Metal Anarchy

Carmine Appice has announced a new Cactus album titled “Temple Of Blues – Influences & Friends.” The effort will be released on June 7 and it will feature members of the band’s current lineup and numerous special guests. A video for the record’s first single, a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Evil” with Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Doug “Dug” Pinnick (King’s X), can be found below:

“Temple Of Blues – Influences & Friends” Track Listing:

01. “Parchman Farm” (feat. Joe Bonamassa and Billy Sheehan)
02. “Bro. Bill” (feat. Randy Jackson, Randy Pratt and Bob Daisley)
03. “Guiltless Glider” (feat. Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal abd Phil Soussan)
04. “Evil” (feat. Dee Snider and Dug Pinnick)
05. “One Way…Or Another” (feat. Dug Pinnick and Ted Nugent)
06. “Alaska” (feat. Johnny A. and Tony Franklin)
07. No Need To Worry (feat. Warren Haynes and Jorgen Carlsson)
08. “Oleo” (feat. Steve Stevens and Billy Sheehan)
09. “Big Mama Boogie” (feat. Pat Travers and James Caputo)
10. “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover”
11. “Rock N’ Roll Children” (feat. Britt Lightning, Vernon Reid, and Rudy Sarzo)
12. “Let Me Swim” (feat. Doug Aldrich and Marco Mendoza)
13. “Restrictions” (feat. Ty Tabor and Phil Soussan)
14. “Long Tall Sally” (feat. Mark Stein and Fernando Perdomo)

Bonus Track:

15. “Guiltless Glider” (feat. Tim “Ripper” Owens)

Several of those involved with the album commented:

Carmine Appice:

“The music of Cactus has always been steeped in blues tradition. We kept hearing from so many of our music celebrity friends how much Cactus influenced them and how they would love to be a guest on a Cactus album. Even our label President, Brian Perera from Cleopatra Records, suggested to us that this album happens. So, ‘Temple Of Blues’ was the logical next step. Nearly five decades after I formed this band, the time had come to re-invent Cactus once again. The music remains the same and Cactus is still a ‘hot and sweaty’ band. The level, quality and consistence of the band’s musicianship is as strong as ever.”

Dee Snider:

“Bass player Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza of Twisted Sister, turned me on to Cactus. They were the hardest, heaviest, fastest (check out their version of ‘Parchman Farm’ live at the Isle Of Wight festival, if you want proof) band of their time, setting the standard for hard rock/heavy metal bands to come! I was hooked! (Thanks, Mark!)

Cut to the early ’90s and during rehearsals for our new project Widowmaker, drummer Joe Franco and I play ‘Evil’ for the ‘young guns’ in our band and their minds are completely blown. The next rehearsal I walked into my them jamming ‘Evil’ like they’d discovered a new form of rock! I joined in on vocals, our producer heard us laying into it and said we had to put the song on our album (‘Blood And Bullets’). ‘Evil’ became a staple of every live show we played over the next couple of years.

To get a call from Carmine Appice asking me to sing this song on a Cactus album is one of the highlights of my career. He told me I sounded more like the late great Rusty Day than anyone else he ever heard. Of course I do! You don’t fuck with perfection!

Thank you Rusty, Timmy, Carmine and Jim for showing me the way and allowing me (Carmine and Jim) the chance to do this. I am honored to rock with such greatness.”

Doug Pinnick:

“It was 1971, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Deep Purple and Yes were my go-to bands, and one day I went to visit a musician friend who played me ‘Long Tall Sally’ by Cactus. From the beginning [of] Jim’s guitar intro, I was hooked. The riff was so heavy, and when Rusty sang the first verse, my mind was blown. A Little Richard cover!!!! The reason I play rock music was because of Little Richard. So I listened to the whole album. Great songwriting, Carmine’s brutal drumming, Tim’s bass and Jim’s guitar playing, so inspirational they were. Rusty had a special knack for writing amazing, down-to-earth lyrics! I loved his voice. I learned to sing and play every song and I never looked back. These albums still stand the test of time. Cactus is one of my all-time favorite bands. This is why I said ‘yes’ to playing on this record.”