Halford guitarist and Guitar World columnist “Metal” Mike Chlasciak is streaming his new album, The Metalworker, for free. You can hear it below. The album will be released June 4 through C.M.M. Entertainment, LLC. Fans can buy an exclusive pre-sale package including a signed CD and postcard, plus a guitar pick, at metalmike.net.

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A rare Vox guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison sold for $408,000 Saturday in New York City. The guitar, which was auctioned by Julien's Auctions at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, brought in essentially twice its pre-sale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.

The origin of guitar distortion goes back to the earliest electrified blues guitarists. They didn’t care that their primitive tube amps were breaking up and distorting, as long as they were loud. Soon, blues guitarists grew quite fond of those nasty, gnarly distorted tones, and they sought to replicate them by any means necessary.