Consequence of Sound » Jonathan Davis

Sting, Serj Tankian, Robert Downey Jr. appear on Prayer Cycle 2 benefit

Ben Kaye — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:40:42 +0000

In 1999, composer Jonathan Elias gathered James Taylor, Alanis Morissette, Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, and many others to create The Prayer Cycle, an album calling for awareness in an era where many feared for their children’s future. Now, some 12 years later, Elias is revisiting the concept for Prayer Cycle 2: Path to Zero, a new benefit album supporting Global Zero, an organization promoting worldwide nuclear disarmament. The seven-track release, written and produced by Elias himself, will be available from Across the Universe Records on May 10th.

Just like last time, the composer has called on a few friends to contribute to the project, and in the process he may have created the single greatest collaboration of all time. That particular collabo comes in the form of “Fallout”, featuring System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, Robert Downey, Jr., Sinead O’Connor, and a resurrected Jim Morrison. Sure, re-read that; it’s absolutely accurate. Morrison, the legendary Doors singer, appears in the form of a previously unreleased recording of his spoken word poem “Moonshine Night”, thanks to producer Paul Rothchild and the Morrison estate.

As great as the potential for that one track is, the whole effort shows tremendous promise. Other contributors include Sting, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes mastermind Alex Ebert, Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis, Yes’ Jon Anderson, Angelique Kidjo, Elias’ daughter Lilli, and a slew of talent from all over the globe. The eclectic group lends to the worldly sound of the benefit album, which mixes orchestral music with electronica, rock, devotional music, and more.

The project wasn’t meant to be a sequel to the 1999 album. In fact, it was supposed to be called A Thousand Suns, but Linkin Park got there first. Ironically, L.P. singer Chester Bennington was meant to feature on the project, but in the end they couldn’t work it out. Regardless of the title, the goal remains the same. Elias described Path to Zero to Billboard.com as “a little prayer based on having kids these days. I think we’re all a little on the dark side at times… [Unless] we really gain some consciousness, we really are heading into uncharted waters.”

Global Zero and Elias are currently at work on “some sort of visual representation” to accompany the benefit records’ release. Stay tuned for more on that, and check out the complete track and collaborators list below.

Prayer Cycle 2: Path to Zero Tracklist:
01. Atomic Mother (featt. Sting, Trudie Styler, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan)
02. Trinity (feat. Jonathan Davis, Salif Keita, Hakim)
03. Deliverance (feat. Angelique Kidjo, Richard Bona, Yunghen Lhamo)
04. Devotion (feat. Jon Anderson, Richard Bona, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Dadawa)
05. Fallout (feat. Serji Tankian, Sinead O’Connor, Robert Downey, Jr., Jim Morrison)
06. Awakening (feat. the American Boys Choir)
07. Many Suns (featt. Alex Ebert, Joanne Shenandoah, Lilli Elias)

Korn frontman announces debut solo album

Chris Coplan — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:00:11 +0000

The ’90s music nostalgia train rolls on. Just because Korn hasn’t been with a label since its two album contract with EMI expired back in ’07 doesn’t mean frontman Jonathan Davis can’t. In fact, the California native recently signed with Warner Music Group and has announced plans for the release of a solo album.

Already hard at work on material for months, Davis told the Pulse of Radio he plans to release the album sometime in 2010 and hopes are to create music that is a complete departure from the standard rock generated by the band behind “A.D.I.D.A.S.”

“I want it to be really a very artistic, crazy album that no one’s ever heard before. ‘Cause it’s very world music-y and dark, heavy, Peter Gabriel-esque type music and I want all the songs to be different…”

For those in need of more immediate material featuring Davis, the rocker recently made a cameo on ex-Faith No More front Chuck Mosley’s solo release Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food in a song called “The Enabler,” which also featured John 5. As for Korn, the band plans to release a new LP (maybe two?) within the next year and will tour for part of the year on the “Escape the Studio Tour 2009″.

Korn 2009 Tour Dates:
07/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Eagles Club
07/19 – Cadott, WI @ Wisconsin Rock Fest
07/29 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Harrah’s *
07/31 – Bridgeview, IL @ Toyota Sports Park
08/01 – Cedar Rapids, IA @ Third Base Sports Park
08/03 – Sturgis, SD @ Full Throttle Saloon
08/14 – Council Bluffs, IA @ WestFair Ampitheatre
08/15 – Mayflower, AR @ Stonehill Ranch
08/16 – Valley Center, KS @ Kansas Coliseum

* = Davis solo DJ gig

Check Out: Jonathan Davis’ “Got Money”

Allison Franks — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Failing to make a decent album since 1999′s Issues, KoRn’s lead singer Jonathan Davis has hit a new low with his recent Lil’ Wayne cover, “Got Money“. It’s obvious that Davis is on a mission to make himself the laughing stock of nu-metal since he recently starting covering such classic songs as “Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs and “Erotic City” by Prince. Seriously, what is he thinking? Sobering up couldn’t possibly make him this desperate, right?

“Got Money” was never an impressive song to begin with, but now Davis has turned it into something that’s ear shockingly painful. The song carries the characteristic chug of KoRn’s older music, along with Davis’s spoken vocals, which are often electronically altered for effect. Of course, covering “Got Money” was too much of an epic fail for Davis to undertake alone, which is why he collaborated with Slipknot’s Jim Root and his own side band The SFA. What a winner, huh?

If you simply must give this a listen you can download it for free off of JDSFA. If nothing else, you could at least get a good laugh out of it. Why else would I want you to listen?