Rock News

Muse's new album, The Resistance, debuted at Number Three on the Billboard album chart on Wednesday (September 23rd), with the disc selling 128,000 copies in its first week of release. The chart position and sales are both career highs for the British trio in the U.S. The group's previous effort, 2006's Black Holes And Revelations, debuted at Number Nine with first-week sales of 48,000, both peak numbers for that project.

Muse's climb to stardom in this country really began in 2004, when they toured heavily behind their third album, Absolution. That's when drummer Dominic Howard told us the band really started to see a change: ["It really was an amazing feeling to come over, even initially when we were doing small clubs, you know, like the first little club tour we did over here, all the gigs were full. It blew our minds really, 'cause we were like, didn't realize we had any fans over here. So the fact that the word had kind of spread underground and, like, through the Internet and through whatever medium, is really an amazing thing to actually see that firsthand


The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kiss are among the first-time nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to Billboard.com. Also included for the first time on the list of a dozen nominees are Genesis, the Hollies, LL Cool J and Jimmy Cliff. Returning for another shot at the Hall are the Stooges, ABBA, the Chantels, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro and Donna Summer. Five of the 12 will be chosen for induction, with their names revealed in January and the 25th annual ceremony set to take place on March 15th at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.

Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith told Billboard, "It's a real honor to be nominated in our first year of eligibility. Obviously the Hall of Fame has excellent musical taste."
The Chili Peppers released their first album in 1984. Acts become eligible for induction after recording for 25 years.
Chili Peppers bassist Flea told us a while back that when the band first got together, their chemistry could not be denied: ["You know, when the band first started, it was this wild energy that we couldn't control. It was just like bursting through us, you know. We couldn't even control it, it was like it just had to happen. It was like there wasn't any choice in the matter. We just had to do it, and it just gave birth to this thing that has lasted all this time


Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory posted a message at his MySpace blog on Tuesday (September 22nd) in which he addressed his "disappearance" the weekend before. Bathory "disappeared" on Friday night (September 18th) shortly after the band's record release party in Las Vegas, and apparently did not communicate with the band for the next three days, leading them to ask if anyone knew of his whereabouts. In his post, Bathory wrote, "In the Pre-Cellphone era -- nobody would have freaked out . . . nobody would have even noticed . . . Anyhow, I'm ok... just a little bit of too much VEGAS!!! But who doesn't get s***faced time to time... My phone is camping on a bottom of some pool somewhere -- I still have a slight headache -- but . . . if I'm off the map for 2-3 days It doesn't mean I was abducted by aliens..."

Bathory added, "If any of the other guys disappeared it would have been totally the norm . . . I guess this is what 'being the responsible guy' in the band gets ya."
Ironically, Bathory told us in an earlier interview that singer Ivan Moody was the one most likely to get caught up in the Las Vegas "lifestyle," adding: ["He's very much the 'last pirate,' the middle finger of this generation, you know what I mean? He's really the guy who jumps in a car anywhere in the world and says, 'yeah, let's go' -- no passport, no papers, nothing, just goes anywhere. He's really the last free spirit, he pretty much just lives for the now, you know, does what he feels like doing. So there's something admirable, for me at least -- I'm looking at, like, I wish I could do that