Rainbow The Temple of The King 1975 – 1976 box set is about to be released on March 6, 2026, and Youtube channel Classic Album Review offers an unboxing video. You won’t learn much new from it that we have not covered before, but if you’d like a peek inside the box, here it is. Continue Reading »

Jon Lord promoting his then new album Beyond the Notes on a German TV morning show. This happened on September 23, 2004. Continue Reading »

Card carrying Paicey aficionado Chad Smith offers his take on Burn Continue Reading »

Ritchie Blackmore has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement award by the organization called National GUITAR Museum. Executive director of the museum (and former Guitar magazine editor-in-chief) HP Newquist says:

Most people know Ritchie from being the driving creative force behind two of the defining hard rock bands of all time—Deep Purple and Rainbow. But before starting those bands, he had a long career as a London session musician, performing on records by numerous artists, including The Outlaws. And then—after helping to define hard rock guitar in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s—he formed Blackmore’s Night, incorporating medieval and Renaissance acoustic music into his immense repertoire.

Blackmore responded to the award in his usual terse form:

I’m rather thrown by the magnitude of this honorable award. I am grateful to accept this award and this recognition.

The National GUITAR Museum was established in 2008. It does not have a permanent home, but offers touring exhibitions hosted by other museums across the United States. The Lifetime Achievement award has been presented since 2010, and past recipients include Alex Lifeson, Tommy Emmanuel, Jeff Beck, Al di Meola, Eddie Van Halen, Liona Boyd, Tony Iommi, Buddy Guy, and B.B. King, among others.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the heads-up. Photo courtesy of The National GUITAR Museum.

The latest album from William Shatner has been announced, and it is promised to be “a heavy metal extravaganza powered a veritable army of metal stars – each one personally selected and hand-picked by Shatner”. Said stars include Ritchie Blackmore, Zakk Wylde, Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), Wayne Kramer (MC5), and Henry Rollins (Black Flag, The Rollins Band). The album is due some time later this year, and the information released so far is rich on marketing fluff, but short on details that are promised to be revealed “soon”.

Shatner says:

Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud. This album is a gathering of forces – each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.

I’ve spent a lifetime exploring in both reality and fiction. Now I am stepping out into the unknown once again with my new project in heavy metal. I am covering Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden as well as a number of new songs written by my team. The whole project is destined for this year. I hope you will join me in the exploration.

This is not the first collaboration of Shatner with Blackmore — the two crossed paths on Shatner’s 2020 album The Blues, recording a cover of The Thrill Is Gone.

[Update Feb 20]: Different sources disagree on the degree of Blackmore’s actual participation in the new project. Compare the quote from Metal Hammer:

As well as Wylde – who’s known for his longtime membership of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band and as the frontman of Black Label Society – and former Black Flag man Rollins, the album will feature Ritchie Blackmore (Rainbow, ex-Deep Purple), Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream) and Wayne Kramer (MC5).

With one from BraveWords, that implies those collaborations were well in the past:

Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne), Ritchie Blackmore, Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Henry Rollins (Black Flag, The Rollins Band) have all recorded with the legend. Indeed, Shatner’s history of defying expectations is well documented, and his music has long lived in the space where spoken-word intensity meets cinematic atmosphere. This new album raises the stakes even higher: more artists, more distortion, more drama – and a heavier impact.

We’ll know when further details are released.

Thanks to BraveWords and Georgius Novicianus for the heads-up.

Check out Steve Morse, John Petrucci, Dave LaRue, and Mike Portnoy jamming on a cover of Focus classic Hocus Pocus. This was recorded during the last John Petrucci’s Guitar Universe event, that took place in Las Vegas on August 7-10, 2025. Continue Reading »

Steve Morse, his band, and his son Kevin have recorded a composition Taken By An Angel, dedicated to his late wife Janine.

After losing my wife and Kevin losing his stepmother, this is the piece we put together as a tribute.

The part at the end was actually something I had written as a chapter two for “Contact Lost,” and had even tried out with Deep Purple. I knew it was something I’d want to use in the future.

The sad and lonely part at the very beginning was written the night she died, after going home. But I did not include that when we played at her funeral.

The second section – where Kevin comes in with the chords – is what we started the memorial service piece with. After hearing Kevin’s beautiful voicings, I just played a simple melody straight from the heart.

The next section picks up energy with Kevin’s rhythm, as it represents the beginning of hope and faith for a better place that our loved ones will rest in.

At the end of the first time through, Kevin’s rhythmic suspended chord drives us into a new key, and Van supplied some tubular bell sounds that give it that heavenly but triumphant feeling that closes on a major chord.

It’s a very personal piece for me, but I think it applies to all of us going through the stages of grief: the sadness, the introspection, the prayers, and the hope and belief of a better place.

Thanks to Steve Morse fan site for the heads-up and the quote.

Steve Morse made a guest appearance on the single by a band called Dead Groove. They recorded a cover of a Jimi Hendrix classic Voodoo Child (Slight Return).

LA’s heavy blues powerhouse return with a stunning cover of Hendrix’s classic for this highly collectible 7″ vinyl!

Features guest appearances from Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs guitar legend Steve Morse as well as southern blues guru Lance Lopez!

Backed with a rare mix of another stone cold classic from guitar giant, Tommy Bolin!

Holly West — Bass/Vocals
Fred Aching — Drums
Steve Morse — Guitar
Lance Lopez — Guitar

The track is now available for streaming, and in physical form as a 7″ vinyl single, backed by Tommy Bolin’s Post Toastee 2024 remix.

Thanks to BraveWords for the heads-up, and to Uwe for pointing out the full video.

Guitar Player has an article on Ritchie Blackmore based on an interview he gave to the paper version of the magazine circa 1996.

That relentless, almost surgical pursuit of perfection was felt far beyond his own ranks; it reverberated through the generation of electric guitar players raised on his records. As Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins told Guitar Player in 1995, “Pound for pound, he’s one of the best soloists in history, but he’s such a dick that he’ll probably never get the credit he deserves.”

No one understood the paradox better than Blackmore himself. Asked one year later about his reputation for being difficult, he didn’t deflect. He indicted the entire enterprise.

“I hate show biz. I hate people who confine themselves to the system,” he told Guitar Player. “Why does everyone have to do the right interview at the right time, be on the right program, be politically correct, say the right things and be at the right parties? That gets up my nose. Why can’t I just play the guitar? It’s all I want to do.”

Read more in Guitar Player.

Despite the cancellation of the pretty much all Glenn Hughes tour dates for this year, his appearance at the Sound & Vision Awards in Palm Springs, California, on March 2, 2026, is apparently proceeding ahead. Glenn has posted on his Twitter:

Music changes lives – especially for kids 🎵

Join me March 2, 2026 at the historic Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs for the @adoptthearts Sound & Vision Awards, honoring my good friends, @_paulrodgers
and @geezerbutler

An intimate night of iconic music supporting elementary school music education.

🎟 Get tickets: https://bit.ly/SoundAndVisionAwards

#AdoptTheArts #SoundAndVisionAwards #MusicMatters #PalmSpringsEvents #PaulRogers #GeezerButler

Thanks to Daniel for the heads-up.