'Punk Goes Classic Rock' -- Album Review

Here’s an unintentional album review.

Yesterday I was listening to I See Stars Phases. I always listen to music via Amazon Music Unlimited as I have a paid account, meaning I essentially have access to just about every song ever commercially released.

So on the right side of Amazon Music is a “suggestion” bar. When I was listening to I See Stars, another I See Stars album came up. I didn’t pay much attention as I own them all… except I didn’t recognize the cover. I looked closer and clicked and discovered Punk Goes Classic Rock by various artists.

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Some of the stuff was hilarious. There’s The Maine doing “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and Hit The Lights doing “More Than A Feeling.” Then there are some really good versions like blessthefall doing “Dream On” and Never Shout Never doing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

I laughed all the way through “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Pierce The Veil. That song is nuts anyway and the PTV version is all sped up and screamy and just a hoot.

“Crazy Train” is just weird. The beginning of that song is perhaps one of the most iconic openings in all of metal and this version misses the mark. That said Forever The Sickest Kids singer Jonathan Cook has a good voice.  I will say I enjoy the outro and extra little metalcore touches to this version.

Mayday Parade do a great job with “We Are The Champions” – they stay pretty much true to the original. No one is ever going to come close to the original, so props to those who try.

And I bet you’re wondering what I See Stars contributed to this, aren’t you? They did a cover of “Your Love” which is also on Phases. There’s actually legitimate metalcore breakdowns in this version, meaning I See Stars tried to make the song their own at least.

Punk Goes Classic Rock was released in 2011 via Fearless Records.