Another good day at work followed
by a little socializing at the end of the day has left me feeling in a mellow
mood.
Disc 865 is….B-Sides and Rarities
Artist: Cake
Year of Release: 2007
What’s up with the Cover? I usually enjoy Cake’s simple yet
evocative album covers and this is no exception. Nice touch to have the drawing
of the car upside down to represent the “b-side’ of the album.
How I Came To Know It: I was already an avowed Cake fan
when this album was released, so this was just me buying their latest record on
spec.
How It Stacks Up: I have seven Cake albums, which is all of
them. Of those seven “B-Sides and Rarities” is more a collection of odds and
ends than a studio album, but it is close enough for me to rank it. Sadly, it
falls into seventh – or last – place. It is still enjoyable, but not as good as
the rest of the Cake anthology.
Ratings: 3 stars
Cake has a style that is unlike any other band I’ve
heard, which makes hearing their take on songs made famous by other artists
that much more interesting. Cake takes each song and reinterprets it, creating
a conversation between them and the original track in the process.
The album begins with Black Sabbath’s classic “War Pigs.” I have three other versions
of this song including: the original, a live version with Dio as the lead
singer and a cover by Faith No More. I like all the versions, demonstrating
that a great song shines through no matter what. Cake brings their amazing
indie funk timing to the equation. I’m not sure there is a rock band which keeps
better time than Cake, and a groove-driven song like “War Pigs” just serves as a showcase for their talents.
The hits keep coming with a cover of “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town”
which was made famous by Kenny Rogers some 35 years earlier. Cake takes a country
song full of heartache, speeds it up and infuses it with a desperate energy
that showcases the tragic lyrics in a new and yet entirely recognizable way.
All cover songs wish they could be this perfect combination of deferential and clever.
Cake’s strong work continues on the rest of the
album, but unfortunately the remaining songs didn’t hold my attention the same.
“Mahna Mahna” is as brilliant as
anything I remember from the Muppet Show (and that was good). “Excuse Me, I Think I Have a Heartache” is
a nice blend of honky tonk hurt and Cake’s big-band flavoured rockabilly
approach to the song. I have nothing to complain about on either song except that
neither track has ever interested me overmuch. It isn’t Cake’s delivery here,
so much as their choice of source material.
And this is true for most of the rest of the record,
where they take on old standards from the sixties and seventies, infusing them
with plenty of their unique energy, but never getting me past the fact that the
songs don’t grab me.
One of the most interesting tracks is “Conroy” a Cake-composed instrumental track
that walks the edge of rock and electronica. It isn’t a style I would usually
enjoy but here I welcomed it, maybe the more so because it is nestled between
tracks that feel dated despite Cake’s solid efforts to modernize them.
The album also has a bit of what I would call filler
in the form of a live version of “Short
Skirt, Long Jacket” and “It’s Coming
Down” neither one of which is as good as the studio version appearing on
earlier albums. The final song is another live track, this time “War Pigs.” Not only had I heard their
superior studio version, it is the opening track on the same album. It just
felt repetitive at that point. The album would have been better as a 6 track EP
than an 11 track LP with throwaway live versions.
Despite this, the strength of “War Pigs” (studio version) and “Ruby…”
made everything worth it. Even the songs that I didn’t like as much became
better due to Cake’s talent, elevating this record just north of 3 stars on
skill and musicianship alone.
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