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Reviewed
by: Darklight
It seems that every time I turn around there is a new tribute album
released by Cleopatra Records. One of these is this
tribute to Smashing Pumpkins. And while it does offer
some excellent songs, it does miss the mark a bit.
Guenter Schulz & En Esch have offered
some of the best covers the Cleopatra label has seen recently. And its
exactly for this reason that I was so surprised by their terrible take
on Rhinoceros here. Its just plain awful. Its a mid-tempo
funky experimental song with annoying repetitive sounds that get under
your skin. Thankfully, its the first track making it easy to pass by.
Candymachine 88 come in next with their excellent darkwave
version of Ava Adore with vocals provided by Tina
Root (Switchblade Symphony). Sigue
Sigue Sputnik are next in line with their electro-rock version
of my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song Bullet With
Butterfly Wings. While I would have preferred a band like Razed
In Black to do this song, Sigue Sigue Sputnik
do a decent enough job to satisfy me. Dark Corridor
then offer their nice electro-goth version of The End Is The Beginning
Is The End. 16 Volt Vs. Spahn Ranch
come in next with their excellent electro-industrial take on Disarm.
Razed In Black never disappoints, and their version
of Cherub Rock is superb. Electric Hellfire Club
sound the same as usual with their campy electro-metal take on God.
This song is hard to sit through as its just not very good. However,
its decent enough to not have to skip past. Pig, in
usual fashion, delivers a dark and dramatic melodic take on 1979.
Godbox offers the most out of place cover here with
their upbeat alt-rock take on Frail And Bedazzled. While
this cover might have worked on an alternative rock tribute to Smashing
Pumpkins, it doesnt work here at all. Shining
brings the album back with their excellent electro-industrial version
of Today. Rosetta Stone deliver what is
possibly the best song here with their take on Eye. Unlike
previous Rosetta Stone songs, this one is pure electro
making them sound like an EBM/synth-pop band as opposed to a gothic
band. Hopefully, this will be a style that they focus on in the future
with their work as it definitely suits them well. Bella Morte
offer their dark haunting version of Soma that is rather
good. And Synical end the album with their energetic
industrial rock take on Zero.
Once again Cleopatra releases a promising tribute album
with flaws. If the number of tracks here were reduced to ten by removing
the songs offered by Guenter Schulz & En Esch, The
Electric Hellfire Club and Godbox, this album
would have been a lot better. Unfortunately, these three songs do bring
down the flow of the disc. This is still a very good CD offering some
excellent songs that make it worth picking up if you have any interest
in hearing gothic-industrial versions of classic Smashing Pumpkins
songs. But be warned that there are a few that do fall short making
for an album that does have songs you will want to skip past.
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