In a move that those bootleg-mongers over in the Pearl Jam camp are sure to cop any day now, Metallica has released an iPhone application that will allow users to download professionally recorded mp3s from the band’s shows within hours of the last note played on any given tour night. CELEBRATORY KIRK HAMMETT SOLO. Using the LiveMetallica app, fans will also be able to trawl through five years of thrash, every Metallica show since 2004 to me made available through the service. In addition, Metallica’s most recent show can be streamed on the iPhone for a grand total of zero dollars, one less than what it costs to download the app itself. CONCLUSIVE JAMES HETFIELD GROWL.

According to Blabbermouth.net, rumors that the “Big Four” of thrash metal may tour together are officially airborne. In an interview with the U.K.’s Metal Hammer magazine, Slayer guitarist Kerry King suggested that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is currently plotting a tour and would feature Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica on the same bill for the very first time. No public comment from Ulrich to be found yet, but King doesn’t seem so sold on Anthrax at the moment. Read:

“I’ve heard people referencing Lars. I don’t know Lars that well and I haven’t heard it from Lars, but apparently he’s talking to somebody about it. Maybe us, Metallica, Megadeth and, I think he even threw in Anthrax and I said in this day and age, I know we had that time together, but how do you leave out Machine Head? There’s better options than Anthrax and that’s nothing against Anthrax, but they’ve just been in pieces for quite some time and that doesn’t make as much sense to me.”

Fact: Weezer’s first few albums were undeniably pretty awesome. Fact: Weezer was never one of those bands that was tangibly cool during this time so much as being cool for not worrying about such silly distinctions and letting their music geek hang all out. This is what makes Rivers Cuomo’s admittance to Rolling Stone that he basically jacked a Metallica riff when crafting the band’s first-ever single some 15 years ago all the more fitting.

“I was trying to write a Velvet Underground-type song because I was super into them, and I came up with that guitar riff. I just picked up that acoustic guitar and the first thing I played was that riff…” Cuomo told RS. “It wasn’t until years after I wrote it that I realized it’s almost a complete rip-off of ‘Sanitarium’ by Metallica. It just perfectly encapsulates Weezer to me — you’re trying to be cool like Velvet Underground but your metal roots just pump through unconsciously.”

No response from Metallica yet, but if we remember correctly, they don’t take so kindly to people ripping off their music.

In other Weezer news, the band has joined forces with A.P.E. Radio (apparently a collaboration between Front Line Management and Clear Channel and unfortunately not anything involving actual apes) as one of a short list of artists to have their own 24/7 radio station that can be broadcast online, on  the iPhone or the Blackberry. So if you ever wanted Rivers and Co. to narrate your commute to work, there ya go!

We checked it out for a few and the whole idea seemed pretty worthwhile, but the unfortunate coincidence of coming in for a 6-minute playlist that included “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” and “Where Is My Mind” has us feeling just a wee bit paranoid. (Via Rolling Stone & A.P.E. Radio)

On October 29 and 30 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a veritable cornucopia of rock royalty will descend for a two night concert series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Over the course of the two-night stand, members of the Hall of Fame will perform onstage with guests, effectively documenting the evolution of various musical styles. Crosby, Stills and Nash will perform with California-based artists, Metallica will headline the hard rock portion of the concerts, and Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin will perform with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra as part of a soul revue.

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, U2, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, and Simon and Garfunkel are also expected to perform in what the event’s executive producer and Rolling Stone founder, Jann Wenner, calls “a celebration of the artists and their music.” Joel Gallen, the induction ceremonies’ producers, will direct the shows, with a highlight version scheduled to be aired on HBO. Proceeds go to establishing an endowment for the Hall of Fame; AMEX cardholders will be able to purchase tickets today, while sales open to the general public on August 3.

To further commemorate the Hall of Fame’s anniversary, a book, titled The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The First 25 Years will be released via Collins Design in September. A nine-disc DVD collection will be released in August by Time Life, featuring highlights from past induction ceremonies and rare footage. (via RS)

As rock bands go, Arizona’s Meat Puppets have never been what one would classify as normal. At their calmest you could say that their approach to music is unorthodox and at their wildest well, they are flat out, full-speed-ahead weird.
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