“It had to happen one day didn’t it?” I said to Chip the other day, who laughed and said “Of course it did!” So here it is Enuff Z’Nuff the band who wear their influences on their sleeves have covered The Beatles in a Hard Rocking way ‘Hard Rock Nite’ (the title being a play on ‘Hard Day’s Night.’)
You’ll have to read the interview to find out what Chip chose to cover and what he chose to leave out as over the years Enuff Z’Nuff have covered a number of Beatles and Lennon and McCartney songs live – some like ‘Dear Prudence’ and ‘Revolution’ appear here but others like ‘In My Life’ ad ‘A Day in the Life’ don’t. One interesting note for trivia fans is that quite by chance, Chip told me, there are no Beatles songs prior to 1967 here.
As any selection of Beatles tunes goes there are always going to be some favourites left out but what we get here is great pick of tunes that both suit the band and also allow the guys to rock out. Opening with the oft-heard live ‘Magical Mystery Tour; is of course a no-brainer and there’s a wonderful sense of affection and love throughout with a remarkably fresh sound – just for guys in the studio rocking out live with as Chip confirmed “No overdubs, no synths and no messing.
Maybe surprisingly the darker Lennon-penned ‘Cold Turkey’ comes next and it feels a bit like when Aerosmith did ‘Come Together’ all those years ago. Stripped back and guitar heavy it’s a nice take on the classic. The chugging guitars (and later wonderful soloing) that underline ‘Eleanor Rigby’ are pretty cool too. You feel this is an album that understates the Pop and really emphasizes the Hard Rock possibilities of the songs and as such it’s great fun.
Adding ‘Live And Let Die’ is an interesting choice though, mainly I guess as the Gunners’ cover of the song (and many others) is so well known. Again it’s a solo choice and the odd one out in that it is credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and originally recorded by Wings. Opening with keys before the vocal comes in it’s a different take on the song to Axl and co and longer than Gunners version, it’s not my favourite track here but it’s one of those that you can imagine faring well in teh live set.
‘Dear Prudence’ adds some Eastern flavour and the already Hard Rocking White Album track ‘Helter Skelter’ proves you can’t go wrong playing with this catalogue of songs, but all credit to Chip and Co. who shine a new light on them with these cool four to teh floor arrangements. One selection I really love is ‘Jet’ another Wings record (credited to Paul and Linda) and incidentally written about Paul and Linda’s Black Labrador, it sit’s nicely here and sounds wonderful.
I’ve heard Enuff Z’Nuff play ‘Revolution’ live in the past and of course it’s another winner; and single ‘Back In The U.S.S.R.’ is another song made to be played live. We close with ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ the longest song here by some distance and the song Paul and John wrote for Ringo to sing on St Peppers. Here you’ll find a great cover, not a remake of the Cocker cover but one that again finds some wonderful guitar and one that really captures the essence of the song. All in all a nice compilation whilst we wait for new material and Chip’s first solo album! For fans who want it all the album will also be available later in December on White Vinyl.
8/10
LINE-UP:
Chip Z’Nuff – vocals/bass
Tony Fennell – guitar
Tory Stoffregen – guitar
Daniel Benjamin Hill – drums
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