Drummer Matt Sorum of GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER and THE CULT fame, is releasing his new album, Stratosphere, under the moniker MATT SORUM'S FIERCE JOY, on March 11th on Rok Dok Recordings via Kobalt Label Services.

An update from Matt states: "I was the drummer for MOTÖRHEAD a few years ago on a tour when Mikkey wasn't able to tour. It was so much fun to hang out with my good buddy Lemmy Kilmister. We were talking one night and he was just so appreciative about getting to play music for a living.

One night he says to me, 'I have such a fierce joy about playing. I mean, I could be digging ditches. But instead I'm able to do this'. That phrase really struck me so later when I was thinking of names, I called him up and said, 'Remember when you said that "fierce joy" thing when we were on tour? I was thinking of using that for a name. Is that cool with you?' And he says, 'Yeah, you can use that'. So the name actually came from Lemmy."

Stratosphere is major departure from the hard-hitting rock Sorum is best known for. His intense passion for animal and human rights, and need to give back heavily influenced the narrative and acoustic orchestration of the album.

“Over the years I’ve been influenced by my surroundings and sometimes that hasn’t always been for the better,” says Sorum. “But after years of soul searching I organically fell into a different state of mind. With many lessons learned along the way, it seemed like the perfect time to do a record in my own voice, if you will. It’s as real and exposed as anything I’ve ever offered my in my career, and I hope you enjoy it.”

Besides stepping behind the mic for lead vocals, Sorum wrote the entire album, and plays acoustic guitar and piano.

“I’ve always played acoustic, so I wanted to use that as the feel of the record,” Matt says. “I chose the musicians I wanted by records they had played on, and diverse instruments such as mellotron, slide guitar and ethnic percussion. I always wanted orchestration, so this album was the canvas for that as well.”

Pre-order Stratosphere now on iTunes and get an instant download of 'The Sea'.

Stratosphere tracklisting:

'Intro - Stratosphere Part 1'

'The Sea'

'What Ziggy Says'

'For the Wild Ones'

'Goodbye To You'

'Gone'

'Lady of the Stone'

'Ode to Nick Drake'

'Blue'

'Josephine'

'Land of the Pure'

'Killers N Lovers'

'The Lonely Teardrop'

'Outro - Stratosphere Part 2'

Making Of, Part 1:

Making Of, Part 2:

Legendary BEATLES drummer RINGO STARR gives Fierce Joy a plug below:

(Photo - Eric Hobbs)