More Page love in Decibel mag

[markofcain]

got this months edition of decibel in the mail, and suprise suprise Page is in it again

STUDIO SHORT SHOTS
Helmet drop seventh full length, Seeing Eye Dog

regrouping with strap it on knob twiddler wharton tiers, page hamilton and helmet were posed for a return to form with 2006 full length Monochrome. instead, a toxic combination of lable acrimony and in-studio illness rendered the comback effort stillborn. hamilton aims to change that on the alt-metal titans latest effort seeing eye dog (due june , which appears to hearken back to 1994's polarizing cult classic Betty, offering a WTF Beatles cover (and your bird can sing), a noise piece orchestrated with violas, clarinets, oboes and moog, female backup vocals, and a "fuck you to people that hate helmet, or hate me - (that) precious indie rock, tight pants crowd". and for traditionalists who just want drop-tuned face-fucking, Dog references deep cuts "clean" and "its easy to get bored", with a title track thats "very Zep, with super heavy, shredding-nails vocals".
"this experience has been so much better than the last (record)", Hamilton enthuses.
"Going to New York and getting sick and having a shitty record label coming in the studio showing me gay-ass video directors for bands like Death Cutie Whatever Cab...im like, 'what the fuck? im trying to make a record!"

so there you go...little bit more info that may or may not have known. he is also in the mag doing their anual baseball preview "Go Yankees!"

[bornannoying]

Nice find. Thanks for posting. It'll be awesome if And Your Bird... is on there, though Betty comparisons are a bold, bold fucking statement. Management are saying more like August for release, too.

[eht13]

I hope "And Your Bird Can Sing" is on the album too. But like I said before, if Helmet is covering The Beatles, they also need to do "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

[worstcase]

I hope it's as relaxed as Betty is. I don't think Page could ever straight out copy that feeling of that album but just the general attitude could be the same. I think that kind of relaxed, kiss-my-ass-I'm-old thing would suit Page's age better somehow

If you people like good Beatles cover, check out Coroner doing I Want You (She's So Heavy). Helmet doing Beatles sounds crazy of course haha.

All in all, it's really good to see Page giving the new album some real credit and excitement. That last interview was kind of careful and a bit lame.

[bornannoying]

I hope it's as relaxed as Betty is. I don't think Page could ever straight out copy that feeling of that album but just the general attitude could be the same. I think that kind of relaxed, kiss-my-ass-I'm-old thing would suit Page's age better somehow

Relaxed is exactly the word. I sometimes get the feeling that Page's writing for Helmet, unconsciously or otherwise, has been unduly influenced by pressures and expectations. He's a big proponent of the "fuck fashion, fuck everyone else, do what feels right" attitude, and I believe he's sincere in that stance but, at the same time, he puts his pants on one leg at a time like everyone else; we all sometimes find ourselves doing things in life that aren't our style because we think it's what other people want, and he's no different.

Given the flack that Betty took (and takes) for being too experimental, too high minded and whatever else, I've often thought that Aftertaste, good album that it is, sounds like an attempt to get back onto the logical trajectory from Meantime. I feel similarly about Monochrome. Page derides all that "return to roots" stuff that was bandied around for no other reason than Wharton Tiers producing it, and I take his point, but, again, it's interesting, in light of this Decibel interview, that he was clearly under some pressure from a very young, seemingly fashion-conscious label. That, plus a lukewarm reception to Size Matters, makes me wonder if, perhaps unconsciously, there was some anxiety there about recapturing the old magic.

So, yes, I hope it's a relaxed album and that it's Page being Page. From the sounds of it, it will be, and that's exciting. Seems to me that, with a relatively stable and solid lineup these last few years, and being out from under Warcon, he's been having more fun with it, and that's bound to be conducive to a really great album.

If you people like good Beatles cover, check out Coroner doing I Want You (She's So Heavy). Helmet doing Beatles sounds crazy of course haha.

Have you heard the Beatles cover? I don't know if any recordings are out there, but it was unreal. Not at all "Helmetised"; really quite a faithful rendition. Anyway, if we're concocting "Helmet should cover..." wish lists, I want Helter Skelter, followed by She Said, She Said.

