HELIX mainman Brian Vollmer has issued the following update regarding their new acoustic album, Smash Hits Unplugged:

"As usual, it was right down to the wire getting the new CD recorded, mixed, mastered, and the artwork all done, but we made it thanks to hard work from all involved. It was round the clock for co-producer, engineer, and mixer Aaron Murray. Aaron has been involved in the last four Helix CDs and always has done a great job. He’s the protégé of Danny Broadbeck, who last year won a Juno for his engineering work with Delores O’Reardon of the CRANBERRIES. Danny is the protégé of Jack Richardson, who produced the GUESS WHO albums.

The artwork for the CD was executed by Matt Brooks of Babyjack Design. He also designed the Vagabond Bones cover and we received tons of positive feedback on that artwork. We used Carvello Mastering once again, as they did such a great job on Vagabond Bones.

The whole CD was a pleasant surprise from start to finish. It was Sean Kelly (CRASH KELLY) who kept pushing me to record it and finally I caved in. We got the band together at Brent’s place and hammered out some arrangements and then it was off to the studio. We had a rough idea of other instruments we were going to use, but it wasn’t until we actually got there and tried a lot of them that we actually knew whether they would work or not. We also brought in outside musicians and singers. On 'The Kids are all Shakin' Wendy Wright came in to play fiddle, and Cheryl Lescom (one of the greatest undiscovered female singers in Canada) sang (or should I say wailed!) background vocals. Sean also added guitar, dobro, and banjo on several songs. For the football vocals on Rock You we utilized the services of my old friend Doug Weir of Syre and my student John Edwards, who just happens to be Fritz’s nephew. Douglas Legg and Kellen DeVos, friends of Aaron’s, also participated. And a good time was had by all!

Brent came up with some great arrangement ideas and as well as playing guitar, tried his hand at playing mandolin in a couple of tracks. Daryl went over and above, arriving early and staying late. He played everything from his bass to keyboards, washboard, bodhran, and harmonica, as well as singing his ass off. Fritz experimented with different beats and used brushes on a few songs (a Helix first!) and Kaleb showed his maturity by playing guitar like an old pro. Aaron was living on a steady diet of energy drinks which had him getting as little as a couple of hours of sleep per night. When you think about it though, rock and roll is meant to be spontaneous. We didn’t have much choice. LOL.

Fans may now put in their purchase order to get the CD as soon as it comes out. We hope to have it in our hands, back from John Ball Media, as early as November 5th. Makes a great Christmas present! You can send your comments on what you think of the disc to me at bvollm0656@rogers.com."

Smash Hits Unplugged tracklisting:

'Rock You'

'Heavy Metal Love'

'Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’'

'Make Me Do (Anything You Want)'

'Wild In The Streets'/'No Rest For The Wicked'

'Deep Cuts The Knife'

'The Kids Are All Shakin’'

'Dream On'

'That Day Is Gonna Come'

'Dream On'

'Good To The Last Drop'

Check out new in-studio videos below: