Various Artists: Mullets Rock Too

When this arrived and I saw the name my immediate reaction was "oh please spare me the pain of whatever this is", but when I delved deeper and realized it to be a rather clever compilation recording, my feeling switched from dread to historical musical reflections. Mullets Rock Too is the second part of a similar collection from 2003, which collected a great number of Rock's classic tunes. It was described as being inspired by the movie "Joe Dirt" (David Spade), whose principal character sports a haircut that bore this name. MR2 is a really eclectic and interesting grouping of songs – and the single CD is split in two segments of "Still Psyched" and "Bummed". The Still Psyched numbers are the more energetic stuff and cover the years from around 1972 until 1989. The opener by Uncle Ted Nugent gets you going, but it dings immediately with an ELO track done by legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. I love Ace, but felt ELO stuff is best delivered by that band alone. Boston's signature track is a winner, as is Aldo Nova's "Fantasy" but the songs by Eddie Money and Foghat I would have rather seen replaced with numbers like "I Think I'm In Love" or "Fool For The City" as they are a little more known unless you listened to a lot of Classic Rock radio. My personal favorites from BOC and J. Giels Band close up this segment rather nicely and are sure to please many. It's funny how I can almost hear the younger readers saying that they are songs that their Parents liked.

The "Bummed" side is the ballad inclusions and in truth some of these songs were not really ballads in that sense but more along the lines of slow numbers from a band's catalog. Nazareth's "Love Hurts" is a classic without a doubt, and Cheap Trick delivers one of their best numbers since "Surrender" with "The Flame". "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger will have everyone motoring once again and while "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" by Bonnie Tyler might seem an odd choice, the song was penned by Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf). Cinderella was out of place among these classic rockers, but it's a great song from their career. They close with the original version of "Tuesday's Gone" by Skynrd works well and of course "Dust In The Wind" by Kansas is an almost perfect ending to this segment. Yet in the lyrical sense, this track is much deeper than implied under the "Bummed" labeling. Given the scope of this release and its selections from these classic artists this is a lot of fun to listen to. It will bring a sense of reminiscing to older music fans and perhaps teach the younger ones that the secret of success in music for any stretch of time lies in the strength of the songs you write. Great music ages well, like fine wine. Here is a good example of this from a number of vineyards.

Track Listing
1. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang – Ted Nugent
2. Do Ya – Ace Frehley
3. More Than A Feeling – Boston
4. I Just Want To Make Love To You – Foghat
5. Baby Hold On – Eddie Money
6. Jane – Jefferson Starship
7. Fantasy – Aldo Nova
8. Burnin' For You – Blue Oyster Cult
9. I Hate Myself For Loving You – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
10. Love Stinks – J. Giels Band
11. Love Hurts – Nazareth
12. The Flame – Cheap Trick
13. Take It On The Run – REO Speedwagon
14. Sister Christian – Night Ranger
15. Total Eclipse Of The Heart – Bonnie Tyler
16. Don't Know What You Got (Until It's Gone) – Cinderella
17. Tuesday's Gone – Lynryd Skynrd
18. Dust In The Wind - Kansas

Added: April 4th 2007
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: More Information
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Language: english

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