VARIOUS ARTISTS - NEW TALES TO TELL: A TRIBUTE TO LOVE AND ROCKETS (Justice)

I am not sure what the hell happened with the quality of tribute albums. I remember a time several years back when I was fairly excited when a new one would be released. This was the early to mid 90s when only a few tribute albums would come out each year. The best of my recollection was Something's Gone Wrong Again, the C/Z Records' tribute to The Buzzcocks  - 14 tracks without one disappointment. Perhaps there were double the number of actual submissions and the quality of this tribute is due to the actual filtering of sub-par contributions. From Big Drill Car's version of "I Don't Mind" to the double dose of Naked Raygun and a killer rendition of "ESP" by Alice Donut. The whole musical honorarium rocked and is among my very favorite compilation CDs.

It prepped me for the Dead Kennedy's tribute, Virus 100, that didn't disappoint even with the few mainstream stars that meshed with artists from the Alternative Tentacles roster.

Since the mid-90s, it has been a different story. Most tribute albums have about a 40-60 hit-miss ratio. Even The Necessary Effect proved a somewhat disappointment, if only by the cover of "The Beat Goes On" by Canned Hamm -  which mimicked the original Sonny & Cher arrangement rather than the intended one by The Screamers,  and by the obvious absence of some of the best from the small circle of synth-punk's best (Lost Sounds, Digital Leather, and Phantom Limbs to name a few).

I have seen so many other tributes pass through. The Cure covered Depeche Mode, while Martin Gore and Dave Gahan had atleast four tribute albums to pay the favor back but failed. Gene Loves Jezebel covered Madonna, The Fixx, and The Smiths while no independent label wants to give the Aston brothers their fair due.

New Tales To Tell has a few hits, a few misses, and many that don't inspire me to rate. The opening track from Frank Black ("All In My Mind") sounds rushed and flat. Blackie doesn't miss out on many of these tributes as of late, but maybe he should had taken this one off. If you were lucky enough to have a local radio station play Love & Rockets in 1989, they were probably spinning Mary My Hope featuring James Hall. Yet Hall, covering "Haunted..." sounds like he wasn't there at all, neither holding true the legacy of Love and Rockets or his own. Charlie & the Valentine Killers contribute a meat & potatoes version of "Sweet Love Hangover" that reminds me of the Nickelback/Three Doors Down garbage I try my best to avoid. Puscifer (featuring Tool's Maynard James Kennan) perform a version of "Holiday On The Moon" that flows within that "when nu-metal becomes synth-pop" vein. I appreciate the spaciness, but I already briefly enjoyed this style in 1997 when I was a one time Stabbing Westward fan. No real complaints with Dubfire's BRMC-ish "Motorcycle" but wished the Dandy Warhols would had kept the neo-psych drive up on the next track ("Inside The Outside"), but rather the Dandies revisit their occasional brand of miserable dance rock and fail again. For a band that gets alot of buzz here on the west coast, it is disappointing to hear The Stone Foxes implement Weezer power riffs during their contribution of "Fever". Meanwhile, Better Than Ezra found a way to make the most radio successful song from Love & Rockets ("So Alive") sound even more radio friendly. Congrats, Ezra (I guess?). And although I know how dedicated the hardcore fans of Flaming Lips can be and, according to those fans, Wayne Coyne & company can do no wrong, I still wasn't too impressed with "Kundalini Express" in it's minimalistic format - although I do appreciate the layers of two separate synth modulated vocal tracks that honor the original Daniel Ash/David J arrangement.

Among the more favorable cuts are Monster Magnet (vs. Adrian Young, of No Doubt I assume) with a hot rodded stoner psych rendition of "Mirror People". I swear I think I appreciate most everything Monster Magnet has done except their best seller Powertrip which I absolutely rejected. Vex (of the Boogie Monsters) scores big with "It Could be Sunshine" which is a good thing as it is my favorite Love & Rockets song and the one I should be more critical with. War Tapes own "Love Me" as if the song had been among the band's Horrors-esque set list since their creation three years ago. And if you desire more goth-tinged indie rock, Film School and A Place To Bury Strangers do a great job with "An American Dream" and "The Light", respectively. Sweethead, led by strong Annie Lennox-styled vocals,donate a version of "Life in Laralay" that doesn't stray too far away from the original, .

To compliment my cynicism, I asked the most seasoned Love and Rockets fan I know for her opinion. She wasn't as harsh and even went as far as to say that hearing each song was like rediscovering them again. So there you go. The magic that is created by the fusion of the trio's talent cannot be snuffed by sub-par renditions. One thing is for certain. The team of Daniel Ash with the Haskin brothers inspired fans and contemporaries in the 80s (Frank Black, James Hall), the 90s (Monster Magnet, Better Than Ezra, Dandy Warhols) and today (War Tapes, Blaqk Audio featuring Davey Havok and Jude Puget from AFI) who are all willing and eager to pay tribute.

Click the album image to buy the CD from Amazon.

Clicking >>HERE<< will give you a pop-up player where you hear samples from New Tale To Tale

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