album Hysteria in full during their nine-show residency in Las Vegas. Frontman Joe Elliott says: “We’re very happy to be part of the first wave of rockers to take Vegas back from the lounge singers. The oddest thing is going to be doing Pour Some Sugar On Me fifth – in many respects it’s like the Troggs opening with Wild Thing.” Def Lep’s Vegas residency starts on March 22 next year.

Gene Simmons says the current lineup of Kiss is the one that should always have existed. He explains: “We’re so comfortable. We like each other’s company, we like playing on stage, and the creative process is just second-skin. This should have been the lineup from the beginning.” [Revolver]

Kreator frontman Mille Petrozza lost his temper during a show in Spain at the weekend after the power went down for half an hour. Once electricity had been restored he told the audience at Salamandra in Barcelona: “Fuck the promoter. Fuck those people – they rip you off and they rip us off. We don’t want to play this place ever again. I hope you destroy this fucker.”

Slash will release a three-disc enhanced version of his Apocalyptic Love album exclusively in Best Buy in the US. It includes a 15-track edition of the original record, acoustic tracks and the Live From NY concert DVD. It also features a collectable guitar pick tin. The pack goes on sale on November 19.

Former Yes frontman Jon Anderson likes the idea that UFOs are future humans visiting their own past. He says: “I remember Chris Squire and I talking about those things, looking at photographs of spaceship lights and captures. He said: ‘We’re just looking at our future selves.’ It really tripped us out. It’s really quite trippy to if you think about it in those terms – they’re our future selves coming back to check us out.” [Prog Magazine]

Sebastian Bach has said he’s currently working on “a top-secret project that will revolutionise popular music as we know it.” He hasn’t offered any further details.

Former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty has signed a book deal. He says: “I want to tell the story of how I fought hard to maintain my artistic integrity in the face of opposing forces. I wanted to be the best musician in the world, and I accomplished that goal against all odds – only to have it fall apart on top of me. All of this took its toll. I couldn’t write a song, sing a song. And it was so hard on me, all of the lawsuits and betrayals. I was personally fading away. My story will share the ups and downs and how it all affected me. The road back was a bumpy one, and I knew that it would take years to come out of it, but I did.” The book is due out in 2014.

Meanwhile, Creedence Clearwater Revisited are among the bands confirmed for the Rock Legends Cruise II, which sales from Fort Lauderdale on January 10. The four-day cruise also stars Blue Oyster Cult, Foreigner, Paul Rodgers, Kansas, Foghat, 38 Special, Molly Hatchet and Bachman and Turner. Tickets are priced from $699 to $5999. Find out more.

Randy Rhoads‘ commitment to bettering himself is one of the reasons he’s still highly regarded today, says the co-author of a book about the guitarist. Rhoads died on tour with Ozzy Osbourne in 1982 when a plane joyride went wrong – but the young musician had already decided to leave Ozzy’s band. Author Andrew Klein says: “It was his dedication to learning and furthering himself that we find the most inspiring and remarkable. When Randy informed Ozzy he was quitting the rock’n'roll lifestyle in favour of pursuing a master’s degree in classical music, Ozzy asked him to wait a little longer. He said, ‘One more year and you can buy your own university. You have to strike while you are hot.’ Randy didn’t care about any of that. He made up his mind and nothing was going to persuade him otherwise. It’s that dedication to his beliefs that we find so inspiring. Furthering himself musically was at the top of his priority list. Anyone else would have relished in what he was experiencing. He had a long list of things he wanted to accomplish.” [Powerline]