Customer Reviews

War Child presents Heroes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am generally not much for these type of compilation/charity albums, but only a week after the excellent "Dark Was the Night" indie-rock charity compilation now comes yet another great one. This album is I think the 4th or even 5th in this series, benefitting children that are the victims of war. The previous one, 2005's "Help: A Day in the Life" made my "best of" for that year.

"War Child presents Heroes" (16 tracks; 64 min.) starts with a brilliant concept: legends in the music industry pick a newer artist, who then in turn chooses a song to cover from that legend! The album starts off with a blazing "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat"", chosen and covered by Beck (chosen by Dylan). And off we go! The set brings one highlight after another, there are barely any weak tracks on here, and plenty of surprises. Such as: Elvis Costello picking The Like (where in the world have they been the last 3 years?), who then bring a blazing "You Belong To Me" (from "This Year's Model"), wow. Or U2 picking Elbow, who bring a mesmorizing "Running to Stand Still" (from "The Joshua Fire"). Or Paul McCartney picking Duffy, who brings a completely reinvented "Live and Let Die", just great. Or David Bowie picking TV on the Radio, who then bring a great "Heroes" (the closing track of the album). But the absolute highlight of the album belongs to Roxy Music picking Scissor Sisters, who then bring a delightful "Do The Strand", better than anything they've done since their debut album.

The album is a delight from start to finish. And did I mention it supports a great cause? So do yourself a favor, and buy this album, you'll thank me later. It seems this particular series of charity album comes out with a new one every 4 or 5 years or so, and I'm already looking forward to the next one. Meanwhile "War Child presents Heroes" is sure to make my "best of" albums for this year again. Highly recommended!

"War Child presents Heroes" is the third in the series of compilations to raise money for children affected by war around the world. Prior to this release, the only other one I'd owned was 2005's "Help - a day in the life" featuring acts such as Radiohead, Keane, Coldplay and Bloc Party to mention a few.

This new collection comes with a twist. Where "Help.." comprised mostly new recordings from the artistes involved, here we get covers of songs selected by the original performers. This is the only minus, as one gets to compare the covers with the originals (where you are familiar with them). For example, Franz Ferdinand's live cover of Blondie's "Call me" is practically identical to the original, right down to the deadpan vocals of Debbie Harry. Well, the song is great so that is really no loss.

Estelle sounds a wee bit like Lauryn Hill as she blasts through Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" but with those funky horns replaced with scatting and ad libs. Duffy does a stripped, Bluey-y cover of Paul McCartney's "Live and let die", the Hold Steady transform Bruce Springsteen's acoustic ballad "Atlantic City" into an upbeat Rocker, yet still manage to sound just like the Boss himself.

Rufus Wainwright does what he does well, a theatrical almost Cabaret delivery of "Wonderful/Song For Children", a Medley from Brian Wilson's Smile, one of my favourites. Elbow turn in a Coldplay-style delivery of U2's "Running to stand still", initially calm and building to a stadium-sized climax. David Bowie's "Heroes" is given an upbeat, stomping treatment by TV on the radio with lead singer Tunde Adebimpe turning in an echoing Bowie vocal impression.

The other songs are all new to me; a fuzzy/distorted cover of Bob Dylan's "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" by Beck, a rolicking cover of The Kinks' "Victoria" by The Kooks, a synth driven/ghostly cover of Joy Division's "Transmission" by Hot Chip, Lily Allen and Mick Jones doing a gentle cover of The Clash's "Straight to hell" (and it sounds like it could be right off her "Alright, still" CD), and a blazing and frenetic cover of The Ramones "Sheena is a punk rocker" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

An AWOL Scissor Sisters do what they did for Pink Floyd's "Comfortably numb" to Roxy Music's "Do the strand", Peaches covers "Search and destroy" by Iggy Pop, Adam Cohen does an impassioned live Spanish acoustic/piano cover of dad Leonard Cohen's "Take this waltz", and The Like do a rocky, reverb-filled cover of Elvis Costello's "You belong to me".

Nice music, and all for a noble cause.

I bought this album and I enjoy it. It's a cover album with a lot of cool recent and critically acclaimed artists. What's cool abut this album is that the original artists picked the new artists they wanted to cover their songs. The songs all sound really good and you can tell the people covering them all put their own touch on them. My favorite song here is "Straight to Hell" by Lily Allen. Lily takes this amazing song originally by The Clash and puts her own touch on it. I love it!

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a cool album full of great songs, download this album. Also money from the albums sold will go to War Child, a charity that provides humanitarian assistance to children in devastated regions. So download the album, enjoy the music, and feel good that you helped a child somewhere out there. :)

War Child Presents Heroes gives us some pretty special music from many of today's big name artists doing covers of songs by legendary musicians and groups. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very well done. The selection of songs impresses me and the range of musical styles on this album is quite broad. Moreover, it's wonderful that the proceeds from this CD can help children affected by the ravages of war. Children are innocent victims of war and it's great to support them when you buy this CD.

The album begins with Beck doing a terrific job on "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" from Bob Dylan's 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Beck never skips a beat and the guitar work is some of the best I've ever heard--honest! Beck performs this number without a flaw and his excellent diction enhances his performance all the more. Bob Dylan must have been very pleased with this; and it's a very strong way to kick off the entertainment. "Atlantic City" by Bruce Springsteen is covered by The Hold Steady; they play and sing this to perfection--and beyond! It has a much more laid-back flavor to it than "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" but make no mistake about it--"Atlantic City" is an incredible number. Similarly, "Straight To Hell" features the wonderful voice of the most talented Lily Allen; and that percussion works so well for this ballad! Lily Allen and Mick Jones do this one up right; and that's great.
"Call Me" showcases Franz Ferdinand doing an excellent cover of one of Blondie's signature tune; and they never drop the ball once. I really like "Call Me" and it's easily a major highlight of this album. There's also "Live And Let Die" performed by Duffy; Duffy sings this and the backup chorus really makes the number even stronger. "Live And Let Die" is another major highlight of this CD; and Paul McCartney made a good choice to have this song included here on this album.

