"Welcome To The Monkeyhouse" Summary


"Welcome To The Monkey House" News And Rumors - "Welcome To The Monkeyhouse" Confirmed Facts
Album Title
The title has been confirmed to be "Welcome To The Monkey House," a reference to a book by Kurt Vonnegut that is a collection of short stories he wrote and had published in various magazines over the years. Vonnegut's book is actually called "Welcome To The Monkey House," though.

Before the Monkey House announcement, the following were rumored to be possible titles (though some have also claimed that they were all just jokes, and "Welcome To The Monkeyhouse" was decided for over a year before it was announced):
101010 - This is the number 42 in binary, which is a nod to the "Hitchhickers Guide To The Galaxy" series of books.
That's What It's All About - This is a purposeful reference to the childrens song "The Hokey Pokey," but no reason for any correlation has been heard.
I Am All Freaks/We Are All Freaks - Currently the most commonly rumored title for the album, this doesn't appear to have any specific or direct meaning. This was commonly reported to be the title for months by record distributors and various magazines around the world.
Release Date
While the exact days have not been announced, the release months have been announced and confirmed:
May - International. This includes Europe, Australia and Asia. Well, I'm sure Africa too, but haven't heard.
July - U.S. I would assume this would mean Canada as well, but again, haven't been told specifically.
Track Listings
Word was to expect 11 tracks on the album. Not sure if this is still the case.

Confirmed:
The Last High: The long-talked about Ashes To Ashes clone, this track was included in January with a Spin Magazine compilation CD. It is expected to be the second single from Monkeyhouse
Used To Be Friends: As reported at Slabtown.Net months ago, this will be the first single from Monkeyhouse. The exact title might have been changed to "We Used To Be Friends."
The Scientist: Nothing specific known about this track, but since it was announced at the same time as Used To Be Friends and The Last High, it has a strong possibility of being the third single from the album (but that is speculation).

Rumored - Some of these are sure to be lies, and some might exist under different names now:
"Kate"/"Not Fucking Kate Moss (Was The Worst Decision Of My Life)": This song is reportedly about the supermodel Kate Moss. This would continue the mostly-followed Dandy Warhols tradidion of naming songs after famous people. Dandys Rule O.K. had "Lou Weed," ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down came with "As Cool As Kim Deal" and while it wasn't released, The Black Album had a track named "Traci Lords," who, while the name is spelled wrong, is a porn star. An article in the French magazine "Rock And Folk" claims that the title is the longer form listed and not just "Kate".
Wonderful You: Outside of the title, very little is known of this song. An anonymous E-Mail claimed it was a relatively slow song, but nothing else has been said. Note: Pete confirmed this title during a May 2002 interview.
Plan A: This song features guest vocals by Duran Durans Simon LeBon. Duran Durans homepage confirmed this track last year, but nothing has been heard about it since.
Suffered And Sound: This song was written by Courtney when he was depressed. The title was revealed in an article in the French magazine "Rock And Folk". From the article, one of the lines is "delivered comfort to the aching and the tired with these words of comic wisdom'". Note: song name confirmed by Pete in a May 2002 interview. The title may have been changed to either "Suffered" or "Sound" but no real word on that yet.
Rock Bottom: This is a Rolling Stones-sounding song. The title was revealed in the French magazine "Rock And Folk". According to the article, one of the lines is "Ain't got keep silent music yew you ain't got the muscles". This song was hinted at maybe being the first single off the new album.
Over It: This track was described by Courtney as being "Amazingly Soothing." The song contains the sound of eight people breathing, at least in some capacity.
I Am Sound: The long discussed song that sounds like David Bowies "Ashes To Ashes," this track is one that Courtney is very proud of. Note: Due to the similarity of the name, and some other evidence, there is a chance that this is the same track as "Suffered And Sound" but with a new name.
Love Me Madly: This track "Has a very similar groove to Low Rider by War." The band broke out the cowbell for this track.

Not On The Album:
"Downtown"/"I Dream Of Yes"/"House Of Yes": The lyrics of this song showed up on Dandysrule2 a while back. It is not known if this song is known by any other name at this time. This song was recorded with Massive Attack, and reports have said that two other tracks were worked on with the two bands.

Another continuing rumor has it that the album will include a cover song, most often rumored to be the Blondie song "Call Me," which the band recorded a couple years ago in New York.
Album Cover Art
The album cover has been decided, and has leaked out on a small basis, but not announced. Expect Dandywarhols.com to show the cover before anyplace else.

A while back, there was rumors that a butterfly with ears for wings was the cover, but this is definitely not the case. To see the picture, check the November 17, 2002 album 4 info.
Album Style
"But what will it sound like??"

There are many various reports on the sound of the album. Courtey himself said "This record's very different-sounding. It sounds like us, but not much." In addition, reports have said that there are tracks that sound similar to Bowies "Ashes To Ashes" (I Am Sound) and War's "Lowrider" (Love Me Madly).

Then, just to confuse the world even more, during an interview, Zia said:
"Oh yeah, that's it...They're like the Beach Boys if they were remixed by Dr Dre. Does that make any sense?"
The quote was taken from a March 1, 2002 interview.

Other quotes from the band about the recordings:
Pete - "This record will be more loop-based and electronic. It still sounds like us, though it has some other elements that are interesting."

As an addendum, some people who have heard the demos say that the album has sort of a dance feel to it. This is backed up by the sound of The Last High.
Album Recording
The recording of this new album marks another new milestone, as it was mostly, if not all, recorded in the Dandy Warhols new personal Portland-based recording studio. Some interviews with some of the band members have taken place in the studio, and parts of it were seen in the background, but again, little is known about the studio by slabtown.net, except that it is in Northwest Portland, if memory is correct.

In early 2002, Courtney spent some time in New York and London, recording and mixing with Tony Visconti and Nick Rhodes, respectively.
Guests
While it is unconfirmed officially at this point, look for David Bowie to show up on one track. (Note: later reports have said that this news was bullshit given to me just to see if I would print it. But for the time being, I'm leaving it up).

Simon LeBon, from Duran Duran,has himself said he is doing vocals on a track named Plan A. While this hasn't been confirmed by the Dandy Warhols, duranduran.com confirmed the news.

Nile Rodgers, from the 70's disco group Chic, plays guitar on one tracks, reported to be The Scientist.

Evan Dando, from 90's group/one-hit-wonders The Lemonheads, contributed to The Last High.

Massive Attack, who helped record parts of 3 songs, one of which is "House Of Yes," will not be on the album.
Others involved in the recording
The following people are known to be involved in the recording of the album, on at least some level:
Brian Coates: Doing mixing, engineering and production.
Bjorn Thorsrud: doing a lot of mixing and engineer. He has a very long musical career, as he has helped on albums by Smashing Pumpkins, Shaina Twain, Whitesnake, Nelson and Milli Vanilli, among others.
Nick Rhodes: dandywarhols.com has confirmed that this co-founder of Duran Duran will have some role on the new album, while on www.duranduran.com, Mr. Rhodes role has been pegged down as co-producer.
Tony Visconti: dandywarhols.com has reported that Tony Visconti will be working on the album, in some role. Courtney went to New York during the final week of April to work on some material. Tony also helped with the bands recording of "Ohio" in 2000.
Flood: In an MTV Italy interview, Courtney announced that Flood has been brought in to help mix the album. This will start in September.
Yoad Nevo: Programming and mixing for The Last High and We Used TO Be Friends.
Jeremy Wheatly: Additional programming and mixing for The Last High.