UMUR "Superunknown (Redux)" is a various artists tribute album released through Magnetic Eye Records in July 2023. It´s a tribute to Soundgarden´s fourth full-length studio album "Superunknown" (March 1994, A&M Records) and it features all fifteen tracks from the original album covered by different artists. The tracklist order is the same as on the original album, but most of the artists manage to put their own spin on the songs, which makes "Superunknown (Redux)" an album worth your time. There´s nothing less interesting than listening to covers which are 100% true to the originals.

Ufomammut opens with a heavy and psychedelic stoner rock/metal cover of "Let Me Drown", and it´s such a cool and different interpretation of that track. High Priest´s cover of "My Wave" is great too and the dusty low-key recording of "Fell on Black Days" by Marissa Nadler is also a good quality cover. Unfortunately Somnuri falls into the catagory of artists who have created a cover of "Mailman" which is too close to the original. The same can be said about Valley of The Sun´s cover of "Superunknown". It´s competently performed and well produced, but it´s not particularly different from the original.

Next up is Frayle covering "Head Down", and that´s a great female led doom metal version of that track. It´s nicely dark, heavy, and creepy. To my ears it´s one of the highlights of the album and it´s a great example of a band making a cover their own. So how does Spotlights fare covering the most famous and iconic track from "Superunknown"? Well... "Black Hole Sun" is thankfully covered in a both respectful but also heavier and different version from the original. The cover is almost 7 minutes long, so Spotlights have also added some parts to the original track (basically just an outro guitar solo, but it´s still pretty great), which was only 5 minutes long.

"Spoonman" is covered by Horseburner and it´s different enough from the original to matter (it´s actually one of the better covers on the album). It´s harder edged and heavier and thankfully featuring a vocalist who doesn´t try to sound like Chris Cornell. I like the harmony guitar part around the 3 minutes mark and the blistering lead guitar work throughout the track. Oregon based doom/stoner rock/metal act Witch Mountain covers "Limo Wreck", and it´s another great female led cover track. Heavy, organic, and delivered with great vocal attitude by Kayla Dixon. It seems Soundgarden´s songs lend themselves well to female vocals. Beastwars covers "The Day I Tried To Live" and it´s one of the few covers on the album, which my ears don´t agree much with. The original version of "Kickstand" is a short, fast, and energetic rocker, but Jack Harlon and The Dead Crows have chosen to make the song much slower, more heavy, and four times as long. The heavy psychedelic cover version is quite different from the original, which is a plus in my book, but unfortunately it´s not a particularly great cover.

"Fresh Tendrils" is covered by The Age of Truth and it´s a decent if not great cover. "4th Of July" is one of the standout tracks on the original album, because of its heavy and bleak nature, so I was interested to hear what Marh Ursellis Steppendoom could do what it. As it turns out this cover is slightly less heavy (although definitely still pretty heavy), and a little more atmospheric and eerie sounding than the original. This cover has character and I respect Marh Ursellis Steppendoom´s decision to try and give the song a twist. "Half" was always one of the least remarkable tracks on "Superunknown", but Dozer at least try to make it more interesting and succeed in doing so. I´ll go as far as to say that this cover is almost more interesting than the original. Darkher closes the album with their cover of "Like Suicide", and it´s arguably one of the highlights of "Superunknown (Redux)". Again it´s a female led cover and it´s quite different from the original. It´s sombre, atmospheric, melancholic, and the instrumentation is different from the instrumentation on the original too.

So upon conclusion about half of the covers on the album are either great or even brilliant, and the other half are at least decent (some are even great but a bit too close in sound to the originals), so "Superunknown (Redux)" is overall a good quality release and it´s definitely worth a purchase for fans of Soundgarden. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Vim Fuego There was a time in the early 90s when Dio was a figure of ridicule and mirth. Jokes were made about his Elf-like height, his swords and sorcerers lyrics, and his over the top stage persona. Those doing the laughing had obviously never met the man.

