Billy Morrison
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of my solo work . At that point , I realized I have all these songs that I ’ ve sung and I now have “ Crack Cocaine ” with the full blessing of the Osbournes .”
The Morrison Project was produced by Morrison , mixed by Barry Pointer , and mastered by Dave Donnelly . The songs on the album were recorded in Los Angeles at various studios , including Morrison ’ s own studio . “ I love production , and clearly , I ’ m not bad at it because this album does sound great ,” Morrison modestly says . “ Barry did an amazing job at mixing it . Steve Stevens co-produced the Ozzy song (“ Crack Cocaine ”) and the Billy Idol song (“ Mr . Dream ”). So those were sessions that were flying back and forth between me and Steve . Even though the styles of songs are different , there is a production cohesiveness throughout the whole album .”
From the pulsating bass lines and groove-laden drum beat on album opener “ Drowning ” to the hip-hop / industrial / new wave amalgamation of “ Just Like A Movie ” ( featuring McDaniels of Run-DMC and Persia Numan , Gary Numan ’ s daughter ), to the sombre-yet-emotional piano ballad “ Chasing Shadows ” ( featuring ex-Four Non Blondes ’ s Linda Perry ), Morrison has implemented every trick in the book within his musical arsenal .
Besides the vast roster of guest musicians , the tracks on the album are solidified by a tight rhythm section composed of Jeordie White ( aka Twiggy Ramirez , ex-Marylin Manson ) on bass and Erik Eldenius ( Billy Idol ) on drums . “ We were
just hanging out ( at my studio ) and Jeordie would say , ‘ I ’ ve got this bass line ,’ and it would be something out of The Stone Roses , and I would throw down a hip-hop beat and some EDM samples ,” Morrison explains . “ Then Erik would come up with this Queens of the Stone Age-type guitar riff . Then I took all those pieces of music and rerecorded a lot and reworked a lot . But the reason they ’ re credited as songwriters is none of those ideas would ’ ve come out had it not been for sitting in a room with the three of us . And I ’ m a big believer in equal shares .”
Obviously , The Morrison Project wasn ’ t designed to play live , given the massive array of guests involved . And Morrison realizes this , too . “ I ’ ll vacillate wildly between let ’ s do it and no ,” he states . “ You ’ ve got to think of this rationally … “ Crack Cocaine ” went to number one ; how can I do a gig and not play “ Crack Cocaine ”? Or how on earth can I go and do “ Crack Cocaine ” with me singing it ? I could put the band together and go out on the road and tour this , but is it really doing the album the justice that it deserves ? What I would like to think is that there are a couple of one-off big shows that could happen if someone wrote a big enough check . I could do a show in New York and LA and have all those guests appear . But is that gonna happen ? I don ' t know .” The Morrison Project is out now via TLG | ZOID / Virgin Music Group . august 2024 illinoisentertainer . com 13