September 21st, 2012 | 3:33 pm by Ben Smith (@BHSmithNYC)

AMERICA’S HARD 100, Day 7 – Vote To Determine The Greatest Hard Rock Song Of All-Time

It’s Day 7 of the VH1 Classic America’s Hard 100 Countdown Poll and we’ve got another batch of classic hard rock and heavy metal tunes that need sorting! We’ve put together a list of 100 essential rockers but we need you to vote on them to let us know where they should fall in the America’s Hard 100 Countdown when it airs this November.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You can vote AS MANY TIMES and for AS MANY SONGS as you want, simply click on “Return To Poll” after your initial ballet. If your favorite hard rock jam is missing from today’s list please click on one of the previous days polls which are still open and keep checking back daily as we add new songs to new lists.

Today Nirvana’s grunge anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” goes up against Metallica’s breakthrough hit “Enter Sandman,” Zeppelin’s epic “Kashmir” and classic tunes by Van Halen, Def Leppard and more!

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September 16th, 2012 | 12:00 pm by Ben Smith (@BHSmithNYC)

AMERICA’S HARD 100, Day 2 – Vote To Determine The Greatest Hard Rock Song Of All-Time

AMERICA'S HARD 100

Welcome to Day 2 of America’s Hard 100 countdown poll where YOU, the FANS help us determine the 100 best hard rock and metal songs of all time! VH1 and VH1 Classic have been putting together awesome music-related countdown shows that run the gamut from the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs to the 40 Greatest Metal Songs for years now which were painstakingly put together after hours of debate from music critics, producers and the artists themselves. Now we’re giving you the opportunity to let us know which hard rocking classics land where in the list! Each day for the next 9 days, we’ll reveal a new list of songs that you can vote on.

Today’s list of 10 songs pits Twisted Sister’s anthem “I Wanna Rock” against the alt-metal of White Zombie’s “More Human Than Human,” as well as classics from Heart and Def Leppard, among others!

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June 13th, 2012 | 5:57 pm by Christina Leake (@_bobina)

What Does Hard Rock Music Mean To Your Favorite Rockstars?

Where would you be without hard rock and heavy metal music? Hopefully we won’t ever have to find out. Watch the new promo for That Metal Show with everyone from Slash, Lemmy (Motorhead), Michael Schenker, Warrant, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Tom Morello, and more of your favorite rock stars as they sound sound-off on why they’re passionate about hard rock music, and list their favorite bands. Oh, and don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. A brand new season of That Metal Show starts this August on VH1 Classic.

April 9th, 2012 | 3:13 pm by Christina Leake (@_bobina)

That Metal Debate: That Metal Show Top 5 Guitar Duos

This week on That Metal Show, we had Alice Cooper, Jack Russell (Great White), and Brian Tichy rockin’ out on drums. We also asked Scott Ian (Anthrax) to stop by and be our first ever celebrity guest to participate in the “TMS Top 5,” and he helped us figure out the Top 5 Guitar duos of all-time. With all of the hard rock and heavy metal bands out there, it was pretty tough to come up with just five, but as you know, it’s called the “TMS Top 5,” so we’re keeping with tradition.

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April 5th, 2012 | 5:30 pm by Christina Leake (@_bobina)

That Metal Show: Take A Special Sneak Peek At This Weekend’s Alice Cooper / Jack Russell Episode

Season 10 of That Metal Show got off to a thrashing start last week when Lars Ulrich (Metallica) and Robb Flynn (Machine Head) stopped by to hang with Eddie, Don and Jim. (Did you miss it? No sweat, you can watch it online right now!)

As you’ve come to expect, more great guests will be stopping by the set this week. Specifically, we’ve got Scott Ian (Anthrax) stopping by, Jack Russell (Great White), Brian Tichy on the drums, and we also welcome back Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member Alice Cooper (who, as you’ll learn in our video clip above, apparently once pointed a loaded gun at Elvis!). The new episode of That Metal Show airs this Saturday at 11/10c on VH1 Classic.

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February 7th, 2012 | 10:30 am by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Exclusive: Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith, Jason Newsted, And Lars Ulrich Confirmed For Appearances In That Metal Show: Season 10

As exciting as the last season of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson are back for the tenth season of the show that’s revered by metalheads and musicians alike, and although the show won’t be back until Saturday, March 31, we just got our hands on a sneak preview of the first batch of confirmed guests and it’s a DOOZY.

Leading the way will be a first time That Metal Show appearance by Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden, which we are totally geeking out in anticipation of. “I’ve known the Maiden guys for a long time and been a fan since day one,” host Eddie Trunk told us. “They are easily one of the most requested bands to have a member of on TMS. Because they are such a global band it’s been hard to track them down, but thrilled we were able to catch up with Adrian. It will be cool because we don’t hear from him often, he’s a great guy, has a huge history with the band, and has a new side project to discuss.”

We asked Eddie if there’s any chance that he’d dress up as Iron Maiden’s infamous mascot, Eddie The Head, for the show. His reply? “I do have a mask, so you never know…”

Also on the docket this season will be appearances from Jason Newsted (another TMS newbie!), Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich, Motorhead‘s Lemmy Kilmister and the one and only Alice Cooper. “We’re super psyched about this lineup, as is Eddie Trunk. “I’m so excited about the evolution of the show, having rock and metal artists, and first time and returning guests,” he told us. “I love all the variety and am thrilled for a huge 2012!”

