''A Wonderful Life'' is the eighth studio album by
heavy metal band
Mushroomhead
Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as ...
. It was released on June 19, 2020 and is their first album to feature Steve Rauckhorst on vocals. It is also the first Mushroomhead album without vocalist
Jeffrey Hatrix
Jeff Hatrix, also known as Jeffrey Nothing (born Jeffrey Lewis Hetrick), is an American musician, best known as the former clean vocalist for the heavy metal band Mushroomhead. His nickname comes from a scene in '' Blue Velvet''. With a wide va ...
and keyboardist Tom Schmitz and the only full album with Jackie LaPonza on vocals and Tom Shaffner on guitar.
To promote ''A Wonderful Life'', Mushroomhead released "Seen It All" as a
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on April 21, 2020.
Background and history
In September 2016, Mushroomhead announced that the band would return to the studio in the fall of 2016 to record their eighth studio album. In March 2018, it was announced long-time vocalist
Jeffrey Nothing had departed the band, with guitarist Tommy Church announcing his departure a few days later. Later that month, it was announced that Steve Rauckhorst would be the new vocalist, and Tom Shaffner as the new guitarist respectfully.
On April 4, 2019, Mushroomhead announced that they had signed with
Napalm Records
Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later ...
. Steve Felton and Jackie LaPonza revealed that during the tour they had recorded vocals at Abbey Road Studios while on a UK tour in July 2019, and that the new album was 80% finished.
On April 21, 2020, The album's first single "Seen It All" was also released. Later that day, ''A Wonderful Life'' was announced as the title of the band's new album, and would be released on June 19, 2020. It was also announced touring vocalist Jackie LaPonza had officially joined the band.
On May 26, 2020, the band released the second single, "The Heresy".
Track listing
Bonus tracks
Personnel
Mushroomhead
*
Jason Popson
Jason Jonathan Popson (born November 2, 1971) is an American vocalist and rapper for metal band Mushroomhead taking the stage name J Mann. Prior to his initial departure from the band he was identified by his face paint, which was based on the ...
-
harsh vocals
(tracks 1-5, 7-11, 15, 16);
rapped vocals
(tracks 2, 7, 8, 15)
* Steve Rauckhorst -
clean and harsh vocals
(tracks 1-3, 5-12, 15, 16)
* Jackie LaPonza - clean vocals
(tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, 12)
* Tom Shaffner -
guitars
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
* Rick Thomas -
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
s,
samples,
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
* Ryan Farrell -
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, keyboards,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
*
Steve Felton
Steve "Skinny" Felton is an American musician, most notable for being the co-founder, leader, and drummer of metal band Mushroomhead. He was also the drummer of the bands Hatrix, (216), Tenafly Viper and Scelestus. His other projects includ ...
-
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
* Robbie Godsey - drums, additional percussion
Other personnel
*Cleveland Chamber Choir - additional choir vocals
(tracks 1, 6, 13 and 17)
Production staff
* Steve Felton - production, engineering
*
Matt Wallace
Matt Wallace is an American record producer. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley,[Howie Weinberg
Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize.
Career
Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...]
- mastering
* Gus Fink - cover art
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wonderful Life, A
Mushroomhead albums
2020 albums
Doom metal albums by American artists