Letter: Vultures concert in Oakland disappoints

The following letter to the editor has been submitted by a first-time writer to LedZeppelinNews.com. With his permission, it is printed here.

Hi Steve:
I read your site pretty regularly, as I've been a huge Zep fan since my teen years in the 70's. Great job, thanks, and keep up the good work!

I attended the Them Crooked Vultures concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland last night, and while I hate to say it, I was pretty disappointed. Hell, maybe I'm just starting to show my age, but I felt thoroughly bludgeoned after listening to 2 full hours of this audio assault. The musicianship was first rate, of course; Jonesy was in fine form, Grohl was amazing on drums, Homme was economical & efficient on lead guitar. However, Homme is definitely a one-note singer, and has absolutely no charisma as a frontman. There was a great deal of sameness and pitch to most of the songs as well.

Must admit, we had terrible seats (rear balcony), so perhaps the show sounded much better elsewhere - but there was just no melody in these songs. It was great seeing John Paul and Dave enjoying themselves, and I'm sure true metal heads will be happy with this music, but for me, wow...an acoustic instrumental or piano solo here & there would have been nice, if only to give the ears some momentary piece.

I saw J.P. Jones play with Mutual Admiration Society a few years back in San Francisco; gotta say, that show was immensely better than what I heard last night. Just wondering if I'm really missing something here.

-Greg Whelchel
San Jose, CA

In my reply to Greg, I asked whether he had purchased or listened the TCV album prior to attending his concert. He also gave me some more background and opinions:

I'm a hard-core Zeppelin fan - I even suffered through most of those dreadful Robert Plant tours in the early & mid 80's before he finally came to this senses and started tossing in a few Zep numbers every show! A prima donna to be sure, but ya still gotta love ol' Rob. I skipped the Page/Plant shows in the late 90's, didn't like the way Jones had been treated during "Unledded", so that was my protest of sorts.

To your question:
I had only watched some YouTube clips of TCV, as well as the footage from your site prior to the show. The CD was being sold at the show for $14 and they were even giving away $2 off coupons, so a great deal there. A kid next to me had purchased the CD and loved it - said he had played it 4 straight times on a long drive to the show, in order to memorize song lyrics and learn all the song titles - now that's dedication! He was also a big Josh Homme fan, so that kind of fit, and he seemed to love the show. I thought the first two songs of the set were awesome, "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I" was the first one, but I don't recall the second. After that, seemed like an awful lot of repetition. Just too loud, Josh spoke to the audience a few times but I never could make out a single word of anything he said...I'll get the CD and develop a more informed opinion, I think.

I see where you play in a Zep tribute band - we have a good one in the Bay Area, Heartbreaker. The Plant/Jones/Bonham impersonators are just amazing, but their Jimmy is a little too surly & grumpy and his guitar skills are a little inconsistent. The guy who does Plant even looks like him, if Rob had ever gone to a gym anyways.

-Greg

Well, for one thing, Greg doesn't seem to be alone. Other Zep fans are also having trouble swallowing this band, which the music critics say sounds very much like Queens of the Stone Age. Fony Fontana posts on For Badgeholders Only today:

Reaction to TCV on Zep boards

I am a little bit amused by a lot of reactions on several zeppelin boards on the TCV album. For some it's obviously a giant leap from to what they are used to. Some reactions on RO are kinda like 'I don't like this modern attempt to raw rock music' to 'I don't listen to loud music anymore..' Really? And these are Zeppelin fans? Come on! Jonesy is probably just a few years older then a lot of these guys and he still likes to play LOUD music.

A lot of people obviously haven't been paying attention to QOTSA and what Josh has been doing. I think he is one of the last innovators in the genre with his 'Robot Rock Riffs'. The TCV album isn't really that far removed from QOTSA. But I guess if you are not used to that, this album is probably a lot to get used to.

I am totally loving this album. And to some: don't act your age, pull out your earplugs and rock out!

Cheers Tony

Well, I happened to be one guy who didn't need to know much of anything by Queens of the Stone Age first, before I raved about the band when I saw them live in Washington, D.C. The sound killed my ears for 24 hours, that's for sure. And I couldn't make out many of the words either, but that's not a problem for me; I'm pretty much a music-first guy anyway. What captured my attention the most was the chemistry that exists between Grohl and each of his bandmates. (And Alain Johannes with Homme.)

Now that I have their CD, I can't wait until the next time I hear "Warsaw" live again! As a matter of fact, my iTunes pre-order came with two official live cuts as bonus tracks. Does anybody know which show they're from (Lowlands, I believe)?

Second Them Crooked Vultures album promised in interviews

So, is it unanimous? Them Crooked Vultures should make a second album? I'll round up what the band says in just a moment ...

This thing I got on iTunes this Tuesday morning is hot. I am so proud to be able to tell my grandkids someday that I was at a show on the first Them Crooked Vultures tour.

(And when they say, "Who?.......")

Well, how about that second album? Who's ready?

John?
Hell yeah, John Paul Jones wants a second album. This is only the best band he's ever been in, or so he says. Wait, did he just compare his current project to Led Zeppelin -- and TCV wins? He can't be serious!! In case you missed it, check out what he said. Here's the highlight, though:

"I hope there's maybe going to be another album. I don't have a band that's going to call me back – the other two do. But they're going to have to fight me for them because we're having a bit too much fun at the moment."

