Greetings all you cool cats out
there, and welcome back to Rave Up Music! I am Barius, and today’s topic is…an interesting
one. Now normally, I review a lot of rock and heavy metal stuff on this blog,
with the occasional fun thing here and there, like last week’s review, or my
look at movie songs. As I have stated very early on, I am a big fan of rock
music, and hard rock/heavy metal in particular. I love bands like Led Zeppelin,
Alice Cooper, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, just to
name a few.
But, what happens when you take
classic rock songs like “Enter Sandman,” “Paradise City,” and “Stairway to
Heaven,” and give a bizarre swing/lounge music twist to them? Well, you end up
with today’s album, brought you but one of the biggest names of the pop and
gospel music scene: Pat Boone!
Believe or not, Pat Boone was one
of the biggest names in the pop music scene in the 1950s and 1960s. According
to Billboard, Boone was the second
biggest charting artist of the late 50s, just right behind the King of Rock ‘N
Roll, Elvis Presley. He was also listed as the Number 9 in the Top 100 Top 40
Artists from 1955-1995, just behind The Rolling Stones and Sir Paul McCartney,
but ahead of artists like Aretha Franklin and The Beach Boys. By the 1960s,
Boone made the shift to gospel music, making a successful career out of it due
to his music being very easy listening, thus being very digestible to the
Christian community.
In 1997, after being active in
the pop and gospel scene for over 40 years, Boone recorded an album that
stirred a lot of controversy among the Christian community. Boone released an
album of swing band covers of very well-known hard rock/heavy metal songs,
which became known as In a Metal Mood: No
More Mr. Nice Guy. To promote the album, Boone were black leather pants and
jacket, as well as a studded collar, and also appeared in at the American Music
Awards to present the Best Heavy Metal Artist with shock rock legend, Alice
Cooper.
Yes, this actually happened…
Surprisingly, this appearance
helped to propel In a Metal Mood in
to the Billboard record charts,
giving Boone his first hit record in over 35 years. However, his more devout
Christian fans were not pleased with Boone’s decision to cover these metal
songs, finding it to be in bad taste. Furthermore, the Trinity Broadcast
Network briefly dismissed Boone from being on their program, Gospel America, before reinstating him
after Boone, TBN president Paul Crouch and Boone’s pastor Jack Hayford, were
able to convince people that Boone’s wearing leather was meant to be a parody
of himself.
With all the controversy
surrounding this album, I have to ask myself: is it any good? Are the covers
similar to the originals, or do they destroy what made the originals such
classic songs? Do Boone’s vocals work well, or do they even hold a torch to
original vocalists? Well, it is time for you metalheads to prepare for torches
and pitchforks, as we take a look at Pat Boone’s In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy.
ALBUM
COVER:
Well, talk about being subtle and
simple, and nowhere near intimidating. It is just Boone staring at you while
wearing a leather vest, perfect coif hair, and a bit of a twinkle in his right
eye. Well, as long as he is not the Santa Claus from last week’s Weird Al
countdown, I am okay with this. You know, if the title of the album was not
right there on the cover, you would never guess the kind of music that is on
this album. Well, I guess it is time to listening to this, and we start it off
with one of the biggest names in heavy metal: Judas Priest. Oh, joy…
THE
SONGS:
NOTE:
Unlike previous album reviews, I do not have full audio examples of each song
for your listening pleasure. I do recommend checking out the full album on
iTunes or Amazon.
“You
Got Another Thing Comin’” (Judas Priest)
The first cover on the album is
pretty awesome. The drums hit you right in the face, and the rhythmic hits from
the wind section have that same kind of intensity of as the original by Priest.
I actually like the female backing vocals as they accentuate the “You Got
Another Thing Comin’” lyric in the chorus. It really feels like a rock chart a
la Tower of Power.
Plus, I cannot help but laugh at
Boone’s vocals on this track. Have you ever had that one friend whose dad tries
to be cool and sing along to your favorite songs, only to sing in a way that it
embarrasses your friend? Yeah, that is how Boone sings on this cover. He
accents the wrong lyrics, does not sustain the right notes, and it almost
sing-talks some of the lyrics. And it is hilariously entertaining. I highly
recommend this track.
“Smoke
on the Water” (Deep Purple)
Like many of us who played rock
music for the first time, one of Boone’s first songs on the album is the
classic Deep Purple song “Smoke on the Water.” The song gets a Latin treatment,
sort of like “The Girl from Ipanema” meets Carlos Santana. It starts off the
classic four-note guitar riff, before adding Latin percussion parts, and
glorious cheesy electric organ. The guitar solo in this one cooks, and is
surprisingly heavy. I absolutely love the trumpets wailing on the top of
everything. Boone’s vocals are pretty limited on here, but it does have a smooth
sound to it, which actually compliments the Latin jazz feel to the sound.
