Vains of Jenna - Reverse Tripped (Dead Line) 2011
I'm a sucker for sleazy 80's metal and several friends recommended I check out Vains of Jenna. Unfortunately this collection of cover songs was my first exposure to the band and probably wasnt' a very good introduction. I actually like tribute CDs like this, but Vains of Jenna's choice of songs, for the most part, aren't all that interesting. As a whole, this CD is rather mellow as more than half of the songs are old 60's rock and roll numbers. The two heavier numbers, Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" are both fantastic songs, but both have been covered over and over again by several bands. Vains of Jenna's cover of "Smoke on the Water" is an fun interpretation. It's probably my favorite cover song on the album. "Mississipi Queen" isn't really all that different from the original version. I would have loved the band to have taken more liberties with the song and really made it their own. "F**k You" is the single for the album, an odd choice considering the name. However, from what I have read, the band changed the name of the song to "Forget You" for the single. "Electric Avenue" is an interesting choice for a cover. It might have been cool if the band had taken more funk and electro songs and turned them into hard rockers. The rest of the disc features mostly stripped down to a minimum arrangements giving the songs an acoustic vibe. Frankly, it didn't really do much for me. I guess I'll need to pick up one of the band's original discs and see if I like it better than this disc. |