Customer Reviews

Graveyard Classics

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If there's any concept that has been laboriously tested and found wanting in inspiration -- aside from the unanimously reviled tribute album -- it's the covers LP. Basically, here's where the boys you know and love take a break from producing real music and pretend they're a bar band again, working for a beer tab and whatever their girlfriends can shake out of the semi-conscious pub patrons that have collected (intentionally or not) in their presence. And they've got the anything-to-please-the-crowd set list to prove it.

What's disturbing about Six Feet Under is not their dismal lyrics or haunted house artwork but their seeming willingness to coast on their success as one of the top death metal draws around the world. First, they follow up their endearing debut with a valueless EP and sub par sophomore effort, and then they re-release last year's return to form ("Maximum Violence") six months later with a few cover songs thrown on as bonus tracks. Now to start off the millennium we get a whole album of blindingly obvious "graveyard classics." The fact that, for most budding metal guitarists, "Smoke on the Water" is the first song learned should be clue enough that no professional band need bother covering it, but SFU trudge through not only that tired war horse but "Purple Haze" and "Sweet Leaf" as well. What we have here is the "Wayne's World" soundtrack re-imagined as an album full of stoner death metal anthems. First time listeners may get a chuckle out of hearing Chris Barnes' glass gargling renditions of some old favorites, but most death metal fans will have experienced this all-too-brief amusement many times before.

When a metal band does cover tunes, it's usually a good idea to choose songs that have at least some similarity of style to what they already play normally. Slayer's 'Undisputed Attitude' CD, or Voivod's brilliant take on Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine" are perfect examples of how great bands can actually improve on already great songs. Bearing that in mind, SFU's contribution to the avalanche of cover albums is simply impossible to take seriously.

The problem here is simple: with the exception of the Savatage and Venom covers (both very good), these just aren't the kind of songs that an otherwise great band like SFU should even be attempting. It just comes across as sounding intentionally stupid. And I'm not just talking about the vocals (more on that in a minute)...the rest of the band just doesn't do anything interesting with the music itself. Had they released this as, say, a bonus CD with another album or maybe a specially-priced EP, this would probably be OK, but as it is, it's a full-priced joke that I could easily survive not hearing a second time.

Hardcore SFU fans may get a few chuckles out of this, if for no other reason than the novelty of hearing these old tunes sung (ahem) by Chris Barnes, but aside from that, I really wouldn't recommend this at all.

I don't understand all of these negative reviews for this CD. OK a lot of these songs you can't imagine being covered by a death metal band, but for the most part they came out pretty good! I'd say it's definitely a fun death metal CD to listen to if you want to hear some good metal jams to chill to. My favorites on here are "Holocaust," "TNT," "Pirahna," "Son of a Bitch," "Stepping Stone," "Confused," & "Blackout."

This album is really more for comic relief than a reverent tribute, which I guess is what it was really supposed to be. Chris Barnes' deep vocals fit for songs like "Piranha" and "Holocaust", but for stuff like "Purple Haze" and "TNT", it just sounds like a goofy parody. I can really only enjoy them in the sense that it sounds so funny, but that's probably not what they were going for. The "Sweet Leaf" cover kinda sorta works, I guess, and John Bush sings on "Blackout", which is pretty cool.

Anyway, yeah, this is worth hearing for a laugh, if nothing else, but otherwise it ain't that great.

Six Feet Under being one of the best,if not the best at what they
do.That being throaty death metal vocals and heavy hitting riffs
get to demonstrate that on this album when they cover some old
school tunes like Hendrix's Purple Haze,Deep Purple's Smoke On
The Water.The original instrument work that was used on the origi
-nal songs is upped and heavier but listening to Barnes growl
an old AC/DC song is priceless.These guys also cover tunes from
The Sex Pistols,Venom,and Scorpions(not Rock You Like A Hurricane
).Overall not the best the SFU have to offer but I payed 6 bucks
for this and fell like it was well worth it.

This cd makes all the songs(except the Venom song) better! Almost all of them sound same as original but with Chris Barnes singing.

First off, any band, whether it be metal jazz or polka, that does a cover of a Savatage song, is cool. No arguements. Holocaust is an amazing song Chris, once again as in the original version, screams out "Are You By The NIGHT?" Not scream, but shriek. Nightly good. The other great covers are Blackout, Stepping Stone, and In League With Satan (Venom RULES!) But I could do without Purple Haze. That sounds ridicoulous. Also, Sweet Leaf was great damage to the gods of metal. "I LOVVEE YOUU!" Ick. Chris is an excellent growler, and the guitarist really knows how to play. Fine stuff. As to quote from Chris:AAAAAAAA!

I would call this album a piece of crap, but what did crap ever do to me to deserve such an insult? I'm serious, this album is the worst I've ever purchased. What was Chris Barnes smoking when he decided to cover these songs? Not one of them benefited from SFU's interpretations. In fact, every song sounded to me like a slap in the face of the originals. Purple Haze had to be the worst, followed by California Uber Alles. Those are the worst, but none had any redeeming quality whatsoever.

This album is so bad that I rank it with Metallica's "St Anger." Only SFU themselves could come up with anything worse, so they did just that, "Graveyard Classics II." In this case they cover the entire AC/DC classic "Back in Black" album. Please don't buy these albums, don't go to see SFU in concert, don't buy their t-shirts or support them in any way. Tell them that you are smarter than this and that you deserve good metal. This is pure drivel and SFU should be ashamed of themselves for releasing it.

I am glad Amazon let me hear the truly pathetic "samples" on this CD so I would not purchase it.

The vocals are so bad it is actually funny.

It is way beyond pathetic.

0 stars if possible.

AFTER NOT LISTENING TO SFU FOR 10 YEAR?i HEARD OF THESE COVER CDS THE MUSIC IS TRUE TO FORMAND TIGHT BUT THE VOCAL KILL THE SONG ENTIRLY.THEY REALY DID DO GREAT COVERS NOTHING MORE BUT CHRIS VOX JUST KILLED THE WHOLE VIBE AND MADE THIS UNTOLERABLE TO LISTEN TOO.WHAT A SHAME!