More on the Iommi and Dio Collaboration

The Associated Press is reporting that Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio are working together and reuniting Black Sabbath. Honestly though, the article is unclear. The first paragraph mentions this, but the last states that they're recording new songs, which we already knew (for the new "Best of Dio Years" release).

Adding to the confusion is a statement by Ozzy which says Black Sabbth, with him at the helm, will tour next year.

Eventually this will make some sort of sense, right?

Maiden Plays Entire New Album at Concert Opener

Yes, Iron Maiden played all of A Matter of Life and Death at their concert opener last night. All 75+ minutes of it. In order. I wasn't too happy about it, considering live it dragged as much as it does on CD, and a number of other people weren't too thrilled as well.

It would've been fine if they had gone ahead and played for a total of at least 2.5 hours, but the show was finished in just under two hours. So the fans missed out on such staples as "Number of the Beast," and hell, anything off of Piece of Mind, Somewhere In Time, Brave New World, or Dance of Death. What were they smoking?

To top it all off, the sound was in the crapper. The guitars weren't too audible for at least 40 minutes, and any time Dickinson tried to sing louder, the microphone levels would drop. At times I thought he wasn't singing at all, but no, it was just the sound guy forgetting to turn the microphone levels on. Genius. Sad thing is, the opening band's sound (Bullet For My Valentine) was much better.

But hey, I got to see Adrian in leather pants and Gers throw around his guitar like a juggling club. That makes up for it, right? Um, no. Here's to hoping they don't do this for the remainder of the tour.

New Maiden Single to Be Released In USA

For this first time in a while, Iron Maiden will be releasing their second single, "Different World," in the USA. Live versions of "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "The Trooper" will be the extra tracks.

Their world tour kicks off today in Connecticut. I'll be there; will you?

Break In the Loudness War?

Probably not, but at least someone within Sony is complaining about it according to this article. The piece does a decent job of explaining to the layman exactly what the Loudness War is and why it's a bad thing for all music listeners. They even point out that it affects Mastodon (which is sadly obvious in "Circle of Cysquatch," since the intro guitar riff drops in volume as soon as the drums roll in).

Give it a read. Thanks FOB.