2008 Rock & Roll User's Guide

Rock Studs

Metallica
As yet untitled, due spring

What's the Deal: For their ninth album, Metallica parted with longtime producer Bob Rock and hired Rick Rubin. "For our own creatie survival, we need to work with a different set of circumstances and dynamics," drummer Lars Ulrich told an interviewer.

Why We're Excited: Heshers, rejoice! The new album harks back to Metallica's '80s speed — metal sound, and the guitar solos absent from 2003's St. Anger have returned. It's more progressive and nuttier," Ulrich promise.

Behind the Music: This time, the band didn't require the services of Cosby-sweatered performance coach Phil Towle, who famously counseled them during the making of St. Anger. "We actually enjoy being in the same room a lot more now than we did five years ago," Ulrich said. "We're making a record without any sort of hand-holding."

Weezer
The Pure Sound of Weezer, due April 22

What's the Deal: For the nerd kings' sixth album, famously controlling frontman Rivers Cuomo loosened the reins, allowing his bandmates to write tracks and even sings lead. "I think Rivers wants a little less of the spotlight," drummer Pat Wilson says.

Why It's Better Than Their Last One: The new album mixes elements of the band's first two records. "It's not as button-down as the blue album," Wilson explains.

Behind the Music: The band set up a mock living room in their Malibu studio. Wilson say, "We'd do a few takes, then sit on our lounge chairs and do nothing."

The All-American Rejects
As yet untitled, due June

What's the Deal: The Oklahoma-based pop-punk crew is recording its follow-up to 2005's platinum Move Along. "We used to try to get people's attention," guitarist Nick Wheeler says. "Now we're trying to keep it."

Why It's Better Than Their Last One: "Some songs are really earthy, and others are quirky," Wheeler says. "Which sounds bad — but they're not novelties."

Behind the Music: Before recording, they spend two weeks camping in the Georgia mountains where the redneck-sodomy epic Deliverance was filmed. "They have a bust of Burt Reynolds up there," frontman Tyson Ritter says. "It's like Mount Rushmore — except it's just Burt Reynolds."

My Morning Jacket
As yet untitled, due summer

What's the Deal: The Kentucky rock cowboys started writing their fifth studio album on a Colorado mountaintop before moving to an undisclosed, more cosmopolitan location. "Our normal process is to be out in the middle of the country, so we're trying to screw it up as much as we can," singer-songwriter Jim James says.

Why It's Better Than Their Last One: James promises more dance, soul and calypso touched. He's also been listening to a lot of gospel. "When you hear people who believe in God, it's powerful," James says.

Modest Goal for 2008: "We want to unite the human race and make the world a better place," James says.