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VARIOUS ARTISTS
"Slave
to the Power: The Iron Maiden Tribute" (Meteor City; 2000)
Reviewed by TBJ
I started with the first CD of this two CD Tribute to Iron Maiden and,
much to my disappointment, I found a lot of the songs to be rather sterile and some
were even amateurish. The clear exception being Sebastian Bach's godly rendition of
"Children of the Damned," and a couple of others. Some versions of Maiden classics either were too close to the originals (with no thought into maybe spicing them up a little) or too different from the original song. I find nothing wrong with taking a song you like and updating it to fit your band's style, but you gotta try and keep the feel of the original in order to make it a
"tribute."
After this experience I hesitated to listen to the second CD. Boy, was I wrong with this one. It is very different from the
first CD, although it also contains relatively unknown acts, mixed in with some
well-known people (i.e., Chris Cafferi). There seems to be a flair of energy and excitement
on the second CD that is not found in the first. The bands included on this
second CD have added new colors to the already multi-dimensional Maiden classics. Here you'll find updated versions of songs that you thought could never be changed and still sound so good.
Highlights include the slow but effective rendition of "The Number of the Beast," the thrashy
"Running Free," the heavy as hell "Invaders" and "The Prisoner" and the balls-out fast metal version of
"Run to the Hills" by Cafferi and Co. One that really caught my ear
was the awesome version of "Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Cosmosquad. I never liked the original song but this version
really breathes new life into the song. It sounds heavy as hell, and like something MTV would
play (if they had any taste). It just sounds much more alive. Another favorite would be
"The Prophecy." The song was good enough in its original form, but man, is this one much cooler. It's very heavy and well played, even incorporating some death style vocals here and there, and it doesn't stray too much from the
original: they even have that acoustic ending. DAMN!
There are some low points on the second disc ("Revelations") but overall,
if you have all the Maiden albums and, like me, can't wait for the new one, this will
whet your appetite until the real thing comes along.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2000 by R.
Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
Revised:
14 Jun 2020 15:11:02 -0400.
