Metal Storm logo
Six Feet Under - Graveyard Classics II review



Reviewer:
2.4

103 users:
5.9
Band: Six Feet Under
Album: Graveyard Classics II
Release date: October 2004


01. Hells Bells [AC/DC cover]
02. Shoot To Thrill [AC/DC cover]
03. What Do You Do For Money Honey [AC/DC cover]
04. Givin' The Dog A Bone [AC/DC cover]
05. Let Me Put My Love Into You [AC/DC cover]
06. Back In Black [AC/DC cover]
07. You Shook Me All Night Long [AC/DC cover]
08. Have A Drink On Me [AC/DC cover]
09. Shake A Leg [AC/DC cover]
10. Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution [AC/DC cover]

I have never understood why someone would go to the trouble of covering an entire album. One song is expected, maybe a few, but a whole album? It is essentially pointless, because the album has already been made before, and nobody needs to do it again. This is doubly pointless when it comes to AC/DC, since they have been remaking the same album for decades anyway. The fact that this is a Six Feet Under venture just triples the pointlessness, because, as I explained in my review of the first installment of Graveyard Classics, everything the Chris Barnes Show touches sounds exactly the same.

What I am attempting to drive home here is that Graveyard Classics II is entirely pointless, boring, and terrible. This is a rehashing of the entire Back In Black album that, not surprisingly, accomplishes nothing. Yes, Chris, we know you wish you could have written this album. So do we. It's a genuine classic. Yet from start to finish, Graveyard Classics II sounds like one continuous song. The musicianship is incredibly standard, even a little sloppy at times, and captures absolutely none of the heart, soul, or energy of AC/DC. The guitars are out-of-tune in places, the drums sound somewhat muffled, and there is absolutely zero divergence from AC/DC's original blueprint. Every song already sounded strikingly similar to the next, because it was AC/DC, but that was okay, for the same reason. Now, everything runs together even more, and there is no redeeming quality; this whole project could have been reduced to one crappy cover song.

Chris Barnes is no Brian Johnson. His voice does not work for this style of music. In fact, Chris Barnes's voice no longer works for any style of music. The vocal cords languishing inside Chris are in no condition to support a lead vocalist. At the very least, he could have tried to reinterpret the songs to better suit his own techniques, but he insists on singing every song exactly how Brian Johnson does (sans any changes in pitch, of course), and that causes the performance to suffer even more.

Essentially, Graveyard Classics II is an unimaginative re-recording of Back In Black somehow made worse in every single possible way. If you are going to set aside 40+ minutes to listen to Back In Black in its entirety, you should just stick with the ACTUAL version, and not this shoddy rip-off. This is exactly why covering whole albums is inadvisable; the more time you threaten to waste with your tribute, the better off the listener would be just going straight to the source.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 3
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 4
Production: 6

Written by ScreamingSteelUS | 24.11.2012




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 68 users
24.11.2012 - 15:56
Susan
Smeghead
Hilarious! Very fun review of such a pointless album. Nearly every sentence could be taken out as a fun one-liner but I laughed out loud at this one: "This is doubly pointless when it comes to AC/DC, since they have been remaking the same album for decades anyway."

Really, though. What IS the point of this album? Someone, somewhere along the way should have said something about how indulgent and needless this is. Sure, it's fun to get together with your boys and play some AC/DC. Who wouldn't enjoy an afternoon of that? But only someone with an amazing ego and NO GRASP ON REALITY would think to record and sell it.
----
"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
Loading...
24.11.2012 - 18:11
Opethian

I remember buying this a long time ago and i fucking hated it. SFU is better then this IMO ...
Loading...
24.11.2012 - 19:33
Rating: 2
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Susan on 24.11.2012 at 15:56

Hilarious! Very fun review of such a pointless album.


Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing it. There are just so many aspects of this (and, indeed, all of the Graveyard Classics albums) that basically asked to be criticized.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
24.11.2012 - 22:40
Cuca Beludo
Account deleted
Interesting review. Now go and review Graveyard Classics III..
Loading...
24.11.2012 - 23:03
Rating: 2
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by Guest on 24.11.2012 at 22:40

Interesting review. Now go and review Graveyard Classics III..

Perhaps... if I can think of more ways to complain about Chris Barnes.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
25.11.2012 - 04:33
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
Far out - I'm still surprised to find out that someone decided to cover an entire album.
----
The sun shines over The Fool...
Loading...

Hits total: 3401 | This month: 9