Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright recently caught up with QUIET RIOT vocalist Kevin Dubrow to discuss the band's latest album, Rehab. The following is a brief excerpt:

Jeb: Rehab is a totally different type of album for Quiet Riot. Was this a conscious band decision to step outside the safety zone of what you were known for?

Kevin: "The term band and the term Quiet Riot are not necessarily the same thing. If you look at The Who it is basically just the nucleus of Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend. Quiet Riot is the same thing with the nucleus of Frankie Banali and Kevin Dubrow. In terms of energy and drive it has been the nucleus for many, many years but now it is official. The musical creative direction of the band is Banali and Dubrow.

Was it conscious that we did something different? Absolutely. We wanted to make a record that was blues based. When I did my solo album, In for the Kill, I realized that I could do a lot more than 'Bang Your Head'. In between all of those cover takes we would do things that were more blues based. We jammed on the entire Truth album by Jeff Beck. Truth and the first Led Zeppelin album is where it all started – it is White Boy Blues. The English interpreted the American Black Blues in their blue-eyed soul fashion. The Jeff Beck era Truth band was the blueprint for Zeppelin. We wanted to reach way back to those roots, so in that way, it was totally conscience. We wanted to avoid anything that sounded like anthem rock of the early 1980s."

Jeb: This is not the Quiet Riot of the 80's. You can make music more for yourself at this point in time.

Kevin: "We did do this for ourselves. We have not been a multi-platinum selling act in many years so there were no issues of doing something to please a record company or a fan base. We wanted to please ourselves artistically. We are our own hardest critics. We have compared what we did to albums we grew up listening to. We are talking about great albums like Fire & Water by Free, Truth by Jeff Beck and Spooky II by Spooky Tooth. These are all seminal great rock albums. Think about albums like the Who’s Who’s Next and Quadrophenia. We knew what kind of album we wanted to make and we also knew that it would be impossible to make that record with the so called Metal Health band. Those guys are not capable of playing this kind of music."

Jeb: Are you saying that Frankie and you are more flexible?

Kevin: "I am saying we are different kind of players. We’re not more or less flexible but we grew up with a different kind of music. The other guys might have listened to the same music growing up but they are not capable of playing it. It is really a soulful blues thing. I am not going to sit here and criticize former members over this but I can tell you it would have been impossible. We tried on occasion to cover a couple of things that were more blues based and it was just impossible. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a blues singer. I did not grow up listening to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. I grew up listening to a metalized version of the blues – a hybrid of the blues. We needed the right people that were flexible."

To read the entire interview go to this location.