Search - Various Artists :: Substitute: Songs from the Who

Ho-hum

David Bradley | Sterling, VA USA | 07/28/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I have yet to hear a "tribute" album that is worth the time it takes to listen, but I still get drawn into buying them.Here's the problem with "tribute" records: if the artists go the note-for-note reproduction route, what's the point? Who cares if Phish can reproduce "5:15"? (They don't quite, by the way. They play the same notes, but all of the passion of the original is sucked out of the performance, and the vocals sound like they were done after running a marathon) If you want to hear the original, you listen to the original...right?If the artists go for reinterpretation, who cares? How many people listen to the Who's version of "Pictures Of Lily" and wishes it had been slower and sung in a smug monotone, ala David Bowie's version here? Classic songs done differently--with some very rare exceptions, like Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" and Joe Cocker's "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"--don't work.Perhaps most dissapointing of all is the generally lazy vocals on this CD. Eddie Veder always sounds like he's asleep on his feet, but Sheryl Crow, David Bowie, and the singers for Phish and Fastball all sound like they phoned it in too.Paul Weller comes off best here, but that may just be because he has spent his entire career imitating the Who."