It’s been fucking ages since Tom Scharpling or Brian Turner were gracious enough to forward any Scott Weiland news, so we’ll have to settle for the following quotes culled by Billboard.com’s Jonathan Cohen, who feigns curiosity about the recording of the next Velvet Revolver album.

Though Weiland told Billboard.com last year he intended to weave an overall concept throughout the album, he has since “thrown that idea out the window. In my opinion, there are so many schlock concept albums that have come out in the past year,” he says, without naming names. “The ground is way too over-fertile with concept records. I prefer to write a lean and rather vicious rock’n’roll record. I think that would be a better contribution to rock’n’roll at this moment.”

Weiland has also been working on the follow-up to his solo debut “12 Bar Blues,” which will be released in late 2007 or early 2008 on his newly launched label, Softdrive Records. The imprint, which is also home to rock act the Actual and country singer/songwriter Tommy Joe Wilson, will go through Sony’s RED Distribution, with additional back-end support provided by New West Records.

Weiland’s album, which is about three-quarters finished, will include a collaboration with the Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams on the song “Happy.” The artist is also hoping to do a song with producer Daniel Lanois. “He told me, ‘I don’t know if I could dive into an entire album right now. But if you write that special song, I’d love to hear that song. I think I could probably wrap my head around that,'” Weiland says.