NWOBHM legends SAXON are the latest act confirmed for the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, sailing from Miami, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico on January 24th, 2011 and returning four days later. One night SAXON will play Wheels Of Steel, the entire album. On a different night, for the second show, they will play also the entire album.

So far the confirmed 10 out of 40 bands are: AMON AMARTH, EPICA, FINNTROLL, RAVEN, ULI JON ROTH, SAXON, SODOM, SONATA ARCTICA, STRATOVARIUS, TROUBLE, WITCHBURNER.

German export Helloween is celebrating a landmark anniversary with Unarmed – Best Of 25th Anniversary, out March 30 via The End Records. Instead of putting together a traditional greatest hits compilation to celebrate this anniversary, the band members completely rearranged their greatest songs, offering fans new versions of tunes like “Dr. Stein” and “Future World” as well as “The Keeper’s Trilogy,” which is a 17-minute medley of “Halloween,” “Keeper Of The Seven Keys” and “The King For A 1000 Years,” recorded with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra. “We aren’t one of those bands who like to celebrate themselves,” says guitarist Michael Weikath. “We wanted to say thank you in a special way to all our fans who have followed us through the past 25 years. To us, this album stands for an official celebration. We had a lot of fun recording our most important tracks in an entirely new ‘outfit’ and with new arrangements.”

Aussie rockers Airbourne have released their first single No Way But The Hard Way!  This song comes from the band’s new album No Guts, No Glory, which is due out through Roadrunner on April 19. The full track listing for the album is:
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It’s a bill that fans of horror and hard rock could only dream of until now: Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper sharing the stage for a night of theatrical rock n’ roll madness.  For the first time ever, the “gruesome twosome” will play an exclusive limited run of North American tour dates beginning April 26th at the MTS Center in Winnipeg, MB.  Rob Zombie commented, “The dream or the nightmare comes true!  Me and The Coop have been talking about touring together for the last 15 years and finally the moment is here.  This will be without a doubt a Rock ‘N’ Roll Spooktacular for all the Cool Ghouls.”  Alice Cooper added, “I’m looking forward to theses concerts with Rob.  It’s sort of like Dracula Vs. Frankenstein.  We’re like this generation’s classic monsters.  When we’re not onstage frightening audiences, we’ll be backstage trying to scare each other.”
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IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain – who has teamed up with guitarist and friend “Moby” Rick Baum to become partners in a new BBQ restaurant called Rock N Roll Ribs in Coral Springs, Florida – are seeking hostesses and waitresses. “Need to be cool and fun,” says a posting on their website. “Experience is a plus but not absolutely needed. Call Rick or just come in: 561-909-8334.”

McBrain performed at the restaurant’s Grand Opening on Sunday, February 14th with his band MCBRAIN DAMAGE and we were there!