In this metal minute, new Dio, Bad Boys of Metal, Judas Priest off Ozzfest, Bobby Jarzombek (Iced Earth/PainmuseuM) update:

Master of the Moon
Thanks to our good friends at Sanctuary Records we were sent an advance copy of Master of the Moon. We can tell you, classic metal fans of traditional Dio will not be disappointed. The reviews have been coming in very strong and many are comparing this release to classics such as Holy Diver and the Last in Line. We are looking forward to checking out Dio on tour as he is currently on tour in the US. Fans of classic Dio will not be disappointed. A great track by track interview with Ronnie James can be found here.

The Bad Boys of Metal, and some bad boy rockers, played at the Starland Ballroom recently.
Review by David Iozzia- Metal forever.com
Bad boys Scott Weiland, Duff, and Slash and their band Velvet Revolver played to a sold-out audience in Sayreville, N.J. Drummer extraordinaire Matt Sorum and guitarist Dave Kushner rounded out Velvet Revolver's line-up.

At The Bad Boys of Metal gig a week later, I had no idea what to expect as far as a line-up. The names of Kevin Dubrow, Jani Lane (Warrant), Steven Adler (Guns 'N Roses), and Kip Winger were advertised. When I arrived at the venue, I met up with my buddy Chuck Wright (House of Lords). Chuck was playing bass for Bang Tango, as well as sets with Steven Adler and his ex-Quiet Riot bandmate Kevin Dubrow. Jani Lane was mysteriously off the tour, and no one was offering any details.

Bang Tango's set rocked, yet I wasn't familiar with their setlist. Vocalist Joe LeSte and guitarist Alex Grossi, who are also bandmates in Beautiful Creatures, led Bang Tango. Racer X vocalist Jeff Martin drummed, with Chuck Wright completing the line-up.

Kip Winger followed, performing a short, mostly acoustic solo set. I was disappointed that none of the Bad Boys joined Kip for an electric WINGER song or two.

The next set brought chills to my spine with the pounding drum intro to "Welcome To The Jungle." Steven Adler powered his way through seven or eight GNR classics, with Chuck and Alex on guitars, and Joe LeSte singing. To hear Steven drumming again, in a small venue, was awesome. They also covered an old AC-DC favorite, "Sin City." Joe and Alex impressed me on the GNR songs, as they tried to NOT be Axl and Slash.

For the final set, Kevin Dubrow sang, and Jeff Martin replaced Steven Adler on drums. Chuck and Alex continued on guitars. Dubrow's a great front man, and his voice sounded fine. His energetic headlining set included all the classic Quiet Riot hits and a few glam covers, like SWEET's "Burn On The Flame." It was cool hearing Chuck Wright playing Quiet Riot songs again. He's been touring with Alice Cooper and recording with the House of Lords for the last few years. Jeff Martin, while drumming, added some incredible background vocals. (Thanks for tossing me your drumstick, Jeff.)

The Bad Boys of Metal closed the show with everyone on stage, Steven Adler drumming. Joe LeSte, Kevin Dubrow, Kip Winger, and Jeff Martin shared vocals as a cover version of AC-DC's "Highway To Hell" ended an incredible evening.

The bad boys from Velvet Revolver were simply awesome! See this band any chance you get. They'll blow you away! Scott Weiland told the crowd "Hello, we're Velvet Revolver, we're a ROCK band, and we make music to fuck to." Then they rocked the place for two more hours. After the show, Matt Sorum turned down an interview with metalforever.com, telling me that Velvet Revolver is a ROCK band. These bad boys can ROCK my neighborhood any time they want.

Glenn Tipton & Metalforever.com friend - Fun Erika @ The Mohegan Sun, CT.

Following the show, we were fortunate enough to hang out back stage... we met up with KK, Glenn, Ian & Scott- while Rob took off to his own personal backstage room & then off to the bus. KK & Ian talked briefly about the new CD & told us how great it was sounding- no major details were discussed- but Ian told us how they were really happy with the way it has turned out.

Meanwhile, Scott Travis said he could stay on the road for a few more months and cited how much fun he had been having on Ozzfest- he said it was the greatest thing ever to be able to play drums for Judas Priest, go on tour and get paid for it!- Of note & strange to report that Rob travels in a separate custom tour bus than the rest of the guys in the band- and Rob also has his own private back stage dressing room- several fans found that interesting and we’ll let everyone draw their own conclusions as to what that is all about for the unity of the band. All in all it was a great time and anytime you can hang out with the boyz from the mighty Priest & drink some of their brew, it is a great night!

Bobby Jarzombek Update www.bobbyjarzombek.com
Bobby J from Iced Earth/PainmuseuM checked into Metalforever.com with the following update- look for Bobby's new DVD to be released soon- Bobby recently signed a deal with Warner Brothers to release his solo DVD!

Hey all!
As some of you might know I've been keeping myself busy out on the road with Iced Earth. I played over a dozen dates with the guys to finish up the US tour and I just got back from Europe where we headlined a couple of big festivals.
It all started with a phone call from my friend Richard Christy. We made contact with each other through e-mail about a year ago due to an admiration for each other's drumming. When his audition with the 'Howard Stern Show' (a long-time dream of his he has since been able to fulfill - congrats on getting the gig, dude!) conflicted with the Iced Earth touring schedule, he called me asking about my availability to fill his spot and recommended me to his bandmates. I then got a call from guitarist Jon Schaffer and we worked out the details. Richard hung out with me the first few days of rehearsal in L.A. to answer any questions I had about the drum parts and also to set up new click tracks to a few of the songs. He was awesome!
We kicked things off June 1 in Vegas and it even though it was a daunting task to learn a 2-hour set, including a 30-minute epic, in a couple of weeks things went pretty smoothly. The two weeks of touring in the States were a good way of getting comfortable with the material and bond with the guys and crew. To their credit, Jon, Tim, Jimmy and Ralph are all cool, down-to-earth people and made it easy to get into the Iced Earth groove. After a couple of days off we headed over to Europe for the 'Graspop Metal Meeting' in Belgium and the 'Bang Your Head' in Germany.
'Graspop' was killer and 'Bang Your Head' was a blast as well - probably the biggest crowd I've ever played to in Europe with any band. They definitely love Iced Earth over there! Ironically enough, my old Halford and Pain Museum mate Metal Mike was on at 'BYH' with Testament right before we took the stage and closed out the festivities with a bang. Make that several bangs as our main stage props consisted of a half dozen cannons that were fired at certain strategic spots during 'Gettysburg'! See you soon & thanks to Metalforever.com for posting this news update.

Queensryche drummer Scott Rockenfield gave me a metal minute of his time a few days prior to the start of their U.S. tour. I wanted details, after all it's a full theatrical production of Operation:Mindcrime in its entirety. "This Mindcrime tour will be extremely fun," Scott offered. "We really felt strongly about resurrecting the Mindcrime tour and theatrical presentation because it has been over 15 years since it was last done. Some of it is a secret. If I told you I would then have to kill you...ha-ha." Not to be denied, I questioned Scott on why now in 2004, as opposed to any other year since its debut in 1988. "The world issues and with what is going on right now in our own country with politics and religion are very much like the original concept of Mindcrime. It got us really thinking hard about working out some ideas to complete the Mindcrime saga. Therefore Operation: Mindcrime II!" With my metal minute running out, I asked Scott to comment on recording Operation: Mindcrime II. "We are really having a cool time expanding on the Operation: Mindcrime story. All of us are looking forward to really digging into the recording of this soon-to-come opus! Beware!"