That's what John told Australia's Nova 91.9 FM as published Nov. 10 and summed up here. He'll have to contend with Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters before there'll be another Them Crooked Vultures. The one group has "fighters" in its name. Oh well, Jonesy seems up for the challenge anyway.

OK, what about those other guys in the Vultures? What do they have to say about it?

Josh? Yeah, he's in. Here's the scoop:

"I can't wait to make another record [with Them Crooked Vultures] because in the end, it was so much easier than it should have been and honestly, it's the hardest record I have ever made. You have to climb Everest eventually."

That's what Josh told the Herald Sun, also Australian. This dude's obviously in.

So, if my tally is correct, we have two out of three, which is a majority but not binding unless it's unanimous. So, what's our lone holdout, Dave Grohl, have to say -- now that he knows what his bandmates would like?

(Wow, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones are bandmates! I love reciting that! Let's just say he's not the only one to have dreamed about it.)

Dave?

The answer comes, this time, not from Australia but from Canada: Alan Cross of "the world's largest global newspaper," metronews.ca, poses his open question to the band whilst seated with them at Homme's Pink Duck Studios in Los Angeles.

How far can they take this? Dave props himself up against some pillows on the sectional. A big grin spreads across his face. "As far as it will go."

For those of you keeping score, it's a tie game. They've all now admitted, at least once each, that they're in for round two.

So, the question is no longer: Will there be a second album? There will.

The question becomes instead: Will it be right away, or will they be doing separate projects first?

Them Crooked Vultures U.K. broadcast this week

• The Aug. 29 set by Them Crooked Vultures at the Reading Festival was filmed and will now appear for those staying up Friday night past midnight. The 40-minute program begins at 12:50 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21.
• Them Crooked Vultures filmed a live set in front of a studio audience for Austin City Limits on Sept. 30 that is scheduled to be broadcast on PBS beginning Feb. 13, 2010.
• Copies of the debut album were sold in Hollywood last night after Them Crooked Vultures performed a surprise show at the Roxy. The album is now out in the United States.
  
  
• As of today, the disc is available almost everywhere. Only two more release dates remain in the future: tomorrow's in Sweden and the Dec. 2 release in Japan. Earlier plans for the Japanese disc to include a bonus track have been scrapped.
• Today is the last day for fans to send their burning questions to John Paul Jones for an upcoming feature in Uncut magazine.
  
• People playing "Rock Band" using Xbox 360 may now play along with "New Fang" by Them Crooked Vultures as the download is now available. There are already videos popping up online of people playing the song, such as the ones below.
  
  

Updates:

• Some live clips are emerging from last night's show at the Roxy in Hollywood. See below.
  
• The band plays the Wiltern in Los Angeles tonight, at the Fox Theater in Oakland on Thursday, at the Paramount in Seattle on Saturday, and at the Roseland Theater in Portland on Sunday.
  

Them Crooked Vultures to play one more gig prior to U.S. album release

The debut album from Them Crooked Vultures, now out in some parts of the world, still has one day to go before it can be sold in North America. Fans in the Los Angeles area can catch John Paul Jones and his bandmates at the Roxy in Hollywood tonight for a surprise show announced only today although it was rumored for the past few weeks.

Tickets to today's show must be purchased on site; limit two per person. Customers must enter immediately after purchasing tickets, and there is no re-entry. It hasn't been stated what time tickets go on sale or what time the show is -- just that you won't be allowed to line up before 2 p.m.

As previously announced, Them Crooked Vultures will play at the Wiltern in Los Angeles tomorrow, on the day of the album release. At least three more U.S. shows are scheduled -- in Oakland, Seattle and Portland -- before December, when the band heads back across the Atlantic for some shows in continental Europe and a U.K. tour.

Them Crooked Vultures issue 'New Fang' for video game format

Want to bang on the drums like Dave Grohl, slide your way across a fretboard or sing like Josh Homme, or handle a bass like John Paul Jones? On Tuesday, you ain't gotta wait no more.

While Jimmy Page says he opposes licensing his music for video game consoles, the supergroup starring his former Led Zeppelin bandmate has green-lighted adding its new single to the game "Rock Band."

"New Fang," one of them newfangled, newfangled tracks off the debut album by Them Crooked Vultures, will be available for download beginning Tuesday, Nov. 17, to be implemented into the Xbox 360 video game.

The band issued a statement today explaining the reason for this decision. It reads:

"Them Crooked Vultures are keenly aware of the different ways in which modern music fans digest new music and are therefore especially happy to be able to offer the first single from their self-titled debut up as a downloadable 'Rock Band' game track on the same day the album goes on sale."

The track will sell for $1.99 in the United States, £.99 in the United Kingdom, and €1.49 in Europe. Xbox 360 users can also use 160 Microsoft Points for the download.

"New Fang" will be also available for "Rock Band" on the Wii platform beginning Nov. 24, which will require 200 Wii Points for the download. Playstation 3 users can look forward to playing with "New Fang" beginning Dec. 3.

The "Rock Band" format has generated 60 million paid downloads since its launch two years ago, on Nov. 20, 2007.

Rolling Stone gives Them Crooked Vultures album 3.5 of 5 stars

Rolling Stone, the chief magazine leading the pack of the music media's offenses against Led Zeppelin from 1969 onward, is now having to figure out how to deal with John Paul Jones in the digital age.

