Lostprophets Ian Watkins sentenced to 35 years.

When Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was arrested a year ago, I was shocked. I never imagined that I would be sitting here a year later writing out the results of his trial. 

In the past year it's become clear that Ian Watkins committed several child related sex crimes. He was denied bail and has been awaiting trial in prison all year. He was, at one point, placed on suicide watch. Around the same time, the rest of the Lostprophets band publicly announced their break up. 

After pleading guilty to a long list of sex crimes involving children including sexual assault and creating child pornography, Ian Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in prison with another 6 years on license. Identified only as "Woman A" and "Woman B", two mothers accused of participating in his abuse of their children were sentenced to 14 and 17 years respectively. 

I can only hope this horrific story is over and Ian will get some much needed help in the coming years. I also hope that the shock and pain will ease for the other members of Lostprophets and in time they will be able to move in new directions with the same unwavering support that they've seen in the last year. 

Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones "Foreverly"

Billie Joe + Norah - Foreverly

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has teamed up with singer Norah Jones. The two Grammy winners got together to cover The Everly Brothers record "Songs Our Daddy Taught Us".

The new record titled "Foreverly" is available now. Click the link to download from iTunes or listen on Spotify now.

Paramore "Daydreaming" video

Paramore has released their music video for "Daydreaming" off their self-titled album. 

The video is part live show and part small town dreamers preparing for a Paramore show. Naturally, the two story lines meet up when the girls sneak backstage to look for Hayley Williams, who waves before they are thrown out.

Mayday Parade releases new album.

Mayday Parade - Monsters in the Closet

Mayday Parade released the new album "Monsters in the Closet" on October 8th.

Click the link to download "Monsters" from iTunes or check it out on Spotify now.

Go Radio announces break up

When Jason Lancaster left Mayday Parade in 2007, he quickly formed a new band called Go Radio. Now, two albums and almost seven years later, he's decided the time has come for a new direction. After touring with Warped tour this summer, they announced that Jason had decided to retire from the road and spend time with his wife. The other members chose not to replace and said it wouldn't be Go Radio without all four of them. 

You can read their full statement here. 

Lostprophets announce break up as Ian Watkins awaits trial.

It's been nearly a year since Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was arrested for a series of sexual crimes involving children. Although the remaining members of the band have been relatively quiet since the arrest, the break up wasn't official until October 1st. They posted a statement on their Facebook page announcing that after fifteen years and this shocking turn of events they wouldn't be continuing as Lostprophets. 

You can read their official statement on their Facebook.

Due to the removal of the Lostprophets Facebook page, you can now read the statement here:

To our fans:

After nearly a year of coming to terms with our heartache, we finally feel ready to announce publicly what we have thought privately for some time. We can no longer continue making or performing music as Lostprophets. Your love and support over the past 15 years has been tremendous, and we'll be forever grateful for all you've given us. As we look forward to the next phase of our lives, we can only hope to be surrounded by people as devoted and inspiring as you guys have been. 

Jamie, Lee, Luke, Mike, and Stu

Tonight Alive Stream "The Other Side"

Tonight Alive already released their new record "The Other Side" in Australia, but it won't be released here in the states until September 10th. Fortunately for us, they're streaming it right now!

Listen to Tonight Alive's new album "The Other Side" on VEVO now, complete with commentary about the songs from TA front-woman Jenna McDougall herself, and pick up "The Other Side" on September 10th.

Favorites: September 6, 2013

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/greetings-from...-ep/id291138190

Today's favorite comes from the recently broken up A Rocket To The Moon. They may have played their last show, but it's never too late to buy some old music.

It is my opinion that the "Greetings From..." EP is some of their finest work. I highly recommend "Fear of Flying".

One piece of advice however, if this is your first time listening to Rocket, "Dakota" is much better on the album than the EP. Check out their first studio album "On Your Side".

All Time Low Announce "Don't Panic" Reissue

All Time Low's "Don't Panic" came out less than a year ago, but it's ready for a reissue. 

"Don't Panic: It's Longer Now!" will be released via Hopeless Records on September 30th. The record will feature four new songs, (including the new single with Vic Fuentes) plus four acoustic versions of All Time Low's "Don't Panic" singles.

Pre-Order bundles are available at alltimelow.com as well as iTunes. 

All Time Low Release New Single "A Love Like War"

After All Time Low posted a video of themselves with Pierce The Veil's Vic Fuentes, it was pretty easy to guess we'd see new material from them soon. 

