Various Artists - Punk Goes '90s

[Scott Weber]

Various Artists - Punk Goes '90s
Record Label: Fearless Records
Release Date: May 9, 2006

It’s really time for this series to stop. In Fearless’ latest endeavor into the popular Punk Goes Whatever series, 15 bands attempt to cover songs from the 90s with or without their own individual flavor added to the songs. Many fail. In fact, most of them fail. But there in lies the problem with a Punk Goes 90s compilation. The target market for this album are people who were born in the 80’s, people who grew up idolizing artists like Nirvana, Third Eye Blind, Oasis, and more. Songs like Oasis’s “Wonderwall” (which may be one of the greatest songs ever written) simply can’t be covered in a manner that can do justice to the original – it’s just too soon. That song, for me, holds a special place in my musical upbringing and I’m certain it does in many others as well. Punk Goes 80s, Punk Goes Pop, those are full of covers bands can pull off, because listeners can relate to 80s songs as being something they hear at the dentist office while waiting to get their wisdom teeth out, and pop music as being that annoying Pink song they see on MTV while flipping through the channels. It’s not personal. But the 90s hit too close to home for the demographic this compilation is marketed to. It also doesn’t help that most of the covers are poorly done and are bad song choices.

There are some decent covers on this record, but they almost all suffer from being worse than the original. One stand out track is Gym Class Heroes version of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Under the Bridge” in an excellent fusion of rap and rock. Bedlight For Blue Eyes’ cover of Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper” is stunning. It’s no secret that Bedlight’s ex-vocalist had a serious set of pipes on him, and this acoustic, stripped down version of the song features him belting out the lyrics in a way that not only did Stephan Jenkins justice, but almost showed him up.

The disc suffers from a bad b-side vibe, as many of these songs sound like they were recorded in a day without proper production and mixing. Anberlin, known for their crystal clear production from Aaron Sprinkle, does a decent job with their Depeche Mode cover, but in the 2nd chorus, there’s parts where the vocals are ear-splittingly out of tune, something incredibly uncharacteristic for Anberlin. Hit the Lights’ cover sounds unmastered and lacks the punch of their latest full-length.

So They Say attempts to make their cover of Nirvana’s “In Bloom” sound like mid 90s grunge with muffled snare hits and other production tweaks, but it doesn’t mask the fact that it’s a terrible cover. Unlike the band’s Rod Stewart cover on Punk Goes 80s, the band fails to bring their own style to this song. Way too ambitious of a project, Nirvana shouldn’t have even been touched on this compilation. Kurt Cobain wrote simple songs with very basic guitar lines. His songs should remain in their original form only. Fearless, as always, has put their own personal stamp on the Punk Goes series with some of their own bands, including ones that seem to have no business being on the compilation. The Killing Moon manages to butcher an Alanis Morissette song (an amazing feat) with awkwardly placed saxophones and other instrumentation. The vocals attempt to mimic Alanis’s female angst, but instead comes out contrived and desperate. The Plain White T's cover of Blur is a straight interpretation with absolutely no variation or originality. There's really no point in covering a famous song unless it's going to be at least somewhat different.

Other notable tracks include Scary Kids Scaring Kids’ cover of the R.E.M. classic “Losing My Religion.” I have to respect the band for attempting to bring their own style to the song, using that “haunted mansion” synth effect they’re so well known for, and applying backing screams during the chorus. Unfortunately, “Losing My Religion” is one of the best songs of that decade and SKSK, no matter how well executed the cover is, can’t come close to doing it justice. The vocals are out of tune and droning, and it made me wonder if Michael Stipe is cringing somewhere every time he hears the band scream in his chorus. Speaking of famous rockstars, wouldn’t we all love to hear what notorious loudmouth and ego maniac Noel Gallagher would have to say about Cartel’s cover of Oasis’s “Wonderwall?” While the band actually does a great job at covering this song, it’s far too iconic of a song to be covered by a pop-punk band coming into their own, no matter how well executed the cover is. Cartel does do a solid job bringing their own flair to the song, as Will messes with the timing of the lyrics and changes a few notes here and there. I can’t criticize what they did other than saying it was a doomed song to cover because of how legendary the original was.

