Slash — a big-time Angry Birds fan — has recorded the theme music for the latest version of the game, Angry Birds Space. You can watch Slash playing and discussing the song in the video below.
Slash and Rovio, the creator of Angry Birds, also have partnered to create the “SlashBird” character (pictured) and a new ringtone.
“When [futureusgallerycreator] Rovio approached me about actually playing my own take on the Angry Birds theme, it went back and forth a few times between the actual Angry Birds theme note-for-note … and then they asked for something a little bit different,” Slash says.
“We’re huge Slash fans, and Slash is a huge Angry Birds fan, so this was just an ideal match,” says Philip Hickey, vice president of marketing at Rovio. “It all happened very organically and was just a lot of fun on both sides. Our fans will love the track! Slash rocked the Angry Birds Space theme like only he could!”
Slash and and his bandmates, Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators — Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass) and Frank Sidoris (guitar) — will head to Seoul, South Korea, May 9 to perform at MetalFest. On May 11, the group will perform live at the first-ever Ozzfest Japan with Black Sabbath and more.
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Slash has released a new live music video for “Anastasia,” a track off his 2012 album, Apocalyptic Love. You can check it out below.
NOTE: If you’re in a hurry and need a guitar-solo fix, just jump right to the 3:08 mark in the video, where Slash gets down to business.
“Anastasia” is the fourth single from Apocalyptic Love, an album that earned a spot on Guitar World’s list of the top 50 albums of 2012. You can check out the complete list right here.
Slash is on the road at the moment, playing several dates in Europe through March 4. He and his band will perform at Ozzfest in Tokyo on May 11.
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After a month of furious voting, the results are in on our Music Video of the Year readers’ poll, and the winner is…technical thrashers Revocation (pictured above) for their “The Grip Tightens” clip.
The top five vote-getters are:
1. Revocation, “The Grip Tightens”
2. Black Veil Brides, “Coffin”
3. High on Fire, “Fertile Green”
4. Slash, “Bad Rain”
5. Motionless In White, “Devil’s Night”
Check out Revocation, “The Grip Tightens” below:
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Leading up to the end of the year, Revolver has asked some of our favorite artists to pick their Top Albums of 2012 and tell us why each record rules. Here, Kalle “Cane” Savijärvi (pictured left), guitarist of the Pagan-metal band Korpiklaani, selects his faves.
5. Neil Young, Americana
“Traditional songs turning into something totally different in Neil’s hands. No compromises. Neil is doing what ever he wants. Very strong album.”
4. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Last of a Dyin’ Breed
“Kings of Southern rock bringing a very good album again. After almost 40 years still rockin’. Three guitars together, just great.”
3. Slash, Apocalyptic Love
“Slash plays Les Paul with style. Rock and roll! Myles Kennedy doing good job on vocals.”
2. ZZ Top, La Futura
“Blues enough for my taste. Very good sounds. Billy Gibbons is one of my guitar idols.”
1. Neil Young, Psychedelic Pill
“I’ve been Neil Young fan over 20 years. This is what I’ve been waiting. Crazy Horse as its best.”
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We just posted our list of the Best Music Videos of 2012. Now we’re asking you, what is your favorite among our picks? Vote below, as many times as you want, to tell us.
UPDATE: The poll is closed. You can see the result right here.
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Sure, music videos aren’t what they used to be since MTV all but dropped the “M.” But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still bands who give a serious shit about the clips they produce to accompany their songs. 2012 had its share of badass music videos–here are our picks for the 10 best. And if you don’t like our ranking, tell us which video is your favorite in our poll right here.
12. Machine Head, “Darkness Within”
Blood, worms, tight claustrophobic spaces, and perhaps most frightening of all, considering Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe’s legal problems there, the city of Prague, Czech Republic, all feature largely in this dark, disturbing clip for the standout centerpiece song off Machine Head’s Unto the Locust.
11. Asking Alexandria, “Through Sin and Self-Destruction”
No one music video could capture the nonstop sin and insanity that is a day in the life of Asking Alexandria. So the band released three videos this year, making for the epic “Through Sin and Self-Destruction” trilogy, a cinematic roller-coaster ride full of sex, drugs, violence, rock and roll, and more drugs.
10. Lamb of God, “Ghost Walking”
Saying that Lamb of God had quite the year (in both good and bad terms) would be an understatement–from the release their great album Resolution to the arrest of vocalist Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic. A highlight from LOG’s 2012, the band’s video for the single “Ghost Walking” uses first-class animation as it follows a shady-looking character as he seeks to protect top-secret information.
9. Slash, “Bad Rain”
This single from Slash’s second solo album Apocalyptic Love, features the rock god’s top hat and all in an animated video of a strip-tease show gone horribly wrong.
8. In This Moment, “Blood”
The title track of In This Moment’s record features a video that ties together all the spooky and fairy tale-esque imagery of the album’s art. Vocalist Maria Brink isn’t shy about her own sexuality and she just doesn’t care what you think anymore.
7. Black Veil Brides, “Coffin”
Though this song comes of the band’s 2011 EP, Rebels, this candlelit video was released this year. The Black Veil Brides’ glam-metal-tinged hard rock goes grim as they play with fire and snakes.
