Various Artists

A review of the Guns N' Roses tribute album 'Bring you to your Knees'

Review Snapshot:
A rather interesting album issued recently by Law of Inertia, 'Bring You To Your Knees' is a tribute to legendary 80's US rock band Guns N Roses. Many tributes to the band have appeared throughout the years, with this one standing out as definitely being one of the worst!

The CLUAS Verdict? 4 out of 10.

Full review:
The Oxford English dictionary defines the word "Tribute" as sign of honour or recognition, but by listening to some of the noise on this record you wonder whether that thought ever entered the heads of the performers appearing here. Compiled as a tribute to a band that once ruled the world, 'Bring You To Your Knees' is a collection of cover songs compiled by some of the heaviest bands on US soil, and to be a little different to the countless other GNR tribute albums out there, they all collectively got together and decided that this would indeed stand out from the rest, as being one of the worst this unfortunate reviewer has ever had the misfortune of coming across.

 The accolades of worst of the worst on this record go to Haste [2] and Zombie Apocalypse [1] whose renditions of "You're Crazy" and "Welcome to the Jungle" respectively open this record in such an ill-manner that it can't possibly be described on paper. Congratulations must also go to Vaux [2] for simply destroying "14 Years" and The Beautiful Mistake [3] for turning "Estranged" into a lifeless corpse. It was indeed a mistake to feature this beautiful and highly underrated Guns classic on this album in this way. And indeed the worst two songs on this album have to be The Dillinger Escape Plan [2] with "My Michelle" and Death by Stereo [0] with what must only be piss take on "Anything Goes", the only song from Appetite for Destruction that Guns N Roses themselves wouldn't perform! Break the Silence [6] escape with honours intact for giving us a classic rendition of "Nightrain", but considering that this is a tribute album, the song seems a little too like the original to stand out among the rest. Most Precious Blood [7] give us a prime example of how a song can be taken and re-made into a pit classic, even if Unearth [2] learned nothing during their rendition of "You're Crazy" other then to tell Axl to f*ck off! A little tip for the future lads; if you're going to appear on a tribute album, don't insult the person whose music you're singing!

Time in Malta [5] get praise for attempting to even try and cover "November Rain", although it's hard to imagine this song any different from the original despite their Metal makeover. As the tracks progress, it seems there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. Eighteen Visions [9] sex up "Paradise City" like never before and it brings some relief to the almost constant eardrum bashing we have received up until this point. Everytime I Die [10] steals the show, however, with a faultless loose acoustic strum through "I Used To Love Her" and are followed by a fantastic metal version of "Out To Get Me" performed by God Forbid [10]. Rounding off proceedings, Bleeding Through [8] take a fair stab at "Rocket Queen" but fail to capture the performance heights of the previous two acts. While this album-contained songs that had never been re-recorded before ("14 Years", "Estranged", "November Rain") it probably would have been best if they were left that way.

Guns N Roses once conquered the world with their own brand of raw, rough and ready music - this album shows that while some bands have what it takes to give a decent spin on their music in present day form, their time would be better spent on their own recordings as opposed to nostalgic tribute albums. It is worth buying if you intend to plug the draft in your front door with something other then an old doorstop, otherwise, an obviously hurried and poorly executed cash in.

Wayne Madden