AC/DC announce new studio album and Malcolm Young's retirement

Today, AC/DC gave their fans some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the band have officially announced the release of their new studio album. The album, Rock Or Bust, will be released on December 2. The album was recorded earlier this year, reportedly in an impressive ten days. However, the band has some bad news: rhythm guitarist and co-founding member Malcolm Young will not be returning to the band as he has retired. Earlier this year, it was reported that Young was taking a break from the band due to an illness. The band has not revealed the illness in question but during the week of April 13, it was reported that Young had suffered from a stroke three weeks earlier. With Young's retirement, Rock Or Bust will be the first AC/DC album to not feature Malcolm Young. This makes his brother, Angus, the sole original member. The band have announced that they will tour for the album in 2015, with the Young brothers' nephew Stevie replacing Malcolm. Stevie is no stranger to AC/DC, as he filled in for his Uncle Malcolm in the late 1980's while Malcolm was in rehab. It has also been confirmed that Turner Sports will preview one of the tracks from the new album, "Play Ball," for the 2014 Major League Baseball Postseason. 

I'm happy to hear that we will have a new AC/DC album soon. This will be the band's first album in six years, their last one being 2008's Black Ice. It's a bummer that Malcolm had to retire but I'm sure he's happy that the band aren't stopping because of him. 

Rock Recap: Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones

It seems that there is a lack of news this month or it's just that I haven't found anything worth writing about in greater detail. So I'm going to give an overview of a few things that have happened this month, which I may or may not have mentioned before here or on the Facebook page.

Pink Floyd
It was announced back in July that there will soon be a new Pink Floyd studio album. The album, The Endless River, will be the band's first studio album since 1994's The Division Bell. While this is all exciting, it should be noted that the material on the album was recorded around the time that the band were recording The Division Bell. This wasn't meant to be a Pink Floyd album but rather a separate project, with the sessions dubbed as The Big Spliff. These sessions will be released but with newly recorded music from David Gilmour and Nick Mason. The album will also feature some of the late Richard Wright's final work. The Endless River will be released November 10. As with most releases day, there are many different versions of the album to choose from Click here to pre-order the standard single disc edition.

Tracking list

1. Things Left Unsaid
2. It's What We Do
3. Ebb and Flow
4. Sum
5. Skins
6. Unsung
7. Anisina
8. The Lost Art of Conversation
9. On Noodle Street
10. Night Light
11. Allons-y (1)
12. Autumn '68
13. Allons-y (2)
14. Talkin' Hawkin
15. Calling
16. Eyes to Pearls
17. Surfacing
18. Louder Than Words


The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones will be releasing two filmed concerts in November. While I originally posted on Facebook that there would one concert, it turns out there'll be another. The two concerts in question are Hampton Coliseum and L.A. Friday (now L.A. Forum for the DVD), which were the second and third entries of the Stones Archive/Bootleg Collection- all of which were released on the band's own site and Google Play. Hampton Coliseum will be released on November 4 while L.A. Forum will be released on November 18. The concerts will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray, along with the optional CD and vinyl bundles of the shows.

I reviewed both concerts when they were up on Google Play in 2012. They still are for just  $4.99, which I'm sure is much cheaper than the price you'll pay for the DVDs. I'll probably get both concerts on DVD only.

Click here to read the reviews on the shows.