Reviewed by:
EC_AL_JH_GH, on september 03, 2009
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Sound: This album is essentially just rerecorded versions of the Yardbirds greatest hits. The record features guest performances by Satch(Train Kept a Rollin'), Steve Vai(Shapes of Things), Jeff Baxter(The Nazz are Blue), John Rzeznik(For Your Love), Slash(Over, Under, Sideways, Down) Brian May(Mr. You're a Better Man than I), Steve Lukather(Happening Ten Years Time Ago), and Jeff Beck(My Blind Life). The album also contains three newly written songs which surprisingly sound like they could have been written during the band's original run. The Yardbirds, for those who don't know, are a blues band, with some Psychedelia thrown in. The performances are rock solid, and its nice to hear all these great songs redone with state of the art recording technology. The guest artist's performances alone are almost good enough to warrant buying this record. // 10
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are well suited to the music; however to some they may not make sense since they were written when Psychedelia was at its peak. They cover a rather broad range of topics, from women to environmentalism. Some just seem to talk about nothing in particular (Over, Under, Sideways, Down). One of the newer songs is dedicated to Keith Relf, the original singer for the Yardbirds. John Idan sings on this album, and does a fantastic job of nailing Keith's original vocals. Obviously he doesn't sound exactly like Keith but he's pretty damn close. // 10
Impression: I suggest you go listen to one or two cuts off this album before you dismiss it as just another money grab by a band past its prime. The album sounds great and the guest artists really shine here as well as the band. I can't find any real faults; I could probably listen to this album forever. I can't even choose what my favourite songs are because there all so well done. If it were stolen I would definitely try to find it again. // 10
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