Veteran rockers WARRANT have set "Louder, Harder, Faster" as the title of their new album, due later in the year via Frontiers Music Srl. The disc was recorded with producer Jeff Pilson, a veteran bassist who has played with DIO, FOREIGNER, DOKKEN and T&N, among others, and is currently being mixed by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, PRONG, LAST IN LINE). Speaking to "The Rock Brigade" podcast, WARRANT singer Robert Mason stated about the long-awaited follow-up to 2011's "Rockaholic" (hear audio below): "Our songs are turning out really cool. I'm pretty freakin' proud of this. I'm about as proud of this, vocally and performance-wise, as I was… I mean, the 'Rockaholic' record I love — still do — but the CRY OF LOVE record that I did a bunch of years ago, I'm still fiercely proud of those vocal performances. And it's not a reflection about the songs or the style or anything like that. It's just… For my two seconds of being selfish, 'cause I'm a lead singer and that's what people expect of me anyway, I'm really proud of the vocal performances on this record. And, obviously, we all do our part." On the subject of the new WARRANT album title, Mason said: "Here's the way that came about. On stage, since probably '09, '10, '11… I don't remember when; maybe it was after our record [was released]. But as a thing to say between… It kind of just came out of my mouth one day — 'louder, harder, faster' — and I screamed it into the microphone and we started the next song. It was kind of one of those dumb things lead singers say to break up the dead air between songs in live shows. And it kind of stuck in my head and I started doing it. It was a thing I kind of started saying. And one day I had a riff in my hands and a guitar in my house, or in a hotel room, and then it turned into, 'Oh, guys, by the way, I wrote this song. It's called 'Louder, Harder, Faster'.' And I think I half-drunkenly said in a hotel bar one night, maybe three or four years ago, 'Oh, by the way, the record should be called 'Louder, Harder, Faster', 'cause I have this fucking song.' And, you know, that's what cocky lead singers say to their guitar players. And I think Joey Allen [WARRANT guitarist] was, like, 'Yeah, yeah. Blah blah blah. I'll believe it when I hear it.' So there you go. When we came up with the songs for this record, it just kind of became obvious that that was the… If you're gonna name it after one of the songs, there you go." Regarding the musical direction of WARRANT's new album, Mason said: "I wanted to come out with a record that… And I know it almost sounds pompous to say, so I really hope people take this in the right spirit. True fans maybe will. My initial vision for this was, musically and sonically, between the big-anthem, memorable, hooky kind of stuff of 'Cherry Pie' [1990] and then the little bit darker, little bit harder of 'Dog Eat Dog' [1992]. And it kind of like… Towards the writing of it, [Jerry] Dixon's [WARRANT bassist] got a real pop sense, I just wanna do rock and scream. I talked with Joey early on, and I'm, like, 'Dude, I want this thing to just crush. We're not getting any younger. How many more years can we do a real serious rock record before it's comical because we're 70?' You know, like, really?" WARRANT guitarist Erik Turner spoke to the "Talking Metal" podcast last fall about how the band's new material was shaping up. He stated at the time: "I would call it a cross between classic '70s hard rock and '80s hard rock that we're known for, from everything that I'm hearing from the demos. It's pretty rocking stuff, but it has that melodic sensibility. We all grew up on pretty much the same bands. Robert's heavily influenced by not only '80s rock bands but guys like BAD COMPANY, Paul Rodgers, Steve Marriott… So a little more grit, a little more blues, rock, I would say, with some good melodies… That's how I would describe it." At the helm for "Rockaholic" was mega-producer Keith Olsen (OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, SCORPIONS), while the mixing duties were handled by Pat Regan (KISS, DEEP PURPLE, TED NUGENT). WARRANT solidified its current lineup in 2008 when Mason joined the four original WARRANT members: Turner, Dixon, Allen and drummer Steven Sweet. Former WARRANT singer Jani Lane suffered from "acute ethanol poisoning" when he died in August 2011 at a Comfort Inn motel room in Woodland Hills, California. The singer had battled alcoholism for years and also had a history of alcohol-related arrests.
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