GUNS N’ ROSES: Pro-shot footage of entire 3 hour LA gig, December 2011

‘Chinese Democracy’ was a long time coming. It was never going to live up to the fifteen year saga which led to its release, but truth told, it was a much better album than most ever thought it could be. No, it wasn’t “classic” Guns N’ Roses (for the want of a phrase), but it contained some great, rockin’ tunes. The presence of the mighty Buckethead on some tracks was always likely to give things a sense of urgency if nothing else.

Over the following couple of years, Axl Rose and his revolving pick up band played various live shows – sometimes absolutely killing it, sometimes not, sometimes turning up late, sometimes upsetting South American fans. Wherever they go, there’s often a small amount of rock star drama.

Just before Christmas 2011, the band played a mammoth three hour set at The Forum, Inglewood, which was simultanously broadcast on ye olde internet. Despite some vocal problems, the setlist was solid enough: a selection of ‘Chinese Democracy’ tracks, a bunch of classic numbers, a world of lengthy solo spots and jams. There’s even time for one of ex-Replacements man Tommy Stinson‘s solo numbers!

For those with more spare time than they know what to do with, the entire performance can be seen below. While it’s great that G N’R have spent a huge chunk of 2011’s second half on the road, it’s a shame it came at the expense of Soul Asylum’s planned trip to the UK (their first for sixteen years…)

Only Living Boy: new festive clip

Joe Cirotti of blues/garage rockers Only Living Boy has posted an acoustic Christmas performance on YouTube, to help everyone feel a little festive spirit. (See below)

Only Living Boy released their debut full length, ‘Hide Nothing’ in the summer of 2011, showcasing a heady mix of garage rock, blues, retro rock and a smattering of punk attitude with some interesting results. (Review here)

FAITH NO MORE: Pro-shot footage of complete SWU Festival headline slot

After touring their 1997 release, the optimistically titled ‘Album of the Year’, Faith No More disbanded. Following the break-up, frontman Mike Patton went into recording overdrive, releasing various avant-garde records, not only under his own name but with metal band Fantomas, funk/alternative oddballs Mr Bungle and a whole bunch more besides.

As great as some of these projects were – always interesting, if not always entirely enjoyable – fans still held his work with Faith No More in very high regard.

In 2009, Faith No More reformed and played some festival shows. Over the following two years, the momentum grew and the band made even more appearances, though after two years of sporadic touring, appearances in the UK were somewhat under-represented.

In November 2011, Faith No More played four shows in South America, culminating in two festival headline slots. The first, at Maquinara in Chile proved to be a wholly unique experience as the band played the whole of ‘King For a Day…Fool For a Lifetime’. The following night, their slot at the SWU Festival, Brazil was professionally filmed and can be enjoyed below. The set-list may be more varied than Maquinara, but still contains it’s share of classic moments.

Perhaps most importantly, it still included what most fans are calling “mystery song” which appeared at the start of the encore. Could there be long-awaited new material on the way?

Captain Beefheart’s ‘Bat Chain Puller’ to finally get official release

Captain Beefheart’s legendary 1976 shelved recording ‘Bat Chain Puller’ is to get an official release on January 15th 2012.

The original album was shelved after a dispute between album producer Frank Zappa and Herb Cohen regarding monies earned via their Discreet Records label, sometime recording home to Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart).

Many of the ‘Bat Chain Puller’ songs were re-recorded and issued on subsequent albums; even the title itself got recycled two years later for Beefheart’s 1978 release ‘Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)’, but despite circulating on bootlegs for many years, those original 1976 recordings have never been available in their entirity on an official basis.

January 15th would have been Don Van Vliet’s 71st birthday.

More Thin Lizzy deluxe reissues to be released in February

2011 has been a good year for Thin Lizzy fans, with various deluxe reissues bringing new life to the band’s classic back catalogue.  The year saw deluxe and expanded reissues of ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Johnny The Fox’, ‘Bad Reputation’, ‘Live & Dangerous’, ‘Black Rose’ and ‘Chinatown’.

The end of the year also saw the release of a seven disc (6CD+1DVD) box set of the band’s extant BBC recordings.  It was not complete, however, since Lizzy’s 1983 performance at the Reading Festival was conspicuously absent.  The gig was previously issued by a BBC subsidiary in the mid 90s, but for whatever reason, they chose not to include it as part of an otherwise unmissable set.

The band’s 1974 and 1975 releases ‘Nightlife’ and ‘Fighting’ seemed to be overlooked – an odd move in the case of the latter – but there’s some great news.  Both albums will be reissued as 2CD deluxe sets on February 27th 2012.  As yet, no tracklistings have been announced.

Following those, it is likely 1981’s ‘Renegade’ and 1983’s ‘Thunder & Lightning’ will receive deluxe treatment – making a complete set of expanded studio albums – but this is not yet confirmed.  The absent Reading Festival ’83 appearance would make a perfect bonus disc for ‘Thunder & Lightning’ after all.