If there’s one thing more exciting than seeing your favorite bands live, it’s seeing your favorite bands playing live together at the same time. Although the hard-rock and metal history books include more than a few eye-popping collaborations over the genres’ four-decade histories, 2011 boasts some of the most exciting. Below is a list of what got the Revolver editors’ jaws dropping this year. Let us know what jams you think were the best in the comments section.
The Big Four
Although Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax jammed together for the first time last year, it was in 2011 they made it their calling card. Beginning with their performance of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” in April to their jams in Europe (which also featured members of Diamond Head, Exodus, and Sepultura), to their U.S. final performance of Motörhead’s “Overkill” in New York City, these bands have made history at each performance.
The Metal Masters
The night before the Big Four concert in New York City, members of Megadeth and Anthrax along with drummer Mike Portnoy gathered to give instrument tips to fans and musicians a like. What the audience didn’t expect was the closing jam, which featured Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Frank Bello, and Charlie Benante, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Mike Portnoy, and special guests Kerry King of Slayer and…Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down fame, who sang “Fucking Hostile” and “A New Level.”
Temple of the Dog
For Pearl Jam’s 20th Anniversary concert, Chris Cornell joined the band for a four-song set of the songs he recorded with the nascent band under the name Temple of the Dog in 2011.
The Revolver Golden Gods Awards
We may be tooting our own horns here, but even we were floored by the collaborations of Avenged Sevenfold with Vinnie Paul on Pantera’s “Mouth for War” and Duff McKagan on GN’R’s “It’s So Easy,” as well as Duff, Corey Taylor, and Steve Jones’ take on Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye,” Volbeat’s take on Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Wanna Be With You,” and Asking Alexandria and Sebastian Bach’s electrifying take on “Youth Gone Wild.”
Guns N’ Roses and Zakk Wylde’s “Whole Lotta Rosie”
At a recent Indiana gig, Guns N’ Roses invited Black Label Society frontman Zakk Wylde to join them on guitar for an electrifying rendition of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Love.”
Mötley Crüe with Cee-Lo
Cee-Lo Green the Soul Machine, who had a massive hit last year with “Fuck You,” joined the Sunset Strip’s Kings of “Fuck You”—Mötley Crüe—at an L.A. gig in June for a rendition of his hit and the Crüe’s “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away).”
Drop in the Bucket Charity Event
At the Drop in the Bucket Charity Event, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor played a set highlighted by all of his famous friends. Together they played some of hard rock and metal’s greatest hits. Two highlights were Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”—performed by Taylor, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro, Rob Zombie guitarist John 5, and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo—and AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”—played by Taylor, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, John 5, and Rob Zombie bassist Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish. For more from that night, click here.
Metallica 30th Anniversary
Nobody has ever thrown an anniversary party quite like Metallica’s 30th Anniversary shows, which wrapped up on December 10 in San Francisco. Over the course of four nights, they played with artists who influenced them, their peers, and past members of the band. These include everyone from Diamond Head to Mercyful Fate, Marianne Faithfull to Rob Halford, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell to Kid Rock, and, most impressive, original guitarists Dave Mustaine and Lloyd Grant alongside original bassist Ron McGovney for the first song the band ever recorded, “Hit the Lights.”
The Big Four of thrash—Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax—are set to play New York City’s Yankee Stadium on September 14. It will be the second time ever that all four groups have shared a stage in the United States. To mark this occasion, Revolver and Guitar World are celebrating the event with the Big Four Weeks leading up to the event. For the next month or so, leading up to the show, our websites will be giving fans eye-popping exclusives (like the Big Four trading cards from the September/October issue), previously unseen backstage video, and excerpts from our interviews with the bands.
With the big show just a week away, our friends at Jägermeister commissioned mixologists Fred Dexheimer and Todd Richman to create some cocktails that summon the essences of some of the Big Four’s best songs and covers. Throw on the tunes that inspired them, try out the recipes, and tell us what you think of them in the comments!
