Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello has announced a new Atlas Underground album. The Atlas Underground Fire is slated to hit shelves on October 15 through Mom + Pop Music.
To accompany the announcement, Morello released his collaborative cover of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell,” which features Bruce Sprintsteen and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder sharing vocal duties.
Said Morello about the cover in a statement,
“Our version of ‘Highway To Hell‘ pays homage to AC/DC but with Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder, bringing this legendary song into the future. One of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time sung by two of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time. And then I drop a shredding guitar solo. Thank you and good night.”
The track puts to tape a collaboration that originated in 2014 while Morello was filling in on guitar with the E Street Band during Springsteen’s tour in Australia. According to Rolling Stone, Vedder made a surprise appearance at their stop in Melbourne and joined them on stage for the cover.
The Atlas Underground Fire is packed with an eclectic mix of collaborations. Aside from Springsteen and Vedder, the list of artists featured throughout the album include Bring Me The Horizon, Chris Stapleton, Phantogram, Mike Posner, Damien Marley, Refused’s Dennis Lyxzén and grandson, among others.
Much of The Atlas Underground Fire was recorded during the lockdown period of the pandemic. Said Morello of the process,
“During lockdown I had no access to an engineer so I had to record all of the guitar parts on the voice memo of my phone. This seemed like an outrageous idea but it lead to a freedom in creativity in that I could not overthink any of the guitar parts and just had to trust my instincts.”
“This record was a life raft in a difficult time that allowed me to find new ways of creating new global artistic connections that helped transform a time of fear and anxiety into one of musical expression and rocking jams.”
Morello released the first ‘Atlas Underground’ album in 2018. His last EP, Comandante, was released in 2020.
The Atlas Underground Fire is available for pre-order now. You can listen to Morello and company’s “Highway To Hell” cover below:
