VARIOUS ARTISTS - A Tribute to the Fourhorsemen / A Tribute to the Beast Vol. 2
(Nuclear Blast)
There was a time when I wrote off the bulk of "Tribute" albums. They all sounded the same, bad, and few had any merit in any way save for the quick buck they provided to their compilers. Here Nuclear Blast gathered up the best of their own artists, spiked with a few notable off-label groups, and have issued some of the finest tribute music ever.
Metallica went all limp wristed years ago so the classic tracks from their early albums were ripe for the re-doing. Primal Fear turned their Judas Priest inspired machinations toward "Seek & Destroy" and came up with a simply stunning track. This is the kind of number that Metallica themselves would have covered at their genesis, kind of like "Am I Evil" only here Primal Fear didn't have the benefit of covering an obscurity. Bravo Primal Fear, amazing and nothing less.
Therion (Fight fire with Fire"), Burden of Grief ("Master of Puppets") and Crematory ("One") give a Death-Metal rattle to their chosen tracks. Tankard becomes Damage Incorporated simply by performing "Damage Inc." and Primal Fear offshoot band Sinner bravely attempts the Newsted era "Wherever I may Roam" leaving the finished product much more listenable than the original.
Anthrax (Phantom Lord") and a good half dozen others all slash and burn their tracks to a nice crispy black, just like Metallica used to, with much obvious love and reverence making this the definitive Metala-tribute.
If there is a group who has been tributized more than Iron Maiden, I completely missed the news. In Nuclear Blasts's second volume of Maiden tributary you get all kinds of exclusive goodies. Primal Fear comes through again this time with a stellar turn on "2 Minutes to Midnight." The guitar work is so much more stripped down than the over produced original and just as tight as Maiden does the track live.
Anthrax shows up again and completely makes "Remember Tomorrow" their own. Maybe they could drop the rap number they do live and replace it with this one? It would make for a much better show fellas. Tankard also picked from the DiAnno era classics and came up with "Iron Maiden" reviving its original punk tinge. (Quick not to Iron Maiden, six of the fourteen tracks here are from the DiAnno era, hint, hint, hint, that is what people want to hear!)
As a bit of a bonus this disc also features the last recorded work of Iced Earth with vocalist turned "Law enforcement officer" Matthew Barlow. "Hallowed be thy Name," (actually, the track is also available on the last Iced Earth record), is so damned good it deserves to be on every Iced Earth or Tribute record. I can't fathom how a guy can be lured away, Homer Simpson like, from one of America's greatest Metal groups to be a cop but perhaps I underestimate the power of those donuts. With Ripper Owens coming into Iced Earth maybe they will recut the track, here's to hoping.
The records biggest surprise comes with "Strange World" as performed by Mago De Oz. Now, I do have to admit that this one repulsed me at first if for no other reason than the singer's English is so strained. Upon a few further listens the musical performance won me over completely. Folksy in spots, molten head-banger fair in others, this track is a certifiable classic. Imagine if Ritchie Blackmore put his Renaissance Rock trip to a Maiden track and you would be close to what Mago De Oz have going on here.
Again, most of the song selections come from the earlier Iron Maiden catalog with only four of the fourteen coming from Maiden records later than "Powerslave." What, nothing from the Blaze era? No but as this was such a success in execution be looking for a Volume 3. - David L. Wilson
Both ****
taken from [a href=\'http://www.electricbasement.com/review808.htm\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.electricbasement.com/review808.htm[/a]
(Nuclear Blast)
There was a time when I wrote off the bulk of "Tribute" albums. They all sounded the same, bad, and few had any merit in any way save for the quick buck they provided to their compilers. Here Nuclear Blast gathered up the best of their own artists, spiked with a few notable off-label groups, and have issued some of the finest tribute music ever.
Metallica went all limp wristed years ago so the classic tracks from their early albums were ripe for the re-doing. Primal Fear turned their Judas Priest inspired machinations toward "Seek & Destroy" and came up with a simply stunning track. This is the kind of number that Metallica themselves would have covered at their genesis, kind of like "Am I Evil" only here Primal Fear didn't have the benefit of covering an obscurity. Bravo Primal Fear, amazing and nothing less.
Therion (Fight fire with Fire"), Burden of Grief ("Master of Puppets") and Crematory ("One") give a Death-Metal rattle to their chosen tracks. Tankard becomes Damage Incorporated simply by performing "Damage Inc." and Primal Fear offshoot band Sinner bravely attempts the Newsted era "Wherever I may Roam" leaving the finished product much more listenable than the original.
Anthrax (Phantom Lord") and a good half dozen others all slash and burn their tracks to a nice crispy black, just like Metallica used to, with much obvious love and reverence making this the definitive Metala-tribute.
If there is a group who has been tributized more than Iron Maiden, I completely missed the news. In Nuclear Blasts's second volume of Maiden tributary you get all kinds of exclusive goodies. Primal Fear comes through again this time with a stellar turn on "2 Minutes to Midnight." The guitar work is so much more stripped down than the over produced original and just as tight as Maiden does the track live.
Anthrax shows up again and completely makes "Remember Tomorrow" their own. Maybe they could drop the rap number they do live and replace it with this one? It would make for a much better show fellas. Tankard also picked from the DiAnno era classics and came up with "Iron Maiden" reviving its original punk tinge. (Quick not to Iron Maiden, six of the fourteen tracks here are from the DiAnno era, hint, hint, hint, that is what people want to hear!)
As a bit of a bonus this disc also features the last recorded work of Iced Earth with vocalist turned "Law enforcement officer" Matthew Barlow. "Hallowed be thy Name," (actually, the track is also available on the last Iced Earth record), is so damned good it deserves to be on every Iced Earth or Tribute record. I can't fathom how a guy can be lured away, Homer Simpson like, from one of America's greatest Metal groups to be a cop but perhaps I underestimate the power of those donuts. With Ripper Owens coming into Iced Earth maybe they will recut the track, here's to hoping.
The records biggest surprise comes with "Strange World" as performed by Mago De Oz. Now, I do have to admit that this one repulsed me at first if for no other reason than the singer's English is so strained. Upon a few further listens the musical performance won me over completely. Folksy in spots, molten head-banger fair in others, this track is a certifiable classic. Imagine if Ritchie Blackmore put his Renaissance Rock trip to a Maiden track and you would be close to what Mago De Oz have going on here.
Again, most of the song selections come from the earlier Iron Maiden catalog with only four of the fourteen coming from Maiden records later than "Powerslave." What, nothing from the Blaze era? No but as this was such a success in execution be looking for a Volume 3. - David L. Wilson
Both ****
taken from [a href=\'http://www.electricbasement.com/review808.htm\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.electricbasement.com/review808.htm[/a]
