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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
To be honest..., January 27, 2004
I wouldn't have even considered this album, had they chosen mainstream artists to cover these songs. Luckly the bands here don't attempt to completely assimilate the classics here, but rather let them come natural. And 'natural' would be a good word to the feeling of this album in general. Nothing is too forced or strays too far from the U2 versions. 1. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Pillar): Very cool cover. The lead seems to be doing a perfect impersonation of Bono, be that good or bad. Instead Pillar takes their liberty with the guitar work, pushing this song into an alternative, almost punkish side. 2. Beautiful Day (Sanctus Real): I'd never really heard of this band, but they really seem to have an understanding of this song. Slightly sped up, but they keep all the drama intact, taking you on a ride with perfect emotional cues. 3. 40 (Starfield): The throwaway track on this album. The music, the vocals... all just seem so generic. Halfway through you can really hear him trying to convey... something. I'm just not feeling it. If you want to hear a great cover of this song, get dc Talk's last album, 'Solo'. It's the first track. 4. Love Is Blindness (Sixpence None the Richer): Sixpence covers a little-known U2 song. Her voice and music is hypnotic, but then again, what else is new? Any fan of Sixpence knows that their stuff on the radio is only their poppy crowd pleasers. This is their real music, and to say that it's nothing too different from their normal tracks is no insult. This has become one of my favorite covers on this album. 5. Gloria (Audio Adrenaline): The trademark guitar work of AudioA is the first noticable thing here. The balence of hard vocals and catchy high-octive lead guitar solo's (without being-in-your-face) reminds me of the 'Bloom' days of this band. A sure relief, as I was worried Audio Adrenaline would take the rock-pop way out of this one. 6. Grace (Nichole Nordeman): Another artist I'd never really paid attention to, covering a song off U2's latest album. This is a very simple song, reliant on voice, and this preformer does her best, ending up in a result very different from the original even though no stylistic liberties are taken, but certainly worth listening to. 7. All I Want Is You (Jars of Clay): Another singer doing an almost frighteningly similar impersonation of Bono. A slightly softer take on this song with the acoustic guitar. A little forgetable, but a good take to even out the almost hip-hop takes that are to follow. 8. Mysterious Ways (tobyMac): Ahhh... this is who made me buy this CD on it's release day. This is also where the album could have failed miserably. tobyMac puts an awesome spin on this already upbeat U2 single, and the results are wonderful. Toby's already gospel-swing-pop style of hip-hop work perfectly with this song. He doesn't bust into any corney hard-core rap solo's, keeping a a soulful respect to the source, in fact this song contains no rapping at all, keeping the more modern interpretations to the music instead of the vocals. In time I think I will probably prefer this to the original. The CD liner notes that the cuts on this track were done by the popular DJ Maj. One of the best on this album. 9. Pride (Delirious?): An all too average cover. If I'd heard this on the radio, I'd probably never realise it's not an original take unless I was really listening. 10. One (Tait): Suprisingly, another one of the best on this album. Not suprising that Tait would make it, but because they're covering one of U2's least catchy songs. Tait transcends his own music is such a way that I can defiantly say that I like this song better than the original. Quite a feat, but listening to Tait's rock/soul (in a style similar to Seal) manipulates your emotions in a way U2's somehow didn't. Suprising to me also because Tait has been my least favorite band to come from the dis-banding of dc Talk. 11. With or Without You (Grits feat. Jadyn Maria): A R&B spin on this single by Jadyn Maria, with some Hip-Hop sprinkled in the background by Grits. This song is probably the most diviant from the sourse material of all the tracks on this album, but in the end I would mark it as a success. Only The Edge's guitar treding on in the background remains the familar. Not as polished as tobyMac's song, but like Toby's, it doesn't go too far and collapse in it's own modern interpritation. 12. When Love Comes To Town (Todd Agnew): I expected... no, really wanted to hate this. U2 wrote this gospel/soul/rock/blues masterpiece for the legendary B.B. King, and it's being covered here by someone I've never heard of. But once again I'm pleasently suprised. Todd's voice is gritty, almost a slightly southern/ Dave Matthews quality, and I have no idea if that's how he always sounds, or if he's trying his best to sound like B.B., but the end result is definatly worth hearing. Toward the end he really starts belting out the verses, and what could sound like a monumental failure ends up being genuinely heartfelt. Nice. 13. Where The Streets Have No Name (Chris Tomlin): The closing track seems a little forgetable, saved by the fact that he doesn't stray far, and this was already a great song. He does it justice. In the end I'm suprised they didn't cover 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', which is undeniably U2's most spiritual song. In fact, I wouldn't have minded hearing a completely different version of it. They could have used it as a 3rd hip-hop mix using John Reuben with a gopel choir belting it out in the background.
I usally pass up tribute albums, but consider this a good one. Even though it's not a tibute at all. U2 fans will be pleasently suprised, even by the stylistic changes by tobyMac, Grits, and Sixpence... and even if you've never heard the artists chosen. Supports a good cause, too. Recommended.
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~ Various Artists
~ David Crowder*Band
~ Various Artists
~ tobyMac
~ Needtobreathe
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