Everclear - The Vegas Years
Capitol
www.everclear.com
Rating: C+
Art Alexakis is the
emotional soul behind the grunge band Everclear. Art has a
deep respect for classic rock and over the years the band
has had no problem paying tribute to other artists by
remaking their songs. The Vegas Years sees the band
putting all of their cover tunes, plus a few new ones, out
in one collection. At times this works while at other times
it is clear they should left well enough alone.
The winners on the
disc include "Our Lips are Sealed" originally done by the
GoGos, "Southern Girls" by Cheap Trick, Hall & Oates "Rich
Girl," "Paul Revere & the Raiders "Kicks" and "Little Jimmy
Dickens "Last Train to Memphis." The other side of the coin
are subpar versions of Thin Lizzy’s "The Boys is Back in
Town," Tom Petty’s "American Girl" and silly TV remakes
"Land of the Lost" and "Speed Racer."
At the end of the day
it is nice to see Everclear paying respect to these artists
and the cool ones are cool enough to dig into and crank up.
– Jeb Wright
