. We Review Everybody Wants Some By Jeremy Steffen Cowebmaster DLRArmy.com Want to purchase this cd? Everybody Wants Some: A Tribute To Van Halen Audio CD (October 7, 1997) The DLR Army gives you it's next review on another Van Halen tribute CD. This time it's title is "Everybody Wants Some: A Tribute to Van Halen." That's a pretty bold claim considering that most of these songs are at least, a loose interpretation of the original. I call this CD a 50/50 shot. Either you are going to love the CD, or you're going to hate the CD for that reason alone. Do you want to hear "Dance The Night Away" in a country/western style? Or maybe "Jamie's Cryin'" in a Samba beat? Some of you will, the rest of you will lose your stomach on the other side of the room.       Since the songs vary so widely, I'm going to review them on a song to song basis. Here we go! 1. Eruption - Reverend Ed Broms While this is a note for note recreation of Eruption on a pipe organ, it just doesn't fit the instrument. It was written on and intended for a stringed, necked instrument. Ever use a pair of pliers to put in a screw? Doesn't work very well, does it? Right playing, wrong instrument = Bad translation. Review of this track: 2.5 out of 5 2. Could This Be Magic? - Trona I really like this one. I kind of rolled my eyes when I heard the female lead singing, but was really impressed. No changed lyrics due to the "sex change," and they did it with all the enthusiasm of the original. A very happy, get lucky, tune. Review of this track: 4.5 out of 5 3. Jamie's Crying - Jajuya Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! GREAT TRACK! I laughed, I cried, I danced. "Jamie's Cryin'" to a samba beat. The horn arrangements, the saxophone, then of course the bongos are the main parts of this type of music and were well represented. Review of this track: 4 out of 5 4. Everybody Wants Some - Talking To Animals Hmmm... "Everybody Wants Some" translated into lounge music. I guess it fits. I really didn't need the New Yorker with a lisp asking for a hummer in the middle of it though...and him speaking Spanish at the end. "Todos del mundo yo quiere. Y Lo quiere tambien." I know that's wrong, but that's what he said. Just a hint for those making songs out there, if you use a foreign language in your song, please do an accurate translation. Review of this track: 2.5 out of 5 5. Atomic Punk - Cherry 2000 These guys get an A for effort. (Or is that an E for effort, I can never remember.) There's a prolonged introduction with sampled bits from old films dealing with atomic blasts. A very sedated track, although it does build to a climax towards the end of the song. Think of a poetry coffee shop, and you'll get the impression of what this song is. Review of this track: 3.5 out of 5 6. Why Can't This Be Love? - Gigolo Aunts Yeah, yeah, I know, I know... if this is a tribute to Van Halen, why in hell is there a Sammy song on the album? Don't ask me, I wasn't the producer. But to tell you the truth, this version is actually GOOD! I know what you're thinking, "WHAT?!? A Sammy song being good?!?' Well, they took the song, and replaced the guitar with a harmonica and made the song into a sixties, feel-good type of song. Yeah, the absolutely insipid Sammy lyrics are still there, unfortunately. (Only time will tell if we stand the test of time? WTF is that?!?) This song is made into the bubble-gum, teeny bopper song that it is. THAT'S why I enjoyed it, and THAT'S the reason it deserves a higher mark. Review of this track: 4 out of 5 7. Beautiful Girls - Red Time Funkay... I love funk, and this fits. Bop bop bop a doobie bop. Very enjoyable and very fun. Review of this track: 3.5 out of 5 8. Take Your Whiskey Home - Honkeyball I'll keep this short. What happens when you take a person that sounds likes Marilyn Manson and a bunch of other people, get them drunk, and have them write this track? A bad review. Okay, I'll give them some credit, their marching snare drum stayed in time. Review of this track: 2 out of 5. 9. Jump - Mary Lou Lord Okay, another really short one, because I like to be merciful. What do you get when you take the guitar of Jewel, and mix it with the singing of Sheryl Crow? An *extremely* bad review! Review of this track: 1 out of 5 10. Somebody Get Me A Doctor - Ghost Of Tony Gold This really sounded like the Talking Heads to me. Very punkish. Carried well on this track. Good Job. Review of this track: 3 out of 5 11. Mean Streets - Elbow My first thought about the guitarist on this cover was, "This guitarist is no Eddie Van Halen." He just fumbles with the strings at the beginnning. But then you realize that's okay, because he's playing this song on a slide guitar! I have to say, I laughed when I heard this track. It reminded me of those desert isolation prison movies. This song definitely has character... Review of this track: 3.5 out of 5 12. Feel Your Love - Fuzzy I didn't like this track. First, the tambourine HAS TO GO!!! This thing is WAY to happy. I know the song is not supposed to be morose, but it's not supposed to be this happy. I mean, GEEZ! The song says, "We'll have a hell of a good time." Most 3 year olds shouldn't sing that, and that's what this version of the song feels like. A 3 year old's song. I guess this was used to clear the palette for the next song. Review of this track: 2 out of 5 13. Panama - Captain Rock I LOVE THIS TRACK!!! I am very protective of Van Halen's original version, because it's one of my favorite songs of all time. After hearing the first 12 songs on this album I was very wary coming in to this song. Song starts.... ....YES!!! Marching band horns! (I always thought that this song would be GREAT as a marching band arrangement.) Then the singer comes in. WOAH! That's extremely odd. But yet, very Frank Zappa-ish. The mellophone was great in this song, as was the electric saxophone (yes, electric saxophone) for the guitar solo. Some might hate the singer though. Review of this track: I love this rendition! 4.5 out of 5 14. Little Guitars - Vic Firecracker Orchestra After the ruckus from track 13, this was also a wonderful change when it came on. Sad and sweet strings compliment the soft notes coming from the singer. This is also one of the really great highlights of the album. Catch as catch can anyone see...it's you and me. I was glad that this was treated with the emotional element that is required for this song. I wish the 2000: A Tribute to Van Halen's version did. Review of this track: 4.5 put of 5 15. Dance The Night Away - Tom Leach Twangy. That's all I can say about this track. Can't get any more southern or any more country than this. I usually loathe country/western, but that's usually because I can't get past the lack of a creative process that goes into the country/western songwriting. The genius of David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen still shine through here though, and I have to give kudos to the artists here to have the bravado to make this song into a Texas tearjerker. Review of this track: 4 out of 5 16. Romeo Delight - Sam Black Church MAN! The set up of these last songs are GREAT! Another of my favorite Van Halen tracks, this one is HARD! And I mean as hard as David Lee Roth's little Elvis during showtime. Wow! I'm impressed. That's all I can say Review of this track: 4.5 out of 5 17. Eruption - Crick Diefendorf Okay, at least it was stringed, necked instrument. Another version of Eruption. This time, on banjo. *Yawn* Good playing, and some improvisation here. Review of this track: 3 out of 5 While this primarily Boston-based band CD has some low points, it's a pretty good CD. It's kind of funny, there's 4 Van Halen tribute CD's, (one Japanese dance tribute, one Japanese rock tribute, the one that I'm reviewing now, and the other one that doesn't exist. I know that remix CD is out there, but I refuse to acknowledge it) and the best ones are the ones from Japan. Kind of odd isn't it? But, to those of you who like this kind of thing, it's worth a listen. If you like it, buy it. If not, then it's no loss to you. But if you want this reviewer's opinion: This CD rates: 7 out of 10 (Very Good.) Links|Purchase the cd| David Lee Roth Army © 1999-2000. All original material  may not be published or redistributed in any form without the permission of the webmaster of this site. To email the article you just read above to someone else {click here}

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