In 2011, it was announced that Paul Simon was to release a 25th anniversary edition of ‘Graceland’.

It has been announced that the deluxe reissue will be released on June 5th in a variety of formats.

The new edition of the album will be released on a heavyweight vinyl, CD+DVD set and deluxe 2CD+2DVD set.

CD/DVD set track details (courtesy of the Paul Simon website):

CD
The Boy In The Bubble
Graceland
I Know What I Know
Gumboots
Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes
You Can Call Me Al
Under African Skies
Homeless
Crazy Love, Vol II
That Was Your Mother
All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints
Homeless (Demo)
Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes (Alternate version)
All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints (Early version)
You Can Call Me Al (Demo)
Crazy Love (Demo)
The Story of “Graceland” – as told by Paul Simon

The 2CD/2DVD edition will include all of the above, plus these extra goodies:

CD2:
Homeless (Demo)
Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes (Alternate version)
All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints (Early version)
You Can Call Me Al (Demo)
Crazy Love (Demo)
The Story of “Graceland” – as told by Paul Simon

DVD2:
The original 1987 “African Concert” from Zimbabwe, three original music videos and the iconic “Saturday Night Live” performance of “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”

The four disc edition will be housed in a hardback, cloth covered book which includes new essays and copies of Simon’s own handwritten lyrics.

Fans can expect the four disc edition to retail between £70-£80.

Although expected to appear at some point this year, the German power metal band Masterplan have delayed work on their fifth album.

Guitarist and founder member Roland Grapow (ex-Helloween) has been busy with other projects and has finished mixing new material by Spanish band Saratoga and Australia’s Black Majesty. He says writing has been going well with regards to new Masterplan material and the band now have “15 songs written”.

Scandinavian vocalist Jorn Lande rejoined Masterplan in 2009 having been replaced by ex-Riot man Mike DeMeo in 2006.

DeMeo was last heard on ‘Awakening’, the 2012 all-star release from Tom Galley’s Phenomena. [Read a review here]

Metal titans Metallica have already sold out five Mexico City dates on their current tour. Shows on August 1, 2, 4-6, 7 sold out quickly and due to fan demand the band have added a sixth date.

Mexican fans can now catch Metallica at the Sports Palace, Mexico City on August 9th and witness a lengthy live set which is said to revisit various eras of the band’s history.

The current Metallica live show is said to be twice the size of that seen on the ‘Death Megnetic’ tour, which began in 2008.

UK fans will next witness the Metallica live show in June when Lars and co headline the 10th Download Festival. A special set will include the 1991 multi-million selling ‘Black Album’ (official title ‘Metallica’) played in its entirety.

Some thoughts on Metallica’s 2011 collaboration with Lou Reed can be read here.
Metallica’s complete performance from Sonisphere Sweden 2012 can be seen here.

After various rumours circulated late last night (March 28th), it appeared unlikely the UK leg of the Sonisphere Festival would go ahead as planned.

Within the last hour this morning (March 29th), the festival organisers have issued an official statement, which reads as follows:

“It is with very heavy hearts and much regret that we announce the cancellation of Sonisphere Knebworth 2012.
Putting the festival together in what is proving to be a very challenging year was more difficult than we anticipated and we have spent the last few months fighting hard to keep Sonisphere in the calendar. Unfortunately circumstances have dictated that we would be unable to run the festival to a standard that both the artists and that Sonisphere’s audience would rightly expect.
We want to express our deepest regrets to the artists and to thank all the staff, suppliers and contractors who worked so hard with us to try and pull off what has proven to be an impossible task and we know how much they share in our disappointment. We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can’t fulfil what we set out to do.
Ticket holders will automatically receive a full refund direct from their ticket agents.
Team Sonisphere.“

It is unknown whether some of the featured artists will reschedule their appearances. The UK Sonisphere Festival was to be the only UK appearance by the reformed Faith No More.

Also lined up to appear, among others, were: Tim Minchin, Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Black Stone Cherry and The Darkness.

REAL GONE SAYS: We suspected nobody was going to shell out that kind of money to see a glorified tribute band fill a headline slot at a major festival show. Still, it gives Brian May more time to devote to his hedgehogs.

Reports are circulating regarding the status of the 2012 Sonisphere Festival.

According to the official Queen website, the UK event which was due to be held at Knebworth Park this coming July, has been cancelled.

At the time of writing, the leaked news has been removed from QueenOnline.com and there has been no official statement from the festival organisers.

Faith No More and KISS were also due to headline the festival. It would have been Faith No More’s first UK appearance since headlining the Reading/Leeds festival in August 2009. It is unknown whether in the event of cancellation the band intend to reschedule their UK visit.

Other acts scheduled to appear included Marilyn Manson, Incubus, Cypress Hill, Within Temptation, Tim Minchin and Lacuna Coil.