Like no other figure in the history of metal, perhaps up until the death of Lemmy, Dio’s death was mourned by metal fans the world over. Ronnie James Dio earned respect like no one else in metal. Not expected or demanded, but earned. Why? Because he always had time for fans. He was famous for staying behind hours after shows had finished to meet and greet fans, sign autographs, talk to people about music, and just be a thoroughly decent human being.

No musician had a bad word to say about the man. He always helped out up and coming new bands. He never forgot where he came from. The proof? Every artist on this album, except Killswitch Engage, has a picture with the man himself, and he looks just as happy as the fans cum musicians he is with. And most of all, up until his death, he always, always produced incredible music. Look at the list of bands he sang with – Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and in his own right as Dio. The proof? Just listen to this tribute.

First up is Anthrax with “Neon Knights”: from Dio’s stint in Black Sabbath. It’s a fairly faithful version, benefitting from modern production values, and beefed up a little by Anthrax, but surprisingly, Joey Belladonna’s vocals don’t quite cut it. He seems to be straining and a little out of breath. Belladonna has one of the best vocals ranges in all of thrash, so this shows how good Ronnie actually was in his heyday.

“The Last In Line” by Tenacious D has their trademark silliness mixed with their respect for metal. As usual, Jack Black’s vocals are stupidly over the top, while Kyle Gass’s recorder solo actually made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it. That they won the Grammy for best metal performance in 2015 with this cover shows how out of touch and clueless the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences actually is, but that’s a bit off topic here.

Adrenaline Mob’s take on “The Mob Rules” is another very faithful cover. There’s nothing new added, but then you don’t want anyone fucking with perfection anyway.

Corey Taylor and his backing band featuring Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour, Soulfly), Satchel (Steel Panther), and Christian Martucci (Stone Sour) did what always should have been done with “Rainbow In The Dark” and made the fucking thing heavier. Ronnie himself hated the song, and was ready to destroy the original master tape of the song with a razor. The rest of Dio stopped him, the song became a huge hit, and the rest is history. As for the performance here, who knew Corey Taylor could fucking sing? I didn’t, but I generally avoid his music like I avoid genital warts. Oh well, you’re never too old to learn something new.

Halestorm’s “Straight Through The Heart” is a great rendition, and Lzzy Hale’s vocals are more than ballsy enough to do the song justice.

Now, who would have ever dreamed of Motörhead with Biff Byford on vocals? It’s a match made in metal heaven, with a modern... er, old school take on the Rainbow classic. Lemmy still growls along backing up Biff, but the song is the real star of the show here.

The Scorpions are the only band in metal which could even come near to Dio’s longevity, so it’s nice to hear their rendition of “The Temple Of The King”. It’s a change down in pace. Klaus Meine does a great job vocally, and the Schenker/Jabs guitar duo has the skill and subtlety to pull off Ritchie Blackmore’s solos without losing the feel of the song.

Doro makes “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” her own, a song she claims as one of her absolute favourites. Because she has such a good feel for the song, it sounds like it was written for her, and is one of the best performances on the album.

Confession time. As much as I dislike Killswitch Engage, and metalcore in general, I have to give them credit for their version of Holy Diver. It’s pretty good… Ah, fuck it. This is a confession. It’s fucking great! Howard Jones’s theatrical vocals are a great fit for the song, and the two blokes on guitar heavy things up, and manage to hit the solos pretty near on perfect. Killswitch Engage, you are both gentlemen and bastards, first for being so respectful of one of metal’s great anthems, and secondly for making me like you.

Glenn Hughes is one of the few vocalists of Dio’s generation still going who is still able to cut it. And cut it he does, on “Catch The Rainbow”. It is a beautiful rendition of a beautiful song, ably backed by Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Simon Wright.

In 1989, Dio made waves in the metal world by replacing departing guitarist Craig Goldy with a 17 year old Rowan Robertson for the album “Lock Up The Wolves”. Long-time bass player and song writing partner Jimmy Bain also left the band. Fast forward to 2013, and the pair played together on this cover of Black Sabbath’s “I”. This seems a bit of an odd choice of a song, but that doesn’t stop this mid-pace stomping song from being a great addition to the album. It’s a strange old world...

