Tribute Album = Covers
Nox Angelus | British Columbia, Canada | 02/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you're looking for carbon copies of the originals, performed by other bands, you're going to be dissapointed as was the above reviewer. The songs are covers, and I really think that as far as covers of songs by a great band (like Smashing Pumpkins) go, these were all well done. They threw there own flare into the music.
You know what they say, forever immitated but never duplicated. This is Smashing Pumpkins we're talking about here, no one is going to be able to duplicate the music, this is a homage to a great band. Take it for what it is."
Jesus christ
J. Holup | 04/21/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"wow. every single band on this album misses the entire point of the smashing pumpkins. way to go guys."
Not as bad as i thought it'd be, lol. don't let other review
David Martin | Chicago | 06/30/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"...you have to listen yourself before judging. This is slickpoetry, a smashing pumpkins fan from way back. obsessive, perhaps. and i am digging on this album, much to my surprise. I was not a fan of any of these bands (or the emo/screamo/whatever genre in general), but this CD is very listenable, apart from a couple missteps here and there. want a track-by-track review? ok here ya go:
1. Roses Are Red--Cherub Rock: A fairly faithful cover, not too many surprises. Which you may consider a good thing. The drummer and guitarist don't seem quite up to par to take on a jimmy chamberlin/billy corgan composition, but then again...who is? (the guitar solo especially sounds sloppy). the vocalist is adequate, but i think he actually gets a couple lyrics wrong! 8/10.
2. A Thorn For Every Heart--Jellybelly: Like a lot of the bands on here, I don't care much for the vocalist. The music is pretty awesome, though...the bass drum work actually makes it sound more rockin than the original...otherwise a very faithful cover 7/10
3. Poison the Well--Soma: The Pumpkins original is one of my favorites, and never seemed boring to me, but that's the word that comes to mind when hearing this cover. I think they phoned this in, honestly. 5/10.
4. Emanuel--Mayonaise: Not better than the original by any stretch of the imagination, but more rockin'. I like this quite a bit, actually. It changes the music just enough to make it a substantial difference, but you never forget for one second that its Mayonaise. the original is my favorite pumpkin track, and i would say this is a great cover of a great, great song. 10/10
5. Armor For Sleep--Today: I don't like the way the guitar intro is reproduced on a keyboard. it rubs me the wrong way. otherwise its fine. 6/10
6. Hopesfall--Eye: Just alright. I like that we can hear this song with a afull band, where everything sounds real (especially the bass guitar) as opposed to the original which sounded synthesized. 8/10.
7. A Static Lullaby--The Everlasting Gaze: Horrible, Horrible, Horrible. Screamo at its worst. 0/10.
8. Vaux--1979: This song begins terrifically. the song starts with a real acoustic feel, just the singer and a guitar. If they had kept that sound throughout the recording, I would have loved it...unfortunately they had to seque awkwardly into a "rockin" chorus which makes the whole song sound schizophrenic...a real shame. Almost a 10/10 cover, but its marked down to 3/10.
9. 32 Leaves--Zero: Pretty basic, faithful cover. Just ok. 7/10.
10. Murder By Death--We Only Come Out At Night: This song is a blessing. this song is fantastic. it was worth the 15 bucks i paid all in itself. anyone who says otherwise has no soul.
Murder By Death is a band i've never heard before. They take the pumpkins original, which is a silly sing-along piece of whimsy, and make it dark and depressing. The original's lyrics were always dark, to be sure, but the music part of the song didn't match up, so people may have thought of it as a goofy song, similar to "Lily (My One And Only)" off the same album...well, this cover is nothing like the original...it substitutes a string orchestra and melancholy guitar for electronic oompah drums and zither. terrific. i can't say enough about it. It reminds me of a cover Johnny Cash would do (RIP) where the emotion of the song is finally revealed in a truer, more raw fashion than the original artist could bring out....even if you don't buy this CD, if you are a true pumpkins fan you owe it to yourself to hear this...so download it already...10/10
11. Eighteen Visions--Quiet: a fine cover of a great song. 9/10. they should've made the murder by death track the last song...after hearing that nothing compars....eighteen visions do a fine job with quiet, though. very faithful to the original.
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