R.I.P. Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister: 1945-Eternity
Armed with a Rickenbacker, Jack and smokes, Lemmy blasted through life louder than everyone else. He was defiant, smart and witty enough to crack up a statue. Lemmy was my Keith Richards.
Gene Simmons calling: ‘Is this a good time?’
I requested an interview with Gene Simmons, but was told he wasn’t scheduling press. Instead, I was told, he would carry my phone number with him and call if and when the mood struck. Naturally, I jumped every time the damn phone rang.
Rockin’ Role: Juliette Lewis Gets Her Licks
Juliette Lewis is on the phone sounding every bit like one of her flirty, fun and yet scary Hollywood movie characters. The topic is not acting or past films. The business at hand is punk rock.
Review: Under No One, ‘Bullhorns & Politics’
By Metal Dave If you wore a Sepultura patch in San Antonio during the early 1990s, you and your leather high-tops surely got bruised slamming to Alienation, Judge Mental and Scythe. As the go-to local opening acts for Anthrax, Deicide, Overkill and Suicidal Tendencies, the Alamo City’s Big Three were a whiplash squad of mortar-blast drums, blinding guitar…
Review: Michael Monroe, ‘Blackout States’
By Metal Dave With due respect to Hanoi Rocks, Michael Monroe’s best run is now. Fightin’ words, perhaps, but the truth is worth the risk. On a raucous roll since 2011’s “Sensory Overdrive” and its 2013 follow-up, “Horns and Halos,” the iconic glam-punk singer is back with “Blackout States,” the third in a near-flawless trifecta of…
Review: Broken Teeth, ‘Bulldozer’
In all honesty, a seven-song EP containing two previously released (albeit relatively new) singles and a pair of cover tunes shouldn’t feel so fully satisfying, but Broken Teeth’s fist-cracking knack for bruising urgency never leaves time for boredom.
Interview, 2001: Paul Di’Anno Talks Maiden, Dickinson, A Forgotten Supergroup & More
Iron Maiden soared to astronomical worldwide acclaim with vocalist Bruce Dickinson, but ask Anthrax, Pantera or any death metal merchants to name a favorite Maiden platter and the scales will likely tip in favor of original vocalist, Paul Di’Anno.
Steve Rodriguez, 1967-2015: RIP and RLF
By Metal Dave My fondest memory of Steve Rodriguez is watching him step out of a van in the parking lot of Curra’s Grill in Austin, Texas. I was there to interview his band The Dragons for Metal Edge magazine (an odd fit, but I pushed hard). With his hoop earrings, sunglasses, dagger-shaped sideburns and…
Danny Lilker: Speak Metal or Die
By Metal Dave Before the budget started wheezing like Keith Richards, I was making good money as a regular contributor to online hard rock/heavy metal website KNAC.com. The year was 2000-2001 and under the free reign of Managing Editor Frank Meyer (Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs), I interviewed a lot of my favorite rockers and spent untold hours transcribing…
Paul Di’Anno: The lost interview and beyond with the banished menace of Maiden
By Metal Dave Somewhere between 1990 and 1992, I was sitting beside Paul Di’Anno on a Dumpster-ready backstage couch at the Showcase Events Center in San Antonio. Paul was eagerly devouring American-brand cigarettes and graciously obliging my unscheduled interview. A few hours later, the former Iron Maiden singer would take the stage with his then-new band, Killers. In the end, I…
Review: Kickin Valentina ‘Super Atomic’
By Metal Dave If Scandinavian sleaze rock crashed into vintage Hollywood hair metal, the shattering sonic slam might sound like Kickin Valentina. Gruff and nasty, these Atlanta-based, raunch-n-rollers are back with their second platter, “Super Atomic.” Opening with “Sermon,” which is actually a mini-narrative about the corrupting evils of rock-n-roll, the six-song “Super Atomic” gets…
Judas Priest: Still Defending the Faith with Expanded Re-Issue of Classic 1984 Album
Studded with such soon-to-be, fan-favorites as “Freewheel Burning,” “Jawbreaker,” “The Sentinel,” “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll” and “Love Bites,” “Defenders of the Faith” proved a formidable follow-up to Priest’s now-classic 1982 breakthrough album, “Screaming for Vengeance.”