Bombastic Meatbats' Jeff Kollman Announces New Album

04-04-2024

(Chipster) Jeff Kollman is best known for his heavy, melodic electric guitar playing, fusing elements of Jazz harmony and creating his own brand of Rock with his long running prog fusion trio, Cosmosquad, and as a member of Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. You can also catch him live with famed producer Alan Parsons (Pink Floyd, Beatles) with The Alan Parsons Live Project and in the studio or on stage with the likes of Japanese legend Eikichi Yazawa, Asia F.J.P., Steel Pulse, Chris Isaak, Jason Mraz, Lou Gramm (Foreigner), and producing rock legends Phil Mogg (UFO), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), and Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow).

Now Jeff is set to release his latest album 2023 A.D. on May 17th which features a guest appearance by Red Hot Chili Peppers and fellow Bombastic Meatbats drummer Chad Smith on the first single "Tongs & Thongs". As Kollman explains, "Well I wrote this song originally for our group Bombastic Meatbats. I decided to record it and feature the band including Chad Smith on drums for this recording. Chad has some great solo highlights on this tune. I told Chad to fill the holes." Smith continues, "Tongs & Thongs is a ripper. I am honored to be part of the amazing Jeff "the bee" Kollman's record. Crank it!"

The album also features Shane Gaalaas (MSG, Yngwie Malmsteen) Jimmy Johnson (Allan Holdsworth, James Taylor), Guy Allison (Doobie Brothers), Kevin Chown (Steelheart, Sebastian Bach) and Ed Roth (Robbie Krieger). Bassist Ric Fierabracci (Chick Corea) makes a special appearance on the bonus Vinyl track 1979. Kollman continues, "I think that this album is some of my finest work in the sense that the songs flow together and there's a contrast and depth in the compositions. It's certainly my best sounding solo release. Having songs without vocals forces the writer to come up with music that doesn't need lyrics to invoke depth of human emotion. I love that challenge as a writer. Many guitar instrumental records fall short on composition. There's so much focus on lead guitar shredding and showing off. I like to paint a picture with many shades and colors to provide a feast for the sonic senses."

The album boasts 12 tracks in all with 3 bonus tracks on the vinyl edition which is due out on June 21st. It includes stand out songs like "Tribal Scream", "Layers", and "Battle Of The Bulge" which Kollman says about the latter, "This song has one of my favorite guitar solos. I worked this song up with Shane and Guy Erez (bassist for Alan Parsons). Good old rock riff song."