Say You, Say Me

What is it about cover albums?

Last year, Def Leppard released Yeah! a widely popular cover album, featuring 1970s glam hits. The most popular single off the 2006 release is "20^th Century Boy," originally recorded by T. Rex.  Most critics praised the release just like die-hard DL fans.

This reaction to a cover album is pretty rare. On their “official” MySpace page, Poison recently announced plans to record a cover album and asked fans to submit song suggestions. Some of the ideas are halfway decent, others are completely inane. Take, for instance, “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath and “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Are you kidding me?

It gets worse. One nut job thinks Bret Michaels and company should cover Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. Isn’t that missing the whole point? That’s still a better suggestion than Poison singing Ozzy Osbourne’s hit “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

Apparently, the album is going to drop in late spring. Considering how long it typically takes to produce a quality album, that doesn’t give C.C. DeVille much time to learn the tablature to “Free Bird.”

Jesus.

Originally, glam bands recorded a cover song so record executives could get a good indication of a bands respective skill level and marketability. Take, for instance, Motley Crue’s cover of the Brownsville Station classic “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” or even David Lee Roth’s “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody.” Both songs were released as singles and featured big budget videos that had a ton of rotation on MTV. Now, it seems record labels are regaling big name acts like Poison to b-level products just to make a quick buck. Maybe I’m missing something, but I thought the whole point of becoming a famous band was to have the ability to sing and write original songs. Apparently not.

Have no fear. When the new Poison album drops, your glam mistress will be first in line ready with cash and a witty pen to review the disc. I can only hope Capitol is providing Poison with a healthy advance and promise of a big marketing campaign.

Comments

[Heather]

Thanks for the Poison update.. and especially for the photo. It goes a long way toward brightening an otherwise gloomy day. Ah.. behold the power of glam! :)