Every once and a while a new Tony Hawk game comes out and we all get it because of the &hott& soundtrack and we play it so much that by the end of the week we have our hands on ice and we keep humming that jingle to that song in the game by NOFX or something like that.
That run-on sentence pretty much describes me whenever my favorite game series releases a new story mode. The games are all the same, but very good nonetheless. You always start of as the skating "n00b" and after you crack a few heads and pull off some 900s', you are known as the best skater around. But this game is mildly different.
Two very big differences in this one. I'll save the other for later. One of em' is that you're in Los Angeles and you have to fight your way past all the assh
oles that get in your way to becoming the best skater around. Plus, you want to skate around in the place where it all started. You meet a girl named Mindy and she leads you around and helps you buy clothes and stuff. I could go on about this game forever, but this review is about the soundtrack so I'll keep it at that.
The other huge change to this game is the fact that all the punk classics on this album are covered by newer bands.
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Get yourself back to a regular heartbeat before reading the rest of this.
Anyway, it may come off as a nice little shocker, but the results are surprisingly good for what they could have been. Hey, I'm just glad no-one covered "California Uber Alles" because that was on the list of songs on the playlist. But there were a few classics made really ugly, but there were a few really good ones that played off well for the originals. See, on this cd, there are two types of covers.
One type is...
"Okay guys, lets make it sound like a direct port of the song so we can get our cash and get outta here. By the way, I'll have the vocals down to every snort and breath"
But then you have the...
"Let's have fun with this guys. We love these bands and we have been influenced by them for a long time. Let's give it our best and try not to make the original artists roll over in their graves."
IMO, I prefer the latter. I guess I might as well take what Musicofficial101 suggested and stick to my three portions method, so that's what I'll be doing for this review again.
The Good
One of the things I loved about this cd was the fact that Senses Fail decided to cover "Instutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies. Buddy's voice is nothing short of perfect . The guitar is very nicley played as well. The solos behind the ranting about people that are crazy. Don't forget the ever so classic lyrics from this song all said in a frustrated scream...
Mom just give me a Pepsi please!
All I want is a Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me!
All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me. Just a Pepsi!
They give you a white shirt with long sleeves!
Tied around you're back, you're treated like thieves!
Drug you up because they're lazy!
It's too much work to help a crazy!
I'm not crazy - institutionalized!
You're the one who's crazy - institutionalized!
You're driving me crazy - institutionalized!
Another track that I felt stood out among the others was "Suburban Home". Taking Back Sunday covered this from The Descendents. I feel this was the best song they could've chosen next to 'Silly Girl'. This is the poster song for this Tony Hawk game. It's in all the commercials as the title song. Funny thing also, the song 'I Like Food' is also included in this track because it's so short. They just threw it in with the others. That song is pure genious.
My Chemical Romance also did a cover of the Misfits 'Astro Zombies' and this was another one of the better covers. Except for the fact that Gerard tries to sound EXACTLY the guy from the Misfits [ I forgot his name :( ]. Anyway, the guitar work is better than it is on the original but the song is too short for it's own good.
Emaunel are a fairly new band, they decided to cover an awesome Stooges song "Search and Destroy". Entwistle turned me on to Stooges and I really appreciate that, thanks Ent! Anyway, Emanuel is a newer band with a ton of potential under their sleeves. I feel that if they made a bunch of songs like this, they could really be big. Look out for a review of their debut album ;). That's pretty much it for the good covers from this cd.
Almost, but not quite
One of the songs that fell under this category was definitley Fall Out Boy's cover of "Start Today", originally by Gorilla Biscuits. Patrick Stump does a very poor quality job on the vocals. This song just isn't up to par with the rest that this album has to offer. It's listenable, just not that great.
Another track like this is most definitley Thursday's cover of "Ever Fallen In Love", by the Buzzcocks. It sounds almost nothing like the original. I can hardly stand this track at all to begin with. It was a poor song to cover that fits the LA lifestyle anyway. Just a bad choice in completion. That's really all other than a few more, but again, I don't want to spoil the entire album.
The Ugly
The fact that Saves The Day was on here is disgusting. They covered Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer". This is one of the most classic songs in American punk rock, it just wasn't their jurisdiction. The singer also has too poppy of a voice to take the snarls of the Dead Boys' vocalist. It was gross, definitley skip this one.
Don't get me started on the cover by The Alkaline Trio. They play the song with almost no expression whatsoever. It's just silly, how this is considered music at all. This is the kind of song that would get a hippie started on how evil corporations are. It doesn't fit anywhere on the album, it's pitiful
In Conclusion
This is a nice little album for any fan of Tony Hawk games and punk covers. This album is also a fun little thing to havem it's pretty interesting to hear what all your favorite bands were listening to as kids. Overall, this is a pretty excellent cd. It's a shame that some of the 'other' tracks had so suck so much. But other than that, this is a nice addition to anyones collection.
Recommended Tracks
Instutionalized
Astro Zombies
Suburban Home
Search and Destroy