[Photos: Getty Images]

November 11th, 2011 | 3:32 pm by Kat George (@kat_george)

Twelve Photos Of Metal Legends Being Totally Un-Metal

“Metal dudes are people, too!” you shout, and we hear ya, we honestly do. But here’s the thing — we like to live under the fantasy, however inaccurate, that metal dudes just do totally awesome metal stuff all the time. We want to believe that metal dudes go around biting the heads off bats, smashing guitars, sticking it to the man and headbanging ALL THE TIME. The same way we like to believe that pop stars all eat, sleep and go to the gym in their elaborate costumes, rappers freestyle battle each other in the street and country singers all know how to lasso like cowboys.

Obviously, the illusions we live under (yes, we’re twisted, we know, but being twisted is like, SO metal), are unrealistic, and we have to admit we get a perverted sense of pleasure when the wall does come down. So if you want to see what metal dudes are doing when they’re not being metal, and just being sort of, well, regular, click through to our gallery below! Beware: there are images of James Hetfield WEARING A KNITTED SCARF! Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor READING BOOKS! Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine HANGING OUT WITH A GEORGE W. BUSH IMPERSONATOR! If this is all just too much for you and all you want is to see metal guys being, like, totally metal, then check out National Metal Day on VH1 Classic, airing all day today!

[Photos: Getty Images]

July 6th, 2011 | 11:00 am by Nick Minichino

Alice Cooper Joins Ke$ha, Foo Fighters Onstage

School’s out for summer in most of the Northern Hemisphere. That means it’s Alice Cooper season! We spent most of our holiday weekend relaxing, but the legendary shock rocker spent it jetsetting around Europe, making guest appearances at big shows, like Ke$ha‘s in Oslo, Norway yesterday. (Actually, he’s opening a couple of Scandinavian Iron Maiden shows this week, but it’s more fun to think Alice Cooper went to Europe to pop up on stage with Ke$ha.) Above, watch his appearance during her cover of “School’s Out.”

The young pop star tweeted excitedly about the appearance afterward: “ALICE F?KING COOPER. or what i call him, dad,” then “thanx for coming to Oslo to do SCHOOLS OUT with me dad #alicecooperisaLEGEND pictures coming soon. ; ) LEGEND. F?KING LEGEND.”

Ke$ha may be the closest any pop star has come to being a spiritual heir for him, but hers wasn’t the only concert that Cooper appeared at: just three days earlier, he joined Foo Fighters onstage in Milton Keynes, an hour north of London. Dave Grohl gave him a lengthy adulatory introduction, insisting, “If it wasn’t for [Alice Cooper], Pat Smear would’ve never bought a guitar.” Here they are performing “School’s Out” and “I’m Eighteen”:
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June 10th, 2011 | 3:30 pm by Jim Shearer

Shearer’s Spotlight: School’s (Almost) Out For The Summer!

Each Friday here on the VH1 Blog, our VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown host Jim Shearer (@jimshearer on Twitter) will be sharing his Shearer’s Spotlight with us. This feature will include three things –sometimes related, sometimes not!– that Jim is obsessing over this week. Be sure to tune into the Top 20 countdown when it airs on VH1 at 9 a.m. ET/PT tomorrow morning; this week’s special guests are none other than Death Cab For Cutie and Nick Jonas!

Even though I?m out of school?sadly, for many years now?every year at this time I like to put myself in the mindset and sneakers of jubilant kids who are celebrating the end of another year of education.

If today was indeed my last day of school?after doing a few donuts in the high school parking lot?here are the first three songs I?d play at maximum volume in my powder-blue station wagon:


 
?School?s Out? by Alice Cooper
There is no better song to celebrate the end of a school year. This song was specifically written for mid-June, which Cooper claims?along with Christmas?is the best time of the year. Just think, before this song was released kids had to gather in a kumbaya-circle and sing along to the ?No More Pencils, No More Books? nursery rhyme, which is also conveniently referenced in this rock classic. (Ed. Note – This performance of “School’s Out” from the Muppet Show is my personal fave of this song.)

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April 21st, 2011 | 5:00 pm by Mark Graham (@unclegrambo)

Headbangers, Porn Stars And William Shatner (!?!) Converge At 3rd Annual Golden God Awards

If you’re ever asked, “Hey, name me two great tastes that taste great together!”, chances are you’ll say something like “chocolate and peanut butter” or, if you’re a traditionalist, “peanut butter and jelly.” Well, it’s a little known fact that there’s another appropriate response to that line of questioning: headbangers and porn stars!

Both were on full display in Los Angeles last night, where hard rock’s elite and some of the finest denizens of the San Fernando Valley converged for the 3rd Annual Revolver Golden God Awards, which will air in the coming weeks on VH1 Classic. Host Chris Jericho, who you’ll recognize as a familiar talking head on VH1 (in addition to being a singer and wrestler), presided over the raucous affair, which hosted performances by recent RRHOF inductee Alice Cooper, Sebastian Bach, former Guns N’ Roses bassist (and Playboy’s current financial columnist!) Duff McKagan, and more. Meanwhile, the red carpet was a metalhead’s dream come true: Celebrity Rehab 2 alum Steven Adler, Motley Crue, Dave Navarro and more crossed paths with adult film stars like Jenna Haze and Sasha Grey. And yes, as promised in the headline, William Shatner made an appearance, too!

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