Oddly enough, I feel like this
version of the song works very well. The song itself is very percussive in
nature, as setting it to a percussive Latin jazz makes sense. All of the parts
work well in this piece, and Boone’s vocals are just fine here. Overall, it is
a nice treatment of the song.
“It’s
a Long Way to the Top (If You Want to Rock ‘n Roll)” (AC/DC)
This is one of those songs that
should not work, but is actually fairly decent. Boone really lacks the
charismatic vocals of either Bon Scott or Brian Johnson, but deliver the vocals
in an okay fashion. I really like the middle section that features a pretty
nice saxophone solo, but as a saxophonist, I like it when the instrument is
featured. Honestly, this one does not feel like it is the original song, and it
makes it a little bit less enjoyable on my part. Still, it is an interesting
arrangement of the song, but I must ask one thing: WHERE ARE THE BAGPIPES?!?!
“Panama”
(Van Halen)
This one feels more like a new
wave kind of tune instead of swing. This version of “Panama” feels like it
sucked out the energy of the original song. It is really not that great of a
cover, and I honestly would skip it.
“No
More Mr. Nice Guy” (Alice Cooper)
And here is what I guess we can call
the title track of the album, and it is one of the strangest covers on this
album. It is a weird big band chart with maybe a hint of soul in it. It
actually lacks the attitude that Cooper brought to the original song. There is
also this disconnection between the meaning of the lyrics and how they are sung
by Boone. It is as if Boone does not care about the meaning of the lyrics, and
it makes the song less enjoyable.
“Love
Hurts” (Nazareth version)
This is your standard jazz ballad
piece, and it is actually really nice. Boone’s voice does well with the lyrics
and all of the instrumental parts work well together. There really is not much
I can say about this one except that it is good.
“Enter
Sandman” (Metallica)
Allow me to clarify something:
though I am a big Metallica fan, “Enter Sandman” is not my favorite song. When
I first hear it many years ago, I love it, for it was simple, but had a bit of
a dark edge to it. However, since it was a bit more main stream than previous
Metallica songs, it got a lot of airplay, and I actually got annoyed by it, and
would actually change the station, not wanting to hear it. Still, it remains
one of Metallica’s biggest hits, and I will admit that it is a lot of fun to
hear it whenever Metallica does play it live in concert (the S&M version is one of my favorite
live performances of the song).
With that said, I do not like Boone’s take on the song.
Even though I love swing music, this one sounds nothing like it the original
tune. With most of the songs on this album, they invoke the spirit of the
original versions, even if it is not exactly the same arrangement of the song.
This song starts out with the main guitar riff, but quickly switches to a very
upbeat swing tune, and it is a bit off-putting. While Boone does follow the
melodic line of the song, the instrumental music parts are nowhere near the
original. Heck, I do not even think they follow the same chord progression.
They are not really bad, but unlike a lot the rest of the songs on this album,
I do not get the vibe of it being a cover of “Enter Sandman.”
The song does have some good
parts. The child’s prayer is changed a bit that makes it a bit more foreboding
than the original, and I did enjoy the solo section with the saxophone. But,
those little bits here and there do not help the overall presentation of the
song. Honestly, I would rather listen to the original a thousand times on a
loop before listening to this one again. I would say check it out, if only for
a way not to do a “serious” cover of any song.
“Holy
Diver” (Dio)
Here is a weird fact about this
cover: Ronnie James Dio can actually be heard at various points in the song.
You have to listen closely, but you can find him. This actually makes sense to me,
since it has been established that Dio actually has a background in playing
trumpet and playing jazz band music.
Anyway, this version of the song
is my favorite cover on the whole album. The strings in the beginning are
mysterious, just the like the synthesizers of the original. They build up to
the brass coming in before the song goes into the main groove of the song,
which is a new orchestration of the main guitar riff. This cover best
represents the original song, for it has the very low key groove of the
original, but is filled with the energy that Dio is/was known for having in
each song.
If I had to give any criticism to
the song, it would be the reprise of the dark, mysterious intro at the end of
the song, in which Boone adds a Bible verse over it. It feels like it was an
unnecessary addition to the song. Still, that little bit does not take away
from how much fun it is to listen to this cover of “Holy Diver.” But…I would
rather still listen to the Killswitch Engage version any day of the week.
