Former HANOI ROCKS singer Michael Monroe will release his new solo album, "One Man Gang", in the spring. The follow-up to 2015's "Blackout States", which is currently being mastered, features guest appearances by ex-HANOI ROCKS guitarist Nasty Suicide and THE DAMNED legend Captain Sensible. Monroe told Heavy TV he named his new solo record after the album's opening track, which includes a "killer solo" by the aforementioned Captain Sensible. "It's one of the songs [on the LP], and we decided that since the band is called MICHAEL MONROE — the name of the band is MICHAEL MONROE; the name of a person — so 'One Man Gang'; it's a whole gang of me," he said. Monroe was also full of praise for his current solo band, which includes Steve Conte and Rich Jones on guitars, Sam Yaffa on bass and Karl Rockfist on drums. "If I had a choice of playing with anybody — alive or dead — in the world, I would choose these guys; that's how important they are to me," he said. "Everybody is allowed to write. Steve Conte [brought] exceptional, totally outstanding material. And Rich Jones now came through amazingly on this record. I swear, I had, like, five or six songs of my own, and I was, like, 'Okay, that's out. I'm taking Rich's, because his are better. Forget about my songs.'" He continued: "See, the best songs make the album; it doesn't matter who writes. Everybody has the freedom to write, and we choose the best songs for the album; it doesn't matter who writes them, as long as they're the best ones. The whole album, as an entirety, has to be as strong as possible. All killers, no fillers. I never let it go out if it's not perfectly… There can't be one weak track on the record. I'd rather wait and have it be perfect. Actually, we recorded 18 songs, so there's a couple of great ones that we left out too. They'll be on the next album. They're too good for bonus tracks; we'll save 'em for the next album. There's a few obvious bonus tracks — three or four, or whatever." In June 2017, Monroe released "The Best", the first official collection of his (ongoing) solo musical exploits, featuring prime tracks from 1987 right up to 2017. Monroe's latest studio album, "Blackout States", was released in October 2015 via Spinefarm Records. Even though HANOI ROCKS was formed in Finland, their trashy, hedonistic, decadent hard rock/pop-metal boogie influenced many Los Angeles acts, including GUNS N' ROSES and MÖTLEY CRÜE.
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