News
New Audioslave album to be a mixture of Led Zeppelin and Earth,
Posten on: 2006-03-31 08:06:59
As Audioslave fans might expect, the still-untitled LP (Morello said the band's toying with the idea of naming it Revelations) is bursting at the seams with the kind of brutal riff rock that's become the band's trademark. But at the same time, they've woven deep '70s funk and soul grooves with heavy guitars, "and it's a pretty potent combination," Morello said.When the album drops (Morello dispelled reports that it will surface in June), expect the end result to be "really unique" and "as hard-rockin' an album as we've ever made," Morello said."If you want your ass kicked, you've come to the right place," he added. "And you may have the opportunity to shake that ass too."Three weeks ago, Audioslave — Morello, frontman Chris Cornell, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk — finished tracking the disc with producer Brendan O'Brien. O'Brien mixed 2005's Out of Exile; Soundgarden's 1994 disc, Superunknown; and produced Rage Against the Machine's Evil Empire and The Battle of Los Angeles.Most of the 20 tracks the bandmembers brought into the studio "were written before we went on the last U.S. tour, so we had about two months of touring to play some of these songs in front of arenas and to go over them during a number of soundchecks."Audioslave took "the momentum of playing some of the best shows of our lives, as well as working out the kinks of some of these songs in front of a live audience, seeing what worked and didn't work," and recorded 16 tracks over the course of three weeks, Morello said. The "fast and furious pace," as Morello described it, was imposed by O'Brien because he wanted to capture "the intensity of the performance — the four of us, in a room, rocking the jam, top to bottom, to get the sweatiest, most intense take."For his part, Morello said he experimented with overdubs and worked with different guitars and amps "to create different colors." The end result, he said, is a record that "sounds like Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind & Fire."One of Morello's favorite tracks is a tune called "Original Fire." Like most Audioslave songs, it began with a single idea — a riff he'd been tinkering with for years. "The one thing that we do that is really different than any other band that I've ever heard of is the songwriting process is tremendously democratic," he explained. "No matter where the initial idea for a song comes from, it goes into the Audioslave killing-machine grinder, and at the end of the day comes out something unique that you might not have expected."As Morello continued to sculpt the riff, he started to imagine what the finished track would sound like. Turns out he was way off-base. "It doesn't feel remotely like what I thought it would be when I came up with it on the guitar," he said. "Brad put sort of a double-time soul beat to it, and Tim had this super chocolate-thunder bass lick that went with it, and it turned out much better than I thought it would. Tim and Brad are just a ferociously funky rhythm section."Most of the ideas that were brought to the table ended up making it to tape because "we have confidence we can turn it into an Audioslave song we're going to love."Audioslave get overtly political on this album, with the song "Wide Awake.""It's the most political song Audioslave's ever written, and it's a scathing condemnation of the Bush administration's failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," Morello said. "It's a sad, powerful and angry song."There are a number of other tracks Morello's confident will make the final cut: the haunting and beautiful "Until We Fall"; "Moth," which was "the last song we wrote for this record, and it's a kick-ass, anthemic, 'Hammer of the Gods' riff-rock jam that will probably close the record"; "Revelations"; "One in the Same"; "Sound of a Gun"; "Until We Fall"; "Shape of Things to Come"; and "Broken City," which "is kind of an Audioslave plays [War's] 'Low Rider.' "
Posted in: News | Audioslave | 0 Comments
Beck's summer festivals
Posten on: 2006-03-29 00:23:01
Beck has slowly begun announcing appearances at summer European festivals. He will also join Radiohead for an Aug. 22 show in Edinburgh, a pairing that is expected to be repeated several times this summer, with details to be announced.For now, Beck's lone North American dates are a May 27 show with the Decemberists in Bend, Ore., and appearances at the Sasquatch! festival in George, Wash. (May 28) and the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn. (June 17).Beck is touring in support of his 2005 album, "Guero," which debuted at a career-best No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 786,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.Here are Beck's tour dates: May 27: Bend, Ore. (Schwab Amphitheatre)May 28: George, Wash. (Sasquatch! festival)June 17: Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo festival)Aug. 12: Oslo (Oya festival)Aug. 13: Skanderborg, Denmark (Smukkeste Festival)Aug. 19-20: Chelmsford/Staffordshire, England (V festival)Aug. 22: Edinburgh (Meadow Bank Stadium; w/ Radiohead)
Posted in: News | Beck | 0 Comments
David Bowie to record track for the new TV On The Radio album
Posten on: 2006-03-21 16:01:37
David Bowie has collaborated with TV On The Radio. A self-proclaimed fan of Brooklyn band, Bowie has linked-up to record a new track for the group's forthcoming second album. Though details are currently sketchy, record company sources have confirmed that the British star will appear on a song called 'Province'.The album meanwhile is to be titled 'Return To Cookie Mountain' and will be released on June 12.There currently no other details about the album, although TV On The Radio have confirmed that they will support Nine Inch Nails on part of their summer US tour.