In something of a supergroup, a union of Rob Halford, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, and Vinny Appice produces an unusual version of “Man On The Silver Mountain”. Despite all the talent and years of musical experience, this lacks the drama and feel of the original. The guitar work from Aldrich is pretty fucking good though.

Metallica being Metallica, they decided one song wasn’t enough, so they stuck together a medley of four Rainbow songs. The medley comes in at nearly 10 minutes long, but who the hell is going to tell Metallica they need to cut things back a bit? No matter, like what they did with the Mercyful Fate medley on “Garage Inc.”, this Frankensong is pretty fucking good, not dragging or seeming like it’s 10 minutes long. It’s also refreshing to hear a band doing something a bit different with the music, as in adapting it to their own style, instead of sticking faithfully to the original.

And what better way to round out a tribute to Ronnie, than to include an atypical song by the man himself? Recorded in 1996, “This Is Your Life” is an almost operatic composition, backed by piano and strings, which affords the great man’s voice the space it needs to really flourish. The purity and clarity of sound on this track is almost never heard in rock music. More than anything, it shows that the others here, no matter their pedigree, are pretenders, existing in Dio’s shadow, even from beyond the grave.

There is a bonus track to the digital version of this album, with Jasta performing “Buried Alive”. It’s a bit jarring after the beautiful Dio track. Hardcore shouter Jamey Jasta proves he can sing, and his band can play more than just metallic hardcore, and this is a great, heavy version of the song. However, the person who came up with the idea of tacking this onto the end of the album needs a punch in the throat.

Tribute albums like this can come across as a bit half assed at times, but this is the exception. Often tributes make you long for the originals. This album does not. Everyone on here was a fan, and knew and respected the man in question, and loved the music. That love and respect shows through here.

Vim Fuego Listening to “Thunderbolt - A Tribute To AC/DC”, several things become immediately obvious.

1. AC/DC wrote some fucking great songs - Just look at the tracklisting here - “Highway to Hell”, “Back in Black”, “Live Wire”, “Whole Lotta Rosie”, “ It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)”. Such great songs of such quality. Many bands have aspired, to such greatness. Most failed. And AC/DC just kept on doing it. This compilation could have been twice as long without the slightest drop in the quality source material.

2. AC/DC inspired some amazing bands - First track up is “Highway to Hell” by Kevin DuBrow, the late singer of Quiet Riot. His swagger and voice has that perfect combination of rough and smooth to do justice to Bon Scott’s ragged bourbon-and-cigarette howl. The rest of the band hit that AC/DC groove bang on, although the bass player shows off a little too much. Second track is “Little Lover”, performed by Sebastian Bach. As accomplished a singer as he is, he doesn’t quite match DuBrow in trying to re-create Scott’s greasy, sleazy drawl, just a little too clean for his own good. Bach’s second track, an album closing take on “T.N.T.” doesn’t work well at all. While the vocals are fine, it has an awful pinging snare drum, misplaced samples, and a pseudo-industrial element to it. Not the place for experimenting.

3. Made-up bands are quite often a bit shit - The biggest down-side to this album is it seems to be made up of various “supergroups”, thrown together just for the album. Often, as in Joe Lynn Turner’s rendition of “Back In Black”, the musicianship is flawless, there’s scope for some reinvention, particularly of Angus Young’s solos, and it’s a fairly faithful cover, but...it just sounds wrong.

4. Made-up bands can also be fucking good - One of the better renditions included here though, is Whitfield Crane’s The Sensational Whitskiteer Band doing “Live Wire”. A little rougher and heavier than other songs here, the song also featured Crane’s Ugly Kid Joe bandmate Klaus Eichstadt on guitar, and the pair showed up many of the more seasoned musicians here, injecting agro and energy into the track. The band also contribute an ultra-laid back rendition of “Ride On”, cruising through the lazy blues track with the throbbing bass line like they were born to play it.

