Angus Young and co are believed to be coming back (in black) with Brian Johnson once again at the helm. All has been relatively quiet on the AC/DC front since the band wrapped its Rock or Bust tour in 2016 – notably, with Axl Rose in the frontman slot in place of Brian Johnson, who had been suffering from hearing loss.

But now there seems to be a rumbling coming from down under, as the band, led by electric guitar player Angus Young, have updated their social media sites with a short video clip featuring their iconic lightning bolt. Speculation is that AC/DC will announce a comeback, highlighted by their first album of new material in four years.

The images showed Angus Young joined by returning vocalist Brian Johnson, as well as drummer Phil Rudd (who had been replaced on the Rock or Bust tour by Chris Slade due to legal troubles), bassist Cliff Williams (who had announced his retirement after the tour) and guitarist Stevie Young, who stepped in for founding member Malcolm Young in 2014 when it was revealed he was suffering from dementia. Young passed away in 2017.

Additionally, two years ago Johnson and Rudd were photographed outside Vancouver's Warehouse Studios, leading to rumors that both were back in the band and that AC/DC were, in fact, recording.

What all this means remains to be seen. But if AC/DC are once again about to rock, we of course salute them.

Stay tuned to Guitar World for updates.

By Richard Bienstock – Guitar World

Fender releases George Harrison ‘Rocky’ Stratocaster replica

$25,000 Custom Shop model recreates the Beatle’s hand-painted Magical Mystery Tour guitar

Following its announcement at NAMM 2020, Fender has now officially released its faithful recreation of George Harrison’s ‘Rocky’ Stratocaster, as made famous by its appearance in The Beatles’ 1967 Magical Mystery Tour film.

Harrison’s guitar was originally a Sonic Blue Strat, purchased in 1965 and still bearing the decal from the music store it came from: ‘Grimwoods; The music people; Maidstone and Whitstable’.

In 1967, Harrison gave the guitar its dayglo paint job, and by December 1969, he had painted ‘Bebopalula’ on the body, ‘Go Cat Go’ on the pickguard’ and ‘Rocky’ on the headstock.

As you can see below, the original finish remains for the most part on the rear of the guitar.

In creating this new model, Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Paul Waller examined and measured the original guitar and its pickups to create a meticulous replica, right down to the ‘Grimwoods’ decal.

Other noteworthy specs include 21 vintage-style frets, a vintage-style Synchronized tremolo, nitrocellulose lacquer finish, a two-piece select Alder body and rare 5A Flame Maple neck with a 1960 Oval “C” shape and 7.25” (194.1 mm) radius.

Fender has also released a video that goes in-depth on the making of what Waller calls “one of the more difficult” replicas to come out of the Custom Shop.

Just 100 ‘Rocky’ Stratocasters will be released and feature single coils hand-wound by now-retired Fender pickup legend Abigail Ybarra, who was hand-winding around the time Harrison’s 1961 original Strat was released.

This meticulous attention to detail comes at a price, of course: the George Harrison ‘Rocky’ Stratocaster costs $25,000/£23,099 and is available from today.

By Michael Astley-Brown / Guitar World Magazine

Warner Music [Sony Music outside Europe] today announced the upcoming release of Pink Floyd’s ‘Delicate Sound Of Thunder’ on Blu-ray, DVD, 2-CD, 3-disc vinyl and deluxe 4-disc edition with bonus tracks, on November 20, 2020.

Across the various different formats, the release of Delicate Sound Of Thunder encapsulates a band at their best. Alongside the classic live album and full concert film (restored and re-edited from the original 35mm film and enhanced with 5.1 surround sound), included in The Later Years box set, all editions feature 24-page photo booklets, with the 4-disc box edition including a 40-page photo booklet, tour poster and postcards. The 3-LP 180-gram vinyl set includes 9 songs not included on the 1988 release of the album, while the 2-CD release includes 8 tracks more than its original release.

In 1987, Pink Floyd made a triumphant resurgence. The legendary British band, formed in 1967, had suffered the loss of two co-founders: keyboardist/vocalist Richard Wright, who left after sessions for The Wall in 1979, and bass player and lyricist Roger Waters, who had left to go solo in 1985, soon after the 1983 album The Final Cut.

The gauntlet was thus laid down for guitarist/singer David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason, who proceeded to create the multi-platinum A Momentary Lapse Of Reason album, a global chart smash, which also saw the return of Richard Wright to the fold.

