The new BLS is ten songs, all mellow, either acoustic or with piano, that show the softer side of Zakk Wylde, which of course still comes across as dark, menacing and a bit scary.

The album has a patchwork feel to it as the first four songs are acoustic, or unplugged versions of songs off of the bands’ last album. Next, are four remakes from the likes of Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel and Blind Faith. After this comes a song, “Darkest Days” that is also one of the unplugged songs, featuring vocals from John Rich from the country duo Big & Rich. The album finishes with the Christmas classic “The First Noel.”

The strange mix of songs, while true to the title of the album, actually detracts from the great moments found on this release. Perhaps a better idea would have been to make an entire acoustic album of BLS songs or an entire album of remakes. The Christmas song, while played flawlessly and impressively, would have been better served on one of the many Metal Christmas type releases that come around at the end of every year. That said, I would not want to tell Zakk that he could not do whatever the hell he wanted to do and apparently neither did anyone at the label.

Still, even with the hodge-podge collection of tracks, The Song Remains Not the Same is still a very good collection of songs. “Darkest Days,” the unplugged version, is amazing. “Overlord” acoustically performed, shimmers. Zakk sneaks in a few killer solos here and there to keep the guitarists in the audience jealous. “Riders of the Damned” comes across twice as eerie with the piano and Zakk’s ominous vocal.

The remakes, well, lets just say that “Junior’s Eyes” may not have been the best song choice when wanting to pay homage to Sabbath. One can imagine Zakk doing “Changes” … now THAT would have been amazing. “Helpless” seems helpless to keep the listener’s attention and “Bridge Over Trouble Waters” ALMOST works. The remake that wins first prize is Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home.” Wylde hits the nail on the head with this one. His mellow interpretation takes the listen on a surreal ride from beginning to end, with 4 out of 5 listeners actually reporting their brain melting with repeated listens.

At the end of the day, this is not the ultimate BLS album. It does allow the band to show their mellow side, much like they did early in their career with Book of Shadows. The good moments on Song are great and the bad moments are listenable. All of it is well executed and harkens the listener back, time and time again, with many songs sure to become staples on the Best of BLS playlist they make on their iPods.