Posted in: News | David Bowie | 0 Comments
Back into the studio after the 1982 album release
Posten on: 2006-03-20 01:47:43
The two original surviving members of legendary band Who Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are making progress on the first new album under the group name since 1982's "It's Hard," but Daltrey says there is no real rush to finish the project."It will come out when it is ready," he tells Billboard. "What's the point of trying to give yourself deadlines that aren't really important? I think we have to get it good before we can finish it."Describing the entire process of developing material, Daltrey admits, "We are doing it in a very different way. All the time that [the late bassist] John [Entwistle] was in the band, we kind of felt we had to go in as a group. Now, it is really only Pete and I, and Pete wants to do all the guitars and some of the bass playing. Whether we will end up going into the studio with a group and recording it all again, I don't know. These are all the kinds of bridges that we need to cross."Daltrey says he has three tracks written for the project. "One of them is particularly fantastic in the older Who-type vain," he enthuses. "Another is particularly fantastic in a completely different way. These songs are all about the spirit and the emotion. Whether or not they are successful in today's world, who knows? The business is totally different now."The Who vocalist says he's particularly excited about the Townshend song "Black Widow's Eyes," which concerns Stockholm syndrome. "The fact that he's done that in music and words, and he completely sums up Stockholm syndrome in this song, is so haunting," he says. "Imagine how difficult it is for Pete. He doesn't need to write another song. God almighty, all that music out of one head. But he seems driven at the moment, which is great because I've always felt that he was the kind of writer who would write his best stuff at the age he is now. His skills have caught up with his intellect."As previously reported, the Who will tour Europe this summer, with additional international dates to be added later in the year. "If we can go out and play festival spots and play our hits, we can relight the fire," Daltrey says. "It's amazing when young people see the band. We've had a great response from young people.Daltrey is also involved in a long-in-the-works biopic about late Who drummer Keith Moon, but has yet to give out details. "We've had three or four scripts written, and we've never quite nailed what we wanted to do," he admits. "We've got a new writer. A very famous writer, a Pulitzer Prize winner indeed. I can't name him because I don't know the situation at the moment. You can't tell someone's life story in two hours on film. If I can do it, I hope to make a real rock'n'roll film that will be funny, poignant, sad, celebratory, all the things that Moon was. But if I can't, I'm very glad that I'm holding the reins and stopping any bad films of Keith Moon being made."
Posted in: News | The Who | 0 Comments
Richest bands in 2005
Posten on: 2006-03-16 01:51:01
U2's album sales and touring easily take them to No. 1.U2 became the only act to break through the $100m mark last year, according to a recent survey in Rolling Stone magazine.The rockers from Ireland added approximately $154.2 million (£90.7m) as a band, mainly from the success of their latest studio effort "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" and the subsequent world tour throughout the year, according to the poll.Rolling Stones came in second with earnings of $92.5m (£54m), with the Eagles in third spot with $63.2m (£37.1m) following their reunion album and massive arena tour.The top ten reads as follows:1. U2 ($154.2 Million/£90.7 Million)2. The Rolling Stones ($92.5 Million/£54.4 Million)3. The Eagles ($63.2 Million/£37.1 Million)4. Sir Paul Mccartney ($56 Million/£33 Million)5. Elton John ($48.9 Million/£28.8 Million)6. Neil Diamond ($44.7 Million/£26.4 Million)7. Jimmy Buffett ($44 Million/£25.9 Million)8. Rod Stewart ($40.3 Million/£23.7 Million)9. Dave Matthews Band ($39.6 Million/£23.3 Million)10. Celine Dion ($31.5 Million/£18.5 Million).
Posted in: News | U2 | 0 Comments
Add Bookmarks
Del.icio.us ·
Digg It ·
Furl ·
YahooMyWeb ·
Blinklist