Search - Various Artists :: Deadline Presents the World's Greatest Heavy Metal Anthems

A fairly nice collection of hits, albeit live and rerecorded

William Matson | Maine | 03/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a compilation album put out by Deadline Records. The cd contains numerous hits from bands dating back to the 80's and early 90's. The only trouble is that pretty much all of these hits are live or rerecorded versions. While you wouldn't know this from looking at the cd, most rock fans who follow these bands closely are well aware that these are not the original versions. Deadline specializes in new studio versions or live music. They are also notorious for repackaging the same material into several different releases. The casual fan, however, won't know until popping this in.



The bands found on this compilation all issued at least one release on Deadline (a division of Cleopatra Records). Some of the bands rerecorded their best known songs in the studio to pass off on a "greatest hits" album. Examples on here include Warrant and Bang Tango. The fruits of those albums are on here.



Other bands, such as Cinderella and Night Ranger, cut live albums for the label. That's where their tracks originate from. King Kobra and Jetboy both released albums of demos for this label which they passed off as 'rarities' releases. Thus, this is a compilation of music taken from previously released specialty albums.



'Cherry Pie' by Warrant was a fair version, rerecorded in the studio for the 1999 release "Greatest and Latest." 'Rip and Tear' is a new studio version taken from "Greatest Hits and Black Beauties" by LA Guns, a 1999 collection. This one sounds all right.



The next two songs, by Night Ranger and Cinderella, are from live albums released on this same label (Cleopatra/Deadline). Both bands pull off their hits rather well in a live setting.



Bulletboys check in with a hit song rerecorded in the studio off the 2000 album, "Burning cats and amputees" which was new versions of their greatest hits. You'll find yourself missing the original recording, especially when the vocals kick in, but the new guitar solo/part inserted is a nice piece of work. All four original members were involved, which is a plus.



Pretty Boy Floyd's song on here is a rerecorded track, in the studio. This one sounds the most faithful to the original version, out of all the songs on here. The Great White song is a Led Zeppelin cover, performed live, from a cd called "Great Zeppelin." You'd think at times you were listening to a live Zeppelin recording. Jack Russell, from Great White, did an excellent job of copping Robert Plant's image.



Bang Tango's song was rerecorded in the studio, for a cd called "Greatest Tricks." They did a fair job. The song, 'When the children cry' was rerecorded by Mike Tramp, the former singer of the original group, White Lion. The new ending is the best part of this song, not to mention the organ intro. You can find the song on "Remembering White Lion" or "Ultimate White Lion."



'Around again' is a song by the band Union, from their live album. Dangerous Toys is represented with a song from a later day studio album. These two tracks don't stand out as much. Kip Winger performs a solo, acoustic version of the Winger song 'Headed for a heartbreak.'



King Kobra and Jetboy follow up with tracks originally taken from rarities albums. Junkyard wraps up this party with a song from their live album.



Despite the fact these are not the original versions, the album sounds fairly good. Most of the songs were radio staples and the ones that weren't are a collection of songs that could have been. It's not a bad value for the price. This one is a good cd for the car.



"