Esquire.com has compiled a list of the 10 Craziest Drummers Ever which includes METALLICA‘s Lars Ulrich, LED ZEPPELIN‘s John Bonham, BLACK SABBATH‘s Bill Ward, HELLYEAH‘s Vinnie Paul, CREAM‘s Ginger Baker, THE WHO‘s Keith Moon, THE CLASH‘s Topper Headon, MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s Tommy Lee, Terry Bozzio (FRANK ZAPPA, MISSING PERSONS) and Josh Freese (NINE INCH NAILS, A PERFECT CIRCLE, GUNS N’ ROSES).
MusikUniverse.net conducted an interview with former PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN and current HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott before HELLYEAH‘s November 10 concert at Club Soda in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Asked about how he deals with constant rumors and talk of a possible reunion of the classic PANTERA lineup, with Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, OZZY OSBOURNE) filling in for the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (Vinnie‘s brother) on guitar, Vinnie said, “It’s easy, man. I don’t live in the past, man. I wanna look forward, I wanna keep moving forward. I understand [fans] wanting to see it, especially people who’ve never had an opportunity to see PANTERA, but without my brother being part of it, it just doesn’t make any sense. I’m not gonna trample on his legacy to make some people happy. We had 14 amazing years together and we sold nearly 40 million records around the world. That’s some pretty amazing stuff. And the band is, actually, to me, bigger today than it was then. I mean, it really is; it’s really grown and grown and grown. There’s plenty of DVDs and videos out there for them to watch. And I would highly suggest you come and see me play with HELLYEAH, ’cause that’s what I do.”
He added, “[It's just] rumors, man. That’s all I got to say. And you heard that AEROSMITH song, [singing] ‘Dream on, dream on.’ It ain’t gonna happen, man. I have no interest in playing with those guys. I love [HELLYEAH]; I’m really into it. And I really believe if I stick with it long enough, it will see the same kind of success eventually.”
Dimebag was shot to death along with three others during a DAMAGEPLAN performance at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio in December 2004.
A video for the new KING KOBRA song “Have A Good Time” was filmed last night (Friday, September 7) at Vamp’d in Las Vegas, Nevada. The track will be featured on the band’s next album, due in early 2013 via Frontiers Records. The song was pre-recorded and was played four times as the band shot the video.
The clip below was the second time “Have A Good Time” was played/filmed. This version features Vinnie Paul Abbott (HELLYEAH, PANTERA), comedian Carrot Top, Frank Dimino (ANGEL), and others on stage with the band.
KING KOBRA guitarist David Michael-Phillips previously stated about the band’s new material, “We’ve got a high-energy combination of the classic KING KOBRA sound mixed with some of our favorite (heavy) influences: LED ZEPPELIN, WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER. Cool, heavy grooves, great melodies, soulful lead vocals by Paul Shortino, infectious harmonies and hooks…blazing guitars by yours truly and the thundering rhythm section of Johnny Rod and the legendary Carmine Appice! This is the next natural progression of ‘Ready To Strike’ and our last, self-titled album, ‘King Kobra’.”
Other songtitles set to appear on the next KING KOBRA CD include “In The Night”, “Feelin’ Fine”, “Take Me Back”, “Deep River”, “Got It Comin’” and “We Go Round”.
Formed in 1984 by legendary drummer Carmine Appice (VANILLA FUDGE, ROD STEWART, OZZY OSBOURNE), Los Angeles heavy metal outfit KING KOBRA recorded two critically acclaimed albums for Capitol Records — the 1985 release “Ready To Strike” and 1986′s “Thrill Of A Lifetime”.
Along with Carmine, the band featured four relatively unknown musicians at the time — David Michael-Philips and Mick Sweda on guitar, Johnny Rod on bass and Mark Free on lead vocals. KING KOBRA toured the U.S., Canada, Europe and Mexico playing shows with KISS, IRON MAIDEN, QUIET RIOT, TED NUGENT, QUEENSRŸCHE and AUTOGRAPH.
The band was featured regularly on MTV and performed the theme song for the #1 1986 motion picture “Iron Eagle”. After disbanding in 1988, each member continued his career in other successful major-label groups — Carmine to BLUE MURDER (Geffen), Mark Free to UNRULY CHILD (Interscope), Mick Sweda to the BULLETBOYS (Warner Bros.), Johnny Rod to W.A.S.P. (Capitol/EMI) and David Michael-Philips to LIZZY BORDEN (Metal Blade).
The year 2010 saw the band reunite the original classic ’85 lineup, replacing original singer Mark Free (now Marcie Free) with veteran lead vocalist Paul Shortino (ROUGH CUTT, QUIET RIOT).
On August 29, “Tales From The Stage Volume 1″ author Michael Toney conducted an interview with vocalist Paul Shortino (ROUGH CUTT, QUIET RIOT, KING KOBRA). You can now watch the chat below.
HELLYEAH‘s Vinnie Paul (formerly of PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN) has shared the following picture of his brand new DDrum kit, adorned with the Band Of Brothers artwork:
and Of Brothers is the newest Hellyeah album, released this past July.
In live news, Hellyeah will be performing at 98KUPD’s Desert Uprising in Phoenix, AZ at Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion on Saturday, September 29th.
Frankie DiVita, radio personality at Southern California’s 96.7 KCAL Rocks, conducted an interview with HELLYEAH/ex-PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott on the red carpet of the fourth annual Revolver Golden Gods awards, which was held on April 11 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, California. You can now watch the chat below.
HELLYEAH‘s third album, “Band Of Brothers”, will be released on July 17 via the band’s new label home, Eleven Seven Music. The CD was recorded in Dallas, Texas at Vinnie Paul‘s home studio, VP’s Upstairs Studio, and was produced by the band and Jeremy Parker (GODSMACK, EVANESCENCE), who also served as engineer.
February 25 marked the 20-year anniversary for PANTERA‘s “Vulgar Display Of Power”, a landmark album widely acknowledged as one of metal’s most enduring and influential masterworks. Recorded by singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, bassist Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, the album has been certified double platinum by the RIAA and features several of the group’s most iconic songs including “Walk”, “Mouth For War”, “This Love” and “Fucking Hostile”.
To celebrate, Rhino channels the album’s relentless blitzkrieg of musical aggression onto a two-disc Deluxe Edition. The CD includes the original album remastered and “Piss”, a recently discovered unreleased track from the recording sessions. The DVD contains an unreleased live performance filmed in Italy in September of 1992 plus the three official music videos from the album.
Due out May 15 from Rhino, the CD/DVD set will be available at retail outlets, including Pantera.com and Rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $19.98. A version of the release will also be available digitally.