I'm not done listenin' to everything yet, but... the only crapper on the album so far is Josh Kelley's CLTCL... at least it was a good try. Jason Mraz made my bum fall out my pants in enjoyment. Everything else just sounds suprisingly awesome so far too. They all did a great job of keeping with the spirit of the songs. Though, I haven't listened to the Flaming Lips yet. That one may be a different story.
Oh! And all this comes from a guy who generally hates any and all Queen covers!
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...I just finished Be Your Own Pet's "Bicycle Race," and I have officially raked off my ears! YUCK!!
I think MOST of it's pretty amazing.. best covers I've heard for a while.. I'll definitely be buying..
listened to UP (love it) and snippets of the other songs. SCC is good. TYMD has some punch. definitely picking up a copy. The cover art seems kinda basic compared to what Queen themselves did, where's Richard Gray these days? Anyone?
Actually the only thing I don't like about this CD is the cover art. Won't stop me from buying the CD of course. But I'm glad someone else mentioned it. It doesn't look like a lot of *love* or imagination was put into the artwork.
Sum 41 are fat pieces of shit punks from Canada. The only good Canadian acts were Rush and Triumph(whom are two of the many greatest power trios in rock history next to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Blue Cheer and the original Grand Funk Railroad)
This CD is being released on Tuesday.
Jason Mraz does a great job with 'Loverboy', though his backing track sounds weak, as if made up of midi stuff.
Joss Stone is great with Under Pressure, very nice arrangement.
Josh Kelley's Crazy Little Thing is a fun reworking.
Jon Brion's Play The Game is cool.
Ingram Hill's sped-up '39 is kinda nice but lacks the sincerity of the original.
The rest pretty much stinks. Will I buy it? No.
Joss Stone is great with Under Pressure, very nice arrangement.
Josh Kelley's Crazy Little Thing is a fun reworking.
Jon Brion's Play The Game is cool.
Ingram Hill's sped-up '39 is kinda nice but lacks the sincerity of the original.
The rest pretty much stinks. Will I buy it? No.
Well I bought it today and I like all the tracks except Bicycle Race. It seriously gives me a headache.
Just bought the album.
Overall, some really good covers.
"We Are The Champions" nicely done in a bluesy, laid-back mode by Gavin DeGraw. Nice change.
"Tie Your Mother Down" a straightforward retake by Shinedown. Average.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" slickly true to the original by Constantine M. and the Vegas cast of WWRY. Great voice.
"Stone Cold Crazy" has the feel of "Dragon Attack" in this version by Eleven w/ Joshua Homme. Average.
"Good Old Fashioned Loverboy" by Jason Mraz is another true-to-the-original retake of the original. Nice but nothing spectacular.
"Under Pressure" pleasantly interpreted by Joss Stone in an eerie Janis-Joplin-like R&B flow.
"Who Wants to Live Forever" by Breaking Benjamin
is delivered with a Rob Thomas modern feel.
"Bicycle Race" by Be Your Own Pet is absolute shit and never should have made it to the final cut.
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Josh Kelley is an interesting Cars-like power pop version. Quite infectious!
"Sleeping on the Sidewalk" by Los Lobos is Santana-like in feel and delivery. Average at best.
"Killer Queen" by Sum 41 is a great cover, despite a few screw-ups with the lyrics (MARY Antionette? BECAUSE she couldn't care less?)
"Death on Two Legs" covered excellently by Rooney stays true to form.
"Play the Game" by Jon Brion sounds like a piano bar singer at closing time. Uninspired.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by the Flaming Lips gets credit for trying to be interpretive (plus adding the Freddie sampling early on). Adding the acoustic guitar to the piano parts and the dreamy layering throughout the song gives it a new twist. Better than I thought it would be from the clip provided earlier.
"'39" by Ingram Hill maintains the feel of the original, nicely done.
"Fat Bottom(?) Girls" by all-girl group Antigone Rising kicks ass. Watch these gals. They're gonna be BIG.
Enjoy y'all!
Overall, some really good covers.
"We Are The Champions" nicely done in a bluesy, laid-back mode by Gavin DeGraw. Nice change.
"Tie Your Mother Down" a straightforward retake by Shinedown. Average.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" slickly true to the original by Constantine M. and the Vegas cast of WWRY. Great voice.
"Stone Cold Crazy" has the feel of "Dragon Attack" in this version by Eleven w/ Joshua Homme. Average.
"Good Old Fashioned Loverboy" by Jason Mraz is another true-to-the-original retake of the original. Nice but nothing spectacular.
