Deep Purple has returned with one of its most complete recordings in recent memory, and it all began when Ian Gillan and Co. were discussing whether they should even attempt a studio effort like Now What?!

After 1995′s Drift, Flotsam and Jetsam seemed to do just that — drift off the musical map — with a series of disappointing records and a couple of long hiatuses between records. Then came 2010′s The Cold.

A day after fans heard the first single from Black Sabbath’s upcoming 13 project, the band debuted a second song, “The End of the Beginning,” live in New Zealand.

After a very uneven first album with new singer Johnny Solinger and a second album that was full of jokey novelty tunes, I didn’t hold out much hope for the future of Skid Row. Until now.

Since Black Sabbath began working on a new album with original singer Ozzy Osbourne and producer Rick Rubin, fans have been waiting for a taste of what was coming.

With Now What?!, Deep Purple doesn’t simply return, it sets out to remind you of everything that once made this band a contender for Led Zeppelin’s throne in the early 1970s as the biggest heavy-rocking band of them all.

Peter Criss, who helped Kiss to its highest-ever charting single, continues to excoriate his former band for continuing with new members performing in the classic makeup that he and fellow founding member Ace Frehley originally wore.

When Queen’s Brian May stopped by to visit the ailing Tony Iommi, not long after Black Sabbath’s guitarist was diagnosed with cancer, he discovered a treasure trove of unused riffs laying around. That started a brainstorming session

I think there’s something innate in music fans that drives them to want to make lists. And then, of course, to argue about those lists to the death. You don’t have to look any farther than the conversation on some of the Gimme Five entries here

Recent discussions about the current Queensryche debacle have me thinking about what happens when bands implode, tempers flare and members are either fired or take their ball and go home.