Tom Morello has recruited Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder for a fiery rendition of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” the first single from the Rage Against the Machine guitarist’s upcoming all-star solo album The Atlas Underground Fire.
“Our version of ‘Highway to Hell’ pays homage to AC/DC but with Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder, brings this legendary song into the future,” Morello said in a statement. “One of the greatest rock & roll songs of all time sung by two of the greatest rock & roll singers of all time. And then I drop a shredding guitar solo. Thank you and good night.”
Prior to the studio take, the trio previously linked up to perform the AC/DC classic at a Springsteen and the E Street Band concert in Melbourne, Australia, in February 2014; the Pearl Jam singer made a surprise appearance onstage during the show, while Morello — a longtime Springsteen collaborator, having appeared on 1995’s The Ghost of Tom Joad — served as a temporary E Streeter on tour while Stevie Van Zandt filmed his TV series Lilyhammer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6WukbkFPMM
The Atlas Underground Fire, out October 15th, features a guest list that includes Chris Stapleton, Damian Marley, Bring Me the Horizon, Phantogram, Mike Posner, and more. Recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic, Morello first laid down the tracks in his Los Angeles home studio before sending the riffs off to his collaborators around the globe.
“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 led to a freedom in creativity in that I could not overthink any of the guitar parts and just had to trust my instincts,” Morello said of the LP. “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.”
The Atlas Underground Fire Tracklist
- Harlem Hellfighter
- Highway to Hell (featuring Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Vedder)
- Let’s Get the Party Started (featuring Bring Me The Horizon)
- Driving to Texas (featuring Phantogram)
- The War Inside (featuring Chris Stapleton)
- Hold the Line (featuring grandson)
- Naraka (featuring Mike Posner)
- The Achilles List (featuring Damian Marley)
- Night Witch (featuring phem)
- Charmed I’m Sure (featuring Protohype)
- Save Our Souls (featuring Dennis Lyxzén of Refused)
- On the Shore of Eternity (featuring Sama’ Abdulhadi)
From Rolling Stone US
