Take It Or Leave It: A Tribute To The Queens Of Noise

Take It Or Leave It: A Tribute To The Queens Of Noise.
2011, Main Man Records

Known to a generation of rock fans as The Queens of Noise, The Runaways shocked their way into the testosterone-dominate heavy metal market in the latter half of the 1970's.  Original members Lita Ford, Sandy West, Jackie Fox, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie went on to various levels of success in the entertainment world, with Jett and Ford standing out from the rest.  The Runaways were arguably one of the most influential hard rock bands of the 1970's, paving the way for a generation of rock-oriented girl groups in the 1980's and beyond.  Main Man Records recently released a two-disc tribute to the Runaways entitled Take It Or Leave It.

Take It Or Leave It is fairly typical for the tribute album genre, mixing in a handful of name artists with a host of regional acts looking for exposure.  Some of the song/artist matches here are brilliant; others baffling.  More often than not, the covers are half-hearted interpretations that do little to pay tribute to the energy or zeitgeist of The Runaways.  The Donnas lead off with "Queens Of Noise", a passive interpretation that sounds as if the band were simply going through the motions.  Shonen Knife does much better with "Black Leather", showing the sense of abandon that The Runaways embodied in their heyday.  Frankenstein gets two chances to impress.  On their own with "California Paradise", the band is too mellow for their own good.  Working with Cherie Currie on "American Nights", they bask in the pure rock persona that Currie projects and carry themselves well.

Blue Fox (with Sandy West on drums) manages the best cover on the album with their revved-up rendition of "Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin", also scoring with a solid version of "Dirty Magazines."  Other name covers include an overly polished take on "Fantasies" by Kittie, and a middle of the road but solid version of "Waitin' For The Night" from cult-rock heroes Starz. 

The real treats on an album such as this come from the more obscure acts that put in a good showing.  White Flag offers up a stylistic interpretation of "C'Mon" that's full of 1980's rock pastiche and distinctive vocal triads; a sonic treat.  Tara Elliott and The Red Velvets re-imagine "You Drive Me Wild" as a bluesy rocker that shines on the strength of Elliott's brilliant voice.  Richard Barone (The Bongos) is memorable on the campy "Hollywood".  Digger Phelps makes "Rock & Roll" a fun listen, and Jack Brag shows off a distinctive voice in a solid rendition of "Secrets".  Much of the rest of the two-disc album is filler, including many of the brief spoken word tracks that include snippets of old interviews and commercials both real and created for the set.

All in all, Take It Or Leave It plays like a cynical rehash of a band catalog that was built more on novelty and sex appeal than songwriting.  There's no denying the real talent in the group, but the sound and song selection of the Runaways was always more about playing to a teenage male demographic than it was about creating great art.  Nevertheless, there are some bright moments on Take It Or Leave It, and a couple of bands that listeners may appreciate discovering.  This may be one of those collections were a few well-chosen downloads will offer you all of the benefits of the collection without the pain.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Take It Or Leave It at www.mainmanrecords.com.  Take It Or Leave It is available digitally from Amazon.com and iTunes.

Shirock - Everything Burns

Shirock - Everything Burns
2009/2011 - Shirock

Nashville rockers Shirock blend singer/songwriter pastiche with well-honed pop/rock songs on their debut album, Everything Burns.  Produced by Jay Ruston (The Donnas, Matisyahu, Everclear, Cold War Kids), Everything Burns is full of grand intentions, bold melodies, big energy and a story-teller’s art. 

Everything Burns opens with "New Solution", a catchy, U2 style pop song.  Chuck Shirock sings a bit like Bono, and the harmony vocals are perfectly complementary.  This one also has a big, radio-friendly chorus that should catch the attention of radio programmers.  "Time Goes By" sounds like a formulaic ballad designed for radio play, but conceals a considerable angst as the narrator questions existence and his reason to be.  "Still Young" suggests a hopeful proposition wrapped in a deep melancholy.  "I'll Take Rain" is a song about finding the perfect one, but has a funereal feel that's at odds with the lyrics.  The song features Pap Shirock on lead vocal; she turns out to be the vocal class of the group.

"Say It Out" is a love song with real energy and passion exuding from the arrangement.  There's a definite U2 influence here.  "Drag You Down" is highly commercial in sound but a bit empty for substance.  You can't blame a band for including a track like this in an album in the hope of catching on with mass media, but "Drag You Down" is sufficiently self-reflexive to make you wonder what Shirock was thinking.  "Silver" features Pap Shirock once again on vocals for a big, enduring ballad.  She sounds wonderful here, but it would be nice to hear her let loose on one of the rock tunes.  Pap Shirock's harmony vocals elsewhere suggest that she is sorely underutilized. 

"Everything Burns" is an admonition to make the most of your time and do something meaningful.  Opening with a spoken word part, Shirock drags this one out across six-plus minutes of ashes-to-ashes commentary.  "I Have Been Redeemed (Reprisal)" is not, in fact, a reprisal of anything on the album.  It's a solid tune with a spiritual theme, marking a transition that we do not yet see.  The album closes in a wash of ethereal sounds and reverb.

Shirock is a band with multiple personalities, and as of Everything Burns it's not clear that one has won out over the others.  With Chuck Shirock on the mic there is a quality of showmanship to the group that generally works in their favor, as well as a penchant for big, wide-open arrangements with soaring melodies ala U2.  With Pap Shirock up front, Shirock becomes more of a musical juggernaut.  While Everything Burns does not feature her on any rock-oriented songs, it's easy to see/hear that she's the best singer in the group.  Shirock takes on different aspects depending on the vocalist, and right now seems to be fighting to be one thing while more naturally disposed to being the other.  This is the sort of internal tension that, if not resolved, can tear a band apart.  Yet, like many other groups with multiple vocalists and personalities (Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Styx), the ride before the crash can be fantastic.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Shirock at www.shirock.net or www.myspace.com/shirock.  Everything Burns is available digitally from Amazon.com and itunes.