NEXT MASTODON ALBUM TO BE PRODUCED BY… BRENDAN O’BRIEN??
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 11:18am by Vince Neilstein
This was a real shocker when I read it last week; apparently the next Mastodon album will be produced by Brendan O’Brien, a man who’s most famous projects include Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Train, The Offspring and Incubus. The man does have some metal cred, having produced King’s X (Dogman – props) and Rage Against the Machine, and having mixed a number of other notable projects, but still; this strikes me as an odd pairing, as does the decision to leave behind Matt Bayles, who helmed the past three Mastodon records. I’m thinking one of the following:
- The band wants to move in a different, more rock direction
- Warner / Reprise were dissatisfied with the sales of Blood Mountain and want the band to write more commercial music, taking it to the next level.
This is definitely a “what the fuck?” moment. Either the results could be groundbreaking or they could be disastrous. This is a very important album for Mastodon; having vaulted into the big leagues with Blood Mountain, everyone is expecting big things. Will it live up to expectations?
-VN
There are definitely reasons to take pause with this news. First of all, the loss of Bayles. Secondly, O’Brien could possibly bring an overabundance of “slick” to the record. (that was a big gripe for his work on the lastest Springsteen for some). But, The Don hasn’t let us down yet (well not me anyway) and based on what they’ve said about the new stuff, I have no reason to think they will now. I’m taking this as a good sign. These guys have been poised to blow up huge for a couple of years. Looks like WB is confident about the prospects. I’ll continue to anticipate this until i have reason not to.
as written on the forums by brann himself
“Brendan is awesome, and the studio is right here in the ATL. We start next week and were all really exited, we’ve been working really hard on our material and Brendan is going to bring out the best in us, he doesn’t want to change much, he just wants to make it sound huge. Bayles used to be Brendans assistant. I think Matt really looked up to him and kind of modeled his style after him.
Don’t worry, I think it’s going to be awesome.”
What made you guys’ want a change?
“It’s pretty normal to use a different producer after three records. We just want to change it up a bit, see what else is out there for us. It’s like if you dated the same girl through high school, when you got to college, you might want to play the field a bit. Bayles did a great job, and we’re still good friends, he thinks doing a record with Brendan is the perfect idea. We want to try new things and now is the time to do so. Did I mention that the studio is less than a mile from my house, instead of three thousand miles. I like my bed a-lot. “
I think they are in a tough place. They have created a unique sound for themselves (not easy to do in this genre), and I think they are at the point that their next release is going to be a continuation in their development, keeping their “signature” sound and going in a refreshing direction with it (like Opeth manages to keep doing) or a re-hash of what we’ve heard before. Either way, interesting and debatable. I personally wasn’t a huge fan of Skull MT, I thought alot of the technical parts in it sounded forced and technical for the sake of being technical, as opposed to the more organic sound of leviathan, so i’m interested in what the new one will sound like.
the time is right for a producer change. and B. O’B is like Terry Date: makes your band’s awesome sound awesomer. he’s not gonna fuck with arrangements or co-write like a Bob Rock or Todd Rundgren. I’ve been wanting him to tackle a metal band for a while now. And Rich Costey.
its mastodon so unless i hear it and it sounds realy bad i will assume they know what they are doing
Brendan Obrien has produced some of my favorite records(Soundgarden’s Superunknown, all of STP’s records, and early Pearl Jam and Rage). I doubt it will make Mastodon more commercial, but the recording will definately sound amazing!!!
I honestly wouldnt mind a slick album.
It wouldnt kill Mastodon to have a couple commercial tracks on the album, it could bring some well-deserved success (and moolah); as long as the majority of songs is still true to the band.
Skull MT??
no it WOULD kill mastodon to have a couple commercial tracks. they have integrity, that’s hard to find these days – even in metal.
I have enough faith in mastadon that if this guy starts trying to fuck with their music and they don’t like it, they’ll fire his ass.
Rage Against the Machine is one of the slickest produced albums I’ve ever heard, and I mean that in the best possible way. This could be a great thing for Mastodon.
I wish they would do more songs like Cut you up with a linoleum knife from ATHF.That song kicked major ass