I've got to agree!!!

I've had an email from Kilimanjaro saying some last minute standing tickets have just been released (surprise surprise), but they also say the "support" will be a DJ set by Daniel P Carter and that from the stage plans they have seen everyone will get a great view no matter where they are in the venue. I'm wondering if they are playing "in the round" as they did on the Live at Budokan DVD...

I've listened to The One and Karate a few times now, as well as hearing Road of Resistance at Brixton and, in terms of musicianship and song writing, what I have heard is a huge step up. I think with the new album they could really go stratospheric.

I think a full UK tour for later in the year/early next year is very likely.

Uh-oh .. Fox Day appears to have landed a day early

So both Babymetal and Black Stone Cherry officially have albums dropping today, and you can go stream both of them on Spotify or Google Play right now if you fancy a listen before picking up their respective CDs.

Babymetal's "Metal Resistance" has some of the most unique and creative tracks I've heard in a long while and covers an absolute huge variety of metal sub-genres.

Meanwhile Black Stone Cherry's "Kentucky" is honestly, to me, one of the best and most consistent hard rock albums I've heard since Audioslave's debut back in 2002.

Gotta strongly recommend giving both albums a chance - I would say April Fools 2016 has turned out to be one of the most musically impressive days in a long time

Black Stone Cherry - Kentucky: #5 on the UK Album chart, #1 on the UK Rock chart.
Babymetal - Metal Resistance : #15 on the UK Album chart, #2 on the UK Rock chart.

Not too bad at all!!

Not bad for a hard rock and a metal album. Especially as they don't much promotion over here to sell the records.

Really digging the Black Stone Cherry album. I love their take on War. Rocked up but still funky.

I see Elina Siirala is replacing Liv Kristine in Leaves Eyes and a lot of fans aren't happy. The "it's not Leaves Eyes without Liv" stuff has started

I think Elina Siirala is a superb singer who should do well with Leaves Eyes.

To be fair, though, to a lot of fans it won't be.

It has come completely out of the blue with no reason given.

I'm sure Elina will do a good job but to many fans Liv was the band.

I was unfamiliar with Leaves' Eyes until this thread but getting caught up with what's going down with them, it's funny how they're almost completely in parallel with AC/DC at the moment.

- Band gets rid of lead singer and says it's an amicable split
- Brings in a new well known extremely talented singer
- Original lead singer or someone close to the original lead singer comes out and says the split wasn't amicable.
- Fans of the band feel betrayed and deceived and lose respect for the band

I mean seriously on Leaves' Eyes most recent status almost all the comments are telling them to go do one for lying so much, it's crazy.

Leaves' Eyes were basically the German Metal band Atrocity with Liv Kristine on vocals.

As it happens the Atrocity lead singer, Alexander Krull, is married to Liv Kristine... Whether Liv leaving Leaves' Eyes is as a consequence of a breakdown of that marriage would be pure speculation on my part, but I have certainly seen it in other bands where that has happened.

I also happen to have EnkElination's album Tears of Lust and know what a good vocalist Elina is, after all she is classically trained, but as you say, there is something about this that doesn't ring true at all. The fact that Liv is now reported to have started legal proceedings over her departure would seem to confirm that view.

I absolutely hating talking about charts and the like, but i'm a bit curious on Baby Metal - It felt this second release, backed by lots of hype and good reviews both of the album of the live show was the start of something big. But entering at 15, then promptly falling to 69 seems underwhelming maybe? A lot of rock/metal acts easily break into the top ten album charts these days.

This isn't a dig at the band in any shape or form.

Well, Babymetal are pretty much the ultimate "marmite band", for every person who loves them, there's at least 2 who hate them, because they're "weird" or "they don't belong in metal" or "they're manufactured" and with Babymetal you generally know where you stand on them after just 2 songs and they're definitely not everyone's cup of tea so honestly it's quite impressive they got to where they did

I think it is also Rock/Metal albums in general. Black Stone Cherry's album entered the chart at number 5 and then fell to number 38 in week 2.