"Under Pressure" pleasantly interpreted by Joss Stone in an eerie Janis-Joplin-like R&B flow.
"Who Wants to Live Forever" by Breaking Benjamin
is delivered with a Rob Thomas modern feel.
"Bicycle Race" by Be Your Own Pet is absolute shit and never should have made it to the final cut.
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Josh Kelley is an interesting Cars-like power pop version. Quite infectious!
"Sleeping on the Sidewalk" by Los Lobos is Santana-like in feel and delivery. Average at best.
"Killer Queen" by Sum 41 is a great cover, despite a few screw-ups with the lyrics (MARY Antionette? BECAUSE she couldn't care less?)
"Death on Two Legs" covered excellently by Rooney stays true to form.
"Play the Game" by Jon Brion sounds like a piano bar singer at closing time. Uninspired.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by the Flaming Lips gets credit for trying to be interpretive (plus adding the Freddie sampling early on). Adding the acoustic guitar to the piano parts and the dreamy layering throughout the song gives it a new twist. Better than I thought it would be from the clip provided earlier.
"'39" by Ingram Hill maintains the feel of the original, nicely done.
"Fat Bottom(?) Girls" by all-girl group Antigone Rising kicks ass. Watch these gals. They're gonna be BIG.
Enjoy y'all!
Sum 41 are fat pieces of shit punks from Canada. The only good Canadian acts were Rush and Triumph(whom are two of the many greatest power trios in rock history next to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Blue Cheer and the original Grand Funk Railroad)
...wait a minute- you're forgetting my second all time favourite band who happen to be a three piece (AND) from Canada... The Tea Party. Anyone who REALLY cares for good music would do worse than to go and pick up a copy of the brilliant Edges of Twilight album. You will not regret the expenditure. Just make sure you're alone on your first listen and that it's LOUD.
Gavin DeGraw - We Are the Champions - I really didn't care for the arrangement on this. So much so that I actively disliked this version. Gavin sounded like...Gavin.
Shinedown - Tie Your Mother Down - Absolutely loved this. Rockin! Fun! Really really like the interpretation and presentation. Very lively.
Constantine and WWRY - Bohemian Rhapsody - Very true to the original, but with a bit of interpretation/personalization. Fantastic voice with lots of nuance/richness. Very, very good!
Eleven w/ Josh Homme - Stone Cold Crazy - This is well done. Josh does a really wonderful job with the song. It almost feels sorta bluesy in the way he does some of his inflections and things, which was unexpected, but good.
Jason Mraz - Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy - Was really surprised by this. I'm not a Mraz fan, but this was GOOD! Pretty, pretty voice.
Joss Stone - Under Pressure - Hated everything about this song. The arrangement was poor, the singing atrocious. And I'm not a Joss hater.
Breaking Benjamin - Who Wants to Live Forever - It sounds exactly like Breaking Benjamin. And it really really works. Love it!
Be Your Own Pet - Bicycle Race - This just needs to go away. Yesterday.
Josh Kelley - Crazy Little Thing Called Love - It's...OK. But it didn't choose me.
Los Lobos - Sleepin' on the Sidewalk - I just didn't care for this. The vocal affectations/stylizations really just ruined it for me. I couldn't get past them enough to enjoy the song as a whole.
Sum-41 - Killer Queen - OK, I was not expecting something this faithful to the original from Sum-41. At all. I am impressed for that very reason honestly. Well done!
Rooney - Death on Two Legs - Not a song you hear very often. Was happy to see it's inclusion on the disc. Enjoyed the guitar work quite a bit. Nicely done.
Jon Brion - Play the Game - It didn't do anything for me. Lacked the passion of the original and the singing was...adequate at best.
Flaming Lips - Bohemian Rhapsody - All I can say is I almost wish these backup singers had been behind Constantine instead of the cast of WWRY and Constantine's version had been the only one on the album. The backups are FUN on this track (and 'richer' than WWRY, but I can understand why Constantine was expected to stay more 'traditional' in his interpretation by the album producers.)
Ingram Hill - '39 - Another semi unusual track which I was pleased to see. It was good just for it's uniqueness.
Antigone Rising - Fat Bottom Girls - Sweet track! Lot of fun! Great to hear chicks doing this. Hee! Loved it, just loved it. :-)
By the way, there's a pretty cool 'making of' documentary up on Brian's site for this album. It centers mostly around Constantine and the Bohemian Rhapsody track, but you also get to see the studio and the producers and rest of the crew. There's also a clip of the forthcoming DVD showing concert footage in Sheffield.
http://www.brianmay.com/queen/queennews/queennewsaug05a.html
Shinedown - Tie Your Mother Down - Absolutely loved this. Rockin! Fun! Really really like the interpretation and presentation. Very lively.
