Customer Reviews

Sgt Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There was a time when the mere suggestion of this would have seemed like a sacrilege to me. I guess I've matured to the point where my deep love of the Beatles (and Metallica, too) allows me to accept, and enjoy, the idea of someone trying something new with the music.

It helps that this is exceptionally well done. It's not merely a metal band doing Beatles songs, nor is it a band doing Beatles songs in the style of Metallica...it is a carefully crafted homage to both bands and their songs. Yes, the underlying songs are mostly Beatles songs, however they manage to incorporate so many parts of Metallica songs fairly seamlessly into them. The lyrics are also altered considerably, with a suitably metal edge (lots of mentions of beer, too). They have fun with it, not taking it too seriously (but not to the point of flippancy).

Believe it or not, there are a lot of fairly nuanced references here. Some Metallica flourishes executed perfectly and merged into the songs so naturally that they are, for all intents and purposes, brand new songs. There are also a lot of Metallica 'cliches' in here as well...the heavily reverbed, twinkling acoustic guitar in the slower passages, the Hetfieldesque "UuuAH!" at the end of nearly every verse, the wild bass solo here or there, etc. There are also Beatlesque touches, with excellent backing vocals on some songs (which call to mind Kings X as much as the Beatles). There are also a few great little straight Beatles lifts...like the 10 seconds of perfect Ringo drumming in "...And Justice for All My Loving" (followed shortly thereafter by a section with pounding double-kick...I love it!).

So, does it all work perfectly? Well, there are a few awkward moments, but no more than a few. There are some places where the lyrics are a bit...stretched (Helvester of Skelter?). But, for the most part, it really, really works well (and again, the awkward moments are mostly lyrical, not musical). Again, it's only because they execute it so perfectly that it works at all...just doing the Beatles songs plain in the style of Metallica wouldn't have worked nearly as well as the way they work in lyrical and musical Metallica-isms.

So far, I've listened to this disc fairly closely 3 times. Each time I am discovering new musical and lyrical references I missed before. No doubt, I will continue to find more. It's also holding up well to repeated listening...something that couldn't really be said of Dread Zeppelin (which people insist on mentioning with this), which was far more 'novelty' than this.

Best song so far, for me..."Ktulu(He's So Heavy)". "I Want You" was pretty, well, 'heavy' to begin with, so it really lends itself to this treatment. But they do this SO well, with all of the multiple parts of the Beatles original suitably Metallica-ized. The soft bridge in the middle, done in that reverby acoustic style (think "One"), is especially great.

Pop and metal haven't sounded this great together since the "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska" era of Kings X. If you love the Beatles and Metallica, you will find a lot here to interest you...if you are more fan of one than the other, maybe this will picque your interest in that other band. If you don't like either, well, you'll probably find a lot to ridicule (but you'd be wrong).

I got it because I thought it might be interesting. I will listen to it again and again because it is just plain good.

You really need to understand both bands and have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of their work to get into this. If you worship the Beatles but have only a passing familiarity with Metallica, few songs outside of "Taxman", "A Garage Days Night" and "Hey Dude" will interest you. Likewise, before I really appreciated the Beatles, "Blackened the USSR" and "For Horsemen" didn't really add up in my mind.

If you love both bands, however, this CD will be an endless source of amusement.

I saw this band with friends two years ago in Chicago. It was pure luck that we saw the listing in a local entertainment weekly rag and it caught our attention. It ended up being one of the highlights of a great weekend getaway.

Unfortunately, at the time, the band's unique smash-up could only be heard live or online, and they primarily play live in the Midwest, and I'm in the Northeast. Now, with the release of Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band, everyone can hear this band, and I hope everyone does. This is WAY more than a joke or novelty band. The songs do make you laugh the first time you hear them, simply because of the brilliant way they twist the melodies of the Beatles into the stylings of Metallica and then rewrite the lyrics to be a perfect smash up of both.

What ends up happening is that once you get past the initial bizarreness, you find yourself genuinely enjoying the songs, all of which rock hard. If you like the energy of heavy metal but want a little more melody, Beatllica is a legitimate option for you, since that is basically what they turn out: melodic heavy metal that sounds just like if Metallica covered the Beatles, but without the pretentiousness.

I've seen this band live, and they're loud and lots of fun. They used to self release their music as mp3s on their website, and I thought all of that was great. I went out and bought this cd once it FINALLY became available (lots of red tape) and was a bit disappointed that the guitars were set so far back in the mix. The vocals hit you first and everything sounds way too clean. It feels too much like pop production than production that should be on an early Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest album, which is how the band has always felt live to me.

Having said that, these songs are quite clever, and the fact that they have been able to fuse Beatles and Metallica together in a way that doesn't feel forced and is actually a lot of fun is amazing.

Beatallica, Beatles-Metallica-mash-up band of internet fame, have finally published their songs (which previously had been available for free download on their website) on CD. On the album "Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band" you find both songs from their EPs "Beatallica" and "A Garage Dayz Night" as well as original new pieces. In other words, the album is a "Best of Beatallica" until 2007.

When I listen to their old songs like "A Garage Dayz Nite", "I Want to Choke Your Band" or "Leper Madonna" I become instantly nostalgic - however with "Ktulu (He's So Heavy)" Beatallica managed to create another classic that no live appearance can do without now.

I strongly recommend seeing them live... When the hymn "Hey Dude" is performed (and everyone can sing along to that), even the most listless audience is suddenly on fire. Until then, I'll listen to the CD and enjoy fond memories of Beatallica rocking the boxes and the stage.

I love The Beatles! I love Metallica! This CD is so much fun! I smile the whole time it's playing & my friends do too!

Don't be too quick to write these guys off as a parody/novelty/joke band. Like the masters of mash-up, Dread Zeppelin, Beatallica are truly talented musicians who reinvent the music and lyrics they're performing and don't just make fun of them. Sure it's tongue in cheek and they're having a great time, but that doesn't take away from its listenability.

You can sample some of their stuff on their MySpace page, then once they've won you over, come back here and show them some support!

This is a bizarre item but it's well worth getting because it's so unusual - and well done. Leper Madonna is the stand out track in my opinion, and they've mixed the two bands' musical styles superbly. Excellent stuff.

Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys

..if I'd never heard the demos from the band a few years back.

The raw, garage proto-silliness was far, far better both in flavor and execution than the remakes here. The old material before the lawsuit that shut the band down had better performances, better execution, and

As an example "Blackened..." on the original had the entire mashup of the Beatles and the long, overblown entrance of the Metallica song - and that's gone. The subtle, funny mix of garage Beatles and garage Metallica is lost here.

It's like the difference between original Cliff era Metallica and Bob Rock shmaltz, and it's sooo sad that something was horribly lost.

Find/buy the originals if you can. This is good if you want to throw a few bucks at the band for their past efforts, but that's about it.

Je... Well... A mixture of The Beatles and Metallica... But not only well done, but maybe very close to a genius work. I've heard this band in their website since some years ago and I was very impressed of the materials and how well this bunch of guys put The Beatles and Metallica in a mixer and the result was a delightful dish.

When I put this record in my office, was something weird for one of my pals to hear The Beatles tunes with Hetfield's voice and thunderous riffs. This was a success instantly in my job and in my car. I really enjoy the good work with sound and with the tunes.

It has the basis to be a very successful disk and band (in the world of the tribute bands). Thank you, Beatallica, you guys sound excellent!