[eht13]

I agree with "Helter Skelter" and "She Said, She Said". I'll add "Tomorrow Never Knows" to the list too.

[ViLe]

Yey, a sub-section for new album hype

Wish I was able to read the whole interview, though the quick bits give promise for something to really wait for.

I completely agree with the relaxed thing... Betty is great because of the jazzy, do what you want, Sam Hell thrown in the mix... So if we get something like that: greatness!

Beatles cover? While my guitar gently weeps.

-Ville

[Ruoska]

"Relaxed" sounds awesome! Betty has the least screaming yet it's a great album and it's easier on The Man's vocal chords as well. Man, this is sounding better by the day. I asked about the sounds some time ago, does anyone still have any idea how the soundscape is constructed on SED (if that's what it's really called)? I think the Wharton Tiers trick with Monochrome ended up sounding just like a remastered Meantime. While Meantime sounds fine for what it is as a product of it's time, Mono sounded somewhat stripped down in this day and age. I absolutely LOVE the fat sound Betty has, with the bass very prominent from low to high frequencies straight in the middle and the guitars adding their sweet, sweet tingle at the far left and right! What a unique and well-thought sound and mix!

For the Beatles thing, if they must cover them then Come Together it is. For a Beatles cover, it probably can't get much better than this (Michael Jackson doing Come Together):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaZzZactGQU

..but it could be cool if they tried

Anyway, clips, now! Please!

[markofcain]

i think the betty comparison is only being made because it looks like there is going to be some more experimentation on SED. and also you know how people have to compare something to something to get their point across...

[setvak]

Thanks a lot for posting the article, that's great news. It makes my morning of studying that much more bearable.

[eht13]

i think the betty comparison is only being made because it looks like there is going to be some more experimentation on SED. and also you know how people have to compare something to something to get their point across...

I agree. I think that if people are reading these comments and somehow interpreting from them that they could expect "Betty II", they may be disappointed. Having said that, though, I don't say that to mean that the album won't be good... I have high hopes for it (and Betty, while great, is not my favorite anyway).

[bornannoying]

I think that if people are reading these comments and somehow interpreting from them that they could expect "Betty II", they may be disappointed.

"Somehow" being the operative word.

[ViLe]

O.k., with a grain of salt: when was part 2 ever better than part 1? Apart from Terminator 2: Judgement day being definately on par and beyond The Terminator...

So let's just wait and see whether it's Seeing Eye Dog pt. 1 or Strap Betty Monochrome pt. 3

-Ville

Information value of this post: 0.

[worstcase]

I'm not expecting Betty II. How could you even really do that? I mean, that album is just so unique and one of a kind thrust of art and groove. It just seems that Page is experimenting again, maybe taking more influence from the outside than trying to be so..."Helmet-y" (sorry). Like for example mentioning Led Zeppelin in that interview. Well, I assume "Zep" means Led Zeppelin and not some band called "Zep".

Anyhoo, I'm not expecting Betty II. I won't be disappointed if I don't hear a jazzy & loose intro riff with harmonics on the first track of the new album, although I won't go ahead and deny it either that it would somehow make my day

[land it74]

I get pretty excited to see the Helmet site abuzz with comments, questions and debates.

As much as I love the Betty album, I think it's pretty touchy to draw comparisons to previous material. I know it's a frame of reference, but to say that Helmet is going back to post-Meantime material is pigeonholing Helmet within their own musical catalog. I don't think Helmet intends to re-capture the essence of any previous album or era, musical experiment or not.

Yes, there is a general Helmet sound (drop tuning, staccato rhythms, tight breaks, Hamilton's vocal and lyrical style, etc), but I think there are thematic and sonic distinctions between each album. Wait and see, give it a thorough listen, then judge for yourself.

I don't mind the homage to Beatles. I suppose it can be construed as an eff-you to the serious side of heavy metal/hard rock music culture. I would've liked hearing Hamilton try a sincere homage to his hero Coltrane, not like the musical nose-thumbing of Beautiful Love, but Hamilton expressing his jazz sensibilities on the guitar whether his listeners dig it or not.