Customer Reviews

Lounge Against the Machine

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is a very funny CD if you know the original songs, or even if you just know a few of them. The best part about it is that RC makes the songs amusing without changing a single word. In a time when most of the top-selling music is all about rage and angst, Richard Cheese takes the lyrics of some favorites and rearranges them in the context of snappy, jazzy lounge music such as you might hear Wayne Newton singing in Vegas. You almost expect him to end each song with "Thank you, I love you all, enjoy the buffet!"

The liner notes explain just how Richard Cheese thought that these songs had great lyrics that would appeal to wider audiences if they were just played more clearly to show their social significance. The irony of this statement is played out in full at particular points on the album, such as when he croons "Rape me, my friend" in his swingingest, loungiest best. I recall that the satirical "Politically Correct Fairy Tale" books had a similar introduction about making the stories safe for children.

It's a fun album to listen to. Some of the lounge versions of the songs are pretty cool in themselves. I like "Come Out And Play" and "Creep," as well as "Last Resort." It's a great send-up of what sells in today's music market. But somehow it fails to offend, even for those who like the originals. I give it four stars because a couple of the tracks aren't so much amusing as annoying. But it'll have you thinking about what other songs would make good swing versions.

This album is just amazing. The concept of the album is that singer Richard Cheese and his band take a bunch of well known alternative rock songs and cover them in the style of a lounge/ swing jazz band. It may sound very cheesy (sorry about the pun), but most of the songs are played straight and the way the songs make a perfect transition to this genre just highlights the quality of the originals. This sort of thing has been done several times before (e.g. Moog Cookbook, Pat Boone's metal covers album) but this is the most successful and entertaining. Obviously those without a sense of humour will hate this but I would recommend any open-minded rock fan to buy this because it's both funny and professionally done.

While this disc is in no ways imaginative or musically innovative, it is easily worth the cash as a memento of the years when an unhappy clash of cultures came to a head. Richard Cheese's mix of today's unimaginative alterna-pop and equally unimaginative retro-lounge act is a beautiful ridicule of both form and content. In many ways, "Lounge Against the Machine" is more effective than recent pop-spoof acts (ala Weird Al) as it captures the ludicrous nature of the song by keeping the original lyrics and simply changing the context. This is ever-so-poignant in his rendition of Sublime's "The Wrong Way" and his often tasteless cover of Nirvana's "Rape Me." At the same time, the contrast of Cheese's happy-go-lucky lounge act with lyrics of rape, prostitution, violence and murder strikes at the tradition of a lounge culture used to pushing kitsch to an extreme. "Lounge Against the Machine" is, at its essence, a stark portrayal of a society stuck between a horribly self-righteous discontent and a painfully self-conscious escapism.

Richard Cheese does *NOT* own the rights or royalties to this album. The record company that produced it (Oglio Records) ripped him off. This CD IS great... but if you believe in supporting artists buy his other albums instead, since if you buy this he won't see a dime. His 'best of' album, Sunny Side of the Moon, has several songs from this album. I highly recommend it.

Most song parodies don't hold up to repeated listening, no matter how hard they make you laugh the first time around. (Seriously, how many times can you listen to a "Weird Al" album all the way through?) Richard Cheese's "Lounge Against the Machine," which reinterprets Gen-X Rock-of-the-Nineties hits as lounge music, is different. This is an album you can listen to several times over.

There are several things that raise this record above the level of your average Dr. Demento silliness. First, "Cheese" is parodying two genres for the price of one. He's not just poking fun the angst-ridden anger of the songs he covers, he's also mocking the lounge revival, so the humor works on two levels. Second, he's an accomplished singer, and he and his band have taken a lot of care in arranging the music--more than you'd expect from a jokey record like this. Third, some of the songs work frighteningly well as lounge numbers--Radiohead's "Creep" in particular.

The joke wears thin on Cheese's followup "Tuxicity," but if you appreciate this sort of thing, "Lounge Against the Machine" is definitely worth owning.

I first heard of "Richard Cheese" on the Mr. KABC show. Cheese expressed his motivation to produce this album was to take advantage of this golden era of lyric writing that we are now living. Meaning that he wanted to bring the lyrics of popular rock alternative songs that would not be listened to by the average adult, and re-arrange them in a way that would be easier to listen to. Though lounge music has seen it's heyday, most adults wouldn't be opposed to sitting back his Cheese's album and a "vodka martini with a twist of Sublime" In my humble opinion, Cheese met his goal and seemed to have fun doing it. Excellent concept. Well done, Cheese!!!

I bought this cd along with "Tuxicity" after having listened to his latest two, "I'd Like a Virgin" and "Aperitif for Destruction." I believe this one was his first effort, and it shows. The tunes just aren't as clever and catchy, and polished, as the songs on his latest two albums. "Tuxicity" is better, but I would recommend one of his latest two albums if you really want a taste of the Cheese.

This CD is a riot if you know the songs. I wasn't familiar with a couple of them, but the sheer silliness of the lounge style (and the stupidity of the lyrics) carried even those.

Alternative music deserves to be ranked on. It's mostly boring and vulgar. Its range of emotions is between "vaguely melancholic" and "suicidal". On this CD, the posturing of old people's bright lounge music meets the posturing of young people's dark, nihilistic trash.

Somewhat boring to listen to all in one sitting, because the joke gets old. But definitely worth picking up anyway.

I love Richard Cheese's voice and love his covers. However on this album the "band" appears to be nothing but a Casio. On "Smack My Bitc-H Up" he calls for the band members to solo and it sounds like a pathetic stumble over the keys to try to emulate actual musicians. His other albums have actual instrumentalists behind the instruments and the difference is clear. They really sound like a nightclub lounge style instead of just a dude in his basement. I mean, maybe the studio he's allegedly suing (I don't know the details) just took his acapellas and put them over the aforementioned midi tracks in order to save money... but you can tell it sounds amateur. Like the other reviewer said, pick up Sunny Side of the Moon instead. Most of the same songs, however, real instruments.

OMG this is so cheesy it is good. Much LOL, and the best Radiohead cover ever.

A lover of different genres of music, would appreciate this.