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Posted: 24 May 2013 01:19 AM PDT

It isn't always good news when a new singer joins an established band.

THE sound of knives being unsheathed by naysayers has already echoed, and that's just after poor Chester Bennington got his vocal chords to rattle on a single new Stone Temple Pilots (STP) song, with the recent release of Out Of Time. It might be a case of oil mixing with water, but during STP's recent unveiling of Bennington at California rock radio station KROQ's annual Weenie Roast do, the Linkin Park frontman just about survived a 40-minute set that included the grunge giant's hardest hitters like Plush, Dead And Bloated and Vaseline, along with Out Of Time.

Measuring up to one of the most dynamic and assured voices in rock since the 1990s, it is always going to be a mountain to climb being compared to the fired Scott Weiland. The new single is, at best, inoffensive and non-existent ... it's really a garden variety rock track, sans the hooks STP has made a career out of writing.

This won't be the first time a band with stature has had to think of the unthinkable by replacing a lead singer. When guitarist Ritchie Blackmore felt frontman Ian Gillan wasn't pulling in the same direction, communication between the two eroded to the point the singer put his hands up and left the band at the peek of its prowess.

The herculean task was left to then-relative unknown David Coverdale to step in, but in the case of the Yorkshireman, he simply grabbed the mike stand and razed the stage with an opening salvo with the band's followup album Burn in 1974. While Gillan was missed, Coverdale – the impending Whitsnake frontman – wrote his own chapter in the band's history book.

Likewise Brian Johnson's entry into AC/DC. For older fans of Australia's premier international rock act, Bon Scott holds a special place in their hearts, and who'd argue, hearing the late rocker's rasp on the likes of Highway To Hell, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, T.N.T. and Whole Lotta Rosie. But Johnson just picked up the baton and continued with the race, and along the way, carved his name into the band's annals. Back In Black? Nuff said.

Success stories have been few and far between though.

Ignominy is what greeted (Ian) Gillan when he made the ill-advised decision to front Black Sabbath. Nine out of 10 fans of the Birmingham metal merchants will immediately pan 1980's Purple-meets-Sabbath excursion Born Again, claiming it a black spot in the band's career. Ronnie James Dio was always accepted, but never Gillan.

Stumbling out of the haze of the 1980s, sleaze rock's finest Motley Crue found itself at the dawn of the 1990s trying to live up to the weight of expectation, but all was not well. By then rid of a lifetime's worth of excess, founding singer Vince Neil was slowly drawing himself out of the loop till the band finally parted ways with him.

Enter John Corabi, who probably had no idea that he was jumping out of the proverbial frying pan into the fire, going from no-name singer to Motley's frontman. Attempting to cash in on the grunge and industrial movement of the mid 1990s, Motley Crue was a commercial disappointment and to the fans, a forgettable phase in the band's long-running career. What was Motley's next move? Bring in Neil again, but of course.

For bands like Iron Maiden, who brought in Wolfbane's Blaze Bailey after Bruce Dickinson left, Judas Priest employing Tim "Ripper" Owens upon Rob Halford's temporary departure, or Alice In Chain's enlisting William DuVall following Layne Staley's fatal overdose, it was simply a case of business as usual, despite some brickbats.

The same could be said for keyboardist Ray Manzarek (who died earlier this week) and Robby Krieger of The Doors roping in The Cult's Ian Astbury (for legal reasons, variously dubbed as Doors of the 21st Century, D21C and Manzarek-Krieger) for a series of shows beginning in 2002, and Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor acquiring the services of former Free and Bad Company frontman for the Queen + Paul Rodgers touring circus and sole album The Cosmos Rocks.

But the band to really take the cake with its lead singer shenanigans is Van Halen. It must be like pulling teeth working with a creative core of band-leading brothers. STP's Weiland learned it the hard way, but much before that, David Lee Roth was an early casualty, earning the wrath of both Eddie and Alex Van Halen for his endless partying.

Once the band's best days seemed to be on the wane, the Van Halen brothers grabbed Sammy Hagar (of Montrose fame). That lasted a good number of years as well with a shared haul of critical acclaim and commercial success. But the VH beast reared its ugly head again and Hagar was unceremoniously forced to make way for Extreme's Gary Cherone, who zipped in and our of the fold faster than anyone could say "jump".

Everyone in Van Halen has been discharged at some point (except the brothers), even long-standing bassist Michael Anthony, who had to give way for Eddie's son Wolfgang. Diamond Dave's been in and out through the years (three reunions and counting), and his most significant return was for last year's impressive A Different Kind Of Truth . As it stands, he's still in Van Halen ... but it's early days yet, ain't it?

Luck of the draw

Posted: 24 May 2013 01:18 AM PDT

MORE often than not, it's the rock music scene that throws up the best soap operas when it comes to line-up changes. It's the frontmen – departing and incoming – that seem to attract the most attention.

The revolving door policy of Van Halen lead singers, arguably, remains the industry standard. Can a new lead singer bring about instant success or continuity? That's a no guarantee with the sort of disastrous team-ups witnessed and horror albums cranked out. Then again, we also have seen some fantasy line-ups – one-shot projects – that have made sense and also left us baffled in recent times.

