It’s been a while since we’ve listened to a tribute album… well, some may say “thank God”, especially after this kind of albums became parodies by the end of the ‘90s, and beginning of the ‘00s, with the heavy involvement of Bob Kulick.
Things are quite different here though, since we don’t have a core of players to perform the songs, but a compilation of recordings made by real bands, and actually some very popular ones in rock and metal. The result is… a mix! There is the bad the good, and the… weird covers… Nickelback on “Legs” sound superb, as well as Daughtry on Waitin’ for the Bus / Jesus Just Left Chicago”. Loaded sound typical on “Caught Me Under Pressure”, while Filter fail on “Gimme All Your Lovin’”, but at least they are not as bad as rapper Wyclef Jean on “Rough Boy”.
The ration between “trying for something different” and “I’m just playing the song” is quite good and interesting. For example, nobody could ever imagine Cohhed & Cambria or Mastodon being a part of this, or even the historic collaboration of Steven Tyler with Fleetwood Mac’s rhythm section (mick Fleetwodd, John McVie) credited as M.O.B. on “Sharp Dressed Man”.
To cut a long story short this is a tribute that has everything, and I’d say that it’s one of the good ones that are worth owning. Maybe, efforts like this one would manage to make amends for the ridiculous “make your own tribute album” situation of the past…