This is easily the worst out of the Punk Goes series. It’s simply too soon to be covering 90s songs to this generation and demographic. It’s impossible to do justice to songs that we grew up on, and only about 30% of the songs on this compilation even come close to doing justice to the originals. The main problem with this album does not lie within the quality of the songs, but in the songs being covered. The disc also lacks continuity and feels very scattered, especially since some of the songs sound thrown together and overly raw. One can only hope this is the end of the Punk Goes Decades series and that Fearless does not attempt a Punk Goes 00s compilation next.

[ilovebsb]

i disagree with you on the hit the lights cover. it was the pop punk cover i've been waiting for such a classic song like that and i thought they did it very well. but other than that i absolutley agree with everything else. it seemed as much of the songs were fillers like tsl's bjork cover

[bjam12]

Good review. Glad I didn't waste my money on this.

[weworemasks]

bedlights cover of 3eb was the worst butchering of a 3eb song i've ever heard in my life. its not a r+b/soul track, its a fucking alternative radio hit. i think he tried too hard. i agree with GCH having the best song on here. the alanis cover is pretty solid, too.

this release had so much potential. being put out by fearless, they should have had gatsbys do a cover. their cover of just like heaven is incredible.

edit: the SKSK cover actually made me cringe. that was one of my favorite songs growing up. they need to stop making music.

[TENCopeland]

i disagree with you on the hit the lights cover. it was the pop punk cover i've been waiting for such a classic song like that and i thought they did it very well. but other than that i absolutley agree with everything else. it seemed as much of the songs were fillers like tsl's bjork cover

totally agree.

[Scott Weber]

i disagree with you on the hit the lights cover. it was the pop punk cover i've been waiting for such a classic song like that and i thought they did it very well. but other than that i absolutley agree with everything else. it seemed as much of the songs were fillers like tsl's bjork cover
wtf? all i said about the HTL cover was that the production wasn't up to par with their latest album. What's there to disagree with there?

[Scott Weber]

bedlights cover of 3eb was the worst butchering of a 3eb song i've ever heard in my life. its not a fucking r+b/soul track, its a fucking alternative radio hit. i think he tried too hard. i agree with GCH having the best song on here. the alanis cover is pretty solid, too.

this release had so much potential. being put out by fearless, they should have had gatsbys do a cover. their cover of just like heaven is incredible.

edit: the SKSK cover actually made me cringe. that was one of my favorite songs growing up. they need to stop making music.
you are so angry these days.

[Blake Solomon]

i liked the alannis song. but i totally agree on GCH (who i never gave a chance before) and also on the BFBE song. My friends who dont listen to "punk" (ha) that I played this for didnt really dig any of these songs, but it might just be that they hate on music i listen to, no matter if its good or not.

Good review, maybe bashed this album a little too hard, but nice job nonetheless.

[Scott Weber]

i liked the alannis song. but i totally agree on GCH (who i never gave a chance before) and also on the BFBE song. My friends who dont listen to "punk" (ha) that I played this for didnt really dig any of these songs, but it might just be that they hate on music i listen to, no matter if its good or not.

Good review, maybe bashed this album a little too hard, but nice job nonetheless.
Don't really think I bashed this album excessively in the least.

[Blake Solomon]

maybe not just this album, but i dont know if the series should stop immediately. maybe it needs some new direction or some better production, as you said. this series was an interesting idea, and while i agree taht a punk goes 90 album is just too soon, i think there is still a chance for this series. im not ready to let it die, but it does have a pretty big black eye with this album.

[imirish06]

terrible terrible song choices

[youareallfreaks]

disagree with this review. really enjoyed this album.

[WSUskee]

Good review and I do agree with you for the most part. A lot of the songs we grew up on and it may be too early for a remake. Coming from the side of the label though they thought it would work out since a lot of punk fans now grew up on these songs. The standout track for me was easily Hey Jealousy by Hit the Lights.

[BlinkFoundMSU]

and nothing about the mark hoppus produced mae cover of nine inch nail's "march of the pigs"?

