I was standing at the bus stop
this morning when a woman pulled up, rolled down her window, and told me that
she drove by me every morning and thought I looked great. She said my wardrobe
always puts a smile on her face. It was a hell of a great way to start my
Thursday, and the pleasant affirmation of it all stuck with me all day.
So, Unknown Lady, thanks for
passing along a little joy to a stranger. It’s people like you that make a
rainy day sunny around the edges.
Disc 1063 is…Take Me Home: The Bluegrass Tribute to Guns N’ Roses
Artist: Iron
Horse
Year of Release: 2007
What’s up with the Cover? As you might expect, the Guns N’
Roses logo with a twist. Here the guns cross instead of point in opposite
directions, and there is a skull with a top hat, no doubt because Iron Horse
felt they needed to amp up the badassery of the log to make up for the lack of Slash’s
electric guitar.
How I Came To Know It: I was in Vancouver on a holiday
and saw it at the downtown HMV (when it used to exist). I had never heard it,
but knew I had to have it based on the premise alone.
How It Stacks Up: Iron Horse has done a whole bunch of these
bluegrass cover albums, but this is the only one I have, so it can’t really
stack up.
Ratings: 1 mandolin, 1 violin and half a
banjo, but since I don’t give out half-banjos…2 stars.
Have you
ever wondered what Guns N’ Roses would sound like if it was a bluegrass band? I’m
going to guess that you haven’t, but never fear – Iron Horse has done the
wondering for you. In fact, they’ve gone ahead and recorded a bunch of
bluegrass covers of Guns N’ Roses for your listening pleasure. And also for hilarity,
since who doesn’t love a little hilarity?
In turning
all these raunchy rock and roll songs into bluegrass, Iron Horse follows a
pretty basic formula. Make sure everyone plays at the front of the beat, switch
all the guitar solos for banjos and violins, and keep the beat with a mandolin
instead of a drum.
The best
thing about this album is the band plays it straight. They’re not hamming it
up, or goofing off – they are just playing these songs as a bluegrass band. The
banjo trills along and the boys sing in tight harmony as they drain out all of
Axl Rose’s angry growl and replace it with something you might expect to hear
walking past a stage made of hay bales at a country fair. Only in this case,
you stop and turn to your companion to say “are they singing what I think they’re singing?”
When
there is a Slash guitar solo, the band goes with banjo or violin, and it works
pretty well. Although the violin feels a bit more appropriate to Slash’s
original intent, both are pretty fun.
\
Another
fun fact: it is a tradition that there is no swearing in bluegrass. This made
songs like “Mr. Brownstone” and “Out Ta Get Me” even more fun, as Iron
Horse came up with creative ways to remove all the f-bombs and sex act
references from these songs. The old man in “Mr. Brownstone” becomes a “real troublemaker”.
On “Out Ta Get Me” there are no
invitations for the people out to get the narrator to perform a sex act. Instead
the band opts to repeat a previous line and let bygones be bygones. Knowing how
the song is supposed to go makes all this Victorian ankle-covering even more
enjoyable.
Converting
songs to bluegrass works better when the songs have a more country-style chord
progression, and songs like “Dead Horse”
and “Yesterdays” come out much better
than most as a result. “Dead Horse”
in particular, feels like it was written for this style that gave me a new
appreciation for the original.
Classics
like “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City” are also standouts. “Paradise City’s” chorus lends itself
well to harmonies, and “Sweet Child O’
Mine” is just a great song in any style. Also, hearing a violin and then a
mandolin play Slash’s solos is something you don’t want to miss. You don’t want
a steady diet of it, but you should hear it at least once before you’re on the
wrong side of the bluegrass, if you take my meanin’.
Sorry
about that wanton apostrophe, I reckon listenin’ to this stuff for too long
will make anyone lose an occasional ‘g’.
But I
digress…
On the
not so fun side, I found the banjo a bit too similar on all the tracks and I
think they could’ve done more with it than just have it replace the rhythm
guitar. Also, while singer Vance Henry sings OK he is no powerhouse like Axl
Rose, and he could have used a bit more emotional oomph in his delivery,
particularly on heartfelt tracks like “Patience.”
Mostly
though, this album is a fun and heartfelt homage to the original tracks. It is obviously
a labour of love by a band who long ago decided there were no barriers
bluegrass couldn’t overcome in reaching new audiences.
Best
tracks: Dead
Horse, Yesterdays, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Paradise City
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