Blog Posts by Greg Prato

Some of the biggest names of the hard rock/heavy metal world picked their favorite Judas Priest songs for the band's forthcoming compilation album, The Chosen Few (out October 11th via Legacy/Sony) - and the result is one of the more interesting Priest tracklistings ever put together.

Artists who took part in the 17-track strong The Chosen Few included Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, Alice Cooper and Slipknot's Corey Taylor, among others. 

"This is a collection of songs chosen by our friends and respected peers," Priest frontman Rob Halford tells Rolling Stone. "So we hope all the metal maniacs out there will rock out to the tunes enjoyed by metal legends."

Also included in the set are explanations from each artist about their selection, including Taylor gushing that Priest's early MTV anthem, "You've Got Another Thing Coming," caused the group to become "the blueprint for the ultimate heavy metal band." Elsewhere, Osbourne finds himself bewildered

Although the Dead Kennedys have been back on the concert circuit for several years (with other singers taking the spot of Jello Biafra), the group hasn't issued a full-length album of new material since 1986's Bedtime for Democracy. But DK guitarist East Bay Ray's unmistakable six-string work will see the light of day again when his band, the Killer Smiles, issues The Killer Smiles on September 13th via MVD Audio.

First, though, he and the rest of the Dead Kennedys are contending with the unauthorized use of one of their classic songs, "Too Drunk Too F**k." Nouvelle Vague's lounge version of the song was used in a European Heineken ad - and the band is none too pleased. "A friend of mine told me about it, because basically, the Dead Kennedys have never done a commercial," says Ray. "Our attorney has sent them a letter. We're asking for a public apology. It's shocking in this day and age that some corporate beer company would just take a song and not know that you have to get

Ever since the late Nineties, the original X line-up has reunited for sporadic live work. This fall, the group will be celebrating the 31-year anniversary of the release of their 1980 debut Los Angeles by playing the album in its entirety on each stop of a U.S. tour (with a screening of their 1986 film, The Unheard Music, occurring before each performance).

In an interview with Rolling Stone, singer Exene Cervenka discussed X's debut album, the possibility of new material and dealing with multiple sclerosis.

What do you recall about when X recorded Los Angeles?
Looking back at it now, we didn't take anything seriously. I was a hellion - all I wanted to do was write songs, write poems, drink, get high, play music and go to shows. It was a wonderful time. I think it was big in our minds, but it was hard to take it seriously, because we still weren't at the point where we realized things were going to happen.

What did Ray Manzarek bring to the band as a producer?
When we met Ray, I was just

It appears as though Mastodon frontman and lead guitarist Brent Hinds can never have enough on his plate. In the midst of recording the melodic prog metal band's next studio effort, he will also be issuing a double disc of two separate side projects, titled Brent Hinds Presents Fiend Without A Face/West End Motel, on June 7th via Rocket Science. The albums are a departure from Mastodon's heavy metal thunder - Fiend touches upon whacked-out surf sounds, while Motel is all about boozy poetry.

Plus, he'll be playing with Mastodon all summer as the group tours Europe and performs a one-off U.S. show with Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Meat Puppets in Washington - and finishes off "album number five" (which will be released later this year). Recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike Elizondo, confirmed song titles for this yet-to-be-named disc include "Blasteroids" and "All The Heavy Lifting." "It sounds pretty different than anything we've ever done," Hinds

British metal stalwarts Judas Priest have an eventful few months ahead: The band recently announced a farewell tour and have welcomed a new guitarist, Richie Faulkner, to replace the recently retired KK Downing.

"It's not exactly the end of the band, it's just the fact that we won't really be doing any more world tours," guitarist Glenn Tipton tells Rolling Stone. "It takes a big chunk out of your life. We've been doing it for 40 years now or close to it, and we all love that moment on stage, but it's difficult to be away from home and all the traveling involved. Now, if somebody came along and said, 'Would you do a small string of dates,' we wouldn't automatically say no to that. But in general, this is probably the last chance you'll get to see Priest live."

Choose Rolling Stone's Cover: The Sheepdogs vs. Lelia Broussard. Vote Now!

On this tour - dubbed the Epitaph Tour - Priest will be working in new guitarist Faulkner, who sees his playing style as similar to his predecessor's. "My

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan isn't just working on reissuing the band's back catalog and recording two new albums, Oceania and Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. He's also writing an autobiography, titled God is Everywhere, from Here to There, that he described as a "spiritual memoir."

"It's a very interesting take inside my personal life and my band life," Corgan tells Rolling Stone. "I've decided to write this on my own, which is complete insanity. I try to spend about an hour a day on the book, which is the time I would usually put towards music writing. So that means I have to find that hour, because I won't give up that music writing time. It's a journey, for sure." He says that with around 300 pages completed, he's finished writing one-third of the book.

Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone: Vote Now!

But don't expect to find any of Corgan's revealing "online diary entries" that he posted several years ago on his Myspace page. "It's totally fresh material. When I started talking

Motörhead singer/bassist Lemmy Kilmister has always described the band's music simply as "rock & roll" - so his rockabilly side band, the Head Cat, is a logical extension of his interests. The group - which also includes Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom and Rockats guitarist Danny B. Harvey - will be releasing their second album, Walk the Walk...Talk the Talk, on June 21.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lemmy discussed the Head Cat, why he loves Little Richard, and what to expect from the new album.

Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone: Vote Now!

What was the impetus for the Head Cat?
We got together doing an Elvis tribute record with Johnny Ramone [2000's Swing Cats: A Special Tribute to Elvis]. We sat around f**kin' off and playing around, and we realized that we were playing about 35 songs, and we knew them all exactly. So we thought, "Why don't we make an album, since we're in the studio?" It took us like two weeks to do the whole thing.

Why did it take so long between Head Cat

It's hard to believe that Anthrax's last studio album, We've Come for You All,  arrived in 2003 - and that it's been 21 years since their last true studio album with singer Joey Belladonna (1990's Persistence of Time). But with Belladonna back on board, the group's delayed Worship Music album - which was fully recorded with a different singer, before being shelved and redone with Belladonna - should finally see release this fall.

Meanwhile, Anthrax has continued to tour, playing mammoth European shows last year with fellow thrash metallists Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. And on Saturday, the U.S. will get its first-ever "Big 4" show, at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California (the same location as last weekend's Coachella Festival).

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Benante discussed paying tribute to Judas Priest, helping Metallica early on and creating "rap metal."

Let's talk about the upcoming album, Worship Music.
When we continued working on this record again with Joey, the