New WINGER Album Will Be 'Heavy', 'Progressive' And 'Poppy', Says REB BEACH

In a new interview with the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast, WINGER guitarist Reb Beach spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's new studio album. The disc will be the follow-up to "Better Days Comin'", which came out in 2014.

"The WINGER [writing process] is just going swimmingly," Reb said (hear audio below). "Honestly, it's really, really good. The new WINGER album, I like it better than 'Better Days Comin'' already.

"We've written 11 songs, but Kip [Winger, WINGER frontman] threw away six of 'em, saying that this has to be like the first BOSTON record where every song is undeniable. And he just wants it to be progressive and like nothing he's hard before. I brought him these riffs that are just straight-ahead rock riffs, and he said, 'I already know what the next three chords are gonna be after I've heard three chords.'

"We're going for something that's poppy and sing-along stuff yet cool, heavy, progressive riffs — kind of like [2009's] 'Karma'," Reb added. "That's what we're going for."

As for a possible release date for the new WINGER album, Reb said: "That should be out in May. I'm flying back on [November] 14th to finish that. And May is what we're shooting for. We have gigs in May with WINGER, and let's hope for a [COVID-19] vaccine so that those will happen and the record comes out. I'm very excited about WINGER next year."

This past spring, WINGER invited artists, friends and fans — including Alice Cooper and members of SCORPIONS, STEELHEART and WARRANT — to sing along to "Better Days Comin'", the title track of the band's sixth studio album. An official music video for the new version of the song was made available in late April.

WINGER formed in the late 1980s and soared to immediate success with its 1988 self-titled release. The album spawned the hit singles "Seventeen" and "Headed For A Heartbreak" and achieved platinum sales status. "Winger" also stayed on The Billboard 200 chart for over 60 weeks where it peaked at #21. Their next album, "In The Heart Of The Young", also achieved platinum status behind the singles "Can't Get Enuff" and "Miles Away". The change in musical climate of the mid-'90s, compounded with unprovoked ridicule on MTV's popular "Beavis And Butt-Head" show, led the band to go on hiatus in 1994. In 2001, WINGER reunited and has not looked back since. Kip also earned a 2016 Grammy nomination for the classical album "C.F. Kip Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky", recorded with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.