Received this as a gift at Christmas from me rotten daughter. She heard/saw it on a TV advert in Arkansas…go figure.
(All we ever hear about musical entertainment in So.Fla is the Rap/Techno/Beach-Clubbing Disco scene). <shrug>
Anyway, ten tracks from various bands and musicians. Black Country Communion was well represented, not as a group but rather GH sung a few DP songs he's never covered before (I think he's done about half of the "classic" catalog now), while Joe Bonamassa did "Lazy".
Other artists included Steve Vai, Santana, Chad Smith, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Chickenfoot, Black Label Society, Kings of Chaos and the Flaming lips.
Briefly: (listed in the original DP album order, not as arranged on this CD)
Highway Star – Hughes, Vai, Smith
An excellent cover, everyone really put their heart into this one. GH sounds almost like Ian Gillan early on, until he switches to his normal pipes and this song rips.
Highway Star (Live) -Chickenfoot (Never eard of 'em before, but they have some all star individuals)
I'm not really a fan of mixing Studio and Live songs on a CD, but, it was a very good rendition.
Maybe I'm a Leo
Another great effort by Hughes and Chad Smith.
Pictures of Home – Black Label Society
I'm not a "fan" of Country rock, but I can deal with it in most cases, but this song was horrible. They tried a different, slower, pace which wasn't too bad, but you could tell they were just doing this for the credits…they sang the same first verse over three times, obviously not caring about the increasing visions of terror the individual was dealing with in the original DP version. It was the epitome of laziness and SUCKED!
Never Before – King's of Chaos.
Considering how close it struck to the original, they dun did a good job with it. One of the few tracks where someone just decided to see if they could "out do" the original. Excellent
Smoke on the Water, v1 – Santana and Shaddix
Another excellent effort, they did it their way, but you could tell there was energy involved and it shone through.
Smoke…v2 – Flaming Lips
I think this may be an older version, but while it honestly didn't FIT on the CD, it was a unique "Techno" tribute and actually a pretty decent song. Not bad a t'all.
Lazy
A very good version, overall. A bit more "countrified" than one would expect from JB, but it was still bluesy and still full of kick. He did a fine job with one of my fave DP songs.
Space Truckin' – Iron Maiden
Not my fave DP song (a straight out, commercial rocker for concerts), but still it's a rocker and Maiden nailed it.
When a Blind Man Cries – Metallica
This was the "leftover" song that never made it onto the original album, but resurfaced about 30 years ago and is considered by most a classic and the song that should have replaced Space Truckin.
But what really amazed me was what Metallica did with it. Much like "Angel Dust" did with Rainbow's "Temple of the King", Metallica started out with a very beautiful, gentle ballad and slowly turned it into a real HM masterpiece.
I never got into Metallica, but they've made me re-consider their credentials with this one.
Overall (and IMHO), a very solid effort, very good, somewhat different directions and the artists that cared about what they were doing came shining through.
But that Black Label song…almost ruined the entire thing, it was THAT BAD.
I give it 3.75 outta 5 Stratocasters (Without BLS…4.33)
