Like a lot of Metal fans over the years, I had heard OF Beatallica and what they were doing but had never actually HEARD them before. And with their 2nd full CD release, Masterful Mystery Tour (Oglio Records), I have finally gotten the chance to give these mash up kings of Metallica and The Beatles a whirl. With 13 tracks of twisted mash up ideas, combining 2 Rock legends, this is an interesting and comedic record for sure.
Now I gotta say, these guys are really good at what they do, whether you deem it a joke or not. Masterful Mystery Tour opens with "The Battery of Jaymz and Yoko", which is a cool rendition of Metallica's classic "Battery" bashed up to The Beatles "The Ballad Of John and Yoko". As you hear the first few notes it makes you wonder how in the hell are they going to pull this off? You know that they are going to combine the songs, but how? This is pretty genius, to be honest. Track 2, "Masterful Mystery Tour", keeps the ball rolling with the combo of The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour" and 'Tallica's "Master of Puppet's" for a funny and cleaver result.
In all of it's campy glory, Beatallica, made up of Jaymz Lennfield, Grg Hammettson, Kliff McBurtney, and Ringo Larz, have been filling the void left after the '90's act mash up band, Dread Zeppelin, ceased to exist. And with the spot on James Hetfield animated yelps through out the disc, Beatallica do an excellent job of covering the heaviness of Metallica and could probably pull of a great straight Metallica cover band. With Jaymz doing James, you have to sometimes just laugh out loud from the Hetfield-ism's and all of the "yeaahhh, yeaahh's". It is pretty funny.
Standout tracks from Masterful Mystery Tour include, "And I'm Evil?", with the Diamond Head classic, "Am I Evil?" mixed with The Beatles and The Misfits and complete with a Glenn Danzig sound-a-like for authenticity and "Got to Get You Trapped Under Ice", a mash up of "Trapped Under Ice" and "Got to Get You Into My Life, is an instant classic. Just the song titles alone gets your interest peaked, "The Thing that Should Not Let it Be", "Hero of the Day Tripper", "I Want to Choke Your Band", and "Everybody's Got a Ticket to Ride Except for Me and My Lightning" make you chuckle a little and make you want to hear what they are all about.
Beatallica are a talented band and pull off a great mash up of the music of Metallica and The Beatles. However, one down side is the over the top delivery of the James Hetfield-ish vocals. Every single Hetfield-ism is exploited and over done and I don't know how much of this anyone could actually sit and listen to at one time, but the mash up concept as a whole is pretty interesting. This record is definitely for those with a sense of humor and isn't meant to be taken too seriously. It is some good clean, campy fun, so enjoy and take it for what it is.
Track Listing
1. Masterful Mystery Tour
2. The Battery of Jaymz and Yoko
3. Masterful Mystery Tour
4. Fuel on the Hill
5. And I'm Evil
6. Everybody's Got a Ticket to Ride Except for Me and My Lightning
7. Running for Your Life
8. The Thing that Should Not Let it Be
9. Hero of the Day Tripper
10. Got to Get You Trapped Under Ice
11. I'll Just Bleed Your Face
12. I Want to Choke Your Band
13. Tomorrow Never Comes
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