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I'm all for a humorous compilation album now and then, and honestly, this is one of the more humorous ones out there. The first time I saw this compilation advertised, it caught my attention after a glance. The track listing seemed pretty interesting, and though there was an abundance of pop-punk, I was still ready to take a listen. I'm finally able to do so now, and am not able to say much other than this is an "ok" compilation. Nothing spectacular, but some good music none the less.
First off, I must address the fact that some of these songs sound like the original songs with some guitar distortion. Sometimes when I'm listening to these tracks, I feel a little bad, like I'm actually listening to the Backstreet Boys. That's one downfall of the compilation. Some bands did nothing to add their own feeling to their covers. Such is the case for Dynamite Boy's cover of "I Want It That Way," and Further Seems Forever's rendition of "Bye Bye Bye." But we can get past some fairly uninspired tracks. Slick Shoes's version of "Candy" is, well, pretty bad. The vocals sound pretty different than expected. Yellowcard knocks the compilation's integrity back up with their cover of "Everywhere," followed by Stretch Arm Strong's rocking cover of "Get This Party Started." Up and coming pop-punkers Rufio give us their version of "Like A Prayer," which was more enjoyable by H2O, and the next few tracks serve as filler for me. The Starting Line's cover of "I'm Real" is actually quite well done, as is Reach The Sky's version of "Sometimes." Of the three tracks after "Sometimes," Thrice's cover of "Send Me An Angel" just rocks. I can't imagine that anyone can resist the metal riffage of Thrice during an older pop song. Nicotine's cover of "Baby One More Time" is just funny, and pretty well done. I wouldn't have ever expected a Japanese punk band to be playing Britney Spears music.
That is about it for this compilation. Its nothing special in my book, but probably half of the songs seemed to be worthy of a second listen. While some covers are too close to their original counterparts, others were very well done. If you're looking for something a little bit different, or something that is just fun to listen to, pick up Pop Goes Punk, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.
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