6. Down, “Witchtripper”
It’s been a while since we heard from Down and even though the Down IV Part I- The Purple EP isn’t a full-length, it packs more high-quality sludge then most bands do in their careers. The video for “Witchtripper” features one of the more bizarre storylines of the Top 10 chosen videos–but what else would we expect from vocalist Phil Anselmo anyway? After some eyeball stew and satanic ceremonies, Down teaches us that metal actually is the devil’s music.
5. Pig Destroyer, “The Diplomat”
This is the first of two videos on this list directed by Phil Mucci (see also No. 1), whose work seems to have distinct editing choices and layers of vibrant colors. After a five-year break between albums, Pig Destroyer dropped this new video that delivers a surefire message: When a jittery diplomat gives AK-47s to monkeys on an alternate planet, it can only lead to a smattering of green guts.
4. Motionless In White, “Devil’s Night”
Fight scenes are pretty much always memorable, and terror scenes are even harder to forget. Motionless In White deliver both here, constantly increasing the numbers of their gang with the use of a straight razor in this twisted West Side Story-like video directed by Cody Blue Snider, son of Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider.
3. Dethklok, “I Ejaculate Fire”
As with most things Dethklok-related, the band’s mere presence brings about a disaster. Is that a Spinx ejaculating fire? Yes. Is this video NSFW? Yes. Is it absurd yet totally funny? Absolutely.
2. Revocation, “The Grip Tightens”
The tech-thrash band comes out of “retirement” to play for the senior-citizen crowd in this hilarious video. Forget about age, they still partake in rock-and-roll debauchery–grandma panties and all.
1. High on Fire, “Fertile Green”
The plot of this visually stunning video may be about as complicated to understand as the concept behind High on Fire’s most recent album, De Vermis Mysteriis. But we’re guessing that if you watch the clip after puffing on a bong a few times, it makes perfect sense. We’re guessing.
Vote for your favorite video on this list in our poll right here.
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Perpetually top-hatted axe-slinger Slash has just premiered a new music video for his song “Bad Rain.” Watch the animated clip below.
“Bad Rain” is the third single taken from the guitarist’s second solo album, Apocalyptic Love (buy on iTunes), which was released earlier this year on Slash’s own Dik Hayd International label.
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Charlie Sheen may supposedly be on the straight and narrow these days, but he’s as dangerous as ever when you put a microphone in front of him.
Yesterday, legendary guitarist Slash was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and his neighbor and friend Charlie Sheen was on hand to offer some words of, er, wisdom at the ceremony.
“This star is going to be stepped on more than the coke we did in the Eighties,” said Sheen at one point, prompting Slash to cover his mouth to hide his laughter.
Sheen also took a shot at Slash’s former frontman during the ceremony, saying “It’s quite fitting that Slash is getting a star on the very street Axl Rose will one day be sleeping on.”
You can watch video from Sheen’s speech via TMZ below.
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IK Multimedia has released AmpliTube Slash, a new app for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac/PC that lets you play, practice and record with Slash’s signature pedals and amplifiers.
All versions of AmpliTube Slash feature models of the gear used by Slash in the studio and live. These include his Marshall amps and signature effect pedals. You’ll also find a comprehensive collection of Slash’s tone settings, which are provided as starting points for tone tweaking or playing along.
AmpliTube Slash provides a fully integrated multi-track recording studio for capturing ideas quickly and easily or producing entire songs and compositions. A song player section gives users the ability to play along with songs or backing tracks by importing them directly from their device library or computer.
“My new album, Apocalyptic Love, was entirely written while we were on tour,” Slash said. “If we’re not performing’ we’re traveling, so there is little time for creating music. By using my iPhone along with IK’s AmpliTube and iRig, I was able to capture whatever ideas I had swimming in my head, usually around 4 a.m.”
“AmpliTube iRig comes in really handy for on-the-go practicing, recording or just jamming on different ideas –- even if it’s on the bus -– it’s right with me all the time,” Slash added. “I’ll do some tweaks on the Marshalls, but there are also different effects that are available including distortion, chorus, auto wah and more.”
IK worked with Slash to model his entire rig, including two classic rock amplifiers, the Marshall JCM Slash Edition Silver Jubilee and the Marshall AFD100. Both feature Slash’s favorite 1960 Marshall speaker cabinet. Together with these amps, users can choose from six stompbox effects, including Slash’s signature Delay, Gate, Octave/Fuzz, Chorus, Booster and Wah/Distortion.
The rig is fully configurable so that the signal chain can be freely customized depending upon the device used: 3 stompbox effects into an amp and cabinet on the iPhone/iPod touch; 4 stompbox effects and amp/cabinet/mic on the iPad, and up to 12 stompbox effect combinations into dual amp/cab/mic/room on the Mac/PC.
AmpliTube Slash for iPhone and iPad are now available from the App Store now for $9.99/€7.99. Existing users of AmpliTube for iPhone, iPod touch or iPad can purchase AmpliTube Slash as an in-app purchase for $9.99/€7.99, or individual models a la carte starting at $2.99/€1.99.
For Mac/PC users, AmpliTube Slash can be purchased inside AmpliTube Custom Shop for $79.99/€59.99 (excluding taxes), or individual models can be purchased a’ la carte starting from $5 each.
Order AmpliTube Slash for iPhone here and AmpliTube Slash for iPad here.
AmpliTube Custom Shop can be downloaded for free here
For more information on AmpliTube Slash, visit amplitube.com/slash. For all other software products and guitar interfaces, visit ikmultimedia.com.
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