A review by Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield, appearing in the latest issue of Rolling Stone and online now, gives the disc by Them Crooked Vultures 3.5 stars out of a possible 5 but starts off in the magazine's traditional snarky manner:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Them Crooked Vultures — the second-best band John Paul Jones has ever been in!"

When you count up the number of bands Jones has ever been aside from Led Zeppelin, it becomes evident Sheffield hasn't heard of Mutual Admiration Society, the John Paul Jones Orchestra, the backing band of Diamanda Galas, or Jet Harris and Tony Meehan's band. Clearly, Them Crooked Vultures ranks sixth behind all of those.

But seriously, Sheffield can't keep his mind off Led Zeppelin in his review. Overwhelmingly, when he hears Them Crooked Vultures he thinks of Led Zeppelin.

Coming from Rolling Stone, comparisons to Led Zeppelin could be a good thing or a bad thing. Ever since the days when John Mendelsohn, Lester Bangs and Lenny Kaye were tepid or downright spiteful in their reviews of the group's initial albums, certain authors in the magazine -- including Cameron Crowe, Stephen Davis, Andy Greene, Mikal Gilmore and David Fricke -- have forced a reappraisal of Led Zeppelin in Rolling Stone's pages over the years.

The year 2004 represented a big shift in the re-analysis. That year:

• Led Zeppelin was ranked one of "The Greatest Artists of All Time" (coincidentally, Them Crooked Vultures drummer Dave Grohl, then with the Foo Fighters, authored the piece for Rolling Stone that called Led Zeppelin "the perfect combination of the most intense elements: passion and mystery and expertise").
• The selection of Led Zeppelin's U.S. Tour of 1973 as one of "The 50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll" was an unexpectedly apt pick.
• Not to place at least six of the band's compositions in "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" or the band's 1973 tour would have been a travesty; half of the six were on Led Zeppelin II.

At any rate, Sheffield makes the following comparisons between Them Crooked Vultures and Led Zeppelin:

• During "Elephants," Them Crooked Vultures succeed in "basically crunch[ing] every riff on Led Zeppelin II into seven dizzy minutes," Sheffield asserts.
  
• He says Jones's bass line on "Nobody Loves Me & Neither Do I" sounds "as nasty as 'Out on the Tiles.'"
• "Reptiles," he says, sounds like "a sly update of 'South Bound Suarez.'"
• He even wants Josh Homme's voice to sound like Robert Plant's, but it sounds more like Jack Bruce's in Cream.
• Sheffield compares Homme's guitar playing to that of Led Zeppelin's guitarist: "He does deliver loads of Jimmy Page doppelgänger solos, just to prove he can."
• Throughout the album, Jones reminds Sheffield "he's the bass man who helped give the world 'Black Dog.'"
• Finally, Sheffield says Homme and Grohl "are old hands at this kind of thing," having had "excellent Zeppelin homages" on the Queens of the Stone Age album Songs for the Deaf.

It's just interesting, now, that the magazine that didn't want anything to do with Led Zeppelin is now the magazine that can't seem to get enough Led Zeppelin. What's more, Rolling Stone has trouble giving even a 4 out of 5 rating to a band it insists is so reminiscent of Led Zeppelin.

Update: Oh! I totally forgot my initial point in posting this! John Paul Jones told me in 2001 he hated when people compared his solo work to Led Zeppelin songs and approached him with the question, "Don't you think that's a little Led Zeppelin-inspired?" His answer to them was always, "Don't you think Led Zeppelin was a little John Paul Jones-inspired?"

And check out who's on the cover of New Musical Express! See how Josh Homme and Dave Grohl appear to tower over John Paul Jones.

John Paul Jones proclaims Them Crooked Vultures now 'the best band in the world'; he hopes for second album, says Led Zeppelin won't be calling him back

John Paul Jones, in an interview published today by Australia's Nova 91.9 FM, says that for the second time in his life as a musician, he finds himself in "the best band in the world." Them Crooked Vultures has now taken Led Zeppelin's position as the world's best band, Jones says.

The full context of his statement comes in an in-depth interview that touches on the vows of silence under which the band labored all year to create the album now streaming online and soon to be released commercially, the reasoning behind the secrecy, his satisfaction with both of his bands, and the fact that he no longer expects to work with Led Zeppelin.

Unlike at least one other recent interview with Jones, there was no mention during this one of the group with Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham that did not come to fruition last year after being heralded by the press as a second coming of Led Zeppelin with a singer other than Robert Plant on vocals. Today's interview focuses solely on the events since this February, when Jones began working with current bandmates Josh Homme and Dave Grohl, and comparing the impetus behind their music with that of Led Zeppelin's from 1969 to 1979, when that band was releasing albums and, according to Jones, was the world's greatest.

"I always try to be in the best band in the world, I promise myself," says Jones. "I'm obviously very proud of the Zeppelin legacy, and I'm hoping I'm keeping the spirit alive with this band."

In some real ways that deal with the music, he does seem to be. "There are so many parallels with the old Zeppelin days," says Jones. "We're making music that we want to make. You're not thinking, 'What's going to sell? What is everybody else going to like?' We're making music for ourselves, and Zeppelin was exactly the same. We never thought, 'What's the new record going to be like?' We just got the songs together. It's all an organic process. None of it's manufactured."

It seems to be the exception and not the norm in the current climate of today's music scene. Jones agrees: "To my ears there's not much around that actually excites me, and this music that we're making excites me. So I assumed it might excite other people too. That's the only way you can think of it."

