A Tale Of Two Cover Albums
Yesterday, the two new albums I ordered arrive. They were MxPx's new cover album "On The Cover II" and Fearless Records latest Punk Goes effort "Punk Goes Pop Volume 2". These two albums exemplify the the best and the worst of cover albums.
First the best, "On The Cover II", it is an excellent album of cover songs. Like any album of this type there are a few songs that do not work. For me it was the tracks "Linda Linda" and "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down". On the plus side, "I Will Follow", "Heaven Is A Place On Earth", and "Punk Rock Girl" stand out. MxPx does an excellent job of staying true to the original song, while still applying their own style to it.
Now the not so good, "Punk Goes Pop Volume 2", which is the latest compilation from Fearless Records. This effort is by and large a dismal failure. Most of the songs on the album are not even recognizable as the song being covered. When they were recognizable, the cover seemed to work a bit better. There are a few highlights in this otherwise dismal, the songs by Escape The Fate - "Smooth", Chiodos - "Flagpole Sitta", and Bayside - "Beautiful Girls". The efforts by The Cab - "Disturbia" and Attack Attack! "I Kissed A Girl" are ok. The Attack Attack song is marred by an out of place guitar fest toward the end.
The big difference between the two albums is the key to enjoying them. MxPx takes the songs they cover and gently applies their own style in such a way that remains mostly true to the original song. The bands from "Punk Goes Pop Volume 2" forgot there was an original song most of the time and just tried apply their styles with a jack hammer. And that makes the difference between an album that is fun to listen to and one that is not.
Yesterday, the two new albums I ordered arrive. They were MxPx's new cover album "On The Cover II" and Fearless Records latest Punk Goes effort "Punk Goes Pop Volume 2". These two albums exemplify the the best and the worst of cover albums.
First the best, "On The Cover II", it is an excellent album of cover songs. Like any album of this type there are a few songs that do not work. For me it was the tracks "Linda Linda" and "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down". On the plus side, "I Will Follow", "Heaven Is A Place On Earth", and "Punk Rock Girl" stand out. MxPx does an excellent job of staying true to the original song, while still applying their own style to it.
Now the not so good, "Punk Goes Pop Volume 2", which is the latest compilation from Fearless Records. This effort is by and large a dismal failure. Most of the songs on the album are not even recognizable as the song being covered. When they were recognizable, the cover seemed to work a bit better. There are a few highlights in this otherwise dismal, the songs by Escape The Fate - "Smooth", Chiodos - "Flagpole Sitta", and Bayside - "Beautiful Girls". The efforts by The Cab - "Disturbia" and Attack Attack! "I Kissed A Girl" are ok. The Attack Attack song is marred by an out of place guitar fest toward the end.
The big difference between the two albums is the key to enjoying them. MxPx takes the songs they cover and gently applies their own style in such a way that remains mostly true to the original song. The bands from "Punk Goes Pop Volume 2" forgot there was an original song most of the time and just tried apply their styles with a jack hammer. And that makes the difference between an album that is fun to listen to and one that is not.
kraven:
Thanks for the inforamtion. It is good to know that video is fake. I tend to use texting way more then actaully talking on the phone anyways... so I guess that is good also.