Chantmania [EP]

Benzedrine Monks Of Santa Demo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1994)
• Original Release Date: July 8, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000349O
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,366 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. (Theme From) The Monkees

2. We Will Rock You

3. Losing My Religion

4. Smells Like Teen Spirit

5. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

6. The Monks' Vow of Silence

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classical but not Classic, March 5, 2003

By 

David Hardison "rackitycoon" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chantmania (Audio CD)

There's an episode of The Simpsons where Homer forms a barbershop quartet. When pressed for a name, Principal Skinner suggests something that sounds funny, but gets less funny the more you hear it. Unfortunately, this CD is somewhat the same.

Following on the heels of Chant, this album gleefully skewers the fad by setting pop hits in a Gregorian-esque style. And they certainly picked some gems for this setting: Losing My Religion just fits with the whole theme, Hey We're the Monks works pretty well, and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy is just so wrong that it's gotta be right. (In fact, it was hearing this last track in the store that made me buy the whole CD). Unfortunately, there's a sameness to all five tracks (track number 6 is basically silence), which I guess shouldn't be too surprising. And after a few listenings it, well, gets less funny the more you hear it.

Until reading a previous review, I hadn't realized that some of the people who created this album were also part of Big Daddy. I guess this makes sense, since Big Daddy's _raison d'etre_ was setting 80's hits in a 50's style. However, Big Daddy's songs stand well on their own, apart from the "joke". You can listen to one without ever having heard the original and still enjoy it; knowing the original setting just brings an extra grin. Sadly, Chantmania can't seem to achieve the timeless quality of the Chants it copies.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We're too busy chanting, to put anybody down, February 24, 2004

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chantmania (Audio CD)

This EP is a parody of the fad from about ten years ago when Gregorian chants briefly became popular. Here we have rock songs chanted Gregorian style. This is so absurb that it's funny. With only five songs it doesn't overstay it's welcome. I would imagine that a whole album of this stuff would get pretty repetitive. But the concept is amusing enough for the 16 minute length of this CD. Fans of novelty music should enjoy this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This CD is awesome., October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Chantmania (Audio CD)

After hearing this music I had to get a copy for myself. It is an interesting concept added to well known music. Hope to hear more from these guys.