Furthermore, this is the first time Jones has felt this way about a band of his since Led Zeppelin's breakup in 1980, so why would he want the feeling to stop with the release of this album? Why would he want to make this disc his sole statement with Them Crooked Vultures?

He says he'll be ready to head back into the studio with Homme and Grohl, and he'd rather fight off the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age than not work with those two again right away. Jones testifies, "I hope there's maybe going to be another album. I don't have a band that's going to call me back – the other two do. But they're going to have to fight me for them because we're having a bit too much fun at the moment."

And there it was: Jones slips in that he won't be anticipating any future work with Led Zeppelin. The window of opportunity for that to happen has firmly shut, Jones affirms. There really is, as LedZeppelinNews.com anticipated not long ago, no reason to believe. Who's going to be at Glastonbury with Robert Plant? Not John Paul Jones and, therefore, not Led Zeppelin.

Jordana Borensztajn's interview with Jones carries so much more, though, than one member's de facto denial of a Led Zeppelin reunion. As for the reasons Them Crooked Vultures kept its existence the secret it was for months and months, Jones says, "We kept it quiet so there wasn't all the speculation and the pressure. There was enough pressure between ourselves to do a really good record, and we did try to impress each other. ... We just wanted to get on and concentrate on the music."

The best part of touring this new material prior to its release, says Jones, was that nobody in the audience was familiar with it and, therefore, was uniquely capable of giving honest reactions to hearing the music in a live setting for the first time. "To have an audience just stand there and listen, and take it all in – it's just amazing," says Jones. "They're reacting really, really well and it's new for them because normally they would have heard the record first and know the lyrics. It's a new experience which they look like they're enjoying and they sound like they're enjoying, certainly." Talk about taking a risk! And yes, Led Zeppelin was always known for taking those.

Jones on the band's sound:

"When people ask what it sounds like, it sounds like me playing bass and Dave playing drums and Josh singing and playing guitar. It's very obvious. It's just us -- it's straight ahead, it's very honest and it really rocks. It's multi-layered and sounds fantastic. We love it. We play it and we're like, 'Wow, this is really good.' ...

"Josh is great. You know those old competitions in magazines where they show you a familiar object from an unfamiliar angle and you have to guess what it is? That's how Josh seems to look at life. He just looks at it from a really unfamiliar angle and it's just so refreshing. ...

"And Dave is just a killer drummer – a bass player's dream. And he's a great musician. He listens, he's very enthusiastic, very excitable, he drinks a lot of coffee and there's a lot of laughter and a lot of joking all the time. It's a very nice position to be in, I have to say. ...

"We all listen to each other. With the experience [we have], nobody has to explain anything to anybody else. If something's not working, everybody knows it's not working. And also, when you're with experienced musicians, you can fail. You can try something out knowing that it might now work."

There's one other comparison Jones makes to Led Zeppelin, and that has to do with the fan reaction. The fact that the music is not "manufactured" but is made just to please the musicians themselves greatly affects whether or not fans too will like it. As Jones says, "This music that we're making excites me, so I assumed it might excite other people too."

He and his bandmates suspected their individual names had some drawing power but weren't sure exactly what effect that alone would have on public interest, on creating enough demand to fill clubs and excite festival audiences when the audiences knew not what to expect.

"We knew we would create some sort of splash and it would be noticed but you never really know the circumstances," Jones says. "It's the same as Zeppelin. People would say, 'Did you realize when you were writing "Stairway to Heaven" what a huge song it was going to be?' Well, not really."

He describes Them Crooked Vultures concerts like this:

"Our shows are extremely loud, and slightly terrifying. We love doing them. Nobody shouts out Zeppelin numbers or Queens numbers or Foo numbers at our shows -- nobody does it. And that's refreshing. They're here for us. In fact, none of us have played any covers in rehearsals or jamming and we're very, very happy with that."

This writer must fess up to shouting for Jones's post-Zeppelin instrumental "Spaghetti Junction" as a request between songs at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C. To my ears, Grohl may have teased "Moby Dick" between songs that night, but Jones didn't sate my palate for "Spaghetti Junction." Instead, he sated it with the band's new album plus other new material perhaps destined for that second Them Crooked Vultures album Jones has now publicly expressed interest in recording.

After all, he says there's no band from his past that will be calling him back. And you can take that to the bank.

Them Crooked Vultures full album now streaming online

All 13 songs from the self-titled album by Them Crooked Vultures are now streaming online. You may listen here in anticipation of the release -- on Nov. 16 in the United Kingdom, on Nov. 17 in the United States, and on other dates in other countries. Until then, don't forget to pre-order!

Uncut published an interesting take on the music earlier today.

[Update, Nov. 17: The album tracks were removed from their online presence upon the U.S. release of the physical album.]

Free for one week only: Them Crooked Vultures track on iTunes

Head over to iTunes by Monday, Nov. 9, to get your free download of "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" by Them Crooked Vultures. The track is four minutes and seven seconds long.

The single "New Fang" is already available on iTunes at a download price of $1.29.

The band releases its first full-length album on Nov. 17 in the United States. Until then, LedZeppelinNews.com is offering a rundown of the 13 cuts that will appear on the CD.

The iTunes version of the album includes two bonus tracks, live versions of "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" and "Gunman."

