Tom Morello has announced plans to make a solo album when the current Bruce Springsteen tour ends in March, and no, he doesn't mean another LP as his folk rock alias The Nightwatchman. The guitarist said that he had never sung while playing an electric guitar until he played "The Ghost of Tom Joad" with Springsteen during 2008, and more than five years of performing with the legend was enough to inspire an electric-solo album.
"Until then I'd kept my folk singing career and my electric guitar shredding career completely separate," he said. "It was on that stage that I realized there might be a way to combine all the things I do as a songwriter and a guitar player, and this record is going to be that."
We can only speak for ourselves, but we're glad Morello's going to be sticking to his electric side. The songwriting was fine as The Nightwatchman, but Morello's trademark has always been the heavy riffs and crazy solos-ranging in style from Nintendo NES themes to turntable scratching-that he originated with '90s alt-metal band Rage Against The Machine. Apparently, if you're in awe of his work with Rage, you'll be blown away by his plans for the new album.
"I want to make the craziest guitar record that anyone's ever heard," he said. "The idea is that this is the Hendrix of now."
That's a pretty high bar. If Morello hadn't already said it would be a solo album, we'd say it sounds like he wants to form a supergroup with J Mascis and Kim Thayil. Morello says he's already got a whole bunch of tracks written, but no official release has been suggested.
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