NEW YORK (ABC PR/ www.abc-pr.com/ Megatronic Records) - While fans of Powerman 5000 eagerly await a new studio album, they can load up on previously unreleased material courtesy of the good, the bad, and the ugly vol. 1, due out October 26 on Megatronic Records (owned by founding member/singer/songwriter Spider One and distributed by iMusic).
The 20-track CD is a collection of original songs, released as B-sides and rarities, recorded between 1991-1996 at the very beginning of the
Boston band's career with the band's original members. One notable inclusion is their unique take on Bjork's 'Army of Me' recorded in 1996.
Everything about the new disc gives true insight into the band's early days, right down to the artwork. The cover photo is an earlier shot taken in 1994, while the back cover and CD booklet flaunts a collage of flyers and original illustrations that Spider designed and printed to advertise their shows in and around Boston.
As Spider One writes in liner notes: 'We were ahead of our time, behind our time, horrible and brilliant, all at once. We were the hardest working band in
Boston and if you were lucky enough to be around in those days, you absolutely knew who we were. These tracks were left exactly as they were recorded, not a note has been altered. Hopefully this disc will give you a sense of what was a very exciting moment in time for a band called Powerman 5000.'
In addition to the good, the bad, and the ugly vol. 1, fans will soon get a preview of what their upcoming new album has in store as three new songs - 'The Last Night On Earth,' 'The Way That It Is' and 'Riot Time,' which were recorded at guitarist Adam 12's studio, Qi (pronounced 'chee') Lab Studios in Los Angeles, CA - will first be featured on THQ's 'WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw' video game, which is set for release November 2 exclusively for PlayStation 2. The tracks will be heard throughout the game itself, in the promotional trailer and as part of the game's online advertising campaign. They will also most likely appear on the band's forthcoming studio album.
A video for 'Last Night On Earth' from 'WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw' will be shot in Los Angeles later this month-directed by Spider One - and will be serviced to various TV outlets by early October. Spider One previously directed 'Super Nova Goes Pop' from their Platinum TONIGHT THE STARS REVOLT! album, co-directed 'When Worlds Collide' and 'Nobody's Real' from TONIGHT THE STARS REVOLT! with Dave Meyers, and co-directed 'Relax' (the band's cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's classic '80s song from the 'Zoolander' soundtrack album) with Mark Klasfield.
Arguably one of the hardest working bands in the music business, Powerman 5000 shows they're not slowing down anytime soon. They're also hard at work on their fifth studio album in the midst of all these other projects. The follow-up to 2003's TRANSFORM–which debuted in the Top 30 on Billboard's 'Top 200 Albums' chart having sold 39,000 copies its first week out--will be released early next year on Megatronic/iMusic. Spider One and Adam 12 are currently in the early stages of writing and plan to enter the recording studio by the end of the year.
Having sold over two million records on DreamWorks with 2002's TRANSFORM (which sold over 169,000 copies and spawned the Top 10 Active Rock hit 'Free'), 1999's TONIGHT THE STARS REVOLT! (which spawned two Top 20 Rock hits, 'Nobody's Real' and 'When Worlds Collide,' selling over 1.3 million copies), and 1997's MEGA!! KUNG FU RADIO (which sold over 158,000 copies), the band amicably parted ways with the label soon after TRANSFORM's release. They took some time off for a much-needed break and now they're back at work creating the new music their legions of fans have been waiting for.
Stay tuned for more information from the Powerman 5000 camp as they get ready to unleash a new brand of rock to the masses.