Sure enough, All Time Low has released a new single "A Love Like War" Feat. Vic Fuentes along with a brand new music video that features Alex and Vic fighting over the microphone. 

Ronnie Radke and Andy Biersack Working On New Project

Hearts exploded when Falling In Reverse's Ronnie Radke and Black Veil Brides Andy Biersack posted pictures from their studio session. 

Although they haven't given any details yet, it's clear that Andy and Ronnie are working on some kind of  music collaboration. Andy accompanied his photo with "Always a blast to collaborate with talented musicians and let me tell you what we did today is gonna be insane!"

Mayday Parade Release New Single "Ghosts"

After multiple teases, Mayday Parade has released their first single off the upcoming album "Monsters In The Closet", out October 8th. 

Pre-orders for "Monsters In The Closet are available at MaydayParade.com now. All physical pre-orders are being entered to win extra prize packs including merch, Glamour Kills gear and even a call from Mayday Parade themselves. 

Until then, get the new single "Ghosts" on iTunes.

Tonight Alive Release Video For "Lonely Girl"

Tonight Alive have released a music video for their new single "Lonely Girl" from their upcoming album "The Other Side", due out September 10th. 

Watch it now and pre-order "The Other Side" at tonightalive.merchnow.com

Glamour Kills Tour 2013

Glamour Kills announce The Glamour Kills Tour featuring Mayday Parade, Man Overboard, Cartel, Stages & Stereos. Tickets available now. 

Favorites: August 9, 2013

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-rumours-are-flying/id422894897

Are you supporting your local bands? Yeah, I didn't think so. It's okay, you get a second chance.

Every time you go to show you get saddled with a local band no one's ever heard of opening for more interesting people. But listen to me, listen to them. Yeah, some of them suck, but some of them don't.

Being from Chicago I can tell you, some of those bands are Fall Out Boy and The Academy Is...

So listen to those local bands, you're stuck with them anyway, and you might discover the next FOB before your friends.

In the mean time, check out A Kidnap In Color's EP "The Rumours Are Flying". And though they don't exist anymore, if you like what you hear check out their new music under their new name Famous Like You.

Ocean Avenue Acoustic Stream

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Ocean Avenue, Yellowcard recorded an acoustic version of the album.  Though the album isn't available yet, Ocean Avenue Acoustic is streaming now on Pandora Premieres. 

Pandora Premieres is only available to fans in the US, so Hopeless Records has uploaded a stream of the album on YouTube that can be accessed from other countries. 

Ocean Avenue Acoustic will be released August 13th, and is up for preorder on iTunes now. 

Sleeping With Sirens Feel This Tour

Sleeping With Sirens have announced their "Feel This" fall tour in support of their new album "Feel". 

The tour kicks off October 15th. Tickets are available now at sleepingwithsirens.net

Favorites: August 2, 2013

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wretched-divine-story-wild/id572718496

I've always been a fan of Andy Biersack, but I was never much a fan of Black Veil Brides. Until Wretched and Divine.

I really did try to like their music, but it just wasn't happening, so I may have ignored this album for a while when it was released. Then I just kind of stumbled onto one day, figured it was only a matter of time before I heard it and pressed play. I haven't stopped listening to it since. This album really moves in the classic rock direction and it's a theme album in the awesomest of ways.

I highly recommend picking it up.

Ronnie Radke and Max Green Reunion

When Falling In Reverse's Ronnie Radke battled his way to sobriety, it was no secret that he wished his friend and former band mate, Max Green, would do the same. Over the years Max's addiction has made friends and fans fear for his life, until recently when Max announced on Twitter that he was sober and healthy and focusing on staying that way. 

A few days ago Max Green and Ronnie Radke were reunited, making a three part video series for Alternative Press. In the first video, Ronnie and Max talk about becoming friends, battling their addictions and the last time they saw each other. 

Favorites: July 26, 2013

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/foo-fighters-greatest-hits/id334450811

A couple weeks ago I posted Nirvana's "Nevermind" as that weeks favorite, but how about that drummer?

Dave Grohl is the coolest person I can think of, and I can think of a lot of people. Aside from being a super cool rock dude, he's a crazy talented musician and writer (and director apparently) and while I agree with him that these may not be the best songs they've written, they're the songs that defined the Foo's as a band. They're just good songs.