It’s been well-documented that Lady Gaga is a fan of classic metal via her interactions with KISS, Saxon and Anthrax. While every one of her career moves is calculated, she’s really got nothing to gain by saying she likes metal, so it’s pretty obvious she genuinely likes the stuff. And it should come as no surprise that someone so devoted to image and performance would be influenced by the spectacle of a KISS or Iron Maiden show.
While we already documented her hang with Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, she also had an opportunity to meet frontman Bruce Dickinson at their Florida show. While she’s all performance, Bruce seems more concerned with putting his shirt on than posing for a shot with the “Born This Way” singer. Maybe he’s annoyed she called her latest single “Judas” and not “Maiden?” At any rate, sure, Lady, we get it. You like metal. Now how about getting on board with a metal band that came out after 1983? She’s like Eddie Trunk with a rack….
Are you an old school Opeth fan that also has a soft spot for the rap stylings of TKO Capone? Well today’s your lucky day! The rapper’s song “Don’t Love These Hoes” prominently samples “Credence,” from Opeth’s 1998 classic My Arms, Your Hearse. A user on Mike Portnoy’s message board uncovered the blatant sample in the song, which was written and produced by Mr. Capone. If you go to 4:20 in “Credence,” you’ll hear the sample, which is the basis of not just the music, but the melody of “Don’t Love These Hoes.” With the success of Nikki Minaj after sampling Joe Satriani, we aren’t surprised to see more hip hop/R&B sampling more guitarists, but we wouldn’t have expected anyone to go as deep as an 11 year-old Opeth cut. No word on whether Opeth gave their blessing on using the sample for the song, which also samples Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison.” Check out “Credence” below.
We’ve already documented that Lady Gaga has links to the metal community. Whether it’s tearing into a burger at Kuma’s Corner while quoting Saxon, hanging with Mr. Cooper, or chilling with KISS, she’s definitely putting her money where her mouth is when it comes to supporting ’80s metal. So it was no surprise to find out via Brian Slagel’s Twitter account that she was at the Iron Maiden show in Tampa yesterday. Slagel’s guest Chris Barnes even took a blurry picture of her rocking out in the suite next to his. Of course the pop superstar got a chance to go backstage and meet the band after the show, as she used Twitter to post a pic of herself with drummer Nicko McBrain.
If that didn’t give her metal cred, maybe cover of her new album, Born This Way, will. In the pic, featured below, Gaga is fused with a motorcycle. In short, it looks like the combination of every Judas Priest album from the ’80s. A friend that works for a top 40 radio station says that after posting the cover – which also came directly from Gaga’s Twitter account – listeners deluged the station’s site saying there was no way the cover wasn’t a fake. There are even news stories about how much fans hate the cover. From a metal standpoint, it’s pretty great to see her love of ’80s metal may have helped inform her album art, even if it hasn’t influenced her music yet. Born This Way comes out on May 24th. Check out the cover after the jump and tell us what you think. Read more »
Well, considering that Lady Gaga’s metal roots have slipped out in public multiple times, maybe it’s less of a nightmare and more of a dream come true for her to meet the legendary shock rocker. She’s already met KISS, Saxon’s Biff Byford, and Anthrax’s Charlie Benante backstage. Now Alice Cooper gets to be added to the list of metal/hard rock stars the pop star has met.
The recently inducted Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer got the chance to be photographed with the “Bad Romance” singer backstage during her show in Phoenix, AZ this past Friday (March 25). You can see a picture of the two affectionately embracing one another above. And believe it or not, the fake blood was reportedly smeared by Gaga herself, and not by Cooper (much to the disappointment of many, I’m sure). Cooper himself has praised Gaga’s talent and extravagant performances many times in the press, adding more reason as to why seeing the pair together is the very least surprising. Now it’s anyone’s guess as to who from the metal community will pop up backstage with Gaga next.