Portion of another Them Crooked Vultures studio track teased online

On the same week the first radio single from Them Crooked Vultures was launched, the band has now leaked a portion of another album track. This time, the song is "Mind Eraser No Chaser." Hear it now!

Give Less. Get More. November 3rd. by crookedvultures

"New Fang" was the first single. The album is set to be released Nov. 17 in the United States.

1. "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
   (lengthened cut debuted online Aug. 19)
   
   (earlier cut debuted online Aug. 11)
   
   
2. "Mind Eraser, No Chaser"
   (debuted online Oct. 29)
   
   Give Less. Get More. November 3rd. by crookedvultures
3. "New Fang"
   (debuted online Oct. 26)
   
   
4. "Dead End Friends"
   (live version from the Pukkelpop Festival, favorite of the band's)
   
   
5. "Elephants"
   (debuted online Aug. 26)
   
   
6. "Scumbag Blues"
   (debuted online Sept. 1)
   
7. "Bandoliers"
   (live in Paris)
   
   
8. "Reptiles"
   (live from Philadelphia)
   
   
9. "Interlude with Ludes"
   (live from Toronto)
   
10. "Warsaw or the first Breath You Take After You Give Up"
    (live from Paris)
    
11. "Caligulove"
    (live version from the Lowlands Festival, favorite of the band's)
    
12. "Gunman"
    (portion of studio version debuted online Oct. 31)
    
    (live version from the Lowlands festival, favorite of the band's)
    
13. "Spinning in Daffodils"
    (live version from Lowlands Festival, favorite of the band's)
    

John Paul Jones: Project with Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham 'fell by the wayside' last year

Two days after Robert Plant's remarks carried by the BBC fueled rumors that Led Zeppelin would reunite at the Glastonbury Festival in eight months, the BBC carries an interview with John Paul Jones on the Led Zeppelin splinter group that nearly formed last year.

That splinter group, which would have consisted of Jones plus Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham and the singer of their choice, never advanced beyond the planning stages.

Jones first announced the group one year ago this week, during the Mansons Guitar Show in Exeter on Oct. 26, 2008 and quickly followed up by a radio interview with BBC Radio Devon. At that time, Jones described an incomplete band with Page and Bonham making "loud music" with him.

Anonymous tips to the press said their trio had been rehearsing and auditioning singers -- namely Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, the only person who has admitted his participation. Other singers were weighing in with their comments; David Coverdale of Whitesnake volunteered himself and Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.

A year ago, Jones confirmed that singers had been brought in, although he didn't volunteer any names.

Now that a year has passed, Jones is back in England, promoting the November release of the debut album from Them Crooked Vultures, the band he has been rehearsing with since early this year. In an interview with the BBC, he discussed this project and mentioned that it came about shortly after the group with Page and Bonham "fell by the wayside," in his words.

Jones told BBC 6 Music, "Jimmy and I rehearsed a bit with Jason Bonham, and we couldn't really agree on singers and that fell by the wayside. Then this came along and, to be honest, I'm really happy."

From another interview Jones gave this month, we now know how the band came about. Jones told KUT 90.5 in Austin, Texas:

"He came up to [the] GQ Awards in London last year to present us with, um, Men of the Year, I believe it was, with Zeppelin. And we got to talking, and he says, 'Well, you know, if you're ever not doing anything, I want to get a little band together with Josh singing, and give you a call.' You know, so, I found out I was doing nothing after a while."

Singer auditions weren't necessary when Jones called up Dave Grohl to take up his offer to form a band. Grohl had already begun rehearsing on drums for a project with Josh Homme, singer and guitarist for Queens of the Stone Age. Homme's band was on a hiatus at the time, as was Grohl's Foo Fighters. So, the timing was right for those two.

As for Grohl and Jones, they had worked together a few times in the past like at a Foo Fighters show, at the Grammys and on a Foo Fighters album. But Grohl thought having a regular project with Jones was just a pipe dream. Back in 2005, he blurted to Mojo magazine that he dreamed of forming a band with himself on drums, Homme on guitar and Jones on bass.

But Jones fell into place, much to Grohl's surprise. In a separate interview this month with KUT 90.5, Grohl said:

"I bumped into him in London, and I said, 'Hey, I got this project I think might be kind of fun. Me and my buddy Josh are gonna do something outside of our bands.' And he kind of went, 'Oh, yeah, right.' And then I didn't hear from him for a while, and then a month later, he called and said, 'Hey, when do you think you're gonna do it?' So I called Josh, [and I'm] like, 'F***, man, I think he actually wants to do it! This is amazing!'"

To Jones, Grohl was exactly the kind of drummer he wanted. He now tells the BBC:

"I immediately recognized that this was a drummer that was -- A -- really good, and -- B -- groovy and -- C -- listened, all those nice things that bass players like in drummers."

As first single from Them Crooked Vultures released, West Coast U.S. tour dates announced

I've been calling my local modern rock radio stations and requesting "New Fang" since I haven't heard it yet on the air. It seems like some program directors need a good talking to!

The self-titled album from Them Crooked Vultures will be released on the following dates:

• Nov. 13 in Australia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland;
• Nov. 16 in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom;
• Nov. 17 in Canada, Spain and the United States;
• Nov. 18 in Sweden; and
  
• Dec. 2 in Japan.