5. AC/DC songs can sound a bit shit if not performed convincingly - “Sin City” is credited to Jack Russell and Mark Kendall (Great White), with Bobby Blotzer (Ratt), and a couple of other fellas. It doesn’t suit Russell’s vocals, the music is pretty fucking bland, and the song just seems too long. “Shake A Leg” just sounds awful with John Corabi’s tuneless screech over top of it, while Bruce Kulick shows why he got kicked out of KISS with some awful try-hard guitar heroics. It doesn’t suit the song one little bit. Bass player Billy Sheehan must have been cringing listening to the racket. He shows much restraint, sticking to AC/DC’s original basic bassline, demonstrating few of his legendary chops.

6. AC/DC inspired some real hacks - The Stephen Pearcy (Ratt)/Tracii Guns (LA Guns) version of “Whole Lotta Rosie” (listed here as “Whole Lot Of Rosie”. What sort of fuckwit changes a song title to something grammatically correct?) shows why neither of their bands quite hit the stratosphere like Guns N’ Roses or Def Leppard. Pearcy tries too hard, and inexplicably sounds like the song is way out of his range, where a singer of his abilities should have handled it comfortably. Guns fares a little better, but his performance leaves you longing for the original. “Night Prowler” performed by Dave Meniketti (Y&T) along with former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright is just boring. Wright was probably note-perfect with the drums, but ya don’t listen to AC/DC for the fucking drums!

7. AC/DC had some legendary friends - A supergroup featuring Lemmy, Jake E. Lee, and Simon Wright (again!)? Do supergroups get any more super? “It's a Long Way to the Top” by this combo is a pure gem. While sounding totally different, Lemmy’s crusty old vocal cords probably best matched Bon Scott’s of any singer on the album. While not as revered as Randy Rhoads and overshadowed by Zakk Wylde, Lee was still Ozzy Osbourne’s guitar player, and no matter how fucked up he ever got, Ozzy always knew a shit-hot guitar player when he heard one. Lee fills in the spaces where Bon Scott’s bagpipes would have been with some incredible lead work, probably the best on the entire album. Lemmy and Lee both just seem to have the right feel for this song.

8. Dee Snider would have made a fucking great vocalist for Anthrax - Dee joined Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, and Frank Bello of Anthrax performing “Walk All Over You”. While it’s the heaviest song of any on the album, the Anthrax boys resisted the temptation to thrash the track up. Dee Snider injects plenty of energy into the song, but is hardly stretched. A good solid, honest rendition of the song.

9. Quite honestly, the only band which does AC/DC songs any justice is AC/DC - Yup. As great as some of these covers are, this album leaves you longing for the real thing.

Vim Fuego “Smoke on the water. Fire in the sky.” The most famous words in metal.

“Smoke On The Water”. Deep Purple’s quintessential metal song (henceforth to be referred to as The Venerable Anthem) from the band’s career defining 1972 album ‘Machine Head’ –the blueprint for so much metal to follow. The deceptively simple riff, the soaring vocals, the pounding, driving back beat, Jon Lord’s swirling keyboards, Blackmore’s masterful solo. Black Sabbath had “Paranoid”, and Led Zeppelin had “Stairway to Heaven”, but neither has or had the mainstream recognition of The Venerable Anthem. It is an anthem for generations of rockers and bangers of varying hardness, a song instantly recognisable and appreciated by both headbangers, and non-metal, hell, even non-rock fans.

Every fan of The Venerable Anthem has a personal story to go with it. I was born the same year it was recorded. I first recall hearing it at the speedway with my Dad some time in the 1970s. In the 1980s, classmates at school were getting into rap and hip-hop, and one of the things they “dissed” (their stupid word, not mine) was Deep Purple and The Venerable Anthem. Naturally, the contrarian in me decided to go the other way, and decades later, when those disposable pop records of my fellow youths are long gone and embarrassingly not quite forgotten, The Venerable Anthem and Deep Purple’s legacy is still (Space?) Truckin’.