The Cinderella story: Journey

Lead singer problems? No worries. Just ask Journey's lead guitar wizard Neal Schon who searched online for a replacement. Enter Filipino singer-songwriter Arnel Pineda, who has been Journey's lead vocalist since late 2007. Pineda has come a long way since he was discovered on YouTube by Schon. Once a struggling musician in the Philippines, Pineda was scooped from obscurity and offered the Journey dream job. He has now recorded two albums with Journey and the band's fans, through time, have embraced him.

A new beginning: Audioslave

What happens when two established 1990s rock bands take a break from the scene? Well, nobody needs to sink like a stone. Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell joined his friends from Rage Against The Machine – Brad Wilk, Tom Morello and Tim Commerford – and came up with Audioslave in 2001.

With three albums in seven years, these guys went beyond expectations. In the end, they lost steam and went back to their respective bands. But Audioslave, to say the least, managed to carve out an identity for itself.

A real grower: John Legend and The Roots

Two big names in the studio can sometimes backfire. But not this lot. Back in 2010, R&B superstar John Legend and hip-hop group The Roots came together for an album of socially conscious/message songs from the 1960s/70s.

Considering the spontaneous nature of the project and spirit of brotherhood, the resulting album Wake Up! turned out to be a real grower.

Legend, more renowned for his hot buttered soul, sounded surprisingly urgent on this album, and credit to The Roots in delivering gritty and accomplished performances from start to end.

The pale imitation: JD Fortune

Replacing Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997, is still a mountain of a task. But the remaining members of INXS went ahead with a circus act to find a new lead singer.

Canadian singer JD Fortune came up tops in the reality show Rock Star: INXS, a money-spinning audition to find the new voice of INXS.

At best, Fortune was a decent pub singer with a drug problem. Fortune recorded one full INXS album (Switch) in 2005 and a handful of tracks later on.

In 2011, Fortune found out he was no longer with INXS through a posting on the group's official website.

The bad idea: Lou Reed and Metallica

This train wreck of a collaboration takes the cake. It all started at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's 25th Anniversary Concert in 2009 when Lou Reed joined Metallica on stage for a version of Sweet Jane. Both parties then fancied making an album together. Reed wanted to put his theatrical piece Lulu, inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wedekind, on record. Metallica, acting like school boys, jumped at the chance to work with Reed. The Lulu album, released in 2011, fell flat. File under: Dreadful.

Luck’s on her side

Posted: 24 May 2013 01:29 AM PDT

The singer of Call Me Maybe has a new song.

Every time Carly Rae Jepsen performs her disco-pop ditty Call Me Maybe, she thinks she is going to be sick of it.

One of the biggest breakout tracks of last year, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and earned the Canadian singer a Grammy nomination for "song of the year", and was recently named the "top digital song" at the Billboard Music Awards.

With fans demanding to hear it at every live show, it is completely reasonable for the 27-year-old Jepsen to tire of it.

But she says she always stops short of feeling that way. "I've definitely heard it and performed it a lot, so every time I perform it live, I think I'm going to be sick of it. But then I see the audience sort of take it over and sing it with me and that always makes it way more fun," she says in a phone interview from Los Angeles.

She recently debuted her new song, Take A Picture on American Idol. She also performed at the Singapore Social Concerts last night alongside US pop-soul singer Cee Lo Green and South Korean star Psy.

Jepsen has been touring as the opening act for Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber and says she is thrilled to finally be able to do a full show to showcase her second and latest album, Kiss.

She says: "Opening spots are kind of like a teaser to what the full CD is like. So it's exciting for us to get to show all of the songs from the album and we might even play a couple of new ones as well."

Jepsen, a Canadian Idol runner-up in 2007, got her big international break last year when Bieber tweeted about Call Me Maybe and posted a sing-along video on YouTube with Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale and other friends, which later went viral.

The video received more than 60 million hits, propelling her to international fame by the time she released Kiss.

The star, who says she never tires of being asked about Bieber, says: "I've had an amazing adventure on Justin's Believe Tour and he is totally one of my greatest supporters to date, so I don't ever get tired of acknowledging that and also thanking him, because he really did change my life and my career."

Before Bieber gave her a leg-up in her career, she was a struggling musician juggling eight minimum-wage jobs. She says her rocky road to stardom means she has learnt to appreciate fame and success more than others and that keeps her grounded.

"You see so many stars take off and you go, 'Wow, that person's so lucky', and then three years later, you see them have a total mental breakdown and that seems so tragic."

Jepsen, who is currently dating American songwriter and producer Matthew Koma, is in fact glad that she did not get her break earlier.

"It wasn't like I was 13. I was of the age where I felt I had gone through the hard work of trying music and having it totally not work and realising how hard it was, that made me really appreciate what happened this past year."

The "one-hit wonder" tag is one she is working hard to avoid. Her next album will offer new material that is "dancier ... and even slightly folk", she says. She counts singer-songwriters such as James Taylor, Melissa Etheridge and Sinead O'Connor as some of her favourite acts.

One of the biggest lessons she has learnt on her musical journey is learning to accept that it is okay for life to sometimes spin a little out of control.

"When I was little, I used to be super stressed out about schooling and wanting my life to be as perfect as I could try to make it," says the self-professed perfectionist, a trait she chalks down to being a "school principal's daughter".

"Now I'm learning how awesome imperfection can be, to embrace imperfections and to be okay with life being a little chaotic, because it can still be really fun." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Jumaat, 24 Mei 2013

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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