Anthrax’s Charlie Benante might have won some major brownie points with his daughter Mia. The Anthrax drummer and his five year old daughter got to meet pop-sensation Lady Gaga back stage during her concert last night (Monday, February 28) at the United Center in Chicago, IL. Benante had the following to say about meeting Gaga:
“Gaga gave Anthrax a big shout-out tonight. She treated my daughter like a little queen and proved again that she is a metalhead at heart!
Lady Starlight opened the show. She played Metallica, Anthrax, Faith No More and Iron Maiden. Now that was a DJ. I had fun.”
At this point, it should come as no surprise that the “Poker Face” singer is a fan of metal. She’s not only hung out with Saxon frontman Biff Byford and KISS backstage previously, but also showed her heavier side through her Ping picks. However, not only is it super cool to see a member of Anthrax meeting Lady Gaga, but it’s also sweet to see Benante play the role of awesome dad. Check out a picture taken of the three together above.
Saxon frontman Biff Byford recently got to meet and hang out with Lady Gaga backstage at one of her shows in London over the past weekend. The pop star herself posted a picture of the two together via Twitter with the following message:
“Me and Biff Byford of Saxon! Denim and Leather, he said I look better in the blood flesh. (DIED)”
Byford also confirmed the odd meeting by posting the following message on Saxon’s official website:
“Got passes to see Lady Gaga for my daughter, but she couldn’t go so I went with our agent, Steve. As we walked backstage, we met the manager of heavy metal DJ Lady Starlight and a couple of members of the support act Semi-Precious Weapons and they invited us back to the dressing room for a drink. As we drained our glasses, we said thanks and say hello to Lady Gaga from us.
The show was great, [and] we went off to the backstage bar for another drink. Suddenly Lady Starlight came in and said that Lady Gaga would like to meet us. Then we had a fantastic 50 minutes with Miss Gaga, who is a massive heavy rock fan and SAXON fan talking everything rock. She’s a great lady and it was a great privilege to meet her.”
This pretty much confirms that Lady Gaga is a secret metal head/hard rock fan, which we already suspected In addition to posting pictures of her meeting KISS this past Summer, and to including Metallica and Iron Maiden as her Ping picks, Miss Gaga was also caught quoting Saxon via tweets after a visit to the burger join Kuma’s Corner. And now she’s freaking out over meeting Saxon’s singer via Twitter. Like we said before, the fact that she follows a metal band as obscure as Saxon (well, at least obscure to mainstream America) earns her major metal props in our minds.
Metal heads really don’t need more reasons to love a show like Dexter. It’s a dark comedy about a forensic bloodstain pattern analyst who moonlights as a serial killer. Might not be as brutal as Metalocalypse, but still pretty awesome. Now, it would also appear that Dexter himself is a bit of a metal head himself, or at least likes heavy music.
During his “take-over” of the decidedly non-metal New York station WRXP, Dexter star and Golden Globe award winner Michael C. Hall revealed that he was a huge fan of Monster Magnet, spinning “Nod Scene,” from the band’s debut full length, 1992′s Spine of God. “I was introduced by a friend,” he told show hosts Matt Pinfield and Leslie Fram. “A bunch of buddies all hailing from Indianapolis who are really into them, and they would would make these road trips to Manhattan. I saw them once live and I couldn’t believe it. I was mesmerized by Dave Wyndorf and the whole band’s murky, swampy stoner rock sound. I looked at this album and this track as a stoner rock anthem. They’re pioneers.” Hall’s Magnet shout-out comes about 2/3rds of the way through the segment. Monster Magnet’s sludgy sound is a pretty heavy choice for Hall, and who knows? Maybe he’ll have more time to discover other metal bands now that he’s single again.
