Artist: Various
Album: Punk Goes 90s
Label: Fearless Records
Tracks: 15
Length: 55:38
Review By: John Durkee

After going Pop, Metal, Accoustic and 80s, “Punk” has decided to go 90s. An obvious observation about this compilation in particular is that none of the acts are “true” punk. They may have a sound influenced or reminiscent of punk, but that’s not what this album is about. It would probably be more aptly titled “The Latest Trend in Pop Punk Goes…” Perhaps some find that offensive or bad, but frankly it does not matter. I for one have grown accustomed to this form of marketing and don’t really care about the further “bastardization” of the term punk. It’s just a music genre in this case, so whatever. Plus a lot of the songs on these former compilations have been quite good or if nothing else, really fun.

As for the content on this latest compilation of covers, there’s a mix and match of good, mediocre and bad. The album starts with Mae’s cover of the Nine Inch Nails classic “March of the Pigs.” Perhaps not the best rendition of the song, but it shows that Mae is willing to be “edgy” as the song does include the F word and could likely lead to the biggest controversy in the CCM market since Evanescence. The song is performed in the same style of the original and provides little changes to the song aside from being performed by Mae’s front-man Dave Elkins instead of Trent Reznor, and while in some way’s Elkins has a more pleasant voice, he just does not seem to be able to convey the darker styled vocals of the song that Mr. Reznor pours out in the original version; making the cover to seem a bit stale in comparison. This is a fairly representative song for the CD as a whole, as most of the songs are fairly enjoyable and fun, but have one or two things that hold the cover back from being as good as they should be. Emery’s rendition of Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “All I Want” is not nearly as good as I hoped as the song is slowed to a crawl. Bleeding Through’s version of the Hum classic “Stars” is song is sung off key, and Cartel’s take on Oasis’s “Wonderwall” is not quite right, as the vocals just don’t seem to fit the song.

There are some covers that rise above most of the other songs. Anberlin’s translation of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy The Silence,” may well be the best track on the album by staying true to the style and melody of the original while adding a more danceable groove and flair to the song. Gym Class Heroes re-make of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under The Bridge” has a hip hop finesse that drives the song, although it does disappoint as it lacks the four part harmony at the end of the original that made it so good. Copeland’s frail and vulnerably delivered version of the Soundgarden favorite, “Black Hole Son” adds volumes to its dark call for Apocalypse. Another interesting take on a classic is The Killing Moon’s rendition of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” Coming with a far more testosterone filled vocal delivery transforms the original sentiment from a bitter ex-girlfriend to that of a gay man insulted over his ex leaving for a straight relationship. While this may not be the intention of The Killing Moon, it makes the song a lot more interesting to interpret lyrically, even though the overall musical performance is a bit lacking.

As it is a compilation it does have some outright bad songs. The one that comes first to mind is The Starting Line’s cover of Bjork’s “Big Time Sensuality.” The song is different sounding which is a good step, but the song vocals are thoroughly nasal and grate on the nerves. Also, Eighteen Visions covering Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People” is anything but beautiful, as the overall dark theme of the songs comes off wrong with too many higher pitched screams that need a darker and lower growl for the sound that Eighteen Visions seems to be leading to but never delivers.

The other problem I find with this release is a lack of familiar songs from the 90’s. I had expected The Goo Goo Dolls “Iris,” a version of The Smashing Pumpkins “Zero,” Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” or even Hootie and the Blowflish, the Foo Fighters or something that was more popular from the decade. Although this criticism is less significant as there was far too many releases from the decade to please everyone.

Overall though, the album is fun and moderately good. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but that’s not what is needed from this compilation, it’s made to reminisce and to hear some more songs from some of our favorite pop emo and pop punk bands. If you’re a fan of these artists or songs, give the album a try.