Description
Coke bottle green vinyl. Limited 400 copies
Somehow im pretty tired of all these cover albums and my expectation of a Bullet Boys cover album was very low. Now its almost disappointing to report that Rocked And Ripped isn’t nearly as bad as I envisioned it would be. Of course it isn’t album of the year, or even album of the week, but vocalist Marq Torien himself makes this a sometimes entertaining collection. However i don’t understand the song selection here though — usually these cover albums find the artist paying homage to their influences, but the renditions on this album are all over the map. Who expected this band to pull off Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood? I certainly didn’t, but the BulletBoys sound reinvigorated covering one of their sleazy peers. The same goes for Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer, which musically is a carbon-copy of the original, but Torien’s voice and occasional scream put the BulletBoys stamp on the classic. The biggest surprise however is the cover of Accept’s Balls To The Wall which I thought would be a total abomination — and while the distorted talking vocal delivery on the verses leaves a lot to be desired, Torien completely nails the chorus. Styx Renegade is almost identical to the original, as is the Scorpions Falling In Love (with George Lynch shredding away) — but a job well done on both. And let’s be honest here, has anyone been holding their breath in anticipation of the BulletBoys covering Pink?. I doubt it, and if such a person does exist I suggest they seek treatment immediately. Rocked And Ripped is a mixed bag for sure, but not as horrible as you might imagine. Guest appearance by Steve Riley from .L.A. Guns and ex-Wasp on drums and George Lynch from Dokken on guitar
Track listing:
1. Dr. Feelgood-Motley Crue cover
2. Livin On A Prayer-Bon Jovi cover
3. Faithfully-Journey cover
4. Balls To The Wall-Accept cover
5. Renegade-Styx cover
6. Falling In Love-Scorpions cover
7. Fuckin Perfect-Pink cover
8. The Rover-Led Zeppelin cover
9. I’ll See You In My Dreams-Giant cover
10. Smooth Up In Ya-re-recorded version