Published on Jan 25, 2001
It’s not hard to find a punk band that has been influenced by
metal. And metal is influenced by punk (case in point, Slayer’s
punk cover CD). So… why not get some punk bands to play some
metal cover songs? Brilliant idea. And why not let the punk bands
pick the cover songs? Excellent. And why not feature a lot of known
songs that have been overplayed on the radio so the punk band’s
version will sound fresh?
That last idea didn’t go over well. While Divit kicks off the
madness with “Breakin’ The Law” and Jughead’s Revenge follows with
“Talk Dirty To Me,” (and both, at one point in time, were both on
the radio a lot), AFI covers “My Michelle” from the Guns ‘N Roses
Appetite For Destruction CD, a song that never made it as a
single.
Following that is Bigwig’s version of Slayer’s “War Ensemble.”
I’ve never heard Slayer on the radio. “War Ensemble” is tweaked in
an amusing way. After the drum fill in the middle of the song, if
you listen carefully, you can hear someone shouting at the drummer
to stop. He keeps going for a few seconds more and then, a slick
transition to a jazz vibe follows. Slayer and
jazz
?? Leave it to a punk band to come up with that!
Following Bigwig is A New Found Glory’s cover of Warrant’s
“Heaven” which is sped up and much better than the sappy original
ballad. The Ataris do that with the Skid Row ballad “I Remember
You:” speeding it up and letting it rip.
Link 80 check in with Metallica’s “Harvester Of Sorrow.”
Covering a Metallica song is like covering Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway
To Heaven.” You just don’t do it unless you can contribute to the
song. Luckily for Link 80, they do. Horns. That’s all I can say.
They put
horns in “Harvester Of Sorrow.”
Swindle covers Skid Row’s “Youth Gone Wild” with integrity and
Diesel Boy nails Motley Crue’s “Looks That Kill.” Those two good
tracks set up the excellent Rx Bandits cover of Megadeth’s “Holy
Wars.” Following the lead of Link 80, the Bandits put horns in
“Holy Wars.” It’s refreshing to hear a band that adds so much of
themselves to the song they are covering.
The CD ends with Tesla’s “Love Song” covered by Ten Foot Pole
and those zany Aquabats covering “Why Rock.” I’ve searched
everywhere in my mind, but I do not know who originally sang “Why
Rock.” Flame me at .
Overall, this is a great release. This CD has lived in my player
since it arrived in my mailbox. I love it.