[GDSP]

To even pretend that any of these songs are "good" is giving this album too much credit. The problem is that they picked the wrong type of song to cover. Instead of covering iconic 90s songs, they should have picked the dorky one-hit wonder type stuff. Think natalie imbruglia, chumbawumba, or matchbox 20. How the heck did they think having b-rate mall punk bands covering 'serious' 90s music would be a good idea? The reason the other punk goes albums worked, was because they covered the cheesy stuff. Imagine if they'd had Motion City Soundtrack covering Joy Division or Gang of Four on Punk Goes 80s. Disaster.

[verybarrywhyte]

no "Save Tonight"
no Savage Garden
no Semisonic

[radxbandit]

what I really want to know is how are the Gin Blossoms and Toad The Wet Sprokcet covers

[YourMusicSucks]

The cartel cover of wonderwall makes this worth it. Having loved the original... cartel made it very interesting and I can see some people liking it more than the original.

I love this series, but it could use a jazzed up direction. I think a "Punk goes punk" would be awesome. Or, in addition to covers, seeing if a few bands would write a song with the goal of being within whatever genre they're doing. I'd also like a 'Punk goes Punk'

Either: a) Have bands do an alexisonfire/moneen kind of thing and cover eachother's songs. b) Cover songs that are actually punk.

Both would go great, imho.

[sell the sunris]

If this album had a different song selection and slightly different line-up, it might have actually been decent. I do agree with Scott that it's still too early to be doing a 90's tribute album BUT at the same time, it's 2006. It may feel like it's too early because we all vividly remember the 90's. I mean this is close to/around the time those Before You Were Punk compilations about 10 years ago. So it really isn't too soon, it just feels that way.

I agree about the 'no one should cover Oasis' bit, but only because I abhor both Gallaghers and their little band. But hey, that's just personal taste.

I also wish The Starting Line hadn't just coughed up an old demo, and yeah, SKSK did a nice job, but with a song that's been done masterfully by Stipe and then covered nicely by Tori Amos (why didn't anyone do her? Blueline Medic did a solid cover a few years back of 'Precious Things'), it's a hard one to live up to.

In the end, this probably suffers because a lot of the kids putting this comp. together didn't have a grasp on what they were really dealing with.

Anyway, agree with the review, though not with the entire opinion. Good work though.

[Darren McLeod]

To even pretend that any of these songs are "good" is giving this album too much credit. The problem is that they picked the wrong type of song to cover. Instead of covering iconic 90s songs, they should have picked the dorky one-hit wonder type stuff. Think natalie imbruglia, chumbawumba, or matchbox 20. How the heck did they think having b-rate mall punk bands covering 'serious' 90s music would be a good idea? The reason the other punk goes albums worked, was because they covered the cheesy stuff.
good call.

[lezsolt]

SKSK's cover is awesome (much better than the original), but the rest of the disc is bad. Gym Class Heroes still suck major ass.

[BeerNSluts]

I'd like to hear a BEDlight covers album. You should hear their rendition of "To Be With You" by Mr. Big.

What needs to be done is a monster ballads cover. Not sure if anyone heard the "Monster Ballads" CD, but that would be my choice of covers. Hearing covers of Mr. Big, Skid Row, Warrant, White Lions, Damn Yankees, etc.

Also, the best cover on the album is the Gym Class Heroes. I'm not the biggest fan of them, but they definitely cover the song w/ their own style well.

[PaintTheTarget]

I will say that this was a pretty dissapointing cd, but there were some good attempts. Most of these were just carbon copies of the original (ala Song 2) or were just terrible covers. Gym Class does a great job actually putting a different spin on Under the Bridge and I think the same can be said for SKSK, who actually do a great job making an astoundingly different version of Losing My Religion--regardless of whether you like their music, I think they may have done the best job covering a song and making it their own. I'm gonna disagree with you and say that Wonderwall is a great cover by Cartel--sure its pretty much the same thing as the original, but they picked the perfect lead singer to do the cover and blow you away with his vocals (watching the live video just posted is amazing btw). I just think you can't go wrong covering Wonderwall as I enjoyed this one and Ryan Adams' as well. Emery and Hit the Lights also do a pretty god job, I mean who didn't love Hey Jealousy when they were younger? And I'm a huge fan of Bleeding Through doing Stars--again pretty close to the original--but a very different BT than we're used to. So I can say I enjoyed a good 6 songs on the album, but the rest are just painful to listen to.

