The only difference between the old Wallflowers and the new Wallflowers is that they are no longer deafened by cries of nepotism -- they're now a respected act. Well, actually, there is another difference -- and it's not that 1996's Bringing Down the Horse recently sold its four-millionth copy. Rather, the group is making a "significant change" in its sound, according to Julian Raymond, who's begun producing new material for the band. |

"The song structure and the whole thing [frontman Jakob Dylan's] laying down is a completely different sound," says Raymond, who recently finished producing "Eat You Sleeping" and "Hand Me Down" for the group. "It's very much the Wallflowers because it's his voice, but the music has changed significantly."

Raymond, who produced Fastball's All the Pain Money Can Buy, is not signed, sealed and delivered as the band's producer for the forthcoming album, though he's under consideration. Raymond says Dylan, manager/producer Andy Slater and Interscope president Jimmy Iovine will decide who gets the full-time gig after the two songs are mixed on Feb. 4 and 5.

"[The new material] definitely has a lot more attitude as far as edge goes," Raymond adds. "The one track 'Eat You Sleeping' is a cross between [the Beatles'] 'A Day in the Life' and 'I Am the Walrus,' yet it has [the Beatles'] overtones in terms of being a substantial song."

Though Dylan will be forever linked with his father Bob in name alone, Raymond says the son of the folk-rock elder statesman is now reaping other heredity rewards. "He's just really, really grown," he says. "He's not a kid anymore. He's writing amazing, amazing songs. In my opinion, he's definitely his father's son."

BLAIR R. FISCHER(January 20, 1999)