Various Artists - Mystic Radio Presents Covers (1985)

I'll be honest, in 1985 or 1986 I would have loved this thing. I never owned this one back in the day, and I acquired it from my friend Colleen. I decided it needed a safe home, so I bought it off of her. Back in the day, I would have loved it. 

Today?

Oof. There is some decent stuff on here. Scared Straight's "Born to be Wild" works well enough. The two covers of "Cherry Bomb" and "Born to Lose" are also worthy covers. 

Some tracks like "Super Freak" (Membranes) and "Tight Pants (El Nirvana) are not great but they are still pretty fun. The musicianship is pretty good, and it is just the lack of production that hurts these two, and with a little guidance, they probably could have pulled them off. 

Slaughterhouse Five does a pretty killer version of "O Baby" by the mighty Status Quo. This one will get future listens. Great driving energy, and I would bet even Quo might have enjoyed this. Granted, there is that typical drum fill, probably stolen from Scott of Agent Orange. 

But, then there is stuff like the absolutely horrific cover of "Back In The Saddle" by Sado Nation. Seriously, this is exactly what people who hate punk hate about punk. Absolute shit production, worse musicianship, and vocals that are nails on a chalkboard.

The version of "Taking Care of Business" is brilliant in its over-the-top early/mid-80s punk mentality of "speed over everything else." It definitely got a big smile out of me. I know 16 year old me would have been calling for this one from the pit. Up to this point, this one is my favorite on the album. One of those great punk bands that hide their true skill, but are insanely tight and tear the place apart.

I am not a fan of "Sunshine of Your Love," but Party Doll does a pretty cool cover. Nice drumming for sure! I can only imagine this one killed live. Great early Goth. 

Hats off to V.O.A. for a decent turn on "Suffragette City." I expect some Bowie fans would hate this, but these guys find a groove in the song that I really haven't heard exploited before, and it really swings. Best way to describe it there, it swings. 

So far, yeah, side two is a damn fine batch of songs. 

Oh, next is Government Issue, so we know this will be solid. Then after that is No FX. 

Hmmm, "Wild Blood" by Government isn't really working for me. Not bad, but the song itself is just OK. 

How will No FX fair with "Iron Man," a song I am not a huge fan of? Well, they seem to be sticking pretty faithful. Even trying to hit the guitar tone, it seems. The drumming and vocals are pretty rough. I'll pass on this one. It gains a little steam as it goes, but not a whole lot. It is just making the wait for the next song that much worse.

Next up, however, is the very reason I grabbed this thing. 

The Flower Leperds hand in their cover of "Jumping Jack Flash." I have their version on their LP, but since this is about 5 years prior, I am hoping it is a different version. The version on their LP is one of the single greatest covers ever recorded. Total attitude and fitting in perfect with the original song. 

Yeah, still incredible amounts of "bad ass" for this version! Best song on this damn record. Pure punk meets trash bliss! Nice split channels for the guitars, and Marc Olson sounds wonderful. Jeff Wolfe is his typical cool ass self. 

Plainwrap wins the album!!! Their cover of "It's A Small World" is absolutely brilliant! Absolutely brilliant in all regards! The drummer kills on this song!

So, yeah, a bit of a mixed bag. Only one absolutely horrid piece of music, the rest goes between good to almost great, with the Flower Leperds being the Flower Leperds.