LIFE OF AGONY to perform entire 'Ugly' album on 30th-anniversary tour in 2025
09-10-2024
In a new interview with Ryan of the 97.7 QLZ radio station, LIFE OF AGONY guitarist Joseph Zampella (a.k.a. Joey Z) was asked if there are any plans for a follow-up to the band’s “The Sound Of Scars” album, which came out in 2019. He responded: “Well, this song (the recently released LIFE OF AGONY single ‘The Crow (In Memory Of B.L.)’) I feel like gave us a little bit of a boost, which is great. We’re a band that we really feel out when that writing magic is happening. We have a lot of plans for 2025, so we’ll be together a lot. So I’m sure we’ll be talking about some new music or sharing some new music with each other. It happens all the time.’
He continued: “When it comes to a full record, for us it’s the timing of our lives that really plays a huge role in that. It’s just timing, and we have a lot of plans and some big tours being announced soon that we’re gonna be doing in 2025. One I could talk about is we’re gonna be doing the ‘Ugly’ album in its entirety. We’re gonna do an ‘Ugly’ 30th-anniversary tour. We did (an anniversary tour for) ‘River Runs Red’ (LIFE OF AGONY‘s debut album) last year, in 2023. ‘Ugly’ is another fan-favorite record; it was our second record. And we’ve been asked a whole bunch of times by fans and by industry people if we’re gonna do a 30-year tour for that album, because the ‘River Runs Red’ tour was so successful. And it looks like we’re gonna do it. So there’s some nice, big plans happening in 2025, so we’ll get to spend a lot of time together, which is great. And we also are doing this really cool co-headlining tour that I can’t talk about yet. I’m not allowed. And the band is so cool. It’s gonna be announced soon, I believe, because the artwork’s even being created right now. I saw a couple of drafts going back and forth the other day Alan (Robert), by the way, our bass player is an amazing artist and he does a lot of the art for the band. So he’s wrapping up a couple of drafts for that tour right now, and it’s gonna be a special tour. That’s happening in Europe, and I’m guessing, with the success of it in Europe, that we’ll end up doing some shows also in America with this co-headlining, this pair, this matchup that we got going on. So it’s exciting. I wish I could talk about it, but I’m not allowed. So, yeah, I gotta button it up. I gotta zip it up. (Laughs)”
“The Crow (In Memory Of B.L.)” was released in late August. The track’s accompanying music video, which was directed by Derek Soto/Sinestra Studios, with motion graphics by The Dor Brothers, can be seen below.
LIFE OF AGOhas a long history of paying homage to the films that helped shape their teenage years. Back in 1995, the band covered SIMPLE MINDS‘ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” on the group’s “Ugly” album; the song was made famous by the movie “The Breakfast Club”. In 1997, on their album “Soul Searching Sun”, a music video for the song “Desire” incorporated visuals reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick‘s “The Shining”. That tradition continues with “The Crow (In Memory Of B.L.)”, which pays tribute to the fallen star Brandon Lee, who tragically lost his life during the filming of the cult classic “The Crow”, released 30 years ago.
“The Crow (In Memory Of B.L.)” was recorded in New York City at the legendary Sear Sound studio, best known for hit albums by David Bowie and John Lennon, as well as at The Nest Studio in Long Island, New York. The song was recorded, produced, and mixed by Zampella (who also co-produced the group’s last album “The Sound Of Scars”). The song was mastered by Grammy Award winner Howie Weinberg (NIRVANA, SMASHING PUMPKINS, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS).
With 2024 marking the 30th anniversary of Brandon Lee‘s “The Crow” film, and all of the controversy surrounding the new Bill Skarsgård remake, LIFE OF AGONY felt inspired to go back and give respect to the ’94 film that made such a huge impact on them during their early years.
“There’s something very special about the original ‘Crow’ that made it timeless, and there’s a reason that it resonated with us as kids,” explained Robert. “It was an absolute tragedy… Brandon Lee was killed the year we did our first album ‘River Runs Red’, and by the time ‘The Crow’ came out in ’94, he was already a legend. Brandon completely embodied the role, made it iconic, and lost his life in the process. It was just so incredibly sad and affected us deeply. He was such a charismatic character and in the very beginning stages of his career. Director Alex Proyas captured lightning in a bottle.”
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