"Superstition," that excellent tune by the legendary Stevie Wonder, gets the royal R&B treatment by Estelle; Estelle really pulls this off brilliantly and I love every minute of it! Of course, Stevie's version will always be stunning; but Estelle does a pretty good cover of this song that impressed me a lot. "Do The Strand" gets covered by Scissor Sisters; they sing this tune by Roxy Music very well. "You Belong To Me" which was written by Elvis Costello really rocks hard and it's a hit for both The Like and this album.

The CD ends very strong with "Heroes," a song by David Bowie and covered here by TV On The Radio. "Heroes" has a great musical arrangement that never steals the show from the lyrics even though I think they played with the lyrics just a bit. "Heroes" leaves you wanting more. Too bad we didn't get sixteen songs more!

War Child Presents Heroes boasts quite a few songs covered by today's major artists that were originally written or performed by other greats; these covers are strong and almost instantly memorable--they're all THAT good. I think music is a great way to raise money for charity and enrich the lives of all people at once. I hope that the sales of this album meet the needs of these vulnerable children. I highly recommend this album for fans of both the original recording artists and the artists performing here on this CD.

Just looking at the artists - both original and cover - I knew I would love this album. I do. I absolutely love it. A couple tracks aren't my favorite, though the great far out weigh the ok. Tracks by TV on the Radio, Franz Ferdinand, Lily Allen, Duffy, and Beck.... GREAT! Recommended.

While this album could have been another throwaway concept, done with little regard for either the original artists or with little creativity by the bands covering them. Instead each band chosen has a unique enough viewpoint toward music that each song remains recognizable yet becomes uniquely original. Overall a great album for a great cause, nothing but respect from me.

Love the idea behind this album, if you're interested I'd recommend also looking at the warchild website. Back to the cd tho, Beck's version of Dylan's song is what originally captured my attention when it was played during the Oscar's credits. The rest of the album is very good, but that song is by far my favorite. Not a bad addition to any collection, and you'd be supporting a good cause, so win-win.

The strength of this album is that even though these are covers each artist redoes the song as though it was their own. I am familar with all but one or two of the originals and most of these songs took me a moment or two to reconize. This is not a bad thing at all, because what you are getting are very original remakes.

The songs that stand out to me are Atlantic City, Live and Let Die, Call Me and Straight to Hell. I was not a fan of Heros which could be that I like David Bowies original too much to see it redone?

If you are looking for a new twist on some old classics this is a good album to pick up, plus it is for charity. However you might want to think twice if you truely love the originals of these songs because they will not stand up to the comparison.

This new compilation of covers is a bit different than similar collections, in that the original artist selected the song and "nominated" a contemporary artist to perform the song. I'm a big fan of cover versions, tribute albums, soundtracks, etc, and this is one of the best of this genre I've heard recently. The selection of songs and artists is excellent, with only a few exceptions. Out of 16 trx, there are only 2 real duds. Summary of trx:

Beck - "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" - great cover of Bob Dylan song. Coolest thing Beck's done since "Odelay" (not a big fan of his recent records) A+

The Kooks - "Victoria" - faithful version of Kinks klassik. No problem with that - when was last time you heard the original? A

Hold Steady - "Atlantic City" - OK version of Bruce the "Boss" Springsteen song. B

Hot Chip - "Transmission" - Joy Division cover. These guys get a lot of hype but not overly impressed by this effort. B-

Lily Allen w/Mick Jones - "Straight to Hell" the Clash song sampled by M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes". Excellent. A-

Yeah Yeahs - "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" - Ramones cover. B+

Franz Ferdinand - "Call Me" - live version of Blondie's "Call Me". This was an inspired choice of artist for song. A-

Duffy - "Live & Let Die" - somewhat subdued version of Paul McCartney song. Oddly it works, if in the right mood... otherwise dig up the Guns & Roses version. B+

Estelle - "Superstition" - great R&B style version of Stevie Wonder classic. (If prefer a rock version, refer to Stevie Ray, or better yet, to Beck, Bogart & Appice's definitive version on their eponymous titled lp.) A

Rufus Wainwright - Medley from Brian Wilson's "Smile" - snooze alert. First of 2 duds. Hit the "skip" button and proceed... D

Scissors Sisters - "Do the Strand" - another inspired choice of cover artist. The flamboyant "sisters" do the early Roxy Music hit justice. Tho if u. hated their version of "Comfortably Numb" (or anything else) you probably won't like this any better. B+

Peaches - "Search & Destroy" - cool version of Iggy Pop/Stooges classic. But where's "Herb"? (joke). A-

Adam Cohen - "Take This Waltz" - dud no. 2. It was songs like this that they invented the "Skip" button for. Snooze. F

Elbow - "Running to Stand Still" - ok, if sedated, version of U2 song, for all you Coldplay fans out there. By a group I've never heard of before. B

The Like - "You Belong to Me" - rocking version of early Elvis Costello song (from This Year's Model) by another group I haven't heard before. Will wake you up after the two preceding numbers. A-

TV On the Radio - "'Heroes'" - Very good version of David Bowie classic, but it's hard to match the original. B+

Overall highly recommend this cd for anyone who is fan of well-done, imaginative cover versions (not karaoke), who is not constrained by narrow taste and preferences in music.

Besides the Springsteen cover by the Hold Steady and the song by Beck, I found the rest of this CD totally forgettable.