Find the release date by your country:

• Australia: Nov. 13
  
• Austria: Nov. 13
  
• Belgium: Nov. 16
  
• Canada: Nov. 17
• Czech Republic: Nov. 16
• Denmark: Nov. 16
• Finland: Nov. 16
• France: Nov. 16
• Germany: Nov. 13
• Hong Kong: Nov. 16
• Italy: Nov. 16
• Japan: Dec. 2
  
• Mexico: Nov. 16
• Netherlands: Nov. 16
• New Zealand: Nov. 16
• Poland: Nov. 16
• Portugal: Nov. 16
• Spain: Nov. 17
• Sweden: Nov. 18
• Switzerland: Nov. 13
• United Kingdom: Nov. 16
• United States: Nov. 17

While Them Crooked Vultures completed a North American tour earlier this month, the band will be on the road in the United States again next month to support the U.S. release of their album on Nov. 17. So far, four additional dates have been announced:

• Nov. 17 at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, Calif.
  
• Nov. 19 at the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif.
  
• Nov. 21 at Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Wash.
  
• Nov. 22 at Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore.

European tour dates are then to follow in December, with shows in Australia and New Zealand finishing out January.

EUROPE/U.K. TOUR DATES

• Dec. 6 at Zenith in Munich, Germany
• Dec. 7 at Columbiahalle in Berlin, Germany
• Dec. 8 at Palladium in Cologne, Germany
• Dec. 10 at Plymouth Pavilions
  in Plymouth, England
  
• Dec. 11 at Portsmouth Guildhall
  in Portsmouth, England
  
• Dec. 13 at Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England
  
• Dec. 14 at O2 Academy Birmingham in Birmingham, England
  
• Dec. 15 at Edinburgh Corn Exchange in Edinburgh, England
  
• Dec. 17 at Hammersmith Apollo in London, England
• Dec. 18 at Hammersmith Apollo in London, England (Recently added!)
  

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND TOUR DATES

• Jan. 19 at Challenge Stadium in Perth, Australia
• Jan. 22 at Festival Hall in Melbourne, Australia
• Jan. 25 at Riverstage in Brisbane, Australia
• Jan. 26 at Hodern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia
• Jan. 29 at TSB Bank Arena in Wellington, New Zealand
• Jan. 30 at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand

Them Crooked Vultures ready for U.S. radio

Two months ago, before Them Crooked Vultures had much of anything on its official Web site, a few hoaxes about the band were passed around the Web that were later determined to be a hoax.

One was an alleged promotional image declaring an album name, Never Deserved the Future, along with a supposed street date of Oct. 23. That date will evidently pass this Friday without a release by the band.

However, new music from John Paul Jones and his current bandmates may be heard on U.S. radio as early as this coming Monday. If this report today by FMQB is accurate, Interscope will be distributing "New Fang" as the band's first promotional single to rock stations on Oct. 27.

LedZeppelinNews.com will be working to confirm this independently. (Update: Billboard.com reports it likewise could not confirm this with a label rep, even when it was able to publish a full track listing -- see below.)

Singer Josh Homme confirmed in an interview that the Vultures debut album would be released in the United States on the Interscope label and on Sony/BMG internationally. Homme also said it would be self-titled.

The rest of the FMQB report says the album is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, Nov. 17. This would precede the international release date of Nov. 23 that has been spotted on Amazon UK and other online retailers. (Update: Glasswerk National and the Music Magazine now both state the U.K. release will be on Nov. 16.)

Amazon in the United States does not currently list a release date for the album but offers several discs from the group's members and their past projects.

Update: The full track listing of the self-titled album by Them Crooked Vultures, as reported by Billboard.com, is as follows.

1. "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I"
2. "Mind Eraser, No Chaser"
3. "New Fang"
4. "Dead End Friends"
5. "Elephants"
6. "Scumbag Blues"
7. "Bandoliers"
8. "Reptiles"
9. "Interlude with Ludes"
10. "Warsaw or the first Breath You Take After You Give Up"
11. "Caligulove"
12. "Gunman"
13. "Spinning in Daffodils"

Note: Not found above is the song "Highway One," which was debuted in the middle of this month's U.S. tour!

No shortage of original riffs at Them Crooked Vultures show; John Paul Jones puts on display with array of instruments

The all-too-brief North American tour by Them Crooked Vultures comes to a close tonight with a performance at New York's Roseland Ballroom. If it goes anything like last night's concert at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C., the Big Apple is in for an ear-splitting treat consisting of well over an hour of riffs.

Dave Grohl's career since Nirvana may have flourished the most with him singing for the Foo Fighters, but make no mistake: He belongs pounding on the drums, where his power is rivaled by his imaginative drum beats and long (trance-inspired?) fills.

Throughout the show, Grohl watched carefully as his bandmates out front unleashed each riff. Beneath a mop of hair that has been soaking since the first song, Grohl's face displayed a sly look as he eyed the man to his right, who heretofore was most famous in the band that placed him with John Bonham. A spontaneous and stilted "Moby Dick" reference between songs last night brought to mind the drummer who has been missed since 1980. For John Paul Jones, all bets are that this lineup is his favorite since those days of expanding upon Willie Dixon-derived tunes.

No Willie Dixon royalties were earned or withheld last night. The band bashes through only completely original riffs in its uncompromising set that's devoid of cover songs. The creative forces that wrote these songs in a short time this year execute them flawlessly in their live setting. The complicated rhythmic changes are memorized and performed without even the slightest exchange of a visual cue. It's all done with ears, not mirrors.

