Working Man

Closing out the Various albums with a tribute to Rush. 'Working Man: A Tribute To Rush' was released way back in 96. Put together by then Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. An early tribute album that featured well known musicians from the Metal scene. Artists include, Sebastain Bach (Skid Row), Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne), Mike Portnoy (ex Dream Theater), James Murphy (ex Death), George Lynch (ex Dokken), Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big), and Devin Townsend (SYL). This is a pretty solid tribute record, minus the horrible cover art. Worth a listen if you are a Rush fan.

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We All Love Ennio

Time to switch things up a bit and veer away from the metal and the heavy stuff and go to a lighter classic note. The name Ennio Morricone may not ring any bells at first, but chances are you've heard a piece by the Italian composer. If you've ever seen 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' then you've head of Morricone. 'We All Love Ennio Morricone' is a 2007 tribute to the composer. The album features a diverse group of artists including Metallica, Yo-Yo Ma, Quincy Jones, Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen, and Roger Waters. This really is a great collection of tunes here they pay homage to the legendary producer. Grab it if for anything the nifty proper cover of 'The Ecstasy Of Gold' from Metallica.

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We're A Happy Family

Haven't had a Punk compilation here yet, so high time to put one up. 'We're A Happy Family: A Tribute To The Ramones' was released in 2003. Headed up by Johnny Ramone, the artwork done by Rob Zombie and the liner notes by Stephen King, the project is one of the better Ramones tribute albums out there. Featuring bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rob Zombie, KISS, U2, Eddie Vedder, The Pretenders, Green Day and Metallica, this album doesn't lack the star power at all. Each band does make the song their own unique version which is always a plus. Grab this if you are a Ramones fan or a fan of any of the bands on here, very much worth your time.

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Tribute To The Beast

Time for another covers compilation album. This time it's Iron Maiden. There are quite a few Maiden tribute records out there. There are some decent ones and 'A Tribute To The Beast' is one of those. Released by Nuclear Blast was released in 2002 and features bands like Six Feet Under, Children Of Bodom, Sinergy, Dark Tranquillity, Rage, Cradle Of Filth, and Opeth. Some good covers on here, some not no great. Maiden is one of the trickier bands to cover. Once again worth a listen for the Maiden fans.

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Sucking The 70's

Final week of Various stuff before I finish up with some X, Y and Z bands. Again a varied mix of material this week. Starting off with the compilation album 'Sucking The 70's'. Released in 2002 on Small Stone Records, this two CD compilation features Stoner Rock/Metal and Southern Metal bands covering some classic 70's tunes. Bands included are the likes of Clutch, Fireball Ministry, Alabama Thunderpussy, Five Horse Johnson, Porn (The Men Of), and Scott Reeder. Very interesting take on the tracks here, this is really a good compilation record even if you are not a fan of the Stoner Metal scene. Worth a listen though.

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Disc 2

SIN-Atra

Wrapping up this week of oddness is some more oddness. Tribute albums are always interesting for many reasons, but this one makes you wonder what gave them this idea. Let's take one of America's best loved crooners in Frank Sinatra and let's give his songs a metal twist. Oh and we'll get singers like Devin Townsend, Joey Belladonna (Anthrax), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), and Dee Snider (Twisted Sister). Oddly enough this sort of works. Not everything here is great though. Obviously the Devin Townsend track is a bit tongue in cheek as things tend to be with Devy. The album does have one bit of interest, it does feature the late Warrant singer Jani Lane, which to date is his last recorded track. Overall this album is good for a laugh or for the die hard fans.

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Rockabye Baby

Today's post is geared as somewhat of a joke as well as towards those of you who may be parents. That's right it's time to break out the raffy tape, Metal style. 'Rockabye Baby! Metallica' is a kid lullaby friendly CD full of classic Metallica songs. In fact the series features over 50 bands to date, everything from the likes of Rush, Muse, The Police, Radiohead, U2, The Ramones and The Beatles. The music is lullaby versions of the original songs, so needless to say it's very different. It's a good album to throw on for the wee ones or something if ya can't sleep.

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Roadrunner Allstars

Today's post is a bit odd as it features a collection of past and present musicians who have been associated with the RoadRunner Records label. 'Roadrunner United' is an album based around four captains. The captains chosen were Joey Jordison (Slipknot/Murderdolls), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Dino Cazares (Fear Factory/Brujeria) and Robert Fylnn (Machine Head/Vio-Lence). Released in 2005 the album boasts 57 musicians from 45 past and present RoadRunner acts. Vocalists range from the likes of Howard Jones (ex Killswitch Engage), Glenn Benton (Deicide), Dani Filth (Cradle Of Filth), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Mikael Akerfeld (Opeth), and King Diamond. The 'backing' bands feature members of the like of Slipknot, King Diamond, Coal Chamber, Trivium, Annihilator, Death, Stone Sour, Soulfly and many many more. Musically it's a pretty solid collection of original material. This was a really well thought out project. Well worth a listen if for anything the quality of musicians on this record.

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Re-Machined

Time for a Deep Purple tribute record. Released in 2012, 'Re-Machined: A Tribute To Deep Purple's Machine Head' is just what the album title says, a tribute to one of Rock's best albums. The album features the likes of Santana, Jacoby Shaddix, Chickenfoot, Black Label Society, The Flaming Lips, Glenn Hughes, Iron Maiden and Metallica. There are tow very different takes on 'Smoke On The Water', the more straight forward version with Carlos Santana and Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix and then there's the wtf version that The Flaming Lips do. Which after thirty seconds of listening will have you wondering why it's on here. Most notably though is Metallica's choice to do a B-side from the album in 'When A Blind Man Cries', which is the last new thing Metallica has released of late. All in all this is a pretty good tribute album with some rocking cuts. Worth a listen, just skip over that Flaming Lips track.

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Monterey Pop

Back with some more Various stuff from the depths of my collection. How bout some Festival love? The Monterey International Pop Festival was held on June 16-18th 1967 in Monterey California. The festival featured such acts as The Association, The Mammas & Papas, Canned Heat, Ravi Shankar, Buffalo Springfield, The Who, Otis Redding and many more. The festival is considering the starting point for the Hippie movement which ended with Altamont. The festival is also a turning point in music as it's the introduction of Janis Joplin who played with Big Brother And Holding Company and also the introduction stateside if you will of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix of course is most remembered here for lighting his guitar on fire before smashing it. The festival was filmed and later turned into a movie directed by DA Pennebaker which showcases some of the artists. The festival was seen as a precursor to Woodstock and remains one of the more successful and memorable festivals of the time. So here's a 2 CD collection that features just about everyone on the bill. Great performances here by some great bands.

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Power Up!

Dust off the dust the blog is back. Some what at least. Been a few weeks, moving around and the likes. So this was supposed to cap off the last week of Various crap I had posted, but never got around to it. So flashback to the 80's and most of you were playing the NES, well least the cool kids. 'Power Up! 8 Bit Mutations and Variations' is a collection of Power Metal themed NES songs. Granted it's pretty tough to turn MIDI tunes into something worthwhile. Really more of something to get you in that nostalgic mood. So dust of the NES and pop in some Zelda cause it's time to save the ol girl.

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