DOWN WILL ROLL ON WITH NEW ALBUM; IS THIS A GOOD THING?
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 11:18am by Vince Neilstein
Billboard reports that Down aren’t even close to being done with their current touring cycle on last year’s Down III: Over the Under. The band is currently on the road in Europe supporting Metallica and headlining off-dates, from where bassist Rex Brown reports that Down “is all our priorities now,” and that the band has plans for a full spate of touring in 2009 as well as a new record shortly thereafter.
Though more Down is never bad, I’m not entirely convinced this news is such a good thing.
Down has always been so great precisely because the band has never been the primary focus of its members. Down has always been the wild-card band, the side-project that kept Phil Anselmo from Pantera, the amalgamation of southern sludge rock superpowers, always the “will they or won’t they?” question when it came to making new music. So Down as a main project doesn’t quite compute. NOLA worked because it was so unexpected, new, and raw at the time; Down II was an unexpected success and welcome relief because it had been so long; and the perfect storm of events that led to the creation of Down III have been well-documented, namely Hurricane Katrina and the passing of Dimebag Darrell. A new Down record in 2010, one that’s planned well ahead of time just seems… like it will be forced, and probably won’t live up to the greatness of their earlier work.
I loved Down III and naturally I’ll follow anything these New Orleans metal vets do; but right now the prospect of a Down IV seems unappealing to me. At least until 2013 or another hurricane, whichever comes first.
-VN
Down so damn good it’s ridiculous. You need to keep the faith, Vince! Never doubt Down! have disapointed you yet? NO! f Down won’t put out music unless it’s up to their standards. I feel good about the new stuff ’cause that means a new tour!
More Down = less COC. I think that’s a bad trade-off, but not a terrible one.
Down III was such a letdown for me. Forgettable. Here’s hoping for a better, non-boring album.
Down is too good to be a side-project. Anselmo’s latest side-projects make that abundantly clear.
Phil Anselmo sucks
Damn, does this depress the shit out of me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Down, but I’ve been hoping for a new COC album for a couple of years now. I thought COC’s last album was one of the best albums of the last ten years and have been waited with baited breath for the follow up.
^You’re probably going to die from suffocation.
I thought Down III was a good CD. Not fantastic, not average-the upper middle class, if you will.
Just read on Blabbermouth that Hank III is going to be opening up for Down on next years tour. Fucking amazing lineup. Just need Weedeater on the bill to be perfect!
If Weedeater opens for Down, everyone in the venue will die of smoke inhalation.
I get the point you’re trying to make, Vince, but something tells me that these guys are capable of planning without conforming to put out sub par material.
And not for nothing, on the topic of Down, but I’m just curious, am I really the ONLY person who would become moist from word of a reformation of SJR?
When did Billy Ray Cyrus join Down?
I love Down and i love anything that Phil has done aside from Viking Crown. Pantera was and still is my favorite metal band, but since they are gone, i hope Down stays around for a while. While Down III was my least favorite of theirs, it is still way better than most out there.
I couldn’t get into III so I’d rather that Phil work on one of his many other projects that he always talks about.
I supposed I don’t see Down III as a side thing (apart from Kirk?) since it did seem well planned out and worked on. It’s my favorite of the 3, so I say bring on 4. There’s plenty of things in the world to be angry about.
I was really hoping for Crowbar and EHG to release new stuff and tour. Never did hear III, just wasn’t really into the second album enough to bother.
Down > Pantera
….anyway, NIN used to take quite a while for albums, now there’s one every year/other year. Plus, I heard Maynard from Tool say that their next album will come out sooner than their usually routine.
Down are not capable of making a bad record, but i used to think Phil was a god a few years back when i first started listening to metal, but after seeing him in recent interviews he just seems like a weirdo, and he creeps me the fuck out. Although i think a collaboration with Phil and Brian Patton would be fucking killer.
As much as I like Down I’m disappointed that I won’t being seeing anything new from CoC or Crowbar any time soon. Of course knowing Phil anything that’s supposedly planned more than 30 minutes ahead of time is a question mark.
I’m not sure what’s more annoying… Down’s music or the fact that in every picture I see of them they all make it a point to have that frowny “see my angry, sad and evil metal face”.
Phil sucks now.
Down III was one of my faves from last year. I caught these guys in Chicago wednesday night, and whatever they need to do to justify touring as much as possible so I can see them again, I’m for it.