Alternative Rock Compilations music reviews

Okay, dance remix albums are typically not my thing. However, Future Retro knows exactly how to tap into an audience my age. The concept of this collection is to take new wave and pop-rock songs of the eighties and have them remixed by some of today's hottest DJ's. As is the case with most remixes, most of the songs are cut down to a few lines, but the final product still struck a chord with me.

What child of the eighties didn't grow up listening to INXS, The Cure, Howard Jones, New Order, and Devo? It's this kind of familiarity that will draw you into Future Retro. These remixes could never replace the originals, but they're a refreshing change of pace. Might I add, The Cure never sounded so happy.

Nothing like a bunch of multi-millionaires telling the saps who buy their CDs what a sorry state the nation is in. There are a few promising tunes on the CD but it's mostly the usual bilge being spewed by today's wannabe-activist musical acts. Save your money and download the songs you like from iTunes. As for Moveon.org -- their relevance has come and gone. Most of the kids buying this CD probably don't even know the original purpose of this passe, discredited organization. In summary, this is true bleeding heart feel good junk. Shut up and sing.

As a MoveOn.org supporter and music enthusiast who is a fan of many of the groups represented herein, I'm a pretty ideal listener for this material. But as one might expect with a project of this nature and 22 disparate performers, the results are a mite uneven. (Or is it that OK Go's leadoff song, "This Will Be Our Year," is a sad reminder of how the 2004 elections were NOT our year?)

But what I really looked forward to was hearing acts I was NOT familiar with. Alas, they tended to underwhelm. For me, the old friends were also the keepers in the bunch, namely: Nada Surf, Jimmy Eat World, Soul Coughing's Mike Doughty, Death Cab for Cutie, TMBG, Elliott Smith (RIP), and the almost always brilliant Fountains of Wayne. And kudos to Blink-182 for doing a suprisingly restrained and tuneful number.

Now let's get 'em in 2008!

i heard about this cd a while ago, was very excited, found it, wasn't as impressed as i thought i would be. don't get me wrong--there are some real gems on here (among them: "this will be our year", "game of pricks", "off with your head", "money"). but there were a few disappointments ("going for the gold", "everything's ruined", etc.)

i figure it's worth it to support moveon.org, which was one of the reasons i bought the album. borrow from a friend and give it a listen before you buy.

. . . and yeah, where was the iron and wine?!

Track listing:

1. Avril Lavigne - Don't Tell Me
2. Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire
3. Dido - Sand In My Shoes
4. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
5. Alicia Keys - Karma
6. Joss Stone - You Had Me
7. Nelly Furtado - Explode
8. Jessica Simpson - Take My Breath Away
9. Ciara featuring Petey Pablo - Goodies
10. Jill Scott - Golden
11. Keshia Chant� - Let The Music Take You
12. Fantasia - Truth Is
13. Jem - They
14. Martika - Toy Soldiers
15. Aselin Debinson - Life
16. Simon Wilcox - Mommies & Daddies
17. Wilson Phillips - Go Your Own Way
18. Sarah Harmer - Almost

Personally, this CD wasn't as good as i hoped and thought it'd be. The only songs that i don't skip are "Something i can Never Have", "Heresy", and sometimes "Hurt" and "Ruiner". The guys vocals are really bad. Versailles rendition is pretty good, i think one of the best on the compilation. "We're in This Together" is ok, but that guy's voice is just...undescribably annoying. -sigh- this could have been as good as the Piano Tribute. I highly recommend the Piano Tribute to Nine Inch Nails.

If your a fan of goth music in general (not Manson and other goth industrial sort of artists) then you will probably enjoy this rendition of some classic NIN songs. The people that got together to create this disc did a fantastic job of transfering Reznor's industrial music into acoustic guitar while staying true to the whats expected from modern goth music. This is the best CD I found from the goth acoustic series and I enjoy it a great deal, but you need to appreciate the music as a whole, specifically the guitars, to get anything out of this disc.

I tried. Nope. No. No way.

When producers go looking for less awesome bands to cover awesome bands for a tribute CD, what do they look for? Do they scour the globe for the biggest famous fans of the band? Do they look for sound-alike groups? Do they have any criteria at all? For this one, it sounds like a mix of all three, and the mix doesn't work.

One thing that's significant about Bread is that their songs are perfect. For the era, the song, and the setting, Bread did the best job ever of matching soft vocals with tender instrumentation to make love songs that put you in love with the person they're singing about. This doesn't do it for me. None of these songs improve on anything from the original tracks. Sorry, but it's true.

The only redeeming quality of this album is that they didn't touch "Lost Without Your Love", which is the best of the Bread hits. I'll give them that credit.

This CD is another example of why remakes should be outlawed. It's not worth the electricity it took to produce. The Guitar Man by Bread is a favorite. This version is at the bottom. If you are a diehard fan of Bread. Don't waste your money on this one! Personally, I'd rather hear Micheal Bolton squeal a tune. But, then again one torture is quite enough!

Following their three superb Shanti Project collections and a cool tribute to John Denver (Take Me Home, in 2000), the good folks at Badman Co. have done it again with this trib CD to '70s soft-popsters Bread. As someone who loved the original Bread songs AND is a fan of many of the cover artists, this new disc was a must-have item for me, and it fully lived up to my expectations. The kind of tribute I usually appreciate most is one where the artists take the original song and re-interpret it in their own way. Most of these Bread coverers have done that, such as Cake's funky, synthed-up "Guitar Man" and the psychedelic intro and outro to Oranger's version of "Make It With You." Still, others know when to keep important elements of the originals, especially the vibrating electric guitar on "If," performed by Rachel Goswell of Mojave 3. Josh Rouse's almost note-perfect copy of "It Don't Matter To Me" adds nothing to the original version, but the song is such a perfect piece of music, you can't blame Josh for not messing with what worked so well the first time.

The lineup of musicians on this disc is truly impressive, including two ex-Posies, pop faves Call & Response, and many up-and-coming artists like Dave Derby and Erlend Oye. The John Denver trib was fun; this one is even better. What's next, Badman? A Carpenters tribute CD? Air Supply?