Slayer’s “Angel of Death”
1.5 parts Old Overholt Rye
1 part Jägermeister
1 part Averna
3 dashes Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters
Brandied Cherries
Build, stir with ice and garnish with a cherry
Slayer’s “Reign in Blood”
2 parts Jägermeister
.75 part Beefeater 24
.5 part Raspberry Simple Syrup
.5 part Iced Tea
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add Ice and Stir
Strain into a Double Old Fashioned Glass
Lemon Twist for garnish
Anthrax’s “Bring the Noise”
1.5 parts Jägermeister
1.5 parts Grapefruit Juice
.5 part Don Q anejo rum
.5 part Velvet Falernum
Combine all ingredients with Ice, Shake and strain into a tall glass.
Megadeth’s “Devil’s Island”
1.5 parts Don Q Anejo Rum
1 part Jägermeister
.5 part Velvet Falernum
1 part Fresh Oj
1 part Pineapple Juice
2 dashes angostura
Combine all ingredients in a tall glass, swizzle with crushed ice. Add more crushed ice and float with Jägermeister on top. Garnish with a pineapple leaf
Megadeth’s “Five Magics”
1 part Jägermeister
1 part Plymouth Gin
1 part Gekkeikan Plum Sake
.5 part Fresh OJ
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a glass with ice.
Top with Ginger Beer and a piece of crystallized ginger
Megadeth’s “Anarchy in the U.K.”
1.5 parts Jägermeister
1.5 parts Plymouth Gin
1 part unsweetened iced tea
1 sugar cube
3 lemon slices
Muddle the lemon and sugar, add the iced tea and spirits and add ice. Stir and garnish with a lemon wheel.
Anthrax’s “Metal Thrashing Mad”
1.5 parts Jägermeister
.5 part Appleton Estate Reserve
.5 part Domaine de Canton
.5 part Fresh Lime Juice
.5 part Fresh Orange Juice
.5 part Pineapple Juice
.5 part Raspberry Simple Syrup
Dry Shake and pour over crushed ice in a tall glass. Garnish with a mint leaf and float 2 barspoons of Jägermeister over the top.
Anthrax’s “Armed and Dangerous”
1 part Rye
1 part Jägermeister
In an rocks glass, add the spirits, add the ice and top with Cola. Garnish with a lime
Metallica’s “Fade to Black”
In a mixing glass with ice stir the following:
1.5 parts of Jägermeister
.5 part of Green Chartreuse
Pour into a shot glass
Metallica’s “Trapped Under Ice”
1.5 parts Plymouth Gin
1 part Jägermeister
Top with Fever Tree Tonic, Lime Wedge
Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”
1 part Rye
1 part Jägermeister
1 tsp Demarara syrup
2 dashes Jerry Thomas Bitters
Lemon Twist
Build, stir with ice, strain into cocktail glass serve with Lemon Twist
The Big Four of thrash—Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax—are set to play New York City’s Yankee Stadium on September 14. It will be the second time ever that all four groups have shared a stage in the United States. To mark this occasion, Revolver and Guitar World are celebrating the event with the Big Four Weeks leading up to the event. For the next month or so, leading up to the show, our websites will be giving fans eye-popping exclusives (like the Big Four trading cards from the September/October issue), previously unseen backstage video, and excerpts from our interviews with the bands.
Metallica have come up with some of the greatest riffs in metal history and today we’re giving you the opportunity to learn how to master one of them yourself. Check out GuitarWorld.com and watch a video detailing how to play the post-chorus riff on the title track of Metallica’s second album, Ride the Lightning. Check back often for more on the Big Four bands!
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Megadeth will begin drum tracking for their new album, the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2009′s Endgame, next week with producer Johnny K (Disturbed, Sevendust, Machine Head.) Members of Megadeth had hinted early on that Andy Sneap would return to the fold to produce the new record, however scheduling conflicts with Sneap’s band, Hell, will prevent the producer from featuring on a third straight Megadeth album, having helmed both Endgame and United Abominations.
Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine said recently that the fans can expect the new album to be “more like ‘Endgame’, maybe sticking in that vein and going a little forward toward what I like.” Dave Ellefson, speaking with UGO, told fans they could expect it to “be heavy, hooky, and have the trademarks you’d come to expect from us.”