I have 21 versions of The Venerable Anthem. Four of them are the studio original by Deep Purple, variously from the ‘Machine Head’ album, two greatest hits albums, and a rock compilation album. There is also a ten minute live version. Other artists covering this iconic song are Black Sabbath (it was a live recording when Ian Gillan was fronting Sabbath, an incarnation occasionally dubbed Purple Sabbath), Bruce Dickinson, Polish thrashers Acid Drinkers, veteran Korean metallers Crash, death metal super group Six Feet Under, Soulfly, Metalium, Throne of Chaos, and, um, Pat Boone.

There’s a range of styles in those artists, from straight forward rockers, through thrash, groove and death metal, and even Pat Boone’s unmistakeable lounging around, but all remain respectful, and can be appreciated by all. The Venerable Anthem is often the first real rock song learned by many a budding guitarist because of its simple but infectious main riff, and long remains in many repertoires because of its lasting appeal. It is a song it seems it may be impossible to sully, wreck, destroy, or otherwise fuck up, no matter how incompetent the musician.

Until now.

Let’s back track just a little. To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of ‘Machine Head’, Drew Thompson of Thompson Music, came up with the idea of ‘Re-Machined’, a tribute to the album. Metallica responded within 20 minutes of his first approach, saying they would love to contribute, and would record “When A Blind Man Cries”. First minor hiccup- anyone who knows the ‘Machine Head’ album would realise that song isn’t actually ON ‘Machine Head’. Tragic Deep Purple fanboy Lars Ulrich loved the song, which was actually a B-side to the “Never Before” single. Who’s going to say no to Metallica? Thompson should have. “When A Blind Man Cries” was a B-side for a reason. It’s not terribly good. Metallica made the best of it, but the original material ain’t the flashest. Oh well.

Thompson managed to score a collection of more big names though. Iron Maiden contributed a storming rendition of “Space Truckin’”. Carlos Santana contributed “Smoke On The Water” (version #22 in my collection), with Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) on vocals putting in a surprisingly dynamic performance. Super-mega-supergroup Chickenfoot provided an entertaining, driving live version of “Highway Star”. Say what you like about Sammy Hagar, but the old bastard can still sing! Black Label Society’s “Pictures Of Home” has an easy going, rolling swagger to it. Former Deep Purple singer/bassist Glenn Hughes joined the band after the ‘Machine Head’ album, but here teamed up with Red Hot Chili Peppers/Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith to record “Maybe I’m A Leo”. Leather throated veteran Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes paid his dues in the early 70s singing Deep Purple covers, and here scored a great bluesy cover of “Lazy” with modern day bluesman Joe Bonamassa, and Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford. The Kings of Chaos supergroup of Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Michael Jackson), Duff McKagan (Guns ‘n’ Roses) and Matt Sorum (Guns ‘n’ Roses, The Cult) put in an enthusiastic rendition of the oft-forgotten track from the original album, “Never Before”.

So far, so good. Eight of the nine tracks on this album range from a bit above mediocre (sorry Metallica) to the raging (Iron Maiden, Chickenfoot, Jimmy Barnes), and would have been a good place to end proceedings. However, Mr Thompson made a mistake. He added a second version of The Venerable Anthem.

Most Deep Purple fans, and metal fans in general would be unaware of The Flaming Lips. The alternative rock band has been going since 1983, and has won a handful of Grammys. Known for their psychedelic and sci-fi influences, The Flaming Lips have played “Smoke On The Water” live for many years. Now, for a band like that, their contribution to this tribute was hardly going to be straight forward. Added to the mix, the band recruited Butthole Surfers vocalist Gibby Haynes to participate. Haynes famously provided the nonsensical word salad vocals to Ministry’s “Jesus Built My Hotrod”. So what is the result?

An abomination unto all things metallic, deep and purple. A travesty. A turd floating in your pint of beer. The unfuckable Venerable Anthem is well and truly fucked.

