Dio Dies at age 67

My heart dropped today after the official word came from the wife and manager of Ronnie James Dio, as she had confirmed the legendary metal god died of cancer at 67.

Wendy Dio, released the following statement to:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

Dio was loved by millions worldwide for his tour of duty with legendary groups such as Black Sabbath, Rainbow, DIO, and most recently Heaven & Hell. He postponed his tour duties, as it was announced around the holidays he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He fought courageously and stayed in contact with fans via his wife during the terrible ordeal.

What a talented rocker! Another loss to the music world, he was involved in so much of the music we grew up with over the last 40 years, words can't say enough about how sad we are to hear about the loss of this legend!

Long Live Rock n' Roll Ronnie!

Ratt Goes Round and Round!

Can you dig it, Ratt is back! OK, you don't sound so pumped huh! New album is out and the band is back, well kinda. Ratt fans are well aware of the fragile relationship between singer Stephen Pearcy and guitarist Warren DeMartini.

For roughly the last decade and a half, the two have been off and on again more than Sammy Hagar and Van Halen, which says a lot.

And, as with the original Sunset Strip band, another Ratt reunion seemed inevitable.

“I think down deep I did think things would work themselves out,” said DeMartini, in a recent interview.

“We had talked about going the (band-therapy) route but never really seemed to find the time to do it. So we just kind of made it happen. We went through a very difficult and tumultuous period, and that definitely took some time to sort of smooth over.”

The most recent Ratt reconciliation came in 2007, with a busy touring schedule keeping the hard-rock act focused on its catalog.

This culminated last summer with a 25th-anniversary tour of the band’s 1984 debut, “Out of the Cellar,” which included its career-defining top-20 hit “Round and Round.” The group — Pearcy, DeMartini, Bobby Blotzer (drums), Robbie Crane (bass) and Carlos Cavazo (guitar) — played the album in its entirety.

Having seemingly raided its closet and used up all of its nostalgia currency of any worth, Ratt was at a crossroads. Either record new material or, again, call it quits.

While DeMartini had the desire to record a new project, the biggest question remaining was whether he could once again work with Pearcy. Ironically, the answer to how to move forward came in the form of the band’s past.

“When Stephen had returned to the band and we were rehearsing for the tour, we got to a song called ‘Lack of Communication’ on ‘Out of the Cellar,’ ” DeMartini said. “It’s a fade-out on the album, so we have to write a way to get out of it live. I wrote this outro. After we got done playing the song, they were like, ‘What was that? Where did that come from?’ And then Stephen said, ‘We should make a song out of that.’ So that was a real pivotal moment for me — that I realized that Stephen Pearcy and I could get back to writing, try to put everything behind us and get back to sort of a creative situation.”

The result was the song “Take a Big Bite,” which can be found on Ratt’s recently released seventh studio effort, “Infestation.” The group is touring the album and plays Wednesday at the House of Blues in Cleveland. Perhaps the last question remaining for Ratt’s small but loyal audience is whether this latest reunion will stick?

“Yeah, I hope so,” DeMartini laughed. “Look, rock ’n’ roll bands are a fragile thing. I think part of what makes it exciting is it can implode at any moment. But, having said that, we’re in a very good mood and very good spirits. So we’re looking forward to hitting the road.”

I'm looking forward to going round and round!

CD REVIEW: "The Oracle" by Godsmack

Sully Erna and the boys from Godsmack are back with their 5th release "The Oracle" (on Universal/Republic Records) originally to be titled "Saints & Sinners." Godsmack fans were already served an earlier taste of the CD, with the single "Whiskey Hangover"- only available on the deluxe version of the album. That's 10 new tracks off the regular release and 13 on the deluxe version, hope I didn't lose you on that.

After taking a break for two years, Sully announced in 2009 that writing was underway for the band's next studio record, which was produced by Dave Fortman.

According to Sully, he was looking for a producer who is known for producing great albums. When Sully talked about some producers he is interested in working with, Shannon Larkin suggested Dave Fortman, "Got the mighty Dave Fortman producing who had made it before in a band called Ugly Kid Joe. I played with him for five years, toured the world with him. Love the guy, he's one of the funniest dudes ever. After Sully met Dave it was pretty much over because Dave is such a real pleasant guy to be around and real funny, makes you feel comfortable in all ways," Shannon said.

I've been into Godsmack for over 10 years and "The Oracle" is right in line with everything they have released, die-hards will be in love with this CD! It appears the word is out, as the Billboard digital charts already show the release breaking out after huge sales off of iTunes.

The first single "Cryin' Like a Bitch" defines Godsmack, and appears to be their biggest radio hit since "Vampires" and "I Stand Alone." Track# 2 on the CD "Saints & Sinners" smokes! Sully was going to use it as the album title, but things changed. "I decided to change the name from Saints & Sinners to The Oracle and the reason being because I started doing a lot of research on Saints & Sinners, and although I liked what it represented, it's been done before. I think Whitesnake had a record in 1982 or some like that, before which I wasn't that worried about because that's almost 30 years ago, but there has been some other artists, even Spanish albums that I found called Saints & Sinners in Spanish. With all that put together, I started rethinking the name, and then with the name Godsmack, and then the title being called Saints & Sinners, it was all feeling a little bit religious to me, and that really wasn't what this record represented..." Sully said.

"The Oracle" will not disappoint hardcore "Smack" fans or hard rockers of any persuasion. This album flat out rocks and holds up the band's signature sound over the past decade, a must buy for sure dudes!