Melissa auf der Maur will release her self-titled debut solo album in February on Capitol Records. The former Smashing Pumpkins and Hole bassist has enlisted an all-star cast of hard-rock collaborators, including Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, A Perfect Circle's James Iha and Jeordie White, and Hole's Eric Erlandson.

"I wanted to make a rock & roll fantasy record," says auf der Maur.

She has been recording the album over the past two years, but the material spans her eleven-year music career, including a couple songs she wrote when she was nineteen as a member of the Montreal band Tinker. "We didn't know what the hell we were doing, and we wrote songs based on complete innocence and guts," she says, "and two of those songs have held up in the most glorious way."

In keeping with the guest list -- and with auf der Maur's recent efforts fronting the Black Sabbath cover band, Hand of Doom -- the album is hard, but melodic. "I mean, I sing like a girl," auf der Maur jokes. "Years ago, I never thought I'd be able to be the lead singer of a rock band, because I assumed you had to be tough and scream, and I don't do that -- never have, never will. Only in the past few years have I found the confidence to sing beautiful melodies over very, very heavy riffs.

DAVID SWANSON
(November 11, 2003)