Megadeth

Strange Encounters: Five Great Metal Songs About Aliens

In the metal pantheon, lyrical subjects go in and out of style almost as fluidly as fashion and whether a song should have breakdowns or not. It seems almost a guarantee that every few years the entire scene will shift to a new fixation. Just a few years ago, everyone was screaming about their feeli ... More >>

Last Night: Anthrax & Exodus at House of Blues

Anthrax, Exodus House of Blues April 10, 2013 I am going to come right out and say it: I never thought Anthrax should have been a part of The Big Four. When laying out the titans of thrash metal, the boys from New York -- a fact they never seem to want you to forget -- always seemed a bit out of p ... More >>

10 Controversial Artists I Want to See on the New Arsenio

Woof woof woof woof woof. Get used to that, 'cause Arsenio is back. Nearly two decades after The Arsenio Hall Show disappeared from TV's late-night landscape following a five-year run, the man himself is being recalled to duty by CBS's syndicated-programming wing. The new Arsenio debuts in the fall ... More >>

Exploring Songza: Four Offbeat Playlists From the Curated Music Service

We introduced you to Songza -- the service that acts as a "music concierge" -- a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion. More importantly to me, the playlists are expertly curated, mean ... More >>

"New" Albums Composed of Old Music: Good or Bad?

It's 2013, and we've all pretty much finished our end-of-the-year lists. Now we look to the future. What albums are we looking forward to this year? If I had to guess, at least some of the best releases of the year will consist of music out of a vault or reissues of old albums. But is that a good th ... More >>

With 30 Years In the Game, Helstar Shreds Anew This Saturday

After all the riffs, after all the load-ins, and after all the Jager shots, what is it, exactly, that keeps a heavy metal band from Houston, Texas, shrieking and shredding across the globe for 30 years? Rewind: Multiples of Black: Helstar celebrate their 30th anniversary in style Magic, of cours ... More >>

Last Night: Skeletonwitch, Havok & Legion at Walters

Skeletonwitch, Havok, Mutilation Rites, Legion Walters Houston October 17, 2012 Wednesday night's Skeletonwitch show at Walters was one I'd been looking forward to since it was announced. The speedy Ohio metallers nearly eviscerated a Warehouse Live crowd back in April opening for Nile and Black Da ... More >>

MTV's Best Year: The Top 5 Videos of 1992

In 1992, the recording industry was riding high. The compact disc had become a major success, with music lovers purchasing new albums and old releases in astonishing numbers despite the format's comparatively steep price tags. And the music-video juggernaut known as MTV was helping major labels to b ... More >>

Z Rock 106.9 FM Returns In Web Form

A few months back, Heath Bilbrey made waves in Houston by resurrecting the KLOL brand and format with an online radio station. This week Rocks Off has learned that he has also brought back Z Rock 106.9 KKZR from the radio cemetery with the same treatment. "We plan to follow the same formula we are ... More >>

13 Wacky Texas History Facts That Texas School Kids Need To Be Taught

This week Mother Jones uncovered a handful of spurious, less-than-scientific facts that Louisiana grade-schoolers will be learning while attending the state's new voucher schools. Obviously, people aren't happy. A new voucher program under the watch of Governor Bobby Jindal will allot money for st ... More >>

Top 5 Most Anticipated Electric Forest Artists

Tomorrow I set off to another music festival, although this time it's the farthest north I've ever been. Michigan. Yeah, I know, I need to travel more. Rothbury, Michigan will host Electric Forest from June 28 to July 1. The festival has local philanthropic initiatives this year such as a Food D ... More >>

Multiples of Black

Houston heavy-metal lifers Helstar celebrate their 30th anniversary in style.

