(PR) "Exile On Mainstream," the much-anticipated new album from Melisma/Atlantic recording group Matchbox Twenty, is set for release next Tuesday, October 2nd. A look back and a look ahead, "Exile On Mainstream" combines a six-track EP of new songs, produced by Grammy winner Steve Lillywhite, with a retrospective of the band's greatest hits culled from their previous three albums.Matchbox Twenty will herald the album's release with a string of high-profile television appearances, including "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on October 4th, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on October 5th, "Today" on October 8th, and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," also on the 8th.
Recorded in Los Angeles, the six new songs embody a central change for the band, with all group members writing the songs together at once. This is in contrast to Matchbox Twenty 's past three multi-platinum albums, where lead singer Rob Thomas wrote the lion's share of the material, with his bandmates adding their parts later. This time, guitarist Paul Doucette, guitarist Kyle Cook, and bassist Brian Yale were included from the beginning, and the collaborative effort spawned a distinctly new sound on the tracks, which marked the band's first work with Lillywhite.
When not working on the new material, the band selected 11 songs for the greatest hits disc, deciding to present them in chronological order to trace their musical evolution. The result is a rare greatest hits set that really is all greatest hits - every song was a chart-topping single and every one has a companion video. Included are such smashes as "Push," "3 am," "If You're Gone," "Bent," "Real World," "Back 2 Good," "Mad Season," "Disease," "Unwell," and "Bright Lights." Over the past eleven years, Matchbox Twenty has earned the distinction of having had more #1 hits and spending more weeks at #1 on both the national Modern AC and Adult Top 40 charts than any other artist in history.
