7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Twenty-Two In a Million, April 15, 2004
This review is from: Vol. 2-Cream of the Crap (Audio CD)
This is the second in a handy series of Hellacopters compilations that I hope continues with many more volumes. This Swedish band is known for cranking out the best American rock to be heard in modern times, and they're doing so in gigantic quantities. These guys must live in a studio because their output is very voluminous, and that's putting it lightly. Their five "proper" albums so far are hardly enough room for head honcho Nick Royale's never-ending stream of songs (he's gotta be one of the world's most prolific songwriters these days), or for the band's wide variety of cover songs that they keep cranking out in tribute to their favorite punk, classic rock, and garage bands, some of which are extremely obscure and illustrate the Hellacopters' huge knowledge of rock history. Hence, collections like this are highly necessary for summarizing the band's widespread work on all matter of obscure compilations, soundtracks, B-sides, and split discs, which are becoming outrageously expensive collector's items.
This disc is generally heavier that the first Cream of the Crap volume, with a heaping helping of lost tracks from the Hellacopters' frantic punk early years. Though there are many good offerings from their more laidback blues/boogie recent work as well. Popping up amid the slammin' riff rockers and punky freakouts are several surprises that show off the wide range of the band's talent. These include the strangely Tom Petty-ish "(It's Not A) Long Way Down," the blues power ballad "Slow Down (Take a Look)" (one of two tracks in collaboration with garage rock cult figure Scott Morgan), or the no-nonsense classic rock of "Be Not Content." Of special interest are the many esoteric covers, by bands ranging from unknown punks (The Nomads, Radio Birdman), apparently incongruous macho metal (Misfits, Kiss, Black Sabbath), and especially the fantastic "A House Is Not a Motel" by the brilliant psychedelic cult faves Love.
These guys know their rock history, both through their huge number of skillful originals, and their knowledgeable taste in cover songs. They're also building a humungous history of their own. But even though this disc has a whopping 22 tracks of hard-to-find Hellacopters treasures, and it's the second such compilation, there are still dozens if not hundreds of rare tracks out there. We need more of these compilations, and we need 'em fast. [~doomsdayer520~]
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