The only other Punk Cover series I'd like to see is the idea mentioned above similar to the Alexisonfire/Moneen split. It was a solid set of covers (I think they could have chosen better songs to do, but so be it) and its always fun to hear bands covering other bands, especially if they are very different in style. Somebody needs to get that going and then retire the series.

[WSUskee]

Good review and I do agree with you for the most part. A lot of the songs we grew up on and it may be too early for a remake. Coming from the side of the label though they thought it would work out since a lot of punk fans now grew up on these songs. The standout track for me was easily Hey Jealousy by Hit the Lights.

[turbonium]

scott weber = dumbass

jk

good review. i agree with it 98%.
(best song of the decade? hmmm... to each their own)

[lesto17]

To even pretend that any of these songs are "good" is giving this album too much credit. The problem is that they picked the wrong type of song to cover. Instead of covering iconic 90s songs, they should have picked the dorky one-hit wonder type stuff. Think natalie imbruglia, chumbawumba, or matchbox 20. How the heck did they think having b-rate mall punk bands covering 'serious' 90s music would be a good idea? The reason the other punk goes albums worked, was because they covered the cheesy stuff. Imagine if they'd had Motion City Soundtrack covering Joy Division or Gang of Four on Punk Goes 80s. Disaster.


This guy has the right idea. Its all about song selection. Think about all of the songs on the previous Punk Goes... compilations, they were all catchy and slightly cheesy pop songs that people in the target audience recognized but wouldnt really regularly listen to. The difference here is that a lot of the songs selected for this are songs by bands that people in the target audience do listen to regularly. While I think that is what Scott was trying to say by saying it is too soon, i dont think the problem was time, but simply the song choices. As GDSP said they could have easily chosen cheesy pop songs from the 90s (because there are plenty), turned them into rockin covers, and made a great album.

[radxbandit]

To even pretend that any of these songs are "good" is giving this album too much credit. The problem is that they picked the wrong type of song to cover. Instead of covering iconic 90s songs, they should have picked the dorky one-hit wonder type stuff. Think natalie imbruglia, chumbawumba, or matchbox 20. How the heck did they think having b-rate mall punk bands covering 'serious' 90s music would be a good idea? The reason the other punk goes albums worked, was because they covered the cheesy stuff. Imagine if they'd had Motion City Soundtrack covering Joy Division or Gang of Four on Punk Goes 80s. Disaster.

Just for the record, matchbox twenty is far from a one hit wonder. Try like...15 Top 20 singles. I'm just saying. And they dominate artists like chumbawumba and natalie

[Scott Weber]

SKSK's cover is awesome (much better than the original), but the rest of the disc is bad. Gym Class Heroes still suck major ass.
wow.

[DosAceos]

I'm curious where one could get that BEDlight Mr. Big Cover...

[Scott Weber]

This guy has the right idea. Its all about song selection. Think about all of the songs on the previous Punk Goes... compilations, they were all catchy and slightly cheesy pop songs that people in the target audience recognized but wouldnt really regularly listen to. The difference here is that a lot of the songs selected for this are songs by bands that people in the target audience do listen to regularly. While I think that is what Scott was trying to say by saying it is too soon, i dont think the problem was time, but simply the song choices. As GDSP said they could have easily chosen cheesy pop songs from the 90s (because there are plenty), turned them into rockin covers, and made a great album.
Yeah, this is a great point.

[GDSP]

This guy has the right idea. Its all about song selection. Think about all of the songs on the previous Punk Goes... compilations, they were all catchy and slightly cheesy pop songs that people in the target audience recognized but wouldnt really regularly listen to. The difference here is that a lot of the songs selected for this are songs by bands that people in the target audience do listen to regularly. While I think that is what Scott was trying to say by saying it is too soon, i dont think the problem was time, but simply the song choices. As GDSP said they could have easily chosen cheesy pop songs from the 90s (because there are plenty), turned them into rockin covers, and made a great album.

