In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy

Pat Boone

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 28, 1997)
• Original Release Date: January 21, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B000005KOE
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,292 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Monty Python have got nothing on Pat Boone. You want absurd, this is the pinnacle. No comedy writer in his/her dreams could have dreamt up anything even half as stupid. The mere idea of Pat Boone, Mr. Squeaky Clean himself, (ahem) crooning heavy metal tunes is bad enough, but it gets so much worse. Big name arrangers were brought in to take crunchy power chords and squealing guitar solos and turn them into jazzy riffs and big band horn blasts. Even a few of the artists whose material is covered make guest appearances. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore plugs in on "Smoke on the Water," while vocalist Ronnie James Dio gives a shout out on his band's "Holy Diver." This musical "idiodyssey" actually works a few times. I'm not immune to the kitsch value that the swingin' versions of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)," Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary," or Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" provide. These songs almost sound like they were written for this kind of overblown, slick swing. Very scary. As for the rest, well, let's just say that aside from the fact that they don't really work too well in this format, Boone just ends up sort of speaking the lyrics and sounding completely goofy. If that's not comedy enough for you, surely the extensive liner notes explaining (rationalizing?) why Boone felt the need to make this record are the topper. I liked this guy a lot better when he was pals with the Parents' Music Resource Center. Can't wait for In a Grunge Mood--sometime in the 21st century. --Adem Tepedelen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pat Has Definitely Been Riding On The Crazy Train, September 19, 2004

By	Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

You just have to love the concept here: aging crooner takes up metal with his own, shall we say unique, stylings. I have listened extensively to Shatner and Nimoy sing. I have heard all the Golden Throats CDs (and love them all.) I even have listened to an album called "The Wit and Wisdom of Spiro Agnew." (Really.) But nothing prepared me for this. From the leather studded album cover with regulation glint in the eye, to the funny, yet ponderous liner notes, to the songs themselves, this is a masterwork of some sort. What sort, exactly, I'm not sure, but it demands to be listened to.

I guess this should be obvious, but if you are a metal fan hoping to hear a generic cover version of some of your metal and hard rock favorites, this CD is not for you. If you want to laugh until your sides hurt, it most definitely is. Standouts here include Metallica's "Enter Sandman", the seminal power rock anthem "Stairway to Heaven", and a stab at Hendrix with "Wind Cries Mary." All these are great, but do not even come close to the two best songs on the CD "Smoke on the Water" (you can for once actually understand all the lyrics, not that that's a ringing endorsement, mind you), and the greatest of them all, "Crazy Train." I have never in all my life laughed so hard at a song. The Ozzy classic comes across as something from a paunchy lounge singer in a purple crushed velour tux with a bad combover. This one song is enough to warrant the purchase of the CD. The funny thing is that despite the stupendous campy awfulness of this version, I could not stop hearing it in my head (occasionally resulting in inappropriate humming) for about two weeks: it is that powerful!

Buy this CD today and prepare to have a musical experience even more surreal than Shatner singing "Mister Tambourine Man." "In a Metal Mood" is truly out of this world.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Totally hilarious!, September 16, 2000

By	Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

I grew up listening to my parents playing endless albums by the squeaky clean Pat Boone. Never did I envision that 30 years later I would actually plunk down my own money for a Pat Boone album, but this was worth it. If you are a fan of the absurd or campy, this is the pinnacle of that art. Previously I thought that Bill Shatner's warbling "Mr. Tambourine Man" was the epitome of hilarity, but this takes the cake.

Pat singing Smoke on the Water will have you on your knees, crying tears of laughter, especially if you grew up on Deep Purple's original version. How about his cover version of Van Halen's Panama? I thought I would choke from laughter when I first listened to this gem. I have to give Boone credit. He good naturedly spoofs his own white buck shoe image and produced this album whic raises camp to a high art form. I love this album and recommend it to anyone with a sense of the absurd and a acerbic sense of humor.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!, February 15, 2001

By	Scott Sweet "Music Freak" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews

Warning: Pat Boone's "In a Metal Mood" is funnier than "Spinal Tap." Metallica, Judas Priest, and other metal greats are slain on the altar of Lawrence Welk. It's the album Ed Wood might have done.

Seriously, the musicians on this album are world-class, and the arrangements are airtight. The problem is that classic rock does not translate to big band production. (Ironically, big band was the rock n' roll of ITS day.) Some of the original artists sat in on these recording sessions, so no lasting harm was done to the spirit of rock.

The concept and execution are hilarious. Consider: if you like the "Saturday Night Live" sketch where the married music teachers butcher top 40, "In a Metal Mood" is your Holy Grail. When Pat Boone clearly enunciates the lyrics, you find out that "Smoke on the Water," while a great song, tells a dumb story.

Sadly, Boone endured the scorn of his Christian fan base when "Metal Mood" came out. Pacemakers must have detonated all over the Bible Belt when people heard their old standby singing "Think it's easy doin' one night stands? Try playin' in a rock n' roll band." As Boone was dissed by home crowd, the rock community embraced him after their laughing convulsions subsided. Nice reversal - the youth market co-opting a conservative icon!

Give Boone some credit; he wasn't trying to reinvent himself. He just indulged a curiosity. He's still drinking milk, but "In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy" proves he spiked that milk at least once.