BPMD (Blitz, Portnoy, Menghi, Demmel) Cover Aerosmith, Detail ‘American Made’ Album
BPMD, the new supergroup comprised of Bobby Blitz (Overkill), Mike Portnoy (Sons of Apollo, The Winery Dogs, ex-Dream Theater), Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance) and Phil Demmel (Vio-Lence, ex-Machine Head) have just detailed their American Made covers album in addition to releasing a video for their version of Aerosmith's classic "Toys in the Attic."
The American Made record strictly features cover selections from American bands, such as ZZ Top, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult and, the primary inspiration behind the project, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Last summer, bassist Menghi was in his backyard listening to '70s rock songs when Skynyrd's "Saturday Night Special" came on and he thought about how much fun it would be to play the song.
It was Menghi's 8-year-old son who encouraged him to pursue a covers album, so he put the lineup together. Each member picked two '70s tracks from American groups and the recording sessions were soon underway.
"Toys in the Attic," which can be heard in the music video below, serves as the first preview of American Made as BPMD put a metal twist on the 1975 Aerosmith favorite.
For Blitz, this wound up being a nod to his roots as a singer as he recalled, "I remember waaaaaaaaaaay back when Overkill formed, we were cutting our teeth on covers as I was finding my way around the mic. The Aerosmith covers were right in my wheelhouse, so when Mike picked 'Toys' to cover, I was like... 'Hell Yea'!"
"It was tricky because Aerosmith have two guitarists, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, playing different things," Demmel said, up for the challenge. "So, as one guitar player, I had to pick a medium place between the two that sounded good," he went on, noting, "I thrashed it up a little by adding a lot of down picking and some gallops and triplets."
American Made drops on June 12 through Napalm Records. Get the details on the rest of the album below the "Toys in the Attic" music video and pre-order your copy here.
BPMD, "Toys in the Attic" (Aerosmith Cover)
BPMD, American Made Album Cover + Track Listing
01. "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" (Ted Nugent cover)
02. "Toys in the Attic" (Aerosmith cover)
03. "Evil" (Cactus cover)
04. "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" (ZZ Top cover)
05. "Saturday Night Special" (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
06. "Tattoo Vampire" (Blue Oyster Cult cover)
07. "D.O.A." (Van Halen cover)
08. "Walk Away" (James Gang cover)
09. "Never in My Life" (Mountain cover)
10. "We're an American Band" (Grand Funk Railroad cover)
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