Yeah, no amount of time is long enough to make an OK band's cover of a classic song good. Look at My Chemical Romance's Queen cover.

[mattym]

SKSK's cover is awesome (much better than the original) you cant be serious

[TKTKrob]

SKSK's cover is awesome (much better than the original), but the rest of the disc is bad. Gym Class Heroes still suck major ass.ew

[zizou1790]

Good review. Glad I didn't waste my money on this.

same

[DreamOfUnity]

Agreed, this cd would have been ten times better if they waited about 5 years.

[apl.Tyler]

i enjoy the album for what it is... that and I got it for only $7.98 @ Target! haha... it only lasted in my car for about 2 days though which says something... I totally dig the Cartel song... "Wonderwall" is definately an all time favorite for me and I really think they do a great job at it... it doesnt bug me one bit that they did it... i do agree with the comment on the idea that they cover one hit wonder type songs, cause that would have more staying power with me personally, and it would obviously be a better selling point and novelty. anyways... good review... well written even if I dont totally agree... btw Scott, the new Forgive Durden CD is killing me! its sooo good. wow.

peace.

[minusthejosh]

I completely agree with Weebs on this, that album is atrocious and does not justice to most of the original songs.

[The Revisionist]

This comment is going to be absolutely biased because the Gin Blossoms are one of my favorite bands, but the reason that "Hey Jealousy" works so well in its original conception is because you can actually believe everything that Robin Wilson is singing. His voice tells you he's as huge a fuck-up as the words say, and when you're in that state of vulnerability, the songs are filled with strummed chords and direct simplicity, as it was originally. The new version is just trying to make a fun little summer ditty with guitar diddles placed sporatically and the typical poppy singer who sounds like he ate a box of helium, and "Hey Jealousy" can't fly as that type of a tune. It's fucking depressing, not upbeat and cheerful.

[Versus The Shed]

I think this was a good review.. Jumper by Third Eye Blind was done great by bedlight for Blueeyes.. Wonderwall was done ok by cartel. But thats why i downloaded instead of buying it,

[fedhed7]

"The Killing Moon manages to butcher an Alanis Morissette song (an amazing feat)"

Hahahah

[weworemasks]

you are so angry these days.
EASY!!!!!!! i agreed to some of the stuff you said. dammit.

The cartel cover of wonderwall makes this worth it. Having loved the original... cartel made it very interesting and I can see some people liking it more than the original.

hahahahahha jesus.

SKSK's cover is awesome (much better than the original), but the rest of the disc is bad. Gym Class Heroes still suck major ass.

....and you just took a shit on michael stipes shoes

[sputniksignals]

i was just proposing the same argument with a friend the other day. you cant market a 90's compilation to people. its too soon, as you already stated. sure it can be done with tv (VH1's I Love Series, even though thats more like pop culture and shit not music) but just, no. not the 90's not now.


i see it now...

punk goes one hit wonders - crazytown covers, and whoever made the fucking macarena

[losethegirl]

I agree with this album being full of poor song choices. It prob would have been better to choose more iconic songs, but I loved Cartel's "Wonderwall" cover and I am a HUGE Oasis fan. I also liked "Hey Jealousy," "Jumper," and "Under the Bridge." Anberlin could have done better, The Starting Line could have done better, and the Plain White T's definitely could have done better.

[HungJury]

I am very critical of cover songs but I have to say, this is one of the best cover CD's I've ever heard. I'm really shocked about this review. There were only about 2 songs that I thought were bad. But the others, were really good. Yes, there were some of my all-time favorite songs that were covered and I was expecting them to get butchered. But I am really impressed with these bands job. Anberlin's version of "Enjoy The Silence" is amazing. Eighteen Visions did a great cover of "Beautiful People". Scary Kids did an amazing job at "Losing My Religion". Bedlight's cover of "Jumper" is unbelievable.

Again, I'm usually very critical of cover CD's but I have to say, this one was pretty damn good!

