Customer Reviews

Re-Led-Ed the Best of

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I bought this album under the title "De-Jah-Voodoo". Has a Tortelvis Voodoo doll on the cover. Cute cover, cute title, but unfortunately that's the best thing about it. Inside the packaging is the weakest Dread Zep album ever. Tortelvis is here, but not really doin the Elvis thing. On some cuts it sounds like he is literally phoning in his parts. There are a few bright moments: The new version of "Heartbreaker Hotel" is a rap/metal parody that sticks it well to this annoying genre. The hidden bonus track, a short, acoustic demo of "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" is a genuine keeper. And there is a sly joke running through it all that is probably too obscure to be picked up by the average joe: The new bass player, Fuzzy Buzzman, has decided that all of the bass parts on this album would be direct lifts from Sting. Find the Police song and sing along! But that is not enough to justify a full album, and to package this as a "best of" is shameless label marketing at its worst. Dread Zep is one of my all time favorite bands. I hope that after twenty years of their multi-tiered joke they haven't run out of ideas. If you are new to the antics of Butt Boy, Spice, and the boys, do yourself a favor and go get "Un-Led-Ed" , "Hot and Spicy Beanburger" , "The Fun Sessions" or any other album than this one. You won't be sorry. This one though - what a snore. For hardcore fans only.

I'm a big fan of Dread Zeppelin from their first album (Un-Led-Ed 1990) and still love the great fun reggae versions of Led Zep tunes fronted by the big Elvis impersonator "Tortelvis".
BUT, this CD is something entirely different - all new recordings. Very modern electronic sounds with pedestrian vocals. I feel misled (pun intended).

This is worth picking up just for the cover of Kashmir alone. These guys are great musicians and fantastic arrangers. Granted, there's not alot of their selling point Tortelvis singing but he's not gone completely. Let's not forget what this is supposed to be, reggae-tinged Led Zepplin with a little elvis thrown in for good measure. They had the genious to turn what sounded like a stupid idea and make it work.

Insipid. That's about all I can say. Interesting idea, boring execution. What makes it worse is the genius of earlier Dread Zeppelin albums, and the fact that this is being marketed as a "best of" album. It's not, and people should stick to older Dread albums that showcase Tortelvis and the crew when they don't sound like they're heavily sedated.

Sacrilege to some, definitely not everybody's cup of tea, but I love it. 11 interesting adaptations of Led Zeppelin, plus two original compositions. Clearly, not all of it works, but sometimes I think they actually managed to outdo an original. It's all very novel - clearly, there's nobody else out there anything like these guys.

This is Dread Zeppelin, sounds like a tribute to both Led Zeppelin and/or Elvis Presley at the same time, but is actually a joke to celebrate good times and fun with good musicians at a reggae rhythm...look for the samples it may be good fun.