The song starts with warped, almost fart-like noises. Imagine someone playing that famous opening riff on their armpit. Now, add a tinny back beat, like something found on a three-year-olds’ Playskool toy piano. Then the vocals start. Haynes sounds like he’s speaking, not singing, through a public announcement system you might be unfortunate enough to find in a third world airport. He seems to be imitating OOM droids from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. You know the ones, the anorexic robots which seem to be a bit thick and fall to pieces when shot. If you can stomach listening to this mess, it will induce first disbelief, then disgust, and finally vigorous swearing. Yes, these pretentious hipsters have been covering Deep Purple for a cheap, ironic “look at the long haired Neanderthals” laugh. Fuck ‘em. The Venerable Anthem deserves better than to be fucked with by these assholes. Mr Thompson may have been trying to expand the audience attracted to this album by adding an alt-rock band, but all it does is alienate the loyal headbanging and hard-rocking fanbase Deep Purple had built over the previous four decades. This band is what the skip button was designed for.

Eight ninths of this album should go down reasonably well with Deep Purple fans. It’s just The Flaming Lips mockery leaves an incredibly bitter taste in the mouth that much of the good will and good times contained here will be forgotten. This is a shame. Deep Purple, ‘Machine Head’ and The Venerable Anthem deserve better.

Vim Fuego Most metal fans will be well aware of Napalm Death’s legendary shortest song in the world, the one second-ish long (the official length varies from 0.75 to 1.3 seconds) “You Suffer”, from the “Scum” album. The tiny little explosion of a song emphasised the extremity of the then embryonic grindcore music genre. There’s four word- “You suffer, but why?” and perhaps four notes, according to Mick Harris. In the early days the band used to play it over and over live just for comedy effect.

As ridiculous as a one second song may be, “You Suffer” is revered by fans of extreme music the world over. Belgian noise artist Bedawang decided to put together a tribute to the song, gathering 100 grind, hardcore, noise, experimental and Avant-garde versions of “You Suffer”.

This has been done before, but not quite in the same manner. The 1992 album “Stairways to Heaven” was a compilation of various Australian artists performing Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”, most famously including a wobble board version by now-disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris. Fat Wreck Chords put together the “Short Music For Short People” compilation in 1999, which featured 101 songs clocking in at under 30 seconds each.

So, 100 versions of a one second song means this album should clock in somewhere around the 100 second mark, or a minute and 40 seconds? Nope. It’s well over two hours long.

Sure, there are plenty of straight covers of the song, which are only a second or two long, but there is an unbelievable scope for messing around with this miniature song. “You Suffer (17 Times)” by Hell Garbage repeats the entire song an unsurprising seventeen times. “You Suffer (Unplugged)” by Brian McParland is exactly that and takes around 23 seconds. “You Suffer (Popopo)” by Porion speeds up repeated samples to a supersonic squeal. “You Suffer (Billy)” by Simiapath starts with the whistled introduction to Colonel Bogey, before descending into an utterly broken series of samples and loops, completely fucking with the concept of rhythm, keeping time, and what actually constitutes music. “You Suffer (Bow Bow Bow)” by T-Bone McFlargle sounds like Mr. McFlargle got a bit drunk and then tried to recite the lyrics of the song. There are ambient drone versions, dance versions, and plenty of “what-the-fuck-was-that?” versions of the song.

While all the song titles have the words “You Suffer” in them, some imagination has been put into some of the titles. Try these out: “You Suffer (Because You Cheated On Me You Bitch)”, “You Suffer (Because You're A Stupid Fuck)”, “You Suffer (In Your Imaginary World, Absolutely Not Linked With The Real One)”, “You Suffer (Butt Wipe)”, “You Suffer (Cheesydogcreamcat)”.

While all this sounds like a lot of fun, listening to this album is not. Instructions included with the album say it should be listened to on random play, so each listening experience is different. Unfortunately, each listening experience is basically the same annoying mish-mash. The grind versions of the song flash by, some of the drones really drone, and the harsh noise versions are so far removed from the original song they just end up frustrating to listen to. The music/non-music is just too disparate for any sort of sense to come from this.

It is impossible to listen to this entire album in one sitting, and it can’t be left on as background music either, as many of the songs are like an attention seeking child who won’t just sit down and shut up and leave you alone.

Chalk this one up as a noble gesture, but poorly executed.