[imthenewcancer]

i have to disagree...ryan adams; cover of wonderwall is breathtaking...i guess to do a good cover of oasis, you also have to be a drunken prick

[ishotthepilot]

ah thanks for the review. solidifies my decision to stay away from this one, maybe in a couple years? ;)

[kshtoinks12]

wait up here, did u say that anberlin has normally good vocals?
how wrong you are
lead singer of a7x > stephen c.

[Scott Weber]

wait up here, did u say that anberlin has normally good vocals?
how wrong you are
lead singer of a7x > stephen c.
do people even read these reviews? i didn't say that, even though I like Stephen's voice a lot.

[Gabe Gross]

an album like this i would really like to know the tracklisting.


hahahahaha


and you know im right weebs

[Scott Weber]

an album like this i would really like to know the tracklisting.


hahahahaha


and you know im right weebs
www.amazon.com

[mikearduini9]

I think Cartel, HTL, TSL, and Mae had good covers, even though Mae went way out of their way to cover a NIN song, and TSL's couldve been better, but I still like it. My least favorites were from Copeland, Gym Class Heroes, and Bedlight For Blue Eyes.

....Just incase anyone was wondering what I thought.....blah

[FOBPrettyNPunk]

Next if they do make anymore (which they probably will), they should pick the most popular songs from that genre.

[CROMagnon]

i think you were too easy on this musical travesty

htl's cover is easily the worst song ever to be recorded and distributed, you don't fucking touch the gin blossoms like that

[_all_star_me_]

i dont think any of the punk goes.. series will ever match up to the heights of punk goes pop. and i agree with the part is being too soon. its only been 6 years.

but the cover of jumper is stunning.

[catscradle]

I just wanna see a punk goes disney cd. How sick would it be to hear a band cover "the circle of life" and other cheesy, yet classic disney songs?

[Ender217]

Why do pop punk bands like to cover bjork songs. The only people that I have ever met that said they were bjork fans were gay guys. The should seriously set a rule for how popular the songs had to be in order to cover them for these compilations. As one of the few bands that I'm realy familiar with, I was majorly disappointed in the Starting Line. Also. I didn't even recognize the first song as being played by Mae. Sounds nothing like them. Cartel did a great job with Wonderwall, his voice really caries the song. Same goes for the 3eb cover. SKSK does good on the Losing my Religion cover. But definately the standout track was Gym Class Heroes covering under the bridge.

[heyRomanticA__x]

I <3 Bjork.

Nice review Scott. I listened to this comp. maybe once.... I was really let down.

[Drew Beringer]

I like the Mae and GCH covers, other than that, this cd is absolute trash.

[wtfemokid]

Don't really think I bashed this album excessively in the least.
i don't either. the only song i truly enjoy is emery's cover of all i want. as weird as it may be, i have a soft spot for that song for some reason, and i fucking love emery. anberlin and bedlight for blue eyes are good too though, but other than that, this comp is utter crap.

[ParisInFlames55]

i hate talking shit on music, but that hit the lights cover was awful. hey jealousy is a song that sounds so good in its orginal sense, and it just isn't meant to do what it did. personally, i could see sherwood doing a cover of that song and doing it the right way. the format as well. the closer i get even throws a little bit in the end of one of the songs on his last demo and it sounds pretty damn good . i apologize, but that song alone made me unwilling to give this cd a chance.

[smogs]

I saw this in the stores and was tempted to buy it, seeing as I loved Punk Goes Pop/80s, but when I looked at the bands/songs, I put it down. It seemed way to soon to do stuff on the 90's (like Vh1's I love the 90's, but thats a whole other story).And half of the bands they picked just didn't do it for me.
Hopefully if Fearless makes more, they pick a better topic.

[_all_star_me_]

so i was thinking, wouldnt it have been radder had NO USE FOR A NAME put their cover of Enjoy the silence on this one?

[bsstone737]

Isn't a bit harsh to say they should end the series here? You have to admit it's been a fun series, they just need to come up with something else. Punk Goes Country or Punk Goes Hip-Hop, something that would get some really unique covers. I personally would like to see more of the series....anyone else?