We Tell You Who Will Win Grammys So You Don't Have To Watch Them

SPOILER ALERT​The best thing about the annual Grammy nominations and awards shows is the clamor of anger that rises up when the mere mention of the event even comes up. Immediately people begin calling it a travesty, trotting out all the people who have been snubbed -- Jethro Tull beats Metall ... More >>

Gone But Never Forgotten: Happy 50th Birthday Cliff Burton

​Today would have marked the 50th birthday of a bass guitarist named Clifford Lee Burton who played for a band called Metallica. You may have heard of them. Unfortunately, Cliff passed away in 1986 in a bus crash shortly before he would have turned 25. Of course, if you've ever had even a pass ... More >>

Heavy Fuel: How to Drink Like a Rock Star

If you want to be a real rock star, you can go ahead and forget about those Red Bull and vodkas you're so fond of. Legit rockers are fueled by bigger, harder and flat-out weirder doses of alcohol than the mere mortals hitting on the bartender at your local watering hole. Sure, a few of our musical ... More >>

How To: Drink Like a Rock Star

Sure, most rock stars are probably happy with any bottle that happens to be within reach. Some rock stars, however, prefer to refine and perfect their booze intake, settling on a signature cocktail that suits their outsized personalities and consequence-free lifestyles. Rocks Off salutes these exc ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Delta Spirit, Cursive, George Clinton, Hot Chelle Rae, Orgy, Youth Lagoon

American Sharks: Sat., Feb. 25. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. The Black Belles, Black Tabs: Sun., March 18. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. Bobby Bare Jr.: Wed., Feb. 1. Continental Club, 3700 Main, Houston. Buxton, Marmalakes, Featherface: Sat., Feb. 4, 8 p.m., $8.00. Fitzgera ... More >>

Clouds Are Ghosts: Harbinger Heralds Brilliance

We got into the Clouds are Ghosts while deconstructing their band name. It was clear when we heard their work that the band was good, we compared them to Legendary Pink Dots and the Irrespressibles and that is some of our highest praise. The only problem we ever had with their output was that the wh ... More >>

Charlie Benante Keeps The Beat Steady For Anthrax

Photos by Andy BuchananAnthrax 2011 (L-R): Scott Ian, Frank Bello, Joey Belladonna, Charlie Benante, Rob Caggiano​After a tumultuous few years both musically and memberwise, New York thrash metal pioneers Anthrax will be able to close out 2011 on a pretty high note. In addition to releasing th ... More >>

MTV's Early VJs: Where Are They Now?

vegastripping.comMTV's original VJ crew (l-r): J.J. Jackson, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn and Alan Hunter​When it comes to the attention spans of teenagers, entertainers are on borrowed time. Which might explain the turnover rate of MTV's Video Jockeys, or VJs for short. Currentl ... More >>

Temptations Musical Heralds End Of The World

Mason Lankford said, "There will come a day when we forget the Rapture ever even happened," but Rocks Off is keeping an eye out for signs of our impending Armageddon. We were wrong last time, but we're totally right this time! Zoran Veselinovic​ The Temptations have been in the music business ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

(Not The) Royal Wedding Playlist

​Planning a wedding is a real pain in the ass. Rocks Off knows, because we (and our fiancée) were forced by geographic and financial issues to do 99 percent of the legwork for our own nuptials. There's the usual stuff like reception location, whether you're going to make up your own vows, and ... More >>

GWAR Singer Vows To Swap Sex For Votes

Marc BrubakerGWAR at Fun Fun Fun Fest, Waterloo Park, Austin, November 2010​What do you do when your band is up for a prestigious award against the likes of Rammstein, Iron Maiden and Megadeth? If you're GWAR front "man" Oderus Urungus, you promise to get up close and personal (very personal) ... More >>

Eddie Trunk, Ultimate Metalhead, Writes Metalhead's Bible

​Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal By Eddie Trunk Abrams Publishing, 240 pp. $19.95. If hard rock and heavy-metal journalism have their own Eddie Murrow, it's Eddie Trunk. Via his web site, as a co-host of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, and his programs on both terrestrial and ... More >>

Based On Music Scene, Houston May Be U.S.'s 4th-Dumbest City

​Sooooo... The Daily Beast has compiled its second annual list of the dumbest cities in America. Houston came in fourth from last (out of 55), just ahead of our neighbors in San Antonio. The list is compiled through a great many things, such as the number of libraries, cultural investments and ... More >>