Constantine and WWRY - Bohemian Rhapsody - Very true to the original, but with a bit of interpretation/personalization. Fantastic voice with lots of nuance/richness. Very, very good!
Eleven w/ Josh Homme - Stone Cold Crazy - This is well done. Josh does a really wonderful job with the song. It almost feels sorta bluesy in the way he does some of his inflections and things, which was unexpected, but good.
Jason Mraz - Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy - Was really surprised by this. I'm not a Mraz fan, but this was GOOD! Pretty, pretty voice.
Joss Stone - Under Pressure - Hated everything about this song. The arrangement was poor, the singing atrocious. And I'm not a Joss hater.
Breaking Benjamin - Who Wants to Live Forever - It sounds exactly like Breaking Benjamin. And it really really works. Love it!
Be Your Own Pet - Bicycle Race - This just needs to go away. Yesterday.
Josh Kelley - Crazy Little Thing Called Love - It's...OK. But it didn't choose me.
Los Lobos - Sleepin' on the Sidewalk - I just didn't care for this. The vocal affectations/stylizations really just ruined it for me. I couldn't get past them enough to enjoy the song as a whole.
Sum-41 - Killer Queen - OK, I was not expecting something this faithful to the original from Sum-41. At all. I am impressed for that very reason honestly. Well done!
Rooney - Death on Two Legs - Not a song you hear very often. Was happy to see it's inclusion on the disc. Enjoyed the guitar work quite a bit. Nicely done.
Jon Brion - Play the Game - It didn't do anything for me. Lacked the passion of the original and the singing was...adequate at best.
Flaming Lips - Bohemian Rhapsody - All I can say is I almost wish these backup singers had been behind Constantine instead of the cast of WWRY and Constantine's version had been the only one on the album. The backups are FUN on this track (and 'richer' than WWRY, but I can understand why Constantine was expected to stay more 'traditional' in his interpretation by the album producers.)
Ingram Hill - '39 - Another semi unusual track which I was pleased to see. It was good just for it's uniqueness.
Antigone Rising - Fat Bottom Girls - Sweet track! Lot of fun! Great to hear chicks doing this. Hee! Loved it, just loved it. :-)
By the way, there's a pretty cool 'making of' documentary up on Brian's site for this album. It centers mostly around Constantine and the Bohemian Rhapsody track, but you also get to see the studio and the producers and rest of the crew. There's also a clip of the forthcoming DVD showing concert footage in Sheffield.
http://www.brianmay.com/queen/queennews/queennewsaug05a.html
now that i've heard the whole thing, must say the liner notes are so sweet and the Los Lobos stuff really gets more ahead of the rest of the songs...didn't really get the Live Forever cover or Mraz. Girlfriend Mary didn't like "Under Pressure," she says "it lacked tension between the vocals and music. There was no justice done for the song. It wasn't the quality you would expect for a song so well-known." The Be Your Own Pet at first sounds disinteresting, but it's grown on me. The Shinedown and Eleven f/JH tracks still my favorite tracks, and the "Crazy Little Thing" cover is just a bit too polished, almost an ELO tune. I almost mistook the DOTL cover for a karaoke version of The Darkness. "Play the Game" has a Beatles-esque lullaby feel, while the Flaming Lips went on a trip and prove that when Americans do opera, it's called Broadway. "Makes me think of the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,'" says Mary. Ok. '39 does lack some kind of time dilation effect-- but the percussion choices are pretty bold. '39 is an interesting tune now that the band itself has travelled in time to play more shows! Hmm. Antigone Rising did an awesome job. Makes me think bony girls make the rockin' world go 'round too!
I TOLD you that Antigone Rising's FBG was among the better tracks on that CD, but nooo...nobody listens to the guy in the blue shirt and silver overalls..
(if you don't get that, ya might wanna visit my Mario sprite comic @ www.wariocomix.com)
(if you don't get that, ya might wanna visit my Mario sprite comic @ www.wariocomix.com)
I don't think I'll be buying this..maybe used at some point.....prehaps..
Only redeming thing about this release is that maybe it will get some American Idol lovin' kiddies into Queen.
Only redeming thing about this release is that maybe it will get some American Idol lovin' kiddies into Queen.