Chances are, you don’t know who Nicki Minaj is, and she’s probably ok with that. A Kanye West protege, she raps on his latest CD and currently has the #2 album in the country with Pink Friday. She also sampled Joe Satriani on “Right Through You,” a song on said album. The song takes a sample of “Always With Me, Always With You,” a song from his most popular album, 1987′s Surfing With the Alien, as the basis of the song. But unlike with Coldplay, Satch isn’t about to get his knickers in a twist. In fact, he tweeted about how amazing it is, saying “What a trip it is to hear my song in Nicki’s hands. She’s amazing.” Check out the original below.
In case you’ve been living under a rock or really like Microsoft, Apple had a press conference today unveiling new iPods. The iPod touch got an upgrade, but the big makeovers were reserved for the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano. Check here for a full report on that.
Also announced was iTunes 10, with a feature called Ping. Ping is basically their version of a social network, where, as Engadget says, you’ll be able to “follow people (including artists), establish a “circle of friends,” post comments, check out custom song and album charts, and even find over 17,000 concert listings (which you can of course let folks know you’re attending).” Visitors to Apple’s Web site seeking info find Lady Gaga as an example on Ping’s home page. We already knew she liked to quote Saxon lyrics and go to KISS shows, but amid the Michael and Janet Jackson albums listed under “Music Lady Gaga Likes” are two decidedly metal albums: Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast and Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All.
Whether these are really her picks or those of a bored graphic design dude at Apple is up for debate, but you really can’t argue with either of those albums.The Maiden album is them at their finest, and the Kill ‘Em All is probably the least commercially successful of Metallica’s albums. If one pre-teen or sexually confused club kid decides to pick up these albums and gets turned on to metal as a result, then that’s a victory for everyone! And on a larger scale, it’ll be interesting to find out moving forward what kind of music your friends are really listening to on their iPods and iPhones.
There’s a performer that’s somewhat androgynous, yet mostly feminine, wears ridiculous costumes and makeup, and somehow still remains popular. But enough about Paul Stanley. Lady Gaga, who we already suspected of liking metal after she tweeted Saxon lyrics, made it down to the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel NJ on Friday (20) to see the hottest band in the world, KISS. Blabbermouth reported that she took in the show from the sound board, causing a stir among attendees. Gene Simmons had commented on Gaga earlier, saying “I love the vibe, the big mouth and the big visuals. She’s the most exciting thing to happen since us.” But Simmons’ ridiculous ego aside, the two acts do share a lot in common. Lady Gaga just hasn’t put out her version of Music From the Elder yet. The shot to the right if from her Twitter account. Hit the jump for another pic from her Twitter. Read more »
Did you love hearing Anvil’s new song “Mankind Machine”? Then stream the Canadian thrashers’ new album Hope In Hell in its entirety before it’s released on May 28 over at Loudwire.
Kylesa’s new album, Ultraviolet, is streaming online at Pitchfork. Check out the album, as well as some pretty awesome visuals, here. The album will come out on May 28 on Season of Mist.
Unsigned & Streamed vets Anciients, who’s Season of Mist debut Heart of Oak is out now, have landed the opening slot on the Lamb of God tour. They’ll be playing from May 16 – June 10. Check out the dates here.
Sinestra Studios (who very often provides Metal Insider with some killer live photos) is hosting its very first art galleria and metal show on Saturday, May 25, at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets for the event are onsale now.
Louna has premiered a new music video for the song “Business” with Crave Online. The extravagant and politically themed music video comes in support of the Russian hard rock group’s new album, Behind The Mask, available now via Red Decade Records and MEG/RED.
It’s been well-documented that Lady Gaga is a fan of classic metal via her interactions with KISS, Saxon and Anthrax. While every one of her career moves is calculated, she’s really got nothing to gain by saying she likes metal, so it’s pretty obvious she genuinely likes the stuff. And it should come as no surprise that someone so devoted to image and performance would be influenced by the spectacle of a KISS or Iron Maiden show.
In case you’ve been living under a rock or really like Microsoft, Apple had a press conference today unveiling new iPods. The iPod touch got an upgrade, but the big makeovers were reserved for the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano. Check 
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Tue, May 17, 2011 at 11:30 am
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