Halestorm had a similar thing last year. new album came in at number 10 I think and then dropped out of the top 40 in week 2.

I think that is pretty much true in general for most Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, and I think it has pretty much always been the case, certainly for the last 30 years or so.

When a new album comes out the bands' fan-base pre-orders the new album which ensures a high chart position in the first chart after its release.

I don't like Babymetal but for some strange reason their fans seem to think if you are a metal fan and you don't like them, then your reasons fall into one of those three categories you posted.

Or, it could be just because you don't like their music. Putting the gimmicks and the hype train to one side, they are, to me, a relatively soulless power metal band. A few of their tracks are amusing enough but that's as far as I'd go. Musically they do absolutely nothing for me. Have never been a fan of all the high pitched speedy legato soloing in power metal - Priest and Maiden had melody at the very least.

cant really comment since I really am not into rock or heavy metal

If anyone cares, the new Deftones album is excellent

Oh yeah I totally get that. But with this second Baby Metal album it just seemed slightly different - outside Maiden and Metallica I've not seen this level of hype for a new metal album for ages (and the reviews suggest it lives up to the hype). When it entered at 15 I was surprised - in this day and age that probably equals only about 20,000 sales (?).
It just seemed like something big was about to happen, and it's kind off fizzled out.

Again not and attack on the band or their music, just an observation.

Leaves' Eyes to me always seemed to be Liv's own project, from the band name to the lyrical themes to the fact she was thrown out of Theatre of Tragedy just for starting it.

It's a shame, Liv is a lovely person too. She very much was Leaves Eyes for me and can't be replaced. Having said that though, and I hate saying it, I much preferred her when she was in Theatre of Tragedy.

Aegis is one of my favourite albums of all time, didn't really like their other albums, but that album alone just got the balance right for me, can't really say the same for any Leaves Eyes albums. Lovelorn was alright, but I don't love it.

I listened to their album 'Adrenalin' to death when I was about 15. I didn't really get most of the stuff on their follow up albums, apart from I really love the song Feiticeira from White Pony.

Well it is big for what they are. You need to get some perspective- this is a Japanese metal band with J-pop influences (along with about a dozen other music types!). The music is diverse and at times, crazy, the whole thing was a crazy project and it's broken records for a Japanese band. I don't think anyone was expecting it to be the next pop sensation, it's way too wacky for that, but considering how wacky it is, I think it has surprised people.

There were a heck of a lot of people super hyped for this second album after hearing the first one, that much is obvious. It's these people who have helped push it into the gaze of the mainstream, so that people who don't know what the hell it is are left scratching their heads, wondering how it ever made it there.

It's funny when something like this happens though, because then you see all the mainstream music mags having to cover it, even though you notice in many cases, they don't understand what is going on- I mean the NME review of the album may as well have just read; "We are only covering this because it's become a thing" It's like they didn't know their arse from their elbow!

It's also an aside. I don't think anybody is looking for mainstream success here. You don’t write songs like “Tales of the Destinies” looking for mainstream success!

However I would say a considerable percentage of those who don't like them comfortably fall in to that category.

For most of the haters the formulae seems to be:

Gimme Chocolate!! song title + Gimme Chocolate!! video + manufactured band = sh!t

They don't bother investigating any further, their mind is made up.

On the subject of albums charting high then falling majestically then most metal albums share this phenomenon even Iron Maiden charted high then dropped like a stone.

Hell even David Gilmour's Rattle that Lock hit #1 then dropped spectacularly. Its normal for rock acts to do this.

Back in the day of NWOBHM most acts were lucky to get top twenty but their legacy lives on to this day.

And to add, Babymetal's success in getting a top twenty album is just bloody amazing, no one could have predicted it, they got no hype except word of mouth (viral video).

This is no generic boy/girl band with a ready made audience, Babymetal carved out their audience themselves, this would not have worked on paper - this is a pure success story based on creativeness and a love of music. No one created Babymetal to make serious money.

More power to them.