Happy Anniversary, Nirvana's Nevermind

​This past Friday, a significant musical anniversary came and went with barely a peep. It was only 19 years to the day the last album to cause a legitimate sea change in popular music - both the industry and the art - was released. Rocks Off knows that was a few days ago, but hey, we had a bus ... More >>

Music's Top 10 Biggest Post-Drug Comebacks

​The list of drug casualties in rock and roll is a long and sad one. All the suicides, car crashes and the stray gang-related murder are outweighed by the amount of people who just can't stop putting junk into their system, or at least moderate it to a point where they aren't lying cold on a h ... More >>

"Metal, Dude!": Ten Juicy Quotes From The Ultimate Metal Movie

​With hair-metal legends(?) Ratt playing Warehouse Live this evening, Rocks Off decided we'd take a look back at the definitive document of that era of metal in Los Angeles: Penelope Spheeris' rockumentary The Decline Of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years. Ratt isn't featured in the fi ... More >>

Upcoming: Chris Isaak, Dr. Dog, Misfits, Of Montreal, Slayer, Etc.

​Black Congress, Omotai, Side Arms, The Formations: Sat., Sept. 4. Walter's on Washington. The Bloody Beetroots: Sat., Oct. 23. House of Blues. Chris Isaak: Sun., Oct. 17. House of Blues. Corinne Bailey Rae: Sun., Aug. 15. House of Blues. Cory Morrow: Wed., July 28. Pub Fiction. Deniz Te ... More >>

Aftermath: A Metal Reawakening With High On Fire And Priestess At Walter's

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​So about a month ago Aftermath swore off metal shows. Well serious ones that is. Yeah, we hit up Steel Panther, who are in fact metal but that didn't count, seeing that they are hair metal which immediately disqualifies them. Anyhow, High on Fire's packed gig at Walte ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Blue October, Felix Da Housecat, Hank III, Les Claypool, Megadeth and Roky Erickson Returns

​Blue October: Sat., May 15. The Showgrounds @ Sam Houston Race Park. "Choo-Choo Soul" With Genevieve: Sat., April 24. Verizon Wireless Theater. Cody Kouba: Thu., March 18. The Firehouse Saloon. Dale Watson: Wed., March 10. The Hideout @ Reliant Stadium. "Dirty Honey" With DJ Brett Koshkin, Ceepl ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: 30FootFall, Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphys, George Thorogood, Joe Ely, Slayer, etc.

​30FootFall: Fri., Dec. 25. Fitzgerald's. Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo: Sun., Jan. 24. Walter's on Washington. American Sharks, The Watermarks: Wed., Nov. 25. Boondocks. Band of Heathens: Fri., Dec. 11. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. Basses Loaded, Springfield Riots, Nosaprise: Fri., Nov. 27, 8 p. ... More >>

Music Deaths

The Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter returns

Lee Hazlewood: Stranger in This Land

The renaissance cowboy cut a wide swath through the West, and inspired a generation of songwriters

Stapp Infection

Sanctimonious hypocrites need love, too

Playbill

Appetite for Reconstruction

After hitting the top and then bottoming out, the Hunger refuses to go gently to the graveyard of bands

Fallout Shelter

Nuclear Assault's Danny Lilker detonates a few mushroom clouds

He Be Jammin'

Soulfly's Max Cavalera draws inspiration from a most unlikely source: Bob Marley

Toe-Tapping Zapping

Game soundtracks struggle for legitimacy in an industry obsessed with killing machines, not killer tunes

Show (and Tell) Tunes

Theatre New West's riveting Fairy Tales depicts the gay life through song

Think Small

Houston rockers Dirty Rotten Imbeciles keep the faith with intimate venues

Opening Up His Files

Texan Vernon Fisher mines his own archives for his rich, multilayered images

Indies in Town

Three adventuresome acts new to Houston set to perform

The Master Interpreter

Kontroversy

Korn ignores critics of its heavy metal attitude

Bang with Brains

Rotation

Picks