[AShannon04]

To even pretend that any of these songs are "good" is giving this album too much credit. The problem is that they picked the wrong type of song to cover. Instead of covering iconic 90s songs, they should have picked the dorky one-hit wonder type stuff. Think natalie imbruglia, chumbawumba, or matchbox 20. How the heck did they think having b-rate mall punk bands covering 'serious' 90s music would be a good idea? The reason the other punk goes albums worked, was because they covered the cheesy stuff. Imagine if they'd had Motion City Soundtrack covering Joy Division or Gang of Four on Punk Goes 80s. Disaster.

good point. I hadn't thought about that.

[AShannon04]

I just wanna see a punk goes disney cd. How sick would it be to hear a band cover "the circle of life" and other cheesy, yet classic disney songs?


that would kick so much ass.

[sputniksignals]

that would kick so much ass.

you probably havent heard of the but...

the track record? yeah they do a cover of "whole new world" from aladdin. its pretty beastin i guess

[nevenskoro]

paulson does a great cover of wonderwall

[Lovewaslove]

Dear guy that wrote this review,
you are a ***, and an idiot

[applesandcyanid]

The Killing Moon's track was my favorite on the album, Ryan's vocals weren't trying to mimic Alanis Morrisette at all. I've been listening to this band for 2 + years, that's just how Ryan's voice is. GCH were awesome too as were SKSK. That HTL cover made my ears bleed though.

[Loch_Doun]

I love how everyone failed to mention the one stand-out track which is Emery's cover. The song sounds so good in the style that Emery used.

[Scott Weber]

Dear guy that wrote this review,
you are a ***, and an idiot
Aw, thank you! You're too kind.

[vancejf]

"One can only hope this is the end of the Punk Goes Decades series and that Fearless does not attempt a Punk Goes 00s compilation next."

Up next from Fearless: Punk Goes punk.

[osunfg]

how the fuck do you make a 90's cover compilation without an mmmbop? WTF???? that really bothers me. a cover of that song sells itself, you cant lose. bands or fearless (whoever chooses the songs) are tards.

[wtfemokid]

I love how everyone failed to mention the one stand-out track which is Emery's cover. The song sounds so good in the style that Emery used.
i actually did, that's my fave song on the album, but i think ap ate my post.

[blinkredstar]

I only like 3 songs on this album: TSL, Hit the Lights, and Cartel's tracks. :aimgrin:

[CROMagnon]

I love how everyone failed to mention the one stand-out track which is Emery's cover. The song sounds so good in the style that Emery used.
that's the only song i like

[GAD_guy]

my curiosity has lead me to, over time, check out every one of the albums in the "punk goes...." series. that's a total of 5 albums (pop, metal, 80s, 90s, acoustic), and i am very sad to say that only one worthwhile song has been included in the entire collection: the GAD cover of just like heaven. what a waste.

for a good collection of covers, check out the "stubbs the zombie" video game soundtrack


Just for the record, matchbox twenty is far from a one hit wonder. Try like...15 Top 20 singles. I'm just saying. And they dominate artists like chumbawumba and natalie

what? are you kidding? that band had like 3 or 4 hits, and they were all from the same album.

[white_emo_punk]

punk goes pop and punk goes 80's was much better

[TheAgamechance]

I love the review, although I do have one disagreement. The Alanis cover blew me away. For the most part Ill say its because I haven't listened to the original for a while and just so happened to hear the cover. I felt he had an untapped emotion lying in his singing that Alanis would have died for while she was creating it. It seemed a bit more emotional (in that growling sense).

Great review though!

[newfoundmichael]

Good review...its just to early to be covering these songs. And is it just me, or did Mae say "fuck" in there NIN cover? I thought they were a Tooth & Nail band...hmm...

[rhendershott]

If he really thinks that Wonderwall is one of the greatest songs of all time then he really needs to rethink his life.

[stereokiller]

If he really thinks that Wonderwall is one of the greatest songs of all time then he really needs to rethink his life.

i lol'd. =D

[Super Norg]

really i think the problem lies in both the song choices and the bands that cover them...
jus because a song is iconic doesnt give the band an excuse to make a crappy cover

the best covers ive heard from the Punk goes ____ series are GAD's Just like Heaven Relient K's Manic Monday GCH's Under the Bridge and BLBE's Jumper

all it takes is a band getting creative and making something unique