Jones inadvertently steals the show with his mastery of an array of different instruments. As each new one is strapped around his neck and displayed on the stage, the audience responds with an approval. But it's surprising to see Jones confined to a four-string bass when he's just tinkered with the freedom 10 or 12 strings a song or two earlier. He makes your average professional bass player look like an amateur.

A title and release date for the band's album have not been officially announced, although one online U.K. retailer shows Nov. 23 as the date in question. Singer and guitarist Josh Homme said their disc would be self-titled, but that could change if a new catchphrase in line with the past "Follow What's Heard" and "Deserve the Future" is favored.

In the meantime, NPR says it hopes to air, given the band's permission, a multi-track recording made at last night's show. It appeared to be an error-free show that was captured on tape, with the third public performance of the recent composition "Highway One," so it would make sense to offer the show up to the airwaves.

New song by Them Crooked Vultures debuts during tour; song titles in flux as band travels through United States

The new song, debuted during the Boston show on Oct. 11, is called "Highway One" although in rehearsals it has gone by the working title "Mandril."

At the beginning of the tour, John Paul Jones told an Austin radio station that the songs are "all still growing" as they play them each time.

Also during the Boston show, singer Josh Homme introduced a song previously called "Mind Eraser-No Chaser" under a new name, "Not in a Race and No Chase."

A source close to the band indicates that Them Crooked Vultures song titles often change.

Jones has admitted in interviews over the years that he is bad with associating song titles with songs. It must not help when the titles are in constant flux!

I wonder what cues he gets onstage. I'll try to find out on Wednesday night when I watch them play at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C.

Them Crooked Vultures to release CD by end of year, Josh Homme says in forthcoming interview

Kudos to the folks over at Antiquiet for being the first to get some important details out of any member of Them Crooked Vultures regarding their upcoming album.

Singer and guitarist Josh Homme said he's not quite sure when to expect a CD release by his new supergroup with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. As a matter of fact, none of the band members knows! Says Homme:

"We’ve been doing a lot of stuff real kind of secretive, and we actually made a pact to not know when it’s coming out, the band guys. I’m betting… Well it’s going to be before the end of the year… We kind of have a little running bet on what the date is. And I intend to win that bet, because I’m going to cheat."

Josh, I invite you to cheat by visiting TheCrookedVultures.info for that information as soon as I learn it, hopefully, before you do.

Also of note is Antiquiet got Homme to break the band's silence on whether or not it is signed to a record label. Here's the discourse:

Antiquiet: Any idea as far as an agreement on a label, or how that’s all going to work out distribution wise?

Josh Homme: Yeah… It’s going to come out on Interscope in the states, and Sony/BMG internationally.

Antiquiet: How do you feel about that? You’ve been pretty outspoken in the past about not feeling so hot about Interscope anymore…

Josh Homme: Well, you know… If it was up to me, I’d just get a real big hot air balloon, and put ‘em all in the basket of that, and just (miming) pull the cord and let it drop over places, you know?

But, you know, it’s not up to me always.

Again, kudos to Antiquiet. You can read the full interview with Homme there.

Dave Grohl, as drummer, loves his new band with John Paul Jones and Josh Homme

Dave Grohl's back on drums! That's what a lot of the buzz is that's currently surrounding Them Crooked Vultures as the band sets off to cruise across North America.

In the Foo Fighters, Grohl's talents behind a drum kit were hidden away in a bushel basket so that he could be the frontman, screaming indelicately into a microphone with a guitar strapped to his back. But the former Nirvana drummer has consistently returned to the drums whenever he's linked up with Queens of the Stone Age founder Josh Homme, himself an ample guitar player, singer, songwriter and frontman.

So it's long been Grohl's dream -- and probably fans of his -- to be able to return to the drums in a tight-knit group. Grohl envisioned himself forming a band with Homme years ago -- and who better to play bass than John Paul Jones? But who among us wouldn't desire to recruit Jones to join a rhythm section in much the same way we draft reliable running backs for fantasy football? Grohl probably never seriously thought he could form a band with both Homme and Jones.

Until he got that unexpected phone call.



As Grohl explains in his backstage interview with radio station KUT 90.5 Austin:

"I'd worked with John on a Foo Fighters record and asked him. I guess it was about a year ago. I bumped into him in London, and I said, 'Hey, I got this project I think might be kind of fun. Me and my buddy Josh are gonna do something outside of our bands.' And he kind of went, 'Oh, yeah, right.' And then I didn't hear from him for a while, and then a month later, he called and said, 'Hey, when do you think you're gonna do it?' So I called Josh, [and I'm] like, 'F***, man, I think he actually wants to do it! This is amazing!'"

Grohl says that when he, Jones and Homme all started jamming together for the first time, it took him only as much as two or three minutes to realize it was the best band he'd ever been involved with.

"John, I mean, you know, John is ... he's ... he's an incredibly gifted musician. Anything that he picks up, he plays with feel, he plays with passion. He's ... he's a ... you know, he's a classically trained f***ing genius. But he rips on anything! He'll pick up a mandolin and just blow your head off! You know? And ... and everybody knows what he can do with a bass guitar, and watching the two of them go at each other, you know. I get to sit there and watch those two every night, and it's awesome."

It was presumably Grohl's first interview about Them Crooked Vultures since the band's formation early this year, and so he gushed over the fact that he was finally able to talk freely about the band.

