Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Album Review: Pat Boone - In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy

A devout Christian singer performing the devil's music? Oh, this is gonna be interesting...


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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