Still pretty cool…
“Paradise
City” (Guns ‘N Roses)
This one just rocks, which is a
word I would never have thought to use to describe Pat Boone. It is very
upbeat, and is full of energy that really captures the spirit of the original
GNR tune. My absolutely favorite part of this song is how fast and cleanly Boone
gets out the lyrics to the song. The guitar solo is very rock heavy, and I
actually like the slow break down section at around the three-minute mark. It
is a bit of a breather before the song jump right back into the faster tempo.
This was quite a surprise to hear, and I am glad I heard it, for it was a lot
of fun.
“The
Wind Cries Mary” (Jimi Hendrix)
This one is another jazz ballad
that is smooth, relaxing and actually has a hint of blues to it. I think the
middle, upbeat section is a lot of fun, full of sharp, syncopated rhythms as
the brass and saxophones trade back and forth. It is not a particularly exciting
version of the song, but the original itself is not that fast or exciting.
Overall, this cover is a nice addition to the album.
“Crazy
Train”
I actually remember hearing this
song, or at least a version of this song, back on the very bizarre reality TV
show, The Osbournes, which followed
the lives of Ozzy Osbourne, his wife/manager Sharon, and two of their three
kids, Kelly and Jack. It was…weird, to say the least…
FUN FACT: Pat Boone used to live next door
to Ozzy and Family…
As for the Pat Boone version,
there is only one word to describe this song: hilarious! It starts out with the
famous bass intro played on trombones that leads into the main guitar riff. All
of the sudden, you hear the female backing vocals sing “Crazy, Crazy train!
Choo-choo!” And it is at the “choo-choo” part that I just lose it. The rest of
the song is full of wacky, funny musical moments, giving the impression that
the singer truly has gone off the deep end. Of course, being a song about the
Cold War, I would not be surprise if the singer is crazy. Overall, if you need
a good laugh, Boone’s cover of “Crazy Train” is the way to go.
“Stairway
to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin)
Please note: Some images in the video
may not be appropriate for younger readers…
For those of you who are unaware:
“Stairway to Heaven” is one of my favorite songs. It is brilliantly written,
with a nice slow intro that gradually builds to an amazing hard rock section.
Plus, it is Robert Plant at his best vocally. Whenever I hear someone covering
this version, I am probably a bit more critical towards them since I find the
original version to be rock ‘n roll perfection.
So, you would think that I would
absolutely despise Boone’s cover of “Stairway.” The truth is I actually do not
mind this version’s instrumental parts. The flute introduction is really
beautiful and gives me the chills. The rest of the instrumental parts work well
together, and actually invokes the spirit of the original song.
However, there is one thing I do
not like about the song, and it is a glaring problem: Pat Boone’s vocals.
Boone’s voice does not really compliment the arrangement of the song. He is
often off from the melody of the song, which I find to be strange since he is
pretty accurate on the other songs on the album. He also lacks the strength
needed to perform this song, especially in the hard rock/swing sections of the
song. While I can support the rest of the band on this cover, I am going to
give Pat Boone the “No Stairway to Heaven” treatment.
OVERALL
IMPRESSION:
To be honest, I am nowhere near a
fan of Pat Boone. It is not because he is super devout Christian man, or that
his conservative views are a bit too far to the right. No, I am just not a fan
of his music. His music has never really impressed me, and I have never cared
follow him as a singer. That is, until I found out about this album.
In
a Metal Mood
is really a hoot to listen to. Most of the arrangements of the songs are very
unique, and can be pretty enjoyable. Though I feel like “Enter Sandman” and “Panama”
were not anywhere near the original versions, the rest of the songs felt like I
was listening to a nice jazz band arrangement of the song, and really capture the
spirit of the original songs. Boone’s vocals, for the most part, are enjoyable
and easy on the ears, even though I still feel like he could have done a better
job on “Stairway.”
Surprisingly, this would not be
the last time we would see a lounge singer take on rock tunes and give them the
swing music treatment. In 2005, Boone’s contemporary Paul Anka released his own
rock in jazz album called Rock Swings,
which was certified Gold. Also, comedic musician Richard Cheese has made a
successful career of taking rock and pop tunes and giving them the “standard”
treatment, including his hilarious take on Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness.”
How can you not laugh at this?
If you need a really good laugh,
and yet want to hear some really good swing/jazz music, I highly recommend
picking up Pat Boone’s In a Metal Mood.
It has some good moments that will make you bust a gut, and put a smile on your
face. However, if you are a rock purist and do not want to ruin some of your
favorite songs, I would not recommend you pick up the album.
Well, that brings us to the of
another edition of Rave Up Music. And, with all of these covers of rock tunes,
I think we are overdue for another installment for Cover Wars! So, until next time, I am Barius, and keep on swinging,
baby! Oh, and keep on rockin’ too!
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