The band hope to wrap up recording by the time they are scheduled to start playing summer dates as part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival on June 9.
Megadeth will also take part in the Big Four concert on September 19 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. To purchase Revolver‘s special Big Four issue of the magazine, click here.
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In honor of the hugely-anticipated Big 4 Festival in Indio, California, on April 23, Revolver has put out The Big Four special collector’s issue, chronicling the history of thrash metal’s most legendary bands. The magazine is on newsstands now, as well as available online here. While making the issue, we talked to some of the Big Four’s most heralded musicians about their favorite songs from the other bands. Today, Slayer guitarist Kerry King tells us about his favorite Metallica songs.“Without a doubt, my favorite Metallica song would be ‘Damage, Inc.’ . It just sounds like something I would’ve wrote. I remember when that came out and thinking to myself, Man, I wish I would’ve wrote that riff. I love that song. Also, ‘Battery.’ I love anything that’s just brutal like that. I love it when James just comes out and belts out his lyrics, James-style. There’s nothing better. It’s awesome.” ]]>
When Baroness singer-guitarist John Dyer Baizley isn’t on tour, he creates vivid, psychedelic album art for his group and others. To date, his evocative images have graced the covers of discs by Darkest Hour, Pig Destroyer, Kylesa, Torche, and Skeletonwitch, as well as for the cover of Revolver’s new special issue devoted to the Big Four of thrash —Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax —which you can purchase in stores now or online right here. We asked him to step away from the painting studio and talk about his favorite record art.
[futureusgalleryimagebrowser id="baizleycovers"]
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Revolver Presents: The Big Four is available on newsstands and online everywhere today. It contains features all-new, exclusive interviews with members from each group talking about how they’ve crossed paths in the past, the idea behind the Big Four tour, and what lies in the future. For more on the issue, click here. Check out an excerpt below.
REVOLVER Lars, how much attention did you pay Megadeth early on?
LARS ULRICH I don’t remember getting that into the first record, but when Peace Sells came out in ’86, it just blew me away. That was right up my alley. That literally became my favorite record for a long time. Dave would come up and play San Francisco a lot. And I would always go find him, and we would drink and do lots of drugs and sit around. For those years, ’84, ’85…me and him got over our issues really quickly at that time.
I remember at the …And Justice for All tour, we played down in Irvine Meadows , and Dave came down and hung out at the last couple shows at the Justice tour. This may have been ’89, and we just hang out. I remember actually when we finished the …And Justice for All album in L.A., in the summer of ’88, I went to some apartment and played it for him at 5 in the morning. We were sitting there, playing “Blackened” and a bunch of other stuff while we were busy keeping ourselves awake. Me and Dave had kind of a friendship and a cool thing going at that time, up through most of the ’80s.
It wasn’t until both bands started getting bigger that this whole kind of thing started happening in the press, which was really kind of different than what we had going between us. There was almost like two relationships there. The press loved the whole Megadeth-Metallica [futureusgalleryrivalry]. And I sort of think it got a life of its own. And in some way, you could argue that the thing that the press was doing about setting our bands up, eventually started kind of transcending itself into our personal relationship and probably became a big part of the fact that over the ’90s it got a little frosty at times. You know what I mean?
Lars solo photo by Anton Corbijn. Lars and Dave by Ross Halfin.
In celebration of the upcoming Big Four shows—featuring Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax—Revolver has created a new, special collector’s issue all about the giants of thrash metal. It hits newsstands today and is also available for purchase online here.
The issue features all-new, exclusive interviews with members from each group talking about how they’ve crossed paths in the past, the idea behind the Big Four tour, and what lies in the future. Also included are an in-depth history of U.S. thrash metal, a look back at the 1990 Clash of the Titans tour—when the Big Three of thrash, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, first joined forces—and stories on the making of each band’s masterpiece: Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Megadeth’s Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?, and Anthrax’s Among the Living.
Revolver Presents: The Big Four features original “Four Horsemen” cover art by Baroness frontman John Dyer Baizley. The magazine is also jam-packed with rare and never-before-seen photos from the bands’ archives.
Get your copy now before the issue sells out!!! At your local newsstand or online here.