"Nobody knew; we kept it a secret for eight months. Nobody knew. And that was the best part. I'm actually relieved now that I can talk about it because I used to -- you know, I had to keep it a secret. It's like I had a secret lover for eight months and I was trying to hide her away from everybody. You know? I couldn't tell anybody!"

The only remaining secret with the band that neither Grohl nor Jones was at liberty to address in their interviews with KUT 90.5 Austin was when Them Crooked Vultures will be releasing any of their studio recordings. When Grohl was asked if he could reveal anything about their record, he clammed up, reverting to the tight-lipped nature of the band since its public debut in August. Grohl simply told the reporter:

"No. You'll see."

While some media outlets are still reporting the band's debut album will be titled "Deserve the Future" and released late this month, it's really not even certain there will be an album release in the traditional sense. As I said one month ago yesterday:

For all we know, Them Crooked Vultures may forego an in-store physical album release altogether. Too passé!

Why not drop the entire album free of charge over the course of a month, hiding uncompressed digital files on different Web sites. We'd have to follow the social networking accounts of a couple dozen different henchmen affiliated with the marketing scheme and click incessantly on suspect links to various indistinguishable vultur.es URLs. Most would reveal comical images of crooked vultures, while only a handful would be those proverbial needles in the haystack, unleashing track by track the powerful music created for fans of loud rock.

Truly, then, only the most patient and ardent fans would deserve the future.

John Paul Jones gives first interview since debut of Them Crooked Vultures; bassist compares band's onstage improvisation to that of Led Zeppelin

John Paul Jones has given his first interview since the debut of Them Crooked Vultures. In his interview for KUT 90.5 in Austin, Texas, he commented on a number of topics all related to the new band.

There were no questions about the status of a Led Zeppelin reunion.



How Them Crooked Vultures got together:

"It's all Dave's fault. It's all Dave's fault. He came up to [the] GQ Awards in London last year to present us with, um, Men of the Year, I believe it was, with Zeppelin. And we got to talking, and he says, 'Well, you know, if you're ever not doing anything, I want to get a little band together with Josh singing, and give you a call.' You know, so, I found out I was doing nothing after a while. ... I just came over in February, met with Josh for the first time, went pretty much into the studio, and just started having fun basically."

On the fact that the band got together despite none of the three members needing to have another band at this time:

"It's got to be fun. It really has."

On the blues-based groove present in the band's songs:

"Yeah, yeah. There kind of has to be. Josh is pretty bluesy too, and I suppose my history is blues-based. Blues-based rock. And it all comes from the blues for me. I just like the sound of it, I like playing it, and we're doing basically what we want, you know."

On releasing their studio recordings:

"Yes, it is hard to come by, but ... There will be music ... real soon now, as they say in the computer world."

On the method of release:

"I can't really comment on that, but it'll be everywhere soon, don't worry."

On the band's ambitions and longevity:

"We're still a young band hoping to go places. It is, yeah. They're all still growing. We all play 'em fine, of course, but this is again one of those bands where different things happen onstage and you take the songs from different places and discover new stuff about bits. It keeps the interest, and it's good fun to do. ... Yeah, I think it's going to go for a while. Honestly, you know, their respective bands will call them back eventually, but I think we're going to get a good run of it before anything like that happens."

In a separate interview for 90.5 KUT, Dave Grohl discusses the status of the Foo Fighters and explains what it is like playing in a band with John Paul Jones.

Want your chance to watch Them Crooked Vultures tape 'Austin City Limits'?

Before the North American tour by Them Crooked Vultures starts in October, the band is to take the stage next Wednesday, Sept. 30, for a taping of the TV program "Austin City Limits." Click here for your chance to attend the taping in person and enjoy the new tunes from John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme.

In other news, a new Foo Fighters track called "Wheels" is now getting some radio airplay. It is going to appear on the band's Greatest Hits, scheduled for a Nov. 3 release.

Also, Grohl was spotted earlier this week playing drums for a new song by Slash, who's been busy making a solo album. The former Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver guitarist was also joined on the track by Duff McKagan, who was bassist in both of those bands. Slash wrote on Twitter after their Tuesday night recording session:

"Great jamming w/Duff & Grohl tonight, the track is a killer intrumental [sic], very heavy."

Slash's solo album is also said to include some work by drummer Jason Bonham, who accompanied him on a festival date this June and now is scheduled to appear with him again next Friday, Oct. 2.

Them Crooked Vultures add German shows in December, N.Y. show in October

John Paul Jones's new supergroup with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme announced four additional concert dates today: one in New York and three in Germany.

With the additional date, the first North American tour of Them Crooked Vultures is now scheduled to close Oct. 15 at Roseland Ballroom in New York. The tickets will be available to the public beginning Sept. 26 by clicking here. An edition of the band's official newsletter distributed today included presale information for the New York show.

Shows in Munich, Berlin and Cologne are to take place in early December, in the days leading up to the U.K. tour launch scheduled for Dec. 10. Information to purchase tickets to the three German shows can be found here.

On sale now are tickets to the band's six shows in Australia and New Zealand:

• Jan. 19: Challenge Stadium, Perth, Australia
• Jan. 22: Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
• Jan. 25: Riverstage, Brisbane, Australia
• Jan. 26: Hodern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
• Jan. 29: TSB Bank Arena, Wellington, New Zealand
• Jan. 30: Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand