05.05.2011.

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V.A. - We're All Normal And We Want Our Freedom: A Tribute To Arthur Lee And Love (1994)

Named after a key line in Arthur Lee's "The Red Telephone" (itself a steal from the then-fashionable play Marat/Sade, also parodied by the Bonzo Dog Band in their freakout classic "We Are Normal"), the extremely uneven Love tribute We're All Normal and We Want Our Freedom at least sidesteps the common tribute band malady of songs that sound like the original versions, only not quite as good. Nearly all 21 bands on the compilation interpret Lee's songs in their own styles, a good thing since a band probably couldn't sound like Love's unique blend of hard rock and easy listening if they tried. The question is, can Lee's songs make the transition comfortably, or more to the point, whether these are bands who should be attempting Lee's songs in the first place. Unfortunately, the answer in about a third of these tracks is, "no, they shouldn't," with Love Battery's "No Matter What You Do" and Gobblehoof's plain, wretched "Alone Again Or" the most obvious culprits. However, the tracks by Teenage Fanclub, the Television Personalities, Eggs, and especially David Kilgour and Martin Phillips' sublime reading of "A Message to Pretty" are all excellent. They're not a patch on the originals, of course, but they show what can happen when a good band and an interesting cover come together. ~ All Music Guide

TRACKS: 01. Peter Principle - Emotions 02. Eggs - Willow Willow 03. Urge Overkill - Robert Montgomery 04. David Kilgour & Martin Phillipps - A Message To Pretty 05. Johnson - Dream 06. Gobblehoof - Alone Again Or 07. Hypnolovewheel - Which Witch Is Witch 08. Uncle Wiggly - !Que Vida! 09. Diesel Meat - Keep On Shine In 10. The Gamma Rays - Softly To Me 11. Mad Scene - She Comes In Colours 12. Love Battery - No Matter What You Do 13. The Jetty - (Don't Turn Your) Car Lights On In The Daytime Blues 14. Fly Ashtray - My Flash On You 15. The Deer Team - Signed D.C. 16. Smack Dab - Bummer In The Summer 17. H.P. Zinker - I'm Down 18. Das Damen - Stand Out 19. Teenage Fanclub - Between Clark And Hilldale 20. Trycycle - Can't Explain 21. Television Personalities - You Are Something