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"Mike Portnoy and his mates are having a blast covering 70's rock standards in a more Metal style."
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3/5
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Nothing seems to stop Mike Portnoy's appetite for music, not even a global virus that leads to global lockdown. Last project to date, a tribute band named BPMD (with the initials of its members) formed with singer Bobby Blitz (Overkill), bassist Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance) and guitarist Phil Demmel (Machine Head). The idea is to take ten rock standards from the 70s and make a severely chiselled interpretation of them.
If the watchword of this project is pleasure, it is also a tribute to a founding musical era. BPMD's musicians know each other, most of them have participated in Metal Allegiance, and it's obvious that the band works like a beautiful American collector's item to which we would have added a few extra horses. The energy is of course there, with a Blitz at the forefront to instill some eccentricity with its atypical timbre ('Wang Dang Sweet Poontang'), but the degree of aggressiveness only rarely alters the original score, which BPMP is obliged to follow scrupulously most of the time. So there are no obvious missteps or major taste faults in "American Made".
BPMP applies the same instrument sounds and doesn't bother with details. So, the metal versions bring more bite to Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Saturday Night Special', Mountain's 'Never In My Life' in which Blitz feels at home or Aerosmith's 'Toys In The Attic', and really dust off James Gang's 'Walk Away'. But a 'D.O.A' is heavier than Van Halen's original, even if the choruses are rather well respected, unlike those of the chorus of 'Walk Away'. And if the metal cover of 'Tatto Vampire' dares a bolder reinterpretation, it erases all the nuances of the original Blue Oyster Cult in the sounds and subtleties of the choruses.
"American Made" is a record made by lovers of this kind of music, which is reflected in the listening experience. But the work on the cover doesn't work automatically, which proves that music often sticks perfectly to its time and interpretation codes. The virtue of this kind of albums, which is to bring a heritage alive to make you want to hear classics, is efficient. "American Made" also reveals, if we had to convince ourselves of it, that rock (especially from the 70s) is getting better and better with the passing of time. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang 02. Toys in the Attic 03. Evil 04. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers 05. Saturday Night Special 06. Tattoo Vampire 07. D.O.A. 08. Walk Away 09. Never In My Life 10. We’re An American Band
LINEUP:
Bobby Ellsworth: Chant Mark Menghi: Basse Mike Portnoy: Batterie Phil Demmel: Guitares
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READERS
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STAFF:
3/5 (1 view(s))
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