| Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love - Hayseed Dixie | |
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Reviewed by Jolene Downs
Hayseed Dixie has gone and done it again. Their first album was a Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. AC/DC songs to the Bluegrass rhythm made quite the impression. What could they possibly do to live up to the standards they set for themselves?? They have released their sophomore album on Dualtone records. It is titled, A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love. For this album, they have chosen eight fairly familiar rock and roll songs and two of their own compositions. All of the tracks reflect what they feel is testimony to the timeless truths concerning the experience of human love.
This album was fun to listen to. However, Rock-n-Roll fans may object to the interpretation of some very classic songs. Fans without a sense of humor when it comes to musical interpretation may not appreciate this album either. These guys have done a fairly good job with rearranging the songs to fit the Bluegrass sound. It is obviously upbeat for the most part because of the songs they chose to cover.
Some of my favorites on the album are songs that I'm familiar with in their normal format. While it is a definitely different sound, I still enjoy them. The J. Geils Band originally performed the song, "Centerfold." This is a fairly well known song and upbeat. It was a staple song at all our school dances when I was in High School. "I Love Rock & Roll" is truly a classic song, but it has a very different sound on this album. While Joan Jett & The Blackhearts took this song to an 8 week run in the number one spot, it was originally written by Alan Merrill in 1975, and was performed with his band, The Arrows. It is still very recognizable in it's new format. The other song that I recognized and enjoyed the new arrangement was "Fat Bottom Girls," which was originally done by Queen.
There are two original Hayseed Dixie compositions on this album as well. "The Perfect Woman" is actually a pretty good song about what qualities they feel make that perfect woman. It has some good instrumental backup as well, and shows that these guys actually know their way around the Bluegrass instruments. The other original song is just plain strange. It is called "I'm Keeping Your Poop," and the title pretty much covers the content of the song. His basis for the jar of smelly stuff is so it will remind him just who she is. The premise of the song is definitely an interesting one.
Bottom line for this album is that it is not for the faint of heart when it comes to music. A Classic Bluegrass or Country fan may not appreciate the band's efforts. However, if you enjoy people having fun with their music and don't mind different versions of songs you may be very familiar with - then this is really not a bad album.
Song List:
Album cover and sound clips, used with permission of Dual Tone.
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