Search - Various Artists, Nirvana, James :: Heaven & Hell: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground Volume One

Three tracks stand out; the rest are o.k.

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 07/07/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This provides a sonic snapshot of indie British/US "college radio" bands circa the late 80s covering VU tunes, and not only those played to death. The best three: Lady Godiva's Operation via Chapterhouse manages to lessen the jarringly phased vocals of the original while keeping the swirling backing intact and adds a gauzy shoegazing texture to the tune to bring out its melody more than the rawer original. Nirvana (I think this came out before they hit it big; the album gives no date but Kur[d]t's hair's longer!) as they would later show their skill with covers so earlier they here give an earnest Here She Comes Now that picks up the insistent tone of the original and amplifies the nagging effect well! The last cut, Ride doing European Son, is my favorite. They dive into this challenging piece and as would be expected provide lots of depth and texture within which to roam and stretch out the tune.



None of the other cuts are less than acceptable, but they do not give the individual spark that enlivens the songs; they repeat the originals appropriately if less memorably. Those by James, The Wedding Present, Screaming Trees all satisfy, but mimic too closely the original vibes to stand out on their own.



Motorcycle Boy, Terry Bickers, and The Telescopes all muddle along unwilling to swim away from the wake left by the original VU songs, and they simply float or drift along for awhile. The weakest track: Buffalo Tom's All Tomorrow's Parties, which drags out into hoarse yelling and ruins the climactic thrust of the tune. These versions do not inject enough imagination into their renditions--a fault of many covers/tributes here proven sadly again: why do so many artists only imitate the original when they can re-interpret it?



Apparently now a rare album, I doubt that it's worth what's being asked for it used, but as I said, the three tracks recommended remain vibrant, and are worth hunting down on their own. By the way, no liner notes, only promo photos of each band, and apparently done on the cheap. (The follow-up vol. 2 covers Lou Reed solo songs with less success.)"

!!!!

outshined | chicago,illinois | 02/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i have been looking for this very rare & excellent recording for years i finally found it and ordered it a.s.a.p! i originally had it on cassette tape and i played it so much i broke it! that was over 10 years ago and havent been able to find it since!! please do yourself a favor if you love th "vu" and the 1990's rock get this if you can... you wont be dissapointed!!"