In a brand new interview with Guitar World, bassist and founding member of Porno for Pyros Martyn LeNoble mirrored on his lengthy profession working with a number of the largest names in alt-rock. Whereas talking with the publication, LeNoble appeared again on his time within the short-lived supergroup Class of ‘99, which consisted of Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley, Rage Towards the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Jane’s Dependancy drummer Stephen Perkins, Collective Soul keyboardist Matt Serletic, and himself.
Collectively, Class of ‘99 coated Pink Floyd’s iconic songs “One other Brick within the Wall (Half 1)” and “(Half 2)” for the soundtrack to Robert Rodriguez’s 1998 movie “The College.” With the recordings going down in November of 1998, these two tracks turned cemented in historical past as they mark Staley’s last look within the studio previous to his loss of life in 2002.
However, as LeNoble reveals, Staley wasn’t their first choose to go up the supergroup. As a substitute, they initially wished 9 Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor.
“Tom put it collectively and requested me and Stephen Perkins to play,” LeNoble mentioned, recalling how the band was put collectively. “We had completely different vocalists in thoughts. We talked about Wyclef Jean and Trent Reznor, however they determined to not do it. So although I knew he was not in a great way, I mentioned, ‘Hey, Tom, what about getting Layne Staley?’
“Tom ended up flying to Seattle and doing the vocals in a studio with Layne. I by no means acquired to see Layne once more, however Tom got here again and was like, ‘Yeah, it’s actually dangerous. He’s in actually dangerous form. It’s scary.’ That ended up being the very last thing Layne ever recorded.”
