Ugly Kid Joe guitarist and producer Dave Fortman recently opened up about the band’s upcoming album — the follow-up to Rad Wings Of Destiny — in an interview on the The Joel Martin Mastery Podcast.
Fortman discussed the track count and release plans for the new record. He admitted he was a bit fuzzy on the details but was eager to share what he could.
“I think we’re… I forget. Damn, are we dropping 12 or 10 [tracks]? It’s like 10 or 12 songs. I can’t remember. There’s different plans on how to get it released. I think it’s in two chunks. I don’t know if I’m supposed to give that information away. I don’t know if any of this is positively true,” Fortman said.
He went on to clarify his best recollection of the album’s scope.
“I’m not really that much in that department. But I know that if you look at it as a whole, there’s, like, 12 songs, and I think we’re trying to release them all. And any other version of that, at least 10 of them coming out. But I think 12, if I remember correctly. I actually haven’t had this conversation in months, so I don’t remember a whole lot. It’s all pretty much to be determined,” he continued.
Fortman also addressed the musical direction of the new album. He contrasted it with the band’s previous effort and explained how a conversation with vocalist Klaus Eichstadt sparked a shift back to a heavier sound.
“It’s back to metal. This is straight up… Rad Wings Of Destiny was us writing stuff with no palm mutes in it, and I brought that up to Klaus on the tour that we had done. I don’t know what tour it was… And I was, like, ‘Man.’ I’m, like, ‘Damn, Rad Wings Of Destiny doesn’t have a single song…’ I think it’s just the break in ‘Kill The Pain’ that has a palm mute… And I’m playing soundcheck. I’m, like, every f*cking song, even ‘Milkman’s Son’ has [a palm mute]. All of our songs,” he said.
“I’m, like, ‘That’s the history of this f*cking band.’ I’m, like, ‘What were we thinking, man? What were we thinking when we wrote Rad Wings Of Destiny?’ Like, what the f*ck are we thinking? It’s strum songs, like he’s strumming electric guitar in all those songs. And so I’m, like, ‘Man,’ I told Klaus, ‘We gotta write a record full of chunks, man.’ All of these songs reflect a heavier rock/metal sound. Some are straight badass old metal. It’s just a cool vibe — it really is. I’m glad that it went that way. It’s cool as f*ck, man. It’s great,” Fortman concluded.
No official release date for the new Ugly Kid Joe album has been announced yet.
Fortman’s comments mark one of the most candid looks yet at where Ugly Kid Joe is headed creatively. They come at a time when the band’s legacy continues to resonate with a generation of rock and metal fans who grew up with their early-’90s catalog.
Ugly Kid Joe formed in 1990 in Isla Vista, California. They rose to mainstream prominence with their debut EP As Ugly as They Wanna Be, which became the first EP in history to be certified platinum in the United States. The band built their identity on a blend of hard rock, heavy metal, and a sardonic sense of humor that set them apart from their peers during the grunge and glam metal era.
Rad Wings Of Destiny, released in 2023, marked the band’s first full-length studio album in nearly three decades. It ended a long hiatus and reintroduced the group to both longtime fans and newer audiences. While the album was welcomed as a strong comeback effort, Fortman’s recent remarks suggest the band themselves felt it strayed from the heavier, chunkier sound that originally defined them.
Dave Fortman has worn multiple hats throughout his career. He serves not only as Ugly Kid Joe’s guitarist but also as a sought-after producer in the hard rock and metal world. He has worked behind the boards for major acts including Evanescence, Slipknot, and Godsmack, bringing a seasoned production perspective to the band’s creative process that few guitarists in the genre can match.
The return to a palm-mute-driven, heavier sound signals a deliberate creative reset for the band. With Fortman’s production instincts and a clear intent to recapture the raw energy of their earlier work, the upcoming album shapes up to be the most aggressive and focused Ugly Kid Joe record in years.