Originally released in September 1987, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was quickly embraced by fans worldwide, who flocked to attend the live tour dates, which started within days of the album’s release. The tour played to more than 4.25 million fans over more than two years, and, as a celebration of the enduring talent and global appeal of Pink Floyd, was unsurpassed at the time

Filmed at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum in August 1988 and directed by Wayne Isham, the 2020 release of the Grammy Award-nominated Delicate Sound Of Thunder is sourced directly from over 100 cans of original 35mm negatives, painstakingly restored and transferred to 4K, and completely re-edited by Benny Trickett from the restored and upgraded footage, under the creative direction of Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis. Similarly, the sound was completely remixed from the original multitrack tapes by longtime Pink Floyd engineer Andy Jackson with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, assisted by Damon Iddins.

Pink Floyd’s stellar supporting cast for the live dates included: Jon Carin (Keyboards, Vocals), Tim Renwick (Guitars, Vocals), Guy Pratt (Bass, Vocals), Gary Wallis (Percussion), Scott Page (Saxophones, Guitar), Margret Taylor (Backing Vocals), Rachel Fury (Backing Vocals) and Durga McBroom (Backing Vocals).

Technical credits include: Film Producers: Curt Marvis and Carl Wyant; Director of Photography: Marc Reshovsky; Lighting Designer: Marc Brickman, with conceptual footage directed by Storm Thorgerson, except ‘Money’ directed by Storm Thorgerson, Barry Chattington and Peter Medak. Animation on ‘Time’ was by Ian Emes.

The setlist carefully balances the then-new material and Pink Floyd classics, including songs from The Dark Side Of The Moon (Time, On The Run, The Great Gig In The Sky and Us And Them), the anthemic title track of Wish You Were Here, The Wall’s Comfortably Numb and a cathartic Run Like Hell. The 2-CD version features all the songs from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason including the powerful Learning To Fly, the lyrical On The Turning Away, and the mesmerizing Sorrow. Other formats include a variety of songs.

As a record of the creative power of David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright at their incendiary best, Pink Floyd’s Delicate Sound of Thunder is an engrossing and uplifting event, to be enjoyed by any rock music fan.

By Glide Magazine

To celebrate the upcoming release of their new studio album “Maverick”, King King will release a full-length performance featuring the bands new line-up including Stevie Nimmo. You can watch the live performance from Berkeley Studios in Glasgow on Friday October 2nd at 8pm. Once received the concert download is yours to keep forever.

The set list for the concert includes the two singles ‘Never Give In’ and ‘I Will Not Fall’ from “Maverick”.

“Maverick” is released on Friday November 6, 2020 via Channel 9 Music – King King’s new independent label. The 10-track album, released on CD, vinyl, and various bundles, is available for pre-order from www.kingking.co.uk.

“Maverick” follows 2017’s critically acclaimed album “Exile & Grace” and includes the new line-up featuring Alan Nimmo (vocals/guitar), Stevie Nimmo (guitar), Jonny Dyke (organ/piano), Zander Greenshields (bass) and Andrew Scott (drums). The album was engineered and mixed by Liam McCluskey at Morsecode Studios in Glasgow.

King King is described as soulful, dynamic blues/rock from Glasgow, UK. They have won Best Band for 2012, 2013, 2014 by The British Blues Awards, Best Band 2018 by The European Blues Awards, Best Band 2018 by the UK Blues Awards, and Best Album 2016 ad 2018 by the UK Blues Awards. Their fourth album, Exile & Grace represented more of a rock and roll vibe and won five UK awards.

The band released the single “Never Give In” from “Maverick.” Alan Nimmo said about song, “Never Give In’ was a song that came out of a number of similar ideas that I couldn’t quite settle on so eventually when it blossomed and presented itself to me I knew what we had to do with it! I wanted to have a big sound with plenty of space, a classic rock song that still said, “King King”!

It’s a song about grit and determination, a willingness to keep on trying and “never give in”; obstacles will always get In the way but how we deal with them is our strength! This song was a lot of fun to record… I loved watching the lads in the band doing their thing and creating such a cool groove for me to be able to sing to! Most importantly, we had great fun doing this and indeed the whole album! It’s wonderful when everyone pulls in the same direction and to see such care for what was best for the overall sound and the album from everyone was very humbling for me!”

Produced by Alan Nimmo, Jonny Dyke and Liam McCluskey at Morsecode Studios in Glasgow, the new album is co-written by Alan Nimmo (guitar, lead vocals), Zander Greenshields (bass), Jonny Dyke (keyboards), Andrew Scott (drums), with all lyrics by Alan Nimmo.

By Martine Ehrenclou / Rock & Blues Muse -