Oh what fun
The Beatles have never really turned me on, musically speaking of course (I will now wait five minutes whilst all the boos, hisses, shouts of heathen and calls for my resignation die down). Perhaps it was my mother, who was more of a Cliff Richard fan, (I will now wait another five minutes whilst all the boos, hisses, laughs and egg throwing die down) smothering me with 'Living Doll' and 'Summer Holiday', that caused the Beatles to pass me by. Not that I dislike the Beatles, it's just that I found my heavy metal calling before the Beatles got to me. So it was with interest that I received this heavy metal tribute to the Beatles. Projects like this have a habit of back firing, or sounding completely and utterly awful (I refer to tribute albums to Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath), but they're usually a reflection of the unknowns performing the tracks. With this disk you have over fifty established recording artists from the well known, Alice Cooper, to the not so well known, Doug Pinnick, to the not known at all, John Corabi (Anyone remember which group this guy fronted?). Plus let's not forget the guitarists who have extended the solo sections of the songs to fit their egos in.
This CD gets off to a wonderful start with Alice Cooper and Steve Vai chugging out 'Hey Bulldog'. The production is crisp which immediately suggests that this compilation is not just a cynical cash in and there's has been no expense spared. Even Alice's cry of 'Ah, thank you Steve, c'mon now!' before Steve's usual precision solo, was a great touch and also a reminder of Steve's Dave Lee Roth's days, and a bringer of a smile to this reviewers lips. Lemmy croons his way over 'Back In The USSR' but is one of the weaker performances on this disc but an enjoyable listen nonetheless. The Queensryche/Dio collaboration on 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' is a highlight, with Geoff Tate bringing a certain class to the project. It'll be very boring of me to list every track so I'll summarise by saying there's a lot more hits on this album than misses. 'Day Tripper' is great song expertly covered, as is 'I Feel Fine' with a brilliant no nonsense vocal performance from the awesome John Bush. Even Ex Motley Crue disaster front man John Corabi holds his own with a catchy version of 'I Saw Her Standing There.'
The songs seem to have been chosen very carefully, perhaps selected with their ability to be metalled up. I don't think 'Yellow Submarine' would have fit very well on this long player, and perhaps the same could be said for 'Revolution', which does appear, on this disc. Not that the song is performed badly, it's just that it sounds too different in rhythm and feel to the rest of the album, and as a consequence stutters pace somewhat. Kip Winger does his best to bring The Beatles in to the 1980s with a very average version of 'Drive My Car'. But the biggest disappointment on this album is 'Hey Jude.' I love Tim Owens, I love his power and range, but his voice seems too course for this gorgeous ballad. His falsetto screaming over the nah nah nah section at the end is so out of place it's almost crippling in its cringe factor. I think the producers of this compilation got their vocalists mixed up for this track, I think Doug Pinnick, and his rich tonsils, would have made a great job of this song, and swapped Tim Owens for 'Tax Man'.
Of course this album will be bereted by The Beatles fans with the argument of 'How dare they.' For Sunday Beatles fans such as myself, this album makes The Beatles a little more palatable to the point where you realise how fucking good these songs really are. I don't care what The Beatles fraternity think about this album, I loved it. It's full of great performances, it sounds the business and the choice of tracks is exemplary. I was initially expecting a train wreck of an album; I love to be proven wrong every now and again.